by Karina Halle
“Feel what?” I ask warily, taking a step back. “Should we not be concerned about this…” I point at his face frantically.
“Do you feel it?”
I shake my head. Does he mean the energy? “Yes. No. Can you tell me what’s happening?”
“Are you ready?” And I realize he’d just asked me that before all of this weird shit.
“Ready for what?”
He licks his lips, giving me a hint of a smile. “I take it you felt it. Here we go, Blondie.”
“Go where?!”
And then Max raises his palms, swirls them in a swift Dr. Strange type movement, and then the air starts to shimmer, warp, and burn. He’s creating a portal.
“What are you doing?” I yell at him. I didn’t know he could do that! That’s my thing!
But before he can answer, I see it. A person walks out of the portal.
Holy. Shit.
It’s a woman with dark curly hair, wearing a navy business suit, pale with a stern face, and close-set eyes. She looks at Max. Then looks at me.
“Who the fuck is this?” I cry out.
Then she smiles at me.
With pointed teeth. A shark’s smile.
I scream.
It all happens so fast.
The woman lunges for me, transforming before my eyes from a person to an ugly demon-like creature. Her hands turn into claws, suit into a tail, curly hair flattening down her back until it turns into slick black fur. Only her face remains human, smiling with those rows of pointed teeth, about to take a bite right out of me.
Max reaches out calmly and grabs the woman’s head in his hands and twists it around until it snaps right off, blood spraying all over him, all over his face.
Her body falls to the ground, turning back to a woman’s shape in a suit, before disintegrating into a pile of ash.
My mouth is open, frozen in a silent scream, as I watch the woman’s head in Max’s hands, her mouth snapping and snapping, eyes turning white until it too turns to ash and falls to the ground like burned snow.
I can’t form words. I can only stare in horror.
“So you weren’t ready,” he says, wiping his hands on his jeans. “Next time.”
“You…Max…what the fuck just happened? You just ripped that fucking woman’s head off?!”
“I had to. You weren’t going to do anything about it.”
He stares at the portal. It’s still open. He’s looking at it like he’s waiting for someone else to waltz out of there.
“Max…” I can’t even find the right words. My mind is blown. “Who was that?”
“I don’t know her name, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Dude, you just…”
“She was a demon, Ada.”
“She was a human! Demons don’t wear business suits.”
“They don’t?” Max says to me, his forehead creased. “We both know that’s not true.”
Right. Michael. Dex’s older brother who was taken over by a demon at some point in his life. He wore a suit. He killed Max. He killed my mother. And he tried to kill me. I know what it was like to have that thing in my body, trying to take over.
“Think fast, Ada,” Max says, and I look to see another person exiting the portal. This time it’s a young male, maybe fifteen, the type that should be carrying a skateboard, long blond hair that gets in his eyes. He gives me an easy normal-toothed smile and raises his hand in greeting.
I quickly eye Max, not knowing what he’s going to do. What if he’s wrong and this is just a kid who got lost? I don’t know what portals can do, if they can suck normal people in by accident.
“Do it, Ada,” Max warns me.
“Do what?!”
I stare at the kid. The kid stares at me.
And he starts walking toward me.
Still smiling.
And his teeth change, long, jagged, and sharp.
“Oh fuck!” I scream, and my first instinct is to turn around and run like hell. Cowardly, maybe, but you try being in this situation.
“Do it, Ada!” Max screams at me.
He’s never yelled at me before.
It snaps some sense into me.
I can do this.
I find that energy inside me, waiting to be let loose, and use it like we use the air we breathe. I’m able to push off my feet into the air, doing a somersault above the kid until I land on his shoulders, my hands going to his head, pressing my palms in until his skin starts to burn me, searing my skin.
But instead of ripping his head off, because I don’t think I can for numerous reasons, I roll off the front of him, still holding on to his head. I then swing him around, getting momentum, letting go when I see the portal.
He goes flying through and I immediately throw my palms out, sealing the portal shut.
All the electricity in the air stills and the only thing I can hear is the beating of my heart, going so fast I think I might have a heart attack.
I stare at Max, unable to process what just happened.
“You did good,” he says, slowly sauntering over to me as if he didn’t just rip the head off of someone. He still has some blood on his face. “But the point of this exercise is to actually destroy them. Not just send them back to where they came from. Believe me, that kid will be back again.”
I press my hands against my face, then quickly remove them when my skin stings. I hold them out. They’re red and blistering.
“Shit,” Max swears, his face falling as he stares at my hands. “I forget how new at this you are. Come on, we’ll get some cream on that. You should heal fast, faster each time.”
He grabs my elbow, trying to lead me to the house, but I stand my ground.
“No,” I tell him. “Forget that for now. Just…what the hell was that, Maximus?”
He shoves his hands into his pockets and gives me a quick smile. “Just trying to get some demons in your demon slaying. That’s all.”
“That’s all? I never did that with Jay. I don’t even know if Jay could do that.”
“Ada, I know you hate to hear it, but I am not Jay.”
“No shit you’re not,” I say, trying not to sound bitter.
“Look,” he says, ignoring that. “I’m just trying to make things work. What’s the point of doing all of this if you rarely get to face the very things you’re training against?”
“So, you mean to tell me this is how you taught Rose?”
He shakes his head, pressing his lips together as he looks off into the distance. “No. To be honest, I wanted to but…things are different now. I’m different now.”
I frown, feeling uneasy. “Different how?”
“Like…I’m a target.”
“A target?!”
“Leaving Hell…I suppose that put some sort of tracking device on me.”
“Tracking device?!” What the actual fuck is he talking about?
He looks at me. “There are demons out there, like the ones we just saw, like Michael, who are hybrids. They pass for humans. They are either possessed or they’re a product of humans and demons, well, you know. They exist in our world. They also exist in other worlds. And it turns out that they’re drawn to me. That they can travel to me through the Veil.”
“But…but you just created the portal. You let them out.”
“I did. But I worry that maybe one day I won’t have to. That they’ll be able to cross through without any help from me. That there’s something about me, about the fact that I’ve been to Hell and come back, that they’re flocking to me for some reason. Maybe because I was a Jacob who escaped, I don’t know. But they’re here.” He waves at the space in front of us. “I can feel them. And I’m not looking forward to the day they can just walk on through anytime they want.”
“Well, fuck.”
“And so,” he goes on, “I figured I should at least help you train against them, because you’re going to be seeing them a lot.”
“Why?”
“Destiny?”
<
br /> I glare at him. “This is your shit, Max.”
He gives me a stiff smile. “It would be, except you pulled me out. And now it’s your shit.”
I blink at him for a moment. “What are you talking about?”
“That thing that Jacob was talking about on New Year’s? About the consequences for us…”
My heart drops. I don’t know what he’s about to tell me, but I know it’s not going to be good.
“What about it?” I whisper. It’s not like I’d forgotten about it, but Jacob hasn’t been home that much in the last few weeks.
He runs his hand through his thick red hair. “Jacob wanted to pull me out eventually. He wouldn’t have left me there forever. He had a plan. But Perry wanted to help me, and I wasn’t about to say no. I was in the dark, same as you. Then you came and you…you sacrificed yourself for me, Ada,” Max says, meeting my eyes. The flames are gone, just the green remains, and they hold me in place. “You got me out.”
“And now the demon hybrid things can track you, because we brought you out in a messy way.”
He nods. “That. Yes. But also…this is going to sound really weird but…I’m nothing without you now.”
I try to shake some sense into my head because there is none to be found. “What? Are you being like…sentimental with me?”
“No. I mean, you’re keeping me here, Ada. I didn’t know until I talked to Jacob. But in so many ways I’m a fucking ghost. You were right. I’m Bruce Willis.”
This is nuts. “You can’t be! We’ve been out and about. Remember the lady in the park, she was checking you out. And when we went shopping, the sales lady was having a full on conversation with you. I was there. I saw. You’re not a fucking ghost.”
“I’m only here because I’m with you. Don’t you see?”
“No. I really don’t.”
He comes over to me and puts his hands on my shoulders, gazing intently at me. “Your energy is what pulled me out. Your energy is what’s keeping me here. I was dead, Ada. Now I’m not. As long as you’re with me, or near me, I’m alive. When you’re not here, I fade away. Believe me, we’ve all seen it.”
I can barely swallow. “What are you talking about? I have to be…with you?”
He sighs. “Not like…that. You just have to be near me and often. Those two days I didn’t see you when you went to your uncle’s for the weekend? That’s when I started to fade. Even Dawn and Sage noticed.”
“Oh my god,” I say, pressing my hand to my chest. “Like Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future.”
“If you could stop using movie references as examples for my life, that would be really helpful.”
“This is crazy, Max. Like fucking batshit crazy insane.”
“I know, but Jacob did warn you.”
I pull out of his grasp and hit him on his arm. “He did not! I didn’t even talk to him. Perry told me what was happening and that you needed help. How was I supposed to know the side effects? I wanted to help.”
“And you did help and I’m grateful. But, unfortunately, these are the consequences of rushing in.”
“I rushed in because it’s what I do,” I sneer, jabbing a finger into his very hard chest.
He gently wraps his fingers around mine and holds it there. “You’re allowed to be upset. Don’t worry, this won’t change anything.”
“I have to hang around you!”
“I’m training you anyway.”
“But what happens when you’re not? What happens if I go away again? You’re going to fade away. You’ll disappear. You’ll become a ghost.”
“And then I’ll come back when I see you again. It’s not the end of the world.”
But it is. It’s the end of his world and whatever he had planned for himself. It’s the end of the life he wanted. His second chance.
Oh my god. How the fuck is this supposed to work with Rose?
As if he knows what I’m thinking, he lets go of my finger and sighs. “Things will get complicated, I know. But that’s my problem. Not yours. It doesn’t matter what Jacob says, you’re not responsible for me. You don’t have a duty to me, and I expect nothing from you in return. You’ve done enough.” He takes in a deep breath and winces. “It’s just, I have a favor to ask you.”
“What?” I whisper.
“I need to go to New Orleans. I’m getting a car. Going to drive there. I don’t have ID so I can’t fly. I need you to come with me, for obvious reasons.”
“I…” I shake my head. “I would, but I can’t. I have school.”
“Don’t worry about that.”
“What do you mean don’t worry about it?” I exclaim. “Contrary to what it seems like, I have a life outside of this bullshit.” I wave my arms around. “I like school. I care about it. I can’t miss it. It keeps me normal.”
“You’ll be fine. Jacob will take care of it.”
“What, like a mob boss? He going to blackmail my teachers? Believe me, there’s no one more fierce than fashion school teachers. Haven’t you seen Project Runway?”
“Just trust me.”
“No!” I cry out. “I’m sick and tired of being in the dark when it comes to that man and his mysterious ways. Tell me how on earth Jacob is going to make missing weeks of school okay?”
“Fine,” Max says. “He can manipulate things. Reality.”
I stare at him, blinking. “What the hell does that mean?”
“He could change your grades. Or make it seem like you were in class the whole time.”
My eyes feel like they’re going to pop out of my head. “He can change my grades? What else can he do? Does everyone know this?”
He shakes his head. “No. Well I do.”
“Did Jay?”
“You know I never met Jay, right?”
“Did Jay?” I repeat.
Max stares at me for a moment, weighing it. Then he nods. “Yes. He would have known. Of course.”
That fucker! All our time together and he never once spilled any of the mysterious Jacob Edwards secrets.
“Now, I didn’t tell you that,” Max says quickly, giving me a steady look. “Okay?”
“Sure.”
“Ada,” he warns.
“Sure, big guy. I won’t say anything. I’m just…can’t Jacob, like, fix things? Like make sure no demons are following you. And couldn’t Jacob have rescued you himself?”
“Well, he was going to. Your sister mucked things up.” He shows his palms in peace. “Not that I’m complaining. Grateful, still.”
“But the demons.”
“There are limits, obviously. And before you ask me, I don’t know what they are. I know he can manipulate people. Normal people. He would probably meet your teachers somewhere, somehow, plant the suggestion in their heads. Something like that. That’s how it works with me, anyway.”
“Wait,” I hiss. “What? That’s how it works with you? What are you talking about?”
“Oh, Blondie. There’s so much you don’t know about me.”
“Apparently! So you can manipulate people too? Are you doing the same to me?”
“And making you do what, exactly?” He crosses his arms.
“I don’t know. I’m thinking about going on a road trip to New Orleans with you.”
“You’re doing that because you’re a good person. And no, I can’t manipulate you.”
“What about Perry?” I ask. “You totally manipulated her. Dex, too.”
A wash of shame comes over his face and he looks away, worrying his lip between his teeth. “I ain’t perfect, you know this better than anyone. But no. I didn’t. Because I can’t. It doesn’t work in your mind, or your sister’s, or Dex’s. It wouldn’t work on that hot blonde witchy friend of Perry’s either.”
Why, oh why, did I feel a coal of jealousy at the mention of hot blonde? Ugh, I’m so damn insecure lately. Fuck Jay to infinity.
“It only works on those that aren’t like us,” he goes on. “Normal people.”
“Would it
work on my dad?” I ask hopefully. “Because he’s sure as hell not going to let me skip school for New Orleans.”
He gives me a wry smile. “You leave your father to me. Now come on.” He reaches over and grabs my wrist, turning my hand over, “It’s healing up, but you still need a little help. At the very least, Dawn will put her oversized aloe vera plant to use.”
He tugs me toward the house and I follow, his hand eventually falling away. I walk behind him, marveling at how this giant redwood tree of a man in his jeans and brown flannel (yes, I took him shopping, but now I’m pretty sure he manipulated the saleslady into feeding him nothing but plaid), is depending on me to stay alive. Like, I’m literally keeping him in this world.
I brought him to life.
And if I’m not around, he’ll fade away.
I know I probably sound awful, but I have to admit, it’s nice to be needed for once. Not needed in like a ‘nice to have around’ way, but literally needed or they’ll die.
On the other hand, this dude that needs me around him to stay alive also attracts human demon hybrids that are stalking him just out of sight, lurking and hunting on the thin other side of the Veil. Demons that will start putting me in danger if we’re not careful. And even though I managed myself well today, I didn’t quite rip the demon’s head off like Max so casually did, which means I have a lot to learn.
I sigh as we step through the back door of the Knightly’s house.
All I know is that this road trip to New Orleans is probably going to be the trip of a lifetime.
If we can survive it, of course.
Six
“Whatever you do, don’t tell anyone.”
– The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret
“Ada! Your ride is here!” my dad yells from downstairs.
I give myself one more glance in the mirror, making sure I look okay. I barely slept last night because I was so excited-slash-nervous about embarking on the road trip today. It’s only been a couple of days since Max made me fight demons in the Knightly’s backyard, and things have moved fast.
First, Jacob came back and I guess he did his thing with my teachers or who knows what, because I got emails from all of them telling me that it was okay to go on my little vacation to New Orleans and that they’d just give me A’s for the little projects I’d miss. I mean…I still don’t know if that’s a joke or what. And the fact that he didn’t even lie, he just told them the truth and they were okay with it is fucking crazy.