I turned back to watch the shadows growing longer on the sidewalk outside the door. The cold tint of the winter sun made everything look a little unnatural. My watch said four thirty. The last rays would vanish in about fifteen minutes.
It was almost that much later when I heard the dull sound of something heavy hitting the floor. I was sure it hadn’t been a book. I sprinted to toward the source of the noise, nearly slipping as I hurried around the end of a bookshelf.
A man was hunched on the floor covering the sight of something lying on the floor. I knew the color of his hair—golden blond. I shifted a step to the side to get a clear view of the scene.
A body was lying on the floor behind him, motionless. It was Colina. Her face was ashen and her dark curls were spread around her head in a wild circle, but what really caught my attention were her expressionless eyes which were staring into space. The man had his hands on her arm and throat, like he was trying to feel her pulse.
“Stand back, Claire.” Jaden’s soft voice was alert. “They could still be here.”
I froze where I was as he turned around and his golden eyes gleamed at me.
“What’s wrong with her?” I whispered, shocked by the scene in front of me.
“She’s dead.” He turned back to the girl and closed her eyes with the fingers of one hand. “You were lucky they went for her first.”
“When you say they, you mean—demons?” I looked around, half expecting to find one standing behind me, but nobody was there. We were alone.
“The one and only really dangerous creatures that wander this earth, yes.” He straightened up and slowly walked towards me.
I hadn’t noticed the demons or him until the girl had hit the floor, nor had Colina seemed to have taken any notice of them before she had dropped dead. A lump stuck in my throat. Was it really that easy for them to sneak up on someone?
“You’re chalk-white, Claire.” Jaden interrupted my thoughts. “You should sit down.” He took my arm and led me back to the counter. I stumbled behind him in a trance until he pressed me into a chair.
“Don’t move, understand? I’ll be right back.”
I did as he told me, unable to move anyway. He vanished into thin air and before I could start wondering where he had gone, reappeared in the same spot.
“They’re gone.” I heard him saying from a distance. “Claire, look at me.” I couldn’t see him anymore. Blackness crept up my spine and blanked my view. “Focus!” he demanded from somewhere outside my head. For a while all I felt was wetness on my cheeks. Then a warm hand tried to wipe them away with a gentle gesture.
“Can you hear me, Claire?”
My head bounced up and down once trying to nod.
“Good,” the voice was full of relief. “Listen to me, Claire—I’m going to call nine-one-one now. It’s very important that we both tell the same story.”
I blinked my eyes open, finally able to see straight.
“When they ask you what happened tell them she called for help, but when we got there she was already unconscious. We will pretend to revive her until the ambulance comes and the doctors declare her dead.”
“But she is dead.” I told him, choked by tears.
“Still, we have to put on the show.” He took me by the hand. “Ready?”
I shook my head.
“Then let’s go.” He pulled me up, ignoring my reaction.
While he walked he pulled out his cell phone and dialed nine-one-one and quickly told the story. Then he dropped to his knees beside the girl and massaged her chest in a fairly professional way. Hope flared up in my stomach.
“She won’t wake up,” he told me. “It’s just to cover the tracks.”
I knelt down at the other side of her body and watched him, mind blank, until the doors flew open and an emergency team sprinted towards us, taking over the attempt at reviving Colina. After a few minutes they gave up. By that time, the police had arrived and started questioning Jaden. I watched them from beside the shelf. Jaden looked older than the last time I had seen him. Nearer to thirty than twenty. He wore jeans, a blue polo shirt and a deep blue jacket. He looked posh somehow—someone you would believe just because of the nature of his appearance.
His eyes had stopped gleaming long before the ambulance had arrived. Now they were simply golden brown and featured a shaken look. He was perfect in his role. I hoped I would get away with this lie as easily as he did.
It was only a little while before Mr. Baker arrived. The police had called him. By the time he walked in through the open front doors the body had been removed by the paramedics. Mr. Baker rushed towards me and started asking me questions. I answered mechanically and gave him exactly the answers Jaden had provided me with. It took a while before Mr. Baker noticed Jaden standing with the police. His face showed obvious surprise as their eyes locked for a fraction of a second.
Mr. Baker clapped me on the shoulder. “Don’t worry girl, everything’s gonna be fine. You’ve done the right thing.” With those words he walked over and joined the conversation between Jaden and the officers.
I sat down on the chair again and waited until the officers came to ask me the same questions they had asked Jaden. I repeated, over and over again, what he had told me, until after some time, the officers seemed satisfied with what I said. It took another endless hour until they had cleared the location and Mr. Baker could close the library for the day. I felt shaken and cold as I walked down the stairs leading from the library entrance.
“Thank you, again, Mr. Ableton for helping Claire handle the situation,” Mr. Baker shook Jaden’s hand and then put his arm around me. “It was a great shock for you, wasn’t it, dear?” He walked me to my car. “Are you sure you can drive?”
I nodded impatiently. It was time the old man went home. He looked pretty shaken himself, but I didn’t have the energy to care right now. I needed to talk to Jaden—alone.
“Goodbye then, Mr. Baker, Claire” Jaden waved at us.
“Goodbye Mr. Ableton,” Mr. Baker called after him.
“Goodbye—and thank you,” I added too low for anyone to hear, but Jaden’s face showed that he had heard me.
I got into my car like a good girl and started the engine. Mr. Baker was already hurrying in the other direction when I pulled out of the parking spot. I pushed down the gas pedal without thinking and sped away from the surreal events that had just happened.
“Maybe I should drive.”
I hit the brake and looked in the direction of the voice. A car honked behind me.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” Jaden said in his velvet tone. He was sitting in my passenger seat, eying me with a serious expression. “You look shaken. Sure you can drive?”
I exhaled in a gust and nodded, happy it was just him. “Don’t do that to me. My heart almost stopped beating.”
“That would be the second time today then,” he mused. “You know, you shouldn’t trust strangers—it’s not healthy for you.”
I slowly progressed with my driving again.
“What if I wanted to hurt you?”
“I wouldn’t stand a chance—but you don’t.”
“Why are you so sure?”
“You saved me in there today.”
“What if it was me who killed the girl?”
I let this sink in for a moment, but images of the days in the mansion flared through my mind and I knew this was impossible. “It wasn’t you.”
“Thanks for your trust,” he stroked a strand of hair off my forehead.
“Where have you been? I needed to talk to you after that weekend.” I asked with my eyes fixed on the street.
He kept silent.
“I’m glad you’re here, anyway. If you hadn’t been there today …I would be dead by now.”
“Very likely.” His tone was grave.
“What exactly did they do to her?”
“Standard procedure. Stopped her heart by some demonic power. They don’t even have to touch a human to
kill them. It’s just like that,” he snapped his fingers, “and you’re dead.”
I shuddered at the memory of Colina lying on the floor, eyes wide open and expressionless.
“If they go for the kill it’s so fast you don’t even notice what happens. You just drop dead, and believe me, it’s the better way to come across them.”
“I wouldn’t want to die.”
“You’ve already experienced the other way. When they don’t kill you immediately, they usually need something from you, and they’ll never stop torturing you until they get it. Whatever it is.”
I shuddered again at the memories of pain and blackness.
“If they can’t get to you physically, they’ll hurt you in any way they find useful—they’ll kill your family, friends—”
“I don’t want to think about it.” I stammered. “I’m glad I survived the first time—I didn’t get a chance to thank you for that.”
“You’re welcome. Whatever it takes to keep you safe.” I heard him chuckle to himself.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing. Keep driving—you’d better concentrate on the traffic,” he said softly.
Jaden had the ability to calm me down whatever happened, and it was good that way. It was what I needed right now—someone to calm me down, to keep me focused.
“Is it safe to go home right now?”
“They won’t attack straight away. They know I’m with you.”
This was good news—at least something seemed to turn out okay. I could go home and rest for a while before I would have to meet Adam. I would call him after a hot shower and he would pick me up.
“How’s you’re boyfriend?” Jaden mocked as he accompanied me up the stairs at home. I unlocked the door and let Nigel out before I answered. I left the cat alone too much these days. It was time Sophie returned.
“He’s fine, I think. I can’t read his emotions.”
Jaden chuckled darkly. He followed me up to my room.
“Why are you so old today?” I asked him without a warning. “You have appeared as different ages. How do you do that?”
“You noticed?”
“Hard not to,” now it was me who mocked.
“I can change my age at will,” he confessed.
“Really?”
“Remember at the supermarket, the time you saw the demon?”
“Yes,” I saw the picture clearly in my head. A silver gray haired man with very light blue eyes. One of the demons that had captured me a short time later.
“Remember the boy who ran into you?”
I closed my eyes and thought. I saw the picture of the gold haired boy before me and nodded.
“That was me,” he said. “And at the library on campus—the old man?”
I looked at him unbelievingly.
“That was me, too.”
“Why are you that age today?”
“Just a coincidence—could have been any age, I guess. Am I too old?”
“Uhm—not really—” I didn’t know what I should say, so I fidgeted on the spot. I lay my bag onto the desk and removed things I wouldn’t need the next day, then I packed some fresh clothes into it with some textbooks. Jaden was somewhere behind me while I moved around the room. Finally I sat down on my bed.
Jaden came to stand right in front of me, suddenly much younger. He looked exactly the way he had at our first real encounter. He looked handsome, with gentle features and golden blond hair and golden eyes. I shuddered. The way he changed his appearance was eerie.
“Don’t be scared, I’m still me.” He commented.
It was amazing how the change of his physical age affected my reaction to him. I was even more trustful and felt more at ease with him appearing my age than I had before. He sensed my emotional reaction and sat down beside me on the edge of the bed.
“You humans are really interesting to read.” He looked at his hands and played with a ring on his finger. “Your moods switch so fast, it’s sometimes hard to keep up.”
I got to my feet feeling awkward and announced that I would have a quick shower.
Jaden followed me to the bathroom door where he planted himself, squaring his shoulders. “I’ll be right here. Call if you need me.”
I felt my forehead crease and nodded at him before I closed the door behind me. What could happen to me in my own bathroom? I got rid of my clothes with a few quick movements and then stepped into the hot shower I had been yearning.
The pictures of the day passed my inner eye once more, and I saw Colina lying on the floor again. It could have been me. It should have been me. I didn’t want anyone to die for me.
A few minutes of hot water later I slipped into fresh clothes and reopened the bathroom door. Jaden was leaning against the wall beside it looking up at me as I stepped out.
“I’m still alive.” I held my hands up as to show him that there was no need for him to play the bodyguard. “Didn’t drown myself in the shower.”
He chuckled once and followed me back to my room. “Adam will be waiting for your call,” he reminded me.
“Yeah,” I sighed, not enthusiastic about having to fill him in on what had happened. “I’ll call him.”
Jaden held out my cell phone. “Now—please.”
Okay, so Jaden was really doing his part in the whole we-have-to-protect-Claire thing. Adam would like it.
I took the phone from him and dialed Adam’s number. He answered before it had rung twice. “Where the hell are you?” he asked harshly.
“Home,” I answered meekly.
“What are you doing home?” He sounded really angry and worried.
“Jaden’s with me. Don’t worry.” I waited for him to storm an answer. Nothing came. “Please don’t be upset, there were special circumstances that made this change of plan necessary.”
I heard him sigh and then he was gone.
My cell phone was still at my ear when he popped up beside me, scaring the hell out of me. I stumbled a step backwards and crashed into Jaden’s chest. He helped me steady myself with one hand at my arm and then disappeared before my eyes without a sound and without a goodbye.
“You’re going to kill me one day,” Adam claimed back my attention. “I was so worried when I went to see you after my walk with Antonio and the library was locked up, and no one knowing what was going on.” He stepped closer and took my forearms into hard grips with his hands. “What happened?”
“Ouch! Adam, you’re hurting me.” I pulled at his grip, but couldn’t break free. He instantly released me at my protest.
“Sorry,” he looked to the floor, shame in his features. “I didn’t mean to. I lost control—I was out of my mind.”
I rubbed my forearms and started retelling the afternoon’s events, watching his eyes become wider and wider with the progress of the story.
“I was lucky Jaden was there,” I finished.
“I should have known you weren’t safe at the library.” His face fell, devastated. “It’s all my fault.”
“It’s not your fault,” I insisted. “You can’t be with me all the time—it’s impossible. You have your own life to lead as well.” I shook my head to emphasise the meaning of my words. “And I still have Jaden who looks out for me.”
Adam snorted.
“What?”
“He’s not being thorough, or this girl would still breathe, and the demons wouldn’t have come anywhere near you.”
“Don’t blame him. Jaden’s just trying to help.”
Adam paced the room for a while. I watched his motions and his dark face. He looked nothing like an angel that moment—so resentful.
“We should get going,” he seemed to come to a conclusion. “Have you packed your things?”
I nodded.
We headed downstairs together and Adam opened the door for me. I stepped out and stopped in my tracks. Nigel was lying on the porch outside the front door, eyes open, spine twisted.
I knelt down on the threshold and felt all my re
gained control crumbling away. Nigel was one of the last things that linked my life to my parents. “No,” I choked.
Adam jumped to my side to take in the situation. He was on red alert. “They were here,” he stated after looking around for a minute.
“You mean—they did this to him?” I sobbed. Adam nodded.
“But he’s a cat, for heaven’s sake! Why would they kill a cat?” I cried in exasperation.
“They’ll do anything to get to you. By escaping them the last time, not to speak of today, you set them off.” He locked my eyes to his with his look. “It’s not about getting my mark from you or killing you anymore—it’s about destroying you.”
“Everything alright, dears?” an old lady from the neighborhood called to us from the other side of the street, startling me to death.
“Everything’s fine, thank you,” Adam called back with a polite smile decorating his features. I nodded at the lady imagining what it looked like, the two of us hovering on the porch looking at something on the ground she obviously couldn’t see. I would have wondered too. The old lady bustled on along the row of houses, and I turned back to Adam.
“Are you serious?” I asked him, tears dropping from my lashes as I looked down at Nigel. “Jaden mentioned something like that, but I wouldn’t have believed—” Sobs broke my sentence.
“Get to your car,” he instructed, “I’ll get rid of Nigel’s body.”
I stroked the cat’s cold fur one last time, then got to my feet and slowly walked to the car. When I looked back Adam was gone. So, I got in the car and waited. Before I could start worrying where he had gone, Adam opened the door and jumped into the passenger seat. “Let’s get going,” he said. I pushed down the gas pedal, and we sped off.
Catalyst
Adam was watching me with penetrating eyes.
I didn’t care what he saw—he would sense it anyway, so I sipped the tea he had placed in front of me reluctantly, making a face as I burned my tongue. I felt transparent—to him, to the demons, to the world.
The sofa in the living room was comfortable. I didn’t lean back but sat on the edge unable to relax. Adam sat beside me not taking his eyes off me, like he expected me to break down any second. I didn’t bother to mask any of my emotions.
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