by Danica Rayne
“Do you see him?” I asked.
Callie squinted in the distance. “Don’t see him, don’t sense him. He could be anywhere or anyone.”
“You know your job, Alivia,” Elisa reminded me. “First you need to sever his hold on the human.” She nodded toward the group of humans shooting the military with their own modern weapons. “Try to get closer to talk to him. We’ve got your back.”
I nodded to Kayden. “You with me?”
He returned the nod, grabbed my arm and sped to the humans, taking hold of Lawrence and super-speeding to the side.
One of his eyes was closed as he aimed his weapon, but as soon as he saw his surroundings, he lowered his gun. “What the hell?”
“Hello, Lawrence,” I said.
He smirked. “The slayer.” He quickly lifted the gun and aimed it at me, closing one eye. “Don’t worry, I won’t deny the Master his prize. I’ll just immobilize you.”
Just as he shot, I withdrew my dagger at the same time Kayden sped over and knocked him away. My dagger deflected the bullet into a tree.
“Damn you!” Lawrence struggled against Kayden, who had him in a choke hold. “Wait until the Master gets hold of you, slayer. You’ll wish you’d never been born!”
I got down on my knees and scooted over to him, every part of me flinching in revulsion and urging me to flee.
“What the hell are you doing?” Lawrence demanded when there were only inches between us.
“Trust me, I don’t want to do this any more than you do,” I muttered.
“What the hell are you going to do to me?” His struggling grew wilder. “Whatever it is, the Master will take his revenge. I did a lot for him. I’m like his first officer.”
I rolled my eyes. “I bet he’ll get rid of you the moment he has no use for you.” My eyes lifted to Kayden. “Try to hold him still. I don’t want to have to do this a second time.”
“If he wasn’t such a slippery worm,” Kayden mumbled as he tightened his hold.
I crawled closer to him, bile rising in my throat. The harder I tried to swallow it, the more violent it became. “Mind over matter,” I chanted to myself. “To save innocent humans. You can do it, Alivia.”
Before I could chicken out, I leaned closer and pressed my lips to his.
My vision grew totally dark, and I felt like someone catapulted me into the sky. When I landed on the ground, I found myself in a dark room, the only source of light coming from a few candles on the wall. And before me stood a man in his early-forties.
I gasped. “Dad?”
A large grin captured his face. “Alivia?”
“Dad!” I ran over, but stopped myself when I was only a few feet away. I blinked a few times, my gaze roaming his face. “No…you’re not my dad. You can’t be. My dad is dead.”
“What are you talking about, sweetheart?” He held his arms open wide. “Come on over to your old man and give him a bear hug.”
That was the exactly the way my dad would say it, stressing the word “bear.” I studied his face again. Could it be…?
No, of course not!
I raised my chin. “I don’t know who the hell you are, but you are not my father.”
“Alivia, sweetheart. What are you talking about? It’s me, Dad. Why do you look like you have no idea who I am?”
“Because you’re not my dad. You…” My eyes widened as it hit me. “Mergarus. You’re trying to manipulate me. Is that how you’re controlling the humans?”
His mouth widened into a crazy grin. He waved his hand and a scene played before me. Of a much younger version of Lawrence in the school playground. He was surrounded by many kids, each one demanding they be his friend. The scene shifted to a teen Lawrence as captain of the football team, a gorgeous cheerleader hanging off his arm, once again surrounded by many friends. And then it shifted to a Lawrence in his mid-thirties, sitting in the living room with his arm wrapped around his cheerleader girlfriend—now wife, I presumed—with a handful of kids running around.
My gaze snapped to his. “These are Lawrence’s dreams. You’re promising him the perfect life.”
His grin grew even wider. “So you can see right through it, huh? Can’t say the same for our friend Lawrence. Humans are so weak minded. It’s so easy to manipulate them. They’ll believe anything you promise them.”
My hands fisted at my sides. “Show your true nature, Mergarus. Don’t you dare wear my dad’s face.”
“Oh, you don’t like it? Well, do you like this?”
The scene with Lawrence and his family drifted away, replaced with a new one. With new people. My heart sloshed to my toes when I took in their faces. Me at five years old balancing on my bike, with Dad holding onto the handle.
“But I’m scared, Daddy!” My pigtails were tossed right and left as I shook my head, my voice pitched with fright. “I can’t do it without the training wheels.”
“Stop!” I yelled at the demon. “You have no right to tap into my memories.”
Fake Dad transformed to ten years younger, wearing the exact outfit he wore in the scene playing behind us.
“You can do it, Alivia,” Memory Dad said as he placed a kiss on the top of my head. “You’re my brave girl.”
“Stop it!” I yelled again.
“Are the memories too painful?” Mergarus taunted. “How about this?”
The scene shifted to a dark, rainy night, in a location I didn’t recognize. I couldn’t see Dad very well due to the rain and wind.
“Beth!” he called. “Beth, where are you?”
“James!” her voice shrilled. “James, look out!”
A blur knocked him to the ground and sunk its fangs into his neck.
“STOP IT!” My voice was so loud I nearly exploded my own eardrums. The scene washed away. “Go to hell, you monster!”
Lawrence appeared next to Fake Dad. There was something off about him. He wasn’t moving, his eyes glazed over like he was in a trance. It was like he was an empty vessel with no brain or heart.
“What have you done to him?” I demanded.
The scene from earlier started to play again, the version where Lawrence was popular and had a good future. The expressionless Lawrence suddenly perked up, a huge grin capturing his face, hope leaping into his eyes. He moved closer, soaking in the scene like it was the water he needed to survive.
Now I understood exactly what was going on. I was inside Lawrence’s head, together with Mergarus. He was manipulating Lawrence by promising him this life. But he would never have this kind of life. Not when the demon planned to kill every human on the planet.
“It’s all a lie, Lawrence!” I said. When I tried to run to him, I slammed into an invisible wall and was thrown a few feet back. It was some sort of force field. I pressed my hands on the shield. “Don’t believe any of it! The demon is just playing you. He’s using you. And he’ll toss you away when he’s done with you.”
Lawrence turned around to face me. But it wasn’t me he was looking at but something behind me. When I spun around, I saw another scene playing.
A child around three or four years old was playing on the living room floor with a very worn-out toy. I wasn’t sure if it even worked properly. But the kid wore the largest smile on his face. I recognized him immediately as Lawrence.
“How could you?” a woman sobbed in the distance. “How could you do this to me, Todd?”
The response was a grunt.
“Are you going to explain yourself?” The woman’s voice was hoarse, laced with so much pain that I felt it. “Don’t you think I at least deserve an explanation?”
Again, there was no answer.
“Are you going to say something?” she demanded.
“Okay, Mel, you want me to say something? I don’t love you anymore. In fact, I loathe you! My parents were right, I could have done much better than you.”
“How…” She choked over her tears. “Where’s this coming from? Have you always felt this way?”
“As so
on as we got married, I realized I made a mistake. But it was too late.”
“That doesn’t excuse cheating! Cheating is never an excuse!”
The woman stormed into the living room and swung toddler Lawrence onto her hip. “I’m taking Larry.”
“Good, take him! I don’t want anything to do with him. I never wanted to be a father.”
She stood tall, her eyes narrowed at him. “You should be ashamed of yourself. I know there’s a place in hell for rotten people like you.” She stomped out of the house.
The next scene started to play. It was the same playground as in the happy version, but this one wasn’t warm and sunny. It was cloudy.
Three boys marched up to Lawrence. “Your daddy’s a loser,” one of them said.
“No he’s not.”
“Yes he is. I heard my mommy and daddy talking. They said he’s a low life.”
“He’s not!”
“Then why isn’t he home? How come he left you and your mommy?”
“My mommy says your mommy is trash,” another said. “She says she brings home a new man every night, and that he’s trash, too.”
“My mom is not trash!” Lawrence made a move like he wanted to pounce on the leader of the bullies, but the three boys banded together, crossing their arms over their chests.
“You can’t fight us,” the leader said. “You have no one on your side.”
Lawrence’s eyes moved around the area, noticing the small crowd that had gathered. But none of them stood at his side—they backed up the other boys.
“Larry’s dad is a loser!” the kids started to chant. “Larry’s mom is trash.”
“It’s not true!”
The continued to chant.
“It’s not true!” He jumped up and ran away
The scene changed again, this time showing Lawrence as a little older, lying in bed at night. The door opened and a man around fifty years old stormed in.
“No!” Lawrence cried. “No!”
And then the scene shifted again, to Lawrence around thirteen or fourteen, once again being bullied by his classmates. It was on a higher level than when they were kids, and I had to turn my head because I couldn’t stand to watch it.
“NO!” Mind Lawrence shot out his hands and the scene vanished. He pressed his hands on the invisible wall before him, once again watching the happy scene with intense hope in his eyes.
“It’s fake, Lawrence!” I said. “I’m sorry, but it’s fake.”
He whirled around to face me as the bad scene began to run.
“No!” he cried. “I don’t want that!”
“I’m sorry for all this,” I said. “But what the demon is showing you didn’t happen. He’s manipulating you.”
“Shut up!”
“The past part of the dream can’t happen, but the future can! You can make the second half happen, Lawrence. You can have a good life. Meet a good woman and get married and build a beautiful family. You can have that! But not if you continue letting the demon manipulate you. Because if he wins, that won’t happen!” I pointed to mid-thirties Lawrence giving his wife a loving kiss.
He glared at me. “You know nothing.”
“You’re right.” The demon, still with Dad’s face, nodded at Lawrence. “She doesn’t know anything. I can give you the future you desperately seek.”
“He’s lying! You have to believe me.”
Lawrence ignored me as he continued watching his dream.
“Lawrence.” I pressed my palms on the invisible wall. “I told you this before, but I’m really sorry for what you went through. You seemed like such a happy kid. But rotten people ruined that for you. And now you’re doing the same thing.”
He slowly turned to me.
“You’ve turned bitter,” I said softly. “You want revenge. But you’re only stooping to their level. You’re letting yourself be just as rotten as them. But if you want that life…” I pointed to Lawrence and his wife, in their seventies, dancing to a slow, romantic song in their living room. “Then you have to let go of the past. Let go of all the anger and resentment. Let go of the pain.”
His eyes flashed. “You know nothing!”
“You’re right. I can never understand what you’ve been through. But you don’t have to let your past define you. You’re giving the demon all the ammunition he needs to take advantage of you. You don’t want the human race destroyed. Deep down, I know you want to be a good guy. You want to have a good life. Like this.”
Another scene started to play. Lawrence entering his college campus, looking around with both excitement and fear. He no longer wore the scowl I’d seen since my first day of school but had hope in his eyes. He caught sight of another guy, probably a freshman too, studying his campus map like it was the blueprints to Buckingham Palace.
“Hey,” Lawrence’s shy voice said. “Do you need help?”
The other guy’s face washed with relief. “Hey. Do you know where I can find the science building? I’m so bad with directions.”
Lawrence flashed him a smile. “I’m headed to the science building, too.”
“I’m Jack,” he told him as they made their way there.
“Larry.”
“Cool. My sister’s Larry, too.”
His brows dipped. “Your sister’s name is Larry?”
He chuckled. “Short for Larissa. You should meet her. She always jokes how cool it would be for her to marry a Larry.”
Lawrence froze in place.
Jack laughed. “That doesn’t mean she’ll jump your bones the second she sees you. Come on!”
The scene shifted to Larry and another girl—probably Larry—making out outside a bowling alley. Then it shifted to a wedding invitation. And then it changed to Larry the wife at the hospital holding a baby girl in her arms. She glanced at the proud father. “What do you think we should name her?” she asked.
He smiled down at his daughter with nothing but love in his eyes. “How about Larry?”
The scene froze with the joyful parents smiling down at their baby.
Tears shone in Lawrence’s eyes. “What was that?” he demanded.
“That could be your future,” I said. “But how could it come true if you destroy the human race? How could you meet the woman you’ll give your heart to? How will you bring a child into a world that was destroyed by demons?”
He swallowed, his eyes moving between the scene I created and the one Mergarus showed.
“Don’t listen to her,” he ordered. “She can’t promise you that life. She can’t make your dreams come true.”
“I believe in the power of love,” I said. “He doesn’t know what love is. I’m no psychic or have magical powers, but I know in my heart that the future I painted could happen to you. That it will happen if you sever the hold he’s got on you.”
“Don’t listen to her!” the demon shouted.
“You know I’m right, Lawrence,” I said. “Larry, let go of the past. Let go of the pain. Let go of the anger, the bitterness, the hatred. Have hope again. Have love again. Open your heart.”
He blinked a few times, and my scenes started to replay from the beginning. His eyes glistened with hope as he watched himself make a friend for the very first time. They glistened even more when he and his future wife made out passionately outside the bowling alley. Tears once again shimmered in his eyes when he held his newborn baby in his arms.
“No!” Mergarus wailed. “No!”
The area around me grew blurry, and then I felt like I was catapulted into the air.
Chapter Twenty-One
“Alivia!” Someone slapped my cheeks. “Alivia!”
I moaned as my eyes fluttered open. Kayden stuck his face in mine, his eyebrows creased with worry.
“What happened?”
“You were out for like five minutes. And Lawrence passed out, too.”
He lay on the ground, his eyes fluttering like he was about to wake up.
“What happened?” Kayden asked. “Did i
t work? Has the link between him and Mergarus been severed?”
“I don’t know,” I said as the memories galloped in my head. I was inside Lawrence’s mind.
Releasing a groan, he rolled over and opened his eyes. He shot to a sitting position, his gaze frantically scanning around. “Where am I?” His eyes narrowed as he took us in. “What are you doing with me?”
He looked genuinely confused and scared for his life. Was it possible he didn’t remember anything?
“Lawrence.” I crawled closer to him. “What do you remember?”
“Wanting to pound the crap out of…” His voice trailed off as a strange expression took over his face. “No,” he whispered. “That’s not who I want to be. I want to be a better person. I don’t want to hurt people anymore. I want to be happy.”
“It worked,” I said. “The link’s been cut. Kayden, bring him to safety. I have to meet up with the others and tell them to save the humans. Mergarus probably knows he doesn’t have them on his side anymore. He might hurt them.”
With a nod, he grabbed the both of us, returning me to our team and then disappearing with Lawrence. The battle was still raging on, and I sighed in relief when I saw many dead bodies on the supernatural side and none on ours, though many were bruised.
I ran up to Callie, who pulled her katana out of a zombie’s head. “We cut the link. The humans are vulnerable now. We have to save them.”
“Save all the humans!” she called. “Humans are the priority!”
Many of them had fled, others just stood there in total loss while the rest were being attacked by the supernaturals. We ordered the safe ones to run away and freed the others, telling them to escape as well. It was just us vs. the supernaturals now.