Never, Never

by Michelle Areaux

  The Captain tried to fight back, but they were draining his life source quickly. I could see how he could easily take on one Supernatural alone, but when he was forced with an entire group-- he was no match to their powers combined. I guess his arrogance got the best of him. When we first approached, he looked so sure of himself. But now, he looks terrified.

  I want to break out of this hold that Sophie has placed me in. Something inside of me is telling me that I can help. That I can use the power inside of me to help. I don’t know what that power is, but I feel it building inside of me.

  I scream, shout, and bang against the protective shield, but no one can hear or see me. I watch as Caden slowly and deliberately moves toward the Captain. I need to act now before it’s too late.

  Chapter 18

  Emmett

  Holding the Captain down is draining my energy levels fast. If I want any chance of delivering the Captain to either the depths of hell or allowing Caden to transport him to another time, I have to keep him bound so Pierce and Zephyr can do their jobs.

  Watching them spit out his blood is making me feel sick, but I can’t focus on that. My goal is to keep the Captain bound. I know Liam is sore from where the fire burned his wings, but he is still holding on strong.

  From the corner of my eye, I spot Willow still inside the protective shield that Sophie created. That gives me a sense of hope that we can get through this. She is protected and I don’t need to worry about her right now. I can focus all of my thoughts and energy on getting rid of the Captain once and for all.

  “You realize that you can’t kill me, right?” the Captain smirks, breathlessly.

  He is fading and yet he is still putting up a fight.

  “I may not be able to kill you, but I can assure you that after tonight, you will no longer be a threat to me. One way or the other, you will be gone from this world,” I seethe.

  The Captain looks at me with morbid curiosity. He is still struggling to get out of the grip we have on him, but it is not working out for him. He is outnumbered and I think he is finally starting to realize that.

  “Tell me, does the girl know?” The Captain asks, staring at me.

  “What are you talking about?” I ask, giving in to his game. I know I shouldn’t even talk to him, but I resist-- knowing that he is referring to Willow makes me want to hear him out.

  “Evelynn, her grandmother. Does she know she holds the power to keep me away from you? That she is like her grandmother?” he asks.

  My eyes grow wide in amazement. I knew that Evelyn wanted to keep us away from Willow, I always assumed it was because the Supernaturals world can be dangerous. Evelyn didn’t want Willow to get involved with the Captain. She didn’t want her to be used. It all makes sense now. Realizing this, I see a wicked grin grow over the Captain’s face. That causes me to turn my head and look at what has caught his attention.

  Just then, I see Willow banging on the barrier and in an instant, it shatters and Willow falls out of the protective barrier.

  She tumbles to the pavement below, but quickly bounces up. Everyone around us stops and stares. I can see confusion dawning on their faces.

  “How did she…” Sophie is unable to finish her sentence. Willow just broke through a powerful Witches spell.

  It is true. The Captain was right. Willow is powerful.

  Chapter 19

  Willow

  I feel the heat from the power radiating through my body.

  I wasn’t sure what I expected when I threw the power out of my hands, but the shattering of the barrier wasn’t it.

  As I tumble onto the pavement, I feel my jeans tear from the rough ground. I manage to get back up quickly in time to see everyone around me blankly staring at me.

  Even the Captain.

  All of my senses come back to me and it takes a second to get myself together.

  “Willow, what did you do?” Sophie calls out.

  “I am not sure, but I just felt this power inside of me and it had to come out,” I say.

  Emmett and Liam are still struggling with the Captain, but I notice he is staring at me. Without thinking, I slowly walk toward where the Captain is still being held.

  “Willow, no! Get out of here,” Liam shouts, giving Emmett a strange glance.

  “It’s ok. He can’t hurt her,” Emmett announces.

  Everyone whips their heads in his direction. But not me. I think I knew from the moment I learned about my grandmother. Even though I couldn’t admit it to myself, something inside of me craved answers. Not because I needed to know more about her, but because I needed to know more about myself. What I was.

  With each step I take closer to the Captain, I see him fading faster. Pierce and Zephyr stop draining his blood and wipe the blood off their chins. I ignore the rusty stench of the blood as I make my way toward the Captain.

  “My grandmother could keep evil monsters like you away. I feel that power inside of me now. Even as I stand here close to you, I see that you are weakening. You wanted me to get hurt. You waited until my grandmother was gone, but I think you realized that you couldn’t harm any Supernaturals as long as I was around. If you could, you would have left your yacht and released your fury. So now, they will take you far, far away from here,” I stated.

  I nodded back toward Caden who was ready for his final act of his massacre. Caden steps forward and holds his hands up. Emmett and Liam release the Captain and he falls lifelessly to the ground. In an instant, Caden and the Captain disappear. I know that Caden is transporting him to another time and place-- one in which it will take decades, if not centuries, for him to find his way back to us. Hopefully, along the way, someone else will be able to kill him.

  As the dust settles and everyone has a chance to look around, Emmett pumps his fists into the air and shouts. Micah smiled and ran over to me and picked me up. Twirling me around, he laughed.

  “Who knew that you would be our answer,” he laughed as he moved us around.

  “Hey, hands off my girl,” Emmett said, but I could detect the hint of laughter in his voice.

  Emmett pulled me away from Micah and began hugging me so tightly, I thought I might burst. Everyone else joined us and began shouting questions at me. It was clear, none of them had known about my connection. I guess it was to be expected. Until now, I didn’t know either.

  I held my hands up in the air to stop them all. “Look, let’s go back to Emmett and Micah’s house. We can talk there,” I offered.

  I knew this wasn’t the time or place to have the conversation we were about to have.

  ****

  We all arrived back at the house in record time. On our way there, Emmett flew us over the high school. I glanced down over the bright lights of the football field and even from our high distance, I could hear the roars and cheers of the crowds below.

  It felt fitting since we had just accomplished our own defeat.

  Once everyone was all settled inside and had found their seats, they all locked their eyes on me and waited patiently for me to begin talking. I wasn’t sure what to say exactly, so I just began with being honest.

  “I know you all have questions for me. I will just start from what I know. Please be patient, this is all new to me,” I said. They all nodded their heads and were quiet as I continued. “When Emmett first told me about you all and my grandmother, I was in shock. As I slowly saw what Supernaturals could do, I had this odd curiosity to ask questions and discover more. It wasn’t until tonight while I was locked in the protective shield, that I realized what was happening to me. I felt this surge of power that if I didn’t get it out of me, I would explode. Something deep down in my soul was speaking to me, telling me that I had the power to protect you all. Then, Emmett’s words rang through my mind. My grandmother had this protective power that kept the Captain away. When he came to town, he didn’t go after any of you. Again, none of this occurred to me until I was in there with my own thoughts. Then as I got closer to the Captain, I saw that I was rig
ht; I had the same power as my grandmother. He was weakened by me. He couldn’t truly hurt you all.”

  As I finished, I noticed their mouths were gaping open. I could tell they were just as shocked as I was.

  “So, you had no idea?” Micah asked.

  “Not at all?” I replied.

  “What does this mean?” Sophie asked.

  “I have no idea,” I stated, honestly.

  “Let’s not bombard Willow with too many questions tonight. We have all had a long night. She needs to understand this, too,” Emmett stated, coming to my rescue.

  Everyone stuck around a little while longer before retreating to their own houses. Just as Emmett prepared to fly me back home, Micah stopped us.

  “Willow, I owe you an apology for how I was behaving. I know I haven’t been kind to you and I can seem distant, but I want you to know I am very grateful for you tonight,” he offered.

  I felt tears sting my eyes. I felt like he was truly embracing me and it felt good to know he was on my side, too.

  “It’s ok. I understand that it might be hard accepting someone new into your world.”

  He offered me a smile, patted Emmett on the back, and then made his way up the stairs. I was sure he was going to go rest. He had a rough night like the rest of us.

  When we got outside, I noticed the temperature had dropped even more from when we were last out. Emmett quickly placed me in his arms where I was instantly warmed. He lifted us off the ground and I felt the wonderful feeling of flying once again.

  He landed just beyond my back yard and we walked hand-in-hand toward my house. The moon cast a soft glow out, leading us to my porch.

  “I can’t believe you have powers,” Emmett mused.

  “I know. It sounds crazy, but I am really excited,” I admitted.

  “You realize this makes you very important to the Supernatural community-- our community,” he said, leaning down and kissing me.

  I hadn’t really thought about it like that before, but he was right. Now that I had powers, too, I was joining the elite group of Supernaturals in Shady Oaks.

  As we stepped onto my porch, my front door swung open and standing before us were my parents-- large, goofy grins plastered on their faces.

  “What’s going on?” Emmett whispered in my ear. He quickly fixed his messy hair and checked his clothes for any tears from our fight earlier.

  To me, he looked perfect. I guess I hadn’t thought to check us over until now.

  My mom looked between us and then asked, “What happened?”

  I let out a laugh as I realized there was no hiding anything. “After the game, everyone rushed the field. I guess Emmett and I were in the way. We got knocked around, but we are fine,” I lied.

  While I felt bad for telling my parents a lie, I didn’t think they would want to hear that we defeated a Demon and, oh yeah, I have powers like my grandmother. From what Emmett had told me, my mom wasn’t aware of what my grandmother was. It must be our little secret.

  That made me smile.

  “I remember those days,” my dad stated, smiling down at us. “Come on in and you can tell us all about it,” he offered.

  “Yes, we have been dying to meet you, Emmett,” my mom said, extending her hand to shake his.

  Emmett smiled sweetly at her and I knew she would be captivated by him, just like I was.

  As we walked into my house, I felt a sense of belonging that I hadn’t felt in a very long time. I knew in time; I would have to learn more about this power or gift that I had. But for now, I was going to enjoy being with my boyfriend and knowing that we are all safe here in Shady Oaks.

  The End

  Extras

  Prologue

  I died when I was fifteen-years-old.

  Well, that is the time I should have been dead before I came back to life. I should have died. If it hadn’t been for the stranger who pulled me out of my mom’s blazing car and brought me back to life, with only his touch, I would not be alive today. Everyone called it a miracle. They said I shouldn’t have survived the car crash, that I was unconscious with no vital signs for too long, and that I shouldn’t have made it out alive. But somehow, my heart began to beat again. No one believed my story about the boy who was there and saved me. Everyone thought I was going crazy, that it was just my mind trying to block out the horrific images of that night and replace them with something else. My survival had been called everything from a blessing to a miracle. I guess it would be a miracle if my mom hadn’t died in that very same accident...

  Three Years Ago

  “Nora, can you stop texting and please have a real conversation with me?” Glancing toward me, my mom diverted her eyes away from the dark stretch of highway and looked straight at my Iphone.

  Finishing up a quick text to my friend Alice, I tucked the phone back into my purse. “Sorry, mom,” I yawned, as I turned my attention to the empty highway in front of us.

  We had been driving for three hours, and it was almost midnight. When we left my grandparents’ house earlier in the evening, they begged my mom to stay one last night and leave the next morning. I think more than anything they wanted us to stay longer so they could talk my mom into moving closer to her small hometown in Whispering Woods, Kentucky. Since my dad left my mom six months ago for his young assistant, my grandparents had made it a ritual to call every single day to check up on us. The affair had taken everyone by surprise. Once my dad began going on more business trips without my mom and staying much later than he used to at his high-end luxury car dealership, the signs were all written out for us. Only, we all believed his lies until I came from school one day to find his bags packed and my mom crying in the kitchen. He sat me down and told me he still loved me but had met someone else. He then relocated to another small town, Shady Oaks, and made a new home for himself. I wasn’t sure which surprised me more, him leaving or his decision to move to another small town that barely made itself on a map. Shady Oaks is a small, southern town that exists just outside of the bright lights of big city of Lexington, Kentucky. This town offers country charm, backwoods scenery, and is the perfect place to get lost or remain unseen. I guess since everyone in his last town knew of his scandal, he needed a place to hideout and keep his secret life hidden.

  My grandparents had come the next day and begged my mom to come back home with them. I knew they wanted her close to them so they could help, but my mom wanted her independence. I had overheard her telling them how much it hurt her that he left, how he destroyed their marriage, and how he didn’t even fight for me in the divorce. Pretending the divorce didn’t bother us, was the only way my mom and I were finding it easy to cope with the huge life changes we were forced to make. As a nurse, my mom made a decent living, but we couldn’t afford to remain in our large three-story home we had once shared with my dad. Ready to be back home, or at least to our new apartment we now called home, my mom and I had insisted we would be fine driving home late at night.

  “Mom, maybe we should pull over and find a hotel for tonight. I’m exhausted and I know you must be too.” Sweeping my eyes over my mom, I suddenly realized how tired and sad she looked. Her once sparkling blue eyes seemed gray against the dashboard lights glowing in the car. Her always styled hair was pulled into a tight bun away from her thinning face.

  Mustering a smile, she pretended to be fine, even though I could see for myself she was anything but fine. She tucked a strand of my caramel colored hair behind my ear before speaking. “No honey, I am fine. We only have about an hour left then we will be home. If you are tired, close your eyes and get some rest, I will just listen to the radio if I get bored.”

  Too tired to fight her, I slumped down in the seat and rested my head against the cool glass of the passenger side window. The rhythmic sounds of tires against asphalt slowly lulled me to sleep. I was just about to hit my deepest form of sleep, when I was suddenly jerked upright in my seat.

  Eyes shooting open, I found two bright, yellow headlights blinding me. I
had just enough time to let out a scream before our car was hit head on. My head slammed against the glass of the window as our Toyota Camry began to flip and roll across the lonely highway. All I heard was the sound of metal crunching beneath me and the sound of my rapid heart rate. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as the car finally landed on its side. My head throbbing with a piercing pain, I tried to search for my mother, but she was no longer in the car. A large hole was shattered through the windshield where my mom had crashed through and now blood seemed to occupy the space of the car.

  As fear and panic began to take over my body, I tried to unhook my seat-belt. I had to find my mom, to help her. My body was stuck against a large piece of crumpled metal that was once the passenger side door. Screaming, I yelled for help. The other car, they had to have stopped to check on us. Maybe they were hurt too.

  My eyes scanned the pitch-black area of the roadway, only to find nothing but blackness in front of me.

  “Mom,” I screamed out, as I continued to try to free myself from the wreckage. “Please someone, anyone help us.” My voice pierced through the lonely night as no other sounds were heard. The eeriness of the quiet began to frighten me even more than the wreck.

  My head was still pounding and my vision began to blur as I reached up and felt a warm liquid running down the side of my face. Allowing myself to focus, I realized how much by body ached. I was bleeding from a large gash across my scalp and I couldn’t feel my right leg anymore. I tried to fight against my eyes as they tried to close and shut-out the pain that was taking over my body.

  Smoke was filling my lungs as I gasped next to our car. The car that had hit us, was in flames, red and yellow sparks providing the only light for miles.