by Alex Apostol
“Huh? Oh…Josh Duhamel…great actor. Cara’s really into him,” I stammered. “Yea, I like his movies too, although I could have done without ‘When in Rome’. Okay, getting to the real reason I called, though,” I quickly changed the subject before either of them could call me out. “I found out who she is.”
There was no need for a long explanation of who I was talking about. Cara knew exactly who I meant and snapped right into problem solving mode as she listened, ready to start her research.
“Her name is Lamia and she’s a demon goddess, if that makes any sense.”
This was the first time I was talking to someone besides Sari about her and even to me it sounded kind of far-fetched and stupid. I only knew what Sari had told me about her and I filled Cara in the best I could.
“Why is it that every day nightmares have their way of finding me, but the only one I want to find is practically impossible to locate?”
I was frustrated with the whole situation. I felt useless. Why hadn’t I received some sort of clue to where she was? Why hadn’t I found her and stopped her yet? I told Cara about my vision with Danny when I was knocked out by Adena, fighting back my urge to bawl my eyes out. I had to be strong and in control for myself or I would never be able to defeat her once the time came. Sari and I had a lot of work to do still. I could hear Cara sniffle softly, trying to conceal the fact that she was crying. She was always worried about upsetting me when it came to Danny. I knew inside it was killing her too.
“I’ll see what I can dig up,” she said once she had composed herself enough to speak again. “And I’ll fill Don in on it, too.”
I smiled, glad I had actually picked up the phone and called her instead of passing out on the bed right away like I wanted to. I felt like I was one step closer already to finding Lamia. I told Cara to keep me informed and that I would definitely be in contact with her again soon.
“Be safe, Kamlyn, and hey…” she paused for a second, surely considering if she should say anything else. “…you deserve him.”
She whispered the last part just in case Sari was close enough to hear what she was saying. I knew that no matter how quiet she tried to be, he could hear every word that was being said between the two of us.
“Thanks! Bye,” I said quickly before hanging up and tossing the phone onto the bed.
I was very aware again of how tired I really was. I struggled to keep my eyes open and my body moving as I got ready for bed in the small bathroom. When I came out, Sari was already lying down on his bed with his eyes closed. He had turned up the heat when we got into the room, surely thinking I was still freezing from being wet, but now it felt like a sauna. Being too lazy to walk over to the door to turn the temperature down on the thermostat, I decided to take off my sweat pants and sleep in just my t-shirt and underwear. I peeked over at Sari again to make sure he was really sleeping before taking them off.
The bed was warm and soft, inviting me in and helping me to drift off to sleep. I wasn’t concerned with waking up early the next day. Whenever I had the strength to get out of bed, I would do so and talk to Sari about helping me prepare for my fight with Lamia. There would be no more random jobs. I was only going to work towards helping my son and that was it. That’s what I should have been doing all along.
*
My entire night had been a blank except for what I was sure was the tiniest sliver of a dream. Sari was sitting on the edge of my bed, looking at me while he ran the back of his soft hand against my flushed cheek. His eyes were full of longing, off in his own little world of thoughts. The second our eyes met, I blinked and he was gone. I was positive that one second of pure adoration I saw in him would last forever, stuck in the back of my mind as a purely perfect moment. But when the sunlight moved across my face and my eyes fluttered open, the image started to fade until I wasn’t sure what I had dreamt at all.
I looked over to find Sari still lying in the same position as when I’d gone to bed; on top of the covers with his eyes closed and his arms folded. I still wasn’t quite sure if he actually even slept or if he just liked to pretend to, but I took advantage of this privacy to get dressed. I rooted through my duffel bag for my dark blue long sleeved t-shirt and a thick gray zip up hoodie for later. I had just grabbed my favorite pair of worn out jeans when I heard movement in the room.
“Oh! Sorry, I thought you were asleep,” I said as I rushed to pull the jeans out of the bag to cover up the panties with little hearts all over them I was wearing.
The sides of Sari’s mouth curled up into a grin as he laughed to himself. Why did I have to be so awkward? I turned back around, trying my hardest to play it cool and not care if he was looking or not. We were both adults here. I walked over to the bathroom, feeling the burn of his gaze on my back the entire time. I decided to be bold. Either it would work in my favor or it would bite me in the ass. I glanced over my shoulder, letting my long hair flow around and gave him a little smile before shutting the door behind me. Smooth, Kamlyn. I smacked the palm of my hand against my forehead after shutting the door. I’m such an idiot! Ten minutes later, I put my stupidity behind me and put my game face on. It was time to get down to business.
“Alright, show me how I can beat Lamia,” I said emerging from the bathroom.
Sari’s face went from all smiles to uncertainty. I could tell he still thought I was not ready for this.
“I’m going to find her and try anyway, so you might as well prepare me as best as you can,” I responded to his unconvinced face.
He sighed, knowing there was no way he could talk me out of my decision. I had to do this…for Danny, for all the other children, for myself.
“Though she’s a goddess, she has turned demon because of her curse. That means you can get rid of her. But she still possesses some of her god-like powers. She’ll be stronger, faster, and unwilling to show any mercy. She won’t try to psych you out like most demons will. She will get right to destroying you,” Sari explained, lowering his gaze and stepping closer towards me.
He took my hands in his, staring down at them as he rubbed his thumb gently over my skin. My whole body tingled from his touch.
“I can’t let anything happen to you,” he whispered.
“I know…” I said, releasing my hands from his. “It’s your job.”
It was his job to watch over me and protect me. I’m sure if he let anything happen to me he would be in a lot of trouble. One reason I was glad to finish Lamia was because I wouldn’t have to torture myself any longer by being around Sari. If I wasn’t a hunter anymore, he’d have no reason to watch over me. He could move on to protecting someone else…like a big burly man hunter, I hoped.
“All we really need to work on is your lying skills and your focus to channel your abilities,” he said, ignoring my comment.
He made it sound so easy. Like all I had to do was tell her I wasn’t a hunter and then punch her in the face or something. I knew there had to be more to it than lying and focusing.
“When you meet her, you need to be someone else. You need to pretend you have no idea what or who she is and you need to above all control your anger and your actions,” he warned me.
Now it was starting to sound difficult. I wasn’t sure I could come face to face with her and pretend she wasn’t the one who killed my son.
“What if I can’t do it?” I asked, letting the imminent defeat wash over me slowly.
“You can and you will…you loved Danny way too much to let this opportunity go,” he reminded me.
I let his encouraging words sink in and build my confidence back up. He was right. I would do whatever it took to bring this chick down. I raised my gaze to look at Sari and grinned.
“Let’s do this, then.”
*
For the entire day, neither of us left that hotel room. I was too focused and eager to think about eating. We ran through all possible scenarios and circumstances we could think of. We talked about how I had previously killed the other demon and how I co
uld use that again against Lamia. There was just one thing that continually stumped me; how were we going to find her?
“Can’t you just ask your other watcher friends if they know where she is?” I asked, running out of ideas.
“There’s no way I’m doing that,” he snapped, shaking his head back and forth. “There’s no way a regular hunter could beat her and they’d be furious if I let you go anywhere near her. They’d think I was deliberately putting your life in jeopardy.”
His face was serious and panicked at the thought of having the others know who I really was. I decided to drop it and trust Cara and Don would come up with something soon. Later I planned to try another mind search for her. Something was bound to turn up.
“I think we’ve done all the work we can today,” Sari said, changing the subject. “How about we do something fun?”
His lips curled up into a crooked grin as I looked at him with curiosity.
“What’d you have in mind?”
*
It was like déjà vu walking into the bar with Sari. Sitting on a stool with a beer in my hand was how we had met. This bar was much nicer than the one we had found each other in, though. There was a large area behind the counter where three bartenders were wildly at work mixing drinks. Strategically placed all around were intimate round tables for two. A few in the back and along the sides were four-seaters, meant for double dates and a party with the single gals and bachelors. In the middle of it all with a spotlight shining down on it was a wooden platform with a lonely microphone and chair.
“Open mic night?” I asked, rolling my eyes at the thought.
I’d never had the urge to sit in an overcrowded bar and listen to bad music before so why was I being dragged to one now and being told it would be fun?
“Don’t expect to hear me sing,” I said as dramatically as I could.
“Don’t worry, I’ve already heard you sing…nobody wants that,” Sari laughed to himself while shooting me a playful grin.
It had been so long since I’d seen the fun and carefree side of Sari, I’d almost completely forgotten about it. He grabbed me by the hand and led me over to one of the tiny tables right in front of the mock stage. As if our sitting was a cue, the lights dimmed and the first drunk made her way up the wooden steps to the platform. She sang a lively, yet off key, version of Carrie Underwood’s song ‘Last Night’. As she jumped around and danced on stage, I looked over at Sari with a pleading face.
“Lighten up and try to have fun,” he leaned into me and laughed.
His warm breath ran along the side of my face and down my neck, giving my whole body goose-bumps. I found myself thinking it wasn’t so bad being there. A few more singers made their attempts at some of the current popular songs. I actually found myself smiling and giggling as I watched. I even clapped for one of them when they were done, and it wasn’t only because I was glad to see them leave the spotlight. Maybe it was the fact that I let loose and tried to have fun, or maybe it was the two empty bottles in front of me. The lights brightened back up as the bar took a short intermission from its entertainment. The room filled with chatter and cheering as the people got up to get more drinks.
“I’ll be right back. I’m going to get us a few more drinks,” Sari said as he stood up and made his way through the crowd.
Before he made it back to the table, the lights dimmed down again and everyone was back in their seats and ready for the next drunken wave of humiliation. The spotlight clicked on to reveal Sari sitting on the bar stool in front of the mic. He had an acoustic guitar in his hands and was tuning it perfectly without strumming a note. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. What was he thinking? I looked around the room to find all the girls, whether they were with someone or not, were glued to their seats and staring forward with anticipation.
Sari turned his gaze to the front and smiled. He locked his eyes onto mine and parted his lips, licking them once before he sang.
“Earth angel, Earth angel…will you be mine?”
My eyes widened as his gaze on me grew more intent. Was he really singing this to me?
“I’m just a fool…a fool in love…with you.”
With a wink of his warm, honey colored eye, I knew he was for real. My mind was racing along with my heart. I didn’t want the moment to ever end. I couldn’t have removed my gaze from his if I tried. He had me locked in and I was his. I could feel the eyes of every woman in the bar one me, jealous…wondering what made me so special, but I didn’t care. All I cared about right then was taking in every sweet note Sari sang.
Once the song was over, instead of the spotlight shutting off to give Sari a clean exit, it remained on him, following him off the stage. He walked over to me, my mind playing the moment in slow motion. He stopped just inches from where I had stood up to meet him. I was dumbstruck. And just like one of those romantic movies I used to watch with Cara and daydream I was the leading lady, Sari wrapped his arms around my waist and drew me in closer to him.
“I don’t want to pretend any longer,” he whispered.
Without another word, he leaned his face in close to mine. His sweet breath filled my nostrils, causing everyone else in the bar to fade away into darkness. It was just the two of us now. His lips gently grazed mine before kissing them softly. I ran my hands up his chest and around his neck to hold onto him, never wanting to let go. His lips pulled back from mine, but I wouldn’t loosen my grip. He rested his forehead against mine as he smiled, looking directly into my dazed eyes.
“I love you, Kamlyn.”
The impact of his words could have knocked me over. I knew what I felt for him had all along been the most intense love I’d ever felt, but I hadn’t known he felt anything close to that for me. The bar came rushing back as the sound of clapping and cheering came from all its patrons. I smiled back as wide as I could, not being able to control the feeling of bliss I was experiencing. I whispered the three words I’d never uttered to another man before as we held each other closely. I clasped my hands with his and started to head for the door. There was nothing I wanted more than to be alone with him at that moment. We walked across the parking lot, hand in hand and silent until we reached my old weather-beaten tuck. Sari stopped me before I could reach for the handle.
“I have to check in tonight,” he said with disappointment.
My smile faded as I stared at the ground. Just when I finally had him, he had to go away again. He cupped my face in his soft warm hands before pressing his lips against mine.
“I’ll be back by morning,” he reassured me.
I nodded my head, not being able to speak. There was nothing I really could say. If he had to go then he had to go. He held my hands in his for a moment before kissing me gently on the forehead. I closed my eyes, savoring the moment before it ended. A gust of wind ran through the parking lot and when I opened my eyes again, Sari was gone.
I drove to the hotel and once inside I sat there in silence for a few minutes, processing all that had happened at the bar. My smiling was uncontrollable. I jumped around the room cheering for myself. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt so happy or elated. There was only one thing I could think to do.
“Cara? You’ll never guess what!” I squealed into the phone.
14
“Maybe you’ll get what you wanted. Maybe you’ll stumble upon it.”
– Coldplay
It took all of my concentration to fall asleep that night. I kept thinking about Sari’s lips on mine, the warmth of his touch, the feel of his arms around my waist. Hours went by and I was still tossing and turning, staring at the back of my eyelids wondering when I would slip away into a dream. I repeated the word ‘sleep’ over and over in my head, trying to drown out the images of Sari’s face inching closer to mine and the fantasies of what could have been if he were there with me.
My phone rang. I opened my eyes, realizing I had just woken up from a dead, dreamless sleep. My eyes tried to adjust to the pitch blackness of the room as I
pawed at the bedside table.
“This better be good,” I groaned, slightly cranky and groggy.
“I think you’ll like it.”
Don’s deep, rough voice immediately brought a smile to my exhausted face. Even though it had only been a week since I last saw him, it felt like I hadn’t heard the comfort of his voice in ages.
“I’m over here in Pandora, Ohio working on a case…I think you should come right away.”
These words would lead any normal person to think something was seriously wrong, but in the hunting world it signaled something exciting and interesting. I pictured Don sitting on the edge of his seat, eyes crinkled from his large crooked grin. I sat up in bed and rubbed my eyes as I thought. I wanted to jump up right then and rush to the door, but a part of me held back. I couldn’t just leave like I used to…what about Sari? Surely if I left he would know where I was, right?
“Kammy, I’ve got a woman here who’s being haunted by her daughter. I’ve spoken with the little girl and she’s mentioned the woman who killed her…”
My heart raced. I waited in anticipation for Don to confirm the wishful thoughts going through my head.
“…she said her name is Mia.”
I got out of bed as fast as I could, catching my balance as my tired body tried to catch up with my head. I put the phone on speaker and set it down on the dresser as I rummaged through my bag for clothes. I still hadn’t turned the lights on and I was blindly feeling around for a shirt and a pair of pants.
“Here’s the best part, Kammy. This little girl knows where Mia is.”
“I’m on my way, Don, right now!”
I hung up the phone and pulled on my clothes as I rushed out the door with my belongings. Not wanting to waste a second, I tossed the bags into the bed of the truck before jumping in. And just like that, I was off.
My eyes were wide and focused as I sped down the empty, dark road. Little wet, white flakes floated down from the clouds onto my windshield before changing to specks of water. I turned on the wipers and continued forward, not ready to let any kind of weather slow me down. As the orange glow of the morning sun crept up slowly behind me, the highway started to fill with busy drivers on their way to work. It was the first time I wouldn’t have traded places with any of them. For once, I felt like the tables were turning and it was all finally going my way.