I stormed away from him into the woods, but could hear from the snapping of twigs and leaves that he followed behind me. I could see a circle of stones up ahead and stomped towards them, but heard an odd sound in the bushes behind me. Nathan’s footsteps had stopped and I heard an odd gurgling sound. Turning back and unable to see him scared me.
“Nathan, where are you? This isn’t funny!” I called out, scanning around the different trees with my eyes. Walking backwards, I could just make out an odd shuffling sound and a dragging sound. After walking along for another few moments in the gloom with only the sounds of the dripping raindrops for company and heavy breathing somewhere close by, it felt much longer. Stumbling over a branch, I scrambled but kept my balance then slipped in a pool of what looked like blood. I couldn’t see very clearly, but I reached down and touched it. It felt like blood. Suddenly, something solid hit me on the back of the head and I was knocked to the floor, seeing stars. My head ached, but I felt myself dragged deeper into the woods.
Eventually after a few minutes, we reached a small clearing and I could see a circle of stones, but my head was foggy with a sick dizziness upon me. I turned my head slightly to the left and could see Nathan lying on the ground, holding his stomach. Beyond him, I could see these odd-looking half-bird men, where the faces were covered in feathers and mouths in the shape of beaks. Their eyes were a deep yellow, almost gold. I gathered all this in a few seconds as my hands were tied behind my back.
Looking back at Nathan, I tried to figure a way out of this. I willed the ropes to loosen and could feel them oblige. I focused on this as Nathan spoke in a raspy, gurgling voice. “Let us go now…” he said before dissolving into a coughing fit. Blood and saliva flew out of his mouth. It made me stop what I was doing. I could see he didn’t have much time left, judging by his colour and how his eyes rolled in his head, but he continued regardless, “Do you know who I am?”
One of the birdmen answered, “We do not care, human boy. We shall feast here today and move on before anyone misses you.” The voice made the hairs on my arms rise; it was high pitched and squeaky, but cold as ice. My heart pounded as the rope binding my wrists fell away, but I lay with my arms in that position as the birdmen all convened around Nathan, shielding him from view.
I slowly sat up, trying not to disturb the foliage. My head was dizzy but I managed to find my feet. As the first birdman bent towards Nathan, I threw my arms out and tried to push him away as fast as I could, feeling the heat travel not just down my arms but from the very tips of my toes up into my head and out of my fingers. My eyes were closed, but I could hear rustling wings beating and footsteps coming closer to me again. I focused every fibre of my being on forcing these things away from us and when I opened my eyes, I could sense them circling above us like vultures.
“Hurry,” Nathan whispered. “They’ll be back.”
“Can you walk?” I asked him.
“Not really, but you can help me…”
He broke off as I moved towards him. There was a huge puddle of blood beneath him and as I pulled him upright, he sagged into me.
“Get… us i-in…to…” he broke off as we heard wings coming closer, followed by the sound of leaves rustling and twigs breaking. He slipped lower and I pulled him closer to the circle as the birdmen walked back into the clearing, smirking in the beak mouths. All I could see were teeth, razor sharp and grass green in colour.
“Well, well, what do we have here?” one asked.
“Not sure, but I bet it’s tasty!” a voice came from my left.
“Dibs,” another voice came from behind me, to the right.
Nathan slipped and hit the ground at my feet. “FIGHT,” his voice commanded faintly in my head. Closing my eyes, I could sense the creatures moving towards me. With all the rage about Nathan and his family, his constant mood swings, and all these creatures that kept trying to kill me, I felt this almighty fire spread down my arms. I spun around, hearing these squeals of pain and smelling singed hair.
Looking down, I could see Nathan’s eyes rolling around. Looking up, I could see the birdmen flying overhead, circling again like vultures. The rain came down heavier. I reached down, grabbed hold of Nathan, and dragged him a few feet further into the circle, placing the stones around us, just as the birdmen landed again.
“Where did they go?” I heard one ask.
“They are still here. Can’t you smell the blood?” said another viciously. “Find them. She will pay for hurting us. The silly girl has no idea what we are capable off. Now all of you fly and bring her to me, I will break her bones one by one.”
Focusing on Nathan, I touched his injury and he shook. Drawing my hand across it, I could feel some tingling in my fingers, followed by some burning and then numbness. I hadn’t been looking at the cut, but could feel the blood slowing. His breathing eased and he relaxed. The sounds of the birdmen faded into the background, as they shrieked and flapped around, trying to find us. Watching the colour come back into Nathan’s face was like nothing I had ever experienced before, or since. It was the first time I knew that I could save him as much as he could save me.
Sitting there for a few hours, covered from the rain by a canopy of trees, with the occasional shrieks from the birdmen, Nathan slept and I kept watch. After the few hours passed, there was activity in the woods, as Jenny, Lisa, and some of the boys from both of our years called his name. They walked right by us, pausing at the puddle of blood.
“This is Nathan’s blood.” Jenny told the others. “We need to find him now. If she has hurt my brother, I will end her.” Jenny sounded vindictive, but Lisa had noticed the feathers dotted around.
“Oh my God, Jenny. There are Kinnaras here. Your dad must be told. Oh my God, if they have Nathan…” she choked out, with tears running down her face. Jenny walked over and slapped her.
“Nathan is too smart to walk into a trap set by them. There is no human blood here. We need to move on, but stick together. Kinnaras hate demons and will kill us to get back at my father.” They walked through the woods to our left and I watched them go, feeling a little apprehensive as I thought about how we would explain this one. Nathan squeezed my hand and I started. Looking down, he smiled up at me, looking a little perplexed.
“Hey,” he managed, his voice sounding crackly.
“Hey, yourself. How are you feeling?”
“Okay, I guess, considering I was nearly eaten by a Kinnara. How did you save me?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. I couldn’t lose you, but I don’t know how I managed it.”
He smiled up at me again and sat up slowly, using my arms to help himself up before leaning into me and kissing me. He groaned as his lips met mine. We were both wet from the drips of rainwater from the canopy of trees. He kissed me harder, one of his hands snaking behind my neck and the other pulling my back closer to him. He kissed me so passionately and with such fire, my breath came out in pants. Stopping suddenly, he looked at me, his face flushed. “We have to go now!”
I just looked at him, trying to get my breathing under control. He stood, held his hand out to me, and pulled me to my feet. I stumbled and fell into his arms. He just steadied me, and then moved me away from him. Turning away from me, he walked to the edge of the circle. “Come on. We can’t stay here. Hurry.”
He walked away quickly and I followed, wondering what had caused his sudden change in behaviour. I thought about it as we walked back home. He stayed a little ahead of me the whole time and when we arrived, he walked into the house without once looking back. Watching him walk into that house was difficult, but not as hard as going into the barn. I walked in, changed, and pushed my already packed bag into a plastic bag, and then into the sleeping bag. Having just finished that, my head was yanked backwards and I was dragged into the barn area.
“What happened to you today? Why were you off school this afternoon?” Mr Stevenson asked me, his hand still snaked in my hair. When he had finished, he pulled and I yelped. “Well?” he asked ag
ain.
“I felt sick so I came back.” I answered quickly, gasping in pain as he pulled again.
“Was Nathan with you?”
“Nathan? Your son?” I asked, terrified about Nathan.
“No, I bloody wasn’t,” Nathan’s voice came from the barn door. He looked at me in disgust. “Why would I spend my time with a mortal?” His tone suggested complete contempt.
Mr Stevenson threw me across the barn and I smacked my head in the exact same spot that I had been hit earlier. “Don’t leave school again without permission. Nathan, what do you want?”
“Mother asked me to find you. You have a phone call.” They walked out together and I retched. My head spun, but clarity had formed. Oh my God, Nathan had kissed me like that to make sure I stayed. He couldn’t have me leave because his family would know he helped me.
“Yes.” His voice said sadly in my head.
“I really hate you now. You used my feelings for you against me.”
Crawling into bed shivering, I closed myself off to him. I didn’t want to speak to him, or hear him. He was just using me. I was numb and I fell asleep with this numbness inside me. I awoke freezing at four a.m. Looking around, I caught something moving from the corner of my eye, but before I could make it out, my eyes closed and I drifted back to sleep.
I awoke the next day, Thursday, not realising the date until I went to school. I was numb and wasn’t paying attention to anything. School passed in a blur of numbness and hurt. As I left school, I saw Nathan and Lisa sneaking off into the woods, laughing. It was like a knife in my gut. When I got home, I changed my soaking wet clothes into some dry jogging bottoms, a thick fleecy jumper, and fleecy socks, and climbed into my sleeping bag. I found a wrapped present and a small note.
I opened the gift — a small rose pendant for my charm bracelet. I attached it straight away then opened the note.
You have my heart. It belongs to you more than it belongs to me. I am so sorry I am hurting you, but it’s the only way I can keep you safe. All my love, always and forever Nate xxx
The next few days passed without Nathan speaking to me, or even acknowledging me. By Saturday night, he hadn’t spoken to me at all since Wednesday. I spent most of the morning in the barn, doing homework and messing around with some Sudoku quizzes.
Around lunchtime, the barn door opened and I heard footsteps. I didn’t bother to look around, thinking it was just them brining food. The footsteps got closer and I flinched, until I smelled a familiar scent of vanilla from his aftershave. It wrapped around me and I turned to look at him. He smiled down at me. “What are you doing?” he asked with a glint in his eyes.
“Playing Sudoku. What do you want?” I asked, turning away with difficulty.
“I miss you. I’m bored and I wondered if you wanted to come in the house and watch a movie with me. I have popcorn, chocolate, and marshmallows.”
“No, we can’t. I’m not allowed,” I answered sadly, not bothered one way or the other though.
“They aren’t in and will be out the rest of the day. Come on, baby. I miss you.”
“Are you still with Lisa?” I asked snappily.
“Well yes, but you know why I have to be with her. Come on, Jas. I wanna spend some time with you please.”
Opening my mouth to say no, I made the mistake of looking at him and said something completely different.
“Okay then, but I get to pick the movie, and you have to break up with Lisa.”
He looked sadly at me, “I can’t do that.”
“Then I’m fine, thanks. Enjoy your movie.”
Turning back to my Sudoku, I ignored him and he left after a few moments, staring at me morosely. I didn’t flinch, but as soon as the barn door closed, I let out the sob building up in my throat. I fidgeted with my pendant and the tears flowed. The barn door opened and he stood there looking torn.
“I did it, just texted her. I can’t hurt you like this. If I could do it over, I wouldn’t get back with her, but I need you safe.” He pulled me into his arms and his familiar scent enveloped me. He cried as well and eventually he said, “Come on. We have a movie to watch.”
Walking into the house, he held my hand as we settled down to watch The Fast and the Furious. His choice, but I wasn’t really watching. I couldn’t relax and after twenty minutes, I walked back to the barn. Twenty seconds later, there were sounds of a car and his sister’s voice yelling about how she had forgotten something.
The barn door opened and there were footsteps. I didn’t glance up and the footsteps went right back out the door, closing it softly. I knew that it was Mr Stevenson checking that I was where I was supposed to be, but I didn’t know why he was checking. He supposedly trusted Nathan.
Fifteen minutes later, Nathan walked back into the barn, sporting a bloody nose and two black eyes. I hadn’t looked around on his arrival, but as he walked into the barn and kicked away the camping chair, I jumped up.
“What happened?” I asked, walking over to him with my hand outstretched. He slapped my hand away, fuming,
“Oh, don’t fucking ask!” he snapped at me. “This is all your fault. Break up with Lisa, Nathan. I love you, Nathan. Yeah, you love to see me hurting, don’t you?”
Looking at him, I stepped back. “Get out. Just go away, Nathan!”
He turned around and stormed out, slamming the barn door so hard it bounced back and hit me full on the head. I yelped, but he didn’t even turn round, which made me angrier. Putting my hand up to my head, I could feel blood tricking down. My head throbbed but I was too angry to heal myself. I got an old t-shirt and pressed that to my head for a few minutes until the blood stopped.
I sat, but I was too angry to settle to anything. I got up and walked to the door of the barn, but just as I reached it, Nathan walked in, holding a bag of goodies and a laptop.
Stepping away from him before I hit him, he just looked at me. “I’m sorry, Jasmine. I don’t know where that came from. Please forgive me.”
“That’s all you say? Sorry and I love you? I’m sick of it. I want a normal relationship. I have to leave here.”
“You can’t leave here; they will kill you. We will leave soon, but for now, you have to be patient. Come on, let’s watch a movie.” He moved towards me, smiling, but looking wary, “Oh my God, what happened to your head?”
“Some asshole hit it with a door…” I answered him waspishly.
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t realise. Baby, I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.”
“I don’t know if I can. What’s real, Nathan? Are we real? Do you really love me or are you just trying to keep me here for your father? I can’t figure us out. I want to believe that you love me, but I can’t. I don’t know what to trust anymore and all these games tear me up and make me question everything.” My voice cracked and he reached out to touch my cheek, but I stepped back. He looked at me longingly and dropped his hand to his side as he spoke quietly to me.
“Jas, I love you with every fibre of my being, so much so that it terrifies me. You are the only thing with any power over me. My whole life I’ve had any girl I wanted and because of who I am, they have wanted me too. But with you, I never wanted to feel like this. I feel like every move I make hurts you. I want you to see how incredible you are and to feel how deeply I love you, to the very depths of my soul.” He shuddered and reached out again to touch me, running his finger down my cheek before I stepped back, moving away from him and shaking my head to try and block out his words.
He continued speaking, but his voice was hoarse and pain rose like a tsunami in my chest. “Before you, Jas, I didn’t have a heart. Then you appeared like a lightning bolt and now my heart beats just for you. Your smiles make it all worthwhile. I’m scared, more scared than I’ve ever been. Not only could I lose you, but I could lose us. We mean more to me than anything, ever has or ever will. Every time I touch you, kiss you, feel you, I feel my soul light up. It’s all because of you. I can’t let you leave. I love you more than my own
life, and when the time comes, we will leave here and make a life together. You’re the other half of me.”
Hearing him affirm how he felt about me made my knees weak and I buckled, landing on the sandy ground. He sat beside me, and reached over to touch my hand. His fingers stroked my hands as he continued, “Please believe me. I love every single little thing and I’ll do whatever I can to protect you, to save you. You have to believe me, I won’t let anyone hurt you and even if it seems like I’m hurting you, I’m just trying to shield you from them.” He pulled me into his arms and held onto me as though I was a wisp of smoke. He held on to me so tight it was as though he was trying to keep me from vanishing. I went to pull away, he shook and I could feel the tears dripping down my own face; seeing him lose it made my heart ache badly. We sat like that for a while, at the door, with the wind and rain battering us. Eventually though, we got too cold.
Moving was hard; he was still upset and I was more than confused. I loved him with everything, but I couldn’t say it to him. He had just poured his heart out to me and I said nothing to him. Moving away from him, I walked over to my stall, and changed out of my wet clothes.
He still sat in the doorway as I fought with my jumper. It stuck to me and I shivered with the cold. Suddenly, I could feel his hands helping me. He turned me towards him and looked at me with a hunger I had never seen in his eyes before. He pulled me towards him, running his hands up and down my arms, and reached down to kiss me. The rainwater ran from his hair, raising goose bumps on my arms. Shivering again, he pulled me in tighter and his top soaked right through my own. My white top had become see-through because of the water, making me very self-conscious.
He looked down and smiled, running his hands up my chest. My breath sped up and he kissed down my neck, the water from his hair still running as he moved his head. He kissed back up to my lips and pulled me down to the floor, his hands wandering with one hand around my waist, holding me in position; the other rubbed circles on my breast.
Ignition (Escaping Demons Saga Book 2) Page 6