The smell got stronger and stronger and a drum beat on my forehead. My eyes watered and Nathan stood at the window watching me shaking and shivering, but made no move towards me. Seconds later, it was clear why he looked at me disdainfully.
His family had arrived, all of them looking a little worse for wear, with the exception of his father.
“Well, what have we here?” He asked with venom in his voice.
I just shook my head, not understanding what was going on as Nathan stepped forwards, “I brought her here, sir.”
His father glared at him loathingly and he drew his hand back, punching Nathan onto the window. I sat there numb with shock as Nathan’s head flew onto the glass. I couldn’t move as I watched him laying into Nathan, hitting him over and over as he just lay there taking every blow.
As I tried to move, I realised a hand on my shoulder held me in place and I looked into the face of Nathan’s mother. Her eyes were on her son, and her voice, when she finally spoke, was cold and unaffected by the fact that her son’s face was a bloody mess. “Mr Stevenson, stop. That’s enough.”
Mr Stevenson stopped hitting Nathan and turned his black eyes towards me. He said nothing, but walked over and grabbed my hair, dragging me out of the room with him. As we passed Nathan, he stirred slightly, but didn’t move. Dragging me across the dusty hallway into a disused dining room, he threw me from his grip and my thoughts scattered as I scrambled across the floor. He shut the door, closing off the lights.
I banged into things I couldn’t see on the floor, as a hand closed again around my neck, forcing me backwards onto the cold dusty floor. I gasped, trying to catch my breath as another hand punched me repeatedly. He grunted and eventually let up with his hand. I couldn’t see, could barely breathe. It was painful beyond measure to breathe and he just sat there.
“You caused a Gorgon to attack my family; you are ripping my world apart. I now have to deal with that. It would be easier to kill you now than to leave you alive and have to fight these constant battles.”
He dragged me over to a radiator, tying my hand to it, while I just lay there trying to take in burning breaths. He walked away and returned a moment later, dragging a semi-conscious Nathan into the room, tying him to the radiator as well. My eyes stung with tears as the blackness threatened to return, but I couldn’t cry.
I must have drifted off. I had dreams where I was underwater and my lungs burned when I tried to breathe. I came around when I heard Jenny enter the room, the door opened creakily as she made her way to Nathan to give him some water. She didn’t even look at me as she tipped a glass up to his swollen lips. A lantern in the room showed a basin of water, cloths, and a towel. When Nathan finished his water, his sister cleaned up his face and dried him. She left shortly after and I wanted to cry. My throat felt like it was on fire.
Nathan shook his head and turned to look at me in the darkness. “My light,” he whispered so softly before drifting off, but I couldn’t close my mind down. The darkness was too thick and I couldn’t get comfortable as my thoughts ran rampant. What was it about me that caused all these creatures to appear? Was Mr Stevenson right? Did I bring this on them?
With no answers and more questions consuming me, I sat awake all night and into the next day, with no way to measure how much time passed. Nathan would reach out and touch my arm occasionally, but it seemed more like he was checking if someone was in the room with him.
After what felt like an eternity sitting there, unable to see, my breathing became more laboured. I saw lights popping in front of my eyes and my skin felt cold. Nathan awoke at this point and shouted out, “MUM!!! DAD!!! JEN!!!”
His voice sounded panicked, but I couldn’t focus on it as I drifted and the oddest sensation came over me, as though I was floating above, watching as the door flew open and his family came running in. His father pulled a knife and cut the bonds. I watched myself slump forwards and land in a heap on the floor, but I was unresponsive as they shook me and shouted my name. I watched Nathan’s face as he tried hard to mask all of his emotions, but I could see the tears in his eyes and the struggle he had swallowing.
I looked back at me and watched while his dad went into doctor mode. He cut a small hole in my throat to let air out and put in a straw. As soon as the straw went in, I floated back to my body, but I fought it when I realised I couldn’t leave without Nathan. He said I was his light, but he was my fire. He kept me going and gave me the energy to fight every day that we lived with his parents.
I was blue lighted to the hospital with Nathan, where they said some other children attacked us. Attached to a ventilator, I sat almost right beside my body, watching as it healed from my injuries. Watching and listening to the exchanges of the doctors and nurses amused me, but the only conversation I really paid attention to was between Nathan’s parents.
“The Gorgons have rescinded their claim on the girl. You were right, the threat of your father worked.” Nathan’s mum said to his father.
“Good. Once she is healed, we can get back to normal. Keep an eye on her and Nate. I can feel something there.”
“I will, but I don’t think we need to worry about that. He’s loyal and loves Lisa. She’s been by and they have been hanging out since he’s been in here.”
The door closed and I sat there for an inordinate amount of time, waiting to get better. Later that night, at 3:20 a.m., according to the clock, Nathan slipped into my room.
“Jas, I need to speak to you. Please wake up. Come back to me. I miss you. I’m drowning in this darkness and I need you to come back to me. I love you more than my own life. Please just try to come back.”
He sat there for a few moments before standing and kissing me softly on the lips. I felt myself come back together and gasped as I struggled to breathe around the tubes coming into my neck. Nathan disappeared and chaos descended. Nurses and doctors surrounded me as they took out the machine and stitched my neck.
The following week, I was moved to a ward and was eventually after another few days in there I was allowed back to their farmhouse. I had to sit my exams on my own, since I had missed them, but I managed okay. June passed too quickly. Nathan was leaving in July to set up for university. We had been spending as much time as we could together, mostly late nights when his family was asleep. He would teleport over to me and we would hug and kiss, talking and laughing for a few hours.
The start of July saw us sitting one night in the barn discussing what would happen later that year.
“After a few months, I will be back to rescue you. When October hits, we will go on the run. I will have money and I have a plan for us. You need to trust me though. I cannot tell you the plan, but I will be back for you.”
He kissed me, and lay down with me in the tent. His fingers stroked my face softly and he ran his fingers through my hair. “Jas, I love you.” His lips met my own again and his tongue slipped inside my mouth. I wrapped my arms around his back pulling him down to me and we made out for a while. He pulled back, licked his lips and kissed my forehead, before he tucked me under his arms, “sleep now, baby.” He snuggled in with me and held me tight until I fell asleep.
That was our last night together, but he never said it and in the morning I reached out for him, finding his spot empty, I was alone and I knew he was gone. He had left me without even a proper goodbye. As tears stung my eyes I tried to reach out to him, but I couldn’t. There was a distance between us and when I tried again, just wanting to speak to him in my mind, I met a wall. He had closed me off, leaving me without him completely, broke my heart. I missed him almost straight away and when he didn’t speak to me again for over three months my hurt and anger at him consumed me
I couldn’t believe it was October already. Where had the year gone? What would happen now? Nate had said he had a plan to get us away from his family safely, but I hadn’t spoken to him since that morning in July. He had completely closed me off and anytime he visited home, he made sure I was gone before he arrived and that he
was gone before I got back. One day in mid September I saw him, but as I rushed to try and speak to him a force pushed me away from him and my heart thudded painfully as he looked through me, before getting into his car and driving away without a backwards glance.
October was the dreaded month, the month I was to die unless we could find a way out. I hated being there without him, and not speaking to him was unbearable. I missed him so much and couldn’t wait for him to come home.
In twenty-seven days, Nathan’s family were due to arrive and then it was bye-bye time for me. I jumped as a voice sounded behind me, but it was just Nick checking that I was working and not skiving. That would have been bad, very bad indeed. The last beating I took was in July, so bad I wasn’t allowed to leave the house for four weeks, until the bruises had faded.
Nick watched me so I figured I better stop thinking about things like that, or I’d get into trouble. He just stood there watching me for ten minutes, and then he walked over and whispered in my ear. “Not long left now,” and with that, he hit me, catching me right in the centre of my chest. I dropped the vase I held, but it just bounced on the carpet, making such a loud banging noise that his father came in to investigate.
Mr Stevenson just looked at me once, turned to his son, and asked him what happened. Nick looked towards me and said in an even voice, “I don’t know. I turned to leave and she dropped the vase on purpose. I saw her from the corner of my eye.”
Mr Stevenson turned to look at me and said in his most threatening voice, “If you make any noise again, you’ll be beaten with the belt and left in the barn until you learn your lesson.” I just nodded along; I knew if I didn’t, I would be beaten worse. Inside, all I felt was chagrin.
Both of them turned to leave, but Nick winked at me, making me think that his torture wasn’t over. I was unsure how much more I could take before I snapped back.
Going back to cleaning, my hands shook so hard and I felt so alone. Since Nate left, his visits had gotten fewer and fewer until, after the time I spotted him, he stopped visiting completely. I missed him like crazy, but I knew he didn’t miss me. If he had, he never would have left me like this. I could feel the tears coming and since I couldn’t stop them, I sat on the floor and broke down completely. I cried over missing him, loving him, being afraid of what would happen, and whether we were actually going to escape.
After a few minutes, I felt his arms go around me as he whispered, “Please don’t cry. We are leaving in a week. I promise. I love you and I miss you too. I have to go. Be safe please.” He pressed one kiss to my head then disappeared so quickly I wondered if I imagined the visit. I realised after a few minutes that I couldn’t have. I had felt him press a note into my back pocket and I could smell him on my skin.
I smiled and continued working until well after dark, when my arms ached and my back hurt with all the effort. Sometimes I felt like Cinderella and the thought made me laugh, which I instantly regretted when I saw Mr Stevenson standing over me with a look of pure rage on his face. He just glared at me and then hit me with the belt, again and again, until I lost consciousness.
I awoke in agony a few hours later and found Nate once again by my side, in the barn. I tried to ask him what he was doing home, but he firmly placed his hand over my mouth. “You are not awake, but if you speak, they will hear you. Listen to me please. I know how hurt you are and I am sorry. I needed to get you out of the house so I could visit again. If they knew I was here, I think they would kill me as well.” I asked him through my thoughts how he was here and his answer shocked me. He just looked at me and murmured, “The same way I’ve been here every night since I went to university. I have been teleporting myself into your head when you sleep. I wanted so much to talk to you and on some levels, I have. I have missed you being awake. I miss holding you so much.”
The next minute I felt Mr Stevenson and Nick shaking me. They made me get up and walk into the house. I heard Nate saying goodbye in my head and that was the last time I saw him until he actually came to get me.
The next few days passed very slowly. I was in so much pain and moved much slower at cleaning than normal, so much so that Jenny had been assigned to help after she finished school. I could tell she was not amused but, in light of her father’s mood, she didn’t dare argue. She realised that they were supposed to keep me happy; my soul would have been brighter if I was happier. When she got home on the first day, I was in the kitchen with the entire cutlery set out.
I had been instructed to clean it all for the feast on the thirtieth, the prelude to the feasting on the humans on the thirty-first. It was a long, tiring job and I had been at it all day, my arms moving that much slower. Jenny came in to see what I was doing.
“Goddamn it, you’ve been doing that all day. What the hell is wrong with you? Why haven’t you gotten more done?” I just looked at her, but then went back to what I was doing. I felt a whack across the back of my head. My head spun. Trying to get back up, I was pushed down. I tried to speak, but I was hit in the mouth. I fell flat on the ground and managed to roll over onto my side, as I became violently sick. I realised after that it was all over the cutlery I had spent all day cleaning, and Jenny was there still watching me.
The next moment, her mum walked through the door. She just looked at the mess and said, “Well, you are going to have to finish this job and until you do, there will be no sleep or food for you. Now clean up this mess!” I just looked at her and thought about how awful my life had become. If I thought it was bad before, it had become a whole lot worse, at least before Nathan was around to help cheer me up
I had to spend the whole night cleaning and by the next morning, I was completely exhausted. The day from hell was hardly over. They kept me busy, cleaning the wooden hall floors first, then the banisters and bedrooms. I finally had a lunch break, but it was nothing more than a piece of toast, which left my stomach growling for more. I couldn’t remember the last time I had some proper food to eat.
Jenny came in from school at four thirty, only to torment me, instead of help me. I was cleaning Nate’s room and I could smell him on the covers and pillow when I changed the bedding. I was so sad being in here without him that it was taking longer than necessary to clean. Jenny quickly realised this. She whispered, “Missing him, are we? Why haven’t you finished in here yet? He’s not here, you know. He doesn’t even care about you. Why don’t you just drop dead? Oh yeah, I forgot. You will just as soon as the thirty first comes.” I just looked at her instead of answering her, and in response, I got a kick in the teeth.
My mouth gushed blood and I ran into the nearest bathroom and spat out the blood from my mouth. I felt a little sick so I drank some water from the faucet and waited a few more minutes to make sure my mouth stopped bleeding. When I was sure it had, I rinsed my face under the cold water. As I was about to return to the room, I could sense Mr Stevenson in Nate’s room, and could hear him very clearly ask Jenny why there was a trail of blood on the cream carpet.
She just shrugged as I walked back in the door with a wad of toilet paper in my mouth to keep the bleeding at bay. Mr Stevenson just spun around and looked at me, “Well, I think you are going to have to clean this carpet until the blood is gone. Then when you have finished that, move out into the hall and redo the floor all the way up this level.”
At this point, I could feel my spirit snap. I was exhausted, in copious amounts of pain, and famished, but I was not allowed to stop working. I cleaned the floor in his room and finally got the blood out at twenty minutes to twelve that night.
When I finished, I went down to the sitting room to tell Mrs Stevenson that I was done. Mr Stevenson was nowhere in sight and I wondered where he was until the next second, when I felt my knees being knocked away from me. I half-turned around and saw him standing there with the look of pure rage. I knew what was coming. He grabbed me by the hair and dragged me out of the house into the rain. He then started to hit me and I had no idea why, but when I slipped under for a few minutes,
it felt like relief. I came to after a short time and I knew he was saying something to me but in my sleep deprived, painful state I missed what it was.
That was a mistake. The barn was freezing cold; the October wind bit but I didn’t feel a thing. I only realised just how cold I was when I heard the footsteps coming into the barn early the next morning.
Mr Stevenson came into the barn at six the next morning with the local doctor, who also happened to be demon and asked him what he could do to fix me. His answer was simply, “Bed rest, fluids, and a bath would help.” I was only half-listening as I could hear Nate more clearly. I heard Mr Stevenson ask the doctor if I could stay in the barn with a heater and the doctor agreed, but also suggested that they give me a thicker sleeping bag as the weather was to drop to minus five, making it the coldest October on record.
I waited until they were gone before allowing myself to ask Nate to repeat what he said. He told me to keep focused and that, in a few more days, we would be out of their lives forever. I wanted to ask him what he meant, but the barn door thudded open, making me jump as Jenny and Nick barged in with a look of the utmost contempt on their faces. They said nothing as they dragged me up and into the house.
Nate asked me what was going on and I told him I had no idea at all, as it got stranger by the minute. He sounded worried but assured me that there was no way they could have figured out what was going on. We got into the house and I was taken into the downstairs bathroom and thrown down unceremoniously, landing on the floor in a heap.
The next minute Nick left and the doctor came into see me. He looked unpityingly at me and instructed Jenny that she would have to sit with me while I was in the bath. I would definitely not stay above the water in the state I was in. Jenny again gave me that look of deepest loathing, as if she wished me a slow and painful death. Then she smiled as she dumped me in the roasting hot bath fully clothed. I almost slipped out of consciousness again as my skin flamed.
Ignition (Escaping Demons Saga Book 2) Page 13