Her answer shocked me more than anything, almost opening my eyes as she told him, “Yeah, I did, but she’s on her own. I think he’s left her. She cried all the way here and she looks so sad.”
I couldn’t believe she’d betrayed me like that. When I went to sit and let my eyes creep open, I felt myself being beaten and heard a snapping sound so loud that it echoed through the dark, damp room. As I went unconscious again, I felt Nathan, but I was sure that I was mistaken; he had left me. Waking up much later, I was in a different room, dark brown with no furniture in it, except a hard-backed chair.
While I looked around and tried to catch up with what was happening, he stood over me. I jumped up in terror. His face was one I had seen before. He had a face like the bark of a tree, eyes black as night and his hands were like claws. He was there Halloween I found out about the horrors of life with demons.
He questioned me for what felt like hours, asking me the same questions, “Where’s Nathan?” I didn’t answer and he growled, his fist flying into my mouth. I heard the crack of my teeth, but I couldn’t feel it. I still didn’t speak, just shook my head at him, spitting some blood out of my mouth.
“Where is my cousin?” His voice was getting angrier and this time he kicked me full force in the stomach. I grunted, but didn’t answer and he grabbed my hair, yanking my head back as he punched me on the cheek, “I’m gonna try this again, Where is Nathan?”
I still wouldn’t answer and the beating went on for ages. Starting to fight back, I kicked out at him, eventually connecting with his knee. He walloped me in the stomach and then began beating me again. Finally, he stopped, walked out, slamming the door so hard the wall shuddered. I slumped down, exhausted. I realised that it was a deadly situation, but I refused to be killed. I tried to figure out a way out of there.
Jumping in fright when I heard Nate speaking to me, “Jas, you have got to get yourself out of there. Now! I can’t get to you, but you have some of my transportation powers. Use them with yours and try to come to me!”
Closing my eyes and concentrating as much as I could on getting to him, I again slipped under and when I awoke once more, I was not alone. It must have been about three o’clock in the morning and I felt thirsty and sore. My lip hurt but my arm was killing me, throbbing and aching. I gingerly tried to move it, but it was broken again.
I noticed Gwen watching me. She was supposed to be my friend. She looked at me with disgust in her eyes and told me she was planted in the home to keep an eye on me.
“The elders realised you were being bullied and were unhappy. They worried about you running away, so they planted me in there and told me to be your friend. I missed my mum and dad terribly. I was separated from my family for so long, two years in fact, and I will never, ever forgive you for that.”
She then walked over to me, gripped my hair, and slapped me across the face. I felt so angry I could scream. I felt a rage building in me, like a fire I had never felt before. My family were dead or missing because of her precious demons. The love of my life had left me because I was a danger to him. Everyone I had ever trusted had betrayed me, yet there she stood bitching and moaning about her life. She got up, walked out, and locked the door.
Fuming for a few minutes, I abruptly felt like I had been wrenched away. I was free of the chains. I grabbed my bag, sitting on the floor beside me, and allowed myself to be overcome with rage. A moment later, I stood in a strange unfamiliar room, looking at a stunned Nate. The last thing I saw before I collapsed onto the floor in a heap.
Feeling him working over me and hearing other voices I didn’t recognise made me uneasy and I started shaking before sinking back into the warmth of the blackness. The next time I was able to wake, I managed to open my eyes even though they felt sore and swollen. My arm was stiff and sore, but surprisingly not broken. I looked beside me and saw Nate, completely exhausted. He just glared at me without saying anything and I didn’t know what to say. Then the tirade started.
“I thought I asked you to take care of yourself. Look at you. I almost lost you again. We’re leaving in an hour. I booked something to take us away. I managed to get your passport. Alan almost caught me, but I managed to get away. My parents are here in this city now. Jas, what were you thinking? How did you not know she was the daughter of demons? She was at my parents’ house that Halloween.”
I couldn’t speak yet. My voice was lost. I was hurt and angry that he thought I would intentionally put myself in danger. I felt as if he had just punched me in the gut. The tears filled my eyes and I turned my head away so he wouldn’t see me cry. He got up and I heard the door close. I sobbed so hard it hurt, but I had pushed my face into a pillow so no one could hear my tears. Nathan walked over to the bed, climbing in beside me and pulling me into his arms. “I’m sorry, baby. I know it wasn’t your fault, but I almost lost you. I know it was my fault. I should never have left you alone. Please forgive me.”
I was still too upset to speak and as he hugged me, I broke down further. I couldn’t tell him why yet; there would be time for that when we got where we were going. I looked at him and asked if I could go for a shower. He surprised me, saying, “No, I’ll help you get washed.”
It wasn’t until we stood in the bathroom, in front of a mirror, I understood why I couldn’t go for a shower. My face was swollen, bruised, and puffy from crying. I looked at him in horror and he understood my terror. He reassured me that no one would see what my real face looked like; they would only see the illusion he had created. I got dressed into a polo neck and jeans, slowly and painfully needing his help.
“Your arm was broken. You had a broken jaw and rib, but when you got here, we managed to mend the breaks. We can’t cure the bruises or the stiffness. They will heal on their own, but the bruises at the breaks will take longer than normal bruises.”
He helped me pull on my polo neck and we walked out of the room slowly together. He gave my hand a gentle squeeze, leaning down to kiss my head. “I love you,” he whispered as we walked out of the room holding hands.
We left the place we were staying at seven in the morning and I wondered how long we had been there. Looking around, I could see a familiar part of Glasgow. We had spent the night in a flat just next to Buchannan Street and we walked to the top of the town. Nate didn’t speak to me, just occasionally glanced sideways as I winced, feeling the pain shooting through me over and over again. Feeling exhausted, Nate assured me that we would sleep.
The pain in my chest increased as we walked and I could feel that we were in immense danger. I saw him look up tense and agitated, but he kept a firm hold of my hand as we walked casually by Nick and Leanne, who were looking straight through us as if they couldn’t see us at all. I felt myself shake and then jumped suddenly as Nate reprimanded me. As we got by them, Nate kept looking back and said to me in a stern voice, “Jas, baby, we gotta move. They are all here. I can hear them. If they catch us, they will kill us.”
I just nodded along as our walking picked up speed and I could feel the fear leak through. We got to the Thistle Hotel at the very top of town, meeting the transport, along with Joe and Lisa. I panicked as I spotted them, pulling on Nathan’s hand. He turned around and looked at me, as I backed away, pulling him with me. He followed my gaze and his eyes softened, as he understood what scared me.
“It’s okay, Jas. They escaped too and are coming with us. They were in the apartment with us and helped me heal you. It’s okay, baby. Don’t worry.”
I was still shaking a little as we walked towards them, but Nathan and Joe shook hands and Lisa smiled tentatively at me, before walking onto the bus.
“It’s good to see you awake again, Hun.”
Nate left me standing alone as he loaded our bags onto the bus and we boarded. He paid the driver for all four of us and we followed Joe and Lisa, finding a seat at the back of the bus. The bus wasn’t busy, but if felt more dangerous. As I tried to hold it together, Nate put his arm around me, quietly whispering in my ear. “You have
to keep it together for just a little while longer. Okay?”
I buried my face into his chest and tried to breathe in through the panic. His hold tightened unexpectedly as though he expected danger. He was seated nearest the aisle and a ‘police officer’ climbed aboard the bus, spoke with the driver, and moved slowly to look at all the passengers.
His face was hideous — grey in colour with eyes a vivid green and skin that looked rough and jagged. I felt myself shaking with fear, but he looked right through us and stopped at the row in front of us. A girl with dark hair slept in the seat and we both gasped in horror as he grabbed the sleeping girl by the hair, dragging her face back to look at it.
He then grabbed both of the passengers directly in front of us, helped by an unsuspecting human colleague, and pulled them off the bus. As he passed the driver, he nodded, giving the signal that we could go.
I wondered why the humans couldn’t see him for what he was, but we could. “I put a charm on us so we can see demons, but they can’t see us at all. It will last until sundown and should hopefully keep us out of sight.”
I shook again so hard I felt like my teeth would to break, but I made myself relax and allowed myself to fall asleep. The relief of unconsciousness lasted only minutes and then I was awake again. Nate pulled me out. “They can sense you if you are unconscious. We need to stay awake for now while I set protection around our unconscious minds. Can u do that? I have to concentrate hard to make sure this works. Please try to stay calm.”
I nodded at him and looked out of the window at the exact same moment he did. We both saw his father looking enraged and yelling something at Nick. Nathan looked at me, walls completely down, and for the very first time, I could see just how much this hurt him. I felt so bad. This was entirely my fault, but at that thought, Nate squeezed my hand to reassure me and began again to concentrate.
An hour later, as we passed through the washed out, green, Scottish countryside, he looked sideways at me. “Sleep, honey. I have put as much protection around us as I was able. So you can go to sleep. Okay?” I looked up at him from where I lay on his chest and kissed him, working my way up to his lips. He kissed me back, followed by him saying, “I love you so much! None of what happened is your fault. We shouldn’t exist.” I could feel the tears building and I closed my eyes. I felt him tense as he saw the images my mind brought up. He held me tight, allowing me to finally fall asleep, but not before thinking if we could survive this, it would be more than a miracle.
I slept for a few hours. As I awoke, he was asleep. All the pain, worry, and angst gone from his expression, and he looked so innocent. I needed this Nathan back, somehow I had to protect us. I was through with him protecting me. I knew I had powers and it was time to start using them. His skin was smooth as I moved my hand up, touching his face and kissing him softly before turning to look around. The countryside rushed by and I wondered where we were going. I heard Joe speaking in a low urgent voice behind me and I wondered why they sounded tense. I wanted to look around, but I stopped myself. I wondered if Nate’s life would have been better if I had never entered it.
“Babe, stop being ridiculous. I love you more than my own life and if you hadn’t come along, my life would be worthless. I would be a soul-sucking monster with no conscience. You are my world and I don’t need anything but you to feel complete.”
Smiling over at him, I couldn’t think of anything to say to that statement. Instead, I asked him where we were going. “Ireland!” he answered simply. I didn’t understand the reluctance in his features. I could tell he had realised that I was puzzled. He nodded across the aisle, his eyes tight and mouth in a small line. Following his line of sight, I noticed the demon on the bus for the first time. His skin was dark brown with green running through it. His eyes were purple and he looked right at us. I asked Nathan in a whisper, if he could see or hear us. He assured me that he couldn’t because of the protection charms, but it wasn’t a good idea to talk about or plans aloud. I still didn’t feel safe at all and at this moment, I wondered if I ever would.
We reached the ferry port soon after and jumped off the bus. We then boarded a massive boat. Once aboard, we found so many demons on the boat, stunning Nathan.
“You and Lisa can’t leave our sides. If you have to go to the bathroom, go together. Don’t… just stay with us please.”
Watching him, we agreed; his expression and tone scared me. As we went to get food, I noticed that he had a new bag. The bag was inconspicuous but as he opened it up when Joe and Lisa walked away, I noticed it was full of cash.
“What on Earth do you need that for?”
“Later!” he hissed at me, his face tensing as he put his hand on my back and gently pushed me towards the food. When we paid for the food, we left the warmth of the boat going outside, onto the top deck. The January sky looked grey, almost black, it was raining and freezing cold. We were all alone outside with no one around. The boat rocked as Nathan finally decided to fill in some holes. I could barely hear him over the roaring wind.
“We are going to Donegal and are going to hide out there for a while. The bag has eleven thousand pounds in it, all the money I had saved up. I was supposed to use it for university but I saved it for running away ever since I realised I loved you and wanted to save you. I knew it would come to running away and hiding.”
The boat journey seemed to take an age. The sea was choppy and the rain bounced. Eventually, we reached Larne and got back on the bus to Donegal. The bus was warm and cosy, but I looked around and noticed a demon couple sitting on the red seats, three rows away from us.
On the bus, we felt on edge as we could see the demon couple look around. The man texting on his phone had us all exchanging looks of panic. After a few hours on the bus, we finally arrived in Letterkenny where we left the main bus and went onto a mini bus. Thankfully, it was only our group and another two mortals.
The bus driver, Charlie, was a good natured, happy guy who made us laugh with his witty comments and jokes. As he drove, he questioned us on where we were going to be staying. The other people, a man and his son, ages about forty-five and sixteen were visiting family and would be staying with them.
“So where you all staying then?” Charlie asked us, looking around at the four of us and smiling.
“We’ll sir, we’re on a gap year from university and one of my friends was from here, and he suggested we should visit so here we are.” His tone was bright, but his hand had tensed in mine as he spoke. I stroked the inside of his thumb and he shuddered. .
“How long are you over?” he probed and Nathan shifted slightly in his seat, the only sign he was uncomfortable with this line of conversation.
“Probably a couple of months. We plan on staying here till May or June and then head to Dublin before flying to Spain for the summer.”
“Ah, that sounds grand.”
The rest of the journey passed in relative silence and we didn’t look at each other; we all felt slightly awkward and on edge with worry. As we reached the diamond in Donegal Town, the driver spoke in a low voice to Nate.
“My sis has a wee cottage not far from here that she lets out during the winter months. I don’t think she got someone this year. It’s probably sitting empty if you’re interested. I can text her and ask.”
“That would be amazing. Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet. I haven’t got it for you yet,” he answered as he texted his sister.
Nathan looked around at me, hope lighting up his features. He looked at Joe who nodded and Lisa was smiling, as the bus driver walked back over.
“It is free and would be fifteen hundred pounds from now until May. If you stay until June, it’s another five hundred. You would need to pay from now until May in advance.”
“No problem,” Nathan answered with a smile in his voice. “How do we get there?”
“Sure, I’ll take you over now. Get back on the bus.” Charlie answered, looking around us. Our faces paled, but we all nodded, gett
ing on the bus and strapping ourselves in. We all worried again. This could have been a trap and we had no way of knowing for sure that it wasn’t. We just had to trust Charlie and pray that he wouldn’t betray us. Looking out of the window, we arrived after thirty minutes in a small village called Inver. As he drove closer to the beach, we relaxed and as we reached the row of houses facing the sea, he pulled over. “My sis lives in the first one. I will take you in now to meet her and you will need to pay her for the cottage. It’s the second one in and runs on a one euro meter, which you’ll need to top up to get electricity and gas for the house.”
As we walked towards her house, I saw something flicker in the field behind, but I shook it off, thinking it was just another worry manifesting. I saw Lisa looking at me with wide eyes as though she had seen something as well.
After twenty minutes, a cup of tea, and some soda bread, we were finally given the key for the house. As we crossed the threshold, Nathan put down a line of salt, thyme, rosemary, and some rose petals, with stones marked with the runes for protection and safekeeping. As they sunk into the ground at the front door, he walked into the lounge doing the same on the window and repeated the protective enchantments at every door and window of the house.
As we walked around the house, the furnishings were old-fashioned, but more than adequate for our needs. There were two bedrooms, one facing the sea, with a double bed and a single. The other room had just a double bed and a wardrobe. We sat downstairs drinking tea while warming up on the sofa. It was so nice to have a home that was furnished, warm, and felt safe, although safety was a relative term. It only lasted a few months before the war and battles started again.
After a few weeks in the house, we planned our next move which involved a lot of going in circles. For me having Nate trying to shield me from decisions was difficult. He’d always been honest with me and to have myself sidelined as he discussed things with Joe annoyed me. It became unbearable in the house and all I wanted was to escape. I was frustrated with Nathan, angry that he was sidelining me and hurt that he couldn’t see how much I was suffering being stuck in the house.
Ignition (Escaping Demons Saga Book 2) Page 16