Poison

by Dejana Vuletic

  “Come now, Christopher, don’t be so naïve,” Balthazar said as he shook his head. “We know she’s one of them. You know who we are, don’t you?”

  “Yes, I do, but that has nothing to do with—”

  “With the fact that we suspect your daughter is one of them?” Matthias finished. “We know she is. Just wait. She’ll show all the signs as she grows up.”

  I felt my patience growing thin. “That’s enough!” I shouted.

  “We mean her no harm,” Cicero said innocently.

  “At least not yet,” Balthazar finished with a sneer. “We’ll be back for her. But be careful what you choose to tell her. Her life will be hard enough even if you do keep this from her. Raphael,” he called to the sky. Raphael appeared beside them seconds later. “It’s time we got going. Just remember, Desdemona, you can’t change what is. You can wish things were different, but that won’t change the way things are.”

  I scowled as I felt the rage begin to spill over and I rushed at them.

  “Goodbye, Desdemona,” they all said in unison, and seconds before Yamikage’s blade hit Balthazar’s throat, the four of them vanished into the darkened sky.

  “Damn it!” I shouted as I felt the darkness leave my eyes. Yamikage shrunk back into Akarusa, and I opened the dimension and shoved her inside. “Chris,” I called.

  Chris walked up to me and clutched my hand tightly.

  “It’s going to be okay, Dessa. We’re going to protect her,” he said determinedly.

  “But how? We only have so much time left,” I argued as I felt tears coming to my eyes.

  “We’ll do the best that we can, Dessa,” he promised. “She’s our daughter, and I’m not going to let anything happen to her.” He touched my stomach gently, and we both felt her kick in response to Chris’ voice.

  I smiled bleakly and embraced him.

  “It’s not fair,” I murmured into his chest.

  “I know, darling,” he crooned softly. “I know. We’ll do everything we can. I won't let any of them lay a hand on her. I promise. Everything’s going to be all right.”

  “For the baby’s sake, I really hope you’re right,” I said, and the blue haze began to disappear as time continued on its natural course. The seconds continued passing by like the grains of sand in an hourglass, counting down to my daughter’s inevitable fate.

  About The Author

  Dejana Vuletić is a college student at the Ohio State University majoring in American and Ancient History/Mythology and minoring in Music. She has been writing poetry, novels, and short stories since she was thirteen years old. Poison: A Novel is her first published work. For two years in high school, she held the position of Drum Major of her high school band, and she grew up in Hopewell Township, Pennsylvania, where her novel was set. She has won several awards and been accepted into numerous honors societies, including Alpha Lambda Delta Phi Eta Sigma, the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, and Phi Sigma Theta. She now lives in Columbus, Ohio with her roommate Elizabeth, and is currently working on her other novels: Possession, Cobra's Chain, and Hellfire.