by Sandra Love
She opened her eyes and another tear rolled down her cheek. “Cam, please don’t die. We just found each other. I will save us, and save Ithaca. We will be together in the end. We just need to be strong. Look what happened to me: I endured getting beat and bullied. We can do this; we can win this battle. Don’t give up, you hear me? Because I will not have that. I will stay strong, but promise me you will, too. For us, Cam, for us.”
I pressed my forehead to hers and inhaled. She was the strongest person I knew. I had to do this for her. “Delia, I will; for you, for us, for our future. You are my light at the end of the tunnel. You are my sun on a rainy day. You’re my universe. When you are around me no one and nothing else matters. Just remember: whatever happens, I will always be with you, my sweet Delia.”
I couldn’t hold back my tears, so I didn’t. I let it all go. My fears, my worries, all of it. I shook my head at my weakness. I was in the arms of the girl I loved and I was crying like a little baby. I want to be stronger. I want to be, but seeing the sadness in my girl’s eyes is too much for me. I want a future with her, but it doesn’t look good right now.
“I love you so much, Cam. I’m sorry for what my family has done to you. I promise, I will make it up to you.”
I put my finger up to shush her and leaned in. Our lips crushed together as she wrapped her arms around my neck. As she deepened the kiss, I ran my fingers into her beautiful, long hair. I didn’t want the moment to end… ever. Then she stopped and pressed her forehead against mine.
“Do we have to end this dream? Can we just stay here forever?”
“Yes, but for right now just lay with me and hold me.”
I nodded, happy for our private moment. I held her in my arms and inhaled the scent of vanilla and lavender. I loved that scent and would always think of my angel when I smelled it. As we lay there, Delia held up her hand to form half of a heart. I did the same and connected my hand with hers to complete the heart. Two become one—just like us. She giggled at our antics and I looked down at her smiling face.
But something’s wrong. She was beginning to fade. I moved my hand to touch her face, but I connected with only air as she disappeared.
“No!” I screamed as I jumped up. I heard my name being called, but I didn’t move my eyes from the spot where my love had been. “Delia, don’t leave me! Please come back!”
As I felt someone begin to shake me, the rest of the image began to fade and I knew I was about to wake up.
“Cameron. Please, Cameron, wake up.” My eyes popped open to see a beautiful girl above me. She looked familiar, but I couldn’t place her in my memories. Why did she look like someone I knew? She had the longest brown hair, the bluest eyes… but she was filthy and covered in blood.
“Do I know you?”
“Yes, Cam, you do. I’m Bridget. I was best friends with Kaleigh until my mom told me to stay away from her because she became a fallen angel.”
I moved away from her, annoyed at her words. “Oh yeah, I remember you. You hurt my sister almost as bad as Kale did.”
She hung her head and looked ashamed. “I feel awful for what I did to your sister. She was like a sister to me, too. I will never forgive myself for what I did to her.”
I shouldn’t be mad at her, because all of that was in the past, but my sister came first and Bridget hurt her so my brotherly protectiveness reared its head. “How did you end up here?”
“Kale and some redheaded girl ambushed my house. They killed my brother in front of me. They took a dagger to his back and sliced him like he was a piece of meat. I begged for them to not kill me. The redheaded bitch must be a witch because she sent me flying through a window. I got all cut up from the broken glass. I blacked out from the impact and woke up here. I’ve been attending to my cuts with the leaves that are growing in through the window. They must have medicine in them, because once I put them on my cuts the pain went away.
I looked at the leaves and realized it was houseleek. It soothed and had healing qualities. My mother taught Kaleigh and I about different plants and herbs and what qualities they have. It was in case we were somewhere a healer was not. I walked closer to the branches and pulled some off.
I handed them to Bridget and took off my shirt. I heard her gasp as my wounds were revealed. “Can you please attend to my cut?”
“What happened to you?”
“Do you remember Dean Cassen?” She nodded her head. “Well, he lied to his wife, Amelia, about their baby. He told everyone that she died at birth, but that was a lie. Their daughter, Cordelia, went to live with his brother. He was a piece of work. When I am done here, I will be paying him a visit. Apparently, my parents knew his plan and they lied to everyone as well. But that’s a different story for another day. Amelia found out that Cordelia was alive, so now she wants her dead so she can attain all her powers because she’s half angel and half witch. She and Kale went to get her and now she is here somewhere tied to a table to be sacrificed.”
“You mean the prophet? Is Cordelia who the prophet speaks of?”
“Yes, she is. Amelia stabbed me and that’s all I remember. Now, can you help me? I need to find out how to get out of the cell and save Cordelia.”
“Turn please. So, you love Cordelia?”
I turned slightly to look at her. “Yes, I do; very much so. I need to get to her. “
She finished dressing my back with the medicinal leaves. They stung, but seconds later, it soothed all the pain. “This will stop the bleeding, but you need to be careful; the cuts can open back up.”
“Thanks, Bridget. Now, promise me when we get out of this hell hole you will apologize to my sister. Kale betrayed her and she could use someone to help her get through this. I think all of this will destroy her. She watched Amelia stab me, so I don’t know what she is thinking. But I can tell you this: I bet she wants revenge on Kale. That redheaded bitch you mentioned? Her name is Anna; she was my first charge. She betrayed me in a way and I want revenge.”
“Wait a minute, I thought Anna died. That was the rumor, anyway.”
“No, she didn’t. She faked her death at Amelia’s request. That’s how she betrayed me. She broke my heart, all because that bitch told her to.”
“That is messed up, Cam,” Bridget said with a sneer.
I nodded and started pacing the floor. “I thought I loved Anna, but I was wrong. I didn’t know what love was before I met Cordelia.” I stopped and looked at Bridget, remembering all of the days that had passed since I met Delia. “You have no idea what I put her through. I was so mean to her.” The day I bullied her still killed me. I hated myself for ever participating in that. “But you know what? She forgave me. Even after the harsh things I said to her, she forgave me. She’s my heart and soul, Bridget. I don’t think I could go on without her.” I slid to the floor and started to cry. “I made a vow to keep her safe, but I failed. I let her down, and now she’s going to die because of me.”
As I covered my eyes with my hands, I felt Bridget sit beside me and wrap her arms around me. “I believe you love her, Cameron. I will help you save her. I lost both my best friend and my brother. I have nothing to live for, so I will fight this to the death.” I looked over at her and she smiled slightly, an evil gleam in her eye. “And I’ll take that Anna bitch with me…”
I was glad to have someone on my side. “Now, let’s figure out how to get out of here so we can save your girl.”
Chapter Five
Kaleigh
Gabe squeezed my hand as we continued to walk. “Kay, I’m sorry for what Kale did to you. I hope you know I am nothing like him.”
His comment caught me off guard. On the one hand, I didn’t know he was not going to hurt me like his cousin did, because I didn’t know him. But on the other hand, something inside of me was telling me to trust him. “I know, Gabe. He just hurt me so bad; he broke my heart. It’s hard to not think about the good times we had together. He did treat me good at one point.”
“You’re a good person
and a beautiful girl, Kay. You will find Mr. Right one day. Maybe even sooner than you think,” he said with a wink. I rolled my eyes at his flirtations. “Actually, no I won’t. I’m cursed, Gabe.”
We stopped walking and he turned to me and put a hand on my cheek. I closed my eyes. His touch was electrifying. My heart sped up; I could hear it pounding in my ears. His touch was different from Kale’s. I never felt like this with him. “Kay,” he began affectionately, “you are the most beautiful loving girl I know. Even though we just met, I know you have a good heart and any man would be lucky to have you. Kale was a moron to let you go. I don’t care if you’re cursed. I want you to be happy and I believe I can make you happy. So why not be happy with me?”
I sighed and opened my eyes. “Gabe, we just met. What if you hate me in a week? What if you die because we are together? I can’t risk that. My parents are dead, my brother is probably dead now… I can’t, Gabe. I just can’t.”
With that statement, he slammed his lips onto mine. He wrapped his strong arms around me, deepening the kiss. It felt like the world stopped spinning as I put my hands into his hair and pulled him closer to me. I didn’t want this moment to end, but it did and he pulled away slightly to look down at my face.
“That. Was. Amazing,” he said, enunciating each word.
We were still breathing hard from the passionate kiss, but a slight sadness washed over me. “Please don’t hurt me, Gabe. I can’t take any more pain.”
“I have no plans to hurt you. Kale—yes. But not you.”
Before I could respond, I heard something in the bushes behind us. I put my fingers up to my lips to shush Gabe. In the blink of an eye, one of Amelia’s creatures jumped out of the bush and grabbed Gabe. I was terrified. I thought I was about to lose the boy I had just kissed. I couldn’t let that happen.
The creature was more horrendous up close. The skin looked like it had scales and was pale green. It made me sick to my stomach as I surveyed the face. It was sagging like it was falling off the bones. The eyes sunk in the head like it hadn’t eaten in months. There was something growing out of its back. When I squinted my eyes to get a better look, I knew it was a stone wing; cracked and broken. It made me think of a stone gargoyle. The eyes were bright red. They reminded me of Zane, but this was no vampire. This creature was worse than a vampire. Looking past the disgusting, rotting features, I tried to imagine what the person had looked like before Amelia had turned it into this monster. It looked familiar to me. It was obvious that it was an older female; maybe about age 52, or so. Her grey hair was matted and falling out in several places, but it looked like it was beautiful and full at one point. Her sagging lips, which were almost non-existent now, held a hint of bright pink lipstick. As I saw the birthmark above her lips, the truth hit me. I knew this “woman” because I had rented a house from her. This was the woman who owned the home where Cameron and I had lived in Georgia.
“No! Please, don’t hurt him.”
“Hungry,” she said in a zombie-like state. “So hungry….Must kill for Amelia.”
After she spoke those words, she sunk her yellow teeth into Gabe’s shoulder. He cried out in pain and I jumped to protect him. I raised my hand and shot out a lightning bolt toward the creature, surprising me. She dropped Gabe and started to shake. Foam poured out of her mouth. She fell to the ground and continued to shake until she died. I ran over to Gabe. I helped take off his shirt so I could look at the bite. The creature took a big chunk out of his shoulder. He was bleeding, so badly that I wasn’t sure I’d be able to stop it. I pressed his shirt against the wound to stem the blood flow. I expected Gabe to cry out in pain, and when he didn’t I looked into his face and realized they were closed.
“Gabe, look at me,” I begged. I looked at his chest and breathed a small sigh of relief when I saw it move up and down. But it wasn’t moving fast enough. “Please, you can’t die! Please wake up.”
Why isn’t he waking up? Please don’t take him away from me, I prayed. “Gabe,” I pleaded, “please wake up. Just think about our kiss. Hold onto that and come back to me.” I cried as I saw his breathing stop completely. “No! Gabe, please!” This couldn’t be happening again! It was just like when my parents died. As I held Gabe’s still body, I cried. The memory of the last time I saw my mother came to the forefront of my mind, causing me to cry harder. I buried my face in Gabe’s hair and relived the pain all over again.
I walked into the courthouse with my parents and Cameron. It was a big day for our family. My mother and father broke the law of the coven, so today was the day they received their punishment. I was holding onto my mother’s hand, scared of what was about to happen. I had a bad feeling that it was going to be a negative outcome. While Cameron only thought our parents did something wrong to The Old Ones, I knew the truth. I knew they hid a very big secret from The Old Ones. I only knew the truth because I overheard my parents talking. I really wish I could take that back and not know anything.
I looked at my sweet little brother, who knew nothing of what was about to happen. I vowed that day to keep it that way. He didn’t need to know the truth and ruin the image of our parents. He looked up at our father, and I followed suit. Our father was a source of power and his looks matched that presence. His black hair was slicked back, always styled to perfection. His clear blue eyes peered down at us with love, and I had to force myself to hold in my tears. I was a daddy’s girl and I was going to miss him terribly. I prayed to all the Gods that they would spare my parents and just lock them away and not kill them. I didn’t think I would be able to handle any of that. Cam neither.
“Kaleigh dear, can I speak to you alone?”
“Yes, Mom.”
We walked to sit on an empty bench; it wasn’t very busy today because it was Saturday. I looked into my mother’s beautiful eyes—I loved her so much and I didn’t want to lose her. I noticed she had a tear rolling down her cheek, and I knew this was going to be bad.
“Kay, my sweet Kay—you have to listen to me closely. Whatever happens in that courtroom, promise me that you will look after your brother. He can’t ever find out why we are being punished.”
“Mom, is it really that bad? Do you think they will kill you and Dad?”
She put a piece of my stray hair behind my ear. “Baby girl, I don’t know what they are thinking. What your father and I did was horrible. We lied to everyone and we have to pay the price. I know in my heart what we did to save that girl was the best we could do. She doesn’t need to know a horrible person like Amelia.”
I hugged her like I knew it was the last time I was going to ever wrap my arms around her. “Mom, I love you. Whatever happens, I will always think of you and Dad.”
We sat there like that for who knew how long before we heard my parents’ names. We got up and walked to my father and Cameron. We hugged each other and walked into the courtroom. I saw that the seven Old Ones were sitting in their chairs, wearing their robes. I noticed two strong looking guards standing near the front.
Abem spoke up and one of the guards motioned Cameron and I to have a seat. As we sat, I held onto Cameron’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “Luke and Luna Douglas, please step forward.”
We watched them step forward and I felt the lump forming in my throat like I was being choked. “How do you both plead?”
My father spoke first. “We are guilty; we have broken the Law of the coven. We accept any punishment you give us.”
Abem looked to each guard and nodded to them. They walked toward my parents. I gasped and heard Cameron sobbing beside me. “Please open your wings. We don’t need to speak to each other about your punishment. We have already decided your fate. We, the counsel, find you guilty, and your punishment is death.”
I stood up and yelled at the top of my lungs. “No!”
“Silence, Kaleigh, we are not finished. Luke and Luna, this was a horrific crime and in order to stop it from happening again, we will have to punish your children as well. “
My mot
her gasped and begged Abem. “Please, spare my children. They have done nothing wrong.”
“That’s enough outbursts in my court room,” he bellowed. “Now, as I was saying, your children, Kaleigh and Cameron Douglas, will be cursed as fallen angels. Also, they will watch your execution as a reminder of your misdoings. Now, guards, do your job.” Abem and the others got up and walked out of the court room. It was like he was happy that my parents were about to leave their children to live alone in a different city.
I looked to my parents and my world ended. Everything went in slow motion. My mother looked back at us and mouthed that she loved us. Time sped up as the guards brought the blades of their swords down and severed my parents’ wings from their bodies. Blood gushed from their bodies, spraying the area around them. This has to be a nightmare, I thought. Yeah, that’s it: I’ll wake up and call for my daddy and he’ll be there to comfort me. I willed myself to wake from the nightmare, but when I opened my eyes again, the bloody scene was still before me. I couldn’t breathe as the pain seared my heart.
I heard Cameron cry out, drawing my attention to him. I saw him trying to get around me to get to our parents. I grabbed him and held him as we cried. “Shh, Cam. I will take good care of you. I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise, Cam.”
We sat there holding each other for so long. We watched as they dragged our parents’ bodies out of the courtroom, and I watched as they cleaned up the blood. I needed to stay strong for myself and for Cameron, but it was difficult when my heart was breaking.
I snapped out of the horrible vision I just had. I was, in a daze, but then I noticed Gabe was gone from my arms. I sat up and screamed. “Gabe!”
“Kaleigh dear, he’s okay,” Arabella cooed as she ran her hand through my hair. “I got here in time before his heart stopped and I saved him.”
I sighed in relief. “Thank you. I didn’t think I was going to be able to go on.”