Death Before Daylight

by Shannon A. Thompson

  “Girl talk is a must,” Crystal agreed without looking at him.

  Eric ducked away before I could stop him. He placed his headphones on his ears and cranked the music high enough that I could hear it as he walked to our table. As much as I hated to admit it, I didn’t know if the Light would attack us at the school, and having him near me was the only comfort I had.

  My fingers twitched at my sides. “I’m sorry,” I whispered and dipped into the chair next to her. When she didn’t sit, I pulled her down next to me. Our knees touched. It was the closest we had been in weeks.

  “Why didn’t you say anything?” She had perfected the melodramatic whine. Her appearance only added to it. Her white hair frizzed at the staggered tips, and her dark roots peeked through more than usual. She was a mess, and I hadn’t even realized it.

  “What’s going on?” I ignored her question. “What’s wrong?”

  “Since when have you even liked Welborn?” She ignored my questions, too. “I mean, I figured as much when you danced at prom, but—” She squinted at Eric from across the room as if he were an apparition. “Eric Welborn? I can’t believe it.”

  “What about Welborn?”

  I knew the voice.

  Robb was standing behind us, but he was close enough. Goose bumps traveled over my neck. He had attacked me weeks ago. The bruises were long gone, but the pain remained. My fist curled.

  Crystal laid her hand on my arm. “She’s dating Eric,” she whispered, oblivious to the fact that Eric could hear a conversation from across the room. Even with his music cranked, he had perfected his abilities, and he would be listening since Robb was close. But that’s not what bothered me.

  Crystal was talking to Robb like nothing happened last semester.

  “What?” Robb’s eyebrows squished together. He didn’t seem uncomfortable at all. He seemed like Robb McLain, the boy I met after he almost threw a coffee on me. “Since when?”

  “January,” Crystal answered. “Last January.”

  Robb chuckled. “Knew it.” He sat on the desk next to us and propped his foot on Crystal’s chair, but he looked at me. “You always talked about him.”

  But I hadn’t. Not unless it had to do with the project. I fought the urge to look at Eric. Instead, I looked behind Robb. Zac and Linda remained at the back of the room. They hadn’t even come over to say hi.

  “Oh,” Robb pointed behind his shoulder. “I’ve been meaning to introduce you to my friends. They just transferred in.”

  “What?” Stomach acid rose up my esophagus. “I already met them—”

  “Really?” Robb glanced over his shoulder, but his friends never looked back. “Well, that saves me an awkward introduction.”

  “Are you okay?” Eric’s voice crashed into me.

  My hand shot to my neckline, and my racing heart burned through my sternum. Every beat was fiercer than the last. Every breath was harder to grasp. I couldn’t move.

  “Jess,” Crystal’s heightened voice shattered my panic. Before I knew it, her cold fingers wrapped around my hand, and she yanked my hand so hard I fell forward. My left hand was in her grasp, and my ring sparkled under the florescent lights.

  I pulled away, but it was too late.

  “Is that—” Robb started. “Is that from Welborn?” All the amusement in his voice was gone.

  “It’s not an engagement ring,” I half-lied as I focused on my telepathy with Eric, “Help.”

  Eric was there before I even mustered the strength to stand up. As soon as his hand wrapped around my arm, my knees stopped shaking. I leaned against him.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, playing the part of a concerned boyfriend instead of who he was: my concerned fiancé, the first descendant of the Dark.

  “I feel sick.”

  “Sorry, guys,” Eric said and turned toward the teacher. “Ms. Hinkel, I’m taking her to the nurse’s office.”

  My vision blurred, but I heard Ms. Hinkel ask, “Already?” Her question was replaced in seconds. “Okay, then. Just get a note before you come back.”

  “Thanks.” Eric shuffled us to the doorway. “We’ll be back,” he finished with a familiar tone. It was the way he ended his sentences that always gave him away. The last word dropped off, quieter than the rest. He was lying.

  We weren’t coming back, and I knew he was right. We shouldn’t have come at all.

  3

  Eric

  I didn't take her to the nurse's office, because the nurse couldn't do anything. We sat by the willow tree instead. I waited for her to speak, my arms propped on my knees, but Jessica only pulled her legs up to her chest. I expected her to press her nails into her palm—something she always did when she was nervous—but she didn't do it this time. She just breathed, her back rising and falling as her eyes moved over the school.

  I leaned forward to skim my fingers across her arm. She acted like I hadn't even touched her. "It's been happening a lot," I guessed, thinking more of her memories had slid back into focus. "Hasn't it?"

  Luthicer's spell to wipe Jessica’s memories had worked in some places and failed in others. Even though Camille had broken most of it, effects remained, bouncing around in Jessica’s mind. Over break, I had witnessed at least five panic attacks as she regained the moments she had forgotten. Strangely, most of those memories were human ones. But Jessica said something I didn't expect. Something I couldn't have guessed.

  "That's not what happened," she said before shivering. The snow was gone, but the air felt like it was filled with ice. When she didn't explain further, I studied her face, paler than usual, only flushed at the cheeks. She didn't move, but I knew her mind was racing.

  "What happened then?" I was starting to think I should've taken her to the nurse. "Was it Robb?"

  "No—yes,” she stuttered. “Not exactly.” Her forefinger curled around her hair. “I remember.” She hadn’t forgotten what had happened between Robb and her, but her eyes glossed over. “Don’t I?” she squeaked. “What happened—” She struggled to say it out loud. “Robb did that, didn’t he?”

  My fist tightened just thinking about that night. When I had seen Robb and Jessica, I hadn’t realized it was them at first. My windshield was covered in water, but I saw enough to know what was happening. A guy was attacking a girl, and that was enough of a reason to pull over. It wasn’t until Robb pulled away and yelled at me that I saw Jessica’s face.

  “Of course it happened,” I struggled to keep a calm tone. “I was there—”

  “Then, why don’t they remember?”

  Her words froze my anger. “What do you mean?”

  “They acted like nothing happened.” Her hold tightened on her legs. “All of them.”

  Her words didn’t compute. “What?”

  She threw her hands up in the air, but her legs remained propped up. “Crystal wasn’t mad at Robb at all.”

  “Are you sure they don’t think you forgave him?” I worded my question with care.

  She shook her head. “Crystal wouldn’t do that without talking to me first, and Robb was going to introduce me to Zac and Linda.”

  Jessica knew them, but why didn’t Robb remember? At one point, she had even doodled Zac’s name in her notebook. I didn’t remember they were transferring—not so quickly anyway—but it was our last semester. We would graduate in May. If they were going to transfer from St. Lucia’s, then they were going to do it now, but I hadn’t prepared myself. Jessica hadn’t either. Our lives had become too chaotic outside of school to pay attention to our peers. The events slipped right past both of us.

  “Robb thinks I don’t know them,” she continued, “but I told him I did, and he didn’t remember anything. Not one thing. He thinks we’re strangers.”

  “That doesn’t make sense.”

  “I know,” she agreed, “but I recognized the feeling, the power. It was an illusion,” she explained. “That’s why I got dizzy. It triggered mine.” A shaking breath escaped her. “I know it was.”

 
I wanted to argue, to tell her Luthicer wouldn’t have done it, but I couldn’t because I believed her. Jessica didn’t lie, not to me anyway, but I spoke anyway. “Luthicer wouldn’t do that.”

  “Someone did.”

  Her eyes started to water, so I stood up and offered her my hand. She looked up at me, and I felt like I was looking at the nameless shade she was before—disconnected and lost.

  “Come on.” I leaned down to grab her hand.

  As I pulled her to her feet, she asked, “Where are we going?” Her hand landed on my arm like it was an automatic part of her nature, something she didn’t even notice, but my insides twisted with recognition. Her touch affected me more than I liked to admit.

  “Do you seriously have to ask that?” I tugged my car keys out of my back pocket. We couldn’t transport in the middle of the morning unless we wanted to risk hurting ourselves. “The elders might know something.”

  ***

  When we arrived at the park, we got out of my car in silence. I didn’t bother hiding my car anymore. Even though I spent eighteen years hiding who I was, everyone knew now. I had to get used to it. Being myself all the time was new to me, and anything new was uncomfortable.

  We walked across the grass, past the river, and ducked into the crowd of trees. Across two trails and down a riverbed, the opening of a small cave hid behind fallen branches and old logs. It used to have a protection spell around it. If someone trespassed and found it, they would see a rocky wall, but the powers were fading, and the opening flickered. I pulled the branches back so Jessica could enter without her curls snagging on the twigs, but she had already tied her hair up.

  When she ducked under the brush, I followed her, watching her ponytail as it swung back and forth. She had calmed, but not enough. Even with others walking about, her anxiety escaped in staggered breaths.

  “Almost no one is here,” she said, noting the few people passing by.

  On an average day, a couple dozen shades would be in the shelter, but today there were only six. They were only able to transform because of the underground darkness and the extra powers pumped through the walls by the elders.

  “Shades have human lives, too, you know,” I reminded her. It was only nine in the morning. People were at their day jobs, continuing life as if it were normal, as if we hadn’t lost a war weeks ago, as if I hadn’t lost my battle.

  “Pierce,” Jessica straightened and called before I saw him.

  The black-haired boy jogged across the room and hugged her. “Are you all right?” He was quiet enough that a human wouldn’t hear, but loud enough that I could.

  Jessica nodded as she pressed her head against his shoulder. He patted the top of her head as if she were his sister. I had never seen him get close to anyone, not even his family.

  “Jonathon.” His human name slipped out of my mouth.

  The two of them stepped apart and blinked as if they forgot I was standing there.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked.

  He ran a hand through his hair, and the black threads stuck up. “Something was wrong.” He gestured to Jessica. “I felt it.” He was her guard. Of course he had sensed it. Guards had unexplainable connections with their warriors. I knew because my own connection was severed.

  “Yeah,” Jessica spoke up, and then explained to Pierce what had happened. This time was much faster than she had told me.

  He listened as if he were expecting it and didn’t even flinch. “I had a feeling something was up,” he admitted. “I saw Crystal and Robb hanging out in the parking lot this morning.” Even he knew Crystal wouldn’t have done that without talking to Jessica first.

  I walked past them. “Are the elders here?”

  “Only Luthicer and Bracke,” Pierce said, but I already knew by the time he answered.

  Luthicer and my father were standing outside the meeting room, the door propped open behind them. “We heard,” my father said, waving us inside. We followed, and Luthicer shut the door behind us.

  “I didn’t do it,” Luthicer spoke before anyone could sit down, but no one sat anyway. “It must have been the Light.”

  “But why?” Jessica asked. “There’s no reason to do that.”

  “There is. They know who you are,” Luthicer said, as if we could forget.

  “What does that have to do with anything?” I leaned against the wall. “They’re just her friends.”

  “Exactly,” Luthicer said. “They can’t hurt her. They don’t want to hurt her. Not physically anyway.”

  Jessica sucked in a breath. “What is that supposed to mean?”

  Bracke—my father—messed with his shirt as if he were searching for the glasses he didn’t need as a shade. “It means they want to confuse you.”

  “Don’t soften it,” Luthicer bit back, and his pitch-black eyes focused on Jessica. “They know what we did to you, and they want you to think we gave you false memories. They want you to distrust us.” He didn’t have to say the last part, but he did anyway, “The Light wants you to go to them.”

  4

  Jessica

  “I won’t,” I repeated for the umpteenth time as Eric drove in silence. I hated the silence more than I hated the memories coming back. The silence made me feel like we wouldn’t make new memories. It felt like the end. “I won’t go to them. I trust the Dark—”

  “I know that,” Eric interrupted harshly. His jaw swung like he was preventing it from locking. “I’m sorry.” The Charger’s engine roared as he took the last corner, but trembled when he parked. His hands remained on the steering wheel. “It doesn’t make sense.”

  He didn’t have to tell me that. Luthicer’s theory was only an educated guess, but it was all we had.

  “Can Luthicer create false memories?” I asked.

  “That’s how the illusion works,” he explained as his fingers tightened on the wheel. “Didn’t you have false ones when your memory was gone? You couldn’t have thought six months never happened.”

  Eric was right. When I didn’t have my memory, I had an array of summer memories spent with Crystal, Robb, Zac, and Linda. I still didn’t know which ones were real.

  “But he didn’t do it this time,” Eric clarified. “They might not know Robb did what he did, but I do. Urte does. Camille—” He stopped. It was the first time I heard him mention her name out loud. “Luthicer wouldn’t have done it without telling us.”

  I reached over to touch his shoulder, and a shock spread through my fingers and into him. He jumped and would’ve jumped out of his seat if it weren’t for his seatbelt. Air seethed between his teeth, and I stared at my hands as purple sparks flew out of them. I closed my fist, but it was too late. Eric saw it, and his green eyes were wide.

  “That hurt,” he said and rubbed his shoulder.

  “I—I didn’t mean to,” I apologized, staring at my reddened palm. It wasn’t dark out. Not even close. It was still morning. We had left the shelter right after the meeting. My powers shouldn’t have worked, even if I wanted them to. “I don’t know what happened.”

  “It’s okay,” Eric said, but his voice was strained. “My powers have been strange, too. I almost transformed in front of Noah the other night.” A smile spread across his lips only to fade.

  The hairs on the nape of my neck stood up. I knew the feeling. The first time I had felt it was the day my identity was revealed. “Lights,” I spoke to Eric telepathically. It was the only power we could use during the day.

  “One light,” Eric responded, barely moving.

  One really powerful light.

  Darthon.

  Eric started reaching for his keys, but I grabbed his arm to stop him. “My parents.”

  I didn’t have to explain further. Eric leapt out of his car, and I followed him. We ran toward my house, and we didn’t stop running until we were on the front steps. I fumbled with my keys, cursing to myself when I dropped them, but the door burst open before I could pick them up.

  When I looked up, I saw blonde h
air, and my esophagus squeezed the air out of me. I gasped before I realized I wasn’t looking at Darthon at all. It was my mother.

  “Jessie,” she said my name like a scorn, but I reached up and wrapped my arms around her neck.

  “Hey, Mom.”

  Her hands landed on my shoulders, and she pulled away slowly, her brown eyes searching my face. “Are you okay?” Her palm went to my forehead. “The school called and said you were sick, but you never showed up at the nurse’s office. I’ve been calling your cell—”

  “It’s upstairs.” I had left it at home. Again. “Sorry.”

  “Mrs. Taylor?” Eric spoke up, and my mom’s eyes darted to him. “It’s my fault. I should’ve had her call. I thought she would be better at home.”

  “It’s been an hour.”

  “I sat in the hallway for a while,” I explained. “I asked Eric to bring me home.”

  Her brow wrinkled as she leaned over to see the Charger on the street. “Eric?” she repeated. “Eric Welborn?” She knew the name. Everyone in Hayworth did.

  “Yes, ma’am,” he responded with a polite tone I had never heard him use before. He sounded years older than he was. “I’m Jessica’s lab partner in homeroom.”

  “Jessica?” she repeated. He was the only one who called me that.

  I squeezed my mom’s arm. “I’m okay. I just need to lie down.” I tried to distract her. They hadn’t even met yet. “Are you okay?”

  The Light’s energy had dissolved as fast as it had come. If it was Darthon—and I was sure it was—he was gone.

  “Okay?” my mother repeated everything we said like she hadn’t heard it. “Of course I’m okay. I was worried about you.”

  “Is Dad at work?”

  She nodded. “Why wouldn’t he be?”

  “I don’t know,” I muttered, turning back to Eric. “You should get back to school, huh?”

  He flinched. “Yeah.” Inside my head, he spoke something else, “I don’t want to leave you alone here.”