But that was my signal that I could sneak under his arms, since he was so tall, and run up the stairs. The only problem was that he followed me, and he didn’t seem too happy about the whole not-having-caffeine situation. I thought about telling him that there were coffee beans in the cupboard, but that would irritate him further.
“Stop running,” he yelled after me, climbing the stairs two at a time, trying to catch up to me.
“I said I forgot. Bad me.”
We were now on the second flight of stairs, and Gabriel responded, “Don’t say you forgot. Don’t say oops. And don’t say bad me.”
I could hear his voice getting closer and closer. I was sure that he was right behind me. Crap. I felt a strong arm on my waist, and then I was tackled by Gabriel.
In a normal situation, between two average teenagers, a boy tackling a girl would have been bad. It would have hurt. Alas, we weren’t normal, and it didn’t hurt. I expected it, actually. Sometimes tackling me was the only way Gabriel could have a face to face conversation with me.
He pinned my wrists back with his hands and my legs with his own. Parts of his blonde hair fell in my face as he stared at me intently, watching. Waiting. But I wasn’t going to give in. I’d rather take a hundred tackles from Gabriel than tell him what really happened, because I couldn’t deal with jealous or annoying Gabriel.
“There’s something you’re not telling me,” Gabriel finally spoke.
“You’re right.” I tried squirming, but he had me good this time. “I dropped your toothbrush in the toilet this morning.”
Ignoring that remark, he brought his face down, inches away from mine, closer than John’s face had been right before I freaked out.
But this was Gabriel. He made me everything but uncomfortable.
Our noses touched, and his blue eyes stared into mine. “I’m not going to believe that, though I wouldn’t put it past you. What are you hiding, Kass?”
“I’m not hiding anything,” I said a little too quickly.
“And why do I not believe you?” he asked, as if he really expected me to answer.
“Um, because you have trust issues?” I repeated the line he always used on me, time and time again. But he didn’t buy it.
A small, subtle smile crossed his face. “Then why does your breath smell like coffee? Say—” He moved his nose to my lips. “—that wouldn’t happen to be my coffee, would it? Tell me now, or forever hold your peace.” He brought his nose back to mine.
I locked my jaw. I wasn’t going to say anything, because if I did I would have to explain why I drank his disgusting coffee (which I didn’t feel like explaining), and then talk about John (which I didn’t want to ever explain), and then that conversation would probably head towards him driving me home and the almost-kissing-him incident (which I wasn’t even sure how to explain).
“Mhmm. That’s what I thought.”
Gabriel was cut off by Michael, who just exited his private bathroom, wet and wearing nothing but a black robe, “What the bloody hell is going on out here?”
We glanced at Michael for a moment, then returned to our own glaring contest. I wasn’t going to be the one who cracked first. Fortunately, I felt Gabriel’s body start shaking, and soon we were both laughing.
“Well?” Michael stomped his foot, acting like the parent he wasn’t. “Is someone going to tell me what the two of you are doing entangled on my floor?”
And that only made us laugh harder. What we laughed at, I wasn’t sure.
“Yeah.” Gabriel stood up and held out a hand to me. “I just found out that there’s a new Enrique Iglesias song. I had to run and tell Kass, because it’s so catchy.”
Michael rose a single eyebrow, not believing his story. “I doubt that.”
“Which part? The new single part or the part that it’s so catchy? It really is.”
“No.” Michael shook his head as I finally grabbed Gabriel’s outstretched hand. He pulled me up. “The part where you needed to tell that to Kass on the floor, on top of her.”
“You’re right,” Gabriel agreed. When I tried letting go of his hand, he yanked me in close, so my whole body was pressed against his. He pulled me in harder by placing his other hand on my butt. I was too shocked to move or say anything.
“I was on top of Kass because I had to tell her that I have suddenly realized that I am completely in love with her, and we decided to have hot sex right here in front of your bathroom, hoping you’d come out and—”
Michael held up a hand, obviously having enough of Gabriel’s explanation. “Bloody teenagers,” he breathed out while walking away.
“Wow,” Gabriel shook his head, “I’m kind of disappointed that he walked that quickly. I didn’t even get to the part where I surprise you with a promise ring from a twenty-five cent vending machine. What if we were serious, and he didn’t believe us? Now that’d be a case of...well, I’m sure it’d be a case of something.”
“Gabriel?” I asked, ignoring his rambling.
“Yes?” He looked down at me, expectant.
“Since you’re done with your whole story thing, can you get your hand off my butt?”
“Hmm…I don’t think I’m done holding it yet.”
“It wasn’t a question.”
“Really? It sure sounded like one.”
“It wasn’t. It was a statement.”
“Oh. Maybe next time you should work on your tone of voice.”
“Get. Your. Hand. Off. My. Butt. Now.”
He quickly pulled his hand off me, finally saying, “Okay.”
The sad thing was, he didn’t sound sincere in the least, and I knew he probably would’ve went on touching my backside for as long as I would’ve let him. The stupid boy.
I eyed the sword in my hand, thinking for a moment, only a moment, what would happen if I hit Gabriel on the back of the head with it. Not to kill him, but to knock him out. That would surely shut him up.
“If you make one more noise that you think the sword makes when it swings in the air, or hits something, I swear…” I couldn’t even think of a proper threat, so I grew silent, figuring he would fill in the rest of that sentence.
The minute we came to the cemetery, he suddenly decided it would be fun to make noises while we walked. And, when we came across a Nightwalker, he felt the urge to shove me out of the way and make one of the noises as he attacked it.
“I see one.” Not even waiting for me, he flipped over about ten gravestones, did two back handsprings and a cartwheel, all while carrying his new sword. I could tell the offending Nightwalker just rose; it didn’t even snarl when he swung his sword cleanly through its neck.
“Ba-da-bing, ba-da-boom,” was what he said while watching it burst into flames. “Don’t worry, I got it.” He came back to my side—after jumping over ten gravestones, doing two back handsprings and a cartwheel all over again.
“Okay,” I acted relieved. “Because for a moment there, I thought he might stare you to death. Possibly drool on you and drown you.”
“I know, right? None of them are challenging tonight. It’s kind of sad when you think about it. I mean, I’ve already gotten three of those guys.” Gabriel turned his blonde head to me. “How many have you got?”
I counted on my fingers. “Well, not counting the one you pushed me on a grave to get to, and not counting the one you shoved me on the grass to reach—oh, and not counting the one where you took my sword and did a double sweep to behead…I have a resounding, zero. Awesome,” I mocked enthusiasm for my lack of purifyings.
“You’re slacking tonight, aren’t you? Don’t worry, I’ll pick up the slack. I don’t mind. Tonight I’m feeling so energized. And I want you to know that I’ve come to the conclusion that your butt must be like a battery to me, because I’ve never felt so alive. I credit this feeling entirely to the fact that I cupped that tight cheek today.”
Gabriel stopped, thinking. “Then again, maybe it’s the cool sword I have. But, anyway—” He wrapped the arm
that wasn’t holding his new prized possession around my shoulders and squeezed. “—I’m always watching your back. Although, I’ll admit, after tonight, I’ll do much less watching of the back and more watching of the ass.”
I ignored my urge to slap him a good twenty-something times.
We made our way, doing our rounds, when Gabriel started doing the whole noises thing again. I stopped my legs and turned to face him. “Stop doing that.”
“What? Stop being sexy? Sorry, can’t do that. It’s something I can’t control. It’s like this beast lurks inside me, waiting to emerge all the time.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “A beast that’s obsessed with marshmallows, the Hallmark channel, and garden gnomes.”
“You forgot that I’m also obsessed with My Wife and Kids reruns, Lea Michele in Glee, and the original Planet of the Apes. Only the first three movies, of course.”
“Of course.” I rolled my eyes.
“God, you know how to kill a romantic mood, don’t you?”
My eyes rolled yet again. “A romantic mood? How is this—” I motioned to the cemetery around us. “—a romantic mood?”
“Simple.” Gabriel shrugged his broad shoulders, rolling them into some kind of dance move. “Because I’m too sexy for my shirt, too sexy for my shirt—”
I couldn’t believe he was really dancing and singing like it was an 80’s sing-off and dance-off. It was like his dream where he starred in Glee and created his own mash-up of Right Said Fred and Haddaway. And, I supposed the fact that I knew both of those artists was a sad thing. I blamed Gabriel for my almost unrivaled knowledge of all things arcane and useless.
He looked down at me and held up one finger, saying, “There is one more reason why this is a romantic mood—”
I hit him in his stomach, and no matter how hard his stomach was, it still couldn’t shield him from all the power of my blow.
“What?” Gabriel wheezed out. “I thought you were getting a kick out of that? And, truthfully, so was I.”
“It’s not that—Gabriel, get down!”
He turned to fully face me. “Now is this about all the times I pushed you on the ground? I’m sorry about that, by the way—”
I fell on the ground, pulling Gabriel down after me.
He army-crawled next to me. “What’s going on?”
I clamped my hand down over his mouth and pointed. A group of Nightwalkers walked about a hundred feet away. A group of about seven. Gabriel saw and grabbed his sword, silently asking if we were going to fight them.
I thought about it, if it were better to charge head-on, or go for a stealth attack. Tonight was kind of dull for me, it’s true. But that didn’t necessarily mean that I wanted to jump into danger. Then again, this could be the same group that’s working with the Hyena Demon, so it was our duty to—
My feet were pulled. Hard. And fast. I reached for my sword, but it was too far away. Figured. I was about to yell for Gabriel, but then saw that he was a bit preoccupied with his own Nightwalkers.
I shook my legs, trying to get free before one of them bit me. Because, if that happened, I would just turn into one of those brainless, allergic-to-sunlight zombies. And that wouldn’t be good. No blood exchange needed. One foot escaped, so I kicked the one holding my other leg hard.
These two Demons snuck up behind me. That was definitely a first. I’d never heard of a Nightwalker waiting for the right moment to strike. They always charged in.
One came up to my back, away from Gabriel’s fight, and started choking me, which caught me off guard. I kicked the two in front of me, so fast that it lifted me parallel to the ground. I used my force to keep myself going, and flip myself to the back of the one who had, just seconds ago, its two hands around my neck. I brought both my hands down on to the base of its own neck, in a karate-chop motion, so hard that I heard a snap.
And that snap didn’t come from my hands.
I briefly glanced at Gabriel. He certainly had his hands full with a group of four. I looked to his feet; my sword was a few feet away, just laying on the ground, waiting to be used.
I turned to the Nightwalker who, now, had a peculiarly weak neck, and spun into a roundhouse kick, taking the head straight off.
And Raphael didn’t believe me when I said I could still take a Nightwalker out without a weapon.
One down; two to go, I thought as flames consumed it.
I was really itching to try out my sword. I looked at Gabriel some more, past the four—no, scratch that—three Nightwalkers he fought, and the other two who were focused on me. He saw me and, knowing what I wanted, rolled between a pair of shaky legs to reach my sword. The three pinned him back, but he already had his hands on my sword. He threw it straight up into the air.
How was I supposed to get that?
But then I realized what he was doing. He had to throw it up to free both hands, and with a blur of simultaneous punches and kicks, he was back on his feet, catching my sword. Gabriel lifted a single eyebrow as he threw the sword to me, gladiator-style. The sword spun three complete rotations before it got within an arm’s distance; it definitely wasn’t the most aerodynamic throw, but it was very cool.
I twisted my feet while jumping, causing me to swirl into the air. My hand caught my rose blade and swiftly came down on the head of the nearest Nightwalker. While the ugly creature was momentarily stunned, I brought the sword around, through its neck.
Two down; one to go.
I turned to face the remaining Nightwalker. I felt a pang of pity; this one had been a middle-aged woman, probably a nice one, too. One of those people who just loved to help anyone in need, volunteer with charities, or spend all her Sundays at the church. I noticed her ring finger. She was married. It was such a shame that her only human characteristic was the shape of her bloody body. Her yellow eyes wrinkled to the extreme; her teeth stained and sharp.
She took a step.
“I am sorry for this,” I said, sweeping my sword through her neck.
Three down.
Just as I finished and was about to check on Gabriel, I remembered the group of seven that were walking through the graveyard. I gazed at the spot where we last saw them.
But the group was gone, mostly.
One remained, perfectly still, holding an object that made my heart sink as I saw it. My sword dropped from my hand.
Oh, my God. No.
I could see red light glimmering in its eyes, even though I was over a hundred feet away.
It couldn’t be. That Demon was…it should have been dead.
How did I know such a thing? Simple. I knew that Nightwalker and its unusual red eyes. I’d seen it before.
And I purified it.
Three Years Ago
This was the place. I recognized it from my visions. Gabriel was here, now, tonight. All because he followed some girl home. But it wasn’t just some girl. No, that girl wanted to feed her pets. Nightwalkers.
Gabriel was going to get himself killed one day by acting like this. But lucky for him, I was here to save him. To protect him. If I didn’t come tonight, he would die, I knew. My premonitions told me.
Cursing him out loud, and also cursing myself for not telling Michael where I was going and where Gabriel was, I walked into the decaying burial chamber. By my count of the broken coffins, there should be no more than three of them here. As soon as I fully entered the crypt, the doors slammed shut behind me, a result of strong wind, but it still was freaky.
It made me wish I had backup. But I didn’t, so I had to keep going. Gabriel’s life depended on me.
I felt a gust of air and followed it, realizing it came from behind an intact coffin. It took all of my might to push the heavy thing to the side, revealing a tunnel.
Tunnels were never good.
Inspecting the dusty pathway, I walked in.
Well, I thought, let’s see where this tunnel leads.
It took me a few minutes to reach the bottom. It led to a great chamber that had about twenty ca
ges, all stocked with Nightwalkers, each had their very own shock collar. I assumed that was how she got them all back inside their cages after their feedings. My previous count of three was way off.
The girl stood high above them and was just a few feet in front of me, on a lookout area. Probably for her own self-defense, keeping her high above her undead pets. From her location, she could watch them feed.
But where was Gabriel? Where did that girl put him?
Just as I began to worry that I was too late, I saw him. Gabriel lied facedown in the center of the huge underground chamber.
This was going to be harder than I thought.
I saw the girl lift up a remote control with three buttons. Probably one to open the cages, one to shut them, and one to shock them.
Oh no, she wasn’t.
I leapt off the tunnel floor and tackled her. The remote control slid away, out of her grasp before she could press any of those buttons.
“Who are you?” Her voice echoed throughout the chamber, shaking dust off the walls.
If the place could shake on account of just one voice, imagine what would happen if I pushed over all the columns holding this place together.
I hissed, baring my teeth, “I’m here for Gabriel.” We struggled to reach the remote first; whoever got to it last lost. As I had my hand on it, the freaking girl bit me. Yes, she bit me. What a freak.
I recoiled from the bite, landing a hard punch in her face, but it was too late. She had the remote.
“No!” I yelled as I took her down once more. But this time, I misjudged the direction I tackled her, for we were suddenly falling. We fell off the lookout area and into the pit of cages where Gabriel was. It was about a thirty-foot drop.
Gabriel began to stir, and it was obvious this chick had knocked him unconscious. That pissed me off even more. No one knocked him unconscious but me.
Fortunately for me, the insane girl was the one who took the full force of the ground. It knocked her out cold and shook the ground.
How’s that for a taste of your own medicine? I thought indignantly, gazing around. The columns shook with every movement. They were thin and crumbling. Those columns were like little skeletons, barely holding this place up. We, meaning me, had to take this place down, and take all the Nightwalkers with it.
Staked! Page 10