Staked!

by Candace Wondrak

  And when I woke up the next morning, he was still there.

  I rolled out of bed and ignored the urge I had to crawl back in it and stay there forever. My feet sluggishly walked toward my closet. I bent down and picked up a big heap of clothes, figuring that there had to be something wearable in there. I made my way to the bathroom and closed the door with my foot.

  After dropping the pile of clothes on the floor, I knelt and rummaged through it. I found a T-shirt and a pair of shorts.

  Whatever. These’ll do.

  I put them on and brushed my teeth. I picked up my clothes and headed back to my room so I could drop them off. Everything seemed like a chore, even breathing. I had to remember to do it. I thought that Gabriel would still be asleep, since he was awake watching me all night, but he wasn’t. He wasn’t there.

  Slowly but surely I made my way down the three flights of stairs and into the kitchen, where Michael and Gabriel were whispering. I knew what they were talking about.

  John’s body. About what they did with John’s body.

  I tried to find something else to occupy my mind with, but it was hard, since I liked John and I was the one who killed him. Every time I closed my eyes I could see his pupils glaze over, I could see the life drain out of him, I could picture the way his body looked after it fell on the ground.

  The way he looked when the darkness, Osiris’s darkness, began to take over. I shivered at the thought of it.

  God, my life sucked. My life sucked badly and it was never going to get any better, was it?

  Chapter Twenty-Two – Gabriel

  I felt Kass begin to stir next to me. I held her all night. I was there for her while she freaked out about John. It was wrong of me to be thankful that it was John who’s dead, but I couldn’t help feeling that way.

  Kass was my world. And if my world was taken from me, what would be left of me besides an empty husk? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

  I opened my eyes a little, watching her move, watching her bend down, watching her pick up some clothes. She was sad about killing John, that was obvious. I understood that.

  I knew she’d be different from now on. This would change her, and that made me conflicted, because all I wanted was the old Kass back.

  When she left the room, I got up and walked down the stairs. Michael was already making himself some tea, settling in his chair, and reading the newspaper. His normal routine. What he did every morning. Like nothing had happened last night. Like Kass hadn’t killed John.

  “Michael,” I said, feeling abnormally strange. Maybe it was the circumstances we were in.

  “Gabriel. How did she sleep?” Michael set the paper down and folded his hands across it, waiting for me to answer.

  I slowly sat down next to him. His glasses glinted in the sunlight that came through the drawn curtains. “She barely got any sleep, Michael. How do you think she slept? Was that question really even necessary? She’s probably not going to be getting any sleep for a while.”

  Michael spoke quietly, “I understand. But she will get better with time.”

  “Yeah. Hopefully. You and—” I glanced to the stairs, making sure Kass wasn’t coming down yet. “—Raphael took care of it?”

  “Yes.” Michael sipped his tea. “Since the Council would send an investigative team to look into the fact that a civilian was so close to one of our Purifiers, we had to...” I heard footsteps, soft footsteps, but they were definitely there. “...do it on our own,” he finished, leaning in and closer to me.

  I nodded as Michael and I observed her glimpse toward us, grab a breakfast bar that would not hold her over till lunch, and head out to wait for the bus. Thirty minutes early.

  “I better go. See you later, Michael.” I stood and picked up my backpack. I walked out the door and ran up to Kass. She was silent. Too silent. And it worried me to see her acting like this.

  If only I could’ve struck the final blow myself to save her from this torment. If only I could’ve been the hero for once.

  Chapter Twenty-Three – Kass

  The ride to school seemed so long. So painfully long. I sat there and stared out of the window the entire time. I didn’t even think I blinked once.

  I stepped off the bus and walked into the school building, feeling that hundreds of eyes were on me, though I knew that wasn’t true. All the other people were busy with their own lives, their own normal, teenage lives.

  They had no idea how lucky they were.

  I went to my locker, wishing that I could be like them. I wished that I could be normal. That I wasn’t this swift, agile purifying machine. Sometimes it was hard living my life. More often than not it was near impossible. When most other people would fail doing what I did, I succeeded.

  I got the job done. I purified. I made the world safer for them, so they could continue to live normal, ignorant lives. So the girls could worry about their hair, their makeup or their outfit. So guys could worry about sports, about cars, about work.

  And so they all can worry about each other. Girls would worry about the boys. Boys would worry about the girls. And let’s not forget those boys and girls who worry about other boys and other girls. It went back and forth, almost an even exchange, though guys would be hard pressed to admit the fact that they thought about girls as much as girls did guys.

  I protected them so they could all whine about how their lives sucked, how they wished they had it better, how they didn’t know how they’d survive their lives. It was all pointless.

  Things always got worse. Things could always go farther down the hill, making it harder to get back up. Making it harder to survive.

  But hey, I never told them that. I couldn’t tell them that they’re all lucky to be normal, to have a life-expectancy that allowed marriage, children and families, to be able to give in to the feelings they had towards each other.

  To be able to love and be loved.

  Because I wasn’t meant for that. For any of it.

  But that was my life, and I couldn’t change it. I couldn’t change me, what I was meant to do. It’s my job to help these people, shield them from the supernatural, and purify Demons before they wreaked havoc among the world.

  This time didn’t turn out the way I wanted it to. John was dead. He was gone. Forever. And it was my fault. I had to live with this guilt for the rest of my life. I had to go on, no matter what. I had no time to rest, no time to stop and think about what I did.

  I’d have plenty of time to do that after I was dead, after something killed me. And that something would be a Demon, most likely.

  My feet stopped right outside my first period classroom. I needed to act normal, like nothing happened last night. Like I didn’t kill John. I needed to act like an average teenage girl, even though that’s not what I was. I needed to act like a typical girl who had regular high school problems.

  Normal.

  Yeah. Acting normal was probably one of the hardest things I had to do.

  No, I took that back.

  It was the hardest thing I had to do.

  Daywalkers

  Chapter One – An Angry Man

  The blackness of the night enveloped me like a cool, welcoming blanket. My head ached, my lungs hurt, my whole body felt different. Foreign, as if I wasn’t really here. But I was, and that was a new sensation entirely, so fantastic that I could completely ignore the aching in my bones.

  Standing up, I wiped the leaves off my clothes, frowning. I felt my face, feeling something strange. I needed a mirror. A growl escaped my stomach, for it felt like ages since I’d last eaten. The mirror would have to wait.

  I needed to eat. Now.

  I glanced around, for the first time noticing where I was. The park. How did I get here? Why couldn’t I remember anything? I felt my head; a gooey substance leaked from my skull: warm, sticky, and in spite of the silver moon, red.

  My ears heard something approaching. Or, I corrected myself, someone. Two people, probably lovers taking a moonlit stroll through the t
own park. Too bad for them.

  I hid in the trees, watching them with interest. We were the only beings out tonight, and they would pay the price for their lover’s stroll. As they passed my location, utterly oblivious to me, I stalked them from the shadows, a familiar thrill creeping up inside of me. The hunt was always my favorite part, other than the moment when the prey realized how useless it was.

  I noticed the couple held hands. How cute.

  So cute that, for a second, I second guessed myself. But the doubt was gone as soon as it came as I neared their unaware bodies. Their delicious scent entered my nostrils, and I inhaled deeply to take it all in. The scent was so appetizing it made my stomach growl.

  I found myself laughing as they turned around, finally aware that they were being followed.

  The man stepped forward, still gripping the female’s hand, shouting, “What do you want? Are you following us?” The woman cowered behind her lover’s arm. Both were young, I guessed college or maybe their last year of high school.

  High school. I hadn’t been there in what seemed like ages. Maybe I’d have to remedy that.

  I cocked my head, my hand feeling the wound in my chest. More blood. I definitely needed to feed, and these two looked so enticing. I let out a harsh breath, readying myself for what was to come.

  The man let go of the woman’s hand and when she cried out to him, telling him that I wasn’t worth it, he turned to her and said, “Don’t worry, babe. I’ll mess this guy up so bad, he won’t know what hit—” The man couldn’t finish his sentence.

  In a flash I had my hand through his chest and around his still-beating heart. Nothing in the world was as beautiful as a heart. I brutally yanked it out and watched as he collapsed, blood seeping into the dirt.

  The woman began to run, but I muttered “Stop,” compelling her to do so. The guy’s heart no longer beat in my hands, so I squeezed it, dropped it, and vanished. I appeared behind the woman. Her frail form shook, which made me laugh even harder.

  “Please, don’t…” she managed to choke out.

  “I need to heal, and you—you are going to help me,” I said as I moved so I touched her back, tracing a finger down her spine. Her heart raced…good. That got the blood pumping. I moved her curly hair aside; her neck now unobstructed.

  She began to say something else, but I had enough of her whining. I grabbed her jaw and pulled it sideways, shutting her immediately up and giving me better access. I felt the power surging through me. Something was different about me. Something was better.

  In an instant, my teeth grew to unimaginable size, dripping venom. I snarled as I sunk my teeth into her neck, drinking her sweet, delicious blood. I shook her body, trying to get as much blood as I could from her. Minutes passed. The girl was dead, and when I was finished I threw her body down.

  I felt my head and my chest again. I was healed. I was stronger.

  And I remembered everything.

  Chapter Two – Kass

  I stayed silent as I watched the funeral procession. Today was the perfect day for a funeral—gray, rainy, and just plain gloomy. Not that I was complaining, because that’s how I felt on the inside anyway.

  Today was one of the hardest days of my life. Not an exaggeration. You know how hard it was to go around school and act normal when the night before you’d killed someone? Someone you liked? It was hard. Very hard.

  I dreaded going to school. Honestly, I didn’t even want to go, but Michael forced me, saying that if I didn’t go someone would think something might be up and that, since John was gone, they might put two and two together. The thing was, I didn’t care anymore.

  When I walked into school today…it was weird. Everyone else acted normal, going on with their own lives, ignorant to the fact that John was dead and I killed him. Well, I supposed the correct term would be purified, since that’s what Purifiers, like me and Gabriel, do to evil and Demons.

  Yeah. Except John was still human when I purified him. And I didn’t purify humans.

  But, nonetheless, I had walked into school ready to answer questions that Alyssa, John’s twin sister, had about him. I was ready. I braced myself all morning. Except I found Alyssa wasn’t in school, either. Which was weird, because she seemed like the kind of girl who never, ever missed a day of school. That meant one thing: she knew something was up with John.

  She just didn’t know what.

  And that left me by myself, all day, since I talked to pretty much no one else. I felt so utterly alone. But I should be used to it by now. Purifiers were destined to live short lives, die young and most likely alone.

  The fact that I killed the first guy I ever liked meant that it was true. I deserved to die young and alone for misreading my dreams and visions, causing John to get intertwined in the whole Osiris ritual.

  Every time I closed my eyes, I saw him. I saw John, his handsome face, his dark eyes, his broad shoulders. And the blood. That picture would haunt me forever. It’s something that would never go away, no matter how hard I wished.

  And I wished pretty hard, let me tell you.

  Sadly, wishing did nothing and John’s blood would always be on my hands. I had to live with that.

  I stood there, letting the rain hit my face as the family members proceeded to drop a single flower on top of the guy’s coffin. White lilies were used most, and I thought it fitting, since they were common death flowers.

  The wind picked up, making my coat whip around. I held it tight, hoping no one would notice me, since I didn’t exactly know the dead guy. Although, we were going to get acquainted soon.

  This guy had been killed by a Nightwalker, which was a nickname for a Vampire. But I hated that word, so I rarely used it. Of course, this whole town believed that it was an animal attack, but I knew it wasn’t. That’s why I was here. I was here to slay them. Seriously. That’s pretty much all I ever did. Purify Nightwalkers and save people’s lives in the process.

  Only I couldn’t save John’s.

  I blinked back tears. I wasn’t going to let myself cry, even though I was at a funeral. I knew if I started balling my eyes out, I wouldn’t be able to stop and would not be able to purify this soon-to-be Nightwalker. I’d held it back and concealed it with anger at myself for this long, anyway. I could make it through my life without turning into a sniveling, wimpy girl.

  I kept to the back as people started leaving. The acquaintances and extended family. The immediate family and closer friends would remain here for quite some time, and I had to stay here for longer than that.

  In forty minutes, everyone was gone, leaving me alone with the coffin. They hadn’t set it in the ground yet, and I hoped he turned soon, before they buried it. If he didn’t—well, it wouldn’t mean anything. It’d just mean more work for me, and I really didn’t feel like doing more work.

  I stared at the flowers sitting atop the mahogany casket. There were many, meaning that this guy had a lot of friends/family/acquaintances. When I died, I probably would only have three flowers on mine. One from Gabriel (if he didn’t die first), one from Michael (ditto), and one from Raphael (if he even gave one, which I’d be surprised, because the two of us were never on good terms).

  The clouds above opened again, coating the cemetery in water. Rain poured down hard, wetting my hair and plastering it to my face.

  What a day. What. A. Day.

  It seemed like I waited for hours and it was definitely beyond boring, for I had nothing to do but stand there and wait. It didn’t bother me either, because I didn’t want to go home to Michael and Gabriel. They both were trying to help me through this situation, which was nice and sweet and yada-yada-yada. All that stuff.

  But when they acted all extra nice and polite to me, it just made me mad. I needed to get over this on my own. Not with their help. On my own. I had to deal with the fact that I killed John in my own way.

  By trying not to think about it. At all.

  I glanced at my watch. It was nine-thirty PM. This guy needed to hurry up be
fore I dragged him out. I didn’t want to be here all night, just long enough that when I got home, everyone would be in bed, sleeping.

  A knock rumbled from the casket. And another. And another.

  Hmm. I guessed I should go over and help him out.

  I unlatched it and threw it open, sending the wet flowers everywhere. Inhuman eyes stared back at me. Yellow, Demonic eyes, surrounded by wrinkled flesh. For the next few moments, this thing would stay like that, staring at me, not knowing where it was or what to do. And then it would turn into a mindless, blood-sucking, flesh-eating zombie.

  Right now, I wasn’t in the mood for a big fight, so as soon as it reached its arms out to my neck, I grabbed the wooden stake in my coat and drove it into its heart. In one second the Nightwalker burned up. It burst into ethereal flames and was gone, just like that. There was nothing left behind, not even its clothes. The thing even took my stake with it as it went.

  After closing the casket, I bent down to pick up the soaking-wet flowers that had spread across the ground. The rain abruptly halted as I stood up.

  I nearly dropped the flowers back onto the grass as I saw the casket, at what was suddenly laying on it. A black rose sat atop it, as if it had always been there. But by some keen observations on my part, I knew the rose wasn’t there before.

  The rose wasn’t wet.

  Something placed it there while I bent down, faster than imaginable, quieter than a mouse.

  Brows furrowing, I cautiously picked it up, like it might be a bomb in disguise. The rose was fresh, and I could smell it a foot away. Very fragrant, yet the smell reminded me of one thing: death.

  When I got home, my hope that Michael and Gabriel would be asleep was dashed as I stepped out of the alcove and into the living room, where they sat, waiting impatiently for my return.

  “What took you so long?” Michael asked, standing up, a worried look behind his glasses. He had today’s paper in his hands, crinkled from his tense fingers.