Staked!

by Candace Wondrak

  “I was trying to be nice.” Gabriel huffed. “God, just wait till I’m nice to you again. Seriously. Just wait, because you’ll be waiting a long time.”

  “But—”

  “Ah,” he hit my arm lightly, “I’m just kidding. Maybe. You’ll have to wait and see.”

  I was about to say something sarcastic back, but a presence behind me silenced me. I turned to Raphael. He was dressed in some of Michael’s clothes since his priest’s attire was soaked.

  He looked so weird without his black pants and top and that little white part around his neck. So weird, so different.

  Michael walked in the room behind him, staring squarely at Gabriel. “Who gave you permission to wear one of my shirts?”

  Gabriel was quiet as he glanced from Michael to me. That was his way of blaming me.

  “That was a new one, too.” Pausing, Michael fixed his glasses. “And now it’s completely ripped and torn to shreds.”

  Michael and Gabriel went back and forth. It was amusing, especially when Gabriel brought Max, who just sat there on the couch and minded his own business, into the conversation.

  I couldn’t stop my eyes from glancing at Raphael. His bright green-eyed stare was on me. He looked down. “Can I…speak to you?”

  Since I couldn’t exactly say no, I said, “Of course.”

  His light head motioned to the stairs. “In private.”

  I was instantly hesitant. The last time we were somewhere private and alone together, we had gotten into a fight, I had punched him (hard), and he had me pinned to the floor and his hand around my neck.

  Not a situation I wanted to relive anytime soon. Or ever, for that matter.

  I should have said no. I should have said something along the yeah-right-go-to-hell lines. But did I ever do what I should? No. So why start now, huh?

  I made my way upstairs and onto the second floor. I side-glanced to the library’s door. It was closed. Wondering what Koath and Vincent were talking about, I spun in the opposite direction and went into the sparing room. Probably not the best location, considering what happened here last time.

  I heard Raphael enter behind me and close the door. I faced him and asked, “So…what’s up?” Right away I was mentally hitting myself for saying that. He probably wanted to talk about something important and deep and I start the talk by saying something so normal like what’s up?

  It wasn’t a wonder why he got pissed at me so quickly.

  “Kassandra.” Raphael stepped closer to me. His eyes were gazing at me fixedly. “I…must apologize.”

  Well, that wasn’t what I was expecting to come out of his mouth. That was the last thing I thought he would ever say to me. Even though, he had said it right after, but twice? I was lucky enough to get I’m sorry from him once.

  That’s why I, instead of accepting his apology, asked, “What?”

  “I should never have yelled at you…or touched you like that. It was wrong. I—”

  Raphael was suddenly closer than I wanted him to be, so I meandered to the nearest wall, leaning on it. Unfortunately, he followed me.

  “I had no right to do any of that,” he finished, sounding very sincere. Which I wasn’t used to.

  That could be the reason why I turned to him and said, “But you were right. I never listen to you. All the things you said…you were right.” I bit my lip, for it wasn’t easy to admit that, especially to him.

  “No,” he easily dismissed me. “No. I was wrong. You are not weak, or annoying, or whiney…well, you are a little whiney, but isn’t everyone?” Raphael saw that his tiny joke wasn’t lightening the mood, so he carried on, “You do not listen to me because I have not been the most respectable man of late. You are not a terrible Purifier.”

  I smiled at the thought, but knew the truth. “Aren’t I?” I asked, looking up at him. “I tend to do stupid things and put myself in danger when there’s no need to. A good Purifier wouldn’t do that.”

  He breathed a slow breath and replied, “I will point out what you are missing. A good Purifier protects the people, and if that means putting themselves in danger and doing stupid things, then so be it. Every time you do something stupid, you are only thinking of others and what’s best for them.”

  I was speechless. I didn’t know how to respond to that.

  Raphael kept going, “No matter who the Purifier is, they are never safe. They are always in a constant danger, and you are no different. For the rest of your life you will never be genuinely safe.”

  He must have seen the smile growing on my face and became instantly confused. “Why are you smiling?”

  “I love being told that I’m going to die.” My mind flashed to my mother, who often appeared in dreams/visions, telling me I was going to die. It was imprinted inside my head from the day I took my first lessons as a Purifier. I was going to die. I knew that already.

  Raphael studied me. “Seems an odd thing to smile at.”

  “It’s not,” I told him sincerely, turning to face him. “I’m not afraid to die.”

  He frowned at me, still not understanding where I was coming from.

  My eyes left his because his stare was getting a little too intense for me. “Thank you,” I said softly. “And I’m sorry for hitting you.” Sheepish did not sit well on me.

  “Oh,” Raphael gently laughed it off, “no, don’t be sorry for that.” He brought his hand to his cheek. “I deserved it. Really, I did. There’s no excuse for what I said to you…or how I acted after. You…” His face broke into a wide smile. “You do know how to throw a punch.”

  “Do I?” I laughed faintly. “Then it’s a good thing I do it for a living.”

  “Yes, it’s a good thing.” Raphael continued smiling as he finished, “I do hope I’m not on the receiving end again, unless it’s a practice run.”

  “You better hope not,” I gazed up at him. “Because my skills can only improve.”

  Raphael laughed, and strangely, it was a nice laugh. A laugh I wished I heard more often, rather than his glares and his lectures.

  As we left the sparring room, I started to wonder why he was being nice to me.

  Regardless of what was up with Raphael, he was still a jerk.

  But then again, so was I.

  Chapter Forty – Raphael

  I stood in the sparring room for what felt like forever. I watched Kassandra go, eyes falling to places it shouldn’t. Even after everything, I couldn’t stop myself.

  After what happened, I never let myself think of such things…I never thought about love or lust or sex. It never sat right with me after everything. Yet here I was, her teacher and her tutor, and did that stop me from wishing things were different? Did that stop me from having dreams no moral man should?

  Of course not.

  Try as I might, wish as I may, I hadn’t been a moral man in quite some time.

  It was not on the Council’s wish that I instruct her. It was on my insistence. I felt her the moment she came to town, and I knew I had to be close to her. She was different, far different than the many beings I came across in my travels. I had to know her. I had to see her. I had to be with her.

  I simply did not predict the effect she would have on me, the way she riled me up and calmed me down at once. Even my precious Leliana did not have such a hold over me when she…

  My eyes closed, and I shook the far-off memories away. Now was not the time to relive the past. I had to look toward the future, toward finding a way to end Crixis once and for all. The blasted Demon was after her, for whatever twisted reason, and perhaps for my own twisted reasons, I had to find a way to stop him.

  Crixis had to die.

  I let him escape me once.

  I would not do it again.

  Chapter Forty-One – Kass

  Heaving a sigh, I leisurely walked to the stairs, but before I went down, I paused. The library’s door was open as well. It was closed last time I went by it. Me, being the curious type, I went and peeked.

  Koath st
ood over a lamp and reading a piece of paper. Vincent was nowhere to be seen. Maybe he was in the bathroom, getting changed.

  Moving to his side, I questioned, “What’s—”

  Koath shoved the paper in my hands and ran out of the room, saying, “I’ve got to call the Council, again.”

  That was weird.

  My eyes fell to the paper. There was a small note scribbled on it.

  Had to go. Koath, I’m sorry for attacking you. Tell everyone I’m sorry for all the grief I have caused. You need not worry about me or what I will do…I have decided to head up to the mountains. If you, or your ‘Council’ need me that much, I’m sure you’ll be able to find me. Good luck finding and killing that son of a bitch. It’s all up to you guys now,

  Vincent

  Chapter Forty-Two – Vincent

  The sun poked through the clouds, revealing itself for perhaps the first time all day. I blinked, getting my dark green contacts adjusted to my eyes. Reaching inside my leather coat’s pocket, I pulled out a new pair of sunglasses.

  I stared into the sun one more time before putting them on. And, boy, was I glad I did. There was a huge double rainbow across the sky. It was beautiful.

  My eyes dropped to the leather diary resting in my lap. I dug into my jeans’ pocket and retrieved a lighter. I stood and ripped the journal apart, taking the time to tear out all the pages and setting them in a pile.

  When I came to the last page of the diary, I stopped and skimmed it.

  He will be here soon. He is coming to kill me. I am sure of it. My love, my true love is going to kill me. All because I gave him eternal life. That is what I get for turning someone I love. Death.

  I am invincible, so I do not know how exactly he will kill me. All I know is that he is stubborn beyond belief and determined to end me. If he truly wants me dead, then he will find a way. My love will kill me.

  I cannot fight back. I cannot do anything, and not because I refuse to. If it would save my life, then I would kill him. But I am unaware of how to do so. And he…he is stronger than I. How that happened, I do not know. I think there was something different about his blood. It tasted like magic. I do not think he was human when I changed him.

  There is a knock at the door. I fear this is goodbye. Soon the locks will break, and my love, named after the healing Archangel himself, will show no mercy and kill me. Irony in its finest, one last cruel joke to play on me.

  Grimacing, I tore out the last page and set it on the top. Flipping the lid off the steel lighter, I threw it down and lit the pile into flames. That way, no one would get their hands on this journal ever again.

  Throwing the leather binding down in the fire, after I was positive that the pages were utterly destroyed, I turned and headed back to my motorcycle. My metal boots clunked, a welcome sound.

  Things weren’t going to be normal from now on, that’s for sure. But they were going to get better, I had a feeling.

  I said I was going to the mountains, and that was where I was going. But not the Appalachians. No, I was going past those and into the heart of America. To the Rocky Mountains. But Koath and the others didn’t need to know that.

  Before leaving this town for good, I gripped my orange amulet, vowing to never let it separate from me again. And with that, I kicked the stand up and rode towards the sunset.

  Part of me wanted to stay, because there was just something about Kass that told me to stay. But the other part of me said that she already had enough Demons after her. And, yes. I meant both after her life and her.

  This town was full of surprises, and I could only imagine what Kass and her group were going to do next. Hopefully they’d find that Demon and kill him for me. I would do the same, but after twenty years of seeking revenge on the wrong man, it was time I did some soul-searching.

  It was time I found myself.

  My adventures, I had a feeling, were just about to begin.

  Sorcerers

  Chapter One – Kass

  There was an eerie feeling around me; it was as if I’d been here before. But I was positive that I never had been here. I would remember if I’d been in any body-filled rooms lately.

  Piles and piles of ripped apart corpses were scattered all about, seeping blood onto my bare feet. It was a gruesome sight, perhaps the worst I’d seen in my life. All these bodies missed chunks of flesh, as if something with ever-sharp fangs tore skin from bone. It was a wound I knew well—never receiving one myself, thankfully, but I had seen it on many a walking corpse.

  Nightwalkers did this.

  Nightwalkers only wanted two things. The first was skin and the second was blood. They were basically like mindless zombies, hungering for food. Not exactly the Vampires in the movies these days.

  No, I hadn’t met one, single Nightwalker that could control itself and was the least bit attractive.

  But Daywalkers, well…they’re a different story.

  They may be the better-looking type of Vampire, but they were also the most dangerous. They could walk in the sun, have a reflection, need no invitation to come into your house, and they couldn’t be killed by a stake in the heart. Or, the better word would be purified, because I was a Purifier of God and it was what I did.

  I purified things. Demons. But as I saw it, killing and purifying were pretty much the same.

  Gabriel and I had been doing this for almost our whole lives, actually. We weren’t exactly normal teenagers. The farthest from it. Speaking of Gabriel…where was that boy?

  Grimacing, I carefully stepped over an arm. Where was I, for that matter? I didn’t remember getting here, and yet…it was the strangest feeling. I felt oddly at peace. Like my fight was over and I had nothing more to worry about.

  But that was ridiculous for a few reasons: A) that meant I was dead (or something close to it) and I so wasn’t, B) Gabriel’s very protective of me (and he had this crazy idea that we’re going to end up getting married in Florida, which would never happen), so wherever I went, he’s always next to me…and he wasn’t here, and C) I had too much unfinished business.

  I still had to help Claire through her father’s death, teach Max (the new and dorky Purifier) the ways of the normal teen (which I just recently learned myself), and I had to deal with Crixis (the insanely evil/ancient Daywalker who’s trying to kill me).

  Oh, God. What if he finally succeeded? He had only been trying to do it for almost three years now, so it’s a miracle I lasted this long. What if I was dead?

  But if I was dead, wouldn’t I be in Heaven? Or…somewhere that wasn’t filled with ghoulish corpses?

  Yeah, maybe I wasn’t dead.

  My weary eyes spotted a stone door on the far side of the room. I made a dash for it, figuring I had nothing else to do. I was so close to it, too…and I would have made it. The only problem with that was that something pulled my foot out from under me.

  After I gathered myself, I looked down, realizing that a hand grabbed me. A bloody hand. I followed the hand’s wrist to its arm. And I followed that arm to its shoulder. So on and so forth.

  A ghastly shriek rang through my ears as I saw the being that the hand belonged to. Claire. Her tall stature, her muscular arms, her short, blonde hair. It was all covered in blood. Only one thing was missing: her bottom jaw.

  Her tongue dangled and her top teeth dripped with venom.

  Eyebrows furrowing, I recognized this. I’d seen her like this before…but where? Why couldn’t I remember anything?

  Her tongue fell out of her mouth, and it started slithering on the floor towards my apprehended foot. This was gross, and it was not going to happen.

  With skill, I kicked her face forcefully, stunning her enough that her hand released me. I stood and ran to the stone door once more. Unlike last time, I made it. I tried the latch. Ah…crap. I made it, sure, but would the door open?

  Nope. It wouldn’t even budge.

  Well, this was just great. Fantastic. Wonderful. Amazing.

  And please note the sarcasm ther
e.

  Glancing over my shoulder, I gasped. All the bodies, even the headless ones, were on their feet and stumbling over to me. I knew one thing: I needed to get this door open ASAP.

  Putting all my weight against it, I pushed with all my might. Slowly but surely it started opening. After a few more frantic moments, I was on the other side of the door and closing it so those zombie things couldn’t get to me.

  Never thought I’d see the day when zombies were real.

  Though zombies didn’t have unusually large canines. That trait belongs to Nightwalkers. And Daywalkers too, but Daywalkers’ largest teeth were their two front ones. The canines were close behind in length, but the front-runner in size and sharpness was definitely the front two.

  “Kassandra…” Behind me, a woman’s voice spoke. A velvety voice, one that I’d only heard in my dreams.

  Flipping around swiftly, I asked, “Mom?” A sharp breath escaped my mouth before I covered it with my trembling hands. She was tied to the wall and had numerous cuts and scrapes all along her body.

  The light that she normally radiated was gone. She was pale, dirty and broken.

  “Know that I still love you. And that no matter what,” her dry lips paused, “you will always find your way home.”

  “What?” I asked, running over to her. “What does that mean?” I was going to untie her, but the more I ran the farther she got from me. Sense was something this place lacked. “No, come back,” I yelled as the floor released below me.

  Jerking up straight, I groggily held a hand to my head. That was a terrible dream, and I hoped with all my heart that it wasn’t a vision. Because if it was, and it did come true, then we’re all screwed.

  And that’s not a good thing.