Staked!

by Candace Wondrak

  “It was a simple wolf, nothing more?”

  “Nothing more, nothing less.” I eyed him, watching as he abruptly stood and left the room, whispering about how this town was filled with too many sodding supernatural things. It made me chuckle.

  Then again, almost anything he said could make me chuckle. I blamed that English accent.

  I could not get my mind off the white wolf as I slowly made my way upstairs. Was it a wolf, or was it something more? No wolf I’d ever seen, be it at a zoo or on the Discovery channel, looked quite like that.

  Magnificent. Awe-inspiring. Mind-blowing and mind-boggling.

  I quickly decided that, if I wanted to actually get some sleep tonight, I’d stop thinking about the abnormal wolf. With that in mind, I was confident that sleep would come quicker than it normally did.

  But as I reached for my doorknob, a wave of trepidation consumed me, gradually becoming larger and larger until my hand touched the metal knob.

  It was my room, so I had nothing to worry about. My room was safe. Well, if you didn’t count the time John was there, terrorizing me like the twisted Demon he was. Oh, and the time when I woke from a nightmare and had two slit wrists. Besides all that, my room was perfectly safe…

  No matter how many times I repeated it in my mind…my room is perfectly safe, my room is perfectly safe, my room is perfectly safe…it wouldn’t harden and solidify into a fact. It was just a theory that I wished were true.

  That didn’t explain why I felt like throwing up. Or why my hand couldn’t grab hold of the slippery knob. Or why the door handle was slippery to begin with.

  The queasy feeling multiplied tenfold as I began to hear a faint tune in the background. It was the same song that played on my clock radio this morning.

  Slow, deep, old. Songs you didn’t hear on the radio anymore. Soulful.

  Why did this song seem familiar? Where had I heard it before? Not in this house, because none of us listened to seventy-year old music. With the slow beat, the bad sound quality, the jazzy effect—it was unique.

  A scream echoed in the hallway, emanating from my room.

  Terror took hold as I frantically tried grabbing the handle. I had some slight problems with it, since the moment I reached for it again it turned into a big, bloody bubble.

  Ew.

  My reflection was clearly visible on the red bubble’s surface. It was twisted and distorted, as if I stared at myself in one of those funhouse mirrors. One second my face would be thin, the next, fat. One moment it would look happy, the next, sad.

  This was definitely not normal.

  Having enough, I poked an angry finger through the bubble. That turned out to be a huge mistake. The bloody bubble didn’t pop immediately. Its size grew exponentially, until it was as big as me.

  My reflection simmered, glaring back at me with contempt. Her eyes softened. I stretched out a hand, feeling like I was in one of those movie moments where two people, on opposite sides of glass, put their hands up in the same spot and feel connected with each other.

  Only I didn’t feel connected when I gingerly placed my hand upon the bubble.

  The reflected me laughed as the blood-filled bubble surged out, coating everything it touched in the red liquid. Feeling gallons of blood on me, I closed my eyes and wished that it would all go away.

  Teeth clenching and fists shaking, I opened my eyes to come face to face with a door. A blood-free door that did not belong to me. It didn’t lead to my room, and yet I knew I’d seen it before.

  Another scream rushed from the room. I ran toward it and frantically turned the knob. But it wouldn’t open. It was locked.

  Warm temperatures scuttled the floor; I could feel it with my bare feet. My eyes fell. Blood seeped from the room, flowing to the hallway and onto my feet. What was going on?

  This wasn’t making sense. None of this made any sense.

  Shaking my head, I took a few steps back. The bloody floor and strange door disappeared from my vision. I was now standing in a greatly lit room with an enormous window. I spun on my heel, realizing someone was behind me.

  My mother.

  A silent tear rolled down her cheek as her skin began to fade away into the sunrise’s light.

  Oh, yeah. Because this was how she died. She faded into light. A weird and unusual way to go, but it was better than getting murdered, right?

  She was nearly all vanished when she spoke, “Kass.”

  “Mom.” I ran to her and hysterically tried yanking her light particles down, so that somehow I could put her back together again.

  The only thing that was left was her face. “Remember.”

  “Remember what?” I begged, giving up and falling to my knees.

  “The truth” her lips muttered before departing once and for all.

  “No,” I screamed at the top of my lungs. Why did she always have to leave me like that?

  Sweat rolled from my forehead as I bolted upright in bed. I glanced around, making sure I was not in another freaky vision. Nope. Just my room. Thank God. I laid back down and struggled to get my breathing under control. I didn’t even remember crawling into bed.

  That dream gave me the frights and a case of the sweats. My bed must be drenched in it, I swiftly decided as I felt the wetness around me. A sharp pain surfaced on my forehead. I put a sweat-covered hand on it, trying to sooth the throbbing.

  This pain was odd. I’d felt it before, in the exact same place, too. And it wasn’t just a headache. I had enough of those to realize when it’s a simple headache. No, this was something much more than a dumb headache.

  “Kass.” A male’s voice called my name as he entered my room. Gabriel.

  I could see him kneeling by my bedside, looking worried in the moonlit room. His blonde hair went every which way. It was cute. Not that it’s normally not cute—not that I thought it was normally not not cute…

  Oh, God. What was happening to me?

  It was that other Gabriel. He did this to me.

  I prayed that Gabriel hadn’t heard those thoughts, that he was following the rules I set before him. My thoughts were my own.

  “Are you okay?” was his question. When I didn’t answer, he grew even more frantic. “Kass!” Gabriel sounded urgent, shaking me to make sure I wasn’t dead.

  And I was not dead. Although, after that dream, I wasn’t feeling too alive, either.

  “What?” I sneered as only a grumpy, sleep-deprived person would. “I’m fine.”

  “Are you sure?” He put a comforting hand on my arm, that was covered in sweat. Just like the rest of me. It was disgusting.

  “Yeah, I’m sure,” I told him seriously, wishing he would get the picture and go back to bed. His own bed. “I just had a weird dream, that’s all.” I imagined his eyebrows furrowing as he brought the hand that was resting on me closer to his face. “It’s just sweat, Gabriel. Welcome to the ugly world of Kass.”

  He said not a word as he rose it up, letting the moonlight hit it impeccably…and making me see the dark liquid that layered his hand. “This isn’t sweat.” Gabriel’s eyes shone. “It’s blood.”

  “What?” I said, reaching for the lamp and flicking it on. The scene that laid on my bed was a murder scene. Gallons and buckets of blood, everywhere on my sheets. None of it came from me; no cut wrists this time.

  My arms began to shake as I eyed them up and down. Every inch of my skin was soaked. “Gabriel,” I said, more confused than scared. I didn’t scare easily. A bed full of blood wasn’t going to change that.

  The boy kept quiet as he tore the rest of the sheets off me and picked me up, precisely how one would carry a newborn baby. He carried me to the bathroom, kicking open the door and placing me in the shower, in a standing position. Gabriel turned the dial and soon a stream of cold water smacked me in the face, immediately waking my bloody butt up.

  I watched him watch me, my body exhausted. “Gabriel,” my voice came out low and high-pitched, meaning that even though I was mostly calm, I w
as ever so slightly freaked out. “That blood’s not mine.”

  “Then who…” Gabriel paused as I gagged on some watery blood that made its way into my mouth.

  “I don’t know,” I replied, praying that the blood didn’t have any diseases in it. “I don’t—” I collapsed on the opposite tile wall, hugging it to keep myself standing. I should be wondering how it got there, why I didn’t wake up when the blood appeared, but all I could think of was my sheets. I loved those sheets. They somehow survived John’s slashing of my wrists, they most definitely weren’t going to survive this particular night.

  I felt a hand on my arm. As I glanced down at the tattooed hand, Gabriel moved me to the side. In seconds, his muscular arm was wrapped around me, and he was guiding me to sit and lean on him.

  Figuring I couldn’t fight him, I went with it.

  Gabriel didn’t get up and let go. He stayed sitting in the bathtub, with his arms around me, with the shower pelting us both, and with me in his lap. Ignoring the bizarre circumstances, it was kind of nice.

  I turned my head. Some would say I was snuggling into his chest, which just happened to be at the same level of my face. And those people would be right.

  But now wasn’t the time to get all comfy, cozy. Not when blood still flowed off me in a steady rate and not when twenty gallons of blood was in my bed. Moving my head off his chest, I whispered, “We should get Michael.”

  Sighing slowly, Gabriel moved a piece of hair that had recently gotten in my face to its rightful place. A small smile crossed his handsome face as he tightened his grip on me, saying, “Michael can wait for a little bit.”

  I bit my lip, trying to stop my own smile that was beginning to form.

  The blood on my bed probably already ruined it, so I knew there was no hope to save my bed and sheets. Michael could wait, because as long as Gabriel was here with me, I was all right. I could face anything.

  Chapter Eleven – Kass

  “Are you sure you want to go to school today?” Michael fixed his glasses and stared at me intently.

  I sighed and nodded for about the millionth time this morning. Chances were that I’d have to do it at least ten more times until Koath arrived. Ever since last night’s whole blood debacle, Michael acted very cautious and concerned.

  Which, as it turned out, wasn’t too different from the normal Michael.

  “Are you—”

  “Yes, Michael,” I said exasperatedly, running two hands through my clean and blood-free hair. “I’m sure. I’m going to school.” Anything to get me out of the house, really, and away from Michael.

  Gabriel pranced down the stairs, looking good. His bleached blonde hair was spiked effortlessly, in a way that no one would know it actually took him fifteen minutes to style. His legs were covered in dark jeans that fit his long and muscular figure. He chose a tight, white shirt. Something that only guys with great bodies could pull off.

  Michael ran his fingers on the rim of the newspaper, too edgy to read the articles just yet. “I just don’t understand how…how that much blood got there.” His fretful eyes rested on Gabriel, who was busy shoving a bowl of cereal in his mouth. “And you checked her to make sure she had no wounds? The windows were all locked, doors still locked…you two should have woken me straight away.”

  The boy, who sometimes acted mature and other times like a two-year-old, decided now would be a good time to act the latter one. Gabriel opened his mouth, dribbling the milk and cereal out slowly.

  Michael stared at him with his mouth open and an I-can’t-believe-you-just-did-that expression on his face. I chuckled but quickly subsided, because that was sheer grossness right there. Nobody wanted to see chewed-up food.

  For some reason, Gabriel chose not to answer. Maybe, after the minute-long waterfall of milky cereal from his mouth, he forgot the question. I couldn’t believe him as he scooped up another spoonful and put it in his mouth as if Michael didn’t even ask anything.

  Michael snapped his finger. “Earth to Gabriel. Are you in there?”

  Two blue eyes shot up in his direction. Gabriel hung his head low so that he didn’t have to travel as far with his spoon.

  “I asked you if you checked her for any wounds,” Michael repeated his inquiry with increased pressure and intensity.

  “Oh. Yes.” Gabriel looked from Michael to me. “Well, no. Not really a no, though. Maybe a yes. Kind of. Like a half-half sort of thing. You know—a yeah-no?” He tried, unsuccessfully, to combine the two words.

  Michael threw his hands in the air, having enough of Gabriel’s negligence.

  “Well, it’s not like I frisked her, for God’s sake,” Gabriel was quick to say, “but I did make sure she wasn’t bleeding. I patted her down, her arms. Well, just that one spot, really…”

  A car honk interrupted the conversation, causing Michael to say, “You should’ve woken me up. Good thing he’s here early.” He stood and hurried us to the door.

  Gabriel grabbed hold of the doorframe, sending a critical glance Michael’s way. “Why?”

  Michael’s thin shoulders fell. “One can only take so much of you, Gabriel, before going completely insane.”

  The ride to school was definitely not as intense as yesterday’s. Nothing really happened at all. Small talk was plentiful. Jokes were had. You know, the usual.

  I wondered if Koath knew about what happened last night. Maybe Michael called him and told him everything. Or maybe not. Since he wasn’t my Guardian anymore, Michael didn’t have to tell him anything. Maybe that’s why he acted so normal; because he didn’t know.

  I hated it. All these things were happening that I didn’t understand, and I had no one I could talk to about it. I was alone. I was as alone as ever.

  Gabriel set his hand on mine. I was temporarily stunned, so all I did was stare at the hand that radiated warmth like it was its job. Was this his way of saying I wasn’t alone? Probably. That also meant he read my thoughts.

  Jerk.

  I shook my head as I got out of the car and walked to the school. Koath hurried to my side, pointing to my neck. Right. He wanted me to wear the necklace proudly and display the thousand-dollar necklace like I bought it on a clearance rack at Target.

  If only he knew how hard that was going to be for me. I nonchalantly plucked the chain out from under my shirt and rested it above. This was one of the first times the necklace saw the light of day.

  “There you go,” Koath laughed, patting me softly on the back as we entered the school.

  We went our separate ways. I headed to my locker, dreading the opening and closing process completely. After what happened last time…I didn’t want to use it again any time soon. In spite of this, I was forced to conform because I needed my stupid textbooks.

  The conformity should be a crime.

  Just when I thought I was in the clear and my locker was opened without sustaining any injury to me or a third party, Gabriel slammed his back against it, shutting it in the process.

  I glared up at him. “What do you want?”

  “Nothing,” he said simply. “Nothing at all.” Gabriel spun on his heel and started walking away.

  Honestly, I couldn’t believe him. He knew I had locker troubles almost daily and yet he still had to come and close it, dashing my hopes and dreams of having a pain-free morning.

  Thankfully, I was able to open it again without injury.

  That’s the moment Gabriel came running back, leaning against my locker (again) and closing it (again). “I did want to ask you something. That’s an awesome necklace. It looks familiar. Where’d you get it?”

  A half grin appeared on my face. He was being so stupid. I hated myself for thinking it was kind of funny.

  “Oh, that’s right.” Gabriel started walking backwards, with his hands in the air, as if saying I’m the king of everything and you know it. “Me. Worship me. I am worship-worthy, I’ve been told.”

  I giggled, watching him ram his backpack into some unsuspecting kid.

&nb
sp; “Sorry, dude” was what he said, even though he ran into a girl. After that he paid no more attention to the love-struck girl.

  What a loser.

  Claire’s big, blue eyes were apologetic. But what for, I was a little hazy.

  Wondering what was on her mind, I sat in my usual physics chair. The backroom was a little more cluttered than usual. There seemed to be more papers lying about. Or maybe there were more boxes filled with kits. Possibly both.

  “Kass,” Claire began, taking a breath. “I wanted to say—”

  She stopped hastily when Mr. Straum, the physics teacher, poked his head in. “Have either of you seen my…” He did a little jump, seeing the thing he was looking for. What that thing was was a mystery to me. Some little gizmo that measured something.

  He smiled and nodded, which was his way of saying to continue.

  Once he was gone, Claire resumed, “I wanted to say that I’m sorry for freaking on you and Steven yesterday. It’s been a long couple of weeks and sometimes I snap.” Her face turned guilty. “Sorry you had to see it.”

  “I get it,” I said, being serious about how I understood. I probably understood better than anyone how long the past few weeks have been. The last few days alone had been torturous.

  “It’s just…” Her bulky hand squeezed the pencil she was holding. “Steven can be a little…weird. I don’t want you to freak because he can be creepy.”

  “Claire,” I added a calming tone to my voice, trying to ease her down, “Steven was fine yesterday. He was nice. He wasn’t weird or creepy.”

  “But he was fine marching around without a shirt. It’s a little much, don’t you think?”

  I shrugged, acting like it was normal for me to have perfectly toned, flawlessly skinned guys inspecting my wounds. I wished it was. “I didn’t mind.”

  “You didn’t mind?” Claire repeated, becoming frantic. “You didn’t mind? Oh, God. This is how it starts. First it’s I don’t mind, then it’s of course I’ll marry you.” She dug her face in her hands, hiding her embarrassment from me. “I’m sorry. I don’t know where that came from.”