Staked!

by Candace Wondrak

  “Oh, of course.” I managed a smile, though it was nowhere near the beauty of hers, I was sure, while I led her to the couch. Holding my hand down, I said, “Please, take a…” My mind was drawing a blank. Brilliant.

  Why did this always seem to happen when I was around her?

  “Seat?” Elizabeth finished my floppy sentence with a grin. “Why, yes, I will. You are a most gracious host. A tad on the awkward side, but that is one of the things I love about you.” Her light brown eyes were expectant.

  Love. Not loved.

  I gulped. It was most likely that she wanted me to say something similar to her, but all my mouth said was “Would you like some—”

  “Tea?” She hid her wide smile with a delicate hand.

  “Yes,” I mentally cursed myself for acting as if this were our first date.

  “I’d love some.”

  “Be back in a jiffy,” I spoke the words before I realized how strange they sounded. I took my time turning and walking back into the kitchen, but once I was alone, I hurried like there was no tomorrow. Thankfully I had some hot water boiling for myself, so making the tea took me a mere few seconds.

  Soon I was in the living room, rushing to her side and carrying the two steaming cups. I was so absorbed in her presence that, while I handed her one cup, I splashed scalding hot tea out of the other cup and straight on my hand.

  “Blasted—” I began to swear like a sailor, causing Elizabeth to set her cup down and take my hand. My stinging hand placed my own tea beside hers before she was able to pull me up and drag me back into the kitchen.

  Cold water ran from the sink in a steady stream after she switched it on. Her soft grasp held my burnt hand stable under the flow of water. I let her do it, even though I was almost positive that to treat a burn, one shouldn’t put cold water atop the injury. We stood there in silence for a while, until Elizabeth burst out laughing.

  “You know—” Her tender fingers stroked mine. “—you haven’t changed a bit, Michael.”

  It had been a long time, more years than I could remember, since I last saw her. Regardless of what she or anyone else thought of me, I had changed. “Oh, but I have,” I said, turning my body to face hers.

  Her strikingly sculpted face tilted up, letting her eyes meet mine. “And how is that?”

  “Because now—” Under the water, our fingers intertwined, to the point where we were holding hands. “—I know what I want.” Such thoughts I hadn’t let myself think for countless years now came flowing into my head like a gallant rider.

  Elizabeth was about to ask me what it was that I wanted. I could see it in her eyes. She always liked to be clear on things. However, I was not going to let her do that.

  Taking my free hand, I set it on her waist and pulled her to me, so that our fronts were touching. Her left hand traveled up my chest and onto my neck as I let my body do all the talking.

  This kiss. I’d been waiting for this kiss for a long time now. And all the ones that came after the first were equally, if not more, incredible.

  Chapter Six – Kass

  “Wow. So this is where they live. Huh. I imagined more of a hut,” Gabriel said, putting both hands on both hips. “You know, since they’re animals.”

  I had a sudden urge to say they’re not animals, they’re Morphers, but I knew Gabriel would only say what’s the diff? like he was a hotshot for shortening the word difference because he was too lazy to say the whole thing.

  Tearing his eyes off the brick house, he glanced back at me with a look that said we were stupid to leave the back porch of our house. Eh. Who was I to play by the rules given to me? Taiton went along with us, mostly without a word, after trying to alert the two people in the house that we were setting off.

  Apparently the two people in the house were getting busy.

  I knocked on the door. Claire appeared in seconds, smiling a toothy grin. “Kass, hi! How are you doing? Are you feeling better?” Her short yellow hair stuck every which way. She wore baggy, torn jean shorts and a yellow tank top. Very bright and colorful. Kind of hurt my eyes.

  She was talking about Koath. My father. I didn’t know what to say. Actually, I didn’t want to say anything.

  “I’m fine,” I outright lied, knowing that everyone who knew me could tell that was a lie.

  Her lips pursed as she opened her door further, saying, “Do you want to come in?”

  “No, I got company.” My head leaned in Gabriel and Taiton’s direction. They stood off to the side, so they didn’t look like creepers, just as I told them to.

  Claire’s blue eyes landed on Taiton. “Who’s—”

  “He’s Taiton. It’s a long story, but don’t worry. He’s…nice.” At least I thought so. Truthfully, the man hadn’t said one word so far, and I wondered how long that absolute silence could continue. “I came to ask for a favor.”

  “Sure. What do you need?” Claire was quick to agree.

  Never thought it’d be that simple. “I’m—I can’t go to school for a few days, and I was wondering if you could get all my stuff and bring it to my house after school?” I didn’t want Liz doing it, because I still wasn’t sure whether or not I liked her, let alone trusted her. She seemed to slip back into Michael’s life way too easily.

  “Sure,” Claire said the statement as if it were completely obvious. “You have to give me your locker and combination. Oh, and class schedule, too.”

  I stood on her porch and thought hard. What was my stupid locker number? And what was my combination? I had so much trouble with those things; I couldn’t believe I didn’t remember. How could a Purifier be so forgetful?

  It could be because I didn’t care. Or…nope. That’s pretty much the only reason.

  “Come on, there’s a notepad right on the fridge.” Claire walked into her kitchen. I could see the refrigerator from here, so hopefully, going into her house for a minute wasn’t going to be a problem with Taiton.

  I mean, if he couldn’t let me go (not even) ten feet away from him, did that mean he was going to be in the room when I showered? Creepy. No thanks to that, buddy.

  As I headed into her home, my ears heard creaks on the wooden porch. I spun to face them, saying, “The kitchen is right there.” I pointed to show them that I was not exaggerating on this. “I’ll be out in a minute. If you really want, you can watch me through that window, okay?”

  I was next to Claire, taking the pen out of her hand. Maybe Crixis wasn’t going to kill me. Maybe it would be the shadowing being done by Taiton that would do me in.

  The pen was on the yellow pad, writing the number sign, when all was torn from my sight. Everything in my vision was ripped apart, sending me down, into the dankest depths of nowhere.

  A strange feeling surrounded my entire body, and I soon realized that feeling was water. I was in water. Pure, black water that seemed to be endless. An air bubble escaped me, making me aware of the fact that in this particular vision, my air supply wasn’t endless.

  I glanced all around, and I saw nothing. For a last-ditch effort, my watery eyes looked upward, and to my relief, there was a small, circular ray of light.

  Thank God. I kicked my legs and moved my arms, swimming to the light as fast as I could. I had some slight difficulties with that, especially because the light became more and more of a circle the closer I got. Yes, I was getting closer. Yes, the ray of light was getting bigger and bigger. Yes, I was beginning to think that I’d lose the remainder of my air before I reached the top.

  If I didn’t know any better, I’d say I swam up from the center of the earth. It was as if I was trying to surface from the bottom of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It was like I was twenty thousand leagues under the sea.

  My lungs ached as they twisted and turned inside me, searching for any hints of air and finding none. This was it. I was going to die in a vision. By drowning, nonetheless. If someone asked me how I thought I was going to die, drowning would be near the bottom of the list, right next to freak tanning bed incidents,
random bricks falling out of the sky, and laser eye surgery gone wrong.

  Just when I was about to give up, I reached a hand out and felt nothing around it. No water. I was at the top. After emerging, my head flew back and my lungs inhaled deeply. Ancient stones circled me, making me aware of the fact that I was in a well. Closing my eyes, I used my tired arms to climb out and flop on the dusty ground.

  Was that really necessary? Why did I have to be stuck inside a well, at the very bottom? Why couldn’t I just have been transported here next to it, in an upright and standing position where there’s lots of air to breath?

  The sounds of lapping flames entered my ears, causing me to jerk up and wildly glance around. There were numerous fires eating up what cloth there was in the city I was in. The stone walls were broken and crumbling. I couldn’t tell you what century I was in. I couldn’t even throw out a guestimate.

  All that my eyes could see, besides the rubble and fire, were torn and bloodied bodies. All women and children. All bitten with the same teeth.

  I knew what Demon gave those marks. Those four, deep holes that hurt going in. Daywalkers. Daywalkers did all of this—killed all those women and children. What kind of sick monster could do something like that?

  The one who I’d already seen slaughtering an entire village was on the top of the list. Crixis. He had to be behind this. There was no possible way he could not be the cause of this mayhem and misery, this chaotic and limb-strewn scene.

  Something directly to my front drew my attention. There laid a woman and a boy, who I assumed was her son. They were just two feet apart, amidst the rocks and rubble. She was nearly missing an arm and had a fresh bite wound on her neck. The boy’s shaven head was splattered with blood, and as the blood ran down his lifeless body, I finally saw the numerous bite marks all along his arms and legs.

  Such a sad scene. What a terrible thing to do to a poor, defenseless boy. It made me both sick and infuriated.

  Golden armored soldiers ran past me, drawing their swords to ready themselves for what they were about to face. My stare locked on them, my eyes following in their direction.

  Four of the golden soldiers surrounded a blood-covered man who wielded double blades. He had a toned back, I could tell, even though it was underneath the blood and dirt. His black hair was knotted and the blood that soaked it was dry. As the golden soldiers took turns lunging at him, he expertly dodged each of their attacks.

  Crixis expertly dodged each of their attacks.

  I hated to be right, but I was right. Crixis was the root of all this. What a fiend.

  I could feel my hatred bubbling. Any time my eyes were on that sick freak, I wanted to shove a stake through his heart. Again and again. Well, a stake or my rose blade, which lately hadn’t gotten its fair usage.

  Who knew how many people this Daywalker killed? Who knew how many other villages he mass-murdered? I didn’t know, but he wouldn’t live long enough to slaughter another, if I had anything to say about it.

  Claire’s small kitchen hit me like a cold slap in the face. The yellow notepad resting on her refrigerator was still without any information, unless you wanted to count half a number sign. But that didn’t really qualify as information.

  “Do you remember your locker number?” Claire put her back against the fridge, enjoying the cool reprieve from the humidity and the heat. “Or your combination?”

  “Um…” I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to focus on what was in front of me and not the vision I just had. That vision, or something like it, was predictable when talking about Crixis. He was the monster who killed Koath. But for now, that would have to get locked in the back of my head until further notice.

  “Yeah,” I said, shaking off the mental image of the boy who had been murdered near his mother.

  When the last of the numbers and teachers’ names had been put down, I handed the pen to Claire and told her, “Thanks again for this.”

  “Oh—” She waved it off. “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.” I started to turn to, you know, walk away since we were done, but Claire stopped me short by saying, “How is Max?”

  “What?” I was caught off-guard by the question.

  “Max,” she repeated, tugging at the back of her super short blonde hair. “I haven’t seen him since—I know I don’t know all the details, but he must have known him like you did, huh?” Her blue eyes were filled with worry for the red head.

  My head was slow to nod. “Yeah, he did. Why didn’t you just talk to him?”

  “I,” Claire caught herself, “Steven and I thought it’d be best if we were just there for moral support. We didn’t want to make a scene.” A sense of regret came over her. “Steven made me stand back and be quiet. I should have talked to him at least a little. God, what was I thinking?”

  I debated on putting a hand on her shoulder, but then thought against it. “Don’t beat yourself up.”

  Claire nodded in swift agreement. “You’re right.”

  “Well, when you come by to drop my crap off—” She laughed at my bluntness, or possibly the evident hate I have for school. “—you can talk to him then. He’s moving to a house closer to mine, so I’m guessing he’ll be around more.”

  She blinked. “Really?” I could tell her mind was working, wondering how she could be over my house all the time to see him more.

  A teeny, tiny, minuscule, ever so small twitch of a smile crossed my face for a few seconds. She did seem to like Max a lot, and that was good. They would be great together, Gabriel and I were never lying when we said that, but seeing her get all excited about him that easily made me wonder why I never felt that way.

  That made me wonder, did I really like John, or did I like the thought of liking him?

  “I’ll see you there,” I said while walking to her open front door. “And, Claire?” Her eyes were on me, waiting. “You have to tell him that you’re a cougar. Or mountain lion. Maybe going with mountain lion wouldn’t give him any wacky ideas.” Like, for instance, Claire was a cougar: meaning she liked younger men.

  A sad smile came upon her face when she answered, “I will.”

  After waving one last goodbye, I met with Gabriel and Taiton, who waited in silence on her porch. It was a good thing Taiton listened to me when I told him to wait there, otherwise how would I have explained to Claire why he had to follow me everywhere?

  On account of the no car situation, it took us twenty minutes to reach the bottom of our driveway after the hike from Claire’s house. And that’s with us cutting across people’s backyards.

  Before today, I never knew how weird it was when you stumbled through some bushes and into a family’s barbeque. Now I did.

  As we began the long trek up the winding driveway, the blonde boy felt it was his duty to talk. “Do you ever talk?” Gabriel spoke to Taiton. When the man didn’t answer him, he turned his blue eyes to me and said, “Wow. It’s like we got a puppy. A big, black, beautiful, bone-crushing puppy. How often can you say your puppy’s the size of a horse?”

  Making sure to not trip on any random rocks, I side glanced at Gabriel. He was practically begging to be punched in the face by Taiton. What an idiot.

  Gabriel’s voice got quiet as he turned to Taiton, “Do you need to use a bigger toilet, or can you fit your ass on the normal ones just fine?”

  “Before you get the crap beat out of you—” I stepped between the ever so talkative one and the absolute silent one. “—I’m going to tell you to stop right there, Gabriel. Don’t keep talking.”

  “You want me to keep talking? Okay. I am a little curious if our puppy the size of a horse in a certain spot—” Gabriel placed a tattooed hand on his chin, rubbing it gently, as if he seriously thought about Taiton’s manhood.

  “Oh, God.” I held my hands over my ears, trying to la-la him out. I couldn’t believe he just went there.

  “What? I just said what we were both thinking” he whispered in my ears when I made the mistake of taking my hands down.
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br />   I shot him a glare, as did Taiton.

  Gabriel was the first in the house, saying, “I hope they’re done getting to know each other again.”

  Stepping up the three steps that were on our deck, I was mere seconds behind him when a movement off to my left caught my eye. I turned my head, noting that the movement was now stationary.

  A small boy no more than ten feet from me, staring at me with teary eyes. I recognized him right away as the boy I saw during the vision, the one who died near his dead mother. His green eyes were bright, and he was missing all the wounds he had in my vision, but there was still something off about him.

  He was pale, dirty and sad. Maybe because he was dead.

  My usual confused face formed when I glimpsed at the open front door for one second before returning it to the boy. But the kid, who must have been five years old at the most, was gone.

  I stood there, unmoving, and wished for the boy to come back.

  Was this going to signify my death? Some innocent boy, welcoming me in my final moments?

  Gabriel appeared at the door, an intense look on his handsome face. “Oh, good. I thought you two turned into stone or something. Well, since your limbs are rock-free, are you going to come in the house?”

  Shaking my head as I walked by him, I rolled my eyes. Sometimes I wanted to strangle that boy.

  Chapter Seven – Cleo

  I enjoyed the hot steam from my recent shower when I heard the doorbell ring. Slight aggravation took hold, because I usually basked in the steam until it was mostly gone. And since I had just stepped out of the shower, it was mostly there.

  Walking hastily past Max’s closed door, I rolled my eyes at the thought of living in Koath’s house, with Max, forever. It was something I wanted to avoid at all costs, and I could only hope that whoever knocked was here to take the kid away.

  It was indescribable how desperately I wanted to move back into my apartment. Alone.