Staked!

by Candace Wondrak

  Fortunately, I was fast enough that I caught the easily-ripped bag and all the cherries that were close to falling out. Once I poured the delicious cherries in a bowl fitting for a cherry feast, I meandered into the living room and collapsed on the couch.

  The only thing bad about cherries, I decided, was the seed in the center. They were a pain.

  I was too absentminded about my cherries to notice Michael, who was sitting in his usual seat reading the paper, getting ready to say something to me. “Gabriel.”

  Looking up sharply, I shoved another cherry in my mouth before saying, “What?”

  “Do I really have to spell this out for you?” Michael adjusted the height of his glasses. My blank stare told him all he needed to know. “Kass is upset with you. We both know what you need to do.”

  “Wait until tomorrow comes and hope she forgets all about it?” I offered, wishing it was the truth. I was no good at apologizing. I knew it the first moment I said the lame I’m sorry remark back at the restaurant. But, seriously, what did she expect, listing off guys like that? Why didn’t she know that I—

  Michael crinkled the paper. If I were a cat, he would’ve swatted at me. Then again, if I was a cat, there’d be no competition for Kass’s love in the first place. She’d love me no matter how much of a jerk I was. “No, that’s not what you should do.”

  I was seconds away from saying something about shoes when Raphael walked in the room, eyes on my big bowl of cherries. If he was going to ask for one, my answer would be an astonishing no for two reasons: he didn’t eat and I didn’t like him; therefore he didn’t deserve any cherries.

  “Those cherries were for Kass,” Raphael spoke slowly, eyeing me up like I was Lucifer himself who came to steal away his wooing cherries.

  Well, they were my wooing cherries now.

  “I guess I ruined your plan,” I snarled in his direction as I stood, heading for the stairs. I wasn’t about to let him give these cherries to Kass. No way. If anyone was going to give her cherries, it’d be me.

  After a good five minutes of being extra careful, I finally made it to her closed door. Taking a manly breath, I readied myself and turned the knob to see Kass nowhere in sight.

  Taiton sat on his own chair in a corner, reading a romance novel.

  I searched her bedroom, finally spotting her. She sat on her windowsill, mopey and depressed and staring out at the night sky. Her beautiful eyes were scornful. “What do you want?”

  The view of Kass in her little shirt and even smaller shorts made me freeze immediately. Sometimes I might show an extraordinarily great sense of strength and intelligence, not to mention my attractiveness, but I was a man. Some might call me a boy, still, but I’d argue for a man. And Kass in her barely-there pajama outfit…

  Thank God I was the mind-reader here, otherwise she’d know that I needed to go take a cold shower to snap myself out of it. Or think of burning babies.

  Why was I here again? And why did I carry a bowl full of cherries?

  Her bored expression turned into confusion. “Gabriel?”

  “Huh? Oh, I got you these cherries.” I walked to her as she swung her legs off the windowsill, freeing up some room beside her, where I chose to sit. I set the bowl between us and covered myself with a pillow. She immediately took one.

  Kass spat out the seed and tossed it to her trash can, acting like she was a hotshot basketball player. Yeah, right. Like a basketball player could ever look good in clothes like that.

  “So you walked to the store and bought these?” She lifted her eyebrows, and I could tell she already knew the truth.

  “Sure.” I plucked the stem off one. “If by walked to the store you mean walked to the fridge, and by bought you mean tore open the bag and put them in this bowl, then yes. I did.” When she smirked at what I said, I couldn’t help but smile in return.

  “That’s what I thought,” she said, stuffing another cherry into her mouth.

  God. Maybe it’d be better if I just left right now. That cold shower called my name…

  “Gabriel.”

  Oh, crap. I knew that tone of voice. I knew it, and it made me uncomfortable.

  “I’m sorry for snapping at you today.” Kass fiddled with her hands. God, she was adorable. “We’re all we’ve got.” Pausing, she rose her eyes to my level. “And I don’t want to constantly fight with you.”

  “It’s my fault, Kass.” I had my own Kass moment as I tugged at the fluffiness of the pillow that was on my lap. “I shouldn’t have said that. It wasn’t your fault that John was, well, you know. And besides,” I broke the seriousness of the conversation, “you have the best guy with you almost all the time—”

  Kass gently hit me on my shoulder and giggled.

  I held a cherry stem to her face. “Can you tie one of these with your tongue?”

  “No,” Kass was quick to say.

  “That means you’re a terrible kisser,” I said as I slid it into my mouth. In seconds I pulled it out, showing her the newly-made knot that laid near the center of it. “But don’t worry. I can teach you all about it.”

  With a knowing smirk, Kass patted me on the hand, sending tingles up my arm, and said, “Maybe next time, Gabriel. Maybe next time.”

  It was worth a shot.

  Chapter Ten – Kass

  The little boy stared at me again. His bright green eyes bore into me, making me sick and sad. Sick because he was so bloody and sad because I wanted desperately to help him.

  I was in the same village as before, the only difference being time was stopped around us.

  “Help,” his cracked voice begged of me.

  “I will” I knelt before him, my face at his level. “I’ll help you—”

  A woman appeared behind the boy, setting a dirty hand on his wiry shoulder. Her brown eyes used to be kind and happy, but now all they were was empty and heartbreaking. The old cloth that draped along her body flowed, even though there was no wind to be had. Her long, brown hair was curled with dried blood.

  Seeing both of them together was sad. So indescribably sad.

  “You.” Her tone was calm and smooth, a complete switch from her son’s. “You will help us?”

  I nodded, agreeing when in truth, I had no idea what I was agreeing to.

  “Do not cry,” the woman spoke to her son harshly, surprising me with her instantly angry tone. “It is a sign of weakness. A warrior never cries, even when facing death. Do you think your father would cry in the face of death?”

  The boy wiped the tears out of his eyes as he shook his head.

  The mother continued, no longer paying any attention to me, “He would stand and keep his honor. He would die gloriously.” Then she looked to me. “Remember, glory is important, but above all else, strive for honor, for glory is worthless without honor. Please, help this city reclaim its honor.”

  The sun’s rays poked through my dark curtains, landing on my face and waking me from a dream that I really wanted to get to the bottom of. What did the mother and child want help with? Were they asking me to settle an ancient battle that had raged on since they died, and would continue to do so until Crixis was purified?

  I wished the sun wouldn’t have woken me up, because maybe then I could have asked them. Stupid sun. Why’d it have to be so freaking bright at—I glanced to my clock—ten in the morning?

  Wait. Ten?

  I sat straight up in a flash. Not a Daywalker flash, a normal, human flash. I tore the sheets off my legs and stood, slowly drawing my tired eyes to meet Taiton’s.

  Oh, right. No school.

  “Whoops.” I rubbed my head. “Forgot what was going on for a few seconds there.” Trying to shake off my sleepiness, I motioned to the book in his lap. “How’s your book?” I mentally smiled at the thought of the giant Taiton reading a romantic book. Who knew his favorite genre was romance?

  Not me. Definitely not me.

  After a few minutes of silence, I said, “Good.” Even though Taiton didn’t respond, but I sti
ll felt like I had to say something else, so we didn’t end things on a question. Hearing Taiton’s footsteps in synch with mine was something I was never going to get used to.

  Michael greeted me at the foot of the stairs. “You slept in quite long, Kass. Are you getting sick?”

  He began to lift his hand up to my forehead, but I swiftly avoided it, saying, “No. I was just tired, that’s all.” I rose my eyebrows, throwing him an are-you-happy-with-that-answer look. I hoped so, because that’s the best he’d get. I wasn’t anywhere near close to telling him about the mother and child.

  “All right.” Michael cautiously sipped his tea. “Well, get yourself ready, because we were supposed to meet Elizabeth at the house twenty-five minutes ago.”

  My eyes fell to my body, studying the outfit I wore. “Why can’t we just leave now?” There was nothing wrong with my extra small tank top and my teeny, tiny shorts, besides the fact they were a tad on the small side.

  “You want to go with bedhead—” I felt my crazy hair. “—and smelly armpits?” I sniffed my pits. “You’ll do what you want, I know that. I just hope that you take in consideration everyone else’s safety and well-being.” Michael shrugged as if my wild hair and putrid morning smell wasn’t worth much of a thought. “I’ll be waiting for you and Taiton in the car.”

  I fumed as I stormed up the stairs, stomping as loudly as I could.

  How dare that Michael insinuate that I needed to brush my hair before venturing outside. I’d give him the stinky armpits, because I could use those babies to knock anyone in a short range out. But still, it should have gone without saying. So what if I happened to walk right past the bathroom, where my deodorant sat, because it was the last thing on my mind?

  And my hair. Come on. How bad could it be? Bedhead was a socially acceptable style.

  I stared in the mirror, at my wild hair. Okay, Michael was right.

  It was bad. It was really, really bad. Even the bedheads at the high school would find my hair unattractive right now, and that’s saying a lot, since I was pretty sure none of them owned a brush.

  My eyes studied the inside of Koath’s house. It was so strange, being in this house for the first time. Sure, it may have only been his house for a few weeks, but it still felt like him. A weird thing to say, but it was true.

  Besides big pieces of furniture, the house was largely empty. There were no knick-knacks, no pictures, no bits and pieces that recalled a man’s well-loved life.

  The silence of the vacant house was palpable, until Liz spoke, “I’ll say, there’s not an abundance of things to go through. He didn’t keep much. Come.” Her small head motioned up the stairs. “What’s here is in his room.”

  Michael, Taiton and I followed her heeled feet up the creaky stairs and turned shortly to enter Koath’s room. As the men disbursed through the room, I stood at the door, clutching the doorframe for dear life.

  This was Koath’s room. This was where he lived, where he slept.

  I wished I would’ve known before…

  No. No more of that.

  The curtains were drawn, but a single line of light tore through the center of the dark drapes, illuminating the room. His bed lay untouched, with the sheets ruffled and clumped.

  I winced when Michael dragged the curtains open, letting the sun light up the dust-filled room in seconds. Normally, this situation would tear anyone up, but this was easy, considering I came home to find his body torn open. I would rather do this a hundred times.

  Liz’s brown eyes broke my drifting thoughts. “If this is too hard for you, I understand. If you want to, you can wait—”

  “No,” I interrupted, “I’m fine.” For the moment. Smiling a forced smile at her, I listlessly walked around, farther into the room. My mind imagined a slow, sad melody playing in the background.

  While Michael and Liz tore out his clothes and stuffed them in black garbage bags, I set my hand on the edge of his bed and knelt beside it. As far as I could tell, there was nothing in the room in addition to the clothes and furniture.

  Thinking that maybe something’s in the nightstand, I reached out a hand and pulled the lone drawer open. My eyes spotted something brown. Once I lifted it up, I held in a gasp.

  A picture. A picture of a young Koath and my mom. Together, they held a small infant. Me. That baby must be me.

  After I made sure there was nothing else in the drawer, I slid it shut and sat on the wooden floor. With my back against the metal part of the bed, I stared at the picture. It didn’t move. It didn’t change. Nothing happened.

  “Did Koath,” Michael paused as he aired out another trash bag, “not have any personal belongings, other than his clothes?”

  Sliding so that my back was now flat against the floor, I held the photograph to my chest and responded, “Why have anything when your life’s always been in a suitcase?” I could picture the way Michael reacted to my statement. A heartrending head shake.

  So what if I was blunt and to the point? It was the truth that Koath’s life was always in a suitcase. If the Council needed him in England, he left. Even if you needed him too, he still left.

  When no one answered me, I spun my head to gaze under his bed, just in case there was something there that no one bothered to look for. And to my surprise, there was something.

  A laptop.

  Chapter Eleven – Cleo

  The Egyptian sun was smoldering; it was as if I were immediately drenched in hot sweat. I could not wait until I was back in my air-conditioned apartment. If there was one thing I could hardly deal with, it was heat so strong it baked skin.

  A small, dirt-caked boy ran up to me, saying “We found it! We found it!” in his native Egyptian tongue. His dark eyes were happy, making me roll my eyes. If only he knew just what they had found.

  “Where is it?” I spoke perfect Egyptian back at the boy, startling him somewhat.

  Instead of answering me, he responded by waving. I supposed it was his way of telling me to follow him. He led me around the scaffolds and diggers to the base of a recently uncovered statue.

  I took a moment to look at the twenty-foot tall statue. Even though there was still much sand on it, I recognized it right away. Anpu.

  Figured that the cub would bury her here, at the feet of Anubis, in hopes that the lioness would never awaken, but if she did, she would wake to the glowering stare of an ancient Egyptian form of Vexillion.

  Vexillion’s been around for ages; millennia, even. The Egyptians were not the first to proclaim it god of the dead and give it another name. Sure, it was later replaced by Osiris…but Osiris, the real Osiris, was a higher-level Demon, at best.

  Vexillion, Anubis, Anpu, whatever you wanted to call it, was something much more.

  Tearing my concentrated stare away from the statue of the cub, I walked near the boy, who stood by a locked box. Three other men were on the ancient box, using toothbrushes, or something like them, to get the remaining sand off.

  But none of that mattered now.

  “Stop!” I commanded them. “We do not have time for this. Send it. Now.” When the words were uttered, the men froze and looked at each other. “I said, send it now!” After I was sure the box was being readied to be shipped, I muttered the incantations and opened my eyes in my living room.

  Even though I had never left my seventy-two-degree air-conditioning, I still felt as if I were covered in sweat. Disgusting.

  A melody of knocks interrupted my disgust, causing me to walk as calmly as I could to the door. I opened it and eyed the mailman and the large cardboard box he carried.

  Without a word, he handed me his pad. I signed it and, not wanting him to set foot in my apartment, took the box from him. We exchanged quick goodbyes as I used my foot to close the door.

  Walking to my bedroom, I struggled with the weight. Once the box was safely on my bed, I reached for the pair of scissors that was on my dresser. With haste the cardboard was soon tossed aside and I stood staring at the box.

  I lift
ed the ancient, waterlogged chest and carried it to the center of the life-sized holder that faced my mattress. Throwing open the lock, I took a few steps back to marvel at her beauty. Her arms and legs were not attached to the torso, not yet, and she still sent tingles through my body.

  As I stared at the five open and properly arranged chests, I smiled.

  The time neared.

  Chapter Twelve – Michael

  Elizabeth held my hand as we meandered to the front door. We were home now, and Kass was safe and sound in the living room with Taiton. Everything was all right, as of the moment. We left Koath’s clothes at a second-hand store and brought home the two possessions Kass found: a picture and a laptop.

  Sadly, Elizabeth couldn’t stay with us; she had to go to work. She was the principal at Kass and Gabriel’s school temporarily, and I understood that she had other responsibilities. But she was already four hours late. Why bother showing up halfway through the day?

  “Are you sure you have to go?” My tone portrayed what I was feeling: unhappiness and longing. If she could tell I desperately wanted her to stay, then she was choosing to leave me here, alone.

  Alone with Kass and Taiton…but alone, nevertheless.

  “I will be back tonight.” Elizabeth stroked my cheek, and for the next few moments, I marveled in her soft touch. “There is much to be done at the school. Grief counseling, meeting the staff members, and learning how it all works. I promise I’ll be back in a flash with the two boys.” She winked as she stood on her tiptoes and pecked my lips.

  When her lips left mine, I said “Excellent” and watched her walk down my driveway and into her small car, all the while marveling at my stroke of good fortune. The years were certainly kind to her. I wished I could say the same about all of us.

  Gently closing the door, I turned to see Kass holding the picture to her side. There was a sense of urgency in her green eyes. Ignoring the imposing man behind her, I said, “What is it?”