Staked!

by Candace Wondrak

  “The laptop,” she replied swiftly. “There’s nothing on it. I think…I think it’s been wiped.”

  “Wiped?” I could feel my eyebrows furrowing together as I tried to think of a reason why Koath would wipe his own computer. Perhaps Koath was not the one who wiped it. “Are you sure?”

  “When I turned it on, it was like I was booting it up for the first time. Do you think you could take a look at it?”

  I nodded. “Of course.”

  Kass smiled halfheartedly. I couldn’t blame her for her lack of caring. She’d been a trooper through all this, which was very commendable. “I’ll be upstairs.” The smile faded as she disappeared from my view.

  Shoving my hands in my pockets, I headed for the living room, where the laptop in question rested on the coffee table. With a skilled hand, I snatched the tiny laptop and sat in my usual chair.

  I hadn’t often had the time to play around with technology since moving here. I was, let’s just say, adept with technology. I checked the computer, finding that Kass was right. Everything on this computer had been deleted, but why?

  Perhaps there was a way to retrieve some of the saved files on the computer.

  It was a fortunate thing that Kass and Gabriel were not the only ones with years of training under their belt, though I haven’t seen much use lately.

  Chapter Thirteen – Kass

  I wished I could’ve gotten to know my mother before she was murdered, that I could’ve gotten to know Koath as my father before he was killed. I kept thinking these thoughts as I placed the frame next to the necklace, my parents’ wedding rings.

  The centerpiece of my dresser was a picture of us as a family beside their wedding bands. Somehow, it all seemed fitting.

  I was seconds away from asking Taiton a question when I noticed Koath’s golden ring capturing the light in the strangest way. It was strange because the reflected light kept getting bigger and bigger until I couldn’t see anything.

  When the light subsided, I was left standing in a desert field below a steep cliff with a drop-off that would make anyone nauseous by just looking at it.

  Behind me, a male’s voice uttered the phrase “You have made a grave mistake” slowly, angrily, and violently. Only one Daywalker could sound like that: Crixis.

  I spun to face Crixis clashing with a group of five armored men. The sun shone off their golden armor, similar to how Koath’s wedding ring did in my room. More bodies, freshly dead ones, littered the nearby landscape.

  With his dual-wielded swords, Crixis easily cut the leftover men down; giving them the same courtesy he gave to the previous dead men. When he straightened himself out, I noticed the sweat beads rolling down his tanned forehead.

  Just as Crixis glanced upwards, to something behind me, I was brought back to my room.

  Why weren’t the visions longer? Why was I never shown it all at once?

  I gripped the wooden edge of the dresser. The mirror on it reflected my face perfectly. The truthfulness of it was something I could always count on. If I looked like crap, it showed. If I was angry, it showed. If my teeth had food between them, it showed.

  But all it showed today was a normal, un-freaked face that appeared as if it didn’t own a care in the world.

  This seemed to be my permanent expression lately, I’d admit. An expression that said I’d seen a lot of horrible stuff and I was immune to it, now.

  My fingers softly touched the rings as I wondered what life would have been like if we had been a normal family. I would have grown up with a mother and a father. I would have gone to a high school for all four years…I might even have had a boyfriend. We would have eaten a feast for Thanksgiving, gone trick-or-treating for Halloween, and had egg hunts for Easter.

  I’d missed all those things. Holidays were something we didn’t often do. Birthdays were another story. Congratulations on living through another year. Here’s a shiny new weapon.

  Turning to Taiton, I asked, “Did you know your parents?”

  He looked up from his Nicholas Sparks novel. “No.”

  “No?” I repeated, sounding unsure and full of questions. “You never knew your parents?”

  He shook his masculine head.

  “That sucks.” My eyes left his, or I should say his eyes left mine, and returned to his book.

  Taiton seemed like an intimidating guy, and there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that he could get scary, but there was also something about him that made me think of him as a big teddy bear. A big teddy bear that could kick butt when needed.

  “So were you always an Agent?” I tapped the edge of the dresser, taking in the smoothness and the overall vintage-ness of the whole thing.

  Slight aggravation took hold; I could tell by the way he faintly sighed. Taiton adjusted his legs in the chair before saying, “I was instructed on how to be an Agent since I was born. This has always been my life.”

  I nodded, completely understanding what he meant. He’d always been an Agent, and I’d always been a Purifier. Was I always destined to become a Purifier, or was that something Koath decided after my mother died?

  After talking for a few more minutes, Taiton stood and leaned down to stare out the window. “I am surprised that Crixis has not made his presence known to us yet. I’ve read all the Council has about him, and he is not acting accordingly.”

  Leaving my dresser’s side for the first time in fifteen minutes, I walked to my windowsill and leaned on it. With my head stretched at an obscenely aching angle, I looked up to Taiton as I asked, “What do you mean?”

  “The Council has very few accounts of him, since the first library was burned to the ground four hundred years ago, but the ones they do have say he’s extremely violent, overwhelmingly compelling, and immensely intelligent. He does not wait to strike unless it is pertinent to what he wants.”

  My eyes met with a squirrel on the tree that was near my window. It looked soft and cuddly. This was the most Taiton’s ever spoken, to me or anyone.

  “You’re saying that...” My voice trailed off when I realized I had no clue what Taiton was saying. I tried to finish his thoughts and failed.

  “I am saying that Crixis either knows I am here and is waiting for the perfect moment to strike—” There was a long pause in Taiton’s sentence, and I wasn’t sure if he was hesitant or if he was taking the time to word it correctly. “—or he is preoccupied with something that matters more to him than you.”

  “And which do you think is true?” Either way, he’d come, so it didn’t really matter.

  Taiton opened his mouth to respond, but he was cut off by the ring of the house phone.

  Chapter Fourteen – Crixis

  “Hello?”

  I stood on the hill overlooking the cemetery in utter silence. There was always something about a cemetery that made me feel at ease, made me feel alive, made me feel human. It calmed me down.

  But that wasn’t why I was here.

  I wasn’t here because it was near the cemetery. I was here because the hill was close to the cemetery, which in turn was close enough to her house. At the perfect angle, I was able to see and hear everything that went on in that house. My senses were sharper than most.

  She creased her eyebrows as she glanced at the caller ID. Bringing the phone back to her ear, she said, “Who is this?” As if the little Purifier knew I was calling. I didn’t answer; she immediately hung up the phone, informing the man with her that it was a telemarketer.

  The man was going to pose a problem; I knew it from the moment he showed up on her doorstep with the Englishwoman. They were sent from the Council to purify me…if only they knew that their trip here was such a waste.

  They could not kill me. No one could. No one could purify me in thousands of years, thanks to Vexillion. I made sure that if she ever came back, she could do nothing to harm me.

  But now, I began to enjoy my time with these people. Torturing Kass and Raphael was amusing, and it was something I wanted to continue doing.

&nb
sp; Perhaps their journey here wasn’t a waste, after all. If they served their purpose, all would end well. With the combined knowledge of us all, I was positive there was a way we could unite and take her down.

  Chapter Fifteen – Kass

  A few Oreos were a good snack for a normal person. After about fifteen of them, they were a good snack for me, too. Add that to a massive glass of milk and you had a little slice of heaven at your fingertips.

  Taiton sat across from me, reading his book and occasionally sneaking an Oreo every now and then, probably thinking that I didn’t see it. But I did, I saw it. I saw it all, and I thought it was hilarious how sneaky the giant man was attempting to be.

  The high-pitched ringing entered my ears again, reminding me of a few hours ago, when I answered it in a second to hear nothing on the other side. No horror movie crap in this house. I wasn’t about to jump to answer the phone again anytime soon, so I just sat there and ate more Oreos, letting Michael, who was in the other room, walk into the kitchen to pick it up.

  “Hello?” Michael’s face hid a childlike smile. “Elizabeth. How are you? How was your first day?” He chuckled. “Good, good. A meeting? All right, I’ll push back dinner a few hours so you and the boys can have a warm meal. Fantastic. I’ll see you then.”

  I watched him set the receiver down before asking, “What’s going on?”

  Michael poured some tea in a new cup, stirring and replying, “Elizabeth has a meeting with the staff, and she doesn’t know how long it will last. Her, Gabriel and Max will be late.” His dark eyes met mine. “That’s all. Nothing to worry about.”

  “Were you able to find anything on Koath’s computer?” was my next question.

  Michael casually sipped his fresh tea, sighing and closing his eyes, as if it was the best thing he’d tasted in a while. Well, since his last cup of tea. And knowing him, his last cup of tea was finished less than ten minutes ago.

  A sufficient amount of time passed, making me wonder if Michael was thinking up of the perfect way to let me down easy. I didn’t really have my hopes up. I didn’t expect him to find anything on the computer.

  “No,” Michael finally said, “I’m sorry, Kass. I couldn’t find anything. I promise I will keep trying, though.” He heaved another heavy sigh.

  Who would have deleted everything on Koath’s computer? Koath wouldn’t do it himself, would he? Maybe the better question was: why did they wipe it?

  Michael headed towards the living room but stopped short when there was a rhythm of knocks on the front door. I couldn’t help but stare at him as he slowly opened it. What if it was…naw, Crixis wouldn’t bother knocking and waiting for someone to open it. If he really wanted to, he’d just come in and make himself at home.

  Claire poked her head in. “Hi.” She walked past a wordless Michael and into the house, lugging various textbooks in her backpack. She threw it on the kitchen table and sat beside me, setting her chin on her hand.

  “You got here fast,” I told her, knowing why she rushed here: Max. Too bad he wasn’t here yet.

  She fluffed her short hair and laughed. “Yeah. Steven tends to speed.” I was seconds away from asking her what Steven had to do with anything, but she beat me to it, saying, “His is in the shop, so he had to borrow my car. Speaking of which—” Claire paused as she turned her cell phone on loud. “—he’s supposed to text or call me when he’s on his way.”

  Her new cell phone was a strange sight. I knew she had to buy a new one, since she dropped and broke it when she got the call that her father died. I was a first-hand witness to that.

  Her big, blue eyes flicked towards Taiton, who ignored the both of us and had his nose stuck in his novel. Odd how he was constantly reading that book now, especially when yesterday he stood with his arms crossed and stared directly above my head.

  Did this mean his guard was down, or was he just that good?

  “Claire,” I coughed, “this is Taiton. He’s kind of like my—”

  “Bodyguard?” Claire cut in, somehow knowing exactly what I was going to say.

  “Yeah.” The incredulousness in my voice was evident. It also felt ridiculous. I was a Purifier. I didn’t need a bodyguard. I was the bodyguard.

  “He was with you yesterday, watching you like a hawk,” she explained her expert reasoning, “and he’s here again. I put the pieces together and threw out a well-formed guess.” She threw an it’s-that-simple smile at me.

  I laughed and joked, “You’re good.”

  As Claire jabbered on about what I missed today, I came to a startling realization: everyone in her immediate family was dead. Steven wasn’t her blood uncle. She was more like me than I knew.

  Soon enough, after all the schoolwork was done, we rested in the living room, watching some cheesy soap opera, with Taiton sitting next to me and Claire on my other side. Michael was somewhere upstairs playing around with Koath’s laptop, and Raphael was locked in the library, searching the shelves for anything he hadn’t read in his nearly six-hundred-year lifetime. The guy was old.

  “When are you going to tell Max?” I broke eye contact with the terrible TV show to glance at Claire. She dropped her gaze to her lap. “Claire, I thought you were going to tell him?” Was I being pushy?

  “I am,” she defended herself. “I am. I just don’t know when, or how, for that matter.” Claire let out a muffled moan as she hit the pillow beside her. “Why does this have to be so hard? Why can’t it all be easy?”

  “Because life’s not easy?” I offered her a questionable answer.

  She began to laugh out a response, but a single knock interrupted her. “What?” Claire glimpsed at her phone as she stood and threw her backpack around her shoulder. “Steven said he was going to let me know—maybe he forgot.”

  Before I gathered enough energy to stand and follow her, she was already at the door and yanking it open. Claire dropped her backpack and whispered “You” as I jumped to my feet and ran by her side.

  His green eyes studied Claire. “Hello, Morpher.” We stood in shocked silence as he turned his head to me. He did nothing but stare. “Do not scream for your protector—”

  Yeah, like I’d listen to that.

  I yelled “Company’s here” at the top of my lungs the same moment I grabbed Claire’s hand and threw her behind me. My fingers clenched into two fists, and I rose them between us.

  The despised man’s eyes squinted as he flashed away the moment Taiton came within a few feet of him.

  Taiton slipped out a black box from his pocket and whispered, “This does not fit with his profile.” His eyes scanned the nearby area while his hands unlocked the box and drew a thin needle out.

  He was going to purify Crixis by pushing a needle in him? Good luck with that, buddy.

  I unconsciously led Claire up the stairs, slowly and backwards. Safety was my number one concern. Crixis was here for me, not Claire, so I had to get her out of here.

  The feeling of wind slapping my skin was startling; I moved too fast for my mind to register. One moment I was backing up the stairs with Claire behind me, and the next I was shoved against my bedroom door. We were alone in the only room of the house I called mine.

  His striking face was mere inches from mine as he leaned in to whisper “I told you to not call for him.” My mouth was open and a sarcastic comment was close to being said when Crixis turned his back to me and started pacing.

  He looked uneasy. Not that I cared. I went for the doorknob, figuring it’d be easier to double-team him, but he stopped me.

  “No,” he growled, flashing me to the same chair Taiton’s been practically living in the last two days. With another flash, he pushed my dresser, which must have weighed hundreds of pounds, due to its size and the fact it was filled with clothes, in front of my door, securing it from any break-in.

  There were various pounds and swearwords on the other side of the door. “Crixis.” That voice didn’t belong to Taiton or Claire. It was Raphael. “Release her.” Why didn’t he s
ense his presence?

  Something wasn’t right here.

  As Crixis laughed at his pleadings, I scanned my room, wanting to find something I could use as a weapon. Anything, really. I didn’t care what, as long as I had something sharp in my grip, I felt better. Of course, I’d already shoved a stake through his heart, so it wasn’t as if that would stop him.

  I wished my rose blade wasn’t downstairs, sitting on the coffee table in the living room.

  Crixis crossed his arms. “They truly have no idea, do they?”

  I was too engrossed in my weapon-search to wonder if he wanted an answer to that question, or if it was more of a rhetorical one. There was not even a pair of scissors in here, was there? What kind of room was this?

  Just as I was giving up all hope, I spotted something on the floor near my dresser. It must have fallen off when Crixis threw it in front of my door. It wasn’t a weapon, but it would do. Five against one was better odds. The only thing was—how was I going to reach it?

  The path to it was a straight one, so that was good, but Crixis stood between us. Not so good.

  Courage rose up in me. If this was how I was going to die, so be it, but I’d go down fighting. I got to my feet and walked towards him. “Stop the games,” I told him while huffing myself up. “Let’s get this over with.” I began to circle him, like I was in one of those old western movies.

  And, to my amazement, it worked.

  He soon joined in the circling match with a curious expression on his face. “Not that I don’t appreciate the sentiment, but—”

  Once I stood near the dusty place where my dresser used to sit, I cut him off by lunging for the small, overlookable item.

  I knew he was fast; I just wished he would’ve been a second slower. He flashed on top of me and slammed me hard against the floor. That happened sooner than I thought it would. Ouch.

  “Just when I thought you were getting interesting,” he menacingly snarled, “you go and try to run away. The one time you and I are alone, and you want to run? If I had a heart, it would hurt.” A sick smile appeared on his face, twisting his attractive looks into something exceptionally devilish.