My eyelids flew open the instant I heard no more ticks.
I glanced at Taiton. He was either unmoving or frozen. Glancing at the clock would be the determining straw. Spinning my head to face the clock, I was shocked/stunned/stupefied to find that the clock was indeed frozen.
An apprehensive feeling erupted in my gut. Something was off.
I turned my head, facing the same woman and child as before. They were exactly the same, except for one thing. The mother’s hair was tangled and knotted. The son’s body was dirty and bloody. All in all they were the same, minus their angry faces.
They were upset. But why?
“You.” The mother shook her head fiercely. “You gave us your word. You lied.”
“What?” I stood, not knowing what else to do.
The small boy stepped closer, saying, “You said you would help us. You promised—”
“I will help you,” I said, exasperatedly. “I just need time. There are a lot of things going wrong right now, and I have to fix them before I find a way to purify Crixis.” My voice got louder as the explanation progressed.
“You are still ignorant to the truth,” the woman spat, hatred evident in her tone.
Furrowing my eyebrows, I stumbled back onto the hot sand of the desert.
Three men were walking beside Crixis. It looked like they were in an argument of some sort. The leftmost man, one with a claymore the size of a child stuck to his back, said, “Do you think it wise, Crixis, to meet them?”
Crixis’s jaw set. “It is the only option we have. I will not allow them to conquer the city.”
“Perhaps,” the middle man spoke, “we should have brought more men. A simple scouting party may not be enough—”
“It was not your decision to make,” Crixis snapped, shutting the other men up instantaneously. “Do not challenge my authority.” The other men bowed their heads. “We will fight for glory, but above all else, we fight for honor. Do not make me regret bringing you.”
Oh, crap.
I followed them to a group of men, some armed with bows and others swords. Their golden armor shone brightly in the sun, exposing their perfectly sculpted chests.
One man, obviously the leader of the opposing group, said to Crixis, “It is astounding how foolish your kind can be.”
The three men surrounding Crixis drew their weapons in a flash. The first man yelled, “Watch what you say, for they may be your last words.” His tense hand gripped his silver claymore, ready to strike at any moment.
“You do not threaten us,” the golden armored man snarled. “We will overtake you and your pathetic city. As we speak, our men are entering your village, and soon all that will remain is rubble.”
Crixis unsheathed his dual-wielded swords, saying, “We will not let that comment go unpunished. You will pay for the insults you have thrown!”
The man laughed, raising his hand. “Let us see what the four best warriors of this city have to offer.” With a twist of his hand, his men cut down Crixis’s men…in about thirty seconds. “Now, let us fight like true warriors.” He pulled out his mace and lunged at Crixis.
He dodged the attacks, avoiding them with ease. He uttered the words “You have made a grave mistake” slowly, recalling to my mind a vision I had.
But that vision had been broken. All I saw were the dead bodies and the whole you have made a grave mistake thing. In context, it was totally different. Still, it didn’t change a thing. Did it?
After many metal clashes, the men rivaling Crixis were defeated. Sweat rolled down his forehead, sticking his black hair to his dirty face. There were cuts on his skin, and he bled like a human. He hurriedly spun to view the steep cliff that jutted out in the sky.
Definitely not the safest place to build a village.
Without a trace of hesitation, Crixis took off, sprinting while keeping two hands firmly grasped on his swords. Running with swords wasn’t easy, but it looked like he was as used to handling them as he breathed.
My instincts told me to run after him, so that’s exactly what I did. I ran. Eventually, after a whole lot of running, Crixis slowed down, and I didn’t know if it was because we were now in the village on the cliff, or if it was on account of something else. It was my moment to finally catch up to him.
He rounded a corner, near the same well I had climbed out of and nearly drowned in not too long ago. Why were we stopping here?
As he skidded to a rough halt, I scanned the immediate area, searching for a clue to what Crixis was looking at. My eyes landed on the dead woman, the same woman who made me promise to help her and her son. The same woman who was pissed at me right now.
Dropping his swords, Crixis collapsed onto his knees a few feet from the dead woman, but even closer to the dead boy. There was something that changed in Crixis the second he came across the freshly killed boy, but what was it?
That wasn’t right. Why did he care so much about—
“No,” Crixis whispered through closed teeth, as his trembling hand brought the child to his lap. Hugging the boy closer, he traced the bite marks along the boy’s skull. “No,” he repeated more intensely. He gently placed the boy on the ground, being careful to not do any more damage to the small body.
I covered my open mouth as I watched Crixis softly shut the boy’s green eyes.
With an unbelieving blink, I was back in my living room, staring at the woman and child. I wasn’t so much staring at the woman as I was the boy’s bright green eyes. And his high cheek bones. And the blackness of the hair that was starting to grow out of his shaved head.
How did I not see it before? He was a mirror image of my worst enemy, only years younger.
“Do you now understand?” the woman demanded of me. “You must help us.”
Between freaking out and glancing from the woman and the boy, I asked, “Are you…his family? His wife and child?” I could barely force the words to come out. After all, just five minutes ago I thought Crixis was a Demonic vagabond that had always been, for lack of a new phrase, a Demonic vagabond.
The woman held her son close, replying, “We were.”
Despite the seriousness of the whole situation, I couldn’t stop myself from chuckling. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You’re his family, and you’re mad at me because, what, we didn’t let him kill me? Am I supposed to help you by dying?”
Her black hair flailed wildly when she shook her head. “No. We do not want you to die. That, if you would listen to us, is why you must help us. You must help Crixis.” Her voice had traces of anger and devotion.
“What?” I was completely incredulous. This whole time—they wanted me to help Crixis? Well, they were in for a world of surprise, because I’d sooner drink acid after chewing on razor blades than help Crixis.
“We,” she was pained to admit, “are aware that he has done terrible things to you and many others over the centuries. Having a great deal of power, with an infinite amount of time and no consequences to speak of, did change him. He is not the same. But, perhaps fighting a common enemy will bring him back.”
What was she talking about, a common enemy? Who was our common enemy? No one I could think of. If anything, Crixis was the common enemy. There was no way someone else could be as evil and malicious as him. No. Way.
Even though my mind was made up, my mouth went ahead and said, “Common enemy?”
The woman straightened herself out, holding her son closer. “One of the first evils. If you have any semblance of survival, you will listen to him, for he will explain all.” Her face dropped in a frown as she and the boy faded from my view, into nothingness.
As I heard the all-too familiar tick of the abnormally loud clock, I exhaled and muttered, “Crap.” I ignored Taiton’s worried look and stood. “Sorry. It’s nothing.” Lie. “I’m just hungry.” Another…wait, that one’s not a lie. “That’s all.” That wasn’t all, but it wasn’t like I could tell him that. If anything, I needed to consult with Gabriel, or…no one.
Probably no one, which was stupid, I’d admit. If I talked to Gabriel about it, I knew exactly what he would say. It was about as good an idea as picking up a bloody hitchhiker holding a machete in the middle of the night.
With Taiton less than two seconds behind me, I wandered into the kitchen, finding Gabriel leaning against the counter and throwing goldfish into his mouth. It was as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening, and he was going about his daily eating rituals.
“Kass,” Gabriel munched on another helpless goldfish. He handed me the carton, being so kind to let me grab a handful before taking it back. “Quick question.”
Sighing, I ate one at a time. I was too depressed with my life to eat them all at once.
“Does my hair look any blonder than usual?” Setting the box between his arm and hip, he bent down so I was able to see. He twisted a small patch together, probably so that the color would seem lighter. When I neglected to give an immediate response, he prompted, “Well? Is it?”
I let out a laugh, saying, “No.” Gabriel huffed, acting offended, when I fixed his hair, returning it to its usually shaggy state. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes he did gel it up, but lately he let it go all natural.
“With your life in danger so often,” he said, squinting his blue eyes, “I don’t have the time to make myself pretty. Though maybe I should, because every guy you’ve ever had even a remote attraction to is going to be in this house, for God knows how long.”
“I thought I told you to not read my mind?”
“I didn’t have to read your mind. You face is an open book” was his chosen interruption.
“I hate you.”
Throwing up my hands, I decided to not reason with him and walk away. I found that’s the best (and sometimes only) thing I could do when he got like this. My foot entered the area where the stairs met the kitchen when he grabbed my arm, stopping me.
“In all seriousness,” Gabriel said, leaning down to my face, “we’re going to have beautiful babies. Two handsome boys and three beautiful girls.”
I blinked at him. Five kids? Heck to the no, especially not with him.
A knock on the door cut off my I-hate-you response. Gabriel reached for it, giving me a full view of the back of his head. I knew who the knock came from, but I was too entranced at the small, white patch of hair that was poking out behind his ear to do anything but stare.
What was going on with that boy and his freaking hair?
Gabriel gave one look to Rain, said “Sorry. Not interested in whatever it is you’re selling” and slammed the door in his face. As I ran to the door, he shrugged.
I was too pressed on time (Claire’s time) to dignify him with a reply.
“Sorry about that,” I apologized as I opened the door to see Rain’s irritated face and Alyssa’s curious one. I bit my lip to hold myself off from saying anything more. We didn’t have time for the small talk.
“Where is she?” Alyssa asked, reminding me that Claire was in the other room, dying.
All those times we laughed together at lunch. All those times we did our homework together in math class. All those freaking times seemed like they were years past, like they were had in another lifetime. Her voice was a little less soft, a little more forceful.
“Follow me.” I led her to the hallway that in turn led to Raphael’s room, where Claire was.
Max sat beside her, exactly where I left him all those hours ago. When we entered the room, his small eyes rose abruptly in our direction.
Even though this wasn’t the best time to do introductions, I motioned to the two people behind me, saying, “Max, this is Alyssa and—” I paused, mentally preparing myself to say Kirk and not Rain, since Kirk was his first name. “—Kirk.”
Max managed to steady his voice enough to say “Can you help her?”
“I can try,” Alyssa replied, setting her oversized purse on the nightstand next to the bed. “Could you leave for a little while? I need quiet.”
I nodded and grabbed Max’s arm before he could respond with a no or a why. Max would hopefully soon learn that there were things (like witchcraft, for instance) that were better off in the dark.
“Max,” I gently told the kid, “go to the kitchen and eat something. You haven’t eaten since lunch.” At least, that’s when I thought he last ate. I wouldn’t know. I wasn’t at school. I watched him silently turn and walk into the kitchen, and with any luck he was doing what he was told.
“I see your life hasn’t become any less difficult since we left,” Rain said, dark eyes meeting mine.
“No. It hasn’t,” I answered, breaking eye contact. A strange, awkward silence permeated the space between us, making me wonder if I should just leave. “So, how have you been?” Small talk reared its ugly head in me after all.
Rain acted like he was debating his answer, his mind switching between good and terrible. I was positive there was no way his life could be as terrible as mine. When he was seconds away from answering, an annoying ringing melody erupted from his pocket.
Who was calling Rain?
He quickly glanced at the caller ID, said “Sorry,” and walked away, giving me no further thought. How nice. How utterly charming of Rain to just walk away from me, even though he hadn’t seen me in forever.
Suddenly I remembered something.
Steven.
I needed to call Steven to let him know what happened to Claire. He was supposed to swing by and pick her up after his work meeting. My life was just full of terrible days, wasn’t it?
Chapter Seventeen – Gabriel
I never realized how far up the ceiling was. At least, it looked pretty high to me while I was slumped on the couch, staring up at it. I had nothing else to do, it was true. I couldn’t help the researchers in the library, I couldn’t help Alyssa do her spell, and I definitely couldn’t be in any other room of the house.
Why?
Because every other room in this place was filled with either John, Kirk, or Raphael. I didn’t like any of them. They could all screw themselves and stay out of our lives, even if they were only trying to help.
My paranoia, or possibly the fact he said he was on his way, told me that yet another man was going to enter the house, one that, until yesterday, I thought nothing of. Now, though, I wasn’t so sure. Kass mentioned Steven in the list of guys I was supposedly jealous of.
Using the world jealous loosely…sure, I was jealous of John, back before we knew he was a Daywalker. Yeah, I was jealous of Kirk too, because he was an older man, and chicks always dug older men. And, of course, I was jealous of Raphael. Everyone in the house knew that.
But Steven?
Steven?
Claire’s uncle Steven?
Yes, his next-to-white hair and dark eyes were an odd mix, and maybe the opposite sex found it appealing. I just never thought Kass was in that group. Kass was the opposite sex, obviously, but Steven?
Not to mention the busboy that had been eyeing her like there was no tomorrow. Even though I had no clue who the kid was, I had half a mind to punch him in the face.
“Gabriel.”
Creasing my eyebrows and hating that my tranquility was interrupted, I moved my eyes to glare at John. Weird. He seemed…smaller than he did before. Maybe he was off the Vampire diet of human blood.
“What do you want?” I readily snapped, fighting the urge I had to start a swearing match with him. And a brawl. A brawl that was filled with swearing and involved me somehow purifying the guy for good.
John’s eyes narrowed, letting me know that he hated being around me as much as I hated being around him. Wasn’t that the biggest understatement of the year?
“Actually,” I continued, giving him no time to say anything, “I don’t care what you want.” I shrugged. “Never really did. So why don’t you just do us all a huge favor and go back to where you came from.”
“Do you think that I wanted to come back, that I was yearning for the day when Kass needed our help so that I could make my heroic ret
urn?” John paused, giving his sarcastic remark some time to set in. “Trust me when I say that I never wanted to come back here.”
“Then why are you here?” I cocked my head, ignoring the small, blonde wisp of hair that made its way over my right eye. “Because I know Kass never wanted to see your ugly face again.”
“I came back because Alyssa told me to.” John spun his head, breaking eye contact. “If it were up to me, I’d live nowhere near here. I’d go as far as possible.” There was a hint of dejection in his voice, and it was too bad I was too wound up to care.
Standing in a hostile position, I fixed my hair and said, “Then why don’t you? What’s stopping you from running far, far away and never returning?” I couldn’t help myself.
“They wouldn’t allow it.” John’s furious gaze returned to my own death glare, something I learned from Kass. “And believe it or not, at our new home there are people who care about us.”
“I find that very hard to believe,” I mocked, wondering who could care about a monster like that. No one who was in the least bit sane.
“Things have changed since you’ve last seen us.” John dug his hand in his coat pocket. “Alyssa’s been training. Kirk’s dating. And me? I’m doing my best to control the urges from both the Vampiric side of me and the Osiris side.”
“Oh.” I clapped the clap—the annoying, slow and loud clap. The kind kids did in class when they were trying to be funny. “Oh, that’s great. As long as you’re trying not to murder innocents. It doesn’t really matter if you slip up every now and then—”
That was John’s department, wasn’t it?
“You should watch what you say.” John took a step in my direction.
“I think you should watch what you say—” My own threat was cut off by an Englishwoman’s accent.
“Please.” Liz looked sharply at me, as if this was all my fault. As if I was the one who egged him on first. Maybe I did, but that was beside the point. “I don’t know what you two are arguing about, but I want it to stop.” There was something in her light brown eyes that made me hesitate.
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