Staked!

by Candace Wondrak

  Gripping the silver sword so tight his knuckles turned white, Michael answered, “I’m going to take a wild guess and say home.” He saw where my eyes were resting, so he responded by setting a hand over his leaking neck to cover the teeth marks.

  I could certainly see where Gabriel got his witty personality from.

  “Come on,” Michael said, running out of the room. “Maybe we can make it before he does.”

  “Maybe,” I agreed to hope.

  We had a car, which was more than I could say for Taiton. He did have a head start, though, so he did have a leg up on us already. Since the power was still out, we were forced to walk down fifteen flights of stairs, while he was able to get out of the building immediately by jumping out of the window.

  Unlike Taiton, we were capable of running to the car and speeding home.

  I hoped with a desperate heart that would be enough.

  Chapter Forty-One – Gabriel

  The fear in her eyes was empowering. Sephira might not realize it, because she had never felt anything like it before, but she was afraid. She was terrified.

  She endeavored to hide her fright by lashing out at me, her nails attempting to reach my face. A sad thing I imagined it looked like. I clasped her in a choke hold at arm’s length. Too bad an arm’s length for me meant an arm and a half for her.

  A chuckle shook me. I couldn’t control myself anymore. I had no clue what I was doing, or how I did it. My muscles felt stronger. My vision was keener, even in the darkness of the storm. My anger was absolute.

  Kass was gone.

  I felt furious, vindictive…dead. I felt dead.

  With a mighty heave, Sephira landed hard on a nearby tree. She was slow to get to her bare feet, giving me a death glare that only increased my rage.

  Kass’s death glares were so much better.

  Tilting my head, I took a single step closer as the rain thoroughly drenched us both.

  The paint on her arms smeared. She took one look to her arm before shaking with frenzied laughter that she could not let out, due to her sown mouth. Sephira spread her legs to a fighting position. Her fingers tensed, as did her toes, when the nails grew to be two inches long and sharp as a knife.

  The blood mingled with the rain, sliding down from her grazes, down her torso, down her legs and onto the wet ground.

  I decided to stop and watch, humor her so that she thought she had a chance to defeat me. What a ridiculous idea that was. If only she knew how pointless this whole transformation was for her.

  A shrill screech came from her mouth as she strained to pull her lips apart. After a lot more blood, she succeeded, even though the string was still in her torn lips.

  Sephira’s grossly disfigured lips curved into a gory smile, showing me her new teeth. They were much sharper than a normal Daywalker’s, and much longer.

  Did she think the sight of her extra sharp teeth would scare me?

  “I will tear you apart.” Her shredded lips butchered the threat. If I was in a better mood, and Kass wasn’t dead, I would have thought about making a joke about her sounding like a female Sylvester Stallone.

  But Kass was dead, and here we were.

  Numerous cracks came from her, and I recognized her internal structure changing. Her feet grew longer while her ankles didn’t move, making her legs both normal jointed and reverse-jointed. Her arms were growing out, becoming thin and spider-like.

  And I thought she was ugly before.

  In seconds her fingers grew into the nails, developing in the same way as her arms and legs. Snaps came from her back as her spine shifted up and forward, sticking out of her skin.

  If I wanted to, I could count her vertebrae. Then again, I could count them as easily after ripping her entire spine out.

  Snarling, Sephira took her hands to her head. In one, fluid motion, her nails dug into her scalp and wrenched the dripping black hair out of her head, taking the top layer of skin with it. What lay underneath was not what I expected to see.

  Instead of a bloody skull, there was another layer of skin, one that belonged to something sickly. Someone who hadn’t seen the light of day in their whole life.

  I cocked my head at her pointy ears.

  “You will die!” Sephira spat. Whether the spitting was intentional or not, I wasn’t sure. I was too disgusted by her flat, pig nose and stretched eyes. If I was something lesser, I might be frightened.

  But I wasn’t. I knew one thing and one thing only: she was going to die, and I was going to enjoy it to no end.

  Chapter Forty-Two – Liz

  I was out of the car before Michael had a chance to turn off the ignition. If something happened to these kids, I knew I’d never be able to forgive myself.

  The front door was locked, and Michael had the only key.

  I turned to yell his name, but he was beside me in an instant, saying, “I got it.” After inserting the key, Michael spun the knob and walked into the house. He made it only three steps before stating, “Something’s not right.”

  Hearing voices, I hurried into the living room to discover that the voices belonged to a movie that was left playing on the television. Something definitely wasn’t right. Frantically glimpsing all around, I spied the back windows. While Michael searched the rest of the house, I ran to look outside.

  And I did not like what I saw.

  “Michael,” I screamed, running to the back door. The sight that greeted me was my Purifier lying on the porch. I ran out. “Max,” I said, falling to my knees. Checking his pulse, I was relieved to find that he wasn’t dead, simply unconscious.

  I heard his voice before he reached me, “Did you find—” Michael froze when he was out of the house. Except his eyes weren’t on Max.

  Strange, I decided prior to following his gaze. A mental wince entered my mind when I saw Kass resting on the grass, surrounded by a vexed Raphael and a nude Crixis. They were kneeling and standing, respectively, but neither helped her up.

  I had pegged Raphael as a gentleman, but perhaps I was wrong.

  The back of her head was facing me, so I could imagine the intense look she was giving the men. The only problem with that was…she wasn’t moving.

  “Is Max all right?” Michael asked, not tearing his eyes from the unmoving Kass.

  “Yes.” I nodded.

  He said not another word as he took off running to Kass’s side. I was mere seconds behind him, saying, “What happened?”

  “Is she—” Michael stopped the moment he walked around to her face. His already low spirits sank to an all-time low when he saw her glazed over expression. Even someone who had never seen a corpse before would know that this girl wasn’t alive.

  Kass was dead.

  We lost Kass and Taiton.

  “Kass,” he breathed, falling to his knees beside Raphael. He lifted a hand to her pale face but was impeded by Raphael.

  “I wouldn’t do that,” he warned.

  Michael was taken aback, as was I. “What? Why?”

  “Gabriel…” Raphael trailed off. There was a glint of something in his eyes that I could not place. It wasn’t trepidation, was it? And if it was, why would he become this way when speaking about Gabriel?

  Since Raphael could not finish his sentence, Crixis spoke up, “Something snapped in the boy when Kass died. Raphael went to her, and he…” He swore. “I don’t know how to describe it.”

  Michael’s response was straightening his posture, and mine was, “What do you mean?”

  Raphael set his jaw, replying, “He did things that no ordinary human could possibly do.”

  “Such as?” Michael inquired, initiating a questioning glance from me.

  “Such as,” Crixis growled, “throwing Raphael back with his mind, forcing Sephira to heed his demands, and holding her back like she was the human.” There was no trace of anything but malice in his voice as he zipped up his pants. “It’s astounding.”

  Even though Crixis was telling the truth, I had trouble believing him. Michae
l, conversely, was having no problems with trusting the man that, until recently, we had thought was the worst evil we would ever face. Considering Kass was on the grass, so fresh her body was still warm, he acted too interested in Gabriel and his frenzy.

  When I came to America with Taiton, I knew he’d changed. It was now that I was finally opening my eyes to the fact that maybe Michael hadn’t changed for the better.

  Maybe he changed for the worse.

  Chapter Forty-Three – Kass

  I plunged into nothingness for the longest time. And I didn’t know about you, but to me, feeling nothing was one of the most terrible feelings. Ever. The emptiness was so consuming that I completely forgot what led up to this.

  As my body and my mind sank deeper into the realms of oblivion, tingling sensations crawled from my neck, calling to mind the feeling of Sephira’s hands and the sound of my own neck snap.

  Oh, yeah. That’s what happened.

  But if that were true, and that’s what happened, then why was I aware of the nothingness? Why were there tiny, almost overlookable stings on my neck? How could I conceivably feel anything if I was dead?

  My eyelids felt like stone, and I couldn’t force them open for the life of me. Which, apparently, I didn’t have much of, so go figure. The feeling of a drop of water rose from my cheek, causing me to wonder just what was going on.

  “Open your eyes,” a familiar voice spoke to me.

  Somehow my thoughts materialized into words, “I can’t.”

  “You can,” the voice urged.

  Digging deep inside, I found the strength to slowly and painfully lift my unbearably heavy eyelids. I was momentarily stunned by the whiteness of the space I was in.

  It was white, as in pure white.

  I’d never seen anything or anyplace this white.

  Sitting up, I held my head. It seemed that getting your neck snapped gave you a terrible headache that, in pain terms, was comparable to the beatings Crixis had given me all these years.

  And, yes, I meant all of them, as in all the beatings put together.

  I moved my legs to find that I was situated on top of a platform-like thing. It blended in perfectly with its white surroundings, which was why I failed to distinguish the two. My feet met with the snow-white ground, and I struggled to stay upright.

  My balance was also off. Way off.

  Minutes passed by, and I had to grip the slab to hold myself up. Walking after being killed by a psychopath was harder than it looked, and it looked impossible.

  I mentally hit myself. All the signs were there. My mother and the Prophet had told me that I was going to die, and that it was unavoidable. My mother told me time and time again, to the point where I assumed it was nothing. She even went so far as to show me what I was going to see, feel and hear when I die, and I still ignored it.

  What was my problem? Why didn’t I listen?

  Shaking my head, I looked around and shortly froze. I knew that voice was familiar. Standing before me in a white garment that was nearly the same color as everything else, holding his hands behind his back and smiling like a proud father, was Koath.

  “Kass.” His goateed face winkled in a warmer smile.

  Not caring if I fell a million times before I reached him, I broke free from my support and ran to him. My legs wobbled, but I made it. I made it and embraced him in a hug that would practically strangle anyone else.

  “Koath—” I caught the mistake and corrected myself. “—Dad.” The word felt strange as I spoke it, but once it was out there…it felt nice. I would go so far as to say it felt normal.

  “I’m so sorry,” Koath muttered in my hair, squeezing me harder in the bear hug we were in. “I should have been there with you during this whole thing.” I opened my mouth to respond, but he continued, “Honey, I hope you know that your mother and I love you, and we never meant for any of this to happen.”

  Tilting my face upward, I stared into his wizened eyes. What was he talking about?

  His hand ran over my head a few times as his caring eyes broke away. “Your destiny was predetermined.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked, slightly pushing myself out of the hug.

  Koath carried on, “The world needs you to be where you are.”

  But I’m dead.

  That’s what I wanted to yell, but I refused to scream at my father. On normal circumstances, I wouldn’t have thought twice, but since we were both, for lack of a better word, dead, I decided against it.

  “That is why you’re going back.” Koath’s smile became soft, saddening me instantly.

  I wasn’t sure I understood. “Going back?”

  “You must go back. And, I know you’re used to hearing it by now, but the fate of the world depends on you. You may not realize it yet, but you soon will. He needs you. The world needs you.”

  “Who?” I asked Koath.

  But it was too late. Koath was gone.

  Chapter Forty-Four – Gabriel

  Sephira shook with animalistic laughter. If she truly thought she was going to be the winner, the victor, then she had another thing coming. There was no way she was going to make it out of this fight alive.

  The ground pounded as another made his way to me. I didn’t have to look to know it was Taiton. Or, more accurately, Taiton’s body. His blank eyes, his automatic movements, his emotionless expression.

  He was undeniably dead. Just as Kass was. The only difference with him was that I couldn’t care less. I only cared about her, and now she was gone. This Original was going to pay. But first I was going to rid the world of Taiton’s spiritless body.

  “Stop,” I commanded, holding up my tattooed hand to the dark man.

  Taiton’s body listened. If there was a soul in there, any semblance of one, his eyes would widen in anticipation and fear of what was to come, but since there was nothing of the sort, he vacantly watched me.

  I slowly stepped closer.

  There may not have been a soul or a spirit in his body, but his heart still pumped. I could hear it. I could feel it. Sephira used ancient magic to reanimate him. A shame such flawless work was nothing when standing against me.

  All one had to do to defeat the soulless Taiton was take out the power source.

  Using speed that was unfathomable to the naked eye, my hand landed inside his chest. Breaking through the ribs proved all too easy for me. A jerk tore the still-beating heart out of his ribcage.

  The heart’s pumping slowed to a stop in the palm of my hand. His eyes regained their usual iris and pupil seconds before the wind forced the giant, lifeless body to the ground. Taiton’s frame was so great that the earth shook in response to the immense fall.

  The pathetic Demon before me tilted her bald head and snarled. What once was an ugly woman hiding her actual self was now a hideous unisex Demon. There was not a single detail that called to the fact that this thing was once a female.

  “Prepare to meet the true death,” I whispered, dropping the heart and appearing shortly behind her. My movement was too fast for her Vampire mind to comprehend. When she began to realize where I was, she tried to spin around, but I held her in place by gripping her spinal cord.

  Blood flowed from her back, crawling up my arm and hardening into a protective outer layer. Feeling the blood slither across my chest and down my opposite arm, I set my free hand on the side of her head and waited.

  Sephira was mere seconds away from dying…but once she was dealt with, I wasn’t sure if I could stop. There was the teeniest, tiniest feeling growing inside me that I would never stop, never feel anything but rage and hate because the only thing I wanted…no, needed was gone.

  Kass was gone, and I was on an unstoppable warpath.

  Once the blood had stabilized on my second hand, I breathed in. The blood on my hand near her head hardened and morphed into a shape of a blade as my other hand jerked out a large portion of her spine. The blood blade went straight through her head. It was no normal weapon. It was a part of me, and I wa
s something so much greater than she.

  Sephira, no matter how strong she thought she was, was no match for me.

  Blood from her cranium splattered my face when I withdrew the winding blade back into my wrist. Like a marionette that lost its puppeteer, the mutilated Sephira collapsed on the bloodstained grass, her body an empty shell.

  A little ways away, debating voices called my attention, causing me to grip the spinal cord tighter. Before I was aware of what I was doing, I materialized beside my old friends and enemies. The lines between them were blurry; I could no longer distinguish between friend and foe.

  Because I no longer cared.

  Michael was silent as he watched me lift the gruesome bone. Raphael moved not a muscle. Crixis saw the vertebrae in my hand and smirked. Liz widened her eyes in fear. A rough snarl escaped me, for they were sitting far too close to Kass.

  They were all going to perish by my hand. Darkness had no favorites.

  Out of the blue, I felt whole again. The darkness inside me faded and seemed to grow into a bright light. My rage was quickly replaced by calmness, and I felt no more need to destroy. Somehow I knew everything was going to be okay.

  Detecting a faint breath beneath me, I dropped the bone while falling to my knees. “Kass,” I exhaled her name fluidly as the hardened blood melted to its regular state and slid off my arms. Impossible. She was gone only ten minutes ago. How was this possible?

  I moved her floppy body to my lap, ignoring the rest of the group and their corresponding gasps and wild looks to each other. None of them mattered to me. The only one who would ever matter was right here, in my arms…where she always should be.

  Kass parted her dried lips slightly, attempting to speak my name.

  A lump rose in my throat.

  Her beautiful eyes slowly drew open as she hesitantly reached a hand to her neck.

  It was obvious she didn’t understand what was happening either. But I didn’t need to know why this was happening, because I didn’t care. All I cared about was Kass, and now she was back. She was alive. She stared up at me with her mesmerizing eyes.