Staked!

by Candace Wondrak

  I had to run.

  So I did. I ran as far and as fast as my lungs would take me. I ran across intersections, dodged traffic, jaywalked half a dozen times. I ran for twenty minutes straight, stopping only when I came across the familiar, dilapidated church that Gabriel and I used to spend a lot of time in.

  My feet slowed the second I realized that the door hung wide open.

  Someone was inside, and it wasn’t Raphael. That man, that liar, that Daywalker…he was long gone by now. He wouldn’t have stayed and risked the wrath of Gabriel—although, now, Gabriel didn’t have too much wrath to give.

  I cautiously entered, picking up a piece of a broken pew—my back had slammed against it, not too long ago, when I came here looking for a fight after I found Koath dead. I spun the wood so that the jagged edge was pointed out, and my eyes scanned the dim church. I made it halfway down the main aisle when I heard papers being scattered in the back room, where Raphael had slept and kept most of his private collection.

  Was I rash, for running out of the hospital so fast? If I were the one in some kind of coma, like I was in the past, Gabriel would never leave my side. I guessed that made him a better person than me, didn’t it?

  I stepped into the back room to find the person who was going through the abandoned items, and, of course, it was the one Demon I never wanted to lay eyes on again: Crixis.

  His wide frame wore a hideous shirt—a mixture of Hawaiian and coastal print. So unlike him. And…shorts? The Daywalker who had tormented me, the bastard who was the root of almost all of my problems stood before me looking like Joey Gladstone from Full House. Minus the stone-cutting coldness of his chiseled face.

  “There you are,” Crixis said, eyes flicking to me. “I heard your approach from miles away and was wondering how long it would take for you to get back here.” He had an old tome in his hands, closing it abruptly at my appearance. “You look terrible.”

  I made a dramatic gesture of checking him out. The print on his shirt burned my eyes a little. “So do you.” I kept the stake ready, not that it would do much, but it made me feel better.

  “Excuse you,” his tone was serious, and yet he went on to say, “I am comfortable. And these clothes were free. The owner didn’t need them anymore.” As if he cared about free. He’d sooner set fire to a store and burn everyone inside of it before admitting he cared about a price tag.

  Or having any hint of remorse.

  “What are you doing here, Crixis?” I growled his name. Someday, I would find a way to end him for good. Today—today was not that day.

  “I came to look and see if there was anything of importance that my good buddy Raphael might’ve left. I didn’t find anything that I want, but I did find this.” Crixis stepped closer, and I reflexively took a matching step back. The guy had kicked my butt and killed too many people for me to act otherwise. “Oh, please. If I wanted you dead, you’d be dead.”

  Well, it was true that he’d tried to kill me many times, and someone had always been there to back me up—or he’d been the one to back down. Crixis enjoyed the fight, the chase, far too much. He was no man anymore. He was a predator in human skin.

  “Though, you might not stay dead, apparently,” he added snidely. “The only thing I’ve ever seen coming back from the dead was Jesus of Nazareth, and let me tell you, there’s some misconceptions—”

  “I don’t care,” I hiss.

  “Fine. All jokes aside, for now, I’m done trying to torture and kill you.”

  I couldn’t believe it. “And why should I believe anything you say?” He’d had thousands of years to master the art of the lie, as well as master the art of murder and mayhem. Those were things he was good at. This wasn’t the first time he’d tried to tell me he was done torturing my life.

  Crixis smirked. “I was there, in case you already forgot. Sephira came for me, and you guys pulled through. I figure I owe you. You and your fellow Purifier did something that I could never do. Plus, I saw your boy when he watched her snap your neck. Your precious boy turned into something terrible to kill Sephira.”

  Though I wasn’t there, I could remember the Gabriel from the other world, and his powers. Still, it was too much to believe my Gabriel was capable of anything similar.

  He went on, “Why would I want to go against someone as powerful as a god? I figure, try to make nice, get on his good side.” Crixis made a big show of looking behind me at the wall. “Where is your pretty boy, anyway? You’re always together.”

  My grip on the wood tightens. “Not always. And it’s none of your business.”

  “Trouble in your lovers’ paradise?”

  Oh, God. He was asking for a stake in the eye.

  “See previous: none of your business.” I wasn’t even going to waste my breath arguing with him about not being—ick—lovers. Who said that word nowadays, anyway? Gross.

  “If you say so, but I have a feeling whatever is going on between you and your Gabriel is, in fact, the world’s business.” Crixis cocked his head, thoughtful. “If he lost you, truly lost you, and you didn’t come back to life like you did last time, he just might destroy it.”

  Destroy it? As in…destroy the world?

  I didn’t—I had no idea what to think of that.

  On one hand, it was Gabriel. I knew he’d never do anything so evil. But on the other hand, I did meet another Gabriel who had let the world fall into chaos after he lost that world’s me. It was possible, I supposed, but it wasn’t like…it wasn’t like he was in love with me. It wasn’t like we were fated for each other since the day we were born. How cliched would that be?

  “But,” he said, shrugging, “that’s just my two cents. Now I’m a fan of the world, believe it or not. Without the world, there’d be no you, no me, no innocent meals walking down the street, ready to bare their necks when I ask. I don’t want it to end, so, from here on out, I plan on being the best neighbor you’ve ever had. Also, coincidentally, the replacement Raphael. No one can train you harder than me.”

  “If this is your way of giving me your resume, maybe you shouldn’t have started by killing my family.”

  “I killed Koath, not your mother, regardless of what you might think.”

  It took every ounce of my willpower to stare into that deep, green gaze as I say, “Why would I want to stare into the eyes of my father’s killer when I train?” Maybe I was done training. Maybe—

  “Read this, and you’ll have your answer.” Crixis dropped the large, ancient book into my hands, and I lost grip on the stake as he did so. The wooden piece fell to the floor as I blankly looked at the tome. “You know where I live, and I know where you live. I might not be welcome at your house, but you are free to come to mine anytime and take me up on my offer—or do other things with me.” With a cruel grin, he flashed away, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

  I bared my teeth—pretty much to myself—and glanced at the book.

  No title, not even a word on its leather face in another language. It was at least six inches thick, and heavier than a sack of bricks. This was probably Crixis’s way of getting to me, since he didn’t want to incur Gabriel’s so-called wrath.

  Hmm…but what if the book was important?

  I let out a sigh, loud and explosive. I took the thing home with me. What else was I going to do? Think about Gabriel in the hospital?

  No. Call me a horrible person, but I’d rather do anything else but that.

  Chapter Five – Kass

  I felt responsible. Like whatever was happening with Gabriel was my fault. Whether it was due to my tendency to self-blame, or it was pure happenstance…it didn’t matter. I went home, the huge tome pressed against me, wondering what happened.

  Wondering how long it would last.

  Wondering…wondering if he’d ever wake up.

  Okay, I knew it hadn’t even been twenty-four hours since it happened—more like six hours—but that didn’t stop my mind from jumping to conclusions like a gymnast.

  I had m
y house key in my pocket, and I struggled with the book as I got it out and unlocked the front door. The house was spotless and ultimately empty; no evidence of the death or the fights that took place in it over the last few months. Liz worked wonders. How did we get along without her?

  I went to my room, pausing for a few seconds as I stood near Gabriel’s open door. Even though I knew he was in the hospital, a part of me thought I’d find him lounging on his bed, his hair messed up and dimples on his cheeks.

  It was stupid.

  I sighed, pushing past my ajar door and walking into my room. I collapsed on the bed, staring at the ceiling for a minute. Eventually I grew tired of the boredom and worry, and sat to glance through the large tome. Its front cover creaked open, as if it weren’t used to being opened. Just how old was this thing, anyways?

  All the pages my fingers flipped to were chock full of words and scribbles—all in another language. Of course. It wouldn’t be in English. None of the so-called important books were ever in English.

  And there were no pictures.

  I grew upset, harshly closing the book and tossing it on the ground. I plopped under the covers, willing myself to sleep even though it wasn’t yet dark out nor had I eaten dinner. Frankly, I wasn’t hungry. A first, I knew, but lately my appetite just hasn’t been the same. No appetite, and no visions.

  I felt lost without Gabriel.

  Once dusk fell, I heard someone poke their head into my room. I was fully under the covers, shutting the entire world out, but that didn’t stop the intruder from saying softly, “The school is closed the rest of the week pending the investigation. Too many civilians saw it.” It was Liz. I felt her sit on the edge of my bed as she added softly, “Michael’s going to stay the night at the hospital. I brought Max here. We’ll make do until Gabriel wakes up.”

  “What about Max’s new Guardian?” I asked, talking to the comforter that was pulled over my head.

  “That can wait. Everything can wait until things get settled.”

  What if things never got settled?

  I couldn’t ask that question out loud, because it didn’t sound like me. None of this felt like me. I wasn’t acting like myself. I was…scared.

  “There was a message on the machine from your friend,” Liz went on. “She said she’s coming over here tomorrow. Is that all right, or do you want me to call her back and tell her you’d rather be alone?”

  Alone? I always was alone, it seemed.

  Still, Claire had gone through so much grief in her life—losing her family, having to move in with her uncle she didn’t even like that much…the girl knew about loss. If anyone could help me through this, it was her.

  “No, that’s fine,” I quickly said with a shrug under the blankets. I kept myself from saying I don’t really care.

  Liz patted me on the leg. She probably had no idea what she was patting as she said, “Good. Being with friends will help with the situation.” I heard her stand. “I’m trying to make spaghetti. I’ll do my best to keep everything in order while Michael’s…” Even she couldn’t finish the sentence.

  She was used to being behind a desk. Liz worked for the Council as one of their higher-ups. She never had a Purifier of her own to look after, not until she was unlucky enough to be called here when Crixis was our biggest threat. Who knew the psychotic, red-eyed Daywalker with a higher-level Demon inside of him wasn’t our biggest threat?

  Things changed so fast around here.

  The hours passed so slowly.

  We ate Liz’s spaghetti—though I did more playing with the noodles than eating them—and I stood in the shower for twenty minutes after that, trying to wash it all away, wash my worries down the drain. It didn’t happen, of course, so when I laid in bed that night, my mind raced. I think I got, maybe, three hours of sleep.

  And it was a dreamless, miserable sleep. The kind of sleep that was interrupted every few minutes by my mind waking itself up and glancing at the clock on the nightstand. The kind of sleep that made me wonder if I should’ve just stayed up.

  Where were the confusing visions when I needed them?

  Claire was over at nine the next day. She was over before I even got out of bed. So what if I was moping? Maybe that’s what I wanted to do. Maybe that was the only thing I could do.

  “Hey, Kass,” she said, sitting on the floor next to my bed. She glanced at the tome before shrugging it off. She knew better by now than to ask questions about what it was. “How are you feeling?” Her blue gaze was bright and lively, her short yellow hair behind a thick headband. Her legs were pulled to her chest, her arms hugging them.

  She knew how I felt. She just had to ask. It was like protocol in these types of situations.

  I slowly sat up in my bed. “Just peachy. How are you?”

  Claire gave me a stern look. “Max and Liz are getting ready to go to the hospital to visit Gabriel. They sent me up here to see if you wanted to go.”

  I wanted to go. I did. Really.

  But I wasn’t going to.

  I shook my head. “I think I’m going to stay home today, unless he’s miraculously woken up.”

  Claire nodded with me. “I’ll let them know.” She jumped up, using energy that made me wince, and disappeared from my sight. For some reason, I expected Liz and even Max to come up here and try to argue with me, try to force me to go, but I was pleasantly shocked when the only person who came back into my room was Claire. “I told them. They wanted to make you come, but I told them that wouldn’t be good. You have to go at your own pace, not at theirs.”

  She leaned against the wall, sitting once again. “Everyone expects something from you, even when you’re going through a ton of crap. They want you to cry, to be sad, to bargain…and, after hardly any time at all, they want you to accept it. If you don’t follow their strict beliefs, they think something’s wrong with you.” Claire looked at me. “I don’t think Liz and Max are like that, and from what I’ve seen, Michael’s nice.”

  I wasn’t sure where this talk was going, so all I did was nod along.

  “My point is, don’t force yourself to do something just because it’s what’s expected of you. If you’re not ready to spend hours in a hospital, don’t. If you don’t want to, don’t. Don’t let anyone try to tell you what to do.” Her gaze fell to her lap. “You decide what to do.”

  I pulled the comforter to my chest. I kind of understood what she was saying—a go-at-my-own-pace kind of thing. It was also nice to know that there was at least one person not judging me for not wanting to be at the hospital all day every day.

  Although, if he never woke up, I’d be forced to face the reality, anyway.

  Claire wasn’t done talking, apparently. “It’s never-ending with you guys, isn’t it? This is your life, all the time?”

  Meeting her gaze, I said, “Yeah. It’s loads of fun. Want to join the ranks of the Purifiers?”

  She smiled sadly. “I don’t think they’d take me.”

  Yes, only humans allowed. Or so they said. How could that be true, though, if Gabriel had those tattoos, his ability to sense and mindread me? How could that be true if I had unexplainable visions that, somehow, were always rooted in reality?

  Speaking of being visionless—there was something I could be doing. Something that used to be Michael’s job, something that, years ago, was Koath’s job. Raphael took it up for a time, but he was gone, and I had no one to rely on but myself.

  I swung my legs from the bed, standing. I wore baggy basketball shorts that may or may not belong to Gabriel and a loose tank top. Very underdressed when compared to the sporty-cute style of Claire. “Did you hear what happened at the school yesterday?”

  “Besides Gabriel?” Claire got to her feet. “Was there something else? Steven got a call saying the school was closed for the rest of the week. I figured it was because they thought all the kids are doing drugs and want to make a program or something.”

  A program for an entire school on drugs?

  Complet
ely wrong, but A-plus for creativity.

  “You didn’t hear what happened at the end of the day?” I was, in a word, shocked. “What was found?”

  She shook her head. No wonder this town had so many residents, even after all the crap that went down. Everyone was oblivious. Either that, or Liz’s cleanup crew was surprisingly efficient.

  “There was a body,” I told her.

  “A body,” she said, eyes widening. “A dead body. Who was it? Where was it? Why didn’t I hear about this? Why didn’t the call say anything—”

  “To avoid mass panic, probably. And I’m not sure who it was—I recognized him from our grade. I have sixth period with him.” I bit the inside of my cheek, wondering if I should really ask for her help. Maybe I was crossing a line. Technically, she should be purified, too. The Council didn’t want to let any non-humans live.

  Clearly, we didn’t listen to them too often.

  “It was in a locker,” I said, deciding to just go for it.

  “In a locker?” Claire sounded downright horrified, which she should be. “How? Those lockers are half the size they should be, there’s no way a…” Her confidence eroded as she judged my expression. “And it was real, for sure? Not a fake, not a joke, not—”

  “Max and I saw it, and some other kids who were walking by at the time. I’ve seen bodies before.” Images of Koath splash in my head, but I shook them off. “It looked too real to be a joke.”

  “Oh. Well, shit.”

  Despite myself, I smiled. Sounded like something I would say. I must have rubbed off on her.

  “We have a little library here. Do you want to help me look through some books to see if we can find what did it?” She nodded and muttered an affirmative, and I led us out of my room and through the house. It was a three-story house, so there were multiple rooms we didn’t often use. The library was one of them, at least for me.

  Wall-to-wall books, floor to ceiling, shelves jammed packed with books of all sizes and colors. The room smelled like old paper. A small table sat in the room’s center, along with a few leather chairs.