Staked!

by Candace Wondrak

  I couldn’t help but smile to myself at his misery as I flashed into the room, behind the curtain. Surprisingly, Gabriel had the room to himself. Himself and the machines that fed his body liquid and nutrients, and the machine that ran under the bed for another purpose.

  He was pale, frozen. He looked worse than Michael. Stubble grew on his face, his hair was dirty. As I studied him, I wondered why Kass didn’t come. Perhaps she couldn’t take it, after everything I’d done to her.

  I examined the tattoos that ran along every part of his exposed body. Thin, intricate lines. Delicate, almost. Strange, in the way that no tattoo artist’s lines could be that straight.

  His vitals were steady, and my eyebrows creased. I saw what happened to him after Sephira snapped Kass’s neck. I saw the change that overtook him. This boy was no mere boy. He was able to purify an Original, somehow, and live to tell the tale.

  And yet…here he was, unresponsive, lying there, so helpless. A part of me wondered how this had happened, but the larger part—the much larger part—didn’t care. I wanted to kill him, kill him so that I could be free of whatever obligation I felt. I did not like feeling responsible or obligated. For anything.

  If I could kill him, then I could kill Kass. No strings. No long wind-about ways. Just a quick grab of her heart, and there’d be no way she’d be rising from the dead.

  I hoped.

  I looked at his face, decision made, and suddenly a ringing pain echoed in my head. Even Vexillion was in agony. An image of Gabriel on the bed popped in my head, but instead of his eyes being closed, they were open, and they were pure black, their depths showing nothing but death. Every nerve in my body felt like it was being stabbed, and I managed to open my eyes and glance to the boy on the bed.

  He was still, as he was before. His eyes weren’t open.

  But the pain—it was something I’d never experienced before. Something I hadn’t thought possible. It wasn’t like I was immune to pain. I’d felt so much of it throughout the years that I’d grown accustomed to most of it. This? This was worse. This was…torture.

  I put a hand on my head and flashed out of the hospital, collapsing on the grass in the parking lot. I didn’t care who saw me. I fell to my knees and willed the pain to vanish. I wanted to be sick. I wanted to scream. I wanted, like usual, to kill something.

  It wasn’t the first time I’d thought about harming him. A few years back, I’d knocked him out with a single blow in a crypt. I didn’t feel like this, then. But that was before he awakened, before he nearly lost his precious girl.

  Gabriel, I realized, was something worse than Vexillion, who I only welcomed inside of me because I had to overpower and defeat Sephira. Gabriel did what I could not, therefore it was only logical that he could also do what the Council and the first Purifier could not do.

  Kill me.

  The thought chilled me to the bone, even after the pain in my body subsided. Never had I believed myself to be killable. I always thought I’d live until the end of days, when mankind killed itself and the world.

  I stood.

  I wasn’t going to run. I didn’t run from Sephira, and I wouldn’t run from him.

  I would stay. I’d stay and take care of my blasted obligation to Kass. Maybe, when he woke, Gabriel would let me be. Maybe he’d let me go if I helped keep his girl safe while he was out.

  Or maybe not.

  The world was rid of Sephira, only to welcome…whatever the hell he was.

  Chapter Ten – Kass

  Claire sat upstairs, going through the last few anthologies, as I made us pizza rolls in the oven. It wasn’t a first-class meal, but it was the best I could do with the limited amount of groceries we had. Learning to cook was never really on the list of things to-do. Seemed like a waste of time when there were new weapon techniques to learn.

  A knock on the door shook me from my concentration, and I went to window to see who it was, first. Son of a—I flew to the door, a scary look on my face, throwing it open as I practically growled out, “What are you doing here?”

  He thought he could just waltz over here, when no one else was home, when Claire was here, and I’d be fine with it? Crixis had another thing coming. And that thing was my fist. It curled as it rested on my hip.

  “I did not treat you as poorly when you showed up at my door in the middle of the night,” Crixis chirped, giving me a smile that, if I didn’t know how murderous he was, I would’ve called cute.

  “It’s not your door. It’s not your house. You aren’t my neighbor,” I said, the hand holding onto the open door digging into its wood. I felt like I could snap the thing in two. Just seeing his face got me upset. Why did I think it was a good idea to go to him? There was far too much between us. Too much death and blood. “Leave.” I went to close the door, but his hand reached out and stopped me from slamming it.

  “Well, Maurice is happy to have me, just as you should be, since your boyfriend is in a coma. Who knows what kind of supernatural will come sniffing around you while he’s not here to protect you?”

  There were so many things wrong with what he just said.

  “I doubt that. You compelled an old man to live with him. That’s low.” I wanted to stamp my foot and declare that Gabriel was not my boyfriend—nor would he ever be—but it seemed a little childish, and I doubted it would prove anything to the Daywalker before me. Plus, how did he know about the coma?

  My face must’ve given it away, for he carried on, “Ah, you’re probably wondering how I know. I do have some sleuthing skills. I’ve been alive long enough to master some things.” Crixis sniffed the air. “Ooh, the Morpher is here. She’d love to see me again, wouldn’t she? Perhaps I should come in and say hello—”

  “Over my dead body are you coming in this house, jerkoff.”

  “Did you look at that book I gave you?”

  I shot my death glare at him. “Leave.”

  Crixis let out an exasperated sigh. “You really should look at it. Anyway, I suppose I will go, but you should come with me. Send your Morpher friend home and head over whenever you’re ready to start.” He waved and walked off.

  My eyes followed him down the driveway, watching as he walked strong and tall, as if he hadn’t a worry in the world. Like he was a good, proud man. Lies. He was one of the worst around, if not the worst.

  I hated him. I hated him with all my heart.

  Maybe that was why pounding him with my fists seemed like a fun thing to do.

  But…no. I shouldn’t. I shouldn’t give into the anger inside of me. Purify, forget and forgive, right? Be happy to be alive. Be willing to put my life on the line at any given moment for any given civilian. The Council’s instructions never rang so hollow to me before.

  I heaved a sigh and closed the door, locking it. Just then, the oven timer dinged, and I put all the pizza rolls on a single plate, took two bottles of water from the fridge, and ran up the steps. I found Claire nose-deep in a book. When I got closer, I found it wasn’t that old of a book, for it was written in English. And not that old timey English, either.

  “Morphers are thought to be the cause of the werewolf myth,” she read straight from the book. “Wolves are the most common form, but they are not limited to a single species. There have been documented incidences of tigers and other large felines.” Claire’s face twisted. “Ew. Even snakes. A human-sized snake? God, no.”

  I thought about it myself, and it wasn’t a pretty picture.

  “Most were nomads, run from their homes as civilization took root in the modern world. Those that survived the transition are believed to remain in Morpher packs, though they seek integration with human society and act as though they are, indeed, human.” Claire’s eyes rose to me as she shut the book. “I never knew…I mean, I guess it makes sense, because of what I am, but—I’m not human? That’s a weird thought.”

  I set the plate between us and hand her a bottle. “At the rate we’re going, no one in this house is human.” I meant it as a joke, but s
he took it seriously.

  “So it’s because you’re a Purifier?”

  Her question was confusing. “What is?”

  “The reason why I feel like this around you.”

  “What?” This was starting to sound a little out of my element, and I knew my face said it all.

  “Not like that,” Claire quickly said. “Jeez.” My shoulders slumped in relief. “I just feel, I don’t know. It’s so hard to describe. I feel better when I’m around you. Calmer. My mind is clearer. It’s like you’re a…a battery.”

  A battery? That was a new one.

  “Steven said he feels it, too. It’s weird, though, because I don’t feel it with Max or Gabriel—”

  “Purifiers are human,” I told her. She didn’t need to know about Witches or the first Council’s intent on a new breed of warrior. Max, Gabriel and I were all human.

  Even I didn’t believe that.

  Gabriel definitely wasn’t human. I came back from the dead and had visions (except for recently), so there was no way I was a typical human. Max…well, I didn’t know Max that well to judge him, yet.

  “At least,” I added when she said nothing, only looked at me with her eyebrows risen, “we’re supposed to be. I’m sure a few slip through the Council’s cracks.”

  “God,” Claire exclaimed, “it’s just like Buffy. Only you’re not the only slayer around. And you don’t really have any Scoobies. And there’s not some magical power that goes from Purifier to Purifier, awakening your power. You’re just trained like that from the beginning.” She tilted her head. “Okay, so maybe it’s not really like Buffy at all…”

  “Let’s eat before they get cold,” I said, munching on a pizza roll that had, of course, already cooled down.

  I used to think I was somewhat special. I had unexplainable visions that were kind of like premonitions. They showed the past, the present, even what the future could hold. Ever since facing off with Sephira, and feeling her hands on my neck, my life had been without them. Maybe it was a fluke. Most of my life I never had visions, anyway.

  Only that time, three years ago, when Gabriel was in danger, and only after moving here, when he and I were in danger constantly. I was certain we were still in danger. Danger was my middle name, and sarcasm was his.

  After finishing off the pizza rolls, I couldn’t stop thinking about Crixis and what he said. Grinding my teeth, I got off the chair and went to my room, pulling the big, heavy tome from under a pile of clothes. For the last few days, it was out of sight and out of mind. I brought it to the library and Claire glanced over.

  “That’s a big book,” she said, eyeing it up as I sat down.

  “Yeah. I forgot about this one,” I muttered, playing it off. She didn’t need to know who I got it from. I opened the cover and began flipping pages. Tons and tons of nonsensical writing, just like before.

  I didn’t know why I thought about giving this one another chance.

  I was about to close it when a sense of foreboding swept across me like a wave on the shore. I turned another page, only half an inch or so thick into the book, and my energy was sapped from me. I wasn’t a battery to myself, apparently.

  A picture took up both mirrored pages, a crudely drawn picture, written only in black ink, one that I knew I’d see every time I closed my eyes. The earth, a flat land with trees and water; its inhabitants running frantically in the other direction, animals and men alike. In the sky above the earth hovered a hulking being with great, black wings and curled horns.

  I’d seen those wings before. I knew I had.

  “No,” I whispered, temporarily forgetting Claire was beside me, nose-deep in her own book. I closed the huge one in my hands, causing her to jump. “I’m done for today.” I didn’t want to look at books anymore.

  “Oh. Okay. We still have tomorrow and the weekend before we go back to school. We can—”

  “No,” I said again. “I’m going to ask Liz about it. And…I’m going to visit Gabriel tomorrow.” I was going to visit him and beg his forgiveness for what I decided to do.

  Claire nodded. She didn’t push, though it was clear she was saddened that her first round of research hadn’t yielded any results. She didn’t ask about Max, probably because they spent half an hour talking this morning before he and Liz met Michael at the hospital. “Okay. You know where I’ll be. Let me know if you find out what it is.”

  I walked her out, and just like that, I was alone.

  I wouldn’t be for long.

  Chapter Eleven – Michael

  This was absolutely torturous.

  I, singlehandedly, messed up the Order’s ultimate goal. I put Gabriel, the bringer of the new age, into a coma that the doctors were clueless about. There was the fact of the poisoning—I should be happy they hadn’t caught on to that, but I was still having trouble believing that somehow Gabriel had eaten it, when I handed them both their own lunches. When I specifically made them each the same thing, so they would not trade each other, and only poisoned Kass’s.

  I couldn’t do anything right, lately.

  Burying my face in my hands, I sighed. A rotten-eggs stench wafted to my nose, and I smelled my own armpit. I was starting to smell pretty ripe. Just as I made the mental decision to go home later today, the phone charging on the wall behind me rang. I glanced at the number before unplugging it and heading to the door, closing it gently.

  A rough, stern voice—one I had heard countless of times in my life—practically shouted on the other side of the phone call, “What is going on over there, Mike? Why haven’t there been any updates?” Her tone was authoritative. She hadn’t even bothered to call the phone every Order member had. She called my personal phone.

  I felt uneasy. Talking with her, especially while she was upset, was never fun. Or comfortable. “There’s been a setback.” I winced, even as I said it. I could only imagine what she looked like, hearing that, from me.

  It was a while until she muttered, “A setback.” Another long, pregnant silence. “What kind of setback are we talking about?” She was back to being enraged. “How hard is it to get rid of one girl?”

  “She’s quite resilient.” I wasn’t making a very good case for myself.

  “Quite resilient,” she mocked me. “She isn’t a butterfly in a garden—she’s a Purifier. And from the latest reports you’ve sent, a decent one, too.”

  “Exactly, she’s—”

  “She’s just a girl who doesn’t suspect you. You should be able to easily catch her off-guard and finish the job, Mike.” As she said it, I mentally pictured all the different ways a fight with Kass could go. None of them were pretty. Only one of us would walk out of it alive. “Do I have to call someone else in?”

  “No,” I quickly said with a shake of my head, even though she couldn’t see it. “No. I will handle it. Just give me a little more time—”

  “Four days.” And then she hung up.

  I knew what would happen after the four day mark was up, and I couldn’t let that happen. Staring at my phone screen, my appearance was a haggard, tired one. I couldn’t go head-to-head with Kass. I wasn’t stupid. She was stronger than me, more tactical, yet prone to rash decisions. While it was true she wouldn’t see an attack from me coming, I couldn’t just kill her. Even if I went to her while she slept, what were the odds that I didn’t trip on the clothes she left laying about and alert her to my presence? How would I explain the weapon in my hands?

  No, I didn’t trust myself to go after her head-on. I needed to weaken her, first.

  And in my chest of items I’d brought from my time in the Order, I had just the thing for it. I only had to figure out a way to get her to ingest it…

  Just as I began running through her daily routine—they’d return to school Monday, but that was the final day of his boss’s four day ultimatum—there was a knock on the door and Liz peeked her head in, a soft smile on her face.

  God, she was beautiful. Too bad it would never work out between us. If she knew what I did,
what I planned to do, she wouldn’t hesitate to go against me. Liz was by the books, and our relationship, if you could call it one, wouldn’t stop her from doing what she thought was right.

  Was it the right thing? I had other notions on the subject. Forget the Demons. Forget the lesser Vampire plague. Forget the Witches and the Sorcerers and the Morphers. When it came down to it, the true pestilence on the earth was humanity.

  Humans destroyed the air, cut down the forests, took nature’s fuel and used it up like greedy tycoons. They hunted animals to extinction, used them inhumanely in the name of science and research. Humanity played God as they toyed with genetics, made clones of horses and monkeys, and sought cure-alls for the ways nature and age try to stave off the population. War. Hunger. Homelessness. The rich only cared for themselves; it was no longer about the goodness for society.

  Society crumbled day by day, year by year. If humanity was left unchecked, the earth would be bathed in a nuclear holocaust, and then everyone—humans and supernaturals alike, would be out of luck for thousands of years, assuming anyone or anything that had more than three cells survived.

  Yes, humanity was the problem. Humanity had to be taught a lesson. What was one Purifier’s life in the scheme of things? Their lives were their occupations, anyway. That was what the Order taught me, and that was what I still believed to this very day.

  Kass had to die, and this time, she’d stay dead. I’d make sure of it.

  Behind Liz, Max and, to my surprise, Kass walked in. “No improvement?” Liz asked quietly as both Max and Kass went closer to Gabriel.

  I shook my head as I stared at the two young Purifiers. Both were short. Both were also stronger than they seemed. Only one had to die soon, the other would wait. “No,” I whispered. The pain that painted my voice was mistaken by everyone in the room—they thought I was the grieving Guardian, not the stupid Order member who might’ve royally screwed everything up.

  Kass suddenly sent Liz a wordless, pleading look, to which Liz immediately took me by the hand. “Come on, let’s get you some food in the cafeteria.” I was dumbly led out, though my mind was hard at work. Max lingered, blinking, until Liz added, “You, too, Max. Let’s give Kass some privacy.”