Chapter 22
Katherine
I was walking in the same house, going to the same door. I reached for the handle with no fear just uneasiness. Just as my hand touched it I was ripped out of the dream. I awoke and sat straight up. Screaming and punching. I was ready to fight now but there was no one to fight. There was just Katherine standing there with a glass pitcher in her hand and all the water on me. I stood and she reached her hand to help me but I did not take it. I was not sure where Benjamin was and I knew when he came back he would not be happy to see me awake. I shivered. The water was really cold.
“I am sorry Avery. I had to wake you up and I didn’t know what else to use.” She shrugged, seemingly unafraid of Benjamin’s return.
“Where is he? I have to get out of here.” I started to look for my purse. Then I decided screw the purse and started to walk toward the door.
“He is gone Avery. I got us help and he is gone. I don’t know for how long or if for good but I did it.” She smiled sounding very proud but I saw in her eyes that she wasn’t enormously happy with it. For some reason she had fallen in love with Benjamin.
“How?” I asked. “He is so strong, how do you just get rid of him?”
“I had met my Spirit Guide a few weeks ago. In my dreams, of course, she came to me. She was beautiful, she told me so much about the path I had set out for myself and apparently I was not living it. She also told me how dangerous Benjamin was. At first I didn’t believe it but she came back the next night saying things about him that I saw but chose to ignore. So I decided to listen. I started seeing things in him that my Guide had told me to look for. I believed he was made for me. I was delusional and it was because of him. He had tricked me but I made a deal with him.” She sat down and took a deep breath. She was just now coming to terms with what was really happening.
“I made a deal with a Dark Guide. He came to me in my darkest hour. I was married for fifteen years. We were so happy. We were not the type of married couple that wanted kids, that was just how we were. We wanted to travel and see the country, but the country is only so big and you can only travel so long. Soon we ran out of things to discuss and do together. It wasn’t long after that I wanted to move up here and start my own coffee shop. He was so willing to move here I think he just hoped that new scenery would help our marriage.” I started to squeeze the water from my clothes while I listened intently.
“So we did it. We packed up our things and made the move. We found this great house right by the bay and things really were working out so much better. Until he got a new job and I was busy making plans on my shop. I was too busy to notice that he had met someone else until it was too late. He told me she saw things like he did. She wanted to travel and see the world with him. To him it was like a new pet to train and show off. He had already taken me everywhere but with her it would be a new experience because it would be with her instead.” She started to tear up. She looked around her shop and sighed.
“So I did it anyway. I opened a coffee shop and gift store. The whole oxygen bar thing came later. I was happy to have my shop but I was so lonely. I had left my family and friends and I had no one. I fell into such a deep depression that even the anti-depressants didn’t help. I just wanted to love again. That was all I wanted. I didn’t even want my ex back. I just wanted to be with someone. So one night a dark winged man came to me in my dream and he told me he would give me anything I wanted. I could have asked for anything. Do you know what I asked for?”
“Love,” I replied.
“Yes, love. I wanted to be with someone who would love me as much as I would love them. The man told me he would give it to me, for a price. The price of my soul.”
“Wait, you gave up your soul for love? Why?” It seemed too tragic to be true.
“Oh he was so hard to say no to.” I remembered that feeling with Dedrick. Now she looked like she understood how stupid it was to give up your soul for love. I thought then that maybe I was being a bit harsh on her. For judging her for what choices she made in her life.
“So you gave in, didn’t you?”
“Yes I did and I didn’t realize what a mistake I made until now. When Ben came to my store and started talking to me I had no idea he was the same man from my dreams. He certainly didn’t look the same. He was more attractive and he was wingless. He looked my age and he looked lonely. Like me. So I befriended him and we began a friendship. Soon after that we fell in love. I knew that the man in my dream had followed through and I began to forget the whole dream. It just faded out of my memory. I was in love and I knew nothing of my deal that I had made. I just was living for the moment.”
“Okay so this doesn’t explain how you got rid of him just now.” I sat down realizing that he wasn’t coming back.
“Oh yes of course. My Spirit Guide helped me do that. I couldn’t do that all on my own. While he held you down I contacted her the way she told me to. Just as you passed out another type of Angel, one I never seen before, he came and fought Benjamin off. Now he is gone.” She hung her head and looked so sad. I felt for her but I knew that I had to get out of here. It seemed so selfish of me but I didn’t want to stick around and see if Benjamin would come back.
“I am so sorry Avery to get you involved. His influences were just so strong. I usually did everything he asked of me. This was the first time I ever saw him hurt anyone and it was just like my Guide had told me. She was so right.”
“So what happens now, to you I mean? You sold your soul. What will happen?” I asked her. Obviously she had been thinking of that as well because she looked terrified.
“I don’t know?” She shuddered. “I don’t know who this other Angel was but he said to stay here and not to leave. I am so scared.” I reached out and hugged her. I felt too bad to leave now. I just held her as she cried and I thought of Ianni and how she held me like this last night. I sort of knew how Katherine felt.
“You must leave Avery. Things are going to be happening here and you must go. You cannot be involved.” I looked up from Katherine’s red tangled mess of hair and saw a beautiful Spirit Guide standing in front of me. She was serene and pure looking. I let Katherine go and stepped away.
“What is going to happen to Katherine?” I asked her. She smiled at me and I felt peace flow through my body. Suddenly all my worries for her were non-existent.
“Katherine, it’s now the time we spoke of. We must meet him, he is waiting,” the Guide said. “Come my child, hold my hand, I will lead you to him.”
Katherine took her hand and I watched her walk with the Guide to the back of the store. The Guide turned and looked at me. She smiled at me once more and then a man, no not a man, an Angel came into view. He was very built and beautiful as well, but there was darkness about him. Not darkness like with Benjamin or Dedrick but it was there. He took Katherine’s hand and I backed out of the store. I found my purse on the ground and I ran out of towards the street.
Chapter 23
Making Promises
When I reached my apartment door I heard talking inside. I figured it was Dallas on the phone but when I opened it I saw Lillith, Ianni, Landon and Dallas all sitting together. I must have looked like hell because they all jumped up and gasped when they saw me. I put up my hand in front of me, I couldn’t explain it all to them right now and I didn’t want anyone coming near me. Ianni came anyway. She had a look of guilt on her face.
“What happened just now?” I knew she knew what just went down. I felt her question was unnecessary. She was the one who warned me but, like she had told me before, she cannot help me against the Dark Guides. There was nothing she could have done to save me. She had already done all that she could, and instead of listening to her and leaving right away I stayed. I was such a moron for not listening. It was like I was waiting for evil to come around.
“You know what Ianni? I do not feel like explaining what just went down. I think you can fill everyone in. I need a shower.” I pushed past her and practically ran i
nto my bedroom. I showered and washed away Benjamin’s touch. My face ached and my head hurt. I had a slice on my lip and inside my mouth. I also had a patch of hair that was missing from him pulling my hair out. I did not cry though. I stayed strong but I refused to discuss the nature of the incident. I could hear them all talking in my living room. Now they were all quiet as I came into the room. Their eyes looked at the ground instead of me.
I went into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee, my liquid awake. I felt the pull of sleep start to take over my body. Not to mention the pain that was now starting to hurt like hell. My phone rang and it scared me almost to death. I reached over and answered.
“Hi it’s me, Dad, um… Richard. How are you?” He sounded a little bit more chipper than he had when I last saw him, but still a bit shy. All I could think was why did he have to call right now?
“Better I suppose. I have a plan to discuss with you and the others. But the best place to pull this off is at my friend’s parent’s cabin. Do you have a pen?”
“Yep, go ahead.” I mumbled off the directions to Kerri’s parent’s cabin. I hoped he would be able to get there okay. He was really a key player in all of this. We didn’t talk too much longer. I apologized for leaving his house like I did and he accepted.
When I hung up with him Dallas was standing next to me. He just reached out and held my hand. His firm grip gave me a bit of strength that I needed. With his other hand he traced my lip and lightly touched the cut. I winced.
“Is what Ianni told us the truth? Did Benjamin really do this do you?” He looked really pissed.
“Yes he did but he is gone for now. So let’s move on and let’s plan our trip to the cabin.” I let go of his hand and he followed me into the living room to face the others. I had one question to ask and then I wanted to forget what just happened.
“What will happen to Katherine?” I didn’t ask anyone in particular but it was Lillith who answered. Her normal smart-ass tone was subdued this time. I was very thankful for that, I was in no mood for her attitude today.
“The Angel who took her was a Deliverer. She is Home now. Because of what she did, the deal she made, she will never return here or live anymore lives. She is one of the lucky ones.” She answered so matter of fact and with almost no compassion. I had to remember that this was their job and they tried not to get emotionally involved. It wasn’t like Lillith didn’t care but Katherine was not her soul to guide. Landon was like her baby. He was the one she cared for most. I thought then that if it was Landon who made the deal and if it was he who was taken she would not be so stone faced.
“Is a Deliverer an Angel of Death?” Landon asked. I looked at him, surprised by his question. I hadn’t thought of that, but he had. He wasn’t there to see what I saw, yet he knew what happened to Katherine.
“Yes. That is all I can say about them. So let’s not talk too much about it. Just do not let that be any of you.”
I was not going to ask any more questions about them or about Katherine. It wasn’t hard to figure out what happened. She made a deal with a Dark Guide and her soul was his to take. If this Deliverer didn’t come and take her Benjamin would. So it was either go Home and never return to Earth or give her soul to Benjamin and live God knows where. Katherine had saved my life by “calling” her Spirit Guide. She must have known that she was going to die. I didn’t imagine her Spirit Guide would hide that information. I said a silent thank you to her, where ever she was.
Lillith and Ianni stood and spread their beautiful multi-colored wings, almost mirroring each other.
“We must leave. We have meetings with the Council but we will return at the cabin Dallas spoke of. In the meantime, please do not leave each other’s side,” Ianni said sternly to the three of us. Just like that they were gone.
I fell into my couch and fought to stay awake. There was so much to discuss about our plans. I was glad Dallas had told everyone about the cabin, so that was one less thing I had to talk about.
“Okay, so we are all packed and ready to go. Now what?” Landon asked looking awfully peppy and awake.
“First things first. Let’s make a pact, a promise more or less,” Dallas replied. “Let’s promise each other that no matter what happens at the cabin we will stay together. The three of us. We will not leave or do anything stupid.”
“What do you mean stay together?” I asked him. Why would we leave? That would be plain stupid.
“I mean even if something bad happens we will stay together. Like if one of us, well if one of us gets delivered.” He cleared his throat. “If someone dies or gets taken by a Dark Guide the remaining people stay together.”
“No way will that happen.” I was trying to think positive and here was Dallas downer bringing me down.
“Avery its true, something bad could happen. It’s best if we do make a promise and look at reality. You saw a woman get taken by the Angel of Death. I mean, wake up! Bad things are going to go down.” Landon was practically screaming. His voice was uneven and his eyes were tearing up as he spoke.
I gave in, grabbed their hands and I looked at them both. I loved them both. There was no way I could break Dallas’ heart and tell him this, but it was true. I felt a strong past love of Landon’s soul and a strong present love for Dallas. I still didn’t know if Dallas was Garrison and I certainly didn’t want to discuss that right now.
“I promise. We will stay together. The three of us. We will fight for our souls,” I said.
“I promise too,” they both said at the same time. We stood there holding hands, a united threesome.
When we headed out we had everything packed in Dallas’ truck and it was not as uncomfortable as it was the last road trip. This time we were all on the same page instead of holding grudges. We had come a long way. Dallas drove, I sat shotgun and Landon hung in the back. The music streamed out of the speakers and it lulled me to sleep. I couldn’t help it with the slow melodies of the music and the hum of the car on the road.
My slumber didn’t last long. I awoke in a scream. Dallas almost drove the car off the road and Landon practically jumped into the front seat to see if I was okay. I was covered in sweat and I was freezing. Dallas pulled off the road and threw the truck into park. He reached over and held me asking over and over if I was okay. I just didn’t know what to say. I didn’t remember my dream or why I screamed. I wondered if I was okay too. Landon looked worried as well and I assured them both I was fine. I just wanted to be there already.
Once they both believed me we took off again. I knew the cabin wasn’t too far away so we should be there soon. Landon started to talk to me idly about pretty much anything and everything to keep me from falling asleep. And as much as I didn’t really care to hear about his stocks or his business deals I listened even though it didn’t really help. I was still tired and frightened. It was safe to say that my day sucked.
I didn’t want to drag them down too so I tried to smile and laugh at the appropriate remarks. We needed gas so Dallas pulled into a station and went to go pay. I jumped out of the truck to stretch my legs. Landon came around the truck and joined me in the stretching. He looked sort of adorable while he stretched.
“So what happened? Are you gonna tell me?” I was taken aback by his question. He wasn’t normally so pushy or nosy. I didn’t really even have an answer for him.
“If you’re asking about the dream, which I am sure you are, I don’t remember. But it must have scared me.” He looked at me with a doubtful expression and then moved on to another topic.
“So, what’s this cabin like?”
“It’s beautiful. Right off the lake and it has its own dock. Oh, there’s a boat too, but I doubt we will have time for boating,” I laughed.
He laughed too but I saw worry in his blue eyes. He shook the hair out of his face and smiled at me. I remembered the first time I met him. I had deemed him the cutest guy ever. And he still was pretty cute. There were times when I felt guilty about eyeing him up and down, and right
now was one of those times. So I stopped and decided to tell him all about the cabin and its surroundings. He listened intently until Dallas was done pumping gas and came over. Just as I was walking towards the truck Landon’s hand brushed up against mine.
Henry stood at the altar in a dark black suit. I peeked through the door of the church at the awaiting guests and my soon to be groom. I giggled as I saw the whole town, and many more, were assembled there just for us. I closed the door and walked back to the side room where my bridesmaids waited for me. I took another glance down at my dress, admiring the lace detail. I was the first one to wear this design. I felt so proud and I blushed at the thought of everyone seeing me in it. “Its time,” my mother said ushering me to my father. I took a deep breath and tried to chase away the butterflies that now rested in my belly.
I pulled my hand away quickly and shot him a warning glance. I didn’t want to see anymore of that vision. It was my wedding to Henry. I was so selfish in that life and I had seen enough.
“Well according to the guy in the store we have about another sixty miles until we are there. So you both ready?” Dallas asked.
“Yep!” I answered for the both of us and we got back into the truck. I was ready to go there and to make our plans. I worried that this would be dangerous. I didn’t even know the plan for sure. All I knew for now was that we were all going to be together. No matter what would happen I would be ready to go up against Dedrick and whoever else stood in our way.
What happened to me at that store with Benjamin would never happen to me again. That was a promise I made to myself.
Chapter 24
The Cabin
We pulled onto the gravel road that lead up to the cabin and I remembered the last time Kerri and I were here. It had been a very hot summer and we decided to come here for the weekend. It was a total blast. We stayed up late talking and drinking. The next morning she and I went down to the dock and swam. She, of course, looked terrific in a bathing suit but I was really shy even though she kept telling me how cute I looked in my new white bikini. She always kept my spirits up. I really missed her. I knew as soon as this stuff was over she and I would hang out more often. I really hoped we would be able to be together again and that things would go back to normal. Normal was before Lucy died. Before all the bizarre happened. Landon interrupted my thoughts by asking which cabin it was.
The Many Lives of Avery Snow Page 18