by Nicole Thorn
The halls were empty as we walked through them but I still threw up my invisibility so Dottie wouldn’t see me and bolt. Her light was string and I knew she was close by.
We walked down the hall as the light led me down to the teachers break room. I opened the door to find her alone in the room rummaging through one of the lockers. I quietly closed the door and headed for Dottie.
I grabbed her by the shoulder and swung her around as I dropped my shield.
“Where the Hell did you guys come from?” she said with wide eyes.
I smiled. “Surprised? So was I when I found your notebook. I believe we’re long overdue for a conversation that I hope ends in violence.”
She didn’t bother playing dumb. “Okay then. Sit down,” she pointed to the table.
I crossed my arms. “Oh, you think you’re running this thing?”
She sighed. “We’ve got a lot to talk about. I suggest you drop the attitude and just sit down.”
“Dottie,” Hale addressed her with well hidden anger. “Maybe not a good idea to fuck with her. I’ve been told she could kill you quiet easy.”
“I’m aware. I’m actually kind curious on why a Fallen would be dumb enough to waste her endless days in a high school.”
“I’m not a Fallen. But I know what you are.”
She started moving over to the table and she sat down. Hale and I stood next to each other and face her. “I know you’re not an angel. They’re wings are white. So what the Hell are you?”
This should be fun. “I’m an antichrist. Ever heard of us?”
Her mouth dropped open and she stared at me with disbelief. “You’re the Antichrist?”
“An antichrist. There are a lot of us. That apocalypse thing is bullshit. There’s not just one of us and we’re not trying to end the world. But my dad gets pretty pissed when someone other than another antichrist tries to kill one of us. So I suggest you find a good place to hide.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I’m not trying to kill you. And if you’re what you say you are, your father would know that.” She moved on. “Do you all have wings?”
“Just me. And don’t try lying. I saw you with that notebook. It had a whole lot of stalker information in it. Kinda like that scrapbook you made me.”
She looked annoyed. “I didn’t make that scrapbook.”
I snorted. “Lets not pretend that you don’t hate me. I know what you’ve been doing. Why you honed in on Hale the second I wasn’t with him anymore.”
A blonde eyebrow went up. “I never said I didn’t hate you. And I wasn’t trying to hide what I was doing with Hale. I got immense joy out of the look on your face when I touched him.”
I wanted to launch myself at her but Hale caught my wrist before I could. He said, “What were you doing with my brother? We’re you going to hurt him too?” there was murderous intent in his eyes.
“I needed to get to you somehow,” she smirked. “You were easier than I thought. So desperate for a friend and so broken from the loss of your girl. Childs play,” she rolled her eyes.
“Wow. You’re more of a bitch than I am. And I’m half evil. Impressive,” I laughed. “Maybe we should get back to the lie you were trying to tell about not killing me and drugging my boyfriend.”
“Again, I didn’t try and kill you. I didn’t drug Hale. And I didn’t make that scrapbook. But I was the one who left it for you.”
“How bout the coyote?”
“Not me either.”
“Then who?”
She looked worried for the first time since we showed up. “Someone who hates you more than I do. I was trying to warn you. I want to see you miserable but I never wanted you dead. If you’re dead then you won’t suffer.”
Hale looked like he wanted to go for her throat but be held himself back.
“You’re still not telling me what I want to know,” I pointed out. “I’m losing my patience.”
She stared at the table. “You should have just left when I gave you the chance. As long as he can find you, you’re in danger.”
“Cut the shit, Dorothy. Who’s stalking me? Other than you.”
“I’m not stalking you.” She took a deep breath. “It was only supposed to be small stuff. Harmless, but it would piss you off. Mess with your boyfriend. Maybe spread some rumors. But then he decided that wasn’t enough. He found out what I was doing and it sparked something that I didn’t know was in him. No stopping it now.”
“WHO!?” I shouted, making her jump.
“My dad,” she said. “My dad is trying to kill you.”
Everything that’s happened over the last couple months ran through my head as I decided if I believed her or not. The only problem was that both of them had the chance for every attack. There was no proof of guilt for either.
“What should I believe you?” I asked.
“Believe me or don’t,” she sat back. “It’s your life on the line. Oh,” she held a finger up. “And your whole family, including pretty boy over there. Maybe instead of thinking I’m a liar you can just listen to me and save yourself. You don’t die and my dad doesn’t go to jail for murder. Win, win.”
“Funny that you think he’d make it to prison. My father would destroy him for touching one of his kids. It would be slow and he’d have fun.”
Her face sank as fear crept in. “I don’t want any more people to die. Mom died for nothing. I don’t want to lose the only other family I have because my dad went off the deep end.”
“What do you suggest we do about this?” Hale said, sliding a chair out and taking it.
“Leave. Go somewhere he can’t find you. He’ll lose interest soon and he’ll go back to normal,” her voice had forced hope in it. Like she knew he was a goner. “He was fine…then I came back home and he just…lost it. I don’t know who he is anymore. I don’t wanna be all alone again.”
“I’m not leaving my home and my family cuz some asshole decided to take his grief out on me.” I gripped the back of the empty chair so hard I thought it would crumble under my hands. “Make him stop, or he dies.”
“No. Please,” she stood up. “I can’t make him stop. I’ve been trying and trying but it’s just getting worse. He’s planning something. I don’t know what but I know when.”
My mind went to when she was talking to herself the day before. She wanted me out of the house.
“When?”
Her eyes burned into mine. “Tomorrow night. I heard him talking to himself. Mom,” her lip quivered. “He thinks she’s talking back to him. He’s taking orders from a hallucination. It’s how I found out about this. I heard him. He started rambling about you being a Fallen and I freaked out.
“What ever he has planned, he was going to go to your house. I had planned on inviting you guys and Ethan to a movie but that’s clearly out of the question.”
“Ya think?”
She stepped closer to me but she held her hands out in surrender. “Please don’t kill him. I have nothing without him.”
“He’s off his rocker. And if he tries hurting my family again you bet I’m gonna kill him. What else am I supposed to do?”
She scratched at her wrist as she thought. It was bright red and it looked like scratching at it was her new hobby. “I don’t know. Are you stronger than a topside?”
I laughed. “Little bit.”
“Then you can subdue him?”
“Not if he has a gun again. And why should I do him any favors?”
Her eyes started turning glassy but she fought the tears with everything in her. “It’s not for him. He’d be happy to die for this. It’s for me. Maybe you think you don’t owe me anything, and maybe you really don’t. But I’m asking you anyway. Please don’t kill my dad.” Her voice cracked on the last word and a picture appeared in my mind. I though of my own dad. Franklin. I though about what would have happened to him if he lost Mom and if Dottie and I switched places.
I wouldn’t let my father die.
“You’re considering
this?” Hale asked me in pure astonishment. “You need to hide. Keep yourself safe.”
“I’m not running,” I told him.
“Then what are you going to do?”
I couldn’t answer the question because I didn’t know. I never dreamed I’d become a killer at seventeen but I also never thought that someone would be trying to kill me. Maybe a sibling… but not a topside that wanted revenge for something that I technically didn’t do. I was only a little bit responsible. Certainly not enough to deserve death. Or the deaths of my family.
My hands knotted in my hair and I started pacing the room. “Why do I have to make a decision like this on my own? Either I orphan a girl or I risk my life and the life of everyone I love.” I looked to Hale. “What do I do?”
He rubbed his jaw. “How right and wrong to ask me… I know what I would do, but that doesn’t necessarily make it the right decision.”
Code for; he’d kill him.
“Please,” Dottie begged again. “Just give me a chance to fix this.”
I couldn’t decide this right now. And I shouldn’t have to. “I need to go home,” I said to Hale. “Will you come with me?”
“Of course I will.”
Hale started walking to the door with me and Dottie called out for me to wait. When we turned she said, “You’re just gonna leave? What about my dad?”
“Looks like you’ve got about a day before I have to make this decision. I suggest you stop him before he makes it for me. If he goes after any of the people in my life, he dies.”
“He’s not after them, he’s after you,” she said. “You’re the one he’ll try and kill.”
“Then maybe we won’t die after all.”
“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Hadley growled at me. “You can’t think we’re gonna take off so you can try and take this guy on alone.”
“I’m not leaving either,” Mom said with as much anger as my sister had.
I sighed, “Not many options here. If he sees all of us then he’ll come at us with both barrels. If it’s just me then maybe he’ll wanna play first. I can get him then.”
Hale didn’t agree with any of this. If he could have it his way, we’d hide out at his house until this all went away and Dottie fixed it. But I didn’t see her being able to do that. Still, I didn’t want to kill someone. Even if he wanted to kill me. I had a sliver of sympathy for him. But it was dwindling fast.
“I’m supposed to just let my daughter try and capture a homicidal maniac by herself? You realize you’re only seventeen, right?”
“Like that matters.”
“It does,” Mom said with tensely crossed arms. “I don’t want my baby having to do such a scary thing alone. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.”
Instinctively I moved closer to Hale. Mom didn’t know about what he had to do when he was sixteen. She didn’t understand how close to this situation he really was.
I wasn’t even a hundred percent sure what he thought about all of this. His opinion was skewed because of me. He hated himself for what he did to his father, even though it was for the best. He didn’t agree with that opinion. But this was about my safety, and I believed that there wasn’t a thing he wouldn’t approve of if it meant me getting out of this alive.
There was a fear in the back of my head that if I killed this man, Hale would see me differently. It was most of the reason I was considering taking the more dangerous path and not killing Dottie’s father. I cared more about what Hale thought of me than about the life of that man. The idea of it bothered me, but at best I was never a very good person.
“If he dies then Dottie would be alone,” I said, trying to care. “It might make her snap. She’s already had a psychotic break back when her mom died; she had to get professional help. Like in a care facility. It’s entirely possible that she might pick up where he left off. I’d be responsible for the death of her whole family.” The reality of the words was heavy in my chest.
“That wasn’t your fault,” Hadley said. “She didn’t have to follow you into the teachers room. That man didn’t need to get wasted on his way home. You can’t be blamed for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Miller doesn’t see it that way,” I reminded them. “Please just help me with this.”
Mom considered it for a minute. “You can teleport away if you need to but that power goes away if your mind of compromised. If you’re wounded bad enough then you’ll be helpless.”
“What?” Hale asked. “You can lose it?”
“Temporarily. A concussion can cloud our heads enough so we can’t teleport. Our strength stays the same but like a normal human, if we’re hurt then we’re compromised. He’s more than human. It might be enough to—”
“No,” Hale stepped back and started walking mindlessly. “I can’t let you do this. He had a gun before and he might again. I’m not losing you, Rory.”
“You won’t,” I said, not sure if I was lying or not. This needed to happen. I started it and I was the only one who could finish it. At least if I died they would be safe. This would be over.
“Can you guarantee that for me? Can you tell me with perfect certainty that you won’t be hurt while doing this?”
“Yeah,” Hadley added. “I’d like that too. But if you say yes then I know you’re lying to us. But we don’t have time for this fight. Not if he’s planning on doing whatever the Hell he’s gonna do tomorrow.”
Quickly, I tried to come up with some kind of plan that everyone could be happy with. I was starting to think there wouldn’t be one. But I did the best I could. “What if Mom and Hadley stayed in the neighborhood but not by the house? Make him think I’m alone. That way if I need back up you can be listening in and know to come.”
“Where will I be?” Hale asked, making all eyes go to him.
“Love,” Mom said with as much softness as she could manage. “You’re incredibly human. Therefore, breakable. This man will use you to get to Aurora. He has before.”
“Am I supposed to just let her do this alone? Wait for her to either come back to me or not?”
Mom thought. “Stay with Hadley and I. You’ll know as much as we will and you can come with us if she needs it.”
I could see in his eyes that it wasn’t good enough for him. If he had it his way he’d be doing this for me. There was no way I was letting that happen.
I put my arms around Hale and faced him. “Please, do this for me. I’ll be safe and I need to know you’re safe too.”
He closed his eyes when he spoke. “Just promise me that you won’t let him hurt you.”
All I could do was lie to him. “Nothing is going to happen to me. I promise.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down Swinging
I was forced to sleep alone and everything about it felt wrong. It was like I was about to go off to battle and I didn’t even get my proper send off. But at least Hale showed up bright and early the next morning to bring me to school.
I grumbled when I woke up, even though he was sitting next to me, reading a book. “It’s stupid that we’re going to school today.” I sat up as he was putting my book on the nightstand.
“If we’re both missing it might tip Miller off about what we know. Plus, I think it would be wise to talk to Dottie one last time. Maybe something’s changed.”
Probably not. But he had a point. God only knows how much surveillance Miller had on me. I just hoped that he didn’t have cameras installed. Paranoid, I looked around my bedroom. I didn’t need that kook having a tape of Hale and I making out. Especially last night’s session. Hale was doing his best to make up for lost time. My face warmed at the thought of it.
I changed into jeans and a t-shirt. I stole Hale’s extra sweater and threw it on. He eyed me like candy when I walked out of the bathroom in it. I stopped a half a foot from him and he looked down at me with desire that should have turned his eyes red.
“You’re gonna pay for that later,” I warned
him.
“What did I do?” his face turned falsely innocent. Even with the face of an angel he couldn’t pull off innocent. It only made me love him more seeing the twinge of darkness he carried with him. It gave me shivers.
“You know what you did,” I narrowed my eyes at him without anger behind it.
“If you’re referring to my nearly drooling over the sight of you, I cannot be blamed for that. It seems that you remain unaware of the fact that you’re beauty incarnate. Clearly divine.”
I smirked. “Maybe. I do have angel in me. Kind of.”
He dipped his head down and kissed me under my ear. “Absolutely.”
We trudged on and went to school like a madman wasn’t after me or anything. Totally normal day. I went through my morning classes like nothing was off. I even tried playing with Hale at lunch like everything was okay.
His chair was right next to mine and he kept fiddling with my feet as he kicked them with his. There was a lot of giggling on my side and pleased smiles on his. He even managed to sneak his fingers under my sweater and up to my sides so he could tickle me. Thank God no one cares about paying attention to anyone but themselves.
“People are going to see us,” I said under my breath when Hale went for my thighs.
“No they won’t.”
“What makes you think that?”
He glanced around. “Because they’ve all got their noses in their books. Last minute studying.”
“So that means you’re free to take advantage of me?”
He smirked. “Does it still count if you like it when I do?”
“You’re the cockiest person I’ve ever met,” I nearly rolled my eyes at him.
He mumbled something very inappropriate in my ear just before the bell rang and the students started shuffling off. We followed suit and went to Art.
The assignment today was to sketch a person. It wasn’t specific, it could be a real person or they could be made up. So when Hale turned his chair to face me, I got a little nervous.
“What are you doing?” I asked, already knowing.