by Kay, Jenna
“No!” Brenton yelled beside me. Somehow he got ahead of me, navigating through the thick of panicked teens.
Where were all the teachers chaperoning this dance? Were they the first ones out the gym?
I watched in horror as Nick pointed the gun down at Kora, but before he could pull the trigger, Brenton rushed in and tackled him. They both were a tangle of legs, rolling onto the ground and wrestling one another.
I dropped to my knees when I reached Kevin and Kora, resting in between them. She had blood on the side of her head and face, her eyes closed. She was unconscious. Taking her wrist, I blew a sigh of relief. She had a pulse, but it was very weak. I looked down at Kevin whose eyes were wide open, his chest a massive swell of blood. He looked at me, blood dripping from his mouth. Blood was pooling all around him.
Not good. I looked down at my scorching hands, seeing they were still black.
“C-Clar-ity,” he managed to say, then coughed up a heavy amount of blood.
“Kevin!” I said, unable to control my racking sobs.
He grabbed my arm. “Tell Kora...I l-love her and d-don't be mad.”
“Hang in, Kevin,” I said, sucking down a cry. “Help's on the way.”
He dropped my arm and looked straight up at the ceiling, a smile caressing his lips.
“I know,” he said with a sigh; then I watched as he closed his eyes and took his last breath.
“Kevin?” I breathed out, but I knew he was gone. My whole body began trembling, and once again my body turned into ice.
This isn't happening—this is a dream. Yeah! One of my nightmares. I'll wake up any minute now.
When another gunshot exploded it made me realize that none of it was a dream. Standing to my feet, my stomach dropped to the floor. Brenton crumpled to the ground, Nick winning the fight.
“NO!” I cried. Please, not Brenton. Please!
Nick turned to me and an evil grin broke over his face. I wasn't sure but I thought his eyes were black, a shiny gleam coating over them. He began walking towards me, taking long strides and pointing the gun directly at me. I couldn't move. Fear had clutched its ugly paws all over my body.
Just when I thought my life was coming to an end, Nick froze mid-stride. The teenagers still trying to get out of the gym were also frozen, standing like well-dressed mannequins from a high-end department store. Everyone around me was immobile except me. All was quiet except for my heavy breathing and my heart throwing itself crazily against my chest.
A flash of white light filled the room, so bright I had to shield my eyes. An overwhelming perfume smell bombarded the air, like my nose had been shoved into a potpourri dish.
When the light dimmed, which was after only two seconds, I was amazed to see about fifty or sixty angels standing all over the gym, their glorious wings jutting from their backs.
Sam appeared right in front of me, reaching out and touching my shoulder. A warm calmness soared through me, and his lavender scent tickled my nose. The sight of him, and all the other beautiful angels, took my breath away. That's when I figured it out—they were here to help and make everything right!
“Sam!” I exclaimed, grabbing at his hand on my shoulder. “Please, you've got to help them. Help Brenton. Help Kora. Help Ke—” I stopped before I said Kevin's name. The angels could not help him—he was already gone.
Sam took my hand, his eyes showing a sign of sorrow.
“Clarity,” he said, his voice calm and collect. “Listen, you—”
“No, you listen!” I screamed, looking around at all the angels. “Listen! You've got to help—”
Before I knew it, Sam wrapped his wings around me and I felt a rush of wind, my feet no longer touching the ground. When he unwrapped his wings we were outside the gym, standing in the rain—when had it started raining?
Anger began to rise within me as I glared at Sam.
“What are we doin' out here? We've got to help them!”
“Their angels are with them,” he told me softly, his aqua blue eyes glowing. “Right now you've got to get out of here.”
I stared at him in confusion, shaking my head. “No. NO! I can't just leave them.”
“You've got to run, Clarity.”
“No.”
“You don't have that much time.”
I gave him a pleading look. “Please, please help—” I wasn't able to finish what I was saying because a voice rang out from inside the gym—Nick's voice.
“Princess! Where are you?”
“You've got to run. Now.”
I gazed up at Sam and saw the desperation in his eyes. Then he spoke in my head.
I am where you are.
A gun shot exploded in the air, hitting a nearby tree. Nick stood at the exit of the gym, looking to his left, then his right. His darkened eyes found mine.
“There you are, princess,” he spat out nastily, walking toward me.
I looked at Sam and he nodded, disappearing into the air.
So without looking back at Nick, I turned around and started to run.
I ran into the woods behind the gym—right into a nightmare.
Chapter Twenty
Knowing I had to disappear fast, I darted into the woods behind the gym. I pushed through various tree limbs and overgrown vegetation. Thick briars pulled and ripped at my dress, like tiny hands grabbing and trying to slow me down. At one point, my left shoe became stuck in mud, causing me to run lopsidedly. A sob of desperation bellowed out of me as I tripped over a dead oak, falling face first in the mud.
Momentarily dazed, I rolled onto my back and gazed up at the falling rain. My heart was functioning triple time, my body a big tremble as I lay motionless on the ground. I was wet, tired, confused, sad—I felt totally helpless. I flinched as lightening flashed and thunder boomed.
Kevin was dead...dead! Kora, Brenton, and many others could be as well. Everyone's lives were being torn apart, including mine. Why was this happening? Why—
The dream. The dream from the night before—I was living it.
I should have seen it coming. Seers can receive messages from God through their dreams, only it was hard for me to decipher if the messages were from God or from the other guys—the demons. Even though I didn't want that life, that life wanted me. Again, I had an overwhelming feeling to be blind, to be uneducated on the whole spiritual realm. Too bad I couldn't go back.
Guilt feelings produced more tears as I lay there, just wanting to give up. It was my fault—all of it. Yeah sure, I wasn't the one who pulled the trigger, but still...I should have known. I let my selfishness bring everyone down, and now I was the lowest I had ever been. Lying in mud during a thunderstorm, feeling lost and weak.
“Princess? Where are you?”
Hearing Nick's singsong voice forced my adrenaline to start pumping again. I crawled behind a huge oak, trying to be as quiet as possible. I took long deep breaths to slow my fast beating heart. Looking down, I noticed I'd lost my other shoe, leaving me barefoot. It was probably stuck in the dead tree I'd tripped over. I strained my ears, listening for any sounds that would tell me Nick was close, but all I could hear was the heavy thump of my heart and the rain and thunder. Closing my eyes, I told myself that everything was going to be OK, that Nick couldn't find me.
“There you are, princess.”
I was wrong. I realized that when Nick whispered in my ear and his hot breath hit the side of my face.
Without turning around, I jumped to my bare feet and once again found myself running, unable to see two feet in front of me. A gunshot blast bounced around in my eardrums, the noise so loud I thought they would burst. The bullet hit a tree next to my head, splintering wood that hit me on my neck, face, and arm. My adrenaline still fueled-up, I ignored the stitch in my side and the throb in my ankle—I think I'd sprained it when I had tripped.
“You can run, but I'm gonna get ya!” Nick taunted me, right on my heels.
Continuing to run, I hiked up my dress to keep me from falling again. It was rippe
d and stained, the silly part of my brain laughing, saying there's no way I'd be able to wear it again. The sensible part of my brain was wishing the silly part would just shut-up and worry more about staying alive. For me, I wished that they would both shut the heck up.
With two parts of my brain having a back and forth with each other, distracting me, I almost didn't see the clearing that would lead me out of the woods—a clearing that led to a ledge with a thirty foot drop. I slid to a stop before I plummeted to the ground below, the mud so deep it buried my feet. A rocky creek was located at the bottom. It sounded more like a raging river than a creek, the heavy rainfall deepening its depths.
Looking to the left and then to the right, feelings of dread, fear, and panic streamed hot in my veins, the debilitating feeling creeping from the top of my wet head to the tips of my bare toes. Lightening lit the sky, the rain pouring harder and harder. Thunder rumbled, shaking the ground. All my eyes could see was rain, trees, and an overflowing creek.
Oh yeah, and it was cold and super dark.
“Found you.”
If I hadn't already felt frozen, just hearing Nick whisper those two words would have done the job.
I didn't know what to do. My head felt full of wool and my legs like jelly. I just had to face the cold hard fact—I was trapped and there was no escape.
My eyes looked down on the creek as I contemplated just jumping, falling head first, just to get it over with. To me that would be a better death than to die at the hands of some deranged teenager.
STAND FIRM.
Completely and utterly taken back by this new voice in my head, I found myself asking in a whisper, “I'm scared. What do I do?”
The voice, strong, firm, and majestic, answered, BE STILL. TRUST IN ME.
All at once my body tingled with electricity, my hands burning and glowing, but not the usual red or green, or more recently, black. A white light radiated from them, reminding me of the celestial essence Sam possessed within him. Mystification took over my being, and an extreme rush of power surged through my body. Almost like the sensation I had experienced the night I touched Lukus, only times that by a million.
Feeling an eruption of bravery (I have now idea where it came from—well, maybe I knew), I turned around to face the gun-toting Nick.
Just like my dream.
Huh. I guess I'll take my dreams more seriously in the future. That is, if I live.
Sam had told me that Satan and his evil angels recruited humans to do their dirty work, and seeing Nick up close, I figured out that he was their newest yard bird.
Black clothes, pale face, holding a gun, and yes, black eyes. Nick's latest look.
Lightening flashed, followed by a howl of thunder as Nick and I stared silently at each other. His lips, which were blood red against his pale skin, curled up into a sneer, transforming his face into a picture of pure malice.
“Honestly,” he said, his tone dark, “why run? You'd never get away.”
Anger boiled red-hot in my blood. I glared daggers at him, balling up my fists. My hands were the hottest they'd ever been, most likely from the new bright celestial essence glowing out of them. If I lived through this I was going to interrogate Sam thoroughly about the whole black stain from earlier, and the white radiant lights on my palms now.
“Why, Nick?” I yelled. “Why did you do this? Nobody deserves to die that way. Nobody!”
He laughed an evil bark of laughter.
“That Davis guy deserved what he got for takin' Kora from me. If I can't have her, no one will.”
“So why hurt Kora? Why shoot Brenton? What did Brenton ever do to you?”
“Sparks wasn't supposed to get shot. He just got in the way.” He narrowed his newly blackened orbs. “I was gonna kill Kora and then myself, so we could be together in the afterlife, but,” he shook a finger at me, “you interfered.”
“Me?” I asked. “Where do ya get off sayin—”
“Because,” he interrupted briskly, “you and your goody two-shoes boyfriend decided to play heroes. After I shot your beloved, all I could think about was putting a bullet through your pretty skull. And with all that said,” he pointed the gun at me, “it's time for you to get yours.”
“You...you planned this,” I said, remembering his words from the night before. Truly a night to remember. “This isn't you! Sure ya have problems, we all do! But killing isn't the answer, you've gotta see that! Stop listening to the voices in your head, Nick. They're evil. You've got to fight them!”
He shook his head. “It's too late, Clarity. There's no goin' back.” He cocked the gun. “I have to finish the job.”
I stared at the gun pointed at me in disbelief. So this was it. This was how it ends. Who would a thunk it?
Taking a deep breath I decided to make one last attempt to change his mind. Also I busied my brain into formulating some kind of escape plan.
“Fine,” I said, clenching my teeth and narrowing my eyes. “Listen to them—listen to their squeaky evil voices. I don't know what they've told ya or what they're sayin' now, but I can guarantee you they're feedin' ya a whole bunch of lies.” I shook my head. “They don't give a dang about you. All they care about is baggin' human souls to keep their master happy, and you know how they get their jobs done? By using small pathetic losers like you.”
Reverse psychology. Worth a shot.
He cocked his head to the side. “What ya talking about, princess?”
“What I'm talkin' about,” I answered swiftly, “is that all you are to them is a little pawn in their game. They sought you out because you're weak.” I paused, shooting him an angry sneer. “You're nothing but a sucker, Nick. Plain and simple. Oh, and the little plan ya had about spending an afterlife with Kora by killin' her and yourself? Soooo not gonna happen.”
He lowered the gun.
“I will spend an eternity with her,” he told me, a slight waver dancing in his voice. “That's part of the deal. They told me if I did everything they told me to do, then every wish I had would come true.”
Despite the imminent danger I was in, I let out a harsh cackle.
“Oh please! How stupid can you be?” I crossed my arms at my chest. “Like I said—they go after the weakest, the meanest, and apparently, the dumbest.”
As I was speaking, I was taking small sidesteps to my right, preparing myself to run into the woods. It was the only chance I had. Either the woods or take a swim.
Nick glared hatefully at me.
“You better watch your mouth,” he expressed, his shoulders hunched over and his body trembling.
I let out another chortle.
“Ya know what's gonna happen, Nick? Even if you kill me, Brenton, Kora—whoever they want you to kill, they're not gonna give you what you want.”
His pale face turned crimson.
“Shut your mouth, princess.”
“Even if you kill yourself, you're not gonna get what they promised because they are deceitful little smelly irritants.”
A shudder tore through me, not from the rain, but from the sinister growls surrounding me. If Nick was truly possessed, then most likely I was ticking the demons inside him off. Plus Lukus was probably still ticked off at me for scorching his arm with my Seer mark, which just added more fuel for animosity.
Still, I continued my bothersome banter.
“I mean come on, Nick! Really? Who get's everything they want? It's like the stupidest thing I've ever heard, thinking you can kill someone and spend eternity with them, someone who can't stand ya, nonetheless. Anyone with half a brain can figure that for deceit! And where do you think you're gonna spend eternity, Nick? Huh? On a tropical island, livin' in complete paradise? No, I think not. I'm sure where you're going is hot, but not pleasant.”
I could see that my words were getting under his skin. His face turned blood red and his expression was so furious I thought at any minute smoke would pour from his ears. The growling grew louder and louder.
“Let me tell ya what I think,�
�� I continued with a sarcastic grin, taking a couple more steps to the side.
“SHUT-UP!” he screamed. I wasn't sure if he was talking to me or to the demons that possessed him. He was pacing back and forth, clutching his head in his hands as he threw obscenities out of his mouth.
Wow. I guess I got the demons riled up.
Good.
Edging closer and closer to the woods I said, “I think I know what your paradise is called, Nick.”
He stopped his pacing and jerked the gun toward me, realizing what I was up to. “Don't move!”
“It's called HELL!” I shouted as I began my escape into the woods, only to have Nick catch me first, tackling me around the waist.
Before I knew what was happening, Nick and I both were falling backward, descending toward the icy shallow water below. I didn't even have time to scream.
When we hit the bottom I heard a snap in my right arm, followed by an unbelievable amount of pain that flowed viciously through my body. I had no idea where Nick landed—I wasn't worried about that. All I was worried about was the freezing water trying to pull me under.
Ignoring the pain and mustering up all the energy I had left, I began dragging myself to the edge of the creek, using my left arm. I wasn't a doctor but I felt pretty sure that my right arm was broken. Digging my fingers into the bottom of the creek I pulled myself forward little by little, keeping my head above the water.
Eventually I was able to get myself halfway out of the water, all my energy exhausted. Laying on my stomach, I rested my cheek on the muddy bank, feeling broken and defeated, my breathing coming in short huffs. Slowly I closed my eyes and drifted off into darkness.
Chapter Twenty-one
I was floating in a sea of white, feeling as weightless as a feather. My feet hovered in the air, my arms rested at my sides. The feeling of being everywhere and nowhere at the same time was overwhelming, which made absolutely no sense. The state-of-mind I was in just didn't care. I knew it couldn't be a dream—it felt too real. There was no pain, no sadness, no despair. Just a feeling of peace and belonging. I wanted it to be real. When I heard my name being called, I halted all my wonderment, concentrating on where the voice was coming from.