Bloodlines

by Powell, Jaime W.

  “You’re willing to fight your own father, your own kind, to help us? Why should we believe you?” Dad asks.

  Again, Silas glances to his brother. Kutz nods his head slightly, while Zeke shakes his sternly. Silas glances to the ceiling for a moment, almost as if in prayer. “Because I love your daughter, sir.”

  My eyes widen before closing. This isn’t going to be good. I had a hunch he felt something for me, but the last thing my father is going to want to hear is that a demon has feelings for me, or I for him. To my surprise, though, my father doesn’t respond to the admission. He simply carries on with the problem at hand.

  “We have a safe house,” my father says. “I think it’s best if Emma stays there.”

  “We can help,” Kutz says. “Keep a watch out if need be.”

  “God’s Huntsmen will take care of her,” my dad replies quickly.

  “No disrespect, sir, but the best way to fight fire is with fire,” Zeke adds. “I know it may be hard to admit, but you’ll need us for this. We know Damius and the others better than anyone. Just as Emma will have strong instincts when she is of age, we have the same.”

  “Plus if something did happen to her, we could save her life,” Silas says. “Your Huntsmen can’t do that.”

  “Christopher,” my mother says softly. “They’re right. If they meant Emma harm they would have harmed her by now. This is twice they’ve saved her life. I propose one Huntsman and one of the brothers stay with her at the safe house at all times. Could everyone agree to that?” she asks, peering around at all of us.

  “Absolutely,” Silas agrees.

  My father rubs the back of his neck in frustration. “You’re all asking me to go against everything I believe in and leave my daughter in the hands of a demon.”

  The room falls quiet. Silas says nothing and neither do his brothers. I suspect they know their word means little to a man like my father: a Huntsman.

  “I’m asking you,” my mother finally says, “to give our daughter the best chance of survival. Look past yourself on this one, Christopher.” All eyes are on my father now. He sits quietly on the end of the sofa, his hands gripping his knees, until finally his grip loosens and he peers up at Silas.

  “If something happens to my daughter while she’s in your care, you’ll be next.”

  “Yes, sir,” Silas replies. I gulp.

  Fifteen

  Family First

  It becomes clear to me in this moment with my family and friends that I will no longer be able to lounge around in the public eye. I don’t begin to know how to hide from a demon or if it’s even possible, but apparently it’s critical until I’m of age. Just a couple short months from now. It’s May, the end of the school year, only two weeks left, but to me it seems like an eternity.

  My mother called the school, filing a fake complaint, pulling me from the school and opting to homeschool me. Although, I’m not convinced I’ll be taught anything from home other than demon slaying, I cringe at the thought.

  “Dad?” I ask as he sits reading his newspaper. We haven’t left home yet. Silas says his father won’t attack again anytime soon. He was simply feeling us out. Still, my father’s hatchet sits against his leg at the ready.

  “Hmm?”

  “What will it feel like when I’m of age?”

  He gazes at me for a moment before folding his paper and laying it aside. “It feels like being born again as someone new, someone with a purpose. You may not be able to be around Silas afterward, if there is an after for him. Being around him is like having an itch I can’t scratch.”

  I ponder his words for a few seconds. “The instinct is to scratch,” I mumble.

  “Exactly. You won’t even give it another thought because it will come natural.”

  “You can’t stop it?” I ask, biting my thumbnail again, which is now down to the quick.

  He sighs. “You can control it, as I did last night with Silas, but you won’t want to.”

  “I think I will,” I retort. He raises his brow at me. “Dad, can we just be honest? You know how I feel about him. You’ve seen who he is. He doesn’t like what he is, and he lives a pure life — as pure as any other human. And whether you want to admit it or not, he is human.”

  “Half.”

  “Even still, could you kill something that is human, who has saved your daughter twice now, who loves me and who I love?” I ask.

  He looks away as if the question annoys him. I’m sure it does. “I wouldn’t hurt anyone you loved, not on purpose.”

  My brows pull together. “What does that mean?” Not on purpose?

  “He’s an itch, Em. You’re an itch to him. Sooner or later someone will need to scratch. I’m sorry.” His answer leaves me little hope. Still, I’ll cling to the small amount I have left. Before I can question my father more, the outdated phone on the wall rings.

  I sigh and push myself from the chair, dragging my feet to the kitchen. Once I pick up the phone, I find the strength to mutter out an annoyed, “Hello?”

  “Emma?” he asks.

  “Silas. Hey, yeah, it’s me.”

  “I’m guessing you can’t come to work,” he concludes.

  My eyes close and my head falls back. I hadn’t even thought about work. There is no way my parents are going to go for that though. “You know I can’t. I’ll…I’ll try to find a replacement. Maybe I’ll ask my friend, Simone. She told me a week or so ago that she wanted a job.”

  “Perfect,” he says. “You need to stay out of the public eye. I agree with your father on this one, Emma. Call your friend. See if she can start tonight.”

  “I will.” I hang the phone back on the wall and turn back to my father.

  “It was—”

  “I know who it was,” he interrupts. I can tell he needs no further information, so I pick the phone back up and call Simone.

  “Simone?” I ask as she answers.

  “Yeah, Emma. Who else?” she says with a laugh. Her laugh makes me miss my old mundane life. When I was invisible and only had Algebra 2 to worry about.

  “Do you think your parents have changed their mind about you getting a job? If so, my old one is up for grabs. I think you’d be perfect for it.” I’m not just trying to sell her the job by saying that. She would be, because she’s perky and friendly, even if a bit of a recluse like myself.

  “It’s possible. I’ll talk to them tonight and we will see.” I suppose that was going to be the best I could get. The daytime waitress at Three Brother’s Pizza was just going to have to work a double. She’d get over it.

  “Okay, well I hope you can convince them. They need someone by tomorrow.”

  “That’d be great. I’ll see if I can sweet-talk them.”

  When I get off the phone with Simone, I glance toward my dad who has commenced reading his paper. My mother has gone for groceries, so I run up the stairs, closing the door behind me. I can’t stay in there with my father any longer and hear any more about what I will become or what I’ll need to scratch. Enough is enough.

  I sit at my window, lifting it to let the breeze in, despite the fact I’m not supposed to, wishing I were with Silas. Knowing he’ll be at work soon and I won’t be makes me sick to my stomach. My head rests on the window seal, and I let the wind brush over me, closing my eyes and enjoying the breeze.

  “You should close that.” I needn’t look up.

  “Micah, I’m sure someone, somewhere, needs your help more than I do at the present. As I’m sure you’ve already seen or heard, I’m covered.”

  “You’ve looked but not seen.”

  I finally gaze at him, annoyed. “Not seen what?”

  “You know God’s Huntsmen are the good guys.”

  “Yes, you are so good, and they are so good, and Silas is a nasty demon that must be killed immediately,” I say mockingly. “I get it. No need for further lecturing.”

  “Emma…”

  “No, Micah! You want to know what appeals to me about Silas? He’s the only b
eing in my life who isn’t trying to manipulate me — who isn’t trying to control me or tell me what I should do. You tell me what I should do and how to feel and what to see, and because of my heritage I might not even be able to do what I want to do in a couple of months.

  “And you know what? That’s fine. I’ll live with it. But today I can choose. I have control. So today, I’m raising my window. My mother’s window was locked, yet Damius got in, didn’t he?” I scoff.

  “Even burglars can get into locked doors from time to time. Does that mean you should quit locking them before you leave the house?” he offers.

  I roll my eyes. “Micah, you’re even more annoying when you make sense.”

  He laughs before kneeling down beside me, taking my face in his hands. “Emma…” his voice trails off, but I gaze at him. It’s now I see there’s a hint of green in those chocolate eyes of his. His hands are cool on my face, and I place my own atop his. For a moment, he leans in toward me but suddenly backs away and stands. “I just want to keep you safe,” he finally mutters.

  “How can I feel you now when I couldn’t before?”

  He smiles. “Because I’ve made the choice for you. I want you to feel my touch.”

  My breathing is erratic. Was he going to kiss me? Surely not. An angel can’t go around kissing humans. I finally catch my breath and close the window in front of me, crossing the room and lying across the bed.

  “There,” I say. “All safe again.” He stares at me for a moment, and there’s a sense of longing in his eyes that I don’t understand. “Micah…”

  “I have to go. Stay safe, Emma.”

  “Micah, wait.” But my plea falls on deaf ears. He fades into the air, and I’m left alone in my room once again. Suddenly someone is trying to get into my room, jiggling the doorknob. My eyes fly to it, but just as quickly I hear my dad’s voice.

  “Emma?”

  I cross the room and crack the door. “Yeah, Dad?”

  “I thought I heard you talking to someone.”

  I let out a deep sigh and open the door completely, revealing I am alone. Still, this is a secret I can’t keep forever. “It was an angel,” I say, feeling utterly ridiculous doing so.

  “Huh? What do you mean an angel?”

  “Come in, Dad.” I sit on the edge of the bed as he pulls my vanity chair up beside me, sitting in it backwards. “When I was shot at the pizzeria, my time was up. An angel came to take me away, but instead Silas saved me. But the angel still visits me from time to time. I’m not entirely sure why.”

  I see so many expressions crossing my father’s face as he listens to my tall tale, but it rests on a frightened one. “What’s this angel’s name?”

  “His name’s Micah.”

  “Micah,” he repeats under his breath.

  “You don’t believe me.”

  “I’m afraid I do. Micah is the angel who comes to take the dying person to the hereafter. I want to know what he wants from you and why he still visits. This could be a bad sign,” he says.

  “I don’t think it’s like that, Dad. He always claims he’s checking on me. Even talks to me about the Huntsmen and Silas.”

  “It’s not natural for an angel to become involved like that.”

  “Know a lot of angels, do ya?” I ask jokingly.

  He stares at me a moment but allows himself a chuckle. “I suppose not. And I guess if I had the choice of whose company you’d keep it would be an angel’s. What’s… he like?”

  My face twists. “Rather annoying.”

  He chuckles again. “Annoying,” he mumbles. “I think it’s best you sleep with your mother tonight. I’ll take your room.”

  I nod. “Okay, Dad.”

  * * *

  A few hours later my phone rings and it’s Simone in a frenzy. Her parents have agreed to let her work at the pizzeria. It’s rather shocking to me, if I’m being honest. They wouldn’t allow her to begin with, and now they let her work the one place that’s been robbed in this town in probably twenty years.

  But I shrug. I’m happy for her. I call Silas and alert him that starting tomorrow he will have a new waitress, and he seems pleased knowing it’s a friend of mine. Someone reliable, I’m sure is what he’s thinking.

  That night I lie in bed with my mom and stare at the ceiling, which has become my nightly routine these days. Tomorrow is a big day. A crucial one at that. Knowing this leaves me little doubt that tonight will be a sleepless one.

  Sixteen

  Good versus Evil

  Silas and I drive separately from my dad. He doesn’t want to spend too much time around Silas. I suppose he’s afraid the itch would be too easy to scratch. It’s best Silas and I go on our own. So instead, he’s following us to the courthouse in his truck. He also insisted I drive my own car, lest Silas try to abduct me, I’m guessing.

  It doesn’t matter how many times this guy comes to my rescue, my father will never trust him. But I guess if my daughter told me she was in love with a demon, I would have a hard time with it as well. All things considered, I guess my parents are taking everything quite well, now that I think about it. Of course, any other parents probably wouldn’t even believe in half the things I’ve seen and been through.

  I tried to get my dad to go to the courthouse first and talk with the Huntsmen alone, but he refused. He said they would never listen to him and believes bringing Silas there and springing it on them would be a better idea. That way they’d have to see for themselves firsthand. It scares me though. Their first instinct will be to kill him. I know this.

  If Silas is afraid, he doesn’t show it. He’s simply glaring out the window as I drive. Just as I begin wondering what he’s thinking about, his hand finds mine and he curls his fingers through my own. I glance to him and he offers his crooked smile. I squeeze his hand.

  “It’s going to be all right, Emma. You’ll see.”

  “How can you say that? We’re going to be in a room full of people who want nothing more than to destroy you. That’s what they do. Seek out demons to destroy.”

  “I’m not all demon though,” he reminds me.

  “I’m not sure you have to be,” I mutter. He gives my hand a light squeeze.

  As we pull up to the courthouse, I glance at Silas. “If you want to run, now’s the time to do it,” I joke, although I’m partially serious.

  “No one’s running, Em. Have faith.”

  All I can do is sit in the car, gripping the steering wheel so hard I hear the leather squeak under the pressure, until a knock on my window from my father brings me back. I suck in a breath and reluctantly open the door. Silas is already at my side by the time I climb out of the car. His fingers find my hand once more and I gaze at him, wondering if this is appropriate, but he simply gives me a nudge forward as my father rolls his eyes.

  “Now, even if some people are on board with us, I can promise you not everyone will be. What we need to do is win over Abraham,” my dad instructs as we walk slowly to the courthouse. As my father begins unlocking the padlocked door, my heart races.

  “Calm down,” Silas whispers.

  “What?” I ask.

  “I can heart your heart beating faster and faster. You need to calm down before we go in there.”

  “Wait. You can hear my heartbeat?”

  He chuckles. “Focus, Emma.”

  We walk down the metal steps, and I grip the steel bar as the entrance to the room inches closer and closer. I hold my breath. Before we meet the bottom step, my dad turns to us. “Silas. Just wait here for a moment. Emma,” he takes a breath before continuing, “come with me.”

  I meet Silas’s eyes for a moment before we walk around the corner to meet the Huntsmen. As I focus on the group, it appears everyone has shown up for this meeting my father called. I stand close to by him now, as though I may need protecting before it’s all said and done. I probably will.

  “I come to you today,” my father begins, “because something has been taking place in our own town now for
some time. It’s been in our own front yard. Three half-breeds.”

  “What are you talking about?” Abraham asks.

  “Abraham, there are three young men that live here who’ve been living as humans for quite some time. I know the fact that I know and have not acted on it—”

  “Is of grave concern,” Molly interrupts. “How long have you known this, Christopher?”

  My dad hangs his head. I can’t tell if he’s annoyed by the interruption or if he feels disgraced. “Not long. A couple days, I guess. But there is something I must explain to you all before we go any further.” He hesitates, taking off his cap and swiping the back of his hand across his forehead. I grip his arm in support.

  “It’s just…” he continues, “these boys saved my daughter’s life twice. The shooting at the pizzeria was one incident. She was shot and they healed her. They’re half human and I can’t destroy them.”

  “Christopher,” Abraham continues, “if they are demons, we destroy them. It’s our law and it comes from above.”

  “What do you mean they ’healed her‘?” Molly asks.

  My father’s gaze falls from Abraham’s strict eye and focuses on Molly. “She was shot in the ribs by a robber. Silas, Zeke, and Kutz saved her life.”

  “Wait. You’re saying the Sims brothers are the demons?” Rain asks. “See, mother, I told you something was off about their auras.” I roll my eyes.

  “I’d say,” Jason blurts out, “if they’re demons they must be destroyed!” Dennis raises his hand in agreement, nodding his head furiously.

  “What kind of demon? A half-breed. That’s actually rare,” David comments.

  “What does it matter?” his brother asks him.

  “Their fathers are all Incubi,” my father admits.

  “Interesting,” Bill mutters, writing something in his notebook.

  “What are you saying, Christopher? You don’t want us to destroy them?” Abraham asks. My father peers down at me and I peer back up at him. His eyes flicker back and forth. He’s lost. This goes against everything he believes in.