“Why aren’t you killing me yet?” I asked when I stopped in the middle of the kitchen floor. “Isn’t that what you came here for?”
“Why would I kill you?” Falko’s mouth moved as the words were spoken, but it was Aderes’s voice that I heard. “I’m here to alter you so that you can’t be killed.”
“Not again,” I whispered. I closed my eyes and turned away so that I couldn’t see the hallucination.
“What’s wrong, Jason?” Aderes asked me. Her voice came from directly in front of my face. I didn’t open my eyes to see how close she was.
“Go away!” I screamed and lashed out with my right hand. It didn’t hit anything. At once, I began to hope that she had disappeared like the first time. “Are you still there?”
“Of course. I’ll never leave your side.” I opened my eyes to see Aderes leaning against a wall. Falko was nowhere in sight.
“Why is this happening? Why are you doing this to me?” I clasped my hands over my face, and a single tear ran down my cheek.
“I’m going to alter you so that no one can ever hurt you again.” I felt her strong fingers around my wrist, pulling my right hand away from my face. “You’re getting blood everywhere, do you realize that?”
I hadn’t noticed, but there was a thick trail of blood from my palm following my journey across the house. I could feel that my face was also half-covered, and the blood seemed to warm my skin.
“Please go away.” I pulled my hand back from her grip. “You’re not real, and I don’t want you here. Just go away.”
“What do you mean, I’m not real?” She backed away from me. “Jason, are you okay? You’re talking crazy.”
“What?” I was now more confused than ever. “You’re not real, are you?”
“Yes, I am! I’m standing right here. I’ve been here ever since I put the blanket on you. Have you been hallucinating since then?”
My mind was reeling by now, but I was able to think of one question that would tell me if I was talking to the real Aderes or a hallucination.
“Are you here to alter me?” I spoke the question slowly.
“If I don’t, the cold will kill you. There’s no way to get you warm now.”
Her answer wasn’t what I expected. The real Aderes would have said that, too, if it was the truth. But I didn’t know if it was the truth or not.
“What if I don’t want to be altered?” This question would get her for sure. Aderes would let me die if it was my choice. She wouldn’t force me to be altered, no matter what the other option would be.
“Altering you will save the world. Would you let the world die for your selfishness?”
“Yes,” I lied.
“Then, I guess you can’t decide for yourself.” She launched herself at me, teeth bared and eyes wide, but I didn’t even flinch. This Aderes was a fake. She couldn’t hurt me.
And just as I’d figured that out, Aderes vanished. Other things changed as well. I was now sitting below the only door in the kitchen instead of in the middle of the room. My left shoe was still on my foot, although my right one was lying in the doorway. Either it had slipped off as I scurried across the floor, or I had pulled it off to feed my vision of Falko. Also, there was a considerable decrease in the amount of blood that trailed from my palm. In my hallucination, there had been a thick, wet path, but now it could barely be seen.
I was right next to the door that was, hopefully, my way out. I reached up for the tainted, silver knob and clutched it with my left hand. It twisted easily. As I pulled the door back, it scraped against the tiled floor.
My heart sank when I saw nothing but a dark basement. It was not an exit from the evil house that had become my prison. I couldn’t hide down there if I had wanted to; the stairs had caved in, and it was a long enough fall to break my leg. The only object in the dark cellar was an old coffin, open wide to reveal that it was empty.
I slammed the door shut in a blind fury and let myself fall to my back. I was going to die in this kitchen. I had no strength left to try to move again. My body felt warm, but I was slowly freezing to death. My brain wasn’t getting enough blood, and it was causing me to lose my mind. To top it all off, no one even knew where I was, so no one could save me.
I would never see Aderes again. After all of this, the only thing I could think of was never seeing her again. It felt like I had been hit by a bus when I considered the idea. I didn’t even know if those were real feelings, or if they were because of the spell she had put over me, but I really didn’t care anymore. I needed her, and that was that.
Wrapped in my thoughts, I hadn’t realized that I had been joined by someone else until he cleared his throat. When I looked up at Caleb, I knew he wasn’t a hallucination. It was like when I dream, I think the dream is real until I wake up and see the real world again. Seeing a real person made my hallucinations seem so fake. I couldn’t believe I had even considered that the Aderes my mind had created was actually her. She was so much more beautiful and stunning in reality, and the feeling I got whenever I was around her had been absent in my delusion.
“Where do you think you’re going, Jason?” Caleb asked me.
I opened my mouth to respond, but I couldn’t force anything out.
“What the hell happened to you? You’re a mess.” He reached down and scooped me up into his arms. They felt cozy and caring. “Let’s get you cleaned up and warm. I bet you’re freezing in this damn house, and if it kills you, I really don’t want to have to be the one to tell Alexander.”
When I next awoke, I was lying on a couch and wrapped in a bundle of thick, flannel blankets. I was still in the house, but I felt better. I was able to think clearly, and I was a lot warmer, but not the fake warmth that had accompanied my hypothermia.
Caleb was sitting in a chair next to the couch, reading a book. When he saw that my eyes were open, he put the book on the floor and smiled at me.
“Feeling better?” he asked, sounding oddly sincere in his concern.
“I guess so.” My voice was still scratchy, but at least I was able to speak.
“Good. For a minute there, I thought we had lost you.” He chuckled a little. “Alexander would not have been happy.”
“I don’t think many people would have been too happy.”
“You mean the Peacekeepers?”
“Yes.”
“It’s funny. I had wondered for so long why they cared so much about you and your family until just a little while ago.” He nodded towards the end of the couch. “That mark on your foot. It’s special isn’t it?”
“How did you see it?” I asked defensively.
“When I was putting your shoe back on.” He shifted back in his seat. “What does it mean? Are the rumors true? Are you like Falko?”
“I was hoping you could tell me that.”
“You mean, you don’t know?” He looked at me questioningly.
“You probably know more than I do. No one tells me much.”
“Well, they should. Someone as special as you doesn’t come around very often.” He stood and walked over to one of the windows. His eyes narrowed as he looked through one of the cracks.
“What’s going to happen to me?” I asked after a few seconds of silence.
“Well, Alexander is on his way. He wants to kill you himself, and I have strict orders to keep you alive until he gets here.”
“I thought Falko wanted to be the one to kill me?” Caleb turned and walked to the edge of the couch.
“No, it’s Alexander, but I’m sure Falko would have loved his chance at it.” I had forgotten that Caleb didn’t know Alexander took direct orders from Falko. My one chance to live was to tell him the truth. If he believed me, he might actually save me himself.
“All of that is a lie, Caleb.” As I spoke, Caleb gave me a confused look. “Falko told Alexander to kill me. Falko is the real leader of the Jagers.”
“You know, I was just starting to like you.” He turned and walked back over to the window. “But,
I guess you’re just like all the others. A conniving, deceitful little liar.”
“I’m not lying!” I sat up quickly, making myself lightheaded. “I swear, it’s the truth.”
“I have to go. My ride is here.” He walked to the front door. “Chase will come up to the house soon. He’ll be in charge while I’m gone.”
“Wait, where are you going?”
“I have some business to take care of. I’ll be back by the time Alexander gets here.” He opened the door.
“Just think about what I said!” I called to him, and he stopped in the doorway. “It all makes sense if you just think about it!”
He gave me one last look, then turned and left the house. If I did die here, at least I had planted a seed in Caleb. He would think about it, and I believed he would figure it out. The Peacekeepers would be very grateful to have the Rogue army as an ally.
A short time after Caleb left, I realized I wasn’t tied down. He had wrapped up my split palm, got me warm, and put me on the couch, but he had never restrained me. I didn’t know if this was done purposefully or if he forgot, but I had to take advantage of it. My strength was not fully back, but I had enough to try to escape. I grabbed two of the blankets and slowly rose from the couch. I could feel my legs again, so walking wouldn’t be difficult.
Each of the floorboards creaked no matter how softly I stepped on them. I was terrified that one of the guards would hear me, and when I was about five feet from the couch, I thought they had. One of the boards snapped below my foot and my ankle was caught in the floor. I fell forward and slammed into the ground, dropping both of the blankets.
There was a yell from the front of the house, and the door shook violently like it was locked and someone was trying to break in. I freed my ankle from the floorboards and stood up as quickly as I could, watching the door intently. The door blew open, and a man flew into the room and landed on the floor. He didn’t move.
I looked up just in time to see a hooded figure ascending the stairs. Aderes moved silently into the room and stopped when she reached the man. She looked down at him, and then at me. She ran across the room and threw her arms around me in a bone-crushing hug.
“I thought I had lost you.” She spoke quietly, and I could tell she was crying. Then, she did something I didn’t expect. She pulled away from me just enough so that she could let her cold lips meet mine. I was shocked at first and almost tried to back away, but then everything stopped. It was just me and her. We were not in the evil house, there were no Rogues, no Dahmshed, no impending war. It was just us in this moment of serenity, and I didn’t want it to end.
But just like everything else I wanted lately, I didn’t get it. She pushed me away and took a few steps back.
“I’m…I’m sorry, Jason. I don’t…I don’t know what got into me,” she stuttered and turned away from me.
“No, no. It’s fine. Really it is.”
“No, it’s not.” She turned back and lifted me onto her back. “Let’s just get out of here. We should meet up with Peter and the others back at the Vermont house. I’m sure they’re very worried about you.”
Without another word she shot out into the cold night, and we flew into the woods. From outside, I could see dawn was quickly approaching, but the clouds were forming over us again. They would block the sun when it finally emerged. I couldn’t even remember the last time I had seen the sun.
Aderes stopped suddenly and dropped me to my feet. I looked around but saw nothing.
“What’s wrong?” I whispered.
“The others are coming this way. They must have figured out where the Rogues took you.”
Sure enough, only a few seconds later, the other Dahmshed came into view. Peter, Andi, Taddi, Philip, and Vlad all reached us about the same time. They looked very pleased to see me.
“Thank God, you’re alive!” Taddi gave me a quick hug.
“We all thought we’d be too late,” Peter sighed in relief.
“You almost were,” Aderes growled at him. “But, I’ll deal with you all later. For now, let’s just head to the marina. There’s no point in going back to the Vermont house if they already know where it is.”
“What about the humans?” Andi asked Peter.
“What humans?” Aderes looked at everyone questioningly.
“It’s not that important. We can tell you all about them later.” Peter replied then turned to Andi. “Why don’t you, Taddi, and Philip go and get them? You can meet us at the marina.”
“We’ll meet you there as well.” Aderes grabbed me, and we flew into the woods.
***
Elliot-
After we stopped at the marina and gave Winston an update, JD, Matt, Jamie, and I took off for Maine. We left Dane, Lily, Cato, and Coby under Winston’s care, knowing that they’d be in great hands.
The run was long but we still made it just as the sun was rising behind the clouds. They had not yet filled the sky, so the blazing star was still slightly visible. It made my skin itch, but it was nothing serious.
“Where do you think Alexander is?” Jamie asked us as we made our way through the woods on the outskirts of the burned town. “Did we beat him here?”
“Hopefully,” JD replied. “I’d rather not have to fight his personal guard.”
“Hey, Elliot,” Matt said, ignoring the other two. “Do you know where we’re going?”
“I’m heading for that house.” I pointed to a lone house that overlooked the rest of the town. It was the only one that had survived whatever fire destroyed the rest of the buildings. “Seems like the only place they could keep him.”
“Don’t you think Aderes has already been here?” Jamie asked.
“Probably, but if she couldn’t find the town, then we still need to save Jason,” I replied as we made it to the top of the large hill. “I’d rather be safe than sorry.”
We scurried across the lawn and hid behind the back corner of the house. The windows were boarded up, but there were enough cracks for us to be able to see inside. I ran to the closest one, and before I even looked, I could hear voices. Alexander had apparently arrived before us and was already inside. But by the sound of his voice, it seemed that Aderes had made it before him, and Jason was long gone. I peeked inside, and Matt, Jamie, and JD followed suit.
“I still don’t know how you let this happen!” Alexander was screaming at a man that I recognized as Caleb’s younger brother, Chase. “All you had to do was watch one boy!”
“It was the Peacekeepers, sir.” Chase dropped to his knees. “They slaughtered the guards and would have killed me, too, if I hadn’t been in the town.”
“You were left in charge by your brother, and you have failed both him and me.” Alexander gripped Chase by the throat and lifted him to his feet. “I am going to see to it that this never happens again!”
“If you kill me, my brother will never forgive you. He’ll take our army and run.”
“You’re so naïve, Chase. I don’t need your brother’s worthless army.” Alexander brought Chase closer to his face. “You’re nothing but decoys to me, and I would have killed you soon, anyway.”
“You sick son of a…”
“Don’t you dare talk to me like that!” Alexander screamed and threw Chase to the ground. Then, he launched himself at Chase and ripped his throat out. Chase gave one cough as he drowned in his own blood before he started to turn into his animal form. Alexander’s eyes lit up in a fury as he grabbed Chase’s head and ripped it clean off of his body.
“That was great!” Rose laughed from behind Alexander. “Truly wonderful!”
“Silence!” Alexander flew to Rose so fast that she stumbled back. “I took your foolishness before because we had Jason captured, but if you say one more thing, I’ll kill you!”
Rose bowed her head and shrunk back to the rest of the Dahmshed that stood in the room. Grath seemed unaffected by Alexander’s rage. He walked calmly into the kitchen and returned a few seconds later with a towel. Then, he w
ent straight up to Alexander and handed it to him.
“What is this?” Alexander asked him.
“Wipe yourself clean. I have an idea, and if you’re covered in Chase’s blood it won’t work.”
Alexander eyed Grath carefully but did as he said. When he was finished cleaning off the blood, he handed the towel to one of his guards. Not long after, I heard a car and a single heartbeat entered the house.
“Alexander!” Caleb exclaimed when he saw the large group of Dahmshed in the house. “I was not expecting you so soon. Did you kill him yet?”
“No, I did not,” Alexander replied sternly. “Do you want to know why I didn’t kill him?”
“Because the Peacekeepers came and saved him,” Grath interrupted swiftly. “And I’m afraid we have some bad news.”
Alexander looked at Grath curiously, but let him continue.
“What?” Caleb asked, but he seemed to already know.
“They killed your brother.” Grath stepped aside to show Caleb the slaughtered remains.
“No!” Caleb ran forward and kneeled beside him. “No, they couldn’t have! Unless that damn boy was just playing with my head!”
“What did he say?” Grath asked him, but Alexander didn’t seem to care. He was looking at the ceiling with his eyes narrowed.
“Grath?” Alexander said suddenly.
“What is it?” Grath seemed displeased that Caleb didn’t answer his question.
“I think it’s time for Plan B,” Alexander responded.
“Would you like to inform me of what Plan B is?”
“We attack his loved ones.” Alexander smiled.
“But, we already did that. His family is out of the picture.”
“Yes, but where did Jason go to school?” Alexander lifted an eyebrow.
“North Salem. Why?”
“You were watching him personally, weren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“And did he make any friends?” Alexander’s questions seemed to suddenly make sense.
“There was this one girl…” Grath smiled as he realized what Alexander was getting at.
“Why don’t we all take a trip to North Salem?” Alexander snapped his fingers and walked out of the house. His guard, Grath, and Rose all followed behind, leaving Caleb alone to mourn his brother.
Descendant: The Protector (The Descendant Series) Page 25