They surrounded Brecken on the bathroom floor. Claire couldn’t be more horrified or more furious at the situation. She couldn’t believe Jamie would do this. She would never forgive him.
“What should we do?” Wade asked, beginning to panic. “I think we should call 911.”
They sat in silence for a moment. “Me too,” Katelyn said. “This was exciting at first, but he could die. I can’t believe he’s really even still alive. What was it? Ten minutes underwater so far? He probably has brain damage.”
That thought sent Claire reeling. Could it be true? Had last time been a fluke? Had she killed him this time? What if Brecken didn’t know what he was talking about after all? All sorts of doubts plagued her mind, and guilt washed over her, wave after wave. Had she killed him? And if not, would he be a vegetable for the rest of his life?
***
Fifteen minutes later, the paramedics were lifting Brecken’s body onto a stretcher. She watched them wrap him in blankets and strap him down. Just as they were pushing the stretcher into the back of the ambulance, the school bus stopped at the corner and two girls were dropped off.
Claire glanced at her watch. It was 3:15 PM. School was out.
The oldest of the two girls frowned in dismay. “What’s going on?”
Claire walked up to her, dreading the coming conversation. She was pretty sure who they were. “Are you Brecken’s sisters?” The girls looked just like him.
“Is that Brecken?” she yelled, watching the back doors of the ambulance slam shut. The paramedics hurried to get in and drive away while she stood there, stricken.
“Um, yeah,” Claire said softly, feeling utterly faint.
“What happened?” the girl shrieked. The little one began to cry, holding her backpack tight against her chest.
“I’m not really sure,” Claire answered. “He… um… had an accident in the tub, but he’s breathing okay now. I’m sure he’ll be fine.” The lie fell from her lips, and she wished she could make it be true. “What’s your name?”
The girl looked back at her, her expression vacant and lost. “Heidi.” She turned slowly and pointed to her little sister. “That’s Sophie.”
Then, looking closely at Claire, she said, “I remember you. You had a bloody nose at our house a while ago.”
“Yeah,” Sophie said, tears welling in her eyes. “You kissed Brecken.”
Claire had no idea how to answer that. At first, she wanted to deny the accusation, but how could she? It was Alisa in her body that day. She didn’t remember even a moment of it. “Oh, right. Yeah. Hey, you want a ride to the hospital?”
The girls nodded.
“Let’s call your parents first and get you something to eat.” As soon as she said it, she thought of her mom. Now she understood why food was so important to her mother. It was one of those things that made everyone and everything feel better. Her heart softened, and she suddenly missed her mom and wanted to call her. Maybe she should tell her what happened here. Maybe she could help, but how would Claire explain this mess she’d made?
59
~Severed~
Brecken
He felt it happen. Like the snap of a rubber band, something connecting him to his body had broken. The severing was quick and painless, but it left him feeling weak, alone, and slightly less powerful. He stopped, pulling back into the shadows, not sure what had happened.
What was going on at his house? Did something go wrong with the spell? How long had it been since he went under the water? He wasn’t sure because time was counted so differently here.
A part of him wanted to find a course back to his body immediately. How long could the connection be broken before it was truly irreparable? “Please, no,” he prayed, over and over, his head hanging, devastated.
Whether he was dead or not, he didn’t want to stay here. After a moment, he looked up and studied his surroundings. No one else was coming to the rescue. He was it. No matter what, he had to succeed. There was no turning back now.
Raising his swords, he recommitted to his mission and then plunged into the darkness. With his nerves stretched thin, he searched for Calvik, who very possibly could be found with Bas Iblis, a being Brecken didn’t want to run into. But even if he didn’t find Calvik, he had to find Alisa. Perhaps her cell door was not locked the same way as Raphael’s. Maybe he could get her out. Hope spurred him on.
Three corridors away, he found her… he thought. Looking through the small window in the door, he saw a slight girl sitting on the stone bench across the room, leaning completely against the wall, venomous fluid covering her like slime. Her hair hung in clumps; her clothes were soaked with poison and her radiance all but gone.
“Alisa?” he whispered as loud as he dared. This couldn’t be her. This couldn’t be his angel of light and love.
She didn’t move or even acknowledge his voice.
“Psst, Alisa!” he called louder.
This time, she moved her head to the side, but her body remained huddled. He called three more times before she lifted her face and peered at him through her long tendrils of filthy hair.
“Alisa?”
She stared at him with a blank expression, zero recognition, but it was her. There was no doubt. His heart clenched at the thought that she had been reduced to this… pathetic creature, and his fingers curled around the bars in desperation until his knuckles were white, as though his will alone could open the door. This place was a death sentence. It was where the non-redeemable were sent, and his anger for Bas Iblis grew.
“It’s me! Brecken!” he called to her.
Her eyes rolled in their sockets, swollen and heavy, and she didn’t gaze at him for long before putting her head back down into the circle of her arms. “No, you aren’t. You’re a trick. Brecken is lost,” she mumbled.
He growled in frustration. “Alisa! I’ve come for you!”
She rolled to her side, a low chuckle rumbling from her chest. “Go away, fiend.” She closed her eyes, turned her face to the wall, and covered her ears with her hands.
“Alisa! Get up!” Banging on the door with the heel of his hand, he cursed, roaring in frustration when he had to slip away to hide in a dark corner after hearing the guards marching his way.
They passed without a look in his direction. No one came here unless they were forced, including the guards. This place absorbed all happiness, all hope. Brecken could already feel Gehenna’s claws digging into him. He wanted to fall to his knees and weep. But he refused to give in to despair. He would find Calvik.
As if in answer to his plea, the demon strode past, following his contingent of guards. What perfect timing. Brecken offered a prayer of thanks at this opportune coincidence. When he was sure the others were far enough ahead, he jumped from the shadows, grabbing Calvik around the neck and pulling him into the corner.
“Don’t even think it,” he growled into Calvik’s ear, knowing thoughts as well as actions could betray. “The key.”
Calvik didn’t even try to fight back. “Wait,” he whispered, holding completely still, which confused Brecken at first. The demon should be trying to fight back, or trying to disable him at the very least.
And then Brecken heard it. Feet marching back in his direction, but this time, they were double-timing it. Instinctively, Brecken pressed further into the dark. No wonder Calvik had been so calm. He knew the soldiers would return. He would betray Brecken when they closed in.
For the second time in only a few moments, Brecken felt as though he could cry. Defeated before he had even begun. How had he expected to make this rescue mission alone? He wasn’t powerful enough to pull this off. There was no way to succeed. All was lost. Some hero.
“You have got to stop glowing!” Calvik hissed into the quiet.
“What?”
Without another word, Calvik took the cloak he wore and threw it over the both of them.
60
~Guilty~
Claire
Claire stood by Brecken’s hospital bed, where h
e was hooked to all sorts of wires and tubes, the steady beat of his heart rate monitor the only sound in the room. His little sisters sat together in a chair on the other side of the bed, watching with tearful eyes. Nurses came in every so often to take his vitals.
She couldn’t escape her guilt. Brecken wouldn’t be here if she hadn’t agreed to practice her craft again. Granted, he’d talked her into it, but she couldn’t deny the seduction she’d felt, trying it one more time. Her hands fisted at her sides, angry that she would allow it to come to this. Never would she have dreamed that her ambition would one day kill somebody.
The same thing her grandmother had done.
Brecken’s face appeared relaxed, his lashes lying smooth as he lay in the sterile room, still as death. Where was he now and what must he be thinking? Was there any way to fix this? The door swooshed open. A man, tall and rugged, wearing work boots, jeans, and a sweatshirt with all the telltale stains of plumber’s glue, entered, his expression unreadable as he held his worn baseball cap in his hands.
He rushed to the girls, and they jumped up to throw their arms around his waist, their sobbing renewed.
“What happened?” he asked, his gaze finding Claire’s.
What could she say? She stood there mute, her mouth gaping, and shook her head slowly from side to side. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“You don’t know what happened? They say he drowned, but the doctors are confused because there was no water in his lungs.” He gazed into her eyes as though she could clarify this whole horrible situation.
She couldn’t tell him the truth. He’d never believe it. The whole thing was so farfetched and so impossible that there was no way to even explain. Where would she start? The beginning might work, but she could hardly believe all that had happened herself. “Um… so, you know… um, about his gifts?” she asked tentatively.
The man frowned. “Gifts?”
“Spiritual gifts.” Claire felt stupid even bringing it up. Brecken’s dad did not appear to be a churchgoer, but looks could be deceiving. Maybe he was a closet yogi and was hiding his tie-dye at home. “Did he ever tell you that he could see spirits and auras?”
Mr. Shaefer’s eyes narrowed and his jaw flexed. “Heidi, take Sophie to the cafeteria,” he said.
“Are you serious?” An angry frown grew on her face, incredulous to be asked to leave, right when the information was about to get good.
“Yes. Go.”
Heidi glared at her dad and then at Claire. She grabbed Sophie’s hand, pulling her from the room. Once they were gone and the door was shut, he glared hard at Claire “Tell me what really happened.”
Taken aback, Claire could only stare. “I… I don’t know much. Only what he told me. But he wanted me to help him with a spell.” Claire wrung the jacket she held in her fists, her anxiety betraying her with a blush that crept up her creamy-white neck.
“So he left his body on purpose?”
He asked the question like it was the most normal thing ever. He should be freaking out. Her mother would be, especially if there was something supernatural involved. This man seemed to be taking everything in stride.
“Well,” she began. “Brecken had a guardian.”
“Yes, I know all about the guardians.”
“You do?”
“Of course. I’m one of them.”
Her mouth dropped open and hung there, no words exiting her lips. This was not what she expected… at all. “You… you’re a guardian? You know who Brecken really is and all that?” Claire didn’t know who Brecken really was, but she knew he was something more than everyone let on.
“Yes. I was part of the setup. Bretariel, of course, is unaware of this. He would most likely be upset to know there was such an army of angels sent here to help him. He wanted to do it all on his own, to prove his dedication. But no one does it all on their own, do they?”
Claire shook her head, because really, what did she know? Absolutely nothing, she was starting to realize. “Are you an angel then?”
“Yes.”
“Which one?” Her heart raced. She was standing in a room with a live, honest-to-goodness angel. You’d never know it by looking at him, but the truth shined in his eyes. It was obvious now that he had pointed it out, but he sure hid it well.
“I’m nobody famous. My name is Calvin Shaefer.”
“That’s your… your real name?”
“Ah… my real name. I am Calliel. I am a throne angel. My job is to help people through adversity. I am an angel of peace. Which is why I was given this job… to help guide Bretariel through this adversity. It was known he would need extra protection while going through his probation. Too many diabolical beings want him dead.”
Claire blinked her eyes, trying to grasp what he was saying. It was almost too fantastic to comprehend. She had been thrown into a world she hardly knew existed, and yet her heart pounded with excitement that she was a part of it at all.
“Where is he, Claire?”
Her gaze snapped back to Calliel, her attention brought back to the present. “Oh. Right. Yeah. He said he was going to some place called Prison to save his old guardian, Alisa.”
“Prison? You mean Soul Prison?” His mouth gaped and his deep blue eyes darkened, looking so much like Brecken’s.
“Um… I’m not sure. I can’t really remember. I was worried about getting the spell right at the time.”
Calliel nodded with a grave sigh. “This is not good news.”
“He’s going to be okay though. Right?” If anyone could save Brecken, surely his father, who was an angel, could. Angels had to be more powerful than any demon.
“Where he willingly left his body…” Calliel shook his head. “I just don’t know.”
“But you’re going to go get him, right?”
Calliel gave her a sarcastic laugh, exhaling in defeat, looking utterly beaten and exhausted. His answer came quietly, but when it did, dread filled her heart.
“I can’t.”
“Can’t or won’t?” Claire demanded, because it seemed impossible that he could do nothing.
“I can’t,” he reiterated. “There are certain places I’m not allowed to go. Being an angel of light and peace, I can’t set foot in Soul Prison. Other angels are charged with that job.”
She let this sink in, realizing with horror that they were stuck. All her hope evaporated as it dawned on her that Brecken would receive no help from his dad.
“What about his mom?” she asked. “Was Brecken’s mother an angel too?”
Calliel gazed at Claire with such a strange expression that she wondered if she’d asked something too personal. It would be just like her to offend a heavenly messenger, just when she’d met him. She tried to backpedal.
“I’m sorry. It’s none of my business. I just thought that maybe…”
He walked over to the window, and then paced back to the door, thinking, his finger tapping his lips. “You may be on to something, but I… need to figure out…”
“Is there anything I can do to help?” she asked with pleading eyes, wanting nothing more than to right this wrong. If only she could vindicate herself in this whole mess, maybe she wouldn’t feel so awful, especially now that she wanted to. What a trick of fate to finally realize your mistakes, and then not be able to repair them.
“I don’t know. Let me get back to you on that.”
Claire agreed, and since there was no reason for her to stay and stare at Brecken in his comatose state, she left, passing Heidi and Sophie in the hall on her way out.
Heidi stepped in front of Claire, blocking her from passing, her expression one of hurt and frustration. “So, what was so secret we couldn’t hear it?”
“Huh? What?” Claire tried to think of an answer because she couldn’t reveal secrets that weren’t hers, but Heidi seemed pretty determined. “Oh, nothing. Really.”
Heidi cocked her hip and folded her arms over her chest, a defiant roadblock in the middle of the hospital hallway. “Do you
really think we’re that stupid? Seriously? He’s my brother. I have a right to know why my dad wanted us out.”
“Maybe you should ask him.” Claire glanced away and shuffled her feet, anxious to be out of the depressing environment. Sick people and sick smells had always made her jumpy.
“I’ve tried that.”
They stood there, staring at one another, at an impasse. Claire wanted nothing more than to escape Heidi’s icy stare, but she was pinned, like a bug on a poster board.
“Well?” Heidi said.
Hospital sounds surrounded them, beeping monitors, nurses bustling, lunch trays being delivered, but Claire and Heidi were lost in a world where the only thing they saw was each other. All other noises were drowned out by the roar in Claire’s ears. Should she tell her? It wasn’t her place. She knew that.
“I’ll tell you what.” Claire reached out and squeezed Heidi’s arm. Sophie waited beside them, watching with wide eyes, glued to every word.
“If your dad won’t tell you, call me and I will. I promise. But you have to talk with him first. It’s his place to tell you everything. Okay?”
Heidi’s pursed her lips, and with a terse nod, walked off, Sophie trailing behind her. Claire watched them enter Brecken’s room, so she took that opportunity to escape into the elevator.
***
Slashes of afternoon sunlight cut through the blinds in the Balister kitchen. Claire and her mother sat across from one another, their hands resting on the table. Angela watched Claire with a question in her eyes, but waited patiently for Claire to begin.
Claire was well aware of how her mother felt about Elementalism, so this conversation terrified her more than anything else, but it had to happen. It was a moment of truth, to lay it all on the table. This moment could signify the beginning of the longest grounding of her life or her best judgment call ever, but either way, Brecken’s life hung in the balance. Whatever the outcome, it needed to be done.
“Mom…”
“Yeah?” Angela’s tone was one of amused confusion. “You’re acting so strange, Claire, and I do have dinner to make, so if you could get to the point… not that I want to rush you or anything.”
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