by Jamie Davis
“Uh, no, uh,” Dean stammered. “I mean, I only meant … There are two apartments. You’ll have your own place.”
Ashley giggled and hugged Dean. “I’m just teasing you. I know what you meant.”
“Yeah, well, I’m serious,” Dean said smiling at her. “I’ll only move in at James’ apartment building if you come with me. I have to know you’re safe, too.”
Just then there was a thump from the porch outside the door to Dean’s apartment. It sounded like someone fell on the stairs up to the landing. Dean got up and went to the door to look out the window, He didn’t see anything, but he couldn’t see down the stairs, so he unlocked and opened the door to see if something had fallen from the roof. As he unlocked the door and went to step outside, the door pushed in against him, and a figure rushed inside, knocking Dean to the floor in the kitchen.
Dean rolled over and looked up to see a dark figure rushing at Ashley. Dean quickly climbed to his feet and rushed over to her, then stopped as a voice sounded and sent ice to his soul.
“Stop, Dean,” Zach’s voice said. “If you come any closer, I’ll kill her.”
Dean stopped, his fists clenched as he watched Ashley struggle briefly with Zach. He stood behind her. He had her arm wrenched behind her back and a large folding pocket knife opened and at her throat. It glinted in the dim lights of the apartment and looked razor-sharp.
“Zach,” Ashley said calmly as she stopped struggling. “You don’t have to do this. I know you. You’re a good paramedic, and this isn’t something you want to do. You’re being influenced by someone else in this.”
“Shut up, Bitch!” Zach snapped, pressing the point of the knife closer to her neck and drawing a pinprick of blood. “You are not going to use your spells to charm me like you have Dean. He’s beyond hope because of you. That’s what Mike said, and I believe him now that I’ve seen the two of you together.”
Dean stood there, his body rigid, feeling completely helpless. His mind spun through possible solutions as he watched Zach hold that knife at his Ashley’s throat.
“Zach, what do you want?” Dean asked. He decided to try and talk through this since he wasn’t some kind of superhero, and didn’t have any military or defensive training to disarm a knife-wielding maniac.
“I want to tell you that you have chosen the wrong side in this fight and that you can still make the right decision,” Zach said.
“And you think that this is going to change my mind?” Dean was incredulous that Zach thought this would work. He seemed desperate, out of control, which was different from the Zach he had met previously. “Zach, this doesn’t make any sense. We are just trying to keep people safe and help people. That’s why you became a paramedic, too, just like me.”
“I’m nothing like you, Dean,” Zach snapped. “I would never fall under a spell like you have from one of these creatures.” He twisted Ashley’s arm where he levered it up behind her back, making her wince in pain. She didn’t say a word, just meeting Dean’s eyes.
Dean didn’t know what to do. He stood rooted to the floor in the kitchenette area of his small apartment, just a few feet away from the former paramedic holding Ashley captive. He wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but he knew he couldn’t just stand by and do nothing. And yet there wasn’t anything he could do but talk. Could he convince Zach to back down? He had to try.
“Zach,” Dean started, trying to talk the other man down. “Something is wrong. This is not like how you were acting the last time you and I talked. What happened?”
“Everything happened,” Zach snapped. “I’m a hunted man. That video of me after the Sabatani’s fire is playing everywhere. My photo is in the newspapers and playing on twenty-four-hour news channels. To make matters worse, Joe, the guy who was with me, turned up dead in my apartment. Someone killed him, and I think they are going to kill me, too. The Cause doesn’t like failures and no one I know in the group will return my calls for help.”
“So why don’t you turn yourself in to the police? You could surrender to the authorities?” Dean asked.
“That’ll just get me killed faster,” Zach said. “If I get locked up in a jail cell, I’ll end up dead within a day. The Cause is everywhere, and I can’t get safe.”
“Zachary,” Ashely said, her voice smooth and calm. “I can assure your safety. I have resources that will protect you from the Cause after you turn yourself in.”
Zach wrenched her arm again and Dean took a step towards the two of them before a hiss of warning from Zach stopped him.
“Look, Zach,” Dean pleaded. “Don’t hurt her. She’s done nothing to you.”
“She can’t be killed, Dean,” Zach laughed. “I could shove this knife into the base of her brain and it would just send her away. I did some research into the Eldara trash living among us. All I can do is send her away for a hundred years or so. This body will die, but she’ll come back again.” He laughed wryly. “All I can do is hurt you for taking the wrong side in this fight. If I kill her now and send her away, you’ll lose your ally and her help. That’s what I’m here to do. I know I’m a dead man walking. I just want you to know some pain before the Cause catches up with me.”
Dean’s heart froze. He couldn’t risk losing Ashley, even if she didn’t really die, he couldn’t lose her from his life. He had just found her.
“Zach please don’t,” Dean pleaded. “I’ll help you. I can go to the Chief and get him to make sure the police keep you safe if you turn yourself in.”
“I can’t let you remove me from this location and time, Zach,” Ashley said. “You will let me go.
“You can’t tell me what to do, Bitch! I’m going to send you back to the hell you came from and there’s nothing you can do about it.” Zach hissed. His arm tensed and Dean watched helplessly as he knew that Zach was about to plunge the knife blade into Ashley’s exposed neck. Then something happened.
Time seemed to slow, and light spread from around Ashley’s outline. There was no other way to describe it. If was like all the light in the room intensified and concentrated around her. There was a flash, and a cry of pain, and Dean had to shield his eyes. When his vision started to return to normal a few moments later, he saw Zach was groaning on the floor behind Ashley, and she was standing over him shaking her head.
“Zach,” Ashley said, standing over him. “The Eldara are not all beings of peace, though I am for the most part. But even the most peaceful of us are not without our defenses. I was never in any danger. You, however, are in a very dangerous place. It is clear you do not want our help, and I am not inclined to offer it to you anymore.”
Zach whimpered on the floor, still somewhat dazed by whatever Ashley did to him. He looked up at her, fear in his eyes. “Are you going to kill me now?”
“I don’t kill, Zach. I’m not like some of my more vengeful sisters,” Ashley said. “I’m a healer. I also know that you are already near the end of your time here in this existence. You have chosen your path, and that last decision you made to try and kill me was the one that sealed your fate. I can do nothing for you at this point. I don’t know how or where, but you will not live out the week.”
Dean walked over to stand next to Ashley. She was speaking with an authority he had never heard from her before. It was as if she were receiving words from somewhere else as she spoke them. Her certainty in the pronouncement of Zach’s fate was eerie.
Zach scooted backward on his butt, then climbed to his feet, swaying as he did so. He was not steady on his feet, and he stumbled some as he took another step back. He looked at Dean standing there next to Ashley, glanced at the knife on the floor in front of them. Dean took the hint and stooped down to pick up the blade from the floor.
“I don’t believe in your words, your pronouncements,” Zach said. His voice quavered. He didn’t sound as if he believed what he was saying. “I’ll come back and next time, you won’t know what hit you.” The former paramedic edged around the side of the room and then ran for the open
door. Dean ran after him, but Zach was faster and he ran down the stairs and disappeared around the corner of the garage.
Dean stood in the doorway at the top of the stairs and looked out into the darkness for a while to make sure he was gone. Then he turned and went back inside, closing and locking the door behind him.
“We should call the police,” Dean said walking over to the counter where his cell phone sat next to his wallet and keys. “They are looking for him and should know that he was here.”
“It won’t matter,” Ashley said. “They will not find him. Anyway, he will not live for long.”
“How can you say that?” Dean asked. “Did you do something to him?”
“No,” Ashley said. She took his hand in hers. “When he touched me, I was able to detect some of his life force. I could also sense his connection to fate and this earthly timeline. His time here on earth is almost done. I don’t know how it will happen, but he will be dead soon. I felt it as soon as he turned down our offer to help. Up until that moment, he had a chance to survive. That chance disappeared when he made his decision.”
Dean picked up the phone. “I think we need to alert them that he was here. Even another hour still gives him time to hurt us or someone else.” He dialed 911 and waited until the dispatcher’s voice sounded. He gave his name and official designation to the dispatcher. She recognized his voice and asked what the problem was. He gave his report of the attack by Zach and requested police. He told them that no one was injured and that no ambulance was necessary. The dispatcher advised him to call back if Zach returned, to lock the door, and that an officer was dispatched to take a report in person.
Dean hung up the phone and looked at Ashley. A thin line of dried blood traced a line down the side of her throat where Zach had pricked her skin with the knife when he grabbed her. The bleeding had stopped, but the sight of it gave Dean a shiver.
Ashley saw his reaction, her hand rising to her throat. “I’m fine, Dean. I was in no real danger. When I sensed his final intent to take action, I reacted to defend myself.”
“But he could have taken you away from me,” Dean said. “That is something that I was worried about. He was right in that respect. I would have been devastated if something had happened to you.”
“I’m alright, Dean,” Ashley said. “Look, if it makes you feel better, I’ll move into James’ apartment building with you. I’m in no danger, but you are far too exposed and at risk here in this place.”
Dean reached out and squeezed her hand. He had wanted her to say yes to his request to move, but he had not wanted the events of the evening to be the impetus for that move. He supposed he should be thankful that something had changed her mind, but the stress of seeing her in danger was almost too much to bear.
The two of them returned to the couch as they planned how they would move their things to the offered lodgings while they waited for the police officer to arrive. In the back of his mind, he wondered how Zach was going to meet his end. It was a strange thing to consider as they talked through their plans.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
After the police took their report on Zach’s attack on Ashley and left, Dean texted Brynne letting her know that they were going to take James up on the offer to move into his building downtown. She responded back quickly and said that James would have his assistant Celeste contact them to arrange the details. It was already late in the evening, and Dean and Ashley were both exhausted. The events of the last few days, from their trip to the lake to the long work day and the meeting and attack by Zach, had all taken their toll.
Dean checked the lock on the door again for the third time after the officer had departed. He told them they would leave a marked police unit parked out front for the night in case Zach returned, but Dean was still scared of what could have happened, and what could still happen. Ashley sat on the sofa and watched him as he paced the apartment’s perimeter. Dean checked all the windows each time he passed one to make sure they were locked and looked through the blinds into the darkness outside, but didn’t see anything. Finally after a half hour of this he gave up and turned to look at Ashley.
“I don’t know what to do,” Dean said. “I feel helpless. I should have done something to stop him from hurting you.” Ashley had gone to the bathroom and cleaned the dried trickle of blood from her neck. The small cut had stopped bleeding, but Dean could still see the mark on her neck and it seemed to taunt him that he was powerless to help his girlfriend when she had needed him the most.
“You need to calm down and sit still, Dean,” Ashley said. “I’m fine, and I told you that I was never in any danger. I can protect myself. I have been in worse situations than this one and walked away without a scratch.”
“Well, this time you did get a scratch,” Dean said, pointing to her neck. He walked over and sat down next to her on the couch. “What if he had decided to push that knife home? Could you have stopped him before he did that?”
“I did stop him,” She replied. “He was disarmed and left without anyone getting hurt. Zach was given a choice to determine his fate. He chose not to listen to my warnings. My conscience is clear, he was given a choice.”
“But I let him in,” Dean said. “I should be the one protecting you and not the other way around.”
“You have watched over me,” Ashley said. She laid a hand on his forearm as he sat next to her. “After I healed Zora, you took care of me while I regathered my strength. That was you taking care of me. This time was my turn. We are a team in this endeavor, Dean. We have to work together, but, more importantly, we need to trust each other to do what each of us can do.”
“But I don’t even know all that you can do,” Dean replied. “I didn’t know that you could zap him, or whatever it was that you did.”
“I exposed my true form for a moment,” Ashley said. “I am Eldara. In the old tongue, it means ‘light ones’ or ‘made of light.’ We assume corporeal form when here on earth and most of us chose never to reveal our true nature or form. However, were you to see me in my true form, it would overwhelm your senses. I simply used some of that power to overwhelm Zach’s senses before he could take further action. If you look at the references to the Eldara over the millennia, you will see us defined as creatures of brightness, white light. It is why we are so often depicted with halos. That is the best way for those who have seen us or witnessed our true power and selves, to depict us.”
Dean smiled. He liked finally learning something about Ashley’s past and her identity as an Eldara. He knew she referred to stories in places like the Bible. Based on what he knew, it was likely an Eldara who stood in the empty tomb of Christ and told the women who came to prepare his body for proper burial that he had risen. It caused him to wonder if Ashley had ever appeared in historical scenes that he would recognize.
“So Ashley,” he asked. “When are you going to tell me some of your past exploits in history? You must have some good stories to tell. I’m too wired to go to sleep just now.”
“Unlike my sister and some of the other Eldara, I prefer to work behind the scenes,” She responded. “I’m a healer, and that is the best way to enact healing. I helped others throughout history learn and become better healers. I try to avoid the spotlight. Some of my Eldara colleagues are not so humble. They like the spotlight, or rather to create a spotlight in which to shine. Gabriel is the worst of them, but he’s a warrior at heart, so he’s all about standing out in a crowd. It kills him that he can’t appear in gleaming armor anymore. He hates that every army and soldier wears earth tones and camouflage now.” She laughed quietly to herself. Her laughter calmed him.
“Come on, we need to go to bed and get some sleep. I know I am exhausted and you’re tired, too. Everything will be better in the morning and we can work on getting ready to move into James’ apartments tomorrow after work.”
———
Dean awoke a few hours later, near dawn, to a chime on his phone. It was a message from a number he didn’t recogni
ze. He rolled over and looked at the screen and swiped to open the messaging app. It was from someone named Celeste who said she was James’ assistant and that she had all the details arranged for him and Ashley to move in after their work shifts that day. He read the message several times as he cleared his head and then texted a reply that he had received it.
He rolled over to see Ashley lying next to him. She was still asleep. She slept so soundly most of the time that he was not sure how she heard her alarm to get up for work in the mornings. He looked at his watch and decided it was close enough to when he needed to get up anyway. He rolled out of bed and went out to the large living area off of the bedroom. He looked out the front window and saw the police cruiser still parked on the street outside his second-floor garage apartment. He shook his head and went to make coffee and some breakfast for him and Ashley. He also needed to pack up some clothes to take to the new apartment. The message from Celeste said that it was fully furnished and that James had the kitchens stocked with some basics so they’d have food.
He heard a small sound behind him and turned at the kitchen counter to see Ashley come out of the bedroom. She was wearing a pair of his boxer shorts and a gray tank top t-shirt. He marveled at her beauty, even first thing in the morning. Who woke up looking that good? His girlfriend that’s who.
“Stop ogling me and make me some coffee,” She said as she approached. “I have to wake up and get ready for work.”
Dean turned and started the single cup brewer to make her a cup of coffee. He felt her step up behind him and slip her arms around him and hug him from the back. He felt the soft firmness of her breasts press into his back as she squeezed him gently while he worked standing there.
“Do you want me to work on some eggs or do you just want cereal?” Dean asked as he turned in her embrace to face her.