by Candis Vargo
“Okay,” I said. “Go, I’ll just do…God only knows what’s in store for me when I get home.”
I didn’t want to go home but I desperately wanted to see Chace. I knew my father would have an army at our house. Well not actually an army but enough people it could be considered one.
When I arrived at my house there were too many vehicles in the driveway to even attempt to park my car in there. I put my Nitro in four wheel drive and drove through the yard out back to the stable. I knew driving out there would be my best bet to try and avoid everyone.
I was surprised when I was pulling up to the stable and saw Chace outside, brushing Molly. I figured he would have been inside with the crowd of people trying to figure out everything that’s been going on. I was glad he wasn’t because I could use a dose of Chace Relief right now.
“Fancy meeting you here,” I said in my most sarcastic voice as I walked up to him.
“It was getting a little tense in there so I figured I’d come out and spend some time with her,” he said as he rubbed Molly’s nose.
“Well I was actually thinking about doing that myself, since I was trying to avoid the mob inside the house too,” I laughed.
“I have better plans.” Chace smiled as he ran into the stable.
When he came back out, he had a basket and a folded up flannel blanket.
“More apples? You are spoiling her you know, and I’m serious, you’ll be paying for that Vet bill when you give her colic,” I said with a pleading face.
“No, not apples,” he replied with a laugh.
“Then what did you bring her?” Now I was curious.
“Okay, well there is one apple in here for her, but the rest,” he held up the basket. “It’s for us. We’re going to bail on the mob inside while we can.”
Chace, Molly, and I all walked together to the pond. After handing Molly the apple he brought for her, he laid out the blanket on the mossy ground in front of the log, so we were looking out over the pond.
“Have a seat,” he said as he gestured down toward the blanket.
“What’s on the menu?” I asked him.
He sat down beside me and put the basket in the middle. Slowly, he began pulling things out of the basket and saying what they were one by one.
“Double Quarter Pounder, Double Cheeseburger, Big Mac, French Fries, and…” he hesitated before pulling out the last thing, “Carmel Frappe for you.”
“My favorite,” I said as I grabbed the Frappe.
“I didn’t know what you’d want to eat, so I picked out the best things they had.”
“I’ll take the Big Mac and some fries.”
After biting into my food I found it hard to finish. I wasn’t trying to be rude because his intentions were so pure but it tasted a little funny.
“Chace,” I said. “This is really sweet and all but McDonalds is twenty minutes away, and this,” I pointed to my burger, “tastes a little old. When did you get this?”
“I wanted to do this with you today and I didn’t know what time you’d be home. I got it a few hours ago I thought if I kept it warm it’d be okay. Yeah, it does taste a little bad doesn’t it?” he laughed.
“This is fast food. I’m still going to eat it,” I said as I took another bite of my Big Mac. As hard as it was to finish, I could never resist a greasy burger from a fast food restraint.
Once we were done eating, we laid there in one another’s arms looking up at the sky. I thought about how completely in love I was with him, and nothing was going to tear us apart. I was happy to have been able to make my own choice for once and knowing the people that mattered in my life accepted. Even if they didn’t approve I at least had them behind my relationship backing me up. There was something extra reassuring knowing that Chace felt the same way.
Whatever dangers we may face, we would face them together. My dreams had finally started to come true. I was finally making my own decisions and I had fallen head over heels in love. I felt stronger than ever. I knew that even without the union I would still somehow manage keep my race safe and lead them wherever I needed to.
All of my thoughts and feelings were cut off in an instant. We abruptly sat up as screams in the distance echoed through the trees like the reflection of light.
Chapter 14
As the screams drew closer they became more of a growl. Standing up, Chace and I looked around trying to find out where it was coming from. Our heads began to move in a circle as we quickly looked around trying to follow the sound. It began to sound like the noise was circling us, like whatever was making it was running around in the trees around us. The leaves began to rustle like they were following the growling that circled around.
Chace pulled me closer as we moved over toward Molly, who was neighing almost as loud as the growl. He smacked Molly’s back end telling her to go and run but she never did. She stayed beside me the whole time. The wind grew stronger and the snarls moved closer.
After turning to me, Chace grasped my shoulders and said, “When I tell you to, you need to get out of here. Don’t run, don’t fly. Use your magic and go straight to your house. Do you understand?”
“Yes.” I went from nodding my head to shaking it, “No, what’s happening? What’s going on?”
“Just listen to me. When I say go, don’t wait for me,” he looked around like he was waiting for something or expecting someone...just like my mother did. “Karma, I know what it is. You need to warn everyone once you get there. It’s a-”
Chace stopped at the same time everything around us stopped. There was nothing but dead silence, no growling, no wind, not even a bird chirping. It was so quiet the only sound I could hear was the thumping of my heart pulsating through my temples.
I watched Chace as his eyes narrowed; following his glair I saw it. I saw Chace, but it wasn’t him. Chace was standing next to me; the other one had bright red eyes. It was him, the one who killed my mother. I didn’t know if I wanted to run away or if I wanted to run to attack, but I wasn’t able to do either. Chace placed himself in front of me making sure he kept one hand on me at all times.
“Wait for it,” Chace whispered.
The thing had a malicious smile playing across his face, slowly, it pulled out a knife. We were close enough that I was able to see every detail on it. It was a silver dagger that curved toward the tip of it. It had a black handle with an engraving of a dragon right above it, there were flames shooting out of the dragons mouth all the way to the tip of the dagger.
I felt Chace stiffen at the sight of it, instantly my body followed his. I didn’t know anything about the dagger, but apparently he did. The thing stepped forward, flipping the dagger around in his hands. Chace held up one hand, still keeping his other one on me.
“Aw, what’s the matter? Scared of what might happen?” the thing asked. It didn’t act worried or the least bit nervous. It came across more like a sarcastic asshole which pissed me off.
Neither Chace nor I said anything. We just stood there, staring at it. Chace’s stance was one of protection as he never moved farther in front of me. I stayed as close to Molly as I could get, wishing she would have ran back home.
“Yes, I guess we should just skip the small talk shouldn’t we?” Still smiling, it cocked its head to the side. “Alright then, have it your way.”
It took only a second before it ran at us. Chace went to attack as I stayed put with my eyes locked on him the whole time. I was waiting for him to tell me to run, even though I didn’t know if I would have the strength in me to run away and leave him there by himself.
The thing kept swinging his dagger at Chace; luckily he kept moving out of the way. Watching the two of them fighting, all I wanted to do was fly away with Chace. I wondered how this could be happening, just when everything started to look better for me. Just when I finally was able to have my desires and protect my race at the same time, I was now in a position where I had to choose again.
I wanted to stay here and fight with Chace. If I
fought with him maybe we would be able to kill whatever this thing was. But I knew if I ran when he told me to, I’d be able to warn everyone. I’d be able to tell everyone what was happening and they might be able to come and help him. They might be able to kill this thing. But what would I say? He never got to finish telling me what it was. Maybe I would just tell them that Chace is fighting the thing that killed my mother. They should understand. It really didn’t matter because I didn’t know if I was strong enough to leave behind the man I love. But I knew it was either protect my race, or protect my heart.
Chace was trying to get the dagger away from the thing, and it looked like he almost had a lead on it. It seemed like the thing was playing with Chace like he was a toy. Every jab it took at Chace he let out a laugh. I was glad that Chace was dodging every jab that was thrust at him. I was anxiously waiting for Chace to grab the dagger and strike the thing with it the same way it killed my mother.
That was when it began to transform. Its body shortened and became more petite. The wings changed from the wings of a Fallen, to the wings of a Pixie. Its face structure softened, mimicking one of a woman’s. It took me a moment to realize it transformed into the same clothes as me, it became me.
Apparently the thing knew exactly what Chace didn’t want to be fighting. After the Great War, I couldn’t blame him. Chace’s posture slumped and he was no longer in fighting form.
The only thing Chace said was, “Please, no.”
The other me smiled and teleported behind Chace. It dug it’s dagger into Chace’s back, straight through his heart.
Chace didn’t scream in pain, instead he yelled, “Go!”
At first I couldn’t move, the man I love had a dagger though his heart. It felt like the dagger pierced my heart at the same moment. I couldn’t bare the pain of what I just saw. Chace looked at me with pleading eyes as if to ask me to get the hell out of there. It all felt too surreal.
It seemed like I went right into survival mode. It seemed like I was no longer thinking about anything except to get out of here. I knew if I did as Chace told me to do I could go get him some help. Hopefully they would make it in time. With tears streaming down my face and my stomach knotting, I disappeared. I hoped Chace would be okay and that Molly would somehow follow me to the house.
I did exactly as Chace asked me to and I transported myself back home. I reappeared in the middle of the living room where everyone went silent when they looked at me.
“The pond!” I yelled, “Go! It’s there! It stabbed Chace! Go please!”
My Father and two other Pixies vanished from sight. Lord Matthias and Roland ran out the door at a speed not even I could follow. I sat there with a few people from each race, mostly the Elders, patiently waiting for their return.
I sat on the sofa listening to the rain pouring down outside. Every drop that sounded off of the windows seemed like it was a piece of my heart shattering. The lightening would strike followed by a loud crackling of thunder rolling across the sky. That felt exactly like what was going on inside of my heart. The darkened sky seemed to be speaking to how dark my soul felt.
As I listened to the wind howling across the windows I impatiently waited for my father to return. One of the Elders told me that Molly made it back safely and that she was in the stable. I was grateful for that and I hoped I would soon have the same news of Chace.
It felt like I had been sitting here waiting for days but it’s only been minutes. Time seemed to drag on slower than scientifically possible. I sat there listening, waiting for any signs of them coming back. I hoped that somehow Chace was okay. Maybe the dagger missed his heart and he was healing already. I prayed that my father made it there in time to kill whatever that thing was. I didn’t see it cut the wings off of Chace but God only knows what happened after I left.
Maybe Chace managed to kill that thing before anyone got there. Maybe that’s what was taking so long. I was sitting on the edge of the sofa bouncing my legs up and down.
“They should have been back by now. They shouldn’t be gone this long. What’s taking so long? I don’t understand,” I said. I was frantically rambling on to no one in particular. I wasn’t sure if I was taking to whoever was in the room or if I was just talking to myself.
“He’ll be okay. He’s strong. He will be okay. I shouldn’t have left. I was stupid to leave. I should have stayed and helped. I don’t know how but I know I could have helped somehow.”
I finally stopped talking when I heard a noise from the back of the house that wasn’t from the storm. I jumped up from the sofa and ran to the kitchen door. When I opened it, I didn’t see Chace. I saw the people who left to go find him but where was Chace? If he was dead they would have brought back a body; but there wasn’t one. The only extra person that walked back to the house was Ethan; apparently Roland called him while they were at the pond.
“What happened? Where is he? Did you find him? Where’s Chace?” My voice grew louder with each question. I was moving around trying to look behind them, I thought Chace would be coming out from behind them any second. Maybe he just got caught up on something in the woods.
“Karma,” Father said as they walked inside. He began to take off his jacket that was drenched from the rain. “He wasn’t there. There wasn’t anyone there.”
“What? What the hell do you mean there wasn’t anyone there? I saw what happened! I saw it all!” I was confused and pissed off. I knew what had happened and I knew I didn’t imagine it. I’m not that fucking crazy. This had to be a dream. This had to be one horrible, fucked up dream. This couldn’t be happening to me.
“I know dear, calm down. I’m not saying we don’t believe you.”
“There was blood,” Lord Matthias said. “We didn’t find a body, but we found blood. Not much blood, but it shows us there was a fight there.”
“But, where did he go? If he’s not there then where the hell is he?” I screamed. I wanted answers and I wanted them now. I didn’t want to pussyfoot around anything, I just wanted to know.
“There is only one place I can think of that he could go,” Ethan spoke up. “The same place all of you…well I mean all of us will go. Your races are Fallen and Demoted Angels, the only place I can think of is Hell. We vamps, well we don’t have a soul anymore but I’m sure they’re in Hell somewhere.”
“Ethan!” Lord Matthias scolded.
Father came over and gently put his hand on my shoulder, leading me to the table. I heard Lord Matthias sharply scolding Ethan but I didn’t hear the words he said. I didn’t care to. After I sat down, I turned my attention back to my father.
“Tell me everything,” he said. He sat down in a chair in front of me and held both of my hands. Lord Matthias came over and placed his hand on my shoulder and surprisingly, it was comforting.
I did as he asked. I replayed everything to my father and Lord Matthias. It wasn’t long after they called members of the Coven to have them come over. When they arrived, I had to tell the story again. Every moment I spent sitting there replaying all the details, I grew more pissed off. The time I wasted telling it over and over, was time we could have been out looking for Chace.
One of the Coven members asked me about the dagger the thing had used, so I told her. When I asked her why, she simply shrugged her shoulders and said, “It just sounded familiar, that’s all. But it’s not, it’s not important.”
I didn’t care if she was a Coven member, I didn’t believe her for a second. The Coven was obviously onto something, but I didn’t know what. Nobody knew; nobody except their members. One way or another I was going to find out. Em said she couldn’t tell me who or what they were thinking it was, but I hoped she could tell me something about the dagger.
Everyone was discussing what could have happened; it didn’t take long for them to forget I was even in the same room with them. I ran up to my room to call Em, I hoped if I got ahold of her before members of her Coven, she would be able to help me.
I was surprised when I looked at m
y cell phone and saw several missed calls, all from her. I called her back as fast as I could and I wasn’t surprised when she answered on the first ring.
“You need to meet me, right now,” she said. “I already heard. Don’t tell anyone what you’re doing, but meet me at my house as soon as you can.”
That was all she said. Before I managed to say anything she hung up. I didn’t understand what was happening but it had to be something serious for Em to do something that was so out of character for her.
Chapter 15
It wasn’t hard for me to get out of the house unnoticed; everyone was occupied with what I like to call ‘immortal politics’. I was just happy to be leaving, I needed to get away and Em obviously had some information for me. It usually took me ten minutes to get to her house but I managed to make it there in seven.
I drove down the long narrow driveway and my heart raced once I could see the white siding of her house. After I parked in front of the two bay garage I hopped out of my Nitro as fast as I could. As I ran up her brick walkway Em was already at the front door holding it open.
“The Coven should be at your house for a little while, but we don’t have time to waste,” she said. She walked out the door and closed it behind her.
“What? Where are we going?” I asked. We walked back down to my Nitro and she hopped in the passenger side.
“We’re going to my grandma’s book store, it’s in Germantown. Call your dad and tell him you needed to get away, that you’re going shopping.”
Wow she was demanding but I did exactly what she said. Father had no objection to me going shopping with Em and gave me permission to use one of his credit cards. Em called her Mom while I was on the phone with Father. I caught bits and pieces of what she was saying and it seemed like she was reassuring her mom that she wasn’t going to tell me anything.