Happy Places
I stood there frozen, unable to move. I cold feel that Jericho was still parked out side the house, and would most likely not leave until he knew I was alright. Cathy stood in front of me with her arms crossed glaring at me.
"where the hell have you been?" She demanded.
"I was studying. I went to the library. I swear." I told them. Ben came forward and grabbed me by the hair. I shrieked but I refuse to cry.
"Shut the hell up and tell the truth!" He yelled in my ear.
"I- I'm not. You all we watching TV and I didn't want to bug you so I just- I just left." I said. I could feel his anger. I could also hear his- their thought. To be honest what they were thinking was scaring me shit-less. They weren't planing on letting me walk away.
"You fucking liar!" And with that his large hand made contact with my face. The next thing I knew was I was thrown against the wall and my head made contact with a picture frame. I let out a blood curdling shriek. I fell to the floor and reached for the back of my head. I pulled my hand away and stared in horror ar my red covered hand. I looked up to see that all three of them were walking towards me. My eyes widened when I heard their thoughts and realized what was going to happen.
"Please no!" I yelled. Terrance's lips pulled back into a cruel and wicked smile. I let out another cry of pain when I felt the first blow. I curled up into a ball and hugged my knees as I tried to protect my self from unneeded harm. I did the only thing I could. I thought of my happy place, and right now my only happy place was Jericho. I could see his smile as the sun shined down on him. Just the thought of him seamed to ease the tremendous pain all over my body from their repetitive kicks. I took a deep breath as I could feel my contiousness slipping away from me. I was then engulfed in a dark dreamless rest.
Jericho
I watched as she fadded into the rain ad out of my sight. As soon as she was out of sight I let down my strong front. I punched the steering wheel and cussed.
"Dammit! Dammit to hell!" I yelled. I rested my head on the steering wheel. My wolf whimpered for his mate, and I didn't blame him. I knew I shouldn't have let her go in three, but what choice did I have? It was just like she said, " the consequences of not going would be greater." I wanted to go in there and grab her so I can take her far far away from them.
I composed my self and went to turn my keys but stopped when I felt a sharp pain on the back of my head. Followed by a loud shriek. I could recognize that voice anywhere. Avery! I unbuckled my seat belt and reached for the door.
'No!'
I heard my wolf yell.
'What?'
I asked him in shock.
'Don't go! If you go they'll take her away from us... or worse.'
he told me. I rested my head on the steering wheel once more. I let the tears fall this time. I didn't hold them back. I could feel her pain and hear her cries, yet I couldn't help her. Instead of helping her- saving her- I was stuck on the side lines just waiting for her to tell me she's alright. That was all I could do, just wait for her. I thought about her smile, her timid manor, her eyes , all of her.
I sat there for what seamed like forever until the pain stopped. BY this time I had stopped crying. I let out a sigh of releaf. but then I only begain to worry more when I couldn't hear her anymore. It was like she wasn't there any more.
I sat in my car, debating whether or not to go in there and see if she was okay. Just then I saw red flashing lights and the load sirens could be heard over the pounding rain. I felt my heart stop as the ambulance pulled up in front of Avery's house. Oh God please no! Don't let this be happening. However my prayers went unheard. The paramedics wheeled a gurney into the house. I flung myself out of the car and ran towards the house. I stopped in my tracks when I saw the Paterson's standing on the front porch watching the paramedics. I stayed far enough away to where they couldn't see me. I felt a part of me die when I saw then wheel a figure out of the house. I saw her orange hair and knew it was her. Her hand fell limp and cold.
No.
They hauled her into the ambulance and sped away. I ran to my car and got in and started the ignition. I followed the ambulance to the hospital. I swerved into a parking spot and threw myself out of the car. I saw them bring her out of the ambulance and then they took her into the massive concrete building. I ran into the hospital and went up to the receptonist's desks.
"Hi... could you help me?" I asked the young receptionist. She looked up at me with a way smile. Her light brown hair was pulled back into a neat bun and her lips were painted in a bright red. She looked to be at least twenty.
"Sure. What could I do for you?" She asked me.
"I'm looking for someone, they just brought her in. Her name is Avery, Crawford." I told her. She nodded at me and then turned to her computer and typed in her name. After about several minuets she then turned back around to face me.
"I'm sorry. She's not ready for visitors yet. Why don't you take a seat and I'll call you." She told me. I nodded and dragged my feet towards the waiting area and sat down. I cupped my head in my head and exhaled. I'm going to tell her. I have to. Not everything, but I'll tell her what I am. I have to... If she comes out alright. I scolded my self mentally after that morbid thought. Of course she's not dead. I would be slowly dieing if she was, but still I can't shake the possibility if she is. Breath Jericho. Breath. She's going to walk out of here 100% okay. I wanted to beat the Paterson's until they couldn't breath. They did this! It was them! They hurt my mate and now there's a chance they took her from me for good! No. They didn't kill her. I'm still alive so that means she is too.
'Jericho? Where the hell are you? You disappeared at the park.'
Allen said through the mind link.
'I'm fine I'm at the hospital.'
I told him.
'The Hospital! Are you alright?'
He asked franticly. I sighed.
'Yes... I'm fine. It's not me it's Avery.'
I told him. Even in my mind my voice was shaky.
'Is she alright? What happened?'
He asked me.
'I-I don't know if she's okay. I dropped her of at her house and then an ambulance came. I'm so fucking scared right now I'm shaking!'
I told him. I heard him sigh and then he said.
'Just relax. Just think of her and everything will be fine.'
Then I felt him leave my mind. I was snapped back to reality when I herd the receptionist call,
"Sir! She's ready." She told me. I got up and followed her to a small hospital room.
What I saw broke my heart. I saw her small figure underneath the thin sheets wearing a hospital robe. An IV of blood was attached to the her wrist. A white bandage was wrapped around her head and bruises the size of apples covered her arms. The heart monitor had a steady bead that filled the room.
I heard someone clear there throat. I turned around to see the Doctor. He was a middle aged thin and tall man. He looked to be Indian, and by he looks of his name tag ,which read Sanjay, I take it he was. His dark eyes were hidden behind his glasses.
"Are you her friend?" He asked me. I nodded my head at him.
"What happened to her?" I asked him. He sighed and looked down at what I was assuming to be her medical report.
"Well according to her family, she snick out and when she came home she was badly beaten, they said that they assumed she was mugged because her cell phone and wallet were missing. She collapsed and hit the connected of their walkway, which caused excessive bleeding on the point of puncture. She then passed out due to pain, blood loss, and the collision to the head. Honestly we'll be lucky if she wakes up... let alone remember who she is." He told me. My heart sank. I did all I could do and went over to where she was sleeping. I heard the doctor leave, and then close the door.
I gripped her left hand, and breathed.
"Avery?" I asked her. I heard the monitor start to beep quicker and then I felt her squeeze my hand. I looked at her face, and watched as her eyes fluttered open.
"Jer?" She said in a weak voice. She squinted and tried to cover her eyes with her arm but stopped when she felt something pull on her arm.
"How are you feeling?" I asked her as I rubbed circles on the back of her hand.
"I feel fine. I'm just a little dizzy is all." She said with a smile. I felt a tear slip from my eye.
"Fuck! I was so worried!" I sobbed. I brought her hand to my forehead and rested it there.
"Shh.. shh. It's okay. I'm fine ,Jericho. A little battered up is all. I'm alive arn't I?" She told me in her attempt to comfort me.
"I let you go in there."I said in a guilty tone. She took her hand out of mine and rested it on my cheek she lightly rubbed her thump against my face to sooth me.
"You didn't have a choice. It's not your fault. Okay?" She told me. I nodded my head at her and my eyes traced over her arms and studied the bruises. She followed my eyes to see where I was looking. I heard her sigh and then she said,
"Could you please stop looking at the bruises? The more you look at them the more you'll beat your self up about it. I told you it's not your fault. I chose to go in there. I snuk out. I got them angry." She told me. I didn't say anything I just replayed that moment in my mind: her disappearing into the rain, me sitting in the car, her screams of pain, and the pain I felt not being able to help.
"Jericho!" I heard her say. I snapped up to look at her. Her face was untouched which was a relief for me. She must have protected her face and torso with her arms and legs. I releases her hand and got up and walked to the door.
"I'm gonna... go tell the nurse your up." I told her. She nodded her head at me.
"Do you think you could get me some water?" She asked me. I gave me a reassuring smile and nodded and then walked out the door. I saw the same doctor from before and he stopped me.
"Is she up?" He asked me. I nodded my head at him. He extended his hand towards me.
"Doctor, Sanjay. Paranormal doctor." He said. My eyes jumped out of my head.
"What?" I asked him in shock.
"I smelt you on her and said I would work with her. I take it your a werewolf?" He asked me.
"Yeah... how are you not-"
"I'm half- well a more common word would be banshee." He cut me off. I nodded at him and extended my hand to him.
"Jericho, Levi." I told him. He shook my hand and then walked towards Avery's room.
"I'll go heck on her." He told me. I nodded my head at him and walked away. I walked down the hall to where I saw a vending machine.
I walked back to the room with two waters in my hand. As I walked into the room I noticed the Doctor was gone. Avery snapped her to look at me with a frantic look.
"Every thing alright?" I asked her. She hesitantly nodded her head at me. I knitted my eyebrows together and looked at her with a confused look. I walked over and sat in the chair next to her bed. I handed her her water.
"Every thing okay? Did they say something was wrong?" I asked her. she hesitantly took the water from my hands and when my hands touched hers it was like I was seeing through a new pair of eye. I jumped back in my seat at what I saw. The room was filled with other people. They all had unfamiliar faces. Most of them were pale and dressed in hospital robes except for one. I focused my attention ofn the girl with black curly hair that wore a floral top and denim jeans. I looked around the room and noticed that all the people in the room were transparent.
"What the hell?" I said under my breath. I looked over at Avery who hung her head in shame. Apparently she wasn't going to explain what was happening. I then looked over to the curly hair girl.
"Can you see me?" She asked me.
"Why the hell am I seeing you?" I asked her.
"Because she's letting you." She told me. She directed her eyes over to Avery. Avery was doing this? Wait- Ashlin was right!
"What about the others?" I asked her. Looking around the room.
"What were we supposed to do? We've all been dead for a hell of a long time. I'd like to move on, and to do that the little on needs to call forth the door of Gabriel." An old man said with venom in his voice. It dawned on me that all the people in the room were dead. I only got more confused. I then looked over at Avery.
"Is this what you were hiding?" I asked her as I remember her saying she had secrets and that her demons were bigger then mine. When she said demons she meant Demons - or ghosts at least. I realized why she was so scared of me hating her, and why she thought she was a freak.
"She's not going to say any thing right now. But to answer your question yes, this is what she was hiding." The raven haired girl said.
"And who might you be?" I asked her.
"I'm her guardian. I've been watching over her sense she was thirteen." She said. I then heard Avry sigh.
"Jericho meat Angela, Rosen." She said.Then there was a long uncomfortable silence.
"I told her to-" Angela stared but I cut her off.
"I want to hear it from Avery." I the waited for her to speak. She took a shaky breath.
"I'm a seer. I'm like the in between - I help spirits find peace and help them move on. Angela is like my guardian angel. She's also my best friend. I guess you can call me a medium. I can do things like read auras, here thoughts, see the future, and the worst on is that when I touch someone I basically see their entire life. So I'm not chiraptophobic I just don't enjoy getting a migraine when I touch someone. I don't have full control yet so that's why I'm always getting sick in the middle of class, but still have straight A's." She explain to me.
"And you thought I would hate you if you told me." I didn't say it as a question- more of a statement.
"Yeah..." She said under my breath.
"So why now?" I asked her.
"Angela told me it was time I told you." She said simply. I looked over to Angela who just shrugged, but I could tell she knew something, but i didn't press.
"Jericho please say something..." I hear d Avery beg me. I didn't know what to say. It made since though. A werewolf can't mate with a human- and still cant'. I'm mates with Avery because she wasn't human. Well she was more human then me, but not a regular human. I looked over at her and saw her looking at me with worried eyes.
"I don't care." I instantly slapped my self for saying that. I didn't mean it like that! I sounded like I hated her now. And by the looks of her reaction, she thought I hated her too. Even Angela was shocked by my reply. I could see the tears thretning to spill in Avery's eyes.
"You-" I cut her off and grabbed her small little hand.
"No no no! Not like that! What I meant was- I don't care- Shit! What I mean is it doesn't matter. You had these.. abilities for how long?" I asked her.
"since I was born.. but they got stronger when I was thirteen." She told me.
"Right. And I've known you for about a year and a half- So you've always have had these power. So your still Avery. That's why it I don't care because you've always have had them and your no different." I told her. I could see that she had relaxed now. She smiled and me and I smiled back.
Next it was my turn to tell her... But not tonight. Or not for a while at least.
Shinny and New
Avery
Beep Beep Beep Beep Bee-
I smalled my hand on top of my alarm to stop it. I moaned and rolled over to look at the cloak which read 5:30 am. mon.Oct, 3, 11. I sighed and threw my legs over the side of my bed. It was going to be sunny today and my bruises had faded so ... so far it was a good day. I walked over to my closet and smiled when I saw my new clothes. Charolet's nice was about my size and had gotten rid of a lot of clothes. I pulled out my yellow sundress, a cropped denim jacket, and cowboy boots. Once I was dressed I walked into the kitchen and started the pasta. I had made a deal with Cathy that I was allowed to "babysit" as long as I still cooked dinner. So I would wake up early, cook a quick dinner and put it in the fridge for them. What they didn't know was I wasn't baby sitting, I would go to work and then go to Jericho's house until late at night. Some times I
would spend the night but not in his bed. I would have a sleep over with Ashlin who I've become good friends with over the past month. Once I started the pasta I walked down the hall to the bathroom and locked the door. I stared in the mirror at my self and wondered what to do with my hair. I then took my hair and put it up in a messy bun with white rose hair pin to hold it in. I only wore a little makeup like powder and mascara.
After I was done with that I walk out of the bathroom and grabbed my bag. I walked back into the kitchen and stopped the pasta. I drained the water and the heated up the spaghetti sauce. When I saw the floating chunks of meat I remembered why I vegetarian in the first place. Then again... any one would go vegetarian if they saw how the animal died when they touched it. I took the sauce out of the microwave and poured it over the pasta. I put the pasta into a glass dish and put it in the fridge. I then pulled out some food to make my lunch. Ben and Cathy were gone this morning so I didn't have to make them a sandwich today... thank God. However that meant Terrence and I were left alone. I quickly made my lunch and shoved it in the paper bag and ran to the door. I then turned around and went back to the kitchen and wrote a note saying that I was going to "babysit" tonight and that dinner was in the fridge. I then froze when I heard a door creak open and foot steps coming down the hall. I then started to sprint for the door. As I was fiddling with the lock on the door. I shuddered when I felt two arms snack around my waist.
Haunted Page 10