“You’re going to ruin your makeup if you keep crying,” a familiar voice said. Out of the shadows, a guy with hair the color of chestnuts emerged. His tanned skin seemed to glow as he stared at her.
Her hands dropped, as a relieved sigh escaped. “I thought you forgot about me, Fuzzaran.”
He reached for her hands, taking them in his, kissing each of her fingers. “Impossible to forget a face I see all the time even when I’m not near.” She smiled as she ran her hand over his cheek. “You shouldn’t miss the party for me.” He glanced past her toward the door.
“They can’t expect me to stay in there without you.”
“Who says you have to stay in there?” He winked at her and pulled her out to the freshly manicured lawn. He wrapped his arm around her waist, keeping the other locked with hers in between them. Together they swayed to the music from inside, their eyes never leaving each other’s.
“I know a thing or two about love,” Nabea said from beside me, as she watched the two of them.
“Fuzz?” I couldn’t hide the surprise in my voice. The years I had known Fuzz, I’d always thought love was the last thing on his mind. His cold, hard exterior was just a front.
“What happened?” Her face turned dark, bitter.
“Mom and dad are going to kill you if they find you out here,” another voice interrupted. I turned to find Dermetheus, standing on the back steps. He was skinner, and his face lacked the scars, but there was no denying it was him.
Her hand waved again, diminishing the backyard and taking us to a dusty, dissolute valley. “Dermetheus is what happened,” she said. Charred bodies, still popping as smoke seeped from them into the sky, burned my eyes. It smelled of cooked flesh and burnt hair. I covered my nose and mouth, gagging. “This will be your world if he isn’t stopped.” She turned to me. “You see Reese, this is so much bigger than him taking someone you love. I know this personally, he took the one I loved away from me.”
“But Fuzz is still alive. Why can’t you just cross over to our realm for him?”
She shook her head. “To fully understand I need to show you how this all started.” Once again, our scenery changed.
We were back inside the house. This was a much smaller room. In front of the window, overlooking the front yard, the younger Nabea sat delicately stroking a canvas with a paintbrush. The door burst open as several men ran into the room. She jerked, smearing a botch of paint.
“Something’s happened. Where are your parents?” an older man said. His skin was so faint he looked as if he were on the verge of passing out.
She stood, blinking erratically is if trying to think. “I haven’t seen them this morning. Maybe they’re still asleep?” One of the men took off, without waiting for another word.
“What’s happened?”
“This is something that needs to be discussed with your parents.”
Her jaw locked. “I highly doubt you, as a council member, are allowed to keep things from me. As heir to this land I demand you tell me.”
His thick white brows spiked. “Nabea … it’s your uncle.”
“Lavarus?” Her voice rose.
He nodded. “He has released the darkness and fled to another realm.”
She dropped to her knees. “That can’t be.” The other man returned, just as paled as the first now. “Where are my parents?” When he didn’t answer, she stumbled to her feet.
He stopped her before she could run through the doorway. “You really don’t need to see that.” She trembled, looking in the direction of the curved staircase. Her elbow drove deep into the man’s stomach, causing him to double over in agony. She raced up the stairs toward a slightly jarred door at the end of a long hallway. She slammed into it, and a scream escaped her lips. Her parents lay in their bed, both throats sliced open. Blood stained the snowy comforter, still visibly wet.
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. “Your uncle killed your parents?” I asked, still in shock from what she’d showed me. She walked over to the bed and sat gently on her mother’s side. She ran a hand across hair that matched hers.
“Doesn’t seem fair when people die so young, does it?” The way she spoke her question was more directed at the dead woman in front of her than me. “I can still feel them with me sometimes.” I stood in silence, not really sure what to say. She cleared her throat, focusing on me. “After my uncle killed my parents, he released the darkness that my dear, sweet brother easily succumbed to. Then, like the coward Lavarus was, he escaped to your realm, locking the portals. After that, once someone from here crossed over, they couldn’t come back. My parents’ death deserved justice, but I couldn’t ever give them that.” She stood and paced the room before waving her hand again.
This next scene was familiar. It was the last dream I had about them. Nabea drove her sword down into the ground, only he wasn’t there anymore. She continued to stare at the ground long after the sword moved. “If only I wouldn’t have hesitated. Talgon took him to a black witch since he was almost dead. She extracted their souls with the intentions of taking them to the other realm. After Dermetheus escaped, I had all but one portal closed, and it was under constant guard. Needless to say the witch was killed before she could jump through, but that didn’t stop her from sending their souls over. That’s why they were in a different form when you met them. Only her blood could make them take their true form.” She paused, giving me a sympathetic look. “Or someone of her bloodline.”
“Ollie didn’t deserve to be caught in the middle of that.” I trembled, wishing I could forget everything that made me hurt.
“No. He didn’t. His mother tried to help him the only way she knew, but sometimes things are destined to run a course.”
“His mother! She was there. Did she make it out?” She solemnly shook her head. My face dropped as I sunk to my knees. Both of them killed. Maybe at least they were together somewhere now.
She kneeled in front of me. “I know how much pain you are in right now, but don’t bottle it up. Let it help you. There’s a much greater love waiting for you. He’s your one. Oliver Steele will always be in your heart, but it already belongs to another.”
“Sim?”
She scoffed. “Not in this lifetime.”
I couldn’t help but to laugh. “What happens now?”
She pursed her lips. “You’ve accepted the darkness.” Those words sank like lead to the deepest pit of my gut and made me want to hurl in her face for saying such.
“No, I didn’t.” I was in denial. Holy shit, was I really trying to psychoanalyze myself right now?
She tilted her head before nodding. “Umm, yes you did.”
I jumped up, stomping my feet around like a three-year-old. Of course, what else could go wrong in my life? Now I’m going to end up some dead freak like Casey. What a minute … Nabea could fix it, couldn’t she? She was like some all-powerful leader of this land. She had some pull. What was I talking about? I was doomed. A loud sob ripped through my throat. I fell back in front of her.
“What do I need to do?” Wow the fastest human record for progressing through the stages of grief.
“I don’t know what to tell you, other than fight it. With everything you have inside. Use every emotion going through all of this has given you. Do not let it win. It manipulated you into accepting it. You didn’t choose to do so freely for your own gain, so maybe you can beat this thing.”
“What if I can’t?”
“Reese, you’re stronger than the average human, but I’m sure you already knew that. You’re a part of me. A fragment of my soul lives in you. The others, your friends, only have gifts I granted them to help you along the way to becoming you who are. Fuzz went there to protect you and guide you along your journey. You have the power to stop anything, but if you can’t, then your world will end up worse than mine. He will stop at nothing until he enslaves or kills all humans. And that includes each of your friends and anyone who helps them.” Tears brimmed, glistening her eyes. “Now
it’s time for you to wake up. Maybe I’ll see you again some day. You turned out better than I could have ever dreamed.” Her hand slid down my face and everything went black.
Chapter Four
Shayla
The skies were covered in a mass canopy of gray clouds. It was a depressing day, which in turn, made my mood worse than what it was. I pulled the blue Civic into the gravel parking area next to the small white church in Antiocah and shut the engine off. It felt weird to be driving myself. For years, I hadn’t owned a car. It was by choice. No one knew except Reese, but I was terrified of driving due to a wreck that had happened when I was a little girl. A drunk driver almost took mine and my mother’s lives one stormy night. But now the things that had happened to me recently made that fear seem like it was a petty thing for me to worry about. I grabbed the thick red blanket and book I was currently engrossed in and exited the vehicle. Every Saturday I made this walk and it never got easier. I unlocked the cool familiar metal gate and pushed open the entrance to the cemetery.
I knew Reese wasn’t here. How she got out of that hospital bed and escaped still amazed me. Hell, no one knew where she was, but somehow being next to this grave made me feel close to her. It was the only place I could talk freely about everything going on in my life without being looked at with sympathy. I hated those looks. I didn’t need people feeling sorry for me. All I wanted was to have someone listen.
I stared at the headstone. The day we had her “funeral” still gave me knots. It was too close for comfort. She came close to dying that night and then to turn around and lie to her family … even Sim. My heart broke for him that day. I had never seen a more torn man. There was no doubt he loved her more than she would ever know. I couldn’t stop the unwanted memories from flooding back to me.
“Now we lay to rest a beautiful, vibrant young woman. She had the rest of her life ahead of her and it was cut far too short. She leaves behind a countless number of grieving family and friends. We know that she lives on in another place, though. One that is far greater than this one. One day soon she will be reunited with those mourning,” the preacher had said.
He was older, somewhere around my parents’ age. His speech sounded generic, like he had said the same words at countless other funerals. It wasn’t what Reese deserved. She stood apart from everyone else so her funeral should too, even if it was fake.
“Shayla, I’m glad you came,” Mrs. Salt said once everyone started to dissipate into smaller groups to lie about feeling sorry for the family. Empty words. No one really cared because they didn’t know the pain. Just a pin drop of what I felt would bring everyone of these sacrilegious assholes to their knees, begging for it to stop. I could barely look at her soft features that were red and blotchy from tears. “Don’t be a stranger. You staying around will help me feel close to her. I’m glad she had a friend like you.” She patted me on the arm and walked off, sniffling into her tissue. A group of giggling women, probably discussing this week’s episode of whatever show they were all hooked on to escape their everyday boring lives, stopped her. Their attitudes went from happy and carefree to sympathetic and remorseful at the drop of a hat. Bitches. I fought the urge to charge the group and pimp slap each one across the face, making me wish I had remembered to bring my baby powder. I shoved my now itching hand deep into the pocket of the uncomfortable dress pants I wore. They had been riding up my vag all day, not to mention my poor ass crack. Totally uncharacteristic for me, but Fuzz insisted I look nice for this show. Reese knew how I dressed. I should be here in something skin tight, letting my boobies fall out. She loved how I didn’t care. Fuck all the rest of these people.
I couldn’t take being around these fakers anymore. It was time to blow this joint before I did or said something I regretted later. And by later I meant never. I ran to Reese’s civic. Her parents gave it to me since she would no longer need it. Despite my fear of driving, I accepted. Admittedly, I was an extreme tight-ass when it came to piloting a vehicle. Every car that flew past me made my nerves jitter to the brink of shitting my pants. Deep breaths and having the seat on top of the steering helped a tiny bit.
My hands ached from gripping the steering wheel so hard as I drove under the Tombigbee Bridge. I exited the car, pausing to take my hooker heels off and tossing them into the back. He can make me look prim and proper on the upper half, but my feet will always say “yes, yes, I do charge by the hour.” Bending low, I rolled the legs up on my pants. I considered taking them off and walking in just the cute pink and black polka dot thong I was wearing, but then decided against it. I would hate to kill one of the lonely fishermen who might try something.
Shoving through some low-lying trees, I finally found a shady spot on the sandbar. I let out an exasperated sigh and fell back onto the sand. I hadn’t slept well in weeks. Everything was too much for me to be able to shut it all out. It wasn’t the same with Jace and my best friend gone. Not to mention this was the longest I had gone without some action in the sack. That man had totally dick-whooped me without me knowing. Another reason to think he was an asshole. Everything had changed in one night. One night was all it took to ruin my world. My stomach ached, the same it always did when I thought about everything. I placed my hand on it, trying to succor the pains. The wind brushed across my face and for the first time in a while I let it take my thoughts with it. The sun kissed my cheeks, making me warm and at peace. Maybe I could get in a nap out here. I closed my eyes, feeling the Sandman starting to work his magic.
A barge’s horn woke me close to dark as it glided soundlessly through the river water. Sleepily, I got up. I heard hoots from some guys standing on the edge of the boat. Normally I would have flirted back because that was my nature. Instead, I gave them the bird, which worked them up more. Ignoring their humping motions to each other, I dusted the sand off and slowly walked back to the car. I decided to go back to the gravesite. Everyone should be gone by now. The drive back was a haze. As I approached the grave, it wasn’t empty. Someone sat hunched over on their knees. Their face buried in their hands.
“Sim?” I asked. He jumped slightly and turned to face me. I swallowed hard. I wanted to tell him she wasn’t there. That she was across the country in a hospital. I hated seeing him like this. I dropped down beside him and put my arm around him.
“It’s my fault, Shayla.”
“What are you talking about? None of this was your fault.”
“If I would’ve never left that training camp then she wouldn’t have had to come after me. It was my stupidity that killed her. It might as well have been me that put the blade in her chest,” he said.
“Don’t think that way. If it wasn’t you, then Derek would’ve found another way to get to her.” I paused for a minute, picking at the grass in front of me, listening to his soft sobs. “I don’t blame you for trying to get out for a little bit. You’d been stuck in that place for months. No one thinks this is your fault.” He didn’t say anything else. All he could do was cry.
As I sat there all this time later, I could almost still hear Sim’s cries. I really hoped he was okay, moved on even. I hadn’t talked to him since that day. I really didn’t want to. It would bring back memories I didn’t want. I managed to become an expert on bottling them up and shoving them deep down to a place no one wanted to go. I let my built up aggressions out on monsters or paper targets.
“So, what have you been up to, today?” I asked. The only response I got was birds chirping. “Nothing interesting enough to talk about, huh? I understand. Seems like all I’ve been doing is chasing dead ends trying to find the dick that did this to you.” Anger surged through me as Dermetheus’s face popped into my mind. Normally, I would have drooled over such alpha male demeanor. Not to mention he bared a striking resemblance to Manu Bennett now, far from the tiny prick he did look like. “I don’t care how long he runs, we’ll find him. If I know you, you’re probably doing the same thing. I wouldn’t blame you for what he did to Ollie, but I just wish … I wish you would co
me back and we could chase after him together. It’s hard enough with Jace being over in Africa or wherever the hell he’s at.” I blinked away warm tears that sprung up and wanted to strangle someone or break something. “Gah, I just miss him so much! It makes me hate him more and more every day for it. I don’t see how he thought it was okay for him to leave me like he did. I would’ve never done that to him.” I nodded as if agreeing with myself. “He knew I’d be hurting just like he was. We could’ve helped each other through this, but no he had to run away from his problems.” I took a deep breath. That was a path I didn’t want to visit today. “But I didn’t come here for you to hear my sob story again. You already know all of it anyway. How about we read a little? I found a new Indie writer that I’m obsessed with.”
I lay back on the blanket and read the story out loud. Three chapters and a few laughs in, my phone rang. “Hello?”
“Where the hell are you?” Dax asked. His voice panicked. He did that a lot lately. I rolled my eyes.
“D, do you have somethin’ for me, or are you just getting your panties in a bunch again for no reason?” I couldn’t hide the annoyance from my voice. I was a grown woman, so I could do whatever the hell I wanted without him having to check in on me. I could beat his ass if I wanted to.
“Gee, someone’s in a great mood today. I can’t express how much this makes me wanna hang out with you right now.”
“Cut the crap, Dax. Do you have any news on Dermetheus or are you just doing your daily check in to make sure I’m still alive?” I leaned my head back, looked up to the sky, and prayed for the strength not to cuss him out. I didn’t want to be that way, but I couldn’t help it. Lately, I wanted to cuss everyone out, even myself. My reflection just had that bitch face sometimes in the morning that I didn’t like.
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