Body and Soul (The Chronicles of Light and Darkness Book 1)

by Jamie Loeak

elder demon? These thoughts flew through Kate’s mind in a second. Her heart began pounding involuntarily, a hammer knocking against her chest. She clutched the ends of the blankets, pulling herself away from this monster, this demon. Why hadn’t she listened to Rico? He was, after all, much smarter than Kate when it came to this stuff.

  Kate’s thoughts centered on Rico, on how he saved her the night of the second attack. Had it really been three attacks already? She found herself whispering his name, begging him to come rescue her again.

  The man stepped forward, holding out his arms, his hands reaching for Kate. His callused hands were large; long fingernails protruded from the ends of thick fingers. Kate found herself shuddering, her lips quivering. The man sneered – an evil, yet excited, emotion.

  Kate’s mouth was dry; her pleas helplessly tumbled out in rapid whispers that she barely heard herself. She was crying, truly afraid for the first time in her life.

  The man ignored her fear and began reciting something:

  “I beg of you, my soul, to grant thy one request.

  Let thee share thou pleasure.

  Allow thee wishes met.

  Thou warmth concedes – blend fire and ice.

  Then give to thee, eternal life.”

  Kate stared at the man, shocked that he would attempt to possess her right now. It was broad daylight and there was a witness. She shuddered at the thought that the gardener didn’t know or care. Rico might have been wrong about the gardener, and fresh tears fell to the aqua blankets as Kate lost hope.

  Kate shook her head quickly, tearing herself from her thoughts, knowing that she needed to take some sort of action before it was too late. Now was not the time to break down; Kate had to fight her way out of this.

  The man was still walking toward Kate, his hands reaching for her face. Kate crawled backward, slowly, so that she didn’t tumble off the bed. She kept licking her lips, preparing herself for a shrill scream, hoping that someone would hear her. All the while, Kate’s eyes darted around the room, looking for anything that could be used as a weapon. There was nothing in this room except flowers and furniture. Kate cursed at her mother’s lousy attempt at decorating; at least Donovan had purchased something with stability and structure. Kate could never disarm a demon with a flower pot.

  When Kate reached the end of the bed, she pushed herself off so that she landed on her feet. She knew she was fast, probably faster than her attacker, and she glanced at the sliding glass door that led to the deck, hoping that it wasn’t locked. She glanced back at the man for a moment; he was crawling across the bed toward Kate. This was her only chance. She knew that it would take the man a moment or two longer to get off the bed. She knew that was all she needed to push open the door and dash outside.

  Kate counted to three, waiting until all four of the man’s limbs were touching the mattress. On three she ran, unlocking and pushing open the heavy door in one lithe movement. Her leg crossed the threshold, and Kate pushed harder.

  Somehow, the man was faster than Kate. His strong hand grabbed Kate’s wrist before she made it completely outside. He pulled Kate back in, but this time she was kicking and screaming. She managed to shout Rico’s name more than once before the man pushed her onto the bed and smothered her with a pillow. She choked on the lack of oxygen, sure that she would pass out at any moment. Once again, Blaire was ruining Kate’s life; Blaire’s insistence to lock every door and window might save the family from people that tried to break in, but it hindered those that wanted to break out.

  The man began the incantation again. When he finished he placed his hands on either side of Kate’s face; his thumbs were placed firmly on her temples. He looked into her eyes and Kate noticed absently that his were a dull, muddy brown. She felt herself captivated by this man’s words, by his eyes, and drifted off into another dimension.

  Kate walked along the beach with Rico, his warm hand in hers. She saw herself surrounded by people that admired her, people that wanted to be her friends. She saw her mother and father next to her, the three of them riding bikes through a lightly wooded area. She saw the world crumbling in the flames of evil.

  “Kate. Kate, wake up. Come on, Kate. Kate!”

  Kate was jolted out of her vision. Rico was shaking her shoulders violently. He stood over her, blocking out the sun. Where was she?

  Kate sat up quickly. Stars spun around her head. Rico put his arm around her, supporting her as she stood up. She was at Adriana’s mansion again. How did she get there? Was that the sunset? What time was it?

  When Kate was balanced she felt Rico’s strong hands on her face, forcing her to look into his eyes. His normally sparkling cobalt eyes were stormy.

  “Do you remember what happened, Kate?” he asked. His voice sounded concerned.

  Kate shook her head automatically but winced when pieces of the puzzle came back to her; she stopped for a moment then nodded.

  “Can you tell me exactly what happened?” he asked calmly, carefully.

  Kate nodded and began to tell him about the demon man that tricked her into walking into her house.

  “It’s worse than I thought,” Rico said, more to himself than to Kate. He sat back then and poured Kate a glass of sweet tea. She drank it quickly and he poured her some more. She could tell that he was thinking, mulling something over in his mind, so she left him alone as long as she could.

  “What happened?” Kate asked him. She couldn’t hold her burning questions in any longer. She had to know.

  “I heard you screaming for me. I wasn’t far from your house, just up the street really, and heard you screaming. When I got there the demon was standing over you, saying the Rite for Control. He almost had it, but I walked in, breaking his focus. After that, I got rid of him and brought you here to recover.” He looked down then. “It was almost like you had given up your life to him willingly, Kate.”

  “I would never give my life up to him, or to any other demon,” she said angrily.

  “You weren’t fighting, though. I’ve seen possessions enough to know that people are capable of fighting. You didn’t.”

  Kate sat there for a moment, collecting her thoughts. Had she given up? Had she given herself over to the demon man?

  She felt Rico’s hand on her own, comforting her. He was looking at her, searching her face for emotions.

  “I don’t know why I didn’t fight,” she admitted. “When he put his hands on my face and started mumbling those words, I felt myself drifting away.”

  “He pulled you into an alternate reality?” Rico asked, incredulous. He sat up, pulling his hand away from Kate’s a little too quickly. It was almost as if he forgot it was there.

  Kate watched as Rico stood up and began pacing around the deck. The setting sun touched his raven hair and colors danced around his head like a halo. She watched his muscles flex as he moved and thought about the image she had of the two of them walking along the beach together.

  “What dimension did he pull you in?” he asked. “What did you see when you were gone?” Then more to himself: “I knew you weren’t unconscious because you were exhausted. I knew it had to be something else but the alternate reality didn’t even cross my mind. They must want you badly.”

  “I don’t really know what dimension it was,” Kate lied, embarrassed. “I just saw colors and stuff; there were no real images to focus on. I’m sorry,” she added.

  “That’s okay,” he said. He sat down then and ruffled his hair. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to figure out what they want with you if we have no clues, no clues at all. This is absolutely ridiculous. I can’t sit here and save you if I don’t know what they’re after. I don’t know where to start.”

  This time Kate leaned over to comfort him. She was too timid to grab his hand so she just placed her own on his shoulder. He lifted his head to look at her and smiled weakly.

  “It’s okay,” she said. “We’ll be able to start figuring it out soon.”

  “I hope you’re right,” he
said, getting up again.

  Kate stared at him. Rico would grab her hand but then release it, almost as if he hadn’t realized he grabbed it in the first place. He would hold her face in his hands but then push her away when she tried to touch him. Boys were completely confusing. Did Rico like her or not? Kate blushed at the thought, afraid that Rico would be able to read her mind as easily as he did her emotions.

  As Kate watched Rico she let her conscience weigh in on her most recent decisions. She knew that it was wrong not to tell Rico about the end of the dream or the alternate reality showing her what she desired most. She didn’t want Rico, the hero, the good guy, to see her as a monster when she told him about the burning world. She didn’t want to admit that one of the things she wanted most was for them to hold hands for more than thirty seconds. Kate was afraid of how Rico would analyze the situations, the clues as he called them. What could he say about the burning world? He could say that she was sick for wanting it, that she was going to cause such a thing, that she was the catalyst. What could he say about the things she wanted most? He could say that she was pathetic, that he didn’t feel the same way about her, that he was just in this to protect her, and that he would disappear when it all ended. It was wrong of her to keep these to herself but she just couldn’t bring herself to admit any of this to Rico.

  Adriana stepped onto the deck a moment