Within The Darkest Hollows, page 6
part #2 of The Demon Hunters Series
“That’s crazy. Had you done that before?”
“Never on a human.”
“Tyler, think that’s why Killian has a beef with you?”
“You noticed I’m not on his favorite list huh? Personally, I think he sees me as a threat, to the Clan, to his chances with Cassidy, to whatever. Me breaking their bond probably didn’t help, but I’d do it again in a heartbeat because it’s what saved her.”
“Tyler, you need to tread carefully when it comes to Killian and Cassidy. He will fight for her love.”
“Thanks Casper, but I’m not scared of Killian.” I appreciated his warning, but when the time came for Cassidy to choose between us, that would be her decision only.
Chapter Eight
Cassidy
It was so dark and cold in the cell. And small, so very small. Breathe, Cass. The air coming in wasn’t going deep enough to fill my lungs full, so I had to breathe a bit quicker to feel like I was getting any air. I’d had eleven trays of food brought to me since they first locked me in here, but they were pretty spaced apart. My guess was that I’d been in this room for five days. But it felt more like twenty long, miserable days.
Footsteps approached. My heartbeat picked up with anticipation. Were they coming to let me out?
“Bucket.”
“Please, how much longer must I stay here?”
“Bucket.” The tall demon guard repeated.
“Can I speak with Rya? Or Jace?” Anyone would do.
“Bucket.” His hand was held out.
Two days ago, I had made the mistake of charging the guard when he'd entered the cell. We’d struggled, but he’d had his weapon held to my neck and pinned me. To teach me a lesson, he'd dumped my waste bucket on top of me, leaving me to fester in this cell, covered in my own piss and shit. I retrieved the waste bucket from the corner and brought it to the cell door.
“Move away.”
I took my ten paces back from the cell door. The demon unlocked the cell door and swapped the waste bucket with a clean bucket, and then locked the door and walked away.
“Wait! Please! Come back.” He continued walking away. “Please!” God, please. Someone talk to me so I didn’t feel so alone. The footsteps continued retreating until a door opened, closed, and locked.
Alone.
I hated being alone and Rya must’ve known that—for here I sat, locked away in this depressing cage, isolated and ignored for days, maybe even forever.
I stood and paced around my small cell that I had measured with my feet, heel to toe, twelve by fifteen. Twelve times fifteen, five times two is ten, carry the one, one times five plus one is six, bring down the zero, five times one is five, one times one is one. Add them and you get one-hundred eighty. One-eighty divided by nine is twenty. I’m almost twenty, might even live to see that birthday. “One, two—I am blue, three, four—open this door, five, six—demons are pricks, seven, eight—stupid gate, nine, ten—Alone again.”
A shadow caught my attention and I ran to the cell door. “Who’s there?” There was no answer. “Please, show yourself.” Nothing. No sound, no image. No nothing. I swear there was a shadow, but now I couldn’t be sure. I took a step or two back and when I felt the cold cinder block against my back, I slid down, holding my knees to my chest. The tears came.
***
The med unit was brighter than I had remembered. My eyes must not have recovered from the constant darkness of my cell. The walls held their colorful display of medicines and the beds surrounding me were empty. I was not hooked to a machine. Looking down at my body, I had no visible injuries and my clothes were clean and unmarked. Yet inside I could feel the raw wounds caused by countless days of abandonment. I knew my name was Cassidy, though no one had spoken that name in days, in fact the only words spoken to me were “Bucket” and “Move away”. The only conversations that existed were in my head.
But I was safe now in the Clan compound, and my friends were nearby. I hopped off the bed and headed down the hallway. It was empty. I walked toward the dining hall, but no smell of delicious food filled the air, no sounds of talk or laughter. I ran to Killian’s room…empty. I ran to Casper’s room, my heart rate picked up as panic took root. But there was no one there. No one anywhere. I was alone, again…even in my God damn head!
***
I awoke, though I had no concept of time since there was no light besides the faint candlelight from somewhere nearby that managed to illuminate a small corner of my cell. Had I slept long? Could I sleep till this was over, treat it like the nightmare it was? I looked at my right hand as the forefinger and thumb tapped together in a distinct pattern. I knew it was a nervous tic or compulsive motion, but it helped me keep my shit together.
Standing, my pants slipped slightly on my hips. I had lost weight, the result of eating the bare minimum to stay alive and the increased sit-ups and push-ups I did daily to keep boredom at bay. I pulled my pants up and rolled the waistband down. Time to check my numbers, I stood and walked heel to toe about my cell doing the math to be sure my cell had not shrunk. It hadn’t; it also had not grown. I rubbed my hands along the rock wall as I considered the truth that I may die here, alone. Did Killian even know where I was? Wouldn’t he have come for me already? Had the Great Battle happened and everyone but the piss-collecting guard died? Was it just him and I left? The depressive thought liquefied and seeped down into the cracks of my splintered spirit. I wasn’t sure how much more I could endure before I came apart.
Chapter Nine
Killian
“Lena.” I tried to not sound critical of her magic abilities or lack of.
My sister looked up at me, her frustration evident in her expression. “I’m not a Caster, Killian, and I have never pretended to be one.”
“I don’t understand why it’s so hard though. You were able to figure out a temporary spell to keep the bindings stable and the gates spelled. Shouldn’t you be able to figure this out?”
“Don’t you dare think I am not trying. I love her too, and I know every day she is away from us, and in Rya’s clutches, we risk losing her forever.” She discreetly wiped her left eye. “I’m doing the best I can. It doesn’t help that we don’t have anything with her body tissue on it.”
And there it was, the main reason we were unable to locate Cassidy with a locator spell was because we no longer had anything with her body tissue on it. Hank had suggested we cross and head to her house to collect her hairbrush or some other personal items that might have hair or skin flakes on them.
We had sent Casper and Tarrin on the task, but they’d encountered a demon as they had returned to the Blaylock Grove clearing. Although the brief battle had ended with a bound demon, they had failed their mission. Casper said the demon had knocked Tarrin out, so he had run to help her. The bag of personal items they’d collected had been lost in the scuffle, and as Casper had dove for it, the demon had snatched it up, disintegrating it in its hands.
I had lost my cool when hearing the news. Tarrin who had come to shortly after having crossed over, was taking her frustration out in the practice room. Casper sat on a stool near Lena, looking remorseful and as frustrated as I felt.
Time for me to apologize. “Casper, listen…I’m sorry. I’m not trying to blame you or Tarrin. I’m just tired of everything being so complicated and givin’ our best shot but comin’ up empty.”
Lena came over to me and put her hand on my shoulder. “Killian, you’re running patrols out past the boundaries into Myre, extra checks at the Blaylock Grove gate, what more can you do?” Lena had always been good at putting things in perspective and keeping me balanced. “Besides, Cassidy is strong. You and I both know that.”
“I know, but it’s not enough.” I couldn’t bring myself to think about what Rya might be doing to Cassidy. I wasn’t sure I could keep my emotions in check enough to make the choices I needed to. “Desperate moves had no place in a well thought out plan.” My dad had said it many times, and as time ticked past, I felt desperation taking root.
Casper shrugged. “It’s okay Killian. I get it. I felt pretty pissed when the demon destroyed her things. I was torn between ripping him to shreds or binding him.”
“What I wanna know is where the hell is Rya? I thought she was going to make a quick decision about the ring and Tyler, and we’d meet in a day or two.” My head shook thinking about how out of our control this whole situation was.
Lena grabbed some cups and poured water in them for each of us. “I know. It’s been longer than I thought as well.” A silence settled between us and then Lena asked. “How are you feeling? I mean besides the evident frustration.”
“Better. My energy is not all the way back yet, but I feel stronger each day.”
“Can I see your arms?” Lena grabbed my left hand in hers and pulled the sleeve up. My arm would forever look deformed from the skin trying to grow back to cover the part Rya ripped off. It was closed up, but the skin was different, more withered, than the rest of my arm. Lena didn’t want to tattoo that arm since the skin was so new and sensitive. “Looks pretty good. It’s fully enclosed, no sign of infection.” She grabbed my right hand, pulling the sleeve up to my elbow, revealing the Clan tattoo above Tyler’s useless red star. “Looks pretty good.” Lena had made the snake weave around the star so that it looked like it was all one large tat. She’d done a good job with it. Looking up at me, she asked, “Hey, how are repairs on the compound going?”
“Good. I guess that’s the one positive thing about Rya being tucked away. We are about eighty-five percent done with repairs, good enough to stand strong against an attack. If we get the other fifteen percent done, we’ll be more fortified than we were when Jace attacked. Anchor had a great idea for a booby trap that we plan to install at the Center.”
“Oh yeah?” Casper chimed in.
Pulling my sleeves back down, I continued, “Only Clan members will know how to deactivate it. All others that cross without deactivating it will die or be breaths away from death.”
“Sounds scary.” Lena made a face.
“Yeah. Anyway, sorry I snapped at you. You’re doin’ good Sis, better than I expected.”
“Thanks.”
“I’m on patrols. Better head off.” I clapped Casper’s shoulder as I passed him on the way out of the med unit. Needing my jacket, I headed to my quarters.
I was surprised to see the angel sitting comfortably on my sofa. My voice drew her attention. “Tehya.”
She’d left the compound days before to do some assessments and must have just returned. “Killian.”
Taking a seat on the sofa across from her, I noted her demeanor. She sat with her back against the sofa arm, with her knee curled beneath her other leg. She held her head high in confidence and met my eyes dead on. It was surprising that despite having short stature, she had such a large presence in the room. “It’s been awhile.”
She rested one arm over the back of the sofa. “Yes, I needed time to see where your Clan was lacking.”
“And?”
“And, while I’m impressed at the unity and spirit of your Clan, it’s not enough to defeat Rya.” She paused to measure my reaction, but I offered none since this was not news to me. She continued, “I’ve called up some reinforcements from a few of your loyal friends.” I adjusted myself on the sofa, wondering who she was referring to. “Two Junctures will join the Clan tomorrow. They are saying farewell to their families and friends tonight and will cross in the morning.”
I suspected one of the Junctures would be Serena. She had come to our aid more than once recently and had minimal ties to the Human Realm. But coming back to the Clan would be hard on her. The last time she was here, she’d bid farewell to her son who was killed in the Breach. This place held sad memories for her.
“I’m confident they will be helpful with locating your girl as well,” she added.
I should have told her I wasn’t concerned about Cassidy, that I was focused solely on fighting evil, but that would have been a lie. So I simply said, “Thank you, Tehya. Your help is appreciated.”
“You’re welcome Killian. Was Lena able to get the new binding chamber spell to work?”
“She was. It seems to be long lasting, which is good, but it is a weaker spell than Angeline’s.”
“Still, that’s impressive. Seems you have a good team. Hard-working and resourceful individuals make for success.”
“I couldn’t ask for a better team to stand with me.”
She stood to leave so I followed behind, “I’ll be back tomorrow when the Junctures cross.”
I nodded my acknowledgement while she turned to leave nearly colliding with Hank—Cassidy’s father. We’d found him when we’d tried to track Cassidy after Tyler’s father had kidnapped her. He'd returned to our ranks upon learning the magnitude of Rya’s threat. Hank had just met Cassidy, only to have her taken by Rya. I could only imagine how he felt now.
“Whoa!” At the sight of Tehya, Hank straightened his posture and became a soldier at attention.
“Hank, this is Tehya. She has been sent to help us restore the balance of good and evil.”
“Tehya, it’s an honor to meet you. I fought with Eae years ago.”
“Eae was very well respected. His death was a true loss to our ranks,” Tehya said with a somber voice.
Hank looked at me. “So I guess our odds are pretty bad if they are sending reinforcements from above.”
I didn’t want to acknowledge it, even though Hank spoke the truth, so I just shot him a knowing look and it was enough. Cassidy’s father was looking worn out with his blood shot eyes, dark circles, and deeper-seeming wrinkles. “Hank, you look exhausted. Maybe you should take a break and let the squads run the next search.” While none of us were happy with Cassidy being taken, the warrior inside of Hank drove him even harder to do all he could to find his daughter.
He nodded, but I could tell he was going to ignore my suggestion. “I need to check on Jet. Nice to meet you, Tehya.”
“You as well,” the angel said and then headed toward the Center.
Chapter Ten
Tyler
“I think this place is driving me crazy.”
Casper popped a piece of bread in his mouth and looked at me with a surprised expression. “Why? What’s goin’ on?”
“I don’t know. I’m feelin’ less together, like I’m needing another spell, only it’s too soon. My dad got the symbols from Rya. He said they help keep the demon locked away.” Pulling up my pant leg, I smoothed my hand over the thick black image of what looked like a partial circle with a fish hook through the center of it. “I got this one a few months ago; they usually last a year or two.” Putting both hands in my hair, I pulled, welcoming the distraction the pain gave. “I don’t know; I think bein’ underground is getting to me.”
“Maybe a workout would help?”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” My heart pounded hard and fast enough in my chest to make me conscious of it, and just sitting across from the charismatic Casper made me want to shove my fist in his face.
“I gotta’ go.” I stood and left Casper to deal with my tray. I needed to get out of there and get myself calmed down. Roaming the halls, I hoped I would not run into Killian. I didn’t feel like I had control over myself, and I had a lot of anger that I wanted to send his way. Why the hell had he not found Cassidy yet? He had brought me over to what? Sit and wait? Such bullshit.
I shoved my door open and slammed it shut behind me. Closing my eyes, I focused on my ragged breathing, trying to steady it. I looked down at the demon symbols that marked my forearm, the only thing keeping the demon within shoved down. The tats were unchanged. But something bad was happening. Something had changed. I pulled my waist band down and found the oldest tat appeared unnaturally faded. What the hell? Was this influencing my craptastic mood?
Calm, I needed to get calm. I sat on the floor and thought of some of the exercises that had helped me meditate in the past. Thankfully, my Krav teacher was also trained in meditation and had, on occasion, given me private lessons on techniques to control my anger. Each breathe in I held and listened for the quietest sound I could hear. With every breathe that followed, I would listen for the next quietest sound. I continued until the quietest sound detected was my heartbeat.
Finally, calm.
The daylight lantern dimmed. Probably best to call it a night and go to sleep. Maybe tomorrow would be better.
***
I didn’t sleep. How could I when every cell in my body seemed to vibrate with energy and agitation? I felt like I needed to run a marathon to burn off this energy. Laying there was torture. I kicked off the covers, put on my shoes, and headed out to shake off this buzzy feeling.
“Killian 2.0! Stuck on guard duty again?” I vaguely remembered his name was Sean or something, but Killian 2.0 seemed to fit him better.
The dark haired guard didn’t answer.
"What happened? Did ya’ draw the short straw?” He crossed his arms and just looked at me. “Alright then, silent treatment it is.”
“I’m not trying to make friends. Just doing my job,” Killian 2.0 said.
“Your loss.” I passed the dining hall, with no destination in mind, just the need to burn some energy and tire myself out. The halls were less occupied than earlier in the day; most were probably sleeping. The dining hall was dark, though I could see there were snacks available. We continued on down a corridor that was long with no halls branching off of it.
“Hey Tyler, what’s up?” Casper came out of what looked like a fitness room. “Sean, you comin’ to find me?”
“No, just trailin’ him. My shift runs for twenty more minutes,” Killian 2.0 answered.
