The Coming Dark, page 10
That was a foreign concept to me, or at least it had been. I understand now a little better what she was saying.
“I’ve never fit in either. I kind of wish I had known my mother was a hunter like you did and that I could be one eventually. Maybe it would have made me feel more connected to her.”
Rain shook her head slowly, her red hair sliding over her shoulder. “I don’t know. I don’t know any other way, but it wasn’t exactly a secure way to grow up. Most parents tell their kids the monster in the closet isn’t real. My parents told me it was and they were going to kill it, if it didn’t kill them first. We had family drills on how to batten down the hatches and how to retreat if necessary. I had to memorize the numbers of other hunters to call if something happened to my parents. How crazy is that?”
Okay, that was crazy. Yet Rain had believed them and Abby never had. “Wow, that’s intense. Were you scared?”
“I guess I got used to it. Maybe that’s how kids in the military feel, I don’t know. Like your parents could die at any given moment, but hopefully they won’t. They’re still kicking though. They’re damn good hunters. I guess my rebellion came in the form of going hippie on them. I’m vegan and I won’t wear animal products.”
That explained the boho look she had going on. It made sense to me. Dressing in black was almost cliché if you were raised around demon hunters. Wearing hemp would certainly set you apart.
“Well, they did name you Rain. They kind of predestined you to be a hippie, don’t you think?”
She laughed. “Maybe. Maybe it was a secret desire of theirs. Or maybe they were drunk.”
“Did they like your boyfriend?”
“No. But they let me learn my lesson. And I did when he dumped me.”
“I’m sorry. Was it because you came to school here?”
There was a long pause. Staring at the ceiling Rain finally whispered, “It was because I was stupid enough to tell him the truth. He told me none of it is real—heaven, hell, the Bible, demons, God—and that religion is the leading cause of violence historically. That part’s true, I’ll give him that. And that my parents were abusive to raise me that way and that I needed to go to a detox for former cult members. That part I won’t give him. My parents were good parents who love me. There is nothing abusive about that.”
Umm. What did I say to that? Other than he sounded as narrow-minded as the fanatics he was intending to insult? Was it so incomprehensible to someone that things might exist that we didn’t understand? I guess it was. Abby felt that way. I had always been more open to possibilities, maybe on instinct somehow. My mother’s influence.
“I’m sorry, Rain. That really sucks. But some people need proof I guess. They have to see it with their own eyes.”
“Yeah, well, that doesn’t mean he had to act so superior to me. Like he felt sorry for me. Lumping my parents together with pervy guys who marry twelve-year-old girls.”
“Guys can be stupid.”
“True that.” She sat up and changed the song on the iPod to an upbeat dance song. “I’m not sure why I’m being such a drag tonight. It just feels like something is in the air…everything feels uneasy. It must be because of Chase. It’s just so hard to believe.”
Did Rain somehow sense something? She was psychic after all. “Like how? Do you see something?”
“Oh, I don’t know. That’s the thing about being a Seer. You’re not always sure if it means something or if you’re just like having PMS and being moody.” She shrugged and started undoing her braid. “It’s a good excuse though, I should use that more often.”
“How do you know for sure you’re having a vision then? Is that what you call it, a vision?” I wasn’t sure I would want the ability to see the future. That seemed like a huge burden, to have flashes of events good or bad popping up in your head at random and unexplained intervals.
“Calling it a vision works. I’m not sure there’s an official term for it. The strong ones are like a movie playing in my head, so there’s no doubt that it’s real. Feelings, vague impressions, are harder, but I’m getting pretty experienced. This is unusual for me to feel so…off.”
It seemed like everything was a little off. Chase’s death, my grandmother saying Axel’s name… I was no expert but I felt that same sense of prickly unease and I wasn’t remotely psychic. Though I was a worrier, so maybe it was just me stressing.
“Maybe you just miss your boyfriend. You’re allowed to feel bummed out.”
“But I don’t like feeling bummed out.” Rain laughed.
“Yeah, I don’t really think anyone does.”
“Then it shouldn’t be so easy to feel so bad.”
Now it was my turn to laugh. “Good point.”
“See? We should rule the world.”
I was surprised at how comfortable it was hanging out with Rain. She was more similar to me than Jessica was, and while I actually really liked Jessica, it was easier for me to see where Rain was coming from. My roommate’s optimism was both comforting and bewildering.
“We totally should.”
“Hey, maybe you should go see Abby,” she said suddenly. “See how she’s doing.”
I studied Rain’s face. She was biting her lip. “Do you see something?”
“Maybe. Maybe not. Just stop by and see her. She’s in Room 413. They keep moving her.”
That was all I needed to hear. I stuffed my feet in flip flops, rushing to the door.
If anything happened to Abby…
I wasn’t sure I could handle it.
“Liana.”
I turned and Rain was wearing a blank expression, seeing something I clearly couldn’t. “Judas had the thirteenth spot at the Last Supper and he betrayed Jesus…stay away from Judas.”
A shiver ran up my spine and I rushed from the room.
Chapter Thirteen
The Betrayer
There was a student guard outside Abby’s room. I recognized him as an executioner who had frequently sat with Chase at lunch. Hesitating at the door, I said hi to him breathlessly and added, “I’m Liana. I know you were friends with Chase and I’m really sorry about…him.”
He was tall and broad-shouldered and stoic, but his eyes flickered at my words. He nodded. “Thanks. I’m Brian.”
No one seemed to blame me for Chase’s death, but I did. I wanted everyone to know that I was sorry.
“Can I see Abby?”
His lips pursed and he looked down the empty hallway. This was the executioner’s wing and it was quiet, everyone either in their rooms or down in the lounge. “Five minutes.”
When he let me in with a key, I realized Abby was locked in and a pit formed in my stomach.
She was lying on a bed in a stark room. She sat up, an angry look on her face. “Fuck off—oh, Liana, it’s you!” Relief flooded her eyes. She stood up and came over to me. “How much time did Brian give you?”
“Five minutes.”
She frowned at the door. “Asshole. But hey, it’s enough. I’m so glad you’re here. Listen to me.” Her voice had dropped to a low murmur. “My cousin from Boston is coming on Friday to pick me up and get me out of here. I have a plan to distract Brian. You just need to be here at 5:30 when everyone is at dinner and then we can go. We’ll be hours away before they even miss us.”
It took me a second to figure out what she meant. “You want me to escape with you?”
“Yes. This may be our only chance to get out.”
I stared at her. “Did you hear about Chase? He’s dead.”
“What? Yes, I heard about that. It sucks but you know, that’s what happens when you give a teenager a knife.”
Revulsion at her callousness had me pulling away from her. “He didn’t kill himself. A demon killed him. I was there.”
Shock crossed her face and her mouth fell open. “Don’t tell me you believe that shit, Liana.”
“I was there. I saw it.” My head went slowly back and forth. “I can’t leave here. It’s way too dangerous.” I could be dead in thirty minutes if I stopped away from the safety of St. Michaels. Axel had managed to get to me even here. If I were out on the streets, he would find me. If Abby were in his way, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill her. I’d seen that first-hand and I didn’t want to see it a second time.
“Are you kidding me?” She looked at me in astonished disgust.
“He’s after me. If I’m with you, you could get hurt.” Because I still didn’t know what he wanted from me, only that his patience for interruption was limited. If Abby tried to protect me or got in his face about being a so-called demon, like I imagined she would, he’d kill her in a heart beat and I couldn’t comprehend that. I just couldn’t.
“So you’re just going to stay here and be brainwashed?” Her blue eyes were hurt, her mouth downturning in a frown of disappointment.
“Abby, listen to me. It’s real. Demons are real. I saw one. He killed Chase.” My words sounded desperate and I knew she wouldn’t believe me. I had been more open to believing and it had still taken me witnessing the power of a demon to accept it as truth. I was wasting my breath.
She just shook her head and gave a disgusted laugh. “I can’t believe they’ve gotten to you. They’ve turned you into one of their whacked-out puppets. Well, you can stay here and play Dungeons & Dragons but I’m getting out. I’m going back to the real world.”
“Abby…”
But she had turned her back on me.
I couldn’t blame her. But it still stung. I had so few people in my life who cared about me. It was agonizing to know that I had disappointed Abby, no matter if I were right or not.
“I’m sorry,” I told her. “I hope you don’t find out how real demons are.”
Knowing what I had to do, I left the room and nodded to Brian. “Thanks.”
Conviction forced my back straighter. I wasn’t going to let history repeat itself.
Feeling terrible, knowing that Abby would hate me, maybe forever, I went and told Mr. Bradford that Abby was planning to escape. I felt like the biggest tattletale narc who ever lived, but I couldn’t stand the thought of Abby being hurt. Or worse.
Out there she was vulnerable. No one knew what Axel wanted, and Abby had no street smarts, no skills. She wasn’t looking for danger.
So to save her, I had to destroy our friendship.
Even the approval on Mr. Bradford’s face, the thanks he gave me, the hand on my shoulder, couldn’t make up for the ache in my heart. Gram was gone in the strictest sense and now Abby too.
I had no one left on earth who loved me.
“Who is my father?” I asked Mr. Bradford suddenly, wanting a connection, a blood tie, to someone, anyone. “If he didn’t kill my mother, where did he go?”
“I don’t know, Liana,” Mr. Bradford said. “You need to forget about your father. He just clearly wasn’t interested in you and maybe that’s a good thing.”
I felt slapped. How was that a good thing?
Tears running down my cheeks, I left. In my room, I peeled off my uniform skirt and kicked it across the floor. Jessica wasn’t there and I had a feeling she was with John, a perpetually bored exorcist who wore black nerd glasses. Despite her protests that they were just friends, she’d been with him almost every night for the last week, supposedly studying.
Feeling lonely and sorry for myself, I climbed into bed in my underwear and polo shirt, dragging the comforter up over my legs. Lying down, I lifted my pillow and pulled out the sweatshirt that had Chase’s blood on it. When I held it, warmth radiated from it, and I could smell his aftershave. It made me feel like he was still with me, silently protecting me.
I let the tears leak out, silently trailing down both cheeks.
When my window drew up, the wood scraping noisily as the old panes resisted the tug, I wasn’t as shocked as I should have been. I was still reeling from the fact that I had just betrayed my best friend. I turned, more out of instinct than out of any actual curiosity as to what was happening at the window.
My room was on the third floor. There was no way the window could be opened from the outside by anyone. Yet it was, and when a guy with dark hair and black eyes appeared in view, I wasn’t shocked. I had been expecting to see Darius again, and I was glad it was before my so-called trial when I was supposed to exorcise him. How could I exorcise the demon who had saved my life?
But that didn’t mean I trusted him. I was aware that I wasn’t wearing pants so I pressed the comforter tighter over my lower half and waited for him to explain what the hell he was doing. For a split second I debated screaming for help.
There was no reason to believe he wouldn’t hurt me, yet I hesitated, and held back on alerting anyone else that a demon was in my room.
“What do you want?” My voice cracked on the last word, and I decided maybe I was more frightened than I had first thought.
He pulled himself in the window and dropped softly down onto the floor, tossing his hair back out of his eyes, his handcuffs rattling. “I’m just checking on you. Is everything okay?”
If those shackles they had him in were supposed to keep him immobile, they weren’t working particularly well. “How did you get in here?”
“I climbed out a window downstairs, scaled the wall, then climbed in your window. It’s not that hard really. They have the perimeter of the building protected, but not every window is demon-proof. I just had to systematically check them to find one I could exit.”
“How very clever of you.” My throat felt tight. “I’m fine. Thanks for saving me the other night.”
He nodded, studying me, eyes dropping to what I was holding.
I clenched the bundle closer to my chest.
His nostrils flared. Moving forward quicker than I could react, he tugged the sweatshirt out of my hands. “What are you doing with this?”
“Hey! Give that back!” Panic started to set in. Ignoring the fact that I was only in my panties, I jumped up out of bed and grabbed at the sweatshirt, trying to pull it back to me. I couldn’t lose it, I just couldn’t.
But then his jaw dropped. “You’re not wearing pants!” He slapped his hand over his eyes and let me pull the shirt out of his grip. “Damn it, put some clothes on, please.”
That gave me pause, and might have made me laugh if I wasn’t so freaked out. The demon from hell was unnerved by me being half-dressed? Bathing suits showed way more than I was displaying, yet not only were his fingers over his face, it was clear his eyes were squeezed shut. In human terms, he was maybe seventeen or eighteen, but I wasn’t sure how that translated in demon years.
But since he’d let me take my sweatshirt back, I could accommodate his modesty issues. My uniform skirt was inside out on the floor, but I ignored it and pulled on my discarded gym shorts that were lying in a laundry basket by my dresser. I stood there, one hand on the doorknob of my door, ready for a quick getaway if I needed it. “You can open your eyes.”
He did, tentatively. “Thank Lucifer.” He let out a whoosh of air. “Your father would kill me.”
“How do you know my father?” I asked. “Was he a hunter like my mother?”
“What do you know about your father?” he asked instead of answering my questions.
He stuck his hands in his pockets and for a second, I was completely distracted. He was thin, but not scrawny and he had that look of an indie rocker that I’d always loved. A chain trailed from his belt to his pocket and his dark hair kept sliding into his eyes. He was wearing an AC/DC t-shirt. I still thought he was attractive. Hot, actually. I couldn’t help it. My crush had occupied a lot of my free-time fantasizing for several months, and while I was being targeted by a demon, I was still a sixteen-year-old girl.
“I don’t know anything about my father. Just his name. And that he left my mother a year before she was killed.” I shivered as the brisk air from the open window washed over me. “Why aren’t your eyes red?” I asked suddenly, letting go of the doorknob.
With one hand he reached back and closed the window, as if I’d said out loud that I was cold. “My eyes aren’t red because I have full possession of this body. My host was, well, dying when I slipped in. So it’s very easy to be in it…no one fighting me.”
That should have been reassuring, but it wasn’t. “Why are you here?” I didn’t want to think about the fact that he was walking around in a corpse. That I was attracted to.
“To warn you. Axel will be coming after you. You have to be on your guard.”
He was a little late on the warning. “What does he want from me?”
“He wants you dead.”
Not that I hadn’t expected that as an answer, but it still sent a jab of fear through me. “Why?”
Darius flicked his hair out of his eyes and sat down on Jessica’s bed, looking every inch the rebellious angsty teen. The handcuffs only added to the effect. “There was some sort of disagreement between him and your parents.”
I snorted and moved forward, sitting on my own bed across from him. “Yeah, that he killed my mother. But that happened after my dad left.”
“Maybe your dad was forced to leave. Maybe he has watched you too, like Axel, worried about you.”
Where had my father been for the last fifteen years? If he was so freaking worried about my safety, it might have been nice if he’d shown his face at some point in my life. “That’s nice of you to say, but I doubt it’s true.”
Darius stood up again and turned slightly. “Reach into my pocket. There’s something I want you to see.”
Was he serious? “I would think that a demon would have a better line than that. I am not sticking my hand in your pocket.” I rolled my eyes at him just to show him exactly what I thought of his suggestion.
But Darius looked shocked. “What? No! That’s not what I meant. I have a picture for you but I can’t pull it out with my hands in these cuffs. I mean, I could…” He gave me a smirk. “Because I’m a demon. But in your presence I’m trying to be as human as possible.”
