Crypt Keeper, page 12
Squeezing his hand I smiled up at him. “Thank you.”
“I can’t stay. And you need to train.” He took a deep breath. “As much as I hate Night he is your Guardian and it is his place to ensure you are ready to handle yourself. A Crypt Keeper’s job is a dangerous one and I may not always be there to save you from injury.”
“I can’t even see what it is I’m supposed to be keeping. Maybe Mags and the rest of you are wrong. Maybe I’m not the Crypt Keeper.”
“You are. And you will see the door the next time you go inside the crypt.” How did he know so much? He always had answers to all of my questions, even the times he chose not to share them with me.
Turning, I faced him, running my free hand up his arm. “Who are you, Levi?”
He smiled sadly. “I’m the one that will always keep you alive. The grave will never take you—that I can promise with absolute certainty.”
He was referring to that night at the asylum; yes, he saved me then but everyone’s time is up at some point. “How can you say that? You know as well as I when it’s your time to go, you go.”
He shook his head. “That applies to everyone except you.” He pulled me up against his body and his eyes became serious. “You can tell no one that we are still seeing each other. You have to trust Night, and he, you—however, what we have is only for us. He can never know. You must make everyone believe that you and I have parted ways. For good.”
“Explain this to me, please,” I pleaded with him.
He shut his eyes and pulled me away from the wall. When his eyes opened his face wasn’t there. All that was there were deep empty holes. I started to scream, but then he blinked and his face was back. “I’m not of this dimension or the next. You are the only one that sees me the way you do. To everyone else I am cold, calloused, and nothing more than a means to an end.”
Shaking my head, I recalled how my eyes had changed but I was still me. And despite what I just saw he was still himself. I started to argue with him, to tell him that people just didn’t understand him. Yes, he was a dark personality, but he was always so good to me. He put his finger to my lips and smiled. “You are so special, my M. That night all those years ago in that room in the asylum you wanted to see a boy, so that’s what you saw. I took you there to show you that the other night—it just didn’t work out as I planned. You see good where there isn’t any, my little Crypt Keeper.” He tucked a strand of wet muddy hair behind my ear. His head tilted to one side. “I have to go.”
Holding tightly to his hands, I asked, “Things are changing between us now because of me—because I am taking the role as the family Keeper?”
“Partly.”
“That’s why you didn’t fight me when I left home, you didn’t want this for me. For us.” He didn’t respond; he didn’t have to. As I searched his face I realized that everything was changing and neither one of us could stop it. One thing I was sure of, he wasn’t evil. People might think he is; he might even believe it himself. However, I knew a side of him no one else did. I would keep his secret at all costs.
The sound of hellhounds howling into the night became audible for my ears and I was sure that was what he’d heard only moments before me. The sound of the snarls caused me to jump. He held me fast to him. “They won’t hurt you.”
Gripping his shirt I retorted, “Levi, they nearly chewed me up the other night.”
He took my wrist and held it up to my face. A small tattoo that resembled the eternity symbol like he had on his side was now upon my skin. “How…when?” I searched his face.
He took my face in his hands. “I did it while you were unconscious. There was no other way to ensure the beasts of the darkness will never harm you. It won’t work on all of them, but you’ll be safe from the hounds and many others. You’ll still need to learn to defend yourself—I’d teach you myself if it were possible.” He gave me a quick kiss on the lips, then released me. When he stepped away three hellhounds were there waiting for him in the distance. “Night will know if you lie to him, so I will say this now and you will repeat it to him verbatim. Understand?”
“Okay.”
“It must be exactly as I say or he will know.” I nodded my understanding. He held my gaze. “M, because you have chosen the light and against my wishes decided to take your place as a Crypt Keeper, you and I are forever parted. Darkness cannot exist in light, and from this point on if we cross paths death will surely find you.” He kissed me again and smiled. “Until later, my M.” He started toward the hounds. Before he vanished he whispered, just loud enough for me to hear, “I’d damn the entire universe for you, Molly Maddison.”
Chapter 11
“I used to be schizophrenic but we’re okay now.” ~T-shirt
“Tell me again,” Damon shouted in my face as I stood in the upstairs living area of my house.
Rolling my eyes I shouted back, “I’ve told you ten times what happened. Are you so thick headed that you need to hear it ten more?”
Mags was pacing the room, uneasy with my account as well. “Tell us again, Molly.”
“Dammit! I’m muddy and gross and you stupid asses can’t wrap your minds around the fact that I’ve told you everything. Now I just want to take a shower.”
Damon grabbed my shoulders and shook me. “This is serious, Molly. We asses, as you refer to us as, have been tasked with preserving the peace within the dimensions.” He shoved me onto the sofa as his body began to grow in his anger. He leaned in and was nose to nose with me while through gritted teeth he ground out, “I for one put my responsibility above all else, unlike you. I’m beginning to wonder why the hell you were chosen.”
“Okay,” I held up my hands. “Geez, take it easy. I’ll go over it again.” Damon stood and folded his arms across his chest and waited for me to begin. Mags joined him at his side. I took a deep breath and began. “Like I said, I was furious. I’ve never been that angry in my life seeing Mags on the ground because of what Levi had done. I just lost it—that’s the only way I can describe the emotion I was feeling, I wanted to beat the shit out of him. You both saw me run at him.” I put all the sincerity I could muster in my eyes.
Neither one of them spoke; they were being careful not to lead me or put words in my mouth. I probably had a better chance lying if I was hooked up to a lie detector. “When I hit him we both went down, and I beat the shit out of his face until he finally restrained me.”
“You’re saying he just let you pound away on him without fighting back?” Mags leaned in as she asked this and waited for a response.
“He wouldn’t hurt Molly,” Jewels piped up from the corner of the room where she’d been sitting quietly this entire time. I gave her a smile to say thanks for being on my side.
Neither one of them even spared her a glance. Sighing, I answered, “Yes, he didn’t do anything until I started crying.” I winced. Shit! I’d left that part out all the other times.
“You wept?” Mags came and sat next to me. Dammit. She took my hand, pretending to be the sweet caring great aunt. I squeezed her hand in return. Two could play at this game. I was beginning to wonder who the good guys really were here.
Allowing my head to drop, I murmured, “Yes, I withheld that part to salvage a little of my pride, but what the hell? You want it all, so here it is. I was exhausted and angry. My life has been a little more difficult lately, so give me a fucking break. I’m not made of steel.”
“Of course you’re not, sweetheart. Just tell us what happened next. We can’t help you if you don’t let us in, Molly. Your grandmother would want you to trust me.” That was a low blow, but my father had so it stood to reason that my Gran would too.
I nodded slowly. “He helped me to my feet before making it extremely clear to me that he and I were no longer good for each other.”
“The words, Molly. Repeat his exact words,” Damon urged.
Nodding, I complied. Levi had known Damon’s exact procedure and I found this fact curious. “He said, ‘M, because you have chosen the light and against my wishes decided to take your place as a Crypt Keeper, you and I are forever parted. Darkness cannot exist in light, and from this point on if we cross paths death will surely find you.’ Hellhounds startled howling in the distance and he left with them.”
Mags patted my hand. “That is all he said to you?” They weren’t buying that that was the end of the conversation. Damn. Then I decided to show a little vulnerability.
“Okay, listen. I’ve been keeping this to myself as well because I’m embarrassed by it. However, seeing as neither of you are going to let up until I lose every single shred of dignity that I have left, here it is. He revealed his natural face.” I shivered as I recalled the emptiness I found there. “He said that when I first met him I saw a boy because I wanted to see one, and that’s why he took me to the asylum the other night so I could see the truth. That the rest of the world saw him as a means to an end, and I was the only one that hadn’t.” Taking my hand back from Mags I let my face fall into my open hands. Real emotions were arising as I spoke the words. God, I didn’t have the foggiest idea of what I was becoming. What I was certain of was that the changes inside were frightening and tremendously powerful.
Mags patted my back. “Go shower, honey. Everything is going to be fine.” Nodding, I got up and went.
Jewels was waiting in my bedroom when I finished. “You okay?”
“Yeah,. Do you see Levi the way the others do when you look at him?” I asked as I towel dried my hair.
She shook her head. “I see him the way you do.”
That surprised me. “Really?”
“Yeah, I see most everything the way you do.” She grabbed a plate of food off the bedside table and handed it to me.
Taking it from her, I sat down on the bed and asked before taking a giant bite out of the turkey sandwich she’d made me, “Why is that?”
She shrugged and stood. “I guess because my reality was too hard to cope with so I borrowed yours. I gotta go—I promised Deacon that I’d go out with him tonight. I just needed to be sure you were fine before I went.”
Swallowing hard, I resisted asking how she borrowed my reality and what ramifications came with her doing that. Instead I smiled. “I guess he’s worth going to the other dimension for, huh?”
She blushed, something she never did. “He’s all right. Mostly I just feel sorry for his dumb ass. He doesn’t have a clue about living in that dimension.” She posed like a model. “I’m stress relief.” I burst out laughing.
“Hey Jewels, is the other dimension all like where Levi took me to?” Her arms crossed over her chest and all the humor left her face. Her body language was sometimes the only way I could figure out her true feelings.
She shook her head. “Not for everyone.”
“Is it for you?”
She swallowed hard, then smiled. “I’ve been there once. Hey, you mind if we talk about this later? I don’t want to spoil my mood.”
“Sure, I didn’t mean to upset you. I was just wondering.”
“You didn’t. I’ll see you later.” I waved bye as my mouth was full at the moment she vanished.
Surprising me, she reappeared a second later. “Hey Molls?” I took a sip of the Coke on the table.
“Yeah?”
“Listen to your heart always. Your instincts are better than anyone else’s.” She smiled.
“Thanks, Jewels. I wish I could believe that.”
“Trust me. There are a plethora of things and people that I haven’t an inkling about. Those I don’t generally opine on. I keep my head down and mind my own business. Regarding you Molly Maddison, I have no doubt.” She vanished, leaving me sitting alone with my mouth hanging open. That chick was full of surprises.
~~~
The next morning Mags and I were on our way to the family crypt. She was bitching at me to use my abilities and stop dragging my feet about stepping into my rightful place in the family. “It’s not like I’m trying to drag my feet—it just hasn’t happened, all right? I’ve been trying to see that stupid door or whatever it is every time we come here.” She smacked me on the butt like I was a small child that had smart mouthed her. Being the respectful young woman that I was, or more appropriately trying to be, I didn’t slap her face off.
We came upon the gate just as three wandering dead people spotted us and came running. “Oh, for God’s sake. Like we have time to help every idiot that can’t find their way to the other dimension.” She snorted, then shouted, “Well, hurry the hell up will ya? We got things to do and my decrepit ass is aging as I speak!”
Surprised by her agitation, two of them turned around and ran the opposite direction. One older man kept coming toward us; he wasn’t the least bit affected by her crassness. Feeling sorry for the old fellow, I started to intervene and send him myself except Mags had already shut her eyes, looking for his essence and he wasn’t even upon us yet. “Come on, you old fart,” she grumbled under her breath. Wow, she really was a bitch sometimes. “Move, Molly, you’re too bright. I can’t even see his essence and he’s close enough now.”
“God, you really are cantankerous today.” I took a couple of steps toward the crypt to get out of her way and got my boot caught on an exposed tree root.
“You’d be a little cranky too if you hadn’t gotten laid in five years,” she muttered.
Snickering, I bent down to free my boot. “You really should do something about that. I mean, I’ll be glad to spring for a vibrator. It’s not the real thing, but hell, it’s better than nothing.” A gurgling sound came out of her and I laughed as I freed my boot. Had I really rendered the old gal speechless? “Oh, come on, Mags,” I said, dusting my hands off on my jeans and stood. “Surely you aren’t that prudish, if the—” I froze. The old guy was chewing up Mags’ neck. I screamed at the top of my lungs and then reacted, diving for the guy, and with both hands on his head I jerked backward and twisted. His head popped from his shoulders as his body fell on top of me and I went down. Shoving the body off of me I crawled over to Mags. “No, no, Mags!” I tried to stop the bleeding from the giant gash in her neck with my hands but it kept squirting through my fingers. “No! Mags, don’t go! Please!” I looked around the cemetery frantically, then screamed for Damon. Dammit, where was he? Some Guardian he was. And come to think of it, where the fuck was Mags’ Guardian? I’d meant to ask about him before I’d become distracted with my own disastrous existence. “Damon!” I cried out again.
“Give it up, girl. I’m dead. Can’t you see that all the color has drained from my face?” I glanced up to see Mags standing over me, shaking her head. “Stupid fool. I got cocky, didn’t even think to check if the essence was a human one. I’d like to kick my own ass.” Mags bent down and with the strength of ten men put her arms under my armpits and jerked me up.
“Can’t we do something? Bring you back somehow? I need you, Mags.” As much as her crankiness annoyed the hell out of me, I wasn’t ready to lose her. A tear leaked down my cheek.
“Girl, do you know more than you’re letting on? Are you playing dumb for a specific purpose?” Mags propped me against a headstone.
Her words hardly registered,. “No. Sadly, I’m really this dumb.”
She smacked me on the back of the head and I went sailing forward and onto the ground. “Son of a bitch! I take it back. I won’t miss getting smacked around by the likes of you, you old hag.”
She hoisted her dead body over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes then growled, “Come along. You’re going to have to do this now, girl—you ain’t got no choice.”
“You mean I don’t have a choice,” I corrected as I followed after her.
“If I want a grammar lesson I’ll find an English professor to shag. Now that I got this fresh new bod I don’t plan to waste it. Now open the gate.” Obeying, I did as she instructed and we started down into the crypt.
“Mags, why don’t you have a Guardian? I thought you said all Keepers had one.”
She sighed and pushed open one of the stone tombs and tossed her body inside. Damn, that was weird to watch. “I had one, same as you,” she said, shoving the lid back on. “He was killed by a pack of vampires.”
Stunned, I stood there for a minute. “Like actual vampires?”
“Yes, actual vampires. Not like those in the movies—these are large bat-like creatures that can drain you dry in seconds. Devon—that was my Guardian’s name—was tougher than nails. It took seven of those monsters to take him out five years ago.” She lifted her chin in pride. “He saved me though. Now I’ll go find him.” She got a faraway look in her eyes. She shook her head and gave me a pointed stare “That is, if you get your shit together. Come on.”
Feeling a little crummy I followed her down the steps and into the underground level of the crypt. Supposedly only the Keepers could see what was actually down here. I’d always been able to come down here; I hid here a lot of times when I was a child and didn’t want to be found.
“Okay, now brighten your essence.” This was the first time she’d ever ask me to do this.
“Um, how would I do that?”
She clucked her tongue. “Just make yourself brighter.” I stared at her blankly. “I would show you, but as you can see I’m dead. I’ve done it every time we came here, couldn’t you tell?” I shook my head. “God, you are a stupid one. How do you think you can stand in a pitch black room and see things clearly?”
“I hadn’t ever thought about it.”
“All that education and you’re dumb as a bag of rocks.” She folded her arms over her chest and continued with the insults. “I mean, what good are you to anyone? You might as well ram your head into the wall there and save us all a lot of heartache, you stupid ass monkey. No, a monkey is more intelligent than you are. You stupid ass pig or maybe stupid ass slug, cause you never want to move your giant ass.”
“All right! Enough with the insults, you pathetic excuse for a—” Her eyes lit up and she clapped. I suddenly realized that I was glowing.
