Sleep Tight, page 35
“Yes son. They joined me. They ripped into my body, almost teared my heart out and then suddenly I felt no more pain. No more fear. I become one with a Kryp and now we coexist within each other. It keeps me alive, and I give it power. Once you join with a Kryp there’s no going back. It’s intoxicating.” His eyes filled with excitement. The most emotion I had seen from him. “All you feel is the darkness. Endless pulsing darkness.”
His eyes danced over each one of us. “But we need more. They need more. More power. It’s not enough. Not yet. Join with us and we will free you. You will thank us.”
“You’re crazy.” Jesse stepped back taking me and mom with him. Daniel followed his lead.
His eye flashed. “Do not call me crazy boy.”
Tears were rushing down my cheeks. “You are no longer our father.”
“I will always be your father.”
Shouting drew all our attention away. Screams were echoing all through the cave making it impossible to tell what direction they were coming from.
Dad closed his eyes, relishing in the sound. “The battle has begun.” His eyes landed back on us. “And we will win.”
“There you are!”
I knew that voice and it was the last voice I wanted to hear right now.
Pax came rushing at us. His angry gaze landing on me and mom. Daniel rushed across, his body colliding with Pax before he could reach us. They rolled across the ground for a few seconds before Pax landed on top on Daniel. He reached his arm back and landed a blow to Daniel’s face.
Mom cried out and reached out to him, but Jesse was already there pulling Pax off just as he went to hit him again. Jesse turned him around and punched him right on the nose. The cracking of bone split the air.
“That felt good!” Jesse exclaimed as he went to help Daniel off the ground.
From behind them I saw the glint of steel.
“Watch out!” I yelled out.
They turned just in time to see Pax rushing towards them. His hand raised, the knife he held winking menacingly at them.
Then suddenly dad was gliding in between them. He grabbed the hand Pax was holding the knife in and a second later swiftly plunged it into Pax’s neck.
Pax’s eyes widened in fear and pain. His mouth opened to say something but all that came out was blood. It poured out of his mouth as he gurgled and fell to his knees. Dad pulled the knife out and blood squirted out of his neck spraying the rock wall next to him until he finally fell onto his back, no longer moving.
“Oh god. Is he dead?” Mom whispered.
“Of course.” Dad answered. “This is just one example of the ways we could help each other if you only joined our side.”
“No.” Mom breathed. “You are no longer my children’s father. You are no longer my husband. The man I loved wouldn’t ask his children to join him down this path.”
For a moment he looked confused. Then angry. And then he let out a slow dark laugh. “I don’t want to be their father. I want to be their liberator.”
“My children don’t need to be liberated.”
“Our children—”
“Stop! Stop talking right now.”
Dad rolled his shoulders as if trying to control himself. I could see he was close to losing whatever patience he had, and he was still holding the knife.
I grabbed mom’s hand and pulled her near me. “Let’s just get out of here.” I whispered to her. She nodded and gripped my hand.
I looked at dad. No not dad anymore. Gabriel. “We don’t want to join you. Our father died years ago.”
Jesse and Daniel moved next to us, and we all slowly started to back up. We knew he wouldn’t let us go that easily and we had no idea how to get out of here.
Gabriel started to laugh. And each time he laughed was like a new cut to my heart. The pain and joy of hearing his laugh was too much to bear. It was the same but not the same. It was so confusing.
Part of the battle had now moved to us. The sound of commotion rose behind us. We turned to see Calixto running towards us. My eyes darted around as I tried to make out what he was running from.
He saw us and waved his arms. “Move out! Move out!”
There were others running towards us now, other Leki’s. Then I saw Maz.
“Oh no.”
It was too late for her. She was just like Rosa. Bloody. Dark.
Then I saw Sky running, Mateo and Mason were right behind her.
“You’re okay, thank god. Is everyone else, okay?” I asked Sky.
She looked behind us at Maz. “We weren’t so lucky with everyone.”
Calixto had now stopped and was fighting off Maz with Nikko. They were trying to restrain her, but she was too fast for them.
I turned behind us, but Gabriel was now gone. My stomach grew uneasy. That wasn’t good.
“Ava,” Jesse called out. “Take mom and get out of here!”
Like that was going to happen. “I’m not leaving you guys.”
“Just do it!” Daniel called out as he and Jesse ran towards the fight. It was like they had been doing this all their lives. There was no hesitation in them.
Mom gripped my hand. “I can get myself out. Don’t worry about me.”
“No, I’m not leaving you alone either are you crazy?”
I looked towards my brothers. I had always been the one to protect them. It was the only thing in life that I was ever any good at.
But now they didn’t need me anymore. They could defend themselves; I knew that.
And mom needed me right now more than they did.
Suddenly the ground started to shake. Rocks started to fall from above us. I pushed mom against a wall and covered her body with mine.
Through the dust and rock, I could see Calixto. He was being picked up by Maz and then thrown. Nikko rushed at her, throwing light into her face, but she was already on the move. She grabbed his neck and lifted him up with only one hand.
Her shadows engulfed him. Calixto yelled out and struggled to get back up to help his friend. Another Leki threw light at her, but a tendril of her shadows knocked it away. One after the other she blocked each attempt to stop her.
When she finally pulled her shadows back from Nikko he was hanging in midair, lifeless.
She let go and he fell with a hard thud. He didn’t move. His body crumpled at her feet.
Maz walked away and Calixto dragged himself to Nikko. He cradled his body in his arms and screamed.
No.
He was dead.
Kenji.
This was going to kill Kenji. They were more brothers than cousins. And Nikko had a wife. With a baby on the way.
I had to turn and focus on something I could control and pushed mom away from the wall. I had to get her out of here now. Grabbing her arm, I dragged her behind me.
A path was being cleared for me and her by Leki’s we would pass. They took the brunt of the attacks so we could make it out. Kryps were coming from every angle, reaching out to grab us.
Then I was being pulled back by mom. I turned in confusion to see why she was stopping.
But it wasn’t her who had stopped us. It was Gabriel. He had his arm wrapped around her neck with the knife held to her side.
“I can’t let you go mariposa. I can’t let any of you guys go.”
I held up my hands in defeat as he dug the knife deeper into her side causing her to gasp in pain. “Let my mom go. Please. Let her go and I’ll stay.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep daughter.”
“Don’t listen to him.” Mom called out. “Go. Get your brothers and get out of here. Go far away from here.”
Gabriel tsked at mom. “Come now dear wife. Keep your mouth shut.”
“I am not your wife.”
Mom brought her fist up and hit him right in the nose. It took him by such surprise he let her go.
I ran for her, and she did the same. My hand reaching out for her.
But Gabriel recovered in no time and was right behind her. He grabbed her hair and lifted his hand. The one with the knife.
Time slowed. Sounds muffled.
The knife came down. Straight into her gut.
Then again and again. So quick I almost missed it.
Gabriel was suddenly being tackled by Ethan. They rolled away for a moment and then I lost sight of them.
But all I could focus on was mom. She fell onto her knees and looked up at me, the color in her face draining down, it was being sucked into her stomach and pouring out onto her hands.
And then the world came back into focus, sound returned, and my body was moving on autopilot.
My arms wrapped around her body as she fell the rest of the way down.
“Hold on. Hold on. Hold on.” My throat wobbled; my voice cracked. This was not happening. “No. No. No.”
I pushed my hands above hers, pushing down hard, her blood slipping through my fingers.
“Look at me.”
I could barely hear her voice over all the noise. It was already so weak and thin.
“You’re okay. You’re okay. You have to be okay.” My head was spinning. What did I do? No one could help us when they were trying to survive themselves.
My eyes were glued to the crimson red painting my hands.
“Ava, mija, look at me please.”
It took every effort to pull my eyes away and look at her face. Her beautiful face. Already just a ghost of her. Her eyes were the only thing still clinging on to life, her deep brown eyes sparkled as I met them.
“My baby.” She pulled out one of her hands from under mine and caressed my face, her warm blood smearing across my cheek.
“You made me a mother. You showed me what unconditional love should be. I’m so sorry I failed you.”
“Mom!” Daniel appeared by her side, his eyes running across her bloodied hands tangled with mine.
Jesse was by his side next. His face paling. “What’s happening?”
Mom gripped one of his hands. Her blood smearing over his, his eyes glued to their hands joined in red.
“Boys. Take care of each other. Take care of your sister. Always stay loyal to each other.”
“Mom....please no.” Jesse choked on his words.
Daniel’s tears were flowing like a quiet river. My heart was splintering.
“I love you. Son mis tesoros.” You are my treasures
Her smile widened for just a second more. One small breath passed through her lips and that was it. The sparkle in her eyes just a moment ago was now completely gone.
She was gone.
Through my periphery I saw a large dark shadow stalking towards us.
Death itself had come for her.
“No, no, n---” The scream was out of me before I could stop it. The agony of losing her ripping through my throat. My head was splitting, my body was on fire.
I wanted to control this, and I couldn’t. I craved power. Power to change this outcome. Power to change the past. Power to bring her back.
Everything and everyone around me became a blur as pure white light exploded through my body.
Dad gestured for me to move ahead.
I moved past him, the others following close behind as I readied my hand gun.
There was a cluster of men around a small fire, they were cooking rabbit. So, they were hunters. At least most of them could be.
Sleeping bags and tents were set up in a circle blocking off any clean way for us to sneak into the mountain without being noticed. The men who weren’t huddled around the fire were walking around laughing and talking. Any patrols they might have had away from the camp would be taken down by our guys at this very moment.
My body was filled with adrenaline. I needed to be inside already. I didn’t like that Ava had gone in without me there. I was trying my best to forget about her. To move on from the feelings I had for her. She was engaged now. And not to me. She had a fiancé who could take care of her.
Get a hold of yourself. Forget about her. I shook my head, willing her out of my mind and focusing on what was in front of me.
On dad’s signal I lead the rest of our team out of our hiding spot, we had them surrounded.
With my gun raised at them I stalked forward; the first guy who saw me moved to take out his own gun. I recognized him; he was the one who followed the girls. Mark, the guy who thought he could claim Ava.
“Do it.” I raised my eyebrow over my gun in a challenge. “I dare you.”
He paused, glaring at me, the emotions across his face were clear that he was debating if he could shoot me before I got him.
Everyone else was raising their arms, they knew it was no use, they were outnumbered and weren’t willing to risk their lives no matter how much they were being paid.
I stalked towards Mark, kicking him to his knees, I took out some zip ties and double tied his wrists behind his back. He grunted as I pushed him down. “Get cozy.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He muttered.
Dad was just finishing tying someone else up when he looked to me and nodded to my right.
Blake was staring at the mountain; his whole body was vibrating. I reached out, my hand landing hard on his shoulder. He flinched.
“We’ll get her back.” I assured him.
“I need to go in there now. Why hasn’t--”
The sight of Balin cut him off. He just strolled out of the mountain not even realizing what had happened out here. He paused, his eyes taking in the sight of his paid men tied up.
It took all of us a second to go into action, Balin turned his heel and ran back in while me and Blake ran after him, dad was yelling something, but we weren’t listening anymore.
A string of light bulbs was hanging along the walls, lighting the way. But the deeper we ran inside the fewer they became. It grew darker and darker.
Balin was fast but we were keeping up, both of us not willing to lose him. Blake brought out a ball of light in his hand once it was getting too dark to see. Balin somehow was still able to see without any light, he knew exactly where he was going.
Then the narrow passageway we were all running through opened up and right before us were cages filled with everyone they had taken.
Balin was standing next to a cage, his smile too wide for his face. “Is this who you are looking for?”
Inside was Priya, she pushed away and huddled into a corner and was staring at Blake in awe. “Blake? Is that you?”
“She’s been a feisty one. But I've been enjoying her the most.” Balin’s words cut through Blake just like he wanted them to. Blake lunged at him. They both fell to the ground where Blake lost his grip on Balin.
Balin was small but I was beginning to learn that he was quick.
I grabbed Blake’s shoulder before he went for him again. “Hey focus. Get to Priya. Get her out and get everyone else out. I’ll handle him.”
He simply nodded, not needing me to tell him twice, and ran over to Priya.
I faced Balin who was still smiling just a few feet away from me. “You guys are so stupid.”
“And why do you say that? Because this is a trap?”
Balin’s face showed surprise but only for a second, his smile quickly returning. “Interesting. You think you know exactly what you are walking into.”
“Why don’t you tell us what we just walked into.”
“Oh no Romeo. That would ruin all the fun. And I love a good surprise.”
“I’m getting sick of you.”
Balin stepped closer. “Jealous Romeo? You know in the end Ava will be mine, I’ll take down anyone to make it happen.”
That’s it. I lunged for him, which is exactly what he wanted to happen, and I knew that, but I couldn’t stop myself.
I got in the first punch; a satisfying crunch filled under my fist. Balin threw the next one getting my cheek, the warmth of the punch filling my face. I threw another one towards his nose, he ducked and swept his leg out knocking me off balance and dropping me to the floor. He was fast, I needed to be faster.
I swept my leg out the second I was on the floor knocking him down with me. He grunted as his back hit; I threw my body up and landed on top of him throwing punch after punch before he could react.
But I only got four good punches when suddenly someone was at my back clawing at my face. I stood up, the person now hanging on my back like some monkey, pulling and scratching my hair and face.
Their arms encircled my neck trying to choke me. I dislodged their arms easy enough and then held on while I swung them up and over my head, they landed with a hard thud in front of me.
“Tally?” I was in disbelief. What was she even doing here?
She snarled and backed away only getting to her feet once she was near Balin.
“Hurt Balin again and I’ll kill you!”
“You don’t want to do this Tally. You’re on the wrong side.” I didn’t want to hurt her. She was a little crazy, yes but it was obvious she was just being misled. She could still redeem herself.
“She only listens to me.” Balin’s lip curled. “I’ve been dragging her around for a while now. Ever since I learned she was working with Ava.”
He reached out and wrapped a strand of her hair around his finger. “She’s very obedient, like a dog on a leash. So desperate for my love and attention she’ll do anything for it.”
I looked to Tally. “How could you let him talk about you like that?”
She had the decency to at least blush. “He loves me. He loves me in his own way I just know it. He promised me that. You don’t know how our relationship is, no one does! That’s why everyone keeps trying to separate us, but I won’t let that happen.”
This poor girl. She truly believed that he loved her in his own sick way. But I would still never understand why she would put herself through such a toxic situation like this, didn’t she see this was not normal or healthy?
What could I say or do to help her.
“Tally baby.” Balin murmured in a sick loving way. He looked my way, a gleam in his eye. “Sic ‘em.”
“Tally no!”
But it was too late. She was already lunging, her screams assaulting my ears. I dodged her flailing arms. Balin laughed and turned, not waiting to see if Tally would finish the job. Because he knew she couldn't. She was just a distraction to get away.
