Fire and Fantasy: A Limited Edition Collection of Urban and Epic Fantasy

by CK Dawn

  My entire body went ice cold like I'd fallen into a frozen lake and all the air was sucked from my lungs. "What?"

  No one answered me. On autopilot, I helped Navi get the sweatshirt over her head and turned on my heel. "I'll call in sick to work. I'll be at the hospital."

  I was supposed to be going to school, not work. But it didn't matter. I was just that lost. Navi said something, I responded but I didn't know what I said. It didn't matter. None of it mattered now.

  I don't know how I got to the hospital. It was a blur of stoplights and traffic in the dawning light. I barely functioned enough to ask what room he was in, didn't see the walls or the floor as I passed them, saw nothing until the door swung open and I saw him lying in the bed that he was almost too big for, hooked up to a breathing thing and a heart thing with all sorts of tubes coming from his body. But no injuries, that I could see. He still looked beautiful. Still perfect. Like he was sleeping.

  I sank into the chair and watched him sleep, watched the rise and fall of his chest, watched his eyelashes flutter against his cheek. He was alive.

  I don't know how long I sat there, staring. I didn't even realize I had tears rolling down my cheeks until they soaked my collar and dripped onto my hands. I reached up, trailed my fingers across his cheek, his lips, his jaw. He was more pale than normal, but that was the only difference.

  That, and he seemed…empty. Like the light had gone out of him.

  I twined my fingers through his and leaned my head against his shoulder.

  And I cried.

  Navi and Alec showed up later. How much later, I didn't know. They talked to the nurse, who patted my head and told me Bryson would be fine. I didn't listen to them. It seemed like the room got warmer, like Bryson was maybe not gone after all, even though nothing changed physically. I scanned his monitors, scanned his face, but nothing changed.

  I didn't want to cry anymore. Not in front of Navi. Or Alec. "I'm going to grab a drink," I said, but my voice broke and if they hadn't been so distracted, they would have realized I was faking. "I'll be right back."

  I escaped the room, and since I hadn't eaten and didn't know what else to do, I went to grab hot chocolate in the cafeteria. My mom always said chocolate cured everything.

  Maybe it would cure this, too.

  By the time I got back to the room, they were gone.

  But the light was not.

  I sank back into my chair. "Bryson, come back to me," I whispered, scrubbing at the tears soaking my cheeks again. "Please."

  He didn't move, and every chick flick I'd ever seen was proven false in those moments. My heart broke. "I wish I would have told you," I sobbed. "I wish I would have told you I love—I love you, too."

  I buried my face against his shoulder again and clung to his hand.

  "Konstanz. Please. Please don't cry."

  I froze mid-sob. That was Bryson's voice.

  "I'm still here."

  I jerked upright, expecting those huge light blue eyes to be watching me, smiling, sparkling. But they were still closed. He hadn't moved.

  But I'd heard him.

  "I have to stay with Navi but it kills me to leave you. Navi is the only one who can save my soul, Konstanz, but you're the only one who can save my heart. Please don't give up on me."

  Fingers brushed my cheek, brushed the tears away, ice cold but there. I turned toward them, toward the frost hanging in the air.

  Bryson stood next to me.

  I screamed. I screamed, dumped my hot chocolate on the floor, and ran for the nurse. "Help! Help!"

  The nurse came crashing around her desk. "What's wrong? What's going on?"

  "He's dead! He's dead! Help him—please help him!"

  She shoved past me and I followed her in, watched as she checked his vitals and looked at her machine before she turned slowly back to me. "He hasn't changed, honey. He's still alive."

  "No! He's not. I saw him—I saw his ghost—"

  He shimmered next to me. I screamed again, my heart shattering in a thousand tiny pieces. If Bryson was a ghost, that meant he was dead.

  Right?

  "No, honey. He's not dead. He's just fine. Stress does this. It's okay." She squeezed my arm as she went back to her desk. "He'll be fine."

  He wouldn't, though. Because I'd just watched him take off down the hall.

  Away from me.

  Eighteen

  Konstanz

  I tried Navi's cell a hundred times. I tried Alec's, too, but no one answered. I didn't want to leave Bryson alone at the hospital, but I somehow had to talk to Navi.

  Although I wasn't sure how that conversation would go. "Navi? Hi. Yeah. I think my boyfriend is a ghost and I'm pretty sure you know that and now what do I do about it?"

  Probably not.

  I waited, indecision freezing me into that hospital room for hours, but he wasn't there. Bryson wasn't there anymore.

  So I went to find him.

  Terrie was home when I got there, but Navi was not. "How come you're not at school?" she asked as I stormed through the apartment.

  "Bryson's in the hospital. Have you seen Navi? She's not answering her cell."

  Terrie shook her head. "Nope."

  Helpful. Very helpful.

  I searched, just to be safe, but our apartment was small and there weren't many places for Navi to hide. She definitely wasn't there. But she'd been with Alec. I'd try there next.

  It hurt driving up to Bryson's apartment and knowing he wasn't there. Whatever was left of my heart broke and smoldered in my chest. I put the car in park but couldn't force myself to get out. I sat behind the steering wheel and sobbed for who knew how long.

  Until the crash and splintering of wood jerked me out of my sorrow.

  Navi and Alec bolted out of the stairwell, running for all they were worth. I got out of the car, thinking they would see me and stop—wondering if something had happened at the hospital. Horror made me too slow, everything moving so quickly. Navi turned, broke a board over her knee like some legendary wrestler and threw the jagged edge like a trained assassin. It impaled—it impaled a man.

  A man chasing her.

  He fell, and immediately, Bryson and—and another ghost—a woman, attacked it.

  But another one came after it.

  I tried to scream, tried to make any noise at all, but nothing came out. My throat was as frozen as the rest of me.

  The man, though—it wasn't a man. It was like something wore the man, but didn't fit very well. It moved in jerking, awkward steps and was unbelievably fast all at once.

  Bryson and the woman pinned down the other one, literally nailing it to the ground while they impaled it with everything sharp they could find. It thrashed and fought but barely seemed to notice them.

  If I didn't know better, I'd say its red, glowing eyes were focused on me.

  "It's down. I'll go after Navi—" Bryson said and with an audible pop, or maybe more of an electric snap, he was gone. The woman watched the monster for several more seconds while it thrashed, making sure it was secure, before she too, left.

  I'd been right all along. Navi was a monster hunter.

  I started back to my car, unsure what to do besides leave it there. I mean, it seemed pretty stuck. And Navi had to have a plan for it, right? They wouldn't just leave it nailed to the ground, writhing in pain and—what was that? Desperation?

  I'd find Navi. She could tell me what the hell was going on.

  Except the thing wasn't trapped.

  It tore its skin off, left it nailed to the ground, and sprang toward me. I heard it before I saw it, like my eyes refused to believe it.

  Screaming, I whirled away and ran for my car.

  I got inside, slammed the door and jammed the key in the ignition as it flung itself against my windshield. I screamed again, or maybe I never stopped, and shoved the car into reverse, flying backward out of the parking lot. It skidded and clung to my windshield for dear life, leaving blood-stained handprints all over the glass, bu
t inertia was too much for it, and half a mile down the road, with me driving backward, it flew off.

  Just as the other one came around the corner.

  I spun in the middle of the street and slammed the gas to the floor, tires squealing as my car rocketed away.

  They followed.

  Not as fast as my car, but they were visible in my rearview mirror and I babbled incoherently while I tried again and again to call Navi.

  She didn't answer.

  I could only assume she went home, so that's where I went, too. Way too fast and sobbing the whole way. I even ignored traffic lights and probably caused several accidents.

  Could this day get worse?

  Probably. Every time anyone asked that it always got worse.

  Alec's truck wasn't in the parking lot and my heart sank. Maybe he'd just dropped Navi off and left? It was a long shot, but hope was a funny thing that way.

  I jumped out of my car and ran to the apartment, nearly scaring Terrie half to death when I burst in. "Is Navi here?"

  "She wasn't here a half hour ago, she's not here now." Terrie scowled at me, retrieving her magazine from the floor. "But she was here like ten minutes ago. You just missed her."

  I swore.

  Several times. "Do you know where they went?"

  She shrugged. "What is with you guys today? Why aren't you at the hospital?"

  "Because Bryson's not there," I answered automatically.

  "What? You just told me—"

  "I gotta go. Look, just—don't answer the door. For anyone." For good measure, I grabbed all of the kitchen knives I could carry. We all had our own, except Navi, because none of us wanted to share. So I took mine, and I ignored Terrie's bewildered looks, and I sprinted out of the house, back to my car.

  I hit unlock and threw all my weapons inside, keys hanging precariously from my pinky as I scanned the parking lot, the road—

  I should have been looking right in front of me.

  The thing attacked. It lunged for me before I saw it, and I just dove out of the way as one claw slashed across my shoulder. I screamed and dove to the side, hitting the ground hard. My keys went flying. I rolled across the ground, felt it dig and tear into my skin, and tried to keep the car between me and the monster.

  I expected with my screams that neighbors would come running. Help would be on the way, but none came.

  I had to save myself.

  I needed a weapon. Something to fight it off with. Something to defend myself. I couldn't get back in my car to my weapons—it blocked the door. I grabbed a rock and chucked it at its head, but it did nothing. Even when the rock embedded itself in the thing's skull.

  Squeaking incoherently, I scrambled to my feet, searching desperately for the keys.

  They were, of course, on the other side by the monster.

  Demon.

  Whatever the hell it was.

  And then I remembered. My practice weapon. My sword. The lessons Navi had drilled into my head for hours upon hours.

  This was why.

  She'd been preparing me for this, and every word she'd ever said suddenly made sense. I wrenched the trunk open and dug frantically through the blankets I'd dumped on top of it. My fingers closed on the hilt of the sword and I spun just as the thing jumped at me from the other side of the car, arms bent at odd angles, claws out.

  It impaled itself on my sword.

  I had one brief, euphoric moment, thinking I'd won. Thinking it would surely die now.

  It didn't die.

  Instead, it threw itself backward and took my sword with it. I grabbed for the hilt, unwilling to let my only chance of survival slip away, and the monster slid off it with a sickening slick, crunching noise as the blade slid across bone and organ.

  And it wasn't a sharp blade.

  It staggered back and I raised my sword, breathing hard, my arms already shaking. Navi's words echoed through my head. Hold your stance. Keep your weight balanced. Don't lose your footing. Watch for a weakness. Keep your blade up.

  I did all those things. When it lunged one way, I followed. When it attacked, I attacked back. I held it off. I fought my ground. But it wouldn't die. No matter how many times I hit it, no matter how many gashes I left in the rotting flesh, it kept coming.

  I was going to die.

  I shoved it back again, my arms shaking, so scared I wanted to cry but there was no time for tears. Reese swung into the parking lot, driving like a bat out of hell, as usual.

  And ran over the demon.

  She parked right on top of it, pinning it to the ground. She jumped out of the car, eyes wide. "What did I hit?"

  I couldn't answer. Words failed me completely.

  Until she started screaming.

  At first it was unintelligible, horrified sounds that made no sense, but it eventually dissolved into words. "Ohmygosh I hit someone! What do I do? What do I do? Konstanz! Help me move the car! I can't—" she babbled again, trying singlehandedly to lift Terrie's huge SUV.

  She still held the keys in her hands but shock made her not so reasonable. It squirmed and screeched, trying to reach for me. Reese was right there, within finger length, and it completely ignored her.

  It wanted me.

  "Leave it! Don't let it out!" I screeched.

  She looked at me like I was insane. Or horrible. She couldn't see the demon. She could only see the human it wore. "Konstanz!"

  "It—it was trying to kill me!" I motioned toward my practice sword, hanging limply from my exhausted hand.

  "It doesn't matter! We have to call 911!" She dug frantically through her purse and when she couldn't find her phone, ran inside, muttering at me to stay there.

  It was trying to scramble out from under the car, making horrible wailing noises through its once-human mouth.

  I stared in horror. It didn't quit, it didn't die, and nothing we did seemed to phase it. How were we supposed to beat this thing? Was this what Navi fought every night?

  More than this, because there had been two of them.

  I remembered all the times she said her parolees were acting up, or that there were too many bad guys for her parolees to handle.

  She fought more than one of these.

  Every night.

  With a burst of strength I didn't think it had, it shoved the SUV off itself, what was left of its skin tearing horrifically as it slid out from under the tire. Its red, blood-shot eyes fixed on me and it scrambled to its feet.

  Run, Konstanz.

  I ran. I got in my car and I peeled out of the parking, showering it with rocks and gravel as I fishtailed back and forth before the tires finally grabbed the road and took off.

  It chased me.

  Never mind that Reese had just come out of the apartment, weaponless and distracted. Never mind that neighbors were finally starting to come outside to see what the commotion was. It didn't care about any of that.

  Only me.

  Which was good, because I was in a car and racing away and they were all defenseless.

  Still, odd.

  I drove aimlessly for hours and hours, just trying to lose it. I didn't pay attention to where I was going, only what was behind me.

  It was always behind me.

  When I stopped for gas, I could feel it coming closer. By the time I filled up and took off again, it was visible in my rearview mirror. I didn't know what to do. My phone was gone, long since lost in the commotion. I couldn't call Navi. I couldn't go home.

  I'm not ashamed to say I cried.

  A lot.

  I hurt. My shoulder was bloody and probably needed stitches, but it wasn't deep. The muscle wasn't torn. I would survive.

  Until it caught me again.

  On top of it all, my boyfriend was a ghost.

  And I didn't know what to do.

  It was just before the sun set that I saw a truck, huge and black, barreling down the abandoned highway toward me. I squinted, trying to scrub the tears blurring my vision. I recognized that truck.

  It wa
s Alec's truck.

  It flew past me, and I barely caught sight of Navi driving and a ghost-like Bryson next to her. No Alec.

  They didn't see me at all.

  My heart broke a little more. Navi would have known what to do. But she was so focused on — on what? What was so important that she hadn't seen me waving frantically as she drove by?

  Saving Bryson. That's what she was so focused on. And that, I was okay with.

  Even though I knew there was a demon behind me, even though I knew going back the way I'd come was dangerous, I whirled around and followed her.

  Nineteen

  Konstanz

  I followed Navi to an out of the way part of the beach near Devil's Gate. By the time I got there, she had already jumped from the truck and was running up a path full-speed, toward a cave at the top. It was rumored to be home to vagrants, so no one ever went up there.

  Except Navi, apparently, who sprinted up the trail so sure-footed that it clearly wasn't her first time.

  I scrambled out of my car, snatching the sword off the seat next to me, and ran after Navi. I thought about yelling but was too afraid of what else might be listening.

  Bryson stayed by Navi's side, wafting and translucent.

  Neither noticed me.

  So I ran after them, but I didn't know the trail and in the quickly fading light, fell several times, nearly impaling myself on my own sword.

  Which was something I'd never hoped to say.

  By the time I made it to the top of the trail, Navi had disappeared into the cave. I swallowed hard. After what I'd seen that day, waltzing blindly into the pitch-darkness beyond seemed stupid, and I wasn't some stereotypical horror movie girl. But Navi had disappeared into those depths, and she was way better at fighting than I was. If there was something inside, she would kill it and it would be safer inside than out, right?

  Right.

  Gathering all my courage, I followed her.

  It took my eyes several seconds to adjust. I'd lived in Astoria my whole life but never been up here before. What I'd assumed to be a huge, deep cave wasn't. It only went back a couple feet. And yet, when I'd been outside, it had been swathed I pure darkness and I hadn't been able to see the depths.