Bloodlines 02: Torment

by Lindsey Anne Kendal

Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Thoughts and Dreams

  It’s strange what life throws at you. At the beginning of this year I was living in West Chester, with a good job, my best friend was moving in and all was peaceful. I lived my life the same as any other human being. Sure there were bad times, but there were also great times. Then suddenly life takes you out of your normal routine, and throws you in at the deep end of something you never for one minute imagined could be possible. Your life changes completely –sometimes you wonder why?! Why did it happen to you? Why couldn’t you have just been allowed to carry on as before? Where you didn’t constantly have to be on your guard and looking over your shoulder every two minutes, waiting for someone or something to attack you. To try to kill you.

  Don’t get me wrong, in a way I’m glad all this happened. I know that must sound strange, but now, I’ve got a family, well; I’m now part of five families. Four on Earth and one in Hell. I’ve got more friends than I’ve ever had before, and, although one of them really winds me up, I wouldn’t swap them for the world. My best friend has found love and, despite everything that's going on around her, she’s happy.

  I’ve found out more about myself, some of which I wish I hadn't found out. Like how my ancestor was greedy and wanted more power, and how he involved my friends’ families. If he hadn't, OK we probably wouldn’t have ever met, but they wouldn’t have been involved in this. They could have led normal and happy lives, had families of their own and not had to worry about being attacked, or worse. None of them had to know what was really out there. I know none of them would change how they are, but sometimes I think they only say that to keep me happy.

  Thinking this makes me sound like I hate who and what I am. I don't. I love being me, I love having these powers in me and being able to do so many crazy things. I love being here with everyone; I love them all for different reasons. I love my new house, the families, the town, everything. But most of all I love the guy lying next to me. Now, if you had told me only a few months ago that I would I fall in love with someone who loved me back, as much as he does…I would have laughed at you. I would have said, ‘Yeah OK, I’ll believe it when I see it.’ If you had told me that a demon would have come to protect me from someone who wanted to wipe us all out, I would have thought you needed locking up. I never thought for one minute I would fall in love with someone as much as I’d fallen in love with Eligos. I thought this kind of love only existed in books and in the movies. But it does exist, and it’s amazing. I have a demon lying next to me, who is over four and a half thousand years old, who has never had feelings for anyone before. Yet he loves me. I must have done something right in a past life, that's all I can say. Why else would I have been given such an amazing guy, such a gorgeous, loving guy?

  Eligos was lying asleep next to me, his arm around my waist, and his hair slightly falling over his face. I’d been staring at him now for about half an hour. We’d been together over a month, in Earth time, and I still couldn’t stop staring at him. Everything had been perfect for us these last few weeks. Tyler hadn't picked a fight with him, I hadn't upset him at all, and nothing had tried to kill any of us. It was as though everything bad that was happening had stopped, and we were being allowed to be happy for a while. I lay there stroking his arm.

  “You’re staring at me again,” he said, keeping his eyes closed but smirking.

  “I know,” I giggled.

  “Why do you do that?”

  “I can’t help it; I love looking at you.”

  “You’re strange, do you know that?”

  “Yes, but you love me, so you’ll just have to put up with it.”

  “Yeah,” he said, pulling me closer to him. “How long have you been awake?”

  “I dunno, about half an hour I think.”

  “What do you think about when you’re lying there, staring at me?” he asked, opening his beautiful eyes.

  “I think about everything that’s going on and how different my life is these days.”

  “Are you happy?”

  “I’m happy with you.”

  “But? I know there’s a “but” coming,” he told me.

  “But I just wish everything could be normal.”

  “I wouldn’t have been sent here if it was.”

  “I mean normal now. I wish that whoever was starting this war would suddenly give up and piss off.”

  “I wouldn’t be able to spend as much time here with you.”

  “I’d come to you,” I said, kissing him on his cheek.

  “How, you’ve got life in you remember.”

  “Yeah, and I can stop that.”

  “Don't talk like that, Keira; you’d miss Earth if you were away from it for a long time.”

  “I could come back whenever I wanted.”

  “And do what?” he said, turning so he was lying on his back. “Watch your friends get old and die around you. See how the land and the people in it changed. Watch everything you once knew and loved disappear. Living forever…it’s quite sad at times.”

  “Sadly I’m going to have to do that anyway, and it sounds like you don't want me around forever,” I told him.

  “Don't be stupid, of course I do. I told you when we first got together I wanted you forever. I just want you to know what to expect.”

  “I know, and I know it will be heart breaking, but my friends will go to Heaven together; they will have each other. And we’ll have each other.”

  He pulled me over to him. I lay with my head on his chest and my arm around him. He was right. When they were in their eighties, I would still look twenty-two. And in the end I would have to watch all my friends die. I didn’t like thinking about it; they were all still young and had the rest of their lives in front of them, or at least I hoped they did.

  “What time is it?” he asked me.

  “Nine a.m.,” I said, looking at my watch.

  “Have you slept in that?”

  “Yeah, well, I was kinda busy when I got in bed last night, so I forgot to take it off,” I said, leaning up to look at him. He didn’t say anything he just got a massive smirk on his face. It caused me to get butterflies in my stomach. “You might as well smirk; I’m going to be tired all day because of you.”

  “I didn’t hear you complaining,” he teased, the smirk turning into a cheeky smile. “Anyway, just go back to sleep.”

  “I can’t! I’m awake now, but I’ll be dead later.”

  “Well, then I suggest you shut your eyes for a while later then.”

  “Or maybe just have an early night tonight?”

  “I’m up for that,” he grinned.

  “I meant to sleep,” I said, grinning myself.

  “Oh, right, no sorry that’s not a good enough reason to have an early night.”

  “You know, knowing how you are with me, it kinda makes it hard to believe that you went over four thousand years without sex.”

  “I’m making up for it. But if I hadn't met you, I would have gone forever without it. I’m only like this because you drive me crazy. It’s all your fault.”

  “Hey, don't blame me,” I said, giving him a playful shove.

  “Why not? It’s the truth,” he laughed. “And you start it half the time. Besides you could always push me away.”

  “Oh yeah course I could,” I said, getting comfortable on him again.

  “It’s not my fault you can’t say no.”

  “I’m going to practice saying that word from now on.”

  “Are you really? We’ll see.”

  We lay there for another ten minutes or so, just holding each other. Then there was a knock on the door.

  “Keira, Eligos, do you want breakfast?” Lily shouted.

  “Yes,” we both shouted.

  “OK, it’ll be about fifteen minutes.”

  “Right! “I shouted back to her.

  I looked up at Eligos again; he looked as though he was in REM. A sure sign someone from Hell was talking to him.

  “Lilith wants to
see you,” he told me once he opened his eyes.

  “Oh God!” I said as my stomach sank.

  “Keira, it’s been weeks since the disagreement; I wouldn’t worry about it.”

  “I know, but I haven’t seen her or spoken to her since.”

  “Just go as you normally would, act like nothing’s happened. That’s what I would do.”

  “OK, we’ll go after breakfast.”

  We both got up, and got washed and dressed before heading down to the kitchen.

  “That was good timing,” Lily said, passing us a plate of food each. “Go and sit down. Jake’s in the dining room. I’ll come through in a moment.”

  We sat down with Jake, who didn’t look very happy.

  “Are you OK?” I asked him after a few moments of silence.

  “Yeah.”

  “Liar.”

  “He won’t tell you,” Lily said, walking in and sitting next to him. “He won’t tell me.”

  “Out with it, Jake, come on,” I said.

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “Jake, come on, if we were like this you would want us to talk to you,” Lily told him.

  “I just…I just keep having really bad dreams; that's all it is,” he said before sipping his coffee.

  “About what?” Eligos asked him. “Obviously there affecting you so…”

  “They’re not nice. Places are being destroyed, people are dying, and I can’t do anything to stop it.”

  “Do you think that what happened at Point Reyes Station is playing on your mind?” I asked him.

  “Maybe. It only started a few days after hearing about it .I just can’t seem to shake it. But we saw pictures of the place on the TV, and it doesn’t look like that in the dream.”

  “What does it look like?” Lily asked him.

  “A big town, not somewhere small like Point Reyes. There were tall buildings and hotels, lots of them,” Jake said, rubbing his eyes. “It felt so real.”

  “You need a break,” I told him. “Seriously, you need to have a vacation or something.”

  “I’ll be OK; don't worry, Keira.”

  We finished our breakfasts and took our plates into the kitchen. I heard the front door open and a moment later Danny walked in.

  “Hey, guys,” he said. “Oh bloody hell, I missed breakfast.”

  “Yes you did, and you know what? It was gorgeous,” Eligos said, smirking at him.

  “I hate you.”

  “What brings you around here so early?” I asked him.

  “I was going to see if Eligos fancied going a few rounds. I’ve really gotten into swordplay.”

  “No – you hate me remember,” Eligos said.

  “No, I did a minute ago; I don't now,” Danny told him.

  “Well, you two do whatever you need to, I’m going into town. I want to get a new coat. We can go and see Lilith later.”

  “Oh go on then,” Eligos said.

  He and Danny made their way outside. Lily and Jake were going to chill out for a while. Jake was tired out, too afraid to sleep for fear of having another dream. I told them to relax and, if they needed anything, to call me. Then I grabbed my car keys and set off into town.

  I spent a couple of hours in town and ended up buying more than just my coat. I ended up with six DVDs, a new pair of jeans, three new tops and a new dress. As I was making my way back to my car I bumped into Lucian.

  “Hey,” he said. “What have you been buying?”

  “Allsorts, although I actually came out just to get a coat.”

  “Women, you just can’t help but spend!” he laughed.

  “Oh shut up, everyone deserves a treat now and then.”

  “What you doing now?”

  “Going home.”

  “Are they waiting for you?”

  “No, Eligos and Danny are scrapping in the garden, and Jake and Lily haven’t had much sleep so they’re just relaxing.”

  “Wanna grab a coffee then?”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  He took some of my bags off me and we went to a little coffee shop on one of the backstreets. I went to get a table while he ordered the drinks. It was nice in here; I’d never seen it before. It was only small, but very cosy. They had sofas and coffee tables instead of the normal hard chairs and larger tables. I could get used to it in here.

  “Here you are.” he said, passing me my drink and sitting on the sofa next to me.

  “Thank you. I didn’t even know this was here.”

  “I didn’t either for a while; it’s well hidden.”

  “So what are you up to today?”

  “Not a lot. I’ve got some work to do on my car, but other than that, it’s just going to be a boring day.”

  “You say it like it’s a bad thing,” I smirked.

  “Well, I suppose I do prefer boring days to…getting my ass kicked or fighting a demon day,” he laughed. “Are Jake and Lily OK, or were they just up all night being naughty?”

  I told him about Jake’s dreams and how they seemed to be really upsetting him.

  “It’s getting to us all now, I think,” he told me.

  “Why, have you been having dreams?” I asked him.

  “No, I’m just constantly on edge. I’m tense all the time and it’s wearing me out.”

  “You need to relax. I know it’s easier said than done, but you need to try.”

  “I know, and sometimes I do, but just when you think things might be getting better, something else happens. It’s like whoever’s doing this is trying to wear us into the ground.”

  “Well, don't let them!” I told him. “Don't let it win.”

  “I don't intend to,” he said, sipping his coffee. “Are you OK after everything that happened?”

  “I am actually, although sometimes I do go off into my own little world and think about things.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like what it would be like if nothing was coming. Would we have met, would I have still come looking for you all in years to come? Things like that really.”

  “We would have found out more about your family, or at least tried. We would have still tried to contact you,” he told me.

  “I wonder if I’d have still stayed here.”

  “I think, you may have gone home again, but then come back every now and again. Maybe eventually moved into the Putnam house and been happy here.”

  “Maybe.”

  “Jake would have still fancied Lily. I would have still fancied you, and so would Tyler. Things may have worked out for one of us,” he said sadly.

  “Lucian, I…”

  “Look, before you say anything, I’m happy for you and Eligos. That guy loves you; you can see it by the way he looks at you, the way he talks to you. He would do anything for you, and I know you love him. It’s written all over you. I’m just glad you’re happy.”

  “Thanks, Lucian, that means a lot.”

  “I just wish Tyler could be happy for you. There is someone out there for everyone, and obviously you were made for Eligos; you two will always be together, you can tell. Somewhere out there is a woman for Tyler; he just hasn’t met her yet and he’s still convinced it’s you,” he said.

  “He winds me up when he starts with Eligos.”

  “Tyler’s lucky he hasn’t killed him. I’ve seen the strength Eligos has in him; it’s frightening.”

  “I know, he has to be careful not to hurt me every time he touches me. We’re so weak and fragile compared to him. It’s crazy.”

  “At least you know you will be well looked after.”

  “When I die, I’ll be like him; I’ll be strong. It’s only the life in me that stops it. Although I am stronger now than I was before I died, but only a little.”

  “When we die, we’ll never see you again will we?”

  “No, you’ll most likely go to Heaven.”

  “What if we don't want to?”

  “You don't get to pick and choose,” I told him.

  “We’ll see about
that,” he said seriously.

  “Why would you want to go to Hell; I bet the others wouldn’t.”

  “Actually you’re wrong; we’ve spoken about it.”

  “What?” I asked shocked.

  “None of us want to be split up. We’re all so close and we don't want that to end when we die. We know there is something after death now and we want to stay together.”

  “As nice as that sounds, and as much as I would really like that to happen…I doubt very much it will.”

  “We’ll see, hey, you never know, I might end up marrying a demon,” he smirked.

  “Well, you know we’re nice,” I smirked back. “Just remember, though, like Eligos said, if you get married in Hell, it’s a forever deal…literally.”

  “Yeah, I remember him saying that. Can you imagine loving someone so much that you would be willing to spend all eternity with them?”

  “Actually I can,” I told him, looking up and smiling.

  Chapter Thirty

  Getting Confident

  “Turn the TV up!” one of the guys in the café shouted to the waitress. “Quickly, it’s happened again.”

  Me and Lucian turned around as the waitress increased the volume. There was a little TV over the counter and the news was on. We couldn’t believe our ears; it was happening again. The anchor man said:

  “…No survivors have been found yet in either of the towns. CIA and FBI are on the scene, along with police officers from neighboring towns, but nobody knows what they are thinking, or whether they even know what is happening. The missing person count for both areas combined is now over 6,500. Add that to the people still missing from Point Reyes Station and the total is some 7,500 people who seem to have disappeared without a trace. In Yellow Springs, Ohio, four houses were left standing along with a café and a restaurant on Xenia Avenue. All have been damaged but their structures are still holding strong. In Mazomanie, Wisconsin, only the Arts Center remains standing. Homes, businesses and churches have all been destroyed. Friends and family members of the missing people are demanding answers from the police and local authorities. No answers have yet been given. Attacks have been made on the police by angry…”

  “We need to get the others,” I told Lucian. “This is going to get ugly really quickly.”