by Jamie Magee
“And what or who are you?” I asked in the bravest voice I could manage.
The angel growled deeply, and the room became so cold that my teeth began to chatter. I thought of warmth. I thought of the sun, but the sun didn’t come; instead, my butterflies appeared. The angel flowed back ever so slightly.
“Something bothering you?” I asked just as boldly as before. With my words, more glowing butterflies appeared, and the angel growled. He tried to move forward, but he couldn’t. At first I thought it was because of the butterflies, but then I saw it: a devil’s trap.
Madison must have manifested it beneath him. The roar of the angel grew so loud that I felt it in my core. The room fell apart, taking the images of the boys that I intended to save. We were in the field again, but almost instantly trees sprang from the ground, creating a dark forest all around us.
I heard music, Draven’s music. It was loud, so loud that I knew Madison wouldn’t be able to hear me. I squeezed Madison’s arm to get her to follow me, and we moved from tree to tree, trying to find the source of it and stay hidden in the shadows.
Just as we moved around another massive tree, Bianca appeared in front of me. Anger boiled in my skin as I thought of a weapon, and with that thought, a knife appeared in my hand.
“You really are an idiot, aren’t you?” Bianca scuffed.
“Me?! You’re the girl that won’t die,” I rebutted.
She crossed her arms as her eyes moved to Madison. “Here’s a news flash: you may want to stay out of here for a while.”
“Why is that?” Madison said as she looked to the ground. Once again, she’d created a devil’s trap under Bianca.
Bianca didn’t bother to look down. “Let’s just say it’s not a good place for Scorpios with green eyes...besides, I might get bored if someone else kills you. I rather like this game we’re playing.”
“It’s not a game,” I said, drawing her attention back to me. “Who did you take, and why?”
“Charlie, is it Draven? No. So why do you care? You proved yourself. He’s with you. Blah blah blah – soul mates. Back away and let me live my life.”
“Do you think I’m going to let you hurt someone else? Do you think I’m going to let you gain power over this Realm? Think again.”
Bianca moved her head from side to side. “So naïve, Charlie. I’m not your enemy.” She looked down at the pentagram she was standing in the center of. “And I’m not a demon.” She stepped out of the circle just to mock me and Madison.
“Trust me, you’re my enemy,” I said, glaring at her.
“More like a distraction,” Bianca said as she grinned.
I glared. “Where’s Draven? Who were those boys you have?”
“Have we lost our boyfriend? Why do you care who I have?”
“I care because it’s wrong.”
“How is it wrong? How do you know they don’t want to be with me?”
“Then show them to me. Let me hear them say that.”
Bianca laughed out loud. “I don’t think so. Besides, I think your afternoon is booked.” And with those words, she vanished.
All around me, I heard whispers mingling within the music that was still playing around us.
“Screw these trees. We need to see what’s coming,” Madison said, and with her words the trees fell into the ground. At first the only light around me came from my butterflies, which were resting across the ground and lingering near me, but then an orange moon began to shine, and in that moonlight I saw shadowed images moving toward us. My butterflies tried to move from their path, but some didn’t get away; the images would grab them and they would fade. At first it made me mad that they were hurting something so beautiful, but then I started to feel weak; that fleeting feeling I’d had that morning was coming back to me.
I yelled, “Draven!” as loud as could. I didn’t see him. It was just a reflex. I wanted him to help me stop what was going on.
“We have to wake up!” Madison yelled as I swayed at her side and she tried to balance me.
“I’m not leaving without them,” I mumbled.
I focused on my butterflies, and with a thought I called them to me. On command, they all rose from where they were across the ground and soared into my chest. My eyes grew wide as I told myself that this was like a dream and that it was no big deal. As the butterflies ascended into my soul I found my balance again. I found my strength.
A second later, Draven appeared in front of me.
“Is it really you?” I asked before I embraced him.
“I love you, Charlie.”
A smile echoed in my eyes. The shadows couldn’t say that word. Escorts that give in to their nature couldn’t say that word either. It was the only way I could ever know he was real in The Realm.
I threw my arms around him, and he squeezed me back before pushing me behind him. Aden and Grayson appeared in that moment as well. The shadowed images began to creep closer and closer, then all at once they charged Aden. Draven and Grayson dove into the dark cloud to help him.
Madison and I instinctively ran toward them, but before we could take a step, men appeared in front of us. They were just like the men in the graveyard before: all in black, flawless images. Behind them, I saw gleams of light. I knew that Draven and the others were helping those shadows, turning them into light, but I doubted they’d see their way out before these men attacked us.
“Too bad we didn’t get that lesson from Silas,” I muttered.
“Maybe we don’t need it. Anything can happen here,” Madison said confidently.
I nodded to agree, then stepped boldly forward to the man in front of me. I reached my hand right though him. The shock of that act made me sick to my stomach. Inside, around my arm it felt like ice, but it also felt like worms; wet, slithery worms. I grabbed as many as I could with my hand and pulled my arm out as I stared into the vacant eyes of a man that was twice my size. When I pulled my arm out, black smoke came, but not as much as what I’d seen Silas pull out, so I reached in again and set my intent to pull every inch of darkness out of his body. The cold, slithery worms vanished, and I felt a rock in my hand. I pulled back, and with that the man fell as the black smoke drifted into the air.
I glanced at my side to see that Madison had figured it out, too; three men were at her feet, but more were appearing around us.
I couldn’t help myself. The black smoke made me think of my dream, and instantly my dream came to life. There was an ancient city around us, a stone road, and ash raining down like snow.
I didn’t have time to change my thoughts; another man was attacking me. I reached inside him as he reached for my neck with his hands. The man forced my mouth open, then began to breathe in. I didn’t know how he was doing it, but I was becoming weaker, and light was escaping through my mouth. Even though I could focus on the cold rock inside of him, I couldn’t pull it out. Then I felt a hand on mine inside this man. Panic caused me to close my mouth and push away from the man. It was entirely too easy to do so, even in The Realm. The man fell to the ground instantly, and when he did, I knew why it was so easy: Silas was behind him. He’d killed him.
Silas had his back to me and was pulling the darkness out of everyone who came near me. Madison was at my side, so was Aden. I looked around frantically to find Draven. He was fighting these men with Grayson at his side.
It didn’t take long for Draven and the others to figure out how to kill them. They were faster at it than us; maybe because they were stronger, maybe because they were dark so there was no light that could be pulled from them.
“We have to stop this! How many are there?!” Madison yelled.
I looked past her and saw the image of Bianca on top of the distant building. I was sure she was causing this. With one thought, I left the security of Silas’ side and appeared in front of her. I didn’t wait for her speak. I pushed her to ground, and with all my strength, the building collapsed. The ash stopped falling from the sky, and the stone city was gone.
&nb
sp; “STOP IT!” I yelled.
Before I could think of a way to kill her, to reach into her, someone pulled me off her. I couldn’t see who it was, but I knew it was one of the dark men because I could feel his ice-cold body against mine. I focused on warmth, and the butterflies appeared around me. Before Bianca could step forward, Draven appeared in front of her. He pushed her back with nothing but a thought, then turned to help me, but before he could reach me Bianca turned into a man, one that was twice as big as Draven. He pinned Draven’s arms behind him.
“Look at her,” the man said in a cold whisper to Draven. “You know you want her. You want that light. You want to taste it. You want to feel the power inside of you. Take it. One thought. Just take it, and all of your troubles will fade.”
Draven struggled against the man as hunger engulfed his eyes. The man nodded toward me, and five butterflies drifted toward Draven.
“Just have a little taste. Just one. What’s the harm?” the man whispered.
I was more furious than terrified. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought those emotions were making me weaker. I felt ice seeping into my body. I stared into Draven’s eyes as I moved my head from side to side. I saw the desire there, I saw how much he wanted to, I saw him fight with himself. The large man holding him reached for one of the butterflies and pushed it into Draven’s chest. Draven screamed out in agony as if my light were poison to him, then he turned into a child. The small image made the man lose his grip on him. Once Draven was free, he turned back into himself and reached forward to pull the darkness out of the man, out of Bianca, but she vanished.
I screamed his name as I felt the ice seeping further into me. Before Draven could reach my side, the man who was holding me fell to the ground. I had no idea who had stopped him. I couldn’t turn to look; I was too weak. My knees buckled, and I fell forward. Strong arms stopped me before I could fall farther. I looked up to see Silas holding me. He leaned in and let his lips touch mine -- not in a kiss; he was pushing life through me again. In The Realm, it didn’t take as long for it work, and the glow that had appeared before was three times as bright.
Silas looked down at me. “Twice in one day. If you want to spend time with me, find another way to get my attention.”
I immediately felt guilty and looked for Draven. He was standing feet from me, staring with cold, angry eyes laced with hunger. I stood as fast as I could. Grayson and Aden appeared at Draven’s side, and Madison appeared at mine.
Silas gripped my arm and hers. “Wake.”
Instantly, I was back at my house with Madison. The only problem was, we weren’t the only ones that came back. The devil’s trap had captured something that I could have gone my entire life without seeing again.
Chapter Five
Madison and I were pushed out of the devil’s trap by the massive ash wings of the evil angel. It roared, and my entire house vibrated.
“This is real?! Are we back?!” Madison screamed.
I saw Monroe standing in the center of the room and knew that we were. Wind began to circle around us. My father’s guitar erupted, then he appeared in front of us. Madison and I stepped back quickly. I could feel the evil around me; the air was paralyzed with it. The angel charged forward, and when it did its beautiful face turned beastly; it looked like the demon I knew it was. The flames from the candles erupted and reached at least five feet in the air. Lamps, tables, and vases crashed to the floor with the vibration of this roar. My father’s image held its calm composure as he stared into the demon’s eyes. The demon went to roar again, but then something caught its attention: Monroe.
My father glanced at his side to her. The wind was forcefully blowing her hair behind her, but she didn’t squint her eyes; instead, she stared calmly at the demon. The evil image it had displayed vanished, and beauty returned. I could swear I could see compassion in its eyes. Monroe stepped forward and whispered words that I knew to be Latin. The angel scowled at her, then vanished into thin air.
My chest was rising and falling so fast that I hurt. The panic hurt. My father’s image turned to me. I saw sympathy in his eyes. He let his hand rest on my shoulder. He didn’t say a word or show me anything, but I heard him loud and clear. He was telling me to go, that my time to leave had come.
“How?” I whispered as I caught my breath. No answer came, just the thought that it would be soon; my escape, my fate was here. He vanished, leaving only his guitar gently playing in the background.
I looked nervously from Madison to Monroe, then I remembered where Draven was. “We have to go back. What if... what if...” I couldn’t say it. I couldn’t think the thought that Silas had killed Draven after we left The Realm.
Monroe walked slowly to me. “He’ll be here soon.”
“Who?” I asked in a panicked tone.
“He didn’t kill him,” Monroe said calmly.
Good to know. “Monroe, was that your dad?” I asked.
She refused to answer. “Did you kill him?” I pushed.
She looked down. “No.”
“What did you say?” I asked her.
“Just to leave you alone,” Monroe said as she knelt down and picked up part of a broken lamp.
“I...I...I can’t process this,” Madison said, looking at me.
“We just need to take a breath,” I said as I started to pick up the broken pieces of glass from the floor.
We’d seen a lot in The Realm; hell, we’d seen a lot here, but we’d never seen anything that dark, that evil, not in my house. I couldn’t think, and when I can’t think I have to move. I had this insane thought that I would be in trouble for making such a mess in the house. The fact that there was a devil’s trap on the floor, that I’d reached into men and pulled out darkness just moments ago, or the fact that I’d almost died twice today wasn’t my concern. All I could think to do was clean up the mess that the devil had made.
Madison stopped me and gripped her hands on my shoulders. “Stop cleaning. What now?! What do we do now?”
“I don’t know,” I whispered. “Help me clean. If I clean, I take away the memory of that thing.”
“Cleaning isn’t going to do that,” Madison said shortly.
“What do you want me to do? What do you want me to say?! That was the devil; I swear it was.” I glanced at Monroe. “The devil has those boys. He’s holding our way out, and my dad just told me to leave. I don’t know how to leave. I don’t know what to do,” I said with a voice that was laced in tears.
“Do you really think he’s the devil?” Madison whispered, glancing at Monroe. “What does that make her?”
I stepped back away from Madison. “An innocent child.” I walked slowly to Monroe, who looked up as I got closer.
“Monroe,” I said as calmly as I could, “I need you to be honest with me. Can your dad hurt you?” Even though she hadn’t admitted that the dark spirit was her father, I couldn’t help assuming that he was, or at the very least that he’d lead to her father.
She looked down. “Only if I let him.”
“Can ... can that demon come back here? Now that he knows you’re here, will he come back?”
She slowly raised her head. “We won’t see him here again.”
“But we’re going to see him again?”
Her eyes told me yes.
“How do we leave, Monroe?”
“They’re coming,” she said as she looked down at the broken glass she had in her hands and turned to go to the kitchen to throw it away.
“Who’s ‘they’?” Madison asked.
“I don’t know. I just hope Austin beats them here.”
“We need to talk to Silas. He knows something. I bet you money he does,” Madison demanded.
“Did you not see the way Draven looked at me? How hurt and angry he was when Silas helped me in The Realm?”
“He wasn’t angry that he saved your life. He was angry that he couldn’t.”
“How do you know that?”
“I felt him. His e
motions. He was grateful for Silas. Mad at himself.”
Perfect. Not. “Well, that’s the last thing I need him to feel.”
At that moment, the kitchen door opened. Draven was there. All alone. His eyes found me across the room. Even though he was trying to hide it, I could tell he was furious. He walked through the kitchen, and when he reached the threshold, he saw the damage, the pentagram across the floor. I stared right at him, not hiding anything. I let him see the evil angel that was here. I let him see Monroe make him leave. Draven tightened his jaw, then walked past me and up the stairs.
I looked at Madison. “What emotion does he have now?”
“Grief.”
Panic came over me. She moved her head from to side-to-side. “Not like death. Like a broken heart.” Madison bit her lip, then said, “You guys go work this out. I’ll clean this up, keep an eye on Monroe.”
I looked down at the devil’s trap. “Just put the rug over this. We may need it.”
Madison nodded, and I turned to climb the stairs.
My skin flushed with anticipation, my heart was racing. I didn’t want to fight with him. I had to find a way to fill this void between us. I knew he loved me, but I knew he hated himself, and that was making us weak.
I found him in my room, sitting on the black leather couch, leaning forward on his knees, staring at the floor. I hesitated as I tried to see what he saw today, what he did, but the familiar block was in place; he wasn’t letting me in.
I walked slowly to his side and tensely sat down next to him.
“Draven,” I whispered. “I’m really scared.”
Instantly, he looked up at me, and I saw compassion in his eyes. He reached his arm around me and pulled me closer. “You should be.”
“Don’t say that,” I muttered, holding back tears.
He was quiet for a moment, then let his arm fall from around me. “So...Silas,” he said quietly.
Here we go. “I promise I haven’t seen him before today. He just showed up this morning, and if he hadn’t...” tears began to encase my words. “I think Madison would be dead. I would be.”
