by Jen L. Grey
She glares at me. “I have no clue.” She crosses her arms. “Why the twenty questions all of a sudden?”
And there is the defensiveness again. She’s hiding something, and I’m about ninety percent sure I know what it is at this point. “Do you have a bathroom?” I need to get away for a minute and figure out what I’m going to do.
Her face smooths out. “Oh, sure.” She points out the door to the right. “It’s the room on the right across the hall.”
“Thanks.” I head out the door and walk down the short hall to the bathroom. The bathroom is right across the hall from the second bedroom.
When I’m about to turn into the bathroom, I notice the second door is open. I glance down the hall and notice that the witch is still occupied in her sister’s room. I hurry into the room and turn the light on.
This room is more of the generic apartment room. The walls are a beige color, and there is a desk sitting in the middle of the room against the wall.
I walk over to the desk and find pictures of a dozen kids taken in the crayon room. My hands tremble as I reach for one and pick it up. There is a little girl that appears to be around five years old with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Her mouth is taped up and her arms and legs are hog tied. Tears are streaming down her cheeks, and she has gashes all over her body.
Oh my God. I flip to another one of a young boy that looks to be about nine. He is thicker and has red hair and brown eyes. Once again, his mouth is taped and he’s hog tied. I flip picture after picture and see different kid after different kid in the same pose.
My stomach rolls with nausea, and I’m shaking so hard that I drop the pictures on the desk and they scatter all over. I hurry out of the room and turn off the lights. I run into the bathroom and hover over the toilet. Soon, I’m vomiting everything in my stomach up.
The images roll through my head over and over again. I can’t shake the raw wickedness of them all and how she kept them as prized memories. Soon, there is nothing left to come up and I sit back on my butt.
There is a knock on the bathroom door. “Are you okay in there?”
Shit, I need to get out of here before she realizes what I found out. “Yeah, I’m sorry. I don’t feel well. I need to get home.”
I force myself to stand and open the door.
She stumbles back when she takes me in. “Yeah, you need to get out of here. I don’t want her catching whatever you have.”
At this point, I’ll take it. “Okay, I’m sorry. I’ll be back in touch soon.” When I open the front door, she takes a few steps to me.
“Wait, here.” She hands me a card. “Call me when you’re ready to make the deal. I’ll come to you so we can locate the crystal.”
“Thanks.” I take it and head out the door.
When I get out the building, I gulp in the fresh air. Children’s laughter from the park fills the air, and a cold shiver runs down my spine. Holy shit, she picked this apartment because of the close proximity to the park. This is where she gets most of her victims.
I will never go back to that place and won’t be able to forget what I just saw. I need my power unblocked, but there is no way in hell I could live with myself if I saved someone like her. That’s something I can’t justify.
So, what options do I have left? The demon seems to be it. I close my eyes and picture the crystal again, hoping the problem just vanished. But, of course, blackness still surrounds it.
Whatever sin I did in a past life must have been a doozy, because I’m sure paying for it now. I open my eyes and head home.
But, as soon as our front porch comes into view, something swings down from the porch. I glance around but there is no one there. When I look back at the porch, my heart stops.
Chapter Fifteen
There is a baby doll hanging down from my porch with a noose tied around its neck. Please, tell me my eyes are deceiving me. I blink, but when I open them back up, it’s still there.
I rush up the steps and follow the rope to where it’s hanging from a main board. Shit, I can’t reach that. I climb up on the railing and hold on to the roof above me as I follow the railing to the corner place it’s been tied at.
When I reach it, I pull at the rope and surprisingly it’s not a super tight not. It’s almost as if whoever did this wants me to be able to get it down with ease. After it’s untied, the baby doll hits the ground.
This can’t be good. I lower myself back to the ground and walk over to the doll. I pick her up and find a note in its hand. This is your last warning. Find a way to locate the crystal in the next hour or one of your parents is next.
Holy shit. Who the hell could be threatening me? Could it be the council reiterating their timeline or someone else? I rub my thumb along the baby doll’s neck line and notice there is a name written on the inside of the backside of the shirt. I turn it around and pull the shirt out. The name Beth is written there.
My heart jumps in my throat. This is one of Beth’s dolls? I flip it back around, and now it does seem a little familiar, but it’s been almost thirteen years since we played with any of these. Whoever is threatening knows me well and knows how to hurt me.
The smart thing to do would be get rid of the doll, but it was Beth’s and there is no way in hell I can part with it now. I walk in the door and am surprised when I don’t hear the television on or hear my parents in the kitchen. All the lights are out.
Could they be in their bedroom? I head in that direction, but the door to the room is wide open and the light is off. A weight lifts from my shoulder. After the past hour, them not being here is a huge blessing.
Becca has to be up by now, so I hurry into the kitchen and make a few peanut butter sandwiches and grab some waters. I head up to my room and unlock the door.
My room is very quiet when I walk in. Oh, dear God, please don’t tell me my parents found her. I rush to my closet and the pile of blankets is gone. I move back the clothes and open the hideaway door.
She yelps when the door opens, and her eyes open wide.
“Hey, it’s me.” I hold up both hands. Thank goodness she’s here.
It takes a second, but she lowers her hands and then bursts into tears.
“Are you hurt?” I reach out to touch her.
But she flinches away. “No, I… I just don’t know what to do.”
Okay, this isn’t good. I take a few steps back, giving her some space. I can’t even begin to understand how she feels. She woke up thinking she was going to have another day like all the others and then she dies. But to make matters worse, she had someone bring her back and mess with all kinds of things.
She climbs out of the room and crosses her arms. “I want to go home.”
“What?” What’s going on here? “We’ve already been through this.”
“Yeah, but what if you’re wrong?” She wipes the tears away from her face. “I want to see my family.”
“They’ll find you as soon as you leave here.” I throw my hands out at my side.
“So, what am I supposed to do?” She steps forward with her jaw clenched. “Hide in the closet for the rest of my life?”
“Well, no…” She’s got a point, but I don’t know what the hell to do yet. I have other huge problems to attend with right now. Can’t she go back to being the agreeable girl she was just yesterday?
There is a knock on my window, and I jerk toward the open door. “You’ve got to hide.”
Her face goes pale, and she scurries back into the hideaway room. She may not be happy, but at least she’s still has survival skills right now.
As soon as she climbs in, she shuts the door and I move the clothes back in place.
Another knock louder than the first echoes through the room. I walk out the door and find Brad there squatting outside my window.
I walk over and open it as the breeze blows into my room, wafting around the scent of vanilla. “What the hell are you doing?”
He grins and slips in beside me. “I just wanted to ch
eck on you.” He bumps his shoulder against mine. “I know it’s been hell for you.”
That is an understatement. “I might have found some solutions, but the one I thought would be the lesser of the evils turned out to be the opposite of that.” The pictures flash through my head again and my stomach rolls.
His eyebrows draw together. “Hey, wait.” He reaches out and squeezes my arm. “You didn’t do anything. Don’t get like that.”
“I’m almost out of time.” I close my eyes. Why can’t things be easy? They’ve never been super easy for me, but better than this.
“You said you had two options.” He grins at me. “That just means you go with the other one.”
“Yeah, but I haven’t seen them since we last spoke.” I let out a breath. “What the hell am I going to do?”
He paces the room and stops to look at the collage I have of Beth and me next to my bed. “Did he give you any way to contact him?”
I want to smack myself. Of course, he did. He gave me a freaking business card. Why the hell am I acting dense? I pull the card out of my back pocket. “He gave me a business card.”
“See.” He turns to me and then focuses on the two peanut butter sandwiches sitting on my desk. “Let’s go call him, but let’s call from the kitchen. Let’s get something better than that to eat.”
That’s not a bad idea. It will also allow us to get a little space from Becca. I open my door and we both head downstairs.
As we walk into the kitchen, I pull out my cell phone and dial Damien’s number.
Brad walks to the pantry and begins hunting for things to snack on.
My appetite disappears with each ring. I still don’t know if this is the right answer, but I can’t save that witch. There is no way in hell I can do that. After it rings eight times, I hang up.
I set my phone on the island and sit down. I can’t believe this. What if I have no options left at this point?
A pack of Doritos is placed in front of me, and Brad sits down beside me. “I take it he didn’t answer?”
“No, he didn’t.” I grab the chips and throw the bag in his direction. “I’m not hungry. You eat them.”
He shrugs and opens the pack. “Well, maybe he’s busy.”
“What if he was just messing with me?” That’s what demons do. Or, at least, that’s what I’ve heard. I bet that pain in the ass was just getting my hopes up so he can enjoy watching me fall apart.
“He seemed to go out of his way to meet with you.” He shrugs and takes another bite.
“What am I going to do?” I place my face in my hands.
“Hey,” he turns to me and lower my hands, “you are going to figure this out. I know it.”
Well, at least, one of us is confident. But confidence isn’t going to fix my problem. Solutions are what I need. “That’s not helping.”
He shoots a wink my way and stands. “Then let me leave so you can get to it.” He throws his trash away.
We walk to the front door and pause.
“This is weird leaving through the front door.” He smirks at me.
A giggle escapes. “You’re weird.”
He opens the door and turns before shutting it. “Give him a call again here in a little while. Don’t give up.”
I nod, and he shuts the door.
Maybe I will try later, but right now, I need to figure out if there is another option. I walk back into the kitchen and grab my phone. I doubt he’ll call back but want my phone just in case. I can hope for a miracle, right?
The kitchen vibrates, and the sound of the garage door echoes against the tile. Shit, I guess my parents are home. There goes my quick reprieve.
I push the seats back in, not wanting them to know Brad was here, and try to get out of the room before they walk in. However, the door opens right before I can clear the room.
Mom’s heels clank against the floor. “Christina, did you get our problem solved? If so, we can head straight to the council right now to let them know.”
“Oh, she’s here?” Dad enters the room right behind her.
This is going to be fun. I turn around and face them. “No, it fell through.”
“Well, I’m not surprised.” Dad’s lip curls up and he shakes his head.
Yeah, I’m sure he’s not.
“This isn’t a game.” Mom’s face pales. “This is serious. We are all at risk.”
I’m done. “You don’t think I know this?” I bark out a hard laugh. “I can’t do this with you both.”
“Christina, don’t you leave.” Dad’s tone is full of warning.
For the first time in my life, it hits me. I will never please them, so why do I try? I walk out the door and let it slam behind me.
Mom’s shoes pound on the floor. “Just let her go, Frank.”
I don’t stay to chance anything else. I need to get to my room, even though, with Becca there, it’s not a sanctuary either. But that’s all I have right now.
When I reach my bedroom door, I yank it open. However, I miss a step when my eyes land on who’s standing in the middle of my room.
Chapter Sixteen
“You rang?” The black-haired demon stands in my room as if he belongs there.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I wanted to talk to him, but having him in my room seems to cross some kind of boundary.
A smirk crosses his face. “I thought you wanted to talk?”
“Yes. I wanted to talk.” I stomp into the room and shut the door. “But not freaking here. I figured we could meet somewhere. You know. Common grounds or something.”
He chuckles and leans against my wall. “And I thought you would be happy to see me.”
Shit, he’s right. I should be happy. I don’t have time to get caught up with being upset over something like this. I have a problem that needs fixing as soon as possible. “Well, I won’t say happy, but yeah. We need to talk.”
“Took you long enough.” He points out my window at the darkening sky.
“Yes, I’m slow.” Just another person to point out my lack of intelligence today.
He shrugs. “It’s okay. You came around to the right decision, and that’s all that matters.”
“Well, I’m sorry if I didn’t trust you right off.” I roll my eyes. “You’re a demon, you know.”
“That’s true.” He raises an eyebrow. “But I’m too old to want to play games with a reaper.”
All right, I want this conversation to move along. “So, you want me to reap three souls, no questions asked, and you’ll unblock whatever is keeping me from locating the crystal?”
“That’s correct.” He snaps his fingers, and a contract appears, floating in the air between us.
I might live to regret this decision, but it seems as if he needs me. He wouldn’t be here in my room otherwise. “Okay, I need one more thing.”
“Wait… what?” He tilts his head and narrows his eyes.
Here goes nothing. “I need you to protect someone for me.”
“Are you talking about the girl you brought back from death?” He raises his hand to his chin.
How in the world do both him and the witch know so much about me? “Yes. If she leaves here without me near, they will just reap her again. I need her to be hidden.”
The contract remains floating between us, but he stares out the window. The silence is killing me, but at the same time, I don’t want to push this more than I may already be.
After a minute, his gaze lands back on me. “If I agree, she must come with me. She’ll get to live her life and see her family from time to time.”
“I can’t make that call for her.” I take a deep breath. “Hold on.” I go to my closet and move the clothes aside.
This time, when I open the door, she seems to be expecting me.
“Hey, I think we may have found a compromise.” I step aside so she can get out.
When she’s standing on both feet, she glances out the door. “What do you mean?”
“I think the
re is a way you can see your family and live a life.” I bite my lip. Once again, I don’t know if this is right, but at least she can have an actual life. “Come on. There is someone you need to meet.”
She follows behind me, and her head jerks back when Damien comes into view. Then her eyes land on the floating contract. “How the hell is that floating?”
“He’s a demon.” I’m not sure what else to say.
Her face turns a shade paler. “What?”
He smiles and winks. “Hi, Becca. I’m Damien. I’m here to help you.”
“How can you help me?” She glances at me and then back at him.
“Well, if you were to leave here or not be around a reaper, you’d become a target again.” His tone is warm and caring. “Your time is up. So, Christina has asked for me to hide you.”
Oh, wow. He’s laying on the charm.
“But my family?” She bites her lip and bounces on her feet.
“If you agree to let me help you, you can see them from time to time, but you’ll have to stay close to me.” He takes a timid step toward her.
Her mouth drops open. “I don’t want to live in Hell.” She glances at me, her body tense.
Who would? I hadn’t thought of that one.
“No, I live on Earth.” He raises both hands and grins. “My assignments keep me here. We can live close to your family even, so you can visit them often.”
She takes a deep breath and glances around. “Ugh, this is not fair.”
Tell me about it.
“Look, I know it doesn’t seem that way.” He glances at me and focuses back on her, smiling. “But this is the best way. You can still live and spend time with your family. If you don’t do this, you’ll either be hiding in that room,” he points to my closet, “or die as soon as you separate from her.” The inky blackness is almost transparent, and he speaks with octaves in his voice instead of the monotone he holds with me.
“Okay.” She looks at me. “I’ll do it. At least I can see my family.”
This hurts, and it sucks. I wish I knew another way, but I don’t. Maybe saving her wasn’t the best thing in the world. I smile and nod.
