Taken

by Bolton, Karice

  I had to get in there tonight. As I continued to climb the building, I glanced in the windows I passed seeing nothing more that was concerning. The first incident was enough. I reached the roof and fell over the brick cornice onto the flat roof’s surface, catching my breath. I scanned for the entrance, finding it in the far corner.

  “Arie, I’m going in,” I channeled to her.

  “I’m already in,” she answered back. “Saw too much. I couldn’t wait. I went in through the roof, and I’m on the third floor.”

  “I’ll survey the fourth and fifth floors,” I replied. “Someone was in the woods behind Athen. He went to check it out.”

  “Ooh, same with Cy.”

  Oh no. They were expecting us. Whoever they were.

  “Looks like someone knows we’re here. Might as well get what information we can out of the place before we take off.” I opened the large rusty door and began climbing down the stark stairwell.

  “Agreed. No turning back now.”

  Reaching the door that had a large painted five on it, I yanked on it and walked onto the barely lit fifth floor. A faint hum of Bing Crosby’s White Christmas tumbled down the hall from the nurse’s station. It did little to put me in the holiday spirit.

  Slowly walking down the hall the sound of whimpering met me with a pattering of footsteps in the distance. I opened the door nearest me and dashed in, closing it quickly behind me. The room was completely dark, and the space was so confining I wasn’t sure where I landed. I tasted bleach in the air. It had to have been a cleaning closet. The footsteps in the hallway slowed. Please let them not need anything in here. I waited until I heard the footsteps start up once more and continue down the hall. I slowly opened the door, allowing a small stream of light into the closet. Glancing at my surroundings I saw mops, buckets, and chemicals. I was grateful for the small amount of fresh air that was sneaking in after realizing what I was surrounded by.

  Focusing on the hallway, I waited to see what might be transpiring.

  Athen probably took care of whatever creature they sent after him. His fighting ability was unmatched and most dark demons never expected us to be as good as we were, and Athen was exceptional. So if I took too long, Athen would no doubt come looking for me. This was supposed to be a quick surveillance, and I hadn’t planned on going into the building, and yet here I was.

  “What’s your problem, cry baby?” the man’s voice yelled.

  He was dragging a female patient by her hair to a room, her legs thrashing against his strength, skidding on the linoleum. My heart dropped. It was like my vision but a different patient.

  Slowly leaving the closet to get a better view, I watched the man tie the patient down to her bed with straps and flip the light off as he exited.

  If only I could just take this monster out now. Maybe I could. I knew what he was capable of. The uncontrolled anger whipped through my body as I confronted the demon posing as a man.

  I felt the thumps of my heart beating double time as I stared at this disgrace. He avoided my gaze, and he only stared at the floor.

  “Look at me,” I hissed, walking closer to the man. He was dressed in an orderly’s outfit, all white. His dark, glossy hair was slicked back.

  “I said look at me.”

  His vacant eyes flashed up to meet mine.

  “Who sent you to tamper with the patients in this hospital?” I asked.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he replied coolly.

  “Of course you don’t.”

  A vicious smile appeared on his lips right before he lunged at me. I dodged out of the way, sliding my body on the floor until my feet hit the rubber baseboard. My body turned to face him once more.

  “Either answer me now or I’ll end you,” I replied, readying my stance. I already knew what his answer was going to be, and I was looking forward to a little combat.

  He shook his head and swiped at me, coming close enough for me to grab his wrist.

  “Were you trying to turn that woman?” I snapped.

  “Maybe I already did.”

  Climbing up the wall, I backed myself against the ceiling and waited as his body dangled from my grasp. I could crush him so easily.

  “One more chance. Now, who sent you?”

  The demon shook his head at me. I had the complete advantage. He was so new he didn’t even know how to climb walls. I let go of his wrist and he collapsed as I fell back onto the ground. I wanted to face him before I destroyed him.

  “You have no idea who you’re messing with.” I laughed, as I broke his wrist with a squeeze.

  His squinted at me in confusion, and I pulled him toward me. His struggle was a feeble attempt against my strength. He wasn’t going anywhere. He probably was only a few weeks old in demon terms.

  “Let me go,” he roared, reaching for my neck with his only remaining hand. At the same moment I wrapped my arms around his waist and crushed him with a thousand years of strength. His mouth was frozen in an open state as his last gasp of air escaped.

  “You’re lucky I don’t have more time; otherwise I’d make this far more painful,” I snarled, as his body slumped in my arms, releasing darkness into the hallway.

  That was nice and easy.

  I ran into the woman’s room. Her eyes were filled with fear as she watched my every move.

  “I’m Ana. You’re going to be okay,” I told her, walking toward her bed.

  The room was bare and her bed was the only one filled. Her blue eyes took me in, but she was afraid to speak.

  “He won’t be coming back for you.” I whispered. I only hoped the others wouldn’t either.

  I untied the restraints that were gripping her wrists and ankles so tightly.

  “Thank you,” she whispered.

  I nodded at her and walked out of the room. I had to get out of here.

  I heard familiar steps coming up the stairs. I had been caught. Shoot! I couldn’t help but smile as I thought about Athen’s protective nature.

  I looked down the hallway until Athen finally came into view, and I sprinted toward him.

  “You don’t follow your own rules very well,” Athen whispered, his eyes narrowing on me. It was hard for him to keep the smile off his lips.

  “I just had to check on something,” I whispered back. “And my suspicions were right.”

  “I’m sure they were. Cyril had to go in after Arie too.”

  “Great minds think alike.” I grinned at Athen.

  “I want to come back tomorrow… See if we can get hired here, which means Arie and I need to do the mortas process tonight. I stopped one of the possible turns, but I’m worried they’ll just be back later tonight for the woman.”

  “You can’t save everyone at once,” he whispered. “If this is as serious as it sounds, we’re going to lose a few.”

  “I know but seeing the fear in her eyes was —”

  “We’ll get her, but we also have stop the opening to the underworld from becoming active if it hasn’t already.” Athen wrapped his arm around my shoulders and led me up the stairs to the roof where Cyril and Arie were waiting.

  The breeze had picked up and Cyril was hugging Arie tightly.

  “We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us,” Cyril’s voice picked up in the wind.

  “That we do.” Athen replied grimly.

  A slight rumbling began to surface under our feet. Arie’s gaze connected with mine and I shook my head in denial.

  “You don’t think it’s the…” I stopped once I saw the horror that was in front of us.

  The sky began filling with tiny winged creatures. Hundreds of them began screeching as their wings flapped violently toward us. Their eyes were red with hatred and hunger — the corpse eaters. Someone had summoned the Jikininki demons to the very place we were standing on top of.

  “Time to fly,” Athen whispered, squeezing my hand.

  Taking a deep breath in, I imagined leaving this building behind with my family by my side. I felt
my wings release as they swept me into the wind, following Athen, Cyril, and Arie as the Jikininki descended on the building.

  “They weren’t sent for us,” Athen yelled as he landed on the lot.

  “No, they weren’t.” I landed next to him and watched as one tiny creature after the other proceeded to cover the hospital.

  My wings retracted, and Athen brought me close to him as we watched a spectacle unfold that we could do nothing about— at least not tonight.

  “I think the gates have been opened,” Arie murmured, her voice trembling.

  “Well, it’s our job to close them back up,” I said, barely able to speak. I looked into Athen’s eyes, and they were full of darkness. “I know we can’t do anything tonight, but we’ve got to get involved tomorrow once we’re ready.”

  Athen glanced at Arie and then back at the building.

  “We’ve got this,” I whispered reassuringly.

  He shook his head and looked into my eyes. “I don’t know that I want you to fight this, or that we should fight this.”

  “We can’t let this go,” I protested as the small assault continued in front of us. “This is what we do. This is why we’re white demons. It’s our duty to stop the dark demons as often as we can.”

  “These openings happen every so often, and they close themselves back up,” he replied.

  “After they’ve ruined many souls,” I whispered. “I can’t believe you’re talking like this. We’ve never turned the other way.”

  Athen looked over at Cyril while he thought about what to say. There was something else bothering him and Cyril.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Athen replied, walking over to the car.

  I followed him gladly, knowing there wasn’t anything we could do standing here. We needed to get home and start the mortas process.

  Cyril was the last to close the car door as he took one last glance behind us at the building.

  “I’m with Athen. This seems like a set up,” Cyril said, finally closing the door.

  “You, yourself, said you thought one of us was the target,” Athen replied, glancing at me in the rearview.

  “But if we stop them before they get to us then problem solved,” I said attempting to smile. “We have to fight for their souls. Mortals aren’t allowed second chances on earth. We are.”

  “That’s not a chance I want to take with any of us,” Athen’s voice was low.

  “I couldn’t live with myself if I stood by and let this happen right in front of us,” I replied.

  “I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to you because you walked into a trap,” Athen countered.

  “Not gonna happen. And yes you could. But that’s not even going to happen. None of us are going to fall into a trap.”

  “Never say never,” Arie whispered.

  “You’re on their side too?”

  She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t remember you ever encountering a vision like this before where some of the specifics are blurred. I’m not sure—”

  “I know we can solve this. Please just trust me and give the mortals a chance of escaping.”

  Arie’s lips stretched into a thin line unable to think of anything else to say.

  “So what was up with whoever was sent after you guys?” I asked, attempting to change the subject slightly.

  “Those were just newborn dark demons snooping around. Nothing much,” Cyril laughed. “Took mine out in under a minute.”

  “Me too,” Athen seconded. “They really sent fresh ones.”

  “We’ll have to find out who’s sending them.” Arie glanced at me.

  “Indeed,” I whispered.

  Chapter 3

  Athen snuck up behind me in our bedroom and slowly moved my hair to the side, exposing the base of my neck. His hand lightly touched my flesh, sending chills down my spine. I wanted to change before we began the mortas process, and now I didn’t even care.

  “Are you sure about this?” he whispered. I knew if I turned to face him, my answer would be no. But this wasn’t just about me, about us. It was about the mortals.

  I nodded my head, and he gently kissed the base of my neck, his lips slowly reaching my shoulders.

  “You make it so difficult to stay in control,” Athen said in a low voice. “I can never get enough of you. I don’t know what I’d do if I ever lost you.”

  “You won’t lose me,” I replied quietly, feeling his lips connect with my skin once more. “Our kind of love can never be lost or forgotten. There’s always a way to reconnect.”

  A lump formed in my throat, and I wasn’t even sure why.

  “That’s not something I want to try out, my angel,” he murmured.

  “I don’t either, but at least we have the option. The mortals don’t. Once they are taken from their families, it’s over for them.”

  “You always fight for what’s right. I hope I can be that selfless some day.”

  “Very funny. You aren’t so shabby yourself in that area.” I laughed. “Think about what you risked a few years ago.”

  “Let’s not go there.” He sighed, turning me around to face him. His eyes penetrated every part of me in a way that only he could. It was hard to stay focused with him running his fingers up and down my arm. Oh, he’s got to knock this off or I’ll never want to leave this room.

  “You know what we’ve never tried while you were a mortal?” he asked, wrapping his arms around my waist.

  “I think I can guess.” I giggled, allowing myself to be absorbed into his brilliant green eyes.

  “Well, maybe if we have time after the process,” his voice trailed off.

  “You got it.” I smiled and felt the strength of his grasp holding me tightly.

  “Ready, guys?” Arie’s voice interrupted our blissful moment. She was standing in the hall, arms crossed, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

  “Your timing is always quite impressive,” I joked.

  “Yeah, it is,” Athen seconded, letting his arms fall from my waist.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Arie rolled her eyes and ushered us down the hall. “The sooner we get this over with the better. Cyril’s a nervous wreck.”

  “That makes two of us,” Athen replied.

  I looked across the living room at Arie. She looked more nervous than Cyril, and I began second-guessing my decision. But I couldn’t go into the hospital alone as a mortal. I needed her.

  “Ready?” I asked, attempting to hide the tremble my words wanted to expose.

  “As I’ll ever be.” She glanced at Cyril and her brother and walked toward the couch. I took the other one. Matilda was sleeping in front of the fire and for a split second I thought how peaceful it must be to live Matilda’s life.

  The most difficult aspect of this process was adjusting to the lack of senses the mortal form offered. We were so used to hearing the inaudible, seeing the unseen, and sensing the forces that couldn’t be sensed that this form really put us at a disadvantage. It almost felt like we were functioning in the dark as a mortal, but it gave us the anonymity that we needed. We had to find the entrance to the underworld, and that couldn’t be completed in our white demon form. The dark demons would sniff us out in a heartbeat.

  As I kept still on the couch with my legs fully extended, I let out a sigh that exposed more than I intended.

  “Here’s to a seamless transition,” Athen’s words almost caught in his throat.

  I glanced at him before I closed my eyes, and he came by my side, grabbing my hand.

  “Let the wicked forsake their own kind as we transcend our souls to another form. Let the immortal world protect our mortal persona as we seek the answers to end the cruelties of the underworld.” I squeezed Athen’s hand and heard Arie take a deep breath in. It was time.

  As my mind began the mortas process, my body quickly followed. The popping and crackling sounds from the fireplace became muted. The snores from Matilda were muffled and the awareness of my own body turned
to an abstract concept. My flesh no longer tingled with the slightest movement. I was slipping into the mortal shell of myself. My left hand rested on the couch, and it felt as if cotton wrapped every finger. I felt like a mummy in this shell of a being. The strong heartbeat that I was used to slowed to its weakened, mortal state.

  My body stiffened, but I felt no pain — only numbness. A pulsing in my ears began making my head spin as I lay as still as possible on the couch. But even with no movement, I felt as if I was riding on a boat in the middle of rough seas. Attempting to squeeze Athen’s hands, I recognized just how weak — how slow— I’d become.

  “You’re doing wonderful, angel,” Athen murmured. I felt him leaning over me, and I wanted to see him.

  Opening my eyes, the world was not my own. The sharpness was gone—the brightness dulled through the eyes of a mortal.

  Athen’s eyes were the brilliant, green that mine no longer were, as he took me in. His lip turned up slightly as he traced his finger softly along my arm.

  “How do you feel?” he asked softly.

  “Absolutely ordinary,” I replied, blowing a few strands of hair off my face.

  “You’ve never been very good at being ordinary,” he laughed, as he helped me to sit up on the couch.

  “I already miss your green eyes.”

  “I miss a lot more than that.” I touched my forehead hoping to become grounded. “How’s Arie?”

  “She’s still out.”

  I wanted to stand, but I wasn’t sure I was steady enough for that yet.

  “This world is certainly missing a certain something from this perspective. I don’t think I’d be very good at being a mortal long term.” I pulled Athen’s hand toward me while I attempted to steady myself as I stood. “I bet I wouldn’t even last a year as one.”