by Weil, J. L.
I couldn’t help it, I busted out laughing. “What? You’re kidding right?”
Kailyn glanced around. “Nope. Hayden, Sierra, and Craig too. Have you met them?”
Well, Sierra I could believe but everyone else...people in this town have way too much time on their hands to make up such outlandish stories. Seriously, possessed?
“Yeah, unfortunately,” I muttered.
Brandy scooted in, enclosing our little circle from eavesdropping ears. “So you know what we’re talking about.”
“Umm. Not exactly,” I confessed.
They stared at me astonished.
“I can’t believe you don’t get freaked out by them. If I even get to close, I panic,” Brandy said in shock. “Maybe you have some kind of immunity.”
I almost spit out the swig of pop I’d just swallowed.
Kailyn’s dark eyes sparkled. “People have claimed to see deranged dogs taken over by the devil himself running around at night. Their gruel howling can be heard from miles.”
I swallowed hard. That I could attest to.
“I shit you not,” she continued, seeing the serious lines cross my forehead. “They say that there are demons walking the earth, looking for a vessel to take over.”
I was officially starting to get sucked in. “And you guys believe this?”
Kailyn laughed. “Not a chance, but it makes for great campfire stories. Which reminds me, you totally have to come to the opening football game.”
I scrambled for some excuse. Football and I did not go hand-in-hand.
Brandy chimed in. “It is so much fun. Afterwards we all go to the lookout for a bonfire. Say you’ll come with us. I bet Chase will be there,” she dangled as an incentive.
That settled it. I was definitely not going. “Does he often go?” I just had to ask.
Brandy shook her bouncing curls. “Nope, not really, but I swear it is a blast.”
They both looked at me with pleading eyes, and I could feel myself caving. “Sure, why not,” I heard myself say. I was totally going to regret this.
The remaining of the day I was haunted with images of burning eyes, razor canines, and monstrous demons sucking the souls out of my friends. What kind of screwed up town did my mom stick us in? Or maybe it wasn’t just this little ho-dunk town, maybe it was everywhere.
Heading upstairs to study in my room, I looked over at the unfinished novel on my nightstand. I sighed internally. What I really wanted to do was lose myself in that book, not my English assignment. Pulling my attention back to the textbook, I continued reading through the material. The setting sun was casting pretty rays of red and orange across my floor.
My eyes skimmed the next paragraph when I heard a voice peel out from the open window, a deep, enraged voice, clearly in a vicious mood. It was pretty obvious which house it was coming from. I haven’t seen Devin, Lexi’s father, since the night we met, but I was almost positive it was his voice I’d heard. His booming burst was followed by another in a deeper tone, more violent and darker.
Edging to the end of my bed, I listened to the ruckus next door worrying about Lexi…and Chase. The voices had gotten quieter but not any less pissed off. Doors slammed, footsteps pounded up and down the stairs. Something big was definitely going on next door.
I hadn’t the foggiest clue how well Devin and Chase got along, but from the only encounter we had together, I sort of concluded that they were at odds about something.
I was brought out of my thoughts by the shattering of glass hitting the ground. Now I was almost afraid to look out my window, with all the yelling and glass breaking. Completely freaked out and concerned, I thought maybe I should call the police.
Then I heard Chase’s voice, except it was him but it wasn’t.
The conversation I’d had at lunch today came barreling back. Everyone thought my neighbors were possessed. Are they? I wondered…
Getting enough courage to peak out the window, I saw Chase slam the door shut and take off in the direction of the fields. Following him seemed like the dumbest thing I could’ve done – utterly reckless, but it was what I did.
Rushing down the stairs, I jumped the last four steps and bolted for the front door. Throwing it open, I could just make out his form near the line of the fields. I watched his stance. There was something different, more aggressive about the way he swallowed up the ground. This wasn’t like the forest I reminded myself, no batshit crazy dogs, I hoped.
Picking up speed, I entered the field right after him and made my way as quietly as possible behind him. You would not believe the amount of noise those wheat stalks actually make when you are poking around in them.
I was closing in on him, but something held me back. Watching him, I realized his behavior was strange. He didn’t seem to be going anywhere specific, just blowing off some steam. Wandering aimless, I tailed. I thought about calling out his name, yet a part of me wanted to see if maybe just maybe Brandy and Kailyn were right. If there was one thing I was certain of, it was that Chase and his family were not like everyone else.
I needed answers.
Of course, I would have to step on a stalk and snap it. The sound vibrated through the impending nightfall, and Chase cocked his head in my direction just enough that I caught the glint of the blinding topaz in his eyes.
I’ve had enough of the secrets, enough of the BS.
Making myself known, I stepped out. “Chase,” I called tentatively. “Are you okay? I heard–”
He turned and I gasped – loud. This wasn’t Chase. Not the Chase that I knew. Sure, physically he looked the same, maybe stronger, I don’t know. But his eyes blazed against the dark like nothing I’d seen before. He was pranced to attack, the muscles in his neck and arms coiled. I could hear the heavy and snarling breathing from where I stood.
And I swear to all that is holy, he looked possessed.
Holy shit.
Similar to what I’d seen in the mental dog that attacked me, I could see the pits of hell in Chase’s eyes. The unearthly gold glow burned in my skull.
With a blink of an eye this crazed Chase was in front of me, hovering over me. I’d felt fear before, but this was a whole new onset of distress. This Chase looked like he was going to deliver me to the front gates of hell and watch me burn alive.
I stepped back from him, panting hard. What were the chances of me getting out of this unscathed?
Not very good would have been my guess. Cautiously, I took another step in retreat.
He growled.
I guess he didn’t like that. Running out of options, I decided maybe it was time I got the heck out of there. Even as I moved to take off at a dead run, I knew that he would be faster. Isn’t that how it was with the unknown, supernatural, or whatever thing he was. They always got inhuman powers. We never even stand a chance.
He leapt in the air like some drugged out panther and landed on top of me, taking me to the ground. With an oomph, the air was knocked out of my lungs, and I struggled to breathe with his weight crushing me. We were so close I could count his heartbeats, they were completely irregular and faster than any human I knew.
He angled his head, watching me, so close I could feel his quick short breaths tickling my lashes. Suddenly I could sense him inside my head, like before with Travis, and my fear spiked a thousand times. No. No. No.
“Chase!” I screamed desperate before he had me completely at his whim.
He looked startled. Ever so slowly that creepy abnormal yellow started to dissipate from his eyes, eventually leaving the pure, clear silver that I now loved. The Chase I knew was back. Releasing a gush of pent-up terror, I watched the clarity come back into him. It wasn’t instantaneous but gradual like he had to push back whatever had a hold of him – fight to be him again.
While he rubbed a hand over his face, I waited for the cobwebs to clear. “Angel,” he moaned softly.
My tongue was still stuck in my stomach where it had dropped after being stamped to the ground, so I just nodded m
y head. “It’s me,” I croaked.
His hand moved to touch the side of my face. Instinctually I jerked out of his reach.
I was scared out of my mind, and I wasn’t certain what had possessed Chase, though I immediately regretted the action. His silver eyes filled with pain, almost as if he had expected the rejection.
The racing of his heart slowed to a more regular and human speed. His eyes darted over my face, piecing together what had just happened, and I wasn’t entirely sure I liked where this was going. I had just escaped one brush with death, and I didn’t want to face another. A variety of emotions passed over his features, mostly annoyance.
“Angel dammit,” he yelled.
Here it comes. It was almost a blessing. If he was yelling at me, then I was going to be all right.
“What the hell were you thinking,” he said between tight gritted teeth.
“How is this my fault? I was concerned about you,” I grumbled inaudible.
“Did I not tell you to stay put? Did I not tell you that you were going to get yourself killed? I swear Angel. I never met anyone who was such a magnet for disaster.”
I glared at him. He was crossing a fine line between me being happy to see him, and me hating his guts again.
Chase was on a rage roll. Lucky me. “You don’t have the first clue what could have happened to you, what should have happened.” He was making my head spin with all this mumble-jumble.
I sat underneath him watching his rant, and even in the midst of all this madness butterflies danced in my belly at Chase’s proximity. His eyes sharpened on mine, reading the sudden shift in my thoughts. Hell maybe he could hear the quickening of my pulse or worse…hear my thoughts.
Awareness seeped in the pools of his irises. My body apparently had the worst timing.
He sat up with his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands. I pulled myself off the ground, sitting across from him, waiting. Watching me, he had a glint in his eyes like he couldn’t figure me out, when in fact I should be the one trying to figure him out.
“You’re not going to freak out are you?” he asked surprised. “And no running,” he added as an after thought
I shook my head. I’d come out here for answers, and I wanted answers now. “What are you?” I asked in a shaking voice.
His eyes searched my face, probably trying to decide what he should or shouldn’t tell me. Looking out in the distance, he heaved. “I’m a Divisa,” he informed.
Was that English? “A what?”
“In layman’s terms, a half-demon.”
Chapter 12
Shit.
I sucked in a breath. “Did you just say demon?”
“You heard me Angel Eyes.”
And suddenly it clicked. “That’s why you say my name like that,” I mumbled to myself.
“Like what?” he asked, eyes narrowing.
“Like it tastes like battery acid every time you say it.”
He laughed. “It’s true that at first I thought someone from heaven was playing nasty games with me, but mostly I just like to get a rise out of you. It’s so easy.”
“Chase, this is serious,” I scowled.
“You don’t have to tell me. You’re the one who is more worried about your name than the fact that I just told you that I was half-demon.”
I rolled my eyes. “How is this even possible?”
A howl punctured the air behind us, and my trembling eyes sought his.
He shook his head. “Sometimes you are more trouble than you are worth.” He got to his feet and brushed the wheat particles from his jeans, eyes zeroing on something in the distance.
I looked at him expectantly. He wasn’t going to leave me here. Was he? “Chase,” I scolded.
He glimpsed back down at me. “We need to leave. You shouldn’t be out here with me.” And just like that I was plucked off the ground and was sailing through the night. Stalks of wheat smacked against us, but never really hitting me. He had his arms protectively around me with my face tucked against his chest, taking the brunt of the lashes.
I took one peek only to get dizzy sick with the blurring of colors.
Literally nanoseconds later he deposited me on the familiar cushions of my couch. I pushed the hair out of my face, glaring at him. He had set me down without much finesse, and I was pretty sure he’d done so on purpose.
Huffily I snapped at him. “Will you tell me what the hell is going on?”
He smirked at me. “You are far more trouble than I need. I have my own crap to deal with.” Coldness came into his eyes, and he started pacing in front of the couch.
The back and forth moment was driving me bonkers. I yanked on his arm, pulling him down next to me. “What do you mean you’re a half-demon?”
He sighed, running a hand over his face. “Just that. I’m half-demon and half-human.”
“How?” I wasn’t yet buying into the whole I’m part demon thing, but I couldn’t deny he was different.
He reclined back into the cushion, the couch shifting under his weight. “I don’t even know where to start.” He sighed. “My mom was seduced by a higher demon and impregnated. I am the result of that hellish union. As are the other Divisa’s. There are very few females that survive the birthing.”
I thought about his mom and what Lexi had told me about her dying in childbirth. Pieces were slowly starting to fit into the puzzle, but I wasn’t sure I liked the picture I was seeing.
His tormented eyes held mine, searching for something. “It happens more than the hunters think.”
“Wait, what? There are hunters?” I asked perplexed. He was throwing stuff at me, and I wasn’t able to follow.
“There is a whole world of shit that you haven’t got the first clue about Angel. It’s better if you don’t. You shouldn’t even know about me, and I will probably be in all kinds of crap if anyone finds out.”
I scooted to the far end of the couch, tucking my knees under me. “I won’t tell.”
He held my gaze. Maybe judging my sincerity, I don’t know. He let out a whoosh. “You probably wouldn’t.”
“So, does this mean that Lexi and Travis…” I let the question linger in the air.
He nodded his head. “Yeah, they are too. Except theirs is a rare case. The demon that came to earth was a female and she sought a male, Devin. One day she came back and dropped an infant into his arms. Travis. I have no idea how many times she compelled Devin, but a year later he received another special delivery, Lexi. It was the last time he remembers ever seeing her.”
Wow. Talk about some abandonment issues. “So Lexi and Travis have never met their mother?”
“No, and they are better off not ever seeing her,” he replied harshly. “She would just as soon kill them than see them live.”
I gasped.
“There is no love between a demon and their offspring. Actually most of them try to correct the wrong if they ever find out.” I knew he was trying to shock me.
It was working.
“Do you mean they kill them?” I asked bluntly, hardly believing what I was hearing.
He glanced at me, his silver eyes burning. “Don’t look so shocked. This is hell we are talking about. Anyway they usually send a lower-demon to do their dirty work or hellhounds.”
Hellhounds.
“T-that dog? It was a hellhound, wasn’t it?” I stammered at the dark memory.
“Yeah, it was, and you are damn lucky it didn’t take your head off,” he said coldly.
“Why is it here?”
He dropped his head in his hands. “I don’t know, but if I had to guess it was here for one of us. The hound could probably smell our scent on you, and was hoping you would lead him to us.”
I recalled him finding me in the woods. “I did. I lead it straight to you.”
“You didn’t Angel. I heard the howling and went out looking for it and found you instead. A good thing too, or it would have eaten you alive.”
I gave him a snarky look, then reca
lled how lightning fast he had moved that night and many times since then, tonight included. “Does being half demon give you super powers,” I asked.
“I’m not a superhero, and you better remember that,” he scolded.
“Fine, I got it. I was just curious about what you can do.”
“We are faster, stronger, have heightened senses, and heal faster than normal, among other things.”
“What other things?”
“You just don’t quit, do you?”
I gave him a sarcastic smile.
He growled low in his throat. “Telekinesis, most can mind control, and see Death.”
This was a crap load to process. I had a gazillion questions piling in my mind.
“Your eyes,” I stated. “They change colors.”
He smiled ruefully. “You just don’t miss anything. Our eyes change the closer we get to giving ourselves over to the demon. Usually it is triggered by anger.”
I got the feeling that anger wasn’t the only trigger. Note to self: do not piss off Chase, or any Divisa for that matter.
Tonight it had been his demon I followed. Way to go Angel. Aren’t you the smart one?
“I’m not some lifesaver Angel, I’m dark, dangerous, and evil,” he warned in a deep voice.
Shifting on the couch our legs brushed. “Are you trying to scare me?”
“Apparently I have not been doing a very good job.”
“You aren’t evil,” I argued.
“If you only knew how much,” he muttered.
Half, I thought. And I wondered even about that half…
“This isn’t a game or a movie. This is my life. You are seriously going to get killed. That hellhound that was after you was a fly compared to a lower-demon. Do you get that? Your death wouldn’t be painless or easy. You would beg ten times over before it would finally deal the death blow, and that’s only if you’re lucky.”
“I get it, okay. You don’t have to be a jerk about it,” I huffed, crossing my arms.
“You like that I’m a jerk,” he sneered.
I rolled my eyes and hit him over the head with one of the pillows on the couch. He did not look pleased. I had to stifle a laugh. “Who else in this town is…you know, like you?”
