Staked!

by Candace Wondrak

  Oh, yeah. And the tattoo that was everywhere on him. The one that moved every now and then. Truthfully, it looked like someone took a pen and drew the detailed designs all over his body. But no one did. It was really a moving tattoo of weird, mysterious origin even Michael knew nothing about.

  The boy could also heal himself too, now. And me, apparently. Just me. He tried healing a paper cut Michael got about an hour ago, and he failed. Miserably. He might have even made the paper cut worse. Well, not really, but that’s what I told him to bug him. And, just as I suspected, teasing him was hilarious.

  Sure, my life was absolute torture sometimes. But other times, I loved being a Purifier.

  “Behind you,” Gabriel pointed.

  Yeah, right. Like I’d fall for this again.

  But that’s when I felt a shaking hand grab my arm, and that’s precisely when I knew that Gabriel wasn’t just out to make me feel like an idiot again.

  I swept my right foot behind me, making the Nightwalker fall to the ground. Getting in my fighting stance, I waited until it stood and ran for me. In a fast swipe, the head was off and rolling to the side. In seconds, fire engulfed its whole body and it was gone. Nothing was left. No clothes, no jewelry, no anything.

  “Is it just me, or are these Nightwalkers just not doing it for me?” I leaned on a nearby grave, mentally apologizing to the long since dead guy as I sat my backside on the top of the stone.

  “No.” Gabriel shook his head and his blue eyes landed on me. “No, it’s definitely not just you. These things are getting easier and easier by the baker’s dozen.”

  I couldn’t stop myself from smiling and asking, “Why a baker’s dozen?”

  “Why not?” Gabriel winked.

  “Whatever. Anyways,” I shrugged and stood, wiping the gravestone dirt off my butt. “Do you think that’s good enough for tonight? We cleared out a good lot of them.”

  “Yeah,” Gabriel smiled at me. “Let’s head home. Michael’s bound to be pacing the house, worried about us.”

  My legs stopped as I stared at him. “Gabriel…why would Michael still be up and worrying about us?”

  He indifferently scratched the side of his head, mumbling, “I may have…forgotten to tell him we were taking a field trip to the town’s cemetery to de-stress ourselves by purifying Nightwalkers.”

  “Gabriel.” I chided him, which I felt like I’d been doing quite often. It was like I was his mother. Which would be very weird. And wrong. Since he’s older than me. At least we think so, because we aren’t totally sure when our actual birthdays were. We picked a day and stuck with it. “How could you forget?”

  “I don’t know. Between showering, calming myself down about how we let John go even though he’s a murdering Daywalker, and being happy that Kirk…or Rain, or whatever the heck his name is, is supposed to watch over him even though it was under his guidance that all this happened in the first place, it must have slipped my mind.”

  My stare landed on the green grass. Michael was going to kill us.

  Gabriel nodded. “Yep. Definitely.”

  I rolled my eyes and said, “I can’t believe you.”

  Sometimes I wanted to strangle Gabriel.

  Okay, most of the time.

  Michael waited for us in the living room, sitting in his chair, totally silent and totally creepy in the process. One lamp light was on, creating a dim and eerie atmosphere. His legs were crossed, as were his arms.

  Yep. He was angry with us.

  “Where have you been?” Michael’s English accent was thick, like it normally was when he was upset. “Don’t you two have any common sense? We just got through a life and death ordeal, possibly the worst one we’ve ever faced, and here you are, walking out of this house like it’s nothing and going to perform your duties.”

  “Michael,” I nudged Gabriel. “I told Gabriel to tell you where we were going, but he didn’t because he forgot and—”

  Michael stood up and stepped closer to us. He pushed his small-rimmed glasses farther up the bridge of his nose. “There is a part of me that wants to yell at you for not acting more responsible.”

  Interrupting, the blonde boy spoke, “I have a wonderful idea.” Gabriel set his sword down on the couch, much to Michael’s annoyance. “Why don’t you scold us some more and then buy us some presents. I would like a package of Pokémon cards.”

  I laughed. “What are you, five?”

  “You know a five-year-old couldn’t have this rock hard of a body,” Gabriel said, motioning to himself as he lifted up his shirt to reveal his sculpted abdomen.

  “Ah,” Michael spoke, completely ending his scolding talk. “May I ask you to drop your shirt? I doubt Kass wants to see that any more than I do.”

  “I…am…offended,” Gabriel dramatically huffed, letting go of his shirt.

  “Thank you.” Michael nodded, once again assuming his parental guise, even though he was not my father. Or Gabriel’s. We were all as unrelated as they came. “Now, march up to your rooms and go to bed. You do have school tomorrow and you are both going, regardless of the whining I will certainly hear once the alarm clocks go off.” His face was serious, his eyes semi-squinted.

  Gabriel and I met eyes, and it took every ounce of willpower to not laugh outright. I asked Michael, “How long you been working on that?”

  Our Guardian was placid as he answered, “Since I knew you two were gone.”

  “You know, you could have just picked us up,” Gabriel smiled. “If our sleeping habits were that important to you.”

  “Bloody hell. Just go to your rooms, please,” Michael begged. “Humor me.”

  “Will do.” Gabriel grabbed my arm and dragged me upstairs as I hid a giggle.

  Stern Michael was a funny sight.

  Chapter Three – Vincent

  Airlines. Such a hassle. Flying was a pain in neck.

  Making sure no one was around watching me, I leaned to the restroom mirror and fixed the contact lens in my left eye. The color orange began to peek out from underneath the brown-colored contacts. Not good. Not good at all.

  I reached into my jacket pocket and pulled out my sunglasses. They were the small black ones, the kind that everyone in the movies had. The kind that the ladies loved. They hid my eyes just in case my contacts were disintegrating.

  Again.

  Yes, because normal people didn’t take lightly seeing a man with orange eyes and a sword for a hand.

  I exited the dirty restroom and made my way to the luggage terminal, waiting not-so-patiently for my luggage to show up. This was one of the reasons I hated traveling by plane.

  A hand appeared next to me and yanked a small brown bag off the luggage carousel. The middle-aged man smiled politely at me and turned to leave.

  I smiled back, despite the urge to twist into a mass of spiraling tendrils and impale him. My luggage needed to come out now, or else I was going to lose him. The man looked me in the eyes, my sunglasses, and didn’t recognize me.

  Of course he wouldn’t. I was just a boy then. Barely old enough for my brain to register what I saw. It had been nearly twenty years, but I’d think the slaughtering of an entire family would be something he’d remember.

  I certainly remembered it, like it was yesterday.

  The years had been more than generous to me, not as kind to him. He’d gotten older, and I…I’d gotten stronger. A lot stronger. And more experienced.

  My black luggage emerged from the back room and I hastily went to grab it. In a second it was on its rollers and I searched everywhere for the man, but he was long gone. Ah, well. If I waited twenty years, what was another few days?

  How big could this little town of Greenville, North Carolina be?

  Chapter Four – Kass

  I spun around, realizing that I was in a flowery field. I was…in a dress. Its color and pattern were vaguely familiar, shattering the illusion that what lay before me was real when it was, in fact, a dreamscape.

  “Kassandra,” a voice spoke li
ghtly. I also knew that voice. It was my mother’s voice.

  I stood, turning with the wind, looking upon her. She floated a foot or so above the ground, her flowing white robe moving without knowing the rules of gravity.

  “Mom,” I said, because I didn’t know what else to say. Maybe I should have just asked her what being Marked meant, if it meant that all Demons would be attracted to me like a moth to a flame.

  I wanted to stay on good terms with her, so I just stuck with staying quiet for now.

  Her head shook slightly, her long, wavy brown hair following suit. “Don’t get comfortable. It’s not over.”

  What did that mean?

  My brow wrinkling, I asked, “What’s not over?”

  “It’s only the beginning.”

  That was always a fantastic thing to hear, especially when you were in a profession like mine.

  My mother continued, “Be prepared.”

  “Be prepared for what?” I held a hand to my head, feeling abnormally confused by everything my mother was saying. None of this made sense. None of it at all.

  “You will die.”

  I bit my lip and took a little stumble backwards. I loved hearing that I was going to die. It’s not like I didn’t know it was coming, it’s just that I always hoped it would be in the far future, after I’d lived my life to its fullest and purified as many Demons as possible, saved lives, yada yada yada.

  I mustered up my courage to say, “You already said that. When? How? Why?”

  “That is not for me to say.” Her almost transparent green eyes saddened. “You must find out on your own. I am here to tell you to be prepared and worry not. Death comes for us all. It is the one sure thing in life.”

  I threw my hands up, completely flustered now. “How am I not supposed to worry about it? It’s not every day that someone comes up to me and tells me that I’m going to die.’”

  “Do not forget what I have previously told you,” my mother bent down and leaned closer to me. “You are—”

  “Marked,” I finished for her, interrupting her. “But what does that mean?”

  “Goodbye, Kass.” She began to fade into light. How one faded into light, I had no idea. All I knew was that this dream totally sucked. It sucked so much that it pissed me off.

  “Wow, you’re still sleeping?” Gabriel’s voice rung throughout my ears. “You know that we have to be out for the bus in less than fifteen minutes?” His voice sounded so close, like if I jerked my head in the slightest, I’d headbutt him accidentally. “Yeah, don’t move your head, because you’re right.”

  Under my shut eyelids, I could feel my eyes rolling. I wasn’t sleeping. I wished I was, though. I had been laying here, just laying here trying to fall asleep again so I could ask my mother more questions. Not that I thought I would get any answers.

  She seemed to have a bad habit of deflecting my questions.

  “Kass, you know you need to get up before I throw you over my shoulder and make you get ready for school.” I could picture Gabriel smirking as he said, “And that includes brushing your teeth, finding an outfit for you, and then dressing you in it, which, not going to lie, I would love to do.”

  “I bet you would,” I said directly into my pillow, not moving.

  Gabriel tossed the covers off me and, without another word, picked me up and threw me over his shoulder like a limp doll. As he walked to the bathroom, I stayed motionless, save for the fact that I placed my chin on my fist. “I hate you,” I muttered under my breath.

  But he heard me. He placed me down, on my feet, and said, “And I warned you. You didn’t think I was serious?”

  “No, I knew you were serious,” I assured his semi-hurt ego. “I just,” I laughed out, “can’t believe you really did that.”

  “I know, right?” Gabriel shoved his hands in his pocket, leaning his back on the bathroom vanity. “And I can’t believe you fit so well on my shoulder, my dear raccoon.”

  I hit his arm. The worst nickname he’d ever invented, and it seemed to be his favorite, too. What a weirdo.

  “Then what would you prefer me calling you?” Gabriel had a giant smile on his face.

  I opened my mouth to respond, but honestly, I couldn’t think of another nickname. They were all weird. So I kept my mouth shut, focusing on getting my morning routine done while Gabriel looked on.

  Alyssa’s seat was empty. I knew it was coming, but walking into first period and seeing her empty chair still hit me like a brick. A strange sadness swept over me as I slumped into my assigned seat. Despite her murderous and creepy brothers, she was my only friend.

  She was a Witch, too. You know how useful a Witch would be in my life? Very useful. If I would have known what she was, she could have helped me deal with the Hyena before John went crazy. We probably could have avoided the whole John’s-a-murdering-psychopath thing.

  But none of that mattered now. I was alone. No Alyssa to talk to in math. No John to talk to in Physics. I was utterly and completely alone.

  I turned my head and glanced out the window. It was a bright, sunny day. That didn’t surprise me. It seemed that every day here was bright and sunny. It was so wrong, considered the horrors this town held. Clouds needed to come and mingle with me and my mopey self. Being in this cheerful and happy environment was messing with my head.

  I set my head on my desk, waiting for the first bell to ring. In a few minutes it did. I wanted to get this whole school thing over with. This was ridiculous. I already learned all this crap. The only reason I went to high school for the first time was because Michael wanted me and Gabriel to blend in.

  Hah. That was worth a little laugh. Blending in? I didn’t blend. If anything, I stood out.

  The kids around me were murmuring about their recent string of days off. The school had been evacuated, quarantined, and investigated after the office workers and principal were found dead. But since it was Michael and Raphael who found them first, the Council arrived in blue and took care of everything. School was back open the very next day. I wasn’t sure what the official story was, but the normal people seemed to buy it.

  Mr. Wood, the school’s new young and attractive math teacher began his lesson when a small, squirmy student knocked on the door, holding a small yellow paper. As she came into the room and handed it to him, I had only one thought.

  That better not be for me.

  “Thank you,” Mr. Wood studied the slip for a second before carrying on, “Kass. It’s for you.”

  Of course it was.

  I stood slowly and retrieved the paper from his grip. It said to report to the principal’s office immediately. I exited the classroom and meandered at a snail’s pace to the main office, where the principal’s office was annexed off of.

  Confusion couldn’t begin to describe what I felt. The last principal had been killed by John. Same with the secretary. So, odds were this was going to be a fun little excursion. I didn’t plan on meeting the new ones—well, ever, even if they were Council members.

  My mind couldn’t help but wonder if they redid the whole office, since the last time I was there, brains splattered all over the walls. A very gruesome sight, not one I’d forget anytime soon.

  My hand nervously reached for the handle. Bite the bullet and go in, I told my mind. I breathed in deeply and opened the door. It was just as I suspected.

  The main office was painted a lilac purple, and the furniture was new. Same went for the secretary.

  The small woman glanced up at me. She stood and said, “Ah, you must be Kassandra. The principal is waiting for you inside his office.” She was bone-thin, a complete switch from the last secretary, Mrs. McCafferty. And she was young. Probably in her late twenties or early thirties. Mrs. McCafferty was more middle-aged.

  Her frail body wore bright, preppy designer clothing. Her rose-hued hair was neatly trimmed, hanging past her shoulders. She smiled warmly at me and motioned to the door.

  Right.

  “Oh,” she called out to me, making me
stop brusquely as my hand touched the handle. “My name’s Cleo.” I just stared at her, making her add, “That’s it. You can go in now.”

  Great. Now this school had a freaky secretary that wanted everyone to call her by her first name. She definitely was too young.

  I uneasily pushed the door open and took a step inside, taking in the sight of the newly cleaned office. No more clutters of school newspapers and yearbooks. The office was spic and span, no dust at all. The blinds were drawn open, which was a first. The light flooded the room, illuminating the new principal’s face.

  I blinked in shock, mouth ajar.

  Today was a day full of surprises.

  Chapter Five – Vincent

  I threw my luggage down violently. I had thoroughly lost him going out of the airport. That was not good. It wasn’t bad, either, it just didn’t go as planned. I planned on stalking him to his house or hotel and killing him right there, quickly and quietly so I could have some fun while I was here.

  But maybe this was a good turn of events. This gave me more time to think of how I wanted to kill him. Thousands of ways right off the bat came to mind, but none seemed appropriate for what he did.

  Collapsing on the dingy hotel bed, I sighed. I had nothing but time now. He was going to be here for a while, so I needn’t rush this. Couldn’t rush perfection, especially when that perfection was what I’d been searching for my whole life.

  My eye twitched. My hand flew up to my eyes as I swore to myself. Hurriedly, I unzipped my suitcase and searched for my contact cases. Finding it, I grabbed it and ran into the bathroom. My eyes stung. It was almost intolerable pain. Then again, I could take almost any amount of pain and live.

  But still. If I could avoid it, I would.