Resisting Fate (Predetermined)

by Heather Van Fleet

  I tried to lift my head, and tried even harder to focus on whatever was moving around beyond the metal bars of my cage. But it was a wasted effort due to the fact that my neck was basically immobile. All I could see was a pair of very familiar black boots moving steadily back and forth outside the bars of my cage. There was no doubt in my clouded brain that they belonged to Adrian. What really caught my eye was the tall, lanky looking body that he seemed to be dragging towards me.

  “There she is cousin. Take a good look ‘cuz this is probably the last time you’ll ever see her.”

  “Nooo…” A gargled plea erupted from my mouth at the sight of Zachary’s almost unrecognizable face. Adrian had dropped him onto the floor with a thump, and shoved him flush against the bars of my cage. Zachary grunted. Blood dripped from every opening on his face. Bruises, both old and new, lined his chin and cheeks. His right eye was completely swollen shut. His left one peered over at me, golden, and completely broken.

  My throat tightened, my head thumped even harder. And the pain in my chest went crazy as he reached under the black metal bars to grab my hand. I pulled my lips into my mouth and bit down on them so I wouldn’t cry harder.

  Dammit. I should have known! My pain, my internal fire, it all made sense now. It was all connected to him because we were somehow partially mated! God, how could I have been so stupid? How long had he been there? How long had they been torturing him? He could move at least, so that had to have meant something, right?

  I wanted to scream, but nothing would work right, and absolutely nothing would help us escape now anyways. My chin quivered as Jack’s beautiful face appeared behind my eyelids. And then I gasped…my mouth actually fell open. Jesus-God…I was hurting yesterday when we were together at that cliff side. Jack knew that I was hurting. He was short with me when I asked him about Zachary possibly being hurt. The son of a bitch had lied to me.

  Betrayal…that feeling in your stomach when it occurs is unlike any other pain you’ll ever live through. And at my revelation, I knew, without a single doubt, that Jack’s betrayal was the worst of its kind. Because when the one you love betrays you, it was always worse than a stomachache, it was right there in the same category as dying itself.

  “Emmy…” Zachary whispered. My tears fell, puddling under my cheekbones on to the floor. I didn’t even have enough energy to care that I was finally starting to regain some external sensations on my body.

  “Emmy, talk to me?”

  I blinked, staring over at the boy who had been sort of loyal to me, the boy who had loved me for over two years. And then the dreaded question finally popped into my brain. Had Jack been working with his father and brother all along?

  “Zachary?” I moaned finally, watching as his one, glassy hazel eye gazed back at me. His face was sideways, lying on the cement floor like mine. He looked as hopeless and as broken as I felt.

  I studied his features as he talked, it didn’t matter what he was saying. Nothing mattered anymore, so I took the mundane moments I had left in my life, and immortalized them to my memory, that way I’d have something normal to take with me after death. His brown hair was disheveled, greasy. His brows were covered in a thick layer of blood and dirt. He was still beautiful.

  Why couldn’t I love him anymore? I blinked, I knew exactly why, but that was no longer important. I now hated Jack Hartman more than anyone else on this planet, even if my heart screamed at me otherwise.

  Then another revelation hit me, I had to get Zachary out; I had to help him live. Because his parents, the two people who I had come to love like my own, would be crushed if they lost their only son. So saving Zachary became my only reason to fight for survival. Besides, it wasn’t his father that killed Jack and Adrian’s mother. It was my own. I’m the one that should’ve been suffering, not Zachary.

  “I’m going to do you guys a favor by leaving. So enjoy this time together because for one, or both of you, it might be your last moment to live.”

  I lifted my glare to stare up into the soulless blue eye of Adrian as he kneeled down next to Zachary.

  I truly hated him as he focused hard on my face, but deep down, a tiny part of me knew that this wasn’t entirely him either. “Please, Adrian…” I begged, not even truly knowing what I was begging more for. For him to help us, for him to stop looking at me… I really didn’t know.

  “Don’t Emmy, it’s not worth it.” Zachary coughed, droplets of blood spilled down his lips. I glanced at him once more, before glancing back over towards Adrian’s retreating form. I winced as a hard, black door shut behind him, leaving Zachary and me alone…

  “Hey,” I lamely replied, my scratching voice finally came back into play. Unfortunately my body wasn’t as compliant.

  “Hey Red,” He smiled sadly at me, inching his fingertips towards my face. He barely grazed my cheek, but it was a touch I would forever remember.

  His tenderness and love enveloped me from that one simple move. One final tear fell from my eye as I attempted to smile.

  “Emmy…I’m sorry…about that day at your house when I—”

  “Don’t, Zachary. Don’t tell me you’re sorry, it’s too much like a goodbye.”

  He smiled sadly at me, the creases by his eyes reeked-havoc inside my heart. I did genuinely love that smile of his. It always seemed to ease my moods when things had gone astray in my life. And right then and there, it was almost enough to make me forget what was happening.

  “I won’t, but I needed you to know.” I sniffled. “Hey, do you remember the time when I first came up to you in that library two years ago? You know, when we first officially met?” I nodded, not trusting my voice to stay steady enough to answer. “Well, you were wearing those glasses, you know, the really thick dark brown ones that always hid your eyes?” I nodded again, this time a tiny blip of a sob managed to escape my throat. Damn Zachary, I couldn’t handle sentimental right now. He had to stop. Better yet, I had to stop him. But before I could speak, he was already well on his way to finishing. “Well, I always thought they were really sexy, in that… in that librarian sort of way.”

  He laughed, but it was soon followed by a gurgle in his throat. And with the blood that came streaming out, went my heart again, draining silently inside my chest. I was going to lose it. I was going to lose him too…

  “I fell in love with you right then and there Red, because you were never afraid to be yourself around me. You were different from the other girls.” I swallowed the sob in my throat. “You made me feel different. You still do, Emerly Grace O’Connell.” My arms and fingers were finally regaining enough strength that I could reach up and wipe more tears away.

  “Zachary, please. Don’t make me remember the good stuff right now. I want to talk about this stuff when it’s me and you by the lake…when it’s me and you graduating high school and college together…when it’s me and you…” I gulped, realizing the falseness of my next words before I could even say them out loud. I didn’t want him like that anymore… If anything I finally realized that I never loved him as anything more than a best friend. I couldn’t stop the words in the end, even though my entire face burned from their dishonesty, “… telling our grandchildren someday that you fell in love with their grandma in the high school library. Not here, not when the time isn’t right…”

  He closed his eyes, “Emmy, God…I love you so much…always remember that.

  I gathered all the energy I had left, centering it into my one hand as I reached up to grip his fingers that were pressed softly against my cheek. Just barely, the trembling subsided as his hand enclosed over mine. He exhaled and I sobbed even more at the noise, “No, Zachary. I mean it. I need to know that we’re going to be all right. I need to know that we’re going to get through this…together.”

  He wasn’t going to give up. I wouldn’t let him.

  Tears of his own trailed down his cheeks. My heart pounded so ferociously against my chest that my ears fell deaf upon the sound of the door opening up behind him. I scream
ed as the figure hovered over his body. “Zachary!” My arms extended as I tried to grip him through the bars. Desperation filled my cries as Adrian frowned down at me. Zachary darted backwards, landing on his elbows before pushing himself into a sitting position.

  “Don’t fight it Zachary, you know what happens when you fight it.”

  Frantically, I watched between them, until Zachary slumped down on the floor again with an anguished cry. I groaned myself, finally able to curl up into a ball, as a lightning bolt of pain surged from my head, back down to my toes. Son of a bitch! What was he doing to me, to us?

  “There, much better…” Adrian grinned down at me. Zachary arched his neck off the ground to stare back at me. Adrian grabbed his ankles and drug him away. My mouth was no longer working. There was nothing I could say anyways to make him stop. Adrian had obviously made up his mind.

  There’s that moment in time, right before pure and utter despair seems to hit, that moment when everything is at a standstill, unmoving, and out of control at the same time. And as I watched Zachary’s face stare back at me, I experienced it, all of it… Nothing had ever hurt worse.

  “I love you, Emmy…” Zachary mouthed, throwing his arm over his shoulder as if he was trying to reach me, even though there was no humanly way possible he could do so. And then he was gone, and so was I. Lost in time where nothing really mattered anymore.

  I didn’t wail, nor did I scream. I just laid there, letting the pain dig deeper down inside of my body. And as soon as the loss and ache found a home in my chest, another new emotion decided to battle for control, an emotion that I had almost forgotten I even had.

  Determination, a will to go on. And I used it…every damn drop of it. Hell, you could even say I devoured it.

  I pulled myself up into a sitting position. My wrists popped as I settled my weight onto all fours. “Shit!” I screamed, fighting the pain that sliced deeper into my core. I found my way, crawling slowly, carefully to the metal of the cage, finding that last pocket of strength inside my chest to pull my body into a standing position. My entire body throbbed with pain, but the pain accompanying my struggling served as the reminder that I needed to get out of there; served as a reminder that let me know I was still alive. That I still had a chance to save Zachary, even if it was the last thing I ever did.

  “Helllllp!” I hollered loudly, pounding on the bars, knowing the entire time that it was a wasted effort. The door popped open, revealing a wild and crazed looking Adrian. I couldn’t help but hold out hope that something had changed as he crept in.

  And then he opened my cage, scooting towards me with a new look on his face…a look of hope that I hadn’t seen before. My breath hitched. No longer were his eyes clouded over. No longer was there malice in grin. There was a fire in his eyes though. A fire that said he was there to save me.

  “Come on, Emmy, we don’t have much time. Jack’s going to kill me as it is…”

  I shuddered and backed away, positioning my hands out in front of me.

  “Don’t you dare say his name in front of me…ever again, I hate him!” I spat. Hatred was gripping me once more as I pushed against his nearing chest.

  “You don’t hate him, you love him. And he loves you too.” I screamed as he scooped me into his arms, cradling me to his chest as he kicked the gate and the black door open several seconds later.

  “Don’t tell me who I love, you asshole.” I growled, squirming in his hold as he made his way down a dark hall. “Put me down!” My voice grew louder, demanding.

  He laughed harshly, as he shook his head.

  “You are something else.” He barked, breaking out into a sprint up a narrow set of stairs.

  My thoughts ran wild as the cemented walls passed us on either side in quick blur. Where was he taking me? Why wasn’t he going back to get Zachary? It was pitch black outside I noted as we made it the upper level of the building. The moonlight shone through a set of windows, acting as an insta-flashlight. Vaguely, I could make out our surroundings. We weren’t in a building; it was more of a cabin like atmosphere. A few sparse pieces of furniture took up the small space around us, and Adrian threw me down on a couch before racing towards the front door. He pulled, trying to yank it open, groaning and cussing when it didn’t.

  I jumped as he pounded against the wood. “Shit, the door is spelled shut! Come on–come on, where are you, Jack?” He chanted as he yanked on the handle again, nervously glancing towards the steps we’d come from, and then back again to the window.

  He knifed a hand through his hair and I shivered at his anxious behavior.

  “Why are you doing this, Adrian? I thought you were going to get rid of me like the elders did with my dad? And where is Zachary? I need to see him, please!” I stood, fighting through my pain and sudden nausea as the room began to spin around me.

  He stopped pacing, hell, he seemed to stop breathing, but the last thing he seemed to care about was that I was talking. His eyes never once came my way. I pressed my hand against the back of the couch to steady my quaking form. If he wasn’t going to watch me, then I was going to take the opportunity to go back for Zachary. My toes curled and tingled as I started to move around the couch. Now I had to pray that I’d finally developed some super ninja stealth skills to get away without his knowing.

  “Ah, I see that mind of yours working, Miss Emerly but you, my dear, are not going anywhere.” I stiffened. My hands froze in midair as that voice surrounded my very being.

  So much for my stealthy escape…

  Terror rocketed through me and I fell back against the couch when I spotted the big-warlock Hartman’s face only a few feet from me. His smile was smug, his eyes…glowing. I winced. Oh hell and fish sticks, why were his eyes glowing? This was going to be…not so fun.

  “What’s the matter, you little dreaming freak, does the kitty cat got your tongue?”

  I snarled, all bark no bite of course. I noticed his eyes were no longer on me, even though I knew I was still the one he was talking to. His glare was focused on his son stepping in front of me.

  “No Dad, the game is over. I’m not going to let you hurt her. She’s Jack’s.”

  “Ya always were the soft one. Just. Like. Your. Mother.” His words went staccato as a gust of wind blew against my hair, and then my face. Holy hot balls, how in the hell did these warlock freaks do this? Tornado forced winds blew…in the middle of the room.

  A powerful thud echoed against the wall. I screamed, scrambling to get to the door towards the basement. My palms slipped as I tried to twist the knob. My arms shook as I stared back over my shoulder. I hissed. I was in the middle of a horror movie, minus the scary ass masks and knives.

  The man had his hands wrapped around Adrian’s neck, pressing him against the wall with only one, outstretched arm. Christ, no, not the choking thing… “This will teach you not to mess with your father.” A wet noise sounded from Adrian’s throat, but I couldn’t bring myself to watch anymore. I had a job to do…

  I pushed against the door with my shoulder. My feet stumbled as I finally wrenched it open. “Yes,” I whispered, taking the steps two at a time.

  Sweat pooled at my temples and between my shoulders, soaking my hair as it suctioned to my face. My shirt was drenched and hanging off my shoulders as cool and unwanted shivers slipped up and down my back. I pressed my hand on the wall, failing to find a light switch as I made it onto a flat, hard surface. The basement was even darker than before, like a dungeon that promised all sorts of scary things that I feared were inevitably about to come true if I didn’t hurry and find Zachary.

  “Where are you, Zachary? Come on…come on…give me something to work with here!” I shouted to myself, opening every single door to every singled room I could visibly find.

  Finally, I made to the only room left, the one room that had light filtering out from underneath the door. I paused, not really able to afford the moment of thinking, but I allowed it. That way I could mentally prepare for what might be on the other
side. My hands never ceased to shake as I placed them onto the cold, metal knob. Slowly, I twisted it open, biting my lip in anticipation as I peeked through the crack.

  There were two things I feared most in life. Number one: big, hairy ass black spiders. And the other thing I most feared? The unknown… I’ll admit, right then and there, I’d take a million spiders crawling all over my body, to the not knowing crap.

  I slipped inside, with my back plastered against the wall. I clicked the door shut behind me as my heart did an immediate nosedive into my toes. I blinked, then shook my head, then covered my lips with my fingers as I finally rushed forward. “No! Oh, God, no!” I cried. It was Zachary, chained to a wall, bloody gashes ripped across his stomach and chest while his head, legs, and all other body parts hung lifelessly.

  “Shit…shit!” I mumbled, running my hands over his arms, his hands, lifting them back up to press against his face even.

  I was too late.

  “Wow, you are one stupid, little girl. Tsk, tsk, Emerly, don’t back away from me now. You have nowhere left to go.”

  I jumped, turning around and throwing my arms out to shield Zachary’s lifeless body. “How could you? He’s your nephew!” I yelled hysterically as he crept forward. Then he stopped, five feet or so away, to lean backwards against a metal shelving unit.

  “Obviously my boy didn’t tell you too much now, did he?” He shook his head, moving forward again with malice and craziness in his wide set eyes. He grabbed something long, something metal from a tall container before coming nose to nose with me.

  “You see, my dear, this boy that stands before me is not even my nephew after all. Nor is he even a blood relative. His father was only a menace that my wife’s family took pity on as a child.