“Yeah, so?”
“Well, don’t we need to make mistakes and learn from them. I mean, isn’t that whats supposed to happen. I can learn from this too.”
He shook his head. “Learn what Faith? I can already see it now. Your going to hate yourself for a long time and in the process, push me away.”
“No I wont I promise!”
“Faith, You don’t believe me. Do you realize I also have the ability to see the future when it comes to us?”
“I do believe you. I just--”
He stared at me and I knew there was nothing I could do or say. I couldn’t run from him, his mind was set.
“I love you,” he said. I closed my eyes as he drew closer. He gently kissed my lips and whispered in my ear, “I'll make your pain go away Love, I promise.”
I felt his hand burning into my skull as I collapsed.
Chapter Thirty-three
Daniel
I took Faith to her mom’s house, telling Darla that Faith was ill and needed rest. I told Darla I’d be back for her shortly, to take her home. Faith's mother needed see her, so she didn’t call the cops on me for kidnapping, since Faith had been away for so long, she seemed pretty upset at me. I knew she was worried and Faith failed to call her or let her know much of anything, again, I took the blame upon myself.
I drove the truck back to Chris’s house. He sat in the living room watching television. I snuck in behind Chris and placed my hand to the back of his head. He tried fighting but I encouraged new emotion into his thoughts, so he relaxed. I erased his memory of Faith ever calling him. I was disgusted to see all of his memories with her, it pained me. But it couldn’t be helped and I deserved much worse in my opinion. I recognized that I didn’t deserve Faith, from the very beginning. She was too good for me.
Faith was committed to give up everything, including damning her soul to keep me and her family safe. And that bothered me, about me anyway. I wasn’t worth much. There was nothing I could give her in comparison to what she's given me.
Thinking about all the sacrifices she's made, I felt sick. I flew back to the house after I was done with Chris. I made sure to take Faith's belongings from his house and placed it in our bedroom. I wanted to give her some time to rest before I bringing her back home.
I called Father and told him everything. He told me he would send a crew to help out, just in case. I wanted Faith to be protected, and away from harms way. I wouldn't waiver. And I definitely wont let Adrian go unpunished for what hes done. Until Adrian was dead he wouldn’t stop and I still didn't understand his purpose.
Even when I read Faith and saw the events with Adrian, I never seen his reason in her mind. He never told her, unless he erased it from her head. Of course he would. If he was smart. Father told me Celeste and Howell left hours ago, knowing I would need their help.
I needed to entomb my pain and be the man Faith deserves. Knowing once Faith woke, it would be possible that she could end up feeling my emotion. I couldn't have that and undo all the work to eradicate her suffering. I didn’t want her to remember, anything. When she woke, I would tell her we decided to come back to Siloam because she wanted to come back home. Also stating that we were still looking for Adrian but needed to have the crew close.
After about thirty minutes of meditating, I felt Celeste approach. I went to the door and opened it. She glanced at me and walked in, Howell right behind her.
“I’m sorry.” She said, hugging me.
I shook my head. “Don’t be, not for me.”
“Daniel, you have to stop beating yourself up for this. It’s not your fault. You didn’t know this would happen.”
“But, I should of known. That’s why I need to master my ability in mind and spirit. It will give me an advantage.”
“You can go back and get more training. We will stay here and keep things in order.” I laughed. “Not a chance. I wont leave her.”
She sighed. “I know.”
“Sis, don’t worry about me. I'm not worth the energy. Just set your mind to something more useful, like hunting this bastard down!” I yelled, reading her thoughts.
“Okay, sorry, geez!” She shouted back.
“Well, the elder said he’s a great deceiver and he may alter his scent and location if he desires. So, I mean, were up against a ghost basically,” Howell scoffed.
“Well then we will have to be ghost too. We can start training in the field behind the house, when everyone gets here.”
They agreed. I walked into the kitchen to grab A glass of blood when my phone buzzed. I picked it up. Faith was texted me.
Daniel, where are you? What happened?
I called instead, I needed to hear her voice to calm me down.
“Daniel,” she answered.
“Love… you're awake. Can I come get you?” I asked.
“Are you here in Siloam?”
“Yes Love, I'm at our house. You want to come home now?”
“Yes please. Oh and thanks for putting my contacts in for me.”
“No problem. I'll be right there.”
I tossed the phone down on the sofa and picked up my car keys.
“Be back!” I yelled out. I hopped in the truck and took off. I arrived in less then five minutes. Walking up to the door, I knocked. Faith opened it. I pulled her into me, holding her to my chest.
“I love you Faith.”
“I love you too,” she said.
I walked inside, Darla sat on the couch. “Take care of my daughter Daniel. I'll be visiting tomorrow morning,” she said, shooting me a glare.
“Yes mam,” I replied.
“Thanks mom. I love you.”
“I love you too honey, call me later, please!”
“I will.”
We got inside the truck. “I know you miss your Mom Love. You wont have to be away from her, I promise,” I said, trying to reassure her.
“Good, because I really don’t want to go anywhere for awhile,” she said, sadly.
I massaged the back of her neck with my free hand.
“So, what happened? Did you guys find him? And why are we back here anyways did I pass out for a few days or something?”
“Well, I was gone for only a few hours and I felt bad for leaving you. The crew heard my thoughts and told me to go back. When I got back, you were passed out. I followed you into your dreams and seen how much you wanted to go home. I didn’t wake you, I just brought you back.”
“Oh.”
“Sorry about this but. the crew is coming back. Just for security measures.”
“What about Chris?” She asked.
Why is she be asking about him…?
“I mean, is he okay? Did anyone ever find him?”
“Oh. Yeah, he’s fine. Come to find out, he just needed time alone. He’s back at his house now.”
“Okay. Good. I'm glad hes okay,” she said.
“Love when we get home just relax. I'll put you to bed,” I said, glancing over at her. “Okay but, as long as your next to me. that’s all I want,” she said, looking into my eyes. “Anything you want my Love,” I said, smiling.
I was glad the erase went through. She no longer had to suffer. But, physically and mentally she was exhausted and I wanted to help ease that discomfort. I placed my hand on the back of her neck and rubbed it again, being sneaky and using my ability, I relaxed her mind and her eyes began to close. She fell into a deep sleep.
I knew she would be out for a few hours. I would be able to get some training in while she slept.
Back at the house, I cradled her into my arms and took her upstairs. I kissed her forehead and told her I loved her.
The crew arrived and we grouped up behind the house. I started everything off. “Thank you again for coming. We all know this is going to be difficult to find Adrian. As Celeste updated you all on what were up against, even though he is only one man, he has the power to trick us all. Mentally he's capable of just about anything. The only way to get to him, is to use our minds as
one. We must learn to combine our powers and try to locate his human form, even if he’s dropped, there is a way to do this.
“We must first get one volunteer to be the bait. And perhaps, two or three at a time shielding the bait's scent and location. The ones shielding the bait, must also block the rest of us from your mind.”
“Howell?” I asked if he would be the bait. He nodded.
“Alright, Howell, Kevin, and Jaha, could you set off? Not too far, but far enough. You must start blocking immediately. So we can't follow your scent or hear your thoughts. Go now!”
They ran. The rest of us sat down and started meditating. Focusing our minds, we quickly dropped.
“Alright, Celeste, you take north. Youey, you come with me. The rest of you please scatter, listen to your inner spirit and rely on your instincts. We began running. I placed myself in meditation mode as I ran. Usually when Ill-suens do this, you hear and see more. The ability to catch someone, who's blocking you out is greater if sustaining this mode. However, to do this for longer then thirty seconds, is nearly impossible. The mind is still active and the ability to concentrate on one subject is tricky.
I paused, extending my arm out for Youey to stop. My eyes closed, I heard a sound coming behind us. I darted in the direction, Youey followed. Approaching the target we noticed it was just a deer. “Fuck!” I shouted. I shook my head and tried meditating again. I let my instincts do the work this time, letting them take over. My body jolted in a completely different direction, my legs running as fast they could. I wasn’t in control at this point, my instincts were. It seemed as if only seconds went by and before I knew it. “Let him go Daniel! Snap out of it!” I heard, Celeste yelling.
Opening my eyes, my mind snapped back to reality. I had a hold of Howell, my hands around his neck, his feet dangling. I quickly dropped him. “Shit, sorry man!” I smiled.
“It’s not funny dude! You almost killed me!” He was pissed.
“You would come back anyway, no big deal right?” I smirked.
He flashed his teeth.
“Dude, calm down. Sorry.” I said, hitting him in his shoulder.
“How did you do that?” Celeste asked me.
“I let my instincts take over, which you all should do. I made sure to meditate while my instincts were ripe. Not letting my mind confuse my spirit in any way,” I said, making sure everyone knew what I was talking about.
“That takes some serious concentration man,” Kevin said.
I nodded. “Well, if you learn how to meditate in spirit form and keep that energy alive, it will be easy. But, you must learn now! We don’t have much time. We need to catch him soon,” I said.
They agreed and we went back behind the house.
I tugged on Celeste’s arm. “Hey sis, can you teach them a few tricks? I want to go check on Faith?”
“Yeah. What do you need me to show them?”
“Well, they need to stay in spirit form. You guys can concentrate on reading each other in groups but make sure at least three are trying to block the rest. We need to work in groups in order for this to work.”
“Okay Dan. We will.”
“Thanks sis,” I kissed her cheek and ran into the house.
Faith was sound asleep. I dropped in spirit form, so I could check her dream. I blocked my presence and thoughts. I heard Faith humming as I entered. She was laying in the middle of a green field in Ireland, hills surrounding her. I smiled, and drew near. I sat down and watched. Soon, she spoke to someone in Latin. Then I heard Adrians voice but he was no where around. He asking her to show him something.
“Shes not here!” She yelled.
“You must dig deep Faith. Release her!” He shouted.
“There's no point. It’s not the same. She doesn’t want this!”
“I love you. Please, try to do this one thing for me and I'll leave you alone forever.”
I tried to locate his voice but he was blocking me. He tried altering his voice but I knew it was him.
“Meet me somewhere then. I can help you get her out and it wouldn’t be a burden anymore.”
I immediately stepped in, no more blocking my mind and presence.
“Adrian. You need to stop this! I don’t know what your trying to accomplish by making her life hell but if you don’t stop, I will have to kill you!”
“Brother. Glad you could join us.”
“No. Don’t call me that. You're not a brother to me anymore. No one does this to family. But you, an empty monster, don’t have the same feelings as the rest of us. You could care less if she was to live or die!”
“You're wrong there. I do care if she lives or dies.”
“Why not face me like a man instead of hiding all the damn time?” I asked.
“If I do that. I might not be able to stop myself from killing you and I don’t want her harmed in the process. I need her you see.”
“No, you don’t. You need to leave us alone. She doesn’t love you. She’s in love with me. You can see that and feel that can’t you?”
“Deep down she does love me. You're too stupid to feel or even see it. You probably never will because your too emotional. You allow your emotions to control your mind and that’s why you can’t master what I have.”
“You will no longer be able to enter her dreams. Trust me, I'm a lot stronger mentally then what you think. I'll show you when I find you first hand.”
Adrian laughed. “Alright how about a deal. If you do manage to pull this off and find me. You can kill me or you can let me live and I'll promise to never try to communicate or go near you or Faith again.”
“I don’t make deals with demons but I will tell you this.when I do find you, I wont let you live and you can go on with your meaningless existence in the afterlife but it won't be pretty. Where I'm sending you, you’ll need a lot more then stupid mind tricks to save you.”
“Okay, Dan. So it’s a deal then. Hope to see you soon… or not.” His laugh echoed in the distance.
I approached Faith putting up a barrier around her. I pressed my hand to her head and chanted a few words in Latin. No one, except for me would enter her dreams.
I tried spending as much time with Faith as I could but I also had to train. We spent nine hours a day in the field and by the time we were done, Faith was either at work, or sleeping. I knew I needed to come up with a better plan to locate Adrian. I was the only one holding everything together when it came to finding him and without me the crew would be lost. But at the same time, I didn’t want to leave Faith again to go across country to find him. There was no easy solution.
I did form a idea, to use Faith as bait. Though it was risky. One mistake would be detrimental. I wanted to discuss the plan with her later, to see how she felt about it over dinner.
We drove to Fayetteville to eat at a restaurant called Shogun. Faith's favorite place to eat, the change of scenery was nice too.
I ordered a rare steak and she chomped down on some fried rice topped with blood from my steak.
“You getting used to the idea then?” I asked, her smiling.
She rolled her eyes. “Well, it’s just… I guess you were right. I do need it, sometimes.” “It doesn’t really count when it’s already been dead for weeks and cooked love.”
“Do you have any other suggestions that wont gross me out?”
“I can come up with something. Believe me I can be very--”
She shook her head. “Don’t say it. I know, my head is about to explode thinking of all the mind tricks you can do. It’s nauseating.”
“So, You don’t like. or?”
“Sometimes. But. Sometimes I think no one should have such, drastic abilities. I mean, if you were evil and you had those abilities, imagine the harm you could do with just one touch”
“Well, Love. I'm not evil and I only use these, mind tricks, as you call it, when necessary.”
“Yeah but you shouldn’t rely on that so much. You know, the mind is a powerful thing and you never know, it can alway
s backfire if your not careful.”
What she was made me uneasy, as if she knew something, or maybe she does remember everything she’s just hiding well. The way she put it was as thought she were saying, karma is a bitch. And I was worried, about the karma part.
“So, Faith. I have a proposition. Well, an idea of how to catch Adrian but it requires your help.”
She shrugged. “Alright. What is it?”
“Well we all know he wants you. And we're not quite sure why but--”
“I know.” She cut me off.
I cringed. “You know why he wants you and you haven’t said anything to me?”
“Not exactly. I’ve had the same dream twice now and it gave me a possible explanation.”
“Can you please share?” I asked.
She sighed.
“What?”
“It’s well. In the dream Adrian and I are sitting on a bench talking. After that… it’s a few different scenes and images”
“Okay.”
“We’re kind of intimate, then I die.”
I slammed my fist down on the table. It hurt to hear her say… both actually.
“I'm sorry,” she whispered.
“Just a dream,” I mumbled, trying to convince myself.
“Anyway, I think maybe he’s just obsessed with something he can’t have and he knows we are happy together. So that gives him more incentive. I could be wrong.”
The thought of him, having her, taking her innocence away disgusted me.
“Are you okay?” She asked, noticing my disgusted expression.
“Give me a minute,” I said, closing my eyes, trying to get the imagine out of my head. I felt this was a good time to tell her the truth, just in case.anything happened. “You ready?” I asked her. She nodded.
I drove fast. She scanned my thoughts, wondering what I was thinking. But I kept my mind to myself for the moment. I pulled over, on the side of the road. It was pitch black outside. I stepped out of the truck, looking up at the stars. Thinking of how I was going to tell her and knew how bad it was going to hurt her but she needed to know. It was killing me to continue with my deceit. She stood beside me.
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