The Healer: A Young Adult Romantic Fantasy (The Healer Series Book 1)

by C. J. Anaya

  It had been a weird conversation. Angie and I didn’t usually do serious. Even when I spent the night at her place during her darker periods we never did anything more than scratch the surface of whatever topic we discussed. We definitely should have, though. Tiptoeing around our issues hadn’t resolve anything. It just left us both emotionally isolated from one another.

  I sensed that for her sake we needed to delve into this topic more, but we arrived at the hospital moments later, and in all honesty, I was greatly relieved to get there.

  “I can’t believe we got here before Victor and Tie,” Angie said. “I seriously expected to see one of them suddenly appearing next to my window going eighty miles an hour.”

  We pulled into the parking lot, and jumped out of the car, making a mad dash for the front doors. I felt sure that at any moment I’d feel Victor’s hand on my shoulder or hear Ms. Mori’s voice in my head warning me to stop. But I couldn’t stop. Not until I found Kirby.

  I wasn’t interested in my ongoing war between myself and the elevator so we took the stairs and found ourselves huffing and puffing at the top of the third floor. I immediately rounded the corner and nearly slammed into Betty who was wheeling a young cancer patient down the hall. I looked to see who it was, but my view was blocked by an oversized teddy bear the child grasped.

  “Betty, I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to run into you like that.” I grabbed her shoulders to make sure she was all right.

  She looked startled, which was to be expected. What I didn’t expect was her look of unease.

  “Just be more careful next time,” she said awkwardly as she pushed the wheelchair past us.

  Strange, I thought as we continued our insane run to Kirby’s room.

  I skidded to a halt just inside the door and nearly panicked. His bed was empty, and a nurse stood in the corner gathering up hospital equipment.

  At first I nearly lost it,thinking he’d died, and no one had called to tell me. Then I realized that was impossible. He still had a few weeks left. I was never wrong about things like that.

  “Where is he?” I croaked out.

  “I’m sorry?” the nurse said looking up from her work.

  “Where is Kirby?” I nearly screamed. I felt Angie place a steadying hand on my shoulder.

  The nurse’s eyes lit up.

  “Oh, you mean our little miracle boy!” she practically sang.

  I looked at her feeling stupid. I had no idea what she was talking about. The only thing I could process was that Kirby was in danger, and he wasn’t here where he was supposed to be.

  “What do you mean, miracle boy?” Angie asked for me.

  “The doctor on call believes he may no longer have leukemia. No more cancer! The staff simply can’t understand what happened to bring such an amazing transformation about. We all thought for sure the poor little thing would be passing on soon.”

  Kirby was well? He wasn’t sick anymore? I glanced at my watch and noted that it was three in the morning, and I’d finished healing Kirby around five or six last evening. That was less than ten hours ago. I was scared to believe it for even one minute. All Kirby had ever been was sick, with me hoping and healing and never being sure anything would ever change for the better. It had to have been that last healing. I hadn’t thought it was complete, but his body must have continued healing itself after I left. I should have been happy with this knowledge, but something felt wrong. Where was Kirby?

  “Why didn’t anyone call me? I’m listed as the first person to call if there are any changes in Kirby’s condition.”

  “Oh, you’re Hope Fairmont?”

  “Yes.”

  The nurse’s cheerfulness grated on my nerves.

  “We did call you. Betty was moving Kirby out of the cancer wing to a different room where he could be monitored for a while. We need to run some tests to make sure the young boy will make a full recovery, but the doctor is very hopeful. Betty wanted you and your father to come and oversee everything. Didn’t she tell you?”

  My stomach felt a bit hollow, and my ears started ringing.

  “I never got a phone call. I never even talked to Betty. I just saw her in the hallway not thirty seconds ago, and she didn’t say anything…”

  She’d hardly said anything, and Betty was always one for words. My mind replayed my brief interaction with her, and I remembered something else that had been different about her. She hadn’t been wearing her tiny gold cross. It hadn’t been around her neck when she was taking that chemo patient to…Oh no! No. My mind refused to process what my heart told me was true. A slow pulsing thud sounded in my head. I didn’t know where it was coming from, but I channeled all of my thoughts towards pinpointing the source of the noise.

  I ran out of the room with Angie following close behind me. I took the stairs down and hit the second floor, running toward the break room where Betty usually grabbed her coffee. I dashed inside and felt an ominous sense of dread as I took in the dark, empty room. The slow, pulsating beat grew louder.

  Betty always used this particular break room at night because hardly anyone came here. It was out of the way, and the coffee machine never worked for anyone but her. I flipped the light on and held my breath. The phosphorescence cast an ugly yellow-green hue against the pale floors and wilting flowered wall paper. The pounding beat of a human heart drew me to the left. I headed straight for the supply closet in the corner and wrenched open the door still hearing that slow pulsing sound in my head.

  Inside the closet I discovered Betty slumped against the wall. Her head drooped against the back wall, and her hands covered a large, gaping wound in the middle of her stomach. I rushed in and knelt down beside her, knowing from the moment I touched her she had only moments to live.

  “Betty,” I said gripping one of her hands in my own. I connected to her as fast as I was capable of and tried with all my might to help her body fix her injuries.

  Her eyes rose up and focused on me with an enormous amount of effort.

  “He wanted me to give this to you,” she wheezed.

  “Who did, Betty?”

  “Don’t you dare let him get away with it, baby. Beat him anyway you can.” I felt her other hand slide something into mine and then she let go…of everything. She was gone. There hadn’t been enough time to save her, and I should have been able to save her. I looked down at Betty’s tiny frame and saw nothing but my mother.

  “Hope?” Angie asked softly. She placed her hands on both my shoulders and squeezed them tight. Her hands trembled with the effort.

  I continued to see my mother lying in a pool of her own blood with my hands draped across her body, unwilling to believe I’d lost her. Somehow, she’d slipped from my grasp when there should’ve been more time. I should’ve been able to save her just like I should’ve been able to save Betty. It was too late.

  I was always too late.

  I felt Angie’s voice rising in volume and realized she was trying to get my attention.

  “Hope, please. We have to find Kirby!”

  That last remark shook me. I looked down into my bloody palm and stared at the paper Betty had given me. The tiny blood splatters on top sickened me. A sad reminder of a beautiful life ruined. I wanted to rail against the unfairness of it all. I wanted to heave huge sobs filled with anger and grief for the passing of a woman who hadn’t deserved to be caught up in this complicated, dangerous mess. My mess. I didn’t have time to grieve the way I wanted to. I’d have to cry later because there was still a chance I could save Kirby.

  I fumbled with the paper and finally managed to unfold it. The writing was jagged and strangely angled. It was clear the author wasn’t used to writing anything, let alone a threatening message.

  High school football field. Now.

  “This is bad. This is very bad. There’s nothing there. It’s totally deserted right now,” Angie wailed in panic.

  “I know.” I was feeling an increasing need to vomit. “That’s why the monster chose it.” I stood up, r
esisting the urge to look at Betty’s bleeding form. “If he’s got Kirby then that’s where I’m going, but you should stay here.”

  Angie looked at me like I’d just suggested she go join the debate team.

  “I’m going to assume you’re in shock and overlook your stupidity,” she muttered. “Let’s go get Kirby. Together.”

  Ah, Angie.

  Typical.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  The drive to the high school took five minutes. Walking from the car into the football field took less than two. I couldn’t remember a time when seven minutes had dragged by so agonizingly slow.

  Angie had forced me into attending many football games over the last three years. I was used to being here when all the lights were blazing and the stands were filled with fiercely loyal fans. The field was dimly lit now by the silvery light of the moon in the distance. Everything was quiet and motionless. As the soft turf gave beneath my feet I began to feel like I was standing inside one of those Christmas snow globes. Completely cut off from the outside world and stuck with whatever had been placed within.

  “I’m freaking out!” Angie whispered.

  She grabbed my arm, and I winced as her nails dug into my skin. I continued moving forward, scanning the remaining field ahead of me without any idea of what to expect.

  “Stop. That’s far enough,” said a scratchy voice several yards ahead.

  Angie and I froze. I spotted a few silhouettes in the distance but had trouble making out any faces. Suddenly, the lights surrounding the stadium lit up the entire field, and what I saw next made my insides freeze. The nekomata posing as Betty stood before me with a broad grin splitting its face. Knowing this creature wasn’t Betty made the sick leer on its face that much more offensive.

  Standing next to it, scared and confused was Kirby. He’d changed so completely from when I’d last seen him. I couldn’t believe how full his cheeks looked. His sickly frame had metamorphosed into that of a very healthy young boy. He didn’t appear ill at all. My eyes filled with tears as I made a move toward him, but Angie jerked me back.

  “Hope,” she hissed. “Psycho cat has a gun.”

  My focus on Kirby had been so intense I hadn’t even registered the gun pointed at his head. I stepped back and held still. I needed Kirby to think I had everything under control.

  “Kirby, are you all right?”

  He gave me a shaky smile.

  I reluctantly took my focus off him and stared at the hideous aberration before me.

  “What do you want?”

  “We want you. I thought you’d have figured that out by now.” Its voice was guttural, completely unnatural. How could I have been fooled by it at the hospital?

  “Fine. I’m here, and I’m not leaving, so you can let the boy go. He’s served his purpose.” My voice sounded stronger than I felt. In reality, I held absolutely no power in this situation. If the nekomata wanted to it could just put a bullet in all three of us and walk away.

  “I still have need of him,” it said, teeth gleaming.

  “Why?”

  My stomach had managed to twist itself into several different knots. I could feel Angie’s vice-like grip on my arm grow tighter and tighter with each word spoken.

  The cat’s grin changed into something ugly and evil. Its teeth began to sharpen and its eyes turned to green slits as the rest of the body morphed back into what it really was.

  The giant, black cat from Ms. Mori’s house, the one whose heart I’d almost stopped, stood before us.

  I’d never seen anything more horrific in all of my life. If I’d killed that thing when I had the chance, Betty wouldn’t have died tonight. The thought weighed heavily upon me.

  I felt a pull on my arm as Angie slid to the grass. She put her head between her knees and started dry heaving. I looked back up to Kirby to see how he was handling things. His eyes were wide with fear, but he wasn’t screaming at the top of his lungs like any normal human being. I couldn’t believe how still he held himself.

  “Insurance,” it hissed, responding to my earlier question. “I’ll need your full cooperation. If you refuse to give it willingly then death will claim this miracle child faster than his leukemia eventually would have.”

  It was cruel, really. I finally managed to save Kirby from the cancer that held him hostage for so long, and now his life was being threatened in a different way.

  “Put the gun down, and I’ll do whatever you want,” I said.

  All that mattered was Kirby. All that mattered was keeping the people I loved safe. Keeping them alive.

  The nekomata eyed me suspiciously for a moment and then slowly holstered the weapon to the side of his belt. He

  pointed one hairy claw at me and motioned me forward.

  I took one step and then one more.

  I had no idea how they found us so fast, but it couldn’t have happened at a more vulnerable moment.

  Victor appeared from the sidelines up ahead of us and immediately dove for the nekomata. They both went down in a jumble of swords, armor, and cursing. I ran forward the minute I spotted Victor, but felt an arm wrap around my waist before I could get very far. The arm tugged me back.

  “What are you doing? Let go of me!” I shouted. I searched for Kirby and saw him rolling away from the commotion, trying to get to a standing position.

  “Not a chance, Hope,” Tie grunted trying to pin my arms to my sides. “It’s bad enough that you sneaked out, but there’s no way I’m letting you fight another nekomata. I don’t care how hot you look with a sword in your hand.”

  “I don’t care about your stupid nekomata or your ridiculous prophecy. I’m not interested in healing an imaginary veil for an imaginary people from another lifetime ago. I just need to save Kirby!” I was shrieking at this point.

  “You stay here. I’ll get Kirby.” He pushed me behind him and then sprinted forward before I had time to argue. Victor still fought a vicious looking battle with Kirby’s captor, and Angie, to my surprise, had gotten up from the grass and migrated about fifteen feet to my right. She was involved in a fierce yelling contest with Ms. Mori and my father.

  When did they get here?

  My father made eye contact with me and moved forward. I looked for Tie. He held Kirby in his arms and began sprinting in my direction when a second nekomata came running up from behind. I screamed a warning to Tie, but he already seemed to know it was there. He threw Kirby forward, and doubled back.

  “Run,” I shouted.

  I tried to close the distance between Kirby and myself. Tie spun around and pulled out a black sword, one that looked similar to the swords owned by the nekomata I’d slain. He allowed his momentum to bring him center with the ugly beast. He sliced the cat’s head off as easily as if he were playing a casual game of baseball.

  From the corner of my eye I saw Ms. Mori fighting a third nekomata.

  I was only a few yards away from Kirby when I heard my father shout out a warning.

  I looked to where my father pointed. Victor held his opponent in a choke hold, but the nekomata who’d murdered Betty had managed to free the hand holding his gun, pointing it directly at me.

  “If she doesn’t come with me then she dies with all of you!” His guttural cry rang out across the entire football field.

  I looked to Kirby and motioned for him to stop, trying to slow myself down as well. We were about ten feet apart, but he wasn’t stopping. He looked over at the nekomata and ran faster. I knew what he was doing. I tried desperately to stop moving toward him, but he kept running, closing the distance between us. Kirby flung his arms around me at the exact moment the gun went off. I fell with my back to the ground and Kirby covering me.

  I held still and prayed the bullet had hit me. I wanted to feel a sudden pain slicing through me signaling the bullet’s impact. I felt nothing but Kirby lying lifeless in my arms. I held him close to me and carefully rolled him to my side so I could look into his eyes and make sure he was all right. The moment I did blood
began pouring from his back.

  I didn’t waste any time. I had no idea who was winning or losing in the fight against the nekomata, and I didn’t care. I connected to Kirby and assessed the extent of the damage the bullet had inflicted. What I saw filled me with dread. The bullet had severed his spinal cord at the C-3 level which meant the nerves controlling his ability to breathe had been damaged. He was suffocating. I worked frantically to help his body repair his vertebrae, but his life force wouldn’t respond. It told me Kirby was meant to die.

  I felt an inhuman sound rising up from the back of my throat. I began pushing through that invisible veil just as I had the first time. I wasn’t going to lose him. I wasn’t going to let him die, not after I’d fought so hard to give him life. He couldn’t die trying to save me. It wasn’t his job to save me. I used all of my mental strength to shove through that stupid, ridiculous barrier. All the while I felt Kirby’s heartbeat slowing as his body failed to draw in the oxygen he so desperately needed. I was in a race against time, and my panic began impairing my ability to focus. I’d get so close to ripping through it, and then the spaces between Kirby’s heartbeats would become more prolonged causing me to lose my focus again. I’d almost cut my way in, mentally stabbing and slicing at the invisible force before me, when Kirby slipped from me. It felt like he squeezed me lovingly one last time and then gently let go.

  That inhuman noise escaped from my throat and soon I was screaming in a way I never had before. I kept hacking away at that barrier in an attempt to follow Kirby wherever he had gone. I could still feel his presence next to me, but the obstacle ahead of me prevented any contact with him. I continued screaming, cutting, clawing and fighting until the pressure and pain within me came to a boiling point, and suddenly, I broke through.

  I’d broken through! I pushed past the veil and moved forward, latching onto the presence I felt before me and pulling back with all the strength I had left, sending Kirby’s spirit back through the veil, through this invisible entity that had, for so long, taken and taken and taken from me without giving me a choice or a chance to save what was mine.