Marked

by T. L. McDonald

  Will raises his blade. “What do you want Hell Spawn?”

  “Ouch, is that supposed to hurt my feelings?” Blondie’s smile widens in amusement as he studies his own blade, twisting it this way and that, like it’s the most interesting thing in the world. He looks up; eyes trained on Will, the grin on his face even more menacing. “What I want Guardian, is you out of my way.”

  Out of nowhere, another figure bursts out from the darkness charging full force at Will and I. Will shoves me out of the way knocking me to the ground as the attacker slams into him. They land in a tangle of arms and legs. Will’s hands claw at the dirt reaching in vain for the blade that’s been thrust from his hands. His fingers graze over the hilt, but before he can grab it he’s punched hard in the side of the chest and flipped over. Will’s attacker pins him down then looks up at me with black eyes.

  He’s Fallen.

  My fingers dig into the earth, my feet fighting for traction as I back away.

  “Isn’t this fun, Hanna?” Blondie whispers in my ear.

  I jerk my head to the sound of his voice, but he’s not there. I search frantically for him only to find him still standing by the same tree, never having moved. With a wicked smile he winks at me.

  “Hanna,” Will, (still pinned to the ground), manages to free his arm. He twists around swinging his elbow back, jamming it into the side of his attacker’s head. With a hard push, Will heaves the fallen angel off, tossing him onto his back. Scrambling to his feet, Will grabs his weapon. “Hanna, run!”

  I reach my hand out for Will to take and just as our fingertips meet his legs are swept out from under him. He crashes back to the ground face first, his blade once again knocked from his hand. With a smile on his lips, the fallen angel picks Will up with ease, swinging him around by his foot. Releasing him, Will sails through the air landing hard on his side where he rolls a few times before coming to a stop facedown.

  With slow movements, Will attempts to get back up. He only makes it as far as his hands and knees when the fallen angel kicks him in the ribs knocking him over onto his back. The sound of cracking bone and laughter reverberate through the trees. Will rolls to his side coughing, as the fallen angel pulls out a black blade similar to Blondie’s. Dropping down on his knees the Fallen lifts the blade over his head. Holding onto the hilt with both hands he plunges it down.

  “NO!” I scream.

  More energy than I have ever felt before takes ahold of me. I slam my hand down on the ground releasing it into the Earth. Trees begin to sway violently as their roots tear free. Under my hands small cracks branch out, zigzagging in all directions, growing larger and larger. With one final push, an explosion of power bursts out of me like a shockwave, blasting everything it touches away.

  Will’s attacker rips from the Earth, blowing backwards, until slamming into a tree. His head jerks then falls to the side in an unnatural angle as his body crumples in a heap.

  I crawl over to Will. He’s still breathing. Jerking my head side to side I search for Blondie.

  He’s gone.

  I turn back to Will running my hands over his chest looking for wounds. Moving downward my hand touches something wet on his right side just under his ribcage. I lift his shirt to get a better look. Blood pours from an open wound that isn’t healing. Why isn’t it healing? It’s supposed to be healing.

  “Will, you have to wake up.” I pull his shirt back down applying pressure with both hands. “Will, please wake up. I don’t know what to do.”

  Just when I think things couldn’t possibly get any worse, the clouds overhead move across the moon snuffing out what little light there is. Everything around me plunges into darkness as the world goes silent.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  I can’t see anything.

  Fear of what could still be out there in the shadows motivates me to search my pockets for the little flashlight I keep on my key ring. Keeping one hand firmly pressed against Will’s wound, I flip on the small light. Will’s eyes are still closed, but he seems to be breathing ok, so I take that as a good sign. “Will. Will, please wake up.”

  Leaves rustle somewhere in front of me. I stiffen. Holding my breath, I slowly move the light from Will’s face to the body of the fallen angel I’d blasted. His fingers twitch. Startled, I drop my keys and flashlight onto Will’s chest causing a rush of breath to pass over his lips as he begins to stir.

  “Will.” Grabbing the flashlight, I make sure the Fallen hasn’t moved before focusing back on to Will. I shake him gently. “Will, the Fallen’s waking up.” More shaking. “Will.” His eyes flutter then go still, remaining closed. The rustling sounds get louder.

  Giving up on trying to wake Will, I concentrate as best as I can on trying to summon my newfound telekinetic energy. I can’t feel it. Panic grips me as I shine the light around searching for something, anything that I can use to defend myself with.

  The metal of Will’s blade gleams in the distance a few feet from where Will and I are. I dive for it wrapping my fingers around the hilt. Jumping to my feet, I hold it out in front of me while simultaneously shining my light to where the Fallen’s body lies, except he’s not there. He’s gone.

  “Hanna, watch out!” Will yells as he tries to get up.

  Fresh fear chokes me as I turn around coming face to face with a Fallen. His neck is oddly bent and only one eye is black while the other remains a pale blue. His arm jerks up, blade in hand. With a crooked smile he lunges for me. I trip. His hand grabs my shirt. Together we fall. The blade in my hand enters his chest as we hit the ground. The blade still tightly grasped in his hand impales the earth mere inches from my face.

  The fallen angel’s face twists in pain as a dark substance pours from his mouth. His body weighs heavy on top of mine, pinning me down so I can’t get away. I scream as a bluish white light starts to shine from the center of his pupils. It spreads outwards eating away at the darkness until his eyes become a solid white. The skin on his face pulls back straining tight against the bones beneath until it rips apart. His flesh then continues to peel away, decomposing in fast-forward until there’s nothing except a skull staring back at me. Summoning strength I didn’t know I had, I shove what’s left of him away, watching in horror as his body crumbles to dust.

  I scoot backwards as I toss Will’s blade to the side. My hands shake uncontrollably as I wrap them around my legs pulling my knees to my chest. I killed him. I’ve never killed anything before in my life. I know he was possessed and he would have killed me without hesitation, but I can’t stop thinking of the person he once was. The person he’ll never be again. I look down at the blood on my hands. The person I’ll never be again.

  I wipe the blood off my hands on the ground beside me as best as I can then wrap my arms back around my legs, resting my chin on my knees as I slightly rock back and forth.

  Keeping one hand on his side, Will sits down beside me, inhaling sharply. “Are you okay?”

  No way in Hell, am I okay. After what I just did…after what I’ve just seen…I’ll never ever be okay again.

  “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” I say not answering his question. “You’re the one who got hurt.”

  “Yeah, but you…” He trails off, his eyes going to the blade still covered in blood from the Fallen.

  “I don’t want to talk about it.” I can’t. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

  Will tilts my chin up bringing us face to face. His eyes are soft and sorrowful. “Don’t punish yourself for doing what you did. He would have killed you Hanna. You had no choice.”

  Tears fall down my cheeks leaving little damp circles on the knees of my jeans. “I know.” But knowing that doesn’t make it any easier. It doesn’t make my hands stop shaking. It doesn’t change the fact that I took a life, even if it was justified.

  The clouds above finally move past, allowing moonlight to shine down on us.

  Will puts his arm around me in a half hug as he rubs his hand up and down my arm. He juts his chin out indicating th
e circle of toppled trees surrounding us, along with all the other destruction I’d caused when I released what was pretty much a telekinetic bomb. “You do all this?”

  I nod.

  “And you thought I was wrong when I said you were strong.” He coughs, his hand tightening around his side. “Look at what you did tonight. If it wasn’t for you I’d be…” He doesn’t finish. He doesn’t have to because I know what he’s thinking, because I’m thinking it too. He’d be dead. “You saved my life tonight.”

  Finding it hard to breathe with the way he’s looking at me I lower my eyes and clear my throat. “How’s your wound?” I ask. He bites his lip against the pain as he lifts his shirt. It’s not bleeding as bad as before, but it still hasn’t healed yet either. “Why isn’t it healing?”

  “It will,” he assures me with a false confidence. Lowering his shirt his breath catches in a sharp inhale as he covers the wound back up with his hand. “Their weapons contain power so it takes longer to heal. The blades are literally made to suck the life and energy out of anything they touch.”

  That must be why light and colors seem to blur around it. I think to myself.

  “What happened to Blondie?” Will asks.

  I shrug. “I don’t know.” My eyes automatically search the trees looking for him to be standing among them somewhere, but there’s nothing there that shouldn’t be. I climb to my feet offering my hand out to Will. “Come on. We better get out of here before he decides to come back.”

  With Will’s injury, sporadic moonlight, and my tiny flashlight, it takes us longer to get back than expected. By the time we reach his bike Will’s breaths are shallow and fast and beads of sweat have popped up to line his forehead.

  “Are you sure you’re going to be able to drive this thing?” I ask, staring at Will’s motorcycle. “Because I have no idea how to.”

  “Yeah,” he says, though I have my doubts. He’s still favoring his side and I’m pretty confident that his wound isn’t healing like it should despite what he says.

  Will swings his leg over the bike nearly falling over in the process. By sheer luck he manages to straddle it. After taking a moment to steady his breaths he leans forward to grasp the handlebars and immediately cries out in pain, his hands automatically going back to his side. Fresh blood seeps out spilling over his fingers.

  “Come on.” I help him off the bike then lead him over to the big boulder beside the path. He leans against it for all of three seconds before sliding to the ground. “Let me see it.” I sit down on my knees beside him. He sluggishly drags his hands away as I lift his shirt. The gash is wide open and bleeding freely with no sign of it ever having started to heal. “We need to get you to a hospital.”

  Will pushes my hands away to pull his shirt back down. “No hospitals. It’ll heal, just give it time.” His chest moves up and down with pained breaths, his eyes drifting closed when he suddenly grabs my arm. Eyes wide open, his gaze fierce and determined he says, “Promise me, Hanna. No hospitals.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I’m not normal, remember? They’ll be too many questions.” He takes a shallow breath, his eyes struggling to stay open. “Just promise me.”

  “Okay. I promise. But what do we do now? We can’t just stay here.”

  “Call...” His eyes are closed now and he’s starting to lean to the side like he’s about to fall over at any second.

  “Call who?” I ask. He doesn’t answer. “Will?” I tap his cheek getting no response. He’s out cold.

  I pull my phone out, thumbs poised to text Jared when Kat’s words from earlier come rushing back, ‘How he could kiss her is beyond me’. Anger and hurt grip my insides as I picture Jared and Amber together.

  “Hanna,” Will mumbles so low it’s barely audible.

  Shoving my feelings aside about the kiss between Jared and Amber, I text Jared my location telling him that he needs to pick Will and I up quickly.

  Jared messages me back seconds later:

  On my way.

  “Jared’s on his way,” I say taking Will’s hand. His skin is hot to the touch. He’s burning up. I hope Jared gets here soon.

  Will’s lashes flutter open, his midnight blue eyes unfocused. “Okay.” His eyes roll back in his head as he tips to the side and lands in my lap.

  ***

  Tires squeal against the pavement as I jerk the wheel to pull into my driveway. Adam’s truck isn’t here, thank God. I wouldn’t even know where to begin to explain this situation to Adam. I shut the engine off to Jared’s jeep, jump out, and slam the door behind me as I race over to the passenger side.

  Jared pulls in a moment later on Will’s bike parking it beside the jeep as I open the passenger side door. Will is drooped over, being held up only by his seatbelt. His dark lashes lie still against his pale skin in the dome light. Reaching over I unfasten him. He starts to fall forward ready to land on me when Jared appears at my side stopping his descent.

  “Thanks,” I mutter.

  “I still think we should take him to the hospital.”

  “He made me promise I wouldn’t.”

  “I didn’t promise. If he gets mad just blame me.”

  “We can’t. He’s not like normal people. There’ll be too many questions we can’t answer,” I say, repeating what Will told me. “Just help me get him inside the house.”

  “Fine.” Jared clearly doesn’t agree with me, but at least he’s not protesting any further. He takes one of Will’s arms and drapes it around his neck. I do the same with the other. Together we carry Will into the house.

  “Where do you want him?”

  “Upstairs.”

  Jared sighs as he re-adjusts his hold on Will. “I was afraid you were going to say that.”

  Adam may not be home now, but he will be eventually and a passed out bloody guy on the sofa is not likely to go unnoticed.

  Stumbling a little at my bedroom door I use my elbow to turn on the light before Jared and I finish carrying Will over to the bed.

  “What happened to him anyway? You barely said two words to me when I got there.” Jared asks, as we lower Will down.

  “He got hurt. That’s all you need to know.” I go into the bathroom to get supplies leaving Jared to stare after me.

  “Are you mad at me for something? Because I’m getting the feeling that you are.”

  I return with the supplies brushing past him, leaving his question unanswered.

  “I’ll take your silence as a yes. Can you at least tell me what I supposedly did to tick you off?”

  “No.” After everything that’s happened today my emotions are way too jumbled to even think about considering the idea of talking to him about it right now. Besides, it’s my own fault for pushing him away, I remind myself yet again. “I don’t want to talk about it right now.”

  “Fine, whatever.” He throws his hands in the air letting the issue drop.

  I pull Will’s shirt up exposing the lean defined muscles of his stomach. The wound at his side continues to ooze blood, the edges of it rough and chunky like it tried to heal and then couldn’t. Deep red lines that are so dark they could be mistaken for black spider-web outward from the wound spreading across his abdomen and up his chest.

  Tenderly, I place my fingers on both sides of the gash. Something dark seems to be lodged down inside of it. “Jared, hand me the tweezers.” I hold my hand out snapping my fingers for him to hurry. “And grab the light on the nightstand too so I can get a better look inside his wound.”

  Without a word Jared hands me the tweezers then goes to work on removing the lampshade. Once removed, he holds the lamp over the wound giving me more light to see with.

  There’s definitely something down in there.

  I hesitate, tweezers in hand. Will hasn’t moved since we laid him down, but I doubt he’ll stay that way once I start to remove whatever it is that’s stuck in his wound. “Jared, I’m going to need you to hold him down.”

  “Okay.” Laying the lamp on its si
de so I still have the light he maneuvers around me placing his hands down on Will’s shoulders. “Ready whenever you are Doc.”

  “Ha ha very funny.” It really isn’t, but in some weird way it does help to calm my nerves just a little. I insert the tweezers grabbing ahold of the object. Holding my breath, I pull. Will’s eyes pop open only to squeeze shut once again as his body arches upward. Screams tear out of his throat while his fingers claw at the bed sheets, grabbing and twisting.

  “Hold him down. I’ve almost got it,” I yell at Jared.

  “I’m trying.” Jared leans in further laying his arm across Will’s chest putting his full weight onto him. The moment the object comes free Will goes still. Releasing his hold on Will, Jared sits down beside me on the floor.

  Fresh tears roll from the corner of Will’s eyes. With a voice barely above a whisper he asks, “What is it?”

  I hold the object up to the lamp where the light blurs when it meets the onyx colored shard. “It’s a piece of the Fallen’s blade. It must have broken off when he stabbed you.” I sit the broken piece along with the tweezers down on the nightstand before turning to Will. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t stop him sooner.”

  “It’s not your fault.” His words are slow, slurred, and whispered. His eyes close. “Call Zoe, she’ll know what to do.”

  I pull my phone out of my pocket. “What’s her number?”

  No answer.

  “Will?”

  “I think he’s passed out again.” Jared taps Will’s face getting no response.

  “Check his pockets for his phone. I’m sure Zoe’s number is in there.”

  With a grunt Jared pats down Will’s front pockets. “Nope. No phone.”

  “Maybe he keeps it in his back pocket,” I suggest.

  Jared stares at me with a grossed out expression on his face. “I am not touching another dudes butt.”