Will staggers over dropping down beside me, the slash on his neck healing. “Is he…?” One look at my face and he trails off, his question unfinished.
“Heal him,” I demand, because I can’t lose him. He can’t be gone. Not Jared.
“I can’t heal the dead, Hanna. I’m sorry.”
“Isn’t this touching?” Blondie says from somewhere behind us.
More anger, more unadulterated hate, than I have ever felt in my entire life fills me, and I want nothing more than to rip the flesh from Blondie’s bones and watch him suffer, but I can’t leave Jared. Not yet.
But Will can, and he does. He charges at Blondie tackling him to the ground.
I hear them behind me, but I can’t focus on them right now. I have to focus on Jared because I refuse to accept he’s gone. Because it can’t be true. Because I won’t let it be. I lay my head on his chest straining to hear anything, anything at all. At first I hear nothing, but then his heart beats. It’s faint, but it’s there. I look at the symbol on my wrist. Ultimate knowledge is what it means and I hope more than anything that it means I’ll know how to heal him.
“Help me Sam.” The mark glows, shimmering against my skin as I place one hand over Jared’s heart and one hand over the wound that’s killing him. I close my eyes imagining all the blood he’s lost being replaced. I imagine his wound healing, and his heart beating with renewed life, and soon, I begin to feel his heart pound under my hand.
He’s coming back.
Fingers rip at my hair yanking me to my feet. Blondie pulls me backwards then kicks Jared hard flinging him onto his side. Jared doesn’t move and my hopes that I had been bringing him back start to evaporate. Maybe his heart never beat at all. Maybe it was all in my head and I only imagined it because I can’t accept that he’s gone. Because I’m looking at him now and he’s not moving. If he were still alive wouldn’t he be moving? Wouldn’t I at least see him breathing? Because right now, I see nothing.
Nothing.
Blondie jerks my head turning me so that we’re eye to eye.
I spit in his face.
He smiles while wiping it away. “Now that wasn’t very nice.”
“Where’s Will?” I demand. I can’t move my head and I can’t see him anywhere. “Did you kill him too?”
“Now what kind of fun would that be if I killed everyone. Someone has to stay alive to swear vengeance because if not, well then the game just gets boring. And who wants that?” He wrenches my face closer until our noses are almost touching. “I’ve had so much fun playing with you Hanna, I really have, but now it’s time for you to tell me what I want to know.”
“I don’t have the answer.”
Blondie releases his hold on my hair only to take my wrist in its place. He holds out his hand, summoning his knife. Once in hand, he uses the tip to push my sleeve up to my elbow and I can’t help but notice that Jared’s blood is gone, the blade clean. Before I have time to wonder why, he drags the edge of the knife down my arm. The pain it causes is all I can focus on. When the tip of the blade reaches the symbol he stops. “Maybe you don’t have the answer, but he does.”
I try to jerk my arm away without success.
“It’s all your fault, you know.” Blondie’s eyes change from black to icy blue and I can’t decide which is more disturbing. Neither version is natural, and both mesmerize and captivate until you can’t look away no matter how much you want to. “Your friend died because of you, because of your refusal to tell me what I want to know. It may as well been your hand holding the knife.”
Every word he says cuts into me, obliterating everything until there’s nothing left because he’s right. It is my fault. I brought Jared into this when I should have stayed strong in pushing him away. And now he’s dead. His blood is on my hands and I only have myself to blame.
Blondie brings the tip of his blade to his lips then points it in my face. “I wonder. How many more people will I have to kill before you give me what I want? How about your brother? Or I know, how about I kill your other best friend. What’s her name again? Oh that’s right, it’s Kat? How about I kill Kat, Hanna?”
Jared lies motionless beside me, and I can’t see where Will is, or if he’s even still alive, but I do know that I don’t want anyone else to die. And I also know that I can’t tell Blondie what he wants to hear.
This has to end now.
One of Will’s knives lying a few feet away catches my eye. If ever there were a time to suddenly gain full control over my abilities now would be it. I clear my mind shoving away all the horrible things that have happened and as I do a strange calmness settles over me. Everything sharpens and I feel more in control of myself now than I ever have since all of this craziness started.
Blondie tilts his head, his usual smile faltering as he studies me with cold blue eyes. “There’s something different about you.”
“I’m not afraid of you any more,” I say shifting my gaze slightly so I’m looking over his shoulder.
“Really?” He looks at me amused, a smile returning to his face. “And why is that?”
“Because the only person who’s going to die next is you.” With only a thought Will’s discarded knife moves through the air where it plunges into Blondie’s back. Eyes wide in disbelief he drops to his knees.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
I leave Blondie struggling to get the knife out of his back as I run deeper into the woods. I don’t want to abandon my friends, but I have no choice, and for all I know they’re already dead. Besides, if I don’t run Blondie will get what he wants and I can’t let that happen because if I do, then everything that everyone has sacrificed will have been for nothing.
Blondie’s screams echo around me fueling my feet to go faster. I run having no real idea where it is I’m running to. Everything looks the same and nothing looks familiar. But I can’t stop no matter how much my lungs burn or how much my legs ache.
The moonlight above offers little light in helping me see and the dark woods seem out to get me. Low hanging branches grab at my clothes, ripping and tearing. My foot catches under a protruding root and I fall with hands outstretched into nothing. The hard ground catches me. Leaves and twigs tangle in my hair. Sharp rocks cut at my face and hands as I roll down an embankment coming to a stop at the bottom. Crawling on hands and knees every part of me aches with every torturous move I make. Out of breath, I come to a rest leaning against a tree.
This isn’t how this night was supposed to go. No one was supposed to get hurt. No one was supposed to die. Jared wasn’t supposed to die. I’ll never get the image of him being stabbed and bleeding to death out of my mind. Even now when I close my eyes, it’s all I can see. Over and over his blood pours out covering my hands.
It’s all Sam’s fault. He did this to me. He marked me and now because of it Jared’s gone. I hate him and I hate this stupid symbol. I want it gone. I want it destroyed. I don’t want to know who his stupid brother is. I don’t want to find him. I don’t want anything to do with it anymore.
I dig at the ground searching for anything I can use to get rid of it. The tip of my finger cuts open on the edge of a sharp rock. The sting it causes is wonderful. I dig the rock out of the earth gripping it so tight there’s a good chance my fingers might break, but I don’t care. I hope they do. I slash at the symbol gashing and gouging until my wrist is a bloody mess and the symbol is no longer recognizable. I watch hoping and praying that it won’t come back, but it does. The skin mends and when the blood is wiped away the symbol remains.
Angry screams fill my throat that I can’t let out. With all my might I throw the rock, lodging it into the bark of a tree across from me. For one dark moment I wish that I had something sharper so that I could just cut my arm off at the wrist. Who needs two hands anyway? Plenty of people live with just one and I could too if it meant that the symbol and all that goes with it is gone.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, pulling me out of my dark fantasies. It’s Will. Relief hits me so
hard that he’s okay; I can hardly read his text.
R u ok? Where r u?
My fingers won’t hold still and it takes me three attempts to text him back.
I’m ok. R u ok? R u safe? Blondie?
I’m ok. Blondie’s gone. There’s something else.
Blondie’s gone, but gone where? Could he be looking for me now? Could he be just over that hill or behind that tree?
Hanna?
I’m still here.
Jared’s alive.
I drop my phone then quickly pick it back up to make sure I read what I think I read. Jared’s alive. I re-read it over and over.
It worked. Is all I can text back.
What worked?
Is he ok?
He’s ok. Eric is here & we are going to get him and Zoe someplace safe. Can u make it back 2 Jared’s jeep?
Yeah. I hope I can anyway considering I still don’t know where I am, but none of that really matters right now because Jared’s alive and that’s all that’s important to me.
Meet us at the church.
Ok.
I shove my phone back into my pocket. Using the tree I’m leaning against for support, I pick myself up off the ground.
***
A half an hour has passed since I last talked to Will and I’m no closer to finding my way out than I was then. I could be walking in circles for all I know.
My phone rings loudly. I jump, my heart pounding in my chest. I can’t get my hand into my pocket fast enough and with every ring panic claws at my insides. If Blondie is still out here somewhere there’s no way he didn’t hear that. Finally my finger hits the button on the side silencing the ringer.
I hold still, stiff and quiet, listening. The only sounds I hear are my own rapid breathing and my heart pounding in my ears.
I’m alone.
Slowly, and with shaking hands, I take my phone out. One missed call from Adam.
“Boo!”
My phone falls from my hands. I freeze in place. Blondie’s laughter wraps around me like chains.
“Happy to see me Hanna? I sure am happy to see you.”
All the spit in my mouth has disappeared and I’m pretty sure my heart has forgotten how to beat. I turn slowly. Blondie smiles, far from friendly. Will’s knife held in his hand—the very knife I’d stabbed him with—he backs me into a tree. He stares at me both angry and fascinated at the same time as he impales the knife into the bark just to the side of my face.
“That really hurt you know,” he says softly.
I swallow back vomit. “Too bad it didn’t kill you. Next time I’ll be sure to finish the job.”
“Next time?” He licks his lips looking at me like I’m a delicious treat he’s about to devour. “What makes you think there will be a next time?”
Digging deep inside I focus what energy I still have left forcing it at him. He stumbles back a few steps and laughs.
“Is that all you got?” With a smile he waves his hand and the next thing I know I’m careening through the air.
My back slams into a tree, all the breath in my lungs rushing out all at once as I hit the ground. Pain flares with every move in my attempt to stand, probably because everything in me is broken and bleeding.
“Is that all you got?” I manage to yell, throwing his words back at him.
“I like you Hanna. You fight back.”
I force myself up despite the agony it causes. I don’t see him anywhere. “Yeah, well, I hate you,” I say. At my foot I spot a large rock. Quickly I dig it out hiding it behind my back. Then I do the only thing I can do, I wait.
Blondie appears at the top of a small hill with his hands over his heart (providing he has one), with dramatic flare. “Ouch. I tell you I like you, and you say you hate me.”
Keeping the rock hidden, I don’t move, as he gets closer.
“Aren’t you getting tired of playing games Hanna?” Blondie’s right in front of me now, a self-righteous look on his face. He thinks he’s got me beat. “Tell me what I want to know and I promise I’ll kill you fast. You won’t even feel it.”
“No.”
He grins amused. “Defiant to the end. I love it.” He grabs my wrist, turns it over so the symbol faces up. “Guess we’ll have to do this my favorite way. The hard way.”
“Guess so.” With my other arm I swing as hard as I can. The rock slams into the side of the head with a crunch that makes me gag. He looks at me both stunned and impressed before his eyes roll to the back of his head and he falls to the ground.
I drop the rock beside him turning to run like my life depends on it, because it does.
After a few minutes I dare to look over my shoulder to see if Blondie’s regained enough of his senses to pursue. All I can make out are darkened silhouettes of the trees I’d just passed and little else. Hoping that he’s not close behind I duck behind the next biggest tree I find to catch my breath.
I reach into my pocket for my phone to call Will for help and come up empty handed.
“Damn it.” Remembering that I had dropped it earlier I kick a tree stubbing my toe. I pull at my hair until it hurts then peer around the side of the tree. There’s no way I can go back for it which leaves me with only one option. I have to keep going on my own and hope that I find my way out before Blondie catches up.
Taking off, I run once more breaking through a copse of trees where I come to a sudden stop, my feet sliding out from under me as momentum carries me forward. I claw at the mud in vain leaving gashes and broken nails behind as I go over the cliff.
My toes hit a small ledge jutting out from just below the cliff’s edge stopping me from plummeting all the way down. My heartbeats come hard and fast and I’m pretty sure that at any moment my heart’s going to just burst from my chest and be done with me. Slowing my heavy breaths, I pry my eyes open to look down at the dark waters of Lake Haven.
Keeping my body pressed against the wall I search for anything I can use to climb back up. To my right a tree grows outward from the face of the cliff and if I can get to it I might be able to push myself up. With careful steps I inch sideways. Flat against the wall I dig a hand into a crevice as I step onto a branch. Pushing upward I reach out sinking my fingers down into the mud at the top of the cliff’s edge. My foot slips and I feel myself starting to fall when suddenly a hand grabs my arm and pulls me back up. That same hand then wraps tightly around my throat holding me at arms length.
“I can’t let you die just yet. You still have something I want and I will get it.” Blondie’s eyes shift from blue to black with a blink. I try to look away, but it’s already too late. I’m caught, powerless to stop him from stealing my thoughts and memories—Sam’s thoughts and memories. He squeezes my throat tighter and I fight to breathe. With his free hand he takes my wrist digging his nails down into the symbol.
Sam’s memories spring forward and I become him while Blondie watches.
My brother’s blood calls out to me. Blood to blood, brother to brother, with such strength I know he has to be close.
My dad’s keys jingle in my hand as I wait impatiently for the garage door to open. I don’t have a license and I don’t have my own car and if my Dad were to catch me now, I’d probably be grounded forever. But it’ll all be worth it if I find him.
My brother. It’s surreal to think that he’s out there so close to where I am and I never knew about him. We probably grew up our whole lives just towns apart never knowing who we were to each other. Tonight, that’s all going to change.
I sink into the leather seat of my father’s precious BMW and fasten the seatbelt. My heart starts to beat faster. Maybe I should take Will with me. I unfasten the seatbelt. Open the door.
No.
I need to do this on my own. I close the door then refasten my seatbelt. Hands trembling because this is really happening, and it’s scary as hell, and I don’t know how it’s all going to turn out, I put the key in the ignition starting the engine. Putting the car in reverse my brown eyes stare back a
t me from the rearview mirror. No turning back now.
The closer I get to the town of Lake Haven the stronger the pull becomes. He’s here somewhere. The palms of my hands become hot and sweaty as I pull in across the street from a nightclub. I rub them down the front of my shirt as I get out of the car.
Across the street a long line of people trail around the side of The Iron Knife, my brother being among them. I cross the street letting the pull lead me. A halo of light appears around the person standing fifth in line to get it. It’s him. It’s my brother. His back is to me and all I can see is what he’s wearing: dark jeans, a button down shirt, and a blue ball cap.
Bypassing the line, I duck into the mouth of an alley beside the club to get a better view. His brown hair flips out around the edges of his hat a few shades lighter than my own and his eyes are green where mine are brown. He looks a lot like our mother. He smiles having the same dimple she did as he pays his cover charge.
Now that I’m here and I’ve seen him my nerves are starting to take over. Fears dance around in my head about what I should do next. Do I introduce myself as his long lost brother? Do I tell him who he really is and take away who he’s always thought himself to be? Do I tell him the fate of the world rests in his hands because he’s destined to either save or destroy it?
If I do his whole world will turn upside down?
He’ll hate me or think I’m crazy. Maybe both.
I lean against the wall. Frustrated, I run my fingers through my hair pulling on the ends.
Maybe I don’t have to tell him everything all at once. Maybe I can just start small. Introduce myself and go from there.
I wipe my once again sweaty hands on the back of my jeans, pulling myself together. “It’s now or never,” I say aloud.
“Hey you.”
I turn peering into the darkness of the alley. “Who’s there?”
A tall guy with blonde hair steps out from the shadows. I know right away who he is.
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