My jaw was locked, and I couldn’t respond. Though, quite frankly, I didn’t think I even had a response to that besides a resounding ‘no’.
“This is Osiris, the ancient Egyptian god of the dead.”
“I thought their gods were made up to explain the weather and where you go after you die.” What he was saying couldn’t be real. It couldn’t be. I refused to believe it, until I had some hard facts raining down on me.
“Not all gods were based on nature or false premises. Osiris was real, but he wasn’t revered as a god until he was slain by Set. Osiris was never a true god. He was a Demon. These Nightwalkers, probably led by a higher Demon, want to resurrect him, allow him to bring them salvation as only a true Demon of death can. If they succeed…”
I decided to finish his sentence for him, since I already knew where this was going, though I could scarcely believe it. “The world is doomed.” For someone who’s heard this so many times, it was more overused and worn than the whole girl-likes-boy-who-doesn’t-know-she-exists-and-he-eventually-opens-his-eyes scenario.
Ridiculous was what it was.
“Well, not necessarily. If we fail to stop them then the Council would probably come in and take over. Save the day and all that,” Raphael spoke with traces of animosity. Either he didn’t enjoy the thought of us failing, or he hated the Council.
And to that I say get in the back of the line, buddy.
My mouth dropped open. “Why can’t they take over now?”
Raphael pinched the top of his nose, which may or may not have been an indication that he was getting a bit angry with me. “Do you know how often the safety of the world is threatened by Demons? Quite often, as it turns out. Every single day. They are very busy and important people.”
Somehow his answer didn’t bring me comfort. Strange that knowing that the world came to almost destruction every day was an unsettling thing, wasn’t it?
“Of course, if things got bad enough, they would have to drop what they’re doing and fix our mistakes. I’d rather that not happen, and I’m sure you feel the same.” Raphael took the tome from me and began walking away.
Uh, did he want me to follow him? He should have specified before the question of to follow or not to follow entered my brain.
“I’m the bait. I got that. But, before I go, I want to know something.” I decided to follow him to the back of the church, where he was in the process of setting the book down. “How are Nightwalkers doing this? They’re mindless, wanting for one thing: nourishment. How are Nightwalkers responsible for all this?”
Raphael was silent for far longer than he should have been. “I…do not have an answer to that, Kassandra.”
“Okay,” I stated, boldness growing as I placed my hands on my hips. “Then tell me this: what else do they need to resurrect this thing?”
It was a question he answered hastily, “This ritual was cooked up by some ancient Egyptian Demons, and the Nightwalkers already have the marrow of an innocent. According to my sources, the Demons need four more things.” Raphael paused to meet my inquisitive stare. The blood of Ta-Bitjet, a cat’s head, a falcon’s claw, and…a virgin. Three of which are not that difficult to get.”
After hearing that list, I gulped. I couldn’t help it. The first three were kind of weird. What did the blood of Ta-Bitjet mean? And a cat’s head? Gross. Same went for the falcon’s claw.
Out of the pack, the last one was the item that really got me.
I was supposed to be the bait for the group of Nightwalkers who needed a virgin.
And I was a virgin. A virgin in both the never-seen-a-boy-naked before and a virgin in the my-blood-had-never-been-used-in-a-spell before.
Not exactly a good combination, considering everything, but I’ll handle it. I always did, and I’ll continue to handle things until the day I couldn’t.
The line was ridiculously long. I might have been the twentieth person in line. This was going to take forever, no joke.
Although, I could really use a joke right about now, because I was still freaking out about what Raphael had told me. I had voiced my concern about this matter soon after getting changed into some ridiculously ugly yellow and black clothes.
And he told me that according to his readings, they all needed to be mummified. Even the virgin.
I wasn’t a mummified seventeen year old girl, but hearing that didn’t help.
I was still utterly freaked about this whole thing. I honestly didn’t think I’d ever been this worried in my whole life. Which was saying something, since one time I walked into a Nightwalker nest all by myself, to save Gabriel. We both almost died, but even then I did not feel like this. Those were just normal Nightwalkers and this…this was something bigger. Something worse.
“Just one ticket?”
I snapped back into reality and saw that I was at the ticket booth. “Yes.” I handed her five dollars and received a ticket stub. It was utterly outrageous that it cost five dollars to get in. Three more bucks and I could have gone to see a movie, something I’d much rather be doing.
I would also be in the dark, so no one could see the hideous outfit I had going on. Yellow and black? I looked like a bumblebee. And this shirt was far too low-cut for me. If I got these Nightwalkers tonight, I certainly did not want to be falling out of it while I was kicking their sorry asses.
Drums echoed throughout the stadium, and the rest of the band soon followed. That’s when I took in the sight of my first, and hopefully last, football game.
There were hundreds of people sitting in the stands on both sides, standing and screaming at the cheerleaders who just ran to the gate, near where I was standing. In a flash the opposing team was running on the field, hand in hand, yelling ‘Gators’ again and again.
That was kind of weird.
Thinking it was over, I started walking, but was instantly pushed back by a referee. I had to bite my tongue to not say any kind of death threat.
Our team came out with their arms up and faces painted yellow and black. They weren’t running. It was more like sprinting. In mere seconds the whole team had already ran out on the field and broken that paper the players run through.
I had never seen that many people keep that kind of pace for that long. There was definitely something wrong with that. But I wasn’t here to investigate the team (yet).
I looked around. It was so strange. The lights made it feel like it was day, though it was really dark and eight at night. Gabriel was also nowhere to be seen. Of course.
Traitor. k°1°2
I walked, avoiding everyone. There were way too many people here. In addition to the hundreds in the stands, there were other students standing around by our goal, outside the fence and ranging from ten to twenty years old.
Most of these people I recognized from the high school and the little kids I’d seen riding the buses, so that ruled them out. After all, Nightwalkers couldn’t walk in daylight and since I’d seen them during school, that meant they weren’t the culprits. Though, they might be something else. I’m not ruling them completely out. Probably half of them were other Demons, since this town had an infestation.
Hence the reason we were here.
But, as always, Nightwalkers were my main priority. Why? Well, because if left alone the actual human residents in this city would be next to nil and the population of Nightwalkers would be exploding. They were like vermin, these things. It was better for everyone if they were eliminated first.
I had to live by the code of the Purifiers: Earth was for the living.
Demons, even though some tried hard, could not be living souls. Therefore, all Demons must be purified before my job could truly be done.
Which would be never. There was always going to be more. You beat one, but while you were beating it another one multiplied or had kids or bit three people. That’s just how it was.
I wandered around for an hour. By myself. Like a loser. I had to ignore my self-pity and get the job done. My eyes slowly glanced at the
scoreboard. It was halftime. I felt something in the pit of my stomach. It hurt. And it was seriously starting to freak me out…
…but then I realized I was hungry.
Silly, silly me.
Ignoring the urge I had to laugh at myself, I walked over to the concession stand.
Holy crap. They had a lot of food here. I bet I could have eaten it all. For a split second, I thought I was going to be able to. But then I became aware that I had no money left.
Awe, nuts. That sucked.
So I got out of the line and went to lean on a tree that was far away from the crowd of people hoarding by the gate to watch the band perform. My hands were in my shorts’ pockets, my long hair waving in the gentle breeze. Away from the people, away from the noise, I felt content. But not for long.
After a minute of alone time, when my mind was starting to wander to that tall, dark and handsome boy, I felt something eerie. Someone’s eyes were on me, and I didn’t think that someone was Human. So, I did what I had to do: I turned and headed deeper into the woods.
Not the smartest thing to do, if I was a normal girl.
Thankfully, though, I was anything but normal.
I heard a growl. A faint one, but it was still a growl.
And I knew my queue. I flipped around and asked, in the most girly voice, “Hello?” A twig snapped and I twisted in the direction of the noise. It was behind me suddenly, and my gaze met with a humanoid being standing a few feet from me.
Perverse laughter entered my ears. “Pretty girl…” It spoke as if it were a child, just learning those two words.
Wait a flipping moment. Nightwalkers didn’t talk. They understood speech, but couldn’t reciprocate it. That meant one thing: this wasn’t a Nightwalker. But if it wasn’t a Nightwalker, what was it? The Demon leader Raphael suspected?
It laughed again and took a step closer to me. “Need you…” Its eyes began glowing, so I shielded my own, figuring that this wasn’t good.
I lashed out, a fist emerging and hitting nothing but empty air. I opened my eyes and glanced around. The thing was not in front of me anymore. It was fast and quiet, a deadly combination.
When I did a one-eighty, I was frozen as I stood face to face with it. A dark shadow, its golden yellow eyes illuminating the dark space around it, immobilizing me, freezing me. And when I say I was frozen, I meant it both figuratively and literally. I was paralyzed, blinded by its unnatural flash of light. This thing had me, and my mind briefly flashed to that day three years ago, the only other time a Demon had gotten the better of me.
This definitely wasn’t good.
Another branch cracked; leaves rustled.
That wasn’t good either. Were more coming? Where the hell was Gabriel? Where was my backup?
“What the hell?” It was a familiar voice, not Gabriel’s, but a welcomed one nonetheless. John ran to my side, stepping between me and the Demon protectively.
The Demon’s golden eyes faded, and in an instant it was gone, disappearing in a gust of wind and black smoke.
My legs buckled involuntarily. My heart beat fast, vision sluggishly returning to me.
I sat on the leafy ground as John knelt to my level. “Who the hell was that?”
“I,” my voice croaked out, “don’t know…” And that, for once, was the truth.
“Ah, so he’s not one of your friends then?” John laughed, trying to lighten the mood.
“No.” My head hurt. My stomach hurt. And my lips hurt. I needed some sleep, a lot of food, and a ton of lip gloss. Maybe not necessarily in that order. My stomach growled and we both looked down at my belly.
“Hungry?” John winked. What was with boys and winking? “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
I couldn’t exactly argue, on account of the fact that I thought I was going to upchuck all the nothing in my stomach. As he led me out of the forest and through the crowd, I couldn’t help but wonder what would’ve happened to me if John hadn’t showed up. Would that Demon have killed me, or worse, taken me to use in its demented ritual?
Chapter Twelve – John
The lights at the game were blinding. There were tons of people, which was a normal amount. But something was off. I was walking around the fence looking for Kass. She said she’d be here, so where the hell was she?
I needed to find her. I needed to see her. I needed to have her.
As weird as that sounded, it was true.
I was starting to get frantic. I circled the whole damn football field almost five times, but I hadn’t seen a peek of her. My mind came up with a brilliant idea. Maybe she was unaware of how things were done around here, so she went and sat in the stands with all the parents. Yeah, that was it.
My legs quickly walked to the stands. I headed up the stairs and glanced all around, looking for her. But she wasn’t there, either. Damn it. Disappointed, I walked down and over to the concession stand, thinking that maybe she was there, since she loved food. And, somehow, I was not surprised that I found practically everyone there but her.
The hot North Carolinian wind hit my face. I let the wind guide my head to the woods that surrounded the eastern side of the stands. This was probably crazy, but, oh what the hell? Why not take a quick look in the woods? If she wasn’t there then I’d be no farther than where I was now. But if she was there, for whatever weird reason, then I was miles ahead.
That sounded like a good plan.
I nonchalantly made my way to the outskirts of the wooded area, thinking how strange it would be if this was where I found her. This was insane. She wouldn’t be in the woods. She…
My ears heard voices. Kass’s voice and another one that sounded…childish.
Who was with her?
Me, being the charge-headfirst-without-looking kind of guy, stepped on a branch, breaking it instantly. And then I stepped on a pile of old, dry leaves. And everyone with half a brain knew that a pile of old, dry leaves only did one thing when you stepped on them: crack.
So whoever was with Kass knew I was there.
That’s when I saw her. She was frozen still; I didn’t know if it was from shock or from something else. “What the hell?” My voice penetrated the still night’s air as I ran to stand between her and her adversary.
A blinding yellow light emanated from his eyes, so bright that I couldn’t make heads or tails of who he was. He was short, though, I could tell that. Shorter than Kass and dressed in rags.
Whoever it was ran away, vanishing so quickly I was stunned, and soon Kass was sinking to the floor. I knelt and set my hands on her shoulders, the concern plain in my voice, “Who the hell was that?” I looked around to make sure he was gone. And he was.
“I,” Kass’s voice cracked, “don’t know…”
I stared into her worried eyes. “Ah, so he’s not one of your friends then?” I laughed lightly before realizing how I must have sounded to her. Like I was the savior of the day and everything was alright. And, I could tell from the look in her eyes that everything was not alright. I forced myself to stop laughing abruptly.
Her gaze landed in her lap. “No.”
I wanted to tell her that it was okay, he was gone, whoever the hell he was. I wanted to tell her that the moonlight hit her face beautifully. I wanted to tell her that I wanted to have her right here, right now.
But I couldn’t, for some obvious reasons. I wasn’t a creep. Although, that’s what I felt like when I was around her.
She made me feel creepy. Which was weird. I never felt like a creep. Only creeps felt like creeps. And I wasn’t a creep. Oh, shit. Maybe creeps didn’t feel like creeps because they don’t think they’re creepy. Maybe they think normal people were the creepy ones and that they themselves were normal and not creepy, even though they’re really creeps.
Oh, my God. Maybe I was a creep…Well, this wasn’t a good revelation. It’s not every day that you wake up and think ‘today I think I’m going to be a creep’ or ‘I’m feeling that today’s going to be a creepy one.’
> Regardless, none of the other girls I’d pursued in my life had made me feel this way. It was a good feeling, a strange one.
Her stomach rumbled loudly. We both looked at it as though we’d never heard an empty stomach. “Hungry?” I asked her, even though I knew her answer. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
She looked as if she wanted to argue with me and turn me down again, but then she must have realized that she was starving, for she nodded and stood up, leaning on me all the while. When her hand gripped my arm, her warmness sent waves in my gut. I suddenly felt cold compared to her, a freak.
God. This girl was driving me crazy.
Chapter Thirteen – Kass
John’s mouth was full of fries, but that didn’t stop him from noticing me sniffing my burger and saying, “Smells good, huh?”
“Yes,” I lied. Which, I realized I had been doing often to him. Truth was this thing neither looked nor smelled appetizing. But that didn’t stop me from temporarily forgetting my manners and digging in, ‘cause there was a pound of burger and a huge pile of fries waiting to be ingested and soon digested.
I felt like a rabid animal, unable to control my urge to devour the meal in a minute flat. I would have ordered more food, but then I would have felt bad about not having money and making John pay. I felt like I could’ve gotten one of everything and eaten it all.
Thankfully, John didn’t seem to notice the animalistic way I was eating the burger. Or maybe he did and was simply trying to be polite. In five minutes, my plate was empty and John was only half way done. I wiped my hands on the napkin in my lap and remembered I needed to call Michael.
The only thing was, I didn’t have a cell phone. So that meant one thing: I had to use John’s.
“John, can I borrow your phone?”
“Sure.” He pulled it out of his pocket and handed the sleek, flat smartphone to me. “Can’t find yours?”
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