And it did, unfortunately.
I shook myself awake in what felt like minutes. But I wasn’t on the couch anymore. I was in the forest, the one behind the house. It was dark; the middle of the night. The silver moon hung high, illuminating the landscape in an unsettling glow. I noticed that my hand was holding something.
My sword.
Why was I holding my sword?
And why…was it dripping blood?
I struggled to stand, my heart beating rapidly as I glanced around me, feeling someone’s presence. I couldn’t recall getting up and wandering out here on my own. Did I sleepwalk, or did the Hyena’s mark do something to me I couldn’t control?
A voice croaked, deep and menacing, scratchy and low, “Kass.”
“Who’s there?” I gripped my bloodied sword tighter.
A hyena’s laugh penetrated my ears. Oh, shit.
“Kass…” the voice said yet again. Another laugh, but the laugh was coming from a totally different direction.
There were two things in the forest.
I wanted to stay and fight, but I couldn’t properly access the situation. I had no idea what the Hyena Demon had with it, and I didn’t want to make a mistake that would cost me my life to find out.
I turned and ran towards the house, and it took me a good three minutes to realize the house wasn’t coming any closer. If anything, it was growing farther away. That wasn’t right.
Flipping, I started to run the other way, figuring maybe that would get me somewhere. Alas, I was wrong. I was trapped in this damn forest with the Hyena Demon and something else that knew my name.
This wasn’t good.
“Need you…” the Hyena’s voice rung through my head, creating a high-pitched ringing in my ears.
Still grasping my sword, I held my hands up to my ears, hoping that it would stop the ringing. If anything, it made it worse. As a sharp headache tore through my brain, I took my hands away, feeling something warm and sticky on my fingers.
Blood. Whether it was blood from my ears or blood from another part of me, I had no idea.
A gross laugh entered my head, but instead of sounding like sick laughter, it came across more like a shriek. A blood-curdling, spine-tingling, bone-chilling scream.
It sounded like my scream…but that wasn’t possible, because I didn’t scream, did I?
That’s when I saw a body laying on the wet forest floor. It was a girl’s body. Moving closer to study the corpse, my brows came together as I saw that it was me laying on the ground. I was dead.
But…no. That couldn’t be right, because I was right here. I was okay. I was alive, maybe bleeding through my ears, but I wasn’t dead. I was very much alive.
As I thought these frantic thoughts, the body rose mechanically, gripping the same sword I was holding. It turned to face me, revealing my same eyes, my same unwavering expression that said ‘I’m going to kill you.’
It was me. How could that be?
A vicious laugh echoed throughout my ears, circling my head like a swarm of mosquitoes on a hot summer’s day. It was the Hyena Demon’s laugh, and it was getting closer with every second.
My peripheral vision picked up another dark figure running swiftly towards me—to the other me.
Without even a side glance, the other me swung her rose blade cleanly through the air, so fast it must have severed the air itself, and cut the other figure down. There was a low laugh before the other me stuck the sword into the thing’s head.
Its ragged robes, its short, childlike body frame. Its yellow eyes dimmed, ultimately flickering out. The laughter was gone. The Hyena Demon was no more. Just like that.
I watched in disgust as she brought the sword up to her face, and licked it. Licked the blood. That was so sickening, I felt like barfing up right there.
The other me frenetically looked around, but she seemed to stare right through me, as if I wasn’t really there. But I was here, and out of the two of us, I was certain I was the more real one, too.
“Hey,” I called to her, but she didn’t hear me.
In a flash of black, she was gone.
I swallowed. This wasn’t good at all.
A stick snapped in half behind me. I whirled around, expecting for the other me to be there. But it wasn’t me. It was the same figure I had seen somewhere else—in the bathroom, haunting me. Just as before, I could make out the shoes, the pants, the shirt, everything but the face.
The blurry face was a nuisance, one I wanted to get rid of.
I knelt on the ground and set my sword down. Holding my hands together, I prayed. I closed mine and felt a whoosh of wind hit my face. A new vision had been granted to me, and I knew I was about to discover something I never wanted to.
I opened my eyes, seeing if I could make out the face of the thing standing in front of me. And as much as it broke my heart to, I did.
It was John.
“Damn it!” I yelled when I realized I had woken up from the dream. I had wanted to find out more, like what was wrong with the other me and why John turned out to be the figure that had been in my dreams.
What did John have to do with anything? I wondered, sitting up and tossing the blanket off me.
My eyes widened as a very real possibility came into my head. Was John a part of this? Could he just be getting close to me because of this ritual? Was that his job?
I didn’t want to believe it, but it would make sense, seeing as how a guy like him would never notice a girl like me. However, it hurt to even think that he might be involved with this Demonic ritual.
I glanced at the clock. It was three-thirty PM of the next day. The guys hadn’t returned, meaning one thing: they ran into trouble. Trouble I could’ve helped them avoid.
As I sat there, I listened. The house was abnormally silent, my gut telling me that something wasn’t right.
What did John have to gain by giving me to the Hyena Demon? My mind wandered, thinking of all the possible reasons. The only one that kind of made sense was that the Hyena had promised him eternal life. And, usually, eternal life was what most people wanted.
So why would John be any different? He could watch during the day, when I wasn’t out stalking the cemeteries. He could keep tabs on me when the Hyena Demon couldn’t.
He was a damned good actor. He played me like a fiddle. John knew exactly what to say to get me to fall for him, and I willingly stepped into his web, oblivious to any ulterior motives he might have had.
Anger bubbled inside of me, rising until steam was coming out of my ears. I didn’t enjoy being played. John, regardless of my feelings for him, was going to die.
I was going to kill him.
I wiped my face on my purple towel, savoring the steam and warmness in the bathroom. I wished that showering could have rid me of all my worries, but all it did was further enrage me. It was a blur of time as I blow-dried my hair and got dressed. I was going to find John and kill him.
Had to look good while doing it, of course, make him regret toying with me like a stupid girl.
I picked up the necklace Gabriel gave to me, spinning it in the light, watching the diamonds reflect and sparkle. It was a beautiful necklace, one I was still shocked Gabriel had given me. But as I went to clip it, I noticed John’s reflection staring at me in the mirror, causing me to nearly drop the necklace down the drain.
“Kass…” he whispered, his voice dark and mysterious.
“No, not today John,” I growled, running to attack him, but the floor was wet with something. I slipped and fell, knocking my head hard. With a hand on my pounding head, I saw that the floor was wet with blood. I looked to John’s feet; he still hadn’t moved.
“Damn you, John,” I muttered, recalling the first time I saw those shoes in this very bathroom. The first full day of this town…the first time I took a shower in this house. I saw this. I could feel its evil, only I couldn’t see its face. And that ‘it’ turned out to be John.
Did that mean the Nightwalkers had already
turned him?
“Kass…” John reached for my throat.
“No!” I leapt into a kick, but my foot landed in the cupboard beneath the sink, breaking the wood easily. John was gone, as was the blood; everything was gone. I was laying on the normal bathroom tile.
Something was seriously wrong with me.
This whole time it’d been John. I couldn’t believe it. John. John. The guy who smelled so damn good, looked so damn good, and was so damn funny. I fell into his trap oh so easily, laughing at his jokes in spite of myself. I spent so much time with him—I had wholly believed that we could give a relationship a try. I wanted to date him. I wanted to be his girlfriend.
Now the thought made me want to vomit.
After putting the necklace on, I grabbed my sword and skipped down the stairs. I was seconds from leaving when I heard the phone ring. It was an unfamiliar number, and I presumed it was Michael or Raphael calling to tell me why they hadn’t come back. But it wasn’t either of them.
It was John.
Chapter Twenty-Six – John
I sat there in my kitchen, biting my thumb nail and debating on what I should do. I glanced at the piece of paper that rested on the table a few inches from me. It was her number. Her house number. I had gotten it from the internet. The wonders the internet could do. The internet could do anything, anything except tell me what I should do.
She hadn’t shown up at school. I knew that people missed school all the time, for various reasons. But she seemed fine Sunday. She seemed normal Saturday. She seemed like she liked me.
Kass was oblivious. She had no idea of what I’d done.
I was anxious, agitated, worried. I was so very angry at myself for letting it get to this point. It was utterly unnecessary in the long run. It never would’ve worked out between us anyway. I was fooling myself as much as I was fooling her.
Alyssa was in the shower. She had no idea of any of this. Kirk was in the living room. He was trapped in his own world of self-pity. No one had any idea what I felt, of what I had done.
God damn it. What was wrong with me? Why had I decided to do this?
Without realizing what I was doing, I picked up my cell phone and dialed her number. I listened to the dial tone. Within a few rings, a voice picked up. “Hello?” It was her voice, soft and feminine. Eager and innocent.
“Kass?” I spoke her name, not knowing what else to say.
A short pause came about before she asked, “How did you get this number?”
I didn’t have an answer for her, because I knew that telling her I researched her house on the internet was a sign of a stalker. I was a lot of things, but not a stalker. I kept quiet, my mind blanking on what I should tell her.
This needed to be taken care of. Now. I couldn’t let this go on farther, I needed to let her go.
There was silence before she said, “John, I know what you are, what you did. I’m coming for you.” Then it was quiet once more as she hung up.
I brought the phone from my ear, staring at it, mouth dropping in shock.
She knew. How the hell did she know? I hadn’t done anything to her—I hadn’t let it show. As far I knew, I’d been the perfect man.
“Damn it,” I whispered to myself. I didn’t want this time to come. But it had, and I needed to deal with it, whether I wanted to or not. And I really, really didn’t want to. But, unfortunately, I didn’t have a choice.
It was all over…for the both of us.
Chapter Twenty-Seven - Kass
“Hello?” I asked hurriedly, expecting to hear Michael’s English tone or Raphael’s demeaning one. What I definitely didn’t except to hear was John’s voice.
“Kass?”
Hearing him made my heart both leap to new heights and sink to new lows. “How did you get this number?” I questioned, baring my teeth to the phone.
He didn’t say anything.
I decided to clue him in that I was onto him. “John,” I spoke in the world’s most intimidating, deadly voice, “I know what you are, what you did. I’m coming for you.”
I lost the element of surprise, but I didn’t need it. I could take care of him myself without it.
I knew one thing: John hadn’t been turned yet, for he still could talk. Nightwalkers couldn’t speak, nor could they think or use any higher brain processing. They were baseless Demons of the night, but as long as they got their food, they’d live forever.
Forever was never worth that.
Chapter Twenty-Eight – Gabriel
“How many are there?” I waited for Michael’s answer, my impatience clear.
“Seven Nightwalkers and the Hyena Demon,” Michael took his damn time answering through the binoculars.
“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s—” I began to stand, but Raphael yanked me down.
“Wait. We need to think about this tactically. Not one of these Demons can live through this, no matter what.” Raphael rubbed his temples, as if it was helping him think.
I clenched my jaw, grinding my teeth. I had the perfect plan, so they sure as hell better go along with it. “I take the Hyena, you two split up the Nightwalkers and when you’re done, help me, if I haven’t already killed it.”
Michael stared at me, like he was seeing me for the first time. “I don’t suppose you’ll follow any other plan.”
I shook my head no.
“Then let’s do this bloody thing. And Gabriel.” He grasped my shoulder. “Be careful.”
I nodded in response. I was going to be as careful as Kass was when she rescued me that night. That was to say, I’d get the job done, no matter what.
Michael and Raphael went opposite ways as I stood. The bastards didn’t even notice me as I crept into their crypt that served as their hideout. The Nightwalkers stood around a circular altar that was glowing yellow as the Hyena Demon dropped a glassful of scorpion blood into it.
I was about ten feet away when it dropped the cat’s head and falcon’s claw in. It was when the Hyena was about to dump the body of the missing boy into the brew and said something inaudible that I tackled it to the ground and Michael and Raphael burst in through the side doors.
“I don’t think so,” I growled as the small, rotting corpse slid out of its disgusting hands. Seeing the little dead boy made me furious.
Instead of replying, it shoved me off with strength I wouldn’t have pegged for it and rolled, reaching for the body. I was in no mood for this. Not at all.
I thrust my sword into the hand that was inches away from the dead boy, twisting it.
Michael and Raphael were making good work of the Nightwalkers around me, and I had this thing by the balls. Hand, I should say.
Except that was the moment it decided to kick the back of my legs by twisting its own in a totally unnatural direction, making me drop my sword and fall to the ground.
I tried using my arms to push me up, but it placed a hand on my head, holding me down with force. “Stupid boy…” It croaked out, like it was just learning how to speak, “Too late…”
“No!” I yelled as I punched it hard in its face. Pretty good aiming, considering that I wasn’t even looking at it. I leaped up and snatched up my sword. “It’s not too late.”
Its eyes burned yellow as it came at me, landing blow after blow on my stomach. When I recoiled, I grabbed the same hand that my sword had just previously been shoved through. I swung my sword around in a circle, taking the hand clean off.
“Ah!” It howled in pain, staring at the lack of its right hand.
I ran after it, sword clutched tightly in both my hands. This thing had to die. Now.
But it was ready for me. It flashed its eyes to a whitish color, and I was frozen momentarily. I couldn’t move, couldn’t speak. All I could do was think.
Without taking its white eyes off me, it slowly walked and picked up the boy, like it was silently mocking me, and dropped him into the altar.
Rage flashed inside me, and I broke free of the paralyzing stare. In the blink
of an eye, I was suddenly pushing my blade through its chest, nailing it to the altar. Faster than I ever moved before, quicker than what should’ve been possible. But I didn’t question it. I only pinned the Demon down harder.
It tried pulling out the sword with its last hand, but my newfound strength was too much for it. Soon it was drowning in its own blood. But did I care? No. I think I might have laughed.
“Too late…” It smiled, showing blackened teeth. It blinked at me, its black features twisting into a mask of amazement and wonder. “You…I didn’t know—”
A light left the altar and flew out of the crypt.
“What the hell was that?” I shout angrily, twisting the blade around in its chest while choosing to ignore its strange mutterings.
It spoke, “Osiris…risen…girl…”
“What?” My voice cracked, my worry for Kass growing to new levels.
“…Marked…” The Hyena coughed blood, bending its head in reverence to…me? “I follow orders…master—”
Orders? Master? Shit. Whatever this thing was talking about, I didn’t have time to listen. I got to my feet and yanked the sword out, but in a second I heaved it straight through its brain, killing it for once and for all.
And, not waiting for Michael and Raphael, I ran. I had to run. What if the house protection spell didn’t work? What if that light got to her – got in her, changed her? I couldn’t let that happen.
I had to save her. I had to save my Kass.
Chapter Twenty-Nine – John
I craned my neck to look up at her house. It was certainly a beautiful one. It was just like the ones I was used to. I shook the uneasy feeling that was growing in my stomach as I walked to the door and knocked. My peripherals saw Kass peek out at me from behind a curtain.
“Kass,” I said impatiently, “I need to talk to you.” So come out here. “Kass, I know you can hear me. I think you should come out so we can finish this.”
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