by E. J. King
So I took a deep breath and pulled an old gym bag from the back of my closet. It was heavier than I remembered, but I knew the exact details of the contents inside- my Hunter toolkit: flashlights, chains, and plenty of silver blades.
I found my most Huntery-looking clothes in my closet and took a long look in the mirror after getting dressed. The girl staring back at me was a ghost from my past. She looked annoyed, but determined.
I had no idea how to track down a Soul in a public place like the college campus, so I decided to just lurk in the shadows and see what would happen. It was a quiet night. Most of my schoolmates were tired from a long weekend of partying or were hurrying to cram in all of the studying they had been neglecting. In a way, I envied them. They were able to live their lives with minimal responsibilities. Their biggest concerns were what party to attend and how not to fail the classes they kept skipping.
“Come on,” I muttered under my breath after an hour of inactivity. I was starting to think this punk might have left town.
Laughter rang out in the distance and I saw a group of girls stroll across campus, loud and proud. They seemed oblivious to the recent disappearances and unconcerned about their safety. Since they were in a pack, they were probably safe. But there was no guarantee. A Soul could easily take on four sorority girls if it desired to do so.
And then it hit me. “Duh, Hart.”
Talking aloud to myself during hunts was a bad habit I’d never been able to break. I didn’t like the quiet of the hunt, the time alone with my thoughts. But this time my thoughts were helpful. The Soul wasn’t going to come after me because I was in hiding. I was making it too challenging.
I had only been on the main path for a minute when I heard soft footsteps behind me. Instinct told me to turn around and face my attacker, but training had taught me to stay the course. It was best to act like I hadn’t heard anything at all if I wanted the Soul to make a move.
I didn’t have to wait long. I could feel the Soul reaching for me in the dark and I turned abruptly, my fist connecting squarely with its nose.
“Son of a…” The Soul’s hands had covered its face and when they finally lowered, I saw that it wasn’t a Soul after all.
“What the hell are you doing sneaking up on me like that?” I demanded.
“I wasn’t sneaking!” James glared at me through watering eyes.
I realized that for the first time, he wasn’t wearing his sunglasses. When the streetlight hit his face, his eyes flashed first in a bright gold before settling into a warm shade of blue. I blinked hard thinking that my eyes were playing tricks on me.
“What are you doing here?” Half of me was annoyed at the sight of him while the other half was thrilled. What was happening to me?
“I don’t know if you heard, but a bunch of girls have gone missing on this campus. I thought I might try to stop it from happening again.” He gave me a smug look. “Some of us care about other people.”
“Are you implying that I don’t?”
He shrugged. “You did give up hunting.”
“I’m out here right now, aren’t I?” I said, wondering why I cared so much about what he thought of me. “If your plan was to scare away the Soul, I think you’ve succeeded.”
“Wait… this was your plan? Walking around and hoping this Soul is stupid?” James laughed. “You really have lost your Hunter touch.”
“Go away.” I turned on my heel and marched purposefully down the path.
He chose to ignore my request and followed me. “I’ve been thinking a lot about how we can jumpstart your memories. Wanna hear what I came up with?”
I did, but I didn’t want him to know that. I also didn’t want him to know how much I liked hearing him say that he had been thinking about me.
“I’m sorry, did you not hear me say go away?”
He stepped alongside me, his arm brushing mine. “You always did like to play hard to get. But I know you don’t mean it.”
I stopped abruptly and faced him. “Stop it. Stop saying that you know all of these things about me. We just met!”
“No, Kaylie.” He grabbed my arm. “I do know you. And you know me. Just open your eyes and see the truth.”
Then he did something completely unexpected. He pulled me against him and kissed me hard, right on the lips. I did something even more unexpected- I kissed him back.
From the first second his lips brushed against mine, my head began to spin. All of those images of us together came rushing back only this time I knew they were real.
My eyes were still closed as I pulled away an inch to whisper, “I remember, Rafe.”
He sighed and pressed his forehead against mine. “Do you remember everything?”
“I remember us,” I said, keeping my eyes squeezed shut. Memories were still rushing back and I felt dizzy.
After the initial euphoria of remembering Rafe, I started to remember other things. I remembered what had happened to my parents. That weird moment in their living room hadn’t been an illusion. They had been killed. So had little Jack.
My knees began to shake and I started to fall. Rafe caught me, holding me against his body. “I know it’s hard, Kaylie, but you have to keep going. Keep remembering.”
I wondered what else there could be that I had been suppressing. How could anything be as terrible as what had happened to my family?
But then I saw it.
Rafe’s brother, Ethan- one of my closest friends- had killed Luke. I had been there, watching it happen and unable to stop it. He had died in my arms.
“Luke,” I gasped.
Rafe pressed his lips to my ears and said evenly, “I know how terrible it is. I know that you don’t want any of it to be true, but that is your real life. None of this around you is real. This isn’t your world.”
“I don’t want to go back to that,” I said, feeling tears building behind my eyelids.
“You don’t have to,” he admitted. “But I can’t stay here with you. This isn’t my world either.”
“No.” I finally realized the decision I was facing.
If I chose to stay in the world where my family and Luke were still alive, I would have to say goodbye to Rafe. But if I chose to go back with him to the real world, all of their deaths would come back.
“I can’t make you go, Kaylie. Only you can make that decision. But you have to know that people in that world need you. Ethan, Lincoln, Hope…me. We need you.” His hand stroked my cheek softly, wiping away tears I didn’t know had fallen.
I knew that he was right. The people in the other world were real. They needed me and I needed them. Their counterparts in this world would fade away the second I chose to leave. They were figments of my imagination. I knew that I had to go back, even if it meant saying goodbye to the people I loved.
“How?” I asked. “How do I go back?”
“Just open your eyes, Kaylie.” He kissed me again, softly. “Come back to me.”
I took a deep breath, seeing my family and Luke one last time in my head. They were alive and smiling, just the way I wanted to remember them. Then I said goodbye to them, braced myself, and opened my eyes.
CHAPTER TEN
At first, I couldn’t see anything but a bright light. When my vision finally cleared, I thought that maybe nothing had changed after all. Rafe was still there, staring down at me. He was smiling hopefully at me and I returned the smile.
“Rafe,” I said, knowing that I was back where I belonged.
“You came back to me,” he said, pressing his lips to my forehead. “I knew you would.”
My heart still ached from losing my family all over again, but I didn’t regret my decision. “I’ll always come back to you.”
“Do you remember everything?”
That was a good question. I remembered now that Ethan had attacked my mother while under compulsion and that Luke had been killed instead. I remembered running to Luke’s side while my mother’s guards escorted her away.
“Th
ere was a fight,” I said, trying to push away the fog in my brain to remember everything. “The Weres went after Ethan?”
“Rightfully so. They didn’t know he had been compelled. Some of Violet’s guards were Weres and they turned and rushed at Ethan. Slade and a few of the others helped protect him, but one of them got you.” His eyes darkened. “I couldn’t get to you in time.”
I remembered teeth sinking into the top of my shoulder and immediately put my hand there, feeling a thick bandage. “I got bit.”
“We know what happens when a Were bites a Soul and what happens when they bite a human, but no one knew for sure what would happen with you.” Rafe swallowed hard and I could tell that whatever had happened while I was gone had been hard on him.
“Because of my blood?” It wasn’t exactly a secret that my blood was special. It didn’t behave like normal human blood.
“You slipped into a coma almost immediately. The doctor tried giving you some different medications, but they couldn’t break the fever. You were so hot…” He trailed off. “Slade sent for Violet.”
“My mother?” I sat up despite the pain. “Is she here?”
“Not now.” He caught my arm to keep me from sinking back into the pillows. “She did come back though. We were able to convince her that Ethan was being properly restrained and that she wasn’t in danger.”
I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. My mother had come back to help me, but she hadn’t stayed to make sure I would be alright. “What happened to me?”
“While your body was fighting the infection, your brain went into survival mode. It tricked you into thinking everything was okay by building an imaginary world for you.”
“How do you know that?” I asked. “If it was only in my head, how could you know what was happening?”
“Violet,” he said. “She has spent a lot of time learning about the occult and she was able to do this kind of spell. It let me enter your world for brief periods of time to try to get through to you.”
“So you were really there?” I felt breathless. “You came for me?”
“Of course I did.” He took my hand and squeezed hard. “Violet told me that I couldn’t explain everything to you because you might slip further into the delusion. She said that I had to get you to see it for yourself.”
My head was starting to pound. This was a lot of information to absorb at once. “And once I saw it for myself, after you kissed me, I came back?”
“Apparently.” He shrugged and smiled. “Frankly I don’t care how it happened, I’m just glad you opened your eyes.”
For just a second, I felt happy too. But then I remembered Luke again.
“Luke…” I couldn’t say anything else.
“He’s gone,” Rafe confirmed. “There was nothing we could do for him.”
“What about Ethan? Is he okay?” Suddenly I felt very afraid for him. He had tried to attack someone that was very powerful in the supernatural world. They hadn’t known that my evil father had placed him under compulsion.
“Ethan is fine.” Rafe tried to sound convincing, but I detected the worry in his eyes. “Slade’s guards have him locked up. For his own safety.”
“I want to see him,” I tried to throw my legs over the side of the bed, but they felt heavy. My head started to spin and I nearly fell over.
Rafe caught me and laid me back against the pillow. “You can see him later. You need to rest now. Your body is still recovering.”
All protest was forgotten as I sank into a deep sleep.
I was alone the next time I opened my eyes. After a few attempts, I was able to sit up. More excruciating minutes passed, but eventually I made it to the door. It was the same room they had put me in when I first arrived at Haven. I’d also been redressed in the standard medical clothing- sterile white from head to ankle. The only color was my pink running shoes which I had found at the foot of the bed.
From memory, I made my way down the hall to Slade’s office. The door was closed and I didn’t bother knocking. Slade was going to talk to me whether he wanted to or not.
“Kaylie.” He didn’t seem all that surprised to see me storming into his office. “I take it you are feeling better?”
“Where’s Ethan? I want to see him.”
Slade leaned back in this chair, the picture of calm. “Sure. I can make that happen.”
I waited for the catch. “I want to see him now.”
“There’s no hurry, Kaylie. He’s fine.” Slade gestured to the empty chair across from him. “Take a seat.”
“I’m fine.” I crossed my arms stubbornly over my chest. “Why are you stalling?”
His smile was humorless. “You don’t miss anything, do you?”
“I have a pretty good bullshit detector,” I agreed.
“I will let you see Ethan, but I need you to agree to do something for me first. Well, something for Haven actually.”
“What?” I asked wearily.
He stood and walked to the window that looked over Haven’s center. “I didn’t realize that Violet was your mother.”
“Neither did I until recently.” I wasn’t really looking to get into a family history discussion with him. “What of it?”
“Violet is a very dear friend of mine. I would do anything to protect her.” His back was still to me. “That includes making sure your friend doesn’t hurt her.”
“Ethan is under compulsion. He would never hurt Violet intentionally.”
“Even so.” Now he turned to me. “I think it would be best if the three of you leave Haven.”
I nodded. “Fine. We can do that.”
“Not yet,” he said. “Haven is being threatened and we need your help. You and the others. We can’t let you leave yet.”
“You can’t exactly keep us here. If we want to leave, we will.” My hands clenched into fists.
“I can, actually. Ethan is locked up now and I can make sure it stays that way. I’m fairly certain you won’t leave without him.”
I felt hot anger burning in my chest. “You’re holding him hostage to get me to play along?”
“I’m doing what I have to in order to keep my pack safe,” he replied unapologetically.
“Rafe and I stay to get you through the battle and then you’ll let all of us leave?” I asked reluctantly. It was annoying to be blackmailed, but I would do anything for Ethan.
Slade nodded. “Yes. That’s the deal.”
I stared at him long and hard. I had no reason to believe that he would keep up his end of the deal, but I didn’t really have a choice.
“Fine. We’ll stay,” I agreed abruptly. “Now take me to Ethan.”
It took us five minutes to reach the building where Ethan was being held and neither of us spoke a word as we walked. I wasn’t surprised when we stopped in front of a guarded section of the structure, the exact place that Luke had noticed and thought looked suspicious.
The guards eyed me carefully, but let me pass because I was with Slade. He led me down a flight of stairs to the basement. At the bottom, hallways led in either direction. We took the one on the right.
“He’s at the end of the hall,” Slade said, stopping several yards away. “When you are done, check in with the guard on your way out.”
I found Ethan in a small room that had been turned into a prison cell. Three walls of cement and one comprised of metal bars. The décor inside was minimal, but decent. A bed rather than a cot, a desk and chair, and a small bathroom.
“Swanky digs,” I said as casually as possible.
Ethan was laying on the bed, reading. He dropped the book and bolted upright.
“Kaylie! It’s so great to see you.” He rushed the bars and I put my hands through them so he could grab them. “I was worried about you.”
“You were worried about me? You’re the one on the bad side of the bars.” I smiled. “How are you holding up?”
“Not bad. I’m careful not to drop the soap.” He peered over my shoulder, looking down the hal
l. “They sent you here alone?”
“Slade escorted me down the stairs and left. I guess to give us some privacy.” Very quickly, I filled him in on the deal we had made.
Ethan was angry. “You shouldn’t have done that. You need to get out of here. This place isn’t what it pretends to be.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve heard things.” He gave me a meaningful look. “At night, at the other end of the hall, I can hear people screaming.”
“Screaming?” Instinctively, I looked over my shoulder.
He nodded. “It sounds like people are being tortured.”
“How do I get you out of here?” I asked frantically.
“You don’t.” He squeezed my hands tighter and his tone was urgent. “You get Rafe and you get out of here. As soon as possible.”
Ethan repeated himself several times, but when I finally left I knew that I wasn’t going to listen to him. “I’ll be back, Ethan. I’m not leaving you behind.”
He started to protest again, but I hurried away. I thought about trying to sneak further down the hall to investigate Ethan’s claims, but a guard was waiting for me at the stairs to escort me back outside.
I moved across the quad as quickly as I could without drawing attention to myself, all the while formulating a plan. I found Rafe in his room and even though it was against the rules, I shut the door behind me.
“Kaylie!” Rafe’s face lit up in a smile, but then he saw the frantic look in my eyes. “What’s wrong?”
I quickly filled him in on everything- the deal with Slade and what Ethan had told me. When I was done, his eyes were wide.
“What do we do next?” he asked.
Confidently, I answered, “We take down Haven.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
It didn’t take much convincing to get Rafe to back my plan to bring down Haven. He was infuriated that they were using Ethan to blackmail us into fighting with them and his fury only grew when I told him what Ethan had heard. The potential that they might start torturing Ethan as well nearly drove Rafe to confront Slade himself.
