“I will always come for you, princess,” he snarled. “I will be the one you give your soul to.”
I relived that horrible moment over and over again until a white light appeared and pulled me from Hell itself.
***
“That’s my daughter!”
I opened my eyes as I recognized my mother’s voice. I saw I was in the hospital. My wrists were bandaged and sore, and my ribs ached terribly when I tried to move. There was an IV drip standing beside my bed. All I could feel was pain. I looked around and saw that the two of us were alone.
“Oh, goodness, honey,” my mother exclaimed. Her eyes were red from crying and she held my hand tightly in her own.
“Where’s Wesley?” I asked in a tiny voice.
“I sent him home,” she replied shakily. “He wouldn’t come in. I think Adam was about to kill him, anyway. You’ve been out for several days.” My mother leaned closer and stroked my face. “Who did this to you?” She whispered as if worried someone would hear us.
I couldn’t speak, so I closed my eyes and let her into my mind. I relived what I could remember, every last dirty detail. As she saw what I had been through, I felt my mother’s hand shaking and I knew she wanted to pull away. I could hear her sobbing. When the memory was over I opened my eyes and my mother clasped her hands on either side of my face.
“He needs to know,” she said fiercely. “He needs to know that monster found a way to escape Hell.”
I knew she meant my father. I looked up at her and nodded painfully. I knew this was one thing that I had to tell him, no matter how much I didn’t want to. It was time to make the dreaded phone call.
“Not here, though,” my mother warned. “After you talk to the police, when I get you home.”
I nodded again.
She smiled sadly down at me. “I love you, Dawny.”
My talk with the police, when it eventually happened, was way too long. They had so many questions that I had to answer. Physical description? What clothes was he wearing? What did he say to me? Was I sure it was a gun he had at my throat?
I answered everything as honestly as I could. I couldn’t just come out and tell them that he had escaped from Hell and that he had come after me in order to send a horrible message to my father and my boyfriend. When they left I was allowed to rest again. My mother didn’t leave my side as the doctors did their tests and took their samples, telling me that they would send all of it off to a lab to be examined.
Once everything was said and done my mother convinced the doctor to let me go home. It had been well over twenty-four hours since the attack. Even though I had a broken nose, two broken ribs, and seemed to have bruises the size of baseballs all over my body, they caved in to her. I had a feeling she had used some of her heavenly influence to get me out of there.
***
Wesley was sitting in his car outside when my mother pulled into the drive. They helped me into bed and then my mother left us alone for a bit. Wesley sat just staring at me like he didn’t know me. He looked guilty and smelled slightly of whiskey. His eyes were bloodshot, and his expression was utterly disconsolate. He looked like he had taken a severe emotional beating after everything that had happened.
“This is all my fault,” he said softly, fighting the urge to touch me.
“No, it’s not,” I croaked. “It’s mine. I shouldn’t have gone outside in the dark by myself.”
I tried to smile but my lips just wouldn’t curve. I really didn’t blame him for what had happened. He was at no fault for my being attacked outside the club that night. I did have to make a choice, though. Did I tell him that it was the dark-haired boy from the park? Did I also tell him that this message was for him?
“I’m not going to ask what happened,” he said. “I’m sure you have relived it enough today as it is.”
I winced as pain stabbed through my body.
“Thank you,” I whimpered, squeezing my eyes shut to stop the tears from falling.
“Wesley?” My mother called from the other room. “Can you come here, please?”
Wesley gave me one last look, then got up and left the room.
I heard a muffled conversation in the kitchen but I didn’t care what they were talking about. All I wanted to do was sleep. After a few minutes, however, Wesley came back into my room and sat down on the bed again.
“Your mom is going to run into town and get you some things to make you more comfortable. She asked if I would stay and keep you company while she’s gone.”
I patted the bed next to me, indicating that I wanted him to lie down. He hesitated then lay down on his side, propping his head on his hand and softly touching my face.
“Okay,” I whispered, feeling my eyes getting heavy.
The medication the doctor had given me before leaving the hospital was already lulling me to sleep. I took one last look at my other half.
“I love you,” I choked.
“I love you, too.”
I felt his lips touch my forehead, then I was out of it once more.
When I woke up, Wesley wasn’t on the bed with me anymore. I struggled into a sitting position and looked around my darkened room, but he was nowhere to be seen. The whole house was quiet. I reached for my phone and winced as pain lanced through my rib cage. My index finger sparked and I cursed. Of course, now everything seemed to be functioning normally.
I saw it was 3 a.m. I grumbled as I realized I needed to go to the bathroom. I got up slowly and penguin-walked out of my room, moving carefully as each step sent sharp pains through my body. There was nobody in the house; I could sense it. A sudden fear sent prickles up and down my spine. I sniffed the air but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
It hurt to use the bathroom. I felt like my insides were going to come out. Never had I cried over the simple act of relieving myself.
“Dawn?”
I jumped at my mother’s voice outside the door.
“Yeah,” I replied between gritted teeth.
Then I realized I had somehow set the toilet paper on fire. Clumsily I stifled the tiny flames before they did any damage. Then I pulled myself up and shuffled out of the bathroom and into my mother’s warm embrace.
“I talked to your father,” she said as she put her cheek to my forehead. “I told him I could take care of it. I got permission if I need to.” She sighed and didn’t complete the sentence. “Where’s Wesley? I asked him to stay with you.”
“I don’t know. I woke up and he was gone. I assumed that you had come home and he left,” I said haltingly, willing the pain to cease.
“His car isn’t here,” she said, pulling away from me. “Well, I’m sure he’s fine. He has to deal with what happened in his own way.” She looked intently at me and then helped me back to my room.
I lay down as she put the covers over me. “I will stay with you tonight.”
Taking my hand in hers, my mother started to sing a sad song in Italian, one she used to sing when I was a child. I had always loved my mother’s voice; it had a healing power that made everything seem as if it would be alright. I closed my eyes and in an instant was back asleep.
I don’t know what time she fell asleep as well, but she was still there, breathing rhythmically, when I woke up in the morning. It was light outside. My sleep had been dreamless, thankfully, so I felt a bit more rested after the constant nightmares I’d had in the hospital. My mother stirred as I shifted in the bed and ran her fingers through my hair.
“Merry Christmas, my Dawny,” she said softly.
I smiled at her and welcomed the soft warm hug she gave me before sliding out of bed. I reached over and painfully grabbed for my phone. I had a missed message from Wesley’s dad.
Greg: How you feeling?
Then I winced. Without warning, excruciating pain shot through my entire body and a scream escaped my lips as my body burst into flames.
“Vater! Es brennt in hier Vater!”
Another scream erupted from my lungs as my ribs throbbed, bringing pain like no other searing through my body. My mother reached over and grabbed my face through the fire, pleading for me to make eye contact, willing me to take her hand and let God’s warmth run through me. I could hear her, I could feel her, but I could not do as she demanded. I was shrieking and helpless with pain. Then everything went black.
“Merry Christmas, Raven Princess. What did you think of my little Christmas present?”
I heard the familiar menacing voice, though I did not see the redhead’s face.
“What do you want from me?”
“I want your soul on a platter. I want my Wesley back!” she hissed through my head.
“He will never be yours again,” I shouted.
“Oh, but he is mine again already!”
And then she laughed.
My eyes shot open. My mother was holding my hands and the pain was subsiding, leaving me feeling more and more relaxed. She smiled with relief.
“Thank God!” she exclaimed. Her eyes, which had been milky white, gradually returned to normal and she released my hands. “You were calling for your father, screaming how much it burned. I didn’t know what to do, so I just held on to—”
She was interrupted by a knock at the front door. She held up a finger and quickly left the room. A moment later I heard muffled voices from the living room, but couldn’t make out the words. I just lay there, staring at the ceiling and letting the calmness take me. Then I heard footsteps and a familiar twelve-year-old face appeared at my bedside.
“Melissa!”
I was so happy to see her. If I hadn’t felt so weak I would have hugged her and never let her go.
Her eyes were shining and there was a huge smile on her face as she placed a gift-wrapped box on the bed beside me. I reached for it, wincing a little. Even though my mother had eased my pain considerably, she hadn’t been able to relieve me of all of it.
“I made it,” Melissa boasted proudly as I ripped the paper from the box. Inside was a charm bracelet.
I glanced up at her and painfully started to pull it from the box. Each charm was a picture of the three of us, depicting milestones in mine and Wesley’s relationship. I felt warm tears spring to my eyes as I remembered how happy we had been before all of this shit had started. I struggled to put the bracelet on but, after a few tries, finally succeeded.
“It’s amazing, Melissa,” I said, reaching for her hands.
“We’re all here. Dad said that since you couldn’t come to our house for the holidays we would come to you. Your mom and my dad are putting up a tree right now, and Wesley is bringing in all our gifts. We didn’t open them this morning.” She was so giddy, just like every girl should be on Christmas morning.
I heard a cough at the head of my bed and Melissa’s eyes shot up. Her smile was replaced by an annoyed frown.
“I know! I know! I have to get out now.”
She grumbled as she left the room and my boyfriend took her place. He still looked guilty.
“How you feeling?” he asked, taking a seat next to me.
“It would have been better if you had been here this morning.” I tried to smile but I couldn’t.
“I’m sorry. I had to deal with some things last night, and lying here looking at you and listening to your breath coming out so raspy I just had to get away.” He reached up and touched my cheek. “It was stupid, I know. I could only think of how I nearly lost you.”
“But you didn’t lose me! I’m right here.” His self-pitying speech was enough to make my blood boil and my fingers spark. “I seem to recall that I didn’t leave your side after we found you beaten bloody in the wood. No matter how much I wanted to run away from the damage it had done to you, I stayed.”
He hung his head. “I know. I shouldn’t have left you like this last night.”
At least he understood that he had been insensitive. I struggled to sit, to attempt to put my lips to his to let him know that I forgave him for his moment of stupidity. He saw me struggling and met me halfway, cradling me and helping me to forget my pain.
When his lips met mine my whole world floated away. All I could think of was him and me as just one spirit, one soul. If we were like that, then nothing else could go wrong.
***
“Dawn!” my mother exclaimed as I threw a sheet of wrapping paper at her.
“What?” I winced as I felt the tenderness in my arm.
“Here.”
She handed me another present and I raised an eyebrow. My mother and I had a deal at Christmas. We knew the meaning of it and the reason for the season, but our deal was that we would do something for each other any time during the next year. We had the money to purchase all sorts of gifts, but neither of us was very materialistic. I never felt the need for a Christmas wish. My parents had always taken care of me over the years, and that was enough.
“What is it?” I asked, looking at her.
“It’s something that I thought you would like.”
She grinned and I ripped open the paper. Inside the small box was a set of ruby earrings shaped like skulls. I actually let out a laugh as I showed them to Wesley. He smiled and helped me put them in my ears.
“Let me see!” my mother insisted as I posed, rather painfully, for pictures.
Just when I thought everything was said and done Wesley handed me a parcel. He had already given me so much over the last few months there was no need for him to do anything else. I opened the box slowly, holding my breath. Inside was a silver choker. The lettering on the choker was what got me: “Wesley+Dawn=Forever.”
Laugh if you must. It might sound like quite a cheesy gift, considering everything else that was going on in my life at the time. However, as I have mentioned before, I had never been in love before. Every little thing Wesley did for me was something new. Nobody before him had ever done anything like it, so I had nothing to compare it with. I thought it was a sweet gesture.
My mom and Wesley’s father got up to get lunch ready, leaving Wesley and me sitting on the couch, my legs over his and him holding my hand. Even the thought of moving sent searing pain through my body.
“Tell me about Miranda,” I requested, looking at him. I don’t know why I said it, to be honest. It just seemed the best time to do it.
He raised an eyebrow. “How do you know about her?”
“Your sister gave me the name.”
“Well, there’s not much to tell really. She was my girlfriend up until my mother passed away. After that she got all weird on me—broke up with me for not being on the same level as her. I didn’t care. Honestly, she had some massive issues.”
“What kind of issues?”
“She wanted to rule me, not be with me. Caused a lot of problems.” His voice faltered. “Why do you suddenly care about my ex? I don’t recall ever asking you about any of yours.”
“No reason to get defensive, Wesley. The difference between my ex and yours is that mine isn’t trying to attack you in your sleep.” I bit my lip. I had said too much.
“Wait. What?”
“That's who’s been attacking you,” I said softly.
“You’re telling me that Miranda was in my head?” He didn’t look too convinced.
“She’s in both our heads,” I corrected.
“What makes you think it’s her?” he demanded.
I sighed. “My mother was able to pull images from me, but not from you. Not to mention the nightmares that I have been having.”
“What nightmares?” He was still being defensive, but at least he still cared enough to ask.
“In my dreams she tells me that you are hers.” I frowned and avoided his gaze.
“Well, I’m not!” He grabbed my hand. “Dawn, I’m never going to leave you. There is a reason that we are on this earth, a reason that we are supposed to be together.” He made me look at him. His eyes were angry, yet there was no doubting he meant the words he wa
s saying.
“You say that now,” I objected, “but what happens if you change your mind?”
“I will never change my mind. I love you more than a man could ever love a woman, and I’m not going to let some redheaded demon get in the way of that.” His face was flushed and his hand clutched mine tightly.
“If you say nothing will change, I will believe you.”
I smiled at him and then winced. Something was making my heart hurt.
Chapter Twenty: Betrayal
By the end of our Christmas break I was able to move about with little to no pain. The bruises faded quickly and my ribs healed well. The only visible damage left were marks on my face, especially my broken nose. Wesley never stopped blaming himself for the incident at the club. Slowly it was distancing him from me; he was afraid to touch me in any way.
His nightmares were still frequent. He would still wake up screaming but not remembering what was after him. He had not grasped what I had told him—that Miranda was in his head as well. My own nightmares had increased and I was constantly plagued by the dark-haired demon. I could only escape when he started to scream as that always woke me up. Sometimes it was before my soul felt violated and sometimes after. Either way, he had a way of making my nightmares seem so much less than Wesley’s.
The redheaded bitch hadn’t made her way into my head since Christmas morning. I was starting to become concerned that she was plotting something far more sinister than a mere attack on my subconscious. At the same time I had a feeling she knew what was already in my head and was leaving me to live out that night over and over again as a reminder that Hell cannot hold all the souls that are sent there.
When we started back to school we discovered that the rumors had already begun. That is one of the cons of living in a small town: anything that happens is automatically known by everyone else. Nobody had the balls to say anything to my face, but I heard the rumors nonetheless.
Some of the other students were sympathetic about my ordeal, but just didn’t know how to show it towards someone who scared them so much. Others taunted me by harboring sympathy for the demon who violated me. Those were the ones that I had to fight not to turn to ashes.
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