“Nice to see you again, Dawn. It’s been a while.” She shimmered for a second then turned solid again. “Please excuse my appearance. I cannot always maintain a concrete form when I am in this plane.”
“Why am I here?” I asked, looking around the blackness.
We were the only two there. I couldn’t sense any other beings in the vicinity. I looked back at her. She was determined, fighting the flickering of her spirit to remain solid.
“Something’s coming.” The smile fell from her lips and was replaced by an expression of concern. “It’s not good, either.”
“Then what is it?” I asked, feeling out of place in this dark world. I knew she must have her reasons for bringing me here. Did she have some secret she needed to share? Something that only the two of us should ever know?
“The angels and demons are talking. I can’t tell you more. I just have… a feeling.” Her voice was filled with dread; like she had just communicated to me that the world was ending. Honestly, it could be for all I knew.
I looked at her blankly. “Can you give me any additional information?”
I had noticed that people often assumed that I could sense things, that I always knew what I was supposed to do in this spiritual realm. The truth was, I had very little experience of life in this strange world that I was still learning.
She shook her head.
“How can we decide what to do if we don’t know what’s going on?” I could feel the adrenaline starting to flow through my body.
“I merely wanted to warn you that things might be about to get out of hand.” She gave me a sad look. I caved in and silence settled between us.
We did not speak for several minutes. Instead we just contemplated each other, hoping that one of us might have a sudden revelation.
Suddenly she clapped my hands in hers, making me jump. “To change the subject,” she exclaimed, “I’ve been told that because of my selfless nature I will be given a second chance at life. Isn’t that just wonderful?”
Then she looked around her like she had lost something. Her erratic mood changes were starting to give me a headache. There was sadness in her eyes that I couldn’t place, like something had ripped her heart out.
“I’m sorry. I can’t keep a hold of John for much longer. He grows weary and needs to answer the call of his maker.” The sparkle in her eyes dimmed.
“I understand,” I responded softly, trying to conceal the fear that shot through me. When he was free from her what was he going to do to me?
“With what is coming I need to remain focused on what is happening now,” she told me, her eyes large. “I may not always be able to help you.”
“But what is coming?”
I had the distinct feeling she did not want to talk about John. The thought of losing him again only broke her heart all over again. I wasn’t sure that she could handle going through all that once more. Even as a spirit she seemed so fragile. I still couldn’t understand how she could love someone who had taken her life. Then again, how could I love someone who had run off with a redheaded demon hybrid?
“I don’t know,” she answered, frowning. “I cannot see the future, but I can feel the change in the air. Midvale is about to become a battlefield.” She began to shimmer again, her solid form turning transparent. “I don’t have much time. My power grows weak. Let me just tell you this…” She paused and folded her hands delicately together. “Everything you have never understood is about to take form. You will think that it will answer all your questions, but instead it will only create more. I will protect you the best I can from where I am.”
She looked at me, but I didn’t know what to say in response.
“When we meet again, we will be on solid ground, not in dreams.” She kissed my cheek and then, just like that, she was gone, and I was standing alone in the darkness.
What was I supposed to do? What was coming? Just when I thought I had my next move all planned out, something else came along and sent me on a different path…
Chapter One: Dreams and Phone Calls
I shot out of bed like a bullet. My hair was wet with sweat, and my clothes were clinging to my body. I had seen her, touched her, spoken to her! My mind was full of images of the smiling girl so full of love. Yet her love was for a monster who had robbed of her purity and light, left her abandoned in a dark closet where she had willed herself into the arms of an angel.
I had felt her emotions, seen her world, and been part of her existence. Even though it was only for a brief moment, it had been long enough for me to understand the evil that had hurt her. It was enough to show me that we shared a common bond; the same man had hurt me, too.
John had snatched me from the front steps of a club in the city while I was getting some air the previous December. He had tied me to a dumpster in an alleyway and took my remaining innocence from me. He had expected me to die, like she had. To my own surprise, I had survived. My bleeding body had been found by my best friend, Adam, and I had been rushed to the hospital.
I relived that nightmare every night in my dreams. That is, until someone summoned me to another plane or I was able to block it out with another, almost as depressing. I despised that memory. Only then did I get a few moments of peace untroubled by the torture that was the demon named John.
I had lost my boyfriend because of that attack. It had shaken him, and he had answered the call of an ex-girlfriend. She had hijacked my body and made me say things that I would never say, in a language that I did not recognize. She had taken Wesley from me by threatening to kill both his family and mine. Only after his bond with me had been broken had she told him that I was just like her, an unlikely mixture of two bloods. She failed to mention, however, that the two bloods were not the same.
My dream of Krista continued to haunt me. It left me with more questions than I cared to consider. She had called to me in the darkness and delivered a warning. But was war really coming to Midvale?
I felt confused and disoriented. I knew there were more beings out there in the world with me. I had even met a few, but none of them seemed capable of war. Well, I supposed the vampires might be. It was too bad my mother had vaporized them when they took Wesley. Since then I hadn’t come across any other demonic beings in Midvale that might provide answers to my questions. Unless you considered the kids at school demonic.
“What am I supposed to do?” I said out loud to myself as I fell back on my pillow and put my face in my hands.
***
For days I thought about that dream, how real it had felt and how it had left me wondering what exactly was coming. Or was it a “who”? The whole thing was perplexing and took over my thoughts completely. Every hour of every day I tried to figure it out.
I could tell my mother was concerned for me. She never pried, but I knew she would be there once I needed to let it all out in the open. I didn’t want to say anything to anyone for now; it would make the dream seem less real. The last thing I wanted was someone trying to take Krista away from me. She was my lifeline, the only other being I knew who was just like me.
The one thing I couldn’t wrap my head around was the fact that she would be given a chance at a second life. What did it mean to be given a second chance? Would she be reborn into the world, or would she simply rise from the coffin where her body had been laid to rest? In due course, I supposed I’d get the answer. Little did I know, I would have a huge hand in resurrecting her from the world of the dead.
Two months had passed since the school shooting. The other students were starting to let go of the notion that I was their savior. In fact, I was slowly returning to invisible status. I welcomed it, not that the attention hadn’t been nice for a day or two. But now, all I wanted was normalcy again or, at least, my definition of it, I should say. The only reason anyone wanted to talk to me, anyway, was to find out how I had done it. I seemed to have demonstrated super-human gifts, and that had provoked a lot of curiosity. To me it was nothing
that remarkable. It was in my blood.
I began to suspect that someone (or something) was working their way through the student body, one pupil at a time, changing the story into something different, taking what really happened and twisting it into something more believable. With that came a degree of peace. The other students quit trying to probe what had happened. Instead, like me, they seemed content to move on from the whole mess.
The truth was that I had simply saved the others in my class by forcing them into the closet so the gunmen would not find them. They had confused impressions of what happened while they were hidden. Some said they heard screams from the classroom and what sounded like bodies being flung about between desks. When everything went silent one of the boys eventually kicked open the closet door and ventured out. By then the police were there.
No one mentioned seeing flames shooting from my fingertips, and there was no talk about my eyes changing color or anything else noticeably weird. The official story simply stated that I had put myself before others and somehow prevailed in keeping them safe. There were still rumors, of course, about fire and piles of ash, and the water sprayers coming on in several of the classrooms. But only a handful of individuals continued to argue that I must be unique in some way. They never said anything directly to me, and I did nothing to excite their speculations.
Life slowly settled down. I was able to live as a normal girl, for the time being. I welcomed that. It was nice to just relax after all the excitement. How long I could continue in this manner remained unclear. While things seemed relatively serene, I still had a darkness brewing in me. And, secretly, I was getting a little bit bored and wished for another adventure to begin.
Since the horrible day of the attack, I had been looking for my path in life. I busied myself with my search for Miranda and Wesley, but was rewarded with few results. All I had tracked down were a few dead hitchhikers and a charge to Wesley’s debit card at a gas station near Austin, Texas. Every lead I got was inconclusive; nothing told me where they were now.
My astral dreams have been fairly uneventful as well. Nobody inside the bar that I frequented even knew who the redheaded demon was. For now, it seemed that I was at a dead end. I would find them. One way or another, I would pinpoint their location eventually. When I did I was determined to free Wesley from Miranda’s grasp.
***
A week had passed since my dream of Krista. I still hadn’t told anyone about the encounter, or of her giving me a sort of prophecy of what was to come. I kept everything locked up deep in my mind, like a diamond kept in a safe. I had started practicing how to keep secrets from my mother and father, and their weird mind-reading abilities. I now had the technique nearly perfected.
It was Saturday, and I was standing in the living room looking out the window, when I felt a buzz in the back pocket of my jeans. I reached for my phone, hit the green talk button, and put it to my ear. Before I’d even said “hello,” the person on the other end began talking at a rapid pace.
“Dawn? Are you there?” The young female voice sounded panicked, and I got the impression the speaker was running. I could hear feet pounding on concrete and the sounds of car horns in the background.
“Yeah, that’s me,” I said slowly.
I glanced at the screen. The number that had called wasn’t in my contacts, so I had no idea who it was that I was talking to. They seemed to know me somehow. I couldn’t help remembering the warning in the prophecy about something or someone that would turn up and appear to provide answers, only to leave me with more questions. Well played, Krista.
“I was told that I needed to talk to you.” The voice was becoming winded. She was tiring.
“What about?” I asked, taking a seat on the couch.
I figured it must be someone from school, but I didn’t recognize the area code, so they must be from out of town. I frowned. Was this person reaching out to me because they were in trouble?
“I need to arrange a meeting with you,” my caller panted. “I will be in Midvale within the next few weeks. We’ll need to talk over a few things when I get there.”
“Who is this?” I asked, my heart rate racing.
“I can’t tell you, yet. I can’t let them know that I still exist. I’ll call you again when I get there,” she added hurriedly.
This was getting annoying. I had no clue who it was on the other end of the line, and no idea what she was calling about.
“Then why call me now?” I asked, rubbing my nose. Why not just call me when you make it to town?”
“Because they’re coming for you, too. They want your inner core, your flame. I can’t get there any sooner. Watch your back, and be careful who you speak to.”
Before I could say anything else, the woman hung up.
What?
I looked at my phone and shrugged. Now not only did I have Krista telling me something was about to happen; I had this other unknown person also telling me that I needed to watch my back. What was going on? Things were getting increasingly peculiar. The way things were going, I wouldn’t have been surprised if a leprechaun knocked at the door, telling me I had three wishes.
I stared at my phone confused for a moment and then went to my room to get dressed. I had a long day ahead of me. The magical realms of the department and retail stores were calling to me. I always found shopping a challenge. The dressing rooms were always too small, and I found it hard to distinguish between clothes that were either going to make me look great or incredibly stupid. I was already convinced I would make my usual mistakes.
At least it didn’t take me long to get ready. I even had a few moments to fix the black lines around my eyes. Sighing at the thought of the ordeal ahead, I grabbed my keys and made sure I had all the essentials before reaching for the door handle.
“I’m heading out, Mom!” I called as I opened the front door.
“Have fun, honey,” she called back.
I could hear the amusement in her voice. She knew how I struggled when I was out shopping.
“Don’t laugh at me!” I demanded ruefully. I knew she couldn’t see me so I put every ounce of angst I had into my voice.
“I’m just glad that it’s not me who’s going with you,” my mother called as I walked out the door and secured it behind me.
I grumbled to myself as I sauntered to my car. I was blessed with an awesome mother, but she had a way of irritating me like no other.
I pushed thoughts about the odd phone call I had received to the back of my mind. I had better things to think about.
I drove into town, stopping briefly to pick up a couple of things from the auto parts store on Main, and was soon pulling into Adam’s driveway. Nadine was already there, her arms wrapped around my best friend. The two of them were sharing a laugh. I scowled. Couples made me queasy these days. I got out of the car and handed the keys to Adam.
“Better treat her right,” I said to him as he took the keys from my hand.
Nadine looked me up and down. “God, Dawn! Do you own anything that isn’t black or a very dark gray?”
“I don’t see anything wrong with what I’m wearing,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“And your hair! Do you honestly think dying it that color works?” Nadine put her hands on her hips.
I groaned inwardly. I wasn’t in the mood for a makeover session.
“My hair is naturally this color,” I retorted.
I wasn’t about to tell her that up until last summer my hair had been blonde. I hoped she wasn’t planning a full hair makeover as well. It was bad enough she had convinced me to go to the stupid dance in the first place.
“Well, in that case, impressive,” she said, putting her thumbs up.
“Thanks,” I replied dryly. “Anyway, be good to her,” I reminded Adam, gesturing at my beloved car.
“No problem. Just realize that if I drive her off an embankment into the river, the car made me do it.”
“I hope I’m go
ing to be safe in the hands of your girlfriend,” I said, grimacing.
“She means well,” he replied, returning my expression.
“Everything you need is in the trunk,” I told him as Nadine started pulling me toward her Civic. “Pray for me!” I yelled as she pushed me in and shut the door.
I watched the two of them in the mirror as they said their goodbyes. Nadine got on tiptoes and wrapped her arms around Adam’s neck, then kissed him three times on the lips before walking away with a smile on her face. Adam shook his head and headed for my car. This was what relationships in high school were supposed to be like. Good while they lasted, but not something that would cause the end of the world.
I wanted that kind of relationship. I didn’t have to fall in love; all I had to do was love spending time with someone. We don’t find our soul mates in high school, or at least we’re not supposed to. It was good Wesley was gone, yet it was bad that I had to save him. I missed my blue-eyed boy with every fiber in me; however, my body might object. I could never be with him. We were different beings now. He knew what I was. No boy in their right mind would be with a girl who they knew had demon blood in her veins. Notice that I mentioned “in their right mind.”
“You ready for today?” Nadine asked as she started the Civic.
Her happy bubble-gum pop started to play loudly through the speakers. She immediately started to sing along. The sad thing was that I knew the song. It had been one of my favorites when I lived with my father. I would put the CD on repeat, grab my brush, and Mitch and I would run around the house like it was a video shoot. Well, mostly me. Mitch just sort of followed behind and picked up the mess that I left. I shook off the memory and looked at Nadine. This could have been me, bright, bubbly and full of life. Instead, I’d turned out dark, mysterious and invisible. It’s amazing what four years can do to a person’s appearance and personality.
The Wardens Boxed Set Page 27
