“Oh my God, what was that?” The young man behind the shop counter stood frozen, his eyes bouncing from the bleeding homeless man on the floor to Thornton who now stood over him.
Jaycen closed the door, her eyes pleading with the shopkeeper to be calm. Thornton on the other hand didn’t take his eyes off the man on the floor as he held out his hand and uttered the words “Sleep.” The shopkeeper fell to the floor in a sleeping heap; the only sound that could be heard was his soft snoring.
“Monsters, monsters, monsters, monsters, monsters,” the homeless man chanted, his eyes still wide as he rocked side to side in a drowsy daze.
“Take a deep breath, calm down, and I promise not to hurt you.” Thornton crouched down so he was now eye level with the man.
“I hurt.” The homeless man’s hands fisted in his hair, pulling at it. “Everywhere.”
“I can help,” Thornton offered, his voice softening as he slowly extended his hand, ready to softly touch the man on the arm.
Before he could touch the homeless man though, the man twisted on the floor, his body curling up and then straightening immediately. The movement was so unnatural that his face twisted in pain.
“No one can help me.”
Jaycen couldn’t look anymore and turned away, her body shaking uncontrollably as the man behind her hissed in pain.
She didn’t know how to help him. No one deserved to be in that much pain, no one. There was nothing she could do to help him.
The man wasn’t screaming, but grunting and hissing, as if the pain was too much to even scream. She rubbed her temples, looking out of the shop window. Coming here was a mistake, she had no idea what she was doing.
“This is magical; nothing else could do this.” Thornton spoke over the noise of the man.
“Should… should we call paramedics? Or Benedict?” Anyone? She turned to look at them. Thornton had stood up now as the man thrashed on the floor. Just hearing the noise he was making hurt her insides.
“Maybe. We can’t leave him like this.” Thornton dug in his pocket and pulled out a phone, turning away slightly as he typed.
Jaycen stood there a moment, her head throbbing and her heart still pounding. Unable to watch the poor man any longer, Jaycen turned and a bright light burned her eyes. She held up her hand, shielding her eyes as the fear in her gut spiked when she realised what was happening.
“Thornton!” She threw herself at him, knocking him to the ground as the vehicle crashed into the shop window. Glass flew everywhere, and the ceiling caved in on top of them. Jaycen’s body lay flat against Thornton’s, her head pressed into his stomach, something heavy pressing down on her.
For a moment, everything was quiet apart from the chuffing of a car engine.
“Get the homeless guy, and the knife,” a deep male voice said, a masculine American voice that sounded too deep to be real. It was a rumble if anything. Jaycen winced, realising she had dropped the knife when the car had hit. They’d been so close. Now what would she have to take back to Benedict?
“What about the others?” another male voice responded, a voice she recognised as the voice from the alley, the voice of her pusher. There were two people here, two enemies.
Before anyone else could speak and before she could figure out if anyone else was there, police sirens rang out from somewhere nearby.
“No time,” the deep voice rumbled. “Just get the guy. Quickly.”
“They might be dead.”
“Maybe.”
Jaycen stayed silent, listening to them move around her. They were so close. Their feet were only inches from her head.
She listened to them move the rubble and pick up the homeless man. Finally, they left. All Jaycen was left with was the sounds of sirens and an aching body. She had no idea what to do but wait, wait for help, and pray that Thornton was okay.
“We need to get out of here.” If she hadn’t been lying down her body would have sagged at the sound of Thornton’s voice.
Chapter 8
“God, I hope the shop worker is okay.” Jaycen wasn’t talking to Thornton in particular; she was just voicing one of the many concerns that had popped into her bleeding head.
When the guys had left, Thornton had pulled them both from the rubble. They’d left just before the paramedics and police turned up. Watching them all from across the street, she saw how they pulled the shopkeeper out on a stretcher, the crumbling building still falling down around them. She couldn’t believe that they had come from that building. She couldn’t believe that they had survived.
Now they were back in Thornton’s car, heading back to the school. He looked over at her, his face softening a little. “Keep pressure on your head, it’ll stop the bleeding.”
She did as he said, staring out of the car window, but not seeing a thing. They could have died back there. Somebody still might have died, the shopkeeper, the homeless man. She couldn’t say that either of them was okay.
After a few more minutes of driving, they pulled into the school gates. Jaycen pressed her head against the cold glass, thankful the night was over. She was aching all over, and was in desperate need of a shower.
“I’ll keep an eye out, see if anything is said about tonight.”
“Thornton, a homeless man went crazy. We chased him down the street into a shop. A car then drove into the shop. Is there even the slightest chance that tonight won’t be mentioned by anyone?”
“People will be talking alright. It’s what they’re talking about that I’m going to pay attention to. Any mention of magic, and I’ll know.”
Staring down to her lap she smiled. “How will you know?” She turned to look at him, “You’re still technically in school, yet you were at the murder scene the other day. You’re around Benedict a lot too. Why?”
He pulled into a driving space and turned off the car, the corner of his lips turning up just a little. “You’ve definitely been giving me some thought.”
She could feel her body heating up in embarrassment, but she knew her face wouldn’t redden. It never did; she’d lost the capability to blush a long time ago. Hiding how she felt had been essential growing up. Hiding her feelings from her mother, who wouldn’t be able to cope if she knew that every rash decision she made, every wrong choice, had cut Jaycen so deep that she was sure she’d bleed. No, her mother knowing had never been an option.
“Less than a week ago I found out I had magical powers. Trust me, I’ve been giving everything a lot of thought.” She watched him roll his eyes, the same annoying smile still on his lips.
“Whatever you say.”
She saw it then, the guy who Gemma idolised in the courtyard earlier that day. The ladies’ man, the popular guy. Before, all she saw was scowls and disapproving looks. She couldn’t even imagine him having friends his own age; he seemed far too serious.
“Benedict’s taken me under his wing,” Thornton told her.
“Oh, you’re like his apprentice?” The warlock’s apprentice? She liked the sound of that. Thornton however did not.
“No, not like an apprentice,” he said sternly. Well, that was the end of that conversation.
She was trying to think of something funny again, but before she could even think of anything to say she noticed how brightly lit the campus was.
“Someone’s turned on the lights.”
“Yeah.” Thornton was unbuckled and out of the car, staring off into the campus. He waited until Jaycen was out of the car to say, “You should go back to your room.”
“Okay.” She was too tired to fight him on this. Lifting her hand up in a half wave she headed off to her dorm. Looking over her shoulder she saw Thornton pulling his coat tighter around him as he headed towards the lighted area.
A small part of her wondered what was happening back there, but not enough to go and check it out. She yawned, her body reminding her just how tired she was.
“Get off me! Help me!” She stopped at the scream, her body turning cold. Oh no, not this, not here.
“Someone help me!”
She turned, hoping to still see Thornton, but she couldn’t. Should she go and get him? The screams intensified—no, she couldn’t leave, and whoever was in pain needed her now. Her heart pounding in her chest, Jaycen entered the building and followed the screams.
“Hello?” she called out, trying to figure out exactly where the calls for help were coming from.
“Please, please help me.” It was sobbing now, the voice. It was the voice of a boy, a young boy. Her walk quickened into a jog, and then into a run, her aching body long forgotten.
“Please, make it stop.”
Jaycen skidded around the corner, desperately looking for the helpless voice calling for her. Then, at the end of the corridor, she saw a small boy lying on the ground, his knees pulled up to his chest as he cried.
Jaycen ran as fast as she could towards him, expecting to see others around, bullies maybe, but no, he was completely alone.
“Calm down, calm down. I’m here, you’re okay,” she rushed out, falling to her knees beside him, her eyes widening when she noticed the scratch marks on his arms.
“Who did this to you?” She was unable to hide the tremor in her voice as she took off her jacket and placed it over the boy.
“The beast,” he cried out, curling tighter into a ball. Then his head shot up, his body now shaking. “It’s…. it’s coming…. It’s coming back.” He held out his arm, pointing down the hall. Jaycen looked, frowning when she didn’t see anything.
“There’s nothing there,” she soothed, running her hands up and down the boy’s back. “Don’t cry. Please, nothing is coming to get you.”
The boy screamed in complete terror, the second time she had heard that sound that night.
“It’s coming for me. It’s going to get me.” The small boy’s body shook with fear as he clawed at the floor, trying to pull himself further away, only to be stopped by the wall. Tears streamed down his face, his arm reaching for Jaycen.
“There’s nothing there,” she cried over the boy’s screams, not taking her eyes off the empty hallway. Had the boy gone mad?
She was about to stand, to go and get more help, when the boy’s body was dragged forward, his hand slipping out of hers.
“No!” she screamed, reaching for him as he was pulled farther and farther away from her. Something clawed at the boy’s leg, drawing blood as he screamed out, reaching for her hands. Hands. She looked down at hers, holding them out like she had done before, but this time no magic came.
“Magic, magic. Use your magic,” she cried, crawling after him.
The boy held his hands out, crying the word “Fire.” A red flame shot out, only to hit nothing and then disappear into thin air.
“It… missed.” He screamed again, his blood pooling on the ground.
Still unable to see anything, Jaycen did the only thing she could think off, and threw her body over the boy’s so she was completely covering him. Whatever was attacking him would have to go through her first. She cradled the boy’s sobbing head into her body, squeezing her eyes shut as she braced for impact. Nothing came. She lifted her head, making room for the boy to see.
“Is it, is it still here?”
Stifling his sob, the boy shook his head. “No, it’s gone again.”
“Right.” Pushing herself up, Jaycen pulled the boy up too, snaking her arm around his waist and holding as much of his weight as she could. “We need to get help.”
“What if it comes back?”
“Well, then we’ll deal with that when we get to it.” They moved as fast as she could out of the building, heading over to the lit part of the campus. Praying that people were still there. “My name’s Jaycen,” she offered, noting the boy’s body going limp. “What’s your name?”
“Perry.” He sounded so weak.
“Perry is a great name.” She walked as fast as she could, screaming at the top of her lungs. “Help! Somebody help us!”
For a moment, nothing. She called again, her voice getting more and more desperate. She wasn’t sure if she could carry him all the way to Benedict’s office, and at this time of night who was to say that he would be there? If need be, she’d have to run to the dorm, hoping that the halls were still being monitored. But if that was the case, why hadn’t anyone come to help them when the boy was screaming?
“Jaycen?”
Her body almost fell to the floor in relief as she saw Benedict looking at her from across the grass-covered area, Thornton at his side.
“Oh, thank god. Help him. He needs help!”
They both ran towards her, taking the now limp boy from her grasp.
“What happened to him?” Benedict laid him down on the ground, his hands moving over his wounded leg.
“I don’t know. He was screaming. There wasn’t anything attacking him, but he was bleeding. He said there was a beast but I didn’t see anything,” she rushed out, her hands clawing into her hair and massaging her head. She knew how crazy this sounded. “He was pulled by something. Something I couldn’t see.”
Others surrounded them now and were helping Benedict lift Perry.
“He needs medical attention immediately.” Benedict wasn’t talking to her now, but to the others that were around him. “Thornton, look after Jaycen. Take her statement.”
Jaycen could feel when he got close; she kept her eyes squeezed shut.
“You need to sit down.” He pulled her gently to the side, closer to the lit part of the campus and away from prying ears.
“He was so afraid.” She opened her eyes and moved away from Thornton. “He said he was being attacked, but I didn’t see a thing. I couldn’t help him at all.”
“The kid, he might have been taking something,” Thornton offered. Jaycen’s head shot up in disbelief.
“First of all, he’s barely eleven. Second, I saw him being attacked.”
“But you didn’t actually see anything,” he reminded quickly.
“Well, no, but I know what I did see. He was attacked.”
He shrugged, running a hand over his face. “We just can’t rule out anything.”
“I might not have seen the monster, but he did. He said he saw a creature. A monster,” she reminded him. “Like the homeless man from earlier. You don’t think that’s odd?”
“Keep your voice down.” He looked behind him, at the others now farther away with a passed out Perry. “I haven’t told Benedict about that yet.”
“Then, what the hell have you been doing?” She rounded on him, needing more from him. She needed his help.
“We’ve had more to deal with than an invisible monster.”
She couldn’t help the laugh of disbelief that escaped her. “You’ve had more to deal with than a helpless boy being mauled to death? You’re unbelievable. What did you do? Ignore his screams?”
Thornton stormed towards her, grabbing her arm, and dragging her with him.
“Let go of me.” She tried to yank her arm free, only to stumble a few times over the uneven ground.
“You want to know why I’ve been so busy?” He pulled her forward. “This is why.”
She stumbled forward, tilting her head to the side at the white sheet on the ground.
“Wha…”
The wind whipped around her, lifting the white sheet, and revealing a bloody, clawed body.
A bloody, dead body. Jaycen fell forward, emptying the contents of her stomach on the ground.
Once she could, she whispered, “What the hell is happening?”
Chapter 9
“Amy Cunningham was a beautiful soul,” Benedict told the students, pictures of a dark-haired, smiling beauty projected behind him. “She was a talented, dedicated young witch who could have gone far. What happened last night was a tragedy of the worst kind.”
Sobbing echoed around the hall, some students hunched over as they sobbed.
“I know there must be rumours about how she died, about what happened. I’m not going to lie to you, bu
t the truth is we don’t know yet. We don’t have all the answers right now. But I can promise you that we will. We will find out what happened to her, so her family and friends can know her last moments. One thing we do know is that this school is safe. You are safe. Classes have been suspended as we process what has happened. I want you to spend this day with your friends, grieve, remember Amy for the amazing person she was. Then tomorrow, we carry on. Because that is what she would have wanted us to do. Thank you.”
Most people clapped, others just cried as Benedict walked off the stage and out of the hall.
Seconds later the students followed, filtering out in groups.
“I can’t believe this has happened. She was the nicest person, so sweet and funny.” Gemma wiped the corner of her eye, shaking her head in shock.
“You knew her?” Jaycen couldn’t take her eyes off the screen as pictures of Amy, the young girl who had died the night before, continued to be shown. Jaycen needed this; she needed to see the girl happy, smiling and alive. Because right then, all she could see was her bloodied face. Every time she closed her eyes, that was all she saw.
“She was in my magical history class. I didn’t know her well, but she always smiled at me.” Gemma linked her arm through Jaycen's as she walked out of the hall and into the courtyard. “Her poor family, and the poor person who had to call them. Can you imagine being the one to call them up and tell them that their daughter was dead?”
Jaycen shook her head, her eyes focused on the far end of the field where Amy’s body had been found. It was now cordoned off with dark purple tape, and men dressed in all black stood guard, making sure no students got too close.
A few of the college students stood near the crime scene, or as close as they could. Jaycen’s eyes scanned them, searching for Thornton in the crowd. He wasn’t there. She hadn’t seen him all day. Had he told Benedict about their trip the night before? Surely the attacks where related? She had expected one of them of them to come and get her in the morning, but no one had come. Not even to talk about Perry.
Violet Blood Page 7
