Body and Soul (The Chronicles of Light and Darkness Book 1)

by Jamie Loeak

anything.

  “I’m finished now, Kate. Do you have any questions for me? You can ask me whatever you want; I promise to tell you the truth.”

  “How was Rico when you found him?” Kate asked, finally finding her voice.

  “Rico needs to tell you his own story, Kate. The same goes for Donovan. I only have the power to tell you mine.”

  “Do you think they will tell me?”

  “After Rico and Donovan get over being angry at me they might tell you. I think you’ll have more luck with Donovan, though.”

  “Why Donovan? I don’t know him as well as I do Rico,” Kate mentioned.

  “Donovan is very proud of who he is. He would love to share his story with someone new, someone that doesn’t already know him. For Rico, well, I’m the only one that knows his entire story.”

  Kate pondered this new knowledge. Did that mean that Rico was ashamed of his past? Did that mean that Donovan wasn’t? Was that a good thing or a bad thing?

  “Can you tell me about Lilith? What was it like over there? Do you remember?”

  “I remember everything, Kate. Demons don’t forget their pasts like humans. We have excellent and extensive memories.”

  Adriana licked her lips, ready to continue. However, she didn’t get to tell Kate about Lilith. A crash from the hall stopped Adriana from talking further. She rushed to the door, quick as lightning and stood there listening for signs of movement. When Adriana thought the coast was clear she opened the door slowly and peeked into the hall. One moment Adriana was leaning over to get a better look around the corner, the next she was pressed against the wall, Donovan’s hands pressed on her throat.

  “What did you do?” he spat. “How dare you tell a human what we are! Are you crazy enough to think that she cares about you enough not to go running down the streets screaming about monsters?”

  Adriana struggled against his hold, trying to speak. Donovan didn’t budge.

  “I can’t believe you would betray your own kind like this. You’re despicable. You’re no different than a human.”

  “Stop it! You’re hurting her!” Kate screamed.

  Donovan turned to look at Kate. “I would never hurt her, but someone else will. Humans are not to know about demons anymore. That was part of the agreement.”

  He let go of Adriana then, and sped out of the room. Kate heard the back door close, thankful that her parents had gone out.

  Kate watched as Adriana slid to the floor, her body trembling. Kate rushed over to her, trying to hug her, to comfort her somehow. Adriana pushed her away weakly.

  “Don’t, Kate. It’s not your fault; it’s mine. I let this happen to myself. I’m sorry that he frightened you. I’ll make sure that Rico doesn’t do the same.”

  “Rico wouldn’t do that to you,” Kate protested.

  “Honey, you don’t know what Rico is capable of.” Adriana stood up then and straightened out her pants. She moved to the mirror and fixed her hair and the smudges of makeup.

  “I should go,” she said. “You’ll be safe tonight. I promise.”

  With that, she disappeared with her bag, leaving Kate alone for another sleepless night.

  Kate was in the woods again. This time she stood in a meadow blooming with wildflowers. She turned around, taking in her surroundings. She knew that she had to find her way out of here. She had to find what it was she was searching for.

  The burning world popped into her mind first. Was that what she was searching for? No. She had already found the burning world. She needed to find something else now.

  She saw a small path at the edge of the meadow and followed it. There was a soft breeze that drifted in from whatever was on the other side. Kate walked along the winding trail, letting her fingers touch the rough tree bark and trail along the lush leaves. The dirt was dry and Kate kicked it up as she walked, the bottom of her ivory gown catching the clouds of dust.

  Kate began to hear a familiar sound. The smell of salt wafted up from ahead of her, and Kate instantly knew that she was on a beach somewhere. She rushed ahead, eager to feel the open wind caress her skin and comb her hair.

  When Kate stepped into the fine sand she rushed forward, knowing that it was here, the thing that she was searching for. She slowed down, realizing that the sand around her wasn’t smooth like it was at home. She looked around her and searched for a pattern in the swirls that were drawn around her.

  Kate’s heart stopped when she realized what she was looking at. It was the picture she had drawn in the sand the first morning at the beach. The image was drawn over and over again, covering the entirety of the beach she stood at now – a circle that was enveloped in what Kate now realized were flames. She screamed as terror claimed her heart.

  15

  Kate woke up screaming. She tried to make herself stop but ended up having to shove a pillow in her mouth to stifle the sound. She heard someone running upstairs and forced herself to stop before her mother and father thought she was crazy.

  “Honey, what’s wrong?” Kate’s mother burst into the room, slamming into the door before rushing toward her daughter. She picked Kate up and held her, rocking her back and forth like she did when Kate was younger. “Kate, baby, did you have a nightmare?” she asked worriedly. She pushed Kate’s hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ears.

  Kate sobbed and held on to her mother, afraid of thinking about the dream too much. The only thing she wanted after her horrendous night with Rico and Adriana was her mother. She needed some normalcy, even if it was hard to come by with her mom. She buried her head in her mother’s arms and closed her eyes while she listened to Blaire’s soft humming.

  Blaire held her daughter for a long time. While she hummed, she ran her fingers through Kate’s curls, comforting her. Kate let herself embrace the hope that was surging through her veins at the closeness. Blaire was finally connecting with Kate, and Kate didn’t want to let the moment go. However, when Kate stopped crying, Blaire let her go.

  “Honey,” she said. “It was only a bad dream. Go ahead and take a quick shower. I’m going to make you some blueberry pancakes. After that I think we should have a girls’ day. What about a movie and a manicure?”

  Kate nodded, unable to speak.

  Blaire stood up and smiled at Kate. It was warm, and comforted Kate, almost erasing her worries. Blaire kissed the top of Kate’s head before she left the room. Kate could hear her humming as she descended the stairs and sat there for a minute before getting up. When she finally rolled off the bed, she stumbled into the shower not quite ready to face the day.

  However, the shower was just what Kate needed. She stood there, letting the water fall over her, fully erasing her thoughts. Kate blocked them out, mentally placing them inside a safe that she locked. She made sure to throw away the key, knowing that she would find it when she was ready to figure the mess out. When Kate stepped into the living room twenty minutes later, she felt much better.

  “Here you go, baby.” Blaire placed a stack of pancakes in front of Kate. She watched as Kate ate them, smiling the whole time.

  “What?” Kate asked.

  “I’m just enjoying spending this time with you,” Blaire said in response.

  Kate offered a warm smile in return. She was happy to spend this time with her mother as well. In fact, it was nice to momentarily forget about anything other than her desire to spend time with her mother more often. She let that desire, and her happiness at seeing it come true, consume her thoughts during the day.

  “I love the pale pink polish you chose, baby. It’s beautiful,” Blaire said to Kate as they walked toward their beach house.

  “Thanks, Mom. I like yours too; I wouldn’t have thought you’d pick a dark color. I imagined you as a coral or sea foam kind of person.”

  “This is the color of the ocean at night, baby. It’s when I love the water the best. That’s why I work so late.”

  “Oh,” Kate murmured. She looked into her mother’s saddening eyes, worried that she
hadn’t known this about Blaire. She wondered what else she didn’t know about her mother; she hoped that she would find out more as they watched the movie they rented, a depressing love story that didn’t have a happy ending. She needed something like that, something that would remind her of Rico while keeping things real for her; Kate didn’t want to watch a happily ever after and moan about her lack of one. She wanted to just get the whining over all at once, wanting to cry with the character while also crying about her own life at the same time. It would be a good cover-up with her mom, and no questions were asked when the hot guy left the girl in the end. Blaire just smiled over at Kate like it was normal - which it was. Kate always cried, and later, when she stepped into her bedroom, she almost felt normal again. She almost felt ready to face her friends and her increasingly disastrous life. The time that she spent forgetting all of it helped to strengthen her, and she was ready to fight again.

  When Kate reached the door, she stood there. Something made her wary of stepping inside, and she almost went to call her mom, but another part of her decided not to - the stubborn part. Kate pulled in a deep breath, preparing herself for the worst, and opened her bedroom door. Good thing she didn’t call her mom, because she found Rico in there. He sat on her bed, reading a book. He closed it when she walked in and put it back on the bookshelf. His hair was disheveled and he looked like he hadn’t slept.

  “Adriana told me what