Aftermath (25 page)

When they called the
Court to the stage, I panicked. “Mr. Christian, we have to get out
of here.”

He patted the hands I
had gripped around his arms as I tried to pull him out of his chair.
“Don’t be nervous, sweetheart.”

“Oh no you don’t,
Ana. We haven’t come this far for nothing.” Nikki was pulling me
away from Mr. Christian to the stage.

“No, Nikki. Something
bad is going to happen.”

“Nothing bad is going
to happen,” she chided.

“Nikki, I’m
serious!” I said in a low hiss. “I had a dream about it.”

She froze and I could
see her considering it. She looked back at Mr. Christian and then
when she realized the danger I referred to had to do with him, she
frowned. “Just go. I will get him out of here.”

“I can’t—“

“Go! Everyone is
waiting for you. I will make him leave.”

I looked around. We
were stopped in the center of the room, the other students running
for King and Queen, sans Stephanie, were already on stage and looking
at me expectantly.

“Go, I’ll take care
of it, I promise.” She shooed me away.

“Find Hayden and
Marie.” I called back to her.

She nodded and I looked
back helplessly at her as I picked up my skirts and walked to the
stage.

The principal gave long
introductions for each of us and I blushed at how good Nikki had made
me appear on the application. I shot one last look around the room.
Hoping to find salvation. Hoping
not
to find Luke.

I watched Nikki from
the stage as she spoke to Mr. Christian. Her hands were flailing
about wildly around her in emphasis as she spoke. I had wondered what
she said to make Mr. Christian shoot out of his seat. Mr. Christian
and Nikki looked around and then Nikki pointed to the courtyard,
probably trying to find the best way to exit without disturbing
everybody. They squeezed past the chairs of other guests until they
got to the walkway by the courtyard. Nikki tried to lead the way out,
but Mr. Christian stopped and held up a finger to her indicating she
should wait. I gulped as I willed them just to leave already. Mr.
Christian turned around with a smile. Taking something small and
black from the inside pocket of his brown coat. A camera? He wants to
take a picture?

The action of Mr.
Christian turning the winding mechanism seemed perpetually slow.
Everything seemed to slow down. From Nikki trying to pull on his
jacket, to the emcee saying the winner had to be changed because of a
no-show. The only thing that seemed to be in normal speed was the
appearance of Luke from behind the courtyard pillar. Watching me with
pride. “No,” I gasped, not caring if the whole world heard. Then
Luke’s attention turned toward Mr. Christian. He frowned, then his
eyes widened. He must have remembered my dream. He turned to leave
and that’s when I heard the buzzing. There was no mistaking the
buzzing noise in my ears, or the slight vibration I felt against my
skin. Something supernatural was here.

You know that feeling
you get when you know something terrible is going to happen? It’s a
helpless feeling. It started off with a little pull against my
insides. A little nagging feeling that became hard to ignore. But
that was earlier in the evening, when I'd had hope, so it didn’t
take its full form. Standing on stage with my peers as the crown
drifted over our heads teasingly before it would land on the winner,
I didn’t have hope. My ears buzzed and I felt currents vibrating my
skin, getting stronger as if the supernatural being was getting
closer.

Luke had of course felt
it, too, because he paused and his shoulders stiffened. He whipped
toward me with a wild look in his eyes. Those wild eyes darted toward
Mr. Christian, and where the currents were coming from. “No,” I
whimpered again, quieter now for his ears only. His eyes came back to
me and I felt relief that I hadn’t lost him yet. He drew in his
brows and even from the stage I could see him clench and unclench his
fists. He was struggling with himself. He was fighting the instincts
to hunt. I shook my head and pleaded with my eyes.
Go, Luke.
Leave.
He closed his eye with agonizing slowness.
Please!
I whispered out loud. Couldn’t he do this for me? Couldn’t he
walk away this time, knowing what the outcome would be if he didn’t?

I looked at Mr.
Christian hoping to see if Nikki was getting him out of there but I
didn’t matter now if Nikki did or not. Luke would find him. And he
wouldn’t stop until he did. It wasn’t until I saw the familiar
ghost dressed in white that I realized the supernatural vibes weren’t
coming from Mr. Christian but from Christine, who was looming behind
him in the court yard. Then all the pieces came together beautifully.
Mocking me for not figuring it out sooner.

I flinched as I felt
something in my hair. I looked over my shoulder to see the Principal,
resting the crown upon my head. I was Queen.

I turned back to Luke
only to find he was gone.

I looked back to Mr.
Christian and the ghost that was behind him. She looked at me with a
sinister “I told you so” and shook her head disapprovingly at me.
I wanted to scream at her, to get out all my frustrations about why
this was happening and why I couldn’t have figured it out sooner
and more importantly, why I couldn’t stop it. And that’s just
what I did as applause broke out in the audience for the new Queen, I
screamed. Because Christine now had Mr. Christian elevated, his face
frozen in fear as her translucent hands bound around his neck.

I turned to run off the
stage to Mr. Christian. A pair of hands caught me before I made the
stairs down the stage. I looked up horrified. The lady from the
attendance office was now patting my back telling me it was okay and
to not be nervous. I felt sick. I wanted to tell her that someone was
in danger but my mouth kept opening and closing, no words escaping. I
recoiled from her and even then she didn’t let go. I looked
helplessly at Mr. Christian whose face had become a frightening pale
and whose eyes had lost their luster. I looked at Nikki who was the
only person who seemed to notice the ghost that was killing someone
in the courtyard. Nikki was frozen a few feet away except for sobs
that racked her body and the tears that were streaming down her face.
I wanted to either tell her to
run
or
help him
but I
didn’t know which one was more selfish. A glimmer of green caught
my attention from besides Nikki. It was a pair of eyes; specifically
Luke’s, who was in full hunting mode. The green in them looked
particularly bright— and murderous. I had never seen him so
dangerous, even with the demon the night before, and I realized then
what his decision had been. He hadn’t chosen me over Hunting. His
love for me didn’t prevent him from his blood lust. In his right
hand held an old iron fire poker.

I took off running,
slipping from the attendance woman’s grasp, if only for a second.
Her hands returned as well as another pair and words from all sorts
of people who were hushing me and encouraging me to not have stage
fright. I heard a strange noise and realized that it came from me.

Luke ran toward Mr.
Christian and Christine, but instead of the usual blur of his
supernatural speed, everything and everyone around us seemed to slow
down, and I could actually see him running. I held my breath; the
moment he charged toward Mr. Christian with the iron poker, I still
had hope that he would save him. That breath exploded when he rammed
the poker through Mr. Christian and Christine who was behind him,
binding them together.

“No!” With all the
strength I had in me, I pushed my arms out. Whoever had been around
me was gone now, and I was free. I had taken off toward Mr. Christian
when I noticed the flames. Those sitting nearest the courtyard had
started to notice them, too, and there were a few screams and sounds
of chairs falling back. Where Christine and Mr. Christian had been
was now one form on fire. More shouts and chaos had started to form
as the fire spread to the ivy. I fought the crowds to make it to the
lifeless form. As I was standing in the spot where Mr. Christian had
watched me from stage there was no sign of him. Flames started to
consume anything flammable around me, but Mr. Christian was gone. Not
even ashes remained on the floor. I had failed him. I had predicted
this and yet I didn’t save him. I clawed at my hair as I dropped to
my knees and just cried.
Why?
I sobbed. Mr. Christian, one of
the kindest, purest-hearted people I knew. He was like my uncle. He
was family.
Why?

I was sweating and I
knew it was due to the heat from the fire, yet I couldn’t pull
myself up to run away. I was empty. Numb. Suicidal.
Who cares what
happens to me?

“Adriana.” A voice
that wasn’t shaken nor panicked sounded from beside me.

I turned to the woman
kneeling beside me and wrapped my arms around her. “Mom,” I cried
more until she helped me to a stand. I remembered something and
panicked, “Where’s Nikki?”

“She made it out with
the others, I’ll debrief her later.”

I stared at the bottom
of my dress and the fire that was inching close to it. The brightness
was almost enchanting and I couldn’t walk away.

“I’m not ready to
test your immortality tonight.” Rachel was still calm, and
collected. “We are leaving.
Now
.” She led me out of the
building and I longingly looked over my shoulder at the flames.

We were in Rachel’s
“teacher” car driving who knew where. This wasn’t happening.
Mr. Christian wasn’t dead. He couldn’t be dead. There wasn’t
anything even left of him. He needed a funeral. Zack.
Oh my God!

“Breathe, Adriana!”

I looked at her
suspiciously. And resentfully.

“No, I could not have
prevented it.” She read my expression.

My features softened. I
had no choice but to believe her. I let out another breath and ran my
hands through my hair. Something caught on my finger nails and I
reached with my right hand to the top of my head to pull the crown
off. I looked at it for the first time. Large crystals and amethyst
sparkled each time we passed under a street lamp. I threw it in my
lap with a laugh. A maniacal, sort-of crazed laugh and I wondered if
this was it. If I had really lost it.

“I’m sorry. I am so
damn sorry. For everything.”

I looked at her
blankly. She was right all along. If I had known what I was doing I
would have been able to stop it. I could have saved Mr. Christian. It
was right then and there that I vowed that this would never happen
again. I would never let myself be weak again. I would do whatever it
took to save the people in my dreams.

“So where is this
plantation?”

My mother looked a
little surprised at my response. Apparently she was expecting a
fight. But that was the old me.

She nodded in
understanding. “We’ll stop your house first. You can gather
anything you hold sentimental and say goodbye. ‘

Hayden.

“Hayden is there?”
My face scrunched up in pain at the memory of him leaving me there.
He could have stopped Luke if he had been there!

“I have to tell you.
I had given Hayden an ultimatum to force him to leave you at the
dance.”

“You did
what
?”

“It was wrong and I
apologize. I thought I was doing what was best for you.” She was
concentrating awfully hard on the road.

“It doesn’t matter,
it’s over now. Mr. Christian is dead and there is nothing anyone
could have done to prevent. Not Hayden being there, not you being
there, not my dad chaperoning instead of him, not Marie being there,
not Luke leaving, not if the ball had been at the school instead, not
if Nikki got him out of there in time! None of that matters because
he died anyway!”

“I’m not being
insensitive but you need to know that his life wasn’t in vain.
Ghosts are territorial. With all the spirits in the building,
Christine lashed out. Her mind went back to the night she died and
she wanted a male soul to pay for it. She would have destroyed anyone
or anything in her way to do so. So it might have been your father’s
friend, but it could have been your entire class.”

“Christine didn’t
kill Mr. Christian,” I ground my teeth together, the rage boiling
up. “Luke did.”

Rachel didn’t even
flinch. She nodded, “It’s one of the ways to kill a ghost. You
have to bind it to a human and kill that human when they are bound.”
Rachel pulled into the circular driveway and put the car in park.
“I’ll wait for you here.”

“It won’t be long,”
I said simply as I got out and made my way to the front door. As I
suspected, Hayden was waiting for me when I came inside.

I kept my eyes trained
on the floor. I didn’t know what I would find in his eyes and I
didn’t know what the sympathy or regret would do to my resolve.

“I just came to get a
few things and to tell you I am staying with my mother for a while.”
Was that a sniffle that escaped me?

A pained exhale came
from Hayden. “I’ve failed you.”

“It wasn’t your
fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault.”
Except Luke’s.
My
eyes glazed over, staring at the Persian rug in the hallway. “Rachel
told me about the ultimatum.”

“Hell, if I would
have known I’d lose you either way I wouldn’t have bothered
trying to keep away from you!”

I swallowed at his
intensity. “Either way, you thought I was vulnerable. As soon as
you found out what I was it was like you wouldn’t touch me. Why had
me being a Hunter changed things? Did you love me in spite of being a
human or did you love me because I was human? I’m still me!” My
voice cracked at the last bit and I closed my eyes at my screw up.
Stay emotionless. Stay
strong
.