An American Love Story (10 page)

“Why can't he hear you?” she asked. Before Amanda could answer the girl's blank face turned up in recognition. “Wait! Are you my guardian angel?”

Amanda was taken by surprise. Usually the souls trapped in Scars had gone through so much they no longer believed in anything, let alone angels.

“In a way, I am. How did you know?” Amanda asked.

The girl's trembling hands lowered to her lap and took the filthy pillow along with them. She looked up and squinted as though the light hurt her haunting light blue eyes. They were unfocused and although the child was face to face with her, she seemed to be gazing off into an unseen world.

Her eyes are too light. She's blind.

“You walked through the wall. I heard you on the other side of it then you were right there,” she said, pointing a tiny finger at the exact spot Amanda had entered. “And there's no opening, so you must be magic.” Anticipation blossomed across her face as she continued. “I've heard about magic. It can save you from bad people or sometimes grant wishes. I've tried to use it before, on my door, to keep out people who want to hurt me. Mine never worked, but yours does. So you must be an angel,” the child concluded.

Amanda thought of the little blind girl standing in the doorway, waving her thin arms and chanting an incantation, a spell of protection. She wished the spells had worked, but she knew better.

I wouldn't be here if her spells had protected her from evil
.

This young girl had been hurt so badly her soul had been torn away from its rightful place inside her body. She was trapped in her past, trapped by the man who had corrupted her soul, and maybe she'd died here. Perhaps he'd murdered her in the end. But she wasn't here in this Scar because of her death. She was here because of her life.

Flipping back to her first lesson at the Hovel, she recanted, “
Scars are left when a spirit cannot move on from a singular event.”

This curly haired girl may have lived to seventy or she could still be alive today, just a shell of a human being walking and talking. But her spirit had never left this moment, this room, this place.

Amanda pushed away the painful thoughts before they overcame her. “Well, I wouldn't call myself an angel, but I do know magic and I am here to help you.” She gently placed her hand on the girl's shoulder, making the child flinch away reflexively. “Your name, do you remember your name?” she asked.

“Kaedin, my name is Kaedin,” she whispered.

“Wow, that's a beautiful name. Did you know that your name means spirit?”

Kaedin shook her head.

“Must mean you have a lot in you. My name is Amanda.” She held out her hand in a greeting before dropping it quickly, the girl couldn't see it and therefore couldn't shake it. Amanda looked around the room. It was easier to counsel when you knew the year. She couldn't tell much by the furniture or the rags thrown on Kaedin but noticed a paper lying on the table. It was dated ten years ago. Kaedin would be about her age, if she was still alive.

Taking a deep breath, she cleared her mind and went through her usual checklist, although she knew this would be anything but routine. Counseling was sure to be different with the leach demon clinging to the Scar so strongly, but she couldn't guess how as all she was taught about her current situation was to not be in it. Amanda didn't know if it could hurt them, but then she thought of what would happen to this sweet spirit if she did nothing. That's what Kaedin would be, nothing. The demon couldn't possibly do more harm than that. So she decided to follow normal procedure.

“So, Kaedin, tell me how to help you.”

The child's face once, devoid of color, brightened a little. “Can you really save me? Are you even real, or did I make you up? No one never ever helped me.” Tears pooled up and began to fall freely from her sightless eyes. “No one ever helped me, because no one ever loved me.” Her little hands brought the pillow back up to her face to absorb the salty tears.

Amanda choked back tears of her own, wanting to be strong for the weakening spirit. “I'm so sorry for what you've gone through. You should never think that. You are pretty easy to love, you know,” Amanda said soothingly as she gently took the pillow away and lifted up the broken girl's chin.

“Look, Kaedin, I can do anything you ask me to do,” she said. Amanda held out her hand and closed her eyes, calling on light. When she opened them, a bright ball of light danced in her hand, bursting with color and bringing life to the dingy room. Lightning and rainbows, bright and flickering, every form of light now warmed her hand. She gently placed the ball into the girl's small palm, letting her soak up its unique warmth. “I'll be here with you. No one can hurt you as long as I'm here,” she assured her.

“If I fight, he hurts me. He'll hurt you too. I'm scared, Amanda. You should leave before you can't. Once he took me I never could leave,” Kaedin said, letting the ball of light fade.

Abducted?
Too many times scenes like these weren't abductions, but the child's own family.

“He took you?” she asked.

Kaedin nodded, then wiped her eyes.

“Well, you weren't his to take, let's go tell him so.”

Her small hands covered her face, and she shook her head furiously.

“You're special and pretty and strong. Let me hear you say that,” Amanda said.

Kaedin obediently uncovered her tear streaked face. “I'm special and pretty and I am strong,” she repeated doubtfully.

“People love me,” Amanda prompted.

When Kaedin didn't repeat the words, Amanda looked over at her and cleared her throat. This made the child attempt a smile, though her face didn't seem used to the action.

“People love me,” Kaedin repeated.

Amanda reached over and squeezed her small hand. “I love you,” Amanda said with meaning.

“I love you,” Kaedin quickly said, making Amanda smile.

“No, you don't have to repeat anymore,” she said.

“I wasn't repeating. I just love you. Ever since you walked through that wall, I've felt safe. Like maybe, he can't hurt me anymore. I never felt that way before,” the child said, looking up to her, though she couldn't see.

“Are you okay to stand up?” Amanda asked.

Kaedin jutted out her chin as if it were a rude question. “Of course I can stand up.” She squirmed off the bed quickly and stood next to Amanda. “Now what?”

“You tell me. You're the boss here. What is it you want to do?” Amanda asked.

Kaedin thought for a moment. “Well I always wanted to scream just as loud as I could and not stop until I'm just too tired to keep on screaming,” Kaedin said in a rush.

“Okay let's do it together,” Amanda said, drawing in a breath.

“No! No, no. Frank will hear and he'll come get us,” the spirit said frightfully.

Amanda closed her eyes and searched the Scar. She could feel Frank. He was strong, because Kaedin's memories of him were so powerful, but she was more resilient than the mirage. He wouldn't be able to overpower her. She was so much tougher now, compared to when her first Scar had taken her. Of course, she had been barely more than a baby then.

Amanda concentrated harder and could feel the physical presence of the Demon hiding in shadows throughout the house. She opened her eyes and noticed her silence had frightened Kaedin.

“It's all right, I'm stronger than Frank. Remember, I have magic,” Amanda said.

“You'll stop him from hurting me, right?” Kaedin asked grabbing hold of her hand.

“Right, Frank isn't stronger than the love I have for you,” Amanda told her.

Amanda knew Kaedin could feel her love, something the small child hadn't experienced in some time. So, she took in a deep gulp of air and started screaming at the top of her lungs, holding nothing back.

Immediately, Frank was at the other side of the door. “You stop that. Stop it, or I'll get the bat again!” he shouted.

He was fierce, but she kept him out of the room easily enough. The tormented spirit paused for a moment at his threat, and Amanda squeezed her hand in encouragement. Kaedin smiled at her and started shouting words that she had given her.

“I am special, I am strong!” she screamed.

Amanda could already see the change. She also sensed the Leach Demon growing angry. He wasn't quite ready to leave. Amanda took comfort in the fact that Kaedin didn't require much. She was such a resilient spirit all she needed was to have someone who wanted to help her. Someone who believed her, and now she had it. Frank beat at the door with more ferocity, and Amanda squirmed. It was getting harder and harder for her to hold him back.

“People love me!” Kaedin cried.

With every shout, Amanda could feel the little spirit healing. Soon she would be free. Amanda sensed the dark energy pulling before she saw it and drew up her strength. She'd need it.

“Find someone else to feed off of, scumbag,” Amanda said.

At her words, all of the shadows left their hiding places. Dark grey wisps crept out of corners, and seeped up out of the floorboards. Even Amanda and Kaedin's own silhouettes abandoned them, turning to tar and bonding into a mass of darkness. The small room was unnaturally bright. All of the shading was gone from their natural spaces and standing in a heaving blob before them. At that moment, Amanda was glad for Kaedin's blindness.

“I wasn't yours to take!” she shouted.

The blackness moved in a rush, squeezing under the shabby door and into Frank. The demon had found a place to gather strength. Still holding Kaedin's hand, Amanda dropped to her knees, unable to remain standing. She searched inside herself, looking for more power. She shut off everything in her body that was expending energy and focused it on to the door. Everything she had in her small frame held the beast back. If Kaedin felt frightened, it would be nearly impossible to free her.

It beat at the door with more fervor than Frank had. Amanda's confidence shattered as she realized it was stronger than her. A sound ripped out like the call of thunder as the door disintegrated into a shower of splinters. Kaedin began screaming, not in power, but in fear. Amanda lay beside her, blind and deaf to the scene around them. Frank's body, bulging and discolored by the demon within, began its disjointed journey across the room.

“Amanda, wake up! Amanda, please, use your magic,” Kaedin pleaded.

The power of the demon was too great for her, and it took all she had just to keep conscious. Amanda could feel the darkness pressing down on her, urging her to return to where she belonged. The temptation was usually too much for her. The sweet promises of her frightened subconscious made it so easy to give up, without even realizing she had.

No, not this time! Kaedin can't possibly wait any longer. Who knows when this Scar will find another Healer? The demon has so much of her life already.

The creature was upon them, wearing an inhuman smile that stretch Frank's face into a grizzly mask of terror. He opened his mouth wide, and Frank's skin, stretched too tightly, split open. Tissue dangling, the monster began raining torrents of blood onto the floor. Amanda could feel the delight the creature took in the gruesome scene. It stepped closer to them, becoming larger and more grotesque. Yet, Kaedin remained kneeling by Amanda's side. She could sense the spirit's fear and heard Kaedin's whispered prayer. Amanda's heart swelled with love as she found both the fear and the prayer were for her. The demon paused in its approach, sensing the change in Amanda. She took advantage of the demon's hesitance and sprang to her feet, throwing Kaedin behind her.

“Don't be afraid, it can't hurt you. You are strong!”

Kaedin took a step forward, brow knitting together in determination. “I am strong!” she shouted.

Amanda felt that strength and threw up a protective shield between them and the demon. The dark creature attempted to move forward but was unable to get a step closer. It pushed against the invisible obstacle several times but couldn't weaken the blockade. Frank wilted to the floor, the dark mass leaving him.

It knows that its lost. She's free.
Amanda turned to look at Kaedin.

She'd never seen a spirit so bright. Kaedin smiled at her like it was natural for her to smile as she had before she'd been taken.

“You can't hurt me anymore!” Kaedin screamed out.

The room felt light, warm, and the air tasted sweet. Amanda noticed the nightstand begin to shine, and the shimmer spread across the room. She looked up at Kaedin and smiled, knowing this was the time to say goodbye. Amanda was glad they'd met. She was forming the words when Kaedin's face dropped back into a veil of terror.

Amanda spun around, but she was too late. The dark mass of shadows was upon her, mouth thrashing. Its jagged teeth sunk into her side, and she was immediately searing in pain. The demon's poison rushed through her veins and set them on fire. It shook its head furiously, sending black tar splattering across the floorboards. It flung its head powerfully before releasing her. She flew through the air and slammed against the far wall. Amanda bounced off the plaster and landed on her face, unable to catch herself.

She tried to move her arms, but they wouldn't obey. Through her tears, she could see Kaedin on the floor, eyes closed and rocking herself.

“Kaedin, you can do this without me. Be strong, be brave, move on.” Her heart sank when she realized she wasn't speaking. She couldn't speak either. Her inner voice shrieked. Darkness was taking her. The scene began to dissolve around the edges until the only thing left was Kaedin's tear-soaked face, and then that too was gone. Amanda knew she was dying, but her heart's last prayer was for Kaedin.

Someone free her. Don't let her fade.