Between (16 page)

Chapter Thirteen

Austin drove me to school. The heavy tinted windows shielded me from the students, but it didn’t shield them from me. Girls stared deeply through the window out of curiosity as we slowly drove through the parking lot, and the guys just admired from afar. After we parked, I waited until the second bell rang. I was late for school, but I didn’t care.

“
Thanks, see you after school,” I said, slamming the door shut. The icy cold wind swept through me, making me shiver. Austin followed behind, helping me put my overcoat on, as we weaved around the parked cars. “Why are you following me?” I mumbled, looking around, hoping nobody would notice. Thank goodness there were only a couple of students that I noticed by their cars, either late or ditching school.

“
Didn’t you hear Holly? We go wherever you go.”

“
What, you’re enrolled in my classes?” I tossed my backpack hard behind me, purposely, allowing it to hit Austin, letting him know I wasn’t happy. As always, it didn’t bother him, but I heard a chuckle. I might as well have hit him with a feather.

“
Yup. I’m enrolled in all of them,” he smirked.

I let out a heavy sigh.
Great!

Holly and Austin always sat in the back of my classes. I ignored them, pretending not to notice them. None of the teachers even asked who they were; I guessed they used their angel magic to make that happen. Kristina couldn’t keep her eyes off Austin, wondering why she hadn’t seen him before. And walking back and forth to class, girls couldn’t stop talking about him. Austin flirted a couple of times with my friends, and I was surprised at myself for feeling a twinge of jealousy. And it wasn’t really so bad being with them at school; it was actually quite comforting. Nothing out of the ordinary happened the first couple of days, which was a relief.

After school one day, I found a note in my locker; it looked like someone had slipped it in. Surprisingly, it was a note from Kristina, reminding me that I had a group meeting at 4 PM in the gym. Though I was excited to receive the note from her, I wondered why she didn’t text me instead like she usually did. She hardly ever stopped by; her locker was across campus from mine. It was a good thing she left me a note because I had forgotten all about it.

“
I need to go to my meeting. Do you have to be there? It’s a group project; they won’t let you in,” I said to both of them.

“
Holly and I will wait for you in my car,” Austin agreed.

“
Are you sure that’s a good idea? I don’t think we should split up,” Holly suggested.

I gave Austin a pleading look.

“
Give her some space; we’ll be in the car,” Austin directed.

“
Thanks,” I said and headed to the gym.

It was quiet as I walked down the hall. I passed the office, but it looked like the lights were off and everyone had left. The only sound I heard was my boots clanking across the laminated floor and the dangling trinkets clipped on my backpack bouncing with the rhythm of my steps. Feeling the cold slowly sweeping in meant the heater was turned off. Shivering, I remembered that I had left my overcoat inside my locker.
Shoot!

Why the gym and not the library
? I wondered as I pushed the door open to enter. This huge room with the high ceiling felt so eerie that goose bumps were crawling up my spine, especially when not a soul was there. What was even worse was the smell of sweaty clothes, body order and cheap cologne. I told myself that everything was fine and decided to walk further in towards the bleachers, and pulled out my cell phone.
Did they change the location and forgot to tell me?
I scrolled down to check for any text messages from Kristina, when suddenly I was startled by a man’s voice. He was standing underneath the basketball hoop; I hadn’t seen him when I came in. “Hello, Claudia. Glad you could make it.”

I recognized his voice. “Mr. Cain?” I was glad to see a friendly face. I confirmed it was him and I continued speaking. “I…umm…actually…I’m supposed to meet my group here. I think I’m early,” I said cheerfully.

“
You’re not early. You’re just on time, 4 PM. You did get my note, didn’t you?”

I couldn’t put it together, but it was his voice, or his mannerism, that was different, unlike the way he was in the classroom.

“
I didn’t get your note. I got Kristina’s no…” I stopped speaking when I realized I had no idea what he was talking about. “Mr. Cain, where did you put the note? I don’t think I got it.” Fear pumped through my veins and I felt short of breath; and naturally, that’s when my necklace turned black and started to vibrate. He didn’t answer. I glanced around the room for demons, but saw nothing. “Mr. Cain?” I called again urgently. “I think we should get out of here.”

“
It’s Nicholas. Mr. Cain is no longer present.” Then his eyes turned jet black.

I swallowed hard in panic as I finally understood. This was one of the demon spirits that Michael and Austin had told me about. He’d possessed Mr. Cain’s body and now he was coming after me. Backing away while dragging my feet, trying not to look like I was moving, I tried to think of something clever to say. I pretended to be ignorant of what he said. “My friends are waiting for me. So, I think I’ll go get them before they worry.” I bolted for the door, but when I pushed it with all my might, it didn’t budge. I desperately shook the door.
Come on, open!
But to no avail.

With my back flat against the door, I looked around the room for Nicholas; he had disappeared altogether. My whole body trembled in fright and my legs felt heavy, too scared to move. My cell phone vibrated in my pants. I took it out, and it fumbled in my hands while my hands shook. A message popped up. Chills ran down my spine as I read it; ‘We’re here! Let’s play. Ready or not, here we come. Now, run!’

I didn’t want to just stand there like an idiot so I ran to the middle of the gym, then to the door on the opposite side. When I reached it, it rattled like there was an earthquake. I backed away carefully, wondering if something was going to explode through the door. The shaking continued so I ran to another exit; then I heard a creepy, wicked voice calling my name. “Claaaaudia.” My name and then his laughter echoed eerily through the entire gym. The combination of events confused me; where to go, what to do?

“
What do you want?” I yelled.

He didn’t respond. Suddenly, the first row of bleachers started shaking, then the second, then higher and higher, until all of them were rattling. I thought they were going to explode. My body tensed with fear and my stomach cringed with anxiety. I had to cover my ears from the pain from the sound. “Stop!” I screamed. Surprisingly, it did. All was calm, almost too quiet.
Some guardian angel. Where are Austin, Holly and the alkins
? I thought, as I slowly tip toed towards the door, hoping it would let me be.

An easy escape out of the gym was not what I expected, but I had to try. I was just about to reach the door when I was pushed back by something. I was horrified by their sight–they were white, long, ghostlike beings without a face, or hands or feet; there was just a black hole where their head and hands should be. Many of them whirled around me, faster and faster, producing heavy, cold air: too much. Unwillingly, I sucked in air and my lungs felt tight, like they were going to rupture. Reaching out my hand, I tried to break the motion, praying this would stop them, but my hand went right through. Suddenly, I was being elevated toward the ceiling.

Just when I thought my life would end this way, Austin, Holly and Patrick appeared. They surrounded the tunnel of demons and shot silver flames out of their bows, so many flames that it looked like an electrical current. It felt like I was riding a lightning storm; it was beautiful and frightening at the same time. The white spirits screeched in pain. When the tunnel collapsed, they dispersed, with nowhere to go but straight down. Fortunately, Austin caught my fall, and held me tightly.

“
Sorry, we were held up,” he said, still floating us in midair. “Damn those spirits. They attacked Holly and me inside
my
car. Nobody messes with my car.”

Late or not, I was happy to see them. He brought me down and placed me behind his wings. Everybody else huddled around us. Then it became quiet again.

“
Did you see anything?” Holly whispered.

“
He said his name is Nicholas,” I whispered back.

“
Nicholas,” Austin repeated. “I should have killed him when I got…”

Austin didn’t get to finish his sentence. About 20 of the ghost like figures appeared with Nicholas in front of them. Poor Mr. Cain–he had no control over his body and mind, but he was in there somewhere.

“
Austin!” Nicholas shouted. “Move out of my way.”

“
You’re kind of attractive this time, not like the last time when you possessed the hideous looking person,” Austin teased.

Why does he find humor in everything
? Then I thought,
Last time
? Austin spoke like he’d encountered Nicholas before, but then again, he did tell me he’d encountered and fought many supernaturals in his life time.

“
Are you in Mr. Cain’s body?” Austin asked, feeling disgusted.

“
Why don’t you come closer and take a look?”

“
I like Mr. Cain. Did it have to be a teacher for crying out loud? Now, who’s going to teach English literature? At least your taste has improved,” Austin mocked.

“
Your mouth will get you in trouble.”

“
It already has,” Austin smirked. “Why don’t you go back to Hell? Take your stretched out marshmallows with you and fire up some s’mores. I’ll provide you with the Graham crackers and the chocolates.”

“
That’s kind of funny. I only make burnt ones. Now eat this!” Nicholas yelled in anger and burst into a huge ball of flame that shot out what looked like fire balls.

“
Ahhh!” I screamed, as they came toward us. Austin held me tightly, dodging the searing flames, moving from left to right. He raised his hand, using his angelic power to obstruct them. Holly and Patrick sped around the room, shooting silver flames, preventing the fireballs from hitting us. The walls behind us caught on fire, and as the scorching flames blistered towards the ceiling, they flared up the banners and spread quickly. Smoke started to fill the room, making angry loud crackling sounds. It got hot and extremely uncomfortable, but it didn’t seem to bother anyone but me. It was getting difficult to breathe even though I was shielded by Austin’s wings.

Just when I wished that Michael and the alkins were there, Davin, Vivian, and Caleb appeared right in front of us; but where was Michael?

“
What took you so long?” Austin said.

“
You said after school. So we waited. When none of you showed up in Claudia’s room, we came here,” Vivian sneered, blocking the flames with her sword as Nicholas continued to throw them at us. The flames ricocheted off their swords and returned back to Nicholas. Startled by the alkin appearance and by getting hit by his own flames, he yelled with fury, “Get them!”

“
What in the heavens are those ugly things?” Caleb asked in shock as the white spirits unfurled. They looked like smoke at first, then they took on a physical white form. It was the first time the alkins had laid eyes on these creatures.

“
Albus daemonis, white demons. Your girlfriends from the past; love is definitely blind for you. Got any dirty secrets you want to share?” Austin replied.

“
At least I had girlfriends. They’re much better looking than the ones you fooled around with,” Caleb said, swinging his sword in a complete circle, ready for their advances. I was shocked. Caleb was usually quiet. He hardly spoke a word, but I was glad he had this time.

Holly stepped in front and held her bow steady to shoot. “Come to me and I’ll dress you up with some silver,” she sneered.

The white spirits soared straight toward us, and for the first time, I saw their weapon. Though they had no hands, razor sharp claws pulled out from where their hands should be, making all too eager clanking sounds.

“
What the heck?” Davin said in surprise. “They have claws? Looks like Caleb’s girlfriends forget to cut their nails.”

Davin leaped off the ground, surprising one as it came closer, and drove his sword right through its gut, but it had no effect. Stunned, he did it again, but nothing. Davin swung again, but this time, it gripped Davin’s sword. “So you want to dance? Sorry twinkle toes, you’re not my type.” It obviously didn’t like what Davin said; it responded with a loud ugly hiss as they tangoed across the floor.

Vivian gracefully pivoted to the right, flipped over several demons and sliced through their hands. Squealing in pain, they vanished into the ground, leaving behind white ashes. “Cut off their hands!” Vivian yelled.

As soon as Davin heard Vivian, he back flipped, surprised his demon partner and sliced both hands. “Boo yah,” Davin said. The spirit made an ear-piercing screeching sound, the claws melted on the ground leaving a puddle of silver liquid, and it vanished.

Caleb jumped over Vivian and swung his sword, but the spirits escaped his blow. One surprised Caleb from behind and its claws penetrated into his arms.

“
Caleb!” Vivian yelled, throwing a dagger straight for the claw. But a silver flame got there from Holly, who was floating in mid air. She gave a quick smile then turned to attack another.