Burdened (A Burdened Novel) (54 page)

“He said he was burdened and hybrid. How is that?”
His head rises and he looks at me.

“Come again?”
He puts the plate down, not finished.

“He said I wouldn’t be able to defeat him because he was burdened and hybrid
, like saying he was indestructible.” He picks up his plate and continues adding food to it. “Did you know that you are the hardest person to read that I’ve ever met?” Especially when you are in this type of emotionless mood.

“Come on. Let’s go eat somewhere else. The kitchen will be crowded soon.” He walks us to the family room
. It is down the hall from the great room. It is small, like my family room, and makes me feel comfortable. The only difference is there are four walls and it’s closed off by a door.

He starts eating,
and still has not commented on what I said about his dad. “So what are you thinking?”

He looks at me
. “To be honest?” I nod. “I don’t care. He’s dead. And that’s really the only thing that matters to me.”

I open my mouth to interject
. “Before you say anything,” he cuts me off. “I know that sounds harsh, and what he said may have been true.” He shrugs. “Then again, it may not have been. But, to me, my father was like the devil himself, and I was glad to destroy him.”

I shrug
. “Just thought I’d mention it.”

“I’m not ignoring it. It did spark my interest. But
, like you pointed out to me last night, we have a lot going on right now. And how it works is…once a problem occurs and is solved, that’s it. We focus on what is, not what was.”

I guess that makes sense
. Why keep up a problem that is no longer a problem?

“Hey
, Tracey. What’s up, big brother?” Little Nathan and Cindy walk in, chipper—her on his arm.

“She spent the night?” Nathan asks his brother.

“Yeah, is that a problem?” Yes.

“No
, Nathan. When you have a moment, I want to talk to you.” Why wait for a moment? Just quietly tell him, so we can move on to
what the hell is going on
?

“Hey
, Tracey.” Cindy comes over to my left and sits on the armrest of the couch. My hands burn and I lose my appetite.

I force myself to speak
, but refuse to look at her. “Hello.” It’s strong and sounds forced.

She ignores it. “So where did you two end up going last night? How do you like being with Nathan?
Does it seem weird to you when you speak to them and they have the same name? Do you love Nathan? Oh, do you think he loves you too? Why are you with him?”

She goes on
, and I have to cut in. “I’m sorry, Cindy.” I turn to her. “But you are out of line with some of—” She smiles at me—that jackal smile—but from
her
face. I scoot closer to Nathan and clear my throat to finish my sentence. “You’re out of line with some of your questions.”

I feel the vines cover my ear. My eyes demand me to blink, forcing me to see something I am missing. I fear blinking
, for what I might see.

Nathan shifts behind me and touches my arm. I relax, only a little.

The smile remains, getting wider. “My apologies, Tracey. I didn’t mean to be so forward.”

I blink
—from dry eyes—and when I reopen them, there she is in full jackal. I try to remain calm, but my panic spikes. She really scares the shit out of me. Jackals are definitely worse than clowns. Her sharper teeth stick into her lips cutting them, but she shows no pain.

My hand is hot and I put it behind my back as I feel the vines travel around it. Nathan grabs it. I turn around to look at him
, because I know it has to be burning him.

Bad idea.

Jackal Cindy grabs me by my neck, at the same time, clawing at my face, and throws me across the small room at the same time clawing at my face. Everything moves so fast—
she
is fast. Before I hit the wall, or the floor, Nathan catches me and I stand at his side.

Already next to us,
Jackal Cindy grabs me by the back of my neck and drags her sharp nails down my neck, to my back, over my butt, and down my right leg, then throws me into the flat screen TV on the wall.

Nathan catches me
, once again, before I hit the floor, and grabs my hand. I no longer feel the pain from the scratches; although, I can feel the blood trickle down my body. I look over to Little Nathan, who is standing there in awe—although, not helping. Apparently, we are moving faster than it seems.

Nathan spins me around to his
left side, never breaking contact as I face him, looking at Jackal Cindy. She is on his right, facing the wall, intending to attack again. Nathan uses his—now free—right hand and, without turning around, slams her head into the wall. I can hear the shatter of plaster. He turns around to face her, spinning me around under his arm, like a dance move.

He places my hand on his waist
, under his shirt, to keep the contact. She screeches loudly as he turns her head in one direction and her body in another. His body hardens, and in less than a second, softens again as I watch her body hit the floor, lying in one direction, with her head in another—still attached. She smiles and then there is nothing.

Nathan turns to look at me, then turns me around and runs his hands down my back
, in the same areas where I feel the scratches. He takes off his shirt and pulls it over my head. The length falls past my waist.

My clothes
must be shredded and my body bare. He turns me back around and finally slows down.

His eyes
are swirling from night-blue to grey. “Your face.” He runs his finger over certain areas of my face. “I fixed it. Are you okay?”

He touches over my neck and my face.
“Yeah.” I pause. “Everything happened so fast,” I say, still in astonishment.

He looks over
at Little Nathan. “Please tell me you had nothing to do with this.”
I would really hate to kill my little brother.

I rub his hand to help him relax.

Little Nathan blinks in his own astonishment and then starts shaking his head vigorously. “Nathan, I promise. I had no idea. She had just come around, maybe a few days ago. We did some things and she was cool. I didn’t even know she wasn’t human. We caught you two coming in the other day and she wanted to meet you. I thought everything was cool.” He speaks quickly. “I’m sorry, Tracey. I didn’t know.”

Nathan
starts to speak and I cut him off. “It’s okay, Nathan.” I start walking forward and Nathan is on my heels.

I look at
Little Nathan and he looks like he has disappointed us and is still in disbelief. “Don’t worry about it. Shit happens.” I smile, trying to make him feel better.

“Seriously
, Nathan. I better not find out you had something to do with this.” He doesn’t look at him.

I rub his arm
, trying to calm him down. “It’s okay, babe. Let’s just go.”

“Clean up in here.” Nathan orders his brother as we walk out of the family room.

We walk into the hallway
, running into Glen and Scott. Glen’s eyes buck at Nathan’s bare chest. “Mm, Nathan. Good job, Tracey!” And at that, everything moves in slow motion.

Scott loses it. His hair stands up, his teeth sharpen
, and his nails are pitch-black. He lunges at Glen, who is only a foot or so away from him. He tackles her, slamming her through the wall—they went
straight through
the wall.

Nathan reaches for Scott
, and I am after him, trying to help Glen. He isn’t quick enough. Scott has Glen by her throat and the side of her face is crushed in. Blood is draining from her left eye and her nose.

Nathan stands still with his
fists balled. Scott drops Glen and I rush to her side. She’s not moving and doesn’t speak. I prop her head up in my lap and tears start filling my eyes.

What the fuck
, Scott? You have got to be kidding me. Scott is still alive, so Glen has to be too.

Nathan’s voice is deep and venomous. “Scott
, what are you doing? Control yourself.”

He has control over Scott
, but Scott is trying to fight it. His body is shaking out-of-control, trying to escape from Nathan’s possession.

“Don’t do th
is, Scott. I don’t want to hurt you.” Scott’s skin has taken on that dark, reddish complexion, like Nathan’s did, and looks hard.

I refocus my attention back to Glen
, feeling her jerk, gasping for air. I don’t know what to do. I can’t heal Glen. I can’t do anything for her. She too starts shaking, but shaking as if her heart is racing.

“Glen
, please just hold on. We’ll fix it. Just hold on.” I can’t hold my tears and they fall onto her face.

“Tracey
, please stop crying,” Nathan begs in a calmer voice, trying not to look at me; although, I can see the hurt in his eyes. “She’ll be okay. We just need to get Scott together first. He’ll fix her,” he says, hard-toned.

“Nathan
, please fix it.” I grab Glen’s hand, and she grasps mine, with no strength behind it.

Scott is still shaking, still dark
-red. Warm liquid starts to soak my legs and Glen’s grip grows faint.

“Glen! Please
? No. Glen, no!” I pull her closer to me. “Please, Glen. Don’t do this!” I yell as tears stream down my face.

My chest starts to ache for her life, and the thought of losing
her fills my mind. I lay over her, still holding her hand, and let out the pain. My sobs are stronger and uncontrollable.

“Tracey. Please?” Nathan begs. “I can
—oomph!”

There is a piercing pain in my shoulder. I look to where Nathan
was standing. He’s moved—now against the wall, with Scott standing in front of him. Black liquid is draining from his neck and shoulder area, staining the floor.

“Scott
, you need to—” He takes a breath. “—get back in control.”

I
fill with anger. I look at Glen and set her softly to the floor. Nathan isn’t fighting Scott back. I rise from the floor and walk over to Scott. He is still in demon form. My hands heat to the max and I grab him by his neck. It’s hard—extremely hard—and impenetrable.

He moves and
, with all the strength I have, I pull him from Nathan, trying to throw him across the room. If I can move Nathan, I can definitely move Scott.

He goes with ease
, flying through the air behind me. I don’t look to see where he lands, or if he lands. I reach out to Nathan’s shoulder to heal it. I watch it stitch back together. Nathan looks at his shoulder, taking breaths.

“This is re
ally turning into a bad weeke—” Pain, scorching pain, clouds my mind, coming from my stomach.

Nathan grabs his stomach and I drop to my knees
, looking down at Scott’s hand, covered in blood—my blood—sticking out of my stomach. He pulls it out, and I can’t breathe.

Nathan moves and I hear stiffening behind me. He
grabs me, laying me flat on the floor. He lifts my shirt and places his mouth on my wound. The pain takes forever to subside as my body starts to chill. He then turns me over onto my stomach, doing the same thing to my back. Healing me.

All of my breath comes
out in a rush as I cough, while blood escapes the sides of my mouth.

He turns me onto my side
, and the vomit and blood rushes out of me.

Pulling it together
, I look over at Glen. Her fingers are moving, and I run to her, still trying to catch my breath.

“Glen
, please be okay. Tell me you’re okay,” I say, knowing she can’t speak. It’s more to comfort myself. I look over to Scott, who is standing stiff.

“Did you?” I look
at Nathan.

“Not yet.”
He starts to stand. “But I’m going to.”

“Nathan
, don’t,” I say softly.

“Tracey
, he—”

“Nathan
, I know what he tried to do. But don’t kill him. He doesn’t know what he’s doing; you know that. Glen is on the brink of death. Just, please, try to calm him down so that he can heal her.”

I look down at Glen
. She looks worse. Her face is swelling and both eyes are swollen shut. Blood is still flowing from her, and I refuse to lift her up to see where it’s coming from.

“Nathan, please?” I say thr
ough flowing tears.

Nathan shakes his head and looks at Scott
, while, at the same time, pushing his bloody hand through his hair. His face has my blood on it, which would look bad if the wrong person were to walk in. His black liquid is over the left side of his body, and I am really over seeing him with it on him.

“Scott
, you need to calm down. You just tried to kill your girl, and if I wasn’t here, you would have killed mine. I am not okay with letting you live. But, because Tracey needs her friend, it is the only reason I’m even trying.”