Counterpart (Succubi & Incubi Assn.) (31 page)

Silence settled then.

Th-thump. Th-thump. Th-thump.

Was that a heartbeat? I turned my head to where I thought I heard
the sound, but as always, I was greeted with nothing.

Th-thump. Th-thump. Th-thump
. The sound
played in my ear continuously, like I could hear my own pulse beating. And for
all I knew, that's probably what it was. We are in my mind, so I guess I should
be able to hear my heart, right?

“Maya.” It was like a sudden change and
Bethany
's voice was back to being clear and loud. She stood there with a
wrinkle in the middle of her perfectly shaped brows. It almost seemed
unnatural. “Did you hear me?”

“Huh?”

She didn't answer my question, instead she just stood there staring
as if
I
was the one who invaded
her
mind and brought her here.
“You didn't hear what I said?”

I shook my head slowly. Then it was like a repeat of what just
happened and her mouth opened, only for nothing to come out.

And the beating heart started again.

Th-thump. Th-thump. Th-thump
. This time
the sound felt closer, like right next to me. My head snapped to the side as if
I would miss it. I ended up with nothing, again.

“Can you hear that?” I turned my head back to where
Bethany
was and my body stiffened. Right
where I thought—no, I knew—
Bethany
was stood nothing but the empty space I'd been receiving ever since
I got here. The flame was still lingering in the air though, just proving that
I wasn't seeing things.

But no
Bethany
stood
under that flame. No hand received the flames that flickered in mid-air.

My body suddenly felt cold and I was sure it dropped like fifty
degrees. In attempt to warm myself up, I wrapped my arms around my mid-section,
running my hands up and down my arms. If it wasn't for the flame in front of me
I'd probably be on the floor, cowering away from the coldness.

And just as it read my mind, the flame was gone. Like a light switch
the glow disappeared, and all that was left was me... and black.

“
Bethany
...” The
fear rising through me showed in my whisper. I didn't know why I was speaking
so quietly, I guess being in the dark does that to you. I called her name
several times, only to receive nothing in reply. I was too scared to move. I
was scared that if I took one step, I'd end up falling. I didn't even know what
I was standing on, but it was starting to feel like ice. My fingers started to
ache at the sudden temperature change, my head started to pound at a slow pace.

And the disturbing sound of a heart beat played again.

Th-thump. Th-thump. Th-thump. Th-thump. Th-thump. Th-thump
. It was repetitive. Even cradling my head wasn't getting rid of it.
The sound slowly disappeared and for a few seconds I was sure I could hear
someone breathing in my ear—like heavily inhaling and exhaling right into my
earlobe.

It was both scary and annoying.

I can't believe
Bethany
just left me here. I was trapped in my own mind. She was my only
way of escaping.

Never thought I'd see the day where I wanted to desperately get out
of my own head.

A spark sounded behind me and I turned. The small flame was in the
air, just like how it was when
Bethany
soon arrived. Relieved, I felt hope rise into me. “
Bethany
, what's going on?”

I saw her hand under the flame and it was back to licking the
fingers that cupped around it. I moved my gaze up to her green eyes, but I was
greeted with something completely different. They were blue. An ice blue.

My mind instantly caught onto who held these. And as much as I loved
blue eyes, I hated these ones, so much. “Tori.”

I heard a cynical laugh and soon enough the light from the flame
grew, exposing the blonde extensions and the large amounts of make-up thrown on
her face.

Now, if this was happening at campus, and we weren't in some fucked
up world that was my mind, I'd be glaring. But even I could feel my walls
tumbling down when she directed that sardonic smirk towards me. “You should
hurry, Maya” I watched as she pulled her eyes from me, gleaming at the flame
like it was her little pet. Her hand moved up and she examined the fire as it
engulfed her hand, brushing it against her fair cheek. “He doesn't have much
time.”

I couldn't even find it in myself to reply but just at the thought
of Tristan being in her disgusting hands sent a wave of anger through me. I
could tell by the way I was breathing that I wasn't just scared anymore, if
anything, I was starting to get frustrated that I didn't get rid of this bitch
before.

Why the fuck did I have to tell Tristan to stay with her? Seriously.

“Listen to his heart, Maya.” She was still staring at the flame. The
heartbeat played again. Th...thump. Th…thump. Th…thump. I clicked instantly
that I had been listening to Tristan's heart the whole time. This time though,
my ears picked up something that worried me.

The pauses between the beats were longer.

Bethany
was right.

Tristan was dying.

“You don't have much time, my dear.” Tori flicked her eyes back to
me, her smirk still playing on her lips. “The clock is ticking.”

Anger took control of me. “I swear to God if you've hurt him, I will
find you and I will kill you.” I couldn't give a fuck about what
Rosa
not wanting Tori dead. I didn't care
if she was our only lead to find Cassandra. I had no doubt in my mind that I
was going to kill Tori when I got the chance.

Tori laughed. “Aw, but Maya.” The flame then grew around her wrists,
the fire wrapping around her forearm like a snake. Her fist clenched, and with
one look towards me the fire grew into a giant ball, wrapping around her hand.
“That's exactly what I want.”

I didn't have much of a warning—besides the fact that she was
cynical—but as soon as the words passed her lips, the fire left her hand.

And it seemed to have a target.

Me.

The fire burned as it relished every single piece of my flesh. It
scorched my skin to the point of crisp and in the quick second that it took to
completely take over me, I was in complete and utter pain. A million flames
were licking my body, grasping tightly enough for me to suffocate. It roasted me
like I was a simple piece of meat on a barbeque.

I screamed, I knew that much. It was the last thing I heard.

And even though the fire was excruciating, it was the only thing
that woke me up.

“Oh, thank my father, you’re awake.”
Rosa
's voice had become easy for me to distinguish and when I heard the
sound of her feet walk quickly along the ground, my eyes flickered open, only
to shut at the sudden brightness.

“Too bright,” I mumbled.

“Oh.” I heard her steps freeze for a brief moment. “Alright, try
now.” My second attempt at opening my eyes worked fine. The flames across the
edge of the ground were dimmed down which only made me wonder if they were
electrical or something. “You must have been in the dark for a while, hm?”

“Seems like it,” I muttered, pushing myself into a sitting position.
“What’s going on?”

“You were in pain, so I brought you down here.”
Rosa
stepped into my vision. “Tori has also
made an appearance, and it is a big one.”

Tori
.

I was on my feet in one quick motion. “I need to get out of here.” I
skimmed the walls for an exit but even my mind knew that I couldn't get out of
here unless
Rosa
sent me out,
or one of her little followers took me. “Can you please let me go?”

“I can't do that.”

“Why not?” I turned to face her. What did she mean by
she can't
do that
?

“Maya, we do not know what we are dealing with, and I am not sending
you up there to get in the middle of it.” Calm was the perfect word for
Rosa
right now. Everything about her
screamed calm and everything about her being calm made me want to scream.

“You're kidding me right?” It was safe to say that I was starting to
get annoyed. “Tristan is up there getting God knows whatever that bitch is
doing to him, and you don’t want me in the middle of it? I already am in the
middle of it.”

“Tristan?”
Rosa
suddenly gained interest and the calm state she had put herself in was gone.
“She has Tristan?”

“Yes she has Tristan, now would you please let me go?”

“No, no.” At first I thought she was answering my question but when
I saw her starting to pace around, I knew it wasn't even directed to me. “This
can not be happening. How in the devil's name did she get a hold of him?”

I wasn't entirely sure if she was talking to me. All that was coming
past her lips were a bunch of murmurs, followed by her hand that was casually
fidgeting in front of her. It was like she forgot I was even here, which wasn't
acceptable because I didn't need her going into her own thoughts when I need to
be up on Earth, finding Tristan.

“
Rosa
.” My mind was
at the verge of snapping at her, but remembering who she was I second thought
it. “I'm trying to be really calm right now.” Each word came out with a short
breath in between—my attempt at calm. “But can you
please
let me go, so
I can find Tristan and kill Tori.” I was practically begging, and it wouldn't
be too long until I was on my knees.

She finally stopped pacing and walked in front of me. Dark eyes were
wide and staring into mine like a scientist examining their latest collection.
“How do you know Tori has Tristan? It just happened a few minutes ago.”

A few minutes ago? “How is that even possible?” Why am I even having
this conversation right now? “I felt the pain at least half an hour ago.”

“The time difference between here and above is fairly short. One day
there is like one hour here.”

Well that's new.

“How did you know?” she asked again, this time her eyes pierced into
mine like a hunter.

I wasn't entirely sure why I had the sudden feeling, but I found
myself not wanting to tell her that I saw
Bethany
. For some reason, I felt like that was my secret for me to hold,
not to tell. And as odd as it sounds, I didn't think
Rosa
would understand. “Ethan told me I could feel Tristan. When he's
near, I can feel what he feels. I felt his pain and while I was passed out, I
saw her face.” It wasn't the whole truth, but none of it was a lie. Just
looking into
Rosa
's eyes was
intimidating though. I wonder if Ethan ever had this stare.

Speaking of, where is he?

“Penelope.”

“What?” I had to make sure she just said the name or if my head was
starting to make things up. I got my answer when
Rosa
murmured her name again, and then she was back to pacing around the
room. “I should have known.”

I remembered
Bethany
mentioning the name and now I was curious to know more about what we're dealing
with. But I needed to act like I didn't know who Penelope was, or the fact that
she was Tori. “Who's Penelope?”

“Penelope is one of the original succubi that I created after
Bethany
. She was not the smartest tool in
the shed, but she was cunning.” I felt my hands clench into fists. It annoyed
me how “smart” Tori was, how “pretty” Tori was, when all I could see was a dumb
bitch.

Geez, maybe I was more jealous than I thought.

“I should have guessed it was her,”
Rosa
continued. “She was another one that hated the Conrad and Bethany
relationship. She even tried to get involved.”

“Was there anyone that didn't have a problem with them?” It seemed
that these two were hated by many.

“Penelope was jealous of the relationship because before Conrad met
Bethany
, Penelope met Conrad. He was
hardly interested. Penelope hated that.”

I knew her mini-story wasn't finished, but I just wanted to leave.
“How can I stop her?”

“Each succubus and incubus can access powers of every kind.” She
looked solemn when she said this. “It’s accessing them that’s hard. Penelope
was a quick learner but she let her power get control over her. Penelope was
good at one thing and one thing only, mind games.”

“Want to explain that a bit more?” I felt the air starting to
disappear.

God, I hope Tristan's okay
. Just the
thought of him hurting was enough to form some type of ache through me. Even
when I was the one that hurt him, it wasn't something I liked seeing.