Forsaken (5 page)

“I—I healed them.”
 

“Crap!  He’s going to find out.  There is no way we can hide this.”
 

I shrug.  “So?  He wants us to practice; I’m practicing.  There is no mirror around
here, is there?”
 

He shakes his head.  “That’s what you’re concerned about?” he asks.
 

I shrug.  
 

“It doesn’t look terrible,” he says.
 

“Oh, thanks!  That’s reassuring!”
 

He shakes his head.  “You look hot, okay?  Now can we please move on and stop talking
about your hair?”
 

I’m stunned that he actually said that and I can’t hold back the smile, not just because
of him saying that I look hot, but also because of the whole situation.  Here we are,
stuck in Hell, and having a somewhat normal conversation… but normal doesn’t last
long.
 

“You know, since we—well, I’m probably already in trouble anyway, I want to get into
the demon’s head to see what he’s up to,” I say.
 

“No freaking way!”
 

“What?  If I get caught—”
 

“Which you will!” he says.
 

“Well, I’ll just say it was an accident.  That I didn’t mean for it to happen.”
 

He shakes his head and he is clearly irritated.  “No.  I’ll do it.  If anyone has
to take the risk, it should be me.”
 

“No.”
 

“Either I do it or no one does it.”
 

“ARGH!  Fine!”  I finally agree.
 

“Let’s do this,” he says.
 

“You don’t have to.”
 

“But I do, because I know how damn difficult you are and I know if I don’t do this,
you’ll end up doing it yourself.  Now, stand by the door.  If you hear anything, get
my attention.  I’m not going to push it too far in the hopes that he doesn’t notice.”
 

I nod.
 

Samael stays where he is and closes his eyes and next thing I know, he’s lying on
the floor, curled up in pain.
 

I run toward him and kneel down on the floor.  His eyes are still closed.  “Samael,
look at me.  Are you okay? What happened?”
 

He looks so scared that it scares me.
 

“I know what he wants.  I’m sorry, Kayla.  I’m so sorry.”
 

“Why are you apologizing?”
 

“Because I—”
 

The demon opens the door with such strength that it practically comes off the hinges.
 

He stops when he sees that Samael lying on the floor.  I stand up and move in front
of Samael.
 

“Kayla, don’t—” says Samael in a weak tone.
 

The demon interrupts him.  “You couldn’t leave things alone, could you?  You are lucky
I need you around.  And you!” he says as he looks at me.  “What happened to your hair?”
 

I shrug, “I don’t know.”  And it’s partially true.
 

At that moment, I feel the pressure and I know that he is trying to do something to
my head and by the expression on Samael’s face, the same is happening to him.
 

***
 

I can’t remember what just happened but it doesn’t matter because I can now see Hunter.
 This time, I know it’s an illusion, but I don’t care.  I take what I can get just
as long as I can be with him.  I run toward Hunter and he throws his arms around me.
He feels so real.  His warmth, the way he breathes on neck while he hugs me.
 

“I missed you,” he says.
 

“I missed you too.”
 

He kisses me and illusion becomes my reality, a reality where we live at the Academy,
alone, away from everything and everyone.  It’s just Hunter and me.  We’re by the
lake on a summer day.  I lay down with my head on his lap and I feel so relaxed.  There
are no threats anymore.  I hear someone cry, but I ignore it and I never hear that
sound again.  It’s just the two of us.  Day in and day out, we spend every second
of every day together.  He tells me sweet things and reminds me about his promise
and how he will always be by my side.  
 

There are moments when I feel like something is missing, but he pulls me toward him
and makes me promise to stay with him… forever, but I can’t.  I remind him that’s
impossible.  He is immortal and I’m not.  He gives me a sexy smile and tells me that’s
okay.  One day I’ll be an angel and he knows that I’ll do what I need to do so that
I become one of the fallen and then, we’ll be together for eternity.
 

I don’t feel well.  I remember… even in the illusion, I remember the one I healed.
 I look at my hair, expecting it to be blonde and my healing that man to have been
the actual illusion.  I’m relieved when I see that my hair is blonde, but as I watch
it, my hair slowly darkens.
 

I feel terrified and confused.  When I look back at Hunter, it is no longer Hunter
who I see.  The one in front of me is Tucker.  I remember him from when I first arrived
at the academy and I remember that somehow, he can make himself look like other people.
 I now know he’s actually a demon and I don’t understand how he was at the Academy
before.  I step away from him and run away.  He calls after me, but I keep running.
 I run and run, until everything goes dark.  Then my eyes open and I see Samael sleeping
by my side.
 

The demon stands next to the mattress.  I abruptly get up and even though I feel dizzy,
I manage to stand in front of him.
 

  “Oh good.  Now that you’re awake, get him back here.  I’ll be back tomorrow and
I need both of you.
 

The demon leaves and I call Samael, I move him around, and nothing.  I have no clue
how to wake him up other than to go into his head and bring him back from his illusion.
 

Ugh.  I don’t want to do this, but I don’t want him defenseless if the demon comes
back.
 

I easily slip into his mind.
 

I know right away that there is something wrong.  My illusion was mostly a happy one;
his is dark.  He’s in the human world, at a school, but hiding.  He’s watching a girl
and it’s not until I get close to him that I realize he’s warding her, keeping her
from being haunted by her worst nightmare.  
 

My abilities go into overdrive and I subconsciously do something I never did before.
 I project myself into his vision and I slowly approach him.
 

“Samael?”
 

He slowly turns around and gives me a confused look.
 

“Why are you here?” he asks.
 

“This is not real.  I came to take you back.”
 

He looks back at her, “But I can’t leave her unprotected.”
 

There is something fragile about the way he looks.  I lower my tone.  “She’s not real,
Samael.  None of this is.”
 

He looks saddened.  He nods and looks at her one more time then we start to walk away,
side by side, into the darkness.
 

HUNTER
 

Xavier makes me promise that I will take a night off from hunting demons and go see
Kim and the rest Kayla’s family.  I avoided this for as long as I could, but he says
Kim asked me to go see her and well, I need a break.  He’s been saying that for a
while now.  It seems that with time, what happened became less significant and they
lost hope, Xavier included.  I’m now the only one looking for ways to get to her,
and I look for it nonstop.  
 

I try to argue and say I shouldn’t be around humans, after all, they will notice I’m
still the same.  As an immortal, I stopped aging when I was around 18.  Well, I stopped
aging but that doesn’t mean I haven’t changed.  Looking in the mirror I can see that
these years I have spent hunting demons changed my body.  I look stronger… at least
on the outside. But Kayla’s parents know the truth and they guaranteed that no one
else would be around.
 

***
 

I take a deep breath before going into their house.  I keep thinking about the times
I saw Kayla and how this was the place where she was taken from.  I knock on the door
and her dad opens it.  I can see he is not happy about my visit.  Seeing me brings
back memories, but at least he hasn’t forgotten her.  It’s nice knowing that her absence
hurts more than just me.  
 

“Hunter, come on in,” he says.
 

I walk in and her mom comes to say hi.  I’m a little shocked by how much she aged
and although it’s obvious that she had been crying, she forces a smile and talks about
how great I look.  She then says that dinner will be ready soon.
 

I can’t do this.  I feel like I’m deprived of air… I literally can’t breathe.
 

“I’m sorry.  I can’t be here.  Not without her.”  I turn around and storm outside.
 

Andrew, Kayla’s dad, runs after me, “Hunter, please wait.”
 

I stop, turn around, and stand in front of him.
 

His eyes water. “Has anything changed?  Do you have any new information?”
 

I shake my head.  “Nothing new.  With time, everyone gave up.  The demons are quiet
so they think nothing is going to happen, but they are wrong.  Whatever Benjamin’s
father is planning must be bad if it’s taking this long.”
 

He nods.
 

“I’m not giving up until I find her,” I say.
 

“And I thank you for that, but it’s been four years.” He pauses.  “Hunter, I could
never ask you to keep your life on hold because of her.”
 

“She is my life.”
 

He smiles with approval.
 

“How is Kim?” I ask.
 

“She’s okay.  She turned 17 last week.  All I keep thinking is that she is one year
older than Kayla was last time we saw her.”
 

“I hate to ask this, but do you think she can help attract Benjamin?”
 

He shakes his head.
 

Just then I hear a voice I haven’t heard in a long time come from the side of the
house.  “I can help you find him,” says Ethan.
 

I look at him in shock and so does Kayla’s dad.  The Fallen don’t usually show themselves
in human form, but well, Ethan is no longer the same anyway.  He looks exhausted,
and his wings are darker than they were before.
 

“What are you doing here?” I ask.  I want to be mad at him but I know that none of
this is really his fault.
 

“I asked Kim to have you meet me here.  Ever since we heard about all this, Jennifer
and I have been tracking Benjamin and Stephaine.  We know he has the answers we need
to get where Kayla is, but I wanted to talk to you first.”
 

Andrew and I stare at him and hear what he has to say.
 

“Jennifer and I think that we can use Stephaine to get to him, but the problem is
they’re always together.  We would have to work something out to separate them, unless
we just talk to them together and hope that Stephaine takes our side.”  He pauses
and shakes his head.  “But even if he tells us how to get to Kayla, we can’t actually
go and get her… because of what we are.”
 

“But I can,” I say.  “I’m immortal.  This will work right?”
 

“There is no telling for sure, but I guess you are our best option.”
 

“Let’s go.”
 

KAYLA
 

As soon as we are out of that illusion and back in the room, I take one good look
at Samael and notice how different he looks.  I don’t know how to explain it other
than to say that he looks older.  I know he didn’t look like this when I saw him in
his illusion.   
 

“Why are you looking at me like that?” he asks.
 

“You look older.  Why do you look older?”
 

“I don’t freaking know.  You don’t look any different, well, besides your hair, but
that was different before.”
 

“How long were we stuck in that illusion?” I ask.
 

He shrugs.  “Time does move at a different pace in illusions, but I don’t know.  Anyway,
I assume if a lot of time passed, you would be different too.”
 

“Well, you know what they say about assuming.”
 

“No, I don’t.  Enlighten me.”
 

I shake my head.  “Never mind.”
 

We fall into an uncomfortable silence.
 

Finally, I ask him what I’ve wanted to know since I saw him in his illusion.
 

“Who was the girl? I ask.
 

“Someone from my past.”
 

“Yeah, Captain Obvious.  She certainly isn’t a part of your present.  Who was she?”
 

“She was just someone who blamed me for the world’s evils.”
 

I give him a puzzled look.
 

He makes a grunting sound like he is irritated.  “Her name is Rachel.  She became
one of the haunted because of me.”  He takes a deep breath and looks away from me.
 “I never had a normal life.  Unlike you, I spent a lot of time being trained to be
a Nephilim, until I decided I was through with it.  I never liked being what I am.
 I hate this whole angel politics and what they’ve done to my family.  They’re the
reason my parents never worked out.   My dad said it wasn’t safe for me to be in the
human world, so he took me away when I was little and dropped me off at the Academy.
 After that, I saw him once every couple of years.