Kimber (20 page)

I
lay still and fight the urge to scream, fight against the hysteria crawling up
my throat as I lay here. Rationally I know I should focus my thoughts but a
deep seeded part of me says it’s hopeless. I ignore it. I have to get to my
cell phone. I have to focus on getting Leo and I out of this alive. ‘Cause even
if I die ten, fifteen minutes from now, I have to know I tried.

            I hear the
faint sound of shoes move across the living room floor. Frightened I blink my
eyes trying to clear the tears that fill them. As I do, I see a pair of legs
walk past me swiftly. I hear the squeak of my couch just before a hand brushes
over my hair.

“It
wasn’t supposed to be you!
Dammit
!”

The
fury in his voice vibrates to my core. So much so that seconds go by before I
catch it, I know that voice. 

Luke!

Hysteria
wins as any and all control I might have gives way. Venomous doses of pain
attack my body before settling in my chest. My breathing becomes rapid and I’m
vaguely aware that the combination of my air intake, a throbbing wound and a
heaving chest equals an acceleration of blood loss.

 “
No!
No
!” I try to say through large gasps but even I can’t hear my own words.

“Shit!”
Luke hollers repeatedly. He’s infuriated.

I
forgo breathing and settle into the pain just as my teeth start to chatter. I’m
cold, very cold. It has to be from blood lost. I try to think back to anatomy
class but I can’t even remember how much blood the human body holds, but I’m
losing it fast. My time is running out!

            Luke stands
and makes circles around me. I see he’s panicked and unsure of what to do. I
assume calling for help isn’t an option for him. I see his hand reach for the
knife, petrified that he’ll pull it, I plead with my eyes, vigorously shaking
my head. 

“They
told him to stay away! Why couldn’t he stay away?”

Tears
roll from my eyes as Luke hollers down at me. I turn my head slowly toward Leo
desperate to see a change or movement, but there’s nothing. With every passing
minute my hope starts to fade.

 “All
of it! Everythin’! And for what, nothin’!” Luke continues ranting as he steps
closer to Leo. “I’m sick of livin’ in your shadow. This is your fault. Their
blood falls on you now!” Luke yells as he kicks Leo’s motionless body. I reach
out against the pain to grab onto Luke’s pant leg. He’s too far away. “
Son…of
a… bitch
!” Luke hollers, continuously kicking Leo. When he stops he’s
winded and turns to look at me. His expression is odd. As though he’s here
physically but mentally, it’s anyone’s guess.  

 Luke
kneels on one knee beside me. I don’t feel the fear as strong. He’s already
killed me, what more can he do? He eyes the knife before his eyes meet mine.

 “Are
you sorry?”

 I
am sorry, just not for the reason he asks. I shake my head.

 “No?”
Luke hisses.

I
shake my head again. I should be submissive to him, but why? He’s responsible
for what will happen to me. I won’t show compassion where none has been shown
to me. He is no longer the Luke I trusted and called my friend. He’s a
vengeful, dangerous, deceptive and egocentric.

 “I
could save you.” He says pointing to the knife. “But I don’t think they’d want
that.” I close my eyes at this small revelation and open them as he continues. “What
was I suppose to do Kimber? There was an openin’ and I took it. He’d always
walk around actin’ like he was better than me, because of
blood
. I knew
they wouldn’t willingly let him go. They had to see. I made them see.”

He
stands and grabs from the kitchen a damp dish rag. Carefully he starts to wipe
the surface of things he’s touched. His intentions are clear. He’s prepping the
scene and covering his tracks. The chill in my bones penetrates deeper.

“You’re
beautiful Kimber. I’ll give you that. But you’re gullible as shit.” Luke says
as he continues to wipe down the bedroom door.

“What?”
I manage to whisper but not without paying for it in pain. My body tenses,
except my toes, they’ve gone numb.

He
turns giving me a disturbed premeditated smile. I keep my eyes on Luke as he
leans back down to me. I fear he will remove the knife to wipe his fingerprints
from it.

But
the knife is a dull, bothersome ache compared to what comes next.

 “What
do you think happened to your mother?”

I
lay frozen as his question echoes in my head.
It’s a lie.
I try telling
myself. I can believe he’s gone crazy and that Leo and I will consequently die
here because of him. But the more I fight it, the more graphic the truth
becomes. There is no control left in me to dig up.

All
this time I wondered what kind of monster could have done such a thing to my
mother. All the while, the answer was right in front of me. Every time I
touched Luke, kissed, laughed, smiled, or looked into his eyes, I had been
looking in the eyes of my mother’s murderer. The sick twisted son of a bitch
killed my mother without mercy and ran the only other person I cared about
right out of my life for his own personal gain. I feel for it!

“Are
we on the same page now?” Luke asks having noticed my blank expression. “If
it’s any consolation I didn’t like the thought of killin’ her. You can blame
Leo for that. The Grigori would have waited but I couldn’t. I had to take
matters into my own hands.”

 I
motion for Luke to come closer. He does.

“
Die
!”
I’m barely able to whisper.

 “I’ll
leave that to you.” He says smirking down at me. “You could’ve had it good
Kimber. I would have given you anythin’. But you couldn’t let him go.” 

“Why?”
I whisper, too numb or too raw from his confession to care about the cold pain
claiming my body.

 “Why!”
Luke hollers. “Because I had the balls to go after somethin’ I wanted, you!
Because I loved you! I had to search for a gypsy to block me from Lena and Leo.
I spent months contemplatin’ the right way to stage Marie’s murder. Meanwhile I
had to convince the Grigori I was one of the good guys.” Luke’s eyes close as
he shakes his head.

I
wish the knife had struck to the left of my chest and right into my heart. It
feels as though it moves there as Luke recites callous, jealous, unjustified
reasons for taking my mother’s life, like her’s was just a means to an end. As
if the extent of her life was to serve an ornery teenage boy’s quid pro quo to
winning the girl.

Vomit
rises and settles in my throat.

“Just
say you love me. For once, let me hear it.” He begs me.

 “Go
to Hell.”
I answer meagerly.

Angrily
Luke stands and motions to the knife handle sticking out of me. With the rush
of heated adrenaline gone, I’m struggling to keep my eyes open. I’m sure the
steady decline of my condition has surpassed shock.

It’s
an odd feeling to welcome the increasing pain from a knife sticking into your
chest. I would welcome the pain a thousand times to draw in enough strength to
bring Luke down. I doubt my trace amount of Nephilim blood is equal to his so I
need something more.

“I
planned the late night phone call to Leo. I’m in control.” He rambles on,
stroking his ego, but I can’t afford to listen. 

            My only
obstacle is, ironically, the only weapon I have at my disposal. If it’s at all
possible for me to remove the knife from my sternum, I have to be able to do it
swiftly and fast enough to plunge it into Luke. But can I withstand the pain or
will I pass out as soon as I release it? This is worse than being stuck between
a rock and hard place. I’m stuck in the middle of risking my life to take his.

            I’m ashamed
to admit my fear overcomes me. The thought of dying here and letting Luke walk
unscathed makes my knife wound feel like a mere paper cut.

I
do the only thing I can think of. Taking on the piercing pain again, I inhale
until my lungs won’t stretch anymore and scream. Luke muffles my attempt by
putting his hand over my mouth.

“This
is what you get! What you asked for!” He increases the pressure of his hand
over my mouth and nose.

 I
long for the air that punishes with pain just for one breath. I feel my legs
kicking and my arms twitching as I grow tired and weak. I close my eyes, shiver
from the cold and welcome the sudden relief of pain. I wish I could see my
mother and tell her how sorry I am that I can’t avenge her. I feel my body
convulse even more while it fights for air and the lack of response from my
brain. I come to feel calm, relaxed and unafraid to let go. My eyes fall heavy
and everything in sight slowly fades to black.

            Just as I’m
sure I will see my mother in the form of an angle waiting for me by a bright
white light, I hear a voice. It could be a woman but it’s not overly feminine.

“Go back, Kimber. This
is not your end. Embrace what you are.”

 I
feel a twinge as my eyes fly open and my lungs heave in the air around me. The
first thing I see are Leo’s hands in a firm grip around the handle of the knife
in my chest. It happens so fast that panic is a delayed reaction. As if Leo
defies time and space, he retrieves and raises the knife in such a quick
movement that Luke has no time to defend himself.

 Just
like that, it’s over.

Leo
removes his shirt and uses it to apply pressure to my chest. With the other
hand he calls nine one one.

With
the knife removed from my chest breathing is near impossible as the pain
reaches an excruciating level. I wish the knife were still there. A cold tingle
sweeps through me, subsiding the sensation of burning but the gaping wound is
nothing short of Hell’s agony. I look into Leo’s piercing hazel blue eyes
watching tears stream from them. I focus on his face instead of the pain. He’s
my hero. My own personal light in all the darkness around me. Through dim eyes
I see his lips move, absent sound. Harnessing a mix of emotions, I smile up
into his eyes. They might call it tragic or slightly poetic but dying in the
arms of the one you love is…comforting. Because I do love this man and every
dangerous, scary part that comes with him loving me back. As I lay here in his
embrace I know that I am safe, that I am loved and that I belong only to him.
How else could a girl want to die?

 LAVENDER
IS CALMING. The smell reminds me of trips my mother and I took during spring
break to Sunken Gardens. I loved the flowers, their colors and the different
scents they carried. I love watching movies where the lead actress would run
through a wide open field covered in daisies. It seems so free.

I
see me in my mind’s eye, forget-me-nots in pink, blue and yellow surround my
feet as far as my eyes can see. The sun is shining, the sky bright blue with
puffy clouds soaring over my head. I run free, fast and careless.

 Leo
is there. His smile brightens when he sees me. He’s dressed in dark denim jeans
and casual baby blue T shirt that sets off his amazing hazel eyes. His sandy
brown hair is messy in all the right ways. His long muscular body runs toward
mine as though the wind carries us together. I extend my arms toward him, ready
to leap into his embrace and feel his chest press against mine.

Suddenly
he stops dead in his tracks an arm’s length away from me. A look of horror
crosses his face as he starts to back away. With my hands out stretched, I look
down at my arms. I’m covered in blood. It drips from me and onto my pretty
field of flowers.

 “Leo?”
I look to him for an explanation. He does not answer as he continues to look
terrified. “Leo!” I scream to him for help but he turns and retreats. I
continue to call his name until he’s out of view and I’m left standing alone.

            My pretty
field of forget-me-nots fades and warps into a volcanic covered field of hot
ash. Red hot lava erupts in various spots. The ground is too hot for my bare
feet to handle. Afraid and discombobulated I yell again for Leo.

“Tiffany,
get Leo now! Amber, grab the doctor!”

I
hear Lena’s voice but when I look up all I see is a dark thunderous sky,
shooting lightning down around me. It aggravates the lava beneath me. Seeing no
way out or safety for me to run to, I scream.

Suddenly
 a cool rush of wind brushes against my face. I hear Leo call my name. I call
back to him. I feel his hands on my arm but when I look down all I see is the
blood that covers me, not Leo.

I
hear orders called from above me. Anxiety sinks in. I’m unsure of what is
happening or what way, if any, to turn. I call to Leo again. I don’t understand
why I can’t see him even though I feel his touch and hear his voice. A bright
light hits my eyes. I flinch and fall backwards landing on the lava. I scream
as it burns through my skin.

I
hear voices, movement, I feel things touching me, beeping machines around me.
Taking my head in my hands, I curl into a ball.