Pretend With Me (Midnight Society #1) (44 page)

P.S if you’re with that dick Wilson, he’d better be treating you
right. I’ve had intense training in the art of killing so one wrong move
and he’ll be my personal chew toy. Tell him that, would you?

I pressed the letter against my chest as tears ran down
my face. My heart was pumping in my chest and ears
loudly. I felt so overwhelmed that I couldn’t form a
thought. After reading Daren’s letter I was stunned. I
didn’t know how I was supposed to react or think right
now.

I heard the door opened and my dad slowly walked
into the room. He looked handsome and dashing in his
black suit. Behind him Celia, Abi, and Krystal were
waiting. I knew instantly that it was time. I had run out of
minutes and now it was down to the seconds.

I wiped my eyes allowing Celia, Abi, and Krystal to
touch up my makeup, and then a minute later the five of
us were walking out of the bedroom towards the grand
staircase. Already I could hear the soft music playing in the
background and mindless muttering and talking.

With each step that took me closer to the stairs I felt
my heart rate increasing. My stomach was in knots and my
hands were sweating. I was so nervous that my entire body
was like a live wire on crack. I was glad that I had skipped
breakfast this morning because if I had an empty stomach,
I couldn’t throw up.

After what felt like walking for hours, my dad and I
came to a stop at the top of the stairs. “Tell me when
you’re ready,” he said at my side and I took a deep breath,
then linked my arm around his, nodding and focusing on
putting one foot in front the other as we descended the
staircase.

When we made it at the bottom of the stairs we found
Christy, Charde, Jason and the rest of my three
bridesmaids and their partners waiting. All the guys were
dressed in black elegant suits. Charde and the other girls
were in simple, flowing golden dresses that dragged behind
them. A purple band went around their waist and then
dropped down at the back, trailing behind them. Christy
was adorable in a big, puffy princess style dress.

“Whenever you’re ready,” my dad said at my side and I
took another breath, nodding. At the back of me Celia and
Krystal were fixing the trail around me so that it was
spread out perfectly. Abi then gave me a bouquet of red
roses, which had what looked like crystals stuck to the
petals.

I took one last breath, looking up to my dad. “I’m
ready,” I whispered in a cracked hoarse voice. My throat
was completely dry as the huge double doors opened and
Christy skipped down the aisle. After her it would be the
other three couples, then Charde and Jason, and lastly my
dad and I.

“Jen…” my dad hesitated, “I know this is not easy thank you for doing this.” He paused and kissed the top of
my head. Afraid to speak I nodded, not taking my eyes off
him as the wedding march began to play.

Everyone stood up and as soon as I was in sight, a line
of loud awed whispers travelled along the room, starting
from the people closest to me and ending at the front of
the room. My dad and I began walking down the aisle
slowly, towards Eric who was standing at the end under a
canopy of lights and flowers.

My heart was pounding in my chest with so much force
that I almost felt my ribcage breaking under the pressure. I
could hear it beating in my ears loudly. My fingers were
cold sweating around the stem of the bouquet. Panic was
slowly easing into my body. With each step that I took, I
felt my throat constrict, and the muscles in my stomach
clenched tighter. The closer that I got to Eric was the
colder my body became. I was going numb all over. My
body pulsed with what was almost physical pain and then
my brain literally shut down, switching off abruptly as my
feet rooted to the floor and I came to a sudden stop,
physically unable to go any further.

I couldn’t do it. I couldn't get my feet to move. No
matter how much I tried to push myself forward, I
wouldn’t budge. My feet stayed glued to the floor, my legs
wouldn’t move, and all I could do was stare directly in
front of me, unable to move and unable to form a single
thought.

I felt as if I was going into shock, like I was shutting
down slowly. I couldn’t feel my body. It was like I had
been submerged under an ocean of ice water, and now I
was finally numb from the pain, except I still felt the sharp,
twisting ache in my chest. My fingers were wrapped
around the bouquet of red flowers so tightly that I was
slowly destroying it. My vision blurred and when I blinked,
hot tears slid down my face falling to the red flowers in my
hands.

Around me, everyone in the room was utterly silent
and still. They too, all seemed frozen in shock. I only saw
my mom, who was clutching onto Aunt Sophie’s arm as if
her life depended on it. I saw Dr. and Mrs. Wilson whose
faces mirrored each other. Lastly, I saw Eric. I couldn’t
describe him, there weren’t words strong enough to say
how much in pain and heartbroken he was.

I was hurting him just as I had always done. I didn’t
want to be like this. I had wanted so much to get through
this day and not freak out. I didn’t want to hurt anyone. I
was a plague, even worse maybe. I was letting them all
down.

“Jen…” my dad whispered while squeezing my hand.
“You need to do this,” he urged and at the sound of his
voice, I felt my mind snap back into my body like a rubber
band. My head instantly flashed up to him stunned. My
lips parted as tears filled my eyes and then silently spilled
down my face. I tried speaking, to tell him that I wanted
to, yet no sound came out of my mouth. My throat had
gone utterly dry. My teeth had been transformed into
metal bars, caging my words inside my throat.

A loud, ear shattering, aching cry broke the silence and
without looking, I knew that it was Christy. The sound
tore at my heart and soul in every way it could. I felt as if
someone was slowly carving out my insides with a dull
bread knife. My entire body felt raw.

Suddenly a loud bang echoed through the room, like
the sound of explosives going off behind us as the double
doors slammed. A second later Christy stopped crying and
began whimpering almost silently as the majority of the
people in the room sank to their knees bowing their heads,
leaving the humans and purebloods standing and without a
doubt in my mind, I knew Katalin was standing behind
me. Slowly I turned around to face her, dreading what I
knew was about to happen.

I didn’t know what to do. My mind had gone
completely blank as I took her in, standing in front of the
door. She looked like a warrior angel, posed and ready to
launch the first wave of a massive, bloody attack. The
shield around her pulsed and vibrated with vitality and
excitement. It almost seemed alive, like it had a mind of its
own as it glowed around her. Her stance was perfect and
that of a fighter.

Katalin took a deep breath and then she stepped to the
side, removing herself from in front of the door, which
was now slowly being pushed open by the pulsing shield
levitating around her.

“Arise all and leave,” she said numbly extending a hand
out towards the open doors. Everyone in the room
immediately stood up and gracefully glided out. At some
point, the humans had started to follow them out too,
leaving my parents, Aunt Sophie, Dr. and Mrs. Wilson,
Eric, and I. As soon as the last person was out the door
slammed shut, sealing us inside.

“I warned you what would happen had you disobeyed,”
she said blankly, taking small steps towards me. The closer
she got was the more fear built up inside me, but just
under the fear, there was something else. It was something
foreign and yet similar. Without thinking, I took a step
forward putting myself between her and my dad. I didn’t
have to look at my dad or my human family to know
exactly what was happening to them.

They were all feeling paralyzing fear. It was an emotion
so strong and intense their minds had gone completely
blank. They didn’t know what to do or how to react, all
that they knew and understood was that Katalin was
dangerous and they had to get away, yet they
couldn’t
move. I knew these things because these were the exact
feelings I had felt the first time I had seen Katalin.

Eric was suddenly at my side, standing inches away
from me and so close I could feel the warmth of his body.
He made no move to touch me and without thinking, or
caring if he was going to pull away, I threw the bouquet I
was still clutching aside and took his hand, tightly
interlocking our fingers. Eric’s fingers remained loose
around mine for a long, endless minute, but then he slowly
closed his fingers, squeezing my hand, and at his undying
faith in me I suddenly felt strong and powerful.

My mind clicked awake, taking in everything around
me. I was instantly aware of my parents who hadn’t moved
a muscle. I was conscious of Dr. and Mrs. Wilson who
were tense and ready for a fight. I took in Katalin and I
immediately knew that something was wrong. She wasn’t
careful and controlled, which was so unlike her. I knew
and understood all of this with just a single glance.

It was a long while before she answered. “You know I
can’t do that, Jenifer.”
“Why?”
“I’ve already told you, Jenifer,” she paused, “power is
of no use if it can’t be controlled.”
“Fine then,” I said all emotion draining from my voice.
“Do what you have to do to me, but leave my parents and
the Wilsons out of this. They have nothing to do with this
so let them go. I stopped, it was all me.”
She was silent for a while as her eyes shifted to Eric’s
parents and then a second later my parents and aunt.
Instantly my heart sped up thinking of what she could do
to them. “Dr. and Mrs. Wilson may leave… your parents,
are loose ends and all.”
In a blur, Eric’s parents were standing at our sides.
“We’re staying,” Dr. Wilson said. I looked to Mrs. Wilson,
silently pleading. They were getting the chance to leave;
they should take it. Instead all Mrs. Wilson did was send
me a small, sad smile. I knew instantly she was thinking of
Eric, she wouldn’t leave him.
“Very well then,” Katalin sighed, taking a deep breath
and in that moment, she literally shifted in front of my
eyes. She was no longer a teenage girl, she was an elite
killer, hard and emotionless, yet her eyes remained the
same as a human’s. I saw power radiating off her body like
green smoke. I smelled the potency of it, and as it filled my
nose, it created a strong after taste on my tongue.
My hand tightened around Eric’s, squeezing his fingers
with so much force I felt as if at any moment, I would
break his bones. My eyes burned blue, drinking in the
powerful aura that was coming off Katalin.
Without so much as a warning, the shield around
Katalin shot out towards us, launching itself directly at Dr.
and Mrs. Wilson. My body reacted automatically and
before I could consciously tell what I was doing, I was
standing in front of Eric’s parents, waiting for the tiny
hands to hit me. Behind me Dr. Wilson stretched out his
hands towards Katalin and a huge ball of shimmering light
shot out flying towards her.
Just a fraction of a second later something hard pushed
into Mrs. Wilson and I, sending us crashing to the floor. I
looked up at once, horror coating my face as I realized that
Eric was now standing exactly where I’d been just
moments ago. He’d knocked us down and Katalin’s shield
was about to smash into him.
Meanwhile, Dr. Wilson’s ball of power collided into
Katalin’s shield, which had slammed down around her
body, making itself hard, smooth, and solid as if it were a
glass wall with steel properties moments before the ball of
power hit. At contact, the ball blew through the steel wall,
shattering it around Katalin, throwing her back a few steps.
A flash later the ball crashed into her body, sending her
gliding back again. Her body slammed into the doors
immediately and she doubled over, blood leaking out of
her nose.
Katalin’s eyes glazed over in confusion, as if she was
lost in some other world and I knew that this was a side
effect of taking the hit. Even if Dr. Wilson’s ball of power
hadn’t hit her directly or the shield had absorbed most of
the physical blow, it was still strong. The shield, now in
pieces like broken glass began rolling to her, re-joining
itself to form a solid glass bubble that surrounded her. The
moment it was all connected the haze floating around
Katalin vanished and she stood up as if nothing had
happened.
“One shot every ten seconds, right, that’s your
limitations, is it not?” Katalin stated and a ball exactly like
the one Dr. Wilson had thrown, shot out of Katalin’s
shield, heading directly towards us.
We all scattered. Dr. Wilson grabbed his wife’s hand
yanking her to him at the exact moment that Eric grabbed
me, pulling me away from the path of the oncoming ball
of raw power. Literally a moment later, the ball stopped
mid air and vanished.
“If I wanted you and your wife dead you wouldn’t have
had the time to attack,” Katalin stated looking to Dr. and
Mrs. Wilson. My eyes follow ed hers and I saw that they
were trapped in a square cage made of the exact material as
Katalin’s shield. “If I were you, Eric, I’d stay exactly where
I am. Jenifer tell Eric why...” Katalin commented, now
looking at me.
Instantly I turned to Eric and the scene sent me in a
panicked frenzy. My heart kicked off in my chest,
threatening to explode. My pulse raced, beating in my
veins violently. I stumbled backwards, my mouth hanging
open in shock and pure horror. What I saw haunted me.
Surrounding Eric was Katalin’s shield, floating around
every inch of his body like thousands of tiny ice-like crystal
daggers about to pierce his body at any second.
I turned back to Katalin with tears forming in my eyes.
“Please,” I begged her. “Don’t hurt him, he hasn’t done
anything. Eric’s done nothing!” I was suddenly yelling at
her and at the same pleading. “Please don’t hurt him,
Katalin. Please!”
“Okay,” she shrugged carelessly and then disappeared
from in front of me. Frantically I spun around searching
for her. A moment later she reappeared behind my dad.
“Watch carefully, Jenifer,” she ordered her voice blank as
she stared back, showing no emotion. Then without
blinking she pulled out a small sliver knife from
somewhere in her clothes and plunged it into the base of
my dad’s throat.
All I could do was watch. My body froze, beginning to
shut down for the second time in one day. I couldn’t move
or hear anything. My sense of feeling vanished. The only
sense that stayed with me was my sight, but I didn’t want
to see this.
I knew it was the third eye. I wanted to go blind, to
somehow find a way to shut off the third eye, to seal it
away somewhere, never to be found again. For the very
first time since the night that Daren died, I found myself
wanting to exist in complete darkness - in a place where no
light existed and I was completely blind. I wanted to go
back to that dark and lonely place, the very place I’d tried
so hard to get out of.
Katalin yanked the knife out of my dad’s throat and his
body crumpled to the floor. My heart gave an agonizing
echo in my chest. Without so much as a second thought
she stepped over his body, making sure not to walk on his
blood. She walked up to me, stopping a few footsteps
away, offering me the knife. All I saw was the blood
staining it, my dad’s blood. This shocked my body awake
and I stepped back quickly, completely terrified of the
knife. All I could think was that his blood stained the
blade. The words screamed inside my ear like a harsh, vile
thunderstorm; it was my dad’s blood.
She grabbed my hand roughly, pulling me to her
forcefully as she pressed the bloody knife in my hand,
staining the white glove. In a split second, she was holding
my hand up to her neck, pressing the edge of the knife to
the base of her throat.
“Do it,” Katalin commanded, her voice was cold and
hard. “Do what you need to do! You’re the third eye,
Jenifer, so I can’t kill you, but I can kill them. You’ve three
seconds until you and I are the only persons still breathing
in this room! Stop me before I kill them!” Tears ran down
my eyes, I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t kill her; I wasn’t a
killer. My hand was shaking against her neck.
“One,” Katalin stated blankly and the cage trapping Dr.
and Mrs. Wilson literally exploded leaving nothing in its
aftermath. I yanked out of her hold, slowly drifting back as
my fingers tightened around the blade of the knife with so
much force that it was cutting into my palm. My hands
flew up to the sides of my head as my legs turned to ice
and broke under me. I couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe, I
couldn’t do anything.
“Two,” she continued and behind her my aunt and
mom crumpled to the floor.
I squeezed my head tighter between my hands, trying
to get the images out. I scratched and clawed at my eyes,
desperate to go blind and not see anymore. Blood ran
down my cheeks where I was digging at my eyes. I put so
much strength into my hands, crushing my head to the
point where it felt as if my skull was going to give in from
the pressure and burst open. My fingers were clasped so
rigid and tightly that the knife was cutting through my
hand, almost rubbing against bone, yet I felt no physical
pain. All I felt was my heart being crushed - torn and
twisting, ripping apart in my chest.
My feet curled up to me, my legs pressed against my
chest. I felt my head - still crushed between my hands
drop, hiding itself between my knees as my body rocked
back and forth. I could hear my voice crying, constantly
muttering, repeating one word I couldn’t recognize as if I
were a broken CD.
“Eric is next.”
At his name, my mind snapped back into my body and
my head flashed up in terror. In a flash I dashed up to her
just as she was about to open her mouth to begin
counting. “Three,” she muttered just as the bloody knife
left my hand, hurling towards her.
In that instant of a second two things happened exactly
at the same time. A hand shot out in front of Katalin’s
throat and the blade of the knife tore through the palm of
the person’s hand, stopping exactly where the hilt met the
blade. The person - Dean, I realized - moved his hand and
I saw a tiny dribble of blood where the tip of the blade had
nicked Katalin’s throat, even after going through Dean’s
palm. He ripped the knife out of his hand and at the same
time grabbed Katalin’s shoulder, spinning her around to
face him as he slapped her harshly. A split second later, he
yanked her to him, crushing her in a hug.
The next thing that happened was worse. In the instant
that I’d launched the knife from my fingers, I spun
searching for Eric - just in time to see thousands of
dagger-like ice crystals shoot towards him, piercing his
body from every angle possible. A loud aching scream tore
through the air, filling the room. It was only when I found
myself cradling Eric’s head in my lap and the scream died,
I realize it was me. I had screamed.
“Eric!” I yelled, shaking him forcefully. Eric just
remained still and rigid. “Eric wake up! Wake up right
now!” I demanded clutching onto him, shaking him
desperately. “You promised Eric, you promised me you’d
never leave me. Don’t leave me, please Eric please! Stay
with me! You promised you would - you can’t leave me!
“Eric, I love you… please come back. I’ll marry you - I
want to marry you. Please… I love you - come back… I’ll
do anything you want - you can’t leave me - you’re all I
have left… I need you… don’t leave me please… just
come back… I love you so just… just breathe for me…
please…” I begged, yelling at him, pleading with
everything I had left in me.
Then it happened. Eric’s chest went still and along with
it so did everything inside me. Ignoring the blood leaking
out of his body, I let my head fall to his chest listening to
his heart slowing and then after a second, I heard nothing absolutely nothing. The entire room seemed to fill with
screaming silence.
Tears ran down the sides of my face. He was gone. My
breathing stopped - or I didn’t feel as if air was filling my
lungs anymore. Blood stopped travelling through my veins.
My heart stopped beating, or at least it felt like it did. I
could no longer feel it’s presence in my chest. It wasn’t
pounding against my ribcage anymore and I couldn’t hear
it thudding in my ear drums. It was just gone.
I didn’t move from where I was - I stayed completely
still knowing that the cracks and dark holes in my body
had returned, this time with a vengeance. Even through
the cold shell I was in, I could sense the edges of the holes
poking through me throbbing, and vibrating. If I moved
now, even at the slightest twitch I would literally fall apart.
I would die. Even in complete and utter stillness, I felt like
I was dying.
I should have told him I loved him the moment I knew
I did. I should have married him… but I was too late now,
I had lost him. Sometimes we don’t know what we want,
until the moment we’re about to lose it and sometimes the
love you fight against is the very thing that holds you
together…