Synergy (5 page)

“I can’t love somebody that’s not real.”

“What if he was?”

“He’s not. Drop it.”

“You wouldn’t dream about someone if they weren’t important. Your mind wouldn’t just create someone for no reason,” I argued.

“The only dream I’m worried about is the one where I’m fighting myself -
-
and once I figure that one out, if not before, I’m going to figure yours out.”

I couldn’t look her in the eye; instead, I stared down the street. I couldn’t figure out how to tell her. Every time I tried to at least show her that that boy was real, some kind of block came up in my mind. At first I thought it was just because I’d gotten so used to hiding it, but now, as I tried to force myself to tell her, I couldn’t. Something was stopping me, and I had no idea what it was; I just hoped it was the right instinct to follow.

“Well, your dream of fighting yourself or girls that look like you -
-
along with this tattoo -
-
is Draven’s excuse for keeping us out. He thinks someone’s trying to trap us. For all you know, all our dreams will collide...are you ready for that?” I asked as my eyes met hers.

She stared at me for what seemed like an eternity. “I’m ready for whatever’s coming at me.”

At that moment, a huge black crow landed between us. My heart began to race as my stomach tied itself in knots. The massive bird took flight again, squawking as loud as it could.  We both watched its path, and in the distance there were hundreds of them circling and screaming.

Madison began to run toward them before I could utter a word.

Chapter Three

For someone who didn’t run every day,
Madison was fast. She was half a
block in front of me before I even thought to chase her.

“Madison!” I yelled as I sprinted toward her. “Stop!”

She just kept running. She was running so fast, I had to push myself to catch up to her.

“Stop! Monroe showed me this – this is bad! STOP!”

As the crows fell silent, Madison’s sprint turned into a jog. “Crows aren’t bad,” she said, catching her breath. “They’re connected to spiritual people. That crow was trying to tell us something.”

“Yeah, like stay away,” I said, gasping for breath.

“I don’t think so,” she said under her breath as she nodded forward.

We’d reached the old graveyard, the one in which I’d first talked to Silas. All of the crows were resting across the gothic
tombstones
. It was eerily silent.

As Madison pushed the rod iron gate open, the metal screamed out in protest and I swear the sky grew darker at that instant.

“Madison,” I said in a weak voice.

She didn’t stop, and I ha
d no choice but to follow her.
The moment I stepped into the graveyard, I felt heavy, like gravity itself was telling me not
to take another step forward.
One of the crows resting on a Celtic cross belted out a scream that caused Madison to finally halt. At that moment, a man stepped out from behind a stone. He was dressed in a black suit, and hi
s jet black hair was combed out of
his face revealing the darkest eyes I’d ever seen. He was so beautiful that I doubted he could be real. He smiled slightly, and I found myself paralyzed. I felt others and looked warily around me. More, all men, all dressed in black with flawless features, had stepped out from behind the
tombstones
. We were completely surrounded.

“Who are you?” Madison said firmly, trying to hide her fear. I knew if I could sense that emotion from her, they most
definitely
could.

The smile on the man before us grew wide. “We are here to serve you...we bow to you,” he said as he leaned forward slowly.

When he bowed, behind him I saw my escape: I saw Silas. His eyes were glowing so brightly that he didn’t look human. Anger was encased in his stone cold expression. Silas reached forward, and his hand didn’t stop when it reached the man’s body
-
- it went through him. I gasped, expecting blood and gore, but when Silas pulled his hand out, dark ash came out and raced to the sky. The body then fell to the ground, and the stench of sulfur filled the air.

The other men charged Silas all at once. There were five of them against him, and he was alone. I screamed his name as I ran toward him, but Madison grabbed my arm and pulled me behind a
tombstone
. 

“He’s winning,” she whispered as she pointed to the sky. Black smoke was encasing the graveyard, and the crows began to circle and squawk again. I couldn’t just sit there and let Silas fight them alone, though, so I pulled free from her and ran toward him.

He was only fighting one man then, and as the dark man fell to the ground, the black ash rushed out of his body. I saw terror in Silas’ eyes,
and I couldn’t understand why.
Then I
looked at the ground and saw five bodies...where was the other one? I could have sworn that five of them attacked him after he killed the first one. As I opened my mouth to question him, I felt ice, cold ice seeping through my back, through my entire body. Then I felt as if I were as light as a feather. My eyes glazed over, and I could swear that I saw my own image turning into what looked like shards of diamonds; my very being was breaking apart, vanishing into thin air. I was nothing, and I was everything. I was no longer bound to a body. I had become the air, the sun, the moon
-
- all that existed. I felt as if reality was nothing but a harsh dream that I was waking from, that my home, my true existence was opening before me and that nothing mattered anymore. There was no right, no wrong. Emotions seemed foolish because I’d risen above them. Forgiveness and love were pulling, pulling me higher and higher.

Silas vanished before my eyes, and I heard Madison scream my name as I fell to the hard, cold ground. The peaceful release that I’d found was stolen from me as my body pulled me back to it. All of the emotions I’d conquered were mine ag
ain, and fear was ruling them.
Madison was at my side instantly. As she pulled my head up, I saw that Silas had appeared behind me and the man that was trying to kill me. Silas reached into his body. He didn’t pull out the darkness as swiftly as he’d done with the others; instead, his glowing eyes filled with rage as they locked with this dark soul. The man’s face crumbled in agony as Silas slowly began to pull out the darkness that he was. The man then fell to the ground, and at that moment, with a simple glance from Silas’ glowing eyes, the remains of the men erupted into flames before vanishing from sight.

Though they were gone, I w
asn’t saved; I was in agony. M
y soul craved the peace that it had witnessed. I began to fade again, though this time it wasn’t graceful. My body and soul were at war. I didn’t know if it was some kind of wicked illusion or not, but I could see my essence vanishing into thin air. I was freezing and growing weaker with each second that passed.

Silas appeared at my side and knelt down next to me. Madison glared at him, not knowing him well enough to trust him. Silas’ hands gently cradled my face, and with his touch I felt warmth, the peace that my soul was craving. As his hands moved down my shoulders along the sides of my body, I felt myself getting stronger, but I couldn’t gain control over my thoughts, over my body. I couldn’t convince my soul to stay, to understand that I wasn’t done with this life. All at once, I heard screams and saw ash falling all around me. It felt like knives were in my lungs, in my throat. I was suffocating, and I didn’t know why. I was dying, just like I did every night in my dreams.

Flashes of light came to my eyes, and memories that I knew didn’t belong to this life came to me. I saw the battles that Silas had just fought come to life over and over, different places and different men. I saw myself pulling ash from men twice my size. I felt the victory in my soul. I watched as my body was pierced with every weapon imaginable; in my memories I felt no pain, I saw no damage -
-
but now, right here in the center of this ancient graveyard, I felt the pain, I saw the blood. It was as if I were dying a thousand deaths at once.

Seeing the terror in my eyes, Silas began to whisper what sounded
like a prayer in another language
. He then lifted me up and let his lips rest on mine; he wasn’t kissing me, he was pushing light, warmth
-
- life through me. I felt every part of him seep into my soul. The pain left, but the memories remained.

I heard a name; it was whispered, it was yelled, it was spoken over and over by Silas: Julia.

“Julia,” I said against his lips as I took ownership of my life, of his peace once again.

He pulled away from me and looked over every part of me slowly as if to ensure that I was healed from whatever that man had done to me.

“You’re glowing,” Madison said in an uneasy tone.

I looked down at my skin to see the glow that she was talking about fade into my body.

“Go home,” Silas said firmly as he pulled me to my feet.

My eyes grew wide. “Are you insane? You don’t show yourself for weeks, then you appear, kill people, save my life
-
- and all you have to say is ‘Go home’?!”

“What do you want me to say?” he said as he gripped my arm and began to lead me out of the graveyard.

Madison walked swiftly at our side, unsure of whose side to take.

I didn’t try to stop him. I knew he’d make sure I got home, and that would give me plenty of time to get the answers I wanted out of him.

“Um...I don’t know...‘Hey, it’s good to see you. How have you been? By the way, I just killed six men to save your life. Go home, have some tea, read a book.’  That would make
more sense than just ‘Go home.’
”

“
Fine. It’s good to see you, Charlie. People are trying to kill you. Go home.”

“Why today? What happened? Who flipped the switch? You know Monroe had a nightmare about her dad last night? She showed me the crows.”

“She showed you the crows
-
- and you ran right to them?” he asked, shaking his head, refusing to look down at me.

I glanced at my side at Madison to see a guilty expression washing over her face.

“Crows aren’t bad,” I mumbled.

“If Monroe shows you something, you might want to listen,” Silas said shortly.

“Yeah, well,
she can be confusing at times.
She does
n’t like to take sides,” I argued
pulling my arm from him. I kept his quick pace, though; he was talking, and I knew if I kept walking I’d have his attention.

“She isn’t confusing. She sees life through symbols, and she has no way to explain anything to you; all she can do is show you.”

“Who is her dad? He told her to come to him. I have to stop that.”

“Is that your new battle cry now? What happened? Did you get bored hunting?”

“No. That hunt will last until it’s over,” I countered.

“Yeah. Why don’t you teach us to do that black
smoke-pulling
thing? That would help,” Madison said in a tone that reflected pure awe for Silas.

He looked down at her and tried to hold in the grin that his anger was capturing. “You’re too alive for me to teach you that.”

“And what are you?” Madison asked curiously.

“Not alive,” Silas said under his breath.

Madison raised her eyebrows as our eyes met. I swallowed hard, then looked up at Silas. “Who is he? Tell me who the biggest threat is. Should I be looking for him or Bianca?”

“I’ve already told you who the biggest threat is.”

I glared up at him. “We aren’t talking about Draven.
Bianca is hurting someone else. D
id you know that? She has two men, and one is very powerful.”

“They’re both powerful,” Silas said shortly.

“So she’s the threat?”

“No.”

“Silas, drop the
jealously act. I’m doing the best I can here. I have a fifteen-year-old girl in my care who’s terrified, a boyfriend who’s
horrified
of who he is, and the demon that caused this has two more people – people that were supposed to help me get out of here.”

Madison looked quickly at me with confusion and betrayal in her eyes.

“That’s a lot of problems, Charlie. I only have one: keeping you alive,” Silas said, clenching his jaw.

“Well, if that’s your problem, then so is everything else because I’m not going to hide from this.”

We’d reached Wesley’s house. My car.
I was trying desperately to think of a way to make him stay with me, talk to me. I knew he knew something, something that could help us.

“Listen,” he said as he opened the driver side door and pushed me in. “You don’t have to look for anything,” he said, slamming the door.

I tried to open it, but he was holding it closed.
So, I turned the key and slid
down the window as Madison climbed in the passenger seat.