I stood up and walked over to him. “I know.” I grabbed the hair on the back of his head, pulling him towards me, and kissed him. “We were just getting started.”
“Seems like we’ve always been together.”
“I’ll love you forever.”
As we snuggled close on the bed later, I asked Daxton, “Why do you love me?”
He looked puzzled at my question. “Why do I love you?”
“Yeah. Why?”
He grinned. “That’s easy. You’re smart, kind, loving, and you have a great sense of humor. I love how sarcastic you are.” I giggled, melting a little inside. “But, most of all, I love how loyal you are. You’d do anything for the ones you love.” He brushed his lips against mine, gently kissing me. “Why do you ask?”
“Just wanted to know.”
* * *
Miraculously, it took two days until the demons showed up again. When I saw them, my heart sunk. This was it. My time was up. My number had been called. I thought about not telling anyone and just going off with the demons. I shook off that idea. I knew I had to say goodbye.
But how? How do I say goodbye to the best group of friends anyone could ever have? How do I look Mira in the eyes and convince her that it’ll be okay when I don’t believe it myself? How do I say goodbye to the guy I’ve fallen in love with? Hot tears burned my eyes as I watched the cat-hound demon sniff the ground. He knew I was here. He was just waiting for his buddies.
Noe stood next to me. “I can’t see everything, Kassia. It’s not clear to me what will happen. I guess that’s good…” her voice trailed off. “You’re making a huge sacrifice. I wish I could have helped more. I’ll miss you,” she whispered.
I hugged her. “Thank you for being my friend.”
“Always,” she said and kissed my cheek.
Auralee walked up to me next. “I know you’ve been hurting inside. I know how badly you are struggling with this. I also know how sure you are. This sucks.”
“Yeah, it does,” I agreed.
“You’re the best,” she said, hugging me.
Zane approached me next. “They’re here, huh?”
“Yup.” I turned back to the window. “Two of them now.”
“I’m sorry, Kassia. I wish we could have found another way.”
I scoffed. “Me too.”
“I hope it’s not painful.”
I reached over and hugged him. “Thank you for your help. You’re a good guy.” He smiled and nodded before walking away with both his hands shoved in his pockets.
Mira and Daxton just stared at me. I smiled and shrugged. Finally Daxton got up and walked over to me. “I am so sorry that I can’t protect you.”
“It’s okay. Sometimes the girl has to be the hero.”
He smiled that crooked smile of his that warmed my heart. “I just wish it didn’t have to be my girl.”
“Mmmm.” That would have been preferable.
“I love you,” he said. “I will always love you.”
A tear escaped and streamed down my face. “I love you, too.”
He cupped my face with his hands and leaned in real close like he did with our first kiss. Slowly and gently, our lips touched and we kissed. We ended with our foreheads together and eyes closed. I brought my lips to his one last time not wanting this to end. For a second, I felt safe. “Can you remember the places we’ve been?” he asked.
“Yes,” I answered.
“What was your favorite?”
“The white sand beach.”
“When it’s time,” his voice shook, “you go there in your mind. You’ll always be safe there.”
More tears fell down my face. “I will. Maybe someday you’ll meet me there.”
“I will. I promise.” Quickly, he turned and walked away.
The only goodbye left was Mira. How do you say goodbye to your soul mate? She had been my best friend forever. Glancing out the window, I saw a handful of demons; I knew time was running out. “Mira…” I beckoned to her.
She shook her head, flat out refusing. “No.”
I sighed and walked to where she was sitting on the bed. I sat on the floor and put my head in her lap like I had done so many times over the years. She couldn’t resist stroking my hair like she always did. Her tears fell on my face and mixed with my own tears, but I didn’t mind. I finally had the courage to speak, “You have been my best friend for years. You’ve protected me, cared for me, and loved me. Now, you have to let me do the same for you. I want you to live a long life, okay? I want you to live for me. Can you promise me that?”
She didn’t answer right away. “I’ll try.”
I lifted my head up and looked at her. “Try hard.”
She shrugged. “I don’t know what I’ll do without you.”
“You have them.” I nodded to the rest of our friends who were staring out the window.
“They aren’t you.”
“I know. I’m the most awesome.” I giggled.
She let a little smile get through her tears. “You are.”
“We were awesome together. Now, you need to be awesome on your own.”
“I don’t want to be.”
“I know.”
“How are you being so strong?” she asked.
“Oh Mira…” I shook my head and my lip quivered. “I’m not. I’m trying to hold it together…”
I pulled her to me and hugged her hard. My arms never wanted to let go. I let myself cry — sob — but only for a minute. “I love you,” Mira whispered.
“I love you too, Mira.”
Zane’s voice was barely above a whisper, “There are a lot of them now. They’re approaching the hotel.”
“It’s time then.” I took some deep breaths, trying to steady my body.
Noe spoke next, “We all must go out there and fight so they don’t think something’s fishy.”
“Kassia, do you have your dagger?”
I double-checked it. “Yes, nice and hidden.”
Together for the last time, all six of us headed outside to face the evil demons. Filled with adrenaline, I started to run ahead. Daxton ran after me and caught my arm, spinning me back to him and pressed his lips to mine. Salt from our tears mixed into the kiss, making it more passionate. I melted a little right then, knowing this was the last time I’d be with him…knowing I was going to my death.
It took everything in me to push him away. I couldn’t even look at him. Turning and facing the demons, I could feel a numbness in the pit of my stomach. The air hung heavy with the smell of sulfur. I used my power to drop some of them to the ground. The cat-hounds screeched, sending tremors through my body.
When the giant demons appeared, I knew it was time to let them capture me. I released the last bit of power I had and looked back at my friends once more. This was for them, I told myself again. Auralee looked up, tears streaming down her face now. Watch out for them, Auralee. She nodded. Yourself too. She nodded again.
I pretended to be concentrating on the bigger demons, as they got closer. One of the grotesque beasts with horns charged at me, stopping only inches from my face. His almond shaped eyes were wide open and the red light poured out of them, making me dizzy. He smelled foul, like rotten food, and my stomach churned. I was paralyzed with fear. My heart pounded, and I felt like I couldn’t breathe.
An extra arm came out from the demon, and he grabbed at me with his slimy hand. I jumped back a few times out of habit and fear. One of the smaller demons had already grabbed a hold of my leg, sending shooting pain up it. This was insane. I couldn’t believe I was letting this happen. Could I change my mind? Before I could think about it any further, the big demon grabbed my body. A bone chilling cold spread throughout my body. I let out a scream.
The demons seemed to get excited by my capture, acting all frenzied and letting out short high-pitched shrieks. My body was shaking and tears were running down my face. I didn’t want to be captured. I didn’t want to die. Pushing those thoughts out o
f my head, I reminded myself who I was protecting.
As the big demon started to retreat, all the smaller ones followed his lead. I heard Mira scream my name. I watched Zane hold Daxton back, and the girls clung on to Mira, keeping her from coming after me. “Zane!” I yelled. He met my eyes. “You remember your promise!” He nodded and I knew he would.
That was the last thing I remembered before everything went black.
Chapter Twelve
When I regained consciousness, I was lying on my side. There was something over my eyes and in my mouth. I also seemed to be tied up. I couldn’t move, scream, or see. Fear gripped my body. They had me now, and if I didn’t stick to the plan, they would try to use me.
Worried about my friends, I thought back to the last thing I remembered. When the bigger demons had shown up, I had let myself be captured. I remembered seeing everyone else before they dragged me away. None of them looked badly hurt. They should be okay, physically anyway. That was a relief. And now that I was here, they’d be safe.
Although I wasn’t sure where here was. I was lying on what felt like a hard, cold floor. Being blindfolded, I couldn’t tell for sure. It felt like both my hands and feet were tied up. The rag in my mouth tasted of rotten food, which matched the smell creeping into my nose. I had to focus on my stomach every once in a while to keep from vomiting. I could hear noises far away, but I couldn’t tell what they were.
I tried struggling to see if I could get free, although I was unsuccessful. I was also unable to get the gag out of my mouth. I finally gave up and laid quietly thinking of Daxton and our time on the beach. Thinking of him kissing me passed the time. I wished I was a dreamer like him, so when I was in this kind of situation I could escape it in my mind.
I began wondering if I’d know if I was being brainwashed. I had to die before that happened, but what if I couldn’t tell? What if they turned me into a demon weapon and I didn’t know it? What if I already was? I prayed that wouldn’t happen, but if it did, I knew Zane would follow through.
Voices came closer. I stiffened up, but tried to control my body from shaking. “Kern wants to see her now.” I felt something yank me up and I flinched. “She’s awake,” the same voice said.
“Such a pretty girl,” another voice chimed in. I could feel the bile rise in my throat. “Maybe we’ll all get a piece of her when she’s on our side.” They cackled. I couldn’t stop from vomiting that time. As soon as I did, I started choking on it because the gag was still shoved in my mouth. It burned as it came out my nose.
“Oh, that’s nasty!” The gag was yanked out of my mouth. I coughed and spewed all over for a few minutes. With my hands tied, I couldn’t even wipe my mouth. I felt gross.
After grabbing me and carrying me up some stairs, they dropped me on the floor. “Here she is, Master.” The horrible, rotten stench intensified. I imagined this is what hell smelled like. I could feel the evil around me and had to bite my lip to keep from screaming.
A darker, deeper voice responded, “Thank you.” I felt someone staring at me. Don’t show your fear, Kassia, I told myself. “Hard to believe a sweet looking thing like that kills in seconds. I think I should like a demonstration,” he said. “Yes, yes, I would. Boys, when I am safely behind that door, take her blindfold off and untie her.”
“Yes, Master.”
A minute or two passed before I felt someone or something untie me, pull me up, and take off the blindfold. Although it was a fairly dark room, it took my eyes a while to adjust. The room was cold, damp, and empty except for a few chairs. There were some dark red stains on the wood floor. Blood maybe?
I realized the two idiots that had brought me up here were gone, but the hair on my arms was still standing up. There was something here — something evil. I looked around for the threat, finally finding it up against the back wall. At first, I could only see its narrow, red eyes. As it moved forward, it made animal noises, and I could see it looked kind of like a bull. A demon bull. Goose bumps exploded all over my body.
I could tell it wanted to charge, but it was waiting for the right moment to attack. Should I take this bull down? Or let it eat me? Something in me told me to take it down so Kern knew for sure he had the right girl.
I faced the bull head on and stared at him, wishing that he would be in pain, wishing that he would die. At first, nothing happened to the bull — he was strong. I kept my focus and brought my powers up. Again, I stared at the bull. He staggered a little this time, but he recovered and charged at me. C’mon! I focused harder. Before he got more than five steps, he collapsed on the ground. And then his black, shadow like body melted into the floor and disappeared.
I heard a door open in back of me, and I spun around ready to kill something else. “I would love to meet you face to face, but you mustn’t try to hurt me or I’ll be forced to punish you.” I wondered what kind of punishment he’d be dishing out for that. “Can you restrain yourself?”
I rocked back on my heels and let the power dissipate.
“Good. I had heard you couldn’t control your power well. However, it seems you’ve come a long way in a few weeks.”
I stood there silently, waiting.
“Kassia, my name is Kern, and I’m going to be your Master.”
Like hell you will, I thought.
He stepped out of the shadows now, and I could see him. He towered over me. His hair was pure white. His cold, hardened eyes were pitch black.
Two things took me by surprise — his age and his beauty. For master of the demons, he wasn’t ugly or deformed at all. He was actually quite handsome. His skin was flawless and almost glowed. His smile was perfect and his teeth were straight and white. And he was young! He had to be close to my age. He was nothing like I had imagined and yet he was everything I had imagined.
He was full of evil; you could feel it pouring off of him. I bit down harder to keep myself in check. Breathe. Just breathe. He wore a cloak of some sort. Something I would picture a bad guy in a movie wearing. He held something resembling a remote in his hands.
“Think of yourself as a wild beast, and I’m the one who’s going to tame you.” The corners of his mouth curled up into a wicked smile. That terrified feeling built up again, and I felt like I was either going to faint or puke. Breathe. He walked around me in a circle, checking me out. “You have no idea the strength of your power. Together, we can control the world. Now, of course, we can go about this two ways.”
Great. I get a choice.
“The harder of the two is of course if you resist. I will be forced to break you and reprogram your brain to accept me as your Master and then you will do whatever I say. The easier choice is for you just to give in to me and become my bride.”
That made me choke. “Your what?” I finally managed to say.
“My bride. Like I said, we can rule the world, you and I.”
I was speechless…for a minute. “I will never willingly be your bride.”
“That’s a disappointment. I was so hoping you’d understand this was best for you.” He frowned. “You may want to rethink it. If you’re willing to do this, you won’t lose your mind, your memories.”
I didn’t even ponder that for half a second. No way! I kept quiet longer trying to read him better. He wanted me to control the world with him. If I wasn’t going to do this, he was going to force me to by erasing my mind. “You want to control the world?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Why not? I want to rule, I want to choose who lives or dies. I want to be a god,” he confessed.
“Why bother? Most of the humans don’t even know everything that exists around them.”
“I want to rule them as well.”
“Still not getting it.”
He frowned again. “Power Sweetheart.” I shuddered when he called me that. “Think about when your power fills you and you must kill. Don’t you love that feeling? Your body full of power! That’s what I want all the time.”
&n
bsp; Hmmm. Interesting.
“And with me, you think we can control the world?”
“Yes. First, I will tear down the glamour shield from this world. That way the humans will be able to see everything that’s coming. Next, I will unleash the small demons, then bigger ones, and whoever is left will have to face the biggest ones of all. The survivors of all that, if any, will have to bow to me. They will work for me.” His face lit up as he talked about his plans.
“What happens when we get killed?”
He laughed. “We won’t be able to be killed.”
“Really?”
“First off, I won’t be going out there to do fighting. That will be up to you and the demons. After some training, you will be able to kill thousands within seconds. Anyone who doesn’t bow, dead just like that.” He snapped his fingers. I gulped. “Second, I’m not easily killed.”
“Why do you need me for this?”
“I don’t necessarily need you…I want you. Ever since I was a child, I have heard about you. I have wanted you. I even dreamt about you. As I grew up, the only thing I ever wanted was to have you by my side. But, they told me I couldn’t have you because you were special. They used to say you’d save the world. At least until you killed humans.” He laughed.
“Somehow I knew you weren’t so pure. I could do this all on my own, but I don’t want to. It will be easier with you. People will trust you because you are so beautiful and then you’ll kill them without a second thought. Not just one or two, but thousands at a time! Besides, I want you. And now I have you. So, one way or the other, you will do what I say.”
“What if I kill you right now?” I asked, wondering if I could kill him and escape this awful place without having to kill myself.
He laughed again. “The second you tried, demons would be all over you, and you would be tortured and brainwashed immediately. It wouldn’t be pleasant. Besides, I’m protected.”
The only way this would end is if I was dead, and the only way to convince him I was dead was to die in front of him. It was time. It had to happen now. I wasn’t going to be a part of this. I wasn’t going to willingly go along with it. No way was I going to let myself be brainwashed either.
I tried to calm myself down. This was the plan. Freaking out now might give what I was going to do away, and I couldn’t have that. He might try to stop me. I could still feel the dagger around my upper leg. Vala had been right. The demons were too stupid to check me for weapons.