Dancing With Monsters (6 page)

“
That was no muffin recipe
you gave to Yolanda, it was something else. And where is this
sanctuary at that we’ll be going in a week? You know I’m no stray
cat you picked up, and can take wherever you want to go without
telling me.”

“
You’re right,” he said,
folding his hands together. “There are many things that you should
know, because there are many things the darkness holds.” He
motioned for me to sit beside him.

“
The man in the woods, the
one I had to eliminate,” he looked at me with his gentle brown eyes
that looked like they didn’t have an ounce of killer in him. “He
consumed one of my muffins.”

“
So you had to kill
him?”

“
I did because he was
human, and he would turn into something that should have never been
created. Death was the humane thing to do.”

“
What exactly would he
turn into?” I asked.

“
A killing machine that
demons would use to take over as many realms as they could,” Ben
said, and took his plate over to the sink. “Demons have been trying
for a long time to create an army that would do battle for them.
They are confined to the shadows and that limits them. They tried
to use humans by inflicting them with their poison—biting as an
example,” he motioned towards me. “But that doesn’t always work.
Then, one day, a genius,” he shook his head, “came up with a serum
that could turn humans into the army demons have been trying to
create for centuries.” Ben turned to me with a mixture of
bitterness and regret swirling in his eyes.

“
Your muffin recipe,” I
said, putting everything together.

“
My muffin recipe was
never designed for that purpose. It was supposed to enhance
only
monsters abilities,
not transform humans into hybrid monsters. It was never intended
for them. To make a long story short, I needed ingredients not of
this or any world. I needed things that only grow in the shadows of
demons. I made a deal, and knowing they were conniving creatures, I
had to give them compensation. They demanded a sample of my serum.
I gave them a different version of my serum that I thought would do
nothing for them, but I found out differently.”

Ben began to do the dishes.

“
That’s why you can’t stay
here, and by giving Yolanda the recipe, she is giving you
protection.”

Ben looked at me from over his
shoulder. “She is giving us protection. You are involved as much as
me now.”

A rush of anger filled me. “So you
dragged me into this as well? Why?!” I stood beside him and glared
as he casually finished the dishes.

“
You were involved in this
long before I found you.” Ben’s voice was calm compared to mine.
“You know that.”

“
What did you do, see me
and think I would make a nice traveling buddy?” Ben turned to meet
my eyes that could have burned holes through him. “I have enough
troubles of my own, and I could’ve found some other way to
escape.”

“
No, you would only find
demons that will follow you until they are satisfied. By me finding
you and taking you with me, is your escape.”

I let out a sigh and ran my fingers
through my hair. I began to pace the floor and then walked over to
the window. Ben leaned against the sink with arms folded across his
chest, and watched me.

“
I know you’re right,” I
said meekly. “The darkness is always there and getting closer.” I
gazed out the window admiring his view of the Mississippi River
framed in the array of trees changing into the colors of autumn. “I
haven’t felt it looming behind me since I met you.”

“
I can help you, April
Snow, you just have to let me.” Ben stood behind me.

I felt the heat from his body seep
into mine. My body tensed as I had never felt that way before. It
was as if someone had turned on a light inside of me, and I was
viewing things for the first time. The connection I had with Ben
was going beyond just coming from the same race. It was changing
into something I had never felt before.

I turned to face him, and he was
inches away from me. My eyes searched his like a frightened animal.
Was he going to hurt me, suck life from my body, or kiss me? A
shock wave rumbled through my body. I had never been with a boy,
much less a man before. I was sixteen, and never thought about
guys—only how to escape the institutions I was imprisoned in and
the darkness that always loomed around me. I never had time to
think about boyfriends or what a normal teens’ life was. This was
new, exciting, and….something I wasn’t ready for.

I pushed myself away and plopped down
on the couch. Ben cleared his throat and went into the
kitchen.

“
I will go and get you
some warmer clothes today and some proper shoes. You’ll be safe
here.”

Ben left and I locked the door behind
him. I leaned against the door for a moment. Yesterday I was living
at an institution, and today I’m staying at a guy’s house who
claims to be a monster, can move at the speed of light, and suck
the life out of humans. But Ben also knew about my tattoo or
hexmark as he called it, and with a swipe of some kind of oil, my
cuts and bruises on my bare feet had disappeared. If I wasn’t crazy
before, I would be soon.

I decided to get a shower while Ben
was gone. The warm water was welcoming, and I felt human again, or
should I say monster. I gazed at myself in the mirror. I stilled
looked like me with long brown hair and dark eyes. I looked human,
but always felt something inside of me was different. I would have
never guessed it would be called monster, but something about the
word fit.

I put back on my clothes and decided
to wait for Ben on the couch. It was nice to be in a home-like
setting instead of the sterile surroundings of Sunrise Acres. I
wrapped a blanket around me and clicked on the television. I
flipped channels for a while and found a travel show on the
Bahamas. I wondered where this “sanctuary” was at, and if it was
anything like the show I was watching. I turned off the T.V., and
sat there staring into the blank screen.

“
Am I gullible of stupid?”
I asked myself.

Ben hasn’t done anything to hurt me,
and has been nothing but nice, but what was I doing letting him
take me to some place I didn’t know where it was at. Yes, his house
was a lot nicer than outdoors, but what would the future hold for
me? I had to think long-term, not just in-the-moment. My gut told
me to trust, and since I’ve been with him, I never felt so secure
in my life. My head and commonsense told me different.

I rolled up my sleeve to expose my
hexmark when a sudden chill curled around me.

I got up and turned towards the front
door expecting to see Ben returning, but no one was there. The
sunlight blasting through the windows ceased, as the familiar
darkness filled the room. Shadows deepened, the air crystalized
with floating ice particles, and the wood floors creaked from
invisible feet.

I tightened the blanket I had around
me, and wished the thing away, but I knew it would never leave. It
wanted me, and it would always find me.

With my breath fogging in front of me,
I scanned the room with my darting eyes. The darkness was here, and
it was stronger than ever, but…so was I. My skin began to tingle
around my hexmark. I pulled my arm out, and could see it pulsating
with a river of light.

Suddenly the pots and pans that hung
like ornaments over the island in the kitchen, clanked together as
if someone had ran their hand through them. A couple fell to the
floor, and then hurled through the air as if the invisible feet had
kicked them.

The air began to hum with whispers as
the ice particles that hung motionless, swirled with movement. Was
there more than one demon here?

I had to get out of here, and turned
towards the door when I ran into something solid. They wrapped
their arms around me and grabbed my wrist exposing the hexmark that
looked like it had been electrified.

“
You can fight them,”
Ben’s voice whispered in my ear.

The ice crystals churned faster
through the air as if someone had put them into a
blender.

With Ben’s hand holding my arm in the
air, I stared into the blizzard of crystals. My hexmark burned with
electricity. I felt alive, strong, and for the first time, brave. I
had something to fight back with, and I was going to use it to its
full potential.

Ben’s strength joined mine, and
together the ice crystals began to swirl together forming a sphere
of crystals. The taunting whispers turned into a hurtful
moan.

I stepped away from Ben, and stood
closer to the sphere.

“
You can’t get me, and you
never will!” I yelled into it just as a face, lion-like, formed in
front of me.

I pushed closer with my arm extended
as the lion-face opened its mouth in a silent roar, and with a loud
pop, disappeared as if it was never there.

Silence filled the room. I stood
motionless hardly believing what had just happened.

“
Next time don’t step away
from me. They could have taken you.” Ben twirled me around so I
could see his angry eyes glaring at me with concern.

“
Yeah, but they didn’t,” I
said, with amazement. “I fought them off and won.”

“
They will never be done
fighting, April.” Ben warned. “They will keep coming back until you
kill the one that bit you. That is the only way you’ll actually
win.”

I looked at him with steady eyes.
“Then that’s what I’ll have to do—kill it.”

Seth

“
You are with me
now…finally with me,” Ezra said, running her hand over the side of
my cheek. “Stay with me.” She gazed at me with her desperate
eyes.

“
I want that more than
anything. I miss seeing you every day and I find myself searching
for you when I wake up in the morning.” I held her shoulders
tightly making sure she was really in front of me.

“
Then say it, say you want
to be with me.” She pulled herself closer to me. “It’s awful here
without you, and we deserve a future together.”

We did deserve a future
together, but that’s not how things worked out. In fact, this isn’t
how things are supposed to be. The
it
was pulling at me
again.

I pushed myself away from
Ezra.

“
Seth…” she said, in a
hurtful voice.

“
It can’t be this way,” I
whispered forcing the words from my lips.

“
We don’t have many
chances at being together. My time in the Shadowlands is running
out…” Her skin suddenly paled and fine cracks erupted on her cheek.
“Please Seth, come with me.” She reached for me as it took all my
might to step away from her.

“
I love you, Ezra, but you
are suffering here…leave the Shadowlands and follow the path to the
Mists. I don’t want you to suffer waiting for me.”

Ezra stood motionless, and stared at
me with eyes filled with hurt. I couldn’t come with her, and it
pained me to let her go.

“
Ezra…” I said her name
softly.

Suddenly her image shattered as if
made of glass, and before me with wild, round eyes was Nessa. The
roar of loud screams and yelling exploded around me. Ezra was gone
and Nessa now stood in her place.

“
Come on!” She demanded.
“Malachi found the opening, hurry!”

She grabbed my wrist and we ran
through the swirling fog until we found Malachi standing in front
of a large, jagged mirror. It wasn’t very big, and looked like it
had been cut away from a much larger portal.

“
They won’t hold for
long,” Malachi said as screams from the glass people echoed in the
distance.

“
Her scent is strong, the
angel passed here not too long ago,” I said, running my hands over
the portal.

It swirled like liquid silver, and I
stepped through it grabbing hold of Nessa’s hand. “Take Malachi’s
hand and don’t let go.”

The portal was a thin one, and in the
matter of only a few steps, we stood surrounded in peaceful
darkness. The portal had disappeared as if it was never there. The
wind was cool and I could hear it rustle through the leaves on the
trees that framed the star-filled sky. Tall grass swayed in the
breeze that surrounded us. We were in the openness of a
field.

“
Is this earth? Do you
think we are here?” Nessa asked.

“
This is earth. If angels
have important business to deal with, they always conduct it on
earth.” I replied. “It’s their home away from home.” I tried to
reassure Nessa.

“
Do you smell the angel?”
Malachi asked.

“
Her scent ended in the
portal. She must have extinguished it when she got here.” I turned
towards Malachi’s shadowy silhouette. “But we won’t find anything
if we don’t move.”

Nessa and Malachi huddled together
like two frightened rabbits.

“
Yeah, but what way do we
go?” Nessa asked stepping away from Malachi.

I pulled from my inside coat pocket a
piece of paper and unfolded it.