Dark Seraphine (The Seraphine Trilogy) (29 page)

“
I need her name. You are the only one
in this wretched world who
knows it. Give it to me
,”
she ordered.

I inhaled deeply
,
and said
,
“
Go to hell.
But wait
.
You
already live there, right?
”

Sighing
,
she shook her head and glanced
at me with something that resembled pity
.
“
So
very much
like your father
,
you are—s
tubborn and stupid.
”

“
You knew him?
”
I tried to hide my desperation.

“
What
’
s this? You expect to hear my secrets
,
when you give me nothing in return but arrogance?
”
She moved her face to within inches of mine. Ink-filled eyes
,
the essence of a nightmare
,
bore into me. Her strange seawater and metallic
smell
drifted into my nostrils
. It was the same unpleasant odor as Paige
’
s.

“
Glance at your little Gia. Remember everything about her. I do envy your love.
I understand being close to someone that way
, because m
y sister brought
goodness
out of me. But su
ch a thing is not meant to last. I should know.” The expression on her face hardened, and her chest started to heave. And then she turned her deathly dark
gaze back on me
. “I
will rip your soul apart
,
Caleb Wood, t
he same way your beloved
did to me
.
My pleasure will come from watching you die a tiny bit more each day. Until then
,
my pets will show you
,
well
,
a different kind of affection.
”

She glanced at the creepy crabs with the
funky
feet
,
lifted one of them
,
and then walked over to Gia
. She was still standing there with that blank expression on her face.
“
Come
,
Princess
. We have
some
work to do
,”
the demon said
,
smiling at me the entire time she spoke.

“
Gia
,
wake up! Snap the freak out of it!
”
I yelled.

She turned and walked away
,
leaving me to be ripped apart by demon crabs.

Unbelievable pain coursed through my hand
s
. Afraid to glance down
,
I tucked my lips and concentrated on controlling the pain
.
I mean, this was a dream, right? I was the one in control.
I was pretty sure I just lost a finger or two. Nightmare or not
,
I didn
’
t want to see
my body getting
torn apart
.
The pain in my hand was nothing like the sting in my heart as I watched Gia walk away from me
,
caught in the demon
’
s grip.

A blood-curdling yell sounded through the
woods.
The music continued.
The scream was getting closer, stronger, more intense.
It was my
voice
.

“
Wake up
,
Caleb
,”
Mel said
,
her kinky hair sticking out and scaring the crap out of me.
“
What the freak?
”
I was still fighting off demon claws as I regained full consciousness. Bryce stood at the doorway. He always reminded me of Harry Potter with his big glasses.

“
Is he okay
,
Mel?
”
he asked.

“
Yeah
,
he
’
s good. Still in one piece
,”
she said in her bland Mel voice.
“
You were screaming louder than a little girl. I was seriously embarrassed for you.
”

“
Yeah
,
well
,
it
’
s not every day I wake up after getting chopped up by crabs
,”
I said
,
sitting up. My body was drenched in sweat.

“
What?
You have crabs
?
”
Bryce
said
and
turned his lips up at me
.

I scoffed.
“
No
,
dude. Never mind.
”

“
Glad
to see you
’
re okay
,”
Bryce
said and
closed the door in a hurry. I made a light laugh.

“
I have dreams like that too
,”
Mel said.
“
There
’
s always something violent that happens at the end. I take it as a sign.
”

“
A sign of what?
”
I asked.

She shrugged.
“
I
’
m not sure.
”
We had a lot in common
,
Mel and me. I wish I had more time to find out how she handled seeing the
Walker
s
without losing her mind the way I obviously was doing.

“
You best hurry up and get dressed. A shower wouldn
’
t hurt much either
,”
Mel suggested.
“
Your M
om called. She told me to tell you that Kyle is awake.
”

Another Unf!
A good one this time
,
though.

“
Why didn
’
t you say something?
”
I stood up
,
wincing at a slight ache around my ankles.

“
Okay
,
dude
,
you were screaming.
Hello! I thought it might be best to calm your ass down before I put anything else on your plate
,”
she answered.
“
Do you need a ride to the hospital? Mashu took your car. Something about a bald tire you needed to replace
earlier this morning
.
”

“
Oh snap
,
that
’
s right. I did tell him about that tire
,”
I said
,
feeling excited and freaked out at the same time. That dream last night felt so real. But I woke up in my bed
,
so it was all in my head. Right?
  “Did I just hear you say earlier this morning?”

Sighing, she shook her head and said, “You’ve been sleeping all day, laziness. Your Uncle said you needed the rest, so we didn’t bother you.”

That explained my rolling headache. I cradled my head and glanced at Mel. She
studied me with a frown.
“
What?
”

“
Your hands. Are you sure those crabs aren
’
t hiding somewhere up under your bed?
”
she asked.

Ice cold dread winded me. I glanced down. Red welts and cuts covered my wrists and arms. The marks
extended all the way up to my elbows
. Bending down
,
I lifted the hem of my
jeans
. I inhaled and examined the fresh red marks
,
my insides knotting again in spite of Mel
’
s news. Good thing I had a ride. I didn
’
t trust myself to drive. Obviously
,
I was going insane. 

Chapter
Sixteen

I
burst
through the
entrance,
my
excitement making me feel
light-headed
and wild.
The sterile scent that drifted inside all hospitals surrounded me at once. It
made
me
think back on the time I laid in
bed with a broken arm
. Oh, I almost forgot. T
he
limb
that healed up in
a few
weeks
thanks to the smoke demon’s sister, Paige
.
I was a little shocked
that neither one of my p
arents said anything about it
, e
ven after my doctor removed the cast. Now I understood why. I wasn
’
t your standard dude-next-door. I had the feeling that Mom knew all about my superhero healing skills.

I passed by Kyle’s parents on the way up to his room. The bright expressions on their faces made me feel even better about seeing my friend. Stepping into his room, I trudged right over to
the
bed.

Kyle looked great. His dark hair didn
’
t make him look so pale anymore
,
but his normally thin frame looked like a toothpick. Grinning and doing his corny joke thing
,
he gave me a bright-eyed look when I walked into his room. It was kind of like he never even suffered from
the zombie kid’s
touch. Shani sat beside him on the bed
,
cracking jokes along with him. She leaned over and kissed his forehead. Will he remember what happened in the water? To be honest
,
I hoped he never did.

“
Caleb
,
what
’
s up? You look a worried mess
,”
he said. I rushed over and embraced him. I didn
’
t care how silly I looked. My friend was alive
,
and I was happy as hell about it.

“
What were you trying to do
,
my man? Next time you wanna be
as awesome as me, then
choose something
easier to
imitate
,
alright?
”
I teased.

“
Haha
,
real funny
,
bro
,”
he answered. I took a seat across from him and tried to drown the demon
’
s voice out of my head
,
the one that told m
e I was the son of another man.
Kyle
’
s expression softened.
“
Hey
,
I want—I just
,
I need to say thanks,
man. Shani told me you risked your life to go back in and get me
out
.
”

“
It was nothing. You
’
d have done the same for me
,”
I said truthfully.

“
Yeah
,
but you wouldn
’
t have put me in danger that way. I
’
m sorry
,
Caleb. Man
,
I hate that I was so stupid
,”
he confessed
,
his eyes lined with tears. Shani leaned over and embraced him.

“
It
’
s all good. We made it out
,”
I assured him. Besides
,
I
understood how
he felt. I
knew
how crazy
the
love for someone could make you feel.

“
Not
everybody made it out
,
though
, I heard
,”
he said.
“
Is it true that they never found Ethan
,
Corey
,
or Jillian?
”

“
Yeah
,
they
’
re all still missing
,”
I answered
,
nausea sloshing around my stomach. Sure
,
I could deny that their disappearances had
anything
to do with me until I turned blue. But some of the fault rested square on my shoulders.

“
That sucks
,”
Kyle said and glanced away
,
his expression indicating he
’
d mentally left the room for a moment.

“
Okay. So
,
I
’
ll tell you both what I
’
m looking forward to
,”
Shani began
,
“
The big
All Souls
D
ance
this weekend. Aren
’
t you excited
,
guys?
”
Shani was always great with changing the subject and brightening things up.

“
Has Erica decided what she
’
s going
to be
?
”
she asked me.

“
Uh
,
I
’
m not sure. Something about a fairy queen
,”
I answered.

“
That sounds totally corny
,”
Shani said.
“
Sasuke and his fairy
girl
? Come on
,
get with it
.”

“
Not everybody is as creative as my cheese goddess
,”
Kyle said and kissed Shani
’
s knuckles.

“
Wait a minute. Did you say cheese goddess?
”
I asked
,
a smile creeping across my lips, even though the
painful welts on my arms and legs
were itching like crazy
.

“
Yes. My family
’
s from
Green Bay
. We appreciate cheese
,”
Shani scoffed.
“
At least I
’
m not going as a
unicorn
like Gia Jones is doing.
”

F
ireworks exploded
inside me. I wanted to shout or slam
something. That was how
her
casual statement affected me.

“
If anybody can pull that look off then it would be her
,”
Kyle said just before Shani chucked his arm. I gathered my senses while they argued over
Gia
’s costume
.

She
’
s back. I need to leave. I have to see her.

“
What do you mean?
You
don
’
t think I
’
d make a good
unicorn
?
”
Shani whined.

“
Sure I do. You
’
d be the most gorgeous
horned creature
ever
,”
he
answered.

“Wait
.
Hold up. Gia Jones is back?” I asked, trying to sound calm.

“Yeah,
she came back a couple of days ago
,” Shani said
, shrugging
.
“Today she was kind of different, though.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, my heart pumping.

“I don’t know. Sh
e avoided everybody and hung around her two weirdo girlfriends
all day. You know, those two chicks that freak
everybody out because they never say anything?
After that gig she pulled off at the tournament, it just seemed odd for her to act that way.” Shani twisted her mouth and narrowed her eyes at me. “What’s with the twenty questions?”

“Nothing,” I answered, trying to look relaxed when I really wanted to jump up and do a happy dance.

Gia came back to school.
How
did that happen? I
’
d only missed
a couple of d
ays. News like that usually headed up the 6 o
’
clock
gossip
lines. The smoke demon chick made it pretty clear that Gia was doomed
to return to some unknown place as a prisoner
. I should get mutilated by creepy crabs more often. If getting tortured brought results like this on a regular basis
,
then
,
hey
,
bring it on.

Kyle stared at my face
,
while Shani gave him the movie star treatment. She laid it on thick: wiped his forehead
,
massaged his shoulders
,
kissed his lips
,
and
slid her hand up under the covers with me sitting there turning red. I could only imagine what went down before I came in.

“
Hey
,
get a hotel
room
,
won
’
t you?
”
I joked
,
trying to focus on appearing to be happy for my friend.
I’d rather see them
gushing all over each other than fighting again.

Shani glanced at me and smirked. But Kyle picked up on the chaos raging inside me. He always did. I guess that was why we stuck together for so long. No
,
we didn
’
t
have friendship bracelets or
anything corny like that
,
but we were soul brothers to the end.

“
Hey
,
my pretty cheese goddess
,”
Kyle said and
embraced
Shani for what had to be the thirtieth time since I walked into the room.
“
Give Caleb and me a moment
,
alright
?
”
She kissed him and
attempted
to stand up. Kyle pulled her back down and whispered in her ear.
“
Hold on to that thought
,
okay?
”

“
You got it
,
baby
,”
Shani gushed.
Even though
their little show could sweeten a glass of tea
,
I still preferred to see this Kyle over the angry person I left back on Hatteras Island.

“
Now
,
tell me
.
”
Kyle
tented his fingers
.
“
What
’
s up with you?
”

I didn
’
t beat around the bush. I needed this talk with my friend
,
the one I almost lost because of Gia and me.
“
I don
’
t get people.
”
That didn
’
t come out right. It sounded pathetic.

“
Whoa
,
Caleb. If you expect me to be able to crack the people code then we got a problem
,”
Kyle said jokingly. But the concern for me still filled his eyes.

“
Let me rephrase that sentence. I don
’
t understand girls. They keep secrets. Act strange
,
and then they end up leaving you for
someone e
lse.
”
That sounded a lot better
,
but Kyle still wore a puzzled look
on his face
.

“
Okay
,
I take it we
’
re not talking about Erica.
‘
Cause I
’
ll just tell ya right now
,
she
’
s hot for you
,
dude. If you can
’
t see that then you are blind
,”
Kyle explained. I kept silent
,
a million thoughts rushing through me at once.
“
You know how I feel about
hot cheerleader
s
. If I weren
’
t with Shani
,
then—
”