Escaped the Night (23 page)

I was
hurt,
betrayed, m
y whole life was
n
othing
as
I believed it to be. Daray was the only
one who hadn’t hidden the truth from me
.
He wanted me to remember and helped me do so.
I
wiped my eyes,
turned around
,
grabbed
the knob
, yanked
the door open
as hard as I
could and
stormed
out of the
room.
I heard a
thud
as
the
door
hit
the wall and was pretty sure
I’d just made a dent
. Too late
, couldn’t take back what was
already done.

I headed has
tily towards the front door and
rushed
so no one c
ould
talk me out of leaving.
Uncle Dane was right
behind me
. “Shanntal, w
e
did what we thought was best.
I’m sorry.
Please
…
please
don’t go.”

I ignored him
and acted
like I was
alone because that’s how I felt
.
I ignored
everyone
’s pleas
and
concentrated on
tying my shoes
. Then I
rushed
out of the house
without so much as a word and
darted
down the da
rk street
,
slipping on my jacket as I ran. I
heard
my steps hit
ting
the ground
and
noticed they
weren’t alone.
Glancing back to see who was there, I
saw
Garrison
and Kaleb trailing
behind
.

I was
too ang
ry to appreciate their loyalty. I turned
and
yelled at the top of my lungs,
“Just go away. L
eave me alone! I don’t need you.
”
I kept
going
as fast as I could,
hoping to put some distance between us. The night air was cold, but it didn’t stop me. I was bur
ning hot from
the rage
consuming
me. My whole life had been nothing
except
one big lie.
My past
either
n
ever exist
ed in the first place or I’d
forgotten it.

I decided to go with Daray.
I knew
he was close because
Kaleb and
Garrison
said
he was near.
“Daray
, com
e
get me, t
ake me away from
this. I want to be with you, like we were before.
”
Tears
streamed
full force down my cheeks.
“I want it
to be the way
it
was
.
I want to go back.
”
I needed security and
I
remembered
what l
ife was like for us before. I
had to accept
that
Daray
was
different from my memories
,
but
he was
still
the man I used to love. He’
d been
my everything. More memories of our time t
ogether flowed
,
making
my urge to see him even stronger.
I pushed myself harder,
coming
up with the strength to run faster.

My legs burned and
needed
a break
from running
.
I
leaned
against a
light post,
trying to catch my breath. I closed my eyes for a minute
and o
ddly, all I
could see
was Jayce.
Was
this
a sign
that
I should be with him?
I tried
connecting, he’d be able to comfort me and make me see the light of this situation. N
othing…
I felt nothing
at all
.
He’d
completely
c
ut off our connection
.

Frustrated,
I opened my eyes
.
Daray
stood
under the
streetlight
looking
devious and mysterious in
his
black overcoat. I’d n
ever heard
any
footsteps
letting me know he’d
arrived
. He stalked
as
silent as a shadow.
I
panicked and
backed away. T
hi
s
was
a mistake
,
I love
d
Jayce,
I
was supposed to be with
him
and
never should’
ve come here.

The familiar intoxication took over
as Daray
moved
in
closer.
I
helplessly
wrapped my arms around his neck
, letting him ru
n his fingers
over
my cheek
.
Suddenly, my mind
set
completely changed and
I was happy
he’d
found
me.

I looked at the man befor
e me,
so seductive
, so welcoming
.
I pressed my
warm
lips intensely
against his icy
one
s. He kissed back
powerfully, sending a
charge
of eroti
ca
over me; h
e was magnificent
.
I opened my eyes
to find we no
longer stood
on the dark street;
i
nstead,
we flew
through the moon-
lit night
.
We weren’t up v
ery high, but
en
ough to clear the rooftops
. I remembered
how the stranger
had flown
at us in the garden
s
, t
he night our lives changed.
I hugged Daray,
the memory fresh in my mind.

This felt
marvelous
,
just the two of us
flying
through the night sky
.
The world had completely changed for both of us. W
e
needed
to
be
reacquainted
with one an
o
ther
and f
rom the way things
were
heading
,
we
were off to
a
good
start
.
D
aray held me securely soaring
up
even
higher. I felt the inten
se power he held over me, but
didn’t fight it. Trance or no
t
, this is where I wanted to be, f
e
arless
and free with
the night breeze flowing
in
my hair
and
rippling
my clothes.

We
flew near the outskirts of town and
I
saw
the water
with the moon’s reflection
sparking
off the
rolling
waves
.
Daray flew us
lower
to get
a closer
look
. Soon
we
headed
towards
the heavily grown forest
sitting
up
on the hillside.
Out
in the distance
,
amongst the thick trees
,
rested a lone
old battered
stone
house
.

Daray brought us
down gently, but
I s
tumbled
when
reunited with the
ground.
He
supported me
and m
y jacket slipped down
exposing
the tattoo on
my bare arm.

He
hissed at me. “What have you done to yourself?”

“This? I
really like it actually. The
arm
band’
s made up of all
the zodiac
symbols, notice
it doesn’t join? Well, that
’s
because
I heard
your soul could
neve
r leave your body if it’s connected. The thought of being stuck in one place for all eternity freaked me out so I left it undone.” I twisted my arm a
round to show him a better view
. From the look on his face, I could see he wasn’t impressed. “
Do you like it?
”

“You are a lady. No, I do not approve
of
the fact
that
you’ve dishonored your body in such a vile way.”

I was taken
a
back, unsu
re of how to respond. My tattoo
s held stories, meaning
and memories.
“I get
the fact
that
you don’t care for it very much,
but I’m quite proud
of it
. I’
ve
got
the entire world wrapped
around my arm and the best par
t
is that
they’
re all joined in harmony.”

He hissed again, not showing any sign of agreement.
I decided to kee
p the one on my ankle hidden.
It
would send him on
a rampage knowing I had more than one. He could find out about it another time.
I felt h
is intoxication creep over me as w
e
strolled
through
the overgrown garden
.
We went
alon
g a
small dirt pathway leading
through
an
old broken down brick archway
covere
d with dead vines and branches. A
stone
path
twisted and turned as it brought us closer to
the
neglected
house.

Upon r
eaching
the
front
door
,
I
felt
more like myself
. Daray
eased up on his power and
I was
pleased, his intoxication
left
me
unable
to think straight.
“You don’t need to put a spell on me. I’m here now. Okay?”

“Yes, my love, you are here.”
He
smiled
and leaned
in for a kiss
.
“Welcome home.”

H
e
slid
open the
front door
.
At f
irst glance
I saw
cobwebs
h
anging
from
crooked
and smashed
picture f
r
ames
,
broken
railings lining
the
rundown
staircase,
a
dangling
chandelier
looking
as if it was about to fall
. Dust covered everything and t
he entire
place had a dark
eerie feel
.
To
o
scared to leave,
I
cringed
and followed
Daray as he
led the way
to an adjoining room.