Fading Into Darkness: The Under Series Book 2 (25 page)

“Did you know me before I came to Under?”
“No. I mean I met you once when you were little. But I never saw you again until that night Cam
bought you back to the manor. So does this person from your dreams have a name?”
“Jessie.”
“Jessie, wait I've heard that name before....where have I....shit me! Is that who you've been dream
linking with?”
“Yes. Do you know him?”
“The night Cam bought you down to Under he sent me back out to collect someone.”
“Jessie. Cam sent you to collect Jessie?”
“He said to make it look as though he was dead so no one would come looking for him. I found him
skulking around in this warehouse so I started a fire, knocked him out and manually carried him
back to Under.”
“Where is he now?”
“I don't know Alex took over. I don't know what he did with him.”
“Alex are you kidding? This just gets even more complicated. So you really don't know where
Jessie is now?”
“No. How do you know this Jessie guy?” he asked.
“It's complicated.” I replied.
Complicated was putting it mildly.
“No shit.” he said grinning.
“Why would Cam have you collect him? What does he want him for?”
“I have no idea but I'm guessing it's part of Cam's plan.”
“Do you think Emmett knows about it?”
“Definitely. There's not much those two don't talk about.”
“So you're a death tracker?”
“Yes.” he said taking a drag on his cigarette.
“And the others, Cam, Shasta, Roman, Tallen and Ryu, they're all death trackers?”
“Yes. But there's more of us it isn't just us six.”
“Why do you have black eyes? Do all death trackers have black eyes?”
“I have black eyes because I'm part demon, I belong to the underworld so to speak.”
I looked at Kenzie, he didn't look very demon-ish to me.
“Where are your horns?”
“What?” he laughed.
“No tail or scales?” I continued.
“No can you imagine what a nightmare it would be trying to hide a tail down your pants.”
I couldn't help but giggle at his comment. “It's in my blood. Not all demons can fade, it sometimes
skips a generation and misses but with me and Shasta it didn't. And the best job for a demon that
can fade is being a soul collector. It sort of goes with the territory. I can't imagine doing anything
else.”
“So you collect dead souls?”
“Yes but only the bad ones.”
“Bad?”
“Yes people that deserve to go to Hell. When a human dies there's two options, if they've been good
they get collected and taken by the other collectors,”
“Where do they take them?”
“I don't know, that's not my department. But if someone has been bad and we're talking super bad
not like stole a few cars bad or didn't pay your taxes, I mean the really bad ones. Murderers,
sickos....”
“I get it, you don't need to list them.”
“Well that's were I come along. When someone dies their soul wonders until they are found. They
usually don't know what they're doing or where they're going and sometimes they wander pretty far.
That's what the birds are for they track the souls. Each tracker has their own bird. You become
linked to your own bird, it's a demon thing. Humans can't see the birds only us and anything that
isn't human. When the bird calls me I know just where to find him. He'll live as long as I do.
They're also good at finding things their master wants or needs. Like today he knew I was looking
for you.”
“So when you find a soul what happens?”
“I fade, it's a demons way of travelling. I fade and take the soul with me to its final destination.”
“Hell.”
“Yep. I really didn't picture having this conversation with you in the middle of a trailer park.” he
said watching a woman pushing a pram full of groceries up one of the drives across from us.
“I didn't picture us having this conversation full stop.” I replied.
“So did this Jessie tell you what you are?” he asked.
“Nephilim and Senka's a fallen angel.”
“Wow! The cat's really out of the bag. So why are you even here?” he asked flicking his cigarette
over my head.
“Huh?”
“I mean what are you doing in a trailer park?”
I reached into my jeans pocket. “This.” I said holding the crumpled piece of paper out for him.
“104 Green Oak Park.” He took it and read it out loud looking around at the trailer numbers near us.
“What is this?” he asked.
“I dunno. I was hoping you'd know who lived there. I found it in
my
pocket.” I said emphasising the
'my'.
“So you don't know?” I asked a little disappointed.
“No. I have no idea. But we need to get back.”
“Look if you come with me to this address, afterwards I promise I will go straight back with you.”
“Let's make it quick then.” he said standing up.
We ducked down across from number 104 hiding behind someone's car. 104 was a dirty white
colour that was in bad need of a touch up. The trailer next to it was pastel pink and looked like they
were preparing to enter it into a flower show it was so over the top.
“Do we just go over and knock?” I asked Kenzie. He shrugged and made a face.
“I don't even know who lives there.” I said looking at the red VW Beetle that was parked up next to
104.
“Do you want me to knock and you stay here?” he asked.
“Maybe, I'm thinking.”
“Who are you expecting to open the door?”
“I don't know. All I know is I had this address in my pocket the night Cam took me. It must mean
something.”
“Right I'm going over there.” he said standing up just as the door opened.
“No wait,” I said grabbing the back of his hoodie. He crouched back down next to me.
“Who's that?” he looked sideways at me. “Do you recognise her?”
A girl wearing black leggings and a long grey cardigan wrapped around herself with pink boots
came down the porch steps. Her loosely curled blonde hair fell over her face and she quickly swept
it back. She walked around the car to the side door and pulled out a large bag and carried it round
the back of the trailer out of sight.
“Actually I do recognise her. I think her name's Carly.”

The cheap tasteless microwave meal spun around inside the microwave. Round and round... Carly
stood motionless watching it. The timer went off but she remained still.
Micah walked out the bathroom flipping the collar of his jacket up round his neck. He picked up a
set of keys off the counter. He briefly looked in her direction before moving to the door.
Carly blinked herself out of her daze of random thoughts and turned around to look at him. He sat
on the couch pulling his boots on.
“Are you going out?” she asked.
“What does it look like?” he replied.
“Where are you going?”
“Work.”
“But you were there last night. All night.”
He stood up and ran his hand down his face and along his jaw that was unshaven and rough.
“And don't tell me we need the money, cause that's crap. Even I'm pulling a wage in from the coffee
shop.”
Micah didn't reply and reached for the door. Carly dashed in front of him and blocked his way. She
leaned back against the door and looked up at him. She reached for his face but he turned away
from her touch.
“You have to stop this, it's not going to bring either one of them back. Jessie's dead and Ruby's
missing. Probably dead as well,”
“What's your point Carly?” he said talking over her.
“You can't keep doing this ignoring me shutting me out, it won't help. They're not coming back. I'm
here and I want to help you. You have to stop blaming yourself.”
“Carly.....” Micah moaned.
“Staying in Heaven's Point isn't helping. Have you thought about what we talked about? I really
think it would be best if we left, went somewhere else. A fresh start.”
“I'm not leaving. And no one said you had to stay. So why don't you go back home to your life, back
to your spoilt little rich kid lifestyle. Cause you don't belong here. All you do is drive me crazy and
moan about the weather. If you hate it so much go back to sunny California then we can both get on
with our lives and I can spend the next one hundred years or however many years I want staying
here in peace without your constant whinging.”
“You will never find her she's not here and he's not coming back. I know you miss him, don't you
think I don't feel the same. I lost my best friend as well. You can't stay here forever, you'll drive
yourself mad.”
“I can stay here as long as I want, unlike you I have forever.” he shouted at her.
Then he lowered his voice. He didn't want the neighbours knocking on the door again like last time.
“You probably have another seventy years tops, so go home marry some pretty rich boy, pop a few
kids out and forget about this place and forget about me. Now move.”
Carly held his gaze, her eyes glistened as tears formed in the corners.
“You don't mean that. If I go you'll be left with no one.”
“Sweety, don't take this the wrong way but you are replaceable.” he said grabbing the handle and
pulling the door.
Carly moved aside but Micah still bumped her with the door as he left. He slammed it shut and a
few seconds later the sound of his truck roared to life outside and sped off.
She walked into the bedroom. Micah's and her own clothes were strewn all over the place, she
hadn't bothered to sort the washing out and now the clothes were piling up and finding anything
clean was proving hard. She opened the closet pulling one of Micah's sweatshirts out. Some of
Jessie's clothes still hung on the rail, like a constant reminder of him. The rest of his stuff Micah had
boxed and taken back to the cabin.
Carly pushed the clothes across the bed as she laid down and pulled the blanket over herself, she
curled up and tears rolled down her cheek onto the pillow. The microwave meal sat in the
microwave going cold.
A quiet tapping on the door stirred Carly awake. Her eyes felt heavy and tired from crying and from
the lack of sleep the past few nights. The tapping continued as she walked to the door.
“It's freezing out here, what took you so long?” Aimee said pushing her way inside.
“Sorry I was half asleep.” Carly replied shutting the door.
She tucked her blonde hair behind her ears, the shine her hair once had was long gone and her curls
seemed to have less bounce just recently.
“Have you been crying again?” Aimee asked concerned.
“It's nothing.”
“It doesn't look like nothing your face is all patchy. What's he said to you this time?” she asked
pulling Carly into a hug.
Carly sat at the small dining table leaning against the wall peeking out through the blind. Aimee set
a hot mug of coffee down on the table in front of her.
“Thanks.” Carly said placing her hands on the mug to warm herself.
“This trailer is freezing, I don't get why you both don't go back to the cabin or over to that posh
condo Micah rents.” Aimee said sitting down on the other side of the table.
“I don't know. I think he wants to pretend Jessie's still here, this was the last place Jessie stayed
before...well you know. I think he feels connected to him still, there's even still some of Jessie's
clothes in the closet. Micah isn't coping well he can't seem to let go. Which is understandable they'd
been down here together for hundreds of years together.”
“Still he shouldn't have said those things to you.”
“He didn't mean it. He'll be back in the morning like usual, crying in my lap telling me how sorry he
is. It seems to be a recurring pattern the past few months. He still blames himself for bringing Seth
home the first time he met him and it's so obvious, he hasn't even been subtle about it. He thinks if
he'd never met Seth then Ruby would have never come to Heaven's Point and Jessie wouldn't have
got caught up in it all.”
“I take it Seth and Micah are still not talking?”
“No. I've tried ringing Seth to see how he is but it goes straight to voicemail.”
“Is he still living on a boat in Copeland?” Aimee asked.
“As far as I know yes, unless he decided to sail off without telling us. Last time I checked in on him
he was still working down there on the fishing boats. I can't imagine how lonely he is down there.”
“Doesn't he have a dog?”
“Gunner isn't exactly a conversationalist.”
“I have to travel to Copeland next week. How about next time I'm over there I'll drop by to see how
he's getting on. Which boat is it?”
“Small white one with blue stripes, I think it's called
'Reel Deal'
or something like that I can't
remember I haven't been over there for a while.”
“Well if it's there I'll find it.”
“How's your friend?” Carly asked before sipping her coffee.
“Caitlin, she's okay. Young, carefree and enjoying college. No scratch that, she's the opposite of care
free. But no she's good, she's moved on. Which is easy I guess if you have no clue about fallen
angels and the fact Heaven's Point is crawling with them. Sometimes I think it would be easier if I
didn't know, if I'd carried on regardless.”
“Well you would have if you'd stayed away from Beck and left him alone. Poor guy I think it was
easier for him to say yes to going on a date with you then it was to get rid of you.”
“What, he's hot I wasn't going to let him pass me by. He put on a good show and tried his best to
pretend he wasn't interested but it didn't last long.” Aimee smiled getting up to open a top cupboard.
“Biscuits?” she asked.
“Bottom cupboard.” Carly answered.
Aimee opened the bottom cupboard and looked back at Carly.
“You really need to go grocery shopping, these cupboards are bare. As in completely naked.” she
said returning to the table with a packet of biscuits. “Anyway if Caitlin knew about all this I don't
think she'd be able to sleep again. It would keep her awake all night. Fallen angels and death
trackers, she probably wouldn't believe me anyway. She'd say me and her grandma Dorrie were as
crazy as each other and should be locked up together. It's best this way, everyone thinks Ruby ran
off with her boyfriend and that her and Jessie are living it up in some decked out apartment, stealing
credit cards and living life without a care in the world.”
“That doesn't sound like something Ruby would do?” Carly said half smiling.
“No but it's probably something Mack...err Jessie would do. I still muddle the names. Anyway we
know the truth and Seth of course.”
“So how are you? You've changed your hair.” Carly said changing the conversation.
“I'm great no complaints. I've decided to grow it. No more red streaks. What do you think about the
side cut?” she asked, flipping her brown hair over to one side to show a shaved section.
“Surprisingly it actually suits you.”
“So how's Carly doing?” Aimee asked reaching over and squeezing her arm.
“About the same as last time. I wish I'd known you were coming. I would have at least cleaned up.”
“No it's fine.” Aimee said waving it off, not caring that the sink was piled up with dirty dishes and
pieces of clothing littered the floor.
“Well I haven't seen you for a long while, I know I've been busy with course work and working at
the beauty salon. But I thought we should have a catch up. And I had this weird feeling this
morning, it's the same weird feeling I've being having all week.”
“Are you sure you're not pregnant?” Carly asked sceptically raising an eyebrow at Aimee.
“Hell no. Not that sort of feeling, it's more I dunno I can't explain it. I sometimes get this strange
feeling and it's usually followed by some big event. I had this feeling a few days before Ruby
disappeared and I've had it before. A week before my dad disappeared, mom thought I had a
stomach bug because I kept saying I felt sick but it wasn't actual sickness. And then right before my
bunny died when I was eight I remember getting it. But also good things like the morning I received
the telephone call to say I'd been accepted for the job at the beauty salon which was actually the last
time until now.”
“Are you sure it's not excitement or nerves or something like that, maybe you got wind.” Carly
asked trying not to laugh.
“I don't have wind.” Aimee replied laughing. “I'm telling you the truth.”
“And you're getting it now?” Carly asked unsure.
“Well not right this minute but yes I think something is going to happen. There's something in the
pipeline.”
“I repeat are you pregnant?”
“No, hey I'm being serious, don't knock it. My auntie used to read tea leaves and shit like that. I
think something weird runs in the family.”
“Okay so is there anything I should be looking out for?” Carly asked.
Aimee shrugged. “I have no idea. I just thought I'd give you the heads up.”
Carly nodded at the strange information unsure whether to take it seriously or not.
“How is your hairdressing course going?” Carly asked.
“It's good, it's only four days a week but I'm already feeling the pinch travelling back and fourth to
Copeland. I think I'm gonna have to invest in a more fuel efficient car, it's draining me.”
“Why don't you ask Beck? I'm sure he'd be happy to buy you a new car. It's not like he doesn't have
the money. I can't imagine he spent the last few hundred years or however old Beck is doing
nothing. You need money for everything he probably has stacks of it.”
“He's been down here six hundred and thirty something years. But yes he does have the cash, I
accidentally saw his bank account balance the other day. I'm dating a sugar daddy.”
“Accidentally?” Carly smiled.
“Okay I was purposely looking for it. But I don't like to ask.”
“Aren't you two practically living together now?”
“Well he cleared out a drawer for me, but that obviously wasn't going to be enough space. I was
about to buy another set of drawers but he offered me his spare room for my clothes. It's now a walk
in closet.”
“Just ask him. He'd probably love to buy you a car. He adores you and he's head over heels in love
with you.”
Aimee smiled to herself and finished off her tea.
“Not like you though,” Aimee added.
“What do you mean?” Carly asked.
“You two are like Romeo and Juliet. Love at first sight. The way he knew about you before you did.
It's so romantic.”
“It was just a vision of me coming to visit Ruby, hardly romantic.”
“Yes but he knew you were coming before you did. From the moment he saw you even if it was
only in a vision first, it was love at first sight. You told me before that you instantly fell for him. Just
the very thought of him had you throbbing in places...”
“Stop, okay I get the picture. But it wasn't the best timing the very next day after I'd met him
everything turned to crap. Ruby went missing and Jessie was killed in that fire. And now Micah
can't even look at me. I think he feels as though he's not allowed any happiness, he's punishing
himself and I'm like a walking reminder of Ruby. Just the other day I was wearing one of her
hoodies. I don't have the warmest of clothes so I took a few from the cabin, where he's left all her
stuff perfectly untouched as if she's coming back next week. Well when he came back he flipped
out, saying I shouldn't have gone over there and I definitely shouldn't be walking around in her
clothes. He misses her as well, he just wont admit it. I'm constantly walking on eggshells round
here. He has these moments where he loses it and then there's these other moments where we fit so
perfectly together I couldn't imagine being away from him.”
“So any new information about Ruby come up? Beck's keeping one ear open all the time for
anything.”
“No nothing. Micah has spent so much time and energy tracking down any leads or chasing down
dead ends. No ones talking. Either no one knows anything or they're not giving anything away.
People don't want anything to do with these death trackers, no one will even talk about them. The
only thing we had to go on was the name Cameron Teller and that probably wasn't even real. It's as
though he just vanished and the high school magically have no record of him ever having worked
there.”
“Maybe he didn't work there and he was only pretending to work there. Putting on those green
overalls and walking around with a screwdriver. I mean who would question that? He fit the part of
a janitor so well no one questioned him. So you're still sticking with the idea that Cam took her?”
Aimee asked.
“Yes. Micah had one last conversation with Jessie before the fire. Jessie was convinced there was
something strange about Cam. He'd seen Cam following her around at school and finally connected
the dots but it was too late. Meanwhile Micah thought it was those psycho fallen angels that were
going to take her, all along it was obvious it was this Cameron Teller but no one saw it. Micah has
spoken to a few of the fallen guys from that night. It's all very hush hush but the description they
gave him fit the description for Cam the janitor.”