Taken (6 page)

A large shadow was dancing
off the wall that was closes
t to me. It was double my size, definitely not a mortal. Its arms were raised as the choir of voices continued their chants. I slid along the wall, hoping
to see what we were up against — what kind of creatures were protecting the gates.

I craned my
head
slowly around the corner
, startled to see
red eyes staring back at me
, only a few feet away
.
The singing stopped
,
and I took off as fast as I could down the tunnel toward the entrance.
They weren’t going to be far behind.

“Run!” I yelled, spotting
Arie
in the basement.

“Would it be okay if I mentioned I’m panicking
?” Arie shouted as she ran to the door.

“Absolutely,” I yelled, running toward her as fast as my legs would ca
rry me. “Come on! We’ve got to g
et out of here.”

I reached
for a chair and dragged it quickly
wi
th me back through the basement. Arie slammed the door behind us
,
and I
wedged
the chair between the door and the wall
.

“You
do
know that’s not going to do anything to stop them.”
She
hopped over the railing, landing on the stairs.

“Good point,” I yelled, running behind her.
“Think it’s safe to say we found the entrance.”

We reached the main floor and no one and nothing was following us.
They could have caught up to us. What or who was telling them to hold off.
I reached for my nurse’s hat
that had completely fallen to the side of my head,
tucked
my
stray hairs
back underneath it, and plopped it back on top of my head.
We didn’t need to cause any more attention on our way out of the hospital.

“Let’s get out of here,” Arie whispered as we walked straight through the entry w
ith no intention of signing out.

I busted through the doors
only to have
Athen and Cyril walking toward us
ready to
snatch us out of the place
.

Athen scooped me up in his arms and kissed me.

“You were fift
een minutes late,” he whispered, hugging me tightly.

“I know. I’m sorry. But the good news is that we
foun
d what we were looking for, and we
made it out alive.
”

“Very true,” Arie chirped. “It’s really not fun to be
a mortal
.”

“
For sure
.” I shook my head.

“Let’s get out of here and get your green eyes back,” Athen replied coyly
, but then his voice became somber
.
“I saw you up in one of the rooms. I got worried.”

“I did too,”
I confessed. “
The patient
was only ten
,
and I was
no match for her in this state.”

“
We
ll, it’s time to change that.” Athen
pulled me close as we walked to the car.

I glanced back at the hospital
,
and
I
knew I was no match in this condition for whatever w
as building
up
in
those walls
. We
needed to end the
mortas
process.

C
hapter 6

“One of the nurses I spoke to felt the building itself was possessed.”
I was sitting on the edge of our bed, looking forward to some sleep before we went back in as a team.
Unable to shake the chills, I had a quilt on my lap.

Athen rubbed my back
gently as I mentally prepared to turn back into a white demon. Turning into a mortal was a lot simpler than the other way.
I wasn’t looking forward to it.

“With the amount of evil that is running through that place, I don’t doubt her fo
r thinking that,” Athen replied as his fingers glided along my shoulders sending shivers through me.

“Granted I couldn’t tell for sure that she was mortal, but I think she was. Whoever is responsible is smart enough to keep some of the staff as mortals.
But it makes me wonder if maybe some of the doctors are in on it or what might have started it
in the first place
.”
I barely took a breath.

Athen sa
t next to me and placed my hands
in his.
“We are going to do the best we can, but you can’t place the burd
en of
saving everyone
on your shoulders.”

“Arie saw Charlotte. That woman the shoe salesman spoke about…”

“And?”

“She’
s definitely possessed,” I paused and looked into Athen’s eyes. “I know we won’t be able to turn everyone back once we close up the gates. But I hope we can
at least turn quite a few.”

“One step at a time,”
Athen whispered, squeezing my hands.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in. He was so
intoxicating.

“When we shut this place down I want to go
to the snow, to the mountains. I want to get away f
rom everything for a little bit,
”
I murmured.

“Sounds good to me.” He bro
ught his lips close
to mine, but stopped short.

“Are you teasing me?” I pouted.

Athen grinned and pulled back.
His green eyes narrowed.
“Possibly.”

“You’ve got
to
knock it off. I’m not sure I can handle anything
else in my fragile little state.
”

“Is that so?” he whispered,
as his fingers found the top button of my shirt.

Who was I kidding?
I could never get enough of him no matter what form I was in.

Athen traced his finger up my neck, cupping my chin in his palm
, leaving me inches from him
.

“You are qu
ite spectacular,” Athen replied. His
green
eyes
were
hungry
with anticipation and desire.

“You are
—” I stopped myself
. I couldn’t wait any longer.
I
placed my lips on his, allowing the stress of the day to dissipate
, d
rowning my fears and exhaustion in
his embrace as I pushed him against the pillows.

He closed his eyes briefly and his breathing hitched.

“Surprise,” I whi
spered, as I allowed my lips to explore areas beyond his lips.

His arms wrapped around my body and scooped me to the side of him.

I couldn’t stop giggling as he pretended to
pin me down, but then a wave of exhaustion hit me followed by a vision.

“
Sweetie
, are you okay?”
Athen asked.

I’d never had a thought invade my mind during a moment like this. It made no sense.

I shook my head. “A vision. I just had a vision.”

“Now?” he asked perplexed.

“
It’s never happened like this.
It felt forced. Not natural. That doesn’t even make any sense
, I know
.
”

“
Y
ou’re still in your mortal state. How could you get any visions?”

My mouth dropped open in shock as I moved away not understanding what was happening.
He’s right! I didn’t even think about that.
I was so used to getting visions I was more concerned with why I got one now, completely forgetting I shouldn’t be getting any at all in this state.

“You think someone might have placed the images?” he asked, scanning my expression for clues.

“I…I don’t know,” I mumbled
, shaking my head
. “But I don’t think we can ignore it, regardless.”

“What did you see?”

“I’m worried they
’re targeting Arie,” I muttered, not wanting to look in his eyes.
“But there’s something missing still. I
don’t know
what it is.”

“
We need to face it head on.
We’ll face it all together
— no matter what it is.” Athen brought me into his chest, and I nestled as close as my body would
allow me
.
“Let’s get you changed.”

“Hopefully it’s nothing.” I sighed and
let out a breath
as he released me from his embrace.

I
lai
d
back
and closed my eyes
, waiting to be freed from this mortal world
I didn’t belong
in
.
Athen leaned over me,
clasping my hands into his.
Slowly clearing my mind,
I allowed myself to connect
with the world I
inhabited.
The soft beat of my heart grew stronger as I focused on the energy surrounding me.
With every second that passed, my inner strength grew, but my body
’s reaction grew
weak
as I still maintained a presence in both worlds.

My mind began spinning with images from my immortal state
, pushing out the dulled images of my mortal existence.
The lightheadedness began invading my system, inviting a wave of nausea to begin growing in the pit of my stomach.
I saw flashes of who I had been over the centuries,
activities
I had participated in as a white demon
confused with what I had most recently seen as a mortal
.
My flesh began feeling as if it were o
n fire. Athen’s touch eve
n burned.
I withdrew my hands from his.

All of my sen
ses were being ignited one by one
. My touch felt electrical
,
and
my hearing
was no longer strained.
I could smell the
wood smoke from our fire. I was becoming my white demon self, but
I was afraid to open my eyes
. That was the most painful process out of everything.
The light from the room was already penetratin
g through my eyelids signaling that it would be a rough transition.

“Slow your breathing.” Athen’s whisper sounded like a shout, but I still attempted to steady my breaths.
I wanted to see him so badly, but I was afraid to open my eyes.

“Can you turn off the lights?” I whispered.

I felt his movement
as he glided across the
bedroom. He flipped the light off, but I still had light infiltrating my lids. I would have to be brave. The sooner I opened my eyes, the quicker the adjustment could begin.
The mattress moved
,
and I realized Athen
had
climbed into the bed next to me
, waiting
.

“Here goes nothing,” I murmured
, sliding my hand to Athen’s, feeling the spark of pain as our flesh touched.

I opened my eyes to a darkened room, but what I saw was blazing white light in every direction I looked.
I squinted my eyes shut as the tears began flooding my cheek.

I’ve got this.

I opened my eyes once more, allowing the water to trickle from my eyes as I attempted to allow the adjustment
to take shape.
My senses were on overload and every m
ovement I made, created a pain that was hard to handle. All I could do was hope for sleep.
I turned my head toward Athen.

“You’re doing a
mazing,” he replied.

I nodded and felt the rush of images suffocate my mind as I attempt
ed to gain a center of reality. My head was pounding so I closed my eyes, waiting for sleep to come.

***

“We’re one s
tep closer to
understanding this
,
”
Athen
said
.

I had made it down the hall
,
and
Athen
was in the kitchen with Cyril
, undoubtedly talking about our next plan of attack.

“Hey, guys,” I replied, disappointed in the lack of volume my voice held.

“You’re up!” Athen hopped
up
from his chair
and ran toward me.

“I am, barely…b
ut I am.”

“Glad to have you back up,” Cyril hollered. “It’s been a bore with only Athen to talk to.”

“So Arie’s not up yet?” I asked.
“Did the process go okay for her?”

“She’s doing just fine, Ana,” Cyril smiled. “I think she’ll probably be up soon too.”

“I hope so.
I hope none of us ever have to go through the Awakening process, but I can say if anyone does they certainly have my sympathies.” I rubbed my temple. “I’ve heard it’s ten times as bad
this
.”

“I think it depends on how long the white demon has been a
way as a mortal,” Arie piped up from down the hall.

“That makes sense I guess,
” I replied
, turning around
. “How are you feeling?”

“About
as good as you, but I think I’ll be ready to go soon.”

I gave her a quick hug
,
and we both made our way to crash on the kitchen chairs.

“What’s your thought on everything?” She turned to Cyril who wa
s grinning at
her
. The love those
two shared was
so sweet to see. I glanced at Athen and he nodded,
thinking the same thing.
We were all very lucky.

“We should probably go in there tonight,” Cyril replied. “If you guys are up for it.”

I nodded and glanced at Arie. “I think we will be.”

“Did Arie tell you anything yet?”

Cyril shook his head.

“Well that makes two of you,” I said laughing.

Athen set down water for us all and had a seat.

“So you know how you felt some sort of movement under the town?”
I asked Athen.

“Yeah?” he asked.

“There’s a huge tunnel system that they’ve got going.
The tunnels start in the basement
of the hospital
and from what I could tell they are
going
in all directions. I happened to pick
correctly
and went down the tunnel that led to a bunch of
dark
demons chanting.
They saw me and I took off, but not before I spotted the layout.
From what I can tel
l the J
ikininki
never came while Arie and
I
were there, which means that they aren’t always there
nightly
. It certainly would work to our favor if they didn’t show up when we go in, but I don’t think we should count them out as a possibility. They’ll be more of a nuisance than anything, but I have a feeling we might not be able to afford a nuisance in this situation.”

“Couldn’t agree more,” Cyril replied, nervously glancing at Athen.

“What?” I asked.

“Athen mentioned the vision you had about Arie,” Cyril began
.

“Yeah?” I asked.

“What vision?” Arie piped in.

“I don’t think she should go in with us tonight.” Cyril looked at Arie
and then at me.

“Whoa. That would leave us one down.” I sighed. “Three of us going in would be pretty tight, but I completely understand.”

“
That’s a pretty big risk to take,” Arie objected. “And what are you talking about?”