Deadly to Love (12 page)

“We will be there in half an hour so you’ll have to wait.” He grinned as I groaned out loud this time. Kai had managed to sweep me off my feet and had caused me to forget most of my troubles, or at least make light of them in those few hours and I could feel myself loosening up in his company.

That half an hour seemed to drag on forever but finally Kai pulled into a parking space, the blue water just about visible over the sand dune in front of us, and announced we had arrived.

Stretching I stepped out of the car, grabbing my camera from the back seat just in case and instantly went to walk up to the top of the dune. I felt Kai grab hold of my wrist though, stopping me from actually putting a foot on the sand.

“We’re going this way,” he said and began walking off to the left of me. Grumbling about being a spoil sport I quickened my pace to catch up with him.

As we walked along the path the dunes finally cleared and I was left with the sight of the clear blue sea sparkling under the hot summer sun. There were quite a few people sunbathing on the sand and some kids running around playing different kinds of games. There were also a few shirtless guys and even though their bodies didn’t come close to the little I had seen of Kai’s, I found myself staring while we passed a fish and chip shop.

“Do you want something to eat?” he asked stopping in front of the stand. “Rea? Um... Rea? Your boyfriend is over here. Do you want something to eat?”

I blushed at being caught.

Nodding he ordered two cones of chips before we continued walking. Chips always tasted better when cooked by the sea. I don’t know what it was about the ocean that effected them but they always made my mouth water.

“So where are we going? Can’t we just sit over there on the sand?” I jerked my head over my shoulder back towards the sandy beach we were leaving behind slowly.

“Just wait, it’s not much further and it’s a lot less crowded.” He smiled across at me.

As we approached I saw why it was significantly less crowded, even in that kind of heat. The soft, golden sand had faded and merged into the dull, miserable looking pebbles. My sandals crunched as I tried to walk straight under the constantly shifting rocks. A few times I lost my footing but thankfully Kai was there to grab my arm to steady me.

“You know, for someone who is pretty athletic you have terrible balance,” he said after the third time of catching me.

“Your fault, you should have taken me on the sand, I’d have been fine there,” I replied as I bent to pick up a pebble to throw into the sea.

“How much further is it?” I was starting to get restless, we hadn’t seen a single person so far and yet he still led me further across the beach.

“Just behind that rock over there,” he said, pointing to a humongous rock that was half on the beach and half in the sea, about a hundred metres away. I kicked a few pebbles in frustration, but after I hit one that was somehow fixed into the ground and stubbed my toe I decided it was not such a good idea.

Kai was just laughing at my disgruntled face as he held out his hand to help pull me onto the rocks.

“Why here? It’s a bit far out isn’t it?” I said as he guided me to the edge that over looked the waves that were crashing against the surface. His feet moved nimbly over the sharp, jagged surface unlike mine.

“It’s perfect then, no one will hear us. Besides this is one of my favourite places to relax and think.” He was looking out to sea when he spoke instead of at me as he pulled me down to sit on the edge, my feet dangling towards the water.

We both sat in silence, I didn’t know what questions to ask and I think he was unsure of how to start. I was staring at a passing boat as he began to speak.

“What do you want to know then?” He turned to face me, pulling his legs up so he was sitting crossed-legged.

“Everything, what your job is, about your family, how you can afford
that car,
school life etc.”

He sighed while nodding, even though he still seemed reluctant to tell me.

“Okay, I’ll start with my job as most of the other things link with that. I need you to promise me something first though.” I still hadn’t turned to look at him so he stretched out his hand to pull my face gently towards him so he could see me.

“What do you want me to promise?” I wasn’t going to agree to anything before he told me what he wanted.

“I need you to be as open minded as possible. Some of the stuff I’m going to say is going to sound crazy and you’ll probably think I’m mad but I promise I’m not making any of it up. I also need you to promise that you will not to mention what I’m about to say to anyone.” I was wondering what I had gotten myself into as I nodded, agreeing to keep his secret.

He stared at his hands as he began to tell me about his life. “I’m not really sure how to start or say this as I’ve never told anyone before so I’ll just say it bluntly. Basically I’m a killer.”

I stared at him, my mouth open in horror.
Oh my god, I knew he was a psycho. Why do I always attract the weirdos.
I was about to speak when he held up a hand to silence me.

“Hang on, let me explain as it’s probably not what you’re thinking.”

I eyed him suspiciously as he carried on talking.

“I work for a secret section in the government. Our official title is Sector Nine – Overseeing and Decimating the Elementals, but most people refer to us as the O.D.E. We have a few other nicknames too; we call ourselves Elemental Killers, or E.Ks for short. There are the other ones like bounty killers but they don’t really give an accurate portrayal of us so we tend only to use O.D.E or Elemental Killers.”

I tried to keep up as he spoke but all the letters and technical names were confusing me.

“So you’re a government agent? How is that possible you’re only nineteen... you are only nineteen right? And what are Elementals?” My brain was reeling off a list of questions, trying to make some sense out of what he had told me.

“Yes I’m nineteen, so you don’t have to worry about that,” he said chuckling. “But no I’m not a government agent, the government pay us but we are a separately run sector and the government has little influence in what we do.”

“OK I think I get it, but what are these Elementals you are killing.”

He sighed at my question, this was obviously the part he was dreading.

“This is that part where I need you to be open minded ’kay?”

I nodded hesitantly, unsure if I really wanted to hear this as it was only adding to my grief.

“Elementals are these creatures that are sort of like spirits and as their name suggests they control the elements. There are four of them that live among us; Fire, Water, Air and Earth but they normally stay away from crowded areas. For a long time now they have been causing freak conditions that are killing a lot of people. My job is to stop them.”

I could tell he was skipping over a lot of facts and small details but for once I was glad as my mind was having trouble understanding.

“Okay so these creatures, The Elementals, why are they doing this?”

“At the moment we believe it’s because they want their land back. We humans colonised their island and we have slowly ruined the energy they need to live but seeing as they started using forceful methods, we have retaliated. Plus we can’t really hold a mass evacuation as what would we tell people? That’s the main theory anyway. You’re handling this surprisingly well by the way.”

I smiled at his comment.
If only he knew what was going on inside my head, he wouldn’t be saying that.

“Right, so I’m guessing your job pays well and that’s how you can afford a car like yours?” He nodded and looked slightly confused by the easy question.

“So when was the last time you were on a job?” I wasn’t sure if I believed him just yet as paranormal spirits seemed a little far fetched.

He rubbed his face uneasily, as if stalling for time before answering. “The night of the fire near your house.”

I sucked in a breath of air in shock as my mind started fitting pieces of a puzzle together. “You mean...” I said when I finally exhaled, not realising I was holding my breath.

“Yes, the fire at your house was not started naturally. It was an Elemental attack which is why I came so quickly when I heard. There was no chance of the firefighters being able to put out the flames and when I got there they were still battling them away from the house. Only when I killed the Elemental responsible did they start to make progress.”

I lay on the hard, jagged rock as I listened to him.
My dad was murdered by a supernatural spirit.
Kai must have been able to read my thoughts from my face.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t have been there sooner Rea, I really am. Also know it’s hard to accept, but there was nothing anyone could have done unless they were an E.K.” He stroked my face as I left out ragged breaths.

“Not your fault.” I sniffed, “tell me about that night.” His charcoal stained face and muddy appearance made sense now.

“Do you really think that’s a good idea?”

I sat up suddenly and glared at him. “I need to know Kai. I’ve just found out that spirits having been killing off people including my dad, I have a right to know what happened that night.”

Sighing he settled himself on the rock as if it was going to be a long story.

“Fine you’re right,” he muttered in defeat.

“When you told me about the fire I knew instantly that the chances of it being natural were slim to none so I got in my car. I drove to yours as fast as possible, hoping I would make it in time. You see the only way to kill an Elemental is to shoot it right at the core of its power, which in their case is the base of their feet, so no matter what the firefighters did, they wouldn’t be able to stop it.” He glanced down at me but I was lying back on the rock, staring at the sky again, only noticing a brief movement out of the corner of my eye.

“When I got there it was terrible, the men were struggling to keep the wall of flames under control and there was no way into the forest where they were. I had to go all the way round to find a way in but thankfully it was close to where the fire Elemental was. Once I shot it I left so the firefighters could finish the job and came to find you.”

“Um this may sound stupid but how do you shoot a spirit?”

He laughed a bit at my question but I just frowned at him. That shut him up pretty quickly and he resumed explaining.

“Well physically from the waist up they look like us, only they have less detail as their element decides their colouring, orange for fire, blue water, purple air and green for earth. From the waist down, where their legs should be is basically a ball of energy that looks like their element. The fire Elemental is surrounded by flames, which are most prominent at its feet. That’s where you shoot it. Technically the bullet would go through it but as it passes through, it causes a surge of energy that the creature can’t cope with, causing the bullet to burn up and the Elemental to die. Therefore it is consumed by the energy of its element. For example the fire Elemental I shot dissolved into a ball of flames then vanished.”

I was even more confused now and it was all starting to get too much for me.

“You don’t believe me do you? I can see it on your face.”

It wasn’t really a question and to be honest I didn’t have an answer as I was still unsure what I believed so remained quiet. Thankfully he too remained quiet while I tried to gather my thoughts. When I was ready again I sat up and faced him for the first time since arriving.

“OK so just to sum up so far; you’re an Elemental Killer working for a section in the government but all they do is pay you. Elementals are spirits that are trying to take their land back by killing us and that’s what happened to my dad. Oh and you kill Elementals by shooting them.”

He smiled at my very brief version. “Those are the basics yes.”

I shivered slightly as I hadn’t realise how late it was and it was getting pretty cold with the sea breeze hitting us constantly. Kai pulled me against his chest, the warmth that radiated from it feeling good against my back.

“Is there anything else you want to know before we go?”

Only a few hundred things
, I thought.

“So how do you know where to go? I mean if there’s something that needs to be taken care of.” I felt his chest vibrate with a slight laugh.

“Phones of course.”

I had to laugh also at my stupidity then and it was the first time since my dad’s death I felt safe, even though I’d found out it was something much bigger than all of us and I was with a guy who just told me he was a killer.

“How many of you lot are there and how many of them?”

“I don’t know about them but there are twenty of us.”

I knew I was asking random questions and there was no order to them but I was just asking them as soon as I thought of them. I wasn’t sure I wanted every tiny detail anyway.

We sat in silence for a moment, just watching the sun set. I felt comfortable sat in his strong arms.

“Kai? What happened to your family?”

I felt his sigh, more than heard it as his lips were pressed against my hair.

“I was wondering when you were going to get to that. If I say they were killed by Elementals is that enough? Or do you want details?”

He sounded so sad yet angry at the same time I decided it was enough and that I too was out of questions.

“Shall we go then?” I nodded and we made our way slowly back to his car.

* * * *

I didn’t know where Kai planned on staying the night but everything was cleared up when he booked us into a small, local hotel. Once again he surprised me as he pulled out a huge wad of cash to pay. He just shrugged as he noticed my face but thankfully I wasn’t the only one. The receptionist also had a shocked expression on her face as she eyed the money.

As soon as we entered the room, I felt myself grow quite nervous about the prospect of staying in a room on my own with Kai.

“I’m going to take a shower,” I said, grabbing the overnight bag I had packed that morning. This was mostly just so I could get away from Kai and gather my nerves.