Five: Out of the Dark (22 page)

I screamed for hours. For days. For years. For an eternity.

Then, Johnathan was beside me.
My
Johnathan, not the Wolf. He touched my face with his gentle hands, searching my eyes, murmuring softly. “Paige, it’s okay. Look at me, look at me. You’re okay, everything’s okay.”

I stopped screaming. I started trembling. Ferocious tears sprung to my eyes and flowed down my face. I wrapped my still-attached arms around Johnathan’s neck and sobbed. I closed my eyes—that was a mistake, the gore returned, replaying on the backs of my eyelids like some sadistic movie caught in an eternal loop of terror. I whimpered—no, I’m not proud of that, whimpering is against my code of honor and dignity. But, I didn’t scream, and that’s what I really
wanted
to do—I was afraid if I started again, I would never stop. I would just keep screaming until there was no air left to breathe.

I opened my eyes, afraid to close them for more than a blink, but seriously afraid to look at the trees. I buried my face in Johnathan’s neck. He wrapped his arms tightly around me, his face pressed close to my ear, whispering, “Shhh. It’s okay. I’m here. You’re safe. Shhh.”

He rocked me back and forth, soothing and gentle. I continued to sob.

I twitched when Seth spoke; I’d forgotten he was there. “Johnathan, what happened? What’s wrong with her?”

Johnathan’s arms tightened around me. He moved his mouth away from my ear long enough to answer. “I’m not sure. Just give her a minute. You guys make sure no one’s coming this way. And, keep an eye on our unconscious
friends
.”

I heard Seth and Alec move a small distance away. Johnathan’s mouth moved next to my ear again, his warm breath a soothing distraction. “Paige, you’re okay. You need to slow down your breathing. You need to slow down your breathing, Paige. Breathe with me.”

He took a slow, deep breath in, and then slowly let it out. In and out, over and over, until my respirations fell into sync with his. I stopped sobbing and took only an occasional shuddering breath. I became aware of Johnathan’s scent, strong and musky. My thoughts turned from monstrous trees and Demon eyes to other, much more pleasant things. Like Johnathan’s lips. That’s when I remembered my promise to him.

I pulled away. Well, I tried to pull away, but his encircling arms held me tight. “John,” I said.

He loosened his embrace just a little, enough for me to look up into his eyes. I fully expected to see the predatory, golden-eyed Johnathan I’d seen in the alley that day. I was more than a little relieved to see just a really worried Johnathan staring back at me.

“John,” my voice rasped, almost gone from the extensive screaming I’d put it through. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. You can let go of me now.” There was nothing in the world I wanted more than to stay wrapped up in the safety of his arms—but, I’d already broken my promise to him and I couldn’t continue to compromise his mental well-being. His words from the alley came back to me:
I will leave, if I have to, to protect you
.

He narrowed his eyes and tilted his head. “Why are you sorr …” Understanding dawned on his face. I prepared for him to let go of me and push me away. Instead, he shocked me completely by crushing my head to his chest. I felt his warm lips pressed to the top of my head—all my resistance vanished and I melted into him again, relishing the warmth of his body pressed to mine and the feel of his hot breath in my hair.

The faint sounds of music drifted to my ears from the party in the distance. I closed my eyes, exhausted from the night’s events, and shuddered as a picture of maggots and wolf hair invaded my mind. I quickly opened my eyes.

“We should get you home. Are you hurt anywhere? Will you be able to walk okay?” Johnathan spoke quietly, almost in a whisper.

“I … don’t know if I’m hurt. I think I’m okay … physically anyway,” I said.

He sighed and loosened his hold. “Okay, let me help you up. Move slowly, in case you
are
hurt.”

Johnathan crouched next to me, placed one strong arm around my back and offered me his other hand as a way to pull myself up. First, I had to untangle my legs from the tree branches—which triggered a flashback and a bout of terror that caused me to clamp down hard on Johnathan’s hand with both of mine.

“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” he asked.

Not hurt, just terrified,
I thought. My throat was too constricted to speak so I just shook my head.

“Hey, guys, come give us a hand here. Help Paige get her legs untangled,” Johnathan said just loud enough for Seth and Alec to hear.

They hurried over and pulled my legs from the branches. I exhaled the breath I’d been holding and Johnathan helped me stand. I clung to him as a wave of dizziness swept over me and I felt his strong arm tighten around my waist. We stood for a few minutes until I was sure the dizziness had passed. Alec and Seth had deep frowns on their faces as they watched me closely.

“What happened, Paige?” Alec asked. “What’s going on with you?”

“Let her recover a little before you start giving her the third degree, Alice,” Johnathan said.

“It’s okay.” I looked at Alec and answered, “They had some of that liquid stuff that was at the party, in the tanks—only Big Lips over there said it was a special, extra-strong dose just for me. When I blew him off me with a spell, he dropped it and some of it spilled into my mouth. I can’t imagine how bad it would have been if they’d made me drink the whole thing.” I shuddered.

Seth bent down and picked up the plastic container where it had fallen. A small bit of liquid remained inside. He secured the lid and placed the bottle in his pocket. He looked up to see us all staring at him and said with a shrug, “Maybe I can figure out what’s in this stuff.”

“Just be super cautious with it. It’s horrible,” I said.

“So, what did it do to you?” Alec asked. “Why were you screaming your brains out?”

I looked at him and flinched when I saw a small Faerie still flying near his head. I’d hoped the effects had worn completely off—but seeing that Faerie caused me to think they probably hadn’t.

“What?” Alec asked as he searched the area above his head to see what had caught my attention.

“You don’t see anything?” I asked, hopeful that maybe there really
was
a Faerie circling his head and it wasn’t the
Sentience
at all.

Alec looked at me through squinted eyes, his head tilted sideways. “Nooo … do
you
see something?”

I shook my head and squeezed my eyes shut, but only for a couple of seconds. The monsters were still there when I closed my eyes. I couldn’t stop the tears from falling, again—at least this time I had the sobs somewhat under control with just a small hitch every few breaths. My throat hurt. I was exhausted. I was scared. And, I was drugged. This had not been a good night. Even having Johnathan there next to me, holding me, wasn’t enough to erase the horrors.

Alec looked anxiously from me to Johnathan. “Maybe I see something … maybe I just looked in the wrong place. What am I looking for? I’ll look again.”

I laughed as I continued to cry.

“Let’s get you home,” Johnathan said.

We set off in a direction that would skirt far around the party-house. My legs felt all wobbly and I was glad for Johnathan’s support. I worried about being so close to him and the strong possibility it would cause another animalistic response from him. I kept expecting him to push me away after the shock of the fight wore off. But he didn’t. He held me close and lent me his strength.

The drug continued to play with my mind on the long walk home. I saw things everywhere. A homeless man hunched in the threshold of a building turned into a praying mantis with hundreds of red eyes. It lunged for me and I let out a nearly silent scream that would have burst some eardrums if my vocal cords hadn’t been pushed past their limits. A short burst of psychotic-sounding, wheezing laughter came as a purple fish wearing a top hat and carrying a tiny cane floated past. I flinched and let out a squeak as a star exploded in front of my face. This barrage continued as we walked.

After each sighting I had, Alec would ask, “What’s wrong, Paige? What do you see?” And, every time he asked, I would just shake my head, unable to speak.

Finally, Johnathan and Seth yelled at him to shut up and stop asking.

The Underground was the worst by far. Except for the limb-stealing trees, that is. As soon as we descended below, the monsters came out in force to torment my flimsy mind. Seth went down the stairs first, and when he turned to look up at us, his face twisted into a mask of horror. Millions of spiders spewed from his mouth, eyes, ears and nostrils. The spiders headed straight for me, growing larger as they approached. I ripped out of Johnathan’s grip and turned to run, screaming silently. My rubbery legs couldn’t keep up with the terror-adrenaline racing through my body and I tripped on the step that led out to the city above. I smacked my head hard when I went down, but not hard enough to knock me out, unfortunately. I rolled down the three or four steps to where Johnathan was just turning to follow me. He stopped my descent, grabbed me around the middle and lifted me up. I looked into his face, still hysterical, and saw the Wolf-demon again—worse this time because it was staring at me with its hungry predator eyes.

To my drug-ravaged mind it was real and it wasn’t my Johnathan. I fought for my life, scratching at its face. It roared as my fingernails hit home and sunk into the soft skin around its eyes. I swear I could feel its teeth sink into the center of my neck as I continued to scream my sickening silent scream.

Someone wrapped their hands around my arms and I fought those, too. They dragged me off the steps and down to the more stable footing of the Underground sidewalk.

“Just hold her down for a minute … until she calms down. We’ll never get her home like this—not without serious injury to her and us,” the Wolf-demon growled.

Seth held my right arm. A lone spider jumped from his face directly at my eyes. I shook my head with frantic, exaggerated movements. I caught sight of Alec, holding my left arm. His mouth was twisted up into a demented smile, rimmed with grotesque clown makeup made of blood and pus. His eyes spun like a top and his throat was slit from ear to ear, leaking black, tar-like liquid.

They held me up against a brick wall. My strength was waning. I closed my eyes and slumped to the ground, led there gently by their hands.
Wait, that doesn’t make sense. Why would these monsters be gentle?
Nothing made sense. Exhaustion took over. I lowered my head and continued to take rapid, shallow breaths.

Then, he was there, kneeling in front of me. He stroked my face and spoke gently, like he was trying to calm a frightened bird. “Paige, you’re okay, you’re safe. Nothing’s going to hurt you.” My Johnathan. The spell broke when I heard his voice quiver and my heart ached at the sound.

I looked in his eyes and was relieved to see they were, indeed,
his
eyes. I tried to reach for him, but Alec and Seth still held my arms. “John? What’s happening to me?”

“Let her go, guys,” he never took his eyes from mine. “I don’t know exactly what’s happening, Paige, but I know it’ll be all right. We’ll figure this out and the drug’ll wear off. I want you to let me carry you the rest of the way. Just hide your eyes and think good thoughts. We’ll be home soon.”

I nodded. He didn’t give me a chance to stand up, just scooped me up in his arms and stood. I barely had enough energy to wrap my arms around his neck. I buried my face in his shoulder and thought of the first time he’d held my hand. I fantasized about what our first date would be like. I breathed in his scent. And … I refused to close my eyes or look at anything but Johnathan’s shirt.

The only sounds on the way home were those of the boys’ feet on the ground and Johnathan’s breathing. By the time we reached our Underground haven, I felt like my mind was on the mend. For the time being. Who knew what the long-term effects would be.

Halli met us at the bottom of the stairs where Johnathan lowered me to the ground.

“Hal,” Johnathan said, “Paige has had a rough night. Will you go help her get ready for bed, please? We’ll fill you in once she’s settled.”

“Of course. Come on, Paige. You look awful,” she took my arm and walked with me to our shared room.

I fell unconscious as soon as I lay down.