Legacy (Endlessly Book 2) (12 page)

1
6 beneath me

Jesse looked insanely amused when he appeared in the doorway. He approached us with a twisted smile and livid eyes. He clapped his hands together, rubbed them eagerly, and said: “Are we ready to go then?”

I heard a drumming of quick small feet in the hall. Just then the fluffy black cat shot into the room, aiming at Jesse. He launched himself at the demon, biting and scratching. Jesse got a grip on Ed’s neck, and threw him against the wall. Ed’s tiny body hit the wall with a sickening sound, then slid down.

I gasped. Fabi yelled, and ran to grab the motionless fur ball. She cradled him and placed her hand on his back. A second later the cat stirred and hopped down from her arms. Ed puffed up and growled in Jesse’s direction, then ran down the hallway as if nothing had happened.

“You see how pathetic that is?” Jesse snorted
, pointing at Fabi. “She would make herself weaker to save a fucking cat!”

“That cat
has done nothing wrong in its life, and it did not deserve to die.” Fabi said, glaring at Jesse.

“It’s a fucking cat! Stupid!” Jesse yelled, his grin twisting. “You’ve made yourself as weak as a human for stupid shit like that cat!” He cackled, then flicked like a switch. “Come on, let’s go.”

Verloren kicked his bag over to Cory. Cory stood up and kicked the bag back. “I told you I’m not carrying your shit!”

I grabbed my own bag. Fabi didn’t carry luggage.
Verloren left his bag behind and followed Jesse. I stayed close to Verloren. Cory trailed behind us with Fabi, Jason taking up the rear. Jason lifted Verloren’s bag.

Tell Jason there is no need to bring it
, Verloren told me.
We’re going to kill this motherfucker.

We might not want to tell Jason,
I thought as we climbed the dark stairs leading to the underside of the tree.

It was light enough to see but the sun was either setting or rising. Cory jumped up and pulled himself out from under the tree first.

Now?
I asked Verloren.

No. Cory has us covered too well. It would be like shooting fish in a barrel. Wait until we’re out in the open.

As we emerged Verloren didn’t bother with sunglasses. The others followed. Jason was last. As the tallest, he had to hoist Fabi up.

Our formation was the same outside. Jesse grumbled, produced a machete, and gestured for us to follow. The last of the sunlight was fading
in the west. Darkness was coming. I pulled my backpack over one shoulder and followed Verloren.

We hadn’t walked far when Verloren discretely glanced at me. He shifted his gaze to Jesse who was swinging the machete. We continued to walk.

There is a clearing up ahead,
Verloren told me.
On my word, I’ll grab his machete arm, then I’ll pull with everything I got. You get a hold of him. Keep him as still as you can, and use him as a shield against Cory.

I’m going to take out Cory first,
I told him nervously.

A soundless question ran through his mind. How would I take out Cory fast enough to avoid Jesse’s wrath?

Like Kale. Fire,
I told him.

An excitement grew in Verloren’s mind. He’d been mired in despair for too long, but now, for the first time since Jesse had abducted us Verloren had hope.

We’ll improvise,
he told me.

When I saw the clearing my heart raced. This was it. Our fate lay in that clearing. These could be the last few seconds of our lives. Terrified, I rifled through my brain. I didn’t know what I was looking for, but if these w
ere the last seconds of my life and nothing lay beyond, I had to leave something behind. I could think of nothing. Tears formed. My vision clouded. I kept my breathing calm. We closed in on the clearing.

What was I looking for? What had my life meant? What would I leave behind? What was my legacy? I could only think of the one thing: my love for Verloren.

I love you,
I told him.

He looked over his shoulder at me as we neared the clearing.
I’ll love you for forever and a day.
His lip quivered as he turned from me.

I blinked rapidly to clear my vision of the dark tears.

NOW!
Verloren cried out to my mind.

Jesse had just stepped onto open ground. Verloren leapt forward and grabbed the demon’s arm. Force radiated from Verloren as he pulled at Jesse’s soul. Jesse slammed Verloren into the tree.

Everything was unraveling. I dropped my backpack and threw scorching fire at Cory. As it hit him he shifted, bellowing an inhuman scream. A gun went off, and there was an unearthly noise as the bullet hit something. I smelled blood. Cory fell silently to the earth.

Jesse swung the machete, but Verloren ducked. The machete sunk into the trunk of the tree.

I knocked Jesse to the ground as Verloren arrived at my side. I grabbed both of Jesse’s biceps and put my weight on his thighs. As Verloren grabbed his forearm again Jesse kicked furiously. A vibration shook his body, and I heard his sinister laugh. His manic humor ran down my spine.

I heard footsteps, possibly Fabi’s.

Jesse cackled, then spoke: “What are you waiting for? Kill him, Jason.” He tried to raise his head off the ground and addressed me. “What are you going to do now?”

I heard the click of an empty gun.

Jesse growled: “Cory’s gun, you stupid shit!”

“No!” Fabi screamed.

I struggled to keep Jesse pinned as I turned my eyes on Jason. He walked through the thick smoke from Cory’s body, picked up the gun, and pointed it at Verloren. Fabi tackled Jason. Another shot rang out. Another strange thud followed. Crushing and searing pain filled my chest. I screamed. Something cool trickled across my stomach. The bullet had passed through my heart. I was shocked to find myself still alive. The wound bubbled like peroxide as my body repaired itself. Only head shots can kill a vampire. I glanced at Verloren. His eyes were closed in concentration.

Jesse began laughing again. Fabi and Jason struggled behind us. When I saw two holes in Jesse’s shirt it dawned on me: Jason had not shot at me; the bullet had ricocheted off Jesse. That’s what had killed Cory too. My chest wound closed and the blood stopped.

Fabi ran toward us crying: “No! Jason stop!”

“Verloren!” I shouted over Jesse’s laughter. “Jason’s got a gun!”

He didn’t seem to hear. Fabi shielded Verloren, her arms stretched behind her. Jason’s face was twisted in pain. His eyes glazed over with tears.

Jason walked toward us yelling: “Move
, Verloren!”

Two more shots rang out. They made the same sickening sounds as they bounced off Fabi. J
ason knocked her out of the way and stood directly over Verloren. Verloren’s eyes were shut tight as he struggled to pull the life out of Jesse.

“Verloren!” I shouted.

Verloren’s eyes snapped open. He rolled out of the way as Jason fired again. The bullet threw mud at me as it sank into the ground. Verloren was on his feet and tackled Jason. He grabbed the gun as another shot sounded. They both fell to the ground rolling and struggling for control over the weapon.

“Kill me!” Jason yelled.

“That was a huge failure,” Jesse said through his twisted grin.

Jason and Verloren disappeared in the smoke.

Fabi had made it to her feet, but she couldn’t stop them.

I looked back into Jesse’s eyes as he called out: “Jason! Kill Ashley!”

Verloren and Fabi shouted protests, but through a break in the smoke I saw Jason wrench the gun from Verloren and point it at me. Fabi lurched forward. I shut my eyes. Another odd sound, then the wind shifted in my mind. My stomach sank. I felt sick. I had lost a connection. I felt the sting of blank shock emanating from another person.

My body trembled as I opened my eyes. Fabi was blocking my view, but her arms were dropping. She was too late. Black smoke rolled through the clearing.

Fury coursed through my veins. I gripped Jesse’s arms, lifting him. He turned his head and saw what I already knew. He laughed wildly and my instincts took hold. I sank my teeth into his throat.

He howled as I drained his bitter blood. I gagged then vomited, but I had to go on. I couldn’t kill him, but I would not
be satisfied unless I knew he was suffering. I would do whatever it took. He struggled to get out from under me. I grabbed his head and pulled it back, exposing his throat. He screamed and tried to push me off.

I sank
my teeth in, ripping his esophagus violently. The bitterness of his blood dried my throat, but I made myself drink it. I stopped. Though I would never find satisfaction, I could take comfort from the look in his eyes. He was terrified. That meant I was doing something right. With his vocal cords crushed he could no longer scream. His blood burned my stomach, leaching its way in to my blood stream. I didn’t care if his blood killed me as long as I took Jesse down.

Again I bit into his throat, drinking all
he had. His struggling weakened and, finally, his arms and legs stilled. I drank the last of him, terrified if I stopped he would come back. My body burned with his blood.

I pulled back gasping for breath, his head still in my hands. His eyes were vacant. Nonetheless, I crushed his skull.
Finally I set his body on fire and watched it burn beneath me.

17 empty bliss

My body felt different. It was as if something were growing inside of me, searing me from the inside out. I looked at my gore-covered hands and mindlessly wiped them on my sweatshirt, though it was covered in the bitter, regurgitated blood.

My body shook with adrenaline. I felt shock. My stomach was disintegrating. I was going to be sick again, yet the one feeling all this wasn’t me. My rage died. I looked back at a scene the sun was setting on. Thick smoke filled the air. Shadows fell across the earth. The smell of burning flesh nauseated me. I forced my legs
to move and stumbled away from Jesse’s mangled body.

Fabi’s back was toward me. The black smoke broke into patches obscuring the ground. Beyond Fabi I saw two pairs of legs. One set of legs sprawled motionless; the
other pair rocked up and down — someone crouching.

I found him just past Fabi. Verloren lay motionless. Covering his own face, Jason knelt beside him, rocking back and forth.

The next moments were a haze of unconscious movement. I was fading into shock. I was no longer tethered to my body. Someone had shut off the sound throughout the world and the only thing in my vision was Verloren’s face. His eyes were half open, his face relaxed. If his eyes had been shut he might’ve been asleep. A gaping wound lay open on the side of his head. I don’t remember how I got to him. My memories are of cradling him, sobbing, and running my fingers through his hair.

There were only a few moments of daylight left, but I felt no urge to leave that place. I knew only his face, and the pain building in my chest. I laid my forehead against his. It was no longer warm. I wanted him to hear me. I wante
d him to see the nightmare I was having and wake me up. I wanted him to tell me it was all just a bad dream.

A hand touched my shoulder. I looked up to see Jason’s tortured face.

I looked back at Verloren’s peaceful face and the inky streaks of my tears. Again I fell out of time. Another hand lay on my shoulder. Fabi crouched beside me. Gradually a new and darker world came into focus. The sound came back on. I heard the pop and sizzle of bodies burning: Cory and Jesse.

“Fix him,” I breathed, shifting my gaze from Verloren’s face to Fabi. 

She stared at me. Nearby the fire was dying. “No.”

I noticed the hole
s in her shirt. One was the shot Jesse had ordered for me, the shot she’d saved me from. It was the bullet that bounced off her and killed Verloren.

I felt a sudden fury. “You will fix him,” I told her.

Somewhere behind me Jason’s ragged breathing filled the silence.

“Ashley, I can’t—
” Fabi whispered.

“FIX HIM!” I screamed.

“He’s a vampire I—” Fabi began.

“You brought a fucking cat back, you will bring him back!”

“He’s a murderer!” she snapped. “He took innocent lives for centuries! I will not bring him back so that he can continue to kill! No angel would!”

As she started to rise I grasped her arm. Again I was face-to-face with the hole
s in her shirt. I hated her. I pointed at one of the holes and roared: “It should have been you, but instead you caused his death. You will fix him now!”

Jason’s sob
s grew deafening. I looked back and saw him tearing his hair. I gripped Fabi’s arm again, wanting her dead. My hand began to tremble. As it hummed and vibrated Fabi’s eyes grew wide. She jerked her arm from my grip, then stumbled and fell. The vibration stopped.

Fabi stared at me
, shaking her head in confusion and fear. She gasped for air. I didn’t know what had happened.

I turned back to Verloren. He was the only worl
d I knew. I kissed his forehead and whispered: “It’s going to be okay.” I rocked him in my arms and cried. Night fell and in my heart I wished for new life from the darkness.

“No
…” Fabi hissed. “No, you can’t do that.”

Jason stared at her, daggers in his eyes. Though Fabi’s outburst was aimed at me, Jason was sick and tired of her, and his annoyance was building into deadly
anger. Fabi had bypassed anger and traveled into her own bitter fears.

“She just tried to take my soul!
” she screamed, pointing at me. “Just like a demon. I felt it.” She started to back away. “You’re a monster!”

Jason let loose an inhuman growl, but Fabi barely noticed. “She’s able to read minds,” she screeched, “and she controls people, alive and dead. The zombies are her puppets. She can take a life with a single touch. She’s an abomination.” Fabi stared at Jason. “She controls you, and if you don’t do something she’ll control the world. She’s ready to finish what Jesse started.”

Something tore. Jason had suddenly shifted. When I saw his massive form stalking toward Fabi on all fours, I realized his intention. He bared his teeth and growled. Fabi stared at him, terrified. She had reason to be. He would kill her.

“No,” I said suddenly. “Jason, let her go.” Moonlight bathed Verloren’s face. Next to him some
thing glinted. I reached for it and knew what it was: Verloren’s gun.

Fabi side-stepped Jason
and ran toward the road into the forest. I gazed at the gun in my hand. Verloren was gone, forever, and that was a boulder crushing my chest. Was he right that death was final, with no possibility of return, or was Jessica’s hope a reality? I didn’t know and didn’t care. All I knew was that life in this world had become an impossibility. If Verloren still existed anywhere, that’s where I would go. If he was nothing, then I would be too. I stuck the gun barrel into my mouth, closed my eyes, and pulled the trigger.
Click.
No more bullets.

Jason smacked the gun from my hand. I stared up at him. He was naked, but in human form. I averted my eyes, looking down at my empty hand.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he demanded.

I can’t live without him,
I thought, as I buried my face in Verloren’s chest.

“You can and you will,” said Jason. “I made him a promise that I would take care of you, and I’m not going to break that fucking promise.”

Awkward silence fell. He paced behind me with his mind closed. Finally he came back in front of me in werewolf form.

“I’m going to take him to the beach.” It was all I could say. I cradled Verloren against my chest with one arm and slipped my other arm under his knees.

The only sounds were from our own movements as I carried Verloren to the beach. My sobs were interspersed with the choking and gagging that go with a werewolf’s weeping. The further I walked the more it felt as if my life was draining away.

Once we reached the beach Jason followed a few steps behind. As I walked across the sand I buried my nose in Verloren’s hair. The tide was coming in.

It felt like the edge of the world. I thought if I took another step I might fall into a bliss of emptiness where there were no feelings, no situations, and no dreams. I stood with Verloren as water washed up onto my feet. Jason loped behind me on all fours. He was terrified of what I might do.

“It’s going to be okay,” I told Verloren again, as I press my cheek against his.

I looked into his face one last time. It was all I could take. I crumpled to my knees and howled, igniting my body as I clutched Verloren. My flames engulfed both of us. The water at my feet hissed and boiled. Steam rose around us. I felt his body quickly cremating in my arms. I couldn’t bear to look at him. Instead I watched the moonlight sparkle on the waves. Each time a wave touched me, it took some of Verloren, until there was nothing left but me.

I waited until my hands were empty before I looked down. My chest felt caved in. My mental wall was shattered.

Then, as if a switch had been flipped, I felt nothing. It was as if the sea had filled with Novocain. I finally fell into the bliss of emptiness, not caring about anything. My anger was gone along with my happiness. I didn’t care.

My mind was open to Jason, who let loose a series of high-pitched whines as soon as my vision hit him. I thought:
It shouldn’t feel that bad. After all, emptiness doesn’t feel like anything at all.

I welcomed the void. I welcomed the dar
kness. I hoped I would never wake up.