Midnight Fire - Rise of the Dark Angel - Book One (24 page)

             
Phoenix and Sadie walked
into
the building with the
billowing
smoke
and
looked
inside. They’
d
been told not to wander
but
they couldn’t
fathom
what
was making the
horrific odor. As they neared the door the first thing that caught their atten
tion was a huge pile of clothes
.

             
They were both afraid of walking
through the doors
but couldn’t turn back. They stepped
inside
and saw several steel doors. There wasn’t anything too odd about that
,
but
then they went to the end where there was another door and what they saw would change them for the rest of their lives.

             
At
that moment their childhood ended. Before them
,
piled as if they were nothing more than garbage
,
were
bodies. It must’
ve been about ten feet high and equally as wide. There were children and adults of all ages
,
naked and dead. Their eyes were still open and Phoenix could feel the terror they must have felt knowing their lives were about to end suddenly.

             
Phoenix and Sadie gripped hands as they
stared
at the
unbearable
sight before them
,
both sobbing uncontrollably. They wanted to turn and run but they couldn’t seem to move. Neither of them imagined something so bad could
ever happen
. One human being couldn’t do that to another. It just didn’t seem possible.

             
“Girls
,
you need to get out of here,” Larry said as he came up behind them and
laid
a comforting hand on each of their shoulders.

             
“Oh D
addy, this is so horrible,” Phoenix sobbed and clutched her father as her emotions ran over. Sadie clung to him under his other arm and both girls stood there
,
shaking in pain and denial of something to
o
horrific to comprehend. Larry said something into his microphone and a few minutes later John and Jayden
appeared.

             
“Can
you lead the girls out of here?
I’ve called some soldiers to properly take care of these people,” Larry said to the boys. Neither girl was even capable of speech, let alone movement so John and Jayden swept them in
to
their arms and carried them away.

             
Brian saw them crossing the
desolate
looking prison yard and came running
to them
. John
explained
what they’
d seen and quickly transferred Sadie into his arms.
Phoenix didn’t remember much more from that point, just being sat down
,
then
sometime later they were driving away. She wanted nothing more than to fall asleep and wake up to find the events of the past few years had been nothing but a nightmare
.

             
“Phoenix
,
wake up, we’
re back now,” Jayden spoke into Phoenix’s
ear. She didn’t want to wake up
because if she did
, the
reality would set back in and she no longer wanted to be any part of a reality where human beings could be abused as badly as
she’d seen
.

             
Jayden
carried Phoenix down the hall
and quickly reached her room. He set her on her feet and
held
her tight
ly
against
his body
. He knew she was still in shock
. What she’
d seen was beyond comprehension.

             
Jayden started to pull away and Phoenix
whimpered
. “Please
,
stay with me.
I don’t want to be alone,” she said as a sob escaped her lips.

             
Her father was standing in the hallway
,
not far from them
and Jayden looked over at the man. He
would never
disrespect her father, who’
d been very good
to
both him and his sister
but
he couldn’t deny Phoenix
anything
she wanted. Larry nodded his head yes
, then
turned and walked away. Jayden felt another piece of ice chip away from his heart at the trust the man was instilling in him with his daughter.

             
He once again scooped Phoenix into his arms and walked through her doorway
,
gently
laying
her on her bed. She looked up at him with h
er huge, frightened eyes. She’
d never looked more like a child than in those moments.

             
“Is someone
staying
with Sadie?”
She
asked, concerned for her best friend more than for herself.

             
“Yes, Sadie won’t be alone,” he answered as he began undoing her shoes. He was certainly going to be put through the test of his endurance that night,
lying
next to her. He wouldn’t violate her
trust,
or her father’s
,
by
crossing the boundaries with her
when she was so vulnerable
,
but
his body would certainly pay the price by morning.

             
“I’m going to jump over to my room to change into sweats real
quick
. Put your pajamas on
and I’
ll be back before you know it,” he told her. He could see she wanted to protest his absence, even if it was only for a few moments
but
she nodded her head and
s
at up in the bed.
He quickly slipped out the door
and changed in record time.

             
He came back and knocked on her door. He knew she most likely wasn’t ready for him yet. “I’m almost done,” she said and he could hear the relief in her voice
he’
d returned to her so
fast
. “Okay, come in
,
Jayden.”

             
He stepped through the door and took a deep breath. She was so innocent and yet devastatingly stunning at the same time. H
er face had
red blotches from her tears
and she was wearing a baggy shirt and sweats, her hair hanging
free
around her shoulders. She still had the frightened eyes
but
she was
still
the most beautiful being he’d ever seen.

             
“Do you want to get some food first?”
He
asked, finding he wanted to stall climbing into her bed. He thought his sister would get pleasure out of the fact
that
he was terrified of the petite
human
.
A
t that moment she could bring him to his knees and was far more dangerous than anything else in existence.

             
“I don’t want to leave
my room
,” she told him.
He sighed
because he knew he was stuck for the remainder of the evening,
surrounded by her scent. He’
d certainly learn a l
ot about his control
.

             
There was a knock at her door
and he turned his head to see her father walk in with a tray o
f food. “I didn’t think you’
d feel like going to the kitchen
,
but
you must be hungry
,
so please try and eat something
, Phoenix. You’
ll sleep better if you do,” her father said as he set the tray down. Jayden had never felt
claustrophobia
before
but
he was feeling a bit at that moment
, being locked in the small room
.

             
“I’
ll try
,
D
addy,” she said
and he rewarded her by kissing her
cheek
, nodding at Jayden and quickly departing.

             
It took
Jayden
some effort
but
he manage
d
to
get her to eat some
.
T
hen
,
there was nothing else to do but lie down in her tiny bed. He took a deep breath
and prepared to suffer
.

             
Phoenix immediately snuggled
close
to him,
resting her head on his shoulder. She was
trembling
slightly, not from cold
but
because she couldn’t get the images out of her
mind. H
e pulled her even closer to him
and ran his hands up and down her delicate spine, nearly groaning at the pleasure of touching her.
She was perfect to him in every way.

             
“Talk to me
,
Jayden,” she asked him sleepily. He knew she
just
needed
to hear the sound of his voice
so her own
frightening
thoughts could be pushed
out
. He thought for a
moment about what he could say
and decided to paint a picture of the future.

             
“When this is
over we’
re going to have a beautiful piece of lan
d
,
where we’
ll plant a garden
and have all your family and friends nearby. I can picture it in the summertime with you running
through the fields with your laughter echoing off
the mountain
s,” he said. He could feel
her body relaxing at his words
so he continued.

             
“John and Chastity will live close by, along with Sadie and Brian and our children will all grow up together,” he told her, which caused a sigh to escape her lips. “You know
,
I can’t live without you
,
Phoenix
,
” he
said
. He wanted her to understand he was never going to go away. He didn’t know why it happened but he knew without her
in his life
he wouldn’t want to exist.
Everything around him would become meaningless.

             
“I love you
,
Jayden,” she said
with
a sleepy sigh and he felt the moment when she stopped fighting and fell asleep, feeling safe and comforted in his arms. Her words seemed to transport him to another
plane
.

             
He no longer felt tortured lying next to her. He still wanted her. He didn’t think the feeling would ever diminish
,
but knowing he was providing comfort for her took away his pain. He felt himself begin to drift as he pictured her running down their mountain with a child in her arms. Her face shining in laughter was his last thought
,
before drifting to sleep.

             
John stood under the shower
,
fighting
his own demons. He’
d
been one of the soldiers who’
d taken care of the bodies. There was no way they could’ve left all those people there as if they meant nothing more than
yesterday’s garbage
. They hadn’t had
time to build individual graves
so had to build one mass grave
,
but
John vowed when everything was over
they’
d get a proper memorial.

             
So many lost lives
and the worst part was he didn’t really understand why. Was power so important it was worth literally
trampling
human beings underneath your feet to get it? He couldn’t understand the kind of monsters it would’ve taken to be so evil. Why were other people
n
ot stepping in and stopping the
war? Did they find it amusing the
Americans
were being slaughtered? For all John knew there
was
war
throughout
the planet.