Vision of Shadows (32 page)

That’s when I decided I wasn’t going to go without a fight.

I grabbed Payne’s face and drew him to me. I kissed him. Jay was stunned. Then I kneed him in the groin.

I collapsed as I tried to suck in a breath. My lungs felt like they were on fire, but I was alive. 

Payne rushed at me, the madness of Jay shining in his eyes. I prepared myself for the blow, but it never came. Opening my eyes, I saw something I didn’t expect.

Payne was fighting back. I could see his face contorted in anguish. He stumbled back and fell to the floor. I started to move closer.

“No, get away,” Payne yelled. “I need you to run. I need you to get Blasé and get out of here.”

“Payne,” I screamed. He was on his knees and shaking all over. “We can get him out of you
.”

“No
,” Payne yelled. “I don’t want him out of me.”

I
was shocked. What was Payne up to? Why would he be holding onto Jay? But that’s what he was doing. I could see the distinct shadow mist try and float away from Payne, only to be willed back in. Payne struggled to get to his feet. Each inch looked like torture.

“I figured it out.” Payne shouted over the roar of the fire. “I know how to kill him
. You’ve got to kill him while he’s inside of someone. That someone is me.”

“What?” I screamed. “Payne, no
. We can find another way.”

“No
,” Payne shouted. “There’s no other way. Get out of here, Bristol. I love you. Go now.” 

I watched in horror as Payne ran into the heart of the inferno. I tried to get to him, but I couldn’t. He was on fire and screaming. His face contorted
, and for a moment, it looked more like Jay than Payne. His body seemed to lunge for the doorway in a panic. 

Payne reasserted and threw himself backward on the broken banister of the stairway. A sharp piece of wood that had caught on fire plunged through Payne’s back
and came out through his chest. Fire continued to burn his skin. All I could do was watch and cry.

I was overcome with the tide of torment and agony mixed with panic and fear. I knew which feelings belonged to Payne and which belonged to Jay. I could barely move from the pain, but I forced myself. I made my way over to Blasé and pulled at his arm. Blasé seemed to stir just enough to work with me.

“Where are we?” he asked in a slurred voice. If he wasn’t so close to my ear, I never would have heard him. “Gotta find Payne’s girlfriend. Promised. Gotta find…”

“Blasé
,” I screamed. “I’m here. We got to move!”

He kept babbling
, but I ignored him, just as I tried to ignore the screams coming from the great ball of fire. I knew Payne was in there, burning alive. Killing himself over and over again to save me. 

I made it to the doorway and tripped down the stairs. I landed on top of Bryan. I heard him “oof” as I landed. He seemed to be starting to stir, and he didn’t seem too pleased that I was on him. Or that he was on Toby. Toby
, however, had the biggest problem with it all. 

“Why is everyone on top of me?” Toby said.

I slid off the top of the pile, ignoring his question. Instead, I was focused on the house that was now completely engulfed in flame. I barely registered the voices and movement behind me as I screamed for Payne. I tried to launch myself into the house, but I was being held back. I started to fight to get to the inferno and then watched in abject terror as it collapsed in on itself.

I fell to my knees and wept. I felt somebody’s arms around me
, and I felt the heat from the fire, but that was it. I didn’t feel the agony from Payne anymore. I couldn’t sense him anymore. I wasn’t sure what that meant. I didn’t want to think of what that meant. I just wanted Payne.

“What’s happened?” Varick McKnight asked as he appeared by my side. “Where’s my grandson?” He looked at me and knelt down to take my hand. “Where’s Payne?”

I couldn’t answer him. Following my gaze, he understood. 

I watched as he ran to the wreckage of the house. I was ordered by Uncle Mark to wait there as he joined Varick. I realized it was raining when I couldn’t feel my tears. More and more people arrived and ran around the house. I didn’t know which ones were Blackburns and which were McKnights. I didn’t care. I just wanted Payne back.

With no one left to stop me, I ran to the remains of the house. The wood and ash was still hot to the touch. I could barely breathe for all the smoke I’d inhaled, but I needed to try and find him. For my entire life, I wondered if the nameless boy from my dreams would murder me. Instead, he may have died a thousand times over just to save me.

“I found him,” Uncle Mark yell
ed. I looked around until I saw Uncle Mark carrying Payne’s body out of the wreckage. I ran to his side. Varick got there just before me. 

“Dear God
, boy,” Varick cried. “What have you done?”

Payne
was burnt beyond recognition, the wooden stake still protruding through his chest. It looked like it may have gone through his heart. He wasn’t breathing. 

I watched and waited, but he didn’t heal. I prayed with all my heart, but he just lay there, motionless. Varick reached down and grabbed the board. “Hold him down,” Varick told my uncle. 

“Varick,” Uncle Mark said. “He’s gone. There’s nothing we can…”

“You just hold him, dammit!” Varick shouted. Then without waiting for further protest, he pulled the stake out of Payne’s chest. Throwing it to the side, Varick leaned in to Payne. “You come back to me now
. You hear me. Come back to me now. Payne!”

Please,
I thought,
don’t leave me.
 

“Payne tried to kill him,” I said through tears. “The ghost that was possessing people. He must have
possessed Payne. Payne fought him and did this to himself.”

I felt a chill and looked over my shoulder.  

Jay. He looked weak, unable to even try and possess anyone, at least for now, but he was still alive. It hadn’t worked. Payne had died for nothing. You can’t kill the dead. I had lost the most important person in my life for nothing.

Jay looked at me with loathing. This wasn’t over, though it was over for tonight. I could tell it would be awhile before Jay could attack again. He looked like he could barely hold his form. He was only there to let me know he wasn’t dead.

“What in the name of Sam Hill is going on here?” I heard Grandpa say as he made his way to us. 

Varick looked up with tears in his eyes. “Payne. My grandson. He won’t heal.”

“Heal?” Uncle Mark asked. “Varick, he’s been burnt beyond belief, and he had a piece of wood in him. He’s not going to just get better. I’m sorry, but he’s gone. Varick, I thought the world of him, but…”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Varick snapped. “My grandson can heal! He can heal from anything
.”

“What are you talking about?” Uncle Mark asked.

“He’s right, son,” Grandpa said. “Payne told me the other day. Boy heals from anything. Gunshots, burns. But this might have been a bit much. Let me see him.”

“Dad, no
,” Uncle Mark yelled as Grandpa clumsily got down on the ground near Payne’s still form. “You can’t. Not after Zack.”

“Wait, what?” I asked, confused. “What’s happening?”

“Hush, Bristol,” Grandpa said. “You listen to me, son. That boy put our girl before everything. Can you imagine the pain that boy felt in there? I’m not going to sit here and do nothing. Varick and I may not be much by way of friends anymore, but that’s his grandson there. Now, get the hell out of my way.”

Reluctantly, Uncle Mark shifted to allow Grandpa to get near Payne. Grandpa reached out and touched Payne’s forehead
and then closed his eyes. Grandpa looked like he was trying to hear something faint. He shook his head. Opening his eyes and looking at Varick McKnight, Grandpa said, “I can’t promise you anything, Varick. You know that.”

Varick pleaded. “Please
, Gregory. I know what I’m asking.”

Grandpa held eye contact for a moment. Then he nodded. “For our ladies.” 

I watched as Grandpa moved his hand from Payne’s head down to his heart. It seemed more a gesture of love than anything else.

“C’mon boy,” Grandpa muttered
. “I know you’re there. Your girl needs you.”

Hearing Grandpa call me Payne’s girl felt like a stab through the heart. I looked to my uncle who seemed to be ready to give up hope
, and then to Varick, whose eyes were locked on Grandpa. 

Payne started to convulse. One spasm after another rocked his body, making it difficult for Grandpa to hold on.

Suddenly, Payne’s eyes opened. They fell on me.

I sprung forward and caught his hand as he reached out to me. The burns on his skin swiftly melted away. Within minutes, Payne was whole and healthy again. He sat up with a wheezing breath, Grandpa helping him. I cried his name as he fought for breath. Payne looked at me just long enough to send me that wicked grin of his before collapsing.

“I’ll be damned,” Uncle Mark said.

Varick reached out to Grandpa and took his hand. “Thank you.”

Looking uncomfortable with the gratitude, Grandpa just nodded. “Can we get out of here now?”

Before long
, someone came to pick up Toby, Bryan, and Blasé. Varick had given instructions to any McKnights that were there to not ever speak of what they witnessed Grandpa do. 

Varick let Uncle Mark carry Payne up to his car. It was a white Rolls Royce
, elegant on the outside and beyond belief on the inside. Not only were the seats made of leather, but the carpeting was lamb’s wool. There was a bar, a TV, and what looked like a couch for a back seat. I barely registered any of it. I sat next to Payne and held his hand. Uncle Mark, Varick, and Grandpa got in as well.

I explained to them about Jay and his power to possess people. Apologizing profusely, I told them why I ran. As I explained, I felt so ashamed. If I hadn’t run
, they wouldn’t have come looking for me. Now Bryan, Blasé, and Toby were hurt. Not to mention what Payne had endured in his failed attempt to kill Jay. I explained all of this and begged for forgiveness.

“Bristol,” Uncle Mark said
. “I think that everyone here understands, but you can’t run. It’s not going to stop this Jay. He’ll keep coming after you.”

I just shook my head. “I can’t let him hurt anyone else. Can you imagine if he had managed to kill me through Payne?
Payne never would have forgiven himself.”

“Bristol
, my dear.” Varick leaned forward in his seat and took my hand. “I must say you take my breath away. Your biggest worry about someone murdering you is that they will feel bad about it afterward? I find that extraordinary.”

“It’s not funny,” I complained. “Payne’s just beginning to forgive himself for not being able to save his mother. I should go. You were all better off before I arrived. I’ve got to get out of this town where Jay can’t follow me
.”

“
Enough,” Uncle Mark said. “You think we would ever forgive ourselves if one of us killed you while we were possessed by this Jay guy? How do you think we’d feel if you were killed by some stranger under the same circumstances because you left? You’re family. We stick together. Understand?”

“I never wanted to leave, Uncle Mark. You know that, right?”

Uncle Mark nodded. “We all know that.”

“There’s a few other things to consider as well,” Grandpa said. “First off, it sounds like the shadow
whatchamacallits were the ones who set this Jay after you. Since it didn’t stop once you told us about them, we have to guess that they just don’t want you around to get hints of what they’re up to, which is why we obviously need you here. You’re too important.”

“I am?” I sniffed.

“Yeah, you are,” Grandpa said. “But don’t let that go to your head. Besides, you’re pretty much stuck here like the rest of us.”

“What?” I said. “Stuck here? What do you mean?”

Varick sighed and squeezed my hand. “Bristol, it has long been believed that neither family can leave Spirit. We are tied to this place. Whatever dark forces give us these abilities also bind us to this town. I can leave for a business trip. We can send our children away to college, but this has to be our home.”

“But my parents, they left,” I said.

“They thought,” Uncle Mark added, “because they had a girl that maybe the curse was wearing off. Or it didn’t apply to them. But it did. Who knows how it affected them.”

“Point is, kiddo,” Grandpa said, “you’re stuck looking at our ugly mugs
, so you better get used to it.” He reached forward and patted my hand. The same hand Varick was holding.

I watch
ed a younger Varick staring at the wreckage of the car. The woman I had thought was his pregnant wife was inside, but Payne had said that Varick’s wife hadn’t died in a car crash. So, who was it?

Then I saw a woman in Varick’s arms. She was weeping. Inconsolable, she had her face pressed against Varick’s chest. Varick tried to soothe her, but it seemed useless. She looked up at the sound of a car screeching to a stop. She was very pretty, even through the tears. She looked a lot like Hunter.