Darkest Night - Chapter 10

The basketball thwacks heavily against the backboard, making me sprint down the road in order to catch it. I grab out of the air, just in time before it hits my neighbor’s car. I breathe a sigh of relief. Ms. Ferry would kill me if I touched her precious car. I dribble the ball back down the road to my driveway and shoot another basket. It falls straight in, the net making a little swooshing sound. I smile and catch it, dropping it onto the grass once I hear my mom calling me inside.

"Jett! Lunch time!" She calls through our screen door. The smell of burgers and hot dogs drift through the screen and into the warm summer air, sticking to my skin. I smile to myself and jog up to the door, opening it and slipping inside.

The inside of our house is dark, cold, and ominous, very different compared to the warm, bright summer day outside. I shiver and fold my arms across my chest. I reach for the light switch and flick on the lights, feeling a scream ripped from my throat as I examine the room. Our living room is completely demolished, every scrap destroyed. Paintings hang in shreds from the walls and the couch sprays stuffing everywhere. It resembles something of a murder scene.

"Mom?" I call hesitantly, horrified. "Dad? Is it still lunch time?"

No response. I gather my wits and step over the damage, creeping my way towards the kitchen. I hear a crack and freeze, turning around. Katie stands there, next to Ash, two huge, bloody holes in her neck. She cocks her head to the side curiously, fixing her unblinking stare on me. Ash does the same, but on him, there’s a stake through his heart. "Why did you leave me, Jett?" Katie calls, voice sweet and high like a child. "Why did you leave me?"

Ash smiles, cocking his head to the side as well. "Yeah, Jett. Why? Why did you leave us there to die?"

I shake my head, horrified. "But, you’re not dead, Ash. Neither are you…" Wait. Memories flood my mind. Katie’s dead. What is she doing here? I’m dreaming. I must be dreaming. Ash takes a step towards me and I back up, my back meeting something - something warm and breathing.

I whirl around and see my parents, both wearing that same unblinking stare as Ash and Katie. "Jett, why didn't you come back?" My mom coos. She holds up a plate of what appears to be burgers, moldy and rotten. "I made these for you, Jett. Why didn't you come back?"

"N-no," I stutter. "I c-couldn't come back. It’s not my fault!" They all simultaneously step forward, feet crunching over broken glass. I step away, but my legs meet a table. I scramble around it, desperate to get some space in between me and them. They stumble forward too, getting closer and closer. My back presses against the wall, but they keep getting closer. "It’s not my fault!" I plead. "I couldn't come back! I couldn't!"

Katie smiles, mashing her hand down on my shoulder with surprising strength. "But now you can, Jett. You can stay with us forever."

My mother or her horrifying doppelganger - laughs and steps closer, pushing me down onto the ground. "You can stay forever."

My scream is silenced by all of their hands on me, and their chanting of 'You can stay forever,' over and over again. I close my eyes, desperate to get away from it all. And then the chanting stops.

I open my eyes hesitantly, afraid of what I’ll find. But everyone is gone, all of my fears replaced by Dove, whose face hovers inches from mine. Her blonde hair hangs in my face and up close, I can see that those bright green eyes of hers have tiny golden flecks in them. She blinks at me, smiling.

"W-what happened?" I stutter.
"Don't ever let go, Jett," she mumbles.
I blink, realizing she didn't answer my question. "What?"
"Don't ever let go," she repeats just as everything goes black.

********************************************

Thwack.
I sit bolt right up in my sleeping bag, peering into the thick darkness. My shirt is slick with cold sweat and I try to calm myself down. It was just a dream, I think to myself, repeating it over and over like a mantra. It was just a dream. It was just a dream. It was just a….

Thwack.

I turn to see Ash lying on the ground next to me, his blonde hair glowing from the dying embers of our fire. Trees loom up around us, and it’s hard to believe we managed to find a clearing to set up camp in a forest as dense as this one. Ash grunts and rolls over in his sleep, mumbling something I can't comprehend.

I wipe the hair out of my eyes and do my best to straighten out the tangled sleeping bag. I settle back down on the ground and -

Thwack.

I sit up straighter. What was that? That sound that’s been repeated a few times…it sounds almost like…like darts in a dartboard. I peer once more around our campsite and find Dove’s sleeping bag completely abandoned, her blankets askew. I’m up in seconds and about to call for her when I hear, "God dammit, Cade! Get out of my head!" Followed by another loud thwack.

I do my best to stumble towards the sound of her voice, trying desperately not to trip on brambles and fallen branches as I sneak towards her, not wanting to reveal my location. Soon a tiny bobbing light appears and I get a glimpse of Dove’s light hair. She stands across from an especially large tree, twirling two slender daggers between her fingers. A lantern hangs on a nearby branch, illuminating another knife stuck in the large tree. Dove paces, clearly agitated.

"No, no, no. Don't you dare give me that crap. Just leave me alone."

I immediately search the tree line and, upon seeing no one, scrunch my brows together, still hidden in the shadows as I watch her. Cade isn't here. Which means that Dove’s talking to no one. Man, I didn't take Dove as being one of those crazy I-Hear-Voices people.

She stops her pacing and chucks another dagger towards the tree. It sails through the air with an alarming speed and sticks into the bark with a satisfying thwack sound. I also hadn't imagined her being that strong. The way that dagger flew through the air… well, that’s almost like vampire strength.

"Well, duh, I’m angry. If you would just get out of my thoughts, then maybe I could focus more on finding your stupid Winged One and not worry about you invading my mind." She groans and throws the third knife, then strides over and plucks out all three. "If only this stupid link would fade already…"

I blink. Of course! The empathy link. I had totally forgotten about that. So I guess Cade is communicating through his head and into hers. It seems like he’s getting pretty good at that. "If they were dead, wouldn't you know, Mr. I’m-So-All-Powerful?"

I edge closer curiously, since I think she’s talking about Ash and me. A twig snaps under my foot and I freeze, waiting silently. She glances around in the darkness but then goes back to talking to Cade. "No, they’re sleeping, genius. As you and I should be." She pauses, waiting for his response. "What are you, their father. No, they’re just dandy. I mean, what do you expect me to say? I love them? I don't think so. Need I remind you that you’re forcing me to do this?"

Cade obviously gets angry at her comment because Dove is silent for a moment. "We’re halfway to Rebekah’s house. Still no sign of a Winged One, but trust me, I don't plan on backing out of this deal." She pauses only to thrust another knife at the tree. Thwack. "Seriously, just shut up. I don't care. I’ll get you what you want."

Cade’s next comment angers her even more and she throws both knives towards the tree without even looking. They sink up to the hilt in the bark. "Of course! I only made this deal so I could save Rebekah!"

I edge even closer, hardly daring to breathe as I strain to hear more. Even though it’s not like I’ll be able to pick up Cade’s half of the conversation. My toe catches on a root and soon I’m tumbling through the empty air - down and down and down until landing on the hard earth with a grunt. Someone hauls me to my feet and roughly shoves me against a tree. I cough out dirt and try to blink the stars out of my vision.

"What are you doing?" Dove hisses.
I cough and pry her hands off me, glad for my extra strength for once. "I was just…" I trail off, swirling my hand in the air.
"Eavesdropping?" She finishes for me.
I swallow and look at my feet. "Yeah, pretty much."
"How much did you hear?"
I shrug. "Not much. It was a pretty one-sided conversation."
She doesn't laugh at my lame joke. In fact, her frown deepens. "God, you’re so annoying."

I laugh despite myself, trying to cover it with a cough. I had expected much worse from her after finding me eavesdropping on her and Cade. But ‘You’re so annoying?’ I definitely hadn't expected that.

"What?" She snaps, still angry.
"It’s just," I begin, "You seem so normal sometimes. It’s like sometimes I forget you’re supposed to be this big. Bad vampire hunter that’s supposed to kill and stuff, you know? Like the way you talk, just now. I expected you to kill me or something, but you just said I’m annoying."

Her face softens. "What?"

"It’s like me," I continue, glad to be diminishing her anger to almost nothing. Her eyes seem to be drifting somewhere far away, so I know I’m getting to her. "Sometimes I forget I’m supposed to be a vampire, you know? Some days I find myself waking up early and dressing for school, only to realize I can't. I can't go to school, see my friends, or do anything anymore, since I was ‘murdered.’ And it’s like I’m not allowed to feel anymore, like I’m supposed to be this crazy undead guy who’s as hard as a rock, doomed to an eternity of blood-sucking and crap…"

I trail off, finding the topic to be increasingly more painful. She doesn't need to know all my personal stuff. Uncomfortable, I try to bring it back to Dove. "And same with you. I think you just want to be normal, just go back to the way things were before your town was destroyed. But you can't do that, can you? Why can't you do that?"

Her expression is pained and she looks away, trying to hide it.
"What are you talking about?"

And when she looks back, I know I’ve gotten through her tough cover. I know that she’s not as tough as she seems. She’s still a teenage girl - one who wants to live, love, and laugh. She doesn't want to be caught up in all this drama. It makes me wonder why she still is. But as soon as I notice this, she neutralizes her expression and strides past me to the lantern, picking it up off the branch.

"You’re being delirious. I love all of this. It’s all I’ve ever known, and all I will know, just as soon as I’m done sacrificing and innocent Winged One to your malicious leader. I’ll be back on my own."

I shake my head, pushing the matter. "You don't love it. I can tell. You may be comfortable with it, but you sure as hell don't love it."

She spins on her heel, turning to face me. "Don't you dare tell me what I feel!"

"Dove," I say. I reach for her arm and grab it, turning her towards me. Her opposite fist quickly makes contact with my stomach. I groan and release my grip on her, doubling over as I clutch my stomach. I peer up into her face cautiously.

"I told you, never to touch me." And then she picks up her lantern and walks through the trees to our campsite, leaving me alone in the darkness.