%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |  Leila finds out who she really is. Will she survive and fulfill her destiny? |
| Chapter Two. Protectors. “She really did a number here huh? It’s almost hard to be mad at her now that I see all this, wow look at the roof. Impressive, I bet that was her point of attack. I’ll make sure their all dead.” I heard Brandon s voice first and my eyes fluttered open. I must have blacked out. I saw David hovering above me with a relieved look on his face. “Welcome back love.” he said while tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear. “I was a little worried; you lost a lot of blood.” He said. I tried to speak but I could only manage a smile. “All done. Hey, you’re awake. Dude you kicked ass here. Look at this place, you almost brought it down.” Brandon said. “I’m jealous. You had all the fun and I got stuck with cleanup duty. Not cool Ley. You look like crap girl.” He bent down to kiss me. Typical Brandon; says whatever is on his mind in a few short sentences. I love that guy; he makes everything fun. David on the other hand is more the reserved type. Wise and sagacious he always handles the important things, the necessary stuff that keeps us moving forward and stay hidden. Staying hidden is all we have ever done; and when they find us? You guessed it, they die, we run, and then hide again. That’s why I’m here on the ground lucky to be alive. I am so tired of running. I am so exhausted of hiding and constantly looking over my shoulder. Always paranoid that this could be the day they go in for the kill. Like a lion pouncing on a gazelle. (Except this gazelle is as fierce as the lion.) I suggested to David once that we could hunt them, maybe find their leader or take one alive and interrogate him. Anything other than defend yourself and run, but of course, he shot me down and lectured me about how they are here to keep me from harm not bring me to it. Even Brandon was on board with him and that was a big shocker because he is always down for some excitement. All he said was “Sorry Ley I’m bound to protect you” The guilt started to set in; maybe I shouldn’t have come here. “Are you in pain? David said. Can you move?” “Haven’t tried yet.” I croaked. Slowly I wiggled my fingers. Next, I rotated my arm. A massive agonizing pain exploded through my side, down my legs and all the way up to my head. My agonizing scream pierced the room and my body twisted in unnatural ways. David grabbed my shoulders and held me down. “It‘s poison.” I cried out. “In the claw.” When the pain stopped, I gestured towards where I thought it was, next to Roland. “Poison?” David looked confused and a tiny bit panicked. “We have to get it out soon or…I …he shook his head. We need help. Brandon make sure it’s safe; I’m taking her out of here.” He said sliding one of his arms underneath my back and the other beneath my legs, and then gently hoisted me up as cautiously as he could. I swallowed hard and I braced my self, anticipating more pain but nothing happened. I looked around. A charred sofa in the corner of the room held a crispy demon. I threw the grenade at him. Remnants of what used to be a wall smoldered behind his overturned body. On the other side where most of the action took place, lay a pile of demons Brandon had gathered up and was now setting on fire. He shook his head and mumbled to himself. My place of entry, the ceiling was almost completely obliterated. The rain was gone and the stars blanketed an almost perfect night. I searched the sky. “No moon tonight love.” David said. Sometimes we just knew each other’s thoughts. We didn’t have to speak or look at each other. We just knew. He was like a father to me. I never kept anything from him. Except for this. A tidal wave of guilt crashed down on me. I was drowning in it. “I’m sorry.” I whispered. “Ah don’t be sorry Ley we’re just glad we found you and that you’re alive. Barely.” Brandon said from across the room in his oh so charming way. “No worries love. You’re safe now.” Said David. “You really did a number here. They didn’t see u coming? You caught them by surprise?” he asked. I nodded. “Wow.” His forehead creased with worry. “Come on lets get you cleaned up.” He gently kissed my cheek and I smiled. Well that went well. I was expecting more of a scolding than all the oohs and ahs I was hearing. I felt drowsy. “I think I got all of them Ley. Did I miss any?” Brandon said following David out into the night. I shook my head no slightly and he nodded. He flicked his Zippo open and tossed it through the window. A slight movement in the house caught my eye. Roland. His chest barely moved. He was still alive. How is this possible? I wanted to say something, but fatigue overwhelmed me. I knew I was safe; my protectors were here. My body wanted to relax and let go, so I let it. I closed my eyes and let the blanket of sleep cover me. I felt the comfort of a bed underneath me. I didn’t open my eyes, instead; I enjoyed the silence and the softness of the mattress. The smooth silky sheets wrapped around me were cool and comforting. I felt peaceful and rested. My fingers caressed the smooth material. The first thing I heard was a huge sigh of relief. “Oh thank God. Finally. I thought you were never going to wake up. How do you feel? Are you in pain? “I’m ok.” “You look like crap.” “Thanks Brandon. Where’s David?” I sat up and folded my hands in my lap while he spoke. “I told him you’d be ok and he shouldn’t beat himself up so much but he won‘t listen to me.” He threw his arms up and shrugged in a what can I do manner. “What are you talking about?” I said. Just then, the door opened and a thin short man came through the doors and walked quietly towards us. “Ah she’s awake. Excellent. He said. He was wearing a loose blue flannel shirt over blue jeans. His scruffy brown hair and eyes offset his farm boy look. “Wow, Leila, you look… amazingly better.,” he said. I turned towards Brandon. “He thinks I look amazing, what’s your problem? He laughed. “Well he’s supposed to be wearing glasses. Besides this is nothing, he should see you in the morning, now that’s a scary sight.” I lightly smacked his arm then rolled my eyes slowly and dramatically. An awkward silence filled the room for a moment. “Oh Ley this is Max, Max this is Leila. He’s been helping us get you better. He’s a good friend of ours, you can thank him later, or now if your up to it.” he nudged me with his elbow. I shot Brandon a dirty look then turned towards max extending my hand out. He took it in both of his and smiled. “Thank you max, for everything you’ve done.” I said smiling. He gave my hand a tiny squeeze. “Your welcome and please make yourself at home. What’s mine is yours. He paused. “I’ll leave you two alone I have some errands to attend to.” Placing my hand gently on my lap, he nodded at Brandon then walked briskly towards the door. When the door closed behind him, I turned back to Brandon. “What’s the deal?” I asked. “Huh? Oh, he’s just a long time friend, really nice guy. He said. “No no I mean with David. Why is he beating himself up? What’s that about? “Oh yeah, He was pretty shaken up after we found you. You were hurt pretty bad and we weren’t sure if you’d pull through. Thank God, he thought to bring you here. Max really knew what he was doing for not being a doctor and all, but David holds himself responsible for what happened to you. He said he drove you to it and he keeps saying he failed you and a bunch of other junk, but I think he’s getting a wee bit dramatic if you know what I mean. He shrugged. “What? That’s ridiculous. It’s my fault. I chose to go there and fight them. I did this to my self.” I motioned to the bed and me laying in it. Brandon was nodding. “That’s what I said. I told him you were irresponsible and reckless and didn’t value your life or our duty to you. I mean what were you thinking Ley? We didn’t even know where you were. You left no clue, no hint, no note, nothing! You are so lucky that you’re alive right now. He took a deep breath to steady himself. He always does that when he gets too excited. I looked down at the sheets and traced the pattern with my fingers. I wanted to say something in rebuttal but I knew he was right, so all I did was heave a big sigh. He did not have to tell me twice, I knew I was lucky. What he doesn’t know is how lucky I am that a demon of all things helped me. That I was a goner for sure except for some weird malfunction in “Roland” the demon. His bizarre ability to grasp onto his human emotions and memories throughout his “afterlife” is strange. I am not entirely sure, but I don’t think that’s supposed to happen when you “turn” demon. I didn’t know that they were once human either. Roland said that I needed to live that I had to survive. What made him change his mind? We were fighting to the death moments before, and just like that, he saves me. He could have let me die and become a “hero” for my demise. Why did he keep calling me earth keeper? What does that mean? Why did he think I was that? Want to know what the worst thing is? I let my emotions take over with this one. I felt attached to him somehow. I didn’t want to kill him; I wanted to save him. Pretty crazy huh? Let him live so he can come back pissed off and drooling for revenge. Real smart Leila. This is the least of my worries right now. I’m worried about David. When Brandon mentioned how upset David is, well, he has never been upset with me. I mean never ever, so this was big. What was I going to do? I looked up expecting to see Brandon sitting on the chair next to the bed, but was surprised to see David in his place. I was so deep in thought I did not notice the exchange. He was staring at the floor, his shoulders were slumped, he looked different, he looked…sad. “David?” I whispered. He looked up. His face was tired and beat down, dark rings circled around his blue eyes. They were glossy, as if he had been crying and he wasn’t wearing his cunning smile anymore. I shifted closer to him, and then threw my arms around him along with all of my weight. He stifled a laugh and hugged me back. I loved David, he was more than just my protector, he was my friend and sure, we weren’t in the same family tree, he was my family. He positioned me onto the edge of the bed so I directly faced him. “Are you alright? You don’t look so good.” I said. “Huh, you’re asking about my well being when you were the one who almost died? What a saint you are.” he smiled mockingly. His oh so clever use of sarcasm, clearly indicated the degree of his anger. Mad beyond belief. “If being worried about you is a crime well…” I shrugged. “Enough Leila, this is not the time for your innocent crap. His pale face flushed with color. He was at the edge of the chair close to my face. His breath hinted of cinnamon. “If you think that this is a forgive and forget thing, your wrong. This is more serious than you realize. If you would have died…” he choked on the word. “Everything would be ruined.” he said. His face became hard and angry. “Why David? Why would that ruin everything?” I was hot with anger. “What’s so bad about me dying? I screamed. “Hmmm let’s make a list. 1. No running for MY life. 2. No fighting demons who are trying to kill ME. 3. You and Brandon wouldn’t be putting yourselves in danger because of ME. 4. No more hiding out, no more being paranoid, no more looking over my shoulder, no more…” I stopped. His gaze burned into me, he was purple in the face. “So you want to die?” His voice frighteningly calm. “You attacked because you were on a suicide mission.” He said as if realizing something. His face went pale, and he slumped back into the chair. I was shaking my head. “No, no that’s not what it is, I would never do that. I just…” I stopped and let my head drop into my hands. “You just what? He said in a robotic tone. I rubbed my temples for a few seconds before I looked up. “I’m tired of being hunted. I wanted to flip things around, switch it up. I wanted them to feel what I feel when they attack, to see them run from me for once.” Tears threatened to spill over as I thought of all the times I had to fight, run, and hide. A mixture of feelings surfaced, anger being the most intense and I harnessed that to hold the tears in. “I can not do this anymore. I will not be hunted like I am some… animal or something.” I threw my arms out in frustration. “I know you’re angry with me right now but if you just think about it later when you’re more… calm, then maybe you’ll be able to see it through my eyes, my point of view.” I said. His expression was blank but his eyes were still on mine. I shifted to one side sliding my leg under the other. I hated seeing him like this, angry and vulnerable. He was always the one who comforted me and always said the right thing when I was feeling blue. Now he needed the comforting and I was at a loss for words. I hadn’t an inkling of what to say to him, because I was the cause of his pain, it was my fault that ended up in this strange place. “Look David. I’ll be 100 percent better in a few days; then we can get out of here and figure out our next move, hey maybe Europe again; Brandon loves Paris.” “I’ll get the travel business taken care of in the next week and we’ll be on our way.” I said confidently. I smiled at him nervously. He did not say a word. He just looked at me in this weird empty way. My smile faltered and I unsuccessfully tried to plaster it back on. I nervously bit my lip and stared down at my hands, which were clamping the sheets tightly. Why was I so nervous anyway? This wasn’t that big of a deal. Ok the almost dying part kind of was, but everything else is not so bad. It’s not like this was a usual occurrence. So he was mad, so what, he’ll get over it. What’s the worse thing he could do? Yell at me? Already happened, so I need to chill out. I didn’t notice I was holding my breath until I felt dizzy. I sucked in a breath and looked at David who now looked like he was going to speak. I raised my eyebrows signaling him to start, but He stood up instead, turned towards the door and walked away. When he reached the door, his head pivoted towards me and he said, “If you think your going to leave this place Leila, your wrong.” then he walked out of the room and let the door slam behind him. “That pompous arrogant, ugh.” I said to myself as I got to my feet and ran after him. The door was jammed and I fumbled with the knob a bit, but managed to get it open and stormed off after him. I didn’t know where I was going, only that I was following the sound his footsteps made in the corridor. When the lights flicked on I winced, then crashed into a hard object and bounced backwards. I felt an arm wrap around my waist and pull me upright and inward. “And where do you think your going?” A cheerful and annoying voice said. “Brandon Let me go.” I struggled against him but was still too weak to push my way out of his huge muscular grip. His boisterous laugh at my attempt to free myself filled the corridor. “I have to talk to David. I pushed forward but he held me firmly against him. “Damn it Brandon, I need to get through. Let me go you big oaf.” I smacked at him a few times which only amplified his laughter. “David, come back here.” I yelled as loud as I could. I didn’t know how big this place was and where he was by now. “David, you can’t just storm out of here like that, come back here and face me. Don’t be a co…” one of Brandon’s hands, which he maneuvered up to my mouth while managing to restrain me effectively, muffled the rest. “He’s gone.” Brandon said. “Listen.” he said signaling towards the window behind him. I stopped struggling in time to hear the sound of a car engine driving away from the house. Infuriated even more by this, I managed to break free, ran towards the sound finding my way to another door, and ran out into the bright sunlit courtyard. Blinded I ran forward my bare feet slapping the warm driveway towards what seemed to be a pathway out to a road. Determined, I picked up speed focusing on the sound of the engine so I could catch up to David. He had a lot of explaining to do; he is not getting off that easy. As if things couldn’t get any worse, the brightly lit road ahead began fading away slowly despite my speed. I blinked repeatedly only to see it replaced with images, some random, some familiar from my past but they were flashing so fast they were hard to make out. My legs continued to move regardless of my effort to slow down and stop. The images came faster, whirling around one after the other. I threw my hands out in front of me reaching for something to grab on to, and prayed that I did not slam into anything. Then suddenly the road was back, along with the daylight and the pavement and just like that; I stopped. I do not remember trying to stop or thinking it, I felt dizzy and nauseous and I swear Roland’s bloody face was the last image I saw. What just happened? Suddenly I heard a loud screeching sound, and something cold pounding into me. It was lights out after that. |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
