LAILAH
TWENTY-ONE
Iopened my eyes to find that I was in complete darkness.
It wasn’t the kind of darkness that had a soft edge to it.
No, this was void of any light to give me a hint of where I was.
I felt my panic begin to rise as I stood up carefully.
I couldn’t remember how I ended up in this place, wherever it was.
I took a small tentative step forward, reaching my hands out in front of me as far as I could, trying to feel for anything familiar around me.
I made my way forward with my heartbeat banging in my chest and my ears straining to hear anything that would give me some clue as to what was going on.
The only thing I could make out was my ragged breathing as it was eaten up by the silence.
I started to shake, my fear seeping into my bones with the realization that I could die here, and no one would know.
No one would find me until it was too late.
That fear crept up my spine like cold fingers, making me flinch from its touch.
“Please let someone find me, anyone. Oh God, please don’t let me die here,” I whispered.
Out of the darkness, I felt a presence, one that made me want to curl up into a ball and hide.
I knew whatever was out there was going to kill me, and I couldn’t do a thing about it.
I was defenseless against this evil that was inching closer to me.
I gasped, trying to breathe while my lungs refused to fill with air from the fear choking me.
Tears started to stream down my cheeks as the knowledge of my fate settled in the pit of my stomach.
“I taste your fear, and it’s like fine wine on my tongue,” a raspy voice said, cutting through the silence. “How foolish of them to leave you so vulnerable and ripe for the taking.”
The voice was like nails on a chalkboard, grating and sending my body into convulsions. I fought to stay on my feet, unwilling to let this creature take more from me.
“Look how the little lamb fights against the inevitable, such spirit. Too bad we’ll never get to see what you would have become once unleashed on the world,” the voice said, sounding much closer than it was before.
“My master will be so pleased to know we took you from the world before the angel’s little warriors got their new weapon. ”
I fought back a scream when I felt a sharp claw caress my cheek.
My body shook with the terror coursing through it.
I tried to fight against the hold my panic had on me.
I needed to think of something to save myself.
How could I just stand here knowing it was going to kill me without a drop of care or guilt afterward?
Spinning on my heel, I ran away from the evil energy as fast as I could.
I pushed myself hard, knowing that my life depended on getting away from this thing that was trying to kill me.
“The little lamb can run. But for how long?” the voice laughed, sending pinpricks of pain all over my body.
Ignoring the taunt, I ran. Jay had been pushing me hard the past few weeks, and I knew I couldn’t keep this speed up forever, but I could do it long enough to come up with a better plan.
Wracking my brain, I kept trying to figure out some way that I could get out of this alive.
The only problem was that I didn’t know what I was dealing with.
Was I dreaming? Was I trapped in a building?
Was I still at the school? Had I been kidnapped?
Why the fuck was this happening, and what the hell was this creepy fuck talking about?
My thoughts drifted back to Jay and the conversation we’d had at the waterfall.
He’d promised to come help me whenever I needed it, no matter what he was doing.
I checked my pockets to see if, by chance, they had forgotten about my cell, but I wasn’t so lucky.
I kept my legs pumping, keeping the distance between the psycho killer and me.
I cried out as I took a misstep and twisted my ankle, crashing to the floor.
“No, no, no, no, this can’t be happening,” I said, trying to get back on my feet, but I crashed back to the floor when my ankle gave out.
I started to crawl, anything to keep me moving forward.
I wept as I called out for Jay, begging with everything I had that he would be able to find me and save me.
A warm breeze stirred in the darkness, wrapping me with its comfort.
It felt like being surrounded by the waterfall’s mist. I sobbed, knowing deep in my soul that Jay had heard me and was coming to help me.
A flare of blinding light surrounded me; I covered my eyes, seeing stars from the sudden shock of light.
I blinked as fast as I could to clear my vision.
When I looked up, I found Micah standing in front of me.
His eyes flashed with a fury that I’d never seen in anyone before.
At first, I thought he was pissed at me for something, but then he scooped me up, and I knew I was safe.
I clung to him, and the heat from his body seeped into me, chasing away the rest of the fear that had been clinging to me.
Brayden stepped up on his right, followed by Parker.
On Micah’s left, Jay materialized with Hudson next to him.
They all looked ready to kill, bodies rigid with anger.
I looked forward and saw a shifting apparition of black smoke on the edge of the light that was emanating from Micah.
“Begone demon, you are not welcome here. She is under our protection, and you will not touch one hair on her head,” Micah declared, his voice vibrating through his chest.
The shadow hissed. “My master won’t lose to the likes of you, even if you have your sixth. We will come for her again, and the next time, you won’t be so lucky.”
“Luck has nothing to do with it. We are her protectors to call, and we will always answer,” Brayden said, stepping forward, closer to me.
“The lamb will die before you can truly take that role, Elementi. You are not as safe as you think you are,” the demon said before he vanished into the darkness.
I clung to Micah and cried. I let the tears stream down my face as he just stood there, holding me tightly to him.
I felt the others come around me, someone touched my shoulder, someone else stroked the top of my head, then someone else’s hand wrapped around my ankle, followed by another hand on my calf.
I felt their energy hum along my skin, filling me with comfort and assurance.
My tears slowed, then stopped, and I relaxed, being held and cared for by them.
The rightness of it all settled my soul, making me feel more complete than I ever had in my life.
“It’s time to wake up now,” Brayden said, whispering in my ear, then placing a gentle kiss on my cheek.
With those words, my eyes flew open, and I found myself in my dorm room.
I laid there, taking a few deep breaths to calm my heart rate before making my next move.
I sat up slowly and looked around my room, noticing Cami, who was sleeping on the couch, wrapped in my elephant blanket.
I slipped out of my bed and stood up carefully, not really believing that my ankle could be okay.
There was no pain or sign that I’d done anything to hurt myself.
Silently, I walked over to Cami, sat on the coffee table next to the couch, and shook her awake gently.
“Cami,” I said gently. “Hey, wake up. I need to talk to you.”
Cami grumbled and pulled the blanket over her head. I looked over at my nightstand and saw that it was three in the morning. I shook her harder this time, pulling the blanket off of her.
“Cami!”
This time she shot up, looking around bleary-eyed till she focused on me. “Lala, what’s wrong?” She slid her feet to the floor, so she was sitting, looking at me and rubbing her eyes clear of sleep.
“Why are you in my room?” I asked, feeling like I’d missed something important.
“What do you remember about last night?” she countered.
I rubbed my forehead, trying to organize my thoughts.
“I was eating dinner and some girls were giving me a hard time about the Halloween party. Micah was there too. We argued, and I left. After that, I don’t really remember much.
I think Parker and Brayden might have shown up at some point, then it all goes blank. ”
Cami took my hands in hers, drawing my attention back to her. “You passed out in the middle of the quad. We don’t know why, but thankfully, Micah, Brayden, and Parker were close by. They brought you back to your dorm and waited until I could get back to look after you.”
I frowned. “I passed out? That’s so odd. I don’t remember ever doing that before.” I could feel a headache building with all this confusing information. “I also just had the worst nightmare of my life.”
“Want to talk about it?” Cami asked, squeezing my hands.
I shook my head as I stood up. Walking over to my backpack, I pulled out some pain meds. “Not really, I just want to go back to sleep and hope to God that I don’t dream again.”
“Would a snuggle buddy help?” Cami asked as I swallowed the pills.
I smiled at her, glad that she was here and I didn’t have to wake up alone. “Sure, I’ll take whatever defense I can get.”
I crawled back into bed, clutching Elle to my chest. Cami joined me, laying on her side, so I had her back and she faced the rest of the room.
I let my head lean against her back, so I could hear her heartbeat.
The steady rhythm lulled me to sleep faster than I thought it would happen.
Thankfully, I didn’t have any other nightmares and slept deeply.
“Lala, you gotta get up, or you’re not gonna to have time to get ready for class,” Cami said as she poked me gently.
I groaned, not wanting to leave my bed just yet. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and looked up at her. “How are you awake before me?”
“It’s ten o’clock, silly.”