2. Erin
Chapter two
Erin
The drive home went by in a blur. Too focused on the latest sweat-inducing nightmare, my pulse continued to race.
This is fucking ridiculous. It was just a weird ass dream.
I took a steadying breath; I needed to calm down.
I might need to dial it back on the coffee-fueled late-night study sessions.
That had to be it. The lack of sleep and running on fumes had to have been the cause of the nightmares.
As I pulled up to my apartment, a couple of my neighbors crowded on the front stoop of the building. Wisps of smoke swirled around them as they puffed on their cigarettes, the scent wafting as it drifted across the blacktop. I forced a smile back as they waved when I passed them on my way inside. I was glad to be home but I was not in the mood for conversation. My neighbors were great; quiet, friendly, and mostly kept to themselves.
I shoved my key into the lock of my apartment door and shuffled into my open living area. It led into my barely used kitchen, with the bedroom and bath off to the right side. My apartment wasn’t huge but it worked for me. I made a beeline for my espresso machine, the only appliance I bothered buying after I moved in.
“Okay, so I’m not cutting back on the coffee, but hey, it was a thought at least,” I mumbled to myself.
Coffee was my comfort and I would take all the comfort I could at that moment. While the coffee brewed, I grabbed my small laptop and scrolled through a few news articles. I typically would check them twice a week to keep up with the latest local news.
‘We must prepare.’ Prepare for what?
I shook my head to clear it. It might’ve just been a dream but something about it nagged at me. I scrolled further down the news article on my screen.
“Mass Power Outage Overtakes Riverside, Thirteen Disappearances Follow”
That was weird.
Thursday , January twenty-ninth, around ten p.m., the main power plant caught fire, leaving the town of Riverside without power. The cause of the fire is unknown and is currently being investigated. No casualties were reported. However, thirteen residents in the surrounding area were discovered missing after the event.
Woah. I guess it was a rough night over there.
Riverside was a quick twenty-to-thirty-minute drive north from my apartment, so not too far away.
I wonder why we didn’t lose power?
I shrugged. It was probably a different power grid. I continued to read through the article but there wasn’t anything else that stuck out to me. I closed out of the browser, shut my laptop, and grabbed my piping hot coffee from the machine.
It was so warm. Just what I needed.
After chugging it, I placed my mug in the sink and headed toward my room to grab some clean pajamas and hop in the shower before another night of studying. I could not wait for finals to be over. My brain was about fried at that point. In addition to the nightly dream terrors, I’d been up late almost every night to cram as much studying material into my brain as possible. We were over a month away from finals but with it being my final semester, I needed to ace each one.
When I got out of the shower, I wrapped my hair up in a towel to dry and got dressed in my go-to pajamas: my baggiest T-shirt and sweatpants that I stole from Seth. My phone beeped and I grabbed it off the bathroom counter.
Hey, did you see what happened in Riverside?
It was Seth.
Yeah, I can’t believe they lost power last night, and the fire. It looks like they don’t know what happened either.
He usually kept up with this stuff more than I did, especially since his uncle was a cop. Seth had really gotten into the crime shows around the time he graduated high school and it just escalated from there.
Definitely weird. I’m thinking about heading over there, mind if I stop by?
Sure!
There goes my study time.
I looked in the mirror then poked my head out and scanned my living room. Suddenly very aware of how messy the place looked and that, even though I’d just doused myself with all the sudsy things I had stashed in my shower, I matched. I quickly pulled the towel off my hair, flicked it back a couple times, swiped on mascara, and darted out to the living room to clean it up before Seth got here. He might’ve been my best friend but that didn’t mean I wanted him to see myself or my apartment completely disheveled.
I ran around the main area of my apartment, tossing clothes and blankets into the washer as I went.
Living room, check. Now for the damned kitchen.
I swooped my eyes over the counter that was in desperate need of being decluttered; several used coffee mugs were spread across the surface, followed by a couple of pans from when I actually remembered to cook over the last week, and empty plates. It was gross and a wave of disappointment in myself washed over me.
I need to clean this place more. I never let things get this bad, even after dad left.
I shook the thought from my mind and went to work. Setting the water faucet on my metallic, farmhouse style sink to scolding hot, I dunked each dish into the bath of soapy water and scrubbed away.
Seth knocked right as I placed my last freshly cleaned and dried mug in the cabinet. He had a spare key, so he let himself in and tossed his keys onto the small, fake-oak side table next to the door.
He walked over and arched his eyebrow as he eyed me. “Did you eat yet?”
“Does coffee count?”
He shook his head, chuckling. “You know you can’t survive strictly off coffee, right? You’ll melt away, and I’ll be left to suffer Jensin’s lectures all alone.” A slight pang pricked my chest.
Dear lord, that grin.
“Good thing I grabbed some snackage on my way over.” And by ‘snackage’ he apparently meant a whole ass meal big enough to feed a family of four. To be fair, Seth was built like a tank: tall and covered from head to toe in muscle. The amount of food he went through easily doubled, if not tripled, what I ate on a day to day basis.
“We’re going to have to talk about the definition of ‘snack,’” I said, grinning back.
“Let’s add ‘food’ too, Miss ‘Does Coffee Count.’ I picked up your favorite, Chinese. Grab a box and dig in,” he said as he dumped the overfilled, white plastic bag on my kitchen counter.
I grabbed a box of chow mein, padded to my living area, plopped down on my midnight-black sofa, and went to town. I realized if he hadn’t brought food over I wouldn’t have eaten anything the whole day. I was too caught up in the dream and mayhem this past week.
I guess, dream-s, since I’m up to two now.
I shoved a fork full of noodles into my mouth and moaned. “Oh my lord, Seth. This is fucking delicious.” My eyes were on the verge of rolling back in my head from the onslaught of pure perfection until I heard Seth snort and caught sight of a rogue half-eaten noodle as it rocketed across my couch. I smacked him on the arm and nearly choked from how hard I laughed.
After we’d calmed down and got a hold of ourselves, we ate in a comfortable silence. I looked up every once in a while and caught Seth staring at me before his eyes quickly darted away. No idea why. We’d smile at each other every so often and I would steal an extra glance or two when he wasn’t looking; watching his shaggy onyx hair barely hover above his eyes as he’d lean forward to shovel another bite of food into his mouth.
My mind drifted off, imagining myself brushing the hair from Seth’s face as our eyes met. He would lean in as he wet his lips…
“Hey, you’re planning on staying in tonight, right? No late-night escapades?” he asked. It sounded light but there was a slight edge to the way he was looking at me…
Oh fuck. Did I think that out loud?
I panicked. The little fantasies I had involving Seth were rare but sometimes it was difficult to keep my mind from drifting into the off-limits-and-entirely-impossible territory. I swallowed back the panicked embarrassment and prayed that I hadn’t actually said anything.
Just react like you weren’t fantasizing about his delicious lips being hungry for yours.
My eyes widened.
What the fuck is going on with me?
I plastered on a tight-lipped smile. “Considering we have finals coming up, yes. I was actually planning on getting some more studying done. My brain is absolute mush at this point but I need to ace this thing.”
A glimpse of relief spread across his face. “Always the bookworm, Erin. I’ll help you study, if you want. I’m barely passing right now, so it’ll do me some good.”
I’d much rather study something else.
My face felt like it was on fire.
What is going on with me? Where the hell did that come from?
Seth got up and took our empty takeout boxes with him to toss in the trash. Then he walked back over to the couch, grabbing my notes and textbook on the way.
I really need to reel it in.
He sat opposite of me and stretched his legs across the length of my sofa, propping his feet on my lap. He tossed my notes to me and we started flipping through them, quizzing each other along the way. About halfway through, I noticed he was dozing off so I smacked his arm.
“I’m awake! Jeez.”
By the time we were done, both of us mentally exhausted from information overload, it was almost three in the morning.
“Weren’t you heading to Riverside?” I yawned. I forgot he had planned on just stopping by.
“I’m just going to crash here tonight. I really don’t feel like driving back to my place,” he said lazily as he stretched, elongating his chiseled body, and exposing the tanned skin above the waistband of his fitted sweats as his shirt lifted.
Fine by me.
My face flushed at the intrusive thought. I wriggled my way out from under his legs and got up, needing to put some distance between my overly-tired brain and the heat of my best friend’s weirdly attractive body.
There’s something wrong with me. This is weird.
I felt better knowing he wasn’t driving halfway across town barely awake. I went and grabbed an extra blanket and pillow from my room and handed them to him.
“Thanks for letting me come over, Erin.” He yawned.
“I’m sorry I kept you here so late.” Guilt welled in my stomach.
“Nah, it’s fine. I’d rather hang out here. I’ll head that way tomorrow.” My heartbeat quickened.
Breathe. Chill. Not like that, he probably just didn’t want to finish the drive.
“Alright, well, goodnight.”
“Night,” he mumbled.
I shut my door and turned on my bedside lamp. Processing the day and the dreams I’ve had.
I’ll talk to Seth about it in the morning, see what he thinks.
The past few years he’d gotten really into that kind of stuff, dreams and their deeper meanings. Maybe he could help me figure out what they mean, give me an idea of how to get them to stop. Then maybe I could actually get a wink of sleep.
I woke up with a start. The smell of fresh coffee wafted in through my door. I inhaled as I stretched my arms above my head.
Yum!
I got up and headed toward the kitchen, my mouth salivating.
“Looks like someone slept hard. Nice hair.” His voice teasing.
I stopped and sprinted to my bathroom.
Oh lord .
I had raccoon eyes and looked like I had a freaking rats nest on my head. I grabbed my brush and ran it through my hair as quickly as I could; splashed some water on my face and wiped what was left of the mascara on the—now blackened—hand towel. I walked back out to the kitchen to see Seth doubled over laughing.
Ass.
“Jerk. I’ll have you know, my sleep schedule has been screwed up lately. Between school, work, and these freaking nightmares”—I paused as I caught him swiping a tear from his eye—“Gee, could you laugh any harder? Jerk.” I stuck my tongue out at him.
“Alright, alright, sorry. Just the look on your face was priceless. Want some coffee?” He slid me a cup across the counter and I snatched it, needing the morning boost.
“Actually, I was wanting to run something by you. I had another dream yesterday, after class.”
His brows furrowed, confused. “What do you mean?”
I explained what happened and his confused look morphed into one of concern. He was processing.
“Did this guy say anything else to you? Before he…Before you woke up?” The way he said it was like he almost knew something about it. I cocked my eyebrow at him.
“No, that was it. They just said ‘be prepared,’ pushed on my chest, and I woke up. I think.”
Did I wake up? Thinking about it, it was almost like I didn’t wake up and just ended up back in my car.
An uneasy feeling settled over me.
Seth was definitely worried about something. “Well. What do you think it means? Because honestly I’m confused as hell.”
“Hmm.” He was thinking. Minutes ticked by and it felt like we’d been standing there forever.
“Hello. Earth to Seth.”
“I think I need to talk to one of my buddies. He might be able to help.”
Why would Seth need to talk to a buddy about my dream? It was a dream, a weird one, but it can’t be that serious that he’d need to consult someone about it.
He grabbed his keys and headed out the door. “I’ll text you later.”
My brows furrowed. I stood there confused and wondering what had him worried. I shook it off and chalked it up to overthinking then grabbed some cleaner and finished cleaning from the night before.
Once the apartment was spotless, I checked my phone.
Still no text from Seth.
I chewed my lip between my teeth for a moment before deciding there was no point in waiting around. I threw on a pair of running shorts with a black T-shirt, grabbed my keys, and headed out the door, locking up behind me. It was beautiful out; a comfortable heat from the sun with a light breeze and not a cloud in the clear blue sky.
Perfect weather for a jog .
I double checked my shoelaces and took off.
Three miles into my run, I felt my phone buzz. I stopped at a nearby bench using the opportunity to rest for a minute. It was a text from Seth saying we’d talk after the movies tonight. I took that as a good sign, if it was urgent or important, he’d want to meet up sooner. I texted him back and slid my phone back into my pocket. I still had a few hours before they picked me up and decided to run a bit further.
By the time I made it back to my apartment, I’d jogged almost eleven miles. Lost in thought, running further than I’d originally planned and drenched in sweat. I pulled out my sweat-slicked phone, suddenly very grateful that I had caved and gotten a case for it, and checked the time.
Still have about an hour to spare. Fastest run of my life apparently.
I walked into my apartment and made my way to the shower, stripping off my running gear as I went. I turned the water on high and scrubbed away, using my favorite peach scented shampoo.
Twenty minutes later, I was out of the shower and finishing my makeup: basic winged eyeliner with a light coat of mascara, smokey eyeshadow, and lip gloss. Once I was done, I threw my hair up in a loose ponytail, my go-to. I pulled a pair of jeans and a clean black T-shirt out of my closet along with my Converse. A reliable combo.
I checked my phone for the time. Seth, his newest girlfriend, and Derik would be there any minute. I ran through my mental checklist: keys, phone, wallet.
Check, check, and check.
As I peeked out my window, I saw Seth’s gun-metal grey Honda Accord pull up. I locked up and headed downstairs.
“Hey there, Erin! Car’s kinda packed, sorry ‘bout that.” Seth got out and opened the rear passenger door for me to get in. I slid in next to Derik and offered a tight-lipped hello. His eyes beamed as he took me in and slid his arm around the headrest.
Great . I did a mental eye-roll.
“You’ve got to show me how to do my makeup like that!” Libby exclaimed, overly excited about the premise, considering she was already gorgeous. Short blonde hair, pixie nose, big green doe eyes, body like a swimsuit model. Me, on the other hand, plain brown hair, grey-blue eyes, and average face; easy to blend in, very forgettable. I gave her a small smile and nodded. I appreciated the compliment and knew it came from a good place but…I never took compliments about myself well and didn’t know how to really react toward them. They always felt forced or like they were said out of obligation rather than being genuine; I knew I wasn’t much to look at or think about. And Libby was gorgeous with a bubbly, magnetic personality. I was just an awkward girl who usually had her nose shoved in a book.
Wow. Slow down on the pity-party there, Snow. It’s been a whole five seconds.
I gave her a small smile. “I, uh, I watched a few videos online a while back. I can see if I could find them to send to you?” I added awkwardly, a pinch of heat flared on the apples of my cheeks.
Seth put his car in gear and we headed off. I snapped my attention to the side, grateful for the reprieve. I watched as the buildings and small cityscape passed by the window; I zoned out with the hope that Derik would ignore me. It seemed my thoughts had been answered; he didn’t try to speak to me the entirety of the short drive and I got lost in the scenery that followed us. The warm weather from the day had followed into the evening leaving the sky clear with a picturesque sunset of coral, lavender, pale yellow, and the deepest blush. I sighed.
It’s been awhile since I’ve gone to the movies.
We parked close to the theater entrance. Derik got out first and made his way around to my side of the vehicle and opened the car door; it threw me off a bit.
Wow. Playing the gentleman. Weird.
Usually he was kind of a dick and a creepy one at that. Politeness was not in his genetic make-up from what I’d seen. “Yo, Snow, you comin’ or not?”
Ah, that was more of what I’d expected.
I got out and Derik shut the door behind me. Seth and Libby had already made their way to the entrance. Libby giggling at something he said as she looped her arm through his; I bit back the jealousy that rang in my heart.
Not yours.
Best friends, Erin. You have no claim and no right to the guy.
Calm your tits.
I shook my head at myself, I was being ridiculous.
“I saw some reviews on this thing, sounds like it’s pretty scary. Might need someone to hold your hand, Snow.” I side eyed Derik and caught his creepy Cheshire grin as it spread ear to ear, a glint in his eye.
In your dreams.
“I’ll be fine. Thanks though.”
“Suit yourself.” He shrugged and slipped his hands into the pockets of his jeans. We grabbed our tickets from the booth in front of the concession stand and gave them to the lobby attendant before our group walked lazily to our movie.
As we filed into the theater, the hair on the nape of my neck stood on end. My body tensed and the feeling of being watched washed over me. I whipped my head around and searched for the source of the eeriness that coursed through me and found nothing. The only people in sight were the staff at the snack counter which were preoccupied with bored chatter between them as they counted down until the end of their shifts.
“You good there, Erin?” Derik’s concerned voice caught me off guard.
“Yeap, I’m fine. Just thought I saw someone I knew.”
Derik cocked an eyebrow at me as I quickly stepped by him and led the way to our seats. Libby and Seth were already huddled together and giggled at the movie trailers on the massive theater screen.
The movie wasn’t overly terrifying, just your average thriller. Libby curled up with Seth the whole time with her face hidden in his chest and boy did he lap it up. Derik on the other hand, to my delight, jumped up about halfway through saying he had to run to the bathroom and stayed there the remainder of the film. Prior to his abrupt exit from the movie, I caught him wanting to make a move a few times and I swatted his hand away repeatedly. Needless to say, I was rather relieved when he ran off.
When the three of us walked out to the lobby, Derik was over by the concession stand chatting up the cashier. Which meant his attention was drawn to someone besides myself.
Fine with me.
Derik saw us and waved, signaling to Seth he’d catch up later.
Libby waited at the main door with me while Seth went to grab his car. Unfortunately, the weather hadn’t held out and it had begun to rain heavily outside.
“That was so scary! I can’t believe you just sat there the whole time! I was shaking. It seemed so real!” Libby exclaimed, her emerald-green eyes round with the hit of adrenaline from the movie.
I gave her my best shrug. “I used to watch a lot of horror. It doesn’t really phase me much.” Not a lie. When your childhood mirrors some of the most intense horror films, the fake stuff doesn’t really get to you much. Not when I had been abandoned and left to fend for myself at a young age.
It is what it is.
The only person who knew of what I had gone through was Seth and I planned on keeping it that way. Okay, maybe that was a little dramatic. Things easily could’ve been far worse. I was just glad it was me and not someone else.
Most young girls wouldn’t have been able to defend themselves.
I shook myself out of it before the memories clawed their way through my brain and claimed me.
Not the place for a flashback, Erin. Breathe.
Seth pulled the car up just in time, before my minimal control over my train of thought could begin to derail and stumble down that path.
“Would you ladies, fancy a ride?” Seth waggled his eyebrows at us with a shit-eating grin plastered between the stubble that covered the lower part of his face. Both Libby and I laughed, hers a high-pitched musical tone. Mine on the other hand mimicked that of a hyena. Libby opened the passenger door and slid into the front seat while I climbed in the back and strapped myself in behind Seth.
The drive was quiet; he dropped Libby at her place first. She lived in a large apartment complex right outside of campus, a quick walk from the sorority she helped oversee and was once a part of. Seth had filled me in a bit on that a few months prior. She was one of the nice ones though. Libby so far hadn’t really fallen into the sorority stereotype, besides being gorgeous and thin. I thought back to our brief conversation before the movie, my chin rested in the palm of my hand as I watched our small city drift by.
She did seem genuine.
“We’re going to head back to my place to talk. If that’s alright. It’ll be easier,” Seth stated, the throatiness of his voice caught me off guard. I nodded and snuck a quick sideways glance. His shoulders were relaxed and his eyes were trained on the road ahead of us. His body flush against the leather of his driver’s seat with one arm laid against the center console while the other controlled the steering wheel: the picture of cool, calm, and collected. I quirked my brow.
Worked for me. I loved my apartment, but Seth’s place felt like home. Part of it could very well have to do with the guy who owned it, but only a small part. His house was beautiful. Seth lived in an old schoolhouse he bought for almost nothing a few years ago. He completely renovated it and the place was massive. An open living room-dining room with a decked-out gym area off to the side; including lifting equipment and an array of cardio machines. There was only one treadmill but that worked out since neither of us enjoyed running indoors, typically. The walls were lined with floor to ceiling windows, which showered the main living space with sunlight during the day and provided a perfect view of the stars at night.
Seth unlocked his front door and we walked in. He switched on the lights as he went and flooded the space with light from the overhead lamps and fixtures that dotted the tall ceiling. The light danced off the pale-grey that painted the walls. I made my way into the living area and plopped down on his plush sectional and quickly made myself at home. I peaked over and saw Seth was in the process of making two mugs of coffee; three spoonfuls of sugar to his and a splash of milk with a measly five spoonfuls of sugar to mine.
He walked over and handed me the mug of coffee before he sat next to me. “So, I talked to my friend about the dreams you’ve been having, and we both think it’s about time you and I talk about some things.”
“Oh ho, sounds pretty serious there, Seth,” I responded sarcastically as I blew on my coffee to cool it down. When I didn’t get the lighthearted response I expected, I looked up to find his face was stone cold serious. “Did I miss something?”
He took a deep breath. “There’s some things you don’t know, Erin. About me and about yourself,” I had a sinking feeling. “The dream you had yesterday, it wasn’t just a dream.”
What does he mean by that?
I felt the hairs on my neck stand up as panic welled within my chest, my pulse quickened and acid rose in my stomach. I swallowed the lump that began to form in the back of my throat.
Get it together, Erin.
I sat up, my back straightened.
I might be freaked about where this was going but I refused to show it. Calm the hell down.
Whatever it was that he was about to tell me, it was important. Important enough to have cool, calm, and collected Seth on edge. “Okay. I’m listening.”
Seth took a slow breath to steady himself before he began. The words escaped his lips as if they scratched their way out, leaving him barely an octave above being hoarse, almost gravelly. “Remember when we were kids and we would go on all those adventures in the woods around our houses? We’d run through the trees, battling our made-up monsters with sticks we’d find, pretending they were swords?” I nodded him on, unsure of where he was going with the trip down memory lane. The deep blue of his eyes softened, an apology within them. I furrowed my brows as I waited for him to continue.
Why do I feel like I’m not going to enjoy where this little story-time is headed?
“That summer when I turned sixteen, when my mom died and I had to leave and move in with my Uncle…The last summer we ran through those woods and before…” He trailed off, the memory of what felt like the beginning of the end hung between us. Seth didn’t have to say it. After that summer, things had changed. I had been in the midst of my transition into eighth grade and he was going into his second year of high school on the other side of the country. When Seth had left, things in my young life started to go south pretty quickly. My dad disappeared within days of Seth moving across the country and left me on my own. I was a few weeks shy of fourteen and had been left to fend on my own, utterly abandoned. My heart had shattered; I’d found an envelope under his mattress with enough money to last me the school year and a note that simply said: I love you. Please forgive me -Dad.
I felt the air in my lungs thicken as the memory of one of the worst times of my life shrouded me in darkness and plunged me right back to the day it truly hit me that it was just me . And no one was coming to save me.
I had cried for days. There was no one to tell, no one to confide in. It had always been just me and Dad. And then Seth and his mom. Everyone was gone. I was all alone, without anyone close to me.
Except…I do have Seth.
The thought had slivered in the recess of my mind as I numbly combed through my schoolbag the day before class began for the new school year.
I gathered myself and wiped the crusted tear trails from my cheeks.
I need to tell him.
I wrote him a letter and stamped it with as many postage stamps as I could find, saying I was okay but that Dad was gone and I was alone.
Seth wrote me back with the promise that it’d be okay. And I believed it, at first.
A week after my dad disappeared, I walked home from school and narrowly avoided tripping on the cracked sidewalk that led straight through my small neighborhood. As I drew nearer, I noticed there was a car parked outside my small ranch-style house. One I hadn’t recognized. An eerie feeling settled in the pit of my stomach and I slowed my steps as I grabbed my keys from my pocket just in case. I peeked through the car windows and found that the car was empty so I made my way to the house. I shook the alarm in the back of my mind and walked up the pathway that led to my front door.
Probably one of the neighbors’ or something. Maybe they got a new car.
I went to unlock the door, only to find it opened. “Erin, is that you?” A high-pitched male voice I didn’t know. I stopped. Someone was in my house. Panic swelled and coursed through my veins. As I turned to high tail it out of there and down the street, a heavy thump rang in my ears as I was struck from behind. My vision blurred before it went black.
I woke up in my room, blind folded, and tied to my desk. I heard some shuffling around me. “You couldn’t have waited until she walked in? This chick’s neighbors could’ve seen us. Idiot.” A deep grating masculine voice huffed. I felt my heart start to race.
There are people in my house.
I’m trapped.
Hell, I’m tied to my desk. What is happening? Dad, where are you? Why the hell did you leave me?
A presence shifted closer to me as I fought back the panicked tears that threatened to rain down my pale cheeks. Their hot breath brushed against my face. Their calloused fingers gripped my chin, squeezed my face between their fingers, and roughly tilted my head upwards, exposing my neck. “She sure is pretty. This might be more fun than we thought.” It was the same grating voice that had spoken moments before.
Shit. Shit. No, no, no. Come on, Snow, think of something. Distract them. Reason with them, anything.
Bile rose from my stomach.
“Where’s Mr. Snow, Princess?” Poison laced the guy’s voice. My mouth was clamped shut, fear raked my body. I was frozen. “Not gonna tell us? That’s not nice.” His breath brushed against my skin again as if he was only mere inches from my face.
His hand went for me once more; I fell out of my frozen trance and spat in front of me, with the hope that I’d hit my target. That pissed the guy off. “You bitch.” His buddy was laughing not far off. Suddenly, the blind fold was ripped off, taking some of my hair with it. I blinked rapidly as my eyes quickly adjusted to the sudden light. I bared my teeth and gave the men the best leave me the hell alone glare I could manage. “Awe look, Princess here is trying to scare us.” This time they were both laughing, their shoulders shook with the movement. In my peripheral vision, I spotted the second guy as he inched closer, a sinister look in his molten eyes. I made the mistake of moving my head in his direction and left myself vulnerable to the man with a cheese grater embedded within his vocal chords.
The first guy, closest to me, grabbed my face in his burly, calloused hand and shoved it back toward him; his eyes locked with mine. A pointed smile crept across his face.
This isn’t good.
Fear gripped me. I shoved it down as I tried to remember some of what Dad had taught me. He had been adamant about teaching me self-defense from a young age. I had always thought it was stupid. In that very moment with my back literally up against my wooden desk, not so much. Cheese Grater Man moved closer, and pushed, no, crushed his mouth on top of mine. He jabbed his tongue in and out of my mouth as I gagged and choked back the vomit that rose from the back of my throat. His hand reached under my uniform and slowly inched up my stomach.
I fought back tears. I had to find a way out of this. He grazed the small space below my chest when I had my opening. While he was distracted and intent on his attempt to steal what remained of my innocence from me, I shoved my knee straight up and right into his groin. It knocked the wind out of him and sent him to the floor withering in pain.
“Mother Fucker . You prissy-ass bitch !” The second guy lunged toward me.
I pushed myself to the side the best I could while my wrists remained restrained and he landed with his head smacking right into the corner of the desk. He slumped over, unconscious.
One down. One to go.
I had to move quickly, so I started yanking my hands out of the rope. I silently prayed that I could get myself free before either one got up. The first guy started to catch his breath. I was running out of time. He rolled over with death in his eyes, ready to finish what he started, or worse. He grunted as he pushed himself up from his spot on the floor and stalked toward me.
Now or never.
I yanked my hands free, grabbed a pen from my desk, and stabbed him as he pounced. The pointed tip impaled his eye, blood violently spurted from the wound. His burly hands shot to his eye socket as he fell to the floor, screaming profanities. I sucked in a breath and bolted straight out of my room, out the front door, and didn’t look back. I kept running, the wind whipping through my tangled hair, until I reached Seth’s old house.
I snuck around back and kept to the shadows as I tried the door. No one would’ve been home; it had been put on the market the day Seth had gone to live with his uncle after his mom had died. That was the only family he had left. Something we’d bonded over; I only had my dad, and it was just him and his mom, until she passed and discovered he had an uncle he’d never met. It was a quick move. So, part of me hoped that the landline was still up and running.
I sighed in relief as the handle clicked open; the door was unlocked. Nerves twisted and strangled my insides as I walked in. It was dark with no furniture in sight. I didn’t try the lights for fear that the men who broke in at my house might see it. I felt around the empty space, my hands patting the textured walls as I made my way to the front room where I’d be able to see out the front bay window and hopefully find Seth’s old landline. I was in luck.
I picked it up, hearing the dial tone.
Yes!
I punched in the number for the cops, my voice trembled. “I think there was a break in down the street. It sounded like there was a bunch of screaming and there’s a car out front I don’t think I’ve seen before.” I rattled off the address and gave a fake name. I didn’t want to risk anyone knowing I was alone, or that my dad abandoned me. A few minutes later I heard sirens as they barrelled through the neighborhood, stopping right in front of my lawn and blocking the intruders’ car. I hunkered down and watched as several cops dragged the guys out of my house. The one I stabbed had a rag stuffed against his face, yelling. The officers shoved the two men in the back of one of the cruisers. One cop went back in, gun drawn, while two others stood guard.
Probably making sure no one else is in there.
Once the cop stepped back outside, they cleared the area and left. I waited with bated breath for what felt like hours. I searched the deserted street from the shadows of the abandoned room to make sure the coast was clear before I ran back over to my tainted childhood home.
I rummaged around, keeping the lights off in case any neighbors peeked outside to see what the commotion was. I made it back toward my room and shuddered at what had almost happened. I forced the foul memory of the man who stuck his tongue down my throat to the furthest edges of my thoughts. I needed to focus.
I crept to my bed, lifted my mattress, grabbed the cash my dad left me, and shoved it in my pocket. I snatched my now empty backpack off the floor. They’d clearly dumped it and gone through it but found nothing by the looks of it. I shoved a few days’ worth of clothes, my ID, schoolwork, and some other necessities in my bag, including my notebook and the locket my dad gave me for my birthday the year prior. I gripped it to my chest as the tears began to fall.
Why?
Dad, why is this happening?
I shoved it in the inner pocket of my bag and zipped it up as I dragged myself out of my periwinkle colored bedroom, down the small narrow hallway lined with photos of my dad and I, and out the front door. I looked back at my house as I left, my shirt wet with salty tears.
My childhood home.
Home.
I have no home. Not anymore.
All the winters Dad and I would try and fail to build snowmen and forts flashed through my mind. We’d give up and turn to snowball fights instead. Seth would come over and he’d join in too. His mom would make her special hot chocolate afterwards, her own secret recipe she refused to share with any of us. The summers Seth and I would run around the woods from sunup to sundown, coming home covered in dirt and mud laughing like crazy; our parents shaking their heads at us as we’d trample through our houses and leave the muck in our wake.
A sad smile lifted the corners of my lips at the memories, the realization sinking in. A chip of my already broken heart fell.
That chapter of my life was over. The innocence was gone.
“Erin?” Seth’s face was covered in concern.
“Sorry, I zoned out. Go on.” I shook my head in an attempt to clear it and met Seth’s saddened eyes. He looked at me with understanding as if he knew I replayed what had happened to me. He placed his hand over my shaking coffee mug and set it on the table. I squeezed my empty hands together in my lap to try and control the tremors.
The huskiness of Seth’s voice cracked as he spoke. “I’m sorry. I know I wasn’t there. I wished so many times that I was. I would’ve been able to stop…” He trailed off, regret and pity lurked within the oceanic depths of his irises.
Don’t look at me like that. I can’t take the pity.
I can take care of myself. I’m fine.
I’m always…fine.
When I had written to him months after the break-in, I finally told him about the attack, what had happened, and that I moved and wasn’t going home. He’d offered to have me come out and live with him and his uncle. I promised that I’d be fine. I was old enough to get a job at that point, under the table at least. So that’s what I did. And shortly after I found a job, I moved into a little apartment downtown. The owner didn’t ask questions. She looked at me as if she knew I was running from something. I hadn’t known how or why and decided that she had probably seen her fair share of trouble. Hints of mischief swirled within her eyes. It helped that I paid a whole month’s rent upfront.
“Seth, it’s okay. You didn’t know, you couldn’t have known.”
He sighed. “It’s not okay though, Erin. I didn’t tell you the full reason why I moved, why I left,” I looked at him, question in my eyes. “It wasn’t just because of mom. There was more to it.”
I waited.
He took a deep breath. “My mom, she didn’t die the way we were originally told. She died protecting me. Us,” my breath caught. “Way before I was born, she was a warrior. Her whole existence was focused around protecting people. Protecting them from what they couldn’t see with their human eyes.”
Seth paused.
“My mom was a Nephilim. And…so am I.”
I stared blankly at Seth, my brows furrowed, unsure of what he meant.
“What is a Nephilim?” My thoughts churned.
What did this mean? Is this some joke?
“Nephilim are the result of Angel and human breeding,” I was dumbfounded. Seth had to be pulling my leg. “I’m a second generation Nephilim. My mom was an Angel who fell in love with my very human father. And had me. I didn’t know until years after she died. My uncle… he explained it to me when I turned eighteen.”
A knot formed in my stomach.
This cannot be real.
“Okay, if she was this ‘Nephilim’ then what was she protecting people from?” I narrowed my eyes. I had my legs curled up and knees tucked under my chin. I wrapped my arms around my thighs and dug my fingernails into my skin in an attempt to give myself some semblance of control.
“Demons. They find their way through the gates of Hell and torment innocent humans on Earth. They cut loose and cause chaos by bringing back the dead, the damned, and all the things that go bump in the night. And Nephilim were created to protect and defend against them.” Seth searched my eyes, trying to gauge my reaction, my understanding.
Tendrils of fear licked my insides, my pulse quickened.
“So, what does that have to do with me?” I did not like where our conversation was headed. “Wait, you said you were Nephilim. How come you didn’t tell me? Why now?” My voice rose, the reddened flare of irritation began to bloom.
What the hell is going on?
Seth ran his fingers through his onyx hair as he cleared his throat. “I know. I know, it’s a lot. But you have to trust me and understand that we were trying to protect you as long as possible. I discovered I was Nephilim a few years back. When my uncle took me in, I had no idea. I never even believed in any of that stuff. The whole Angel and Demon situation, I thought it was a whole lot of horse shit. But around the time I turned eighteen, things started happening to me. I’d get irritated, break things that I shouldn’t have been able to. I started hearing conversations between two people at the opposite end of the hallway at school, the length of eight classrooms between us. At one point, I remember slamming my fist into one of the lockers and the whole wall came crashing down. As you can imagine, that didn’t go too well. Then, my uncle sat me down and explained what was going on.” To prove his point, Seth walked to his rec area and picked up one of the cardio machines like it was nothing and tossed it back down with a heavy thud, a dent forever embedded in his otherwise perfect floor.
Holy. Shit.
My jaw dropped, my heartbeat hammered in my chest.
There’s no fucking way.
I tried to reason with myself and make sense of why Seth had been able to lift a piece of workout equipment that easily weighed several hundred pounds, if not more. My mind reeled, unable to come up with a reasonable explanation. I was lost for words.
“See? We workout and lift together, but I shouldn’t be able to lift that thing like it’s a bag of flour. And I shouldn’t be able to hear my neighbor down the street practicing a lecture for her class on Monday. Or your heartbeat when my ear isn’t against your chest and I’m on the far side of the couch.” Okay, that spiked my already pounding heart. He flashed a teasing grin. My face flushed.
Dammit.
I squared my shoulders. “You’re super strong and have stupidly good hearing, cool, I get it. But you’re still dodging what my involvement in all of this is. I’m just a weak human,” he raised his eyebrows, guilt tinged his cheeks and the tip of his nose. “I am human, right?”
For the love of all things sane. Seth Draven your ass better say yes.
His lips formed a thin line as he stared at me.
Nope. This is a dream. This has to be a freaking dream.
Demons? Angels? There’s no freaking way.
I started hyperventilating and felt the blood drain from my face.
“No.”
I gulped, sand in my throat as my vision blurred.
No.
“Erin, you’re Nephilim as well. Your mother was human but your dad…he was an Angel.”
My dad was an Angel?
I’m…
I’m not…human?
My heart sank as the bandages that mended the cracks within it split in two.
Seth lunged forward, his arm extended, worry etched across his face. His lips moved but the words fell mute. A harrowing ring filled my ears and engulfed me. Its screech dug its claws into me and dragged me down as the room fell away. Everything disappeared. I was shrouded in darkness.