Kate Evangelista - Til Death

His eyes widened. “Budapest.”

She nodded. You left me there.

“No!” He struggled against the invisible ropes holding him down. “Dammit! Let me go.”

You were supposed to stop them.

The truth of it hit him hard. Dejection wrapped around him like a straightjacket. He bowed his head. He didn’t need to watch to know what happened next. In the movie, he ran into a small alley between two shops. She stood at the end of it surrounded by screeching banshees. He fought them off and pulled her to him, but they were trapped. There was too many of the horrid creatures. He’d been clawed badly, bleeding from so many wounds he could barely stand. She begged him to end it. To do what he must to keep them from capturing her. His training told him what he had to do, but he couldn’t bring himself to move.

Yes , she said. You were supposed to keep me away from them. But you didn’t. You let them take me.

The disappointment in her voice broke him. “I’m sorry.”

You were supposed to keep me away from them.

She repeated the sentence over and over again. He bit his tongue until blood seeped out of the side of his lips and ran down his chin. The metallic taste made him gag. Despite the pain, he didn’t wake up. She deliberately kept him there to watch his failure.

Someone, somewhere screamed his name. He wanted to call out, to reach for whoever summoned him, but his throat refused to work. He swallowed the blood flooding his mouth and tried again.

The voice asked him to wake up.

“I’m trying, dammit!” he said.

Her eyes darted from place to place, like she searched for the voice, too. Then she laughed. He’d never heard her sound like that. More a cackle than a laugh. She doubled over and hugged herself. When she straightened, her face froze in an ugly mask. He barely recognized her.

He didn’t scare easily, but her next words made his blood run cold.

…

Finally, Dillan opened his eyes and gasped. He rolled to his side and coughed. Blood splattered on his pillow. More coughs shook his body. A pulse of pain emanated from his side.

“Dillan!”

He flopped flat on his back, clutching his side. Sweat dotting his brow, he closed his eyes and breathed away the pain. “Calm down, Rainer. I’m not deaf.”

The side of his bed depressed. “You were screaming her name.”

His uncle’s words forced his eyes open. The light in his room seemed too bright, making him squint. His eyes burned, but he focused on his uncle sitting there in his gray T-shirt and pajama bottoms.

“It’s nothing,” he mumbled. He hated the worry in Rainer’s eyes.

“It’s not nothing.” His uncle pointed at where he clutched his side.

He tried to sit up. Sadly, the pain wouldn’t let him, so he settled on his elbows. He looked down as far as he could. A red stain spread across his shirt. Rainer pushed his hand away and examined the wound. It caused the blood to spill over to the blue sheets, staining it brown. He must have nicked something major.

“You stabbed yourself.”

“Duh, Sherlock.” He closed his hand around the hilt of his sword, unsure how he accomplished it. Everything he tried to wake himself up from the dream hadn’t worked.

“Don’t be cute with me.” His uncle glared, flicking Dillan’s ear.

“Ah, a little help—”

The Boogeyman spread his hand over the wound. It healed instantly in a rain of blue sparks. He fell back on the bed and drank air like water on a hot day then returned his sword to its inert form before it cut another body part.

“Why did you stab yourself?”

He bit back the real answer. “I don’t know.”

Rainer crossed his arms. “Tell me everything.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Dillan!”

He didn’t flinch at the bark. Staring at the ceiling, he said, “I rolled in at about three and went to sleep. The next thing I know, you’re shaking me awake.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Rainer study the room. “The wards are holding and your window is shut. No sign of forced entry anywhere. And I don’t feel anyone else but you in this house.”

“I hate to disappoint you, but your safeguards don’t always work.” He realized his mistake the second the Boogeyman’s eyes settled back on his. He closed his hand around Dillan’s shirt and pulled him up. He didn’t struggle, knowing it was futile against a Legacy. As an added safety precaution, he kept his hands at his sides.

“What aren’t you telling me, boy?” Rainer asked in a deadly whisper.

“What? You’re allowed your secrets and I’m not?”

He shook him. “Not when your life is clearly in danger.”

To avoid answering his unasked question, he shifted the topic. “What about when Selena’s life is in danger?”

Rainer opened his fist and let him fall back down on the bed. He stood up and moved to the bookshelf. He rubbed his forehead, his eyes closed.

“Besides the attack at Mt. Rushmore and the puppets at Valley View, has anything else happened?” he asked after dropping his hand.

Dillan sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. “What’s going on here, Rainer? The attacks are clearly escalating. This isn’t good. I need to know…hell, Selena needs to know.”

They watched each other for the longest time. No one moved. They barely even breathed. Dillan knew Rainer couldn’t hide things for much longer. The truth rose to the surface no matter how deep it was buried.

“Then bring her here,” his uncle finally said.

Selena

Nuts, Bolts, and Catapults

The next day, Dillan picked me up for school. He texted that he was worried about my safety and he would be hanging close until he found the threat against me.

The roar of the GT’s engine had Gramps jerking away from the breakfast table.

“Is that what I think it is?” He turned toward the front of the house. If he’d magically transformed into a dog that second, his ears would have been perked up and his tail would be wagging uncontrollably.

I stifled a giggle into my orange juice. “Go see for yourself.”

Gramps bolted like a kid on Christmas morning, ready to tear up wrapping paper to get to the toys inside.

“What’s that all about?” Grams raised an eyebrow at Gramps’s disappearing act.

“Dillan’s taking me to school in a GT500.” I shrugged and finished my juice. Grabbing my bag off the floor, my stomach quivering at the idea of seeing him again, I hurried after Gramps.

“Oh, Lord.” Grams followed me to the front porch.

I burst out laughing the moment I got outside. Gramps had his hands all over the car, a goofy smile on his face. Love at first sight. Dillan looked on with an expression that seemed to be a cross between pride and concern.

“You better not leave me for that car, David.” Grams called from the porch steps as I walked to Dillan’s side.

“Hey, baby, where have you been all my life?” I heard Gramps say, awe in his words. His reaction to the car was worse than what I could have imagined.

“Should I be worried?” Dillan asked me when he took my bag, then he did something I didn’t expect: he gave me a peck on the cheek.

I blushed. “I think so,” I answered after clearing my throat, memories of our epic make out session resurfaced. I suddenly had a craving for Pop Rocks. What a change a kiss made. “Gramps, we’ll be late for school.”

He didn’t seem to hear, circling the car like a tiger scenting a female in heat.

“David, I swear, if you don’t leave that car alone this instant, I’m filing for divorce,” Grams yelled from the porch.

From the longing on Gramps’s face, I had a sinking feeling he actually considered it. He slowly backed away from the car. Dillan opened the door for me and I hopped in, telling him to hurry before Gramps changed his mind about letting us go.