Chapter 1: The beginng

 

                           “It’s time” I whisper into the darkness. I know he heard me because he moves soundlessly, effortlessly across the room. Dakota’s lean body sways back and forth, but those beautiful, majestic, green eyes stay locked onto mine. I heard a crash and a moan in the other room. He was beating her…again. My uncle is abusive. He beat my aunt and I regularly. I wasn’t his usual target. It was mostly my aunt, but once in a blue moon I will get the worst of it. Tonight is my eighteenth birthday. I’ve waited years, years to be free and tonight I was. I couldn’t walk into the kitchen tomorrow and see her sitting at the table smoking a cigarette black and blue again. I couldn’t stay up another night listening to her screams of mercy. I couldn’t wake up another morning to the smell and taste of blood. The worst part is she loves him, in those eyes I see pain, yes, but most of all I see longing, desire for him…lust. That’s why I hate her. She could have gotten us out of this, but instead she was too caught up in her own sick fantasy. Now why Dakota and I sneak though my open window and into the woods I feel no remorse. I almost feel...feel…happy (almost). I walk numbly through the thick, dense, forest. Letting, trusting Dakota to lead us. Now you might be wondering, who is Dakota? Dakota is…my dog, yes, that’s the more practical word. He is more of a wolf. He has jet black, wiry, fur that bristles when he’s angry. He`s broad, alert, and strong. He is my everything. My friend, my protector. Many times he has saved me from my uncle’s wrath. In which he has received a kick in the gut himself in return. We have a special connection. He could leap higher, run faster, and understand better than anything I’ve ever seen. He was huge too. Growing taller than my waist, almost the size of a bear. Now, I just follow his lead not knowing, not caring about what might be in store for us. We walk deeper and deeper into the woods until Dakota stops and sits down. “I guess were sleeping here tonight boy” I say as I slide my backpack full of food and water off my shoulder. Then, I curl up on the cold ground. Dakota lies down next to me and I bury my face into his warm, fur. Just like I have done so many nights before. At some point I start to cry…sob actually. I cry, and cry until my eyes are swollen. Then I start to shake. No, Dakota does. I quickly sit up and stand back. Was he having a seizer? I scream at myself. Then…he…morphs. His paws become hands and feet. His hair into tan, beautiful skin. Slowly before my eyes he transforms. Not into a beast, but a man. I look at the man standing before me. He was, in fact, not a man. He was a boy around my age, not quite a man. He had silky black hair and he was tall and muscular. He had the same eyes as Dakota. The same green eyes. He reaches out and touches my cheek lightly “Riley?” he whispers. Then his lips connect with mine.

Chapter 2: The truth

 

I gasp in surprise. His lips were warm, salty, and inviting. I relax against him. I run my hands through his hair. His lips part and he murmurs something against my lips, but I was lost for word. He makes a deep rumbling sound when I run my hands down his chest. What was I doing??  “NO! Stop” I say. He pulls back a fraction and I was suddenly aware of him. Aware of his arms around me, his breath that stirred my hair. This was Dakota as a…man. With my eyes still closed I take a couple steps back. “Open your eyes, look at me, it’s me Dakota.” He said. Then I realize I was crying. “Don’t cry” Dakota whispers his voice suddenly hoarse. I open my eyes. He was so beautiful. “I’m sorry, I...just…I needed” he stuttered and ran his hands through his hair. “How?” I whisper. He sighs and leans against a tree. “I’m your protector” he says so quietly I can barely here him. I snort “Then you weren’t doing a very good job” I say. There’s a moment of silence and I look up. His eyes had shown nothing, but pain, regret. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that I’m just so confused.” I say and he looks at me. “No your right. I didn’t protect you like I should” he said and he sounded like he blamed himself fully. “I was assigned to you. Every werewolf or any other downworlder is assigned to one person. They didn’t give me much information, but I need to take you to the institute. They can tell you all the details.” He says and locks eyes with me. “I know your confused, I know you, the look on your face right now. Your scared, and yet you trust me because.” He takes a step closer to me and takes my hand. He lays it on his chest were his heart is. “Because I’m the same Dakota that you talk to, cried to, cling to every night. It’s me, all that time.” He whispers he was so close. All that time it was him. I feel his heart beat under my fingertips. Thump, thump, thump. It was him, I remember because it was that heart beat I listened to every night. I pull him into a bear hug. I squeeze him tightly, afraid of losing him. “I’ve dreamed of this moment” I whisper and buried my face into the crook of his neck. Which was true. I’ve dreamed of Dakota as a man, because in my mind he was always more than a dog. He was my friend. “Me too” he whispers so low I wonder if I imagined it. He holds me a while and eventually I fall asleep to the sound beat of his heart.

Chapter 3: The journey

 

I awaken to the warm sun beating down on my face. I open my eyes. It takes them a moment to adjust, but when they do I shriek. A guy was holding me, in his arms, against his solid chest. He looked like he was still asleep so I sneak silently, out of his protective arms. Then last night’s memories flood back. I touch my lips were he had kissed them. So sweet and warm. I look at him really look at him. He had high cheekbones and long eyelashes. He had black hair that fell softly around his face. I remember running my hands through it. It had felt like heaven. He was broad chested and tall. That was saying something since I was tall myself, but unlike him I had blue eyes that some people would call “cold” or “calculating” which I didn’t really care. Dakota was beautiful there was something about him that…draws me in. Maybe it was the eyes, I don’t know. “Checking me out?” Dakota says and his eyes open widely. I just back in surprise, with a blush creeping up my cheeks. Dakota laughs and I give him a murderous look. “So how are we going to get to the ‘Institute’ anyways?” I ask, suddenly serious. Dakota just stare for a moment. “Look, Dakota, I appreciate everything you’ve done for me but I don’t want pity ok? I can take care of myself” I say. Judging by what happen last night apparently I couldn’t. “PITY?” Dakota spits the words at me like venom. “Is that what you think this is?” he asks me. Why was he so mad? I just stare at him. “You don’t get it do you? I CAN’T I’m drawn to you somehow I can’t explain it. I need you like I need air to breath. Ever since that day I followed you home from school. Most people would have been scared, but you weren’t. You walked right up to me and petted me.” He says and smiles “That’s when I knew you were special. Then I couldn’t stay away, couldn’t get enough.” His voice drops to a whisper he tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear. “So if this is pity, it’s not for you it’s for me.” He says I pinch myself until I bleed. Yup, this is real. “Ok, but one condition.” I say and he smiles “anything” he says. I hesitate a moment. “You can’t touch me like that” I say and the smile vanishes from his face. I keep going before I lose the nerve. “I-I can’t think when you touch me like that.” I say avoiding his gaze. There’s a long agonizing silence. “Ok, next time I…touch you it will be because you asked me to.” He says and I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. I hug him and he stiffens. “Just this one-time” I whisper and he instantly relaxes. He buries his face in the crook of my neck and takes a deep breath. This was going to be hard to resist. Every part of my that touches his tingles. I give him a lingering kiss on his neck and I hear him moan. He mumbles something I couldn’t hear into my hair. “So very, very touching I mean really I wasn’t expecting that.” A voice says and I jump. Dakota stiffens under my grasps. We pull apart. “Oh, don’t let me interrupt” he says. The man steps out from the shadows. Every hair on my body was on edge. The man had blonde hair and black eyes. Fully black with no white what so ever. His eyes flicker to me. “She’s not that bad looking either maybe we can have some fun before I kill her.” Dakota went rigid all over. His hand clench into fists and his eyes went hard and unmerciful his gaze alone could bring a mortal man to his knees. When he spoke it was like ice, razor blades in one. “You won’t touch her” and I believed him too.  The man flew on Dakota so fast it was a blur. Dakota instantly shifted. They were locked in combat. The man would be one place than instantly another. Dakota ripped a hunk of the man’s flesh of and I averted my gaze. Then my eyes went back to the fight, to scared to look away. The man cut Dakota across the face. The blood in my veins froze. I couldn’t breathe. The man disappeared then reappeared right in front of me. He grabbed one of my wrists then hissed. His body was replaced with a new one. It was hairless, red, and his soulless, black eyes stared at me. He was a demon. A knife appeared I my hand. I sunk it deep into the demons throat. He made a gurgling noise, and I smelled burning flesh. I yanked my out and the man diminished. Dakota had shifted back to a man and he stared at me wide eyed. I look down at the dagger in my hand that was dripping blood. The blood drained from Dakotas face and he turned pale. “Do you know what you just did?” He asks in a deadly tone. “N-no did I do something wrong? He was hurting me” I say like a scared child. He stared at me in astonishment “You just killed a very,  very powerful demon I didn’t even think I could do it”

Chapter 4: The institute

“I did what?” I ask. He reaches me in threestrides. He takes the dagger from my hand and examines it. “It can’t be” hewhispers. What, what I want to scream at him. “Tell me” I whisper. He goesvery, very still. I get scared. “You’re an angel, a very, very powerful angel”he whispers. My knees give out, but Dakota catches me. I could feel my bodyslipping in and out of consciousness. “Dakota don’t leave me” I whisper andthen I slip into darkness. My head felt like it was on fire. Voices swam in myhead. “Impossible”, “she can’t be she’s just a little girl” “angel”, “demon”. Ifall slowly back to the safe darkness. “Riley, Riley, come on wake up” it wasDakota. I looked through the darkness for him. I followed his voice. Thenslowly, I opened my eyes. I was lying in a hospital bed surrounded by people.Dakota was by my side his eyes full of concern. There were three more guys andtwo girls. One man was older, his hair was grey (almost white) his eyes lookedlike they held so many secrets. I instantly trusted him. There were two otherguys. One with blonde hair and blue eyes and the other with brown hair and greyeyes. The blonde hade soft blue eyes that had laugh lines and a face that wasfriendly. The one with brown hair stared at me with narrowed eyes full ofhatred. The two girls had blonde and red hair. The blond had shy, brown eyes.The red- head had green eyes, but unlike Dakota, they were soft. Dakotas wereintense and sometimes I get lost in them. Dizziness overwhelmed me and I closemy eyes. “She’s totally faking” The brown-haired guy said and the room gotdeathly quiet, I could feel the tension. “Get out Nick and anybody else whowants to run their mouth she was infected with DEMON poison. Not regular poisoneither one from a greater demon” The room sucked in a breath. I sit up and leanover the side of my bed and throw up violently into the trash can. It lookedlike black tar. Dakota holds my hair and hands me a napkin. I wipe my face.“How do you feel?” he asks he looked at me like I was the only one in the room.“I feel better” I croak. This was true I did once I threw up. “Can someone giveme some answers?” I ask. Dakota turns to the older man who nods. “We at theinstitute. This is Sarah, he pointed to the blonde, Rebecca, the red hairedgirl, Samuel, the blonde haired guy. He smiled at me showing straight whiteteeth. “Just Sam” he said. Then Dakota pointed to Nick “guess you know hisname” he said. The older man smiled “I’m Silas, Riley, when this knife appearedin your hand do you know what that means?” he asks giving her a warm smile. Ishake my head and Nick snorts. “It means that you are an angel” he shows me myknife. It says “Michael father of  war” Iwhisper. “You read Hebrew?” he asks. “What? No, it’s in English” I say andSilas looks down then at me. “One of your powers I guess. Riley, Michael is oneof the most powerful angels of this world and he made you.”

Chapter 5: Answers

 

Here drink this” Silas whispers. I do and sweet liquids slip down my throat. It restores my energy and heals my wounds instantly. “I have a question, if I’m an angel what are you guys?” I ask. They stare at me in silence. Sam was the first to speak. “Dakota and I are werewolves. Everyone else is nephilim”  he must of saw my blank stare because he added “which are half angel half human”. “Oh” I say. I feel much better, but I was in desperate need of a shower. “Um do yal mind if I get a shower?” I ask and a look of amusement flickers across Silas’s face. “Of course.” He points to the bathroom I swing my legs over the side of the bed. I stand, which at first was wobbly. “It’s ok, I’m fine” I say to Dakota who was watching me like a hawk. I make my way to the bathroom and shut the door behind me. It was a relief to be away from there judgmental stares. I peel off my sweaty,   bloodstained clothes. Then I slip under the scaling hot shower. I cry out in relief it felt so good. I wash my hair and scrub my hair until its raw. I step out and rap a fluffy, white towel around me. Then I realized I didn’t have any more clothes than the dirty ones. The bathroom door opens and I hold my breath. I let it out when I see its Dakota. He sees me and his eyes get wide. Then he turns to leave. “Wait, come here” I say and he freezes. I pull him into the bathroom and shut the door. “I was just going to bring you clothes” he says and sets them on the counter. He looks at the floor. I give him a huge hug and bury my head in his chest. He keeps his hands at his sides, but I don’t care. He smells like warm, warm honey. I take a step back and he looks at me. His eyes rake up and down my body and he makes a low noise that almost sounds like a growl. “I missed you” I whisper. “I take it back, Dakota, what I said about you touching me I can’t stand you not touching me.” I say and he locks eyes with me. He waits two seconds. Then he crosses the bathroom in two strides and raps his arms around me. I don’t wait for him I crush my mouth to his. He draws back a fraction in surprise and I nibble his bottom lip. He moans and crushes me against him. His mouth is warm and I explore every inch of it. I move down to his neck and kiss it slowly, hotly. Dakota pulls back and lifts my chin, we lock eyes. His eyes drink me in, every inch of me that wasn’t covered by the towel. His eyes were so full of desire I wanted to cry. “We have to stop, I have to or I won’t be able to.” He says. His voice was hoarse. “ok, later ok?” I ask. He smiles and answers me with a kiss. This one was sweet, promising more. He pulls apart and looks at me one last time and walks out. I touch my lips were he was only seconds ago and wonder what just happened? “

Chapter 6: More Questions

 

I get dressed in the t-shirt and jean that were left for me. I tugged a brush through my long black hair too. When I came out the girl named Rebecca was there. She sees me and gives me a warm smile. “Close fit good?” she asks. “Yeah, thanks by the way I appreciate it” I tell her. She nods and pulls her fiery red hair into a pony tail. “Well the council is having a meeting and we all have to go so we better get to stepping, we don’t want to be late to that.” She says with so much sarcasm I have to smile. We walk down a long corridor into a large room with an oval table. Many people were sitting around it and I glanced at all of them. Then I lock eyes with him. I gasp and everyone in the room turns and looks at me like I’m stupid even Dakota, but I don’t care. God, I don’t care because the man I’m staring at is my father. I’m running, fast and hard. I don’t know where to go, I just run. The image of my mother and father lying dead, cut open on the ground fills my mind. I was there. I saw him and her dead. Impossible. He CANT be alive! Someone grabs my arm and whirls me around. It’s him my father. I can barely see him through the waterfall of tears that stream down my face. “Riley, stop, STOP!” He yells and anger fills me. “Stop?” I ask the word rolling off my tongue like acid.  I connect my right fist across his face. I heard a deafening crack. It was his jaw. I brought my left up just as quickly and decked him in the eye. I try again, but someone has grabbed me and pulled me away. “YOU LEFT ME! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THEY PUT ME THROUGH?” I scream at him. My vision is red and blurry, but I know who hold me back. I turn and bury my face in his shirt. Tears fall down my face. Dakota leads my outside and pulls me away so he can look at me. “What, what’s wrong? What did he do?” Dakota says angry. “That’s my father!” I yell and shock passes over Dakotas face. “I-I thought he was dead?” He asks. “He is” I whisper. “Oh, Riley” Dakota says and pushes me into his arms.  “I just want to go to sleep” I say and Dakota picks me up into his arms. I close my eyes while he carries me, until he sets me on a bed. He turns to leave. “Don’t leave” I whisper and he hesitates. Then, lies down next to me. I curl up against his chest. He kisses my head and I fall softly asleep.  I wake up the next morning with a note to go to the dining room. I brush my hair and make my way to the dining room. The room was crowded and all the conversation stopped when I walked in. There was one seat left at the head of the table, which I took. Directly in front of me was my father, at the other end of the table. He was black and blue all over. His entire face was black or blue. One of his eyes was swollen shut too. I had only hit him twice. Did I really cause all of that?

Chapter 7: Training

 

“Daughter, I’m glad you could join us.” My father says. “Don’t call me that or I will screw your face up even more” I say practically spitting the words at him. The whole table turns and looks at me. My father flushes with anger. “Anyway, you will start training today.” He says as I stuff my face with scrambled eggs. “We will have to do something with that attitude also” he says, and since my mouth was full I flipped him the bird. I almost laughed out loud. My father looked, flabbergasted. Once I swallow I asked him a question. “What are you like there leader or something?” I ask. “Head of the council” He says like he is so proud of himself. “Yeah, I guess that is more important than raising your daughter huh? The worst part is you didn’t even have the balls enough to tell me you were leaving, you just fake your own death.” I looked around the table Nick seemed to look at me with a newly found respect. I get up and push my chair in. “I’ll be in the weapon room.” I say and slam the dining room door behind me. I waited in the weapon room and looked around. They had everything from axes, knifes, guns, to sledge hammers. “Michael” I whisper and my dagger forms in my hand. I throw it and hit the bulls eye, that’s across the room. “That’s impressive” a voice says and I turn to see, not Dakota, but Sam. “Not as impressive as turning into a werewolf” I say and he smiles at me. “Guess not huh?” He says. “But your angel so I think you win” he says. “I guess I do.” I say “You’re holding the dagger wrong though here, let me show you.” He says and moves towards me.  He steps behind me and raps his arms around my waist. His cheek brushes mine. He grabs my hand and slowly lifts it above my shoulders. His breath stirs my hair and he is so close his lips brush my cheek. He jerks my hand and the dagger soars through the air. I hits the bulls eye. “That’s how it done” he whispers. His hand still holds mine. I’m about to push away when the door flings open. Rebecca and Dakota walk in. I push Sam off of me and I see Dakota’s eyes, which blaze wildly. “What do you think you’re doing?” Dakota asks Sam in an icy voice.  Sam smiles and it’s a dark smile. The kind that sends shivers up your back. “Didn’t you hear?” Sam asks and Dakota narrows his eyes at him. “I’m Riley’s protector too”                  

                                                                                                                           

 

Chapter 8: A little red dress

 

“When did this happen?” Dakota asks. “When you brought her here they saw you weren’t capable of keeping her safe, which was obviously true.” Sam said and Dakota crossed the room in three strides. “What did you say?” Dakota said, body ridged. “Did I stutter?”  Sam asks. I push Dakota away from Sam. “Who do you think you are? He did keep me safe, but if either of you think you can tell me what do your mistaken.” I say and Sam turns away. There was a long silence. “Well, people from the head council are coming to the party tonight so Riley, if you will come with me I will help you find a dress.” Rebecca said, I had forgotten she was in the room. “Yeah, let’s go” I say and walk out with her I felt both of them stare at me as I walk out. “Wow, there really crazy about you” Rebecca says once were in her room. I like Rebecca, she’s not afraid to say what’s on her mind. “This will make them go crazier” she says with a wink and holds up a strapless red dress with a low top and a slit down the side. “Ok, let me go try it on” I say. I go to the bathroom and slip the dress on. The dress was tight in the stomach and was low cut at the top too. It was short and came a little lower than mid-thigh. The slit on the sides was high though. I looked really good. I come out the bathroom so Rebecca can see and she lets out a whistle. “Wow girl, you got it going on” she says. “Come here so I can do your hair”. I sit obediently and she curls my hair so it falls in soft waves around my face. Then she puts makeup on me. I look in the mirror. I was beautiful. I had tan skin with high cheekbones and long legs. My eyes were a brilliant blue tonight. I smiled then slipped on my flats. “Absolutely not!” Rebecca said once she came from the bathroom after she put her dress on. She handed me black high hill shoes that strapped. I sigh and put them on. I stand and surprising I don’t stumble.  It was about six a clock so we head down stairs. The boys were waiting and once they saw us their mouths fall open. Rebecca was prettier though with her red hair and green eyes. Except they were all staring at me. I lock eyes with Dakota and his eyes shined deep with desire. He was wearing a grey suit and his hair was neatly combed to the side. I make my way to the bottom and everyone still was staring at me. “Gosh, what are yal staring at?” I ask. Silence. Dakota offers me his arm and I link it with mine. “You look like an angel about to kill us with your beauty” he says I laugh, but he doesn’t.         

 

 

Chapter 9: The partry

 

We make are way into the ballroom and all eyes were on me...again. I clutch Dakota tighter. Then another arm links through my left arm. It was Sam; he was wearing a white suit. He grinned wickedly at Dakota. We walk to the dance floor. “Can I have this dance?” Sam asks me kissing my hand. I look at Dakota and he nods stiffly. I let Sam lead me away. He raps his arms around my waist and I lock mine around his neck. “You look beautiful tonight” He whispers and I smile. “If you keep tantalizing Dakota I’m not going to stop him when he decks you in the face” I say. “Oh, I’m not worried about him” he says into my ear which brings shivers down my spine. “I only care about you” he says and gives me a lingering kiss on the cheek then looks over my shoulder. Dakota was leaving. I pull apart from him. I give him a murderous glance “jerk” I say and follow Dakota out. He was walking really fast; I had to run to catch up with him. I follow him outside “Wait, Dakota, will you just wait!” I yell and he whirls around unexpectedly. I crash into him, but he catches me. Then he crushes his lips to mine. My world slips away and I’m lost in my own world, were only we exist. I run my hair up and down his body. He kisses my neck and nibbles my collarbone I gasp with surprise. “Kiss me” I whisper and he does. Oh, does him.” Then he pulls apart and were panting, breathing hard. “Do you feel it? Any of it?” He asks “I feel everything” I whisper.  He stares at me from a moment, looking at every inch of my face. Then, he grabs my hand and led me across the lawn. There’s a gazebo that’s surrounded by little twinkling lights that floated, lighting up the darkness. It was beautiful. “Fairies” I whisper and Dakota smiles. He suddenly sweeps me of my feet. I giggle in surprise as he carries me up the stairs. He sets me down once we reach the top. The music from the ballroom drifts into the gazebo. Dakota takes my hand and raps his arms around my waist. I lean my head against his chest. He smelled like honey, sweet, sweet, honey. His lips brush the top of my head. I look up. This time it wasn’t desire that filled his eyes, it was adoration, pure adoration. He looked at peace. “Riley, when I’m with you I feel safe. You make me feel safe. You make me feel wanted. You give me a reason to live, to breath, to wake up another day. I love you. God, I love you so much.” He says and I suck in a breath. He just told me he loves me! Say something you idiot! I scream to myself. Instead I ball his shirt up in my hands and crush his body to mine. This kiss was wild, like a fire, consuming us both. I heard the fairies giggle around us and I smile against Dakota’s lips. Then he catches my bottom lip between his and nibbles it. I smile even more.        

Chapter:10 The council

 

“Come on we have to go! The council is waiting” I whisper as Dakota trails kisses down my neck. He pulls back, he looks reluctant to leave, but he takes my hand and we run to the ballroom. Once were in they call me up to take a seat. Dakota takes a seat in the audience, with his eyes trained on me just me. I sat down and looked at the people that surrounds me. Three women, and two men. “Your name is Riley Johnson correct?” a man asks me. “Yes” I say in a high, clear voice. The man looks down at his paper. “It says here that you defeated a greater demon with little to no training is that correct?” He ask and I nod. “And were was you protector at the time?” He asks, voice dripping with distaste. “Look, Dakota has done a fine job of protecting me ok? So all of you need to lay off. Killing demons is in my blood, I can’t control it.” I say and now all the council stares at me. “I see, well, Riley were going to be honest. We have never seen an angel before. Although we know you are because the dagger that formed into your hand. Now we have to trigger something inside you that gives you the marks of an angel.” He says giving me a moment to absorb everything. “Well the only thing we can figure is letting you fight one of our greatest champions.” The women to the left of me says with a wicked smile. “Absolutely not!” Dakota and Sam’s voices rang out. Everyone in the room turns to them. There is silence. “Dakota Wayland and Sam Morris you are her protector’s correct?” He asks “That’s right” Sam says and Dakota stays quiet, staring narrow eyed. “Well, you do not have that authorization its Ms. Johnson’s choice. I wanted to know who I am and sitting around wasn’t going to help. “Ok, let’s do this” I say and guards restrain Dakota and Sam. “No, let me go” Dakota screams. “Stop, it’s my choice” I say as they drag them out the room. “Very well, but I imagine you would like to change” he says eyeing my dress with amusement in his eye. “Yes” I say through gritted teeth. A women wearing a business suit takes me to the bathroom and hangs me a leather, fighting outfit. “It was your mothers, we were good friends until she was murdered.” She says with real pain. So my mother was murdered. Where was my father when all this happened? I thought as I dressed in the skin tight leather pants and shirt. I pull my ink black hair up away from my face. I step back out of the bathroom and the council had already moved the oval table and replaced it with a blue wrestling mat. Then the man steps out of the shadow. He was at least seven foot tall and all of three hundred pounds. I step onto the mat with him they had Dakota and Sam chained against the back wall with duct tape over their mouths.  I take a deep breath. “You may fight with a knife, that is all, and death is of your choice.” The council man says and Dakota and Sam go crazy in the corner. “Michael” I whisper as the other man pulls out a butcher knife and smiles at me. My dagger appears in my hand and I pray that I make it out of here in one piece.    

 

 

Chapter 11: The fight, the sign

 

The man moves swiftly, he’s towering above me in seconds. He swings his knife, but I dodge it. The next one I didn’t see coming. He cut me across the face. I whip my dagger across his chest, but he just laughs. This time instead of his knife, his fist (that look like a ham) connects with my jaw. I fly backwards into the wall. My jaw bone cracks and unimaginable pain over takes my body. My heartbeat hammers in my ear. Blood flows in my eyes so I’m unable to see. I feel his knife though pointed at my throat. It digs into my flesh a fraction. I think of Dakota and how I will never get to tell him that I love him too. Get up. A voice whispers to me. ‘I can’t, I’m not strong enough’ I say. Not strong enough! Not strong enough? You are me in every essences you are an ANGEL, fight my child! You are a warrior. “Michael?” I whisper. Yes, now rise my child. I knock the knife from the man’s hand. I stand on my feet and rise now, I tower above the man. He looks into my eyes. Not amusement, but fear. Hard, cold, fear. “Michael” I whisper and my dagger appears into my hand. I point it against the man’s throat. I dig it in until it bleeds only a fraction. Blood still drips from my face. HOW DARE YOU ALL. A voice booms throughout the room. Do you DARE challenge a child of MINE? Michael the angel of war says. I shall kill everyone of you. He whispers and it sounds like the winds before a hurricane. “No, father, they didn’t know” I say. “Spare them please.” I whisper. There is a long silence. I look throughout the room. Everyone stares at me wide-eyed in fear. As you wish, my child. I will give you your gifts so that they may protect you. He says and I sprout wings. They tear through my shirt and grow until they have a sixteen foot wingspan the crowd gasps in surprise. The man who, just earlier tried to kill me, bows down at me feet. My body is lifted into the air. Beautiful swirls surround me. Gold, silver, black all intertwining with my arms creating marks of the angels. Power, energy, feels my body. I’m created into someone new, someone powerful. I clutch my dagger into my hand and I am realist onto the ground. My eyes flicker and my vision becomes acute, more detailed. I can see every little detail in the room. I can see how the people tremble and some cry. I can smell there fear, there amazement. I can hear their heart hammering in there chests. My eyes flicker to the  man who I first talked to at the council. He was frightened. “Unchain them” I say and he flinches at my words. Then he runs over and quickly unchains them. The boys stand and walk towards me cautiously.           When they reach my feet they bow. Everyone else bows also. They bow to me. I flicker my eyes again and retract my wings. Now everything is back to normal. “Rise to your feet” I whisper and the room rises at my command.    

                                                                                       

Chapter 12: More questions

 

“Riley, you saved us all” the man whispers. “I’m going to try and sleep I will answer any questions you have tomorrow” I say the man nods. “Boys can you show me where I’m going to be sleeping?” I ask and they take my hand and led me away. Once I reach my room I reach up and give Dakota a peck on the lips. He leaves with a nod. Now it’s just Sam and I in the hallway. “Do I get the same treatment?” He asks and I smile. I stand on my tippy toes and kiss him. Instead of it being quick like Dakota’s,  his lips part and so does my world. His mouth was softer than Dakota’s. Sam held me softly and kisses me tenderly. I push him against me harder and the kiss deepens. His hands tangle in my hair and I pull part. His breath was like a whisper against my neck. He closes the distance and kisses me again, this time it was sweet and slow. He pulls back and stares at me with his big, blue eyes. “Good night” he whispers and just like that he was gone. I open my door and strip of the leather clothing for boxer shorts and a tank top. I crawl under the covers and curl into the fetal position. Then I cry. I cry because I’m scared and lonely. I cry because I’m become, someone, something and I have no idea what that is. I hadn’t slept without Dakota in like forever. I missed his warm body holding me. I lie like that for hours. I look at the clock. 12:30pm. Tap, tap. The noise was coming from the window. I cautiously go to the window. It was Dakota on the ledge of a five story building. I quickly open it. “What are you doing? Are you crazy? Get in here!” I say. He steps through and looks down at what I’m wearing. I blush. “I couldn’t sleep, not without you” he says. “I thought you were mad at me” I say. “Why would you think that?” He asks narrowing his eyes. I step forward and brush his cheek with my fingertips. “Because you hadn’t said two words to me since what happen.” He closes his eyes at my touch. “Because, you’re an angel” He whispers. I smile “Close the window and come to bed” I whisper. He swallows thickly and does what he’s told. I crawl back under the covers. He lies on the bed as far away from me as he can. He lies on his back with his arms stiffly by his side. “We’ve done this before why are you acting like that?” I whisper. “Because it’s harder now” he says and I move to across the bed to him and curl up against his chest. He buries his face in my hair. “Heaven” he whispers. “You smell like vanilla, the most intoxicating smell of vanilla.” He says then I remember, werewolf senses. I slip my hand under his shirt and trace his abs with my fingertips. Slowly, teasingly. “Stop” he whispers, begs. I look into his eyes. Then, I drop my gaze to his lips. I trace them with my fingertips too. He closes his eyes and moans. I connect my mouth to his. Slowly, sucking his bottom lip. “No” he says and jumps out of bed. “Riley, I can’t control myself when I’m around you” he says. “Then don’t” I whisper. He looks at me then climbs back in bed and crushes his body to mine. So much it hurts. I don’t care though. I kiss him, passionately. He kisses my throat and my face tenderly. I rip his shirt apart in my hands. I throw the tattered pieces of the bed and trace my hands down his smooth, tan, chest. I kiss every part of his chest. I look into his eyes. He looked like he was under a drug. His eyes were glassy and shown a bright green. “Dakota?” I whisper. He looks at me “I have to stop Riley ok?” He says and his voice sounds like pain, like lust. “Ok” I whisper and move reluctantly back to my side of the bed. We stay like that only for seconds. Then he growls and raps me in his arms. I lay still against him and listen to his heartbeat. I think of Sam and how much him and Dakota were different.

Chapter 13: SAM

 

I wake up to Dakota watching me. His arms were still around me. He was bare chested and a blush creeps on my face when I remember I ripped it off. His skin was tan and beautiful he had a tattoo of a wolf on his arm it was black with green eyes too. “Good morning, beautiful” he whispers. I just smile faintly and bury my face in the crook of his neck. “I would have been gone already, but my shirt is…well you know.” He says and I giggle against his warm skin. “I’m sorry” I say. “Don’t be” he whispers back. “Dakota I can talk to you about anything, right? And you won’t get mad?” I ask. He turns and lifts my chin. “I could never be mad at you” I hesitate. “When you told me you love me I didn’t say anything because I wanted to be a hundred percent sure. Well, Dakota I do love you” I say and his eyes sparkle. “But last night when you and Sam walked me to my room, after you left Sam kissed me. I didn’t push him back either.” I say and Dakotas hands curl into fists. “Right now I’m confused because something draws me to you, but whatever that is draws me to Sam too.” I say and Dakotas fists unclench. He sits up on his elbows and stares down at me. “Then I have a solution” I narrow my eyes. “You go on dates with each of us. It will be fair too I won’t come in here at night either .Riley, I will do anything for you” he says. “But that will be punishing me, you not being here.” I say on the verge of tears. Dakota smiles faintly and wipes one of my tears away with his fingertip. “I can come here in wolf form.” He says quietly. “I feel safe with you here” I whisper. “I know” he says back and I drift back asleep. When I wake up this time I’m alone. I get out of bed and get dressed in jeans and a white shirt. I look at myself in the mirror. I looked like the same person. My black hair was still straight and long. My eyes were still the same cobalt blue. My skin was the same shade of white. I looked deep within myself. I did see a difference. I seemed to hold myself with a newly found confidence. Maybe that was it? I hear a chuckle. I turn and see a demon stand before me. I stare at him. “Michael” I whisper and my dagger appears. “What do you plan to do with that?” The demon asks in a mocking tone. I stay silent as he comes closer. He is fast and comes at me in blinding speed. I retract my wings and flicker my eyes. He gasps in surprise. I wipe my knife across his throat and blood splatters across my white shirt. He catches me by the wrist and bites me. While I’m in angel mode his demon blood is like venom pulsing through my veins. My body feels like fire consuming me slowly. He lets go and I almost fall to the ground. Then he falls. I look in front of me. Another demon stood there. He was blue with black markings. He had red eyes and a long tail. With horns on top his head. He held a dagger. “I won’t hurt you, I came to help, daughter of Michael.” He says I believe him to. I let him approach me. “Drink this, its holy water.” He says and I chug the bottle. I choke as if I’m drowning in it. “It’s the demon poison.” He says staring at me. “Who are you?” I ask. He stares for a moment. “Nicholi” he says. “Well, Nicholi help me down stairs” I say and I rap my arm around his shoulder for support. He murmurs words then, suddenly were in the kitchen. Everyone jumps up, pulling out knifes, and daggers. “Friend” I choke out and everyone relaxes. “There is a demon upstairs, dead, she had demon poison infected into her again and I gave her holy water.” He says and instantly Sam and Dakota are at my side lifting me away from Nicholi. “Why did you let this happen?” Sam yelled at him. “I didn’t LET anything happen, you’re her guardian correct? It’s your job” Nicholi answered. I saw Sam’s fists clench. “Stop, friend” I say and Dakota strokes my hair. “Shh, it’s ok I won’t let anyone hurt him” Dakota says and I concentrate on his hand on my cheek. Then comes the pain.           

 

 

Chapter:14 Prophecy

 

I sit up in bed listening to Dakota speak. “Were both going to sleep in your room from now on” Dakota said. I laugh and then wince. My ribs hurt from all the screaming I had done (From holy water). “How are yal going to manage that?” I ask and he shrugs. Silas was at my other side. “Riley, we want you to know that we appreciate what you did yesterday. If it wasn’t for you we all would have died” I give him a small smile. “I’ve been looking at prophecies and Michael is the angel of war. We are at war with a man name Canaan” I gasp. “That’s my uncle’s name” I say and Silas narrows his eyes. “Could it be a coincidence?” I ask and he shakes his head. “I don’t believe I coincidences, but I will, however, look into it.” He says looking off into the distance. Silas leaves my bedside in a hurry. Sam comes in behind him. “Hey” he says with a wink. I smile a little. “Mind if I take you to lunch?” He asks I look at Dakota. “Yeah, go head” he says and walks out. Sam gives me a questioning glance I shrug and step out of bed. I stumble a little and he catches me. He smiles. “Dakota said that he’s going to be fair and let you date me too.” I say and Sam smiles. He kisses me. I pull back quickly. I give him a scolded look. “I thought that means I could do that” he says. Well, I guess he can right? I kiss him back this time and he smiles against my lips. “I’m starving” I say and he laughs. “I am too, but not for food” he whispers, which causes me to shiver. We walk to the kitchen and I see fresh cookies that the cook made. “Ooh” I say and Sam lifts me onto the counter. I reach for a cookie, but Sam holds the plate away. I swat at him, but end up laughing. “You have to kiss me first” he says after his third cookie. “Fine” I mumble and I kiss him lightly on his lips. His mouth tasted like warm chocolate. Then I heard someone come in. I pull apart and see Sarah, the shy blonde girl staring at us. She looks at me with envious eyes. I see tears in her eyes before she runs off. Sam turns back to me and hands me the plate. I get a cookie. “You need to go after her” I say and Sam shakes his head. “She just has a thing for me” he says casually. “Well, you need to talk to her” I say sliding off the counter. I head out the room and he catches my arm. “Are you JELOUS?” Sam asks me. I stare at him. “No, but did you see the pain in her eyes when she saw us?” I ask him. He nods “Ok, I will talk to her” he says. I walk up the stairs into my bedroom. I pick out some clothes that Rebecca gave me and go into the bathroom. I turn the shower on as hot as it will go. It scalds my skin, but I Stay under for hours anyway. I let it pelt my skin until my fingers are like prunes. I get dressed and step out of the shower. Sam and Dakota are there in their pajamas. They stare at me awkwardly. I crawl into the middle of the bed. “Come on” I say and they cautiously lay beside me. We lay like that in silence. They lay stiffly beside me. “Do yal want to shift? It might make it easier” I say. They instantly jump up and shift. I realize it’s the first time I have seen Sam as a wolf. He is slightly smaller than Dakota. He has white fur and blue eyes. Dakota shifts into the same wolf I’ve seen so many times before. I scoot all the way to the edge and pull the covers back. I pat the bed. “Come on” I say and they hop onto the bed. Both of them curl up at my side. There warm bodies press up against mine. I smile and whisper into the darkness. “Perfect”            

Chapter 15: The demons

                                     

            The next few days go by in a blur. With constant studying. Training, research, food. We all read prophecies, anything to connect my uncle to the demons…nothing. I go down stairs to grab a bite to eat. I was starving, my appetite had increased over the last few days. I walk into the kitchen and open the fridge. I skim the first shelf, nothing. I hear footsteps behind me. I whirl around to see five demons surrounding me. My breath hitches. I trapped, the stared at me with a vicious hunger. I felt them enter my mind. I felt there presence. I felt the evil. Suddenly, I’m on my knees. I feel detached from my body, like my soul itself didn’t exist. There whispers fill my mind. They whispered foreign words, but in my mind it sounded like screams. Images fill my brain, horrible, horrible visions. Towns burning, bodies decapitating, babies cry as they burn alive. Worlds colliding, destroying. Screams of mercy, screams of fear. Its like I’m there. I smell burning, rotting flesh. Hear their bones crunch, crack at the hands of the enemy. This is a place where death is peaceful. Death is a delicacy. I hear more screams. Maybe it’s mine. My eyes fly open. The kitchen door swings open and Dakota runs in. His eyes blaze, like a fire of hate. Others run in behind him. I claw at my head and rip at my hair. Then the screams stop. Everything stops, my breath, my heart, my world. I open my eyes to look around. “No, no!” I hear Dakota yell. He falls to his knees and pull me into his lap. His hand goes to my chest. I close my eyes. I see it. Dakota’s power. It’s green and gold. Warm and smelt of honey. He pushes it to me. My own power comes alive at the sight of his. Mine is blue, and it aches for Dakotas. His intertwines with mine. Where my body had turn cold and lifeless, now turned warm and pulsing with life. I open my eyes I clutch Dakota. I cried out, I cried and cried. The images flicker throughout my mind over and over. “Dakota, it-it was awful” I whisper. “I know” he whispers. “Know, you couldn’t it was…unimaginable” I say. “I saw it too, I heard the screams, the laughter.” He says and I bury my face into his neck. Dakota was safety, Dakota was home. He carries me up the stairs. I’m have asleep in his arms. He stops half way up. “Move” he growls. “Just let me take her” I hear Sam say. Dakotas grip on me tightened. Dakota brushes past him. Once in the room he lays me on the bed. Out of Dakotas, warm arms the cold mattress was torcher. “No, please stay” I whisper. There’s a moment of silence and I wonder if he heard me. Then he crawls in beside me. The warmth of Dakotas body surrounds me. He was so warm. I press my head against his chest. I felt safe in his arms. I feel invincible. Finally, sleep takes me way to a magical place. I wake up at the sound of voices. I sit up in bed. Dakota, surprisingly, was still asleep beside me. I climb out of bed and fallow the voices. They were coming from the hallway. Then, it gets quiet. I swing my bedroom door open. Sam stood there, kissing Sarah. The shy blonde girl is NOT so shy anymore. I stare as he kisses her lips. She kisses him back. Those lips I had kissed. My face got hot with embarrassment. How could I be so naïve? Sam sees me and pulls apart. “Riley-“ he says, but I slam the door in his face. Suddenly I was claustrophobic, the room seemed hot and to small. I rush to the windows and jump onto the ledge. I hear Dakota get up just as Sam busts through the door I hear them come after me, but it was too late. I had jumped. I fall, fast and hard. The cool, wind felt amazing. What if I just close my eyes, give up? I fall, faster and faster.

Chapter 17: The flight? The talk?

 

As I fall I think of Dakota. I think of him in wolf form. I think of the times he has protected me. Stood by me. I think of him holding me, kissing me. Could I just through that all away? No. I snap open my wings and sore upward. I fly towards the forest, the only place I feel I belong. I circle around my black wings fluttering in the breeze. It felt like heaven. The institute is beautiful this high up the stone huge mansion sits in the middle of nowhere. I fly towards the luscious forest, where I belong. I land, by snapping my wings closed. I land on the forest floor with a thump. The thick pine straw crunching under my feet. The trees were a vibrant green. It was very beautiful out here. I sit down and lean against a tree. I close my eyes and the image of Sam kissing Sarah flashes in my mind over and over. How could I have been so stupid? He never liked me. I think of Dakota, his beautiful body. Smiling eyes, always trained on me. I love him. “ARE YOU OK?” Michael asks me. I can feel his presents like my own. “Yeah, it’s just been a lot to take in” I say. I open my eyes, he nods. He was handsome. With salt and pepper hair, grey eyes like the ocean before a storm, but he had a hard edge to him. Like a man who has seen things, been through things. “THERE COMING, YOU KNOW, THE NEW NEPHILIM AND I WANTED YOU TO KNOW CAINE IS THE HEAD DEMON YOU FACE” Michael said. I suck in a breath, my uncle was responsible for this. What new nephilim? No one tells me anything! I had to warn everyone! “Thanks Michael” I say giving him a quick hug. He lets out a surprised chuckle. “YOU HAVE COMPANY”  he whispers in my ear, than he disappears. Whoosh! A gush of wind blows my hair back. Nicholi stands in front  of me. His blue skin shimmering. I grab his hand. “Take me too them we have to hurry” I say he nods then we disappear. We reappear in the institute’s living room. Surrounded by people, I gasp a little. It was a total rush! Nicholi was a teleporter! I look around. There were two new people in the room. A demon, I scented. The other was nephilim. The demon was a girl. I very beautiful girl. She had short- shorts on with a tight strapless top. Everything about her was dark. Her hair, her clothes, but her eyes were a golden color. The boy was handsome also. He had black hair like hers, and the same eyes but his were light as honey. He stared at me with curiosity as I picked a leaf out of my hair. Silas, Rebecca, Sam, Dakota, and Sarah all stand around me staring. Nick, as always seemed to have disappeared Dakota runs towards me pulling me tightly to his body, then releasing me to give my body a once over. He glanced at my wings and something flickered across his face relief, maybe? It was gone so quick I thought I have imagined it. “Are you crazy?” He asks loudly. “Maybe” I whisper, very quietly. Dakota runs his hands across his face. Suddenly, very tired. “Riley, this is Viper and Jacob, there brother and sister. Well, half anyway.” He says I meet their gaze. I avoid looking in Sam’s direction. “Nice to meet you, Riley” Jacob says with a warm smile. He elbows his sister, who gives him a murderous glance. She mumbles a half greeting. I ignore her. “Michael meet me in the woods.” I say and the room gets deathly quiet. “He said that the demons are coming, my uncle is coming, and I know exactly what they want” I say. I take the quietness of the room as encouragement to go on. “ They want me” I whisper.   

 

Chapter 18: The fight, the heartbreak

 

There is a long silence and I feel Dakota tense beside me. “Well, why don’t we just give her to them?” Sarah says, breaking the silence. I realize this is the first time I’ve heard her speak. “It will save us a war, plus she’s nothing but a skank the boys pass around for fun” she says laughing. Every bone in my body gets tense. Dakota goes to say something, but I stop him. “Let her finish.” I say and Sarah smiles a wicked smile. “Everyone thinks she’s an angel, but we have to protect her from everything. She can’t even make a decision on who to pick between the two.” She couldn’t have known that. My eyes flicker to Sam, but he wouldn’t look at me. Rage, pure and hard takes over my body. I’m tired of running, I tired of crying. I wanted blood, I wanted to hear her beg me for mercy.  I was on her in seconds. I crashed my fist into her face. Once, twice. She falls to the ground like dead weight and I jump on top of her clawing at her skin. I felt her flesh rip beneath my nails. Blood pounded in my eyes and adrenaline pumps through my veins. I see nothing, but red. Someone grabs me from behind, but I push them and hear a crash on the other side of the room. I rap my hands around Sarah’s throat. I squeeze and I squeeze until I hear a satisfying cry escape her lips. I want her to beg. Beg me for her life. Beg me for mercy. Wham. I’m pushed into a wall. Nick is in front of me. The fog in my head lifts and I become aware of everything. Aware of the room tore apart. Aware of the blood that covered me. Aware of the pain from my hands squeezing Sarah’s neck. Aware of how my lungs burn from the screaming I had done. Nick locks eyes with me. “You don’t want to do it. You’ll regret it for the rest of your life, it will haunt you” he whispers to me. His gaze is so intense, his eyes filled with so much sadness. He releases the pressure on my shoulders, turning me loose. I see Dakota kneeling beside Sarah. His clothes were ripped in the back, he was the one I knocked into the wall. Shame swept over me, I glance at Sarah . Her nose was broken. Both of her eyes were already blackening. There were long claw marks down the side of her face. I turn away, disgusted with myself and run up the steps. I make it to my room right as the tears fall. I go and open my sketch book. I think of when I was five. How I punched a boy and he went sailing across the room. My mother told me I could never lose my temper. Sorry mom. I thought to myself . I open the sketch book to my very fist drawing. It was him as a wolf. Dark, mysterious, compassionate. I flip to a new page. I draw Nicholi when he’s teleporting. I draw him where he’s halfway here and halfway somewhere else. Half way to freedom half stuck in the present. I draw that because that’s how I feel. Not here, nor there. I draw on into the night. Dakota doesn’t come. Have I made him mad? Eventually, my curiosity takes over and I walk to his room. I knock and he opens in a white t-shirt and flannel pajama pants. He stares at me a moment. “I couldn’t sleep” I whisper, eyes lingering over his body. He moves aside so I can come in. I’ve never been in his room. I think nervously to myself. He has velvet carpet and grey walls. The covers on his bed is rumpled and unmade. His room is covered in books. Some old and worn, some not. I sit on his bed. I’m suddenly surrounded in his scent. I love it. I wanted to tell him now that I loved him. Dakota looks out of the window onto his balcony. He looks like he’s completely somewhere else. I wish I knew what he was thinking. “Dakota, I need to tell you something” I say. He turns and looks at me, he looked sad. I beam brightly. “I do to, Riley” He says. I smile “I love you” I whisper.

Chapter 19: Can you die of heart break?

 

He stiffens then he looks like he’s in pain. “Are you ok?” I ask jumping up and feeling his head for a fever. He flinches at my touch, like he’s burned. He stands too. “Riley, I don’t think we should see each other anymore”. He blurts out. My world crashes and burns. I stare at him confused, but he doesn’t meet my gaze. There’s silence. “Is this because of Sarah?” I ask. He shakes his head no. I roll images through my mind over and over, trying to understand what I did wrong. “Am I not…good enough? I know I’m not pretty like Sarah or Rebecca-“ I start off. “NO! Your perfect, it’s me!” He yells I laugh just to keep from crying. “Oh the old ‘It’s not you, it’s me’ thing huh?”  I say sarcastically. He shakes his head. I kiss him, right on the mouth. He kisses me back, then pushes me…hard. “STOP” he yells. I make a choke/sob noise. “Tell me you don’t love me then! Tell me you don’t feel this” I put my hand on his chest and our souls snap together, instantly. He flinches, but doesn’t push me away. Then he looks at me with a look of pure agony and says “I don’t love you, it all was a lie” I choke, I can’t breathe, can’t think, can’t live because Dakota doesn’t love me. I slap him hard across the face I hear the crack which causes the tears to flow more. He stumbles into the wall and I run from his room, run from the institute, run from my life, because no one loves me. No one cares If I live or die. I have no one to catch me if I fall. And I just fell hard, right into the ground. I run and run ignoring the pain in my legs and the hammering of my heart.  I feel shattered, broken. I run so I can feel something, anything at all. I feel the rocks dig into my bare feet. I feel the branches cut my face as I run. I stumble over a rock and fall on my face. Pinecones and rocks dig deep into my skin and I cry harder. How could it all be a lie? How could he not feel what I felt? How could I’ve miss read everything? I crawl into the fetal position and weep silently. I hear the rustling of leaves all around me. I was deep inside to woods. I glance up, wolves surround me. They were all different colors. Grey, black, red, white. They watched me with, curiosity and pity. I just lay my head back down on the cold floor. They stand around me, watching. If they kill me I hope they make it quick. Snow begins to fall. Tiny snowflakes fall softly all around me. I begin to shiver. The wolves settle around me laying there warm bodies against mine. The black one, there leader lies in front of me. I bury my face in his fur and cry some more because he reminds me so much of Dakota. I lay on my back and stare at the stars. So small, so taken for granite, so…forgotten. I wish I could just float away. The hair on my neck stands on end. Goosebumps appear all along my body. I know he’s here. I feel his presence like I feel any other demons. I just lay there gazing blankly into the black forest. He moves silently, closer. The wolves tense. I hear the slight rustles of leaves. “What do you want, Nicholi?” I whisper.   

                                                                                                               

 

Chapter 20: The talk

 

“Were friends, I just want to talk” he says. I just lay there, to in shock to moves. In shock of how Dakota could do this to me. He was supposed to protect me, but in reality he was the only thing that could destroy me. I lay there vulnerable, broke, shattered. I don’t answer him. I stay quiet. “Are you ok?” He asks, with real concern. I close my eyes wishing the world would just stop turning. “Perfect” I spit at him like pure venom. He flinches at the sound of my voice, then a smile breaks across his face. “That’s my girl” he says. I just lay there. The wolves watch Nicholi and the leader softly growls at him. “You know, Riley, that the first time I saw you I knew you were special.” He says with a faraway look in his eyes. “You were fierce, I was going to let that demon kill you. But, I looked into your eyes and I didn’t see fear. It was everything, but that.” He says. “Something inside me said, she deserves to live, she’s something special. Then when I saved you, you didn’t try to kill me. You weren’t scared of me or defensive, even though everything inside you was screaming to kill me” he whispers. I was shocked how did he know that’s how it was? “How” I ask. “Because that’s how I feel when I’m around you” he answers true fully. Were quiet then I let out a pitiful laugh. “We have a screwed up friendship” I say and he smiles. “Yeah, I guess we do” he says. I still laid there. “He didn’t mean what he said, you know” Nicholi whispered. The tears fall again. I stay silent. “Just leave” I say. He’s quiet a  moment longer, than I hear him leave. I breathe a sigh of relief. I was alone once more. I think about Dakota again. This time its anger that feels me. He did feel it. He had to. I think of his warm, protective arms. His kiss that made me forget I’m on earth. Made me forget anything else existed except Dakota. Then his words whisper in my mind. “I don’t love you, it all was a lie” it couldn’t be. I kiss the top of the leaders head. I get up, my legs numb and wobbly. My cuts and bruises scream at me to stop. The wolves look at me with concern. Their leader stands by me. The rest stay put. I stumble my way back to the institute. The cold nips at my body. It seeps into my bones, but all I feel is hollowness. All I feel is brokenness. I feel dead inside. I only feel one emotion. I only want one thing. I wanted revenge. I wanted Dakota to hurt, like I hurt. I wanted him to feel the pain I felt when he ripped out my heart and stomped on it. I knew exactly how I was going to do it.   

 

 

Chapter 21: Dakota

 

I enter his room. I felt Dakota’s emotions, pain. My demon senses were on alert after seeing Riley like that. I did care for the girl, she was strong. Powerful, that’s why I wanted so bad to kill her. Dakota, the werewolf, laid on his bed face in his hands. He looks up. He had been crying resonantly. He jumps up and crosses the room in two strides. “How is she? Is she ok? Where is she?” He blurts out all at once. I stare at him calmly. His eyes held so much pain, so much heartbreak. He loved her. “She was in the woods” I say cautiously. Dakota stares at me with narrowed eyes. “In the woods? It’s snowing!” he yelled, clearly in raged. “She was broken, Dakota, she had cuts all over her body from running. She just laid in the fetal position in the snow” I said waiting for his reaction. He made a choking noise. A tear fell from his eye. He wiped it away angrily. “What else, your hiding something” he growled. I choose my words calmly. “She was surrounded by wolves. They were protecting her.” I said. Dakotas eyes got wide and he sat down. He looked so…broken. “I have to go to her” he says standing up. My fists clench into fists. I was surprised at the anger that feel my veins. I block Dakotas way. “You can’t toy with her like that” I growl angrily. He narrows his calculating eyes at me. “What’s she to you?” he says through clenched teeth. I stare back angrily. “A friend, and you didn’t see her I did you tore her apart.” I whispered, suddenly I wanted to punch him. I wanted to punch him because he hurt Riley. Merciful, beautiful, smart Riley. I was surprised at my feelings for her. They were…protective. “You did this, you almost killed her when you told her that. I thought I was a monster, I’m nothing in comparison to you. Riley is smart, merciful, beautiful and you through it away.” I roared at him. He falls to his knees. His head falls and tears fall from his eyes. I feel no remorse for him, he did it to himself. “Don’t you think I know I’m a monster? I don’t deserve her that’s why I had to push her away!” He yelled, at me fiercely. I stare at him. “No, you pushed her away because you’re afraid of feeling something” I say narrowing my eyes. I turn my back on him and stand there a moment. Then I leave out his room. I hear the sobs coming from his room. Anger filled me. He was stupid. Stupid, for letting her go, pushing her away.

 

 

 

 

Chapter 22: Revenge and vodka

 

I knock rapidly on his door he opens with sleepy eyes. “Riley?” the new nephilim asks me. I take a deep breath. Maybe I shouldn’t have come. “I need you to be my fake boyfriend” I say. He laughs, deep and rich. My cheeks turn bright red. “What for?” he asks smiling brightly. “Revenge” I answer true fully. He’s quiet a moment then he nods. “Ok, but I like Rebecca so if I’m pretending to be with you how can I be with her?” He asks I was surprised, she was truly beautiful though. “Ok, I will talk to her so you can meet her when you’re supposed to meet me, as long as it looks like were together.” I say he ponders this a moment then nods. “Thanks Jacob, I appreciate this” I say. I run down the hall to Rebecca’s room. I knock on her door and she answers, fully dressed. “I need a favor” I ask she nods for me to go on. “Do you like Jacob?” I blurt out and her cheeks turn a deep scarlet. “Well I need him to be my fake boyfriend, but instead he can be meeting you in secret as long as everyone thinks he’s going with me.” I blurt out. Rebecca stares, shocked. “Why?” She asks me and pain courses back through my heart. “Dakota broke up with me” I whisper she sucks in a breath. “Oh, honey” she says and pulls me close. She smells like lilies. “And you want revenge?” She asks. I nod into her shirt. I hear Jacob come up behind me. I stand back up and see Jacob smile at Rebecca shyly. “Ok” she says with a smile at Jacob. I leave them alone and go down stairs into the kitchen. I flip on the lights, Nick is sitting at the counter with a bottle of vodka in front of him. Loneliness fills me again. I walk and take the seat across from him. I smile faintly. “Can I have some?” I ask him wearily. He studies me a moment and asks “what happened”. I frown and look down “Dakota” I whisper I see him nod and sit a glass down in front of me. He fills my glass, then his. He picks his up and I pick mine up as well. We clink our glass together. “To life” he says glumly. I chug down my glass and then another. The warm liquid slips down my throat. It temporarily feels the coldness in my heart. I chug more until I’m burning up. “Slowdown” Nick says five glasses later.  An hour later I’m drunk. “I thought he loved me.” I says, voice slurring. Nick listens attentively. “But it was all a lie, he played me just like Sam. I’m so stupid” I say groggily. He shakes his head. “You’re not stupid” he says. I pick up the knife that laid on the counter. I stare at it intently. “I could kill myself right now, no one would care” I say. I feel Nicks intense gaze, but he didn’t take the knife away. “You could, Riley, but I would miss you” he says. I meet his gaze he was being honest. I was nice to have a friend, I thought. I put the knife down. “I gotta go to bed” I say standing clumsily knocking over the empty liquor bottle. I almost fall over, but Nick catches me. He sweeps me up in his arms. I lean my head against his arm and drift into a half sleep state. I hear him stop on the stair case. “What happened?” I hear Dakota yell. Nick tensed. “Well, she was heartbroken so she got drunk and tried to kill herself, because of you” Nick yelled. I heard Dakota flinch at his words. “I’m-I-had” Dakota tried but Nick interrupt him. “Whatever” he says and push past him. Once up the stairs he goes to my room and sets me on my bed. “Goodnight” he whispers. Then I pass out.

 

Chapter:23 The hangover

 

I awaken with a pounding headache. My head felt like it had been split open. I sit up and see tiny cuts and bruises all over my body. I grimace. Dakota had broken up with me. I look around, my gaze leads me to my nightstand. A note and two pills laid next to it. I picked up the note. I’m so sorry…. I instantly thank its Dakota. How could he play me like that? Say that stuff then want me back like it never happened? Then I keep reading and see the name at the bottom. –Nick. It said, then last night’s memories return to me in a hazy blur. Then the tears come, again. After a while I pull myself together and swallow the two pills. I go to the bathroom and look at myself in the mirror. I looked horrible! My eyes were swollen from crying and I had dark circles under my eyes. My hair, gosh my hair, looked…awful. I yank a brush through it then put it back up. I splash my face with water. It felt so good I decided to get a shower instead. I sit under the shower and let the water pour down on me. It was almost painful, but I the welcomed pain. I cry again, I missed him so much. My heart felt…cold. Lost, numb, and shattered. Eventually I get out and dress back into my pajamas. I craw under my covers again. It was late in the afternoon, but it seems I’m cold. I was cold on the inside. I hear a someone pound on my door, but I ignore it. Then it slowly opens. I hear footsteps cross the room. I hide under the covers. The footsteps stop. “You’re not being a very good fake girlfriend” I hear Jacob say amusingly. I cringe inside, it was stupid of me to ask him to do that. There was no use anyways nothing I say or do will make Dakota love me. Jacob pulls the covers from over my face and sunlight blinds me. Shock appears on his face “You look awful” Jacob says to me. The tears come again and I rip the covers out of his grasps. “No, no I didn’t mean that it’s just I..” He didn’t finish “GET OUT” I scream at him through a waterfall of tears. He doesn’t leave at first, but then he moves soundlessly back out the room. Once he was gone, I regretted making him leave. I cry myself to sleep. When I awaken to a soft knock at my door. I look around dazedly, it was night outside. My door opens and Nick appears in my doorway. I groan and hide back under the covers. “Go away” I say, but stubborn Nick doesn’t. “If  you came here to tell me I look bad Jacob beat you to it” I say. Nick moves across the room and sits nexts to me on the bed. He stares at me intently. “No, I didn’t I just thought you could use some company.” He raps his arms around me and the tears flow out again. He holds me and murmurs in my ear as I cry. After a while I pull back and he holds out a napkin. I nod thankfully. Then blow my nose loudly. I see his tear soaked shirt. “I’m sorry” I say and he shrugs, Nick was the quiet type. Then my stomach growled loudly, interrupting whatever he was going to say. We look at each other and burst out laughing. For the first time that day I had a glimmer of hope. He stands up, helping me to my feet. “Come on” he whispers. “Let’s find us something to eat”         

 

Chapter 24: The kiss that tore me apart

 

We head down stairs casually chatting. I look down at my bug’s bunny pajamas and laugh. Nick sees what I’m looking at and his face breaks into a grin. We reach the bottom. Nick quickly whirls me around to block my view, but I had saw it anyway. Dakota and Viper kissing passionately. His warm, strong arms holding her the way the once held me. His eyebrows narrowed in deep concentration as he kissed her. Her arms, hands moved over every inch of his body. They must of heard me gasp. They broke apart and stared up at us. Dakota’s eyes lingered to mine and instantly went hard, cold. A smirk appeared on Vipers face. I wanted to rip her throat out. I wanted to feel her warm, black, sticky demon blood flow through my fingers. I wanted to see the lights go out in her eyes. I wanted her to feel the pain I was feeling. The pain that took over my body. The pain that tore me in half. My hands curl in fists. Nick tries to steer me away. “It’s fine” I say through clenched teeth. I walk into the kitchen avoiding Dakotas gaze. “Just another guy to follow her around like a lost puppy” Vipers voice echoed through the house. Every essence in my body told me to kill her, to end her life, to make her suffer. I keep walking to the liquor cabinet. I snap the doors open. I swallow my hate like venom, like acid. Rage coursed through my veins. I open it and find a bottle of whiskey. I take it, then a pack of cookies from the cabinet. I push back past them. The tension in the air was like razor blades. “You shouldn’t drink that, you know what happened last night” Dakota said. I whirled around, and before I knew what I was doing I brought the whiskey bottle across Dakotas face. I busted into a million pieces. He fell back onto the floor with a thud. I give him a venomous stare. My voice like razors “Don’t you DARE tell me what to do! You LOST that chance” I scream at him. His right cheek was shredded. He just looked up at me with pained eyes. I look at Viper, she was smiling brightly. I lung at her, wild eyed. Nick  grabs me, pulling me away. I’m screaming words at her and she jumps back in shock. My breathing is ragged. I try to calm myself. I push Nick away. “Get off!” I yell. I give them all a once over then storm out the front door. The night air that hits me is a relief, like pure heaven. I feel like I can finally breathe. The wind was a relief against my flushed cheeks. I lean against the building. I still had the packet of cookies. I opened them, they were crushed. I put the bag to my lips and eat the crumbs. I chew loudly, looking up at the night sky. I hear a wolf howl in the distance, it sounded…sympathetic. I just sit there gazing up at the night sky. I hear footsteps and voices in the house. I block them out. I block everything out. The voices get louder and there’s a crash. The wind blows harder and nips at my cheeks. I wonder silently to myself how did it get this bad? When did I let it get this bad? I close my eyes and let the darkness take me away.

                                                                                                              

 

Chapter 25: Getting over him

 

I wake up to numbness. To an ache in my chest. I open my eyes. I was still outside. The sun was barely peaking over the horizon. I stare at it. I stare at it numbly because the only feeling I can form is hate, pain. I stand and go into the house. The house is silent, they were probably all asleep. I go into the kitchen and open the fridge, then I close it. I go to the cabinet and find the hot chocolate. I make me some and pluck two, big marshmallows on top. I sit at the counter and rap my arms around the cup. I set the warmth fill me temporarily. I think of Dakota and how this exact same warmth fills me when we kiss. It makes me feel whole again. I felt like crying, but I felt as though I couldn’t any more. I was to tired. Too tired of crying. I finish my cup then I head to the training room. Everyone was already there. They stared at me as I walk in, but I keep my gaze locked onto the floor. “Well, Viper and..” Silas trails off as his eyes linger down the list. “Riley. Viper and Riley will fight today since neither know how to show up on time” he says. I don’t look up I just walk to the mat. She appears on the other side. I see the hicky on the side of her neck. I think of Dakota and the way he kissed her. Nothing, not even anger feels me. I hear the bell ring which means were supposed to start. I bring my hands up weakly and I feel everyone’s gaze locked onto me. Viper swings and I don’t bother to block it. Her fists crack across my jaws, which send me sprawled out across the floor. It felt good. I stay down, laying there. She kicks me once, twice, three times. The spine, stomach, head. I see stars, see red. The pain overwhelms me now and I smile. I smile because I finely feel something. Viper climbs on top of me and punches my face. I feel my blood splatter across my face, body. “STOP” I hear someone yell, I know that voice. It was Dakota. Viper didn’t stop, she kept going harder and harder. I hear footsteps pounding. “Kill me, please” I ring out hoarsely. Only then did Viper get off me. She was…shocked. One of my eyes were swollen shut. Someone drops to their knees beside me. “Riley” Dakota whispers. Oh, his voice sounded so good. After everything, I still loved him. I couldn’t, I wouldn’t stop. He holds me tenderly. I feel him healing me. “No stop, I want to die” I say and Dakota looks at me painfully. He narrows his eyes and a tear slips down his face. “Why” he asks. I give him a faint smile, a painful smile “because you don’t love me” I whisper and then, once again, I slip into darkness.

 

 

Chapter 26: Confusion

I awaken with a piercing head ache. My stomachrolled and I couldn’t feel my legs. I peak my eyes open and wince at the brightlight. I hear a sigh of relief. Then a hand grips mine. I feel warmth fill me,filling the coldness that was my heart. I knew who it was before opening myeyes. “Dakota” I whisper. His grip on my hand tightened. I looked at him; therewere deep dark lines under his eyes. His eyes study me, watched me. “I loveyou” he whispers. My heart speeds up. A glimmer of happiness finally appeared.I grimace, and stiffen. Tears threatened. No! I wouldn’t cry over him again! Iwouldn’t let him see me hurt. I opened my eyes and gave them the coldest look Icould muster. “You can’t do this to me” I say angrily. His eyes soften. Hiseyes were a plea. “I didn’t want to hurt you, you don’t deserve me Riley youhave every right to turn me away” he says. I sigh loudly. I couldn’t turn away.I couldn’t get up and leave because Dakota was home. “You’ll just hurt meagain” I whisper. He shakes his head “No, I wouldn’t do that Riley”. Then thewindow to my right busts into tiny pieces. Seven demons storm in. Then, oneangel. He was evil though, his eyes were black like a demons. I couldn’t moveto defend us I was to wearily. I close my eyes and let out a shaky breath. “YOUCOME WITH US” the angel yells. Four of them have restrained Dakota, who wasfighting wildly. Wham! He decks one of them across the face. Quickly he slitsDakota’s side. I cry out like it was me he cut. “I’ll go; I’ll go just leavehim alone!” I scream. He turns to me and drops Dakotas dead weight. I hesitate,but sigh in relief when I see him breathe. “Ok, I’ll go” I say standing to myfeet nervously. The angel swipes me up in his arms and he shoots into the sky.I close my eyes trying to block out my fear. Every ounce of my body screams forme to run. To run fast, hard and away. I think of Dakota and his beautiful facewhen he told me he loves me. This was for him. I relax into his grasps anddrift to sleep. Maybe I’ll die. Maybe they’ll kill me. Fast I hope. Dying inplace of someone seemed like a good way to go. “You are a smart girl, Riley, wewould have killed him” the angel whispers once we were high into the air. Ismile a sad, sad smile. I was so tired of fighting. I was so tired of beingstrong. So tired of living.  Death issomething life will never be: peaceful. I yearned for Dakota, I wanted him tohold me. I wanted to feel my soul click into place with his. I wanted to feelhis warm body pressed against mine. I wish things were different. I go slack inthe angels arms. “I give up” I whisper. I see the angel smile which bringsshivers up my spine. The tears don’t come. Instead I sleep

Chapter 26: Not good enough

 

I wake up doggedly. I sit up quickly and take in my surroundings. I was in a small cozy room with dark, black curtains and a red rug. It had one bed and a small fireplace. It was cold out so I rap myself in my covers. I smell warm food that set apon the bedside table. My stomach growls aggressively. I don’t dare take it for fear of what it contained. There’s a hard, rapid knock at the door. I don’t say anything, but they enter anyway. A man enters, he was tall and broad. His muscles were huge and solid, like rocks. His eyes were hard and calculating. He stares me up and down, sizing me up. We just stare in silence. “The king requests you” he says. I laugh in his face, the face of death. “King? Ha! What are you? My knight in shining armor.” His face turns hard. I stand up, wobbly. “Well, let’s get to it”. Now he was the one laughing. “You think you’re going to the king looking like that? No, it’s unacceptable” he says. I look down at myself, I was covered in blood. Dakota’s blood. I nod and he clamps his hand down on my shoulder. His grip was like iron, I didn’t even attempt to break it. He leads me down a wide, cold corridor. The floor was cobblestone and the room was dimly lit. He pushes me and I fall hard onto the ground. I jump up before he kicks me and continued walking. We reached a room at the end of the hall and he pushed me inside. Then, slams the door shut. I look up, many maids scurry around the room in nervous chatter. Their hands quickly undress me before I can register what happened. I’m dragged into a tub of steaming hot water. I dunk my head deep within and sigh. The water felt amazing on my wounds. They wash me, and my hair. Then they pull me out and dress me into a golden dress. It was tight in the chest and flowed out on the bottom. A healer comes in and fix my cuts and bruises. It still couldn’t fix the hate, the loneliness that was in my heart. I go through the motions numbly, letting them primp, pluck, and alter any ounce of ugliness that was on my face. We they were down they all stood around staring. I fidgeted nervously with my hands then look into the mirror. I was truly beautiful. I looked like an ice queen. Cold, heartless, beautiful. Those three words fit me perfectly. I look around at the maids that still stared at me. There stares were…envious. I shake my head. I hated my uncle. I hated them for envying  me. I would trade places in a heartbeat. I rise and go to the door and wait. I wait for them to take me away to my uncle. To the murderer. To the demon.

Chapter 27: Dakota

 

I awaken with a jolt up right. People surround me with grim faces. Sam’s was angry so was Nick’s.  They looked…murderous. I sit up and look down at my bandaged side. I couldn’t remember how it happened. I search my mind, but it was foggy, incoherent. “What is it?” I say in a  loud, threating voice. Silas steps forward, but hesitates. Silas NEVER hesitates. Then I realize only one person’s not in this room.  Riley, my sweet, sweet Riley. I think of him touching her, feeding of her emotions. Toying with her, like she’s an animal.  Then the memories flood back. She had done it for me. After how I treated her, how vile I was to her she was still determined to risk her life for me, like I was someone. Like I wasn’t a beast. I smile a sad smile. When she had told me she loved me, I felt like crying, because all I wanted to do was kiss her. I wanted to feel her touch, cool on my skin. I wanted to feel her warm kiss that seemed to consume me. Her smile, her…innocence that took my breath away. Then when I lied and told her I didn’t love her she shattered. That face that was always smiling, through the bad. I had broken her. I hated myself. I just wanted to hold her in my arms, to feel her warmth. I kissed Viper, just to feel something. It wasn’t the same. It was fierce, dark and she wanted more. That’s not how it is with Riley. Riley’s kiss is like being in the dark for years and finally seeing sunlight. Its breath taking, you want to go slow just so you don’t miss anything. It’s like living for the first time. When we kiss our souls knit together. I think of her uncle. I think of him beating her, killing her, taking Riley. MY Riley. Anger feels my veins. I feel my wolf instinct take over. I was fighting hard not to change. “They have her” I whisper in a hoarse voice. Silas nods, I stand up and walk across the room to put on my shirt. Sam stands up also “I’m coming too” he says. I see the pain in his eyes, he loved Riley too. He had confided in me one night that he could see that Riley loved me. So he kissed Sarah in front of her so that she wouldn’t feel guilty when she ended it with him. He had a good thing going with Sarah, but his heart will always belong to Riley. “I’m going too, no way I’m missing out on killing some demons” Nick said which surprised me. When Riley first came he hated her. Now they have formed an unlikely friendship. I didn’t doubt it though, Riley just grew on people. I nod and Silas stands up. “I will alert the council to send back up, then we will suit up and join you” he says wearily. Silas was tired, everyone was. Anger, hatred, and pure fury filled my heart. I shift and so does Sam. Let’s go kill something I whisper into his mind. Then we set off. As we followed Riley’s scent (Vanilla)  I think of how her uncle beat her. I remembered how she would be covered in blood. I remembered how she never cried because it would give him satisfaction. Rage filled my veins. Over and the images play in my head. Then, I make up my mind that I will kill that man today. Even if it takes every amount of life I have in me. 

Chapter 28: Family Reunion

 

They don’t, however, take me to the ‘king’. Instead they take me to a place with white sterile walls and tile flooring, with no windows. They strap me to a hospital bed. I don’t fight, instead I think of Dakota . Think of his smile, his laugh. I think of his intense eyes, his warmth. Right then and there I almost started crying. So I tried to think about something else, anything else. They stuck an IV into my vein in my right arm. Then, the leave me alone and scurry out the room. I look at the drip bag. It was black, tar looking stuff. What where they doing to me? Is this how they planned to kill me? A man walks into the room. No, he wasn’t a man he was a demon. He was my uncle. In demon form he was all black with wide, fully white eyes. He had wings, but they were hairless, featherless. He smiled at me and suddenly cold, hard fear erupted inside me. He walked, slowly over to me. “Hello, niece” he says giving me a wicked smile. “You have been a VERY good girl for coming so willingly.” He whispers in my ear leaning over me. “What are you going to do to me” I ask, sounding very much like a child. He smiled and sat in a chair at my bedside. His gaze was like a slippery snake gazing up and down my body. “You will bare my children” he says simply. I gag, bile comes up. I lay my head back and this time tears to come when I think of what he’ll do to me. “I’m your niece, you sick jerk” I yell, which makes him smile wider. “First, I will make you half demon. Our children will be powerful beyond measure. They will be demon and angel, the first of their kind and we will rise as leaders of the world” he says with a hiss. “You’re crazy, I will never do that” I say and he laughs wickedly. Then becomes very, very serious. “Riley, you will find that I am merciful. I can change forms, I can look like your precious werewolf if that’s what you want.” He says simply. I almost gag again, he though changing into Dakota would justify…rapping me. I look up at my drip bag. It was demon blood. He was pumping it into me to turn me. I would be half angel half demon. I cry, and I cry. I cried because I missed Dakota. My uncle wipes the tear away and I bite his finger. I doesn’t even draw blood. He smiles again. That’s the last thing I see because the pain comes. I close my eyes and arch my back. I scream. Fire consumes my veins, eating them, burning them alive. My body was on fire. I fight the restrains, I fight them wildly. The angel in me burns away. I scream in agony, I can’t even see for the red that blurs my vision. Pain erupts my organs and I know I’m going to die in a matter of seconds. The drip bag keeps pumping it inside. I hear the door burst open. I squint, trying to see through the pain. Another pump of blood fills me and I scream again. It was wild and furious. Then another person in the room cries out.  It was of mental pain, agony. It was a battle cry. I fight through the darkness of my mind and open my eyes. Wide, and look around the room. Dakota was here. My Dakota! I smile. He looked…deadly. Evil, murderous. I’ve never seen him like this. He looked at me wild eyed. Pain was what consumed his eyes as he stared at me. His gaze locked onto my uncles. His stare was…haunting. Dakotas clothes were shredded and covered in blood. He clutched a knife with white knuckles. Then he lunged at my uncle.  

                                         

 

Chapter 29: We fight for our lives….

 

He came for me! He’s here, I’m safe. Then, another pint of demon blood enters me. I pull with all my might at the restrains. Think, Riley, think! I smile. “Michael” I whisper. My dagger appears in my hand. Dakota and Caine, my uncle, are locked in combat. I cut my restrains, free. Then, I rip the IV forcibly out. I wince, I didn’t realize how deep the needle was lodged. Blood splatters across the white bed sheets. I stand up quickly and look over at Dakota. He was stabbing my uncle, over and over. I stare, in a trance. This is why Dakota thought he was a monster. He looked…lethal, deadly. He heard me get up. His eyes snap up. They were wild. Before there were a calm, calculating green. Now they were filled with agony, loss. His breathing was ragged. His body was ridged, but he was here and he was mine. He looked at me confused. I looked down at myself. I was still in the golden dress. My arm was soaked with blood. He stands up, still looking confused. He was soaked in blood. I run to him and crash myself against him. His body was tensed, stiff. He didn’t know who I was. “It’s me, Dakota” I whisper against his chest. He freezes, then buries his face into my hair. He goes limp and we stumble to the ground. “Riley” he whispers over and over into my hair. He takes deep breaths, like he’s in heaven. I realize he’s crying, and that I am too. “Shh” I whisper and pull him back so that he’s looking at me. He’s eyes were calm again, but I still say the storm that loomed behind them. “I thought I lost you” he whispers again. He holds me again. We rock back and forth. We hear people yelling and screaming around us. I keep expecting someone to bust through the door and kill us. They don’t.  

 

Chapter 30: Rapture? Maybe.

As he held me we became one. Not physically,but  emotionally, spiritually. There wasonly the hunger, the need, to be together. I knew his thoughts, as he knewmine. Are souls intertwine his green, to my blue, burning wildly as one. Hebecame mine, as I became his. Then, I knew we were soul mates. I felt everysensation he felt. If he hurt, so did I. Then we were falling. There was nosince of up or down. There was no air to breathe, but together we were linkedhand in hand. We just fell. There was no thought or feeling as we fell into ablack oblivion. Eventually we hit ground. I felt nothing, but heard the deafeningcrack as I land face first. I felt his agony, his pain. Maybe it was betterthis way. No grief of the others death, instead we die together, as one. Whenhe promised me forever, this wasn’t what I had in mind and yet even if itwasn’t what I expected he still kept his promise. He didn’t leave me. It Icould talk I would tell him that I love him, that I’m sorry, but it’s too late.It was always too late.

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Tag der Veröffentlichung: 09.11.2013

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I am thirteen years old, this is my first attempt of a book. Please don't judge to harshly, for this is only the beginning.