Amaranthine (Willow Shadows Book 1) (12 page)

Khalida looked into the mirror to see her face fresh and enlightened. Vega had applied a slightly shimmering eye shadow and a thin black line above her full set of lashes; the combination made Khalida’s eyes sparkle a light pale green shade offset with grey specks, matching perfectly with the simple strapless black dress Khalida had chosen to wear. Khalida walked over to the closet and started digging until she found her black open toe heels.

“What do you think?” Vega’s dumbfounded look said that she was waiting for Khalida’s reaction to her make over. “Do you still have that necklace I gave you?” she said, changing the subject.

Khalida immediately knew the necklace Vega was asking about. It was a short white gold chain that held a small princess cut diamond pendant. Simple. Beautiful.

“Of course! You’re a genius at this stuff,” Khalida walked over to the small wooden box that lay on top of the dresser. Opening the top, she rummaged through her jewelry before taking out the gift Vega had given to her for her sixteenth birthday. It was during the summer and Khalida and Luke were off, again. Vega knew her best friend was going to be alone on her birthday since Luke wasn’t in the picture and Fatin was constantly working. Vega had taken a job as a shampoo girl in some fancy hair salon downtown, saving enough to buy Khalida the necklace. After a hundred washes, Vega finally had enough to buy the gift. The same day she walked out of the salon, she quit and decided not to wash her own hair for a week. She knew Khalida wasn’t a fan of gaudy jewelry, and Khalida was in complete shock when she presented her with this necklace, bringing tears to her eyes. That following year on Vega’s birthday, Khalida had saved just enough for them to get matching tattoos. Neither of their mothers would take them to actually get the tats, and since they weren’t eighteen, Khalida ended up buying Vega the new i-Phone instead. Her cell was the ancient flip phone style that was in desperate need of an upgrade. It wasn’t as great as the diamond but fabulous none the less.

“Stunning!” Vega took a step back to admire her handy work.

“Alright. Can we go now? If we don’t leave in the next few minutes, we are going to be late for our own graduation,” Khalida said while she gathered a few things into a small clutch.

“Oh, shut up and stop being such a complainer,” Vega packed her arsenal of cosmetics and hooked her arm through her friend’s as they walked out of Khalida’s room and started down the stairs.

They were both laughing when a booming voice came from downstairs interrupting them.“Let’s go girls! We are going to be late,” Josephine was stern and commanding them to get a move on.

Khalida stopped just in front of the stairs as sudden thoughts of how Josephine looked earlier entered through her mind. She felt sadness as she struggled to block the dark thoughts that were flowing through her brain.

Once the girls reached the bottom of the stairs, Khalida looked around, searching for Luke when she realized she didn’t feel him near.

“Where’s Luke?” she asked with disappointment in her tone.

“He and Razi left about an hour ago. He wanted to sweep the school before you got there. He is very protective of you, Khalida and didn’t want to be careless and just assume nothing’s there,” Josephine replied. “If he isn’t back within a few minutes, you and Vega can just go ahead and meet them there. I have a couple of guards that can follow you just to be on the safe side. Besides, I have some business to take care that is of particular importance; however, I will be there shortly. If you need anything, you can reach me on my cell,” she said simply as she grabbed her keys and walked out of the house.

“I guess that just leaves me and you, Hooker,” Vega laughed, “let’s get out of here.”

“Don’t
you think we should wait?” Given the trouble of the last, trip Khalida and Vega shared, she was a little apprehensive about doing it again.

“Hell
no! I’m tired of waiting! Besides the school is ten minutes away from here. Plus, we have Mutt and Jeff waiting for us outside, and they are going to be following us.” She turned and headed out the door, yelling at the guards to tag along. Khalida knew there was no sense in arguing with her, and she did have a point. The school wasn’t far away, and Luke was already there. Khalida sighed as she walked out of the house, pulling the door closed behind her as she hurried to catch up with Vega who was now almost to the driveway.

As they drove to the school, Khalida thought about this day being her last day as a high school student; she was in disbelief. She sullenly stared out the window looking at the crowds of people as they pulled up to the football field in bumper to bumper traffic. All of her classmates had their friends and families walking with them. Everyone seemed to be talking and laughing. Today was supposed to be good day for her, but with her mom missing, fun was the farthest thing from her mind.

Vega
eventually found a parking space but it wasn’t without some walking distance to the stadium. As the two girls trekked up the parking lot full of cars and people, Khalida looked from person to person hoping she would see her mother’s face in the crowd, but every face she saw only added to her disappointment. Each face that didn’t belong to her mother made the center of her stomach ache with rapidly growing dread.

“Hey, Beautiful,” a familiar voice spoke from behind where Khalida stood, shocking her easily since she had been so distracted. She never realized danger was so close.

Not again
.

Annoyance began to override her anxiety.

Why was he always trying to get under my skin?

“Go to hell, Carey,” Khalida shot back as she kept walking, never missing a beat. She let her anger at him show which seemed to only provoke him.

“Who are you looking for?” he hissed as he fell in to step next to Khalida.

“Not you, that’s for sure. Come to think of it, how did you even get here? I seem to remember quite fondly that you lost your car in a not so tragic accident. You really should be more careful about leaving your keys in the car,” Khalida mused smugly as she glared directly into his cold eyes, determined to show she was not about to back down to this asshole.

“You should bite that foul little tongue of yours, Khalida. Maybe instead of my means of transportation, you should worry about your mother. Come to think of it, have you even seen her lately?” His tone was cold, mocking and mean.

Khalida’s body went still as Vega also stopped to glare at Carey, his words hit too close to home to just be guessing.

He knew my mother was missing when I got out of Vega’s car. He knew who I was looking for.

She could feel the waves of hatred emanating from every pore of his ghastly body. As he stood there with a menacing demeanor, Khalida couldn’t help but wonder what she had ever seen in him. How could she have ever been unaware of how callous he really was? He was a monster, running a close second to Braedon. If he is telling the truth, he is just as deadly as the first.

She looked nervously around for any sign of Luke or Razi. Josephine said they would be here, but as Khalida looked desperately around, they were nowhere in sight. A gut wrenching thought skated through her mind; in all the commotion of traffic they could have driven right past them.

They could be on their way back to Luke’s to pick us up.

Nobody had even thought to call him before they left for graduation. Another mistake she was sure she was going to pay for, but what would be the cost?

The car that Josephine sent to follow them was MIA too, lost in the sea of cars that surrounded them. Khalida knew deep down that this situation could go from bad to worse very quickly. She stuck her chin up as she straightened her posture. Thoughts of running back to the car entered her mind, and her nerves were begging her to run, but she wouldn’t let her feet obey, more determined to stand her ground against this sick maniac.

“I wouldn’t worry about looking for your boyfriend,” Carey snarled. “I watched him leave five minutes before you arrived. Could he be searching for you? Or maybe he got word on where to find your mother’s body? He was so careless in his attempt to keep you happy.”

Vega reached out and squeezed Khalida’s hand. “He’s lying to you, Khalida. Don’t you believe him. If something happened, they would have called us.”

But Khalida could tell by the look in his cold black eyes the bastard meant every word he spoke.

“What did you do, Carey?” Khalida’s voice cracked with desperation as dread swelled in her chest.

“What I had to I suppose. You see, there is a bounty on your head, Khalida, and I plan on being the one to turn you over to the one who seeks you. Funny thing about this whole situation, you never know who is an Ubil or who isn’t,” his eyes flashed evil and dark.

“Like hell you will! I am not going anywhere with you!” she snapped back at Carey as anger rose in her voice, replacing the desperation.

He laughed, “Take a look at your friend’s head. You see a glowing red dot? It’s aimed right in between her eyes. Now. Get. In,” Carey nodded toward a black truck parked just feet behind him, motioning for Khalida to get in.

Vega tightened her grip on my hand, “Don’t do it, Khalida,” she begged.

“If she doesn’t, Vega, you die,” the smile on his face widened as he walked over to his truck and opened the door.

Vega began trembling; Khalida could feel her hand shaking as her grip tightened. Her mind began to race and her heart thudded against her chest.

Is he really crazy enough to take out my best friend right here in front of all these people?

The murderous darkness that poured from his eyes told her he was just crazy enough to do just that. Khalida stepped in front of her best friend, the red beam that was once on Vega was now directly over Khalida’s heart.

“What the hell are you doing Khalida?” Vega whispered in Khalida’s ear at the same time she dug her nails in the side of Khalida’s waist.

“Start backing up. When I say run, turn, and go find somewhere to hide until someone shows up,” she said, softly turning her head in hopes that Carey couldn’t hear what she was conspiring.

They took a few steps back and Khalida watched as Carey took two steps forward, a grimacing smile forming on his face.

“You think you’re smart? That bullet will go right through you, piercing your heart and her brain. Now be a good girl and do what you are told,” he gritted between his teeth, his patience was obviously wearing thin.

“If you kill me what will that do for the bounty you want to collect? I don’t think they would appreciate you bringing them my body!”Khalida challenged confidently.

He paused for just a moment, and Khalida could see the uncertainty washing over his face. That pause was exactly what she was waiting for.

“Run!” she snapped at Vega, barely giving her best friend time to think before she pushed her backwards.

They both moved fast and shot away from Carey adrenaline coursing through their blood and no time to think, they ran towards a huge crowd of people ducking low in hopes of losing the psycho that was out for blood. The girls moved along the ground before they ducked behind a minivan, both of them kneeling low, staying out of eye sight while they tried to catch their breath.

“He is still out there,” Vega said, trying to regain her composure.

“Listen to me, Vega,” she murmured, grabbing Vega by the chin, demanding her attention, “I want you to stay here and hide in the crowd, and whatever you do, please don’t get caught. I am going to draw him away from you. You stay the hell out of sight and away from that damn sniper, where ever he is.”

“This is crazy, you’re crazy! I can’t, and I won’t let you do this,” she argued.

“This is not up for debate, Vega, I can’t lose you too. Luke will sense something is wrong and come for me. Carey won’t kill me, he will, however, kill you. So, do what I tell you!” Khalida demanded before she pulled off her heels, sprinting away from her best friend before she had a chance to contest any further.

Khalida found herself pushing through the crowds of people, squeezing through the tightly knit bodies as she tried to pull herself as far away from her beloved friend as fast as she could. Finally, after a few bumps and near falls, she made her way out into the clearing. Innocent people stood among the scene, talking and carrying on, not realizing that all hell was about to break lose right there in front of them. Everyone seemed to be moving in slow motion. Everyone except one person.

Carey
.

He stood twenty five feet from Khalida and she knew that whichever way she went he would beat her before she could disappear. The only way she could go to get away from him was back the way she came, and she refused to lure him right back to her friend and the innocents that surrounded her. Thinking fast. She had to draw his attention away from the crowd that now sat in rows of white chairs, clapping and whistling as a steady row of seniors accepted their diplomas. She couldn’t let anyone get hurt because of her. Khalida could feel his dark gaze bearing down on her, twisting her thoughts and setting confusion within her. Khalida closed her eyes trying to regain her strength and seeking any other idea rather than her current alternative. When she opened them, Carey appeared inches away from her face. The grim stench that reared from his deathly breath made her stomach turn with gut wrenching disgust. Her nerves were on edge, goose bumps danced down her arms as fear gripped at her very core.