Dancing With Monsters (3 page)

“
I’m coming with…” Before
I could finish, my feet left the ground, and trees whisked by like
speeding cars.

The truck stop lights faded in the
distance. I had no idea where I was or what direction we had gone.
We moved like flashes of lightning through the timber and then we
stopped as quickly as we had left.

He put me down and my feet landed on a
paved road. A log cabin home washed in moonlight stood before me
with a split rail fence surrounding it. A light shone through the
window beside the door making it look like a welcoming
house.

“
Are you coming?” He asked
standing on the opposite side of the road.

I could run, but I’d never make it
five feet away from him. It was unnatural to move that quickly
through the woods, and without tripping or getting slapped in the
face from low limbs. Even if he did know about my tattoo, I still
felt uncertain.

“
You moved…” I took
account of my surroundings. We were in a wooded area, and with no
other houses in sight. I couldn’t possibly outrun him to get
help.

“
I moved like anyone of
our kind can move, and I can teach you how, if you like.” He spoke
so casually. “And like I said, I’m not going to hurt you, and you
are running away, aren’t you?” He looked back over his shoulder at
the house. “This is my home, and you are welcome to come in if you
like, or you can take cover in the forest. It’s up to
you.”

He turned and walked up to the house
while searching his pocket. He pulled out a set of jiggling keys,
and glanced back at me as he whistled.

I crossed the road and stood at the
edge of the brick paved sidewalk. What was I doing? He had just
sucked the life out of a man, and we had run through what seemed
like miles of timber in the matter of seconds. I should get the
hell out of here, especially since he was going into his house and
leaving me outside.

“
You can go if you want,
fledging, but I’m curious about the mark on your wrist. Not many
humans have those kind of marks,” he said, glancing over his
shoulder at me as he cracked open the door.

I gingerly curled my fingers around
the small tattoo on the inside of my right wrist. I remembered
getting it from an old lady that my mom took me to right before she
gave me up. How did he know I had it, and how could he had possibly
seen it covered up by my sleeve and in the dark.

I took a step forward followed by
another. He waited for me letting me enter the warm house
first.

I stepped inside just enough to let
him in. The interior was pretty much what you’d expect a log cabin
house to look like. It was a rustic home with a stone fireplace,
richly stained wood beams that was the skeleton on the home, and an
open ceiling with a loft overhead. It wasn’t a large home, but
looked like it came out of a magazine as it was neat and showed no
person artifacts, like pictures.

“
Have a seat right here,”
he said, twirling an office chair around and shoving it towards
me.

I looked at the chair then at
him.

“
Your feet are bleeding,
and I don’t want blood all over my rugs any more than it already
is.”

I looked down at my bare feet and at
the bright red splotches dotting the dull orange rug.

“
Sorry,” I
said.

“
Don’t be, just sit down.
I just bought those rugs.”

I sat down and he pushed me into the
kitchen. Stainless steel appliances and cabinets made out of knotty
wood, made the kitchen look like a professional chef lived here.
There was an abundant supply of spices above the gas stove,
utensils hung over an island in the middle of the kitchen, and a
wine cooler, fully stocked, displayed bottles of wine from behind a
glass door.

He went to a tall cabinet and got out
a towel and a small, brown, glass bottle.

“
So, what’s your name?
Mine is Ben.” He glanced up at me as he gently took my right foot
and placed it on his bent knee.

I couldn’t give him my real name.
“Beth,” I finally said.

Ben snickered as he wiped off the
bottom of my foot with whatever was in the brown bottle.

“
No, it isn’t. You are a
terrible fibber, fledging, and my assumptions were right about
you.” Ben wiped other foot. “If you were totally a human girl,
you’d be screaming in pain.”

He put the bottle away and threw the
towel to the sink.

“
If I was human?” I
questioned and looked at the bottom of my left foot. There were no
scratches or cuts.

“
Your mark, and the fact I
just used serpent’s oil on you, tells me otherwise.” Ben crossed
his arms and smirked at me. “You’ve witnessed some pretty
remarkable things tonight, and I’m sure you feel it’s all a dream,
but it isn’t. Our kind has a way of …connecting for lack of a
better word.” Ben’s image blurred, and then disappeared. I rubbed
my eyes wondering if it was the aftereffects of whatever he used on
my feet.

I felt my insides tighten,
and wondered if I had been drugged. Then, suddenly, Ben
materialized in front of me on bent knees. “I found you, and you
found me for a reason.” His eyes searched mine as I could barely
breathe. “Did you see your wounds?’’ he asked and I nodded.
“Serpent’s oil can only be used on one type of being.” He smiled.
“You and I are monsters,
Beth
.”

Seth

“
Time’s running out,” Ezra
stood in front of me running her pale fingers over mine. “I want to
stay together. I’m tired of meeting this way.” Her blue-black eyes
lifted to mine. “The air is changing here, and something’s coming—I
can sense it.”

“
Ughhh!” A female voice
yelled like a battle cry behind me. “Let him go nymph!” The
unmistakable sound of Nessa’s voice demanded in the
distance.

I felt that pull again. Each time I
talked to Ezra, I felt a distance slowly separating us. She begged
me with her eyes to stay as she reached for my hands.

Don’t go…

I had to, but hesitated. Ezra
tightened her grip on my hands. It wasn’t only Nessa who pulled at
me to come back to the living, there was something else.

I let go of her hands, and gave into
that unknown and invisible force that kept pulling me away from the
girl I had planned to marry.

“
Hey!” I yelled as
something burned on my right shoulder. What were they doing,
setting me on fire to quit seeing Ezra?

I opened my eyes to see Uncle Hes’s
scowling face peering down at me along with Nessa. He held a
branding coin in his right hand as Nessa placed her hands on her
hips.

“
Nessa said you’re being
haunted by a dead lover. That mark ought to put a stop to that, or
at least slow it down until she gives up.”

I sat up, and should have been furious
at them taking such extreme measures without my consent, but, I
wasn’t. I looked at the triangle shaped mark filled with
intricately weaving lines.

“
I know you’re mad at me,
but this has got to stop.” Nessa’s eyes were a mix of sternness
swirling with concern. “Seth, I had to do something, and if you go
on like this, it will jeopardize our mission.”

“
Yes, it will,” I buttoned
my shirt. “You’re right to have done this. I know you have my
better interest in mind, and are trying to help me.”

Nessa’s mouth hung open with surprise.
“So, you’re not mad?” She asked.

“
No, and I can’t explain
why. I should be, but there’s something, I don’t know what it is.
Fate is pulling me in another direction.”

“
So, Nessa doesn’t get
full credit for putting an end to you seeing Ezra, and ending up on
your bad side?” Malachi asked shoving a piece of bread into his
mouth.

“
It isn’t fate,” Uncle Hes
said before Nessa could reply as he poured himself a cup of
something steaming. “Here,” he gave me the cup of hot liquid. “It’s
destiny that is ‘pulling at you’, as you describe, though destiny
doesn’t pull, but guides.” He gave Nessa and Malachi cups of the
dark, hot, steaming liquid.

All of us looked at it and took whiffs
of the strange aroma.

“
It’s called coffee, and
you drink it, not inhale it. I got it on my last visit to earth,
and it will keep you alert. I’ve discovered a very strong liking to
it.”

I took a sip of the bitter tasting
beverage, but drank it out of courteousness to my uncle.

“
What’s the difference
between fate and destiny? Aren’t they the same thing?” Malachi
asked.

“
No, they are not.” Uncle
Hes defined each word. “Fate is something you create, tempt, or
manipulate by the decisions you make. Destiny is what was woven
through the passages of time by someone far greater than us. It has
its own plan that sometimes you can find written, and sometimes
not, but whether conscious of it or not, destiny will always be
followed.”

We left in the cover of blackness. The
city was quiet, as if it had taken a moment of peace before the sun
came up. With Uncle Hes’s map safely tucked in my satchel, Malachi,
Nessa, and I slinked through the streets.

“
Bagels, do you smell
them?” Malachi stopped and smelled the air with a satisfying
sigh.

“
They have bagels where
we’re going.” I continued walking with Nessa beside me.

“
Yeah, but these are the
best.” He insisted. “Come on,” he tugged on my shoulder. “One last
stop before going on our quest,” he said in a deep voice mocking my
uncle.

I turned to him ready to explain the
importance of everything, and why this wasn’t a field trip as Uncle
Hes explained. It wasn’t just a quest, but something I had to prove
to him.

“
How about some for the
road?” Nessa asked looking up at me with her innocent
eyes.

I smiled and shook my head. “The shop
is just around the corner.” She took a few steps away from me, and
disappeared around the corner with Malachi in tow.

I stood there for a moment, lowered my
head, and could hear the displeased voice of my uncle echo in my
head. The first thing in being a leader is having the respect and
control of your team. I had neither, and at this point, probably
wouldn’t.

I went into the empty bakery. Malachi
and Nessa were gazing through the glass case with all the bakery’s
delectable goods displayed. It was full of pastries, doughnuts, and
of course, our much needed bagels.

I waited close to the door, and looked
down at my watch. We needed to get out of town before the sun came
up. They made their selection and paid the clerk, when I felt
someone behind me. I turned around, and saw nothing but the glass
door slowly going shut. Someone had just left very quietly, and by
the scent that loomed in the air, an angel had been
here.

Angels didn’t come to Iethia very
much, and when they did, it wasn’t to take in the sights or visit
friends.

“
What’s wrong?” Nessa
asked reading the concern on my face as she took a bite of her
bagel.

“
We have to move before I
lose the scent,” I said going out the door and letting my nose
guide me.

We looped through the streets as if
the angel was trying to evade us. But all angels knew that monsters
had extraordinary senses to track anyone at any time, or maybe this
one didn’t. I wondered what they were doing here, and if they had a
connection to the drug that was being manufactured to turn innocent
humans into monsters. My uncle had worked with angels before on
cases concerning portals before he retired from the portal
guardianship. I wondered if the angel we were following knew my
uncle.

The scent led us out of town, and then
suddenly stopped. I stopped and peered into the
darkness.

“
Malachi, can you see
anything?” Malachi didn’t have the acute sense of smell like me,
but he could see in the dark.

“
A rabbit, squirrel in a
tree, and birds still nesting in the trees—that’s it.” With his
eyes still glowing, he shrugged his shoulders. “What were we
following anyhow?”

“
An angel, I could smell
them.”

“
An angel?” Nessa asked in
disbelief. “What would they be doing in Iethia?”

“
I don’t know, but we need
to move.”

April

“
A monster,” I whispered
under my breath as Ben smiled at me. “You’re crazy.” I stood up
thinking I should had never gone with him.

“
Am I?” He got up and
faced me. “Do you see things in the darkness that you can’t
explain? And I’m sure you had a pleasant childhood filled with love
from your family, or did they leave you on someone’s doorstep?” He
raised his eyebrows. “I can tell by your expression that you never
had a loving family because of what happened to you, and at such an
early age. Usually demons don’t bite small children, they prefer
teens.” He rubbed his chin. “Unless your demon had a plan for you—I
guess that would be a possibility.” Ben looked at me. “The darkness
has followed you for a long time—I can sense it, and it won’t
bother you with me around.”