Falter (21 page)

I glanced down to see if the demon had finished prying George’s soul from his body. His corpse was alone on the floor, lifeless.
 

I would never get that last moment back with him. No more jokes traded between us or hugs shared during hard times. George wasn’t there anymore; only a shell of wear and tear—not the father I loved for so many years. There was no intervening at this point—no miracle to save him.
 

I found the demon crouched against the end of the futon, gawking up in fear at the expanding whirlpool on the ceiling. It lurched, choking through its bony nose as if there was food lodged in its throat that it couldn’t get out—couldn’t
let
out. The monster hunched over, gagging on the soul it had taken, desperately trying to vomit it up.
 

Some gratification came with knowing that George’s soul was toxic to the being. Even if the demon wanted to let his soul go, its lips were literally sealed, forcing it to contain the excruciating essence.

I latched onto what little enjoyment I could while the demon suffered. The wind slapped at my ears so hard that it drowned out Gavyn calling my name. He clutched my arm, getting my attention, and pointed to the ceiling.
 

The whirling water churned more viciously now; the small swells escalated to large crashing waves, circling an inverted funnel. The need to run for cover surged through me. I wasn’t sure how, but a hurricane rearing its ugly face in the center of the room seemed entirely possible.
 

The mysterious waters were angry above us. However, the swirling fluid seemed to retain itself enough to keep us safe from its impending destruction. Controlled disorder. With my eyes closed, I took a cleansing breath to clear my head in case this was one of those “focus, Nevaeh” kind of moments.
 

I opened my eyes to see cool droplets of water trickling down toward us. A listless mist with big globules the size of pebbles floated from the ceiling. The repugnant odor from the demon subsided, and a more appealing aroma filled the room—a refreshing smell that sent chills of exhilaration through my body.
 

The faded, red glow retracted, returning the colors of the apartment to their original hues. I let my head fall back and escaped in the sense of peace the new commotion brought. The cleansing moisture dampened my hair, sticking it against my face and neck. Tranquility engulfed my pain and caution. Surely, another devastating event was about to happen, but I took refuge in the glorious flow of power infiltrating the room.

A final gust of wind sucked the water off my face like a vacuum, and all movement ceased. The floating droplets of water stilled, suspended without motion, just above my head; thousands of smooth, glassy beads of wetness strung up by invisible line.
 

The beads held their positions, stuck in the air, anticipating a command that would allow them to continue in their intended paths to the floor. Small puddles on the hardwoods froze in mid-splash, yearning for the droplets to finish crashing into them, as was the natural sequence of these things.

All was quiet. No rumbling noise and no rippling walls. Only the circular motion of the pool on the ceiling and the shuddering of the demon continued.

Gavyn was at my side, his body rigid with expectation. “Wait,” he whispered.

So much was running through my mind that it was difficult to keep a clear perception. I battled the constant notion to surrender to a much-needed mental breakdown. Hysteria was creeping out from the corner of my mind, but I forced myself to rein it in for a later time.

The room suddenly flexed against a flare of amazing energy that knocked me off my feet. Breathing became harder as the air rushed out from the center of the opening above us and thickened, turning the room into a balloon almost ready to pop. Walls creaked from the pressure, and the static droplets began to quiver where they hung.

Gavyn scrambled to help me stand again and started searching my body for injuries. I pushed the damp hair out of my face then swatted his hands away. But, when he grabbed my arm in an offer of support, I gave in. I needed him. I couldn’t go through this on my own.

The monster groaned louder than I’d heard so far. My eyes darted to where I’d seen it last and found the fiend hunched over in pain, clawing the floor, heaving itself closer to the hole in the wall it had entered through.
 

“He senses them coming. It won’t be long.” His face lit up with excitement.

“Who is coming?” I wasn’t ready for any more surprises, especially the otherworldly kind. I grew irritated with his lack of explanations, but forced myself to trust Gavyn.

The whirling pond over our heads, waking with movement moments before, was now motionless. The fluid appeared smooth and silver like mercury.

Curiosity urged me closer to the pool, needing to see what was in it. I saw a reflection of myself with a puzzled expression. However, the longer I studied the liquid, the thinner the consistency got, becoming more and more transparent by the second.

Gavyn tugged on my arm. “I think it’s time to move back.”

I ignored his advice and leaned away from him, staring up into the center of the reflection. “Wait I…I think I see something.” I shoved his hands off me as I squinted up at the shiny surface, detecting an object moving on the other side. “I just want to see.”

The movement resembled a bird diving for fish. Only, I saw what it must look like from the fish’s point of view; the blurry shape of something higher on the food chain jetting toward me.

CHAPTER TWELVE

From Fire Below To Water Above

“LOOK OUT!” Gavyn screamed, yanking on me hard enough to drag me down to my butt. I hit the floor just as a sharp, energy-packed bang rang into the atmosphere.

Another, more intense pressure blasted outward from the center of the water. The walls buckled and splintered around us. Books toppled off the bookshelves, pictures jumped from their nails, and the furniture skid along the floor.

The force flung me backward across the room in a seated position, my legs dragging in front of me as I slid. My body collided with Gavyn’s coffee table, the edge stabbing into the center of my back and expelling the breath from my lungs. I came to an abrupt stop when the table crashed into a wall, breaking my slide but shoving the corner harder into my spine.

I gasped as a spike of pain drove up my vertebrae. My eyes moistened from the tears I was determined to hold back. I tried to move again but decided against it when the jolting ache in my back radiated to my legs.
 

The pressure continued to build in the room at an unbearable pace. My lungs seemed to deflate more and more each time I gasped for air, preventing me from taking a sufficient breath. My lack of oxygen began to alter my vision, casting a foggy blur everywhere I looked.

Planted on the floor, slouched against the bent, metal frame of the coffee table, I rolled my head around to hunt for Gavyn—and some sign that he was still conscious. My sight was fading, but I was able to recognize the body slumped against a distant wall. He wasn’t lucid, but I could see his chest rising and falling. He was alive.

My weak limbs stopped me from going to him, and with my lungs suffocating, I couldn’t even say his name. Panic set in. I was trapped inside the prison of my own brain, my body failing me.
 

I attempted to rock myself off the floor, but what little movement I did manage only slid my torso sideways, landing me on the floor with my left arm pinned under my side and my legs twisted out in front of me.
 

With my lungs nearly empty of air, each breath just a tiny hiccup of oxygen, thinking was becoming a chore. I lay immobile, expecting the end like a dying fish trapped ashore.

The hard, wooden planks chilled my cheek as my head rested against the floor. I thought about how alone I was. George was gone, Gavyn was unconscious, and things were happening around me that I didn’t understand.
 

My gaze flicked over the hardwoods, but a hazy mind, and a small puddle of water inches from my face, obscured my view from Gavyn and the monster. Tiny peaks from the splash extended up from the little patch of water and froze in position like statues, waiting for the world to resume movement.

As the last bit of air left my body, blackness seeped in around the image of the small splash of water.
 

I welcomed the ending. I begged for it to be quick, to take me away from this life. I accepted my fate, knowing that there was nothing left for me here. Painful yet loving memories of George surfaced, making me eager to leave. There would be no more happy times in my life without George, so why stay?

Cool moisture sprinkled my face as a bead of water plopped into the puddle next to me. Fresh air whooshed back into the room. I sucked in an audible lungful of air, allowing it to infiltrate every asphyxiated part of my body. My muscles relaxed and tingled with the return of the oxygen they craved. I could, somewhat, focus again.

Droplets of water all over the room crashed to the floor, freed from their static state, and gathered into winding streams that rolled along the floor then disappeared between the floorboards.

 
Finding the courage and strength to move, I slowly eased up on my elbows, grimacing at the pain that remained in my back. My eyes darted across the room where Gavyn was propped up against the bar stool behind him, peering up into the pool above. The demon crouched on the floor convulsing, stalking me with its black eyes. George’s corpse lay motionless, pinned between the futon and the leather chair that smash against each other during the chaos.
 

The room was eerily quiet. No painful moaning, no screeching, no whistling wind. Nothing. The invisible power was harnessed for the moment, but a building tension in the atmosphere indicated it would not be contained for much longer.

Through the silvery water above, I saw the blurry figure on the other side growing larger. It was almost here. I crawled across the floor towards Gavyn, realizing that I didn’t really want to be that close when the thing came through after all.
 

My eyes settled on Gavyn’s mouth when I reached his side. He was yelling at me, but I couldn’t hear him. Had I gone deaf from the noise? He repeated something again, but finally gave up when he realized I wasn’t getting it.
 

The moment I tucked myself against Gavyn’s side, something broke through the glassy surface on the ceiling. My eyes focused on the object, and my mouth fell open.
 

The water gave way to large, bare feet. Ten toes, high arches, solid heels. They were human—not at all what I expected. Then, toned calves and strong muscular thighs slipped through. The figure lowered one section at a time from beyond the shiny liquid, each part as human looking as the last.
 

The being wore a tightly fitted, brown leather shirt with the front laced up by a leather cord, barely covering the chiseled blocks of muscle beneath the fabric. His bulging arms strained though the sleeveless openings of his shirt and twitched as he tightened his fingers into powerful fists at his sides. Wide strips of leather, reaching from his waist to his knees, fastened to one another with metal studs in a skirt-like pattern. Hints of soft, red fabric peeked through the slits of the heavy leather when he spread his legs slightly, anticipating the landing.
 

My gaze drifted to the gleaming sword fastened to his right hip. It was heavily jeweled with a gold-plated hilt that looked worn in some spots where his fingers likely rubbed during use. He wore a short dagger on his other hip, plainly decorated on the handle but ornately beveled along its sharp, waved edge. He reminded me of a Trojan warrior, down to the protective clothing he squeezed himself into, the weapons on his belt, and the fierce confidence he conveyed.

When the descent was complete, a dangerously masculine and unnaturally attractive man stood in the middle of Gavyn’s living room, studying his surroundings carefully. Surprisingly enough, I wasn’t afraid—I wanted to get closer. I wanted to touch him.
 

A strange serenity radiated throughout the room and masked the fear I probably should have felt. I could feel the weight of Gavyn’s eyes on me as I began to crawl toward the man, but I needed to get closer.

The sight of the warrior conjured a heat that raced through my veins. The smell wafting from his skin was intoxicating. I gulped tasting the dense, bittersweet odor on my tongue while my eyes feasted on the alluring details of his physique.
 

I was irrefutably attracted to the form in front of me, but I couldn’t help feeling like I was being deceived by my emotions. He was just a man I assured myself—a man from another world. But, there were other things I sensed that made him much more.
 

My body pined for him. His very presence drew me in. It was lustful, but on a far different level than I’d ever experienced. There was another emotion blending with the lust, something more pure.
 

My heart and body wanted him—yearned for him to want
me
and accept
me.
My soul, however, hungered for the man to praise, love, and protect
me
. Through all of these emotions, though, my brain was caging fits of rebellion against the figure invading our home. In my mind, I knew the man was not mine for the taking. I knew something was off with the whole situation, but I couldn’t resist.