Counterpart (Succubi & Incubi Assn.) (30 page)

I hissed when I felt a pound against the base of my skull and
instinctively my hand went up to press against it. It felt like someone was
holding something against my head, pushing down and moving the object all the
way to my forehead, where it expanded. “Fuck.” I rubbed as hard as I could
against the skin, trying to at least calm it down.

Then it was like I had been thrown into an oven. The heat that
surrounded me instantly took over my senses and all I could feel and smell was
heat. Sweat started to form under my arms and in my palms. My breathing was
shortening with each intake.

My back slid down my car until I was sitting on the cold concrete,
and it shocked me how cold it was, yet I was almost at the point of heat
exhaustion.

My hands clamped around my head when another wave of pain shot
through me. It was like someone was knocking rocks against my skull. Everything
was so sudden, and the heat was taking over every single pore of my body. I
wanted to get into an ice bath, do anything to get rid of what the hell was
going on.

I clawed at the ground. I tried to find my strength to pull myself
up but it wasn't working. Controlling my breath was hard and I was panting. It
felt like my throat had closed up, and every breath I was attempting to take
only made my chest cave in.

My body was trembling. My skin felt like it was stretching. It hit
me like a round of bricks. The headache caused me to hug my knees to my chest.
I was trying so hard to control my breathing, but everything wasn't helping,
and when I moved my head up, I froze.

“Oh my God.” I stared horridly at my hand. The clear tanned skin
that used to be there wasn't. Instead, it was replaced with burns. There were
burns everywhere. Blood gushed out the new wounds and trickled down my wrist.
Where had they come from?

Before I could even think about the new addition to my skin, the
swarm of rocks started pounding violently against my head again.

This time it was harder. This time it was stronger.

And this time, it actually knocked me out.

Everything was dark and dull. I could hear myself breathe, but other
than that it was silent. I don't even think I could feel a breeze. I couldn't
say that I was uncomfortable, hell I couldn't even feel my body but something
about being in this endless darkness seemed familiar, like I was safe here.

Crazy, I know.

“Maya.” My head snapped up at the sound and I found myself trying to
find the source of it. Everywhere my head turned, I found black. Then again, I
couldn't really tell if my head was moving or not, all I knew is that I was
sure I was trying to move it.

My mind flickered back to how I got here in the first place. I
remembered being at the arena, Ethan had just left after an encounter with Ryan
and then... my head started pounding. Everything after that was a blur.

I distinctively remembered seeing something on my hand before my
vision went black and when I went go look down at it, my body refused to move.
I wasn't even sure I had a hand right now.

“Maya,” the voice went off again. This time it was feminine, and
almost familiar. It was confusing because I knew I hadn't heard this voice
before, but yet I felt like I should know who owns it.

“Maya.” It was closer, but so far out of my grasp that it was almost
becoming annoying.

“Who are you?” I called out.

The sound of a spark came from behind me, and this time I actually
felt my body turn in response. A small flame flickered in the air not more than
two feet away from me. It grabbed my attention instantly, considering it was the
only thing I could actually see. I was preparing for it to jump at me, and I
wanted to step back out of its range but even I didn't know how far that was,
and my body wasn't exactly liking me at this moment. Half of me didn't seem to
have a problem with what was going on. It was interested in the singular flame.

I felt like a moth when it sees a light bulb.

As I looked closer, I noticed a small shadow under the flame. My
body moved forward, my eyes trying to concentrate on what the shadow was. After
a small step, I managed to decipher the object.

A thin hand rested carelessly under the fire, the cream skin not
burning a single bit when the flames licked over the tips of the fingers. My
eyes followed the path down to the wrist, and I was glad I could still see when
they moved up and met with a vibrant green. Then my body stilled when I noticed
they were in the shape of eyes.

The green eyes narrowed in my direction. Goosebumps crawled up my
spine.

The light then grew deeper, and I noticed a long green dress flow
down a feminine body in multiple layers. When I moved back to her eyes, I
realized that they weren't narrowed like in an '
I'm glaring at you
' kind
of way, but they were narrowed because she was smiling. Like, she was actually
smiling at me.

“Maya.” My name sounded like a formal greeting as it came off her
tongue. “It's nice to finally meet you face to face.”

I was semi-disturbed that she knew my name, and I was starting to
feel nervous just at the fact that she did. “Who are you?” I asked again.

“Really?” A thin brow arched. “You don't recognize me at all? Not
even the tiniest bit?”

Sure, I said that her voice sounded familiar and that this place
felt safe, but the way she was standing in front of me, calm and completely
oblivious to the flame in her hand made me hesitant.

No cell in my brain had a name to her though. “Who are you?” I said
again, choosing to just stick to those words until I get an answer.

She let a defeated sigh and I was sure I saw her shoulders slump.
The next thing that happened not only freaked me out, but it made me annoyed
that I still couldn't step back. She moved away from the flame and the hand
that was holding it dropped to her side. I was mesmerized as the flame lingered
in the air, not even moving a single inch when she moved. It did however move
in time with this her steps as she came closer.

A grin came on her face and her hand was suddenly out-stretched.
“I'm
Bethany
.”

All thoughts about the fire in front of me and the fact that I was
in some dark valley, vanished. My mind completely emptied when I heard her
words.

Did she just call herself Bethany? Am I hearing things? I must be.

“I'm sorry.” I tried to laugh it off but it was the most awkward
thing ever, and it didn't last very long. “What did you just say?”

Now she was narrowing her eyes, but still not glaring. It was
curiosity. “I'm
Bethany
,” she
said slower, sounding out each syllable with a calm and collected voice. “You
know your demon.”

Her words repeated in my head, still processing that what I was
thinking was the same thing she was saying. I even tried to find some sort of '
You're
being Punk'd'
look in her eyes, but I wasn't getting anything but a serious
facade.

It couldn't be... could it? She can't be standing right here, right
now, looking like she was just a few years older than me. “That can't be...” My
voice faded off. “How...”

She was waiting for me to finish—whenever that was going to be. I
was even starting to turn into a stutter box. “You're... demon... um... I'm so
confused... how are you even...” My mouth ended up acting like a fish's,
opening and closing while nothing was coming out. I knew what I wanted to say
but I couldn't say it. I wanted to know how the fuck she was standing right
here, and I wanted to know where the fuck here was. Then I wanted to know if I
had gone completely insane and I've ended up drinking myself into a coma.

“Ha.” I stiffened when I heard her start to laugh. She shook her
head. “You're not going insane.” She took a small step towards me again. “And
if anything, the sex will put you into a coma before drinking.”

OMG, she can read my mind.

“Well, duh. We are in your head. Of course I know what's going on in
here.”

I was mentally freaking out. Something was stopping me from even
attempting to say anything. I was shocked, that was obvious but no one prepared
me for this. My chest started to hurt at the sudden acceleration of my heart. I
was sure I was hitting the point of a panic attack.

“I have a feeling you might need a minute.”
Bethany
pursed her lips. “Do you need a minute to get everything together?”

Is she seriously asking me that? Is this some sort of joke?

I couldn't even tell if she was genuinely worried or if she was just
finding this all humorous. All I knew right now was that
my
demon—the
one that is supposed to be inside of me— is standing right in front of me.

“Are you okay? You're going a bit pale.”

Ignoring the fact that I was sure I was having trouble controlling
my breathing, I finally got my mouth to open. The words started to crawl up my
throat with every short breath. “What the hell is going on?”

“Okay.”
Bethany
's
palms came up. “I know this is a lot for you to handle—”

“No kidding.”

“But, you're here for a reason.” This time I could actually tell
what she was thinking. Her face had changed quickly, and now she held an
emotion on her face that seemed achingly all too familiar. It was the same
expression that I had seen on Tristan quite a few times. One I hated for
causing.

Pain.

“What's going on?” I was scared to hear what she had to say, and
secretly—deep down in the pit of my stomach—I knew I wasn't going to like it.

A long look my way almost made me annoyed that she was taking
forever, but when she finally said it. I swear I died a little inside.
“Tristan's in trouble.” She was cautious with the way she was saying her words,
and even by the low whisper, I knew she wasn't finished. “Maya, he's dying.”

It literally felt like someone grabbed a knife, lodged it into my
chest and left. That's all I could feel. That sudden stabbing. It was gnawing
at my ribs, lungs, moving slowly down to my stomach and then finding its way
back up. Numbness is what overtook me then. Tristan was... dying? “Please tell
me you're joking.”

I wanted her to tell me she was shit stirring. I wanted her to say
that I was a part of some fucked up new reality TV show that liked to give
people heart attacks, but the way her face didn't change a single inch only
made the knife inside me dig deeper.

“I wish I was.”
Bethany
moved forward and now she was standing right in front of me. “Maya,
that's why I brought you here, you need to find him before Penelope finishes
the job.”

Confused, I asked, “who?”

She paused for a few seconds and then something passed over her
face. “Oh right, you don't know.” What don't I know? “Penelope is Tori.”

Penelope is Tori
. The words traveled
through my head, up to the processing station and a few seconds later, I got
it. “Penelope is the demon?”

“Not exactly,” she paused briefly, “it's more like Penelope
is
Tori.”

I felt my brows push up and I was momentarily happy that part of me
could move. “You mean Tori is just Penelope disguised?”

“Correct.” Perfect. That's just perfect. “And right now she has
Tristan. That's why you were feeling the pain, the heat, and passing out—it was
all because Penelope is doing this.”

The thought of Penelope being Tori vanished from my list of cares,
and all I heard was that she had Tristan. That she was the cause of all of
this. It was like the final snap of the cord against my concentration and
suddenly, I didn't care about anything or anyone. “I have to get him.” My head
flashed around—FINALLY—trying to find any form of exit. A sign. A door. I don't
know what I was expecting, but I needed it right now. “How do I get out of
here?”

“Maya, wait—”

“Do
not
tell me to wait right now.” I was surprised by my own
actions but I was so pissed that I couldn't care that she was my demon, and she
had no right to tell me to
wait
.

“Maya, there's more.”

I wasn't listening. My own feet started moving around the darkness
and my hands tried to feel for a wall. I wanted out of this darkness. I tried
every direction I could possibly reach for, but I came up with nothing. Not a
door, nor a hatch, or even a magical transporting machine, just an empty space
of black. The complete equivalent to how I was feeling.

“The only way you can get out of here is if you listen to me,”
Bethany
said, not that I was listening
fully to what she said.

Why the hell isn't there a door?

Giving up, I turned. “Okay.” I took a calming breath, mentally
preparing myself for more bad news. “What is it?”

“You can't trust that it's real,” she said.

“What are you talking about?”

“Everything you see, everything you feel, it isn't.” The abrupt
pause of her words made me impatient, but after a quick second, I noticed that
Bethany
's mouth was still moving yet
nothing was coming out. It was like someone turned down the volume of her voice
and left her on mute.