Dark Angel (Anak Trilogy) (24 page)

“Yes, I will find you,” Zell whispered back as if some
one were listening to him also.

“Zell?” I called to him.

“Yes, sweetheart,” he answered.

My heart melted at his term of endearment.

“I . . . I . . . I’m sorry. I’m sorry about everything. I believe you. I believe you are who you say you are. I believe you are from the race of the Anak. I believe that your father is a Fallen Angel, a Watcher.  I do believe my life is in danger, and you are here to protect me. I’m glad that you are here. I can’t even remember what my life was like before you. You are my life now too,” I murmured so lightly that I wasn’t even sure he heard me.

“I just wanted you to know in case . . . in case this ends badly.”

“It won’t. I am coming for you Annie.”

I ended my call
and closed my eyes. I was just thankful that Zell had not left, and that I had heard his voice once more before . .  . .  I had a premonition that this would not end well. I could not shake the feeling. I sat in the floor with my phone clutched to my chest and my eyes closed for several minutes before I could shake myself out of the melancholy that I felt.

“Get up,” I said aloud. “Get up now!” I pushed myself up from the kitchen floor
willing my bruised and exhausted body to move. I went to the front door, but it had a dead bolt. It was the kind of dead bolt that needed a key to get out. I searched the rest of the cabin for a key or a back door. There was a back door in the kitchen, but it also had a dead bolt and needed a key to unlock it. I searched the sparse rooms, but I could not find a key. Jon must have the only key. I hurried back to the bedroom shutting the door. I crossed to the window and pushed it up. I put first one leg and then another over the window sill.  Next, I turned so the sill was under my belly. I pushed myself out of the window.  It was a seven or eight-foot drop to the ground, but I landed easily.

I ran in a panic to the dock.
I hoped a key would be in the boat, but I doubted it. Double-checking, I looked in the boat for a key. There was no key. I crossed to the motor and pulled the hose that went from the gas tank to the motor out. I threw it as far into the lake as I could manage. It did not sink but floated on top of the water. I just hoped it sank before Jon got back. If Jonny had a key and got the boat started, he could overtake me in no time rowing a canoe. Climbing back on to the dock, I crossed to the other side and jumped in the canoe. My hopes lifted when I saw two oars strapped to each side of the canoe.

Hurriedly, I unt
ied the canoe from the moorings and pushed the canoe away from the docks. Dropping on the tiny bench between the oars, I grabbed an oar in each hand. I had never rowed before. It took several minutes of experimenting before I could head out into open water. The effort broke open the wounds on my hand. Blood soaked the towel. I ignored the blood and the pain and rowed. I rowed as if my life depended on it. Perhaps, it did. Lake Lanier was northeast of school. If I wanted to head back in the direction we came from, wouldn’t I need to row southwest? The sun would be setting in the west, and I headed in the direction just to the left of the setting sun. I rowed and rowed until the muscles in my back and arms seemed to be in knots, yet I didn’t see a house or dock anywhere. I rested letting the canoe drift with the current.

While I rested, my thoughts went wild. Who would find me f
irst: Jon, Zell, or a Dark One? I searched the sky for Zell, but it was empty except for a few billowy clouds. I thought I heard a boat motor in the distance. I panicked. Could it possibly be Jon? I looked along the shore looking for a place to land and hide the canoe until the boat went past, or I was sure it wasn’t him. I had mixed feelings about hiding the boat. How would Zell find me if I were hiding? I heard the sound of a motor again, and it was getting louder. I decided that I would hide until the boat passed, then I would get back out on the lake.  I began rowing furiously for the shore. Hopefully, the bend would hide me until I drug the canoe out and into the trees. About fifteen feet from shore, I jumped from the boat. Holding the rope that tied the canoe to the dock, I drug it. If I had thought rowing was hard, dragging this canoe was almost impossible. I managed to get it to land. I went to the bow and lifted it up. Then backing up, I pulled the canoe into the shelter of trees and a few bushes. I hid behind the canoe and waited for the boat to come around the bend.

I huddled behind the canoe in the trees hoping it would not be noticed. As the boat came around the
corner, my heart sank. It was Jon. He was looking along the shore. He slowed the motor of the boat. I began edging toward the thick woods. He must have noticed the canoe because his motor died. It was then that I saw the tracks the canoe had left as I pulled it from the water to the trees. The tracks alerted Jon. I jumped up in a dead run. It was getting dark. Perhaps, he would be unable to find me in the dark.

Panic stricken, I ran. It was just like my nightmare. I could hear something thrashing about in the woods behind me. I tripped over a large root that protruded from the earth. Landing in the soft decaying leaves, I breathed heavily.
I was drenched from head to toe from jumping out of the boat. Leaves and dirt clung to my wet skin and clothing. This day had just about done me in. I was aching all over. My hand throbbed under the blood-soaked towel that was still wrapped around it. I just wanted to lay here and rest. I was exhausted from rowing in the canoe.

I had to keep going. Wearily, I pushed myself up. I was halfway on my feet when I was tackled from behind. I landed on my stomach again with someone or something on top of me. I spat out dirt and decayed leaves from my mouth. Twisting, I turned to see who was on top of me. Of course, it was Jon.

“Get off of me,” I screamed at him.

“Not until I’m through with you,” he growled. Jon tried to kiss me, but I crossed my arms in front of my face trying to push him off. That is when I heard it. Something big was coming through the woods growling as it came.

“Stop. Jon listen. We’re not alone in the woods. Something is coming.”

Jon continued trying to pull my hands from my face, but
he must have heard it, too. He stopped struggling with me and lay still listening. It sounded as though a bulldozer was coming through the woods. I could hear not just twigs but small trees snapping as something came in our direction.

“What the . .
.” Jon began.

“Shhhhh,” I whispered as I clamped my good hand over his mouth.

In the filtered moonlight, I could see large red eyes moving in our direction. The eyes looked to be about ten feet off the ground. Whatever it is, it is enormous. When it was fifty feet from us, I could make out another feature. White, gigantic fangs gleamed in the faint moonlight. Jon must have seen them too. He jumped to his feet, and without another word to me, he ran into the night.

“Coward,” I hissed in the direction which he ran. I scrambled to my feet. I backed up trying to keep this newest monster in my line of vision. May
be if I could get back to Jon’s fishing boat, I would have a chance at escape. Besides, Zell would be looking for me on the lake. I had to get to him.  I began to run through the forest back in the direction I had just come. Stumbling over roots and small trees, I ran. I could hear the thing behind me pick up the pace. I ran flying through the trees which I could faintly see in the moonlight, but it wasn’t good enough. I could hear the creature gaining on me.  The dark trees became sparser, and I broke into an open area. I turned my head to see how close the beast was behind me. Only a few feet separated us. Then it leaped. The impact hit me like a train. I could feel teeth sinking into my body. The pain hit instantly. It radiated out from where the creature sank in its teeth and burned like I was on fire. I thought of Zell. I thought of my father. Would they miss me? Of course they would, I scolded myself. Another strong impact, I felt my flesh tearing. Was it eating me now?

“Is this what death feels like?” I wondered. It felt more like I was floating on a cloud than in the jaws of a monster. The pain
was horrific but quick. There was no pain now.

“Annie, are you OK?” I thought I heard Zell’s voice. This isn’t so bad I thought. There is no pain, and I can still remember Zell’s voice.

Then I felt his warm lips pressed to my forehead, and his strong arms were around me.

“Am I dead?” I asked.

“No. No, you are not dead. You are very much alive,” he whispered.

“Where is the monster?”

“Still in the woods,” Zell replied.

“Where am I?” I whispered softly.

“You are with me,” he answered pressing his face to mine. I could feel rather than see tears escape his eyes and fall against my face.

“You found me,” I said simply.

“Yes, I found you,” he whispered holding me close.

Only then did I open my eyes. No longer was the moon faintly peeking through the trees. It was big, bright, and large. It looked so close. It was with that thought that I realized we were airborne. I felt safe. Zell’s arms were around me, and I could hear his heart beating against my cheek as he held me to him. If I died now, death was acceptable. Zell had come for me and found me. I was at peace.

Zell had spotted Jon on the lake and followed him to me. He had swooped down, and the impact and tearing of flesh that I had felt had actually been Zell diving from the sky to steal me from the monster’s jaws and ripping me free from its deadly grip.

“I have to get you to a hospital. That thing bit you,” Zell whispered against the wind of the night
his voice breaking.

“Bit me?” Then blackness consumed me again for the second time today.

                    11.  ZELL

 
THE HOLLOWNESS OF THAT MOMENT confounded
him. He dreamed of her for too long. When Annie was born, belonging was birthed in him. He knew that with her was where he belonged no matter where that journey took him. He always dreamed that if he ever revealed himself to her that she would know she belonged to him, too. That’s not exactly how it played out. She did not like him at all. She fought his every move to protect her. Though lately, he could tell her feelings were changing.

He
had always wanted heaven. He grew up striving for that place. When he touched Annie for the first time that night in the parking lot at school, he found his eternal world in her. In all his wanderings through this world of grief, he finally found her—the other half of his heart. All of everything came into existence in Annie. She could not die on him.  A dry sob escaped from Zell’s lips as he held Annie as close as he possibly could.

Annie’s eyes fluttered open for a brief moment and focused on him. She s
miled warmly at him.

“Zell, I . . . ,” Annie beg
an weakly and ceased to breathe.

Don’t miss the sequel and second novel,
Forever Girl
, in the Anak Trilogy.

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Forever Girl

1. GUILT
   

JON RAN FOR ONLY A FEW YARDS WHEN HE
suddenly stopped. Annie, how could he leave her there with that .  . . that thing? Undecided, he stood there. He loved Annie. Ever since that new guy Zell had come to school, she had not given him the time of day. He wanted to make her pay for ignoring him. He wanted to make her pay for dropping him and giving Zell all her attention. He wanted to make them both pay for the humiliation that he felt in the cafeteria. He had made it clear to the guys at school that Annie was exclusively his.  He had thoroughly terrorized them, so no guy dared to speak to Annie for more than a few minutes.

Then, Zell showed up, and he couldn’t be intimidated.  Every time he had confronted Zell, Zell had stood up to him. He silently dared Jon to
continue. Jon knew Zell would pursue Annie if he wanted, and there was nothing he could do about it. If he stepped over the line with Zell, he knew there would be a fight.  Jon enjoyed a rumble now and then, but not one he couldn’t win. He didn’t think he would win a fight with Zell; though, he had nothing to give him that feeling but instinct.  Something about that guy was different. He exuded an aura of perpetual danger.

He loved Annie, yet he had left her there for a monster to tear to shreds. Would Zell have left her? Somehow he didn’t think so, and the thought shamed him.

What was that thing? It had been several feet taller than him who at six feet, three inches and two hundred and twenty pounds of muscle was a tenacious force himself. Fingers of panic and remorse grabbed at his chest. He couldn’t leave Annie. He started back toward the sound of Annie’s scream. He had just made it back to her when he saw the creature had her in its grasp. He had thought the creature might have been a large bear, but this thing that had Annie was no bear. It was a hairy mountain with long, sharp teeth. This was a monster from the pit of hell. One thing Jon was sure of, this was not a natural creature but a supernatural one.

As he stood by helpless, trying to figure out how to distract the monster. Another creature swooped from the sky and scooped Annie right from the m
outh of the beast. The creature tried to clamp its jaws down on Annie to prevent her escape, but its enormous fangs just ripped through the flesh of her legs as if they were butter when the being tore her from its jaws. The great beast stood on its hind legs and screamed into the night. Jon covered his ears. The sound terrified him.

What beast was this that had Annie now? Jon knew it had wings, but it had dropped from the sky so swiftly and snatched her so quickly that it took him and the creature by surprise. Jon disappeared behind a tree and leaned against it. Where was Annie? The thing that snatched her had great wings and was amazingly huge, but it was some form of a man—of that he was sure. Had the creature saved her or was she in even more danger?  For all he knew, the second creature may have already killed Annie. What was it people said when something like that happened? Out of the frying pan and into the fire? The monster was still roaring and screaming. Jon was trembling. He climbed into the midst of some plant overgrowth that was growing between several trees. He curled into a ball and waited there for the monster to stop screeching and leave.

Jon was filled with remorse. This was all his fault. Annie’s blood was on his hands. He brought her here.  He was sure she was dead, and he had made her last hours alive horrific. He had kidnapped her, thrown her in his truck, and brought her to the cabin in the woods. She had escaped and run from him when he had driven to the nearest store for supplies. He had kidnapped her in a jealous rage, and he had not planned this well at all. When he got to the cabin, there was nothing to eat or drink. He didn’t plan on letting her go anytime soon, and that made a trip to the store a necessity. He was going to keep her until he was ready to let her go, and that wouldn’t be until she was in love with him. He was going to make her love him. She would be his and his alone before he would take her back. She would forget all about Zell. Zell would not want her anyway after he finished telling him all the intimate details about their nights alone in the cabin. Zell would hate her, and that is what he wanted.

Annie
was gorgeous. The most beautiful thing about her was that she didn’t realize how beautiful she was. Her blond hair fell to her waist, and her big, blue eyes were always smiling.  She had a peaceful spirit about her that was the opposite of his tumultuous one. She was slim but perfectly built, and Jon had decided in seventh grade that he had to have her. Then,
he
came. Jon was so consumed with jealously that he never considered what would happen to him if somehow Annie freed herself and went to the police. Blindly, he believed that if she were alone with him, she would forget all about Zell.  Now, she was gone, and he would never see her again. Jon put his head in his hands and began to weep silently. It was then that he heard the snapping of twigs and branches all around him. He shook violently. Was the creature still there? Were there more of them? Was it looking for him? Jon held his breath and waited. He could barely control the violent shaking that overtook him. He had to control it, or the monster would find him. The monster roared and screamed again only feet from the brush where Jon was hiding.

A retired school teacher, Sherry Fortner, now writes romance and paranormal novels fulltime from her home in Southeastern Tennessee where she lives with her husband, Ray, her horses, Misty, Gummy Bear, and Spice, two Yorkshire terriers, Elvis and Belle, barn cats, Boo-Boo Kitty and Cloud, and assorted chickens.  Dark Angel is her debut release in the Anak Trilogy. When not writing, Sherry can be found outside in her garden, riding around her ranch, or playing with her grandchildren or animals. Visit Sherry at her website at
www.sherryfortner.com
.