Earth Angel (The Kamlyn Paige Novels) (9 page)

*

My eyes fluttered open, stinging slightly from the
sunlight on my face. There wasn’t much I could recall from the night before.
All I knew was some mysterious form had led me to do something terrible to
Alli. I knew she had been the drainer, but beyond that my mind was a blank. I
decided to grab another coffee and cinnamon roll at the little café down the
street before I left town to see if she was still there. It was very possible I
had vividly dreamt the entire experience. I packed what little belongings I had
and checked out of the motel.

I sat down at the same table I had the day before
and waited for someone to greet me. Somewhere deep down inside me, I half
expected to see Alli’s cheerful face as if nothing had happened. It was hard
for me to believe there wasn’t some part of her that had been good.

“Hi, there! What can I get you?” a chipper voice
asked as I stared out the window.

I looked up to see a red-headed woman in her mid
forties with an apron on, pen poised to take my order.

“Can you tell me if Alli is working today?” I asked
casually, smiling at her overly made up face.

“Alli didn’t make it in this morning. She was taken
to the hospital,” she responded.

Her face went from sunny to concern. She stared
down at me and waited for the explanation to my inquiry.

“Do you know what happened?” I asked while trying
to fake a surprised look. “I’m her old roommate and I came here to visit with
her.”

I lied so much these days I didn’t even have to
take time to think of them anymore. The woman looked at me with sympathetic
eyes.

“Well, I had one of the other waitresses go to her
house when she didn’t come in or answer her phone. The doctor says she’s in a
coma.”

I looked down at the table in silent disbelief. The
waitress gently rested her hand on my shoulder before leaving me to think about
what she’d said. I got up from the table and headed for the door, my appetite
completely gone. I got into my truck and sat there for a moment, thinking about
Alli. I had killed off her spirit as if it were nothing. A knot started to form
in the pit of my stomach as I considered what I had done. It seemed like all I
had done this past year was rid towns of spirits who were hurting people, so
how was Alli really any different? She was a living breathing person, my own
voice screamed back in response. I started the engine to drown out the sound of
my own thoughts. I rolled down the windows and pulled out into the street,
letting the cool breeze clear my head. There was nothing I wanted more at that
moment than to get out of Nebraska. As I turned on the radio and searched for a
station that wasn’t filled with static or Jesus, my phone rang; it was Cara.

“You’re needed in Chicago. Guess you’re finally
coming back home.”

“See how I’ll leave with every
piece of you. Don’t underestimate the things that I will do. There’s a fire
starting in my heart, reaching a fever pitch and it’s bringing me out the dark.”

 – Adele

As I turned onto my familiar childhood street, a
feeling of nervousness crept up inside me. It had been a whole year since I’d
set foot inside the house where Danny had been murdered. I knew there would be
reminders everywhere of my son and the wonderfully normal life we used to have.
I pulled into the driveway that ran alongside the house and parked the truck.
Taking in a deep relaxing breath, I stared up at the simple two story home I
knew so well. It was as if nothing had changed. The white paint was still
slightly dingy and a few of the shutters still needed fixing. The small
evergreen tree Danny and I had planted in the front yard was still young and
frail.

Once the knots in my stomach released their grip, I
sullenly got out of the truck and walked along the path to the front porch.
Before my hand had time to reach the door, it flew open to reveal Cara bouncing
up and down with excitement.

“I can’t believe you’re really here!” she exclaimed
as she pulled me in for a tight hug.

I closed my eyes and let Cara’s familiar scent of
lavenders and fresh linen wash over me. It was a smell that always brought me
to a peaceful state of mind. When she let me go, a small sparkling silver cross
caught my eye as it fell lightly onto her pink cardigan sweater. Something
about Cara that had always baffled me was how she dressed. If she wore clothes
more her age and put on a fitted top every once in a while she would be a knock
out. Instead, she liked to dress like a middle aged Sunday school teacher. At
first glance she was mousy and simple, but if she took the tight bun out of her
hair and unbuttoned her sweater a bit, she would be a stunning vixen. Cara
really didn’t care about those things though. She saw everyone for their inner
beauty.

“Beautiful necklace,” I commented, causing her face
to soften, showing an enormous amount of compassion in her eyes.

“Tom gave it to me for my birthday,” she responded,
holding the cross close to her heart.

I smiled at her, slightly envious of the life she
had. Would I ever have someone special in my life again or was I meant to be
alone? Quickly, I forced my mind onto another subject.

“So, Chicago went great,” I said with an undeniable
undertone of sarcasm.

Cara smiled back, pretending to be glad to hear the
good news.

“I spent two days tracking down these college girls
who were using Wiccan spells to find true love and then I scared the shit out
of them because I was under the impression I was hunting dangerous, malevolent
witches,” I continued as I looked directly into Cara’s eyes, trying to keep a
straight face.

“Well, good work,” she said trying to swallow her
laughter. “Way to keep those streets clean.”

I put my hands on my hips and looked down at my
feet as I shuffled them over the yellow entryway rug, continuing to explain my
‘close encounter’.

“Yea, and as I stared down at these three young
girls who were looking up at me as if I were going to mug them, I began to
realize that…the mission you had sent me on was complete bullshit!”

Cara burst into a fit of giggles. She put her hands
over her mouth, trying to suppress the sound of her laughter, but was
unsuccessful.

“I couldn’t help it! I missed you so much and I
knew you would never come home unless it was to hunt something down,” she
explained.

She was right about that one. I really wouldn’t have
come back if she had just asked. Being in that old house brought back all the
horrible feelings I had learned to burry deep down. I felt as though I would
have to try all over again to forget the things I saw there. If I cringed at
the sight of the entryway, I couldn’t imagine how painful it would be for me to
go upstairs. I decided to push all these thoughts aside, though, and try to
have a pleasant and very short visit with my best friend.

“But Wiccans, Cara?” I questioned as a smile spread
across my face. “Couldn’t you find a better fake case for me to waste my time
on?”

I raised my eyebrows questioningly but Cara simply
shrugged her shoulders and smiled. It was no use. No matter what she did, I
could never stay mad at her. She had such a pleasant personality. It was
intoxicating.

“Don’t hog her all for yourself now, Cara,” a deep,
rough voice bellowed from the living room.

I would have known the sound of that voice from
anywhere. As I approached the couch, I bit my bottom lip in order to control my
excitement. A tall man stood up and gave me a crooked grin as he walked towards
me. I could hear his steel toed boots clinking softly with every step he took.
His stubble-covered cheek grazed mine as he embraced me tightly in his arms. I
looked up into his bottomless gray eyes and smiled back, finally feeling like I
was home again.

“Don, I’m so happy to see you!” I exclaimed as I
backed away to get a good look at him. “Don’t you look…exactly the same?”

I don’t know why I had expected him to be any
different, but I searched him over looking for the slightest change. His hair
was dark and unkempt, prematurely speckled with flecks of gray from stress. He
had on a deep maroon colored shirt with the sleeves rolled up as far as his
muscular arms would allow. His faded jeans were held up by an old brown leather
belt I had seen him wear every day since we’d met. He scanned me up and down
and commented on how fit I had become since he last saw me. He smiled down at
me. No words were necessary to express the joy we both felt in seeing each
other again. The thing I loved most about Don was that I could tell exactly
what he was thinking with only a short glace into his deep, wounded eyes. We
both turned from each other when we heard the soft sound of someone clearing
their throat.

Cara stood at the entrance of the room holding the
hand of a clean shaven man. His short wavy blonde hair was styled with so much
gel it looked crunchy. The navy blue suit he had on was perfectly ironed and
complimented with a silky red tie and a crisp white button down shirt.

“Nice to see you again, Tom,” I said and smiled
politely.

It wasn’t that I didn’t like him. He just wasn’t my
type of guy. He was the manager of the biggest bank in downtown Chicago and
always wore a serious face, that is when he wasn’t doing that obviously
over-the-top laugh businessmen do when their clients crack a joke that isn’t
funny at all. Even though we had never really clicked, I couldn’t deny that he
was a perfect match for conservative Cara. He was full of love for her and
shared all her crazy passions. Every Sunday morning he was right there beside
her at the local church and every night they cooked dinner together while they
laughed and kissed. They went on long walks together and watched sappy love
movies cuddled up on the couch.

Tom gave me a slight nod before he touched his lips
lightly to Cara’s cheek and turned to leave the room without a word. Don and I
exchanged confused glances in secret. I knew Tom and I had never been what most
would consider friends, but I usually at least received some cheesy smile
followed by a well intended greeting when we saw each other.

“He’s been kind of stressed from work lately,” Cara
said, trying to excuse her boyfriend’s behavior.

“Yea, me too,” I said nodding my head in understanding.
If anyone knew the pressure of the job, it was me. “That doesn’t mean I act
like an ass, though,” I concluded, smiling.

Don gave a loud snort as Cara rolled her eyes. She
let me catch a glimpse of a tiny smile on her face before she showed me and Don
to the kitchen, which was filled with the delicious smell of chicken and
dumplings. The three of us sat at the old wooden dining table for hours,
laughing and sharing. Don and I swapped paranormal war stories while Cara sat
in awe at the things we described. Cara and I told Don about our rebellious
pre-teen days when we would sneak out of our houses at midnight to go to the
park in our pajamas and listen to music. When the stories and laughter came to
an end, Cara told us both she had an announcement to make.

“As you both know, Tom and I have been together for
a few years now,” she began.

I held my breath in anticipation, already knowing
what the big news was going to be. They had been together for so long and I was
pretty sure Tom was spending every night with Cara in my house. That only left
one announcement worthy step in their relationship. Cara looked down at her
dinner plate, letting the dramatic silence sink in.

“We’re engaged!” she squealed as she held out her
hand to show us the large diamond ring that was now sitting on her finger.

I let out a huge gasp, grabbing her hand to take a
closer look. I had to admit, the man did have good taste in jewelry.

“Wow, Cara! It’s beautiful. I’m so happy for you!”

I realized she was going to be one of the lucky ones
who, despite knowing true evil in this world, was going to live a full and
happy normal life. My eyes started to cloud with tears of joy. If anyone
deserved this, it was Cara. She had done so much for me over the years. I
couldn’t help but be excited over her bright future.

“Gimmee a break,” Don grunted as he leaned back and
folded his arms. “I’m happy too, but let’s not turn this into a chick fest,
okay?” he begged.

Cara and I both laughed as we wiped away the
wetness from under our eyes. After a late night of reminiscing with my two
closest friends, I shuffled my way up to my old bedroom. I paused at the top of
the stairs and turned slowly to look at a closed door. I stared at the piece of
paper taped to it and felt a lump form deep in my throat. It had the name
‘Danny’ scribbled all over it in different colors with a tiny drawing of a
stick figure boy and a stick figure mom  holding hands. I closed my eyes and
pictured my little boy playing at his Lego table in the sunny yellow room. I
opened my eyes and took a deep breath. It was hard to be strong, but it was the
only thing that kept me going. Without another thought, I went to my room and changed
into a knee length nightgown I found in one of my dresser drawers and got into
bed. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow, emotionally exhausted
from the day.

*

I sat up, overcome with the feeling I was not alone
in my quiet, dark room. I reached over and turned on the bedside lamp,
comforted by the warm glow. The clock read 3 a.m. I narrowed my eyes while they
adjusted to the light. When I turned my head to scan the area, I saw the door
to my room was cracked open. My eyes grew wide with fear as I held completely
still. In the normal world, this would not be a sign of something sinister, but
this was the hunting world. I never slept with my door open and I usually
locked myself in as well just to be safe. With all the creatures wandering the
night, one could never be too careful when their guard was down.