Milayna (38 page)

“I was hoping that was your answer.” He leaned over the table and kissed the tip of my nose.

“Hey, you wanna get out of here? We aren’t getting any studying done anyway. Let’s go do something.” I shoved my junk in my book bag.

“A movie?”

“Sounds good. Let me tell my parents.” I ran in the house and asked my parents if I could go. Naturally, they said yes. According to them, Chay was the next best thing since the invention of the wheel. I agreed with them wholeheartedly.

We got into Chay’s car. He put the key into the ignition, and the motor roared to life. I looked around.

“Hey, you cleaned,” I said with a laugh. The fast food cups were gone from the front seat, and the burger wrappers had been picked up. The floor had been vacuumed and the dash wiped off. Then I looked in the backseat. The fast food cups were thrown haphazardly on the floor covered by the wadded-up burger wrappers. The floor hadn’t been vacuumed, and nothing had been wiped off.

“Yeah.” He winked. “It’s as clean as a hospital operating room.”

“I can see. Very neat and tidy.” I nodded, trying to hide my smile.

We picked a movie and got comfy in the theater’s reclining seats. While we waited for it to start, we guessed the trivia questions flashing on the screen by unscrambling the letters to find the answer. Every time I answered before Chay, he’d pelt me with popcorn.

“I can’t help it that you’re slow!” I laughed so hard I snorted.

“Okay, Ms. Piggy.”

I looked at him. “Did you just refer to me as a pig?” I raised my eyebrows at him.

“Um… it’s because you snorted… I was jok—”

I started laughing again. “You’re so gullible. But seriously, watch the pig jokes.” I laughed so much that my sides hurt. And Chay threw so much popcorn at me that it piled up in my lap. I stood up, and it rained popcorn all over the theater floor.

The lights dimmed and the previews started. That was when I saw little red arms in the empty seat in front of me. The seat rocked back and forth, reclining and then straightening, then reclining again, followed by a high-pitched squeal of delight. Damn hobgoblins.

“What are you doing here?” I pulled the seat down and looked in the eyes of the pudgy imp who was making my life a living hell.

“We’re on a date.”

“You weren’t invited,” I said through clenched teeth.

“We thought you’d want to know about your mother.”

The blood slowed in my veins and a ringing filled my ears. “What about her? You’d better not have touched my mother. She has nothing to do with this. I will see red splatters on the road with my tire tracks on them from where I’ve run you down if you’ve touched one hair on her head.”

“You’ll see.” It smiled at me.

My stomach tightened so hard that I jerked back and my elbow knocked my pop out of its holder.

“I told you. The vision is already starting. See you at home, Milayna.” He giggled and disappeared with a small puff of smoke.

My head started to pound. I shot out of the seat, the reclining back hitting me when it flew forward. “I need to go home.”

“Milayna, they’re just trying to scare you. Will it make you feel better if you call?”

“No, no, I’m having a vision. I need to get out of here.” My hands started shaking, and the cold fingers of fear ran down my spine. I tripped trying to get out of the dark theater, stumbling on the stairs leading up to the exit.

“Are you okay, miss?” an attendant asked.

“She’s just not feeling well.” Chay helped me up the stairs and into the hallway.

My head pounded. My vision faded in and out. The ugly burgundy-and-gray carpeting on the theater’s floor turned fuzzy, and a flash of my mother entered my vision. As soon as I saw her, the vision left and I saw the matted, dirty carpeting again.

“Take me home.” I leaned on Chay for support. My hand fisted in his shirt. “Please.”

‘You might as well switch now before it’s too late. Or too late for the ones you love. The ones you love. The ones you love.’ Shayla’s words rolled over and over in my head. I couldn’t focus on anything else. What if I was too late? What if Azazel hurt my mom? I sucked in a breath to keep from crying and held it until my lungs burned. How could I forgive myself if my mom was hurt because of me? I couldn’t. Azazel knew the guilt would eat me alive, little by little, like worms feasting on a corpse. ‘Too late for the ones you love.’

Chay sped all the way to my house, talking on his cell phone. First, he called my dad, made sure everything was all right, and told him about my vision. Then he called his father and finally, he called the group. They met us when we arrived.

It wasn’t long before the Evils and their demi-demon home fries showed up. I was still in the middle of a vision. My mother was all I saw. I couldn’t tell what was going to happen or where. I just knew she was in danger. I could feel it in my bones. They were too cold. I could feel them under my skin like an ice-sculpture skeleton. The rest of me was overly hot, and sweat covered my skin and pooled under my hair.

The hobgoblins ran around me, skipping and singing in their shrill voices, in a language I didn’t understand and really didn’t care to. The friendly goblin grabbed my leg and tried to crawl up it. I kicked him off. Scarface growled, and his eyes turned black.

I held my pounding head in my hands, made my way to the swing on the deck, and fell onto it. The red midget climbed up and sat next to me, his stumpy legs kicking back and forth, trying to make the swing move.

My mother. Standing at the window.

The goblin next to me was getting annoyed that the swing wasn’t moving. He stood up, his temper flaring. I reached out and pushed him off so hard he went flying across the deck. That didn’t help his mood.

She’s looking outside. There’s screaming. Hobgoblins are running through the house.

My vision came and went as the images played through my head.

“Fight it, Milayna. Your mother’s fine,” Chay’s dad said. “I’m going to stay with her.”

A demon. He reaches out and touches her shoulder.

“Milayna, you need to fight the vision.”

“I can’t, Mr. Roberts!” I fisted my fingers in my hair and pulled until it hurt. “The images keep coming. I can’t get them to stop.” My voice shook with barely controlled tears. Fear, panic, and rage swirled through me as the vision bombarded my senses. I didn’t know which emotion I felt the most, which would take over, but something bubbled under my skin, ready to burst free.

“It’s not real. The goblins are forcing a vision on you so you’re unable to protect yourself. You have to fight it.” My dad squatted in front of me. “You’re stronger than the vision. Fight it.”

A demon… No! It’s not real… it’s not real.

“A demon is in the house!” I cried. “Dad, a demon—”

“Milayna,” he said in calm, soothing tones, “the house is protected. Even if there is a demon inside, its power is drained.”

Yes! There’s a demon… no, it’s not real. It’s not real.

“Fight it, Milayna. The house is protected.” I could hear the fight. I knew Chay and the others were taking on the group of Evils by themselves.

Fight it! Okay, okay, I can do this. It isn’t real.

My head pounded, and my stomach clenched. I couldn’t erase the images that flashed in my head. “Where’s Mr. Roberts?”

“In the house.” My dad’s voice.

“Chay?” I whispered.

“He’s in the yard.” My dad cleared his throat.

My mother. A demon. Hobgoblins running through the house… on the counter tops… on the table…

“No! It’s not real!” I lifted my head and shook off the effects of the vision. My head pounded and the images still played out in my mind, but I had to help my group. I couldn’t sit there and do nothing. Chay’s dad was with my mom. She was fine.

Can I trust him?

I trusted Chay. I had to trust his dad.

I stood up and fought the vision.

It’s not real.

I ran down the steps of the deck and into the fight. Jen was trying to fight off two demi-demons. I picked one and slammed into him. The more the vision attacked me, the harder I fought.

He turned and threw a punch. I saw it coming at me in the freaky slo-mo thing I had. Blocking it, I kicked him in the side. He tried to jab me, and I stepped to the side. He swung and missed, stumbling forward from the momentum. I used his moment of weakness to kick him on the side of his head. He went down. No major damage done, but he wouldn’t get up anytime soon.

Demon. Looking at my mother.

My gaze swung to the house. My mother was standing at the window, watching the fight.

Demon. Looking out of the window. I can see the fight through its eyes.

I watched the window. There was nothing there. No demon. Just my mother.

It’s not real. It’s not real.

I turned and a fist hit me in the jaw. Stunned, it took me a second to recuperate, and I barely had time to block his next swing.

Jake.

I blocked the next two jabs he threw. Why didn’t his swings come in slow motion like everyone else’s? My freaky-magic-mojo didn’t work on him.

Demon. Reaching out to grab my mother. No! It’s not real.

Jake kicked me in the side and brought my thoughts back to the issue at hand. Getting my ass kicked, literally. The next kick I was ready for and grabbed his leg. I twisted it, and he fell with a grunt facedown on the ground. I stepped between his shoulder blades and pushed him down into the moist dirt.

“Don’t screw with me,” I bit out just before I kicked him in the side.

Demon. Demon. Demon.

I turned, my gaze searched frantically around the yard. Everyone was fighting. Chay was fighting a demi-demon. He had a cut above his eye; blood dripped down his face. Or maybe it was the same cut from the last fight. Who knew anymore?

Demon. Demon. Demon.

Something was wrong. My vision had changed. It wasn’t my mother I saw through the demon’s eyes. It was me.

It’s not real.

But I had a sick feeling deep in my gut. Something was wrong. I could smell sulfur. The glowing coming from the backyard told me the demons were coming.

Jake used my distraction to sweep me feet out from under me. I hit the ground hard. He fisted his hand, pulling his arm back. I readied myself for the block. Chay ran into him and hit him with a palm-heel strike to the side of the head.

I smiled. “I think I love you.”

“I know I love you.” He winked.

Our first declaration of love and it comes during a fight with demi-demons. Totally screwed up, but completely perfect.

Sulfur. The ground shuddered. I scooted away and stood. The dirt moved, shifting to form a pit. A yellow light shown from it, and heat radiated from it. I shuddered when I saw gray arms reach out. I reached down, taking out the dagger from the sheath on my ankle. My hands shook so badly that it took three tries for me to get the knife out of the sheath. My stomach felt full, like I’d swallowed a hand full of rocks. It weighed me down, and I couldn’t seem to move. I just stood in place and watched.

Demon. Demon. Demon.

Jake shoved me hard toward the pit. The smell of burning flesh and rotting meat filled the air. The demon reached for me. I held my breath, partly because I didn’t want to retch—although yakking on the demon did have its appeal—and partly because I was too scared to take a breath.

Here it goes. Please let us be right.

I used both hands and speared the demon’s gray arm with the dagger as it reached out of the pit. A scream pierced my ears, followed by a plume of black ash.

Wicked cool! Now we’re gettin’ somewhere.

A smile spread across my face. I wanted to jump up and down I was so excited, but I felt a hard push and stumbled toward the hole. I spread my legs wide, planting them on each side of the opening. Jake advanced on me. I pushed off on the balls of my feet, clearing the hole.

“Milayna, Milayna.” Jake walked around the hole and stood in front of me, keeping me from moving away from the pit. I readied myself for a blow. “You can end this. It doesn’t have to be this way. One word from you, and this all goes away.” His waved his hand around the yard, his voice silky smooth, like he hadn’t tried to beat me to a pulp minutes before. Or feed me to a demon. “Why are you fighting? Look around you. You’re all tired of the fight. There are more of us. We’ll win; it’s inevitable.”

“Listen, asswipe, did you not just see me kill that demon mo fo? I wouldn’t get too cocky about who the winner is going to be,” I yelled over the noise around us.

I wasn’t able to watch the pit behind me. Jake had meant to block my view and distract me. Unfortunately, I let him.

I smelled it, and I knew I was in trouble. The demon grabbed my hand from behind. I tried to wrench it free. Its skin was unnaturally hot against my flesh. My first instinct was to drop the dagger and fight it off me, but I forced myself to tighten my grip on the handle.

I took a swing at it. But trying to hit something standing behind you is difficult at best, and it easily deflected my blow, grabbing my other wrist and jerking my arm behind me. I screamed in pain. It forced the hand holding the dagger toward my throat. I tried to pull away, but the way the demon held me, I couldn’t get any leverage. I watched the blade inch closer and closer to my skin.