Possessed (4 page)

6
CLARISSE

Alana and Sebastian are still in the attic when we return. “How long were we gone?” I ask her.

“Two days and five hours,” she says. “Why?”

“Two days?” I say stunned. “Are you sure? The sun didn’t even set once; it felt like a day! But we have what we need,” I say and give her the ingredients we collected.

I tell her about the Wolves and she is shocked. I also tell her that I want to take the Covenant there to meet them. She agrees but not to taking the whole Covenant at once; we will do groups of people- this way someone is here to help protect if needed. And not until this whole situation is resolved.

We make the potion with plenty to spare. I give them the label DE-POSSESS and put the extra vials in the potion cupboard. As I put the last of the vials away I hear a thump and turn to see Alana and Sebastian collapsed on the floor. I rush over to them and check for any signs of injury. There isn’t any but they look pale and weak.

“SEAN!” I yell. He rushes to me and is immediately taken aback by the scene.

“That means that they- Alana, Sebastian, John, and Rebecca
-  are all weaker than we thought! And that the Demons are going to do that spell soon,” he says it in such a devastated tone that my heart sinks and my panic rises.

“We can’t let them!” I yell. “We have to stop them now, we have the potions,” I say, getting to my feet. I carry Alana over to the table and put a blanket under her head. “Don’t worry, I’ll fix this,” I say to her. “I promise.”

Now I turn on Sean with a rage so powerful that he backs up a step, unable to help himself. He has never seen me this pissed; he doesn't know how to react. Heck,
I
don’t even know how to react. All I know is that those Demons are going to pay.

“As I was saying, we have the potions, we can take them out. We need a spell and maybe the power from the Wolves mixed with the power of this Covenant will be enough to get them out. I know the book says that we don’t need both, but I’d rather have both, in case one fails." I hear howling from outside after I’m done speaking.

“Did you hear that?” Sean asks me.

I heard it as clear as day. “It’s Rebecca’s pack. They know she’s hurt and they want blood,” I state matter of factually. Over time you learn the Wolfs' howls. Their pain is in it when they are hurting and their anger and revenge is in it when they are trying to protect their Alpha.
Our leader. My best friend. And I will help them get blood. I will not rest until I get these Demons out of them and kill them.

He stares at me, wondering why I am so in tune to the Weres howls. Obviously it is because they are a part of us, now, but I leave it alone and continue to gather the things we need. “How do you know they are going to do the spell? How do you know if the demon found Annie yet? Alana and Sebastian never told us. We may still have time,” I say, sounding hopeful.

“You're right. We just may be one step ahead of them; or at least on the same page as them. We have a potion and they're missing the only object that is standing in their way to getting our Covenants' power,” he says, finally jumping in my boat. He has a hopeful but vengeful gleam in his eye and it kinda turns me on.

He must have noticed because he stalks closer to me with a hungry look now clouding his previous look. God I love this man. But I have more pressing issues to deal with.
“First our leaders. Then the Demons. Then we can finish this,” I say as he cups my face in his hand and brings my lips to his- so gentle and sweet. I crave more. But I force myself to focus. Reluctantly, he lets go of my face and helps me move Sebastian to the couch- near Destiny.

“Oh shit, Destiny! We need to take care of her! What are we going to do? We need our strongest, but I don’t trust anyone but the strongest to protect her,” I say, knowing I’m going to need Milissa, Yashira, and the Wolves. “It’s time for a meeting and we need to get everyone on the same page. This is too much for just us to deal with. Why the heck did they think we should keep this a secret?”

******

We manage to get everyone into the meeting room without letting “Rebecca and John” in on it. They all look shocked and worried. Most look upset that Alana kept this from them. Honestly, the Wolves are the only ones who seem to know everything already; I guess Rebecca really is communicating with them.

“Okay. Okay. Quiet down. We need to do this fast and we need to do this quietly. They don’t know we're in here and if they do they may be on their way here to wonder why we didn’t invite them,” I say, trying to sound like I'm the boss.  I think I succeed because everyone quiets down.

I have Rebecca’s Beta with me since he's leading the Wolves while Rebecca is incapable. He seems to know what he is doing so I allow him to speak first. After all, he has a direct line to Rebecca and I don’t.

“I have news from Rebecca. She is asking for help because she is getting weaker and she fears for her unborn child. She doesn’t know how much of an effect this will have on her and the baby. She also said that the Demon has not found the doll yet and that Alana’s invisibility spell worked wonders. She’s glad that she had Alana do it when she wasn’t around because that would have given away the location of the doll and we would all be dead right now,” Justin explains.

The stunned faces on everyone in the room clarify that they were all oblivious to Annie. However, Yashira and Milissa know exactly what is going on and I need to find out just how much, so we can all go into this knowing what’s ahead and what to look for.

“Yashira, Milissa, and anyone else who was brought in on this earlier, would you please stand up and share with us what you know, and what your job was to do? I know already that you two were supposed to come in after Sean and I if we didn’t make it back in time from the Island.” I give them a look that says I know more than they think I do and they stand up, as well as all the Wolves; I knew they would. “I already know that the Wolves have a direct connection to Rebecca. So you can all sit down and anything you know that we don’t talk about please fill us in,” I say. Then I let the girls talk.

They share what they know. I only know a little more and so we talk about that next. We go over all of our plans and resources and we even talk about calling in the Elements Covenant to help us. I can't believe what I am doing... I am actually creating a plan to take out Demons and the others are listening to me. I love it! Of course I am sad for my leaders, but it's still nice to get a taste of what being a leader is like.

Our plan is simple; go in, invite them outside for a walk, and then attack. I know it sounds easy, but they don’t know that we know everything... which, hopefully, makes it even easier.

7

Rebecca

I wake up to the Demon still lying down. I try to wake him up but I feel my body connecting with my soul. I feel my limbs and my fingers and toes. I don’t know if anyone can understand how good this feels. I have control over my body again! I love it. I still feel him in my body but it’s reversed: instead of him controlling me, I’m controlling him. I feel him start to stir and he freaks out when he realizes that I’m already standing.

“What? What is happening? How do you have control over your body? How did this happen?” he asks each question in a rush as if he’s slowly losing his mind. I know the answers lie with the spells that surround the bed, protecting me and the baby. I just don't want to give him the knowledge and instead just let him think he’s losing to a powerful Witch. I will not let him or anyone else
harm this family.

I feel my Wolf wanting to come to the surface. It makes me want to turn, to feel the power of her after so many days of not being able to let her out... I want her to come out to her fullest. So I let her. As soon as I change I heard the awe in my pack. The relief that comes with the awe is unexplainable and the fear I feel from the possessor Demon is awesome. He is scared of me. Good- he should be. 

“Justin, I have control again! I feel so powerful, so full of life; I don’t even know how to explain it. I... I feel super charged. How are Sebastian and Alana?”
I ask, knowing that Sebastian is awake again and Alana still isn’t moving and barely breathing. My Wolf is strong and I can’t believe I shoved her down and kept her from coming out for so long. Even though the past few days haven’t been my fault I know I should have listened to her and let her out more.

I open the bond all the way with my whole pack. I let them feel my energy and let them know I am better now. Justin finally answers me. He sounds startled and his feelings are restricted and jumbled, confused as to how I am alive and well when I was just on my death bed.
“Alpha,”
he says
“how is this possible? I am grateful that you are well, but what? How? I don’t understand,”
he finally lets out.

I rip through the door and follow the scent of my pack. They're all in the meeting room- where they should be considering that I almost died and Alana and John are not doing well.

When I burst through the doors I am greeted with a dagger. I easily dodge it but another is thrown at me; I dodged that one, too. I change back so I can talk more clearly, not caring if everyone sees me nude- I am being attacked by my own people!

“It’s me!” I scream as I deflect the next blade and send it into the wall. Another one is thrown at me and finally I hear Justin jump in and yell that I’m back. The Wolves are growling and showing their teeth at the Witches and Warlocks in the room. The Wolves know it is me but the others have no way of knowing if I am me or if I am still possessed.

They all stare at me, analyzing the situation until they arrive at the truth- and then their jaws drop. They are all looking to the door. I turn my head to see Sebastian standing there, weapons at the ready to defend his mate.  I run to him and he rips his shirt off for me to put on over my naked body. I missed his touch... his kisses... and most of all- him. The electricity that flows through my body whenever we touch makes me feel even better than I had before. My life is complete again. Well, almost.

“I need this Demon out of my head, now! And then we need to work on John so I can heal him and Alana. I need her back. Destiny needs her parents so stop staring at me like I’m going to kill you all- get to work on that potion that Alana and Sebastian had you start,” I say to them. They all snap out of it and tell me their plan.

I alter it slightly but praise Clarisse for what she came up with because John and this dimwit in my head would have fallen for it given that they don't know that I have control over my body now.

The next step is to get the Demon out and kill him. I tell them how I think I got control of my body and they are amazed that those symbols and spells actually worked. I am, too. But now we have to get down to business.

Sebastian throws the potion at me to get the Demon out and Clarisse is there with her weird freeze power. The Demon is instantly frozen and then I throw the killer potion at him.  Suddenly, a huge fire explodes where the Demon was, and, just as suddenly, it dies out. In the Demon's place is a burn mark on the floor. I am relieved to feel my body and head as mine alone again. I feel ecstatic.

“So, next we take care of John and Alana, and after that I want to finish off the bowling alley. Do we have enough of this potion to take out all those Demons down there? I’m pessimistic about saving Dave but I still want them all taken care of,” I say to them as they stare at me in disbelief. Is it because I want to go and kill Demons so soon after being de-possessed?  “What?” I ask after a few moments of awkward gawking.

“It’s just that you seem too eager to get to them... You literally
just
got de-possessed and you’re going to run off and try and save the world without even so much as a day of rest?!” Yashira says to me.

I think about what she said very carefully. I don't need rest- I feel rejuvenated. But how can I tell them that without making it look as if I’m still possessed or something? I let all the Wolves read my thoughts even though Sebastian is the only one that will know for sure. I open it wide enough for them to see my memories of being trapped in the dark in the back of my own mind; of how scared I was when the Demon was talking about killing everyone with our powers after getting them out of Annie. I let them see and feel the shock of the first electricity that ran through me while I lay on the bed for those few seconds while Sebastian came to say good night.

I let them see everything including what happened when I woke up this morning- how I felt, how I knew
he
was the one trapped in there, and how I was able to control every part of my body again. I let them feel how rejuvenated I felt and their faces show acceptance of my desire to fight. Maybe one of them will be able to explain to the Witches and Warlocks just how much I am ready and willing to be doing this.

“We’re going to use this plan on the bowling alley: I’m going to go in and pretend I’m the Demon and I’m taking John with me. I can lie to them, tell them we have Annie, and when we say the spell, we will finally have all the power that we are supposed to have. Although I don’t know how much more we need, we are some bad-ass powerful Witches and Warlocks already,” I say as I give them a smile and look around the room to the people that I have grown to love as my family. They really are my family even though it took me years to find them; they have proven over and over again that we are one.

“Okay, but can we get him healed and de-possessed first? After that we can all work out this plan of yours. I hope that whatever power you unleash goes straight to us and not them,” Milissa says. She sounds sure of the plan (except for that last part- and if I'm being honest with myself I'm a little worried about that part, too).

“Okay,” I say, “sounds good enough- plus I need to make sure he’s strong enough to handle that mission first.” And with that we all head up to see John with all the potions we need (and the army in case the Demon gets out of hand).

When we get to his room he isn’t there. We check the whole house and he is nowhere to be found. Alana is still in the potions room with Destiny and Maia. Maia was appointed to look after them both and she says she hasn’t seen John at all.

“We have, what, two days left before they both die?! We need to find him! Maybe he went back to the bowling alley. The Demon probably needed to check in or something. But I’m going to try and heal Alana, and just maybe it will help John a little, too,” I say, and walk over to her very still and very pale body on the couch.

I place my hand over her heart and concentrate on healing her. My hand lights up and she slowly gets more color in her face. I leave my hand there as long as I can and when I finally pull away I hear her say “Becca” so faintly that if I wasn’t sitting right next to her I don’t think I would have heard it.  

“It’s me,” I say back to her. “I’m here for you, honey.” Tears are forming in my eyes.

Her eyes open when she realizes that I really am here and that she isn’t dreaming. “Where? How? What happened? Where is John?” she says, getting her thoughts together.

I look at her and then up at the rest of the group. They nod their heads, signaling me to tell her what happened. I don't like this job one bit but someone has to do it. “He’s, um… he’s- missing. We can’t find him anywhere. We went to look for him after they got the Demon out of me and he is nowhere in this compound.” I stop when I get a look at her face. She is shocked and judging from the way she is looking at everyone- she's pissed, too.

“You went to take the Demon out of Rebecca without John there? You could have done them both at the same time but you chose to only handle Rebecca first?!” She is yelling at everyone now and her eyes are getting bright yellow; her Wolf is on the surface and there is no stopping her.

I slowly but loudly talk over her and force her to listen to me with my Alpha power. I never thought I would need to do this to her but she is going to hurt someone. I tell her what happened and then even show her for good measure. I even show her when the others attacked me because they thought I was there to kill them. Her anger subsides and she starts to cry. I hold her in my arms and tell her I am going to fix this. I need to fix this. I am not about to let him die. I can't lose them both.

I tell her my original plan and she likes it. She comes up with a different version of it- it may end up getting us killed, but I like it, too.