The Appeal of Evil (The Road to Salvation) (5 page)

Wes set her down but refused to take his hand of her mouth. Katie clawed and scratched at his hand and arm and attempted to kick him. Wes calmly grabbed her wrists with his free hand and pressed his body against hers so she couldn’t attack him anymore. Her face turned red and anger boiled through her veins. She screamed even though his hand was still over her mouth.

“Katie, please, calm down. I’m not going to hurt you.”

In response, she struggled against his body—a futile attempt since he was so much stronger than she was.

Wes opened his mouth to speak again, but the words never came out. Instead, a familiar, “Again?” echoed through the storage space, and Wes was pulled away from Katie. Josh had him by the back of the collar and threw him onto a pile of mats. Katie took deep breaths and moved away from the wall to get a better view.

“Why can’t you take a hint, Wes? The lady doesn’t want anything to do with you.”

Wes got to his feet and brought his fists up, ready to fight. The space was big enough that there was a few feet between the two boys, but if things escalated, Katie would be caught in the middle of the battle.

“Yeah, well, she wouldn’t want you if she knew what you really were.”

Josh threw his head back and laughed. “And what is that, Wes? A nice, clean cut boy who actually pays attention to her and wants to be around her?”

Wes’s eyes narrowed to slits. “You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

Josh clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth. “I’m afraid I don’t. I think you may be delusional.”

Katie had her back pressed against the wall and slowly slid her way to the opening so she could run into the gym and get help. Josh was doing a great job of staying between her and Wes. 

“Don’t listen to him, Katie. He’s only using you to get to me.”

Katie glanced over Josh’s shoulder. Wes had taken his eyes off his opponent for a second and stared at her, a pleading look in his eyes. Typical, she thought. Wes always thought things were about him. Someone needed to let him know the world didn’t revolve around him. She tore her gaze from his and continued toward the exit. Wes sensed her intention and moved so he blocked the opening. He was within an arm’s length of Josh.

Josh shook his head. “C’mon, Wes. That’s not very nice. If Katie wants to leave, you should allow her to leave.”

“No. I’m not letting you do this to her.”

Josh laughed. “Do what? Show her how a real boyfriend is supposed to treat her?”

Katie stopped for a second and glanced at Josh. Did he just say what she thought he said?  Boyfriend? Could it really be true? Was that how he viewed their thing? Katie wasn’t exactly sure what was going on, but she was going to rethink it the next time she got the chance. If the situation hadn’t been so dire, she would have let the inner smile play across her lips.

Wes’s face crunched in anger, his fists balled at his sides. Without another word, he lunged forward. Wes and Josh fell to the ground, right at Katie’s feet. Wes sat on Josh’s chest and slammed his fist into the side of Josh’s head. Katie screamed.

“Stop it! Wes! Leave him alone!”

She wanted to jump between the two to make him stop, but she was afraid of getting hit. The pupils in Wes’s eyes were dilated, completely blocking out the brown that was normally there. Rage shrouded his face. Fear squeezed Katie’s chest. She’d never seen him act like that before. She continued her trek toward the opening. If she couldn’t stop him, Ms. Bode would have to.

Wes brought his fist up by his shoulder to smash into Josh’s face again. As he brought it down, Josh grabbed it and stopped him. Katie stopped and watched the two of them. Josh stared at Wes, a smile curling his lips. Blood stained Josh’s teeth.

“That all you got?” With a growl and movement almost too fast for Katie to see, Josh pushed Wes. 

Wes sailed across the room, through the opening, and slammed into the wall several yards away. Katie’s jaw fell open. What just happened? No one was that strong. Josh got to his feet and wiped the blood from his nose with the back of his hand. He stared at Wes, who sat on the floor, his head hanging on his chest.

Josh reached his right hand behind him, toward Katie. “C’mon. He won’t bother you for a while.”

Katie hesitated taking the offered hand. Her chest heaved with ragged breaths, her head swam with confusion. How did Josh throw Wes like that?

Josh looked over his shoulder at her. “You’re not going to get another chance. Are you coming or what?”

Katie shook herself out of her daze and grabbed Josh’s hand. The pair stepped over the mats and through the opening. They stopped in front of Wes. He looked up at them, his eyes taking a moment to focus. Katie glanced into the gym. Why wasn’t anyone else coming to help them? Surely they heard the fight, her screaming.

The door to the girl’s locker room opened in slow motion. Two of her classmates walked out, but their movement wasn’t normal. They, too, were stuck in slow motion. 

“Hey!” she called to them and tried to run up to them, but Josh had a tight grip on her hand and wouldn’t let go.

“They can’t do anything to help you,” Josh said softly. “They don’t even know what’s happening.”

Katie’s breath caught in her throat. She turned back to Josh, eyes wide. “What is happening?” The words barely made it out of her mouth. Josh smiled.

“Let her go. I’m the one you want,” Wes croaked from the floor.

Josh knelt down in front of him, inadvertently pulling Katie closer since he wouldn’t let go of her hand. “You know I’m not going to do that. Besides, you never know how useful she’s actually going to be.”

Wes attempted to lunge for Josh, but his balance was off and he fell to one side. Josh laughed. Katie stared down the hall at the two girls as they headed to class. She reached for them, hoping they’d sense her desperation and turn around. Josh jerked on her hand, pulling her into his body. Her back was against his chest, and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. His breath tickled her ear lobe.

“Take one last look, Katie. It might be the last time you see him.”

Katie stared down at Wes. He struggled to get to his feet. Pain pinched his face, along with something else. For a moment, Katie thought it looked like sadness. He reached for her. Involuntarily, she reached for him too. Then, the world was shrouded in blackness.

KATIE’S KNEES GAVE OUT
and she collapsed to the floor. A cold, hard, concrete floor. Her head flew up and she took in her surroundings. She was in a huge warehouse, just like in her dream. Unlike her dream, however, she wasn’t shrouded in darkness. Daylight streamed in through dirty broken windows. An inch-thick layer of dirt and grime covered the ground. A pile of rubble dominated the far corner. Otherwise, the place was empty. She tried to get to her feet, but an unseen force held her down. Something hissed behind her. Katie turned, and instantly wished she hadn’t. A creature, the size and shape of a German shepherd, snarled at her. There was no hair on the thing’s body, only thin gray skin pulled tight over bones. Katie didn’t even think the animal had muscles. Drool dripped from its yellowed teeth, and its eyes glowed white.  It growled and took a step toward her. She tried to recoil, but couldn’t move. A scuffling sounded to her right. Three more creatures were in the room. She whimpered. Please don’t let them hurt me. She wasn’t exactly sure who the inner plea was directed to, she just hoped someone intervened.

“You don’t have to worry about them,” Josh said.

Katie looked at him. He towered over her.

“The Hell Hounds won’t hurt you.”

“What’s going on? Why am I here? What are you doing with me?”

Josh knelt next to her. “Well, you see, Wes was kind of right. I was using you to get to him. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a weakness in a Praesul? They shun all human contact and relationships. Mainly so we can’t use it against them.”

Along with fear, confusion crept into Katie’s body. What in the world was Josh talking about? He must have noticed the look on her face.

“Oh, so he didn’t tell you. I kind of figured. A Praesul is an ancient order of people who protect the world against demons. Hell spawn, if you will.” He smiled. “Creatures like me. They’ve been doing it for centuries. They are incredibly secretive, and damn strong. Really, our only hope of defeating them is to take away something they love.”

Katie’s head spun, her mind couldn’t focus. Was she dreaming? 

“I see you’re still having a hard time understanding this. I’m not sure how much clearer I can make it.” He took a deep breath and placed his index finger on his lips, staying like that for several seconds in deep thought. “See, I’m a demon. I’m from Hell. I came to Earth to wreak some havoc. You know, kill some people and harvest some souls. I thought the best place to do that would be high school. Young souls looking for a good time are very easy to harvest. Sins flow very freely among your age group. Are you with me so far?”

Katie didn’t want to admit it, but he was making sense. She nodded.

“Good. As I said, my original plan was to take a few souls and then leave at the end of the semester. Then, I discovered a Praesul. Wes. Do you have any idea how fortuitous that was?”

Katie shook her head.

“Of course not. You didn’t even know they existed until a few seconds ago. Well, for a demon, finding a Praesul is like finding sunken treasure. If we can kill one, it raises us in rank. We get more power, more responsibility. I couldn’t let the opportunity pass me by.”

“If.” Katie repeated. Her throat was dry and her voice croaked. “You said ‘if you can kill one.’”

Josh scowled and nodded his head. “Yes, like I said, Praesuls are incredibly difficult to kill. The training they receive to fight demons is intense, and they are blessed. Given special powers by…” He directed his gaze upward.

“Why me? Why are you using me? Wes doesn’t care about me.”

Josh stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers. Katie recoiled from his touch as far as she could. “Oh, Katie. Of course he does. But he can’t get too close to you. He can’t let his feelings show because then I can use them against him.”

Ice formed in Katie’s stomach. “What are you going to do to me?”

Josh shook his head and shrugged his shoulders at the same time. “Nothing. You are going to help me.”

“Help you?”

“Yeah. Why not? You said it yourself, you’re trying to get away from Wes, get him to leave your life completely. You want to be free from his heartache and broken promises. Deliver him to me and I can promise he’ll be gone forever.”

Katie stared at Josh. Horror and disbelief surged through her veins. “You mean dead.”

“It’s a small technicality. You won’t have to worry about him anymore, though, will you?”

Her throat tightened. “And what will happen to me?” The words came out as a whisper.

“Nothing. Well, I guess if you want, you could always stay with me. We could travel around harvesting souls together and looking for other Praesuls.”

“And if I don’t help you, what will happen to me?”

“I’ll have to hurt you a little, just to prove a point to Wes, but you won’t die. Well, hopefully, you won’t die. If Wes feels about you the way I think he does, he should stop me right before I kill you.”

Katie’s breath caught in her throat. What was she going to do? In either scenario, someone was going to get hurt. Did she want to alleviate her pain by helping Josh fight against Wes? Josh was right: she did want Wes out of her life, but not permanently. And she didn’t want to watch him die. Sure, he’d been a jerk and broken her heart for eleven years, but that didn’t mean he deserved to be killed. And why would Josh want her to travel around with him? He was a demon; what could he possibly like about her? What could she possibly see in a demon? Did she have any other choices? If she protected Wes, she’d probably be right back where they started. If he didn’t get close to anyone for fear of them getting hurt, he would totally abandon her after they got out of this alive. Or would he? What if he continued to play the same game, claiming he just wanted to make sure she was safe? Wes popping in and out of her life would drive her insane. It already did. If she helped Josh, she was helping evil, but he’d stayed true to his word and never let her down. Could she count the last day as him keeping his word? She thought so. Wes had never kept his word hours after giving it. What was she going to do?

“Time isn’t a luxury right now.” Josh interrupted her thoughts. “You need to decide.”

Katie opened her mouth to speak, but before she got the chance, blue light flashed through the warehouse, temporarily blinding her. The Hell Hounds growled, and she heard Josh get to his feet. She blinked to clear her vision.

“You’re not the only one who can use portals, Josh.” The familiar voice hissed through the room, shrouded in anger and hatred.

“Oh, I know, Wes. I wasn’t trying to get completely away from you. Just buying a little time.”

Katie’s vision cleared and she looked up. Josh stood on her left, Wes was on her right. They stared at each other, eyes narrowed. Wes’s fists were clenched at his side. Josh had his hands folded across his chest, acting very nonchalant. The Hounds circled Wes.

“Let her go. I’m here now. She’s no longer of any use to you.”

“Well, now, that’s not exactly true. See, I know how much she means to you. I can see into your soul, remember? She consumes three-fourths of it.”

Wes’s face turned red. Katie couldn’t tell if it was from anger or embarrassment. A small part of her softened. Did he really feel that way about her? Did he really keep her in his soul?  No! Stop that! You’re dealing with a demon. They lie. Josh just said that to get a rise out of Wes. Still, if Wes didn’t care in some way, he wouldn’t be there for her.

Josh smiled. “I also know what you’ve done to her. How you’ve turned her feelings of love into hate. I know how you crushed her dreams and broke her heart. I’ve seen the resentment in her soul.”

Wes’s fists relaxed. Sadness shrouded his face. His gaze drifted down to Katie for a brief second, then drifted back to Josh. “I’ve seen it too,” he spoke softly.