The Elementalist (12 page)

36

~Battle to the Death~

Alisa

I needed out of this body, that much was true, but I didn’t fall for the seedy influence of the gray man who had come back to torment me. He stood only a few feet away, and I gazed into his dark, shifting eyes, noticing his jagged crack of a mouth as he tried to smile. How miserable he was. I felt it from where I sat; it was wafting off him like poison.

“You can’t hurt me,” I said finally. “Leave.”

He cocked his head, his eye-slits narrowing, but without a word, he obeyed, disappearing like a ghostly apparition. I watched the empty space where he’d stood, half expecting him to return. When he didn’t, I took a moment to ponder my situation.

My short stint in high school was over. I’d ruined Claire’s grades by skipping her classes, I’d ruined my relationship with Brecken, and I no longer felt happy and comfortable at Claire’s house.

My next job as a guardian should be to find Raphael. My gut told me he was stuck somewhere too. Something there was very wrong. I felt it at a gut level. Demons couldn’t get into Elysium, but they could get into Idir Shoal if they wanted to bad enough.

If I wanted to look for Raphael, I couldn’t do it while stuck in Claire’s body. I had to be free to act as a guardian again, and there was only one way to do that
without
killing myself. Hopping back into Claire’s car—the noisiest Bug ever—I headed back home. To Claire’s house, anyway. I snuck inside and tiptoed down to the dank, dark, hated basement with is cold cement walls and uninviting ambiance. I hated this room with a passion, but I had to hide from Angela. If she saw me messing around with Claire’s voodoo stuff… well, I didn’t want to go there.

In the back corner of the basement, I found Claire’s hiding spot. I moved the slat of wood that hid her crate, hefting it to the center of the room. For a moment, I gazed at the book of spells that lay on top. I didn’t touch it. Not that I was afraid, but it was evil and it felt too much like the ancient tome that Lamia—that vile demon—had used when she tried to kill Brecken a year ago.

I didn’t need a book anyway. Especially this one. I didn’t need a dark angel to guide me or tell me what to do. I only needed to follow my heart, and that was one thing I knew how to do. Breathing deeply to calm myself, I set up the room, lighting candles to push back the dark, and then I knelt on the blankets, my hands clasped together.

“Raphael, if you’re out there, I’m coming,” I whispered. “And if you’re able, I could use a little help here.” I waited for an answer, but I didn’t hear or feeling anything of consequence. I wouldn’t give up though.

A moment later, I felt someone standing behind me. My first reaction was relief. Raphael had come to save me.
Hallelujah
! But then, instead of the comforting atmosphere of purity and peace, a distressing darkness descended around me, enveloping me in its icy-cold, slithery arms. My body grew stiff with cold, and I found it difficult to move.

I turned.

Adam.    

He smiled.

“Why are you here?” Slowly, I rocked back from my knees so I was on the balls of my feet.

“I’m here to help, of course.” He stood before me, his hands clasped behind his back. He wore a dark suit with tiny pinstripes that absorbed any light that fell upon him. His face was deathly pale, and the rictus grin he held grew predatory. “You are about to perform a ceremony of sorts, I presume?”

Avoiding his question, I said, “Claire isn’t here.” I forced myself
not
to glance at the stairs I desperately wanted to run up. The room grew even colder, and chills prickled across my shoulders.

“Yes, she is, but you have pushed her down, kept her from control, and have dug yourself into a hole, like I knew you would. You can’t win, Alisa. You’re weak. Pathetic. Stupid. I don’t know why you thought you could go up against us.”

His words seared through me, because the truth was, there were times I felt incapable, weak, and stupid… just like he said. I withered a little beneath his glare. He felt so strong. Stronger than I felt now anyway. My fear of the man grew paralyzing, even though this shouldn’t be my reaction.

“I didn’t intend to,” I said, trying to think of a way to end the conversation. “I haven’t heard from Claire in a long time. She’s not inside me anymore… I don’t think.”

He heaved an impatient, condescending sigh. “You’re inside
Claire.
Not the other way around. Big difference.” His eyes narrowed, and his thin lips pulled back exposing gray, overly long teeth. How had he changed so much? How could he look so different? Why hadn’t I noticed his true form before now? His expression invited terror, and that was exactly what I felt. Surely, he wouldn’t do anything drastic or violent. He wouldn’t hurt Claire.

He walked toward me slowly, stalking me, and I jumped back, my hands out before me. “Stay back!”

He laughed, the sound echoing off the dense cement walls. Claire’s mom had to hear him.

“No one can hear us,” Adam said, as though reading my mind.

“Claire!” I yelled inside my mind. “If you’re in there, if you can hear me, please help. Adam isn’t who he says he is. He’s a demon! Claire?”

“By the way,” he said. “My name is not Adam.”

“Who cares?” I answered, knowing it would irk him. I refused to give in or show him any fear, even though it was roiling inside me like a turbulent ocean.

His left eyebrow rose. “You should. You can’t win against me. No one ever has. I’m not some peon, you know. I am the Master’s right hand.” His voice turned into a growl, low and sinister.

“Doing grunt work then?” I said. “Nice. You’re still a slave.”

Any amusement in his expression vanished, and his arm flashed out as he gripped me around the neck, shoving me against the wall. His body leaned heavily against mine, and he loomed larger than before. I was startled speechless… because… he had a
body
. Of flesh and bone! Something I hadn’t anticipated since he’d never touched me before. I’d assumed he was a soul like me.

“Not exactly.” His fingers squeezed, choking me, my oxygen intake reduced to almost nothing. My feet lifted off the floor as he raised me another inch. “You wouldn’t understand. The workings of the mind are very complex. Much too intricate for a foolish imbecile like you.”

“You’re hurting me,” I gasped, my fingers prying against his, but his vice-like grip didn’t loosen.

“I know.”

“Then stop it,” I managed to spit out, beginning to feel dizzy, dots dancing before my eyes.

He didn’t let go, just stared into my eyes with fury.

“You’ll get in trouble.” My arms and fingers began to tingle with numbness, but my comment had no affect other than to make him squeeze harder. I couldn’t draw in any air at all. I struggled desperately in his grasp, kicking his legs and scratching at his face, which had somehow shifted into a visage of horror. His eyes burned like fire, and I could see the muscle and sinew of his face and neck become transparent. His teeth grew sharp and jagged, his hands expending into claws. He truly was a demon from the pits of darkness.

I could barely think straight, so I did what any self-respecting, terrified girl would do when attacked by a monster. I kicked him as hard as I could where it counted, and just like any other monster, he collapsed, tightening into a ball, his fingers releasing my neck.

We both fell to the cement floor, gasping for air. Stars flashed in my vision. Crawling toward the stairs and still overwhelmingly dizzy, I tried to move away from Adam, but his hand reached out and grabbed my ankle. I kicked him hard with my other foot, but he wouldn’t let go. He lay there for a moment, growling, and then flopped to his stomach, pinning me with a glare. The hate in his eyes produced a terrified scream from me, and I flailed over the floor in my effort to escape him, but he grabbed my other leg and held me down, climbing up my prone body like a snake.

His nails dug into my thighs, like a maniacal, wild animal, and his growling didn’t cease until he had me pinned beneath him. His noxious breath—like rotting meat—wafted over my face.

“You can’t kill me,” I cried. “It’s against the rules.” My fingers worked against his as I tried to pry his hands away, but his fists were like iron around my throat. His body pinned me to the ground, and in that moment, I was struck with the irony of my situation. All this time, I had wanted out of Claire’s body, and now that the prospect was at hand, I didn’t.

No. That wasn’t right. I just didn’t want to be violently murdered. I didn’t want my last moments on Earth to be spent gazing into Adam’s eyes. I didn’t want him to steal my life. It wasn’t his to take.

As I suffocated, my mind began to shut down. I grew steadily weaker, my muscles feeling like rubber. The floor felt cold and frigid against my back. I was devastated to realize it hurt so much… to die like this… And everything grew darker as Adam’s fingers squeezed harder…

My neck would break at any moment.

“You kill me, you kill Claire,” I gasped one last time, as strength left my arms and they fell limp at my sides.

“You’re
already
dead,” he hissed.

In the twinkling of an instant, I stood behind him, staring at Claire’s limp body lying in his grasp. It took him only an instant to realize I wasn’t resisting or begging for my life any longer. He glanced to the left, and then to the right, and saw me standing there, watching him.

With a look of dismay, he glanced back down to Claire’s lifeless form, her mouth slack, her eyes staring.

“No!” Immediately, he leaned over her to feel for breath or a heartbeat. Frantically he began pumping her chest. “Help me!” he shrieked.

I just stood there. He was maniacal, trying to revive Claire.

“This is what you chose,” I said. “And choices have a way of coming back to bite you.”

His eyes narrowed, and the hate in his expression returned. “I’ll get you. I promise you that.”

“Not if Bas Iblis gets you first.” I would’ve loved to say it with a smirk, but I couldn’t. I remembered the feeling of power Bas Iblis displayed, and he terrified me. I couldn’t imagine what he’d do to Adam. His trusted lackey had killed a vital player in his plan, letting me escape in the process. Adam was dead meat. Truly and completely.

His lips pulled back into a vicious smirk, but I could see the panic in his eyes. He wrenched his hands away from Claire’s body and half stood, half crouched before me as though he was some powerful vengeance-seeker, ready to wrestle me.

I laughed at his pathetic display of strength. But I was no longer afraid. I could see, feel, and almost taste his fear. Something inside me compelled me to reach out and grasp this evil, vile demon spit up from hell, so I focused on the energy I felt just beneath the surface. The power that made my soul energized and tingly, and then I slowly placed my hand on Adam’s shoulder. He never even tried to escape, just cowered in submission.

A flash of energy passed from my hand into his body, singeing and smoking his skin where we connected, and even though the pain was almost more than I could bear, I held onto him as he cringed, paralyzed and grounded, as though by a bolt of lightning.

When the surge slackened, I let go and fell to one knee, remembering too late that energy like this came at a price. Adam didn’t only collapse—he also lost consciousness. I didn’t waste time. I rushed over to Claire, who was surely dead, and put my fingers to her neck. I couldn’t feel a pulse. In fact, I couldn’t feel anything like I used to. I was back to being a spirit with only a dim sense of the physical world, but when I touched her, I realized on a spiritual level that she was still alive, if barely.

I rushed up the stairs and fervently begged Angela to go down and check on Claire. I stood beside her, invisible, screaming my instructions like a madwoman. For a moment, she froze as though listening—which surprised me—and then she obeyed. Not many people were this easy to influence. I was in a panic though, and wondered what she’d think when she saw a strange man lying on the floor beside her unconscious daughter.

Angela had no idea Claire had come home, and the fright on her face when she saw Claire lying there almost consumed her, but she took care of the situation like a pro, demonstrating the love she felt for her daughter as she took her in her arms, held her close, kissed her face, and called the paramedics.

The creepy thing was…

Adam was nowhere to be seen.

37

~Reunited~

Alisa

Before I went in search of Raphael, I had to at least say goodbye to Brecken. I couldn’t leave for good and not do that. He’d be at school right now, and that was not the ideal place to have a last goodbye, but I didn’t really have a choice.

When I closed my eyes and concentrated on his location, it wasn’t at Ocean Side High that I appeared, but at the wooded park in the hills where Brecken and I used to take long walks and talk. So… he was skipping school.

Crimson autumn leaves lay scattered on the path and hung precariously from the branches of the trees. I bet it smelled spectacular, but it was just out of reach for me. Brecken sat at a picnic table, wearing his black combat boots and a black leather jacket, with his hair longish and curling around his ears. He smiled, and my heart melted, but his smile wasn’t for me. It was for a cute little brunette who sat across from him, wearing short-shorts.

He reached out and stroked her hand with his finger. I just stood there and watched, dumbfounded, the sting of jealousy stabbing through me. He didn’t know I was there and he didn’t remember me, so this shouldn’t have hurt, but the way he gazed at her…

Wasn’t it only yesterday we were together at this park? Who was this girl? Why were they skipping school together? My imagination ran wild and I marched up to him, appearing within two feet of his smiling face.

His back stiffened and he jerked, obviously sensing me.

“Uh, give me a sec,” he said to the girl. He hurried toward the restrooms up the path, and I followed, knowing we’d be out of sight in a few seconds. As soon as we crested the hill, he stopped, turning to face where he thought I stood. He was spot on, staring at me right in the eyes. Super weird.

“Who are you and why are you here?” he demanded.

I took a step back, surprised at his intensity. “You can see me?”

“Of course.” His expression screamed loud and clear that I was an idiot.

“When did you start seeing in broad daylight?”

His frown deepened. “Do I know you?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t think so.”

“I’m Alisa. I was your guardian for a while, not too long ago. I told you about it in the park the other night. Remember?”

“Huh?”

Oh. Right. That was when I was Claire. “I
need
you to remember me. It’s important. Something really bad is going down, and I need to leave… to help, and um… I wanted to say goodbye first.”

He watched me without moving, gazing deeply into my eyes, his mind whirring. I could almost hear the wheels grinding. I raised my eyebrows, waiting. What I really wanted was to throw my arms around him and kiss him deeply, telling him that I loved him and that I missed him like crazy.

“Lilim hasn’t said anything about you,” he said.

It felt like a test… like I should know her. “Lilim?”

He waited, his head cocked, his eyebrows arched. “So, you know her? She’s my guardian.”

Now it was my turn to frown. I would know if he had a new guardian… I thought. They would tell me. Surely. Just as I was about to comment on this, a woman appeared beside him, a wide smile on her beautifully angelic face. Except she was not angelic. She didn’t glow. She didn’t shine. She didn’t radiate. I knew immediately she wasn’t from Elysium.

She was no guardian.

“Lilim, I assume.” I folded my arms across my chest, staring her down. I could beat this skank in a catfight.

She nodded, but said nothing, standing with her hands clasped before her, all calm and zen-like.

“And you are…?” she asked.

“None of your business.”

Brecken stepped forward. “Hey! Don’t talk to her like that.”

Pulling back in surprise, I quickly accumulated a bit of attitude. I wanted to get in his face and say,
Oh no you di’int,
but instead, I said, “Don’t tell me you can’t see the difference between us? You can see her aura, right? It’s diseased. Dark. Dirty. It should be obvious to you.”

“Excuse me?” she said.

“It doesn’t matter,” he answered, but I could tell I’d stumped him.

Lilim stepped between us. “That’s enough. None of that aura stuff is important. What
is
important is that dark souls like you are kept far away from my charge.”

“Brecken.” I tried to look around Lilim, who stood in the way. “You can tell who the dark soul is. There’s no hiding that. God sent me to protect you. This woman is one of the bad guys, and we’ve both seen the bad guys. You
have
to remember!” I reached out to touch his arm, but Lilim slapped my hand away.

“Hey!”

“Don’t touch my charge!” she growled.

“Brecken!” Wasn’t he going to do anything? Command her to leave at the very least? I should have done that myself, but I was still in shock about the whole thing.

“Uh, maybe you should go,” he said.

I waited for Lilim to leave and then realized Brecken was speaking to me.

“You’re kidding.”

“I don’t know you. Sorry.” He glanced down at his feet, which shuffled in the gravel.

“Seriously?” I couldn’t believe this was happening, that he was telling me to leave. “You know what? No. I’m not leaving.” I crossed my arms and cocked my hip, daring them to make me. Childish I know, but I still had room to grow.

Lilim smiled and tilted her head, her long, dark hair spilling over her shoulders. She really was beautiful, except for that ‘
I want to kill you’
expression she was wearing.

“You really should go,” she said, triumphantly. She was the winner, and she knew it. “Now is not the time to cause trouble.”

I was out of ideas and humiliated. But before I left, I wanted to touch Brecken for one second, just to see if I could sense what was happening inside him, to make sure he was okay. Maybe my touch would tell him how deeply I loved him too.

“Fine,” I said. “I’m leaving, but I’ll be back!” And with that, I disappeared, but I reappeared just as quickly behind Brecken, placing my hand on his shoulder. And just like that, a brilliant flash of light erupted around us, a supernova blast of energy. His head snapped back and his knees buckled. He dropped to the ground like a felled tree, his eyes rolling up in his head.

I stood there, stunned and weak, unsure of what had just happened. I certainly hadn’t planned for fireworks, but I was drained now, just like before, with Adam. There had to be a way to build up stamina doing this kind of thing, even if it was unintentional. I couldn’t get wiped out every time I used my mojo.

Lilim screamed and lashed out at me, grabbing me by the hair. She was a spirit also, but she had amazing strength. Grabbing her arm, I tried to twist away, but I was not very good at physical combat. My brothers had tried to teach me how to defend myself, and some of those memories came back to me, but I was way out of my element. I jabbed with my elbow, knocking her in the face. She grunted, but she didn’t let go of me.

Fighting like this hurt, not in the same way as with a physical body, but it was painful nonetheless. I stomped on her foot, but she held on. We continued to scratch and screech, staring down one another like ethereal warrior princesses.

“Leave,” I said in the most commanding voice I could muster in my exhaustion. “Now.”

A terrified expression grew on her face and her whole being started to dim, becoming more and more transparent, as though it
had
to obey me, regardless of what she wanted.

Lilim growled, her teeth bared, her claws extended. “You’ve just made the wrong enemy. And don’t think I won’t be back for you.” She disappeared as though sucked from my sight, and I was left with the cold chill of her warning.

I turned to Brecken, who lay on the ground. “Are you all right?” I yearned to brush his bangs from his face, but my fingers were useless in the human world. I loved his hair like this though. All reckless and sexy. He groaned and sat up, looking at me with a frown.

“Hey, I know you.”

“Yes, you do.” His words warmed me, and I couldn’t help but smile back at him with all the love in my heart.

“You’re…”

“Alisa,” I prompted.

He squinted and frowned slightly. “Not Jill.”

“Jill?” I repeated a little too forcefully. Why would he think I was Jill?
Ugh
. I couldn’t stand that girl. She’d almost ruined his life. Literally. “No. Not Jill.”

“But… I love you, right?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

“And you’re my… uh…”

“Girlfriend?”

“I was going to say guardian, but no… wait, yes… maybe?” He gazed into my eyes for confirmation, unsure.

“Well, I used to be your guardian, but I’m not anymore. Now I’m the love of your life.”

He smiled drunkenly and tried to lift his hand to my face, but his arm fell right through me. “You are my girlfriend. I remember now.”

“Yes.”

“But you’re a ghost.”

“Yes.”

“Dude. That is so awesome.”