Halo h-1 Page 34

  “But…,” I began.

  “Just go,” he said. “Ivy and I need to talk.”

  ___

  After the prom, Jake Thorn’s popularity seemed to grow with alarming speed, and his followers doubled in number. When I went back to school, I noticed they all walked around with vacant looks, like drug addicts, their pupils strangely dilated, their hands thrust deep in their pockets. Their faces only came alive when they saw Jake, taking on a disturbing, adoring expression that suggested they would drown themselves in the ocean if he instructed them to do so.

  Acts of random vandalism also seemed to be suddenly on the increase. The doors of Saint Mark’s church were desecrated by obscenities, and the windows of the municipal offices were shattered by vandals, using homemade explosives. Fairhaven reported a virulent outbreak of food poisoning, and many of its residents had to be transferred to the hospital.

  And it seemed that wherever disaster struck, Jake Thorn was there. He never allowed himself to be implicated in any way; he was always an observer, hovering at the sidelines. To me, it seemed he was bent on causing pain and suffering, and I couldn’t help thinking that his motivation was revenge. Was he showing me the consequences of my rejection?

  On Thursday afternoon I planned to leave school early and pick Phantom up from the dog groomer. Gabriel hadn’t come to school that day because he called in sick; in truth, he and Ivy were replenishing their strength after a week spent cleaning up Jake’s messes. They weren’t used to having so much to do, and despite their strength, the constant effort had left them drained.

  I had just grabbed my school bag and was heading out the front to meet Xavier at his car when I noticed a crowd of people a little way down the hall just outside the girls’ bathroom. I felt something at the back of my mind, like a warning telling me to stay away, but instinct and curiosity drew me closer. The group of students were clutching one another and talking in hushed voices. I saw that some of them were crying. One girl was sobbing into the shirt of a senior hockey player who was still in uniform. He’d obviously been called away from practice in a hurry, and he was staring at the bathroom door with a mixture of distress and disbelief on his face.

  I moved through the crowd as if in slow motion. I had a strange feeling of being disconnected from my body — as though I was watching the scene on a television set, rather than being physically present. Interspersed with the faces of ordinary students, I noticed members of Jake Thorn’s crowd; they were easy to pick out these days by their trademark hollow faces and black clothing. Some of them stared at me as I passed, and I realized that they all had the same eyes: deep, wide, and black as pitch.

  As I drew closer to the bathroom, I saw Dr. Chester standing by the door, along with two police officers. I saw one of the officers was talking to Jake Thorn. Jake’s face was molded into a mask of earnestness and concern, but his cat’s eyes glinted dangerously and his lip curled back ever so slightly as though he wished he could sink his teeth into the man’s throat. I got the feeling it was only me who could see the menace behind his expression and that to everybody else he looked every bit an innocent teenager. I moved closer to hear what they were talking about.

  “I can’t think how it could have happened in a school like this,” I heard Jake say. “It’s come as a shock to us all.”

  Then he shifted his position, and I couldn’t catch much else, just words here and there: “tragedy,” “no one around,” and “inform the family.” Eventually the police officer nodded and Jake turned away. I noticed that his followers were looking at one another, laughter in their eyes, traces of smiles on their lips. They looked greedy, almost hungry, and they all seemed to be secretly satisfied by whatever was going on.

  Jake signaled and they began to disperse, moving subtly away from the crowd. I wanted to shout out for someone to stop them, to tell everyone just how dangerous they were, but I couldn’t find my voice.

  I realized suddenly that I was edging closer to the open door of the bathroom, as if I’d been pulled there by some unseen force. Two paramedics were lifting a stretcher covered in a blue cloth. I saw that a red stain was starting to seep through, growing steadily larger and creeping across the fabric like a living thing. And hanging out from beneath the cloth was a long, pale hand. The fingertips were already bluish.

  A rush of pain and fear took my breath away. But they weren’t my own feelings — they belonged to someone else, to the girl on the stretcher. I felt her hands gripping the handle of a knife. I felt the fear in her mind mingled with helplessness as some mysterious compulsion guided the blade to her throat. She struggled against it, but it was as though she had no control over her own body. I felt the shock of pain as the cold metal sliced across her skin and I heard the cruel laughter echoing through her brain. The last thing I saw was her face — it flashed across my field of vision like a lightning bolt. I knew that face. How many lunchtimes had I sat and listened to her endless gossip? How many times had I laughed at her antics, or taken her advice? Taylah’s face was burned into my brain. I felt her body lurch forward, felt her struggle for air as blood bubbled from the slit in her throat and poured down her neck. I saw the terror and panic in her eyes right before they turned glassy and she slumped down dead. I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound came out.

  Just as my own body began to shake violently, someone stepped in front of me and took hold of my shoulders. I gasped and tried to break away, but his grip was firm. I looked up, expecting to see a pair of searing eyes and sunken cheeks, but instead it was Xavier, who wrapped his arms around me and pulled me away from the crowd and out into the open air.

  “No,” I said, more to myself than to him. “Please, no…”

  He kept his arm around my waist and half carried me over to his car because I seemed to have forgotten how to use my legs.

  “It’s okay,” he said, pressing a hand against my face and looking me in the eye. “It’s going to be okay.”

  “This can’t be happening… that was… that girl was…” My eyes were burning with tears.

  “Get in the car, Beth,” he said, yanking open the door and helping me inside.

  “Jake’s responsible for that!” I cried as he started the ignition. He seemed in a hurry to get home to Ivy and Gabriel. Come to think of it, so was I. They would know what to do.

  “The police are treating it as a suicide,” Xavier explained flatly. “It’s tragic but it’s got nothing to do with Jake. In fact, he’s the one who noticed her missing and alerted the authorities.”

  “No.” I shook my head vehemently. “Taylah would never do something like that. Jake had a hand in this.”

  Xavier was unconvinced. “Jake may be many things, but he’s not a murderer.”

  “You don’t understand.” I wiped my tears away. “I saw it all — it was like I was there when it happened.”

  “What?” Xavier turned to look at me. “How?”

  “When I saw her body, it was like I suddenly became the victim,” I explained. “She slit her own throat, but she didn’t want to do it — somebody made her. He was controlling her, and then he was laughing while she died. It was Jake, I know it.”

  Xavier squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. “Are you sure about this?”

  “Xav, I could sense him. He did this.”

  We both fell silent until I spoke again. “What happened after she died? I didn’t see that far.”

  Xavier’s expression was pained, but his voice came out sounding impassive. “She was found dead on the bathroom floor. That’s all I know. One of the juniors came in and saw her lying in a pool of blood. There was nothing else there but a kitchen knife.” He was gripping the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles had turned white.

  “Why do you think Jake chose her?”

  “I guess she was just unlucky.” Xavier said. “In the wrong place at the wrong time. I know she was your friend, Beth — I’m sorry this had to happen.”

  “Is this our fault?” I asked in a small
voice. “Did he do this to get back at us?”

  “He did this because he’s sick,” Xavier said. He was staring unblinking at the road ahead, as if he was trying to hold back everything he felt inside. “I just wish you hadn’t been there to see it.” Xavier sounded angry, but I knew it wasn’t directed at me.

  “I’ve seen worse.”

  “Yeah?”

  “We see a lot of bad things where I come from,” I said. I didn’t tell him how different it was experiencing the loss firsthand on earth, when the victim was your friend and the pain was amplified tenfold. “Did you know her too?” I asked quietly.

  “I’ve been at school with those kids since first grade. I know them all.”

  “I’m sorry.” I put my hand on his shoulder, which was tense and rigid.

  “So am I,” Xavier said.

  Gabriel and Ivy had already heard what happened by the time we got home.

  “We have to act now,” Ivy said. “This has gone too far.”

  “And what do you propose we do?” Gabriel asked her.

  “We have to stop him,” I said. “Destroy him if that’s what it takes.”

  “We cannot simply charge in and destroy him,” Gabriel said. “We’re not permitted to take life without reason.”

  “But he’s taken someone else’s life!” I cried.

  “Bethany, we cannot harm him unless we know without a doubt who or what he is. So, much as we might wish it, confrontation is out of the question for the time being.”

  “Maybe you can’t hurt him,” Xavier said, “but I can. Let me fight him.”

  Gabriel’s gray eyes were unyielding. “You will be no use to Bethany dead,” he said sharply.

  “Gabe!” I cried, distressed by the very idea of anyone touching Xavier. I knew he would jump headfirst into a fight if he thought he was protecting me.

  “I’m stronger than him,” Xavier said. “I know I am; let me do it.”

  Ivy put a hand on Xavier’s shoulder. “You don’t know what we’re dealing with in Jake Thorn,” she said.

  “He’s just a boy,” Xavier replied. “How frightening can he be?”

  “He isn’t just a boy,” Ivy said. “We have felt his aura — it is growing stronger now. He is aligned with dark forces that no human can understand.”

  “What are you saying? That he’s a demon?” Xavier asked incredulously. “That’s impossible.”

  “You believe in angels. Is it so difficult to consider we might have evil counterparts?” Gabriel asked.

  “I’ve tried not to think about that,” Xavier said.

  “As surely as there is a Heaven, there is a Hell,” Ivy said softly.

  “So you think Jake Thorn is a demon?” I whispered.

  “We believe he may be an agent of Lucifer,” Gabriel said. “But we need proof before we can act to stop him.”

  The proof came when I unpacked my school bag a little later on that afternoon. A familiar coil of paper was tucked inside the zip. I unrolled it to reveal Jake’s distinctive script:

  I felt a sudden lump stick in my throat. Jake had threatened Xavier. His vendetta was no longer against me alone. I clutched Xavier’s arm. I could feel the muscles there beneath my fingers — but it was still only human strength.

  “Is that proof enough for you?” Xavier asked in a low voice.

  “That is a poem and nothing more,” Gabriel said. “Listen, I believe that Jake is behind the murder and all of the accidents. I believe that he means to wreak havoc, but I need concrete evidence before I can act — the laws of the Kingdom demand it.”

  “And then what will you do?” Xavier wanted to know.

  “Whatever is necessary to keep the peace,” Gabriel said.

  “Even if it means killing him?” Xavier spoke plainly.

  “Yes,” was Gabriel’s icy response. “For if he is what we suspect him to be, then taking his human life will send him back where he came from.”

  Xavier considered this for a moment and then nodded. “But what does he want with Beth? What can she give him?”

  “Beth turned him down,” Gabriel replied. “Someone like Jake Thorn is used to getting what he wants. Right now his vanity is wounded.”

  I shuffled my feet uncomfortably. “He said he’d been looking for me for centuries. ..”

  “He said what?” Xavier exploded. “What does that mean?”

  Gabriel and Ivy exchanged worried looks.

  “Demons often search for a human to make their own,” Ivy said. “It’s their twisted version of love, I suppose. They lure the human to the underworld, and they’re forced to stay there forever. Over time they’re corrupted and even start to develop feelings for their oppressor.”

  “But what’s the point of it?” Xavier asked. “Can demons even have feelings?”

  “It’s mainly done to spite Our Father,” Ivy said. “The corruption of His creations causes Him great anguish.”

  “But I’m not even a real human!” I said.

  “Exactly,” Gabriel replied. “What better prize than an angel in human form? Capturing one of us would be the ultimate victory.”

  “Is Beth in danger?” Xavier moved closer to me.

  “I think we may all be in danger,” said Gabriel. “Just have patience. Our Father will reveal our path to us in due course.”

  I insisted that Xavier stay the night with us, and after Jake’s message, Ivy and Gabriel did not object. Although they didn’t say as much, I knew they were worried about Xavier’s safety. Jake was unpredictable, like a firework that could go off at any moment.

  Xavier called his parents and told them he was staying the night at a friend’s place so they could finish studying for an exam the next day. There was no way his mother would have allowed him to stay if she’d known he was at my house — Bernie was far too conservative for that. She and Gabriel would have gotten along famously.

  We said good night to Ivy and Gabriel and climbed the stairs to my bedroom. Xavier stood on the balcony while I took my shower and brushed my teeth. I didn’t ask what he was thinking or if he was as frightened as I was. I knew he would never admit it, at least not to me. To sleep, he stripped down to a pair of boxer shorts that said, “Don’t sweat it!” across the back and a white tank that he had on under his shirt. I put on a pair of leggings and a loose T-shirt.

  We didn’t say much to each other that night. I lay still and listened to the sound of his steady breathing, felt the rise and fall of his chest. With his body curved around mine, his arms protectively wrapped around me, I felt safe and cocooned. Even though Xavier was only human, it seemed he could protect me from anything and everything. I wouldn’t have been worried if a fire-breathing dragon had torn off the roof, because I knew that Xavier was there. I wondered fleetingly if I was expecting too much of him but dismissed the idea.

  I woke in the middle of the night, frightened by a dream I couldn’t remember. Xavier lay beside me. He looked so beautiful when he was asleep, his perfect lips slightly parted, his hair tousled on the pillow, his smooth, tanned chest rising and falling gently as he breathed. My anxiety got the better of me and I reached out to him. He woke easily, and his eyes were startlingly blue even in the moonlight.

  “What’s that?” I whispered, suddenly aware of shadows. “Over there, do you see that?”

  Leaving his arm around me, Xavier sat up and looked around the room. “Where?” he asked, his voice thick with sleep. I gestured toward the far right corner of the room. Xavier swung himself out of the bed and walked across to where I was pointing.

  “Here?” he asked when he reached the spot. “I’m fairly sure this is a coatrack.” I nodded then remembered he couldn’t see me in the dark.

  “I thought I saw someone standing there,” I said. “A man in a long coat and a hat.” Spoken aloud it sounded ridiculous.

  “I think you’re seeing ghosts, babe.” Xavier yawned and prodded the coatrack with his foot. “Yep, definitely a coatrack.”

  “Sorry,” I said when he came b
ack to bed. I wrapped myself around his warmth.

  “Don’t be scared,” he murmured. “Nobody can hurt you while I’m here.”

  I trusted him and, after a while, let myself stop listening for noises and movements.

  “Love you,” Xavier said just before he drifted back to sleep.

  “Love you more,” I said playfully.

  “Not a chance,” Xavier said, fully awake now. “I’m bigger, I can contain more love.”

  “I’m smaller, therefore my love particles are more compressed, which means I can fit more in.”

  Xavier laughed. “That argument makes no sense. Overruled.”

  “I’m just basing it on how much I miss you when you’re not around,” I countered.

  “How can you possibly know how much I miss you?” he said. “Have you got some sort of built-in miss-o-meter that can give us a reading?”

  “I’m a girl; of course I have a built-in miss-o-meter.”

  I drifted off to sleep reassured by the feel of his chest pressed against my back. I could feel his breath on the back of my neck. I traced the smooth skin on his arms, made golden by time outdoors. In the moonlight I could see every hair, every vein, every freckle, and I loved it all. That was my last thought before I fell asleep that night, and I found that fear had abandoned me completely.

  29

  A Friend in Need

  Taylah haunted my dreams. I saw her as a faceless ghost with a pair of bloodstained white hands that grasped aimlessly at the air. Then I was inside her body, lying in a pool of sticky warm blood. I heard the dull dripping of the taps in the girls’ bathroom as she slipped into death. Then I felt the grief and overwhelming sorrow of her family. They were blaming themselves for not having noticed her depression, wondering if they could have prevented the outcome. Jake was there in the dream too, always at the edge of the frame, slightly out of focus and laughing softly.

  In the morning I woke to find the covers rumpled and the place beside me empty. If I pressed my face into the pillow where his head had rested, I could still faintly catch Xavier’s scent. I rolled out of bed and opened the curtains to let golden sunlight pour into the room.