Chapter 6: Fight Or Flight? Hell,
Flight All The Way!
Author's Note: Curious about that oh-so-great plan, all-human Kellah came up with? Maybe if Lillian somehow drowned Brian in his sleep? *grins* Hmmm... I guess you're gonna find out soon enough! This and the following chapter, are my favorites so far! Along with another one that is to come :D Well, it's probably gonna be up here soon enough, so worry not! *giggles* Prepare yourselves for a cliffie! *shrugs* Don't look at me! Tell Brian! He's the one saying the story after all if you think about it... Hehehe...
Lots of love,
Nessie
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The ghosts couldn’t have been more disturbing than they were tonight. They had never been so restless or relentless. Sure they’re all spirits and even centuries after they were gone they had unfinished business left in the world of the living, but just please! Let. Me. Sleep! For God’s sake! Mom had shown up in my dream too. She was sitting there, looking at me with those sad silver eyes of hers. She knew I couldn’t talk to her! She was the one who taught me that! Tired of shaking my head at her, trying to show her without words that I couldn’t talk to her, I opened my eyes.
And found myself in a majorly uncomfortable situation. Maybe more uncomfortable than facing the ghost of my dead mother.
My head was on the pillow Lillian gave me last night and Lillian was literally all over me. Or… to be honest, it was more like I was all over her. My cheek was touching her forehead and I had my arms around her, holding her close to me; so close I could feel her heartbeat as if it came through my own chest. I could feel her warm breath on my chest. Her hands were still tied behind her back though. She had her bare feet curled close to our bodies; she probably had gotten cold through the night. I felt a wild thrill at the thought of how we ended up this way, tangled limbs around each other, but I knew that nothing had really happened. I was far too tired to do anything but dream. Dream indeed. What am I thinking? She. Tried. To. Kill. Me…but damn, she smelled good!
I inhaled deeply, only to find myself taking in more of the scent of her shampoo than clear air. Gosh, I had to pull myself away. But the real question was how could I? She would wake up. And I would be really glad if she didn’t wake up before I pulled myself away. I looked on my left and to my relief Kellah was still snoozing. If there was something I wanted less than Lillian seeing how close we were, that was my aunt seeing how close Lillian and I were. That would be plain weird. Not to mention awkward and embarrassing.
I closed my eyes for a second, wishing I could just go back to the freaking dream where mom was trying to talk to me. I had ended up with the conclusion that I liked my dream better than reality at the moment. I felt Lillian stirring and immediately looked down at her. Her big brown eyes were looking straight at me through those thick lashes. I opened and closed my mouth a couple of times, trying to say something, but no words came out. Me, Brian… speechless. Wow!
She smiled gently; she was either still partially asleep and hadn’t realized this was happening for real, or she was still partially asleep and hadn’t realized this was happening for real! Please, someone, kill me now! Okay… I take that back. Just in case someone began sharpening their knives… She closed her eyes contently and lay there for a second; all I could hear was her deep rhythmical breathing. She sighed and let out a contented giggle, then…nothing.
I squinted my eyes shut, hoping the next moment I’d open them we’d be back, before I even fell asleep or something. I peeked after a few seconds at the cabin. Nope. Still here. I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Now what was I supposed to do? Push Lillian away sounded like the best of the ideas I had but that didn’t really make it sound good either. I had to admit, I enjoyed the closeness and felt…safe. Yeah, safe…from my assassin! Get a grip and think with your brain not your….other brain…doofus!
“I slept better last night than I had for months,” she murmured softly.
“Really?” I said in my usual sarcastic tone. “If I were you, I’m sure this would be the worst sleep of my life. With my hands tied behind my back on an ancient train bunk with a blanket that makes me itchy.”
“Yeah, that’s true on most parts, but honestly, I had good company,” she said, looking straight into my eyes. I tried to take a deep breath so I could concentrate on the next thing I’d say, but I just got dizzy, intoxicated by her scent. She brought her lips to mine; her touch was nothing really, just a brush, but it made my whole body shiver with desire. I quickly pulled away.
“What time is it? I have wake Kellah up,” I said, sitting up and pushing myself away from her. Not an easy thing to do on a bunk that was not wider than fifty inches and a part of my body that was not cooperating in the slightest…yeah, embarrassing.
She seemed slightly disappointed, but was still half smiling. She glanced down towards my waist and winked at me…yep, she winked. Kill. Me. Now! Yep, go ahead, sharpen those knives… ugh!
I huffed in disgust and quickly got off the bunk. I adjusted myself and then walked over and checked the time on the watch on my aunt’s wrist. We had about an hour before the train reached its destination. I shook Kellah hurriedly. “About time you get up,” I said quietly.
She squint her eyes at the sunlight coming in from the window and pulled the pillow from under her head and threw it on top of her face. “Leave me alone, Brian. It’s still early!”
“We have just an hour. Get up.”
“Ugh! You’re such a pain, you know that?” With sloth-like movements she sat up and tried to run her fingers through her tangled hair. She didn’t look half as messy as she probably thought, although if she kept doing that thing to her hair, she’d soon enough need an actual brush.
I turned my head to Silvia; she was safely tucked in her bunk, although she seemed to be having a really disturbing dream. She was tossing and changing sides and I saw her hitting forcefully with her tiny fist the mattress once. I walked over to her, the limping of my leg still there but noticeably fainter, and stroked her hair. Almost instantly, her eyes fluttered open. The silver of her irises sparkled in the direct sunlight and for a second, I felt as if mom was actually here. Sure she was. Somewhere in the blur of ghosts of dead people.Dead. “Wake up, pretty girl,” I whispered softly to her.
“Why doesn’t he never wake me up like that?!” Kellah said, laughing.
“What’s the mattew?” Silvia asked sleepily.
“You need to get up, it’s morning. We’ll get off the train soon,” I explained.
She rubbed her eyes sleepily and sat up, instantly focusing on the ghosts around us instead of the living people in the cabin. I knew this freaked Kellah out; I could tell from the look on her face every time Silvia had a lost in space, or in her case lost in the other world, look. I followed the direction at which she was looking; dad again. Unintentionally, my eyes narrowed at him. I shouldn’t have paid attention to him at all; I shouldn’t have shown him I was aware of his presence but he really had to go. He couldn’t be around us all the freaking time! He had no right!
“Maybe we should grab some breakfast before we get there,” Kellah suggested.
“And discuss the last details of the plan,” I added. Who cared about breakfast if we died today? Lillian’s words echoed inside my head, “You have a thing for death, don’t you?” Maybe I did. My whole life was about death, it’s only natural it was constantly on my mind. I look straight into death’s eyes every single breathing moment. It was my life.
“So what should I get for you?” Kellah asked Lillian.
“Oh, whatever, I don’t mind. Anything that looks good.” She smiled sweetly and I looked away from her. I’d done many things I shouldn’t as far as Lillian was concerned already. Ignoring her may actually be a wise thing to do at this point. She was really starting to get under my skin and that was not something I was ready to deal with.
“What about you, Brian?” Kellah’s voice brought me back to focus.
“I don’t care. A muffin or something.”
“Come on, liebelein, let’s go get breakfast,” she told Silvia, stretching her hand to her. Still not fully wake up, Silvia followed her bare footed. I didn’t even get to tell her to wear her shoes.
A while after the door had closed, Lillian spoke again. “What does liebelein mean? Sounds Dutch or something.”
“You speak Dutch?” I asked.
“If I did, I wouldn’t have asked you what it means.”
I rolled my eyes and stood up. I was restless. Even though my leg bothered me, I couldn’t stay put. If Kellah’s plan didn’t work, this train was leading us to our death. And to be honest, after how I found myself when I woke up, I didn’t want to be alone with Lillian. I didn’t trust myself anymore.
“It means little love in German,” I said ultimately answering her question. Kellah had spent a few months in Germany, doing some seminars about… her job. And as far as I knew, the only serious love relationship in her life lived there. Some other… dog trainer.
“It’s cool. That she knows German.”
“It’s just the basics she knows. To make a simple conversation. It’s not like she can discuss global warming or the war in Vietnam with someone in German.”
“That doesn’t make it sound less cool, just for your information.” She looked at me and for a second I thought she was going to bring up our awkward waking up moment. “Are you going to feed me again, or do I get to use my hands this morning?” she inquired, looking at me with that half flirty, half serious look of hers.
I glared at her and my answer was obvious by my looks. There was no way I’d ever try this again. She’d eat on her own. The last thing I wanted was to be that close to her again, and she knew it. She was not some dumb girl, she was an assassin. She knew how to work people and she was working me, I think. Surely, she could not really be flirting with me. She just wanted to escape and get her big payday, right? I fought with myself internally about my next words, but theother brain’s curiosity won out…damn hormones!
“There is something that I really don’t get about you. You were okay with how we were when we woke up?” I asked abruptly. At the mention of it, I felt butterflies in my stomach. I really shouldn’t feel like that for the girl. Not her, of all girls. And mentioning it was the worst idea I had so far but for some reason, with Lillian, I was finding it harder to stop myself. Yep, I’m screwed!
A smile broke on her face. That smile radiated from her and I felt as if no matter which part of her I’d look at, I would know she was smiling. I looked into her eyes. She pushed herself up, sitting and laughed. “You know, this thing,” she made a half turn with her torso, showing me her tied hands, “is fine when you try to lie down. Getting up is a lot more trouble though…” I kept looking at her, waiting for an answer. As the moments passed, and she stalled giving me an answer, I was going crazy inside. A shiver ran through my spine; it was not like when they were here. It was something different. Something I hadn’t felt before. “Look… Brian… You may see me as a cunning and crafty killing machine, but I really like you. And I’m holding on to my opinion; you’re softer than you let yourself show to the outside. And I won’t lie about it. I liked the way I woke up and you were holding me close to you. It was the safest I have felt in who knows how long, and honestly, I wouldn’t mind waking up that way again.”
So, so, so not the answer I wanted to hear! I have got to nip this in the bud and NOW! I avoided her direct gaze and looked at my hands. This is all a mistake. This is going way worse than I had planned out. “You’re right about me,” I finally blurted out. “I see you as a very cunning and crafty killing machine.” I turned my back to her before she managed to recognize the regret for saying this on my face. I squared my shoulders and looked out the window; anywhere but to her. No way was I letting her see how affected I truly was by her words.
She didn’t speak again after this. When Kellah returned with our breakfast, I took something and started chewing, keeping my mouth occupied so I didn’t have to say anything to anyone. I just climbed up the bunk to untie her hands, avoiding any kind of touching or looking as much as this was possible. Then I resumed my task; keeping my mouth full so I couldn’t speak without being rude…yeah, since when was my being rude ever a concern before?!
“I think there’s nothing more to discuss about the plan,” Kellah said. “We can just hope it works.”
“Yeah, there aren’t really any flaws. It all depends on what moves they will do,” Lillian agreed.
I bit down on my sandwich again, looking quickly at Kellah and then at Silvia. She was sitting cross legged on the bunk next to me, playing with her cake more than she was eating it. The time flew by really fast; much faster than I wanted it to. The announcement echoed from the ancient speakers; we were almost there. I felt my heart racing inside my chest, suddenly feeling intense anxiety. The weight of the situation seemed to fall down upon my shoulders. I didn’t show it to any of them though; everything had to go according to the plan. I had to be the strong leader that I constantly told them I was.
Lillian wouldn’t be bound during our exit from the train; this would have drawn way too many suspicions and curious looks. She changed into another outfit Kellah gave to her, so that her bosses didn’t recognize her as quickly. We put a yellow old raincoat on Silvia with the hood up so that her eyes or blond hair wouldn’t draw attention. Silvia and Kellah would keep a little distance from us, thinking that if our pursuers would expect a group of three they would easily dismiss what looked like a mom with her child. And to my dislike, which grew even more now after the events of last night and this morning, Lillian and I would have to act like a couple, holding hands and walking side by side. Other than for the appearance of it, it was also for practical reasons. It wouldn’t be good if she took off in a station packed with people, so I ended up with the lucky prize. I shuddered at the thought. At the moment, this seemed like the most difficult part of the plan to me. Funny, huh? Being so close to your worst enemy and worrying about a girl? Plain pathetic. Way to go, Brian.
As the train pulled in, we headed to the exit with every other passenger. On impulse, I grabbed a woolen brown hat forgotten by its owner and put it on. My hair wasn’t drawing looks like Silvia’s did, but it was definitely a distinctive characteristic. I caught Lillian half smiling as the passengers coming from behind us squeezed us close together.
The moment the train’s door burst open and people started walking out, a clock began ticking inside my head. We had to pull this off as fast as possible. The morning was chilly, but it wasn’t the drop of the temperature that really affected me. What made me really aware of the cold was their presence. They were somewhere close, but still not too close to us. Maybe somewhere near the last compartment, on the other side of the platform.
“Hurry,” I murmured, clutching Lillian’s hand in mine tighter and quickening my step. I saw Kellah and Silvia a few feet away from us walking a little faster than we did. I tried to glance as discreetly as possible at them while we made our way to the entrance. I began shivering as they came closer, looking frantically around for us. Maybe if we sped up a little more we’d make it out of the station before they’d figure out who we were. I shouldn’t do it, but I tried concealing Silvia’s uncontrollable power, pulling some away, taking it for myself, to make it less obvious to them.
“Why are you going this fast? Are they close?” Lillian whispered, her lips really close to my ear. Without thinking, I let out a slight moan as her warm breath washed over my ear. What. The. Hell! Brian…focus, dude…! Aunt Kellah and Silvia… Them… getting away…not Lillian’s warm breath and intoxicating scent! Her low giggle at my reaction pulled me from my self-flagellation. I had to lean in closer so she could hear… yep, had to.
“Closer than we’d want them. They’ve checked all the passengers in the back. We need to go faster,” I explained and pulled away quickly while scanning the masses.
She nodded and tried to match her pace with mine. Finally, I could see the station’s exit. We’d make it. Kellah and Silvia were just going through the arch of the door when a raspy bloodcurdling voice said, “There, the blonde with the child.”
Without losing a second, I looked at them. Lingering in the shadows, in black clothes and hoods over their faces they almost blended with the darkness, but they were still there; the violet color of death in their eyes gave it away. There was no time to keep our cover, I let go of Lillian, not caring less if she ran off right now. What was vital was to get my sister out of here. I ran to Silvia, quickly scooping her in my arms. Instinctively, she weaved her little fingers behind my neck, no questions asked.
“Run!” I told Kellah and sprinted away.
“Silvia, remember what I told you the day we left home?” I asked Silvia, unable to focus on any of my surroundings, running as far from them as possible. “If I tell you run, you run! You will run and not look back. If anything happens to me, if I let you go, you must run away.”
I didn’t hear a reply from her, she just held on there, clutching the nape of my neck more tightly. I reached a dark alley, with metallic trash cans and leftovers from burned out cigarettes on the ground. I ducked for cover behind a can, unsure if I could go on. The gash on my leg now throbbed and burned; I put Silvia down and clutched it tightly, hissing through my teeth.
“Bwian, awe you okay?” she asked, those big silver eyes of her looking at me with a terrified yet compassionate look. She didn’t deserve going through all this, I thought again. She’s just a kid!
“Silvia, I need you to stay here. I know I told you to run if I let you go; but I want you to stay hidden here for a while. Okay?” She nodded obediently. “Good. I will be back. If anyone discovers you while I’m away, then you get out of here. Run and find a better hiding place. But I’ll find you. Don’t worry about that. I will always find you. Don’t you ever forget that.” I gave her a kiss on the forehead and stood up, noticing I was limping again; maybe worse than the first time. And for the second time today, I used magic. I tried creating a veil over Silvia, to cover her in a way that made her blend with the shadows, making her almost invisible. Mom used to do something like this when we were hiding from someone, but like everything else it had its side effects… And its price. Becoming invisible in the world of the living meant becoming more visible in the world of the dead. I would come back to get the veil off of her as soon as I could.
Quietly, I made my way back to the station. There were no signs of our escape being noticed by the public or the security, and Kellah with Silvia were nowhere to be seen. I scanned the platform again, double checking just in case I had missed them. No. They weren’t there. The chill was there though. Theyweren’t inside the station, but they were somewhere close by. I followed the awful feeling although my body screamed to just run towards the opposite direction. I had to find Kellah and Lillian. If they were still alive.
There was a little place behind the cabin that controlled all the security cameras, a small alley-like place that was never checked. Or at least that was how things were back in my small town. I took cover behind a metallic slate and moved closer.
The hoarse voice I heard in the station echoed here between the cement walls. “You lied to us. You were promised money to kill them but you chose to heeeelp them instead.” The voice made chill bumps rise on my arms. I could feel what was happening. He was killing her!
“I…” Lillian’s voice was weak, almost a whisper. “I couldn’t do anything else! They… they got me before I could get her and tied me up. I tried… I… tried,” she said, trying to get these last words out. “Please… Stop it…You… are… c-c-ca-a-n’t br-ee-aa…” What he was doing to her was making me nauseous. This was one of the parts of being a necromancer that I hated most. Feeling exactly how dying people close to you did. Dying with them, but remaining in the world of the living.
“You’re a fool! Useless hunter! We should have never trusted you with this!” he snarled again releasing her just enough for her to gasp for air and speak again.
“Please… Stop it…” Lillian repeated, unable to say or do anything else.
I peeked through a small hole someone had drilled in the slate; she was trying to hold herself up, he was looming over her, his hood hanging loosely over her face. I could see her soul slipping away from her body, a thin silver-violet thread of smoke unraveling in the air above them. I could see the almost-ghost of her looking at me pleadingly, begging me to give a quick end to this. I wasn’t sure if the part of her that was still alive was aware of my presence or not.
Kellah was lying a few inches away, a pool of blood near her throat. The blood was dark, maybe black. If it was really black… I didn’t want to think about it. My heart clenched at the sight and sucking in a deep breath, I tore my look away.
“Ple-e-as-se…” Lillian said again with the little strength she had left, trying to get a grip on the world of the living.
And at that moment, I did the most stupid, idiotic, selfless and brave thing I ever had. I stood up, revealing my presence to them.
“Leave them,” I growled, pulling his attention fully on me.
“Whatttt?” he said with his creepy, serpent-like voice; his violet eyes sparked with bloodlust, making me shudder.
“Let the girl go. You don’t really care about her, it’s me you want,” I said, trying to keep my voice as steady as I could. I could feel a shiver running through my body, so vivid that I was sure I was visibly trembling.
He laughed eerily, the disgusting sound echoing through the cement covered area. “You? Who cares about you! All I want is the little girl! Hand her over, and these two are yours.” All I could see was his eyes through the hood, filled with this sickening hope that I would bring Silvia to him.
I bared my teeth at him, squaring my shoulders. “You. Will. Never. Touch. Her,” I said between clenched teeth. Before I could hold myself back, I rushed to him, my fist raised, intending to hit him. His black figure was wrapped in a cloud of smoke that momentarily covered Lillian’s small frame too and then he was gone, and I stopped myself just before I’d fall on the ground.
“You honestly think you can touch me?” he sneered. “Tik-tok-tik-tok,” he sing sang in a blood-curdling voice that could have only come right out of the worst nightmares. Only it wasn’t a nightmare. This was my life. “The clock is ticking, so what’s it gonna be? Will you let those two die while you try to fight me off, or give me the girl and all of us get a happy ending?”
“I. Won’t. Get. A. Happy, Ending. Not until you’re gone from this world!” I said, clenching my fists on my sides. “I- I may not be able to touch you. But they are,” I said, a faint scary smile forming on my face as I glanced at the ghosts around us. He couldn’t see them, but I could. And he knew that. A hint of fear flashed briefly through those evil, violet eyes.
“You wouldn’t dare,” he said, looking me straight in the eyes. “You know the rule. The more you control them, the stronger we become.”
“Maybe it’s worth it for this one time,” I muttered and focused all the power I had absorbed from Silvia on the uneasy spirits around me, centering all my anger and hatred on the monster before me. The ghosts responded eagerly at my command, rushing at him, becoming a blur of silver smoke and glowing, angry eyes heading towards him.
I heard him snarl in pain as the ghosts sucked his… life away. Those things were soulless, lifeless and they shouldn’t walk the living world at all. But yet they were. And they were after us. I may have won one today, but I had strengthened all the others. Pushing away the guilt for my actions, I shook my head; waiting as they sucked every single drop of anything living he had inside him, making him dissolve into thick black smoke and ashes. One small victory? Was it worth it? I just shook my head as I looked over at Aunt Kellah and Lillian, horrified at what I was going to find.
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