Into the Light

120

Her face crumbled, as tears started to pour out of her eyes. "How is that okay?" "Kat, baby, no one said anything about sacrifice," Sam replied, pulling her close. He met my gaze over her head and I knew what he was trying to say. She was right. What if it did entail something like that? Would we still do it? I wasn't sure. I glanced at Anna, when I realized that I hadn't heard anything from her. She was chewing her bottom lip, while twirling a lock of her hair around her finger, and staring at the wall. I nudged her with my shoulder. "You okay?" I asked, quietly, when she met my gaze. Her eyes were almost the same as Kat's, full of worry and fear. She shook her head. "No. Yes? I don't know. I really don't know. I'm not okay with this. I don't want either of you putting your selves out there with her. She's too powerful. She's been doing this, growing more and more powerful, for over a hundred years. Even the High Priestess and the Original Coven don't want to face her. How are you guys supposed to defeat her?" I could see the shine of tears in the corners of her eyes. I wrapped my arm around her and brought her face to my chest. "It's going to be okay," I murmured. "They'll tell us what to do. Ash even said that our bond was so strong that it would definitely defeat her." I didn't really remember if he had said that, or not, but I was just trying to comfort her. Even if I had to lie. She called my bluff. "I don't remember him saying that," she whimpered. "Well, it was something like that," I replied. "We're going to be extremely careful with whatever they are expecting of us. Trust me. I'm not ready to leave when I just found you. I'll fight with everything I have in me, to stay next to you." She leaned back and gave me a watery smile. "Now, can we try to forget all of this for tonight? Let's just have a relaxing, fun night," I said, lifting her chin with my fist. Her lips parted so I leaned down and pressed mine to hers. There was no intense need to this one. It was just to show love and comfort to one another. The fire was there, but it was slowly simmering below the surface. I held her for another minute after I pulled away. We did exactly what we planned to do that night. We went to the store and bought a few board and card games to waste time with. It was already late, so we didn't stay up long enough to play but one game of Cards against Humanity. It seemed like the funeral, and all of the days events, had worn us all out. Anna snuggled up to me and kiss my chest. "I love you," she whispered into the dark. I squeezed her to me for a second. "I love you too," I whispered back. It wasn't easy for me to fall asleep, even though I was exhausted. My dreams were, once again, plagued with nightmares. The Darkness wove in and out of them, leaving a trail of death and destruction behind her. Anna was screaming, as the Darkness ripped her from my arms. Then I watched Sam fall forwards, a look of total surprise on his face, with red blooming across the front of his shirt. I jerked away, sweating and shaking from the lingering remnants of the nightmare. Sam was right. We didn't have a choice. This had to end. We couldn't run for the rest of our lives. The room was still dark, with the others sleeping, so I grabbed my phone and went out onto the balcony. It was 9 am, so I was really hoping that Ash was awake. I needed to know what was expected of us. On the fifth ring, when I was about to hang up, he answered. "Heya-ya-yo," he yawned out, his voice rough with sleep. "Hey Ash, did I wake you?" I asked, knowing that I had. "No, it's okay. Time for me to get up anyway. Got a big day ahead of us, I think. Is that why you're calling?" "Yeah," I sighed. "I have some questions about what's expected of Sam and I. Like, what exactly are we supposed to be doing? How are we supposed to beat an all powerful, centuries old witch?" He groaned and yawned again. "Can I get my coffee and call you back? I need my caffeine dose. You know, it's the only thing that I still do from before I went all green eating. My nerves were already jumping, causing my knee to bounce rapidly. "Yeah, sure man," I replied, running my hand through my bed head. "Just please try to hurry. I'm not trying to annoy you...I just...I don't know. I need to know." He chuckled quietly into the phone. "I understand. I'll contact you in about 15 minutes." I heard the click, as he disconnected. I glanced back into the hotel room and saw that everyone was still asleep. I wondered what time I should wake them. I guessed that I would do that after I spoke with Ash. At least, that way I would have something to tell them. I stared out at the morning sun over the busy city and thought about all of the people on the ground. The ones going about their daily lives, going to work, shopping, having fun with friends, even sleeping in. The ones who had no clue that their world was hanging in the balance, left to two goofy kids from Kansas. I cracked a smile and shook my head. We were all fucked. I heard the glass door slide open and looked over to see Sam walking out. He slid the door closed and came over to stand next to me, by the railing. "So," he said, after a few minutes. "I guess we're really doing this, huh?" I nodded, but didn't reply. We had no clue what we were doing yet, anyway. After a few minutes of standing together, watching the horizon, I turned and looked back inside the room. The girls were starting to get up and moving around. "How long do you think we have before we have to save the world?" Sam asked, staring at Katrina through the glass. I shrugged. "Today at least. Ash wanted his answer by tonight, remember?" He nodded. "I think I'm going to take Katrina out for a little while. Just drive the coast or something. Spend a little time together." That wasn't a bad idea, considering... "Yeah, man. I'll probably just stay in the room with Anna. I'll let you know if I hear anything from Ash."