Chelsea's Smile

Chelsea's Smile [5]

SANDER'S POV

"What was all that about Sarah?" I hissed to my sister as she came back, giving Katie a shirt and some other clothing.

"I can sense it Sander!" She squealed to me. "She loves you! And you love her!" She started giggling. "Oh you must show her! She won't care because of how she feels for you Sander!"

"Sarah will you shut up for one moment?" I growled, ripping my mask from my face to expose the smile that laid beneath it. It was just scar tissue now, but it was still quite a gruesome sight. I sat at the table, massaging my temples. "Thompson and Lacey took her tonight, and they know who she is now. They will be able to sense her now. She will never be safe just because she got involved with me!"

"Sander, don't blame yourself, love is written for us when we are born. You can't blame yourself for her getting involved, it's destiny!" She said softly, rubbing my shoulders. I felt her hand lift from my shoulders and looked up to see Katie standing on just the outskirts of the room. She was fidgeting with the bottom of the shirt, balling it with her hands.

"Katie," I said softly, taking in all of her. She didn't have on her thick make up from earlier, and her hair was in purple ringlet curls. Her eyes were bright and beautiful as ever, but now, they seemed dead and lifeless. The cuts  were still surrounding her mouth. Tears sprung to my eyes as I stood and reached for her hand. "I have much to explain," I said softly to her. She took my hand sheepishly and I pulled her gently into an empty room just outside the kitchen.

"You might want to sit down," I told her and she did. I knelt in front of her taking her hands. "First, do you think I'm a monster? After seeing what I can do? What I did? What I am?" I gestured to my face and the dried blood flecks still on my skin that I hadn't been able to remove. "I kill people Katie. That's why I'm like this."

"No," She said softly and put her fingers on the scars extending from my mouth. "You are not a monster Sander." My shoulders folded together with relief as I squeezed her hands. "You save my life today Sander. He may have gotten what he did last year, but you save me from death. Thank you."

"That was just luck," I smiled at her, but the smile soon disappeared from my mouth as I remembered I had much more to explain. "Second, I have brought you into a dangerous world Katie. It's full of things even worse than you can imagine. You remember, growing up, hearing stories about ghouls, goblins, demons, ghost, and so forth?" She nodded to me. "Well, that is actually true. With you becoming involved with my yesterday at school, you signed the contract to death Katie."

"But wait, those things aren't possibly real. Are they?" She didn't seem able to comprehend.

"They are. Thompson, my brother for example, is a Soul Sucker. He sold his soul to Lucifer, for eternal life. The only catch? He could not live without souls. Such as yours. That's why he's done what he has to you, to survive. Sarah, she's a Time Seeker. She can see into the past, and future, and also sense thoughts and feelings. Me? I'm a Shadow Hunter. A coldblooded killer who was designed to kill Demons such as Thompson and Lacey. And you can see the price I paid," I gestured to my face again.

"You may not know it either Katie, but I know why people call you 'Creepy Katie'. You can influence, thoughts, feelings, and almost anything to do with the human brain itself. You did me, I wouldn't have had the power to nearly destroy Thompson as I did if you weren't there. You're fear also sends signals to everyone's mind around you to protect you. I only found you tonight because I followed the trail you left behind you." Her eyes widened in thought as I explained all of this. "You are an Influencer. The most rarest of beauties, and one of a kind." I smiled at her again.

"But, I'm not special in any way, not really," She said softly looking down. "If I'm so special, then why does everyone hate me? Why does no one want me?"