Chapter 16
LUCIA
At first I ignored the fact that Jesse was gone. There wasn't much I could do anyways. So instead I made my way towards the corner of the kitchen where Tyler was kneeling. Gingerly I picked up the larger pieces of shattered plates and gathered them in my other hand. For a moment Tyler and I cleaned things up in silence, neither one of said anything about what happened, and some part of me was okay with that. But I knew we couldn’t just drag it on.
“Sorry,” I mumbled.
Tyler shrugged. “It’s fine really...”
I shook my head. “No it isn’t. I should have told you that it would happen if I ever became upset. But I didn’t.”
Tyler stopped picking up the broken ceramics and reached for my arm. “Lucia seriously...it’s okay.”
I gave him a sad nod before going back to the broken dishware.
“Did Jesse know?” He whispered.
“Before, yeah...”
He nodded.
“He’ll never remember me, will he?” I wasn’t sure if I was looking for an answer or not. But I knew that I was already aware of what the answer would be.
Tyler shrugged, “We never know.”
Suddenly there was a loud thud in the room next door.
I shot up to my feet. “What was that?!” I gasped.
Another thud followed by a painful groan.
“Jesse!!” I yelled.
Swiftly Tyler and I darted towards Jesse’s room. My hands were trembling from fear as I tried my best to open the door.
THUD
Finally the door opened, and revealed a brown haired boy on the ground. He was shaking violently, his eyes rolled up to his head, his arms tense against his side.
“What’s wrong with him?” I stuttered.
Tyler collapsed to the ground, his hand gently trying to hold Jesse still. “I think he’s having a seizure.”
I gulped a lump of fear in my throat.
Abruptly Jesse stopped, but before I could even sigh, he sat up. “Jesse,” I whispered reaching for him.
Just then the colors around me flashed, a cruel smile escaped Jesse as he threw his arm against Tyler’s gut. Tyler let out a pain filled moan. Suddenly Jesse got up on his feet and took a step towards me. His warm eyes had suddenly grown pitch black...something was wrong.
“Jesse, snap out of it!” I cried.
His hands found my face, and his fingers tangled against my hair. “What a pretty face.” He whispered harshly.
“Stop it.” I shuttered.
“Don’t be scared.” But I was, if I hadn’t been frozen because of fear I would have ran! In front of me was the same boy who had licked my face. A boy who I didn’t know...
“What’s wrong Jesse?” I whispered.
Jesse’s lips curled in a crocked smile. “It’s okay you know? The things that he does...it’s what’s he’s suppose to do.”
I stood there in silence. And from behind Jesse I spotted Tyler stand, cautiously ready to step in. My eyes caught his, don’t move, I eyed.
“And you don’t have to be scared.” Jesse hissed his lips no closer to my ear. “You don’t have to be afraid...nothing will happen you know.”
“Please let me go Jesse.”
His fingers continued to dance in between my hair. “But why...I’m not hurting you, am I?”
I shook my head. “No.”
“Then you’ll be okay,” His voice fell low, his whisper became husky. Something in his eyes screamed evil and cruelty. “Won’t you?”
I swallowed a croak in my voice. “I don’t know.”
His voice let out a small growl, a small sense of anger. “You will.”
Suddenly his hands hand found the back of my neck and before I knew it I felt him press his lips hard against mine. I pushed away hard. Within moments Tyler was between us.
“Don’t be scared Princess,” Jesse snarled.
Tyler took a step closer towards Jesse, but he had left on hand planted on mine. “If you ever touch her again...”
Jesse let out a laugh. “What are you going to do to me pretty boy?”
“I’m warning you Jesse,” Tyler firmly said.
Another laugh “You’re amusing. Really you are...I would have never thought an angel such as yourself could be so serious.”
“An-A...” I stuttered,
“Don’t be so modest pretty, we aren’t stupid. We know exactly what he is.”
“We?” Tyler questioned.
“Oops did I let that slip out?” Jesse snickered.
“Who’s ‘we’?” Tyler pushed.
“Sorry my lips are sealed.”
“Jesse,” I whispered.
He rolled his eyes, the way a boy would when they didn’t care. My gut twisted, Jesse would never act that way. Then as if the simple talking was getting too boring, Jesse began to scream. It was a deafening scream, an ear bleeding howl that sent my hands flying towards my head. The scream was soon followed by a stomach hurling crack. I peeked through the slits of my shut eyes, Jesse’s body was suddenly bent backwards, his eyes wide open staring at me, and his back arched in a way that a human shouldn’t be arched in. Tyler quickly threw his chest against my head, trying to hide the horrific scene.
The screaming continued though. The cracking also continued. I shook my head trying to drown out the noises with the sounds of moving air. But nothing worked.
“Shh...” Tyler whispered. “Ignore it.”
I felt his arms tighten around me, his chin on my shoulder. “What’s happening to him?” I whimpered.
He didn’t say anything; instead his hand rubbed my back trying to comfort me. I blessed him for trying yet the sounds behind the Angel was continuing.
“L-Lucia...” Jesse hissed. Except it wasn’t his voice that escaped, it was a menacing howl, a cry of a creature. “L-Lucia!”
“Ignore it, ignore it!” Tyler whispered.
So I did. I tried with all my will not to cuss at the foreign voice.
“Hiding behind an Angel, white and perfect as snow; the daughter of the devil has nowhere else to go.”
Tears were beginning to stream down my face as the stranger continued to sing. The voice blended together against the steam of the room. Soon the space was filled with a million voices, high ones and low ones; sopranos and altos. I could even hear the ringing of children’s singsong voices.
“Mama died and daddy isn’t here. No place to cry in a world filled with fear.”
Make it stop. Make it stop.
“Lucia don’t scream, don’t say a word. No one wants to love a devil girl.”
Make it stop! Make it stop!!
“Hiding behind an Angel, with eyes so blue; Lucia you can’t hide there, he doesn’t care for you.”
“Tyler...” I whimpered. “Make it stop.”
Tyler began to rock back and forth. His steady breathing was making his chest expand against me. I hid my face in the crock of his arm; my forehead against his stern shoulder.
“Lucia can’t hide in the arms of a god. You belong in hell, you deserve to rot!”
My tears were no longer falling pearls, now they were streaming with such anger and rush. I wasn’t sure if I was crying because of the child-like chant. There was no use crying for such juvenile words. But the fear of knowing where these words were coming from, that tickled my fright.
“Hiding behind an Angel, white and perfect as snow; the daughter of the devil has nowhere else to go! Hiding behind an Angel, with eyes so blue! Your Jesse’s gone Lucia, he doesn’t care for you!! Doesn’t care for you! Doesn’t care for you! Doesn’t care for you...”
“Stop,” I quietly whimpered. “Stop, stop.” Soon my pleas became louder.
“Shh..” Tyler hushed.
“Stop, stop!”
Jesse continued to sing, his voice filled with a gay sound. Like a child he took a gingerly step towards Tyler and me, his lips never quivering as he repeated the last four words of his rhyme. “He doesn’t care for you...”
With half courage and half fear, I inched my face upwards my eyes peeking through the protective arm of the Angel. My gaze caught Jesse’s. His rhyme stopped and his lips curled into a seductive smile. “If you hadn’t push me away earlier,” he whispered. “I would have done awful things to you.”