Chapter 9. Demons.
The snowflakes fell softly, like butterflies fluttering in the wind, gently placing themselves on Callie's pale cheeks and dark lashes. Her ice blue eyes closed as she let herself embrace the cold and feel at peace for the first time in a long time. The wind caressed her cool skin, whispering to her.
"Freedom," it seemed to say, it's seducing voice like silk. It left a bittersweet taste lingering in her mouth. "So close..."
Her eyes opened as she let out a breath, her lungs desperate for oxygen. Her chest tightened immediately and her eyes widened when she realized that there was no need for that. She was perfectly fine, yet choking and spluttering all in the same instant. Everything was so real and tangible. She felt so feeble and weak, really and truly weak, for the first time in her entire life.
This was her Hell.
The snowflakes fell faster now, materializing from nothing as they rapidly rained down out of the dark abyss from above. Callie couldn't make out the beautiful clear sky she had admired only moments before. She knew better than giving up and backing down from a challenge. Bracing her face with her arms, she braved the storm.
The sudden flurry attacked from all angles to get to the small, fragile little girl. Callie fought the feeling of fear building inside of her and forced herself to march on, feeling as though she'd been walking for hours and in return getting absolutely nowhere. The wind licked her face, turning it ice cold, along with her lungs, her heart, her soul. Her arms went limp. Callie finally dropped to her knees as she succumbed to the cold darkness.
"Good, Callie," an eerie, inhuman voice called to her. "Yes, that's right. Let go. Be free."
Her eyes opened just slightly for a moment. Appearing in her fingers, materializing from nothing but cold air and pitch black evil, was a slick, sharp little dagger.
"Free..." The wind carried the words soothingly into her ears again. "You want it."
She gripped the weapon tightly and closed her eyes, lost in a trance as the soothing voice hypnotized the girl. She didn't want to fight it. Looking at her reflection in the tiny blade, she saw a person looking back that she didn't recognize. In the midst of all of the chaos around her, she saw the person clear as day, and that person was not Callie. It was a sinister, dark version of what she used to be.
"You know you do!"
Her mouth opened, but no words came out. Tears formed in her eyes, but the girl in the blade's eyes were perfectly clear; the only thing off about her eyes was the cloudy glimmer of some ominous force. Callie shuddered violently before raising her arms, the dagger aiming downwards.
"No!" another voice called to her, one that she hadn't heard before, yet it was so familiar. It was almost calming. She blinked, unable to speak. It didn't belong to the Voice that called out to her earlier, promising her great, great things. It was rough, anxious, desperate.
Her eyes were wild with anticipation and fear as she was about to thrust the knife into the soft flesh of her belly when they locked with the reflection of the blade for the last time. The girl was gone, and a new set of eyes were boring into hers. Soft honey, light and caring. They paralyzed her. As she continued to stare a sorry, strangled noise came from her throat.
"No. No, don't listen to him. You want it! Do it!"
She shook her head, still unable to fully communicate. The dagger wavered in her grasp, but she couldn't release it. Callie let her tears spill down her face and soak into the snow piling up beneath her. Her sobs were soundless.
"Do it. Do it. Do it!"
"No!" She wanted to scream, but it was too late. Her arms swung down. Both voices were now silent and the flurry had now ceased.
In slow motion, Callie fell back into the white blanket of snow, red-black blood pooling around her innocent, withering frame. Her icy eyes were dull and lifeless as she struggled to breathe her last breath.
"NO!"
Shooting upright, Callie panted heavily, completely tangled up in a messy pile of sheets and pillows. "Oh, God." She rubbed her face with her palms, willing herself to forget the horrible, disturbing nightmare.
After a few moments of regaining her motor skills and thought process, she surveyed the dark, dusty little room. Looking down, she found Kalen sprawled out on the floor just a few inches from where she lay, remembering how he passed out hours before. The kid had no will power. At the first chance after the boy fell unconscious, she graciously took the bed with a smug, devious half smile. Unbeknownst to her, Kalen didn't mind simply giving her the bed in the first place--not that he would've said so in such a straightforward manner. He'd let her believe it was all her idea, of course.
Now all she wanted was to get out of the comfort of the lonesome bed. Anything was better than there at that moment. Pulling off the sheets, which were damp with her sweat, she idly thought about how much she hated being able to feel and sweat and panic like she had. Being dead had absolutely no perks, she thought cynically.
Her feet lingered on the side of the bed while she closed her eyes and pulled herself into her own little world, only to find that the dark, inhuman voice was still there, lurking in the back of her mind.
A sob caught in her throat as she quickly swiped away tears forming again in her eyes with her knuckles. Not wanting to be alone any more, she made her way down to Kalen and crawled under the covers with him on top of the shaggy floor. His warm body sent waves of contentment through her. Right then she felt so safe, so at home.
In his deep slumber, unaware of his surroundings or actions, he lazily draped his arm around the surprised redhead at his side and held her close. Her eyes went wide at first, then she felt more at peace after a moment or two, realizing that it felt almost—dare she think it—nice. Sighing, she nestled in closer to the boy, reveling in the warmth that radiated from him. His arm locked her in to him tighter, and at that moment she didn't mind one bit. In a matter of minutes Callie was fast asleep, hugging Kalen close, no trace of nightmares, ghouls or monsters, never wanting to let go.
That following morning Kalen woke up from possibly the best sleep he'd ever gotten, even if it was on his hard, dirty bedroom floor. Smiling, he sat up to stretch but found that he was being weighed down. Opening his eyes to the dim light he saw Callie cuddled up beside him, her arms wrapped protectively around his torso and her head buried in his chest.
His eyes softened at the sight. He felt his heart thud at an alarming pace as he took in the sight of her. She seemed so peaceful, so angelic—so unlike her normal self. His smile grew tenfold as he hesitantly reached out to her sleeping form and gently brushed her messy scarlet curls behind her ear. In her sleep she murmured something incomprehensible to Kalen, causing him to hesitate for a moment, but eventually he surmised that she was still dreaming and went back to methodically stroking the side of Callie's soft cheek.
He wasn't sure what'd come over him, maybe it was the fact that a member of the female species was laying with him, snuggled up in him for the first time in his life. Maybe it was the vulnerable, congenial way Callie looked as she held him, like he was her protector. At that instant she was remarkably beautiful in his eyes, even more so than before.
As if she felt his eyes as he studied her shamelessly, she slowly began to wake. Immediately Kalen untangled his fingers from her hair and rested them awkwardly by his sides, not knowing what else to do.
"Kalen? What the?" She sat upright, her voice was confused and weary. Her hair stuck to parts of her face, yet Kalen still found himself staring in spite of himself. All at once memories from last night hit Callie like a ton of bricks. "Oh," was all she could think to say.
"Er, good morning?" Kalen offered, forcibly making himself look away from Callie, never expecting the task to be so difficult. What the hell was happening to him?
In the blink of an eye she scrambled to her feet and began straightening herself out. Each teen looked away from the other, fighting the awkward, unexplainable blush creeping onto their faces.
"Nightmares," was all the explanation Callie offered as to why they'd woken up in such an outlandish manner.
Kalen nodded his head, though Callie didn't notice as she still averted her eyes from his. "Gotcha."
"Okay," she continued on after several more beats, feeling slightly more at ease. Now they could at least look at each other. "So, I had some time to think last night. Don't you think that things have been a little, I don't know, weird?"
"Weird? Callie, we died yesterday. Yeah, I would call that a little weird."
"That's not what I mean, Kalen. Didn't you listen to the warning? We are supposed to be facing all of these tests and extreme obstacles. Well, where are they?" Callie huffed, starting to get irritated.
"Huh," Kalen said vaguely, now beginning to understand what she was getting at. "Well, he didn't say it would all happen at once. Maybe time moves differently for us or something? It's not as if we don't have all of the time in the world now." Callie rolled her eyes, obviously frustrated.
"True. I guess I just expected...more."
"So, you're telling me that you want to be fighting for your life right now? You'd rather be facing some unforeseen monster than here, safe in this room?" Kalen didn't bother to hide the notes of disbelief in his voice.
"No," Callie deadpanned, shrugging her shoulders. She started pacing across the small room. "I would just rather be fighting to get out of this place than sitting around and doing nothing all day."
"I get that. But, what are we supposed to do about it? We are completely alone here, Callie." Kalen stood up with her and crossed his arms, perplexed.
"How about we start by leaving this apartment?"
"That's probably the best idea you've ever had." Kalen wasn't thrilled about going back out into the real world, considering what had happened the previous day with the electric wires, but he was relieved to be leaving this hell-hole he called home.
She grinned in reply, seeming almost satisfied. "But," Kalen added more sternly now. "We have to stay together this time. Got it?" Callie's smile diminished, not appreciating his authoritative tone of voice. He may have been right, but that doesn't mean she's going to be treated like a dog.
"Excuse me, but who the hell died and made you king?" Kalen looked surprisingly sheepish for a moment.
"You know I'm right, Callie."
"Yeah, that doesn't mean I have to like it." Before he could say another word, Callie had already begun to walk away. "Come on, let's get a move on." Kalen begrudgingly followed slowly behind the stubborn girl, biting his tongue and refraining from snapping back at her.
"We don't have all damn day, you know," Callie called over her shoulder.
"I'm coming. Chill out, Red." Callie's eye seemed to twitch suddenly, causing Kalen to smirk evilly. She stopped short mid-stride, frozen with rage. Kalen breezed past her into the hallway.
"You. Did. Not. Just. Call. Me—" She began through clenched teeth. He cut her off, his grin never faltering.
"Hey, no time to waste, right? Let's get a move on!" Smiling with victory, he watched as she closed her mouth and frigidly walked to him, trying so hard to keep her cool.
Good, he mused, she could use a taste of her own medicine. He chuckled to himself, feeling satisfied with her reaction.
"Come on," she grumbled lowly as they made their way out of the apartment and down the stairwell. Kalen skipped smugly along with her, savoring every minute of this momentary shift of power because he knew it wouldn't last long.
They made it outside without any trouble, and Callie finally began to calm down a little, breathing in the crisp, fresh spring air. The sky was bright blue, but off in the distance dark clouds threatened to make their way overhead. The wind was picking up and caused the surrounding trees to shake violently in its wake. Though it breezed easily through the two, Callie instinctually wrapped her arms around herself.
"So, where are we going to start, since you seem to know everything?" Kalen asked as they pressed on down a sidewalk aimlessly.
"I don't believe I said I knew everything, smart-ass," Callie bit venomously. "God, you're so difficult."
"I'm difficult? Really? You're the most ridiculous, overbearing person I've ever met!"
"Excuse me? You're the one who's so secretive about his life and thinks he is so much better than all of this!"
They kept walking on, only focusing on only each other and completely oblivious to their surroundings. The people they shared the sidewalk with seemed to just phase right through them, though in their heated conversation neither of them even noticed.
"You wanna talk about being closed off and secretive? You're so delusional, you know that? It's infuriating."
"Ow!" a voice that didn't belong to Kalen or Callie cried out. They put an end to their argument momentarily to figure out what had just happened. "Oh, excuse me."
A young blonde girl stood before them, her hands linked with a little boy who couldn't be more than eight or nine. Both of the strangers' faces were just as perplexed as Callie's and Kalen's as they realized one thing: They could see each other. They were conversing with one another.
"Holy crap," Callie gasped as more people phased through the frozen four.
"Wow," the girl also whispered in amazement. The boys both remained quiet.
The awkwardness of the entire situation was almost palpable, though no one knew how to break the uneasy silence. Then the fair-haired girl's eyes rolled up suddenly, and then she unexpectedly fainted before them, and that was the end of that.