Jaiden sat in the living room, as it grew dark. He didn't know what to do. He had just commited a crime he would never be forgiven. He had slaughtered his parents. Then he had drank their blood. He hated himself for it. He had foolishly let himself be possessed by his inner demon. He was weak and couldn't stand up to it.
He looked up at the clock, watching the minutes tick away. The church would come back when they realized his parents weren't coming. Damien would be here first. Then there was Mike and Selene. They were after him too. Jaiden fisted his hair and held his breath. If he were to die now, he would never find peace. God wouldn't help him. He began to doubt if there was a God. He had never believed in one before, why start now?
The door burst open and Selene ran in. She took one look at the bodies and Jaiden sitting beside them. She immediatly knew what had happened. The angry look she wore washed away, and she looked down on him softly.
"The demon is gone I see,"She said softly."Did you defeat it?"
"No,"Jaiden whispered."It just left after...after....."Jaiden couldn't bring himself to finish.
"I know what happened. It's not your fault."
"How?"
"The demon race is hard to control. It was so even for the great demon hunters."
She walked over to Jaiden and knelt beside him, placing her hand on his shoulder. He shoved her hand away and stood.
"Is your friend okay?"He asked, trying not to seem rude.
"Jerod will be fine."
"I'm sorry about....what I did."
"The important thing is you're no longer that evil creature. Will you come back to Mike's house with me?"
"Why?"
"We have some explaining to do. We knew of this inner demon, but Mike thought it best not to tell you."
"WHAT!?"Jaiden exploded."YOU KNEW AND DIDN'T TELL ME!? I COULD HAVE PREVENTED THIS! MY PARENTS COULD STILL BE ALIVE!"
"Calm down Jaiden. If you knew, it wouldn't keep the demon away. The more you focus on it, the more chance it has of resurfacing. We hoped it would never surface."
Jaiden suddenly remembered something."What is 'the gift'?"He asked not looking at her.
"What?"
"The demon kept talking about giving me a 'gift'. What gift?"
"I'm not sure,"Selene said, looking puzzled." We'll have to ask Mike."
The door opened again as Damien walked in with his sister, Navlyn, and Christine. A scream erupted from Christine's throat. Damien, like his sister, stood frozen staring at the bloody bodies. Jaiden stared at the floor. He didn't want to admit what he'd done.
"Jaiden, w-what happened?"Damien asked.
Jaiden didn't answer."Did you do this?"
Jaiden stood there frozen. 'Did you do this?' The words rang in his head. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He turned to leave the house. Damien reached out and caught his arm.
"Mike told us everything. Why didn't you?"
No response.
"Jaiden, i'm your best friend. You can trust me. You can trust all of us. If need our help, we're here for you man."
"I killed them."Jaiden said.
"Mike told us you might. He told us about Desilus, Simon and his church, about that demon in you."Damien paused."It's okay."
"Okay? Damien, do you not see what I just did? I killed my own parents!"
"It wasn't you. Jaiden would never."Navlyn said in a small voice.
Jaiden sighed heavily."If you knew I was did this, why did you come here?"
"'Cause we're your friends."Damien said defiantly.
Jaiden gave a small smile."Your right,"He looked at him,"Thanks. I appreciate it."
"We should get your things Jaiden."Christine said.
"Your right. Since my parents won't be at the church, they'll come here. We need to hurry."
They hurried upstairs to Jaiden's room. To his surprise, nothing had been touched. He walked in, feeling slightly better at the sight of the black walls covered in posters.
"Okay, let's get busy."Damien said, clapping his hands.
He went over to Jaiden's closet and took out boxes and a big duffle bag. He tossed them to every one.
"Start packing guys. We don't have much time."
Jaiden went to his dresser and started stuffing his clothes in the duffle bag. He tried to keep his mind on his task, but his mind kept wandering. He kept thinking back to Desilus' warning. 'Someone will betray you.' Who could it possibly be? One his friends who were with him now? No, it couldn't be. He trusted them with his life. They would never betray him. He was sure of it. Jaiden tried to shove the thoughts away as he packed the duffle bag with a mass of black clothes.
He looked around at the others. Navlyn was carefully taking his posters off the walls, examining them with approval as she did. Selene was stripping his bed, folding the sheets and blankets and placing them in a box. Damien was unhooking his stereo and t.v. with Christine hovering over him, complaining Jaiden didn't need them.
"I have been his best bud since pre-k! I know for a fact he can't live with out this stuff!"
Jaiden smiled at the scene. He was absolutley sure that none of them would ever betray him. Soon, the boxes were stacked at the doorway, filled with posters, cd's, books, clothes, and( to Christine's disapproval ) his stereo. Jaiden took a deep breath at the sight. He was leaving his home, and he was never coming back.
"Thanks alot you guys."He said.
"It's no problem."Navlyn smiled.
For the first time, Jaiden saw how much she had changed from the little girl he and Damien would make fun of at school. It was funny, she was never really little. She was only a year younger than him. No matter how much he hurt her, she would never look down on him. As far as he could remember, she had never been mad at him. He had figured she had a crush on him when he left the school for home tutoring.
That was the day she had admitted it to him. He was waiting after school for his parents. She had come up shyly, tapping him on the shoulder. She had blond hair then. She had smiled up at him and said in a small voice,' I really like you.' He had turned red, unable to respond. He had never imagined she liked him. His mother and father had always told him to avoid making friends. Damien had bust out laughing. His younger sister liked his best friend.
Now, in his moment of need, she had decended and offered a helping hand. Jaiden realized she still must like him. Only, she was no longer the shy little girl with blond hair. She was Navlyn Cross. She had black and blue hair. She no longer stood in the background in her older brothers shadow, she stood out. She was her and she still liked him even though he had stood there that day. Even though he did nothing to stop the embarassment her older brother caused her, for the tears that welled up in her eyes as her deepest secret lay exposed for the world to kick.
"I need to check something before we leave."Jaiden said suddenly.
He headed down the hall to his parents room. After that day, he had thought for hours what to get Navlyn as his apology. He had felt terrible that Damien laughed as she cried and he just stood there. When he had confided in his parents the gift, they had taken it away and he never saw it again. They were afraid he would make friends.
Jaiden opned the door to the room. It ws cool and dark. He flipped on the light and looked around. The bed was perfectly made and the floor was spotless. His mother's handywork. He crossed to the dresser which held a small, sleek oak jewlery box. Jaiden lifted the lid and took out a single necklace. He hadn't seen it since that day. It was a silver chain which held a black raven with silver eyes. In it's talons, he had engraved Navlyn's name on the once smooth, silver heart it held. He pocketed it and returned to his room.
"Ready to go?"He asked.
"Yep. I've been ready."Damien said, getting up from Jaiden's bare bed.
Every one picked up a box and headed out to Damien's van. He had borrowed it from his uncle Deacon. When every one left, Jaiden pulled out the necklace.
"Navlyn, wait a minute."
She stopped and turned, setting the box down."Did you forget something?"
"No...uh...actually, I have something for you."
He handed her the necklace."Thank you."She said, admiring it.
"It used to be mine. I never took it off."
"It has my name on it."She noticed.
"Yeah...um...that's because I put it there. When I left school, I felt bad for laughing when you told me you..uh..you liked me. So I wanted to get you a present."
"It's beautiful."She said, smiling at him fondly.
"Yeah. Unfortunately, I never got a chance to give it to you."
"I'm glad you did,"She put it on."I still like you alot Jaiden. I always will."
"I don't see how you can. I can barely stand myself."He said grudgingly.
"It's only because you don't know yourself."
With those words, she picked up her box and left. Jaiden stood there for a minute. He wondered if that was true. If he really didn't know himself. He went back downstairs, forcing himself not to look at the mutilated bodies that were once his parents. He inhaled a deep breath of air when he reached outside. It was so good to get away from his house. Away from the memories that were freshly implanted. The new and the old.
He climbed in the van and slammed the door behind him. The van was slightly cramped with them and his stuff. He blushed as he was cramped beside Navlyn, who was inspecting her new necklace. A stale smell lingered in the van, making Jaiden regret the ability to breathe. The van rumbled down a bumpy road, pushing Jaiden even more close to Navlyn. After what seemed like forever, the van finally pulled to a halt in front of Mike's house. Jaiden gratefully jumped out and stood to the side as the others climbed out after him. They grabbed his stuff, leaving him with nothing to carry. Feeling useless, he walked up the stairs onto the porch.
He stopped and saw the blood stains were still on the porch from his earlier encounter with Jerod. Jaiden hoped desperately Jerod wasn't here and that nobody mentioned the encounter. Taking a deep breath, he walked in the house. The inside looked as it did before, except for more blood on the carpet. Mike noticed Jaiden and walked over to him. Mike examined his face. After a few minutes, he smiled.
"Glad to have the real Jaiden again."
"Yeah."Jaiden said akwardly.
Navlyn sensed his discomfort and said,"How about we unpack now?"
"Sure."Damien said, climbing to his feet.
"I can do it myself."Jaiden said quickly.
"We can help-"
"No really. I can do it."Jaiden said, hurrying over and picking up a box.
They all shot him a questioning look."Okay Jaiden. We'll see you tomorrow."Navlyn said.
Jaiden said goodbye as they walked past him out the door. Navlyn gave him an 'are-you-okay-because-you-don't-look-it' look. Jaiden looked away, pretending not to notice.
When they left, Jaiden ignored Mike's look also, picked up a box, and headed upstairs to his room. He set the box down and noticed a dresser had been added, courtesy of Mike. Jaiden was happy to have work. It was something to take his mind off of the day. With shaky hands, he opened the box and began putting his clothes in the dresser.
He tried to busy himself, folding and unfolding the clothes, trying to make them perfect, but his mind still somehow wandered back to the vivid picture of his parent's bloody bodies. He couldn't stop the anger at himself, and he picked up his clothes and threw them against the wall. Fists clenched, Jaiden stared at the new mess he'd made. He sighed and sat down by the bed, head in his hands. Anger would get him nowhere, only help the demon resurface. He leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling.
Grief for his dead parents, even for Jon and Chris, overtook him suddenly. Tears ran down his cheeks. Silent tears, filled with the sobs he wouldn't let out. Hot tears that left wet trails on face. He wiped his face with his hand. He saw a red smudge on his hand. He ran his other hand across his eyes. More red smudges. He got up quickly and ran to the bathroom. He looked in the mirror in disbelief. He was crying tears of blood. Blood! How was this possible!? Jaiden couldn't even think. The reality of blood tears was to much. He turned on the hot water and splahed it on his face.
"What are you?"He asked, looking at himself in the mirror.
He couldn't believe this. He hung his head, watching red tinted water get sucked down the drain. He couldn't get rid of the hollow grief he felt. He was suddenly over come by a wave of nausea and vomited in the sink. He sank to his knees, clutching his stomach. He needed a doctor, but couldn't risk going to one.
"No, I don't need a doctor,"He said to himself,"I need a shrink."
He got to his shakey knees, and went back to his room. He returned to his work, placing clothes in the dresser. He was busy hooking up his stereo when Mike knocked on his door. Jaiden didn't even answer. Mike opened the door and stood in the doorway. He looked at Jaiden with pity in his face.
"I should have told you."Mike said quietly.
"I wouldn't have believed you."
"Yes you would have. I should have told you everything, but I was afraid it was too soon."
"Too soon? What, did you want to see if the demon was real first? Did you want to see it in action before you told me what was going on?"Jaiden stood, looking at MIke."You were supposed to help me, not let me go on my own."
"I know. Selene told me the demon gave you your gift. Do you still want to know what it is?"
"Yes, I do."
"Come down stairs."
Jaiden followed Mike downstairs. He sat at the end of the couch as far from Mike as he could, while Mike sat at the other end. Mike opened his mouth, hesitated, and closed it.
"Out with it!"Jaiden snapped.
"Your gift...is the ability to....to kill."
"To kill? What do you mean?"
"This."Mike tossed him a book.
Jaiden examined the title."Human vessels? What does this-"
"Read page fifty-six aloud."
Jaiden flipped to page fifty-six. A black and white picture stared up at him. It was a rough sketch of a small boy who's shadow was a demon. The boy's hand was outstretched to a dead body. At the bottom it read, The Touch Of Death Is The Touch Of The Blood.
Jaiden began to read.
"A gift passed from demon to vessel is the touch of death. The forbidden touch kills anything which holds life. The souls are then given to the leader demon who controls the vessel. It is a touch dreaded and kept locked away. A last resort in battle. It binds with the weilders birth power."
Jaiden looked over at Mike."I kill people when I touch them?"
"Unfortunatley. I'm sorry Jaiden. I really am. I-"
"No,"Jaiden said, standing."I won't accept this. I won't."He headed toward the door.
"Where are you going?"
"It's about time that damned church realizes what they've put me through."
"No Jaiden. Wait-"
"Sit down Mike."Jaiden said in a deathly calm voice. Mike saw the blood color was returning to his eyes.
Against his will, an invisible force pushed Mike down on the couch. Jaiden stared at him for a minute before turning away and heading out into the night.
Mike closed his eyes."It's beginning." |
Submission Name: desilus chapter 6
