Dancing With Monsters (8 page)

Ben looked up at me. Our faces were
close again, close enough for a kiss. Caught in that awkward
position again, I pulled back. I barely knew him, but why did I
feel so close to him, like I was connected somehow?

Ben cleared his throat. “Alright,
newbie,” he smiled. “Just listen, and I’ll explain everything to
you.”

Ben flipped the pages filled with
colorful pictures showing landscapes of jagged mountains, brilliant
skies and fields filled with wildflowers of rolling hills. Each one
came to life with movement as he turned each page.

“
You see, guardian angels
made a realm for themselves and the ones they chose to protect.
Sanctuary is a secure place guarded by angels, ran by angels, and
made by angels. By me giving Yolanda my serum, we will get to go
here and live out our lives.” He shut the book that showed the last
picture of a waterfall surrounded by a lush forest and colorful
flowers. As he did, I caught the sweet scent of those flowers and
even a faint mist of the rushing waterfall. “And demons can never
penetrate the pristine lands of sanctuary. Our earthly woes can’t
follow us there.” He looked at me with his brown eyes that nearly
matched the rocks around the waterfall in the picture book about
sanctuary. Again, I was pulled closer to Ben, and again, I pulled
away.

“
Yeah, but will Yolanda
come back?” I asked crossing my arms. “You already gave her the
recipe for the serum. She has what she wanted, so why would she
come back for us?”

“
Because she’s a guardian
angel of earth, and once an angel makes a promise, that promise is
always fulfilled.”

I nodded my head, and shifted my eyes
back to Ben. Who was more gullible, me or him?

“
Really, Yolanda is true
to her word.” Ben defended himself from my uncertain gaze. “If she
doesn’t come back, then something terrible happened to her.” He
jumped up and put the book back on the shelf.

“
You mean get killed? Can
angels die?” I asked.

“
No, not die like in the
way of humans. Humans have souls, angels are powerful entities and
once that power is gone, so are they.” He grabbed his coat and
threw a grey sweatshirt at me. “Come on, it’s time to test out any
monster abilities you might have.”

“
What?” I stood up as Ben
went out the door.

I put on the jacket and followed him
outside, but he was nowhere in sight. It was like he vanished into
thin air. I called out his name and my voice echoed back at me. The
air was cool, but the sun warmed my back as I walked out farther
into his front yard. I called his name again only to have the
cawing of several blackbirds answer me.

I was getting frustrated with the game
he was playing when suddenly, I felt a twinge inside of me.
Something invisible to my eyes towered over me. I felt it like the
sun had been covered by a dark cloud, and the warm rays cut off by
whatever hovered behind me. I turned around quickly hoping to catch
it off guard, but there was nothing there.

My breath fogged in front of me as the
air chilled even though the sun was out in full warming the autumn
landscape. It had to be a demon.

A gust of wind swiftly went through
the trees disturbing the crows that were enjoying the warm
sunshine. I twirled around watching the squawking birds fly
away.

“
Coffee?” A voice asked
behind me as I turned and smacked the cup from Ben’s hand with a
swift kick of my foot.

It flew through the air as Ben
disappeared in a flash, caught the cup and held it out in front of
me. I stood with gaping mouth as he smiled at me.

“
If you don’t like coffee,
I have tea inside.” He took a sip from his cup. “Good thing I put a
secure lid on it.” I gingerly took the white Styrofoam cup from
him. “Hurry and drink it before it gets cold. The Java Hut makes
the best coffee I’ve ever tasted.”

“
You…How…” I shook my
head.

“
April, we both know I can
move fast. You shouldn’t be so amazed,” he said in a teasing
voice.

“
I know, I know, but it’s
not that.” I glanced all around. “Something was here.”

Ben looked around and then took in a
deep breath. “There is nothing here but you and me. The protection
spell is strong, I can sense it.”

“
No,” I pressed my
concern. “Something was here, and I felt it.”

Ben wasn’t as shaken up as me, and
that bothered me. He was use to and understood the things that have
haunted me since I could retain memories. The things that went bump
in the night didn’t faze him, but they still made goose bumps run
up and down my arms.

“
You may have sensed
something, but the demons can’t get you through the spell.” He took
the last sip of his coffee. “I know what you need.” Ben pointed his
finger at me and went inside the house.

“
What?” I asked following
him. “How do you know and what is it?”

Ben opened the closet and pulled out a
wicker basket filled with hats and gloves.

“
You’ll need these to
protect your skin from the air.” He tossed me a black ski mask and
a pair of leather gloves. “Yolanda left those gloves here last
time, and I keep forgetting to give them back to her.” He motioned
with his eyes at the soft, black, leather gloves.

They were feather-light, and soft,
like a baby’s blanket.

“
I’ve become accustomed to
the extremities of temperature when traveling as efficiently as I
do.” Ben smiled. “It’s important for you to keep all of your skin
covered for now.”

“
You mean I can run as
fast as you?”

He laughed as we went out the door.
“Well, you can kick like a mule so we’ll see what you can do, but,”
he locked the door, “any monster can develop any of their abilities
with a little instruction and a lot of practice.”

We went to a barren field nestled
between tree-lined gullies. It was covered in short grass and
outlined with a hotwired fence. The field was on a hill and
overlooked the blue-grey waters of the Mississippi.

“
Is this your ground or
are we trespassing?” I asked pointing to the sign that clearly
stated no trespassing and all who do would be
prosecuted.

Ben glanced at the sign that hung
crookedly on the tall hedge post, and was weathered with red
letters turned pink and black ones turned grey. But it was still
readable, and I didn’t want to get caught by the owner.

“
No, this isn’t my land,
but the person who owns it won’t even know we are here.” He grinned
with a raise of his eyebrows. “We’ll be moving too fast for anyone
to see us, and besides, no one is out here this time of
year.”

Ben had me do short sprints to warm up
as a light rain began to fall and mist clouded the tops of the
trees. The temperature was dropping making me shiver. But Ben
didn’t stop; he didn’t seem bothered by the cold.

“
How am I supposed to run
as fast as you?” I spat through chattering teeth. “There is no way
I can possibly run like that.”

Ben stepped in front of me with the
grey sky framed behind him. Rain delicately hit the ground in large
drops as he gently lifted my arm and exposed my mark.

“
This says otherwise.” I
looked at it then at Ben. “You are making your own obstacles, April
Snow. You shouldn’t do that. They will only get in the
way.”

I gave him a confused look.

“
Making my own obstacles?”
I questioned.

“
Come on, our lesson isn’t
over.”

Ben sprinted up a steep hill with me
panting behind him. Rain began to steadily fall from the sky and my
breath fogged in front of me. I was soaked, cold, and
miserable.

“
To help you out,” he
said, gazing down the slope of hill. “We will use this incline to
assist in your speed.”

“
Assist in me rolling down
the hill—isn’t that what you mean?”

Ben smiled. “Sense of humor…all the
better.”

“
This time you won’t be
running like a human, but like a monster. The strength is in your
mark and the more you use it, the more it will become a part of
you.”

Ben had me stare at my mark until I
had its pattern memorized. Then with my eyes closed, I pictured my
mark in my head. I always thought of it as ugly, until now. It was
really a beautiful thing with its pencil-thin lines swirling on my
skin. My hexmark, I felt, was a permanent reminder of my traumatic
childhood. Now, I thought different.

The black color contrasted with my
pale skin. Swirling lines curled and intersected around one another
like an artist had designed them. I felt those markings reaching
into me. I suddenly realized I had a direction, a path, a course
that had opened like a giant iron gate squeaking at the hinges as
it did. With so many possibilities rushing through my mind, I felt
my head was a churning sea of memories, dreams, and fears that
collided between my past and future.

Rain stung my face, and my hair flew
behind me as I ran down the hill, through the pasture ground, over
a fence until I came to a rock bottom creek. I heard Ben calling
for me, but I didn’t want to stop. Instead, I jig-jogged through
the creek strategically placing my feet on protruding rocks so I
wouldn’t get my feet wet. I ran as fast as Ben had gone through the
forest when he found me, and it felt wonderful.

I didn’t feel tired or exhausted or
even freaked out. It felt natural—a natural that I never thought I
could feel.

Trees, fences, rocks, didn’t flash by
in blurs, but were highly detailed. I could see them as if I was on
a slow stroll admiring every nook and cranny of nature. I smiled at
myself feeling I was on top of the world when I thought I would
impress Ben, who was still yelling at me to stop. I propelled
myself up the steep bank of the creek, and then slowed. It would
have been perfect if it wasn’t for the unexpected large oak tree
waiting for me at the top.

“
April!” Ben
yelled.

I couldn’t stop in time, and knew I
was going to hit it when I thought—why not climb it. With hands
outstretched, and one giant leap, I reached out for a low limb and
swung around like an athlete swinging on the uneven bars. I twirled
around and landed with my feet firmly planted on the crooked limb.
I stood overlooking the pasture ground in the distance as my head
and heart slowed its pace. My skin burned from the rain and cold,
but I didn’t care how much my body hurt, because I was
alive.

“
April Snow,” said a
wide-eyed Ben. “You could have killed yourself!”

Still feeling the rush I had felt, I
smiled at him.

“
Yeah, but I didn’t.” I
bent my legs at the knees and jumped from the limb to the ground
below. “That was amazing!”

He shook his head. “Just because you
have the ability doesn’t mean you are immune to getting hurt. One
wrong move could have been disastrous.” He grabbed me by the
shoulders, and gazed at me with his brown eyes that erupted with
flecks of green that matched the green grass that still clung to
life before winter set in. “Do you understand me, fledging?” His
voice was stern, and my arrogant smile faded.

His eyes searched mine for an answer,
and at that moment I realized something. Ben cared for me, and I
mean truly cared for me. We barely knew each other, but the amount
of time that was required to know and care for each other, was
replaced by who we were. We were both monsters, and that was the
only tie we needed.

“
Why do you call me that?
Fledging—what is it?” Ben had called me that a few times
before.

“
Because that’s what you
are—a young bird that has just left the nest and still needs
guidance so they don’t get decapitated when running ahead of their
guardian who was trying to catch up to them.” His eyes widened with
a slight amount of concerned anger.

I couldn’t help but to smile. “So, I
can run faster than you?”

He wrapped his arm around me with a
crooked smile as we walked towards home with the grey sky gently
rumbling overhead.

“
You won’t be for long if
you don’t watch where you are going.”

Seth

Ayil’s home was a two-story white
house that blended in with the rest of the homes here. It looked
like they were all built at the same time as they were similar in
design. Large oak trees lined the street and hovered over a few
cars parked along curb. This was a sleepy town, which I could
guess, nothing eventful ever happened here—a perfect place to
traffic their serum.

“
Please, make yourselves
at home,” Ayil said, as she tossed her keys to a small table just
inside the door. “Is this your first time to the human world?” She
asked making sure the door was locked behind us.

“
Yes, and I can’t believe
how much it resembles Iethia.” Nessa quickly replied.

“
You know my uncle, and
you know what we are seeking after?” I asked as Ayil motioned for
us to sit. “You understand the importance of our
mission?”

“
You don’t have to be so
under-cover-agent, I know you are trying to find out who is
distributing the serum—I worked with your uncle for many years. We
are safe here with no one else listening in.” Ayil sat down on the
couch just as a large cat jumped from the floor to her lap. “Well,
I guess there is one, but she can’t understand what we say.” She
stroked the calico cat as its green eyes formed slits and it began
to purr.