Forsaken (14 page)

The blue-eyed council members just
shook their heads. How could they do this to me? They knew this was
unjust, that they were just wasting their time. They knew
everything that was happening up there.

Not caring about anything I had said,
two more of them grabbed me and knocked me off the ledge. Just
before I fell, I thought I saw a familiar face watching from the
staircase that wound up and down the cylinder, far above the
council. The face looked much like I recalled my father’s to
be.

The crack of the whip seared my skin
and I could feel yet another welt blossom instantly. I was beyond
tears of pain, had I actually been able to cry that is. With every
connection of the whip to my skin I wished I could die, but then
again I was already dead. I wished to simply never
exist.

But that wasn’t true. I had a reason
for existing. A reason that I had to get back into the real
world.

“
Jessica!” her name ripped
from my chest as the crack sounded. The pain was suddenly just
slightly more bearable. Just slightly. If I focused on what made
enduring this worth it, I would make it through somehow.
“Jessica!”

CHAPTER NINE

JESSICA

The wind tore through the trees making
them creak and moan in a frightening argument of nature. The surf
hit the rocks just feet below my shoes with pounding force, sending
ocean spray into my face. I hadn’t expected the storm today but I
was grateful for it. It meant there would be no hikers wandering
by.

I closed my eyes, unsure of what
exactly I needed to do to get their attention. “Please,” I said,
barely above a whisper. “Please give him back to me.”

It seemed crazy, it seemed irrational
but I knew that they should be able to hear me. My father had made
a plea for me before, Alex had made a plea that they had heard. Now
it was my turn to make a plea.

“
I want him back,” I said,
my voice slightly louder. I really didn’t expect anything, but I
opened my eyes, searching for any signs of my other half. Nothing
had changed. It was still just the ocean, the rocks beneath my
feet, and the towering trees at my back.

As I had sat in my room last night,
feeling completely helpless, I couldn’t deny anymore that there was
really only one place Alex could be. I knew the terror that could
come from that place. I also knew that once you went to that place
you weren’t supposed to come back.

“
Please,” I said more
softly, a single tear rolling down my cheek. “Please, give him
back. I need him.”

The wind picked up in intensity,
whipping my hair all around my face. It pulled the tear from my
face and carried it down into the salty water before me. Perhaps it
was the increase in the elemental disturbance, or perhaps it was
just the feelings of panic, uncertainty, and anger building up
within me but I was surprised as the words burst from my
lungs.

“
Give him back!” I
screamed towards the heavens. “Give him back now! Or you will
regret every second of his trial!” My voice dropped away after my
last statement. What could I possibly threaten them with? How could
I possibly tell them what to do? They had proved they had every bit
of control over me for sixteen years.

The tears started streaking down my
face as I sank to the ground. The sunset that colored the sky made
me ache all the more. Alex had been gone for five days now. I felt
as if all my insides had been ripped out of me. I knew there was a
strong possibility I might never see Alex again, never feel his
touch, never hear him laugh again. I had already lost Alex once, I
had watched him die. I didn’t think I could bear it
again.

Knowing that even with my enhanced
vision I wouldn’t be able to make my way back through the forest in
the dark, I forced myself to get up and make my legs move. I felt
drained and empty. I didn’t see the ground moving beneath me as my
feet carried me across the dirt, moss, and ferns. I couldn’t feel
any emotion other than a sense of loss, the sense of total
emptiness. Somehow though my feet knew the way back to the house on
their own.

The moment I walked through the front
door, I heard a clatter of sound, as if something heavy had been
thrown against the wall in the basement. This was immediately
followed by a high pitched scream.

“
Amber!” I yelled as I
sprinted for the stairs. My feet maybe touched two of them as I
nearly fell down them.

I froze at the bottom of the stairs as
I registered the scene before me. Amber was sitting on the couch,
cowering, the TV turned on too loud. She was staring at a ball of
perfectly white feathers that seemed to be pushing the shattered
remnants of the bedroom door off of it.

“
Alex!” I screamed as I
shot across the room, clearing the remainder of the door off. It
looked as if he had plowed right through it as he had suddenly
burst back into the world of the living.

Alex gave a slight groan as he rolled
onto his side, his eyes rolling around in their sockets. As my eyes
adjusted to the dim light in the room, I was horrified to see the
bruises and welts that covered his bare chest, arms, and
face.

“
Amber, turn on the
light!” I shouted at her still shrieking and cowering form. I
didn’t see her move but the light suddenly flashed on.

The bruises that covered Alex’s body
were deep purple and black. They spotted his skin, the largest one
running from his shoulder, down his chest, and covering his ribs.
Bands of red, raw skin ran around his wrists. Angry red welts also
covered his back and some of them looked like they were trying to
take on the coloring of the bruises. There was only one thing that
could have made those marks. Alex had been whipped
viciously.

“
What is that?” Ambers
shaking voice came from across the room.

My heart leaped into my
throat as I registered what Amber was seeing. A winged, beaten man
who had suddenly exploded into the room. “
That
,” I said, my voice surprisingly
calm, “is Alex.”

“
What?” I barely
registered her gasp.

“
Jessica,” I heard Alex
quietly gasp, his eyes still rolling around in his head.
“Jess…”

“
Alex!” I whispered as I
scooped him into my arms and crushed him into my chest. He gave a
gasp of pain and I quickly released him. I didn’t even notice the
tears that were streaming down my face again. “You came
back.”

Amber’s breathing was coming in
shallow swallows and as I looked over at her I saw she was swaying
slightly, her knees trembling as they held her up.

“
Go upstairs, Amber,” I
said firmly. “I’ll come up in a while and we’ll talk.”

She didn’t say anything, just stumbled
toward the stairs and climbed noisily up.

“
Help me up,” Alex said,
his voice shaky but getting steadier.

“
Are you sure?” I asked,
concern filling my face.

“
Help me up,” he
repeated.

I pulled him to his feet, his face
wincing with pain at every movement. He stumbled toward his
bathroom, his arm wrapped around my shoulder to keep him steady. By
the time I turned the light on, his wings were gone.

Alex staggered toward the shower,
stepped over the tub wall, and turned the water on cold. With his
jeans still on, he braced his hands on the wall and let the frigid
water pour over his head. Wide-eyed, I watched as the bruises
shrank, the welts smoothed out and within a minute, all traces of
whatever beating Alex had received were gone.

Seeing Alex standing there, trembling
under the water, his eyes closed, finally broke me. Before I even
realized what I was doing I had climbed into the shower with him
and buried my face into his chest. His arms wrapped around me and
crushed me into his chest until it was difficult to breathe. Tears
mingled with the flow of water and my sobs reverberated off the
walls.

I wanted Alex to say something to
comfort me. I wanted to say something to calm and sooth his
trembling frame but neither of us seemed able to say anything as
the cold water cascaded around us.

I felt so relieved to have Alex back,
safe and tangible in my arms. Yet at the same time my nerves were
so shot that I felt like throwing up.

We stood like that for a long time,
both of us shivering and shaking. I finally found some bit of sense
and turned the water off. I grabbed a towel off the rack and
wrapped it around myself, then reached for another and when Alex
held his hand out for it, gave it to him.

“
I’m going to go put
something dry on,” I said, once I had stopped dripping
everywhere.

Alex didn’t say anything,
just nodded his head and followed me out of the bathroom. He went
into his bedroom and as I went into mine I still felt sick.
I
had
to know but
I didn’t
want
to
know how Alex had gotten covered in bruises.

I quickly changed into a tank top and
some comfortable cotton shorts and found Alex sitting on my tiny
couch, wearing only a pair of basketball shorts. He reached for my
hand and we both walked out onto the deck and into the darkening
but still warm night.

The wooden swing that hung down from
the upper deck creaked and groaned as we settled ourselves into it.
I leaned into Alex’s chest and he wrapped his arms around my
shoulders.

Not a minute after we had sat down, I
noticed Alex was trembling again and soon sobs were escaping his
chest.

“
Alex,” I said, feeling
horrified that I didn’t know what to say to comfort him. I laid a
hand on his cheek and looked into his eyes, though his gaze stayed
in his lap. “Alex, it’s alright.”

Even though the sobs kept erupting
from his chest, no tears came. I had never seen anything more
heart-wrenching than an angel who couldn’t cry tears.

“
Jessica,” he finally
choked out. “They…they,” another sob erupted, cutting off whatever
he was going to say.

“
It’s okay now,” I
whispered as I wrapped my arms around him and cradled his head into
my chest. I instantly regretted saying what I did. How were things
okay? How could I know that?

“
They tortured me!” Alex
suddenly burst. “They tortured me when I told them I didn’t know
where he was! How could they not believe me? They know everything
we do! I told them I didn’t know where he had gone and they
tortured me!”

Alex’s sudden outburst startled me.
“Who, where who’d gone?”

“
Cole,” Alex said through
clenched teeth as he sat up. “They wanted to know where he was and
I told them I didn’t know.”

Alex’s form was still trembling but I
sensed a change in his mood. I was aware of how his jaw was
clenched, how his fists were balled up, the taut way his shoulders
were set. Alex shrugged me off and got to his feet. He stalked to
the railing, resting his hands against it, his head hanging low. I
could feel the anger and hatred rolling off him as if it were a
physical, tangible thing.

“
I could kill him right
now if he were here,” he said, his voice low but clear.

“
Alex,” I gasped when I
noticed the wood beneath his hands was splintering as his fingers
dug into it. “Don’t talk like that.”

“
I would Jessica,” Alex
suddenly spat. His harsh tone stung but considering what he had
just been through, I tried not to be too harsh on him. “I could
kill him for everything he’s done to us.”

“
You can’t kill a man
who’s already dead,” I said softly, realizing that Alex probably
needed a little time to himself. “I’m going to talk to
Amber.”

“
What are you going to
tell her?” Alex asked quietly as he looked out over the pitch-black
lake.

“
I’m not sure, but I don’t
think I can lie about what she saw,” I said as I walked through the
door and closed it behind me.

They had tortured Alex to find out
where Cole was. Alex didn’t know. But I did.

I wasn’t sure if my nerves could
handle talking to Amber, but I knew it had to be done. I was
physically exhausted, partly because I hadn’t eaten in almost two
days and I hadn’t slept the night before.

Amber was in what was now apparently
her bedroom, sitting on the bed, her back propped against the
headboard, a pillow clutched tightly in her arms. I closed the door
behind me and leaned against it. Neither of us said anything for
several long moments.

“
So do you want to explain
to me what the crap just happened down there?” she finally said, a
sharp, accusing edge to her voice.

“
I don’t know if I can,” I
said, my voice small and exhausted sounding. “Alex was missing, now
he’s back.”

“
That wasn’t just some
great costume, Jessica. I saw the wings, you couldn’t fake that.
And he just appeared out of nowhere. I was just watching a movie
and all the sudden the door explodes as that…that…” she didn’t seem
to be able to find a word for what Alex was. “Came blasting through
it.”

I didn’t say anything as we stared at
each other for several long moments. “So what is he supposed to be
Jessica? An angel?”