Dancing With Monsters Read online

  Chapter Two

  April

  "Please!" I managed to yell out. "Don't hurt me!" The man gazed at me with his glowing eyes.

  He stared as if he was studying me, summing me up, or just waiting to digest his last meal before he had dessert. He didn't blink his illuminated eyes as they seemed to penetrate through me. I stared back and waited for the life to be sucked out of me.

  "I'm not going to hurt you." His voice was soft and eloquent, the opposite of his appearance.

  He grabbed my wrists and pulled me to my feet. I stood shivering from cold and fear. The sound of trucks rumbled in the distance, and beams from car headlights cut through the trees in waves of light. I could scream, but the chances of someone hearing me were slim. We faced one another as the wind carried the smell of gasoline into the barren forest.

  "Please let me go." My lips trembled.

  He snickered. Suddenly, bright lights flashed from the highway behind us. His attention turned to it as I caught a glimpse of his face. His wavy hair nearly reached his eyes that still slightly glowed. His face had a roundness to it that made him look harmless. Even his grip had softened. In the matter on seconds, his whole appearance changed into something softer. If I didn't witness what he had done, I would have never guessed him to be a murderer.

  "Running away are we, fledging, then you'd better join me. They will be coming for you, and I'm not waiting."

  Bright lights suddenly blasted from behind us, and burned through the cold air. Was I hallucinating all of this, or was it real. Whatever it was, it was unnatural. No one can suck life out of another human being and leave them as bits of tissue paper.

  "If you doubt me, don't." He pulled back my sleeve exposing my wrist. "This isn't just some tattoo. This is a hexmark."

  I looked at the tattoo my mom made me get right before she gave me away.

  "It's for our protection." I could still hear my mother's words.

  I closed my eyes. A veiled woman gave me the tattoo. We had gone to what I thought was a carnival, but through the bright colors, balloons and performers, was a dark feeling that made me want to run.

  "I'm asking, are you coming with me or not?" He shook my wrist bringing me to my senses.

  In that split second, I had to make a decision that could mean escape, death or going back to Sunrise Acres-I'd never see the sun again if I went back there. He knew of my tattoo, and maybe about the things that lurked in the darkness. I had to take a chance. Voices from the search party echoed around us.

  "I'm coming with?" Before I could finish, my feet left the ground, and trees whisked by like speeding cars.

  The truck stop lights faded in the distance. I had no idea where I was or what direction we had gone. We moved like flashes of lightning through the timber and then we stopped as quickly as we had left.

  He put me down and my feet landed on a paved road. A log cabin home washed in moonlight stood before me with a split rail fence surrounding it. A light shone through the window beside the door making it look like a welcoming house.

  "Are you coming?" He asked standing on the opposite side of the road.

  I could run, but I'd never make it five feet away from him. It was unnatural to move that quickly through the woods, and without tripping or getting slapped in the face from low limbs. Even if he did know about my tattoo, I still felt uncertain.

  "You moved?" I took account of my surroundings. We were in a wooded area, and with no other houses in sight. I couldn't possibly outrun him to get help.

  "I moved like anyone of our kind can move, and I can teach you how, if you like." He spoke so casually. "And like I said, I'm not going to hurt you, and you are running away, aren't you?" He looked back over his shoulder at the house. "This is my home, and you are welcome to come in if you like, or you can take cover in the forest. It's up to you."

  He turned and walked up to the house while searching his pocket. He pulled out a set of jiggling keys, and glanced back at me as he whistled.

  I crossed the road and stood at the edge of the brick paved sidewalk. What was I doing? He had just sucked the life out of a man, and we had run through what seemed like miles of timber in the matter of seconds. I should get the hell out of here, especially since he was going into his house and leaving me outside.

  "You can go if you want, fledging, but I'm curious about the mark on your wrist. Not many humans have those kind of marks," he said, glancing over his shoulder at me as he cracked open the door.

  I gingerly curled my fingers around the small tattoo on the inside of my right wrist. I remembered getting it from an old lady that my mom took me to right before she gave me up. How did he know I had it, and how could he had possibly seen it covered up by my sleeve and in the dark.

  I took a step forward followed by another. He waited for me letting me enter the warm house first.

  I stepped inside just enough to let him in. The interior was pretty much what you'd expect a log cabin house to look like. It was a rustic home with a stone fireplace, richly stained wood beams that was the skeleton on the home, and an open ceiling with a loft overhead. It wasn't a large home, but looked like it came out of a magazine as it was neat and showed no person artifacts, like pictures.

  "Have a seat right here," he said, twirling an office chair around and shoving it towards me.

  I looked at the chair then at him.

  "Your feet are bleeding, and I don't want blood all over my rugs any more than it already is."

  I looked down at my bare feet and at the bright red splotches dotting the dull orange rug.

  "Sorry," I said.

  "Don't be, just sit down. I just bought those rugs."

  I sat down and he pushed me into the kitchen. Stainless steel appliances and cabinets made out of knotty wood, made the kitchen look like a professional chef lived here. There was an abundant supply of spices above the gas stove, utensils hung over an island in the middle of the kitchen, and a wine cooler, fully stocked, displayed bottles of wine from behind a glass door.

  He went to a tall cabinet and got out a towel and a small, brown, glass bottle.

  "So, what's your name? Mine is Ben." He glanced up at me as he gently took my right foot and placed it on his bent knee.

  I couldn't give him my real name. "Beth," I finally said.

  Ben snickered as he wiped off the bottom of my foot with whatever was in the brown bottle.

  "No, it isn't. You are a terrible fibber, fledging, and my assumptions were right about you." Ben wiped other foot. "If you were totally a human girl, you'd be screaming in pain."

  He put the bottle away and threw the towel to the sink.

  "If I was human?" I questioned and looked at the bottom of my left foot. There were no scratches or cuts.

  "Your mark, and the fact I just used serpent's oil on you, tells me otherwise." Ben crossed his arms and smirked at me. "You've witnessed some pretty remarkable things tonight, and I'm sure you feel it's all a dream, but it isn't. Our kind has a way of ?connecting for lack of a better word." Ben's image blurred, and then disappeared. I rubbed my eyes wondering if it was the aftereffects of whatever he used on my feet.

  I felt my insides tighten, and wondered if I had been drugged. Then, suddenly, Ben materialized in front of me on bent knees. "I found you, and you found me for a reason." His eyes searched mine as I could barely breathe. "Did you see your wounds?'' he asked and I nodded. "Serpent's oil can only be used on one type of being." He smiled. "You and I are monsters, Beth."

  Seth

  "Time's running out," Ezra stood in front of me running her pale fingers over mine. "I want to stay together. I'm tired of meeting this way." Her blue-black eyes lifted to mine. "The air is changing here, and something's coming-I can sense it."

  "Ughhh!" A female voice yelled like a battle cry behind me. "Let him go nymph!" The unmistakable sound of Nessa's voice demanded in the distance.

  I felt that
pull again. Each time I talked to Ezra, I felt a distance slowly separating us. She begged me with her eyes to stay as she reached for my hands.

  Don't go?

  I had to, but hesitated. Ezra tightened her grip on my hands. It wasn't only Nessa who pulled at me to come back to the living, there was something else.

  I let go of her hands, and gave into that unknown and invisible force that kept pulling me away from the girl I had planned to marry.

  "Hey!" I yelled as something burned on my right shoulder. What were they doing, setting me on fire to quit seeing Ezra?

  I opened my eyes to see Uncle Hes's scowling face peering down at me along with Nessa. He held a branding coin in his right hand as Nessa placed her hands on her hips.

  "Nessa said you're being haunted by a dead lover. That mark ought to put a stop to that, or at least slow it down until she gives up."

  I sat up, and should have been furious at them taking such extreme measures without my consent, but, I wasn't. I looked at the triangle shaped mark filled with intricately weaving lines.

  "I know you're mad at me, but this has got to stop." Nessa's eyes were a mix of sternness swirling with concern. "Seth, I had to do something, and if you go on like this, it will jeopardize our mission."

  "Yes, it will," I buttoned my shirt. "You're right to have done this. I know you have my better interest in mind, and are trying to help me."

  Nessa's mouth hung open with surprise. "So, you're not mad?" She asked.

  "No, and I can't explain why. I should be, but there's something, I don't know what it is. Fate is pulling me in another direction."

  "So, Nessa doesn't get full credit for putting an end to you seeing Ezra, and ending up on your bad side?" Malachi asked shoving a piece of bread into his mouth.

  "It isn't fate," Uncle Hes said before Nessa could reply as he poured himself a cup of something steaming. "Here," he gave me the cup of hot liquid. "It's destiny that is 'pulling at you', as you describe, though destiny doesn't pull, but guides." He gave Nessa and Malachi cups of the dark, hot, steaming liquid.

  All of us looked at it and took whiffs of the strange aroma.

  "It's called coffee, and you drink it, not inhale it. I got it on my last visit to earth, and it will keep you alert. I've discovered a very strong liking to it."

  I took a sip of the bitter tasting beverage, but drank it out of courteousness to my uncle.

  "What's the difference between fate and destiny? Aren't they the same thing?" Malachi asked.

  "No, they are not." Uncle Hes defined each word. "Fate is something you create, tempt, or manipulate by the decisions you make. Destiny is what was woven through the passages of time by someone far greater than us. It has its own plan that sometimes you can find written, and sometimes not, but whether conscious of it or not, destiny will always be followed."

  We left in the cover of blackness. The city was quiet, as if it had taken a moment of peace before the sun came up. With Uncle Hes's map safely tucked in my satchel, Malachi, Nessa, and I slinked through the streets.

  "Bagels, do you smell them?" Malachi stopped and smelled the air with a satisfying sigh.

  "They have bagels where we're going." I continued walking with Nessa beside me.

  "Yeah, but these are the best." He insisted. "Come on," he tugged on my shoulder. "One last stop before going on our quest," he said in a deep voice mocking my uncle.

  I turned to him ready to explain the importance of everything, and why this wasn't a field trip as Uncle Hes explained. It wasn't just a quest, but something I had to prove to him.

  "How about some for the road?" Nessa asked looking up at me with her innocent eyes.

  I smiled and shook my head. "The shop is just around the corner." She took a few steps away from me, and disappeared around the corner with Malachi in tow.

  I stood there for a moment, lowered my head, and could hear the displeased voice of my uncle echo in my head. The first thing in being a leader is having the respect and control of your team. I had neither, and at this point, probably wouldn't.

  I went into the empty bakery. Malachi and Nessa were gazing through the glass case with all the bakery's delectable goods displayed. It was full of pastries, doughnuts, and of course, our much needed bagels.

  I waited close to the door, and looked down at my watch. We needed to get out of town before the sun came up. They made their selection and paid the clerk, when I felt someone behind me. I turned around, and saw nothing but the glass door slowly going shut. Someone had just left very quietly, and by the scent that loomed in the air, an angel had been here.

  Angels didn't come to Iethia very much, and when they did, it wasn't to take in the sights or visit friends.

  "What's wrong?" Nessa asked reading the concern on my face as she took a bite of her bagel.

  "We have to move before I lose the scent," I said going out the door and letting my nose guide me.

  We looped through the streets as if the angel was trying to evade us. But all angels knew that monsters had extraordinary senses to track anyone at any time, or maybe this one didn't. I wondered what they were doing here, and if they had a connection to the drug that was being manufactured to turn innocent humans into monsters. My uncle had worked with angels before on cases concerning portals before he retired from the portal guardianship. I wondered if the angel we were following knew my uncle.

  The scent led us out of town, and then suddenly stopped. I stopped and peered into the darkness.

  "Malachi, can you see anything?" Malachi didn't have the acute sense of smell like me, but he could see in the dark.

  "A rabbit, squirrel in a tree, and birds still nesting in the trees-that's it." With his eyes still glowing, he shrugged his shoulders. "What were we following anyhow?"

  "An angel, I could smell them."

  "An angel?" Nessa asked in disbelief. "What would they be doing in Iethia?"

  "I don't know, but we need to move."

  April

  "A monster," I whispered under my breath as Ben smiled at me. "You're crazy." I stood up thinking I should had never gone with him.

  "Am I?" He got up and faced me. "Do you see things in the darkness that you can't explain? And I'm sure you had a pleasant childhood filled with love from your family, or did they leave you on someone's doorstep?" He raised his eyebrows. "I can tell by your expression that you never had a loving family because of what happened to you, and at such an early age. Usually demons don't bite small children, they prefer teens." He rubbed his chin. "Unless your demon had a plan for you-I guess that would be a possibility." Ben looked at me. "The darkness has followed you for a long time-I can sense it, and it won't bother you with me around."

  I should get out of here. Ben was obviously mentally disturbed, but at the same time, he knew about the darkness.

  "What do you know about the darkness?" I was feeding his madness, but I felt a connection to him that I've never felt with anyone before, almost like he was a piece of me.

  "Monsters are not uncivilized beings as humans are taught." We faced each other. "It's the darkness that all fear, monsters just happen to be in it."

  "So what is the darkness, and why does it follow me?" I finally felt I could talk to someone about it rather than a phycologist trying to tell me it was all in head.

  "Demons lurk there, and sometimes they like to play. You my dear, Beth, you were bit by a demon. I could sense it right away in the woods."

  "Is that why you didn't kill me also in the woods?" I asked thinking of the man turned to bits of floating tissue.

  Ben tightened his lips. "I hated to do that, but he had dipped into?something that humans shouldn't take. He would have turned into something worse than a demon-a rabid demon-that's one way to describe it. He would have been a killing machine without feeling pain or remorse on his fellow humans. Almost a perfect soldier?" Ben's eyes drifted away from me.

  Suddenly, my
arm tingled violently bringing me to my knees. I pulled up my sleeve to see my tattoo had new lines extending from it. I gazed down at it in awe.

  Ben ran his long fingers over the delicate, curling, black lines.

  "Your hexmark was designed to be added on to. This is magnificent." His chocolate colored eyes glistened back at me. "Of course, you have no idea what this means." He shook his head and pulled me to my feet. "My dear Beth," He arched his left eyebrow. "The designer of your hexmark allowed for it to be added on to. What that means is that you can gain monster abilities."

  I sat on the sofa before my shaking knees gave out. What was I doing here? I was in some crazy guy's house letting him tell me about crazy things, and I was being drawn into believing it. My life had never been normal, but that doesn't mean I should believe everything Ben was telling me. And now my tattoo had mysteriously gotten bigger and more intricate. I must be hallucinating. What kind of oil did he use on my feet?

  "What-why did it do that?" I asked still trying to believe what just happened.

  "The oil I used, being in another monster's presence, or maybe, it was just time for it to change." His eyes were gentle, and sincere.

  "This is crazy," I whispered, but loud enough Ben could hear it.

  "Your hexmark, if strong enough," he said, gently running his fingers over my mark, "can eliminate the demon that haunts you in the darkness, stares down at you with glowing eyes, and cools the air around you when in your presence." Ben gazed steadily into my eyes. "I know you know what I say is true. There are too many things that are falling into place for not only you, but me as well."

  I shook my head. I had to get away-to reason everything out. "I have to go?have to get out of here," I said, standing up as the room spun.

  Ben steadied me before I landed face first into his solid wood end table. "No, the serpent's oil is making you dizzy. You aren't going anywhere."

  I closed my eyes because I couldn't focus on anything. Everything twirled like I was on an amusement ride. Ben placed a pillow under my head and covered me up with a blanket. I should be freaked out, but I wasn't. Call it instinct, a sixth sense, or a gut feeling that I felt with Ben. I knew he wasn't going to hurt me and deep down, I felt a connection.

  I opened my eyes to see him staring curiously back.

  "My name isn't Beth, its April, April Snow."

  Ben smiled and leaned forward. "It's nice to meet you April Snow."

  I woke to the smell of bacon. It smelled delicious, and made my stomach ache with hunger. I pushed myself up to see Ben working feverously in the kitchen. I pushed the blanket away, and walked over to the bar and sat down. He didn't take notice, but instead, shoved a plateful of bacon, hash browns, eggs, and toast in front of me.

  "I wasn't sure what you liked so I made the monster special." He smiled at his pun on words. "I'm sure you must be famished."

  "You must like to cook." I took a bite of the scrambled eggs, and raised my eyebrows in surprise of how good they tasted.

  "Yes, I do like to cook. I find human cuisine diverse and inspiring." Ben took one of my slices of toast. "In fact, the jam I put on your toast, I made from the raspberries I grow in my garden." He acted like I should be impressed.

  I nodded my head and put my fork down.

  "April," Ben said my name with a sincerity that I never heard before. "Are you alright?"

  "What do you think?" I asked slightly on the sarcastic side. "I ran away from the institute I was staying at, witnessed a man getting the life sucked out of him, let a," I looked at Ben, I couldn't wrap my mouth around the word monster, "stranger," I said instead. "I let him take me to his house where he fixed my boo-boos, and now I'm eating a five star breakfast with enough food to feed ten people. Of course I'm not alright."

  I covered my eyes with my hands and let out a sigh.

  "So," he said, after a few seconds passed. "You think this breakfast is worthy of five stars?"

  I removed my hands from my eyes as he looked down at his plate.

  "Didn't you hear me? What you told me?what happened last night?my tattoo?"

  "I heard you perfectly clear, and you need to suck it up a little bit." My mouth dropped open from shock. "Do you think you're the only one who had a lot dumped on them? You're not the only human to get bit and become a monster."

  "Yeah, but,"

  Suddenly, a knock pounded on the door followed by the doorbell. I swung around and peered at the door and then back at Ben. I looked at him as to what I should do.

  "I'm sort of expecting someone, and they won't care if you're here or not. Just stay where you're at."

  "Wait," I said, getting off the stool. "What if it's someone from the search party?"

  Ben smiled. "Then I will suck the life out of them." His tone had a playful tease to it, but I really wasn't sure if he was kidding or not.

  I stepped back into the kitchen, half hiding behind the bar as Ben opened the door.

  "It's about time you opened the damn door," a woman with blonde hair said as she burst inside. "I think someone, teenagers of all things, followed me from Iethia. I outran them though." She pulled from her grey leather pouch a compact mirror, and flipped it open.

  She messed with her shoulder-length hair as she held the mirror from several different angles before shutting it.

  "So, do you have it?" She asked in her quick voice.

  Ben smiled at her. "First, I'd like you to meet a friend I just met last night."

  "You mean you have someone here and you didn't say anything?" She scolded as she followed with her eyes Ben's hand that pointed towards me. She sniffed the air. "She's a half-baked. What are you doing with her? Are you taking a pet with you when you go to sanctuary?"

  "No, she isn't a pet. She's the piece that I believe completes my circle. The fates have given me a present, and I would like you to meet her. Her name is April Snow."

  She looked like a porcelain doll with her perfectly wavy blonde hair that looked like it was combed about a hundred times a day. Her pale skin was flawless and her eyes were a bright shade of blue, almost like she was wearing contacts.

  "And this is Yolanda," Ben said, motioning towards her.

  From her leather purse, Yolanda pulled out a cigarette and lit it up. "April Snow," she said, through a puff of smoke.

  I wasn't sure if she was going to say anything else or if that was it for her hello. "Nice to meet you, Yolanda," I said, with a smile.

  "I bet you don't even have to train this one. She's probably putty in your little monster hands," Yolanda chuckled.

  I gave Ben a skeptical look, and even thought of leaving, but I didn't. Ben knew more about me than I did myself.

  "So," Yolanda slid her eyes over to me and then back at Ben. "Do you have your muffin recipe for me?" She crossed her arms as swirls of smoke filled the air.

  "First, let me get you an ashtray." Ben tromped into the kitchen. "I did just purchase that rug, and now it's ruined," he said under his breath as he passed me.

  Yolanda took the ashtray and smirked at Ben. "What are you, Martha Stuart now?" She took a puff of her cigarette.

  Ben glared at her.

  "Look, I don't have much time, and I'm sure you don't either?the muffin recipe." She prompted again.

  Ben went over to a roll top desk, and pulled out small metal box. It was about the size of a jewelry box, but much thinner. Yolanda's eyes sparkled as Ben handed it to her.

  "I'm trusting you, Yolanda, not only with my safety, but a human child as well." Ben gazed steadily at her.

  "She's practically a monster too, not human." She put the box safely in her leather pouch.

  "She's in limbo, and under your laws, still human."

  I had about a million questions running through my head as I listened to their conversation.

  "If you're using her as leverage, don't. I uphold my word, unlike a lot of my kind that don't know the meaning of trust." S
he placed her hand on the door knob. "I'll be back in a week to get you, and your April Snow."

  Ben nodded. "Yolanda, I'm trusting you," he repeated.

  "I know, and I hold that trust sacred." She left with a nod and a quiet click of the door.

  Ben stood by the door for a few moments letting his hands rest on the richly stained wood panels.

  "Who-who exactly was that, and where are we going in a week? And what did she mean by muffin recipe?"

  Ben didn't answer right away as he took in a deep breath and slowly released it.

  "It was a special muffin recipe, that no one should have, and I'm trusting Yolanda for its safe disposal." He turned around with slightly glowing eyes.

  "So, is she a monster, or something like one?" I could hardly believe I was asking such a question. If I was back at Sunrise Acres and asked that question, my nightly pills would probably double.

  Ben smiled. "No, she's not a monster, or anything like one. Yolanda is an angel."

  Seth

  "Did you smell more than one angel?" Malachi asked as we made our way through the thick forest littered with fallen limbs and rotting leaves.

  "Just one, and was a female. She could have just been passing through and portaled her way out of Iethia, especially since her scent ended abruptly." I looked down at the map. A thin line glowed on the map and showed where we were at on the hidden trail. It was our only way of knowing where we were going.

  "How much farther?" Nessa asked behind me.

  "Not far." I glanced back at her not really knowing how far we had to go.

  We traveled blindly through the forest. My uncle made this map secretly a long time ago. It was designed to only be used by blood relatives, and only the ones he selected. I was honored when he asked me, and couldn't decline his offer.

  The darkness was slowly being dissolved by the sun breaking over the horizon. Beams of orange and gold lights illuminated what foliage was left on the trees. As we passed by the massive oaks, a few of their leaves fell around us as if greeting us. This part of the forest was quiet, and hardly anyone ever came here since it borders the Wildlands of Iethia.

  "Those were good," Malachi said, eating the last of the bagels.

  "What are you doing?" Nessa stopped and pointed at the crumpled sack that Malachi discarded to the ground. "That's littering."

  "So," Malachi said. "I don't think there is anyone to give me a ticket out here. And besides, it's biodegradable."

  "That's not the point." She picked up the sack and shoved it into Malachi's chest. "Dispose of it when we get to where we are going."

  He burrowed his eyebrows at her, and then gave her a sly smile. "No, and I don't have to, half-size," he walked past her, bumping into her shoulder.

  Nessa turned into a small rabid animal when you got her mad, that I've witnessed her do before.

  "Nessa, the mission," I reminded her, and tried to calm her anger. "Let it go." Her eyes flickered at me; she wasn't letting it go, and reached for her small leather whip.

  About as quick as a lightning strike, Nessa had her whip wrapped around Malachi's feet. He landed with a thud, face first. Nessa took the paper sack and shoved it in his face.

  "We are trying to make a better world for ourselves and for the future of the monster race. And you add to the trash that's we are trying to clean up. Whose side are you on anyway?"

  Malachi spit out the leaves that had gotten into his mouth as he sat up and unwrapped his feet. His face was red, and his eyes slightly glowed. Nessa planted her scowling face into his.

  "It's just a paper sack," Malachi stood up. "You should calm down before you break a blood vessel, half-size."

  Nessa tightened her fist.

  We were wasting time, and my credibility as a leader was slowly crumbling. Uncle Hes wanted me to be a leader, and gave me this opportunity that he could have easily given to someone else. I could hear his displeased voice already. I had to do something, otherwise this would never cease.

  "Stop!" I yelled as a few leaves fell around us from the vibration of my voice. "We don't have time to argue about littering, who's right, and who's wrong. Malachi, don't liter because you are leaving a trail for someone to stumble on. We need to be quiet and move as quickly as we can. There is a lot at risk here, not only for us, but for humans as well as monsters."

  I got two sorrowful and embarrassed looks. I think they finally understand the importance of this mission, and I hoped I didn't have to remind them again.

  Quietly and with a quicker pace, we walked through the pathless forest that was truly magnificent. This would be a place Ezra would like. She liked nature and found the peace and quiet comforting. I had taken her to the gardens of Duneloc, but they were nothing like this. I looked up at the tall trees that framed the blue-violet sky through their barren and wildly twisted branches. Yes, she would like this, but I'd never get to hear her say it.

  Suddenly, a gust of wind stirred up what leaves had already fallen and plucked the remaining from the limbs. Through the blizzard of leaves, I saw someone standing in front of me. She was dressed in a purple gown that moved like mist around her. Her eyes were soft and locked with mine.

  "Ezra," I said her name as I gazed at her.

  "Your thoughts can bring me closer to you." The wind caught her dark hair as the leaves became entangled in it. "You can bring me back my love." Her voice whispered around me.

  "Seth, are you alright?" Nessa asked as she placed her hand on my shoulder.

  I looked at her and then back at where Ezra had stood.

  "Yeah, fine," I looked at the map. "Let's keep moving."

  We stood in a clearing and the line one the map had stopped moving. The landscape showed no signs of a door, portal, or anything resembling the passage that angels had used centuries ago. The map said otherwise.

  "Are you sure that the map lead us to the right location?" Malachi asked as he stood beside me and gazed at the map.

  "The line hasn't moved and is a flashing dot now." Malachi, I knew, couldn't see the blinking dot that stated we had arrived at the portal, so I rolled it up and looked around.

  "Then it must be here somewhere."

  "Yeah, but where?" He asked.

  "Here!" Nessa exclaimed.

  Malachi and I went over to where she was on hands and knees pushing back leaves and grass to reveal a stone ledge. We helped Nessa clear off several stones that looked like white marble and cut in perfect squares. It was about the width of a set of double doors and looked to only be the threshold of a once magnificent door.

  "This looks like this hasn't been used in a long time." Nessa said with dirt smeared on her cheeks. "I thought your uncle said it was used not too long ago."

  I ran my foot along the edge of the stones. It had been buried for some time, and left to turn into ruins. Something wasn't right about this.

  "Do you think the map lead us to the right place?" Malachi questioned.

  I bent down and ran my fingers over the beautiful stones. My fingertips tingled. "We're in the right place." I looked over my shoulder at Malachi. "We just have to reveal it."

  "Reveal it?" Nessa questioned. "How are we going to do that? Magic? We are just monsters, not magicians."

  I unrolled the map hoping to find a clue.

  "How do you know that it needs to be revealed? Maybe your uncle was wrong and the portal was destroyed and buried." Malachi stood beside me glancing at me and then the map.

  "No, I don't know why, but I know we are here and just have to find a way to work it. The angels were good at hiding things of importance. Do you think they would have the portal all lit up with a signage and all?"

  Malachi shrugged his shoulders. "I guess not, makes sense."

  "Uncle Hes always said the important things are hidden where least expected."

  I looked at the map trying to decipher the lettering written under the detailed drawing of the door. It
was written in the language of the angels. Why didn't my uncle tell me what to do when I got here? Surly he knew that the portal had to be revealed and I had no idea how to.

  "Can you make anything out?" Nessa asked coming over and stood on my other side.

  "No," I said, frustrated.

  "It's in the language of the angels." Nessa looked closer at the map.

  "Yeah, I know, and none of it makes sense. I can't read a word of it."

  "It says the word blood a lot," Nessa said, as she gazed at it.

  "You can read it? Where did you learn to do that?" Malachi asked surprised.

  She shrugged her shoulders. "Here and there. I went on the road with a gypsy a few times, and they knew the language really good. I tried to get them to teach me, but they wouldn't so I tried to learn what I could." She looked back at the map. "Blood of my blood is the dominate saying, and it's hard to read the rest." She looked up at me. "There's a warning there too. It's that mark right there." She pointed at a line with two lines intersecting it at the top.

  "Blood of my blood," I repeated out loud, and then several times in my head.

  Uncle Hes said that a lot to me. He always said that I had a lot of his blood in me-we were alike in many ways. He had seen the angel portal before, and used it. Why didn't he tell me how to use it?

  Blood of my blood. Those words meant something, but what did they mean in the workings of the portal.

  "Angels are bound by blood." Nessa spouted off like she was reading from a book. "That's what the gypsies always said. They were obsessed with them, and know many things about angels."

  I rolled up the map, and walked over to the stones. I gazed down at them wondering if I should chant, cast a spell or jump on them as I'm casting a spell and chanting.

  "Angels were always doing things with their blood-like bonding, and it was even used to immortalize humans and even monsters. There are actually many fables about them that the gypsies know." Nessa bent down beside me and ran her fingers over the white marble stained by years from being underground.

  "Blood of my blood," It finally dawned on me. I looked over at Malachi. "Do you have your dagger?" I asked as his eyes widened.

  "Yeah, but what are you going to do with it?"

  "I know what to do." He handed it over to me.

  "If you're going to do a blood sacrifice, let's use Nessa."

  "Hey," she said in protest.

  "It's my knife," he replied teasingly.

  "There's going to be no sacrifice, but only a little bit of my blood." I slid the knife across my palm and let a few drops fall onto the white stones. "I hope this works." I whispered under my breath as Malachi and Nessa watched.

  At first, nothing happened, and then suddenly, a ghostly image of an archway formed overhead. Silver and white lines curled around intricately through each other until the arch was complete. The white, marble stones we had uncovered, shone with the same brilliance as the arch. It was a delicate looking structure of silver vines and white marble. In the open part of the portal that would had been the door, reflected back at us like a giant mirror. We gazed at it in awe, and I wondered what to do next.

  "How do we go through it?" Malachi asked Nessa.

  "I don't know. I haven't been through many angel portals before."

  I walked up to it and tried to peer past the mirrored image of the forest behind me. But I couldn't. I then looked at myself and placed my fingers on the surface of the mirror to test it. It was solid-there was no going through it. I started to lower my hand when I felt something warm, almost like I was touching someone else's hand. I pressed my fingers harder to the surface as a murky image began to form behind it. It was a face surrounded by long dark hair. Gentle eyes gazed steadily into mine as if asking me to come closer. Her face became more defined, and I could clearly see it was Ezra.

  "Come with me now," she whispered as a screeching sound, like angry birds, echoed behind her.

  "Seth, get away from her!" Nessa yelled as she charged towards us only to be swooped up by a white and silver figure that looked like it was wrapped in sheets.

  I could hear her scream, but couldn't remove my eyes from Ezra's.

  "Don't look at them, look at me. We can be together here."

  I laced my fingers through hers ignoring the yells and screams of Nessa and Malachi. I tried to pull away knowing this wasn't right, but she had me in a trance that I couldn't resist.

  "Seth, they're glass people!" Malachi yelled behind me. "We have to get out of here, and away from the portal!"

  Glass people were demons as far as monsters were concerned, and they sometimes worked for angels. This was the portal to take us to earth, but it was guarded by glass people, and also by Ezra, the love I couldn't let go no matter what spell or mark was used.