SWNOVELS Chapter CHAPTER 21
I bolted upright into a sitting position. My breathing is ragged, my throat feels ice cold with every gulp of air I consume, and uncontrollable shivers rack my body as I wrap my arms around my chest, hugging myself as I rub my hands up and down on my arms. My heart is racing like it’s been pumped full of adrenaline, and I look around trying to recognize something, anything around me, but I’m shrouded in darkness. I have no idea where I am or how I even got here. My hair is whipping about, flicking into my eyes and causing me to blink continually.
As I try to brush the hair from my face with my hand, I shout out, ‘HELLO’, into the black abyss but the only response I get is the wind that has kicked up harder, whistling past my ears. At this exact moment I couldn’t even tell you if my eyes were open or closed, that is how black the darkness around me is.
I try to recall anything I may have been doing prior to finding myself here but my mind is blank, void of all memories. For a moment I am confused because I remember standing next to Nic, having just defeated the witch hunters but am not able to remember beyond that moment. My mind is void of all else as though it is as dark as the space I am currently occupying, and I have yet to determine if I should be in full-on panic mode or not. I feel as though someone is supposed to be here waiting for me… somewhere…someone very important to me, but no names come to mind. A cry of frustration breaks past my lips as tear drops slowly leak out of the corner of my eyes.
I feel that if I maybe shout louder, the person I am waiting for to show up will be able to locate me, to hear me yelling; “HELLO!” It goes unanswered as well, or so I thought until I heard an eerily ominous, ‘hhhheeellllloooooo’ come echoing back towards me. My skin goes cold, and another shiver rocks my entire body. The evilest of voices utters that word and I am scared out of my mind as to what may be hidden among the shadows with me. The fear that is coursing through me causes a flicker of an image to pop into my mind. ‘What if it is Cal? What if he found a way to follow me back to earth from the Spirit Realm?’
Holy cow! Just like that, the memories slam into my mind as they come flooding back and I remember everything now. I was a ghost and my soul mate; he was trying to pull me back to earth from the spirit world. DOMINIC! Where is he? I feel a desperate urgency to be near him again, to see his face and hold his strong hard body against mine, and to keep me safe from harm. Standing up, I find myself frantically looking around for him. Why isn’t he here waiting for me? “Dominic? DOMINIC!” I shriek as loud as possible out into the darkness.
I see something yellow floating towards me from within the darkness. It looks as though the yellow thing is floating mid-air, hovering at first, looking like light from a flashlight but brighter somehow. As it continues to creep a long though, my fight or flight instinct kicks in. My body is urging me to run. I look one more time at the yellow and realize that the yellow I see are actually eyes and they are attached to the purest evil presence I have ever encountered in my life! A ‘NO!’ falls from my lips as I watch it begin to move more quickly towards me.
Suddenly, it is rushing straight for me. Hate, anger, rage, are rolling off of this menacing monster in waves, “youuuu are minnnneeeee!” I hear it say tauntingly, its voice sounding like it is surrounding me. I now recognize the snake-like voice to be that of Cal and the power I felt from him while in the Spirit Realm can now be felt tenfold. I don’t hesitate, I turn on my heel fleeing for my newly acquired life. I have no thoughts or plans of dying a second time. All I know is that I need to get away from the ghastly being. I am running with every ounce of energy I can muster. I have no idea if the creature thing is behind me and have no intentions of looking back to see if it is. I’ve watched a fair share of horror movies in my life to know that the one dumb enough to look back will be the one not to survive.
Running blind, for there is absolutely no light in sight, I scream once more. Someone is sure to find me, right? As I’m screaming, my body slams into something that feels nearly rock solid in form, and I thought I had run into a brick wall. “Oomph” is the only sound I utter before I fall backwards onto my butt. As I look up to see what I had crashed into, I can just make out the outline of arms as they reach for me. I find myself screaming again as I feel the hands attached to the arms grip my biceps.
Hitting the point of hyperventilating, I try to wiggle out of the hold upon me. Whatever has me, is just to flipping strong. Tears stream freely down my face. I just returned. I don’t want to die again… “Ali, Ali, ALINA! It’s me, it’s Dominic.” I sob a sigh of relief and then crumble into his embrace. We sink to our knees, and I find myself staring into the most amazing silver-blue eyes I have ever seen in my life.
A heart beat later has Nic crushing his lips against mine. It has only been a day since we held each other last but it feels like it has been years and well, this time is just simply different because I am here for good, no chance of being pulled away from him ever again!
I run my hands up his neck and my fingers twine through his silky-soft black hair. I moan against his lips as he runs his fingers along my bare skin, up and down my back. Our soul bond has reappeared almost instantly, and the blue-gold chord is wrapping itself around us, doing its best to fuse us together once more.
Breaking apart enough to be able to gaze into the other’s eyes, I see him slip off his black leather jacket and wrap it around my shoulders. “Here, you may want to put this on before the others find us.” Arching an eyebrow, I give him a questioning look, but he just nods back at me. Looking down, I gasp. I am as naked as the day I was born! Quickly I slip my arms into the sleeves and then snuggle into him, trying to be as close to his body without knocking him over.
Dominic smiles down at me, takes hold of my elbows and lifts me to my feet as he stands. He winds his arms around my back pulling me as close to him, without crushing me, as he can. My cheek is pressed against my most favorite part of his body, his chest, where I can hear his heart beating rapidly, in time with mine. I suddenly hear voices coming from somewhere behind Nic and I squeal. He turns around to see who is running towards us, pushing me behind him, essentially turning himself into a human shield for me. My face is burning with embarrassment as I feel my face flushing red.
“Nicky, where you at?” I recognized the voice calling out immediately. Dominic’s younger brother Devon!
I smile because of his endearing use of his nickname for his brother. “Devon,” I shouted with a laugh.
“Ali girl, is that you? Is my brother with you?”
“Yep.” As I yell this, I hear what sounds like a herd of elephants charging forward. Light is bouncing all around us as faces slowly pop into view. Every last one of them must have the flashlight app in use on their phones. As they get closer to us, Nic throws his arms behind his back, pulling me in close against his backside.
“Move butthead, I want to see Ali,” Devon exclaims excitedly.
“No one is allowed to see her yet.” Nic’s voice comes out deep though a little harsher than it needed to, but I know why he has said this, because like him, I would really rather no one see me half naked either. “Hey Jess, where are the spare clothes grandma had you bring for Alina?”
“Oh, I forgot. Just a second.” I hear Jessica say a few feet away from me. I then hear what sounds like a backpack being unzipped and then zipped back up just before I see Jessica walk up to me. I do a double take, because as I’m looking at her face, I had to check twice to make sure I wasn’t actually seeing things. Jessica is smiling at me! I mean a legit, friendly smile is being given to me. My mouth falls wide in shock at this turn of events. What the what, what? Best believe, when Nic and I have some privacy, I will be questioning him about this change in demeanor of hers.
Jessica hands me the clothing and Dominic makes everyone turn around and look away from us, so I can slip the items on. The soft cotton of the white sweatpants against my legs feel amazing as does the blue shirt I flip over my head. Once I zip his jacket back up because no one thought to grab a bra, I nudge him in the arm for him to give the okay for everyone to turn back around and be allowed to bombard me now.
I am being passed around the group like a rag doll. Steven and Lisa are the first to hug me, causing a smile to appear upon my face. Who would have ever thought that I would be so completely accepted into a family? Devon nearly ripped me from his parents embrace as he engulfs me in his version of a bear hug.
As Chris finishes hugging me, I am spun on my toes into Riley’s open arms so he can hug me too. Stopping abruptly, I look into two faces I have never seen before, and I stare baffled at the strangers. “Uh, hello. Who are you guys?” I look curiously over them and then bounce my gaze to the people I do know standing around me as I raise a questioning eyebrow to them yet again.
“Hi, my name is Raegan Knight, and this is my brother Vincent Knight. We helped pull you back from the spirit realm.” The impish, pixie-like girl with wild red hair and sky-blue eyes says excitedly as she smiles at me, offering me her hand in hello.
“Oh, wow. Thanks.” Because what is one actually supposed to say to something like that? I take her hand, giving it a shake. It doesn’t seem to faze her that this is all I say to her. I glance at the group of people one more time and smile at them. The love I have for all of them at this moment is truly indescribable. My smile begins to faulter though as I realize one person isn’t amongst the group. “Where’s Jean?” My smile slips from my lips as disappointment takes over at not seeing her here with everyone else.
Everyone looks around to see that what I say is true and she isn’t here with us. “That’s weird. I could have sworn she followed us out of the mausoleum when we came looking for you.” I can hear a bit of worry in Lisa’s voice as she speaks up.
“Where are we anyway?” I question the others.
“The abandoned stables on the outskirts of town. Just a mile from the cemetery.” Devon quipped up.
“Oh…” I trail off as I have no clue as to where the cemetery is in location to the Church of Covens anyway. Reality hits me full force then as the weather sets in, causing my teeth to chatter due to the extreme chill in the night air.
Chris suggests that we should head back towards the tomb and maybe keep an eye out along the way for Jean as we do so. I can see the worry and concern on everyone’s faces as we all readily agree to the suggestion and begin our hike back. Just as we were going to step out of the barn, Nic stopped me, causing me to look at him with a confused expression upon my face. He laughs for a second, “There’s snow on the ground, jump on my back so your feet won’t freeze.” I giggle but do as I’m told; I don’t need frostbite.
As we near the crypt, I notice how deathly quiet it is out, no pun intended. Yeah, I know, it’s nearly one in the morning but not even the sounds of night creatures can be heard. “Is anyone else experiencing any strange feelings?” I ask quietly. The group looks at me and they all simultaneously nod yes. I feel Dominic take a deep breath and then we enter through the door that sits ajar.