Beyond (30 page)

When I got
there, I found myself near the pool of water. It was beautiful and mesmerizing . T
he light beamed at just the right ang le to produce the colors that it reflected, giving me a tranquil feeling. It was hard to imag ine such beauty could also be so dea d ly .
I recalled the water being acidic. J
ust for fun , I threw a pebble in. It sizzled and disappeared. Yup!
Having c onfirmed that it was dangerous, I walked away.

I sat on a small boulder
a nd gazed around, hoping to fi nd something—anything. Will ing my bow and keepin g it close to me, I moved about as quietly as I could. There was someone t here , I was sure of it. I leaped from one boulder to another checking my surroundings, then decided to take a rest since I di dn ’
t find anyone snooping .
Thinking I must be out of my mind, I sat down on the pebbled ground . When I lay my bow beside me , I was surprised to fe el a bump on the surface . Shuffl ing the dirt, I uncovered the hidden object and picked it up . I found the same butterfly necklace I was wearing in the picture .

I
suddenly recall ed placing the necklace through Aliah ’
s heart.
I knew I had been the one that destroyed him, but the details had been unclear up till now.
He had bl own up, but somehow the necklace had remained intact.
It must have been made from a special crystal . T
hat was the only possible explanation for it s surviv al .
A huge sm ile played across my lips . I t was something special from my past , a beginning to gluing the missing part s of my life back together. I placed it gently on the palm of my hand and kept my eyes glued to it as if it would flutter away like a real butterfly if I blinked.

I carefully raised it up
to t he light that beamed from the cracks above. It was absolutely compelling as it sparkled . M
arv el ing and enjoying this simply beauty, I jerked when it turned b l ack and started to vibrate.
What the heck?
I stood up in alarm and shoved it inside my front pocket.

“
Claudia, the dark shadows are here. They mu st have followed you.
”
H
is tone was urgent, sounding alarmed.

Effortlessly, I jumped on top of the boulder
, startled by th e sudden appearance of the stranger . I was so consumed by the novelty of the necklace I had let my guard down. With my bow ready to shoot, I pointed at him.

“
Wait .”
H
is hands were raised in front of him as if he could be protected from it.
“
I ’
m not your enemy. Come with me before it ’
s too late.
”

His voice sounded familiar.
“
Are you Callum ?
”

“
Yes, you remember me from the ground s of Paradi s us. I ’
m an Earth angel, just like your grandmother. She and I were friend s. Hurry, you must decide now .
”

Gamma
’
s friend?
She never mentioned him, but then again, she didn ’
t mouth a word about any angels until her deathbed.
I didn ’
t like to make decisions under pres sure, but it was too late .
A massive group of evil beings entered l ike a swarm of bees .
It was heart wrenching knowing I would be shooting at humans , but they ’d already lost their souls to the darkness .
Having no choice, I sta rted shooting. S
ilver flames darted toward them, hitting precisely and piercing straight throug h them. They incinerated into ashes.

L
ike the demons at the warehouse , red bolts shot out from their hands, something between lightning and burning flames. There were too many of them. Callum f ou ght alongside me with a sword that he hadn’t had a second ago. I shot as many as I could, but I couldn ’
t get to all of them and they surrounded us.

As fast as I could, I shot them or their flames
that darted straight for me. It looked like fire work s of red and silver as they lit the room in a massive , disorder ly fashion. Too busy trying to survive, I didn ’
t see them enter , but f rom a distan ce I saw Austin, Davin and Michael battling the demons ; but I was most baffled to see Michael.

Two
silver spher ical metal objects twirled in Austin ’
s hand. I had never seen them before, but I did recall Austin telling me he was making interesting new weapons. As the demons regrouped, Austin rolled one of the silver metal balls right in the middle of them. Bewildered by the sight of the strange object, the demons stood still and watched the ball open up, shooting the same silver flames that shot out from the venator ’
s bow s . The d emons screeched in pain while flames blasted out from their bodies.

“
Cool. I need one of those.
”
Davin looked a t Austin.

“
As Claudia would say…in y our dreams, ”
Austin smirked and ducked a blow.

Davin
hurled a demon across the ground , lifting the dirt and knock ing over the demons in its path like bowling pins. “Strike,” Davin bellowed.

It was a strange sight to see the three
of them together , especially since Michael kept telling me not to tell anyone about him .
Regardless, their presence gave me comfort , especially since I didn ’
t know if I could trust Callum ; but a nger still lingered knowing that people I trusted lied to me.

Keeping one eye on my targets, the other eye followed Michael. I couldn ’
t help myself . A ll I could do was watch him move in swift , fluid motions. He looked so hot that my mind started to w ander back to our las t encounter, his lustrous unforgettable kiss , and how he made me feel.
A t the same time , I couldn ’
t help being angry at him , for I was certain that he had also lied to me.

Claudia, look out! Duck!
I heard a voice loud and cl ear , as if he ’d said it standing right next to me. Trusting the voice and without a second to lose, I ducked just in time as a flame headed straight for me, missing me by a hair s breadth . Fueling my energy from rage, I could feel myself burning inside. Heat rushed through , and I could see myself lighting up.

“
No, Claudia!
”
I heard Austin, but he wasn ’
t telling me to stop , h e was warning me. Austin had rolled one of the silver sphere weapons, only this time a demon picked it up and tossed it toward me.

The n
ext thing I knew the boulder I was standing on blew up. Countless pieces broke apart, darting in every direction. Smoke spiraled, con fusing everyone as it clouded their vision. My body was in midair , doing a backward dive , but I didn ’
t land. Instead, Michael caught my fall and I was safe in his arms.
We were floating and his wings were marvelously expanded .
I was in utter awe. Our eyes locked .
N
o words were spoken as everything and everyone ceased to exist. I forgot where I was and the danger I was in a second ago. My heart hammered faster, not from fear, but from him.

My feet touched the ground as he
gently placed me down. I snapped out of my thoughts and paced away quickly , as if he were the enemy. Instead of running into Austin ’
s arm s , I jump ed on a boulder away from everyone . Contemplating my next move, I look ed for the demons, but they had all vanished.

“
Claudia, come with me, ”
Callum insisted.
“
These morons can ’
t keep you safe.
”

“
Hey…who you calling moron s ? You mean a moron.
”
Davin raised his brows and pointed his finger at Austin.

Austin
rolled his eyes .
“
No more games, Claudia .”
Austin ’
s tone was stern.
“
You could have gotten killed. Come with me. I ’
m not asking. I ’
m demanding.
”

I gave him
my “
I don ’
t think so ”
look . How dare he use that tone on me, like he was scolding a child ?
Just for that, I was more determined not to go with him.

“
You ’
ll be safe with me, Claudia. All they ever d id was lie to you, ”
Callum interject ed .

Callum
’
s word s stabbed through my heart. He was right. All they ever did was lie to me.
I o nly ha d a couple of options—one, try to escape all of them or two, go with one.

I crossed my arms, glared at Austin and shook my head. Michael attempted , too.
“
If you don ’
t want to go with that moron then come with me, but don ’
t go with Callum.
”

I shook
my head.
“
I don ’
t know you any better than Callum and I thought you had gone rogue, but that was a lie . How do you expect me to ever trust you again?
”
I said to Michael , piercing my eyes at him without care. At that moment I saw sadness in his eyes I had never seen before. I wasn ’
t going to feel bad. It was the truth , even if I was starting to remember things. Right now he was nobody to me , even though he made me feel like I ’d gone to Heaven.

Austin took several steps.
“
Please, Claudia , y our friends are worried.
Let ’
s go home.
”

“
I have no friends. The only friend I remember is Patty.
”
I wasn ’
t sure what I said was true, but I wanted to see their reaction s .
Austin and Davin looked shock ed , but Michael showed no expression.

“
So you ’
re remembering things. That ’
s great. Let us help you sort it out, ”
Austin suggested, moving even closer.

“
You take one more step, Austin , and I swear, I will disappear, ”
I said , feeling furious.
“
You all have a lot to explain to me.
”

“
You ’
re right. Let ’
s go home and I ’
ll explain everything.
”

“
So he can tell you more lie s , ”
Callum scoffed.

I flashed my eyes at Callum.
“
How well did you know Gamma?
”

“
You mean Lucy Reed? Very well. She t old me all about you. She loved—”

“
Claudia, ”
Michael interrupted.
“
Those are just words , easily said. Anyone could say them to you. Don ’
t believe him.
”

“
Look me in the eye and tell me you didn ’
t lie to me too.
”
I waited a few seconds, but he couldn ’
t , and for some reason, my heart sank. I had hope d with all my heart that he was not i nvolved in this tunnel of lies.

“
Callum, take me with you, ”
I said, looking straight at Michael, Dav in and Austin, feeling satisfie d that I ’d made my own decision, and there was nothing they could do about it.

Michael grabbed Austin just as
he was about to spr i ng toward me. I leaped in front of Callum and focus ed my eyes on the ground , wondering if I was making a grave mistake. I was acting out from anger and not with a clear mind. Would I regret it?

Unexpectedly, I heard
Michael ’
s voice inside my head.
Claudia, please don ’
t go. But if you must, know that I will find you. Be careful. Don ’
t trust anything he says. I ’
ll always be there.

Startled that he could do such
a thing, I looked at him to let him know I heard.
I hated that his voice alone could make my heart flutter even when I was extremely mad at him .
He gave me a short smile and glared at Callum.
“
I will find you. Mark my words. You hurt her and I swear I will kill you , even if I have to spend my eternity hunting you down.
”

“
Yeah…me too, ”
Davin stepped forward , acting brave all of sudden. He was so cute. I almost smiled, but didn ’
t.

As they became translucent, fading away from my vision, a shot of icy cold chills ran down my spine.

Chapter
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