Earth Angel (The Kamlyn Paige Novels) (8 page)

As I brought all my valid points to Cara’s
attention, she sat in deep thought. Whenever we came across something I had
never hunted before, Cara would find information on the creature and somewhere
there would be a myth on how to stop it. I could hear pages flipping as she
tried to find an answer in her research. While I waited for her input, Alli
came back to the bar to deliver my sandwich. She smiled at me and walked back
into the kitchen just in time to avoid Sari strolling in. My eyes were drawn to
him as he sat down next to me and smiled, waiting for me to hang up. For a
moment I got distracted by his deep eyes and considered shoving the phone back
into my pocket.

“Finding out who it is should be easy. It would be
the only person with any kind of energy,” Cara said, pulling me out of my
trance. “As far as stopping them, the only thing I can think of is to go into a
deep meditative state and have your own out of body experience.”

I couldn’t help but to laugh aloud at her
suggestion. I had never tried doing any sort of magic or paranormal mumbo jumbo.
Why didn’t I just go down to the local psychic and get my palms read while I
was at it? My job was to hunt down the usual, not become it. As she described
the process to me in great detail, though, I decided there was no harm in
trying. I didn’t want another person to fall victim tonight and whoever was
doing this seemed to be attacking on a nightly basis now. I told Cara I would
follow her advice and hung up.

“What was that about?” Sari asked with a coy smile
plastered on his face.

“Just a business call,” I responded routinely.

He looked deep into my eyes, unconvinced, as if it
were obvious I had just told a lie. And here I thought I was good at it.

“You never really told me what it is you do.”

I smiled back, caught off guard by his inquisition.
I stammered as I reminded him that I was on a road trip and I didn’t like to
talk about work while I was on vacation. He gave a low, melodic laugh, showing
off his perfectly straight, white teeth.

“Well I can’t argue with you there,” he chuckled.

I ate my sandwich as Sari and I exchanged small
talk. The conversation seemed to flow from me without any of my awkward silences
or usual faltering. Not wanting to say goodnight, Sari found excuses to keep me
at the bar longer than I had planned. It was obvious to
me
that I shouldn’t
have a shot in hell with him, but I couldn’t help enjoying the time we spent
together. He made me feel at ease. I could feel my whole body relax and wind
down as I listened to his deep voice. A few minutes before the bar closed for
the night, I reluctantly stood from the hard wooden stool.

“Come on, don’t go. I have a feeling things were
just getting interesting,” he said as he grabbed my shoulder from behind and
leaned in closely.

I could feel his sweet, warm breath on the nape of
my neck and it sent my heart fluttering. I closed my eyes, trying to steady
myself enough to walk out the door. I knew I had no time to waste if I wanted
to catch the drainer in action. I still had no idea if I could even achieve an
out of body experience and I had to give myself enough time for mistakes I was
sure to make.

“I really have to go. It’s getting late. But I promise
to see you again tomorrow,” I lied, knowing the minute I stopped the drainer I
would leave town again.

He released his gentle grip and smiled, accepting
my word.

“I look forward to seeing you again real soon,
then.”

I forced one foot in front of the other as I made
my way out of the bar and into my truck. I started the engine as fast as I
could and stepped on the gas harder than I should have. My tires spun on the
gravel for a moment before peeling out of the parking lot. If I hadn’t made
such a hasty exit, I might have been tempted to take Sari’s suggestion to stay
longer. He got into my head every time I saw him, taking over the rational part
of my brain and causing me to feel things I’d never felt before. It was better
for me if I just stayed away from him. I couldn’t let anything derail me from
my mission.

Once back in the dark motel room, I laid myself
down on the bed and closed my eyes. I tried everything Cara had told me about
concentrating and relaxing into a half sleep state. Inside my head, I calmly
told myself to loosen each muscle individually, starting with my toes and
working all the way up to my brain. Once I had told every part of my body to
relax, my head was supposed to clear itself of all thoughts. To no surprise of
mine, it was not working. Lying there for over an hour, I felt as if I was
getting nowhere. My brain was still spinning, filled with thoughts of what
would happen if I was unsuccessful. If I didn’t leave my body soon, I was
likely to fall asleep.

Deciding to take a break and try again after I
drank a glass of water, I sat up and swung my legs over the edge of the bed. I
turned on the bedside lamp and froze in shock at what I saw. Lying there on the
bed next to me…was
me
. I stood up slowly and stared down at my hands. My
entire body was illuminated, as if there were a million tiny white lights under
my skin. I had expected to see myself as I normally saw ghosts, dull and void
of color, but I had never seen anything like this before. After I took a few
deep breaths to calm myself, I decided to start the search for the drainer. I
reached out my brightened hand to open the door, but hesitated for a moment
with curiosity. Technically, I was a spirit, so maybe I possessed the same
abilities as one.

As I headed directly for the door, I closed my eyes
expecting to smack my forehead against it. An intense tingling sensation ran
through my body. There was no doubt in my mind something had gone horrible
wrong. I was going to find myself stuck halfway between the door or something
ridiculous like that. I opened my eyes and rejoiced in the fact that I was
standing, perfectly intact, outside. Not sure which direction to go, I stood
for a moment in thought. There were only two people in town I knew of who fit
the profile and I didn’t know where either of them lived. The bar and the café
were the only placed I’d come in contact with either of my suspects, but both
were closed.

As I weighed the option of each direction, I felt
someone grab me by the arm forcefully. The entire town rushed beneath me as if
I were being dragged through the air. I didn’t have enough time to work myself
up into a good panic before I was released from the invisible grip and left
standing by Alli’s bedside. She lay silently under the covers, clearly in a
deep state of sleep. Realizing the drainer must be near and getting ready to
suck the life-force from Alli’s defenseless body, I walked into her closet and
waited. As much as I hated to admit it, I knew who I was waiting for. The only
other person that had been full of energy the entire time I’d been there was
Sari. Could such a seemingly perfect guy really be messing around with black
magic? He was from L.A., so anything was possible, I thought with
disappointment.

Not more than a minute after I secured myself in
the darkness, I saw a dim figure appear through the crack of the door. The
indistinct form radiated a dark shadow around itself, preventing me from seeing
who it was. I stepped through the doorway and out into the open bedroom. As I
crept closer to the ominous form, I was stopped in my tracks. The person
standing before me was Alli.

“I knew something was off about you…hunter,” she
said with spite.

I stood there in shock, unable to think of what to
say. She had seemed like such a down to Earth, friendly person.

“They told me someone like you would eventually
come for me if I wasn’t careful.”

I stared deep into her black empty eyes and knew
exactly who the ‘they’ were that she was talking about.

“So, what? You promise yourself to a demon and they
give you the secret to staying young and beautiful?” I asked with blatant
disgust in my voice.

How could someone be so vain? She was willing to
sacrifice the lives of others for her own visage. There had to be a catch.
Demons never did anything for free. Whatever the price was, she seemed
oblivious to the fact that there would be an end to her existence. She cackled
loudly at my disapproval.

“Why should I care about anyone but myself?” she
asked, rhetorically. “No one ever cared about me.”

I could feel the heat of my animosity rising
quickly within me. Without control, my instincts took over and I ran full speed
towards her. Just when I was about to tackle, I lunged, wanting to be sure I
took her down hard. Instead, I fell straight through her opaque body.

“Stupid girl,” she laughed. “You’re not in a
physical form. You can’t touch me.”

Her face hardened as she stared into my fearful
eyes.

“At least not until you’ve learned how,” she added
as she headed towards me.

I backed away, using my hands and feet to push
myself from her path. Appearing before me, she grabbed me by the throat and
effortlessly lifted me up from the floor. My feet dangled a few inches from the
ground as I attempted to escape from her grip. I gasped for air as I swung my
arms, trying to make contact only to go straight through her.

“Use your mind to banish her,” a low, soft voice
whispered in my ear. “Concentrate.”

I focused my line of vision behind Alli and saw a
tall figure hovering in the corner of the bedroom. It shone so brightly, I
wasn’t able to tell who or what it was. All I knew is that if I wanted to
survive, I had to listen to what it said. As Alli smiled wickedly and tightened
her grip around my neck, I turned my gaze to focus directly onto her eyes. She
seemed completely unaware of my unknown protector glowing only a few feet
behind her.

“You can’t win, hunter!” she gloated prematurely.

Her smile was malicious as I held one of my hands
in front of me with the palm facing outward towards her face. As I concentrated
intently, blocking out everything around me, I felt my hand start to vibrate.
It felt as if a surge of electricity were shooting up my arm and out of my
fingertips. Gradually, a concentrated ball of white light formed in the palm of
my hand.

Alli’s spirit let out a shrill cry as she dropped me
to the hardwood floor once again. I took several deep breaths before backing
away. My eyes were drawn to her feet. A bright blue flame was slowly crawling
up her legs, threatening to engulf her entire evil soul. I planted my hands
firmly on the ground, pushing myself up to stand tall.

“Please, stop!” she begged as I returned to
complete concentration.

If she had known how to do this, she would have done
so to me without hesitation. My hatred towards her grew fervidly. Without
warning, the blue flames rose as if someone had thrown gasoline onto them. I
protected my eyes with my arm from the blinding light in front of me. A
tremendous heat filled the room. Through the roar of the fire, I heard Alli’s
violent shrills of pain and fear. As instantly as the fire had grown, it was
out and the space where Alli’s spirit had stood was now empty.

Void of energy, my body collapsed. I breathed
heavily as I lay on the floor, trying to comprehend what had just happened. I
looked at the corner where the white figure had been, but there was no one
there. I rolled over onto my stomach and pushed myself up onto all fours before
standing slowly. I stared at the wall across from me, needing a stationary
object to focus on to keep my head from spinning. Right at the moment when I
began to feel normal again, the invisible hand grabbed my upper arm and yanked
me back to the motel.

When I arrived in front of the bed where my
physical form lay I looked around the dark, empty room. Once more, I found
myself alone. Just wanting the night to be over, I laid down on the bed,
overlapping my spirit with my body as I let a deep breath escape my lips. I
opened my eyes instantly as if I were awakening from a bad dream.

I looked down to make sure I was really me. The
glow was gone from my skin and I was starting to forget the things I’d seen. I
tried to go over what had happened in my head, knowing there were gaps I could
not seem to remember. The important thing was I had gotten rid of the drainer…I
think. After I stood up to check if I was all in one piece, I picked up my
phone from the bedside table to call Cara. I had to confide in her everything I
could remember before the entire night was lost to my subconscious.

“Did you do it?” she answered after the first ring,
eager to hear the details.

I told her what I could remember all in one breath.
I felt if I didn’t talk fast enough the knowledge of my encounter would fade
away into nothing. The one thing that stayed strong in my mind was the white
figure I had seen in the corner. I wasn’t sure what to think about the one who
had guided me.

“Sounds like you’ve got someone watching out for
you, Kamlyn,” Cara responded with her usual faith.

I wasn’t sure if it made me feel quite as at ease
as it should have, though. There was something off about it to me. Why hadn’t
they revealed themselves to me? They were obviously capable of communicating
with me, since it had told me how to defend myself.

“I’m sorry I didn’t believe you,” Cara apologized
sincerely.

“It’s okay,” I said, not wanting to talk about the
eventful night any further.

I said goodnight to Cara and turned off my phone. I
sluggishly shuffled into the bathroom and turned the faucet on full blast,
wanting the water to be as cold as I could get it. Lowering my face close to
the sink, I splashed myself a few times before blindly reaching for the
washcloth that hung on the wall. I patted my face dry and took a long look in
the mirror. Why was I so tired, I wondered as I looked at my exhausted face. I
took off my jeans as I made my way over to the bed, almost falling over as I
hopped on one foot to free the other. Wanting a distraction from my thoughts, I
dug through my bag for my MP3 player and headphones. When it came to taking my
mind off my own problems, there was nothing better than focusing on the lyrical
words of others. I only made it to the middle of the second song before I fell
asleep.