The Human Side (The Demon Side Series) Read online

  It seemed as if she had read my mind as we ate. I contemplated apologizing to her, but now I didn’t need to. She had forgiven me for what I had done. Still, her forgiveness hadn’t distracted me from my pure anger. I always wondered what happened to her pregnancy with Alastor’s child. The story of her losing it during a softball game never fully jived with me, but the truth enraged me more than her lie. I wanted to wring her neck for even thinking ending her life and damning her soul to Hell. Suicide was for the weak sheep of the world, not for someone as strong as her. I wanted to rip into her for being so stupid when she jumped up from her chair and grabbed her small duffel bag.

  “What are you thinking?” she asked as she pulled a pair of green fuzzy pajamas out. You can’t tell someone you’re thinking about slapping them, so I responded with the first thing that came to mind.

  “I’m wondering why you would forgive me. I didn’t ask for it, and I don’t want it.”

  “You’re such a horrible liar, Ra.” Hearing my given name pass her lips caused my heart to skip a beat. John mentioned she had been regaining her memory. Does she know who I truly am?

  “What did you call me?”

  “I called you Ra. It sounds better than Ramen, and Daniel doesn’t suit you,” she replied as she disappeared in the bathroom.

  Her explanation hurt for the briefest of seconds until it dawned on me that I had no clue what she might be remembering. For all I knew, if she had any images of me, she might see me as the Demon in her attic, not the Angel fighting a sea of monsters for her. But that wouldn’t explain her sudden need to spend time with me.

  Chapter Twelve

  “Ah, much better.” Etta came out of the bathroom in her pajamas and plopped down on the bed as she threw her clothes on the floor.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Relaxing. You should try it sometime,” she replied as she turned on the television.

  “I think it’s time to for you to go now.” As I picked up her pants, the pocket chimed with the Marine Corps Hymn. Etta snatched the pants from me and pulled out a cell phone from the pocket.

  “Hey, Dad. I’m at Tristan’s.” The sound of his name alone had been enough to send me into a fury, but for her to lie to John about being with him infuriated me beyond belief.

  “Okay. Love you, too. Good night.”

  “It’s definitely time for you to leave. Get out,” I said as I opened the door.

  “Hold your horses, Ra.” Etta punched away at the miniature keyboard on her phone. Again, hearing her say my name melted away the fury within me. As I released a deep sigh, her phone rang again. This time Etta walked into the bathroom before answering. Curious as to why she would tell a bold-face lie to John in front of me, but wanted to keep this call a secret, I crept to the bathroom door for a little eavesdropping.

  “Hey.”

  “Yes, I’m with him.”

  “You do, and I’ll tell him about the other night.”

  “Well, you’re kind of forcing my hand here, Tristan.”

  “I’ll be home in the morning. I need to figure this out on my own. If you really care about me the way you say you do, you’ll let me do this.”

  “Yes. I promise.”

  “I love you, too.”

  Using every ounce of restraint not to rip the door off its hinges, I stormed outside, slamming the door behind me. Needing to release my aggression, I gripped the railing of the balcony, shaking it violently.

  “Everything okay?” Etta asked.

  “Just peachy,” I replied, keeping my hands on the railing and my head down so as to not turn around and smack her for her betrayal.

  “Doesn’t look that way.”

  “Etta, please. I need you to go.”

  “Why? Why is it you want to get rid of me so badly?”

  “I promised your father I would stay away from you.”

  “That’s not the reason. There’s something else you’re not telling me.”

  “Etta….”

  “Ah, you’re hesitating, which means you’re thinking of a lie again. You don’t want me here. At least give me the common courtesy of being honest with me as to why. Happy frickin’ Valentine’s Day!”

  Something hit me in the back of the head. As I turned to see what she had thrown, she stomped inside, flinging the door behind her. On the ground was a small square box covered in silver paper and a metallic green bow. I picked up the box and removed the paper. Pulling the lid from the brown cardboard container, I dropped it in shock from what I found inside. The box held the feather I left for her, the tip I chipped off in her bedroom wall and a note.

  “Why did you give me this?” I yelled, throwing the box and its contents on the bed as Etta shoved her clothes into her bag. Keeping silent, Etta tried pushing past me. Needing an answer, I grabbed her by her arm to keep her from leaving and with that, she delivered one hell of an over-handed punch, socking me in mouth. The unexpected blow put me in a temporary daze, causing me to stumble and lose my grip on her. Before I had regained my footing, she had gone. I rushed outside to see which direction she went, but I found no sign of her. I called Gabriel as I walked back inside to get my car keys. Much to my surprise, he didn’t answer.

  With no time to waste, I ran back down to my car and took off in search of Etta. I had driven a few miles before turning around and back tracking toward the freeway. With no sign of her, I drove back to the motel. As I sat on the edge of the bed, I picked up the feather, the chip and a piece of folded paper she had given me. Curious, I opened the paper. Inside she wrote:

  “Hey Ra, A friend of mine gave these to me. They have helped me more than I think he could have ever comprehended. I don’t know what is going on with you, but maybe they will help you the same way they helped me.”

  A friend? Did she remember me? If so, why did she mention me as a friend, when we were so much more than that? Had her feelings changed? I love you. How I wished she meant those words for me. But the ones I needed to hear from her to restore my power and place in Heaven had been given to another. Father had been right. Young hearts change with the winds. My worst fear seemed to be reality.

  A pit formed in my stomach, and I became short of breath. Panic struck me as my chest seemed to close on me. The horrible feeling something had to be wrong came over me. I rushed outside. No sooner had I put the key in my car door that my cell phone rang.

  “Hello?”

  “Ra!”

  “John? What’s wrong?”

  “It’s Etta.”

  “What’s wrong with Etta, John?” I started the car and pushed on the gas, fish tailing out of the parking lot.

  “Tristan picked her up. They were attacked. I need you to go get them.”

  “Where are you?”

  “They’re in a field off Highway 1 and Manning Drive, outside Fredericksburg.”

  “I’m on my way. Where are you?”

  “Don’t worry about me. Just get to her.” John hung up.

  As I raced down the highway, I watched the passing fields for any sign of Etta. With no real idea of what I should be looking for, I called Gabriel for assistance. Thankfully, he answered this time. John had called him first and he would be arriving soon, but didn’t offer any more information. Earlier in the day, John had been adamant he had everything under control. For him to not only call Gabriel, but me as well for help meant Vetis must be gaining the upper hand.

  A half mile from Manning Drive, I caught a glimpse of a set of lights shining on a road sign from the side of the road. As I got closer, I noticed the illumination came from a car that had rolled over into a ditch. I knew in my heart it had to be Tristan’s black BMW. Screeching to a halt beside the ditch, I flew to the car, only to find it empty. The windshield had shattered, and based on the visible damage, it had rolled at least a few times. Fearing they had been thrown from the vehicle, I scanned the surrounding field and began calling out for Etta when Gabriel came roaring up in Amy’s Van.

  “They’re not in the car. You
got a flashlight?” I called out as Amy and he exited the van.

  “What happened?” Gabriel asked as he handed me a small flashlight from Amy’s key ring.

  “I don’t know. I was hoping you might tell me.”

  “I just got a call telling me to come here.”

  “Where’s John?” Gabriel asked.

  “I thought he was with you.”

  “Let’s find Etta and Tristan. We’ll figure out where John is after that. They couldn’t have been thrown far from here. Check over to the left. Amy, you take the center. I’ll take the right.”

  As we called out their names, the sinking feeling that the worst had happened, that Etta lay somewhere dead in this field of weeds swept over me. That would explain the sudden feeling of dread that came over me at the motel. After yelling her name again, I noticed a shadow moving in circles behind an old oak tree off in the distance. As I shined my flashlight on it, relief struck me.

  “Over here!” I called out as I raced to her. I got within a few yards of her and noticed her face and shirt covered in blood. With a look of sheer terror, she stumbled her way through the weeds toward me, but kept looking behind her.

  “Gabriel! Call an ambulance!” I cried out as she collapsed before me.

  “The light…the light.” Etta pulled at my shirt, trying to get up.

  “Shh. Relax. We’re going to get you help. Where’s Tristan?”

  “No. I saw it. It fell.”

  “What fell, Etta?”

  “The light. It hit him and fell.”

  “Hit who? Tristan?” Depending on John’s flash speed at the time of impact, if John had barreled into Tristan, he could have put him anywhere out here. The chances of us finding him in the dark would be slim to none.

  “Outta my way.” Before Etta had a chance to answer me, Amy pushed me over into the grass. I inched in to watch as Amy reached up Etta’s shirt.

  “Nothing on the body. The blood must be coming from her head. Benjamin, give me your shirt.”

  “Do you know what you’re doing?” I asked as she wiped the blood from Etta’s face.

  “With six younger siblings, babysitting credentials longer than your arm and countless first aid classes, I think I can handle this. Why don’t you go look for Tristan?”

  “No. I’m staying with her.”

  “Benjamin, get him out of here.”

  “Ambulance is on its way, and she’s in good hands.” Gabriel pulled me up by my arm. As we took off on our search, he kept calling out Tristan’s name. I knew I should have been looking for him, but I kept glancing back to Etta.

  “She said a light hit him,” I said once we were out of earshot of the girls.

  “That would explain why John’s not here.”

  “Does it? Why wouldn’t he just flash here instead of calling us for help? And if he hit Tristan, we’re not going to find him either.”

  “We at least have to try to find him.”

  “Do you think he hit Tristan on purpose?”

  “Why would he do that?”

  “Maybe he’s not who he says he is?”

  “They trust him. He’s practically a member of the family.”

  “They may trust him, but do you?”

  “You must stop with the jealousy and accept the fact Etta loves another.”

  His comment stopped me dead in my tracks. “So, she does love him?”

  “I don’t know what she feels for him. I’m not with them every moment they spend together.” Gabriel stopped and turned to me.

  “Wouldn’t she have said something to Amy, and with as close as you two have become, Amy is all but bound to say something to you.”

  “Look, Etta is a confused girl right now. A lot has happened since you left, and the veil is all but wide open for her now. But she’s twisted the memories. She has delusions of this grand Angelic Demon and savior who is going to show up one day and prove to everyone she’s not insane. And when she’s not in the attic waiting for him to magically appear, she’s at Tristan’s house helping him with a psychology paper he’s writing about her delirium. He’s been trying to help her.”

  “If the veil is as open as you say it is, then wouldn’t Lucifer have made a move for her?” If what Gabriel said held true, then her growing knowledge of our worlds would leave her open to a full frontal attack. Lucifer would have no need to hide behind Vetis. Why he even sent him, I had yet to figure out.

  “Like I said, she’s twisting everything. She hasn’t quite figured it all out, but she’s not far from doing so.”

  “Then why doesn’t Father just close it?”

  “Something is keeping it open. John and I have been trying to figure out what, but have found nothing.”

  My thoughts flooded back to the pieces of my feathers. Were they what drew out her memories, and in turn, her Demons? If that were the case, Father should have closed the veil the moment she no longer held possession of them. Is simply knowing about them holding the veil open? Or possibly their existence on Earth? I would have to go back to the motel and destroy them the first chance I had.

  “Hey, guys.” Tristan suddenly appeared behind Gabriel, startling us both.

  “Tristan! Are you okay?” Gabriel rushed to his side inspecting a small cut on his neck.

  “I’m fine.”

  I didn’t give a damn about his welfare. Having done my job finding him, I ran back toward Etta. As I approached, Amy stood up, blocking me from Etta. Her worried expression sent off the alarms in my head.

  “We need to get her to a hospital ASAP. She has too many injuries, and she’s losing a lot of blood, fast.”

  Without a word, I shoved past Amy and knelt beside Etta. She had been rolled to her stomach. Dropping to both my knees in shock, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Sticking from her back were countless shards of glass, as if a glass window exploded behind her. My hand trembled above, wanting to rip them out as tears welled up.

  “Don’t. They may be the only thing slowing the bleeding, and I don’t know how deep they are.” Amy grabbed my wrist. Gabriel and Tristan walked toward the road, now filled with the yellow and red lights of emergency vehicles. Gabriel pointed our way and four men hopped out of a small red fire truck.

  The men in black overalls ran across the field and pushed Amy and me to the side. Two of the firemen rolled Etta onto her side as another lifted her lids and shined a small pen light in them.

  “You’re hurting her!” Hearing a small moan of pain, I instinctually grabbed one his suspenders, yanking him from her.

  “Ramen! Stop! Let them do their job.” Amy slapped my arm and led me to the road where the police vehicles had pulled up.

  Two officers pulled us in opposite directions. As they asked question after question, I kept glancing over at Tristan, who was speaking to another officer as a paramedic patched up his neck. I struggled to hear his side of what happened tonight. Though it proved difficult to make out anything he said, he seemed unshaken. I scanned everyone else around me until a loud puttering sound came from above.

  Chapter Thirteen

  A Medi-Flight helicopter landed in the field, swirling the cold night air. The four firemen lifted Etta onto a gurney, and then rushed her to the helicopter. As if a movie had been stuck on slow motion, I watched as they lifted her into the helicopter. It took off into the night sky until its flashing lights disappeared among the stars.

  We answered questions for what seemed to be hours. A tow truck pulled the car from ditch and lifted it onto its trailer. The whole top of the car and sides had been crushed inward. Based on the damage, I wondered how either of them survived.

  As the tow truck began pulling away, I noticed the windshield. If either of them had been thrown through the windshield, it would have broken from the inside out. The glass had been broken from the outside in. It became obvious where the glass in Etta’s back had come from. It seemed as if someone had thrown a large, round object at the car.

  That didn’t explain how it got in her back. If the gl
ass exploded inward during the crash, the glass should have hit the front of her body, unless she saw it coming and tried to dodge it by clamoring to the backseats. If they saw it though, why not maneuver to avoid whatever it may have been coming at them? None of this seemed to be adding up.

  After being cleared to leave, I waited around in hopes of getting Tristan’s story when he finished talking to the officers. As I leaned against my car waiting, another jet-black vehicle pulled up with Logan inside the passenger seat. Logan stepped out of the car, only to hop into the back seat. Tristan spoke to Gabriel and Amy for a moment before taking off. I approached the duo. I had planned on asking all of the questions, but Amy had beaten me to the punch.

  “You two better start talking, and I mean right now!” Amy shrugged off Gabriel’s arm as he tried placing it around her shoulders.

  Uncertain as to what she might be asking, Gabriel appeared as dumbfounded as me. I knew it would be best to keep my mouth shut before asking her to clarify. Picking up on my queue to keep quiet, Gabriel bit his bottom lip.

  “C’mon, Gabriel! Start spilling it. What the hell is going on?”

  “Gabriel?”

  “Oh don’t play stupid. I heard Ramen boy call you Gabriel. So who are you guys, really?”

  “That’s my middle name.”

  “Bull. I’ve seen your I.D. card. Benjamin Theodore Harper.” Hearing the name John had chosen for the first time, I burst into laughter. I struggled not to, but the name Theodore always seemed campy to me. His last name, Harper, didn’t help either. The dude had a knack for harping on the rest of us about our personal lives. The timing may have been inappropriate, but after the evening’s events, it became difficult to hold my sanity together.