Page 19 of Nighted

Chapter Six

Six hours later I rubbed my blurry eyes, all of the words on the page spinning in front of me. The decision not to eat before I left had been a mistake. Now I was frustrated and hangry. Not a great combination. The pack library was devoid of any information about demons, except for the repeating warnings to avoid them at all costs. Looked like even big bad werewolves had some scary enemies. Fuck. I really wanted to be able to take care of this on my own, to be able to keep everyone out of danger. Especially Jasper. I needed to protect him at all costs. But if the books couldn’t help me this was going to be useless. As if I summoned him, the bite on my neck started to tingle. A voice called my name, and I turned toward the door. But no one stood at the door. I turned back to my book.

Again, the voice called me, and it sent a chill down my back. Jasper’s voice. Desperate, and in danger. “Ava, help!” The only image in my mind was that from my dream -- Jasper bleeding out onto the ground in front of me.

I reached behind me to make sure my blades were securely strapped to my back, and slammed the useless textbook shut in front of me. Jasper wasn’t supposed to be back for a few hours, so the fact he was already on pack lands was a warning signal I couldn’t ignore. The small town square was devoid of people, so when he yelled my name again I could hear it clear as anything. It was coming from the tree line, near the sensors we always checked. Maybe something was wrong with one of them. I ran out past the main buildings, and paused for only a moment, wondering if I should let Duke know. Usually, I took him or Jasper with me for situations that might be dangerous, but there wasn’t time to argue with Duke right now. I could feel that down to my core. So I turned away from the lane leading to Duke’s house and picked up speed, running across the field as fast as I could. I hit a rock just beyond the tree line, but caught myself before I could stumble and fall.

“Fuck,” I muttered, gaining speed once again. “Jasper? Jasp, where are you?” I paused, waiting to hear where his response came from. A light sweat coated the back of my neck as I yanked my hair up into a tight bun. “Jasp, this isn’t funny anymore.” If he was playing some kind of sick joke on me, then he was going to get dish duty for a month.

“Ava! Hurry!”

From the left of me. I sprinted through newly budding saplings and the still dense evergreens, the sun bright above me. Until I ran through a cluster of trees and stumbled into utter darkness.

Shit. I couldn’t see my hands in front of me. Somehow I had wound up in one of the small caves dotting the forest. I tried to retrace my steps back, waiting for my eyes to adjust to the thick blackness surrounding me. What the hell did I get myself into? Jasper was not going to be happy. I touched my blades, making sure they were still there. “Jasp? Jasp, can you hear me? I think I’m in a cave. I can’t see a thing.”

I was trying to steady my heartrate, and not let fear get the best of me. It was just one of the caves. Tons of boulders had shifted over the years, making these small caverns that were dark as anything. The fact Jasper still wasn’t responding though… that made me nervous. I took a deep breath and counted to ten. This was nothing. “Jasper!”

I felt the presence near me before I heard them. “Jasp! Jasp!” The voice was a weak, mocking imitation of my own calls for Jasper.

I would not let the fear control me. I whipped my swords out and down spinning around in the darkness as if that could help me. “Who the hell are you?”

“So weak. Weak little Ava Green. Yes, I’ve heard about you. And the rumours must be true, because you fell into my trap so easily.” The voice laughed, but it might have been a cough -- a dry, croaking sound.

“Don’t fucking mess with me,” I gritted out, sounding a hell of a lot tougher than I felt. I gripped the hilts of my blades tightly, ready to strike and get out of this darkness.

And then something was around my neck, choking me. I gasped, trying to suck in any air I could. “Stupid girl. Did you really think you were going to get me before I got you? I need you compliant, and for you that means unconscious.”

Fuck. That. Shit. I needed to keep my head, and I couldn’t do that if I was desperate for air. I relaxed my body, thinking back to all the trainings Jasper and I had done. Not running away from my fear, but using it as leverage. The thing behind me felt human. At least, human enough to have an arm. I cranked my head to the side and the air pocket in the crook of this arm gave my throat just enough space to expand. I sucked in a couple quick breaths as quietly as I could, oxygen pulsing through my blood once again. Now I could breathe, I could focus on taking this thing out. I still had my blades. Thank God for that.

“Yes, my master will be so pleased.” If I never heard this voice again, I would die a happy girl. I twisted my hips to the side, feeling nothing behind me. Good.

“Your master is going to have to wait.” I threw my weight back, and the thing screeched as I caught it off balance. It stumbled far enough away from me that I took a blind aim, slashing toward where I guessed its thigh would be. I hit my target, hearing another ear-piercing cry as I turned and ran. Hopefully it was the right direction, but I had no idea. I couldn’t see anything behind me or see anything ahead of me, but I put one foot in front of the other. Finally, I stumbled into blinding sunlight once again. I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream. I wanted to run right back into the darkness and make sure that thing was never coming out again. I ran as fast as I could through the woods, bushes and branches scratching my arms and face as I moved.

“Ava? Ava!” I could hear Jasper’s desperate cries again echoing through the forest, and I was ready to turn and run the other way. But then I saw his dark shaggy head peek out from behind a tree, and my heart stuttered.

“Jasper!” I had never been so grateful to see his face and leapt into his arms. He squeezed me back tightly, and I could feel his fast heartrate levelling out. “How did you know where I was?”

“The bond… the bond told me where you were the second I stepped onto pack lands. I could feel your fear.” He put me down gently, running his hands over my face. “Are you okay? What the hell happened?”

“I’m fine. I’ll have a few bruises in the morning, but I’m okay. I think it was the demon.” I paused, taking in his scowl. “Do you remember when you told me you tracked Sheriff Kelly into a cave, and you couldn’t see?”

Jasper nodded, and his mouth was set in a hard line.

“It was like that. I couldn’t see, but I should’ve been able to. It was unnerving.”

He placed a light kiss on my forehead. “What happened next?”

“It lured me out using your voice. It knew my name…” I trailed off, gathering my thoughts. “It tried to choke me, but I got it pretty good.” I glanced down at my sword, covered in a light sheen of blood.

“So it had a human body?”

I shrugged, finally coming down from the events of the past few minutes. “It must have.”

Jasper pulled me to his side tightly but released me when I winced. “Sorry, baby. Bruises. I forgot.”

I squeezed his hand. “I’ll heal. Is it safe to leave with this thing on the loose?”

He sighed. “I hate to say it, but whatever this thing is seems to be after you. I’ll tell Adrian to give us a shout if anything unusual happens, but I think we’re going to have a harder time than him.”

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