13

“Gabby,” Emily called out running down the sidewalk toward Gabby. He stopped walking and seemed to be listening for something. “Gabby!” He turned around and saw her. His face lit up with a huge smile. He clapped his hands together and did a small jig. Emily finally made it to him.

“Lass, it’s a pleasure to see you well. I heard about ye’ car accident,” he shook his head in disapproval. “Damn, Ca... dog should know better than jumping out in front of cars.” He shook his head. 

“Gabby, do you have a minute to talk,” she whispered looking around to see who was around, “alone?” His eyes lit up, and he clapped his hands together.

“Boy, do I! Follow me, lass.” Gabby gestured up the sidewalk in the direction he had been walking.

“Emily,” Kian shouted. Emily and Gabby turned to see Kian walking up the sidewalk towards them.

“Pretty boy is always on your heels, eh,” Gabby frowned. 

“Let’s go,” Emily stated before she grabbed Gabby’s hand and took off running and pulling him along.

Gabby quite impressed Emily given his height, he was quite the runner. At first thought, Emily had debated on picking Gabby up and running with him. However, she figured that would be a rude gesture and she didn’t want to offend the only Camden resident, who she hoped could help her. 

“He’s gaining on us,” Gabby said looking over his shoulder. Emily looked over hers to see a very pissed off Kian stalking towards them. He wasn’t running, but he was walking extremely fast and was scowling. 

“Isn’t there a building we can go in to and lock the door?” Emily asked looking around at the buildings along the sidewalk. 

“Gabby McGabbahn, if you want to know where it is, you better stop running... NOW,” Kian roared. Gabby came to a screeching halt. His sudden stop and his and Emily’s hands still together, caused Emily to come to a jerking stop. 

“Gabby,” she groaned and let go of his hand. 

“Ye’ know where it is, pretty boy?” Gabby asked Kian excitedly, who was now standing in front of Emily and Gabby. Kian’s glare directed down at Gabby, who was still dancing for joy at Kian’s news.

“Gabby, the next time you run off with Emily...” Kian began with a growl and he glanced over at Emily, he then leaned down to Gabby. “I’m going to look deep into your soul,” he whispered. Gabby looked terrified.

“Kian,” Emily shouted and whacked his arm with her hand. “Don’t say creepy shit like that to him!” 

“Sweetheart, Gabby knows I’m just joking,” Kian said sweetly to Emily then looked back at Gabby. “Don’t you Gabby,” he said with a forced nice tone. Gabby shook his head repeatedly. 

“Yes... Yes... Of course. He is only kidding, lass... I won’t... I won’t be troubling you guys anymore,” Gabby stammered and then took off across the street. Emily turned her attention to Kian once she saw Gabby was safe across the road. 

“You are a real asshole. Do you know that?” She sassed placing one hand on her hip? “Am I not allowed to talk to anyone in this fucking town except you?”

“Emily. Sweetheart,” Kian stated smoothly. “I’m just protective of you. I’m sorry. Forgive me?” He gave her his award-winning smile that made her knees weak. Now wasn’t the time to be weak, so she thought about all the women who were chasing after him. You’re no one special. You’re no one special, Emily, Emily chanted in her mind. 

“You aren’t protective. You are overbearing and annoying the hell out of me!” Kian frowned. “Stay away from me. I don’t need a babysitter, ladies’ man,” she shouted then headed in the direction away from the diner.

“Fine, we’ll do it my way,” she heard Kian growl before he lifted her up and slung her over his shoulder as though she weighed nothing.

“Put me down, Kian,” she hissed. He paid no mind to her request nor her pounding fists on his back. “Seriously, put me down!”

“No,” he said flatly and continued walking. “You need to hear me out.” Emily continued beating on his back. 

“No. I don’t want to hear you out, Kian,” she sighed. “I just want to get out of this town.” Kian stopped walking abruptly. 

“You really think I don’t care about you. Don’t you?” he asked setting her down onto her feet. Emily straightened out her clothes and hair. 

“Kian, you’re a nice guy and all but pleasing all the ladies seems to be your thing.” Kian ran his hand through his hair. 

“I understand how it seems that way,” he whispered. “As I told you back at our apartment, I’ve never really done real feelings. Women were just a game, honestly.” 

Emily was listening to him but not whole-heartedly. She was still jumping up and down like a little schoolgirl on the inside after he said ‘our apartment’. She knew the words shouldn’t have made her feel warm, tingly, and confident in him, but the words did. They made her believe she was more to him than just a fling. 

Her emotions were like a light switch switching intermittently between angry, sad, jealous, horny, happy, and love struck. Get it together, Emily.

“Rude or not, I don’t fucking want them. I don’t care who knows it, sweetheart,” Kian stated. He took hold of both of her hands and kissed the tops. “They are nobody. You’re everything,” he breathed.

Don’t fall for it, a little voice in the back of Emily’s mind screamed trying to be louder than the other voice that was screaming, You‘re everything to me, too.

“Kian— "

“Please, just hear me out.” She sighed and nodded her head. He gave her a half-smile then took a deep breath. “I’m not perfect. It’s in my bloodline. I wouldn’t ever be perfect until I found my ma... other half. You are that other half, Emily. There is no doubt in my mind. My heart. Or my soul. You’re the one. Vos anima mea.”

His last few words struck her body with great force both mentally and physically. The world around her shifted from one color to the next to the next at a rapid speed. So fast she became nauseous. Voices of people talking about their day, the weather, the diner, the new girls, and Nikki came shouting into her mind. Each voice overlapping the other. The voices in no particular order. They sounded like bits and pieces of conversations. Emily felt like her head was going to explode. Her heart and lungs tightening in her chest made things even worse for her. The right side of where her neck and shoulder met felt like it was on fire. Panic, anxiety and excruciating pain shot through her.

“Emily,” Kian asked picking her up and cradling her in his arms. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

“I... I...” she wheezed trying to catch what felt like her last breath of air.

“Emily,” Kian’s voice was shaky. He rubbed her arm. “What’s wrong? Talk to me... please?”

“Kian,” a deep male voice said.

“Vivek! Help, please,” Kian pleaded looking at the man who Emily couldn’t see. She was still having trouble breathing, her heart was racing and her stomach felt ten times worse than it did that morning.

“You said the words didn’t you, Kian,” Vivek in a voice filled with disappointment.

“I did this,” Kian breathed. “I did this.” 

“Relax, Kian. Follow me,” Vivek whispered. 

Kian walked with Emily in his arms and footsteps in front of them. She clung to Kian’s shirt. Her head buried against his chest.

“Hang in there, Miss Freeman,” Vivek stated. How does he know my name? She heard keys and then a door opening. Warm air rushed out of the door. It smelled of peppermint, chocolate, and cedar. The smell eased her for a brief moment before the other feelings returned and flooded her. “Bring her in, Kian.” 

Kian marched past the man and inside the building. Emily’s face was still against Kian’s chest, but she felt Vivek’s presence and warmth as they walked by him. When they entered the room, Emily desperately wanted to look around the room. She decided against it. She was having a hard enough time keeping from getting sick with her eyes closed. 

“Lay her over here,” Vivek ordered. Kian walked a few short steps then laid Emily down on something soft. Judging from the softness and firmness on three sides it was a couch. Her eyes remained closed. The voices had died down, but she still felt like she was on a merry-go-round and someone was spinning her at warp speed.

“It’s okay, sweetheart. Vivek can help,” Kian cooed while holding her hand.

“Yes, I can help, but only if you move, Kian,” Vivek griped. “Kian, move.”

“Okay,” Kian said hesitantly. He let go of Emily. She felt him step away and then another body came close to her. 

“Miss Freeman,” Vivek stated in a soothing voice much like Morgan Freeman’s voice. Emily felt her mind trying to ease despite all the chaos inside her. “Do you have paranormal roots in your lineage?” She couldn’t answer him. 

“Oh. No,” Kian groaned.

“Oh, yes, Kian. You claimed one of our own.” 

“Vivek, what will happen to her?” Kian’s voice shook. 

“Quiet, Kian. Or get out.” Emily’s hand was picked up and held by a very large warm hand. Another large warm hand cupped over top of her hand. “You shouldn’t have bitten her, Kian. Regardless if you thought she was human.” 

Emily was confused by what Vivek meant about Kian biting her. She didn’t know how he even knew Kian bit her. Kian had bitten Emily when they were intimate and alone. Also, there was no mark on her neck, yet, he knew. 

“Ki...” Emily began but couldn’t finish because she didn’t have the strength. Vivek’s touch suddenly became cold. Emily felt like she was on fire. Sweat accumulated on her forehead, neck, and chest. 

“Vivek, what’s happening?” Kian growled.

“Shut up or get out, Kian,” Vivek growled back. 

“Please,” Kian pleaded. “I can’t lose her.” It broke Emily’s heart to hear Kian sound so pitiful. He wasn’t a brute like Casper; however, he wasn’t a weakling either. He was the perfect amount of man in her eyes. She had been such an idiot to hold his past relationships with women against him. That was before they met. Hell, she still didn’t know if they had a future together so why should she care about his past. Jealousy wasn’t her thing. Not until Kian. He changed all the rules.

“I’m...” Emily tried to reassure him she was okay. Her quaking body , churning stomach, and lack of energy blocked the words.

“Rest yourself, Emily. Save your energy,” Vivek’s voice was back to its soothing tone. “Just focus on my voice.” Emily wanted to laugh at his words being like that of a therapist’s. Even the thought of laughing made her stomach churn more. 

“This will all pass. Just focus on the sound of my voice. No matter what you see in the dark. It isn’t real. My words are real. Squeeze my hand if you understand,” Vivek whispered. Emily squeezed his hand. At least she hoped she had because her sense of touch was becoming scrambled. She couldn’t tell what touches were coming from outside her body and which were coming from inside her body.

“Vrede. Vrede. Vrede. Please, be with this child as she makes her journey.” Vivek’s words brought even more anxiety and fear to Emily. Everything had been crazy since she and Selma arrived in Camden. Now, she was lying on a couch being chanted over in an unknown language by Vivek, who she believed to be a medicine man of some sorts.

“Quickly, go to Nadia’s. Tell her to give you oil of ginseng and oil of lewe,” Vivek spoke. The sound of heavy footsteps running off followed his words. 

“You’re safe, Emily. He’ll be back soon. Kian is a good man, but he has been selfish. Very selfish with you. One must not take a life that is not given freely to them. When I get you past your journey, you will have to decide on your own if you are willing to give your life to him. If you are willing to only have eyes, body, mind, and soul for Kian and no other man. As long as you live.”

The more words Vivek spoke, the tighter Emily’s chest grew. It sounded like Vivek was referring to marrying Kian. The thought of marriage hadn’t crossed her mind. At the moment, it still wasn’t going to. 

“Don’t cry, my child. There is nothing to fear. I will not let the demons consume you.” Demons! There are fucking demons, too? His words were far from reassuring. Emily’s breaths became shorter and shorter. They were to the point of no breaths at all. Death. She felt she was knocking at Death’s door.

“Where is that boy,” Vivek grumbled. 

Emily’s body convulsed. Excruciating pain followed with each convulsion. Her back arched off of the couch and fell heavily back down onto the couch. She felt like her entire world was spinning. Her focus was pulled in every direction. 

“Emily,” a woman whispered in a luring voice. “Emily, I’m here.” Each time the woman spoke, the pain in Emily eased up. It was a relieving feeling. The voice became Emily’s focus. She wanted to hear more of the woman’s voice.

“No time to wait. She’s here,” Vivek gasped and took his hands off of Emily’s. Who’s here? The demons? Is it the woman? Emily cried out hysterically in her mind. There was a sound of a door slamming and locking. Something falling to the floor and making a loud thud.

“Book, come here,” Vivek complained. “All these years and you still can’t come off of the shelf without falling.” 

Emily’s world was becoming a blend of noises around her and visions of black whirling smoke. The two were different, yet, at times hard for her to differentiate which was real and which wasn’t. The black whirling smoke lunged towards her several times. Almost as though it was taunting her. Or perhaps trying to snatch her. Either way, Emily was frightened. She was trapped inside her body with Vivek talking to a book and black whirling smoke freaking her out. 

The black whirling smoke stood still. The smoke closed in on itself. It formed into a silhouette, first. Then as the silhouette walked towards Emily, it gained more and more features the closer it got. When the smoke reached her, it was no longer smoke but a beautiful woman. The woman had olive colored skin, long black hair, black round eyes. Her body was hourglass shaped and covered in a white silk-like dress. The dress and the woman’s hair blew in a wind that Emily didn’t feel. The woman smiled seductively. 

“Emily,” the woman purred. “It’s time to come home. You’re finally free. You need not be in the world with those pathetic creatures. You are a goddess who men should fear!” 

“Emily! Emily,” Vivek shouted off in the distance. “Listen to me. Do not listen to her!”

“Ignore him, Emily. He doesn’t care about you. No men care about you. Us sisters must stick together,” the woman took a step towards Emily but hesitated and brought her foot back down to the ground. “Come, sister. Be free of all of them.” 

The woman’s voice was sultry. It caused something in Emily to stir. The something wanted to follow the woman. It wanted to be free. Free from the pain and suffering her body was going through.

“Verlaat,” Vivek shouted. His voice was far away. “Verlaat! Verlaat!”

“Ignore him,” the woman hissed toward Vivek’s voice. “He’s just a man. A pathetic man. They are only good for one thing and that is giving us eternal youth,” she mused. 

Someone, please, wake me up! Wake me the fuck up!

“You’re not dreaming, sister,” the woman grinned evilly. “You’re very much awake. It’s time to go now. Come with me. Come back home. You never should have been taken from us.”

“Emily, she is no one but an old hag,” Vivek spat. The woman crouched down into an animal like stance and hissed toward his voice. Her skin was turning into a grayish blue. “No matter what she says. Do not listen! Do not listen to her, child!”

“Leave us, male! You are not wanted here,” the woman growled. Emily tried to step back but her view remained the same. She was still only able to see the world around her. She couldn’t see herself. 

“She is not one of you! Verlaat! Verlaat!” Again, the woman hissed and crouched lower.

“Quiet! Shut up,” the woman screamed. 

“Emily, focus on my voice. Focus on coming back. Think of Kian. He will be here waiting for you,” Vivek said in a loud yet soothing voice. The woman turned and faced Emily. Her beautiful face was gone. The woman was old, wrinkly with hollow black eyes. What in the hell?

“Emily! Emily,” Kian’s voice rang out. The woman sniffed the air and hissed loudly. 

“Incubus,” the woman snarled. “This does not concern you!”

“Emily. Sweetheart. Please? Don’t listen to her. She’s just an illusion. An illusion from...” Kian hesitated.

“Tell her, boy,” Vivek snapped.

“He bit you, Emily. He claimed you as his,” the woman snarled toward the men’s voices then turned to Emily. A sweet smile on the woman’s face. “He doesn’t see you as anything but property, sister. That’s how incubi are. They don’t care about people. He will never care about you in the way you care for him.” 

“Shut up, wench,” Vivek growled. “Verlaat! Verlaat! Verlaat!” Vivek continued chanting the word.  

“Emily, summon me,” Kian shouted.

Emily just wanted all the noise to stop. She wanted someone to shake her awake, hand her the keys to Bitching Betty and then let her drive away from the crazy ass town known as Camden. Nothing was making sense. She seemed to be trapped between two worlds. One with Kian and Vivek and the other world with a crazy, crouching, black-eyed lady. Emily didn’t want to be in either world. She just wanted to be left alone. 

Selma! Selma! Emily cried out hoping to see the familiar face of Selma. Selma didn’t show up. Still in front of Emily was the woman who snarled at Vivek and his chanting. Kian was saying sweet nothings and telling Emily to come back to him. Emily’s emotions were shifting from pain, anxiety, and confusion into rage. She was angry with the world. Both worlds. Even the agonizing pain was diminishing. A boost in energy replaced it.

“Yes. That’s right. Come sister. Get angry. Feel the anger of betrayal,” the woman cooed standing in front of Emily once again as the beautiful woman. The woman held her hand out in front of her towards Emily. “Come with me.” 

“No,” Emily shouted at the top of her lungs. “I want all of you to be quiet.” Her voice sounded unfamiliar. It sounded wicked. Evil. A voice that would send a chill down Satan’s spine.

“That’s it, sister.” 

“No more talking. Just listen to me. You want to listen to me. Right,” Emily said seductively for the woman, Kian, and Vivek to hear. Emily’s mouth was out of her control. The words came out before she even thought them. 

“Emily. Sweetheart,” Kian cried out.

“Kian? Don’t you want to leave me alone? Let me live without you? I don’t need you. You don’t deserve me. No one does.” Emily’s words were seductive, filled with confidence and loud. Her heart ached at the words, yet, something else inside her rejoiced.

“I’m free,” Emily whispered in her normal voice. The weight of the world felt like it was being lifted off of her. 

“And another succubus has risen.” The woman smiled proudly at Emily then turned into the black smoke once more and vanished. Slowly, everything vanished and turned to darkness.