Graveyard, Backyard

Chapter 41 - Encounter with Death

I should've seen this coming. I shouldn't have trusted anyone, at least with my life. But I did. I could no longer stop the tears welling up my eyes. This wasn't about love anymore, this was betrayal. This was backstabbing. But I somehow couldn't hate him. I hate myself for believing anything thrown at my face.

"You've said enough, Will." my mother finally spoke, "You should leave."

Will kept staring me with those honey brown eyes. Those mysterious iris weren't mystery to me at all. The truth was out. "The exorcism.." Will began but my mom cut off.

"Didn't Claire tell you? There won't be any exorcism here. Not on Claire, not in this house."

Will's eyes lit up with acknowledgement as if he decoded a secret message. "Ah, I get it now." he muttered. He stepped towards me, blocking my mother. "You have to know the reason, Claire." he said as he caught my arms in his hands.

I wanted to jerk out of his hold but something sharp felt in my palms. Will placed something cold in it and squeezed it. I looked at my hands and saw Theodore's amulet in it. Why was he hiding it from my mother's view? I looked up at him, he searched my eyes and continued, "I am.." but stopped and shut his eyes firmly and opened them.

I concealed the pendant in my palm and backed away from him. I had left the amulet with Will's when Jake was attacked -when Jake attacked me.

Will turned and went out of the house without uttering a word. Mom watched me the whole time. I gazed her, clueless.

"Claire.." she called out but I ran up to my room before she could say anything.

I threw the amulet across the room and fall on my bed, pools of tears soaking my sheet.

Dad is hospitalized. Jake is possessed and probably hurting himself - lost. Mom and I were stuck here with no solution. And I thought I had someone to trust, wrong again! Can there be any other way things could get worse than this? I don't want to know.

Mom went away to find out Jake's whereabouts and get more information about the house. She claimed she knows someone. I didn't get out of my bed until the sun dunked down the horizon and spilled the sky with darkness. I stared at the ceiling in my room the whole time, begging for a way out of this mess. I'm not one of those brave movie protagonist who can fight with the world. I'm a coward. And hopeless.

A door slammed in the distance. Is mom back? I scrubbed my eyes and sniffed, and got up. The room was silent, eerily silent and cold. But I didn't dare to step out of it. I waited for mom to summon me. She didn't. There was no noise implying anyone's presence. I sat back on the bed and stared my door.

My heart beated in my throat. Beads of sweat formed on my temples- down my ears and hairline. My stomach somersaulted. I was feeling hollow all of a sudden as if the air was sucked out of my body. Was I having some kind of attack? I wriggled my toes to know if I was functioning properly. I stood up again when my feet felt numb. Something was happening to me.

A cold swoosh of air brushed my side and stopped at the back of my neck. A shiver ran down my spine. I took a ragged breath in, forcing down my lungs. I was going to pass out. The room revolved around me in my blurry vision. I blinked a few times. I should call someone. I turned to grab my my phone when I heard something. Someone. I heard someone. I heard him.

"Time's up, my love." it was a mere whisper in my ear which ignited fire in my whole body.

My weak knees gave up and crashed to floor. My tongue dried up as a sob welled up my throat. It was over.

My eyes searched the room which was dimly lit up through backyard lamps. He was no where. I sat on my hips and looked around. There in the corner between two windows stood Ander Booth, with my death in his hands. The light coming through the yard was highlighted around him like a halo. His tall structure intimidating.

"I thought you were intelligent." he spoke with the voice which haunted my sleep and gave me nightmares. "You should've trusted him. You should've heard him."

Him? Does he mean Will?

"And then you got tricked." he said, "Ah, but your ignorance.."

He laughed.

I was so wrong. I thought Ander was helpless when he brutally killed everyone but now I knew. There was no ounce of regret in his voice when he was torturing me. "You could've saved your life. You could've saved your brother's life. You could've freed me, you know?" I just sat there, with my heart in my throat.

This can't be it --This was it -- It's not over -- Everything is over.

I was repeating it like a mantra but Ander stood there, continuing his speech before his kill.

"This game could go on, honey. We could play as long as we wish. But it hurts me.." I was too distracted as my life played before my eyes to notice what Ander meant. He came forward. He took lazy steps and bend down. His eyes, his only feature visible, were shining yellow, shattering my soul piece by piece. My breathing paced. My heartbeat rang in the silence between his dialogues.

That was the only sound I could make. And from watching the pair of eyes in front of me, I knew I won't be making that noise for too long. "It is real this time. You might free me this time." his was was low but clear. "Any last wish, my love?"

My words of pleading got stuck in my throat. It was of no use!

"It's already killing me to see you so helpless but it is also captivating. The hurt you're feeling is striking me here." he pumps his fist on the left side of his chest. "Your pain is my fuel, darling. Your pain gives me life." A strong jolt of pain shoots up my hand when his cold hand grabbed mine and jerked me up. His other hand snaked through my shoulder and caught my neck, bringing my head closer to his.

"I've waited so long to get out of this mess." his nose rubbed my jaws as he sniffed me. "I've waited for you for so long..." He was solid as if he was real human. But he was inhumanly cold. He had no heartbeat. He had no blood running in his veins. No soul. He dropped my hand from his and captivated me in his arms. He whispered in my ear, "What way you want to die, love? That's the least I can do."

'Just do it!' I wanted to scream. The 'Any-moment-now' was torturing me.

'I wish I could leave you alive' his voice rang in my mind, 'but you captivated my soul, sweetheart. My Claire- you left me with no choice but to take you with me.'

And then he threw me away. My head hit my bedroom door, a jolt of pain erupted on the back of my head as if it cracked open. He stood there, watching me. My limbs soared with pair as if they were being snatched out. My soul was bouncing in my body, waiting to jump out of it. My body elevated few inches above ground. The next thing I know, I was being swooshed through air, hitting other side of room.

"I've never felt such pain." his voice filled the room, "This is it, my love. You are the one. I wish there was a way out for both of us. I can't do this anymore. This is the end." I embraced myself for the final strike. My mind drifted to my mom, to my dad, to my brother.

To Will.

He was right. Mom was wrong. Ander himself admitted I could've saved myself. Will's eyes bored with so much care. Why didn't he fought for the decision? Why did he stayed quiet? Why did he hand me the amulet with -

The amulet.

Damn it, I've thrown it somewhere. I looked around. My eyes searched for my life in the dark corners of the room. There, I find it in the corner behind me. Ander hadn't moved from his place. I dragged my body backwards while every inch of my being hurt like freaking hell! But I won't give up when the amulet is inches away from me. Ander was now walking towards me. Our eyes never leaving each other's hold.

I reached the corner. My hand fumbled to find it. A relief washed over me when my fingers linked with Theodora's chain. I snatched it up. I was wonderstrucked with the strength I found in myself when I stood up.

Ander's eyes found mine. He knew. He groaned as he tried to step back but I was already rushing towards him, with the necklace dangling from my fist. I was ready to pounce on him, my fist lifted in air to stab him but he disappeared. A black shadow escaped from the window that faced the lake. I watched it, deciding what to do. I can't stay in the house nonetheless.

So, I ran down to the backyard. I chased him.