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“With him is strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver are his.” - Job 12:16
The doors were broken, the windows, the whole building. Everything was demolished. The apartment complex was just the shattered remains of a former residence for one hundred random people. Now, it was a gathering place for lost souls. That’s why she was there.
“This must have happened a few days ago,” she commented, kicking some more glass out of the door frame and stepping through the shattered portal.
Really, Jolene had no good estimate on how long ago the raid had occurred on the building. It could have been weeks, months, maybe even years ago. Still, her hopes had to remain aloft in order to keep her motivated enough to go inside. Her responsibility was to mobilize the threat in this area, and Jolene knew this was the exact place to start.
Cracking and crunching glass shards sounded beneath her feet as she attempted to sneak through the entrance. The noise reverberated through the deserted lobby, and Jolene grimaced in anticipation for another attack. After waiting for a few moments, she finally decided that it was safe to move again and stepped away from the glass field.
“This isn’t a good sign,” Jolene commented, looking down at the carpet. The last light of the dying sun peaked through the broken windows, revealing the dried blood stains on the beige carpet.
Observing the spatters on the floor, she noticed that the dark spots were old. Surely, the attack couldn’t have been that long ago? She had only heard about it recently, and no one of her group had noted anything before last week. How had this incident gone unnoticed?
Next, she turned her gaze to the empty reception desk that sat up against the wall farthest from her. It miscellaneous contents of stationary had been thrown off the desk and remained on the floor surrounding the oak piece of furniture. More blood stains became visible to her on the walls surrounding her, grimly decorating the floral-patterned wallpaper.
“It’s hard to imagine that this place used to be upscale,” Jolene reminisced, scanning the rest of the interior for more grisly blood stains.
Her gaze shifted to the elevator on her right. The once pristine white doors were covered in a smear of blood much like the rest of her surroundings. By now the sight of the precious bodily fluid would not have surprised her, but something was different about this particular blood stain.
It was fresh.
Running over to the elevator doors, Jolene failed to pay heed to the amount of noise that she made. Her hand reached out to touch the blood to validate her assumption, and she immediately recoiled her arm after she smeared it even more. Blood colored the tips of her fingers, causing her to quickly rub the mess back onto the elevator doors.
“Why is this fresh?” Jolene questioned herself, trying to get into her antagonist’s head. The effort was to no avail.
Reaching over to press the solid white circular button to summon the elevator, she stopped after noticing the bloody fingerprint that was smeared across the upward arrow sign. Her breath caught in her throat, and a sickening feeling entered her heart. No, she could not go that way. She would have to take the stairs.
“They know I am here.” With wide strides she walked away from the bloody elevator to the heavy door of the stairwell.
Immediately, her mind began to race, trying desperately to figure out what they were planning. Blood was everywhere, but there were no bodies, only that one fresh smear right on her obvious mode of transportation. Figuring that she would not possess the strength to climb the stairs, they had placed it there on purpose.
The door to the stairs was also white, but unlike the elevator, it was pretty clean, except for a dirty smudge at the bottom caused by a swift kick from somebody’s unclean boot. The black tread marks did not prevent her from opening the door, and she mustered all of her strength to push open the unwieldy door, allowing her entrance into the well-lit stairwell.
The light was so bright that she had to shield her sensitive eyes with her hands, hoping they wouldn’t take long to adjust. Both of her eyes burned intensely, and her head ached from the exposure to the fluorescent lights at the very top. Pain coursed from her head to the rest of her body, and Jolene fell against the wall for support.
“Get a hold of yourself,” she whispered to herself. “It’s just light. You shouldn’t be afraid of light. You are not one of them.”
This occurrence was beginning to happen more frequently every time that she went out on one of these missions. Darkness became a safe haven for her, and the light became the enemy. Still, she had a desperate need for the illuminating substance, and now it was slowly disappearing, leaving her alone and without any assistance, as usual.
After a while, her eyes readjusted to the excessive amount of light that flooded the stairwell. Peeling herself away from the wall, she began to claim the stairs, holding onto the railing for dear life. Five steps up, and she was already beginning to experience trouble breathing. Each inhale became half as effective as the exhale that quickly followed it.
Her legs began to wobble beneath her, succumbing to the intense fatigue that was quickly spreading the rest of her body. Wrapping her arms entirely around the banister, she painfully pulled herself up the remaining steps before collapsing onto the second floor landing. The ground was cold, and her overheated body fought to absorb its comfort. Uneasy sweat ran off of her forehead and dampened her shirt and pants.
“I can’t do this,” she cried, trying to roll over onto to her back. “I don’t have the strength.”
Her voice came out in sobs with words broken into incomprehensible sounds. Wiping away her warm tears, she struggled to calm herself down. However, the effort failed miserably, and she remained where she was, broken and alone. After much effort, she finally succeeded into flipping over onto her back and remained there, looking up at the bright lights.
The fluorescent tubes created enough light that Jolene could have sworn that she was at the end of her life. Any minute now, angels would come flying down from heaven to lift her up to her eternal resting place. Her immobile body laid there, wishing for a quick exit from her fate, but nobody came to her aid. She was on her own, again.
By now, she had grown accostomed to the fact of working alone on every assignment. It had been that way since the beginning of this new life she was living. For three years now, she had been wandering about the country only to return after her mission was accomplished. Then, they would tell her somewhere else that was afflicted, and Jolene would rush across the country to impede the problem.
It was wearing her out, slowly ripping apart every shred of humanity that was still in her.
The lights shining down upon her exhausted body were scorching, causing her to sweat even more than before she collapsed. Her eyelids fluttered on the brink of slumber, and she wished for a deep sleep to fall upon her. Even though her surroundings were far from being secure, Jolene still wished that she could at least get some sleep for once.
“Anything just to get some sleep.” Her dry lips mouthed the words as an inaudible whisper escaped her body.
Suddenly, her eyes snapped open, and she sat upright off the floor. Her strength had returned, if only for a moment, but it was enough to revive her. Carefully, Jolene pushed herself up onto her feet and stood up straight. Some unknown sense of duty filled her entire body, inspiring her to walk through the door leading out of the well-lit stairwell into the dark hallway of the second floor.
The sun had completely disappeared from this world, leaving Jolene alone to wander down the dark hallway. Stumbling over something in the middle of the passage, she looked down expecting a severed limb, but one lone sneaker greeted her unsuspecting gaze. Not stopping to investigate the footwear, she continued down the hall, keeping close to the wall on her right.
“I don’t remember his number,” she thought, looking at the golden numbers on the doors as she passed by them. “Was it 214 or 223? I don’t remember.”
However, her enemy had anticipated her faltering memory and left a message on the door of 214. Smeared in fresh blood, Jolene was greeted with her name meticulously written on the wooden door. She studied it before entering, trying to assess just what they were trying to tell her. Was it a sign? Was it a mind trick? What were they trying to do to her?
“They knew I was coming,” Jolene observed, placing her hand on the doorknob. It easily gave way when she attempted to turn it. “They didn’t even try to lock it.”
Swiftly, she gave the door a great push, causing it to swing into the door jam with a loud bang. Her heart rate was slowly increasing as she pressed herself flat against the wall to the side of the entrance. Nobody came rushing out like she expected, though; everything was silent as a graveyard. Being as cautious as her hyperventilating body allowed, she slowly peered around the corner into the apartment.
However, nobody was standing there waiting for her. It was just a normal room with the furniture still intact and no sign of a disturbance. A couch sat facing an entertainment center with movies and video games stacked on its shelves. The kitchen was stocked with pots, pans, cereals, and other food items. Everything in the apartment was in place as though nothing had happened.
“I don’t understand,” she said, picking up a jar of half eaten peanut butter that had been left on the counter.
“What did you expect, body parts lying around, blood caked to the ceiling?” came a voice from the bedroom that she had failed to check. His voice was smooth, calm, and normal. She knew just who it was.
Reaching into the depths of her jean backpack, Jolene extracted a single wooden stake and gripped it tightly in her right hand. A splinter on the side of her weapon pierced her vulnerable skin, causing her to wince in pain. She would have to dig it out later, but right now, she had to take care of some business.
“Adam,” she called out, marveling at how long it had been since she had said his name. “Why don’t you come out of there? Come and take a look at me.”
Obligingly, he stepped out of the shadows of the bedroom and stood in the doorway with his arms akimbo in defiance. Jolene had expected him to look horrible, but he appeared to not have changed since their last encounter three years ago. His hair was still short, blonde, and neatly brushed. Two piercing green eyes stared at her while his lips formed a smirk that Jolene interrupted as mockery.
“What are you laughing at?” Her question was direct and alluded that his attitude was hurting his feelings.
Adam sought to reassure her. “I’m not laughing at you. I just haven’t seen you in a long time.”
“There are reasons for that,” she replied, taking her gaze away from him to the tile floor.
“They aren’t very good reasons.” Adam leaned up against the door frame with his left shoulder, causing his threatening posture to morph into something more relaxed.
“Maybe not to you, but to me they make perfect sense.” She slowly moved the hand that was holding the stake from her side to behind her back, hoping that he hadn’t seen her trying to conceal her weapon.
“You ran away from home,” he said, pushing away from the doorway and starting to move across the room towards her.
“I had my reasons for that.”
“You ran away like your sister did,” he continued, ignoring her feeble attempts to explain herself. “You left your family, your friends, and me…”
“Once again, I had my reasons for that,” she bit down on her lip, watching as he kept walking closer and closer to her.
“I gave you no reason to leave me,” he whispered, stopping once he was only a few inches away from her face.
They were both the same height, except that Adam had always claimed that he was at least two inches taller than Jolene. It was something that they had fought over since they first started dating. Jolene reflected on how long ago that was, and she almost couldn’t recall exactly why she had left him.
“Jolene,” Adam whispered, tracing the line of her jaw with his right hand. “What happened to you?”
“Nothing,” she said, ducking her head away from his grasp. “Nothing happened to me.”
“No,” he said, backing her up against the countertop, “You look horrible. When was the last time you slept?”
“I don’t remember,” her voice was weak and confused. She didn’t even know what she was saying anymore.
“I can help you,” Adam proclaimed, encircling her waist with his hands. “We can help you.”
That’s when she started to snap back into her senses. “They have certainly helped you.”
She was mocking him now. The tables had been momentarily turned. However, Adam knew exactly how to play her. Or so he thought.
“Jolene,” he pressed himself up against her, trapping her between him and the sink. “You need help. I can help you.”
She wanted to refuse him, to push him away, but something in her body wouldn’t allow her. Pulled up against his chest, Jolene could feel the heat radiating from his body, almost matching the intensity of the high temperature that constantly plagued her. Shouldn’t he have been as cold as ice? Wasn’t that what they had told to her?
“How are you so warm?” She still made no attempt to escape from his grasp. Her body remained unwilling.
“Did they tell you that I would be as cold as hell?” he asked, running his heated fingers through her slick hair.
“Yes,” she said as he massaged her aching scalp, quelling her headache. “They told me that you would be pale, cold, and unrecognizable.”
“Look at me,” he instructed, pulling away from her momentarily so that she could observe his appearance.
They had been wrong. Adam looked exactly as she had last remembered him, nothing had changed. Nothing at all. Age had somehow passed him by, favoring someone else instead. His face was still as gorgeous as when she had first met him. His big brown eyes, the ones that had been her favorite feature of his, stared intently at her with pity hidden within them.
“You haven’t changed,” she whispered, burying her face in his chest. Tears began to leak out of her eyes again. She was unable to hide her reaction.
“No, but you have.”
“Have I?” Jolene questioned herself. Sure, she was much thinner with weaker limbs and spastic muscles, but had she really changed that much?
“Yes, I can see it in your eyes. They used to be a brighter blue than this. Now, they are slowly fading as the last shred of life leaves you. Why are you still holding on?”
“I don’t know,” she whimpered. “I have no reason.”
It seemed like she did have some sort of reason for doing this, but at the moment she could not remember exactly what it was. Some sort of duty, was it? Did it really matter right now?
“That doesn’t matter anymore. Look at how they are treating you.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Jolene repeated his words, like a robot programmed to listen to everything he said.
“We wouldn’t treat you like that.”
There was that word again…We. She didn’t like the sound of it or the way that he said it. Suddenly, something arose in her. The stake was still behind her back, ready to strike at any moment. Yes, that’s why she was here.
“You can’t help me,” she said with her eyes suddenly coming back to the life.
With one swift motion, Jolene thrust the stake towards his heart, hoping to catch him off guard. Unfortunately, he had anticipated her strategic move and caught her wrist before she pierced his skin. Adam growled in frustration and slammed Jolene into the refrigeration, shaking the whole appliance and causing magnets to fall off onto the floor.
“Why did you try to do that?” Adam squeezed her wrist, causing her to drop the stake to the ground.
“Call it a sense of duty,” Jolene retorted with Adam dangerously close to her face.
“Jolene, I wanted to help you, but you are making this more difficult than it should be. Please, let me help you.”
He was actually pleading with her, and Jolene couldn’t believe it. Shouldn’t this be the part where he kills her without remorse?
“What do they want from me?” she questioned, wishing that he would release her wrist. It was beginning to hurt. Maybe he was going to snap it off any second now…
“You mean that you don’t know.” Adam released her and back away, puzzled.
Jolene shook her head in disbelief. How did they expect her to know why she was constantly being pursued? She had been told only that she was special, and everything else had been kept secret by the rest of her group. Left in the shadows, Jolene had stopped wondering about it a long time ago.
“Maybe the rumors aren’t true, then,” Adam speculated by Jolene’s confused silence. “Maybe you don’t have it. Or maybe it doesn’t exist at all.”
“What are you talking about?” Jolene needed for him to specify what exactly they thought that she had.
“If you had it, you would know what I was talking about,” Adam said, turning his back on her and walking towards the bedroom.
“Please, tell me what it is!” Jolene demanded, causing Adam to stop in his tracks.
Whirling around on his heel, he faced her with a serious look covering his face. “The necklace.”
Not even a whole sentence was uttered by him, but it was enough to make Jolene’s eyes widen to the point where it stretched the skin around her bony cheek bones. Her mouth went dry, and suddenly, she could not find the words to speak. Was that all that they wanted?
“So, you do have it?” Adam jested, smiling evilly. “Fine, then I would like to make a proposition with you.”
“A proposition? How do you mean?”
He walked back over to her, the smile further spreading across his face. Jolene didn’t like the look of it, and she crossed her arms over her body in an attempt to protect herself from him. It was the only defense she could think of besides the wooden stake that lay useless at her feet.
“Here’s what I was thinking. If you give us the necklace, then you can join our group. Become one of us. We can live happily ever after like we’ve always wanted.”
Jolene forcefully shook her head. That agreement would not do. She had no desire to join their ranks after being taught to hate them. No, that agreement would not benefit her in any way.
“Well, then you try to make the bargain, and I’ll see if it works,” Adam regretfully shifted the power over to Jolene. He was slightly worried about what she would say, but he crossed his fingers and hoped for the best.
“Here’s what I want,” she started out, taking a huge breath to give her strength. “I will give you the necklace, but you and your friends have to leave me alone for the rest of my life. I don’t want to be bothered, chased, or pursued in any way ever again.”
Adam smiled again. It was a nice bargain that he knew they would agree to. She was, after all, only special because of that necklace.
“Sounds good to me,” he said, grabbing her hand and shaking it forcefully. “But tell me, why would you rather be left alone than join with us.”
“Because you are devils,” she whispered, slinging her backpack off her shoulder, “And I just want to be left alone for once. I want to be rid of this responsibility and just live in peace.”
“You do understand that this necklace was designed in order to protect you humans. By giving it to us, you are abandoning your people.”
“I understand.” Jolene tried not to think about the consequences that would occur because of her actions. Instead, she just thought of the freedom that was being presented to her.
“I see,” he said, his eyes lighting up as she reached into the backpack, digging for the necklace. “You must have it well hid. I can’t even feel its power right now.”
Then, he saw the look in her eyes as she rummaged at the bottom of the bag. The blue orbs were filled with surprise and horror. Something wasn’t right. Her hand came out of the bag without the necklace dangling from her fingers.
“Where is it?” she asked herself, sweat beginning once again to drip from her forehead.
“You don’t have it?” Adam growled, his eyes darkening.
“No, I do! It’s just not here!”
Adam grabbed her by the throat and lifted her off the ground. Trying to get him to let go, Jolene kicked with all of her might, but it was to no avail. He dodged every attempt at escape. His grip tightened, and she could barely breathe.
“You lied to me!” He yelled, his eyes continuing to darken, his skin getting paler by the second, and his sharp teeth pointing out from behind his lips.
“No,” she whimpered, unable to breath.
Suddenly, he released his grasp on her throat, causing her to fall to the ground. Her feet did not help to support her fall, and she slid all the way to the ground, coughing and gasping. He flipped her over onto her back and hovered over her. She could feel his hot breath on her face, moving down towards her neck.
“Adam, please, don’t,” she weakly begged, causing him to pause before sinking his teeth into her.
“I have wanted to do this to you for so long,” he confessed, caressing the skin that he was about to pierce. “I have dreamt of what your blood would taste like, what your screams would sound like when I bit you.”
“Please, don’t do this.” Tears leaked uncontrollably from her swollen eyes, and she made no attempt to stop them.
“I love you, Jolene.”
He didn’t wait for her to answer. In fact, he didn’t expect her to reiterate the sentiment. Lowering his head to the base of her neck, he bared his sharp teeth and prepared to bite down. Jolene’s high pitched screams filled the room, echoing down the hallways and out into the warm night air.
