“What book?” She screams, “I have already told you! I don’t know anything about a book.” Katie stands on shaky feet and glares at Balthial.
“The book is here, on this property, somewhere. Your grandmother hid it and you will give it to me.” He drags her along behind him as he marches towards the house.
Angels do not have vampiric teeth! Christian creeps out of the shed and squeezes off three rounds, striking the creature in between the shoulder blades, He prays that his bullets will slow it down long enough to help them escape. “Run Katie!”
Balthial screams in pain when the bullets first enter his back. Katie runs straight at Christian screaming for him. “Go, Christian, run!” But she is too late.
Balthial whips around and grins as the pain fades, and the bullets squeeze out of his skin, dropping to the grassy carpet. “Perfect,” he strikes so quickly that Katie can’t move. He throws a silver blade and it sinks into Christian’s chest, just above his heart and he falls to the ground in shock.
Katie shouts and reaches his side, falling to her knees on the ground. “No, Chris, it’s going to be okay,” she tries to touch the blade, but Christian stops her.
“Go, Katie!” He moans and pushes at her.
“So, sweet. I can save him, Kathleen. Just give me the book and all will be well.” Balthial promises softly from behind her.
Katie wipes her tears and looks up at the beautiful devil in front of her. “I don’t know where it is! I swear on his life, please don’t let him die!”
“Think, Kathleen! Did you ever come across a book or hear it spoken of? Anything that would indicate where it could be hidden?” Christian coughs up blood and groans as the poison from the blade begins to work its way through his system.
“Mums…” Christian coughs out.
“What, I… wait. It couldn’t be.” A memory, erased and returned. She jumps up and runs to the area in the garden she is remembering. “The last time I was gardening, I felt something hard, like a tin, here,” she points at the ground where her purple flowers are buried.
Balthial smiles and runs his hand over the earth in victory. “Excellent!” A rusty tin pushes its way up through the ground, revealing its treasure. He picks it up reverently and cracks the tin open to check for the book. It is wrapped in plastic wrap, to protect it from the elements. With a toss of the tin, Balthial walks back towards Christian who is gasping for breath. Leaning down, he jerks the knife free ignoring his scream of pain.
“No, you said you would heal him!” Katie screams and falls to his side trying to stem the blood flow from the wound.
“I did help him. He will die much quicker this way.” With a laugh of victory, he leaps into the air and flies into the darkening sky. Katie’s scream of rage chases him through the night air.
“Christian, it’s going to be okay. I promise you.” Katie applies pressure to the wound and prays for a miracle.
Anya pulls up in her car and hears a scream from the backyard. A flash of light in the sky draws her attention and she has to blink twice to clear her eyes. “An Angel!” Katie’s scream has her running towards the back yard.
“Oh my God, Katie, what happened?” Anya skids to a stop and drops to his side.
Christian looks up at Katie and coughs, “Knew you would come.” Anya drops to his side and screams at Katie to call an ambulance.
“Too late, love. I tried to stop him, Anya…” he coughs up more blood and Anya can see his life fading before her eyes. “Love you…” his eyes close and his arms grow too weak to lift.
“Don’t you dare die on me, Christian, I need you!” Anya pushes Katie aside and places her hands on top of the wound. She raises her face to the stars above and closes her eyes, she begs for help.
“Please, don’t let me have these gifts for no reason! Help me, Father!” Her back starts to heat up. Pain, unlike anything she has ever experienced rips through her shoulder blades. A searing pain flows through her back and for a moment she thinks her skin is on fire. Finally, the heat eases.
When Anya opens her eyes, they are returning to normal and Christian is smiling up at her, “So beautiful…” he draws his last breath and his lifeless hand falls to the ground. “No, no, no….” Anya weeps and kisses his lips. “I’m so sorry, Christian.”
“I’m sorry, I was too late. He took the book. Christian died trying to protect me,” Katie whispers.
“Who did this to him?” Anya demands, turning on Katie.
Katie leaps back in shock when Anya turns to look at her. The fury pulsing through Anya’s body has her fangs lengthening and her eyes are still glowing amber.
“No, Anya,” Katie moans. “What is happening to you?”
“Who took the book? How did you get here and who did this to Christian?” She screams again. Katie stands up slowly and backs away, terrified of the beast inside her friend.
“An Angel brought me here. He used to be an angel, I think. Anya, my dreams were real. They were memories, not nightmares.” Katie explains what she experienced with the vampire and Morgan. Then she tells her about the book and the gate, and they stare at each other for a moment.
“Take me to this gate.” Anya demands.
“What!?” Katie asks in shock.
Anya gently kisses Christian’s forehead and stands up. Running into the house to change her clothes, Katie follows her listening as she talks and when she strips her sweatshirt off Katie
