SEVENTEEN

As I sat there listening to Hunter, I felt sorry that I basically forced him to tell me about what had happened. 

Hunter tried to help Chase, but Chase was freaking out and ended up taking Hunter with him.  They both drowned.  Hunter said he didn’t know for how long he was out, but that it had been long enough.  He ended up in the Otherworld, trapped in the same place where Carolyn was, and he explained that was why he kept insisting that I help her and apparently I was the only one who could help her.

“Trust me, Kayla.  You don’t want to leave her there…  And she has already been there for too long.  It is just too risky.”

“Risky, how?”

“That place is like nothing that you can even begin to imagine.  Just try to picture being trapped in dark place, knowing that you will never see anyone you love ever again, because for one thing… you can’t cross over, and if you come back here… well, you are stuck in the same way, unless you can find someone like Carolyn found you.   But anyway, the risk is, that sadness, those lost souls… it is only a matter of time before they really get to her, and when they do, she won’t even try to be released anymore.

“Is there a way to help her, getting past that… umm dimension?  Like, crossing over?”

“I’m sure there is, but I don’t have the answer to everything.”

“What about the person who helped you?  Would he know?”

“Likely, but I’m not going back to that place, so for now, you need to work on bringing her back here.”

I hesitated before asking him my next question, but I couldn’t help myself.

“How did you get back?”

He sighed.  “I don’t even know that myself.  That place just deceived me.  It seemed like reality at first, and then I just got confused and well, I really couldn’t tell you.   Someone at the camp ground got me out of the water and revived me, but it was almost as if someone else had guided me back.”

“Okay, so that doesn’t help with getting an answer on how to get Carolyn back…”

He put his hand over mine, which I didn’t feel the need of pulling my hand away.  It felt comforting, reassuring, especially when he said we would find a way.

I glanced from our hands to his eyes.  He slowly pulled his hands away.

“So, do you trust me now?” he asked.

“Yes, but how do you do that?  I mean, showing up and disappearing as if you are one of them?”

He shrugged.  “Let’s just say that is a side effect of my little experience.”

“And this place you keep talking about.  What is this place?  If they can help, why can’t we go there?”

He sighed.  “That place… the Academy, let’s just say that if you enter it, you are likely never leaving.”

“But you did.”

“I did… under very special circumstances.  I have an agreement with my mentor.”

“How did you get there in the first place?”

“They found me.  After I came back, someone talked to my mom and didn’t take much convincing that they would be the ones to help me.  I was really messed up back then.  They taught me how to deal with what I’ve become.”

“Which is what exactly?”

He shook his head and sighed.  “The Academy… we call it the Academy of the Fallen.”

“Okay, now you are just messing with me.  You are trying to tell me that you are a fallen angel?”

He laughed.  “No.  I would hate to be one of them.  Others go to the Academy…  There are the haunted ones, who the fallen attempt to protect from demonic figures like Benjamin.  That is how they get their second chances, which if you ask me, half of them don’t deserve.”

“This is insane!”

“Yes, that is what I thought at first.”

“But the haunted… they are human, right?  What you just did… is not.”

“No, I’m not.  But I was told that I have angel blood running through my veins.  They treated me as if I was one of the haunted because I’m able to see and talk to demons and ghosts…  So can the fallen, but I could never pass for one.  I’m an immortal, Kayla.  That is what the angel blood that brought me back turned me into.  I will always stay frozen at the age when I died and was brought back.  Call me a fangless vampire with a heartbeat, if you will.”  He attempted a laugh that was nothing but awkward.  “My mentor kept me ‘labeled’ as one of the haunted because my being the only of my kind at the Academy could have changed things.”  He paused.  “So, do you trust me now?”

I nodded.

“Now my turn,” he said.  “We both know that whatever Benjamin wants likely has something to do with your biological dad, and I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of him being around.  So, what did you find out?”

I hesitated.

He noticed it right away.  “Look, whatever it is, you can tell me.  Yes, it is clear that you HAD trust issues with me, but think of what I just told you about me as leverage.”

I laughed.  “Right, who in their right mind would believe your story?”

He smiled, but it was an innocent smile, as if he had just realized how crazy it all sounded.  Although if he ever told anyone about me, I could easily say it was all lies…

“Okay.  I guess a deal is a deal… All I found out was that he had mental issues for interacting with people who were not there.”

“Do you know what name he used?”

I thought the question was strange, but didn’t comment.  “Nope.  That is all I know.”

“We are gonna have to find out more.  Maybe Benjamin was one of those who he was in contact with…”

“No!”  I stopped him.  “I don’t want to know more about him and I’m certainly not going to hurt Kelly and Andrew by asking any more questions.” 

He looked at me as if he understood.  Honestly, the only reason I didn’t want to find out more was because I was afraid he was in a mental hospital, afraid of seeing him like that.

“Would you be okay with me looking into it?”

“I – I’m not sure…”

“It may be the only way of knowing what Benjamin wants.  I may be able to find out what Benjamin’s connection is to him.”

I knew that wouldn’t work, that I wouldn’t be able to keep my curiosity to myself, but I agreed.

“What about Carolyn?”  I asked.  “When and how am I getting her back?”

“We will go get a few things tomorrow after school to help you contacting her.  Besides, there is nothing you can do until you rest anyway.”

“I can’t exactly rest with Benjamin around, you know…”

“Don’t worry about him.  I will be here.”