Page 104 of The Dark Obsession

I try to understand his words, the possible meaning behind it all. Impossible that a gun wouldn’t kill him.

Rafael smiles, dimples piercing his cheeks; I can’t understand. Rafael’s musical laugh fills the room. “Is that the point in all this? Kill the one thing here to protect the humans from the likes of you?”

“It’s exactly my point. It’s always been my mission. Lucy was a great prop, though I had to kill her after that shit show in the farmhouse—too clingy.” Dale’s voice is lower now, his eyes dart towards me. “I knew I had to draw you out, and what’s better than the innocent young girl’s death?” Dale giggles. “Sorry, I’m just trying to remember her name. Lizzy, was it?”

“Poor Eliza had no part in this,” Rafael spits.

“Her death got you scurrying from the cracks in the walls, though.” Dale grins. “You just wanted to show off to the humans, to protect them like a good little boy.” He scoffs and plays with the gun, spinning it precariously on his finger. The smile on his face looks like pure joy. “The truth is, is that the only thing you’re protecting is your own selfish powers.”

Adriel approaches Rafael. “Of course you wait until we’re weak. You wait because you could never beat us at full power.”

“Maybe I just enjoyed the slow torture of the girls.”

Adriel’s thin body charges Dale, and the gun bursts to life. The bullet makes a clear hole through Adriel’s shoulder.

My scream ricochets off the walls, hurting my own ears. I try to move, but my body’s still stuck in place. “Adriel!” I try to drag myself across the cold floor.

“Don’t move,” Dale roars at me.

“I’m fine,” I hear Adriel’s reassuring voice.

Rafael lunges whilst Adriel has distracted Dale and snatches the gun from Dale’s hand, throwing it across the basement into the bathtub.

I struggle against myself, trying to move my lifeless legs to get to Adriel.

Benjamin sees his only chance and runs to me, dropping to his knees. His blue eyes are so wide and filled with tears. He wraps his arms around me, sending another plume of pain down my back.

I let a squeal of pain break free.

“I really wish you wouldn’t do that. It’s super annoying,” I hear Adriel say. Blood flows steadily from his arm. His other hand moves across to his shoulder to cover his wound.

I pull my gaze off Adriel, who seems to be in no more pain than he was before he got shot.

Ben watches the unfolding events. “Rosa, what’s going on?” He keeps an arm around me, his body shielding mine.

Rafael laughs bitterly and walks past Dale into the centre of the room. He spreads his arms, holding them like wings.

Like wings… I remember the mysterious winged man from my dream, recalling his voice, his lips, and his familiarity. I shudder and throw it to the back of my mind.

“What will you kill me with, Dale? My father destroyed the weapons used against us.” Rafael’s skin glows the gloomy room.

Dale’s answering smile as he crosses the room is enough to send violent shivers down my throbbing spine. “Do you honestly think I’d come armed only with a gun? Do you think I’m fucking stupid?”

Adriel loses his composure as his eyes widen. For a fraction of a moment, he looks alarmed. Before I can tell for sure what I see, his face is as hard as stone.

The words build in my stomach, then burst free. “Whatis going on?”

Rafael, Adriel, and Dale turn to look at me as if I had just appeared in the old basement.

Benjamin holds me up as I try to move myself into a sitting position but fail. Benjamin, instead, rests my head on his knee.

Rafael inches towards me, his fingers stretching out to me. His face is pale and hair a mess. A strange aura glows around the shape of his body.

I feel an unbearable urge to cry, a feeling of safety and life.

Adriel saunters towards me, each step deliberately taken at a snail’s pace to prove his lack of bad intentions to Dale.

“She knows nothing?” Dale’s smile grows.

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