Change of Heart

Chapter 78

I laid there, completely fazed. The very thought of him, going after her...it killed me inside. Even worse...there was nothing I could think of that I could remotely do for her. How did he even know about her in the first place? About me...us? Dammit! Why is this happening?

Sitting up after some time, I made my way over to Jake waking him up. "Jake, get up. We gotta get out of here, now!" He groaned as I helped him up. Throwing his arm over my shoulder, I started heading out of the cemetery. He finally regained full consciousness, and managed to walk on his own.

He looked me up and down, his eyes widening. "Caden, you're covered in bl-" I slapped my hand over his mouth.

"Don't even say it! I know..." My shirt had been covered in Bryce's blood...making it even worse, my shirt had to be white which made it that much easier to see. "We just gotta get out of here."

"That's...Bryce's..isn't it?"

Unable to take it, I started to lash out. "Dammit, Jake, we don't have time for this!" I took his arm and started pulling him with me. Someone appeared in front of me, someone looking quite familiar.

"You." He called out pointing to me. As he approached, I realized he was another guy from Serine's images...the one with black hair who had always been with her. Even though he looked younger, I could still tell.

Without thinking, I shouted out. "Stay away from my sister, you damn bastard!" Turning back at Jake, I realized he wasn't even paying attention, still lost at the fact Bryce had been dead.

The guy in front of me narrowed his eyes stepping forward. "And who might that be? I don't know you or your sister. I simply came here to ask you a question. The man who was just here..."

"What about him? I don't know anything about the guy or who he is."

"Fine," pulling out a piece of paper, he threw it my way and I caught it while it was still in mid air. "Then at least tell me where I can find her." I quickly opened the folded paper only to find a picture of Serine.

I crumpled it in my hand, even more furious than I was. "How the hell did you get this picture? Are you stalking her or something?"

"Look, the man who was just here, he's not human. He's a demon, and he's after her too." A...d-demon? "If you don't tell me where I can find her, he's going to take her and kill her."

Swallowing with my words, I responded. "And how do I know you won't do the same?" He was silent, looking away. Clenching my fists, I shouted out to him. "Stay away from her!" And with that, I ended up running off with Jake again. I practically had to pull him myself from his lack of attention.

**

Reaching the park, I took a break, throwing my shirt off and in the trash. I couldn't keep it on, even though it made no difference considering the blood seeped through staining my skin.

This isn't happening! I started walking around in circles, ready to pull my own hair out. This entire night is the worst! I can't think straight, I can't even sit still for more than five seconds!

Looking over at Jake, he was still in shock, and I slapped him across the face snapping him out of his funk. "Jake! Pull yourself together already!"

He looked at me, and shook his head. "How can you even say that when even you aren't in your right mind? Do you understand what just happened? We KILLED Bryce, Caden."

"I killed him, Jake! I did, there is no we, it was-"

Jake jumped to his feet. "We both did it Caden! You may have been the one who inflicted it, but I was there, I helped with the results!" Punching a tree he started lashing out at me. "While you were busy with Zeke, I went to Bryce, and he told me to keep Zeke distracted while he got you to kill him. We're both at fault here! I panicked, and I shouldn't have listened to him, dammit!"

I fell to the floor, began punching the ground. Tears filled my eyes, and they wouldn't stop. I began sobbing, crying out.

"Jake..." I remembered that guy telling me the one who took Zeke away was a demon. All I could think was the words he spoke before taking him away. I've got a new pet to teach. There was only one thing he could've meant by that... "..we really messed up.."