Into the Light

87

"If she puts a lock in on your location, we believe that she will come for you. I'm surprised that she hasn't already," I continued. "That's why we had to get you away from the Krac house. It wasn't safe. Not for you or...them." "Oh no," she whispered and pressed her fingers to her lips. "I didn't know," she said, meeting my gaze. "I could've led her right to them. We have to warn them!" I shook my head. "No, we're sure they're fine. Now that you aren't there." "Well, if it's me, then I have to leave!" she exclaimed, and stood up. "I have to go away, far away so that she won't bother with you all. I have to-" I stood up and pulled her into my arms. Her breathing was coming in short, fast gasps, and I knew that she was going to hyperventilate, if she didn't calm down. "I have to leave, Colby," she whimpered into my chest. I smoothed her hair down her back. "You're not leaving," I whispered and shot a helpless glance at Sam. "I won't let her take you again, Anna." I took her hand and pulled her back down on the couch with me. Her emerald eyes were glittering with tears and fear was evident in them. "I can't stay here, if I'm putting you all in danger," she whispered, looking down at her hands. "We're in danger anyway," I responded, holding her hand tightly. "Lilith wants me just as bad as she wants you. I took you from her. She won't just let me get away with it, without paying." "We have to run then," she said, looking up at me, pleading with her eyes. "We can't beat her. It isn't possible. She's too strong and we don't have a clue where to start! We have to run and keep running, Colby. It's the only solution." I shook my head. Honestly, I felt like that was the best option but I was positive that Sam wouldn't let me. I thought about keeping it from him and slipping out in the middle of the night. Would that work? I glanced at him again. He was staring at me, tight lipped, and shook his head slightly. I could tell that he knew what I was thinking, so I looked away sheepishly. "No, we're going to figure this out," I said, with a heavy sigh. "Sam and I are going to get in touch with Ash. He helped us before, so maybe he can help us again. Maybe he has an idea of what Amethyst is up too, or knows something that might help us." She started to chew her bottom lip, looking uncertain. "She's too strong, Colby. You don't understand," she said, then stopped to take a deep, shaky breath. "I fought against her power over me, with everything that I had in me. It did nothing. I wished for death, but it wouldn't come. There was no escape. I can't go through that again. I'll kill myself first." I watched the fear in her eyes turn to steely determination. "No the fuck you won't!" I yelled. She flinched in surprise at the anger in my voice. "You will NOT do anything to harm yourself! Do you hear me, Anna?" I grabbed her forearms and made her look at me. "I mean it. Promise me. Promise me right now, that you won't hurt yourself or try to...take your life. We will figure this out. I can't concentrate on doing that if I'm worried about you hurting yourself." Tears welled up in her eyes again, as she held my gaze. "I don't know what else to do! I can't have you or Sam, or any of your friends sacrificing yourselves for me! I'd rather die!" she was yelling by now, and her voice kept cracking with emotion. "OKAY!" Sam yelled, drawing both of our attentions to him. He dragged his hand through his blonde hair and shook his head. "No one is dying. No one is going to hurt themselves, OR runaway. Understood?" He raised his eyebrows and stared me down. I knew that he knew what I had been thinking earlier. I gave him a jerky nod. "Great. Now that, that is taken care of, we can start trying to figure out what to do. We have to hurry though. We don't know when she will be able to track you. She could show up at any time," he continued, looking at Anna. "There's no one here but us right now, so that's a good thing. We can't contact Amethyst, but we can try to get in touch with Ash. You still got his personal number, Colby?" I nodded and pulled out my phone. "What do I even say?" I asked, hovering my finger over his contact information. Sam looked me dead in the eye. "The truth," he replied. I sighed and pressed my finger to the screen to call him. I didn't want to bring anyone else into this situation, but it looked like I didn't have a choice. What was I supposed to do against Lilith? The only sort of protection against her that I had was a ring and a necklace. What would that really do when push came to shove? When I thought about the protection amulets, I glanced back at my bedside table. They were both sitting there, where I had left them, with the gems glinting under my light. I started to get up and get them, but Ash's voice sounded out over my speaker phone. "Colby?" he said, bypassing the usual hellos. "Yo, Ash, how's it going?" I asked. Both Sam and Anna were staring at me, and honestly it was making me a little anxious. "Right as rain, as they say. I know this can't be a person call, so how can I help you?" he replied. "It's her, isn't it? Amethyst told me that she helped you put Anna's soul back in her flesh and blood body. The witch is pissed, huh?" "Yeah," I breathed out and leaned back against the couch. "Not really sure what we should do here, Ash. I didn't want to involve you but I didn't have a choice." "I would've been pissed if you didn't," he replied. "Come over. Bring Anna and Sam." "Wait, now?" I asked. "Isn't it too late? I don't want to bother you." He laughed, but his voice sounded a little strained. "It's just me and the ghosts here, Colby. I could use the company. Now, hurry up. The clock is ticking." The call disconnected, leaving me staring at the phone in my hand. "Well, I guess we should go," Sam said, standing up. "Yeah," I said, quietly. Everything was moving so fast and my mind was having a hard time keeping up.