Into the Light

107

"What's wrong?" he demanded. I didn't want to tell him over the phone. "I'll tell you when you get here," I replied. "But Sam, be careful...and hurry." "I'm parking now," he replied. "I'll be up in a few." He disconnected without waiting for a reply and I sighed. "Fuck," I muttered. Anna looked up at me, with tear stained cheeks. "Colby?" she whispered. "Yeah?" I asked, holding her closer. "I'm scared," she replied. "I know," I answered. "I am too...but we'll make it through this." I wasn't sure that we would, and that thought was really sinking in right then. "They'll be here in a few minutes. You should go get dressed," I said, as an afterthought. She looked down at herself, like she just remembered she was only wearing my t-shirt. "Oh...yeah," she said, and stood up. I grabbed her bag and pulled out the only pair of jeans that I could find. "This do?" I asked. She nodded and took them. "Do you want a shirt or?" I asked, and motioned towards the one she had on. She reached down and pinched the fabric between her thumb and forefinger. "I think I'll just keep this one on, if that's okay," she replied, shyly. "Of course it is," I said, and gave her a soft smile. She pulled the jeans on and sat back down with me. A few more minutes passed, then there was a knock on the door. "Colby?" Sam yelled through the wood. "Open up!" I got up and let him and Katrina inside the room. He walked past me, then turned to face me. "Now, what's going on?" Katrina went to sit on the bed, next to Anna. She held her arms out to her and Anna's face crumbled, before she fell into Kat's hug. She didn't even ask why she was upset, just automatically offered comfort. Under different circumstances, that would've given me a look inside their friendship. "Ash called," I replied to Sam. "Lil- Damn it! The Darkness. She found Amethyst and the Coven. Some of them didn't make it...including Amethyst." His blue eyes widened as he held my gaze. "Shit," he murmured. "Yep," I said, running my hand nervously through my hair. I had the fleeting thought of how messed up it probably was, so I started fixing it with my fingers. "There's a service tonight. He wants us to go. To say goodbye and also, because he has some information for us. He said that we need to stick together for what's coming. To stay close to each other." Sam waved his hand, dismissing my words. "That's a given. We already decided that," he replied. "No one goes out alone. We all go or no one goes. Deal?" When I nodded, he looked over to the girls. Anna was busy wiping her eyes and Katrina just narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm serious, Katrina," he said, his voice going a little hard. "None of us need to so much as leave this room, without the rest of us with them. Got it?" Oh, shit. Kat usually wasn't one to be told what to do. She cocked her eyebrow and opened her mouth to retort back, but then glanced at Anna's sad face. She looked back at Sam, with a stony expression, and let out a breath. "Got it," she replied, not looking happy about it. "But, can I at least know why I'm being ordered around?" "Because, the Darkness is after me and will kill anyone that gets in the way," Anna replied, sniffling and looking down into her lap. "But wait," I said, walking over to the bed to stand in front of them. "Didn't Ash say that she wanted you because you were a virgin? Or that was part of the reason, at least. Right? He did say that?" I looked to Sam for confirmation. He glanced at Anna, then back to me. "Yeeeaa, he said that," he replied, slowly. "So, what if she doesn't want you now? What if all of this is now moot?" I heard Katrina and Anna gasp, but I ignored it. I realized a little too late that I had just told her business to the others. I shouldn't have done that. I just got into the possibility that maybe we didn't have to deal with this afterall. "He said that it would break the connection, right? Anna, do you feel any different?" She still had a shocked look on her face, when I met her gaze. I tried to tell her I was sorry with my eyes, but I wasn't sure she could see it. "No," she replied, furrowing her brow. "I don't think so...wait, maybe? I'm...well, I was, before I heard about Amethyst." "You were what?" I asked, a little impatiently. Her eyes narrowed and she glared at me. "I WAS at peace. I didn't feel like something dark was hunting me or inside of me. I- I didn't tell you, but...I had a really dark thought when the fight broke out. On our trip." "That's understandable though," Katrina said, waving her hand. "I wanted to stomp their stupid faces in, too." Anna looked down and shook her head. I sat down next to her and took her hand in mine. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to...announce anything, like I just did. My mouth worked faster than my brain. I need you to talk to me right now, though. Please. What did you mean by 'dark thoughts?'" I asked. She kept her head down, using her raven hair as a shield around her face. "I mean that...the one guy. The one that had me on the ground...he put his hands on me. He tried to-" Her voice broke and her breathing got faster. I put my arm around her and pulled her against me. "It's okay. I know. That's why I got so angry. It's a good thing I like you so much," I joked, trying to pull a smile from her. "I caught him before he could do anything." She glanced up at me, then back down again. Oh no. "Anna? Right?" I asked, feeling my own heart start racing against the thought. "If he touched you, I'll fly back there right FUCKING NOW!" "Colby!" Sam exclaimed. "Calm down, brother. You'll get us kicked out. Anna? Can you tell us what happened? Or do you want to just tell Colby? Or Kat?" She sniffed and lifted her head. "No. I can tell you," she replied, before clenching her jaw. I knew that look. She was steeling herself against whatever it was she was about to say. Had something happened? Why didn't she tell me?