Synergy (See #3)(10)

“I can’t love somebody that’s not real.”

“What if he was?”

“He’s not. Drop it.”

“You wouldn’t dream about someone if they weren’t important. Your mind wouldn’t just create someone for no reason,” I argued.

“The only dream I’m worried about is the one where I’m fighting myself -- and once I figure that one out, if not before, I’m going to figure yours out.”

I couldn’t look her in the eye; instead, I stared down the street. I couldn’t figure out how to tell her. Every time I tried to at least show her that that boy was real, some kind of block came up in my mind. At first I thought it was just because I’d gotten so used to hiding it, but now, as I tried to force myself to tell her, I couldn’t. Something was stopping me, and I had no idea what it was; I just hoped it was the right instinct to follow.

“Well, your dream of fighting yourself or girls that look like you -- along with this tattoo -- is Draven’s excuse for keeping us out. He thinks someone’s trying to trap us. For all you know, all our dreams will collide...are you ready for that?” I asked as my eyes met hers.

She stared at me for what seemed like an eternity. “I’m ready for whatever’s coming at me.”

At that moment, a huge black crow landed between us. My heart began to race as my stomach tied itself in knots. The massive bird took flight again, squawking as loud as it could. We both watched its path, and in the distance there were hundreds of them circling and screaming.

Madison began to run toward them before I could utter a word.





Chapter Three


For someone who didn’t run every day, Madison was fast. She was half a block in front of me before I even thought to chase her.

“Madison!” I yelled as I sprinted toward her. “Stop!”

She just kept running. She was running so fast, I had to push myself to catch up to her.

“Stop! Monroe showed me this – this is bad! STOP!”

As the crows fell silent, Madison’s sprint turned into a jog. “Crows aren’t bad,” she said, catching her breath. “They’re connected to spiritual people. That crow was trying to tell us something.”

“Yeah, like stay away,” I said, gasping for breath.

“I don’t think so,” she said under her breath as she nodded forward.

We’d reached the old graveyard, the one in which I’d first talked to Silas. All of the crows were resting across the gothic tombstones. It was eerily silent.

As Madison pushed the rod iron gate open, the metal screamed out in protest and I swear the sky grew darker at that instant.

“Madison,” I said in a weak voice.

She didn’t stop, and I had no choice but to follow her. The moment I stepped into the graveyard, I felt heavy, like gravity itself was telling me not to take another step forward. One of the crows resting on a Celtic cross belted out a scream that caused Madison to finally halt. At that moment, a man stepped out from behind a stone. He was dressed in a black suit, and his jet black hair was combed out of his face revealing the darkest eyes I’d ever seen. He was so beautiful that I doubted he could be real. He smiled slightly, and I found myself paralyzed. I felt others and looked warily around me. More, all men, all dressed in black with flawless features, had stepped out from behind the tombstones. We were completely surrounded.

“Who are you?” Madison said firmly, trying to hide her fear. I knew if I could sense that emotion from her, they most definitely could.

The smile on the man before us grew wide. “We are here to serve you...we bow to you,” he said as he leaned forward slowly.

When he bowed, behind him I saw my escape: I saw Silas. His eyes were glowing so brightly that he didn’t look human. Anger was encased in his stone cold expression. Silas reached forward, and his hand didn’t stop when it reached the man’s body -- it went through him. I gasped, expecting blood and gore, but when Silas pulled his hand out, dark ash came out and raced to the sky. The body then fell to the ground, and the stench of sulfur filled the air.

The other men charged Silas all at once. There were five of them against him, and he was alone. I screamed his name as I ran toward him, but Madison grabbed my arm and pulled me behind a tombstone.

“He’s winning,” she whispered as she pointed to the sky. Black smoke was encasing the graveyard, and the crows began to circle and squawk again. I couldn’t just sit there and let Silas fight them alone, though, so I pulled free from her and ran toward him.

He was only fighting one man then, and as the dark man fell to the ground, the black ash rushed out of his body. I saw terror in Silas’ eyes, and I couldn’t understand why. Then I looked at the ground and saw five bodies...where was the other one? I could have sworn that five of them attacked him after he killed the first one. As I opened my mouth to question him, I felt ice, cold ice seeping through my back, through my entire body. Then I felt as if I were as light as a feather. My eyes glazed over, and I could swear that I saw my own image turning into what looked like shards of diamonds; my very being was breaking apart, vanishing into thin air. I was nothing, and I was everything. I was no longer bound to a body. I had become the air, the sun, the moon -- all that existed. I felt as if reality was nothing but a harsh dream that I was waking from, that my home, my true existence was opening before me and that nothing mattered anymore. There was no right, no wrong. Emotions seemed foolish because I’d risen above them. Forgiveness and love were pulling, pulling me higher and higher.