Fallen Identity

"First things first; are you okay?" Zach asked me. I nodded my head yes in reply. It felt good to be outside in the fresh air. I'd grown used to living outdoors and being cooped up underground again didn't appease me.

"Alright," he said after a moment, to make sure I was telling the truth. "Here's the plan: I'm kidnapping you."

I almost choked on my own spit. "What?!"

"Lailah's only going to try and turn you into one of her clones if you stay here," Zach explained and then added a moment later, "I also don't want to lose you again."

I didn't know what to say. I guess he knew this because then he continued to talk, "Also, you have no say in the matter. I'm taking you with me, whether you like it or not."

I laughed at that. It was one of those rare moments where Zach opened up and actually smiled. "Is that so? Well, how is it exactly are you going to 'kidnap' me?"

"I hadn't gotten that far yet to tell you the truth," Zach replied honestly and shrugged. "I'll figure something out."

I only remembered now that they were leaving tomorrow morning and that they had been planning it for a while. "Why were you going to leave tomorrow?"

"There's been countless murders happening recently. We think it's Kage and his gang," Zach replied seriously.

I hadn't seen Kage and his two minions Jackel and Lennox since that day they attacked me. I barely even remembered what they looked like since it was so long ago. For some reason, the thought of them didn't scare me as much as it used to.

"We need to stop them," I said aloud, without meaning to.

"You mean, we need to stop them. Not you," Zach corrected me.

I laughed, because the thought of me being excluded was ridiculous. I could tear those guys to shreds in a matter of secon-

Go away, I hissed in my head.

What's the matter? You know you want to. Killing's in your veins. It runs deep, straight into your heart. You want blood, I can smell your crave for it. It radiates from you...

"Get out of my head!" I screamed out loud. I clapped my hands onto the sides of my head, trying to drown out the voice.

The voice. My demon side. It wants out. Everyday it gets louder and stronger and I'm afraid it'll start to take over soon. Everyday...

"Carter! What's wrong?" Zach asked. He was confused by my sudden outburst. He held onto my shoulders, trying to calm me down. I took a deep breathe and once I was certain the voice was gone, I opened my eyes. I almost gasped at how close he was to me.

"I-I'm okay," I finally answered. "I think I just need some sleep."

Apparantly, Zach wasn't buying it. "I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong."

I sighed. He was right. Hiding the truth from him was impossible. I then explained everything I knew about the voice.

"Can you talk to it?" he asked after I finished.

"Sometimes. I mostly just tell it to go away."

"Next time it comes back, ask it it's name," Zach said.

"Why?"

"That way, you don't keep calling it 'it' and then maybe we can find more information on it. Demons are always being reborn and taking over human souls and in this case, half-breeds as well."

I never knew that. So that makes me wonder what happens to angels when they die. Do they just die or are they reborn in some way? I guess I'll just ask later, there was just too much to take in right now. Zach understood this and took hold of my hand, helping me up. Even after I was stable, Zach didn't let go, and I didn't mind. Not one bit.

We started walking back to the safehaven, hand in hand. It might sound cheesy or corny but it was really nice. It gave a sense of normality over the weird situation we were in. Well, it might not be weird for Zach, but for me, I still wasn't used to everything.

When we made it back, Zach let go of my hand and looked into my eyes, to make sure I understood why. I did understand; It would be weird if we were seen holding hands when supposedly we had only known eachother for a day.

He gave me a weird look and leaned in to look at me. I raised me eyebrow because it was kind of strange. "Your eyes. They're different."

"What do you mean?" I asked. My eyes had always been a dull gray.

"Well this eye," he said and pointed to my left eye, "has red in it, while this eye has gold in it."

I gave him a look that said, Are you serious?

He nodded and seemed to puzzle over something in his mind. He shook his head, his shaggy hair shaking a little. I had the sudden sensation that I wanted to touch his hair. I resisted though, because then I might be considered a creep.

"Come on, were going to need some sleep before tomorrow," Zach said and went down the stairs, into the safehaven. Zach walked me to my room because that's just the kinda guy he is. The hallway was empty and dead quiet.

Just like the night before, Zach kissed me and again, it made me feel all tingly inside like a bunch of hummingbirds were swarming around inside my stomach. This time, he deepened the kiss even further and I automatically wrapped my arms around his neck, bringing myself closer. And just before it could go any further, it ended.

"That was.. unexpected," Zach breathed out as he struggled to find words.

"Yeah," I sighed, a blush working it's way across my face. I'm such a girl. I had to admit, it felt good to say those words.

"Well, goodnight," he replied.

"'Night," I smiled. I felt all giddy inside. Zach returned a smile before heading off to his room. I entered my room and took my time getting ready for bed. I noticed a pair of pajamas had been set on my bed. The pajamas were silky and looked expensive. They were also in my size and fit me perfectly. Ah, silk, I thought as I slipped on the soft fabric over my body.

I settled into the soft sheets on my bed and fell into a deep sleep.

I woke up to the sound of a toddler crying. I opened my eyes to see that I was on a plane. How the hell did I end up here? I thought. I saw that I was sitting in a recliner chair. Oh yeah.. first class.

The seat next to me was empty but there a note laying there with my name written perfectly on the front. I unfolded it and began to read.

Told you I was going to kidnap you.

I laughed quietly to myself since other people were asleep as well. A flight attendent had entered the room and saw that I was awake. She came over to me and asked if I needed anything.

"Do you think I could have a water bottle?" I asked.

"Sure thing, sweetie. Would you like me to get one for your boyfriend too?" she asked.
Boyfriend? Must be Zach. I hope.

"Umm I guess, sure," I replied hesitantly and then asked, "When are we landing?"

"We should be landing in about 2 hours," she said after taking a look at her watch. Then she went to get the water bottles. She was back in two seconds and I drank the whole bottle down in 3 gulps. I didn't realize I was so thirsty and was thankful I asked for the second water bottle, even though it was supposed to be for Zach, I assumed.

I noticed that there was a tv on the back of the seat in front of me and took the headphones from the hook and flipped through the channels. I haven't watched tv in forever and it felt nice to just be able to relax and not worry about somebody finding me out.

I watched old reruns of Buffy the Vampire Slayer that were being shown on TNT, until the 'Fasten You Seatbelt' sign started flashing. I was suddenly nervous. I hated the landing and taking off of an airplane.

It took a couple minutes before the plane actually descended, but I had my eyes shut the entire time. As we started to descend, I felt a warm hand cover my own that was clutching the arm rest. I couldn't open my eyes until we had landed, and when we finally did, I opened my eyes and looked down at the hand and followed up until I saw Zach's face looking down at my own.

I suddenly remembered how I wanted Zach to take my hand last time I was on a plane but that time we were surrounded by all the rest of the guys. Talk about a real dream come true moment. I gave him a huge smile and then surprised both of us by giving him a big hug. And after a moment, he returned the hug.

"How'd you do it?" I asked curiously.

"Well.. the magician never reveals his secret," he replied mischieviously, like he was hiding some big secret.

I immediately replied stupidly, "You used magic?"

"Maybe.." he replied, drifting off. He was in a, surprisingly, good mood.

I playfully punched him on the arm, which he faked an injury, which then made me laugh. A Domino's Effect in a strange sort of way.

Zach helped me stand up since we were allowed off the plane now. He grabbed a couple bags from the top compartment and then we exited the plane.