Dead Wrong

Have you ever felt like no one in the world was going through what you were, that there was no one that you could turn to for help? Or the feeling of being absolutely alone? That's how it was in this house.

So many questions were in my head: What if Addon did come back? What would he do? Who would he kill? And most of all would he hurt James? James didn't need anymore problems then he already had.

"Jack, what do we do?" I asked into his shoulder.

"We wait."

"For what?"
"Anything, and hey, I could be wrong" I knew he was lying. He knew he was lying. We both knew that it wasn't a matter of if he would come, but when.

"What am I suppose to do when you're away?" I asked.
"I've already taken care of that."

"How?"

Jack smiled and walked over to the desk and unlocked a drawer. From it he pulled out a dusty velvet box.

"What is that?" I asked.

"This is your weapon" he said opening it. The inside was lined in the same red velvet was a splintered, but sharp stake and a dusty bottle of a clear liquid labeled holy water.

"I got this a few days ago from this occult shop on the edge of town. It's for killing demons"

"All you have to do is drench the stake in the holy water and make sure to pierce the heart. I know it's not much, but it's the only way you can kill them." I took the box in my shaking hands and studied it.

"I want you to always be able to get to this in case something happened." I nodded. He set the box down on the table and looked at me in the eye.

"These are not people Lilly, or at least not anymore, so don't be afraid to kill one."
"I- I know"

"We haven't come this far to let this tear us down"

"I know"

"Now, if you don't mind me doing so, I'd like to study some more on this subject. Why don't you go see if James is hungry?"

"Okay"

"I love you" he said, kissing me softly on the lips.

"I love you too" I said before departing.

Downstairs, James was still sitting there on the couch.

"Is Jack still mad?"
"No, honey. Jack isn't mad"

"Good" he said turning his attention back to the TV.

"Are you hungry?"

"No" he answered not taking his eyes off the flashing picture.

"Oh, okay, well just let me know when you are, and I'll make you something"

"Mhm"

I sat down in the chair opposite James and just watched him. His thin lips were emotionless just like his eyes. They weren't the eyes of an innocent child; they were poisoned by hate, and fear. Eyes only an adult should posses. Never a child.

He laughed as the cat got whacked over the head by the small mouse. Stars appearing over the Tom cat's head. What a morbid show, I thought. Then again, cartoons usually were. Still, I didn't think this is what children should be watching.

"Do the cat and the mouse ever get along?" I asked stupidly.

"No, but the cat wants to eat the mouse"

"Oh I see. So the mouse is just protecting itself"

"Yeah, it's funny though" he giggled.

What a stupid show. Then again it obviously wasn't for my age group.

"James, do you want to go play outside?"

"Sure!" he said, smiling. It was better then letting his brain rot watching TV. Besides the storm had stopped and the sun had returned.

"Come on. We'll go for a walk"

"Yeah" James agreed popping up from his seat on the couch and following me into the foyer.

"Jack! James and I are going for a walk! We'll be back later!"

"Hold on a second" he called back.

Jack came running down the stairs carrying a woven basket.

"Why don't you two take a picnic lunch?" he asked smiling.

"Yeah! We should" James said. Jack handed me the basket, it already had something in it. Of course I knew what it was.

"Yeah. Go make a sandwich" I instructed James. He raced into the kitchen.

"Be careful" Jack warned before heading back upstairs.

James came back a few minutes later with two sandwiches and a few other things. I placed them in the basket next to the box and we headed out.

The woods were still wet from the rain. Drops of water fell from tree leaves onto the muddy path in front of us. As we walked along the vegetation, there was a horrid smell. It was most likely a fox or some other animal rotting away. Gross.

"Over there, Lilly!" James said, pointing to a clearing up ahead.

"That looks like a nice place" I agreed.

"AHHHHHH" I screamed as something swooped down in front of my face, before falling on the ground at my feet.

"What's wrong Lilly?" James asked running over to me. I looked at the offending creature that had scared me. It was a small bird, blood was caked on its wing. It was almost certainly broken. It flopped around on the ground, scared and trying to fly away again.

"Oh my God! It's a bird" James studied it.

"It's hurt. James, we should take care of it until it's better"

"No" he said coldly returning to the path.

"Why not?"
"My mummy always said that you shouldn't touch birds because they might have diseases"
"But if we leave it here, it'll die"
"So, it's gonna die anyways. In fact if you really want to help it, you should kill it now put it out of it's misery." he said without turning around.

"No! That's mean" I said picking up the shaking bird and placing it in the basket, before running after James.

Once we got into the clearing, I took the bird out and James laid down the blanket.

"Lilly, why did you pick up the bird?"
"Because it's hurt! Come on James, won't it be fun if we took care of it?" James looked at the bird, almost as if he was disgusted by it.

"Animals don't like me very much" he commented.

"Aw, sure they do"
"No they don't, they always run from me" he got out a sandwich and started eating.

"Stay here. I'll be right back" I said, getting up. "Watch the bird while I'm gone"

James nodded.

I walked over to the edge of the woods and collected a few sticks and twigs so we could make the bird a nest when we got home. And once I was sure that I had enough, I turned back to go show James. The bird laid motionless in front of him, its neck turned all the way around and blood covering the sheet and James' hands. "JAMES, WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?" I screamed when I was the bloody mess.

"James oh my god, why?"
"This is what you do! It was in pain, so I put it out of its misery. It's something you should have done" he said standing up with the bird lying limply in his hands.

"But-but James" I said trying to not gag at the bloody corpse of the bird.

"I'd want the same thing if I was hurt" he said in a monotone. Did he really? I couldn't help but think that maybe this was what he really DID want, to be free of all this pain.

James took the bloody blanket and wrapped the bird in it before digging a small hole and dropping it in.

"There" he said, standing back up. I stared in shock at the little bird's grave.

"W-we should probably go. I think it's gonna rain again" I stuttered out. James looked up at the sky.

"Yeah" he agreed. I picked up the picnic basket and we headed back to the house.

"James, I want you to go take a bath and clean your hands" I said once we got to the house. He nodded and ran upstairs. I sat down at the table and tried to even out my breathing. What kind of kid does that? A hurt one, no doubt.

Maybe Jack was right. Maybe I should just take a peek at his emotions just to see if he's okay. He seemed depressed. But no! I swore I'd never do it again. And I'm not going to break that.

The soft rumble of thunder echoed in the distance and the skies were growing dark. I should probably get ready for bed.

I tossed and turned as the thunder crashed outside my window. Jack didn't seem to be bothered by it or me at all. Every time I closed my eyes I'd see that bird mangled and bloody.

"Save me, save me!" it called. It's body horribly decayed and dripping with rain and blood. Its eyes missing and crimson red flowing from the dark eye sockets.

The voice turned raspy and cracked as the bird's body seemed to melt.

"Why didn't you save me Lilly? Why didn't you save me" it called as it struggled towards me its bones popping out of its flesh.

The bird faded into a sea of blood and a figure arose out of it, I couldn't tell any defined features out of it only black eyes and its body shape. A long pointed finger extended towards me dripping in the red liquid.

"One, two. I'm gonna find you"

"Three ,four. You fucking WHORE!" the voice sung. "Five, Six. I've got a mess to fix. Seven, Eight. It's time to meet your fate. Nine, Ten. I'm back again" the now familiar voice called. The same one I heard the night Jezebel attacked me, the one in my head. As he sung the last verse, hundreds of birds with red eyes swarmed around him as he laughed.

I screamed waking up.

"Lilly, Lilly! Calm down, baby. It's me" Jack's voice called out to me in the dark. He flipped the light on and held my face in his hands. My breath was erratic and uneven. And silent tears ran down my face.

"It was just a nightmare, Lilly. You're fine now" he said, kissing my lips. They're back. The nightmares are back.

"Shh. You're okay" Jack said, soothing me. I laid down on his chest and he stroked the side of my face.

"What was the dream about?"

"I don't even know, but it was just horrible" I said leaving out the details.

"Well, its okay now. You're safe with me." he said pulling the covers over us and turning off the lights. I held on to Jack tight. His wings were still out no doubt, due to him panicking when I screamed.

He'd been on edge lately. The tattered wings were wrapped around my shaking body. I looked around in the darkness and took a deep breath. "You're fine, it was just a dream" I silently reminded myself. There is nothing to worry about. Everything is fine.