Rayline
I was standing in a large hall, taking a deep breath. As my eyes looked around, I recognized that this was the same hallway I remembered Cole introducing himself to his father, which meant the door he was standing in front of was the door to his father's office.
He held the handle of the bag on his shoulder, and he shifted in one place before dropping it to the floor. He then straightened up and stepped towards the door, taking one last breath before pushing it open.
It revealed his father sitting at his desk fiddling with papers, and as soon as Cole stepped into the room, he glanced up.
"Oh, Cole." He moved a piece of paper to a pile on the side of the desk. "I have been meaning to call you for a while." Cole took a step forward but did not speak. "I need you for more w
Rayline"Hey."That was how Taylor greeted us when Cole and I reached the doorway. He immediately came over to wrap his arms around Cole, then turned to give me a hug as well, much to my surprise."Hey, Ty," I greeted him back while flashing a small grin.He then motioned us into the house, and we started taking all of our stuff with us. "Are you guys tired? Jetlagged?""Not really, we slept on the plane," Cole told him."You mean that I slept on the plane, right?" I asked, tapping his arm. "You should have taken a nap too, you know.""No, I'm fine," he shrugged leisurely.Just a few moments later, Jesse entered the living
Rayline"Because..." Jesse started but cut himself off as his eyes locked with Taylor's. He shook his head with a sly smirk. "Taylor recently found himself getting involved in... steamy activities in the demon world."Cole lifted his brows."Is that safe?" A hint of concern filled my tone."Taylor can move into the shadows and get past any man that would be guarding, is that right, Ty?" Jesse pointed out.Taylor nodded in agreement. "They are all low-class demons, their minds should be easy to persuade.""You can do shadow shifting?" I asked Taylor, who nodded."That is advanced demon magic. It requires an enormous amount of mental power, and since it's his specialty,
RaylineMy mouth dropped open as my tongue felt tongue-tied. I knew that Cole had told me that Hayden had some sort of power, but I was not quite sure what it was."Yeah... How did you know?" I managed to sound out.He shrugged and sat back down casually. "Everyone knows about him. He has the power to control those in this world and those not.""You never seem to have a problem with him though.""He's never given me a reason to be cautious of him. He never caused any trouble at all. Despite what the others of my kind think, I see no reason to fear him."My eyebrows shot up in shock. Never did I expect him to be so concerned about Cole."But I'm sure he must have warned you
RaylineI'm woken up by the sound of knocking at the door, turning over in bed to look around and realize that it's going to be sundown soon. My head was feeling dizzy, and it hurt as I rolled onto my side to face my bedroom door, where I found Cole leaning against the door frame grinning."Good afternoon." He made his way to the edge of the bed and squatted down to be at eye level with me. "Someone looks like she had a nice nap.""Hmm," I mumbled while flashing a forced smile. "Surprised you didn't come through the balcony."The corners of his lips curled up in a smile. "No need to sneak around," he shrugged. "Just had a nice chat with your father." I groaned in response and rolled over, making him chuckle.Taking my time, I slowly sat up, and Cole got to his feet to sit on the edge of my bed, while I lifted my hands and placed them on top of my head. Then I turned my face to cover my mouth as I coughed into my elbow, followed by a sneeze as I turned to him."What's wrong?" His eyes
RaylineWe were walking a pretty decent distance for a fairly long time. There was not much we could see beyond the trees other than what looked like the far-off mountains and the occasional flower bed in the fields. This made me wonder if what Hayden said was true, that the creatures out there were scarier than those on the mainland. On top of that, I was also curious as to what the creature guarding the relic looked like, and whether it was one of the creatures I should be wary of.In the end, I caught the reflection of the moonlight shimmering on the water, making my stomach start to churn. What if things got really bad, and we couldn't get the stone? Or worse, if Cole got hurt?Then Cole's grip on my hand tightens, and I steal a glance at him. He gives me a reassuring look, and to calm my nerves, I take a deep breath. As much as I was not sure if he had read my mind, or just knew what I was thinking, I was glad he was there to reassure me to stay positive.As we got closer, I coul
ColeEverything was all black. My eyes could not see anything. Not even I could tell what was up and what was down. My breath was held, but it did not feel like I was in the water. Taking in a bit of air, I came to the realization that I could breathe, and my eyes opened wide.It turned out that there was nothing. Everything was pitch black as far as I could see. When I moved my feet and felt something that looked like dirt, I got to my feet. Spinning around, I tried to find something that could lead me to what to do next in this "test". As I looked out, I heard a familiar voice calling my name, and my whole body froze."Cole?" the voice called again. I turned around to look at the voice, my eyes widened at the sight of a familiar figure sitting down, and my heart sank. "There you are.""...Mom?" I uttered, feeling a mix of doubt and surprise."I was wondering when you would show up," she said as she stood up. She started to make her way towards me, yet my body refused to move. "What'
ColeAnother scream came, much louder, and my head snapped around as my chest started pounding so hard it felt like it was going to pop out of my ribcage. Something appears in front of me, a man screaming in terror. The first one... My hand unconsciously started to move itself toward the man's chest."No." My eyes widened as I ripped my hand away, but the man was screaming, the same scream that had always haunted my memory. "Please..." The man screamed again, and my hand shot up to reach my head.Another scream rang out, and my eyes glanced around to see another memory. Other people, I was forced to kill. Tears began to well up and blur my vision."Please stop." More screams, dozens of screams that echoed each other. Squeezing my eyes tightly shut and my hands over my ears, tears now streaming down my face. "Please.""But you have to see..." She walked around me as if mocking my sins. "All the things you have done.""I know what I have done!" I shouted from the ground. "I didn't want
RaylineThe sight of his head emerging from the water as he gasped and desperately tried to catch his breath made everyone around me jump to their feet. He was struggling to move, his whole body feeling like a weight."Cole!" I called out as I rushed to the edge of the water to get to him, but I could only hear him choking on the water.At the same time Jesse did not waste a second before running into the water and swimming towards Cole. He wrapped his arms from under Cole, and I saw him flailing around for a few moments."It's me," I hear Jesse whisper in his ear. "I got you."Then Hayden came in to help him as Jesse pulled Cole's body to ground level. Taylor was about to follow behind them when all of a sudden I felt an electric pulse of numbness in my body. In a flash, I grabbed his wrist."What's wrong?" He turned to me, and my eyes widened."Ty..." My voice sounded low, feeling that pulse throb again, and my grip tightened. "I... hold me down."It took a moment before dawn seemed