For Always (book one)

Chapter 26: Vibrations

Malyn

As I lay in the four-post bed in Max's spare bedroom, waiting on Beau to call, I stared up at the intricate lace design in the canopy until it blurred into nothing but swirls of colors, then I would blink away the tears. I knew I wouldn't be able to go to sleep with the light on, but I didn't feel like turning it off, either. So, I just grabbed my mp3 player from the edge of the bed, put it on shuffle, and covered my eyes with my arm.

Most girls only had to worry whether or not their boyfriends were cheating on them, but I had to worry whether or not mine had been sucked into the bowels of hell.

I hated not knowing. Not knowing where Beau was or how he was. I kept replaying what had happened over and over in my mind, but it didn't help.

We had been heading back to Max's when we saw James in the distance and he appeared to be talking to someone. Once we got closer, we could tell something was going on because James had a weird look on his face. When the person he was talking to turned around and saw Beau, their eyes flashed red, which sent chills down my spine. I thought I was seeing things until Beau took off in a sprint towards them. I tried to stop him, but he had been too quick. When he got to them, he leaped into the air like he was going to tackle them, but as soon as he hit them, they vanished into a thick, black smoke that disappeared as fast as it had appeared—taking Beau and James with it.

I ran to where they'd been standing, hoping they'd still be there, somehow, but knew they weren't. I stood there in shock, trying to make sense of what had happened. When I finally came to my senses, I looked around to see if anyone had seen what had just happened, but no one was around.

Strewn around on the ground were Beau's clothes, shoes, and the EMF pump. I immediately began to cry, not knowing what else to do, and grabbed his stuff, running back to Max's house as fast as my short legs would take me.

By the time I stormed in and got upstairs, Grandmama was sitting up in the bed. "What's wrong?" she asked when I barged into her room.

I was out of breath when I tried to recall to her exactly what had happened. Between having no air and crying uncontrollably, I don't see how she understood a word I said. She reached out and hugged me when I finished and quietly let me cry in her arms.

"We have to get back home. See if he's alright," I told her.

"Malyn, honey, there's nothin' we can do. Even if we went back, now, he'll either be out of it or gone, one or the other, and there's nothin' we can do about either."

"I feel so helpless," I cried.

"We are, for now, anyway. I'll have to call Max in the morning. They won't send a call through to his room this late and his cell phone's here. That's one of the things he put on a list of stuff for me to bring to him tomorrow." She rubbed her face and wrapped her arms around me again. "I'm so sorry. We'll get this worked out and figure out somethin'."

"But what if we don't? He's in the Darkness, I know it. I feel it. He's there." I wiped my tears away so I wouldn't have to keep tasting them. "We have to get him out. He can't be there." I was becoming panicked again.

"Just calm down or you're gonna make yourself sick. We'll call Max first thing in the mornin'. There's nothin' we can do tonight, so try to calm down so you can rest." When I gave her a doubtful look, she cocked her head to the side. "Try."

Beau was gone. Beau. Was. Gone.

Stupid Taker. If I'd have known what it was, I would've attacked it, myself. Why did Beau have to go after it? Why? I tried to block it all out and listen to my music... until Prince came on, making me smile. That was the first song in my music list that Beau had ever heard and he hated it. My smile quickly faded into sobs as I finally dozed off.