Haunting Shadows (Book 2)

Chapter 10

Andreas was pacing throughout the cove, waiting in dread for the next shadow to appear. It could be anyone ad there could be any number of them. There was no way to determine how many spirits would want to test him, face him. And he suspected some of them should be pretty pissed at him. There were some he could face, he told himself, but should Lana or Dylan visit him, he knew he would lose it completely. He had been too late to save them both.

“Hello, old friend.”

Andreas turned to the voice, careful to keep his expression neutral. “Casian,” he said as his friend’s figure came into view. As with Emilia, Casian was translucent, but the intensity of his figure was sharper, more in focus, almost like he was completely flesh and blood.

“Bet you were not expecting to see me,” Casian said, folding his arms over his broad chest. His deep brown eyes were set in thin lines, fixed on Andreas with a scorn. Andreas smirked, an attempt to mask his true feelings.

“Finally, someone has the correct reaction upon seeing me.”

“For all I care, you can rot in here.” Casian’s voice was cold and hard. It sent a sharp pain through Andreas, but he knew he deserved it. Casian had once been his best friend.

“I’ve been telling myself the same thing.”

“Oh, drop the self-pity act, will you? It really doesn’t become you. There are people who have lived through worse and didn’t turn into assholes as a result. You used to be someone I was proud to call my best friend, but now? I’m ashamed to even be associated with you.” Casian wasn’t letting up.

The two had been friends since they were small children, but Andreas’ parent didn’t approve of the friendship. Casian was the son of a knight and didn’t have any magic – that they knew of. Naturally, the Grigoli’s were afraid of what would happen if Casian’s family found out about what they really were. But Andreas never let their fear hold him back.

By the time they turned sixteen, Casian fell ill. The physicians told everything not to worry and that he’d survive. But Casian never got better. His condition continued to decline. Andreas was the only person who hadn’t believed the physicians and stayed with Casian. His parents had gone on vacation, believing he would be fine on his own. Andreas had held Casian in his arms as he died. Andreas tried to be strong, but at that age, he couldn’t be.

“Everything will be fine, Andy. Don’t worry about me,” Casian said, attempting to smiile.

The tears were rolling freely from Andreas’ eyes. “I can’t help you, Casian… my magic isn’t strong enough. I don’t have a cure.”

“It’s okay, my friend. I have accepted this a long time ago.”

“You are my only friend…”

“You’ll find others.”

“You aren’t supposed to die. The physicians said you should be fine.”

Casian tried to shrug, but he was too weak to do more than simply move slight. “People make mistakes.”

“Don’t leave me, please,” Andreas said in a broken voice.

“Do me a favor, will you? Live for the both of us? Become that hero we both want to be?”

Andreas nodded feverishly. “I promise. But you have to be there with me. We’ll both be heroes.”

Casian shook his head, his face even paler than before. “It’s not possible, Andy. I can feel myself dying. Please keep living for me too.”

“You lied to me, Andy.”

Andreas flinched, but still tried to hide his grief over his friend he had lost all those years ago. “And you look older than sixteen.DO tell me how that is possible, Casian.”

“Today is not about me, it’s about you! You promised me you’d live for the both of us…. Become a HERO, not a villain! What the fuck happened?”

“My brother was murdered! Or did that somehow get past your all seeing eyes?!” Andreas yelled, unable to keep his composure any longer.

“Have you forgotten about Maria? My sister? Whom was also murdered in front of my eyes? You didn’t see me turn into a monster because of it!” Casian fired back.

“Well, then I guess you are a better man than I will ever be. I’m not as strong as you were, Casian. I pretend to be, but I’m not. I’m selfish, arrogant, and completely self-absorbed. And I have become a monster, I will not argue that fact.”

“Then why don’t you at least try to do something about it? Do you know how frustrating… angering even, it is to watch you throw your life away when I would give anything to be alive again?”

“How do the dead age? Tell me that one, Casian. My mother is exactly the same age she was when she… die. Why have you aged alongside me?” Andreas challenged.

Casian looked Andreas squarely in the eye. “I. Don’t. Know. Now will you stop trying to change the subject?”

“What do you want me to say, Casian? That you’re right? I am throwing my life away? That I’ve been a very bad boy and won’t even bother apologizing for that fact? That the darkness has consumed me and I’ve reached a point where I no longer care? The revenge has eaten away at my compassion? That I’m just an all-round horrible human being? Well, tough. I know I am all those things, but will that change anything? No. Am I going to sit down in a corner all day and cry about what a terrible person I am and how sad I am for everyone I’ve lost? No. Because I’m actually going out doing something about it. Yes, sometimes other people get hurt, but who the fuck cares? They were probably going to do unmentionable things sometime in their life as well. I say, good riddance.”

Casian poked his finger into Andreas’ chest. “This, is not my friend. This is a hallow man who was left in his place.”

Andreas extended his arms in a welcoming gesture, his eyes darkly amused as his lips quirked into a smirk. “But the hallow man lives! Even if no one he cares about does.”

“I miss my friend, the one who cared enough to stay by my side when everyone else abandoned me even though they could see I wasn’t getting better. I still remember him. The sixteen year old boy who had a heart.”

“A heart can only take so much beating before it breaks beyond repair.”

Casian’s eyes narrow on Andreas. “She’s not dead.”