Exhale

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

Nothing looked familiar.

It was around eight-thirty in the evening, and I had the feeling that I took a wrong turn thirty minutes ago. I was heading down a winding road with a lot of trees and not enough houses. The darkness swept in like a bullet, and the lack of streetlights made it difficult for me to see ahead.

Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, the lights on the car's dashboard began to flicker, and the vehicle began to decelerate. 

Panic shot through me. No. No. This could not be happening. Not here. Not now.

I pulled over to the side of the road and stopped before the car's life flickered out. Well. This was just great.

I laid my forehead on the steering wheel. I didn't have any way to call anyone for help, and the last building I passed was about three miles behind me. Usually it wouldn't have been a big deal, but it was dark out, and the temperature had dropped a few degrees since earlier. I blew a strand of hair out of my eyes before getting out of the car and slamming it shut. I looked at my surroundings. Oddly enough, the car had died right in front of a cemetery.

I rubbed my arms for warmth, trying to keep my goosebumps at bay. I popped the hood of the car and looked inside, to see if I could spot anything out of place. But who was I kidding? I didn't know what to look out for. My dad had taught me a few things about auto maintenance a few years back, but since then I had forgotten a lot about it.

The wind howled around my head, and I sighed as I closed the hood. I didn't know what I was going to do. I was stuck.

Faint chanting caught my ears and I looked up, directing my attention towards the cemetery. What felt to be a pull was beckoning me, and I found myself moving forward, toward the noise.

As I got closer to the graveyard, the chanting got louder. Soon, a bright haze came into view, and I paused behind a gravestone, observing what was happening. I saw a group of people circled around a makeshift fire pit. I was pretty sure this was illegal to be doing in a cemetery, but I didn't know what this was.

Their hands were joined, and it sounded like they were chanting a spell.

"Angeli ceciderunt angeli resurgemus, se non quaerere solum ulciscendi hac nocte. Angeli ceciderunt angeli resurgemus, se non quaerere solum ulciscendi hac nocte. Angeli ceciderunt angeli resurgemus, se non quaerere solum ulciscendi hac nocte..."

I watched, mesmerized. Amazed. But I was afraid. From the sound of it, they were angry.

I'd heard black magic was dangerous. It was devilish. It had consequences. I was about to move closer, when someone hooked my belt loop to my skinny jeans and hauled me away.

I opened my mouth to cry out, but a hand quickly covered it.

"Shh," a hiss, sounding like Adrian's, rushed.

That made me even more afraid, and I fought harder to get away from him.

He moved me away, in a split second we were back at the street. Dazed, I paused for a few counts before realizing that Adrian was standing a few feet away from me.

I stumbled back a few steps. "What's your problem?" I snipped quietly at him.

"You're welcome," his tone was cold, and he turned to walk away.

"Hey, where are you going? I need answers. Don't you dare flip me off."

When he didn't stop, I got smart on him. "I guess I could go back to the cemetery and ask the weirdos what's happening. Maybe they'll have a good idea."