Forever (Book 1) (Editing)

Chapter Twenty

I could feel my heart pounding in my throat. I had no way of knowing whether this would work or not but it was worth a try. I mean if it delayed them in their quest to get through the barrier then it would help somewhat. I could almost sense that they were weakening it, that it was beginning to wear thin and sooner or later it'd fail to protect this place. Even if this worked there was no way of knowing for how long. I just knew that if it were possible, Liam would be the one to do it. He had the power to boost the magic of things. To increase their powers and I was hoping that my momentary thought of this would be a success.

I was scared. I knew nothing would be able to touch me through that barrier but I knew that they would be there. That the demons would be able to see me and that alone put the fear in me. I'd spent two years running from them and yet I still held a very real fear of them. They’d wreaked havoc on my life for years. They’d caused me to give up everything that had once been important to me. They’d taken people from me. They would’ve already taken my life if it wasn’t for the things they wanted to know from me. If they killed me it would all be over, their hunt would be for nothing. They needed me alive but they had no intentions of treating me well. It was the things they’d do to me, the torture they’d cause in order to get the information that I had, that I feared them for.

I’d only just begun rebuilding my life here. I’d only just begun feeling as close to normal as I can. Liam meant more to me than any other friend ever had. Hell even Colt and Greg meant a lot to me. According to Colt’s father mine had been born here, he’d spent part of his childhood here, so this town held more importance to me then I’d originally thought. It felt almost as if it was my responsibility to keep this town safe, that I was meant to be here to protect them from the evil knocking at the door. I know it was my fault that they were here, that I led them here, but this was where I was supposed to be to fight against them. They’d destroyed every piece of happiness I’d found in life throughout those two years and now more than ever I had so much more to lose. In having so much to lose I’d gained so much to fight for, so much to force my hand in keeping them safe.

I glanced at Liam as we walked along through the forest. He was scared too, in all honesty I’d only told him there were demons trying to break through the barrier and I thought he could strengthen it, boost the magic the held it there. He’d agreed to go but he really had no idea what these things were and I really wasn’t ready to explain it. I’ve assured him of course that we would be safe, but even still his fear scented the air. Both our fears did and I knew once we reached the barrier it would drive the demons into a frenzy of bloodlust.

They loved when people feared them; they loved the power it gave to them. In a way it strengthened them, enabled them to be the vicious creatures that they were. It was like a drug with a permanent high, they fed off of it to keep themselves going, to prolong their lives. Without the fear that people felt over them their lives would be significantly shorter and only span to about a year. For every person they killed who feared them was another year added to their lives. However, even with the lives they took their life span never lasted longer than ten years. Their ultimate goal was to seek immortality, they wanted to live forever. No matter how many times they’ve tried to accomplish this, their missions were never successful.

“You okay?” I asked Liam as we quietly walked.

He nodded his head as he tried to stuff down the fear he was feeling. I knew how he felt right now, I wanted so desperately not to fear them, to be able to stand in this confidently and not give them the satisfaction of knowing I feared them. I wanted to stop having nightmares about them, to be able to sleep at night peacefully without fearing they’d make an appearance. The other time was the first time in months that I had been able to sleep and dream peacefully, to be able to look back at my dream with a smile on my face. This week had actually been fairly good in that department. I’d had a great dream that one night and the others had been dreamless. I’d been able to wake up without feeling a moment of panic, without my senses flying into high alert and searching for the non-existent threat.