CHAPTER FIFTEEN—Azael's Coming!

Mason Hart We'd travelled for hours, and night had long since invaded the sky. The car was dark, so I stared blankly out of the window. Occasionally, we would pass by a streetlight, and I would instantly look down as the orange glow lit up Freya's sleeping face. Her expression wasn't one that I was used to seeing. Whenever I had watched her sleeping before, her face was always soft and peaceful, but now, well now, it was harsh and troubled. Every so often she would begin to whimper, and tears would slide down her cheeks. I'd gently wipe her tears away, then stroke her hair and in less than a minute she would relax and fall silent.

I wondered to myself what she had been through the last few years. I was so consumed with my own feelings of anger, sadness, and abandonment, that I didn't bother to think about how she was feeling or coping. I just assumed that she didn't care, that she was getting on with her life and having fun. How wrong I was. I hoped that she would let me make it up to her, I'd beg her for forgiveness, and tell her that I should never have left her that night at my mom's house. She was right, I should have taken her with me, and I definitely should have tried to find her after she left. If I could have given back and done it all differently, then I would. I'd make it all better, and we would never be apart again.

The orange glow faded from Freya's face. She didn't whimper or cry this time, so as the glow diminished, I went back to staring out of the window. Selene had taken over the driving, and Evan was asleep in the passenger seat with his head resting on the window. Selene adjusted her rear-view mirror to look at Freya, then pulled it up slightly to see me. I looked back at her and she had a soft smile on her face as she said, “Mason, why don't you try to get some rest? We have hours left before we reach the safe house. You'll have to keep your strength up. She's going to need you.”

I smiled back at Selene and nodded my head in agreement. She was right, I needed to be strong for Freya. I looked down at my sleeping angel, and softly kissed the top of her head. Reaching down, I grabbed my jacket that was on the floor and scrunched it up, then placed it up against the window and rested my head against it. I let my heavy eyelids close, and as the sound of Freya's breathing filled my ears, I drifted off to sleep.

***

Freya Rose We were travelling in the car to a safe house that Selene had waiting for us. As I stirred, I saw that Evan was asleep in the passenger seat, and when I looked up, I noticed that Mason was sound asleep too. Selene was concentrating on driving and didn't seem to notice that I had woken up. I stretched into the air and closed my eyes as I yawned. When I opened up my eyes and finished my yawn I glanced out of the back window.

“No, no, no it can't be!” I screamed out in fear when I spotted a dark figure with huge dark wings flying towards us.

I turned to Selene, and she hadn't moved a muscle. I furrowed my brow while reaching forwards and touched her shoulder. I shook it a little while I called out to her, “Selene? Can you hear me? Azael's coming!”

She didn't move, she just continued driving like I hadn't said a word. I leant forward and shook Evan and again nothing. It was like I was invisible. I quickly turned towards Mason and tried to wake him up.

“Mason! Mason, please wake up. He's coming, he's gonna kill us all. Please, Mason!” I screamed at him, but I was choking on my words as they tried to push past the lump that had formed in my throat.

I grabbed a hold of his T-shirt and shook him violently. His head bobbed around all over the place, but he still didn't wake up. I let go of his T-shirt and he flopped back down, slamming his head against the car window. I was too panicked to care if he had hit his head too hard or not. I turned around in my seat and saw that Azael was gone, vanished into the night. Leaning forward, I placed my hands on the back of the chair and craned my neck around trying to see if I could see him up in the sky, but nothing—he was gone.

I spun back around and slid down in my seat, and a sigh of relief escaped my lips. I closed my eyes and ran my hand down my face while I waited for my heart rate to return to normal. It gradually went from a hard thumping in my chest, to a slower and more regular beat. I took a few deep breaths, then cautiously opened my eyes. I turned myself towards Mason, ready to try and wake him again, but as I glanced over towards him, I spotted Azael's face in the window just behind Mason's head. An evil grin spread across his face as he stared me down. I gasped when he pulled his fist back and smashed it through the window. He gripped Mason by his hair and yanked him out of the broken window. I tried to grab a hold of Mason, but I was too late, my hand just closed around fresh air.

I screamed out when Azael threw Mason into the night. While still holding onto the car with one hand, he began pulling himself closer to the broken window until half of his body was in the car with me. Thank goodness for his giant ashen wings, they were enormous and were stopping him from being able to enter the car. I scrambled backwards until my back hit the other door when Azael reached one arm forwards trying to grab at my feet. I kicked out and managed to boot him in the face, his nose popped, and blood began running down his face. He grinned at me as the blood ran down his lips and into his mouth, staining his pearly white fangs. He licked his teeth then disappeared from the window.

I scurried forward to see where he had gone, but I couldn't see him anywhere. I wasn't about to calm down like I did before, I knew he was around here somewhere. I looked around the car and Selene and Evan still hadn't moved, what the fuck was going on? Were they compelled or something? As questions and thoughts ran through my mind trying to explain what was happening, there was a thunderous thud from above me. The roof of the car caved in, making me duck down, and as I laid there looking up at the dented interior of the roof, a screeching of metal twisting and turning filled my ears.

I watched in horror as the roof of the car was ripped into, then peeled back like a tin can. It revealed an extremely pissed off Azael, who was now crouched on top of the car. He opened up the roof with ease, leaving himself more than enough room to enter. I froze on the spot while I stared into his jet-black eyes. The white swirls that were spinning around in their black abyss, had me hypnotized. I was unable to move or scream, all I could do was watch as he climbed into the car and leered over me. He gradually brought his face down towards mine, and with his usual velvety voice whispered, “You can never escape me, Freya. You are mine, and I will find you wherever you go.”

A tear rolled out of my eye, then slid down the side of my face and into my ear. As I focused on the tear, his hands gripped around my throat and began squeezing harder and harder until I was unable to take in any air at all. But even though I panicked on the inside and screamed out for help, my body just relaxed into it, allowing every last bit of oxygen to leave my lungs. It didn't even bother to inhale, it just shut down, ready and waiting for death. Just when I thought I couldn't hold on any longer, Azael released me, and with a wink, he shot up into the air and vanished.

I closed my eyes while I coughed and gasped for air. All of a sudden, the window behind me smashed and the glass fell down onto me, slicing my face before hitting the ground. I started when a hand grabbed my shoulder.

“Azael, no. Please, don't take me!”

***

Mason Hart Freya had woken, well not woken really, she was screaming and scrambling around the car, but she wasn't fully with it. It was like she was in a trance or stuck in a nightmare. She rushed around the car grabbing at Selene, then woke Evan up by shaking his shoulder. He furrowed his brow and glanced between me and Selene for answers to Freya's strange behavior. Freya focused her attention on me, grabbing my T-shirt to shake me, like she was trying to wake me up. I relaxed and let her do what she needed. She then turned and went onto her knees and began looking out of the back window.

“What the hell is going on, Selene? What is she doing?” I asked while I watched Freya craning her neck around trying to see something in the sky.

“My guess is that it’s Azael. Evan, can you drive please? I need to mind link Marik and find out what's going on,” she asked as she pulled over to the side of the road.

“Yeah, of course,” Evan replied and then exited the car.

They switched places and I wanted to ask Selene a bunch of questions, but she didn't give me the opportunity. By the time her ass hit the chair, she was off in a trance. I focused back on Freya, she had now slid down the seat and was sat next to me with her head in her hands. She seemed to have calmed down, so thinking that the worst was over I went to put my arm around her. But as I did, she scrambled backwards again, then before I could react her foot smashed into my face. The kick was so hard that my head flew backwards and collided with the window. The glass shattered and split open the back of my head. I put my hand on the back of my head and when I brought it back around to look, it was covered in blood.

“Are you okay, dude?” Evan asked as he looked around at me, he spotted my blood-soaked hand and looked back up to me with concern.

“I'm fine, it's just a scratch. Concentrate on the road, the last thing we need right now is you crashing the damn car.”

Evan scoffed and turned back to focus on the road.

“Dude, we both know that I'm an excellent driver. Just because I don't drive like an old granny like you.”

We both laughed while I turned towards Freya, she was now frozen to the seat, staring up blankly at the roof. She suddenly began holding her breath, and a tear slid down her face. I leant over her, trying to see why she wasn't breathing, I opened her mouth and felt around in there with my fingers, but there was nothing there obstructing her airways. She wasn't even choking. She just wasn’t inhaling. Panic began to set in the longer and longer she went without taking a breath. She was just staring up towards the roof, and I couldn't snap her out of it.

“Freya please wake up. Fi breathe baby, please,” I begged out loud. Willing her to take a breath, just one tiny breath.

“Evan, pull over!” Selene screamed out.

The car swerved to the side, and I fell back into my seat, slamming my back against the car door. As soon as the car pulled over, Selene jumped out and ripped open Freya's door. I watched while she positioned her hand just above Freya's shoulder, and an ice-blue light emerged from her hand, then spread all around Freya's body. Once fully bathed in the ice blue light, Selene slammed her hand down onto Freya's shoulder. Freya then gasped and began to scream out, “Azael no. Please, don't take me!”

“Freya! Calm down it's me!” I cried out to her as I snatched her up into my arms.

As soon as her head hit my shoulder her arms stretched around me, and she hugged me tight. The embrace was so strong, it was like she didn't want to let go, just in case she fell into a deep black hole or something. She clung onto me for dear life, so I wrapped my arms around her and returned the hug. I began stroking her hair as she sobbed into my neck. Selene smiled sweetly at me and then softly closed the door. She got back into the front passenger seat, placed her hand on Evan’s leg and gently squeezed it. I watched while Evan then rested his hand on top of hers and held her hand. He started the car again and pulled away. I guessed they had gotten a lot closer over the last few years.

I smiled softly and adjusted myself into my seat. Freya made herself comfortable and drifted back off to sleep, she was exhausted. Once asleep, I decided to ask Selene what had happened. I cleared my throat and asked in a hushed whisper, “What the hell happened?”

Selene took her hand away from Evan's leg and turned in her chair to face me.

“Azael has the ability to stalk and manipulate dreams, just like most vampires. But, as he is a fallen angel, he is a hell of a lot stronger. Similar to my moon realm, once you are sucked into his dark realm, anything that happens there also happens in the real world,” she paused and pointed towards Freya's neck.

I leaned forward and gently moved Freya's hair away from her neck. Her whole throat was covered in blue and purple finger marks like she had been strangled. She gasped slightly when I ran my finger delicately over her bruises. I kissed the top of her head and began stroking her hair again, and she settled back down.

“When I spoke to, Marik he said that Azael had passed out, and I'm guessing while he was unconscious, he reached out to, Freya. I told Marik that they had to wake him up. That's when I was able to break his link with Freya. When we get to the safe house, I'm going to have to call in a favor. I know someone who can cloak, Freya, but there are some risks and some unsettling side effects. Sadly, it’s our only option to keep her hidden from Azael, so we have no choice.”

She turned back around, I guessed that she didn't want to go into detail. To be honest, my head was a mess, I wouldn't have been able to take it all in anyway, even if I'd wanted to. I slumped back into my seat and closed my eyes. But I dared not fall asleep again, just in case Freya needed me.

***

Freya Rose I was having the most amazing dream. I was back in my house in Jasper, and my mom and I were watching a movie. I couldn't focus on what the movie was, because I just sat there staring at my mom's face. She was sat next to me, shoveling popcorn into her mouth, then dipping her hand back into the giant red ceramic bowl to get another handful. Occasionally she would burst out laughing at the movie, and tiny bits of popcorn would come flying out of her mouth. Usually, this would have grossed me out, but not now. Now I just watched her with love and admiration.

“What are you staring at? Do I have something on my face, eh?” She asked me while rubbing her face with her hand.

“No, there isn't anything on your face, mom,” I said with a chuckle.

I shoved my hand into the bowl of popcorn and ate a huge handful. I then sat back and rested my shoulder against my mom. She sighed softly and wrapped her arm around me, and as she did her coffee and lavender scent filled up my nose. I wished the dream would never end, something so simple yet something that I missed more than anything in this world. What I would have given to see her again, to sit and watch a corny romcom with her. But sadly, she began to fade into the back of my mind as I started to wake up.

“Freya, Freya. We're here,” Selene called out softly.

I sat up and stretched up into the air, and as I yawned, I felt a pain in my throat. I rubbed my neck with my hand and wondered if I had slept funny. Mason was already awake and quietly asked me, “Does it hurt?”

“Hmm? Oh yeah, I must have slept funny,” I replied to him.

He looked away from me and towards Selene, she shook her head slightly and he then replied, “Yeah, I did have to move you a couple of times, you looked uncomfortable.”

Before I had a chance to ask them about their strange glances, Selene said, “Come on, I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving. I got Finnley to order Chinese, and from what he said, there is more than enough for a hundred hybrids.”

She got out of the car, quickly followed by Evan. Mason left the car and opened the door for me. He held out his hand like a real gentleman and I took it for him to help me out of the car. Once out, I saw that Selene and Evan were holding hands. I furrowed my brow and glanced up at Mason, and he shrugged with a smile. I was glad that they had found each other, there was more than enough hurt and pain in both of their lives, that they deserved to find happiness.

We followed them towards a wood-built cabin. It was larger than the hunter's cabin and a little more elaborate, but it didn't look out of place. I did notice that it had a few symbols drawn on the floor and on the windows and door. I wondered what they were. Were they to keep things out? Or keep things in? I shook the disturbing thoughts out of my head and decided to ask Selene about them later. She was right, I was starving, and a Chinese sounded awesome. I ran to catch up with Selene and Evan, then shoved myself in the middle of them both and placed my arms around their shoulders.

“Well, you clearly haven't seen werewolf hybrids eat, you better make sure you have enough food, or its gonna get messy in there.”

I lifted my head into the air and let out the loudest Luna howl that I could. All eight of my hybrids and Finnley answered me with their own howls. And as I ran towards my pack's howls of excitement, I felt so safe. It was absolutely amazing to finally be free.