Forsaken (Book #1)
Chapter Twenty-Eight

The morning of October 31^st – Halloween – was dreary. Last night temperatures had risen to about sixty degrees and then it had started to storm. This morning, the temperatures had dipped way below the freezing point and it had started to snow heavily. The changing weather threw me for a loop and it also made me nervous. I dressed in the warmest clothes that I owned and headed outside.

Chilly arctic wind blasted me in the face and I ducked my head, burying my face into the collar of my winter coat. My backpack felt heavy on my back as I trudged through the drifts of snow to the car. I lifted my eyes and felt myself freeze in shock. It wasn’t here.

I dug my phone out of my pocket and with shaky fingers looked to see if school had been cancelled. It in fact had been, and I just didn’t realize it. With a groan, I stumbled back into the house. I sniffled, and turned up the heat to unfreeze a little.

My phone buzzed and I grabbed it unlocking it to see who was texting me.

Cassie: Are you coming to the party?

Calla: Yes.

Cassie: Okay, well it’s from 8:00 – 12:00.

I set my phone down, not bothering to reply. Cassie was in no mood to talk it seemed, and I was in no mood to get ensnared in any drama. I curled up on the couch, hair framing my face. Sleep grabbed me with bony hands and dragged me down. It felt like I had only closed my eyes for a few minutes when I was being shaken awake.

I blinked rapidly, gathering my bearings and sat up looking around. I nearly knocked heads with Grayson as I was sitting up. I felt myself blush and I looked awkwardly away from him. He wasn’t the only person in my house.

Anais and Elysia were also here, Liyana was here too. There were also several other people that I didn’t know standing in the living room. The door to my house opened and in walked the slim, lithe, statuesque forms of the faeries. At the lead were Celeste and Ember.

All of the people standing in my house were clad with some sort of armor and all of them were outfitted with a copious amount of weapons.

“Good your up.” Liyana said, as Grayson grabbed my hands and pulled me off of the couch. “Get dressed. The Afterdark is going to summon Darya in three hours, and you have a party that you want to make it to.”

“You’re seriously going to let me go to that?” I gasped shocked that they knew about it and that they were fine with letting it happen.

“As long as we can still stop Darya from being summoned I replace that I don’t care. The others don’t have a say since I am the Valkyrie Exalt,” Liyana said brusquely.

“I have clothes for you.” Elysia murmured stepping forward. “Grayson brought Ilya’s swords as well.”

I took the bundle of clothes from her outstretched arms and headed upstairs. Nerves were beginning to filter in now and I was shaking as I entered my room. I shut the door and locked it. I grabbed the clothing, examining it. It looked like it was made out of supple leather, and felt like it would offer a fair amount of protection. It wouldn’t offer as much protection as mail armor, but it would offer enough. I changed into the armor slowly, replaceing that it was much more difficult than I had anticipated. There were quite a few things to zip up and button, lace and buckle. I buckled the belt around my waist and turned to the mirror in my room.

Though I didn’t have Ilya’s swords with me, I certainly looked like a threat. The leather moved easily with every movement that I made and I was pleased that it didn’t cling too tightly to my skin. The bodice had intricate designs traced onto the leather and had short sleeves. I stared at myself in the mirror for a few more moments before I slowly headed downstairs.

“You look good.” Elysia said as soon as I walked into the living room.

“You’re just missing something.” Grayson said.

I looked to him, seeing his eyes soften as he stared at me. He lifted a container off of the ground. Opening it he withdrew the two swords wrapped in silk. He took them out slowly and reverently before handing them to me. Feeling their weight in my hands I felt a little more balanced, a little more at ease. I slid them into their scabbards and crossed my arms allowing a small smile to slip onto my face.

“Well, how do I look?” I asked, shifting on my feet.

“Like you can handle this.” Grayson answered. “You look like you’ll be able to stop the Afterdark.”

I nodded. “Good. So, I guess we go to the party now?”

“Yes.”

* * * * *

I had thought that we would drive or walk to the party. Neither of those things happened. Instead we used a portal. Travelling via portal was very disconcerting. One minute you were in a tangible plane of existence, then you were somewhere in between and then you were back into an actual plane of existence. It made me feel a little lightheaded and I leaned onto Grayson.

After the wooziness faded I took a step away from him and stared at the house in front of us. It was Cassie’s house. Ordinarily the party would have been held outside but with the snow and ice covering the ground it just wouldn’t be possible this year. Nonetheless Cassie had decorated the outside a little bit.

Paper skulls and pumpkins hung near the door and I pushed them away, opening the door. The scent of alcohol and sweat was heavy in the air as my entourage also stepped in. I saw a lot of people wearing cliché vampire and faerie costumes, along with your classic zombie costumes.

Near the kitchen I could spot Cassie surrounded by a group of people, most of them nursing drinks. Within the throng stood Lucian and beside him were three people that just seemed to exude an aura of otherworldliness. Their eyes appeared to be glowing and they looked menacing as they stood within the crowd matching scowls on their faces.

“You have an hour.” Liyana told me in a low voice, before she slipped into the crowd and I lost sight of her.

The rest of the group followed suit leaving behind Grayson, Elysia, Anais and I. Anais clutched at Grayson’s arm as someone shoved past her, stumbling and talking loudly. Grayson sighed and tried to shake Anais off. She just clung to him tighter, blinking her big blue eyes up at him.

I crossed my arms, leaning on the wall near the door. Maybe last year or a few months ago I would have been enjoying myself, but now I wasn’t able to. There was this huge amount of pressure on me because today was Halloween and Darya was supposed to be summoned. Elysia grabbed a drink out of the hand from one of the partygoers and took a few steps so that she was standing by me.

“Not what you’d imagined it would be is it?” Elysia questioned, leaning against the wall.

“No,” I answered honestly, “it’s not like how I thought it would be. Maybe it’s because usually the party replaces a way outdoors. Or it could also be the fact that my whole life has done a complete one-eighty.”

“No need to get snappy.” Elysia chided me gently.

“I’m sorry.” I apologized.

That was where the conversation ended. I ended up standing near the wall most of the time not interacting with anyone else. Since my friendship with Cassie had become strained my relationship with a lot of the other people in school had also grown strained. I felt out of place here.

Sometime later Cassie came stumbling towards me, wearing a low cut gothic type of dress. In her mouth she had fake fangs and she had a black winged necklace hanging from her neck. She had fake blood on the side of her neck and on the corner of her mouth, and her eyes were heavy with makeup.

“You came!” She squealed giving me a hug. “But what exactly are you supposed to be?”

“Um a demon hunter,” I lied. “And I see that you came as a vampire.”

“Yep.” She smiled brightly. “How long are you staying? Until the whole thing is over with right? We really need to talk.”

“Uh, no.” I replied, giving her an apologetic look. “I’m actually going to have to leave soon, but I thought that I’d drop by and see how the party was.”

“So you’re bailing on me. Again.” Cassie sighed, shaking her head. “Of course, I should have known that you wouldn’t stay.”

I avoided looking her in the eyes. Over her shoulder I caught sight of Liyana who was looking straight at me. When she noticed me staring at her, she gestured for me to follow. I looked back to Cassie only to replace her talking to someone else.

I stared at her sadly, for a few moments before slipping away. I pushed through the crowd, joining Liyana standing near the back door. Slowly Grayson, Elysia and Anais joined us.

“Let’s go.”