Beyond the Veil - J.C. Kelley (ready to read books TXT) 📗

“They’re coming back!”

We all ducked as the Shadow grabbed at me again.

“We’ve got to get back to Jon's,” the purple-eyed girl said. “You think?” said the boy with the spiked hair sarcastically. 

“Jon?” I asked, trying to blink away the black spots in my vision. Just then the Shadow screeched in rage, flying down again. 

“Later,” said the brunette boy. “For now, we’re gonna fight.”

For some reason a feeling of warmth spread over my body. I didn’t know if it was a good or bad thing, but the pain seemed to go away. My eyes turned a sly black as I grinned. The brunette boy looked at me with eyes of steel. “You’re going to stay in a corner. You guys,” he said, pointing to Mister Strong Man and the brunette girl, “are going to stay with Kate and make sure she doesn’t get hurt or caught." His companions nodded, leading me to a dark corner where we could see everything coming, while the rest of them turned towards the Shadows. I almost regretted that I couldn’t help too; now that the pain in my back had dulled, I felt way more in control. I heard another screech in the distance. I looked up and saw the other Shadows getting closer and closer. 

Mister Strong Man gently set the boys on the ground in front of me, their unconscious bodies sort of forming a barrier. He and the brunette took out their guns and cocked them, keeping their eyes on the approaching Shadows. I finally took time in making sure Tyler was okay—no biggies, just a few scrapes and bruises. But his face was a sickly pale that made my stomach twist. Once I was completely sure that there was no serious damage, I looked at the brunette. “Who are you, anyway?”“Is this really the time?” she said, her eyes still glued to the sky. “If you’re not fighting, you can talk,” I insisted. She sighed. “There’s too much to tell you right now.”“Names, at least?”“I’m Jade.”“Well, hi, Jade. And Mister Strong Man?”She fought back a smile as she answered, “My brother, Michael.”“Ah.”“The spiky-haired boy and the one you beat up are Nick and Alex. They’re twins.”“Yeah. Sorry about knocking him out, by the way,” I apologized vaguely. “Don’t worry about it. And the other two are Robyn and Kade, they’re brother and sister.” “So how do you know about those things?”“They’re called Shadows.”“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. So?” If they were going to keep me on the sidelines, they could at least let me know what the hell was going on. “We were raised to know about them.”“And the weapons?”“Relax. We won’t use them on you,” she said. “Yeah. Sure. How do you know about me? How do the Shadows

know about me? And what exactly are

they? They look like freaking gargoyles! Why do freaking gargoyles

want me? Why me

? No one knows me! I didn’t tell anyone where I was going tonight, so how did they know I was here? How did you guys

know I was here? I’m freaking being attacked by gargoyles and to get away from them I’m following kids who carry guns. Do you even realize how ridiculous this is? I already had a near-death experience yesterday, why the fuck

should I go through it again today?”Jade whirled and put her hand over my mouth. “Shut up. They’re going to find us soon if you don’t.” I nodded and took a deep breath to calm myself down. I didn’t see what the big deal was. They’d already found me. I was gonna die anyway. Why not make it sooner? No. I couldn’t let myself break down like this. If I wanted to make it out of this—and I did—then I had to be cool. I had to be collected. I had to be awesome. The Shadows soared above us, going into nosedives and clawing at Robyn and Nick. I could feel my cool and collected aura fading, quickly replaced with adrenaline. A sharp wind picked up, whipping the Shadows around and giving Kade time to clip a few of them. One wailed, hand covering a bloody hole in his chest, and crashed to the ground. It didn’t get back up. Strangely the violence didn’t bother me. In fact I sort of envied Kade. I don’t know if it was the heat of the moment or my natural thirst for excitement, but I yearned to join them. Michael took out a short dagger and threw it up. A second Shadow fell, Michael's dagger buried hilt-deep in its neck. I turned to Jade again. “Why do you call them Shadows?”“I don’t know. Maybe because they blend in with the night, and they’re almost silent when they move.”“That’s stupid. I saw them when we were on the roof.” “Then you’re a rare individual,” she replied. “’Rare individual’? Who are

you people?”Jade stayed silent, raising her gun and firing off a few rounds at a Shadow that was getting close to us. He flew away and knocked Kade down, the gun spinning away, leaving him with only his knives. A twinge of doubt ran through me. I almost jumped out there to help but Robyn beat me to it, punching the Shadow in the jaw, stunning it, and jammed a knife into its shoulder. The Shadow backed off but was quickly replaced with another. Nick sprang into action, shocking the Shadow with a roundhouse kick to the head. It staggered, blinking hard and shaking its head. Nick spun into another pose, preparing for another attack but the Shadow lashed out at him with inhuman speed. It ferociously raked its claws across his face; he collapsed, blood dripping from three semi-shallow cuts on his cheek. I thanked the gods that he’d had time to pull back—if he hadn’t he wouldn’t have gotten off so easy. “Nick!” Robyn screamed in fear. She ran to his side while Kade tried to finish off the Shadow. But try as he might, he couldn’t best the creature’s strength. I rose, getting ready to run at it, but was restrained by Michael. “Believe me, you don’t understand what you’re getting yourself into,” he said. I looked at him evenly. “You haven’t seen me fight.”Michael looked to Jade for help. “Kate,” she said, “You have to understand that these are not your average person. They’re stronger than three men, quicker than a cheetah, and their claws can split hairs. If we let you out there, you will be torn to shreds.”These idiots. The Shadows were winning. They needed all the help they could get. My eyes burned scarlet and Jade backed off. I smiled. “I’m not an average girl.”I don’t know why I was pushing them so hard. For some reason I just really wanted—no, I needed

to fight. A part of me, one that was buried deep inside, was starting to rise. It had ignited an anger within, and I had an urge to let it out. Whoa, whoa, whoa. What the hell was I doing? These were monsters

, for gods’ sake! Why was I so keen on fighting them? Wasn’t I supposed to run? What was this strange feeling? Why was it exhilarating? This wasn’t my fight. I’d just gotten caught in the middle of it. I shouldn’t want to take the Shadows on. So why did I anyway? I shoved those thoughts to the back of my mind. I had to focus on what was going on. I looked back at the Shadows closing in on us. Obviously, the predicament had gotten even worse; Nick’s cuts had stopped bleeding, but they needed to be bandaged. Kade was only barely keeping up with the Shadow—his body was riddled with nasty cuts and bruises, and he couldn’t fully lift his left arm. Jade gave Michael a big push. “Go,” she said, and he took off, drawing a sword and gun. Despite the horror of the situation, I couldn’t help but marvel at the odd combination of the weapons. After shooting at the Shadows in the sky, Michael drove the sword right through the chest of the Shadow fighting Kade. It grabbed at the gaping hole, trying in vain to staunch the flow of blood. Eventually it sank to its knees, and the light went out in its eyes. “We have to get back to Jon’s,” said Kade, hands on his knees and gasping for air. “We’re still outnumbered.”“Get ready to run,” Jade said, looking back at me. “Oh, my gods!” she gasped, staring at my back. I sighed and kept my eyes on the Shadows. “It’s nothing! I barely even feel it.” “No, it’s—” I didn’t stay long enough to hear the rest; the winged monsters were diving straight for the others, ambushing them. I couldn’t let that happen. It wasn’t that I felt responsible for them, but they were my ticket to safety. If they died, I died. I had to do what I could. I smiled momentarily. They were finally going to see me in action. I couldn’t wait to rub it in Michael and Jade’s faces. Finally, with an unexplainable feeling of pleasure, I jumped into the fight. Grabbing hold of Michael, I pushed down as hard as I could, brought up my feet, and kicked an incoming Shadow right in the face. My smile widened as I felt the creature’s bones crunch under my feet and it shrieked in pain. “Hahaha!” I laughed wickedly, landing next to Kade, who stared at me in bewilderment. Jade ran from the corner, yelling at me to come back, but the Shadows had caught up. Before Jade reached me, I whirled into a series of kicks and punches, stunning my victims. By now, it seemed like the Shadows didn’t care if they got me dead or alive, they just wanted me. I was jumping out of the way of one claw when a Shadow came up from behind and shoved at me, sending me sprawling a few feet away. “Kate!” Robyn screamed with a face full of fear. I barely even registered the pain. When I caught sight of the gargoyles coming at me with grotesque smiles, something happened. That hidden anger was rising once again, and this time I failed to contain it. My clenched fists shook, my nails growing longer and sharper and piercing my palm. The veins in my neck were straining, and my teeth grew longer until they resembled fangs. I didn’t notice my gruesome appearance, though the others did. The Shadows all stopped in their tracks and I growled deeply, smiling around my fangs. A split second passed, and then I lunged at my prey, raising my clawed hands like daggers. I slashed through the first two easily, their necks spraying crimson blood as they fell. Kicking off from the third, I launched myself into the air and rammed into another opponent. I almost floated in midair as I bit it, held its wrist, and slammed it into the Shadow next to it. My feet had hardly hit the concrete when three others jumped at me. I turned to the one on my left, took hold of its head, and twisted violently. There was an audible crack!

and it crumpled to the ground. The other two swung their claws at me and I dodged at the last minute, letting their momentum make them stumble and fall. Kade and the others had finally gotten over the initial shock of my ability to kick ass (ha!). They drew more guns and shot at the remaining Shadows, managing to take care of four more before the rest finally realized they had lost this fight. They took flight and fled before we could