Chapter 15

After school we went to Karin, or should I say Kori's, house. She was so nervous about facing her father about leaving him that she practically barfed on the way over. I had to comfort her for like fifteen minutes and give a short prep talk. We decided that after all, we should try sneaking in rather than facing her father at the front door. So we walked around the house, well it wasn't really a house, to the side window. The widow was cracked and the white paint now yellow and chipped with age. The house was brick and coming apart. Most bricks had cracks and chips in them, some bricks where actually missing, revealing the cement that held the bricks together.

"We can climb through this window. It doesn't lock because it's so old." Kori whispered. Richard carefully pushed the window open. It gave a small creek to which Richard's eyes widened and stopped pushing.

"I can't push it open any further or it will creek." He complained.

"I can't climb through that." Kori said started to look panicked.

"For god sakes, the world won't stop just because we can't climb through a window. Remember I have special abilities." I was starting to get frustrated at their ignorance. I closed my eyes and focused my energy on the wall. I placed my hands on the rough brick surface and with my dark magic, created a porthole in the wall. The two other teenagers looked in astonishment as I motioned them to walk through. Richard hesitated and then grabbed Kori and threw her in front of him.

"You first!" He barley kept his voice from cracking.

"No!" She whispered grabbing his arm and pulling him in front of her. My patience was very low today.

"I'm not going first, it's creepy." Richard tried to say it in a low voice so I couldn't hear. But I did. It kind of stung. But hey, you know what they say, when you feel pain so much, you become numb to it. And in my case, pain was my life. It was a part of me.

"What if I die?" The two just kept at it. They acted as if I weren't even there. They wouldn't stop talking about my powers and how creepy they were and that my powers might kill them and so on. Like I said, my patience was low and now I was running out of it.

"I wouldn't let my powers kill you! Can't you people trust me?" I fiercely whispered. "I know that I'm creepy and not normal. I understand that you are afraid of me, but can you have some courtesy not to make it so apparent when I'm right here?"

Richard and Kori just stared at me. I could tell that they could sense the anger, hurt, sadness, and betrayal in my eyes. Then Richard looked down and silently walked through the black hole. Kori followed them and then I waiting a couple of seconds before allowing myself to enter the house.

We came into a room that had boxes every which way. It was dark, it had no lights except the window, and it had a damp smell to it. The corners of the ceiling were dripping cobwebs and there was a huge crack that went from one side of the ceiling to the other. I walked around, looking in the boxes. They seemed to be filled with crap, useless junk. There was an old sneaker in one, an old ripped book, a cable of some sort, and a broken keyboard in one box. In another box there was something more heart felt, a picture of Kori and an older man and older women. I took a wild guess that it was Kori and her parents. I didn't want to ask, so I just slipped the picture into my backpack.

"What's this room for?" Richard asked looking disgusted at the room's lack of character and cleanness.

"It is my father's office. I haven't really been allowed in here." Kori said looking around. "Com'n. My room is the next room over." She led us out the door and down a hall. We tiptoed into her room. I was the last in line. I looked ahead and saw a figure sleeping on a bid chair. Even the chair wasn't facing me; I could tell the person sitting in it was Kori's father. His arm was hanging over the armrest with a beer bottle half falling out of it. I ducked into the bedroom.

"Hurry just get some things, don't bring too much." I whispered helping her grab bags or what ever I could use as a suite case type thing. After about five minutes of helping Kori pack, I heard a crash. It sounded like breaking glass. We all froze. I quickly peaked out the doorway. The beer bottle in Kori's father's hand had dropped onto the floor and shattered. And then I saw his hand flick and a deep breath being drawn in. A chill ran down my back as I realized he had woken up. The chair shifted and I saw the figure rise. He started to turn towards me. I spun around and caught the two other pairs of feared filled eyes.

"He's awake!" I whispered running towards the closet and grabbing Richard by the hand, pulling him with me. I quietly shut the closet door and settled behind a group of hanging clothes. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I began to realize that Kori had next to nothing in her closet, just the clothes she was using to hide herself, which was jeans, a few shirts, and her uniform, plus one blouse. As the room became silent I could hear Richard's breathing. His breath was coming hard and fast and his grip on my hand was deadly. I didn't want him to totally freak out, so I rubbed his palm with my thumb in a comforting, caring motion. His breath slowed and his gripped loosened. But it wasn't long before Richard's breathing picked when because we could hear Kori's father pounding into the room.

"Karin! What the hell are you doing?" He screamed. I could just imagine Kori cringing in fear.

"N-nothing." Was her small reply.

I didn't understand. What was she doing that was so bad? I mean we hid the bags from plain sight so he wasn't getting mad at her for packing…

Her father mumbled something. I found a crack in the closet's door to look out of. I could see Kori backed up into a corner and her father towering over her. He had matted hair and looked fairly unclean. His shirt was stained and he looked like he hadn't exercised in a fairly long time.

"What did you do?" He cried. He stumbled backwards in a drunk kind of way.

Kori didn't say anything. She was starring at the ground.

"Where is she?" He yelled. He raised his hand over Kori. I gasped not wanting to see the rest. I shut my eyes and squeezed Richard as I heard his hand make contact with Kori. I hear her whimper. My heart broke. I know that anybody who truly knew me thought that since I was half demon that I didn't have the ability to feel mercy, pity, or sadness for another living thing. But that's just it, I'm also half angel. I felt sadness over come me when I heard another blow. This time I heard Kori cough like she had taken a blow to the lungs.

"Why did you do it?" He shrieked.

I cringed. I couldn't take it. I couldn't just sit there while she was getting hurt. For me, it's one thing when I'm hurt; I'm use to it. I can handle it because it's a part of me. But when others are hurt for no good reason…I can't take it. I'd rather take the pain for someone else then see them get hurt. That is if they are innocent.

But before I could do anything to help Kori, Richard slapped his hand over my mouth. I glared at him from the corner of my eye. He was staring through the crack in the door. I guessed that Kori's dad was looking at the closet with suspicion. And then I realized that I had let out a whimper of sympathy for Kori and it was a little too loud. I had just given away our hiding spot. I was thinking of how to get out of this. Unfortunately, before I could even think about teleporting us to safety, Kori's father threw the door open. I stiffened behind the clothes. Richard's hand that was clamped over my mouth was beginning to get a little sweaty. I could tell he was trying to breath. The clothes parted and standing above our cowering bodies was the man that had done so much harm to Kori. Richard let go of me. I wouldn't let myself look away from the drunken man.

"Who the hell are you?" He snarled at us.

Neither of us said a word.

"Kori?" He yelled spinning around and walking towards her crumpled body that was lying on the ground helplessly. "Who are they?" He demanded.

She didn't even lift her head. He drew his leg back to kick her. I panicked at that moment. I wouldn't, I couldn't, let him hurt her again. I jumped up and sprinted to where he stood and flung myself at him. I hit him directly on his side. He flew against the wall. I ran over to Kori and lifted her head. She had a bloody nose. She looked at me through eyes barley opened. And then I felt hands on my shoulders. They spun my around. I faced a truly drink and pissed off man. His hands that where holding my shoulders where squeezing really tight. His fingernail dug into my skin. Better me than Kori. He let go of me with one hand and clenched it into a fist. He flung it right into my stomach. I gasped as I fell to my knees. I couldn't breathe. I clutched my arms around my sides. Stupidly, I squeezed my eyes shut. That was a mistake because I didn't see the knee coming straight for my face up until the last moment when his knee was moments away from making contact. But I didn't feel anything. When I opened my eyes Richard was throwing himself at Kori's father and rustling him to the ground. I crawled to where Kori was trying to get up. She was holding her head.

"Let's get out of here." I moaned reaching under her bed for the two bags we managed to fill. As soon as I realized I had a few moments to spare because Richard was holding the drunk man off pretty well, I dashed for the closet and stuffed the few clothes that were hanging in there into one of the bags. I ran back to Kori. She took a bag and then ran for the door. I grabbed Richard's collar and dragged him out of the room. We followed Kori out of the house's front door and into the street. We didn't look back. We ducked into a dark deserted alley. I quickly grabbed Richard's hand and Kori's hand and let my power encircle us. The black energy engulfed us.

I teleported them back to Richard's house. As soon as we got there we lay Kori on the couch and got some ice for her bruise and a cloth for her bloody nose.

"Thanks you guys. I'm sorry that I dragged you into that. I can't believe how stupid I was to let you do that." She groaned.

"None of this is your fault, Kori. Please don't beat yourself up." I pleaded.

Richard had left to put her bags in my room. He came back out and got some ice for himself.

I then remembered something important. I took both their ice packs and dropped them into the sink.. Kori looked at me with questioning eyes. I bent over Kori and placed my hands over her face. I waited a few seconds and then lifted my hands.

"Oh yeah! Rachelle can heal people too." Richard said smiling.

"Do you have any other injuries?" I asked. Kori pointed out her bruised side. I healed that and a couple of other bruises on her body. Then I moved onto Richard. After everybody was healed I set some water on the stove and left the room without any words. I walked into my bedroom, now Kori and mine's bedroom, and flopped on the bed.

"Ugh. Life is getting to complicated!" I breathed into the pillow. I know that my life was far from easy, but the way I kept dragging innocent lives into my world, my dark hopeless world…I knew that it would be best to just vanish from their lives, by death or just leaving. I had to get them out of the danger that I put them in because I know them.

"What do I do?" I asked myself. I started to think of my situation. Two people new me for who I honestly was, and they are now in danger of dieing. Either they could get in the middle of a fight between George and me and get seriously injured, or my father could track them down and he would no problem killing them just to make me feel crappy. I knew that I was a hazard to them.

"I can always kill myself…" But I couldn't think about that. It just brought up the still vivid images of Richard and my sister and that horrific night. I pushed my face into the pillow further and groaned in frustration.

"Rae?" Came Richard's voice from behind the door.

"What do you want?" I asked a little more coldly than I intended.

"Can I talk to you?" He began to open the door.

"I'd rather not talk." I mumbled as he entered the room. He sat down on the bed, placing his hand gently on my lower back. I didn't move.

"I don't care. We need to talk." He said.

I sat up and sat on the edge of the bed facing my back to him.

"What?" My voice dripped with warning. I really didn't care for a chat right then.

"I want to say sorry for acting like a fool today when I said those things about your powers being creepy and all. I didn't mean to say that out loud. I don't think that you are creepy…it's only your powers." He explained. I was staring out the window, half ignoring Richard. I hated myself for falling for Richard. That's right, I admit to so stupidity falling for a guy. I couldn't feel enough love for someone to protect them. I couldn't. Every day, I cursed myself for falling for Richard. How I loathed myself.

"Richard, I don't know how to say this, but I have to go. I seriously have to leave this place. I can't live with you or Kori anymore." I hung my head.

"Rachelle, please don't do this." He pleaded. What the hell was I doing? I'm telling Richard the truth! I had to leave because I loved my friends and couldn't stand to see them die because of me.

"I'm not doing anything!" I yelled at him turning to stare him in the face. That was a mistake because his eyes engulfed me. His eyes were swimming with sadness, and helplessness. They screamed to me to be understanding. But I was understanding.

"Don't do it…" He whispered. I could see he was fighting away something, maybe tears.

"Don't do what? Leave? I have to!" I cried throwing my hands up.

"I know what you mean by "leave". I heard you talking to yourself in here. You said you were going to kill yourself." I saw him blink away a tear. My throat locked up and I couldn't speak. He heard me! I became overwhelmed. I didn't know what to do. Richard noticed my surprise and my inability to speak.

"You think that killing yourself would help us?" He asked his voice rising.

"Well, yeah. You don't understand, Richard! The longer I stay here the more danger you are in. You are risking your lives by helping me!" I yelled. I felt the urge to cry, but I had to keep it in. I had to. I've cried way too much and it shows weakness.

"No, Rachelle! You don't understand! You're being so selfish!" His voice was now angry. That comment felt like a blow to my head. I stared at him wondering if he really said what I had just heard him say. In my paralyzed state I accidentally let a tear slip from my grasp.

"W-what do you mean "selfish"?" I stammered, my voice cracking. "I've never in my life loved a living person, besides my sister and, at a time, my mother, so much that I would die for them!" I yelled. This time my voice did not drip of warning, but hurt.

"If you died have you ever thought of what it would do to Kori and I?" He said a little more calmly. "Ever since you came into her life, she has seen hope. I can tell because before you came to the school, I would see her in the halls with her head down and avoiding everything. I never her talk to anyone and she was always alone. But now she has a friend. She has hope." He placed a hand on my shoulder. I backed away from his touch. I backed up into the corner of the bedroom and sank to the ground.

"So now I've not only put my friends in danger, but I have also managed to curse my friend with hope." I said quietly.

"Cursed with hope?" Richard asked.

"Hope is nothing but a curse. I have learned no to have hope. Hope is a feeling that people hold onto and make them live just a bit longer until the hope is lost and they die. Haven't you ever had hope for something, and then when you find out it can't be done or it isn't real, you feel so hurt and lost?" I asked looking at him.

"Yeah. Everyone has."

"Well, hope is a misleading illusion that will take you farther and farther away from the right path. Then it deserts you and you become lost and filled with despair."

Richard seemed to think about it. I let me head drop down. I pulled my knees up to my chin and wrapped my arms around my legs. I put my forehead to my knees and shut my eyes. I heard the bed springs creek but I didn't look to see if he was finally leaving. I waited a few seconds. When I lifted my head Richard was sitting beside me with his knees up and arms perched on them.

"Rae, you have to think about hope in the sense that it might actually save a life instead of destroying one. For instance, if a man was seriously addicted to a drug and wanted to stop but no matter how much he tried he kept at it, do you think it's possible for him to overcome his addiction?" Richard asked looking at me. I looked away.

"Maybe."

"Well that maybe is called hope. If he had hope in himself to will himself to at least try, he might gather enough hope and confidence to join a rehab or something. So you see, hope may lead you off onto the wrong path, but it can also lead you off the wrong path onto the right one."