The Girl With Red Hair— Book two— Adulthood.

-—Darker

Tess screamed and was in the process of blocking my hit but I struck too fast. I sliced her calf open and she screamed in agony, dropping her sword.

I backed up and stuck my sword into the ground, leaning on the handle. I looked at Tess squeezing her calf to try and stop the bleeding.

She picked her sword up again and charged at me. I blocked her hit and swung my sword at her stomach, making the hole bigger and longer.

"Ah ****!" she screamed, clutching her stomach. She swung at me a few times then managed to slice my arm open.

I looked at my arm then at her, glaring at her. I saw a hint of a smile on her face. "**** you!" I screamed and lunged at her.

Tess jumped to the side and hit me in the back of my leg causing me to spin around with my sword. I hit her in the back; Tess screamed and collapsed onto her back.

I walked over to Tess and stood over her, looking down at Her, sword ready to strike.

Tess looked up at me, grinned, then laughed. "You think that hurt?" she asked.

"No, but this will!" I shouted raising my sword up.

"Enough!" Tayous yelled, jumping down into the arena. "Congratulations, Darker. You have won the body. Come," Tayous held his hand out and I took it.

Tayous crouched down and jumped out of the arena, me still holding his hand. Tayous led me over to the edge of the prairie.

"This is how you will get back to the body." Tayous said, pointing into the darkness that surrounded the spirit world.

I walked closer to the edge and looked down and back at Tayous. He nodded and walked next to me. "Just jump," He said.

"What!? Wait, no why?!" I shouted and he pushed me off the ledge.

I screamed and covered my eyes and felt a burning feeling as I fell. I think I fell for quite a while actually, before feeling the jerk of the body from a soul entering.

"What was that?" I heard Kalona ask.

"What was what?" asked Tessa, walking over to the bed I was in.

"She's back," said Kyle walking out of the room.

"Kyle! Uh, what the ****? Kyle!" Tessa shouted, following after him. Kalona got up and walked over to the door.

"Are you really back?" He asked, closing the door. He sighed and walked back over to the bed, sitting down on the edge.

I kept my eyes closed and my breathing slow, as if I were asleep. Kalona put his hand on mine and the burning coldness of it made me jump and looked at him, my eyes narrowed.

"Jeez, are your hands always that cold?" I asked, sitting up. Kalona had a huge smile plastered on his face. He leaned in close and pulled me into a big hug that crushed my ribcage.

"Kalona! Kalona, I can't breathe!" I said, trying to smack him.

He laughed and pulled away, holding my shoulders, still grinning. "Sorry, I'm just happy."

I rolled my eyes and his smile faded. "What? Aren't you too?" He asked, pulling away.

Oh that's right! He doesn't know that I'm not Tess. I started to get up and he grabbed my forearm to help me stand but I just pushed him away.

He stared at me and backed up, letting me stand up. "What's wrong? You aren't acting like yourself." He said his brows furrowing.

I started walking towards the door and looked over my shoulder at him and sneered, "Nothing." and walked out the door.

He had to run to catch up with me but eventually he made it as I was going down the stairs. The stairs were dark and narrow, so only one person could go down at a time. I was about halfway down when I heard Kalona's footsteps going down the stairs, behind mine.

When I got down stairs, Tessa was sitting next to Kyle on the floor. Kyle looked as if he had been crying and looked up at me. He glared at me when I walked into the room.

I walked over to the arm of the couch and sat down. Kalona came up behind me, protectively and almost possessively, but didn't touch me. He knew something was different. So did Kyle.

Kyle kept glaring at me and didn't break eye contact with me until he got up. He looked irritated and said through gritted teeth, "I'm going to bed," and walked over to the stairs, eyeing me out of the corner of his eyes.

Tessa got up and followed him up the stairs, as did Kalona. I sighed and slid off the arm of the couch, onto the couch and laid there for awhile.

-—Kyle

Yeah, sure "she" was awake. Sure, I was "happy", just like Kalona. But it isn't her! It's some one else. I'm sure of it. I thought, laying down and staring up at the ceiling.

If I had to guess on who it is inside my mum's body, I would guess either Darker or some other soul that got lost. With my luck, it's Darker.

I tried sleeping but I could t so I got out of bed and went into the hall as silently as I could. I paced up and down the hallway until I memorized everything, even the little details in the old, bloodstained carpet. I got tired of the hallway so I walked to the stairs and sat down. I sat for awhile but eventually I couldn't stand it anymore. The air was too cold over here.

I got back up and walked over to my room and grabbed the knife off the nightstand.

 

-—Darker

I must've fallen asleep or something but when I woke up it was still nighttime and I was really hungry. Good thing I know where the kitchen was.

I got up and walked down the hall, into the kitchen. I opened the fridge and didn't see anything but a soda and a bag of cherries.

"What the ****?" I sighed and crabbed the cherries and the soda and cracked the can open. I the cherries and soda on the counter and thought I heard someone coming down the hall so I looked. No body.

I turned around and opened a cabinet, pulling out a bowl for the cherry discards, setting it on the counter next to the other things. I looked back to the doorway again and didn't see anyone so I relaxed a little. I walked over to the sink and grabbed the cherries on the way.

I turned the water on and put the bag of cherries under it to rinse them off and screamed in agony as something sharp entered my stomach and an arm went around me, holding me up.

I took in short shaky breaths and the person dragged me backwards over to the door. "Who are you?" He asked.

"Tess!" I screamed, lying. His arm left my waist and grabbed my hair pulling my head back, revealing my jugular. He pulled his knife out of my stomach and put it up against my neck.

"Liar!" He hissed, making the hairs on my arms and back of my neck stand up. He pushed a little with the knife, causing drops of blood to form. I choked out a scream, my tears falling into my mouth and mixing with the blood on my neck.

I elbowed him in the stomach as hard as I could manage, making him release me. I ran as far as I could before he caught up to me and threw me to the ground, kicking my side. I heard a crunch and was positive that he broke some ribs. I screamed and he brought his foot up and stomped on my chest, breaking more ribs.

I coughed and he sat down on my legs, his face now visible. "Kyle! Why are you doing this!?"

"Get out of my mom, *****! Now! I'll cut to out if I have to!" Kyle screamed at me, putting the knife against my chest.

"Kyle! Stop! Help! Hel-" I was cut off by an agonizing scream as he pushed the knife into my skin.

"Kyle!" I heard Tessa gasp. She ran over to him and he turned around and pointed the knife at her. "Get away, Tessa. This isn't Mom, it's Darker."

Tessa back up with her hands up and Kyle turned back around and stabbed my stomach. Once, twice, three times, each in a different spot on my stomach. I looked at Tessa and she glared and Kyle. She started to run at him but Kalona grabbed her and made her stop.

"Get out of her! You demon! *****!" Kyle screamed and stabbed me two more times and got up. He started kicking me and screaming at me to get out of Tess and to leave them alone. Kyle took his knife and cut down my leg causing me to scream and try to get away.

"Shut the **** up!" He screamed and cut the side of my face. I sorta cried more than screamed but I did both and felt myself being pulled away from the body.

"No! No, no, no!" I screamed, grabbing fistfuls of carped. Kyle crouched down and put a hand on my chest and cut. He cut a long, jagged, deep cut above my breasts and screamed in my face, "Bleed, *****! Bleed! BLEED!!!!"

Then I slipped away.

-—Tess

Time passes slowly in the Spirit Realm. What would be an hour for you would be about five minutes for us.

Tayous had just gotten back from giving Darker my body and was bandaging me up when Darker appeared in front of us.

"No!!" she screamed, collapsing. I looked at her and took a moment to process the fact that she was back meant that my body was open for a soul.

Tayous got up and helped darker up and asked what happened. I looked at them and got up silently and started walking backwards towards the ledge, keeping my attention to them.

Tayous looked over and noticed I was gone. He looked around then spotted me. He held a band up and started running towards me, which only mad me turn around and start running towards the ledge.

"Wait! You're too weak! Stop!" he shouted as I jumped off the ledge. "Tess! No!"

-—Kalona

Darker was gone, but Kyle was still going crazy at the empty shell.

I let Tessa go and she fell to the ground, sobbing at the sight of her brother. I walked over to Kyle and grabbed him under the arms, pulling him away from Tess. "Kyle," I said, trying to make him stop. "Kyle!" I shouted. He stopped and dropped his knife, jumping from the loud clatter it made. He stared in horror at Tess's body and went muscle less. He fell through my arms and onto the floor and started sobbing.

"What have I done!?!" He cried into his hands. Tess's body jerked and a ear splitting scream filled the air as Tess's back arched.

"Mom!" Tessa screamed and tried to run towards her but I stopped her as Tess fell back to the ground, making blood from the puddle splash everywhere.

"Help..." She said, her breathing short and shallow.

"Tess!" I said, run to her, pulling her into my arms.

-—Tess

All I felt was pain. Red hot burning pain.

"Help..." I said looking down at all the blood on and around me.

"Tess!" I heard Kalona say. I looked in the direction of his voice.

I saw Kalona, well Kalona plus some, coming towards me and sit down next to me. He sat down and pulled me into his arms.

"Tess," Kalona said. I looked up at him, now able to focus my vision. I coughed and sucked in air from the pain.

"What happened to me?" I managed to croak. Kalona hugged me close and stroked my now curly, red hair and shuddered.

"Kyle went crazy when he found out that Darker was in your body. He cut you until she got out," Kalona said. I looked at Tessa and Kyle, the edges of my vision getting black. My heart rate sped up and my hands curled into fists.
My eyes widened and I went completely still.

Kalona pulled back and looked at me. "Tess? Tess! Kyle go find help!"

-—Kyle

"Go find help!" Kalona said to me. I got up and ran back into Darker's house. I grabbed the phone called 911.

-—Kalona

"Tess? Tess, can you hear me? Tess!!" I cried, shaking her.

Tessa walked up behind me and put her hand on my shoulder.

"She's lost too much blood. She doesn't have long." Tessa said, lowering her head.

"They're on their way!" Kyle said, running outside.

 

@Percyous

Omg dude u had me dying!!! U should do that for all of ur updates!!

 

Lol nvm-rolls eyes-

 

-—Tess

I must've passed out at Some point because when I woke up, I was being rushed down a bright white hallway in a trolley.

**** me... A hospital! I hate hospitals. They smell of bleach and peroxide and are too white.

I looked to my right and Tessa and Kyle were running along side the trolley, trying to keep up with the doctors. Then I looked to my left and Kalona was pulling the trolley and looking at me frequently.

Two doctors came up and pulled Kalona, Tessa, and Kyle away.

"You need to stay here," I heard the doctor tell them as they pulled me into a room about five feet away.

"NO! No! No, uh, Tess! Tess!" I hear Kalona say.

"Security!" The doctor yelled.

"Kalona! Calm down!" Tessa shouted.

The doctors closed the door and put a mask over my face. "You're going to fall asleep in a few minutes. We're going to help you. And we'll see you when you wake up," One of the doctors said when I was passing out.

-—Darker

"What?! No!" I screamed. "****!!"

"Calm down," Tayous said, rubbing his temples.

"No! I will not calm down! This is Bull ****!" I screamed and pointed to the spot where Tess had jumped off.

"If you don't calm down I'm going to tell my mother to not give you a life for a hundred years." Tayous said, standing up.

I stopped and stared at him. "You mean I get to go back?" I asked.

"Yes, but as a different person. And in, like, two or three years." He said, his tone making it seem as if he were saying 'You idiot, everyone knows that.'

"Well sooorry." I said matter of factly and put my hands on my hips.

"Shush," he said, walking towards the lake.

"Hey, wait up!" I said, running after him.

-—Kalona

"Why are they taking so long?" I asked Kyle and Tessa, pacing up and down the hallway. "It's been like, two hours."

"They could be done and just be letting her rest." Kyle said, mumbling because his face was smooched in-between his hands.

"I have a headache from this place," I said. I had noticed it once we walked in but I was too preoccupied with Tess. The place smelled of bleach and other chemicals. And the lights were too bright. I walked over to the desk and asked the lady working there, "Do you have any Tylenol? I have a headache."

"Uhm... Sure," She said, drawing her attention halfway from her computer screen. She reached one hand down and pulled open a drawer. She looked down and rummaged through it before picking up the small, white childproof bottle and handing me a long, narrow white pill.

"Thank you," I said and walked over to the vending machine. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a five dollar bill, not noticing all the doctors running into Tess's room.

"Kalona!" Tessa shouted. I looked over and saw doctors rushing in and out of the room.

"Oh ****!" I shouted, running over to the room. I barely got a glimpse of Tess before the slammed the door on me.

"What's going on?" Tessa cried, literally.

"Tess is bleeding, a lot." a doctor said, rushing out of the room.

"What?!" Kyle stood up so fast that the chair almost tipped over. "Why?" He said through gritted teeth, trying not to punch the doctor.

"We don't know yet!" The doctor said, holding his hands up and backing up.

There was a loud scream from Tess's room and the doctor ran back inside her room. I started pacing again, only faster, until the doctors told me to watch out and started pulling Tess down the hall.

Tessa was crying and Kyle was walking across hall. He leaned his forehead against the wall and pounded on it with the bottom of his fist.

"Why?" He asked, turning around, his eyes noticeably red.

"I don't know, but I wish I did." I said, slumping down in the chair I was pushed into.
^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v

A while later a nurse came by and woke me up. "She's okay. You guys can go see her if you like." She said before walking over to the vending machines, waiting, while I woke up the other two.

I finally got them up and the nurse led us down the hall into Tess's new room. "Just be quiet and stay simple. If she wants to rest, let her. She can't have any stress at all." The Nurse said, shutting the door behind us.

"Mom?" Tessa said, walking closer to the bed.

-—Tess

I woke up and I had to squint against the light.

"Mom?" Someone asked. She stepped closer and I saw Tessa.

"Huh?" I sorta mumbled.

"Are you okay?" she asked, her lip quivering. She had been crying before, I could tell that by the way she got so emotional so fast.

"I think so," I thought I said. But it sounded more like "I thing-o,"

Kyle laughed and then hugged me. "You better be," He said. I started to laugh but stopped from the pain in my chest. I moved my hands and rested them on my stomach but instantly took them off, grimacing. I lifted up the bottom of the hospital gown and I could tell my expression was scared and confused because Kalona instantly came over to my other side and stood there.

"Wha..." I began but got choked up. "What happened?" I asked, grimacing from the sting of a tear falling into the cut on my face and the cut on my chest.

Kyle moved to the end of the bed, lowering his head, eyes, and voice. "I attacked you, Mom, when Darker was in your body and I wanted her out. I'm sorry, Mom! I almost killed you!" Kyle said, sobbing at the end of his rant.

I stared wide eyed as it all came back to me. Stuff my body saw mentally while Darker was in me but I didn't physically see. It all played like a recording, from Darker waking up and going into the kitchen, to me passing out.

"Tess! TESS!" I heard Kalona say. I don't know how long he was saying my name but I looked at him, my eyes now spilling over and my lip quivering.

"I want to go home," I said.

"You can't, not for a few da-" Kalona started to say but I cut him off and narrowed my eyes at him.

"Now." I said, almost pleadingly.

Kalona walked over to Tessa and whispered in her ear. Tessa nodded and walked out of the door and came back with a doctor who had a shot in his hand, a moment later.

"No!" I shouted, still crying. The doctor came over and grabbed my arm but I pulled away quickly.

"No!" I shouted again when he grabbed my arm. This time Kalona and Kyle helped hold me down.

"N-" I started to scream when he put the shot in my arm. My eyelids instantly grew heavy and my head fell to the side. They released me and I think I said No a few more times before passing out.

 

I'll update in awhile.

Plus-- don't forget: once we reach 25 pages we're having an update marathon. 

 

Scratch that. I'm going to be ending this book on page 27

 

-—Tess

I woke up and Kalona and the kids were moving all about my room. Kalona looked over at me and saw that I was awake, so he smiled.

"Good morning," He said, coming over to the bed. He leaned down and kissed my forehead and I felt my cheeks flaring.

"What's going on?" I asked, looking at everyone moving around. "We're going home today. It's been four days," He said, throwing some stuff into a blue duffle bag.

"Ah hell. Where's my suit, jacket, boots, and everything else?" I asked looking at everything black to see if that was it.

"Already packed," Kyle said, tossing a bag to me. The back was black leather and it looked like it could hold a lot. I put the bag on the chair next to the bed and looked at Tessa.

"Do I have any clothes?" I asked, looking down at the ugly hospital gown. She looked up and to the left for a moment then began rummaging through a duffle bag on the windowsill.

"Yeah," She said, pulling out a T-shirt and jeans. She walked over to the bed and helped my up, walking me to the bathroom. I leaned against the sink while she went and grabbed the duffle bag. "Here's the rest of your stuff," She said, closing the door.

"How long was I out?" I asked, trying to break the ice of awkwardness from putting on my under garments.

"Four days," She shrugged and turned around like it was no big deal.

"Holy ******* ****..." I said. I grabbed the jeans from the sink and unfolded them. "Skinny jeans? Really?" I asked.

"It's the only thing I could find and the guys were too ***** to go get you a new pair. Plus we didn't have time to pick and choose." She said, turning around again and shrugging.

I sighed and pulled the skinny jeans on, trying not to fall on my butt or my face. I finally got them on and looked at the shirt. I sighed, it was an Old Navy shirt that Joe had bought me when some kid spilt his soda all over me. Well, at least it's a girl's shirt and not a guy's.

I slid the shirt on and threw the hospital gown to the ground. "Good riddance," I mumbled and walked out of the bathroom.

I grabbed the bag that was in the chair by my bed and threw it onto my bed and flopped down in the chair. "Ready?" Kalona asked, grabbing my bags.

I sighed and stood up, "Yup." I said. Kalona handed his bags to Kyle and mine to Tessa and grabbed me under the arm for support. Kyle walked out of the room and to the desk to sign me out.

"Woah..." I said. "What?" Kalona asked, tightening his grip on my arm a little. "I just got really dizzy and lightheaded." I said, trying not to trip over my own feet.

"Okay, thank you." I heard Kyle say to the lady at the desk before walking away.

"Wait, do we even have a car?" I asked as Kyle walked up. "Yup," Kyle said, holding some keys up.

"Oh," I said, grabbing Kalona's arm because my legs felt weak.
^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v

-—Kalona

I picked Tess up and carried her the rest of the way to the car. The car was a sleek, black sports car that looked really fast.

Kyle popped the trunk and, taking the bags from Tess, put the bags in the trunk. Kyle shut the trunk and climbed into the front seat, Tessa climbing into the passenger seat. I opened the back door and let Tess down. She climbed in and leaned her head against the window.

I climbed in and shut the door. I held my arms open and Tess scooted over, resting her head on my shoulders. I wrapped one arm around her shoulders and the other around her waist.

Pretty soon Tess was asleep, her breathing soft and slow. I pulled her closer, hating knowing the fact that she was vulnerable when she was asleep. She moved and hand up while she slept and rested it on my chest. I leaned my head up against hers and looked out the windshield as Kyle drove. All I saw was corn, road, and stars.

Tess mumbled something so I moved my head and looked at her. Her hands were in fists and her eyes were squeezed tight. I looked at her more and she gasped and woke up, throwing her self against the door on my left.

-—Tess

"You're lucky you're alive," Tayous said, crossing his arms and widening his stance.

I looked at Darker, who was walking up behind him in this exotic gown. It was a sleeveless gold leotard type thing with silver and bride beads all over it. There was a see-through, light brown, lace skirt thing that trailed behind her and her back hair was pulled back into an exotic braid, silver, gold, and bronze flower hair clips all over. She had lots of metal necklaces on and bracelets. I noticed neither of them had shoes, but that was normal for Tayous.

Darker put a hand on the back of his shoulder and the other on his waist. Tayous' arm instantly went around Darker, pulling her close. She giggled in a sick, flirtatious way and nibbled on Tayous' ear. I backed up a few spaces as Darker asked Tayous if she could feed.

Darker began walking towards me, an evil glare in her eyes and jumped at me.

I woke up and threw my self backwards, hitting my head on the window.

"Tess? Whats wrong?" Kalona asked. I threw my head down into my hands and started crying. "Nothing," I said.

-—Tayous

Darker was perfect for the role of a queen. She was beautiful, strong, smart. There was just one problem. There was already a queen.