Rising the Hell

The night sky glowed lustrously, twinkling stars and the silvery moon seemed to cast its glow on a particular spot; 24, Mildrew house. The smell of anxiety and fear hung as a thick veil around the house. The restless and constant patter proved that the residents were yet wide awake. Not far, from the home perched on the top branch was a cawing crow. It looked solemnly at the east window that shed glow out into the night.

Back at Mildrew home, Mr. Mildrew crossed his hands at the back and clasping and unclasping his fists. He leaned beside the ornate,carved door silently sending prayers to every form of god in existence. He knew that this will be the one last chance for him; he was either going to have them both or lose them. He had lost all the hope after third unsuccessful delivery but his wife Jane was not ready to give up. She was full of hope, that the god would bless them with children but he saw her hope going downfall after the 5th attempt.  The horror and desperateness in her eyes while she was taken into the bedroom for eighth delivery would haunt him forever if something were to happen to her.

“Are you sure that this is the house?”

The young woman nodded, not offering him even a slight glance. She was worried about this assignment; she knew the importance of this guardianship, if anything were to go wrong she would put the whole night world in jeopardy. She could remember that day crystal clear when she was approached by her Keeper.

“ Lucille…” Lucille couldn’t ignore the proud look in her Keeper’s face. He was vibrant with joy. She sensed the lingering presence of the Messenger, if she concentrated enough she could see the white smoke still left behind by the ‘poof’ from the messenger.

The appearance of messenger meant only one thing, one of them was assigned guardianship; her heart skipped a beat knowing fully that it could be her who would be assigned guardianship. Since the day her bar had raised to guardian she was all up for the task but it was a pity that she never got one in all these years. She was the best and brightest fighter in her clan, and so admitted her keeper but never was she assigned a task since all these years.

“Child, You would be given a task that is worth of all your perseverance…” and so the day had come, she smiled.

“Lucille…” Her keeper strains his ears to see if there were any unwanted members around and dropped his voice to the lowest whisper he could. If the strange reactions of her keeper had any effect on her, it had all gone by the time he whispered the name from whence the task came from.

“The mystiques???” She said it aloud not sure if she heard it right.

He nodded vigorously. “I hope you understand the magnitude of the task. You have waited all these years and here you are…” He smiled chucking the scroll into her hands.

“And child… There are only few persons that know about this task so If I were you, I would keep quiet.” He winked.

Lucille skimmed through the scroll; sure enough there was the seal of the high command. What could be so gravely important for them? Her head reeled as she saw that she was to guard an unborn child until the day she was destined to enter the night world. She smiled thinking it was as easy as pie and certainly not what she expected it to be. If only she knew the hurdles that lay ahead of her she wouldn’t have smiled.

It wasn’t difficult for her to track this child given all the details and here she was waiting for that unborn child who seemed so important. She would take a good look at her as soon as she was born, she thought.

“Are you sure that this is the house?” She didn’t spare a glance at her visitor, she was so immersed until it actually struck her that she had company.

She remembered how her keeper mentioned that it was a secret mission and she didn’t know who this stranger was. She whirled around, hurling a punch at the visitor.

“Kiddo… You better look before you go throwing punches.” Lucille growled; she hated being called Child and Kiddo is worse than that. True that she was the youngest guardian ever in the night world. She was in her early 15’s when she was bestowed guardianship. She was escalated with the power and respect that the guardianship brought her. The only downside that she saw was that she was stuck in her 15 year old self until she moves to the level of a keeper and that was not going to happen at least in the next coming 20 years.

“I’m 20 by mortal years…” She spat.

The visitor chuckled. He was impressed by the fiery tempered pixie that stood in front of him. She was good 5’4 inches tall, thin frame, sharp looks, her small frame gave her an upper hand in almost all the duck and cower movements. He could sense the strong aura that radiated fearlessness and strength. He was still unsure if this girl was apt for the task. He rubbed his chin still deep in thought, who was he to question the judgement of TheMysiques?

“Who are you and what are you doing here?”She said eying him up-down-up.

“Well, make a guess, who else knew about the unborn child?” he quipped.

She clearly didn’t like this stranger who had an easy style. The mystiques? But, they wouldn’t be wandering around like this…Would they? No, he must be the messenger. The messenger smiled as he saw realization dawn on her face.

She snapped as she heard the shrill cry of pain and ran to get a better view of the east window. She could see the woman thrashing her hands in pain, she was in her mid forties and Lucille was sure that she wasn’t going to make it.  She could sense death in the room and she felt sorry for the mother who wouldn’t be able to hold her child when it was the only wish that she had all her life.

She watched her intently; she unconsciously reached out into her mind. She could see that she was aware that she was going to die, all through the pain she was desperately hoping to get at least a glance at her child. Her pain screamed in Lucille's head and she groped at the nearest railing to steady herself.

She writhed in agony; the messenger raised an eyebrow as he watched Lucille grip the rod and clenched her teeth tightly.

“Lucille…” He concluded that she was using her gift.

Lucille felt another presence in the woman’s mind. At first it was like a shadow but then it was like thought that suddenly struck your mind and then at a leisure place occupied your mind, completely shutting off any other thoughts. Lucille could feel the waves of calm spreading around her and the woman’s body. The woman no longer screamed, it was like someone was controlling the pain she endured.

Messenger observed the deepening frown in Lucille’s face; he could no longer see the traces of stress in her face. He monitored the woman enough to guess what happened. The child was able to access her gift even in her mother’s womb. Lucille was mystified, she was clever enough to guess to whom the third presence belonged to.

It was too much for her… She was bursting with knowledge of the discovery she made, that she alone couldn’t bear to handle.  In a minute of pure excitement, she faced the messenger ready to blurt out when her Keeper’s voice echoed in her mind.

She resolved to keep mum it was so hard for her not to. She had an inkling that this was not going to be the first time that she was going to be surprised. Before she could ponder on the gravity of the task, she heard the cry of a baby. She watched as Mr. Mildrew rushed in, He staggered unsteadily and collapsed on to the bed next to the woman whose breath was ragged. She tentatively reached for her precious girl who was bundled up in old clothes. The scene was so heart wrenching, Mr. Mildrew held her hands pressing it to his forehead as tears trickled silently and washed down his cheeks.

“ELiana…” she whispered lovingly and gently pressing her lips. Her life was sucked out without the smile completely reaching her lips.

“Eliana…” Lucille feeling how the word felt.

“There’s your destiny, kiddo…” The messenger said and gone ‘poof’ his contagious smile still lingering.

Who was this child? What was so important about her? How did she access her gift in her mother’s womb? Why was I given her task? Were our fates intertwined?