Beyond the Rift ✔ (Completed)

Chapter 45: D-Day

The noise of the distant-city traffic is seemingly loud. Every movement too big to make, every eye fixated on me. I feel like a mouse in a laboratory.

There is an erupt of confused questions but are all soon shut down by one.

"You will do what?" Ethan's tone is livid. He was definitely not informed about this plan. Halitus and I had already predicted this reaction. We just didn't want them to freak out until now. It's dangerous, regardless, it might work.

"Ethan, it's the only..."

"Just excuse us for a second." He instantly shuts Halitus, grabs my arm and we walk in towards my bedroom. My heart thuds in its cage. I know this is unfair, but if we had told the plan before reaching Papillion, he would have never agreed to come in the first place. Moreover, this whole chase is my fault. If I had been stronger, Asmodeus would still be in his cage, things would have been different.

I hear the door knob click in. We were in my bedroom. Ethan stands before the closed door, his hands folded across his chest.

"Just hear me out, we know for a fact that, Asmodeus wants something from me. We might not know the exact thing, but, even if there is a snow ball chance of locking them up, we can't let that slide."

"So, you lied to me?"

"I'm trying to make things work, if the portal can open with the beryl, we surely need it. Besides, he is planning something huge; I can feel it already."

"Of-course its huge, he is Asmodeus. He is upside for a reason, he has been waiting for this moment for a long time. And, you striding up to him is suicidal." His voice graver than before.

"That's why we need to stop them, before they hurt anyone else."

He doesn't reply this time. He leans heavily against the closed door. He seems to be lost in thoughts. It feels like the realization of Asmodeus' immense power is hitting him too. He shifts nervously. I reach out and touch his cheek, I want him to understand the situation. He should consider my faults and let me redeem myself.

"I need your help." I walk closer, my palm caressing his coarse skin. The air between us is fervent. My eyes travel down at his lips, soft and red. Just the right condition to be in for a kiss. The butterflies flutter vigorously in my belly. The emotion is strange, I feel the love but an anonymous dread holds me back. I can sense the change of aura. Are we scared of each other?

Ethan parts his lips to say something, but hesitates for a second.

"Alright." He replies after a while. "But, I'm coming with you."

The gist of relief lifts up as it settles. For a second, I feel my ears betray me.

"Ethan!" I pull away and glare at him. "No! You won't do that."

"If you are going after Asmodeus, I'm coming with." He steps from the door and walks towards the bedroom window, leaving me dumbfounded.

"Ethan, don't be silly!" I am losing my patience. My fire trickles as I fight to stay sober.

He hums plainly as if what I said didn't matter to him. I breathe in and approach him again with a calm mind.

"I won't be able to deal with him with you by my side. He is ..." I pause for a word to describe him, " a monster... he is insane. If he knows, which I think he does. He knows my weakness. It's my friends, losing Marty was unbearable..." I walk and cup his face. I look straight into his eyes. "Losing you, I can't imagine." My voice cracks. Yes, I can't let anyone lose their life because of me, especially not Ethan. My essences are beginning to act up. I feel my skin burn. The emotions whirl in a vortex of heat. My breathing turns ragged.

He gently takes my hand and brings them together, such that they rest on his chest. His heart beating just like mine.

"It's the same for me, I can't let you go all alone to those heathens. If we go down, we go down together." His tone is sincere. The hazels passionately darken with every word.

"Ethan, he will use you to get to me." I whisper, my heart; heavy.

"You are stronger than that and I know it. I promise I will not stand between your mission and you."

"That's not what I meant..."

"I know, what you meant." He halts the conversation by placing his lips on mine.

The second he does that, the currents in me, soar ever higher. My core flutters at his warmth. The feeling of longing revisits. His hands find my tiny body as I cling on to his touch. The seam of my lips part as I let him do his thing, I can't think straight. Reality begins to fog and I thug onto is shirt. Why do I react so differently at his contact?

He moves leisurely at first, his pace slow. He kisses me as if we are two long-distant lovers, divided by all kinds of barriers. Hunted endlessly by the social evils.

The walls of abstinence begin to fade. I heat up in places. My head hazily dangles from the kiss, when I feel Ethan against me. I sense the emptiness in me. I want to vanquish it and so I lightly thrust my hip into his. His muscles strain as he breaks the sluggish kiss.

Our breaths exchange and I flush at our impulse. What is he doing?

"Why did you stop?" I whisper. My voice is filled with desire married to irritation.

"Alex, your mom is in the living room." He chuckles softly and kisses me one last time on the cheek. What are you doing to me Ethan?

...

3 Days Later

"It's clear." One of the officials approves to his partner downstairs. His voice barely audible over the pouring rain. His fingers clutch the firearm, while his eyes scan every inch of the room. The bedsheets are ruffled, the lamp lay on the Persian carpet at his feet. A fork of lighting outside the window flashes the room white. Followed by the ominous clap of thunder.

This is his cue. The man decides to rejoin his associate.

After ten minutes, we hear the front door shut.

"Come on." Ethan whispers as he swiftly opens the wardrobe. The two of us eagerly step out of the cramped space.

"Don't you think we should wait for them?" I ask him.

"I'm sure Elvira and Halitus are heading for the site." He assures me. "We can't wait for their call anymore. By now, the Lieutenant must've called off the patrolling."

He motions me to follow him out of the room.

The mass evacuation had begun three days ago. At first, there was an uproar. No one could believe that the usual storms could graduate into something so drastic. After a sudden thunderstorm and dozens of lightning strikes, the governor along with the fire department declared mass evacuation. Thousands of people objected at first, regardless, the sematic shifts changed their minds

Our goal was to vacate the area and not to harm a single soul. I guess we are doing pretty good so far. Elvira and other Earth essence altruists managed the occasion 4.0 quakes. While Halitus commanded the atmosphere.

But, the unexpected happened.

Along with the storm, the rain came pouring down. The lightings were unanticipated. Soon we realized, it isn't our doing, Asmodeus was causing the thunderstorm to augment. He is recovering back to his powerful self.

A mild ding sound tows me back to the present.

I turn to look at Ethan. He is at the base of the stairs we just took. He is peering at his phone screen. We had to take cover in another house that is near to the place Asmodeus is. The district officials scoured the neighborhood for any leftover inhabitants, which led to Ethan and I hiding in the wardrobe of some abandoned cape cod house.

However, we had to send Mom and Jake with the locals. They were insisting to help us, but I couldn't face the troubles, knowing Mom and Jake are vulnerable to the tridents.

"They are in." Ethan states.

"Alright let's do this." I respond; my chest fills with an unsuspected confidence.