Dead Lines

30: Turning of the Tide, pt 2

“The new vessel will bring him to me when the time comes. Or he’ll come looking for you.” He shook his head, fake sympathy playing on his features as he took her face between his palms. “You see? You really have no more use.”

“Please. It was nothing. He meant nothing. It was all a mistake and I’ve learned my lesson. Please, milord. There has to be something—”

Watching Caelus’ face was like looking at a blank sheet of paper. There was nothing to see but you kept staring anyway, driving yourself a little crazy waiting for something to show. Until suddenly, you do see something but you question yourself, wondering if the emotion was really there or if you were making it up.

That’s how I felt now as I thought I saw something, or rather someone, passed the crazy in his eyes. But it was gone quickly and I was left wondering if I was seeing things. I’d have to analyze it later, maybe have Shaw help me.

“There is something,” he finally said.

“Really?” She sounded hopeful.

But because she wasn’t looking, she missed the black smear of the Nothing come away from several of the stain glass windows. A few of the angels looked like they were crying tears of black tar as the Nothing dripped out of the metal smoldering.

“Tell me you never loved him.”

“I never loved him. I swear. There’s only ever been you.” Her words were devout, leaving no room in my mind of their sincerity. Chris, however, wasn’t accepting it.

“You don’t mean that,” he whispered and moved so he was behind Caelus so he could see her face. His eyes darted around, unbelieving. “She doesn’t mean it. She can’t.”

I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t. Watching my former friend, my murderer, as his heart broke was disconcerting. I didn’t know how to feel, if it should be remorse or gratification of my confirmed I-told-you-so. At one time, I wanted him to know what it felt like to have everything he loved and cared about slip through his fingers. But now, I remembered when a few years back, just after Cecil turned Elite, Chris had brought a bouquet of sunflowers to school for his girlfriend. Chris found her kissing another boy next to her locker. As I’d lost Cecil in a similar fashion, it was easy to connect with him and be there for him while he got over it.

As I watched him now, he reminded me so much of the boy he’d been and it only got worse as the same look he’d worn in that far away school hallway popped up on his face now.

“And Hades?” Caelus inquired.

“How could anyone love death? He was a means to an end.”

“Good.” His smile was cold. “That’s good, Persephone.”

“You forgive me?”

“I forgive you.”

The Nothing pooled around her feet but she was too enamored with Caelus to notice. They slowly began to climb up her legs, like ink drops on white paper. They spread up, reaching higher and higher, to the point where I really wanted to look away or close my eyes. I’d watched the same thing happen to Juno before she was kidnapped and I didn’t want to see it again.

“She doesn’t mean it,” Chris continued to repeat. “She can’t.”

Obviously he hadn’t noticed The Nothing either.

Caelus brushed hair behind her left ear as The Nothing disappeared underneath the hem of her sundress. Her eyelids dropped closed moments later and her mouth gaped open; a look of pure bliss on her face.

It took me a moment to figure out what Caelus was doing and when I did, I really wanted to turn away in disgust. He was lulling her into complacency by using Persephone’s trust and belief that he’d forgiven her. And she was letting him. All the while, The Nothing were about to swallow her whole like they had with the other Goddesses.

“You were so pure,” he whispered, his head bowed so he was inches from her lips. “But then you ruined yourself for nothing. No gain. That boy could never give you what you want, not like I could.”

His mouth gaped open, elongating wider than any human jaw could manage, and more Nothing poured out. I watched, horrified, as they shot into Persephone’s still open mouth. Even though I couldn’t see her face, I imagined panic and fear eclipsing the once brilliant blue of her eyes. As she began to choke, her lovingly placed hands turned frantic as she tried to shove away from him.

But Caelus held her steady, refusing to relinquish his hold on her as he continued to fill her up with shadows. Chris stood there watching, knowing he couldn’t do anything to help. I wondered for a moment if he even wanted to help. Persephone had betrayed him, made him believe and do things in the name of false love.

Did he still believe she loved him?

Caelus sealed his mouth over hers and his eyes closed. Persephone’s hands began to release the tight grip they had on his shirt and for a moment, they actually looked like a loving couple. But that was the furthest thing from the truth. The fantasy was shattered the moment Caelus removed his mouth from hers and his hands from the hold on her face.

Persephone crumpled to the ground and didn’t move. Whether she was dead or alive, I didn’t know and the undignified look on Caelus’ face didn’t give anything away.

“Disgusting.”

He wiped his hands on his rumpled shirt before scanning the nave of the church. What he was searching for was unknown but just as he was about to turn on his heel and head towards the alter, his eyes landed on where I was sitting. My breath caught even though I was certain he couldn’t see me. This was only a vision; I wasn’t really there, but for a second it felt like he saw me. A chill ran down my spine, causing the hair on the back of my neck to stand up.

But then the second was gone and he was walking away, taking the vision with him.