An Angel and a Demon

Chapter 12

Her blood ran cold, a sick, sick feeling growing in her stomach. She stared at that pink dotted skin, the riddled veins and at that moment everything suddenly became very real. 

She ran into the downstairs bathroom and threw up.

When she returned to the messy sight, she noticed Zayn sat on the staircase, curled up in Lydia’s arms. Elijah was sat against the wall, staring blankly. She went straight for her mother, who was barely able to stand, scanning her injuries. Lydia kissed her on the forehead and looked at her with eyes of stone.

“I know, it’s a lot, but you need to keep it together, okay? You have the blood of warriors in you, and I know that you can do this. Okay?” she said softly, wiping Marilyn’s cheeks with her hand.

She knew she should have been like Zayn, curled up on the floor. Any normal person would be. But something in her heart took her mother’s words and made them gospel to her for however long it needed to be. 

“Mom, Dad is back. He… he told me everything,” she said, hauling Zayn off the floor so she could help her mother to the nearest sofa. He looked dazed. “He’s holding off Xenna to buy us some time.”

“Sweetie, he’ll be fine. Just, find out how to stop her,” she breathed, resting her head on the sofa.

She knew she wasn’t getting any answers from her mother so she turned back to Elijah. Her heart was pounding. 

“Elijah? I’m so sorry about her but you need to tell me what I need to do. You need to tell me everything. Please, I need to understand, otherwise you’re going to lose more than one person today,” she said.

He didn’t respond. Marilyn stepped forward.

“Listen. I hate to be the one to tell you this but your son just lost his mother. I think you owe it to him to stop the woman who killed her. The least you can do is tell me what Xenna’s after.”

A still moment. Then he looked at her with broken eyes.

“I’m sorry. For everything. I’m sorry for putting your family through this.

The only reason that we did this is so that our family could get back to Eazaros. You’re a half blood, Marilyn, and you need souls to go back to Eazaros. Angel souls. But yours, yours is worth three. We’d rather have one soul taken than three for all of us to go back. And we knew your father married Lydia during the war. We were close to Xenna.”

He paused, his words escaping him.

“Xenna wants to kill you and I, Marilyn. But we know that already,” rasped Lydia from the sofa. She mustered her strength and looked up. “Elijah, did Xenna just get high off the drug you made?”

He nodded. Marilyn looked at her mother confused.

“Long story short, they made a drug, hid it in Ciara’s blood, Xenna took it and I know how to feign unconsciousness really well but that’s a story for another time.”

“Yes,” said Elijah, answering Lydia’s initial question. “But the drug isn’t completed so it should wear off- “ he paused, eyes widening. He sprang up and rushed towards Zayn, grabbing him and dragging him upstairs.

“Dad, what are you doing?” Zayn said, snapping out of his daze.

Startled, Marilyn followed them, trying her best to keep up.

They entered the master bedroom. It was just as neat as the rest of the house, the only decor being the plant on the bedside table and the picture of what had been the happy couple. Elijah glanced at it and placed it face down before opening the cupboard. It revealed a metal door, a bit bigger than a fridge, with a keypad on it. He punched in the code and it hissed open. Rows and rows of white equipment and glass bottles of clear liquids with labels on them lined the shelves. Marilyn would have considered him to be the equivalent of a mad scientist were it not for the fact that all of it looked futuristic. He took out a machine that looked like a futuristic waffle iron and a needle and reached out for Zayn’s arm. Zayn frowned at him.

“What exactly are you doing?” he asked as the needle drew blood.

“Blood test,” Elijah said while he worked with the machine. He pulled the needle out and it clicked into its space in the machine. The screen came to life, statistics came up and all sorts of readings Marilyn had never seen before. Elijah sighed and ran his hand through his head. He looked back at them.

“Zayn has the rest of the drug in his blood. If Xenna extracts it, it’ll complete the drug and she’ll be practically invincible,” he said.

Marilyn stared at the machine wondering what more could go wrong.

Elijah took out suitcases, gave one to Zayn and began packing.

“Zayn, go get your things. We’re leaving.”

Zayn watched his father, appalled.

“You can’t be serious,” he said.

Elijah continued packing.

“Xenna doesn’t know about you yet. There’s still a chance we can make it out of here without her knowing. God knows what she’ll do with the completed drug in her head. I know people who-”

“We can’t just leave Marilyn’s family! We have to stay and help them! What kind of person are you?” he said as Elijah walked past him. 

Zayn dropped the bag.

“I’m not going with you.”

Elijah stopped and turned to him.

“Did you see what just happened to your mother?”

The words stung Marilyn. 

“You don’t think I did?” he said softly, tears glistening in his eyes. “We owe it to her to help them. You owe it to them because you’re the reason that we’re in this mess . If you weren’t so selfish then maybe mom would be alive right now.”

Elijah’s jaw clenched. Zayn continued.

“So I’m going to stay and fix your mess. Or try to at least,” he said and walked out the room. Marilyn went after him.

“Zayn,” she said. He kept on walking. “Zayn.”

She pulled his arm and he stopped, turning to face her. He looked tired. Worn. Drained. She could see it in his eyes. Those ice blue eyes. She knew how he felt. And yet all her words seemed lost to her. 

He didn’t say anything, either. Instead, he wrapped her up in a hug, burying his head into her neck. He was hot and sweaty but she didn’t mind. She didn’t dare let go. She stroked his head ever so softly, willing him to know how much she wanted to help him, how much she wanted to change the last 24 hours. She closed her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered in his ear, kissing the side of his head softly.

And they stayed like that, in a moment of quiet, where the world was still and the night breathed slow.