Cleo was sitting right outside the deck of the house because the other Celestials had asked her to excuse them so they could decide their next course of action. She sat there with her palms on her thighs, deep in thought about everything that she was up to and contemplating that maybe the risks were too great to bear.
In the back of her mind, she was afraid that her actions could potentially have some deadly consequences and just as she felt her doubts and fears creeping in, she reassured herself that the rewards were indeed worth the risks.
"Everything she's saying sounds like a made-up tale. I don't trust this creature," Sader said to Hannah and Garin inside the house.
"You're a demon, Sader. Trust isn't really something you're naturally good at," Hannah reminded him.
"That doesn't matter! She's not telling us everything and I don't think it's a good idea to put all our trust in her," Sader said.
"She says she can't tell us her plans because she doesn't know what they are. I believe that," Hannah said.
"I hate to do this, My Love, but I'm going to have to side with Sader on this one. The fact that she claims that Summum never told her and the other Nephalems about her long-term plans feels a little too convenient for me. I think she's lying about it," Garin said to Hannah.
"Seriously? You're doubting her? Just a few minutes ago, you thought she was our daughter. You felt a connection with her and now you think she's lying?" Hannah asked, unable to grasp why Garin was suddenly so cautious.
"That's exactly the reason why I'm being more cautious about this. She looks like Jasmine and claims to be her sister, and that's a little suspicious to me. Also, she was able to ease my pain while you couldn't and you're the best healer that I've ever seen."
"Who's to say that she wasn't the one who caused that pain in your head in the first place? She probably did it so she could have an avenue to approach us and gain our trust, just so she can stab us in the back later," Sader added.
Hannah couldn't believe what she was hearing. It was a little appalling to her how untrusting both Garin and his brother were being and she got tired of listening to their speculative theories.
"While you two blind yourselves with your distrust, I'm going to go speak to her and find out how to get back my daughter," Hannah said angrily and walked away from them.
She walked to the door and opened it. Just as she was about to step outside, she stopped and looked over at Cleo.
"Don't worry. It's safe as long as a part of you is touching the house. They won't be able to sense where you are," Cleo assured her.
Hannah stepped out of the door and walked over to Cleo.
"Can I sit next to you?" She asked.
"Of course," Cleo said and tapped the space beside her.
Hannah sat down and they both stared at the dark bushes and trees in front of them while the gleam of the moon cascaded down on the asphalt road beside the house.
"They don't trust me, do they?" Cleo asked without looking at Hannah.
"Demons aren't that big on trust. You can't really blame them though. Not being able to tell us what Summum wants is a little..."
"Suspicious, I know," Cleo cut in, "But it's the truth; she never told any of us what she intended to do to this world. She gave us orders and we followed them without question. You can't demand an explanation from God. I'm sure you know what that's like."
"I do know what that's like," Hannah took a pause.
"I just want to get my sisters back. I don't really care what Summum wants or is planning. I just want to bring them back," Cleo said.
"Can you tell me about them? Your sisters, I mean," Hannah asked.
"Of course. First, there's Jasmine, your daughter, and then there's Yelena, the first of the three of us to be created. I had 255 other sisters but they were the ones that I was actually close to," Cleo said.
"Aren't there any male Nephalems?" Hannah asked, noticing that Cleo referred to all her siblings with the word SISTERS.
"No, there aren't. Nephalems are only created as females. I don't know why and that's another thing Summum never explained to us. Anyway, we're paired in groups of three that she sends to do certain things on Earth but the tasks began only after Jasmine joined us in Salem," Cleo said.
"Salem?" Hannah asked.
"That's what Summum calls her realm. We were stuck in there for thousands of years, waiting for the final piece and when it arrived, we were all very excited to do what we were made to do," Cleo said.
"Jasmine joined after she died on Earth?" Hannah asked.
"Yeah. After her physical body was killed on Earth, her spirit was projected into Salem and she joined the legion of Nephalems. Summum asked us to choose ourselves and it was a clear choice that Jasmine, Yelena and I were meant to be paired together," Cleo said.
"How was it a clear choice?"
"The three of us had the same face. Different hair colours but we shared the same face. It was like we were the same person split into three. We did everything together from that point on and those years, despite the intensity, were some of the best I had ever had," Cleo said solemnly.
"What happened to them?" Hannah asked, wondering what went wrong.
"Summum happened! For some reason that I never understood, she asked something of us, something that we never expected and weren't willing to do; She asked us to fight to the death until there was only one of us standing," Cleo said.
"What?" Hannah couldn't believe her ears.
"That was the same reaction my sisters and I had when she told us to kill ourselves. She didn't just ask this of us alone, she demanded it of all 86 groups of three Nephalems. She said that she had a plan and that only the strongest of us would be worthy to be a part of it and this was how she was going to find out who were the strongest of her legion.
"Our other sisters did as she asked and fought to the death amongst themselves. They slaughtered each other like wild animals, doing the will of our mother. I couldn't do that to Jasmine or Yelena and they couldn't do it either. Summum saw this as weakness and for our punishment, she attacked us," Cleo said with pain in her eyes as she relived the memory.
"How were you able to survive being attacked by a God; not just any God? Your creator?" Hannah asked.
"Unlike angels and demons who are created with complete loyalty to their gods, Nephalems are trained by Summum and taught loyalty. She didn't create us, at least not entirely, and so she didn't have any real power over us. She was stronger than we were and she was the reason we had our powers but we were never really bound to her the way angels and demons are bound to Verum and Lucifer.
"My sisters and I ran as fast as we could. We tried to escape Salem together but not all of us could make it. Jasmine and Yelena sacrificed themselves just so I could make it out. They gave their lives for me and after I escaped to Earth, I hid from Summum for thousands of years, living amongst humans as one of them, looking for a way to save my sisters from her," Cleo explained.
"Don't you think she killed them?" Hannah asked.
"Oh no! They're still alive, Hannah. I can feel them and I know that with your help, I can save them as well. I never stood a chance of saving them because I needed help and now, I have it," Cleo said and looked at Hannah.
******
The next morning, Josh and Isabelle were up as early as seven in the morning. They were finally about to begin to really enjoy their weekend away and the first thing on their itinerary was to head out to the vineyards because the harvest was happening today.
They got ready quickly and Josh drove them to the location of the vineyards. The drive was a short but interesting one as they drove around the countryside, soaking in the magnificent views and amazing sights.
The cherry on the icing came for Isabelle was when they arrived at the farm. Josh parked right outside the entrance and before they even went inside, she could already smell the grapes from inside the car and they smelled wonderful.
"Are you ready to go inside?" Josh asked her.
"You bet I am," she replied, genuinely excited to see the beautiful grapes.
Josh got out of the car and walked over to Isabelle's side and opened the door for her.
"Thanks, babe," she said as she took his hand.
Isabelle got out and looked around the premises. It wasn't so large outside and the place seemed very simple and not over the top as she was expecting to find it.
"It's a little small, wouldn't you say?" She asked Josh.
"Trust me, it's not," Josh replied with a smug look.
He held her hand and took her to a point so he could show her something.
"You see those walls that run of that length on both sides?" He asked.
"Yeah," Isabelle answered.
"Well, that's all my property and it goes on some more. Standing here on the outside gives the illusion that the plantation on the inside is small but, it's actually not," Josh said.
“How big is it?” Isabelle asked.
Josh just smiled at her and held her as they moved forward.
“I guess you’re about to find out,” he said.
He walked her closer to the wooden gate and opened it. They stepped inside Helena's Vineyards to begin the tour and see the majestic harvest of grapes this year.
As they went inside, unbeknownst to them, the shadowy creature that was in the house with them the previous night had somehow snuck into the car and followed them there. It began to seep out of the car after Josh and Isabelle went in.
It flowed across the ground like a black fog, slowly hovering closer to the gate until it reached it and went underneath the space beneath it.
******
“Alright, so, what have you guys decided? Are you going to come with me to help save Jasmine or do you still think I’m luring you into a trap?” Cleo asked the demon brothers.
It was morning now and Garin and Sader had spent all night talking, assessing and trying to decide what they were going to do. Hannah had already made up her mind to go with Cleo and rescue Jasmine and she was willing to do it with or without Garin’s help.
Garin had still not decided and Cleo was getting ready to leave the small house so she and Hannah could commence with her plan to free her sisters from Summum.
“Alright, we’re going to come with you,” Garin said.
“Garin, no!” Sader protested.
Garin put his hand out, signalling at his brother to relax because he was yet to arrive at his point.
“On one condition,” Garin added.
“And what’s that?” Cleo asked.
“I’m going to need you to explain exactly where we’re going and how we’re going to save her,” He said.
“Thank you,” Hannah mouthed the words to her husband.
“Okay, let me explain what we’re going to do. There’s a section of Salem that I believe Summum has my sisters. It’s deep within the heart of the realm so it might take us a while to get there. I’m going to create a doorway that will transport us inside Salem and with your help, we’ll fight our way through and rescue them. We’ll have to go when Summum isn’t in Salem because if she's in there, we won't stand a chance,” Cleo explained.
“How will we know if she’s not there?” Hannah asked.
“I can tell. I’m still connected to Salem and I can feel it when she’s there or not,” Cleo said.
“Is she there right now?” Hannah asked.
“Yes, she’s still in there but, she’s been going in and out for the past few days. She must have started her plans already and that’s likely the reason that she’s been moving about so often,” Cleo said.
“I’ve had enough of this crazy talk. This sounds like a terrible plan. Say we even make it as far as getting inside this realm and the best-case scenario is that Summum isn’t there. How are we supposed to make it past two hundred Nephalems? I buried my axe into your shoulder and it shattered to pieces. I have a feeling that the same thing will happen when we face off with your sisters,” Sader said to Cleo.
“He is right about that. How are we supposed to fight them?” Hannah asked.
“There won’t be so many of them. Many of them are on Earth doing Summum’s work. And even if a few of them are there, that’s where I come in. Before I escaped Salem, I stole this,” Cleo said and made a strange item appear in her hand.
“What is that?” Garin asked.
“It’s a special relic that holds Summum’s power in it; the power to conceal yourself. It’s how she was able to conceal herself from Verum’s eyes despite his omnipresence and it’s also how Nephalems have remained hidden for thousands of years without Verum, Lucifer or any other Celestial finding out about us while we came to the Earth,” Cleo said, “With this, we’ll be able to enter Salem undetected by any other Nephalem that might be there.”
“What if they still manage to detect us?” Garin asked.
“If that were to happen, we would have freed my sisters by then and they’ll fight with us to get out. They are very powerful and with them, we’ll be able to escape Salem. I also have some special weapons here. They’re made from Salem Steel; the only material that can cut through and kill a Nephalem for good,” Cleo said.
“It’s still too risky,” Sader said.
“Of course it’s risky. What did you expect; that we would just stroll in there and let them out without breaking a sweat? We’re going against a God here, dummy,” Cleo raised her voice.
“Garin! That is our daughter in there. Whatever the risks may be, we still have to go and get her and this is the best shot that we have,” Hannah said with a shaky voice, “I don’t care if I die for good in there, but I am getting Jasmine back. She was stolen from us once already, I won’t let it continue.”
Garin couldn’t argue with Hannah’s desire to get their daughter. He wanted it too but he was just scared of what would happen if they would fail. He stands to gain everything he loves if they should succeed but if they were to fail, then he would lose everything and that fear paralyzed him.
“Are we going or not, Garin?” Hannah demanded to know.
“Fine! Let’s go and save our daughter,” Garin answered.
He turned to Sader and gave him a questioning look, trying to get an answer from him on if he would be willing to assist them.
Sader rolled his eyes dramatically and just as he was about to answer, Cleo felt a sharp pain in her head and it caused her to lose her balance and fall to the floor. Hannah immediately ran to her and held her on the ground as she winced in pain.
“Cleo! Are you okay? What’s happening to you?” Hannah asked, worried.
“Something is wrong…” The Nephalem said and she looked very spooked.
“What do you mean? What’s wrong?” Garin asked as he crouched down near her as well.
“She’s here! Summum is here and she’s going after Josh and Isabelle,” Cleo said.
“What?” Hannah shouted.
“Why would she be going after them?” Garin asked.
“I’m not sure but, now I understand why I felt drawn to this location and why of all places on Earth, you crashed here at the same place that I was, at the same time they were here as well,” she said to Garin, “It’s all connected and whatever Summum plans to do with them, it’s surely not good,”
“We have to go and help them,” Hannah said and she sounded desperate.
“They aren’t your problem anymore. They’re no longer your vessels so we shouldn’t risk the success of our plan to save your daughter by trying to go save them. Now that we know for certain that Summum isn’t in Salem, we should go there and rescue Jasmine and the other one,” Sader suggested.
"Her name is Yelena," Cleo said angrily to the demon.
“That’s not happening, Sader! When we needed their help, they were there for us. Now, we’re going to return the favour,” Hannah said.
“That’s right, we are. Come on, let’s go get them,” Garin agreed without a second thought.
SUMMUM (One of her forms)
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Back in Helena’s Vineyards, Josh and Isabelle were inside the main building that lead to the fields where the grapes were planted. The farming crew was so happy to have their boss in town on this special day of harvest and they were pleased with the work they had done and couldn’t wait to show him.
“We are sure you will be happy to see it. It’s the most grapes we have seen in a long time and every specimen is perfect,” A woman said as she led them to the fields.
“I have no doubt in my mind that it’s as good as you say, Janice,” Josh said to the woman.
They reached the final double door and Janice pushed it open to reveal the large plots of land, and as soon as those doors opened, a ray of purple light shone across Isabelle and Josh’s faces as they saw the beauty of the vineyard right before their eyes.