Chapter 20
I could not get back to sleep after Hades’ departure. Twenty minutes were spent tossing and turning under my covers before I finally sighed and cursed whoever was screwing with me. I had barely gotten four hours of sleep before his arrival due to the large wings protruding from my back and even though they were no longer there, I still found myself restless despite my exhaustion.
With a groan I pushed myself from the bed and instead set about making me and my houseguest some breakfast. Considering how much time the place had been empty which was barely five days, there was really nothing in the cupboards. The milk had turned sour and the cheese had started to grow its own colony. There was only one solution.
Ten minutes later I stepped back into the house with two aromatic bacon and egg rolls as well a pint of milk so that Nicole and I could have a much needed cup of tea. Strolling through the living room, I paused when I noted the great big hulking book that Hades had left behind. A crease forms between my brows as I frown at the inanimate object. If only that scowling would reveal everything that was hidden between the bindings.
Shaking my head, I stepped into the kitchen to see my pregnant charge raiding the fridge, not that there was much to raid unless you could count Babybel’s which had been lingering in the bottom drawer of the fridge.
“I come baring gifts!” I chirped which caused the teen to startle and hit her head on one of the shelves. Much cussing followed before a red faced Nicole peered around the door.
“Ouch. Is that real food?” The teen asked with eagerness before blushing. “Uh – I meant.”
“Don’t worry, I know my fridge is empty unless you like mould.” I smiled and offered her one of the paper bags. “I got you egg and bacon because I wasn’t too sure what you liked. Sauce is in that cupboard.”
The two of spent the next twenty minutes eating in comfortable silence as we tried to get ourselves to some semblance of alertness – though I was failing greatly in that area. Deciding to use the kitchen table as a base of operations, I thumped the giant book Hades had left behind onto the table while Nicole got busy with a pile of felt tips. I had given her the basic run down of everything that had happened in the last few days and the teen decided to document it in Technicolor. I didn’t really understand how it would help but at least it would look pretty.
“So let me get this straight. Someone has killed all of the seers apart from one who is so damned crazy that she isn’t even lucid half the time. On top of that, it appears the is a hostile takeover is occurring which could very well result in hell on earth if we do not stop it.” Nicole tapped a felt tip to her chin not noticing that the cap was removed and her constant tapping while she thought had given her a bright blue goatee.
“Sounds about right,” I replied all the while stifling a laugh that wanted to spill from my lips.
“Oh and let’s not forget the hellhounds.”
I nodded my head in affirmation and glanced back down at the large book. Most of it was ludicrous gibberish that went right over my head but there were the odd paragraphs that rang so true that it was difficult to believe that the book was centuries old.
“It means that the person has the knowledge of the Archs as only they should know how to call them.” I murmured in response while my fingers absently turned page after page. “Though everyone knows who the uppers are so all you would need is the right persuasion to get that information. I found out that even the most loyal people can be swayed- everyone has their price. Mine is family. You can offer me riches but the thing that ultimately sways me is my family. I will do what it takes to protect them. Like Lucius would do for Star.”
My eyes glazed over as I thought of the wild looking and slightly crazy woman whom I had met in the pits of Tartarus itself. For a moment something coasted to the front of my mind, begging for me to notice it and say the words out loud. I felt like there was something I should have done – something I should have told someone.
The moment was fleeting and I blinked myself back to the present in time to see a hand waving in front of my face. My hand instantly snapped out and tried to swat away the flailing arm but it was snatched away before my and could make contact.
“What?” I asked belatedly as the buzzing in my ears became more defined until after almost thirty seconds of muted murmurs I was able to hear Nicole loud and clear.
“I said,” my charge grinned at me like she was talking to an imbecile, rolling her eyes for added affect. “I think that is meant to be you.” She gestured down to the book and when my eyes followed her gaze I was astounded by what I saw.
Crudely drawn in scratchy drawings and coloured in watery colours, there were images detailing my assent into the world of supernatural – every single stage of the anarchy was depicted here - even the death of my friend whom I had killed only a year before.
I shuddered away from the image. It wasn’t my fault. I tried to reassure myself as my fingers scrabbled to turn the page, but it was one thing telling yourself the words and it was another to actually believe them. It hadn’t been my fault, not entirely at least. A bunch of neglected spawn of demons had decided to seek vengeance against their absentee parents and the cruel world that had subconsciously shunned the outsiders. As a result they had obtained a device which was meant as a failsafe should Angels and Demons turn rogue and attempt to take control of the world. But instead of being a means of defence, it turned into the enemy’s offense. The results were catastrophic and it had nearly caused the end of the world.
My friend was a victim – just like Nicole’s parents were too.
“Yes, that it is about me.” I murmured, my eyes finally daring to return to the page.
My fingers traced lovingly over the picture of family bliss in the bottom corner of the page. It was everything I had ever wanted for my son and to see everyone there – me, Lucius, Danny, Gabriel and Ezekiel – it brought lightness to my heart. But it was discomforting to see it beside blood soaked image beside it. It displayed the image of my nightmares – Lucius and Danny dead while I looked down at their bloodied forms. This was obviously the potential outcomes for this war. Death or happiness – those were my options.
“Is that what my wings look like?” I question vaguely as I see a picture of a dark hair warrior woman with grey wings large enough to rival her angelic companions. But most startling were the ribbons of red and gold that entwined through the feathers, pulsing and emitting a life force of its own.
“Yeah,” Nicole shifted awkwardly in her seat while her hand rubbed at the curve of her back. “There was a feather in the living room. I put it on the coffee table for you.”
Nodding again, I thanked her while my eyes latched onto the words on the next pages. Despite the chicken scratch handwriting, the words were actually legible and scarier to my feeble human brain; the words were actually in English. At least I hoped they were otherwise I was developing some latent linguistic skills that I didn’t even know I had.
“Those who see will be blinded. Eyes gouged from their heads, the winged ones will not see peril on the horizon until each of the locks begins to break.” I snorted and continued reading but the whole thing sounded like a poor attempt at being mysterious and ominous. “Listen to this. Betrayed from within, the skies will run red with blood when the life of the bridge is sacrificed at the sixth gate.”
I snorted once more.
“Sounds cryptic, but it is pretty self-explanatory.” Nicole murmured as she drew swirling patterns across the paper. “Your friend will be betrayed from within – so someone from his domain. They will seek to create hell on earth by killing the bridge which could be animal or human because it doesn’t specify - though the most obvious explanation would be a literal bridge or a person who traverses the three worlds.”
The teen shrugged her shoulders and laughed at the expression that was probably contorting my face into an ugly mixture of awe and disbelief. I laughed myself before freezing.
“Okay, let’s just say these people…” I cut off and a look of horror cuts across my features. “No, they wouldn’t be that evil would they?” A shudder coursed down my spine as my widened eyes landed on the confused teen beside me. “Nicole? The guy who got you pregnant – did he have a name? Did you ask something of him, make any promises to him before you - ah – consummated your…” I paused and waved my hands in the air in a vague gesture. “… you know – your thing?”
“He told me a name, John but I don’t think it was his real one now that I think about it. He looked to exotic to be a John. And why are you asking about that?” A blush stormed up the neck of the teen. “It’s private.”
“I need to know because I think you may have been duped into making a deal – one that is nigh unbreakable.” My tone sent chills up my own spine and caused the girl before me to pale and look faint.
Immediately the teen started stuttering over her words while her eyes flickered back and forth. She was too caught up in a panic as she tried to recall her memories that I was almost afraid the poor girl was going to pass out from the strain.
Reaching out a hand, I laid it across hers and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
“Don’t worry. I will do everything in my power to keep you safe.” The teen shuddered and glanced away before sending a meek nod in my direction. “Now think back to that day – what did he look like?”
“He looked exotic. He was perfectly ordinary looking but there was just something foreign about him – something that drew me in. At the time I was just looking to hurt the town council and give them the middle finger you know? I didn’t want them planning everything out for me and deciding how I should live my life.” A tear leaked from the corner of her eye and trailed down her cheek. She angrily swiped it away as her eyes refused to meet mine. “I knew he was different from the offset, I’ve always sensed it. My gift I suppose you could call it that. He just felt wrong to me – just like you feel different. You’re not human but you’re not anything else. You are special.”
I smiled at her and nodded my head. I had explained briefly about my winged status and what it meant through half-awake mumbling the night before. It didn’t offer her much clarity because it was as much of a mystery to me as it was to her.
“I was sad, my mum and dad were gone. All I wanted was my family back.” She sniffled and looked up at me with reddened eyes. “I thought about that more than anything while we were together. We were comforting one another – or so I thought- and he told me that soon I would have the family I wanted.” She let loose a bitter laugh while a hand dropped to her swollen stomach. “I didn’t think he would mean it this way.”
I nodded my head and felt queasy deep down within me but I tried not to let it show. To think that the person behind all of this was evil enough to impregnate a teen just so her child would die for their purposes. It brought chills down my spine and I fought the urge to throw my fist into a wall. Things like this just weren’t supposed to happen – not after last year.
“What are you thinking?” A timid voice broke into my sombre thoughts.
I grimaced. I wanted to comfort her but knew that there wasn’t much that I could say.
“Truthfully, I am thinking that your pregnancy was planned. I think whoever is trying to depose Lucius took advantage of the panic to make your contract. To be honest, we haven’t even begun to sort through the ones made over the past year.”
I shuddered as I thought of the hundreds of people who had signed away their right to peace. Not that hell was essentially the bad place that people imagined it to be - at least not all of it.
“I keep forgetting that you know the devil. I keep thinking of a man with red horns and a spiky tail.” A giggle escaped the teen’s lips but it was due more to the flux of emotions that were wreaking havoc with her system than true amusement.
“Don’t let Lucius hear you say that. He hates that the stereotype is still following him around. As he once said to me – it was just a costume. Seriously though, this will not be easy. You were impregnated for a reason and they won’t stop until they get it.” The girl before me looked tense and was worrying at her bottom lip.
“Don’t worry yourself so much. I’ll protect you and so will Lucius if he knows what is good for him. We will keep you and your baby safe even if it is the last thing we do.”
She didn’t look much comforted by the thought. And neither was I. The pressure just kept building upon my shoulders and it looked like the burden would ever get lighter. I wondered if this would be my life from now onwards because of the agreement I had made while dead. I could only hope not because I wasn’t sure if my nerves would survive it all.
“Come on, I need to cheer up and get you checked over by a midwife before the end of the day.” I pushed myself away from the table. “After that, we’ll get some proper food – ben and jerry’s of course- and we’ll start compiling a list of possible suspects. Does that sound fair?”
I received a muttered reply but the teen stood up nonetheless. I felt a fondness strike my heart as I watched her up and leave the room, her hand cradling the curve of her back. The protectiveness running through me was more than just that of a guardian angel – I wanted to help her. I wanted to give her the childhood she should have had.
“I will stop this,” I murmured to myself. My gaze was locked upon the doorway she had disappeared through only moments before with renewed dermination. “I WILL.”