5132
Sage was a hellhound.
An insane and cruel one.
That I was sure of but if what Mikhail was saying turned out to be true...
"How can you be so sure?" I asked for further explanation. But he was still glaring at Sage who looked deep in thought. I couldn't wait to know what Sage had in his mind. If we knew what Sage was after, the faster we could kill him.
"I can feel it, Lana. I'm also a Seeker, remember?" Mikhail sneered, rubbing his temple out of habit.
"Offspring of a demon and a witch." Suddenly a memory from not so long made me say the next words. Hannah. Shit, who knew how she was? "Sage's parents didn't even realize what they were creating."
A hand touching my shoulder suddenly snapped me from the wandering thoughts. Glancing up, I saw confusion swirling in his eyes. "What are you talking about? You just said something about a demon and a witch."
"That's the process of born into a Seeker." He gave me a blank stare in return. "God! Do I need to spell it out to you? You are one of them. Of course, your father had to be a demon."
Disgust filled his whole feature making me more confused. "Lana, never, I mean ever tell me that my father is one of them. My father is a human. He fell in love with my mother, a witch. They married and here I am. I refuse to believe anything else."
Oh, God...
He didn't know.
"Mikhail- I-I talked to a Volkios. Simply a human-" I stopped, seeing the cold look return to his face but I had to tell him. He deserved to know everything. "A human wouldn't be able to create a Seeker. I-I am sorry."
"Don't be." He laughed bitterly looking through the window. "Seems like today is the day to bomb me with surprises. Do I need to know anything else? Are you even real or are you just a fragment of my mind?"
"It's not like that-"
"We need to do this tonight. Today is blood moon and this opportunity will never come if we fail this time." Sage's voice filled the place along with the other men agreeing with him.
"But what about Keisha? We could bring her to our side. She did listen to us once. Knowing her, she'll do anything to survive." Sage snorted loudly at the man's suggestion.
I wanted to rip that face with my own bare hand.
Right about now.
"No! Listen, he wants you to get angry. Don't give in to what he wants." Mikhail blocked me the last moment by wrapping his arms around mine but it was getting difficult to control my anger. He was planning to kill me. To kill all of us.
"Let me go, Mikhail!" I hissed, elbowing him. "Let me go to that bastard. He won't even have a limb to lay hands on anyone. Just this once!"
"Listen to yourself!" He pinched my chin harder as if to make a point. "What do you think would happen if you go now? Do you think he's going to just pat you on the back and let you leave? No! He'll kill you! And like hell I'll watch that."
That made me stop.
"Then, let's just go and wish they wouldn't notice," I whispered monotone before walking inside together. The room was divided in half by a partition but everything could be heard perfectly from here. I looked around, tapping my fingers nervously.
"Careful there." He warned gripping my wrist tightly to stop me from breaking the door.
"I can't help it."
"I'm furious too. But getting not caught right now should be our best priority." I nodded only to stiffen when the door on the other side opened. We quickly hid behind the tall boxes, Mikhail practically glaring in that direction.
Please, please, don't let them see...
"And here I thought I had to drag you here by myself."
Scratch that.
"Now, be a good girl and come with me. You don't want me to force you." Sage sent one of his men to do his job, of course. Irritated, I turned to Mikhail but he was nowhere to be seen. He must have coriummed himself. Shit.
"I have never been a good girl," I admitted, hoping Mikhail was somewhere and following me. "I'm just coming with you because I need some entertainment."
The man didn't even react.
Ok, then.
Plan B it is.
Since he didn't need to force me, I just walked with him guiding me until he got me inside of a room where all eyes turned to me at once. I thought this was it. Sage would now return, give his villain monologue and let me out of my misery. But surprisingly he didn't just stop there. Instead, he made his way down a hallway and into a bigger room. Then he moved across the room and through another set of doors. Just how much big was this place?
This hallway was smaller and had a dozen of pictures from different clans. He made me walk down the hall and stopped in front of another large door. He opened the door but it wasn't a room but another hallway. Holy fuck. How was I supposed to remember just how many turns we took? The passage opened up to a small room and a staircase.
"Look...whatever you do, do not try to escape." He threatened but I was too busy looking around. This was madness. He made his way down the stairs and now we were standing in what looked like an office room. Why was Mikhail taking so long? Did he already get caught? What about Keisha?
"We're here." He finally said after some more rounds on hallways and doors. The room we were in had mirrors hanging and a pentagram on the floor. There were also people dressed in black robes.
"What the hell is this?" I asked but he just shook his head, leaving me to talk to the other guys. Oh, he was that confident that I won't run. Fine by me. I just needed to scout the area but I couldn't ignore the woman on a platform in the center of the room, surrounded by others.
Were they worshipping her or something?
"Thank you all for gathering here today on blood moon's night. We have the gem right here we were waiting for." No. No way! That voice... I immediately recognized that voice.
Mom.
I was in disbelief. It was some cruel jokes, right? Roth didn't know about witches and Reapers. She was just a human, my mom who loved me the most. Then the shock was replaced by a cold rage. Did she know? The whole time? I wanted to rush forward and rip her soul out...if she had any.
"Don't do anything stupid." Someone whispered in my ears.
Right at that moment, Sage pushed me to move forward. At least I knew he was dangerous but my mom? She lied to me. Fuck! I felt my body begin to tremble at the rage.
Roth raised a hand and everyone fell silent. "Lana...come, my dear."
"I go by 5132 now."
She ignored my words. "I need you to fulfill your destiny and free us from our curse."
"And what destiny will that be?" I forced the words from my mouth. Out of all the people, it had to be just her.
"We're coming for you." I heard the whisper again.
"Before 1486, there was no barrier between hell and earth. We could go about our life as we pleased. Those clans that had Seeker bloodline had a peace treaty with the demons. They frequently used dark arts, learned from the very creatures of hell. Sage, a Seeker in the making was supposed to wait for the Reapers to be born and killed when it was time. He didn't believe in it. He didn't want innocents dead." Roth explained, gesturing at the man who grinned. "The demon king wasn't pleased. He wanted the Reapers gone. When Sage failed, he had a witch curse him to become a hellhound forever. Now, you and I both know what being cursed can do to you. He would do anything to become the man he was. When the second witch war happened in 1436, the first Reaper was born. Those Seekers betrayed the demons, used the Reaper's blood to shut the gate of hell forever. During that time, some got trapped in the earth and some in hell."
"Lovely story, a little spooky at times, I admit," I whispered, thinking of what the hell I just learned. "But that doesn't explain why a Seeker would be interested to kill a Reaper now. Didn't they betrayed the demons?"
"The old generation did. The new ones, however, wanted to rise up to their full potential. Ask Sage. He had been looking for a Seeker for so long. Why do you think he wanted your mother Keisha?"
No shit.
"So, what? Sage controlled her? She wasn't a Seeker." If anything, Sage failed like a loser.
"But she could find him in one. Moon clan had a few hidden ones. All she had to do was listen to Sage but no, she ended up being a Reaper."
"I saw you that day, didn't I? In that sanatorium." I wanted to ask why she did this to me but I guessed Roth would eventually reveal everything anyway.
No one missed the chance of a good villain monologue.
"You were so desperate for an answer, blaming Byron and his master. Do you know who his master is?" Her grin widened.
I could only choke out the truth. "Sage. It was Sage."
"You must know that Reaper blood has to end if we want to open the gate. Sage tried to kill Keisha but your father...your smart father made sure that only her own blood can kill her. Now, do you understand what I'm going with?" This time Roth didn't give me a chance to talk.
She began to walk around the pentagram and raised a dagger. My heart felt like it was going to jump from my body. Everyone around me bowed their heads but I only stared at Roth. She shouted with a creepy smile on her face. "Do you know this dagger was only designed for killing Reapers? You are going to use this on your mother and then you're going to call your Seeker."
Before I could run, arms grabbed me roughly from behind to drop me in the middle of the pentagram. I struggled but they were way too stronger. I was shoved to the ground, my hands bound behind me with a hexed rope.
I was really starting to hate that thing.
"You're not going anywhere. Besides, I have a nice surprise for you. It's rude to not take your gifts." She smirked and I was scared that someone already might have summoned Keisha or Mikhail. At this point, I wasn't sure which scenario was worse.
But I didn't expect the man who walked into the room and neither did my heart.
"I haven't seen you in a long time sweetcheeks." He whistled.
Zach...
***
He's back. What do you think about that? Let me know!