by L. L Hunter
“There’s no point in holding me in these bindings, I can’t escape from here without the key,” Dyston told him as they walked. “Where are you taking me anyway?”
“To the Chambers,” replied Abraham.
Dyston flinched. The Chambers was a place where they conducted tests.
They entered the forest, and the lights were brighter and stronger here. Up above and everywhere around, he heard a flap of wings; other angels flew in the air overhead. He wanted to call out for help.
“Whom are you working for?” he asked Abraham, who had just yanked him forward.
“Keep up,” Abraham growled. Before long the forest thinned out and it grew darker, but only for a second. For up ahead, rose the spires of the Chambers. It looked like any gothic castle, except this one was outlined in blue light, and seemed to float on clouds. They stepped onto the drawbridge and Dyston was immediately hesitant, he knew what the bridge was made out of.
“If you don’t quit stopping, I’ll add your wings to that pile,” said Abraham, yanking him forward again. Dyston had no choice but to step on the bridge of angel wings. His mother had told him about it in a bedtime story when he was young; angels that betrayed God and went against their Task, had their wings ripped out and added to the Bridge of Wings. From that moment, Dyston had been terrified to ever step a foot wrong, up until he found Scarlett. He realised he would sacrifice anything to protect her, even his wings. And if this were what it took, he would do it. He followed Abraham into the Chambers.
~
As soon as Scarlett arrived back at Blackbell, she ran towards Lakyn’s office. But not before running into Emer and Del.
“Scar, you’re back!” screamed Emer, throwing her arms around her.
“Yes, ssh, don’t let everyone know.”
“I’m so glad you’re back Scarlett, and that you’re safe.”
“Well, I’m not exactly safe, none of us are,” Scarlett told her friends. The two girls just stared at her, confused.
“I’ll explain later. Right now, I need to find Lakyn.”
“He’s missing,” Emer told her.
“What?” Scarlett’s heart sank, “what do you mean, missing?”
“Ask Jacob, he’s the one who darted him,” Emer told her.
“Darted him?”
“Yeah, ’cause he was hurting Josh.”
“So, that means his office is free,” stated Scarlett, as she away ran down the hall.
“I have a feeling this is not good,” said Del, staring after Scarlett.
“Not at all.” Added Emer.
~
Scarlett pushed open the door to Lakyn’s office; it was dark and smelled of his cigarettes. She flipped on the light and surveyed the room. Jacob had told her that Lakyn held the key to freeing Dyston. So, she had to find something, anything, that was a clue. His desk was on the same wall as the door. She noticed it was clean, too clean, no papers, just a computer, and a bronze statuette of Lucifer depicted in his angel form, his previous self. Scarlett walked behind the desk, sat on the chair and switched on the computer. While she waited for it to boot up, she glanced around the rest of the room. There was nothing else but a punching bag and three bookshelves in the room. He lived a boring life, she thought, dedicated to study. As soon as the computer home screen opened, the first thing she noticed was the desktop, or rather, the lack of one. There was no personal photo, only the Blackbell family symbol of the bell and the black wings. She realised with a sinking feeling, that this must not be his personal computer. But instead of turning it off again, she decided to browse. The first thing she clicked on was his email inbox. A box appeared that asked for a password, damn! She began to think of the possibilities it could be. The first thing she tried was blackwings, and it was a success, she was in. She almost laughed out loud at how easy it had been. She studied the latest email, the subject line was entitled RE: BlackWing Test Subject—Phase One. She clicked on it and read the body of the email. It appeared to have come from an employee at his factory, someone in charge of doing tests with the “new formula”. It also noted, that subjects were responding positively and followed every chain of command they were given. What she read horrified Scarlett; they were running tests on working class Nephilim, with the hallucinogenic formula and were turning them into zombies, into the perfect army. She clicked out of the email, shut down the computer and quickly jumped away from the desk. So, this was what Lakyn was up to? But how did it involve Dyston and herself? On her way out of the room, she accidently knocked the Lucifer statue and it fell sideways onto the desk. Simultaneously, a panel of the wall opposite slid up to reveal a collection of skeleton keys. Just as she was about to grab one, a figure appeared in the doorway. She spun around, and came face to face with Lakyn.
~
Inside the Chambers, the interior seemed much smaller than the impression the exterior gave, probably due to all the Hematite and black marble floors. The ceilings and walls were also Hematite, everything was black and shiny. Abraham led Dyston towards the back of the foyer and veered to the left. He pushed on some double doors, also made of Hematite, and stepped into a room that was entirely white, which was a shocking contrast to the previous room. Abraham sat Dyston on a table in the centre of the room. It looked like a surgical room, and Dyston was suddenly afraid.
“Wings out,” said a woman in white scrubs and mask. The only thing Dyston could see was her eyes, which were the colour of a lemon meringue pie. He couldn’t disobey her, when someone asked for an angel to show their wings, they had to. His enormous coal black wings sprouted from his back and the woman took a hold of them, stretching them out. It tickled and annoyed Dyston immensely. His wings were very sensitive.
“What are you doing to them?” he asked fearfully. The woman didn’t answer, instead she let his wings go, and came around in front of him. Then she began shining a torch into each of his eyes.
“Have you completed your Task?” she asked in an eastern European accent.
“Not yet, why? What are you doing to me?”
“That is very strange.” Was all she said it reply.
“What’s strange?” he asked, he was confused.
“Your wings, they’re black, very strange.”
“Well, I guess I did stray, from my Task, as you say.”
“They should not be black, unless you have chosen. Have you chosen?” she asked, looking Dyston straight in the eye. He looked at her right back, he didn’t have to think of what to say, he knew.
“Yes, I have chosen.”
~
“What are you doing in my office?” he asked Scarlett, who was still standing in front of the keys. He looked at the wall, and then at the Lucifer statue, and straightened it back up, closing the wall panel.
“I came to find you,” she told him, innocently.
“That’s flattering, but I’m busy,” he told her, rubbing his neck. Scarlett noticed there was a small puncture wound there, from the dart, she guessed.
“I won’t take up your time,” she told him, shutting the door.
“What are you doing?” he asked, as Scarlett came closer to him. She walked around the desk to where he was now sitting, sliding her finger across the tabletop.
“You may have heard, that I broke up with Dyston,” she told him, trying to be seductive.
“Why are you telling me?” he suddenly couldn’t take his eyes off her.
“Because, you are more my type. He was so clingy and possessive. But you let me have my space, which I like.”
“You like me?”
“Yes, and I know you like me too. I’ve seen you looking, you check me out every day,” she told him, sitting on his lap. She was playing with fire and she knew it. But it was the only way to save Dyston. She had always been told to keep her friends close and her enemies closer, well she would keep Lakyn Blackbell so close that she would know his every secret and every weakness.
“So my brother, he’s in love with you, you know that right?” he told her
, staring into her eyes.
“Yes,” she lied. Her heart sank, but she had to do this. She would explain everything to Dyston later, hoping that he’d forgive her. Even though a part of her loved him, the other half suspected that he was only with her because she was the Legend. And because she was his Task, so he felt the need to protect her and keep her to himself. But that was what she hated the most, she hated being treated like a thing.
“But I don’t love him,” said Scarlett, and then she kissed him hard, pressing herself against him. He spread his wings and pulled her into the air, where they hovered above the desk. Scarlett looked down and then back up at him and smiled, taking in the glory of his wings.
“They’re beautiful,” she said, stroking them. “I’ve never seen marbled wings before.”
“They’re unique,” he told her.
“Like you,” she said flirtatiously, kissing him again.
“And like you,” he told her, before tearing off her clothes. She gasped, but she let him do it. She couldn’t believe she was about to sleep with the enemy. She took off his shirt, ripping the buttons apart.
Afterwards, they lay wrapped together in his wings on the floor.
“You know, that was my first time right?” she told him, running her fingers through his hair.
“I’m surprised I beat my brother to it,” he chuckled.
“He was too much of a gentleman, I prefer bad boys,” she told him, kissing his chest, which made him laugh. He stroked her hair, and she snuggled closer. Then she asked the question she had been dying to ask.
“Can you tell me about the Realm of Light?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“I’ve always wanted to go there, I can’t wait.”
“Well, you have to be a full-fledged angel to enter the Realm, or be called there. Didn’t you know that?”
“No. And be called there? For what?”
“For tests, that’s where they run exams to see how far along an angel is with their Task, and to see if they are in danger of straying.”
“And if they stray? What happens then?”
“Their wings will be ripped out, and added to the Bridge of Wings as a reminder of what they have done,” he told her. Scarlett felt sick. If that’s what Dyston had been taken there for, she didn’t have much, or any time. And if it had already happened, then she had failed him.
“What happens to an angel after their wings have been ripped out?” she asked.
“They are shunned and stripped of their Trait, and therefore become human.”
Human; Any angel’s worst nightmare. For that was the reason for the war in The Realm of Fire in the Beginning; angels rebelled against God because they felt jealous of his new creation. So it was ironic, that if they rebelled again they would have their wings ripped out, and be turned into the thing they loathed the most.
“How do you enter The Realm of Light? Is there like a magic gateway, or a key, or something?” Scarlett asked.
“There are both. Now why all the questions about the Realm?”
“As I said, I’m curious. I really want to go there,” she said, kissing his chest.
“Well, just for you, I might be able to pull some strings.”
“Really? Thank you so much.” She kissed him again before sitting up, and pulling together what was left of her red dress. The one that she had picked out especially to seduce Lakyn.
“It’s no problem, I have a bone to pick with someone there anyway,” Lakyn said, as he sat up, pulling on his briefs. “You had better go and get changed,” he told her, “I’ll meet you in the library by the tree.”
“Okay.” She crossed to the door while holding the red strips of fabric around her as much as she could, and prayed to God that no one saw her.
“And Scarlett?” he asked, stopping her
“Yes?”
“Thankyou,” he told her with a genuine smile. Was he falling for her? Scarlett didn’t know what to say. She just smiled back and exited the office. As she snuck through the corridors and up the stairs to her room, she couldn’t help but feel a little guilty, and a little pleased at the same time. Guilty for what she had just done, when she was certain she had feelings for Dyston, and pleased that her plan just might have worked. She was going to the Realm of Light.
Chapter Ten
Voice
“Breathe in, and out, in and out,” said Professor Harpe, as she ran her students through breathing exercises. “An angel’s voice is probably the most important weapon they have,” she continued. “It is even more important than an Archangel sword or bow,” she said, pacing before the semi-circle of students in front of her.
“To achieve your voice, you have to learn how to use your diaphragm. Now breathe!” Stopping in front of Kat and Emer, she placed a hand on each of their abdomens. “In and out girls.” The girls nodded silently. It was no joke that everyone was frightened of Professor Harpe.
“Where’s Scarlett?” Delilah whispered, “I thought she’d be back in class by now,” who was standing on the left of Emer, in between her and Thomas.
“She’s back, I just don’t know where she is,” replied Emer.
“Jacob said he dropped her off and hadn’t seen her since,” added Kat.
“We…” began Del, before being interrupted by Professor Harpe’s stone cold stare.
“Less talking, more vocal warm-ups!” She was beginning to sound like a drill sergeant.
“Why is an angel’s voice so important Miss?” asked Thomas, Emer shot him a glare. He shrugged. Always the straight-A student, she thought.
“Thanks for asking Thomas. An angel’s voice is important for many reasons. It can be used in identification between mates…” Professor Harpe paused because numerous giggles had erupted throughout the room. She continued thought. “It can also be used as a weapon, as I said earlier.”
“How?” asked Kat
“Well, when used in conjunction with Glory, an angel’s voice is a shield.”
“Can you demonstrate?” asked a Nephilim with silvery-purple hair. Kat remembered her from Combat Training, as Diamond.
“Ok just a warning though, an angel’s glory is hard to look at by an untrained eye. For it is the representation of one’s self in the Realm of Fire,” she told the class. Then she stepped backwards. The student’s stood on a tiered stage so it was easy for everyone to see clearly. Then Professor Harpe inhaled, opened her hands and sang, while showing her full glory. It shone in perfect harmony with her impressive soprano voice.
~
Dyston felt as if he had been in the Chambers for an eternity. How much longer would they make him wait? He paced around his new surroundings. He had been moved from the white laboratory to a new room, which was red. The furniture, the walls, everything, was in varying shades of red. Except for the floor, which looked like Hematite, it was dark grey and shiny. Who was the interior designer? He wondered. Then he moaned. The red made him think of one thing—one angel, Scarlett. He longed to hold her, to kiss her. To feel her heat beneath him, and then let his touch cool her down again. He also longed for a piano, so that he could play the song he wrote for her. It didn’t yet have a name, or lyrics, but he couldn’t get the melody out of his head. So, to keep him occupied, he decided to hum it. He wished he could hum it to her. As he hummed, his heart sank as he remembered how they had fought in Traits 101. She had told him to stay away from her, and it had felt like a Tear Tip ripping through his heart. He slumped into a nearby loveseat and continued to hum. All the while trying to send a prayer to her, knowing that it most probably wouldn’t work, but he had to try anyway.
~
Scarlett tore through her closet looking for something to wear. She decided on something practical, as she felt she would be doing lots of walking, running or fighting. She took her converse’s out of the bottom of the closet, readjusted her bra, with which she was thankful that Lakyn didn’t break, and put on clean knickers and jeans, her favourite acid washed grey ones. Then she l
ooked for a blouse, and found a maroon one. Perfect, she thought. She knew both of the Blackbell brothers found her absolutely irresistible in this shirt. She stood up after tying her shoelaces, and gazed at Dyston’s perfect black feather, still sitting where she had left it on top of The Chronicle by her bedside. She picked it up and stroked it. She wanted to tell him that she was sorry, a thousand times sorry from the bottom of her heart. But that would have to wait. Right now, she had to play the role of a schoolgirl with a crush on her teacher, so that he would lead her into a magical realm to save his brother. When she thought about it, her life had become complicated. What would her good, kind Grandmother think of her now? She put the feather down and left the room, but not before tucking the silver dagger that Dyston had given her for emergencies, into an ankle sheath.
Only use it at precisely the right moment, he had told her. She knew that now was the right moment. She slipped out of her room and ran two doors down, and knocked. She only had to wait a moment before Jacob answered. He let her in right away.
“Any developments?” he asked, before going back to the bed to join Kat, who wrapped her arms back around his waist.
“I’m going to the Realm of Light tonight with Lakyn,” Scarlett told them.
“Wow. What did you do to convince him, sleep with him?” Kat asked, not knowing that Scarlett had done just that. Scarlett tried not to let it show on her face, which was hard. For all she knew, she had a big neon sign on her forehead announcing, “I slept with Lakyn Blackbell!”
“No, I… just talked to him,” she finally said, covering herself. But not very well.
