The Celestial Rose BoxSet

by Annalee Adams

  He laughed. “No, not that type of gift.” As I felt the freezing touch of his hands caressing the back of my neck, he laid butterfly kisses sensually over the area, readying it for a stunning white gold necklace to lay, with an outstanding diamond adorned Victorian locket.

  “It’s beautiful” I said as I opened it to find a picture of us both embracing one another.

  “Only the most beautiful of jewellery can shape the neck of such a beautiful creature,” he whispered in my ear, kissing me deeply.

  “Oi, you two!” Nic shouted, poking at Lucian's shoulder.

  “Ah, we're here,” Lucian stated.

  We left the limo, embarking into a back alley under the shadow of a darkened night. A tall, burly man opened the back door to a dance club. The music blared out from inside, as Lucian patted his shoulder in thanks.

  The club smelled of sweat, death, and more sweat. It felt wrong in there, something was off. The Darkwaters disembarked, as my mortal friends fled inside, eager and giggly for more. So I ignored it, swallowed my fears, denied my instincts, and walked in.

  The black walls were adorned with luminescent pictures of beasts. Out of all six of the paintings in the entranceway, one stood out. It reminded me of a biblical painting I had once seen in a museum by a famous painter, named Hans Memling, in the 15th century. It was his erotic version of the afterlife, turning mortality into a sexualised depiction of Hell. There sat the horned devil for all to see, christening the carcass of a beautiful female, touching her soul, and taking it for his own sexual satisfaction. There was beauty in that image, a darkness, but a beauty all the same.

  It was hard to keep track of everyone from our group. The club below was packed, the dance floor heaving and the music enchanting. The people there, they were different, not just mortals, but I sensed an essence of something more, especially considering I could smell the sweet smell of roses filtering through the air. It wasn’t Elisha either. There was another Femme Fatale at work that night.

  We had our own area to sit up at the top, away from the Gothic wannabes and slaughter house victims. The chiffon drapes separated us from the crowds, and if that didn’t do it, Julian was sat at the side, growling at any drunken fiend that found his way in.

  The alcove opposite ours was a darkened depiction of decay. There was a pungent smell that whispered through the air. Lucian had recommended we leave it well alone, it was something else, something more, greater, and deeper than I. It would entice its victims in and then they would never leave its side. A master to its puppets, controlling their very being for its own sadistic pleasure. Lucian ensured none of our group wandered into its lair. He assured me we would all be safe there if we didn’t play with the natives. It was their feeding ground, after all. The thought of the place being any sort feeding ground really did twist my stomach.

  The human types among us were oblivious to the goings on outside. They were drunk, happy, and giggly, dancing around until they passed out, comatose asleep and away from the night’s happenings. Yet, all the while, the Darkwaters sat, watching the crowds, analysing, ready to pounce if something went out of hand. They seemed to be enjoying themselves. Lucian certainly was, as he kept me close, dancing and kissing my neck. Elisha had found herself a reverse harem, a group of six boys all eager to please. Nic was nowhere to be found. Probably chatting up some girl on the dance floor. I half expected him to be swinging around the pole on centre stage. Even Julian smiled occasionally. He’d found a group of stiff upper class looking individuals, probably demons knowing Julian, as he sat toasting Lilith with his treble whiskey and coke.

  It had been one of the best birthdays I’d experienced in recent years. My seventeenth wasn’t great, the institution made sure of that. My sixteenth was horrific, with death and destruction, and my fifteenth I was ill, flying on a plane across the Atlantic. At least my luck had finally changed. My eighteenth birthday was spent in the arms of my lover, dancing with my friends, and loving life as a new adult in the eyes of mortal society.

  Peace only ever lasts a second. It’s a fictional division in your mind. It’s a lie many believe, peace and happiness. It brings down your guard, lets you feel, love, want, and desire. But it never lasts, never remains. All that follows peace is misery, suffering, and heartache. That day wasn’t any different. No matter how hard I smiled, how hard I tried. The monster that stood before me changed all of that. Not Lucian. No, he was across the room, thrown aside like trash. Not the Darkwaters either. They were scattered, battered and bruised. What I meant was the Beast, the monstrosity before me. How it happened, I didn't know. One minute I was dancing, the next, it was there. It came from nowhere, transported through the realms. If it could travel with the shadelings, it could be anywhere, anytime, and at that moment it was there, staring down at me.

  “TAYLOR!” Lucian yelled. There was no time, no saving me. I stood frozen in fear. Hands clammy, fists balled. I was ready to fight, but, how could I? My friends were there, it was going to kill everyone.

  “WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH ME?” I screamed. That took balls, confidence and a back bone. The Femme Fatale struck back as I eased into her manipulative stance.

  It grinned with no answer, raised its fist, and swiped me to the side, flinging me like a rag doll. Lucian leapt up to defend me, standing before the beast in front of me. As he did, the ground rumbled and raised. Hundreds of shadelings entered the realm, taking on the living and the vulnerable. My friends! Where are they? I had to get out of there, get everyone out.

  Lucian had pulled the beast away from me, the Darkwaters had formed a group again as they battled with ice and magic, silvered blades and fangs. I need to help, need to try.

  GRABBING AT MY SIGIL, the world came to light. Stand still. Peace, if only for a moment. Time slowed as I conjured a fireball, one filled with fire and light, beauty and darkness, fighting alongside each other. Throwing it at the beast, however, was another problem. I wasn’t very good at aiming, and this time wasn’t much different as it hit Julian’s ice shield, melting it around them. The Darkwaters were targets again. With no shield in place the beast laughed, taunting and taking them down one by one. What had I done?

  I had to lure it out of there, get it away before it killed everyone I loved. It was coming, pounding the ground as it leapt to stomp on me. I must disappear, dissipate through the realms. As it landed, my body changed to raw matter, evaporating into a realm beyond our own. Now was my chance, as I pieced myself back together. In the realm of another, I could still see our side, see my human friends being used as bait by the ghastly puppeteer. I travelled up the stairs, entering its lair. I wasn’t sure what I could do but I needed to get the gang out of there.

  To the beast, I had vanished. To the Darkwaters, I’d escaped as they picked themselves up and carried themselves out to safety. They couldn’t take the beast like that, so they ran with the humans, out of the club and into the night air. All but Lucian, he wouldn’t leave without me. He knew I’d never leave without him. He searched the club for me as I watched, waited for the perfect moment.

  As he entered upstairs, I reappeared before him.

  “Lucian, our friends are in there.”

  “What?” he said, leaping into the puppeteer’s lair.

  I went in after him, afraid of the darkness around me. What if the beast found us there and what was that disgusting smell? The scent of blood, death and devastation.

  Pearce was in there, trying to drag Jessie free of her strings. She was controlled by the puppet master, standing guard as a target for the beast.

  “Help, Lucian!” Pearce yelled. “I can’t get her free.”

  Lucian dominated the rest of our friends, controlling their minds and pushing them to RUN, to free themselves. It was Jessie, now, and I didn’t know how to help her. Even Lucian couldn’t break the strings. I ran over to the shadowed being, the puppeteer, and used the sigil.

  “What are you?” I asked, protecting myself with light.

  “What are you?” it aske
d. “A prize for my collection.” It grinned as its slimy face came out into the light. The morbid being was half-human, half-monster. It looked like it’d could be drowned and remain there for centuries.

  “I am not a prize for anyone’s collection!” I yelled, gripping the arm that held the strings.

  “What are you?” It yelled as I burned through its skin, the smell of burning flesh took over the air around us. Flaming skin, burning tissue, there was nothing I couldn’t do with fire if I put my mind to it.

  “Release her,” I demanded.

  “Never!” it yelled, screeching in anguish.

  “Now, or I’ll burn right through you,” I said. Lucian watched in awe as the puppeteer let go, saving what was left of his smouldering skin.

  “Run!” I turned and screamed at Pearce.

  Pearce grabbed Jessie and Lucian grabbed me as we ran out of its lair and back into the club full of shadelings. The beast was nowhere to be seen.

  “What are you?” Jessie asked as we made it outside.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Thank you,” she said, hugging me, hugging Lucian, and kissing Pearce.

  Her gratitude was too soon. The beast was still around. There was nothing more I could do. I was no match for its evil. It was attacking the humans that made it out.

  “CHASE, NO!” I yelled, anger rose through me. Before me, the beast walked through the mortals like they were nothing, and in his eyes, they were. Just pitiful ants roaming the surface. It grew, there was no taking it down now. What happened to it? How did it get so big?

  “I can save him,” Lucian said.

  “Do it,” I agreed. I needed to get Chase out of there. Rowena was trying to pull him out by herself. She’d be crushed if we didn’t help quickly.

  “ROWENA, RUN” I yelled as Lucian jumped in beside her. He picked Chase up as Rowena ran to us and leapt into the air. Rowena watched as he soared above her head, placing Chase on the ground.

  “Emma and Jake, where are they?” I asked.

  “Over there,” Rowena said, pointing beside the beast. Lucian ran off at lightning speed, searching for them. The beast saw him, and he grabbed him in his fist, pummelling him into the ground.

  “NOOOOOO!” I cried. “LUCIAN!”

  Where was he? Could he have survived that? I had to reach him, save him. Gripping the sigil, my hands lit up. Rowena gulped. My whole body set alight, burning the dress around me. I was enraged. No one would take my love. No one would hurt my friends. No one would destroy my life, ever again.

  I ran, heart thumping, feet pounding the ground. My fists clenched, face flushed, as I slammed my fist straight into the beast’s leg. Its fur set alight as it turned to face me. Its face resembled that of the gnashing teeth of a Lycan. It seemed to embody part of every supernatural being I’d ever met. The heat of a Femme Fatale, the tail of a demon, the necrotic flesh of a shadeling, and the darkness of a Darkened Disciple. This beast was more powerful that anything I’d ever known. I didn’t care, though, it had my Lucian and I was damned sure it wasn’t going to take him.

  The fire burned through its flesh, igniting its rotten skin as it slashed me to the side, flicking me like a bug to the dirt. I dodged the fist as it dropped Lucian and swung round. Julian ran in and pulled Lucian away as Elisha screamed for us to run. There was no getting away from it quick enough. There was only one thing I could try. I grabbed Lucian and Julian, pulled Elisha and Nic in close, and vanished. I took us all through as raw matter, dissipating into another realm as we carried Lucian away to an alley where my friends were hiding. Away from the beast and out of sight. I’d never tried to hide more than just myself, and Jessie that one time. But, luckily, I’d managed somehow, and we’d all appeared in the alley unscathed and in time to save Lucian.

  “Woah, TayTay. Good thinking,” Nic said as my naked, burned body reassembled.

  He chucked me his overcoat as Julian placed Lucian on the ground. He was unconscious. I’d never seen him so still. Jessie started crying as Pearce comforted her. It was too much for my mortal friends, they didn’t know about the supernatural realm.

  Lucian lay there silently still. What could I do? He’d lost too much blood. That’s it!

  “He needs blood,” I said.

  “No, he’d never agree to take yours. He knows it’ll change you,” she said.

  “He doesn’t have to agree. He’ll die without it.” I replied.

  “Do it,” Julian said, opening Lucian's mouth.

  His fangs were prominent, I’d never seen them up close and personal before. They were quite beautiful, sharp, and deadly, but perfectly pristine and white.

  I placed my arm in his mouth as Julian forced it closed, fangs biting down, piercing the skin as blood trailed out and down Lucian's throat. Minutes went by with blood leaving my body. Lucian stirred and clamped down, sucking the blood deeper and deeper. Did he know it was me? Could he stop?

  “Lucian, its Taylor. Stop!” Nic shouted as I started to go giddy.

  Julian pulled him back.

  “Lucian, no more,” he said as Lucian began to come around.

  “Who? What happened?” Lucian asked as he sat upright, blood dripping down his chin. He looked over at me as Elisha steadied me.

  “No, tell me I didn’t,” he said, looking at the fanged bite mark on my forearm.

  “No, Lucian, you didn’t,” I said. “You needed blood, so I gave you some.”

  “Taylor! No, you shouldn’t have! You’ll change again.”

  “I can’t lose you, Lucian. I’d rather change than face that.”

  “But you don’t know what you’ve done. I’m a Darkened Disciple. We’ve no idea what it’ll do to you.”

  “I don’t care. You’re alive and I’ll live with the consequences,” I said, kissing his bloody mouth, lying in his arms.

  The night sky glistened as sirens filled the air. The beast had vanished, leaving only screams and bloody humans. Not many survived. The ground was littered with broken corpses. The cries of lost loved ones and the stench of burning sulphur filled the air.

  We had to go, get away before the police arrived. How could we explain this? I couldn’t be here, not after what happened in London. They’d think I did it. Once was possible, twice was unlikely. It’d be blamed on a bomb again, a terrorist threat of destruction. Any opportunity for the government to head off to war again. The perfect plan to blame the evil humans. Little did they realise they weren’t the threat anymore, they never really were. Now they needed to gear up to fight the monsters, as more and more of them spawned in our realm. The world was growing darker. The Beast could appear anywhere, and with him came the shadelings, with Seine not far behind. What else lies in wait in the dark corners of humanity? What’s coming next?

  CHAPTER 18

  The following day I awoke silently in the Darkwater mansion, scared and alone. Where was Lucian? He hadn’t been himself the night before. All he had wanted to do was rest. Although, it’d take time for his body to heal, I had to remember that. Ringing him, there was no answer. Something wasn’t right. None of us should be alone, not with the beast able to pop up anywhere.

  I have to go home to Dad, to Caleb, to the rest of my friends. They’d been through quite the experience, and I’d asked Lawrence to spare them the domination. I needed to explain myself first, explain what I I was. Not that I knew what I was. Pearce had already told Jessie about what happened to him. That went well, as well as you could expect. She was still frightened of the puppeteer taking over her body. It must have been horrible, to know exactly what was happening, feel what you were doing, but not have any damn control over it. No wonder she was scared, we all were. But humans weren’t just slaves for the taking, they had freewill, a purpose. Although, they were so fragile in comparison to the supernatural. How they had survived so long, no one will ever know. I doubted the puppeteer was the worst thing to come out of Enoch, either.

  My body ached, feeling the threat of last night's dance with the Devil. Well,
not the Devil, but Lilith's pet beast, a mutation of all things dark and devastating.

  Pulling on my clothes, I realised the place was too quiet. Where was Lawrence’s classical music, or Nic’s unearthly drumming beat? There wasn’t a Darkwater in sight. I couldn’t bare it, the quiet made me nervous.

  I wonder if Dad realised I was home. He probably thought I was still in York, celebrating yesterday’s eighteenth birthday. Happy bloody birthday, Taylor. Another damn landslide on what should have been the perfect day. I was dreading to think what the next years would bring!

  No one was answering their phones. The Darkwaters had gone silent again. What happened to Lucian? Was he alright after the bite? It played through my mind. Did my blood actually kill him? Is that where they were now? Mourning the death of their brother? My lover? Jeez, stop over-thinking it. They had probably all gone to hunt the damn beast again. Not that it could be hunted if it was in the shadow realm. They’d need me for that. Then why hadn't they woken me? Why leave me there alone, unprotected? Hmm, but did I really need protecting anymore?

  I headed home. With no one to call, the walk lasted an eternity, all the while I jumped at every little movement thinking the Beast was behind me, or Seine, ready to finish me off. They scared me. The shadelings scared me. Damn, the whole supernatural race scared me... I scared me. What was I becoming, who was I becoming? I couldn’t let this be it, this be what life had in store for me.

  I felt ill, sick to the stomach. There was just too much going on. I was still weak from blood loss. My body was still healing. My stomach growled, it felt as though I hadn’t eaten in a week.

  I arrived back home as dusk settled in the sky. Hobbling inside an empty house, I had not seen a soul on the way home. It was strange for that time of day. Dad and Caleb should have been home. But I was hungry and smelt bad. I could smell the sweat as it dripped from my forehead, taste the salt as it entered my mouth.

  Shower first, then food. So, that’s what I did. In the mirror, my body was badly bruised. Clearly, the injuries I’d sustained were greater than I previously thought. It was taking time for my body to naturally heal. The shower helped, though, fresh, clean water misted over my body, like a fog engulfing the scenery around me. As I got out, I saw Elisha sat on my bed, smiling.