The Celestial Rose BoxSet

by Annalee Adams

  The kid screamed, he turned and ran towards me. His little legs rotating as fast as he could. I ran to grab him as hordes of guards followed, Rowena, too. There was no chance we could beat that many. No chance in hell. Nic had turned into a lion and gnawed on the head of a fire Demon as he yelled for assistance. Shit. He was struggling to take down just one of the damn things. They must have been suped-up or something. There was something different about the guards. They didn’t look like the fire Demon guards from earlier, the ones Julian had slaughtered. These were new creations, half Demon, half human. The lava skin shredded like sandpaper over bloody flesh that hung from its limbs. Were these really the previous citizens of Elvington's? Shit.

  The kid’s legs carried him over as I held his face to my leg, unable to comprehend the horror before me. “Mr. Fang. Mr. Fang.” He said, tugging my trench coat.

  “Wait, kid, we need to get back.” I yelled as I ran forward to help in the fight.

  Elisha had been thrown across the field, while Rowena held one of Harland’s pack captive, igniting its mind with her intrusive negativity. The Lycan turned on its leader, leapt at Harland and bit his throat. I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t get there quick enough. I was gobsmacked. There was no way I could save Taylor, no way we could save ourselves. Shit. For the first time in history, we ran. As we picked up speed, Julian yanked Harland’s bloody body over his shoulder and kept running. Elisha leapt into action, pulling Nic out as Jayden jumped on his back and the crew fled. Shit. Where was Joey? I didn’t see what happened. There had been no time. I picked the kid up as he screamed at the carnage and fled. The monstrosities followed, all the way back to the mansion. Eliza was outside conjuring some kind of spell as we flew through the door with the left-over survivors. The huge beast and Harland’s turned-pack leapt in after us, but stopped mid-air, crushed against a force and falling to the ground out cold, unconscious.

  The next moments were a blur. The kid was screaming, pulling at my trench coat. His little face pale as snow. Tears streamed down his eyes. I knelt, held him tight and sobbed. There was no coming back from this. Not now, not ever.

  Taylor was gone and there was nothing I could do about it.

  “You didn’t listen, Mr. Fang.”

  “What, kid?” I asked, wiping the fallen tears from his face.

  “She’s outside, she said to get you.”

  “Who, kid?”

  “The nice lady.”

  “Taylor? Was she here?” I asked, leaving the kid behind. She had to be there. Maybe she made it out. Maybe she found her power. I ran out the door and through the force field protecting us.

  “Stop!” Lawrence shouted, “That’s not Taylor!” He yelled as I passed through the forcefield and a moment of ‘shit what have I done’ gripped me. Too late. As my head saw stars, bashed and impounded into the ground as day turned to night and all that was left was darkness.

  CHAPTER 58: TAYLOR

  I lived on borrowed time. My body had died a lifetime ago. My lifetime ago. I was lucky to have it back, to stretch in my skin, to be me again. I didn’t know any other version of me. No other emotions, feelings, fears or triumphs. I was always me, and this version of me, in this body, that was the me I wanted to stay. But it wouldn’t happen, would it? The divine chaotic mess my sister had caused would end us all. How could she be so shallow? Didn’t she ever remember the fun we used to have? The love, the joy? Didn’t she remember mother? But then, I guessed that was what being cast out did to a person. Thrown away like garbage onto a wasteland of a world. Nothing to fight for. No reason to live. She spent years alone. That kind of loneliness would corrupt the brain. It’d send the sanest person insane. No wonder she acted like she did. No wonder she made creation after creation, so she was never alone again. But what she didn’t realise was that no matter how hard she tried, no matter how many people or things were around her, she was the loneliest she had ever been. No one here cared, no one here loved her. Except maybe, me.

  Could I, though? Could I love her? We shared the same blood, the same love of family. She was Adam's twin and my big sister. She certainly wasn’t the best role model. Maybe with her magic it could be possible, though, possible to change all this, revert time back again. Was that even possible in a linear existence? Maybe we could bring back the twins, give life to Jessie, and bring back every living person who ever walked the Earth. If only she would listen. If only she would reach out and see. How could I reach her?

  The cell door rattled, flying open as a blood-soaked Lili stood in its frame. “Morning, sis,” she said. “Well, it’s not morning here, but its morning over there and I’ve got a jam-packed day of fun to be had. Care to watch?”

  “Why?” I asked. “You’re just going to torture me more.”

  “Me?” She giggled. “Oh, Little Evie, I never hurt anyone. They plead to stay with me, to become one of my beloved creations. They’re so lucky to have this chance. I make them better than you ever did. This way they’re strong.”

  “You’re insane.”

  “Thank you.” She curtseyed. “Now, come along or you’ll miss all the fun. I have a special surprise in wait just for you.”

  We headed over to what looked like her throne room. She sat in the centre, at the front, with two vacant thrones behind her.

  “Where are they?” I asked.

  “You know where Lucifer is, Daddy killed him.” She said, motioning at me to sit beside her feet. Jesus growled as I sat beside her, shaking. “I need the rose to bring him back, silly.” She said, patting my head.

  “What about Cain?”

  “He’s on a mission. Oh, you are just as inquisitive as I remember.” She said as she leant forward and squeezed my cheeks. Jeez, I must still be in the asylum. Maybe I never really left all those years ago. Maybe I was sitting there in the therapy suite talking to the doctor, high on meds, hallucinating everything from the past two years. Maybe this was all a really messed up dream.

  “What mission?” I asked.

  “Oh, you’re too young to know about that, Little Evie. Now, be a good girl and sit quietly. I have something to show you.” She said as she leant forward and waved her right arm in front of us. An obsidian mirror appeared, misted and translucent. I could vividly see myself battered and bruised, and Lili above me sat on her throne, swirling in darkness as she glared at her reflection. Clicking her fingers, she said, “Elisha.” Wait, what? Did she just say Elisha? Then there she was, sitting in the Darkwater kitchen, talking to Joey. They were alive. I breathed a sigh of relief. Wait, what was that on the table? Shit, is that my finger? Jeez. What the heck is my finger doing on the table?

  “Why show me Elisha?” I asked. “Why not Lucian?”

  She giggled. “Oh, I’ll get to that bit a minute.” She said, grinning and clapping like the Mad Hatter. “So, Little Evie, want to tell your big sis anything?”

  “No, not particularly.” I said, staring at my bloody finger with my engagement ring still on it.

  “Well, let me hazard a guess. You are going to wed my Lucian. I brought him up, you know, created him. He lives because of me.”

  “If you could call that bloodlust living.” She raised her hand and slapped the side of my head.

  “Be grateful, sis. He’s my creation to toy with, not yours. You have your tiny humans to play with. Leave my toys alone.”

  “You sound like a child, Lili. They aren’t toys, they are living beings and have their own freewill to do as they please.”

  “How dare you?” She waved her hand as the Darkwater mansion disappeared. “You’re not worth my time anymore, Evie. I tried to reason with you. You do not understand the complexity of the situation. Daddy took my son and I want him back. It’s that simple. I’m just borrowing your humans to strengthen my own creations. We can work together, build a better race. We can make them immortal.”

  “Immortality isn’t something I’d wish on anyone. To suffer the pain of loss, the heartache of the dying. I’ve lived countless lives and for thos
e that I do remember, for those that you showed me, there is no end to this torment. My memories will live on inside of me and I’ll experience the loss of a child, a brother, a father, and a mother a thousand times over. No-one should live to see all of that.”

  “Then release your emotions, choose the darkness and you never have to feel that again. It’s the cocaine that is mortality, it’s the problem. Let them go, they’re a disease and we can cure it.”

  “No, Lili. They aren’t all bad. My mortal family there was wonderful. They bought me into this world as their own, they loved me, protected me, and died for me. If there are people like that on my world, then it’s worth saving.”

  “But I’m not?”

  “You are, you can be saved. Come with me, Lili, let me help you bring back the light. Adam believes it, too, that there’s good left in you.”

  “No, damn you, Evie. There is nothing left inside of me anymore. Daddy made sure of that.”

  “But there is, Lili,” I cried.

  “NO, DAMN YOU. NO!” she screamed, rising from her throne, signalling to the guards at the side of the room.

  The guards left as Lilith composed herself, straightened her dress, and swept her hand over her blissful hair. “Come see, come see!” She said, waving me over as the guards wheeled in a huge pot, twice the size of them. I walked over. Did I really want to see what my mad sister had in store for me now? “Can you guess what’s inside, Little Evie?” she said, giggling.

  “No, I don’t think I want to know.”

  “Oh, but you will, you will.” She grinned as the guards left the pot beside the mirror and brought out a ladder. “Up you go,” she said, clapping.

  “No.” I was not going up there.

  “NOW!” she bellowed. “If you don’t, Little Evie, it’ll be much much worse.” She grinned.

  Shit. I had no choice. It was going to be painful. I walked over to the wooden ladder, my hands gripped the edges as I looked up. The pot was enormous, hot, too. Jeez, was she going to boil me alive? Seriously, I couldn't do this. I couldn't cope with that. I just couldn't.

  “Tick tock,” she said, tapping her foot. Taking a deep breath, I climbed up one step, two steps, then exhaled. I could do it. I could overcome this. It was just another of her silly games.

  Climbing a ladder was easy. What I was faced with inside the pot was not. As I peered over the edge, a veil of bright green acid singed the edges. It was a huge pot of death. The bubbling, boiling, burning acid with the stench of forgotten corpses and dead mutations. There was no chance I could survive that. I turned to jump down the ladder as quick as I could, but before I had the chance, Lilith was behind me, holding me in position. She had climbed the ladder after me. She was going to push me in. My heart thumped. Hands were clammy. What did I do?

  “Oh wait, just wait, Evie. Here’s the best part!” she grinned.

  Heart pounding, brow creased, my body tensed as adrenaline shot through me. Outside the room, the screams of a loved one beckoned through my ear. No. It couldn’t be. She wouldn’t.

  The door flung open as an enchained Lucian was carried in on the shoulder of EJ, my once best friends. Rowena skipped along behind as EJ stood before the ginormous pot of acid and grinned. I was terrified. Who did Lilith value more? There was no way we were both going to survive this. No chance in Hell. I could come back, though, if I chose to die. I would always come back. Adam would transfer my light into another body. Lucian couldn’t. He was immortal, but after melting in a pot of acid, I doubted even he could bind back together.

  “Lili, please, leave Lucian alone.” I cried. What do I do? How could I save him? “I’ll do whatever you want. Please, don’t hurt him.”

  “Too late, Evie. It’s too late. You were mean and now you have to pay.”

  “No, kill me instead, not him.”

  “What? You would give your life for this creature?”

  “Yes, without a doubt.”

  “No, Taylor, no!” Lucian yelled.

  “Oh, wait! You almost had me there. Adam would bring you back. You can’t die!” she said as she giggled.

  “Please, Lili.”

  “No, no, NO!” she screamed, holding me tight, pushing me forward to ensure I could see exactly what she was about to do.

  Lilith clapped her hands as EJ rose up another ladder that wobbled and waned under its weight. As he reached the top, Lucian turned, looked me squarely in the eyes, smiled faintly and said, “I love you.”

  “NOW!” Lilith bellowed.

  EJ threw Lucian high into the air as I screamed, flinging my hands forward, toppling over the edge of the pot and down into the acid with Lucian. Time slowed, a moment of clarity bestowed itself on me. There it was. The light within me. It bellowed out, pushed forward, and wrapped its beautiful gaze around me.

  Lilith gripped me, pulled me back from behind. Fingertips missed fingertips as Lucian and I skipped a beat, our souls entwined, and a mass of light rushed out of me. The warmth of the rays protruded away, pushing back the darkness as it wrapped its heavenly beams around the body of my fiancé, holding him stationary as he hovered over the vat of acid, saving his life and ensuring my doom in the process. I didn’t care, though. Somehow, I’d saved him. I’d leapt forward to protect my man as Lilith grabbed me, stopping me from plummeting into the depths of acidic Hell.

  I believed in who I was. For the first time in my life, I felt like I had a chance. I stepped forward onto the edge. Lilith stood motionless, silent in shock. Reaching out, I took Lucian's hand and pulled him close as he skated over his death. It wasn’t enough, though. Lilith snapped out of her time loop of distraction and pulled me back, raised the obsidian mirror, and flung me into it. The portal within gaped opened, attempting to swallow me whole. There was no force within me that could keep me from entering it. All I had was Lucian's hand holding me back and my white light surrounding him, preventing his fall to death below.

  “Hold on,” Lucian screamed.

  My fingers slipped. “I can’t!” I screamed as Lucian gripped my hand for dear life.

  “Please, baby, hold on,” he cried, tears streaming down his face.

  “I’m sorry,” I said as fingertips slid over fingertips and into the mirror I went.

  As I was swallowed into the abyss, I heard the splash of acid and the fateful screams of my fiancé as he withered and waned in a pot of torment and termination.

  “NOOOOOO!” I screamed. My heart shattered into a thousand pieces. It couldn't be true. He fell. I failed. My Lucian was dead.

  I landed with a thud on a dark, warped path of cobbled stones amidst a haunting of trees on either side. It was a cold winter's night. Hammering the ground, I screamed the tears of a love lost, the pain of infinite death as my mortal heart shredded and threatened extermination. He couldn't be gone. He couldn’t have died. Not like that. Not without me. I was alone, cold and shivering, coiled up like a snake, protecting my body as I cried. Shivering in the wind, raindrops fell from the night sky above.

  Where was I? It had to be a trick. He had to have survived. She wouldn’t kill him, she brought him up. He was her first creation of that kind. That had to mean something. But then, she did throw me in here, wherever here was. I had to get out. I needed to know if it was true, if he was really gone.

  The darkness surrounded me as I picked myself up, blinking at the shadows that crept ahead. Before me lay a murky path, a path that led to nowhere, from anywhere and somewhere. Well, that was what the crooked sign beside me said. Looking around, I was standing within a forest of weeping trees, looming as they cried. And from each tree, a mirror was held. Some sparkled, some were old, many were warm to touch and many cold. A mixture of shimmers held within the mirrors, a way in or a way out. Which way was in, which way was out. Pick one, Taylor, pick a turn. Eeny-meeny-miney-moe. What better way to choose, as I ended on a shabby looking mirror four trees in. You. Are. It.

  Walking over, I stopped in front of my swinging reflection. One foot in, two feet, and jump. I
landed crisp on the crater of a volcano. Where the heck was I? Turning back, the mirror shimmered. Perhaps I should pick another one.

  “Wait!" A tiny voice squeaked. "Don’t go.” A mouse scuttled across the tip of the volcano towards me. “She said you would come.”

  “Who?” I asked. Shit. I was talking to a mouse.

  “Come, come,” it urged.

  “Sorry, no.” I said. “I have to find a way home.” This wasn’t it, judging by the dual suns, the overactive volcano, and talking mice.

  Turning to see into the mirror, the mouse squeaked. “Say what you want to see.”

  “Lucian.” I said as I watched a pot of acid form in misted mirror before me. A ragged, blended hand reached out in despair. I screamed. It was true. He was gone.

  I slammed my fists down. The mouse scurried off. Sobbing, curled in a ball, I was done with the world. I was stuck there, no use to anyone and no way of saving my Lucian. Everyone died because of me. No-one ever survived. Salty tears fell into the volcano beside me. I may as well have jumped in. I wasn't strong enough for the fight. I couldn't live to see any more bloodshed. I just couldn't do it. Raising my slumped body, I eased myself down on the edge of the volcano. Its lava core warmed my cheeks, soothing my aching self. It was a warm ending to a cold, devastating life. I wasn’t bothered that I might not come back. I didn’t care anymore.

  I stood back up and took one last look at the mirror, heard his screams, and winced in the smoke around me. Stepping forward, I fell towards a fiery oblivion, my molten death. As I fell, the silhouette of a figure stood at the top of the volcano, shrouded by smoke. My descent ended as she raised me up with her light, looked me in the eye, swept my hair from my face, and held me tight.

  “My daughter” she said.

  TO BE CONTINUED...

  Eternal Devastation

  ANNALEE ADAMS