The Celestial Rose BoxSet

by Annalee Adams

  “Is there anything you can do to make us stronger?” Hayley asked. “It’s just, I’ve seen what you can do. If they are anything like you, then I don’t stand a chance."

  “Just stay behind me,” I said.

  “But I can’t hide forever, Elisha. I need to be able to look after myself.”

  Jayden walked over, having overheard the conversation. “I’m human, Hayley, and I do alright.”

  “Yes, but you were born into a family of hunters. You told me so yourself. You’ve been training for this your whole life. We haven’t. What can we do to help?”

  He shook he head. “I don’t know.”

  “Hmm.” Harland said. “I might have an idea.”

  “What?” Hayley asked.

  “You girls are good at gymnastics, right?”

  “Yeah, so?”

  “You like use those pom pom things?"

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, I wonder if you could use claws?”

  “No, Harland, don’t you dare. They’d never survive.” I said.

  “Shit, no! I’m not going to bite them. I mean, actual claws. Could they use actual claws, like on their pom poms?”

  “They’re called cheerleading poms, Harland.” I said, “And what do you mean, claws on them?”

  “Well, I’ve got a stash of my old claws. When mine have come off in a fight, I’ve kept them.”

  “Err, why?” I asked.

  “Cos’ I happen to have grown quite attached to my claws, and in this case, it’s a good thing I did.”

  “Hmm, I suppose if we could attach them into the handle, you’d have tinsel and claws all in one.” I said.

  “Then the girls have something to use that they’re used to using.”

  “I see where you’re going with that.” I paused. “What about the zombie things, though?”

  “Fucked if I know, Elisha. That’s all I’ve got.” He said, shrugging his shoulders.

  I laughed. “Fair enough, we’ll tackle that problem next. So, how far until we get to your place?”

  “About a mile over that way.” He said, pointing across the upcoming town.

  “Shit.”

  “Shit, indeed.” He said.

  The problem wasn’t crossing the town or hiding from Lilith’s army. Even Rowena was as blind as a bat in the night. She didn’t seem to see us cross the street behind her and didn’t hear us either. Which was strange. Especially considering Eli tripped over a rock and yelped, holding his knee. The army was silent, in wait of something. But what?

  It looked like they’d been taking out the zombie creations throughout the day and slept soundly during the night, ready for battle at first light. We were nearly there when one came at us. Not Lilith’s army, no, but one of those damned mistakes she made, one of the former humans, Cliff, I think his name was. He’d ran the local butcher's down the street from the coffee shop. He’d always been a nice guy, a little creepy with his apron tinged with blood. But today, well, today he was more than creepy, he was damn right scary as Hell. His white butcher's apron was covered from head to toe in the blood and gore of Elvingtons finest citizens. His face was mangled with a huge bite taken out of his left cheek, leaving only bone and dangled tissue remaining. His right arm was shredded with no hand attached, and his right leg was broken as he dragged it behind him when he lurched forward to grab me. The thing before me wasn’t Cliff anymore, it was something else. The frenzied carnivore stunk of rotted flesh. Drooling the entrails of its last meal, it was dumb-struck at the sight of dessert standing before it. Its waxy eyes had lost their lustre as it spawned a vocabulary no-one could understand. It wasn’t yelling at us, though, it was shouting for something else, someone else, perhaps. And as the ground rumbled, a careering crowd of albino corpses shambled across the street to join us. But they weren’t trying to join us in the friendly ‘nice to greet you’ fashion, they were coming to join us with the ‘nice to eat you’ fashion. Those things were part of a pack. They grouped together, entrusted each other, and, in this instance, they were the predators and we were the prey.

  I worked out the odds. I figured out the speed. Even if every person that could run fast took another person, there would still be too many humans left alone to fight. We couldn’t save them all. What did we do? They were all around us, and if Harland’s claws couldn’t strike one, then what hope did any of us have?

  The corpse-like creatures circled us, drooling and lashing out as they came closer and closer. Nic changed into a lion and Harland into a Lycan. Lawrence withdrew the sword from his cane while Eli stood and watched. I stood in-front of Hayley and the girls. How could we win this war?

  Eli left the centre of the circle and stepped up behind me, tugging at my sleeves. “Eli, get back,” I said, not taking my eyes off of the predators that surrounded us.

  “Elisha, it’s you.” He said.

  “What?” I asked, still watching the zombies surrounding me.

  “You can hurt them, Elisha.”

  “I can’t, Eli, nothing can penetrate their skin.” Just then two of the corpses leapt into the air, landing on Harland. He shook to throw them off. Bloodied fur and a slashing of claws, he was in a full-on battle with two of the undead creatures. Jayden was poised with daggers as Nic roared and went to Harland’s aid. More zombies lurched forward, threatening to lash out at the humans we protected. Jodie was too close, I couldn’t get there in time. he undead creature, formally known as Rosemary, lashed out and gripped her arm, yanking her into the crowd of predators as she released a blood curdling scream and succumbed to the gnashing jaws of her former friends. The cracking of bones echoed over my body as six of the bloodthirsty creatures sucked her dry, gnawing on the flesh left on her withering bones. The screams stopped, the cries ended, as her soul left her tortured body and Jodie was gone. Meghan screamed, falling to the floor in tears, head in her hands as our group was being picked off one by one. Hayley stayed by my side as I struck out with daggers in attempt to fight the zombie whose snapping jaws threatened my immortality. Another of its friends joined him, pushing me backwards. Hayley tripped and fell to the floor, me landing on top of her; back down, chest up, with two of the evil undead snapping jaws at my neck. I knew I was crushing Hayley with the weight of us three, but there was nothing I could do, no way of getting up. Crap. I could catch a boulder, for fucks sake. Why the hell couldn’t I budge these two human things? Their bodies must have weighed twice as much as the boulder. Whatever Lilith had combined them with was strong, heavy, and impenetrable.

  Hayley screamed as one of her ribs cracked. I heard the noise as clear as day. We were crushing her to death. Breathing in, I pushed forward, ignoring one of the undead to push the other off. I had to get up, had to get off of Hayley. I couldn’t lose her too. Where were the others? Were they all dead? I could hear screams resonating under the streetlights as the sun began to rise and the screams began to quieten.

  Pushing one off meant the other's jaws were free to snap closed wherever they wanted, and, for me, that place was on the top of my head, biting down on the back of my skull as I screamed, pushing to stand up. Pain shook through me as my body succumbed to the disease they infected me with. There wasn’t much time, I needed to take another’s lifeforce quickly. I turned to Hayley, lifted her up, and sped out of the street and into the forest over the road. A few more twists and turns and I’d be at Harland’s house. I wondered if anyone else had made it. Did Eli? Did he make it out alive? He said I could end it, that I could kill them, but how? Nothing seemed to work. My daggers hadn't done a damned thing.

  As I sped past the remaining walking dead, I headed into the Arellano mansion, placed Hayley on the bed, and sped around the rooms in search of any sign of life. There was no-one. I had no choice. I had to go back and save as many as I could before the disease got to me too. I couldn’t take Hayley’s lifeforce, she was too weak already, it’d kill her. Locking the door, I said bye, smiled, and ran at full speed back to the battle that still seemed to be going a
head. It looked like Jodie’s skeletal corpse was now crawling towards the remains of what appeared to be Meghan. She hadn’t lasted long, none of them had. Harland was nowhere to be seen, neither was Kathryn. But there was Allyson, walking blindly, crying in the street. What was she doing? How the hell had she made it out alive?

  I ran over, watching her walk away from me. “Allyson!” I shouted, pulling her shoulder around to save her. But it wasn’t Allyson anymore. The cries were from the tortured souls inside of a friend I had once known and loved as they battled the disease before it took her into the world of the undead, rambling along blindly as a long-lost corpse with no human desire except the need to survive, kill, maim, and torture. It wasn’t her, though, not fully, but she was still in there, somewhere. Could she be saved? Could I save a ninety percent gone human girl? If I did, would I survive the change too? There was only one way to find out.

  I picked her crying corpse up, with her white washed eyes, tear stained cheeks, and mutated skin, and I sped her all the way back to the Arellano’s house.

  Laying her on the floor by the bed, Hayley leant over. “Will she be okay?” she asked.

  “I don’t know, Hayley. I have to try, but I don’t know if I have enough energy left within me to keep fighting this myself.”

  Hayley saddened, placed her hand on my shoulder, and said, “take some.”

  “No, you might not survive.”

  “We have to try, otherwise you won’t survive.” I nodded. I needed a little, not a lot, but if I had any chance, if Kathryn had any chance, then we had to try. I embraced Hayley, felt the warmth of light stream into me, her lifeforce dwindled, and her body went limp as she fell into my arms. She wasn’t gone, though, her breathing was normal, her heartbeat strong. Her body had just shut down to protect itself, repair the cells one by one. She’d awake again soon, I hoped.

  Placing Hayley on the bed, I turned to the nearly changed Kathryn. Leaning over her, our noses touched, lips caressed, and breath entwined. Kissing the life back into her body felt good; knowing I was doing something to make a difference, save another’s life. I needed to do this. But as I did, Kathryn grew stronger, the colour flushed back to her body and as her lips plumped, she kissed me back. But as she did, I fell down and deep into a long-lasting sleep, one where my body had shut down to protect itself. But it was also one where the virus was free to roam and rise, and when I awoke, who or what would I be?

  CHAPTER 76: Lilith

  Oh my, I remembered why I hated this planet. The delight of hope could steal away the soul of any of the pitiful humans. Why did they run and scream? Did they really believe they could outrun me? “EJ, destroy them.” Oh, how I adored my EJ, the perfect combination of mortal and immortal blended into one.

  The darkness swarmed out of EJ’s soulless eyes like a broken dam, water gushing through the cracks. It stomped forward, picking up a noisy girl dressed in girlish pink lace, and held her before him, taking delight in removing her arms and legs. The stump murmured as it perished, sealing the grin on EJ’s face as he took a bite of her flesh. I clapped. “Weeeeee! See EJ, you’re perfect!” I danced, jumping high to kiss him on the cheek, swirling and twirling as I walked away.

  I entered the massage parlour and the stench of cherry incense suffocated me. Burgh, can this be any more horrible? It was what my version of Hell would look like; pink lace, fluffy handcuffs, and cherry incense. I know Cain liked it kinky, but really... pink fluffy handcuffs? How vile they were! He was the Lord of Darkness; did he really feel the need to play with the miserable mortals of that world?

  The room echoed with a high shrill, a warped breathless darkness screeched out from the top of my lungs. “CAIN?”. Where was he? He was always in his whore house, playing with the foolish human population. Insanity pierced my heart, building deeper, colder, darker, as a trickle of callous cackles erupted through my bared teeth. “CAIN?” He had better show himself soon or I’ll tear the building down, piece by piece.

  Why does he taunt me so? We had a bond, he and I. Why destroy it for them? Was it because he liked to feel in charge? Liked to be on top? What demented thought had entered his mind to push him into the arms of another? I knew he’d done it before, quite often, in fact. But he’d never stayed longer than one night with them. It’d been months now, what was he playing at?

  Now don’t get me wrong, he and I were kindred spirits. We were running the eternal race. Those mortal souls only last five minutes. It still didn't change the fact that my mate had ran off and left me. Was it possible that he had found someone even more beautiful than I? I giggled. Don’t be silly. They must have bewitched him with their lotions and potions.

  “CAIN!” Argh, I was losing my patience. Wasn't it peculiar that to have patience you must first be patient. How was that so? Perhaps it meant you were a patient, and if that was the case then I wasn't a very patient person at all. My guards, however, my loving mutated family, they’d been patients, so they were indeed quite patient when it came to patience with me. Or it could have been love, the ultimate weapon of humankind. Feed them a desire or two and bam, they’d perish their soul for you. They were such adorable little creatures, so naïve and pinchable. Those squishy cheeks of their new-born’s were scrumptious, and it was true what they said about them all tasting the same. How was it possible they tasted like the egg-laying chickens of their world? It wasn't a fact I’d assert into the eardrums of mankind. ‘I resemble a chicken inside.’ What did that say about them? Frail, egg-laying meat sacks. They were lucky I kept the majority of them for my own private army. Daddy said it was foolish, he said we didn’t need the numbers, we were powerful all on our own. But what daddy didn't realise was that my babies need me, they loved me, and I had a whole bucket list of ways to make them please me. Oh my, the thought of it. The urge ravaged inside, mmm. Chase did make me squeal, it was a pity his mutation didn’t last. Tasty, though.

  Looking around the room, the stench began to eviscerate my nostrils. “Now who would have thought this scent could turn a guy on?” I gagged, pretending to vomit as I collapsed to the floor. “Guards save me, open the windows and flood the room with the stench of the seaside again.” I said, waving my hand and then holding my nose. The guards did as they were told, wafting their arms above me, releasing the cheery cherry incense out of the room. “And find whatever it is that creates it and destroy it.” Burgh. I simply could not bring myself to move. Movement was completely out of the question. I was too drained from the world. I was all too rosy. Oh my, I needed to eat. “EJ, fetch me the mother and child.” In walked EJ carrying a screaming woman in one hand and a wriggly, kicking girl in another. Dropping them, he pushed them down beside me. “Oh, why hello,” I said in my softest tone.

  The woman stopped screaming, grabbed her child, and tried to run. EJ punched her pretty face and knocked her back down to the floor. The child dropped too, cradled its mother, and wept.

  “Shall we try that again?” I asked, smiling. “Hello.”

  “H...Hello,” the woman muttered, holding her bloody nose and gripping her child in her other arm.

  “Much better!” I exclaimed, clapping in glee. “Now, what is your name?” I asked.

  “Aroelyn,” she said, sitting more upright.

  “Delightful, that is a wonderful name. Aroelyn, I like that. I shall have it.”

  The woman looked confused.

  “Can I have it?” I asked.

  “If...If you want.” She said through the glistening tears in her eyes.

  “And what is your name, little girl? You are a girl, aren’t you?”

  “Yes,” she said, grinning.

  “So do I call you girl, or do you have a name?” I was not feeling very patient.

  “My name is Aria.”

  “Fabulous. So we have Aroelyn and Aria.”

  Aroelyn nodded. “What do you want with us?” she asked, looking over at the split bodies EJ had enjoyed eating.

  “Well, I am actually hungry. I was planning on eating y
ou both.” I smiled from ear to ear, teeth bared. Aroelyn held her daughter tighter. “However, I think you would be perfect for my entourage. I need... what do you call it... handmaidens.”

  “What about my daughter?” she asked quietly.

  “Oh, little Aria can join me. I need a new child. My last one died and the first one ran away. I don’t have much luck.” I grinned, cackling at my own joke.

  “No, please don’t take her away!” she pleaded.

  “You’ll still see her. You’ll be by my side too.” I paused “Or did I not explain that?” I was sure I had explained that. She nodded.

  “Aria, come here.” I demanded, sitting on the floor, patting my thighs. Aria looked up at Aroelyn, who nodded. She walked over, head lowered, and sat on my lap. “You’re very thin, Aria, have you been fed?” She nodded. “Are you still hungry?” She nodded again. “Fantastic! You’re going to love the food I delight you with.” I shrieked, clapping. I waved over to EJ to fetch dinner. “Now, I know you humans are used to everything flame grilled. I can fix that.”

  EJ bought in a whore and plonked her beside me. “Not too close, EJ.” He gripped her long, curled hair and pulled her backwards. She screamed, mascara running down her face.

  “Please don’t!” she begged, her eyes wide, lips trembling.

  “EJ, fetch Blane.” Blane strode in. His upper torso was ripped with his athletic body. He was based on a human, but with the added features of a scorpion tale and a crispy exterior that steamed from his pores whenever he moved. His eyes were a piercing red and he wore a refreshing frown on his face. “Now, Aria, Blane here is one of my Disciples. He is the first of his kind. Can you guess what he is?” I asked, cradling Aria’s fragile body.

  “No,” Aria said, confused.

  I giggled. “She is adorable.” I said to Aroelyn.