“Your hellhounds have kept you safe. I’m beyond pleased with that,” the man said, facing away from me.
His grey hair was slicked back, and he wore a stunning white suit. A strange choice for this ashy place, yet not a speck of ash or dirt marred the pristine white.
I glanced down at my own attire. A gothic black dress with intricate embroidery. Not too shabby.
“Who are you?” I demanded, carefully circling around him, wanting to get a look at his face.
The man turned, clasping his hands before him as he gave me a slow once over.
His grey beard was neatly trimmed, and those blue eyes were masked well, but I saw a twinkle of… delight? Joy?
“You look well, Lily,” the man smiled warmly at me, sighing as he let out a relieved chuckle.
“So you know who I am. Who are you?” I asked again, glancing around me carefully, my eyes drifting over the sparse, lifeless expanse of ashy wasteland and crippled trees. “And where is this place?”
“You have so much of your mother in you,” he sighed.
I blinked, my throat closing up as I took him in. That chiseled face masked by his beard, the worn lines on his brow, yet not a mark on that pristine white suit.
It was impossible. How could it be?
“Everything will make sense, in time. You have a remarkable destiny awaiting you,” the man said, stepping forward.
He eyed my pendant, reaching out to touch it gingerly. His smile was soft and tender, and my heart hammered at his closeness. Something about him was familiar, but I couldn’t place it as he pulled his hand away from my pendant.
Those eyes met mine, the deepest blue I’d ever seen. They pulsated with a deep navy as he smiled wider at me, moving to rest his warm hand on my shoulder.
“Daughter.”
Fifteen
I awoke with a start, sitting up as someone shook my shoulder.
I whipped my head to my assailant, but the cry I was about to release died in my throat.
Creeper’s dark eyes were worried as he sat on the edge of my bed.
“Are you okay?” he asked softly.
I just stared at him, my mind reeling over the vivid dream.
“Just a weird dream,” I sighed after a moment.
I then frowned, realizing just how close he was to my face.
Mere inches, and he was giving me a funny look.
Up this close, I could see his pupils were there, even as dilated as they were, and his iris was just a tad shade lighter. Black pools of concern for me, and confusion.
He was rather pale compared to Jack and Chumley, even Bug had a little more color than him. But it suited him well, a ghostly divine beauty.
Well, demonic.
Yes, all four of them were attractive and a nice sight to drool over. Not that I’d considered that at all. They were my hellhounds, not potential boyfriends.
And those deep, dark eyes were focused on mine, his lips slightly parted as he leaned forward a little more.
I caught my breath, my cheeks heating up as my heart skipped a beat.
Was he actually going to…
“My rock’s special.”
“What?” I blurted, completely taken aback by the statement.
“It’s special. I went to Dezikiel. Asked him to enlighten me like the others. It didn’t matter with the other students here, cause I didn’t care how they felt about me… but, with you, I wanted to be able to connect better,” he said, the words rushing out as he continued staring at me.
Still close enough that I could feel his warm breath brushing my lips as he spoke.
“I had issues with rage. Dezikiel said I handled it well, but I used to shift. A lot. When I get upset or frustrated, I tend to shift into my hellhound form. Thankfully, there’s warding on this place to keep us from giving in to our hellhound ways too much. Keeps us from attacking the others or hurting anyone. But I used to wreck things. Break things out in the garden. Dezikiel suggested when I started to feel the shift, I go somewhere quiet to focus on relaxing. I didn’t know why he hated us shifting. Guess it was scary for some of the others. We’re…wild, like that. It makes sense now, but it used to anger me more. I love shifting, being who I really am. But I tried it once, just to see if it would help. It did. And I found that rock. Took it everywhere with me, it stopped me from shifting. I’d just hold it or turn it over in my hand when I’d get… upset. It was important to me, so I thought you might like it,” he said, the air rushing out of him as his shoulders slumped with the barrage of words.
I just blinked, taking it all in, then smiled at him.
So it had helped him. Now it made sense. It wasn’t just a rock. It was his anchor.
“You know, you guys helped me with the same problem. I used to get something like that, but it was fear. I would get so anxious and afraid that I’d start to panic, I’d have these attacks. Somehow, having you guys around, focusing on you and knowing I was never alone, it helped me fight it. I learned to just breathe,” I murmured, looking down at my bracelet.
I remembered many times, curling up on the floor, tears streaming down my face as I struggled to breathe.
I’d hear whichever hellhound was with me chittering away, growling softly as they sat down right next to me. Their presence had helped, and I started finding ways to focus my breathing. Many times I’d focus on their growling, using it as a way to slow my breathing. I never quite understood how or why, but it had helped.
Creeper frowned at me, pulling back a little.
“Jack said you had anxiety attacks,” he stated. “I remember them. I never did understand them, I just remember knowing you were distressed and wishing I could make it go away.” He frowned as his eyes fell. “I wanted to help.”
“You all did, you did help,” I said gently as I rested a hand on his knee.
“Dezikiel enlightened me, and now I think I’m starting to understand these emotion things more. I know what they mean,” he said slowly.
“That’s good,” I murmured, then frowned. “Was it in a white place?”
“Yeah, and I suddenly just learned things, felt things properly and knew what they were,” he said with a small nod.
So Dezikiel enlightened me to help me come to terms with the truth of angelics and demonics. That made sense.
“What do you look like, as hellhounds?” I asked. I’d been wondering about it for a while now.
“Like big black wolves, although it depends how far we shift. We have the main stage, our true hellhound state, where we look like giant wolves with horns and red eyes, or there’s the other form. Paris said we look like werewolves, like a man crossed with a wolf, but more wolf-like, with horns still. We call it our half-shift,” he explained.
I pictured them like he described. They didn’t seem too scary really if they were just big wolves with horns.
“What kind of horns?” I asked, cocking my head at him.
“Like these.”
I gaped as two horns sprouted from his temples, angled backwards over his head.
They lengthened and stopped growing once they were about a foot long.
“Kudu horns are what they most resemble, it’s an antelope in Africa. That’s what Bug told me,” he said, ducking his head so I could look at them. “You can touch them if you want,” he murmured, noting how I hesitantly reached out.
I caught my breath as I touched the black, spiraled horns. They were strangely warm to the touch, and perfectly smooth.
“We each have different horns. Jack has hooked horns, so they’re straight but curl back at the end, Chumley has curled horns, like a ram, and Bug has two pronged horns, apparently like a pronghorn,” Creeper said as I ran my hands up the length of the horns, utterly blown away.
Not to mention this was the most he’d spoken to me.
“Does it hurt?” I asked as I pulled away.
He just frowned at me in confusion.
“When they come out, does it hurt? Does the shift hurt?” I clarified.
“A litt
le, I guess. But it’s just normal I guess. Your whole body is changing,” he shrugged, giving me a smirk which made my stomach flip.
“Anyway, I was actually coming to see if you were doing anything, I didn’t mean to wake you, but you looked like you were having a bad dream,” Creeper said, changing the topic as his horns slowly receded.
I just watched in utter amazement as they disappeared into his head, leaving not even a mark on his forehead. Incredible.
He looked rather shy as he noticed me staring.
Honestly, this was the most emotion I’d seen him show.
Maybe the enlightening really did help a lot.
“Uh, yeah. Just a weird dream, it’s nothing,” I said, but my mind jumped back to it. It felt so real at the time, and I was remembering it so clearly, which was unlike my usual dreams.
And I had a remarkable destiny apparently.
He’d also called me his daughter.
“Would you like to come to the music room with me, I was going to see how my piano skills were now that I’m feeling more… alive, I guess. Yeah, those are good words for it,” he smiled sheepishly.
“Sure,” I nodded, although my mind was stuck on the dream as I rose from the bed with him and followed him to the door.
There was no way that man was actually my father.
Was there?
I sat on the black cushioned armchair, smiling as the sweet, rich tone of the piano played out.
He’d told me it was ‘Yesterday’ by ‘The Beatles’, a song he’d learned about a year ago.
I watched as his hands glided over the ivory keys of the sleek black piano.
He looked so at ease and content as the music played out, and he moved with such fluidity that it left me stunned.
How could the monster that had wandered the streets with me have such talent?
I’d snuggled into the chair as I listened to him play, the soft glow from the wall lights the only thing lighting us up now that night had fallen.
His fingers danced over the keys, and I watched him, completely mesmerized.
The song ended, and he looked over with pride as I gave him a small applause.
“That was beautiful. I haven’t really heard anyone play piano. Not live anyway,” I stated as he slid off the stool and strode over to sit in the armchair next to me.
“You love music, why didn’t you ever play an instrument?” he asked, genuinely curious.
“No time, not with work and general living. I was too stressed about staying afloat that finding time to just pick up an instrument and learn wasn’t easy. Nor could I afford instructors. I mean, I know there’s youtube tutorials, I guess,” I murmured, pursing my lips.
“If you had the time, what would you learn?” he asked as he glanced around at all the instruments in the room.
“The flute,” I said after only a moment. I loved the beautiful melody of the flute, it always made me think of a peaceful forest, serene and perfect.
“Well, maybe you can learn while you’re here. Dezikiel is a good music instructor, he can play most instruments,” Creeper smiled.
“You know, I never thought you would talk this much to me, let alone smile as much,” I chuckled.
He gave a dry chuckle as he looked down with a half smile.
“You’re the only one I’m really interested in talking to. And smiling, well, sometimes it’d happen, but I couldn’t force it. It seems to be coming more naturally now though,” he said, those dark eyes catching mine once more.
“Hey, thought I might find you guys here.”
I looked over at the doorway to find Jack smiling at us.
“Dinner will be ready shortly, we’re all heading to the dining hall,” he informed us before swiftly leaving as quick as he’d appeared.
“Wonder what’s on the menu,” Creeper mused as he stood up and offered me his hand.
I accepted, my stomach fluttering at his incredibly warm hand in mine.
He frowned at me for a moment with a quizzical look, then shook his head. Could he feel the same spark between us? Or was he able to sense that he made me feel funny in a good way? Oh God, I hoped not.
Then he just turned, releasing my hand and heading for the door with me in tow.
I sat down next to Jack, with Creeper taking his seat on the other side of me. Hadley and Diane were here already, along with Wayne, Paris, and my other hellhounds.
“Having a good birthday? Normally we’d do something bigger for it, but since it’s your first day here, we’re meant to hold off,” Diane said from her seat across from me.
“It’s been great,” I said honestly. I’d had fun getting to know my hellhounds and the other students, and despite the mindfuck that it all was, I was liking it a lot.
“So, what did you do before you came here?” Diane asked, and both Paris and Wayne focused on me as well, clearly curious.
I went into explaining to them my various jobs to afford my crummy rentals, explaining that Jack had made it difficult. To which he defended himself stating he was protecting me, which Hadley and Diane understood. Paris and Wayne were both quiet as I even mentioned my time on the streets after bailing on my aunt.
Jack and Chumley jumped in, stating how horrible of a woman she was, the screaming fits she’d have and the way she’d lock me in my room. It was no way to live.
I asked Diane and Hadley what they’d done. They’d been homeschooled and taught witchcraft before they joined the Academy.
Wayne and Paris had grown up in demonic foster care. Their mother had been held hostage, but the Council was able to find them as soon as they were born due to there being such a spike in demonic aura. Apparently, if they hadn’t been twins, or if Paris had taken longer to come out, they might not have been discovered, so they were grateful.
They’d been raised like soldiers though, taught how to fight and defend themselves, and mastering specific weapons. They definitely gave off such badass vibes.
The others joined us part-way through our conversation, and I learned that Thomas, Matthew, and Flynn, were all at the same high school and were friends when they got picked up and experimented on. They were only seventeen at the time. As soon as their demonic abilities were created via the experiments, they got picked up by the High Council and moved here. They were all eighteen as well, although they’d be turning nineteen later on in the year.
Dylan used to work in IT during his high school days and then afterwards until his eighteenth birthday. He thinks his love for IT may have influenced his unique demonic ability with electronics.
Whereas Hershel had just started at college in a degree he thought he’d like, then wound up here on his eighteenth birthday.
Xander retold me how he’d come to be, which Hadley had already told me today, but hearing it from his perspective was different. He said most of his memory of Hell was blank, which he was grateful for, but he did know who he’d been and how he was the way he was now.
He’d actually died five years ago and gone to Hell, then was cast out six months ago when he got turned into a demon but retained his soul. Now he was here, learning and wanting to right his wrongs. He felt bad about the girl he’d hit while driving drunk, and he fell silent once he mentioned it.
Finally, the teachers all joined us, with Dezikiel taking the head of the table once more.
He gave me a soft nod as I looked over at him, and then the hooded figures came filing in with plates of food.
Tonight was roast chicken and vegetables, with assorted sides of soups and casseroles, along with a couple of pasta dishes.
I snatched up a plate of roast chicken and served myself some roast veggies from the platter before pouring gravy on top.
“Your favorite, right?” Jack murmured as I sipped my glass of Fanta. The hooded figures had come around with assorted beverages, offering them to us and showing us the bottle first. Juices, soft drinks, and plain water were on offer.
I nodded as I dug in, loving the roast.
My mother
had always made a roast chicken on Sunday nights growing up, and I’d always looked forward to it.
Had one of the guys mentioned it and gotten it on the menu for my birthday?
The idea made me smile.
The light conversation over the meal was relaxed, mostly on current events and the mention of a possible storm coming over the next few days, and talk about adding new movies into the cinema, which Mr Baron said he’d get on top of.
I found myself joining in and laughing with the others when Xander choked and snorted out his soft drink.
By the time dinner came to a close, I was relaxed in my seat, listening to Diane and Hadley argue lightly over what they thought was coming out for dessert.
Then all eyes fell on me as the hooded figure returned, this time they were carrying a giant chocolate mud cake.
I frowned, before realization dawned as everyone, even my hellhounds, began singing Happy Birthday to me.
I was moved by the gesture as the cake was placed before me, with eighteen candles all around the outside and a silver eighteen made out of frosting on the top.
I blew out the candles on my cue, laughing as Diane demanded to know what I’d wished for.
My hellhounds were quiet, and I wondered if they were still trying to understand the whole birthday thing. Hadley had said they still struggled with celebrations.
I refused to answer her demands, and instead, one of the hooded figures handed me a knife.
I caught sight of their wispy black hand from underneath their cloak, but I didn’t let it bother me as I took the knife.
“Don’t forget, if you touch the bottom, you have to kiss the closest boy!” Hadley said, clapping her hands in excitement.
I just rolled my eyes as I sliced into the huge two-tiered cake.
I felt all eyes on me as I sliced through the mud cake, excited to taste how good it was. I was glad I’d saved room for dessert at Diane’s suggestion.
Hadley leaped out of her seat and shot around the table as I finished slicing.
“Did you touch the bottom?” she hissed, her face beside mine as she inspected the cake.
“What am I? Nine?” I snorted, but Hadley’s face lit up.
Wicked Souls: A Limited Edition Reverse Harem Romance Collection Page 89
