Afterworld

by Lynnette Lounsbury

  ‘Shhh.’ She scowled. ‘I was . . . I was trying to get your attention. You were too busy thinking about the Nephilim girl.’

  ‘You’re so selfless.’ He grinned, enjoying her discomfort. ‘You didn’t answer my question.’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Huh? Is that an answer?’

  ‘Yes.’ She kept walking and wouldn’t look at him.

  ‘No, you didn’t have one?’

  She sighed and turned back to him in exasperation. She stopped walking. ‘Not when I died, no. I didn’t.’

  ‘But before that you did?’ He was curious. He realised he knew nothing about her life.

  ‘Eh.’ She groaned. ‘Yes, I’ve had boyfriends. You’re not the first boy I ever kissed.’

  He grinned. ‘So you admit it was you who kissed me.’

  She ignored him and kept walking. When they reached the end of the street there was no more cover and they were in front of a huge set of gates. They were smooth stone, imposing and impenetrable.

  ‘This is it. We either have to wait for her to come out or try to get their attention. For the record, I don’t think trying to get their attention is a very good idea.’ Eva peered cautiously up and down the street. There were people here and there, but no one paid them any attention and they still hadn’t seen any Nephilim.

  ‘Waiting doesn’t seem like a much better plan, though. We could have done that back in our apartment.’ Dom frowned.

  ‘I know.’ Eva sighed. She found a small alcove in an archway near the wall and pressing her back against it, slid to the ground and sat. In the shadows she was barely visible, so Dom joined her. Dom pulled a roll of bread from his satchel and broke it in half to share.

  ‘What about you?’

  ‘Huh?’

  ‘Girlfriend?’ Eva was surveying the street as she said it.

  Dom shrugged. ‘Nah. No girlfriends sadly. There were, you know, there were girls. Just not girlfriends.’

  Eva snorted. ‘Did you . . . sleep with them?’

  Dom choked on his bread, blushing. He desperately did not want to answer the question and looked at Eva with a feeling of near panic. There was no good answer to that question.

  She let him off the hook. ‘Never mind. That’s your business.’

  He couldn’t help himself, though. ‘What about you?’

  This time Eva blushed. ‘What? You refuse to answer, but it’s okay to ask me?’ She wrinkled her nose. ‘I was seventeen. How many seventeen-year-old virgins do you know?’

  Dom thought about it for a second. That was a good answer. He felt naïve. And pathetic. He gave in. ‘Oh, all right. No. I didn’t. I haven’t.’ He kept his eyes studiously on the street, trying to affect vigilance.

  He could feel Eva looking at him.

  ‘Sure,’ she said.

  ‘What?’ he asked. ‘You don’t believe me?’

  ‘No. You’re like one of those people who are always cool and the girls fall all over themselves for you and you’re like class president and all that shit.’

  Dom raised his eyebrows in disbelief. ‘Are you kidding me? Me? I should have been at your school. I was on the basketball team. And that was about it. No girls falling. I had to put in hard work to get girls to even talk to me.’

  She smiled a little, but didn’t seem convinced. ‘You really haven’t? Slept with anyone?’

  ‘Oh, let’s keep talking about this, please!’ he said as her grin widened. ‘You really have?’

  She simply kept smiling and Dom took his chance, leaned over and kissed her again.

  ‘Hello, humans.’ The rich gravel of Eduardo’s mocking voice had Dom jumping to his feet in a blur. Eva struggled up a moment later, both of them avoiding the Guardian’s gaze. ‘I see you are busy infiltrating the enemy and rescuing the prisoner.’

  ‘We couldn’t get in.’ Dom gestured at the gate.

  Eduardo looked at them silently, the side of his mouth lifted in a smug snigger at their embarrassment. Then he pulled Eva onto his shoulders and scaled the wall in several quick movements. He called softly to Dom. ‘Watch. If I can do it, you know how to do it.’

  Dom reached out to the smooth stone and put his hand against it, flexing his fingers. It seemed impossible, but he tried anyway and was surprised to find his hands and feet were strong enough to hold him to the sheer, shining wall as he climbed. As he landed softly on the stones of the other side he noticed Eduardo was still looking at him in amusement.

  He shoved the Angel in the broad shoulder and succeeded only in pushing himself backwards. ‘Why didn’t you just fly?’

  ‘Because no amount of knowledge would let you do that too. Not as a human.’

  Eva whispered, ‘Why are there no guards?’

  Eduardo spoke at his regular booming volume. ‘Why would there be guards? Who is going to come here? What are they going to do?’ They walked through the wide courtyard that surrounded the building. As with the other buildings in the City, everything seemed to be windowless stone. Soft music sounded from around a corner and Dom gestured to the others to follow him. It seemed to be coming from an internal courtyard and when he reached an arched corridor he looked around carefully. He felt a slight pressure as Eva tried to lean around him. Eduardo walked past both of them and stood in the open where he could see clearly.

  Dom was not entirely sure what he had expected, but it wasn’t this. At the very least he had expected the house to be some sort of Nephilim headquarters, a rallying point for the race. He had even imagined a dark nightclub with loud music and darkness and debauchery. What he saw was an impeccably tended garden with the most exquisite sculptures and fountains. The music sounded as though it was made by an instrument he imagined as a harp. The light seemed softer, he could smell flowers and food and perfume. It was in fact, on the rare occasions that he had even thought about it, how he imagined heaven to be. There was a long shallow pool in the centre of the courtyard with dozens of white flowers floating on it, and on the grass by its marble edge was his sister. And Satarial. His sister was eating a piece of fruit and laughing at something her companion had said, leaning intimately towards him. For a moment Dom felt embarrassed that he had intruded on such a personal moment. She looked healthier than she had this morning, her skin was flushed and filled with its natural changing colours as she spoke softly. It was such a contrast to the static faces of the dead in Necropolis. She was wearing one of the flowing white dresses of the Nephilim women.

  Eva nudged his back and across the courtyard he saw the barest hint of the form of Deora gazing out at the pair from behind a carved pillar. He could not see her face well, but her expression seemed impassive. He couldn’t tell if she was envious of his sister or pitying. He remembered her kiss and felt hot. He had the sudden fear that Eva could sense his reaction and he turned his attention back to his sister.

  They were far enough away that he couldn’t hear what they were saying and he hesitated, unwilling to risk getting any closer. Despite Eduardo’s visibility, no one had noticed him. Dom considered it may have been part of his array of natural abilities and stayed behind the edge of the wall. He wondered what to do next. Clearly there was no need for any sort of military-style rescue of his sister. He tried to think.

  ‘Please join us.’ He heard the clear voice of Satarial, though the figure did not turn his head. His sister was surprised and glanced around to see who he was addressing. Dom sighed. He should have known he wasn’t sneaking up on the Nephilim. He walked out into the garden and Eva followed him. He glanced towards Deora’s position, but she was gone.

  ‘Dom? What are you doing here?’ His sister smiled, slightly nervous.

  ‘Yes, Dom,’ Satarial was sarcastic, ‘what are you doing here?’

  Dom looked down at Satarial as he lounged in the grass. He seemed a little less intimidating in his natural setting, but not much. Dom still sensed a deep animosity in the Nephilim.

  ‘Kaide, why are you here? You shouldn’t have left the apartment.’ He tried to soun
d casual as though he wasn’t imitating a nagging parent, but failed. ‘It’s not safe out here.’

  ‘Oh, don’t be a baby.’ His sister laughed at him, but he could sense her annoyance. ‘I’m all grown up, Dom. Besides, I met another one of the Nephilim on my way home and asked him to bring me here. I was completely safe.’

  His sister’s definition of safe was different to his own.

  ‘Can I talk to you please?’ Dom tried to keep the anger out of his voice. ‘Over there.’ He gestured at what appeared to be a more private corner of the open garden.

  Satarial smiled tightly. ‘You do realise, of course, that since you are in the presence of a Nephilim and the . . . Angel, the only person who will not hear your “private” conversation is your Guide?’

  Dom saw the point, but it was maddening to be wrong. ‘Whatever. Kaide, I think you should come with us now. You aren’t doing well and you need to rest and . . . be cared for.’

  ‘Oh, Dom. Am I not doing well? Really? I was falling apart at the seams this morning. I came to see Ariel – yes.’ She cast such a charming smile on the Nephilim that he looked away in surprise. ‘But he knows how to heal me and I need him.’

  Dom sighed, his eyes locking with the Nephilim’s icy ones and reading the triumph in them. His sister was smart. She was using the Nephilim, but he wondered if she understood just how dangerous he was.

  ‘Your sister tells me you are going to compete in my Trials. I’m so happy,’ Satarial said without the merest hint of happiness. He glanced from Dom to Kaide and back and became serious.

  ‘I think perhaps your sister, as a visitor, and a very welcome one,’ he gave Kaide a smile that made Dom’s heart falter in his chest, ‘should stay here with me. Necropolis doesn’t agree with her . . . vibrancy. I am able to protect her. If she is with me. And, if you agree, we can bring the Trials forward, so she doesn’t have to wait here too long. Perhaps a week? With your new-found abilities you should be prepared by then.’ He glanced quickly at Eduardo who stood behind the group, but shifted his gaze swiftly back.

  Eva gripped Dom’s arm. ‘No. It’s too soon, there are other things you need to learn. About the Maze. You can’t train for the Trials and prepare for the Maze as well. You need time.’

  ‘I don’t believe there is time,’ Satarial said pointedly, and Dom knew what he meant. So did Kaide.

  ‘Oh, don’t treat me like I can’t understand you.’ She snorted. ‘I can’t survive up here for long. I can feel it, I know what’s happening.’

  In an instant Satarial dropped the pretence, laying his pale hand on Kaide’s arm. ‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have spoken in riddles.’

  Eva glanced at Dom, her face showing her distaste.

  ‘I can heal you sister temporarily. Not indefinitely,’ he said plainly. ‘She needs to either return to her human form or her human form must be terminated.’

  ‘So return her,’ Dom said stiffly. ‘You shouldn’t have brought her here in the first place.’

  ‘I want to stay, Dom. I won’t be going back to . . . that.’ Kaide was firm.

  ‘I will find a way to solve the problem.’ Satarial gave Dom the same cold smile again. ‘You can prepare for the Trials. After which, we can continue this conversation.’

  ‘I’ll stay here, Dom. I’ll be fine.’ His sister tilted her head to the side in a gesture she had always used to try and make him feel better. ‘And it’s nicer than your tiny place anyway,’ she joked.

  Dom sighed. ‘You’ve got to be kidding me. Kaide – he’s not even human. And he’s thousands of years old. And he’s the bad guy. Don’t you see that? He’s got the whole City wrapped up in these stupid Trials, wanting to stay here in this nothingness, wanting to see other people suffer and in pain, forever. It’s messed up. You can’t stay with this guy. Don’t be stupid.’

  Kaide was silent for a long moment and when she spoke it was low and clear, her anger in check, but barely. ‘I need him, Dom. All you need to worry about is the Trials. The Trials are part of Necropolis. For some reason, you are supposed to compete in them. We both know it.’

  She stared at him the way only a sister could, knowing the moments that had made him, knowing where they had come from, and the things that had hurt them both, and when she lowered her eyes Dom knew he would never win the argument. He turned to Eduardo.

  ‘Can’t you heal her?’

  ‘No,’ the Angel shook his head, ‘I have no human blood in me, I can connect with your minds, but not your bodies. The Nephilim can heal because he has the same blood and also the healing power of the Angelus.

  ‘You would be able to heal her if you knew how to access the abilities I shared with you, but your brain is very slow. Some parts of it don’t seem to work at all.’

  ‘Hmm, thanks for that, I’ll work on my healing along with my fighting and regenerating and trying to find a way between life and death will I?’ Dom felt bitter. He tried one last time. ‘Please come with me, Kaide. Come and stay with us. I could bring you over here each day to get . . . healed.’

  She smiled. ‘I’m safer here, Dom, I am. And I want to be here.’ She smiled at Satarial in a way Dom had never seen before. He watched the Nephilim’s face as he gazed at Kaide, and the expression of vulnerability was genuine. Satarial didn’t know what to make of his sister.

  Eduardo interrupted in a low voice, speaking in a language Dom did not understand and could barely grasp with his ears. Satarial smirked and replied, ‘Anubis? Nothing. I try to avoid all Angelus, especially the mad ones.’ His eyes narrowed. ‘From what I have heard you have far worse things to worry about than Anubis.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Eva leaned forward with interest, but Satarial ignored her and continued to address the Angel.

  ‘I have heard talk of the Archs—’

  Eduardo had leapt forward before the words was completely formed, a hand poised at Satarial’s mouth. ‘Do not speak of the Superios. Do not even think of them. They will know.’ He stepped back just as quickly. Satarial laughed softly.

  ‘It’s always a pleasure to see fear in an Angelus. Always.’ He kept his voice low and Dom saw him glance sideways to where Deora had been hiding.

  At the same time Dom felt a soft vibrating voice in his head. The Nephilim was talking straight to his mind, his eyes turning only to Kaide.

  If you survive the Trials I will show you how to take her back. If you do not, I will go back myself and end her human body. It’s what she wants. Either way, she will not be left like this. I promise you.

  Dom said nothing and thought nothing, but he turned so quickly he nearly knocked Eva into Eduardo.

  He sprinted out the way he had come, scaled the gate and fled back through the City, tears on his face as he ran. In all the wildest imaginings people on Earth had of the horrors of hell, they had never realised what could be worse. A place where there were no eternal fires, a place where people could convince themselves that everything was okay, until one century they realised that nothing good happened here. That nothing happened here at all. There was no good, no happiness, no hope and no death.

  4

  Dominic’s Hourglass

  118 Minutes

  The more Dom read of the notes that Eva gave him about the Maze the more his despair overwhelmed him. He wanted to be training with Eduardo, and the Angel, who clearly agreed, glided back and forth across the room with supernatural impatience as Eva made him study the ancient pictographic language that was used in the Maze. He couldn’t concentrate and it seemed ridiculously complicated. Eva stood too close to him for one thing and the memory of the kiss they had shared and the scent every time her long braid fell forward made him restless. She studiously pointed back at her notebook every time, though he did notice that her attitude had softened and every now and then she even smiled at him.

  The map she had was approximate, drawn by hand from her own experience. Apparently the labyrinth that made up the next level of the Afterworld was different for all travellers, though each one f
aced some of the same experiences. It was a dark, cavernous place, underground tunnels with little light. Eva showed him how to make a torch out of a branch from the orchard and a rudimentary flint kit. The torch would provide light for almost one day, so he had to carry several pieces.

  He had to answer questions at the intersections to learn which direction to follow and he had to find his way to a river. If he got the questions wrong, there would be consequences, but Eva was vague about what. His goal was to reach the River, where he would have to lead a Lost Soul across.

  ‘What does that even mean?’

  Eva scrunched her nose in thought. ‘They are people who were too messed up to come here. People who felt guilty about things they did in life, or were unhappy when they died. Their souls have no peace. You will need to talk to the one you meet and help them.’

  ‘Like a therapist? I can’t think of anything I would be worse at. Nothing.’ Dom sighed. ‘And then, assuming I manage that. What happens next?’

  Eva explained that he would reach a Judgement Room where his heart would be weighed. Dom raised an eyebrow at her.

  ‘It’s not literal, not the whole ceremony anyway,’ Eva tried to clarify. ‘The judges want to know that your life was more good than bad. They weigh your intentions and your actions to find your quality.’

  ‘My quality?’

  ‘You know – like, if you compare how good something is with how bad it is, you can tell the “quality”.’ Eva struggled for words. ‘If it is a car, you would consider how fast it is, how safe it is, how long it lasts, and then balance that against what it costs. Then you know its quality.’

  ‘They want to know if I’m value for money?’ Dom sniggered. ‘This place is like a stupid cartoon.’

  ‘No – it’s more like an Egyptian tomb. And it’s not funny. Necropolis is St Tropez compared with the Maze. You have to concentrate all the time, you can’t make mistakes. It’s all about testing your focus and commitment. They want to know if you have learned anything and if you are truly ready to go on.’