by Angela Nock
'He's okay, isn't he?' I asked, suddenly missing him. Suddenly worrying about him. It took me by surprise because I had never thought about him in a step-father kind of way before. Compared to where we were now, with Hyperion, Dan was an angel. I thought of Josh. Where was he? I really needed him.
'I think so,' she said. Her voice was trembling.
'There, there darling, better to forget him, don't you think, Evie?' Hyperion reached out and took Cassie's hand across the table.
'Dan was alright.'
'Really?' screeched Cassie, 'You couldn't wait to split us up.'
'That's not fair.' It wasn't, was it?
'Oh, pass me the violin!' I recognised the look in her eyes. She was hurt, and worried, and was now spoiling for a fight. A fight with me, and with Damien as her new cheerleader. But she didn't realise Damien didn't exist.
'Evie is quite the troublemaker isn't she? Always getting in the way,' he goaded, a wicked smile on his face.
'What?'
'You're right, Damien,' she agreed, 'she always has been. Always been a thorn in my side.'
Wow, I felt the words slash my skin like a knife.
Hyperion smirked. 'So why don't you do something about it?'
'What can I do? She asked. 'I should've got rid of her the day I found out I was pregnant.'
'Mom?' Her words cut through my skin and plunged into my heart.
'I should never have had you. You've done nothing but drain the life out of me.' Her eyes were on fire, her face contorted with rage. She looked like a demon, personified. 'I thought when I lost Peter, my love for you died too, but I was wrong. I have never loved you. I wished you'd died instead of your father!'
'Mom?' I choked back the tears. She didn't mean it. I knew that. I knew it was Hyperion manipulating her. Wasn't it?
'Get rid of her,' commanded Hyperion.
What did he mean? I looked at Cassie. Her eyes were raging, but not seeing, like the rage was all there was. She rose up from the table. Her chair tipped backwards and cracked as it crashed to the floor.
'You know what you need to do,' said Hyperion, also rising up from his seat.
Cassie grabbed a knife from the table.
I stood up. 'Mom? No, look stop, put the knife down. Don't do anything stupid. It's Hyperion, he's -'
'Hyperion? What are you talking about, stupid girl!'
I moved out from the table and took a step back. 'Stop!'
'You're always prattling, always whining. Well, it stops today. I've had enough,' she hissed. Her hair was falling around her shoulders like fiery snakes. She looked like Medusa. Or was it Medea?
'No. Stop,' I pleaded, my hands up in surrender.
'That's my girl,' said Hyperion, smug satisfaction in his voice, 'let's get rid of Evie.'
'Yes,' she said, 'let's get rid of Evie.' She darted around the table, knife poised to strike.
'Or you could just kill yourself instead.'
'What?' I swung around to face Hyperion. I felt sick as I looked at his smug face. 'What are you trying to do?'
Cassie yelped. I turned to look at her. She now held the knife to her own throat. A trickle of red run down her skin.
'Hyperion! Stop this! Mom, don't do this! Fight him!'
'Oh dear, there's no talking to her when she's like this, is there? Not when she's in one of her moods.' He came to stand behind me. I could feel his warm coppery breath on my neck. It made me shudder.
'Maybe,' he whispered, 'you should just let her kill herself.'
'No.'
'No? Are you sure? Think about it, Evie. It would solve all of your problems.'
'No.' We didn't get on, that was true, but I would never want her dead. Even if she was trying to sell the house out from under me, let alone everything else she'd done. She didn't deserve to die. I sighed. 'Stop this. I will do whatever you want. Anything. Just leave her be.'
'Okay,' he said, sweeping over to Cassie. My heart pounded. What the hell was he going to do now? He draped a spindly arm across her shoulders. 'Oh, why don't you just kill her, Cassie? Finish her pathetic little life.'
She lunged forward, the blood-stained knife held high, ready to plunge into my flesh.
I was paralysed. I couldn't get my body to move. My own mother was going to....
'Nah,' said Hyperion, smacking Cassie hard on the side of her head, 'I was only joking. I need her more than you.'
Her eyes suddenly cleared and there was a look of horror as, for the briefest of moments, she awoke from her trance and looked at the knife in her hand and where it was heading. She swayed on the spot, then crashed to the floor. The knife fell from her grip, bounced off the hardwood before it landed at my feet.
I glanced at the knife on the floor, at Cassie's lifeless body, then at Hyperion. 'What have you done?' I swept down to where she lay and felt her forehead. She was cold, but still breathing, and there was a thin trail of blood from a small cut on the side of her face. Her cheek looked angry and red.
'She'll be okay, don't be so uptight. It's only a tiny cut.'
'A tiny cut?' I screeched, standing up.
Hyperion sighed. 'You're so melodramatic Evie! Geez. That was just a small example of my power.' He flashed a wicked smile. 'So now you know. Don't get playing games, Evie, not with me. You're not up to that task. Although, I have to admit you are gorgeous when you're angry. I can see why Josh has a thing for you. Shame he can't be here now....'
I shuddered. 'What have you done with him?'
'Nothing. Yet.'
Tiredness swept over me. I swayed on the spot. My head slumped forwards. If there was a God, I prayed he would help me now. I didn't think I had the strength.
Hyperion was standing in front of me. I could smell his coppery breath, could feel his grotesque body. I opened my eyes as he placed his spindly hand on my shoulder.
'What do you want from me?' I wanted it to stop. I was too tired.
'A lot, to be fair. You see, you have become very important to my grand plan. Now don't let that get to your head, Evie. No one likes a show-off.'
I let out a puff of exasperation and shook my head.
'First things first, you passed my test with flying colours.'
'Test?'
'Yes, you had the chance to finish off the person in your life who you hate -'
'I don't hate her.'
'If you say so. But you didn't.'
'Why would I kill her? I'm not a murderer.'
Hyperion shrugged. 'That's what they all say. There's a murderer hidden inside every human, Evie. A lot of people would've jumped at the chance to remove an obstacle from their lives, believe me. Look at Cassie here,' he said, nudging her body with the toe of his boot, 'she was going to kill you.'
'You manipulated her.'
'Maybe, maybe not. You'll never know, will you? Anyway, to business.' Hyperion swept across to the sofa and sat down, crossing his right leg over his left. He stretched his arm out along the back of it. 'Why don't you sit?'
I wanted to argue, to remain standing, but I just hadn't the energy to fight. I sat on the sofa opposite him.
'You will go a long way, Evie, if you play your cards right. You have an inner strength that I admire -'
'Admire?' I looked up at him through my thick black fringe. 'Stop the flattery. It won't work.' I sounded a lot stronger than I felt.
'I've been watching you and Josh. I've been observing how you operate, and I have to say we've all under-estimated you. Death, Sophia, what? You didn't think I wasn't there in the background watching you both cajole her into helping you? Pity, she didn't trust you in the beginning, then I wouldn't have been able to steal the Spear from under your noses.'
'Obadiah's place. You were the guy in the shop?'
He smiled. 'Yes. Death, Sophia and myself, we all underestimated you. Whilst we were hammering away at Josh, we should have been concentrating on you.'
'Me?'
'Yes. After I found the Spear, the only thing left was the Book of Solomon. I knew t
hat, as you are a mortal, at some point you'd have to drop back into your human life. You had to. So I waited. And I watched. And as I watched, I realised your mother was a weak link I could exploit. I made her fall for me; it was too easy.'
'I thought no one liked a big head?'
'I've trapped Josh in the church.'
'What? I leaned forward in my seat. 'As if.'
'Don't believe me? Oh, now that hurts! But don't worry, I'll prove it to you very soon.'
'He'll find a way to get out. He'll find a way to bring you down.'
'Oh, do shut up! See, look now, you've got me all mad.' He sighed. 'So, here's what's going to happen next. You are going to come with me to St. John's and you're going to go in and fetch me the Book of Solomon.'
'No.'
'If you don't, the church will become Josh's funeral pyre. I will burn that place down with him still inside it.'
'You won't because you'll also destroy the Book of Solomon.'
'And I'll use your mother's body to light the fire. I will set her alight right in front of you, and then I will toss her inside, like a match.' Hyperion looked at his nails. So no, the book will not be destroyed, because if that's destroyed, your mother and boyfriend are dead too.'
Chapter Thirteen
Hyperion secured my hands in front of me with cable ties.
'It's not that I don't trust you, of course,' he said tightening the strips of plastic around my wrists, 'but it's wise to take precautions. I'm sure you understand.' His hands were unbearable against my skin. They were hot like he had a fever, and yet there was no sweat, just dry and flaky skin that looked like rusted metal.
He marched me outside to my back garden. The waning moon kept disappearing behind a thick blanket of cloud and rain was splattering against the windows. It was cold, and I began to shiver as big droplets of water started to soak through my thin tee-shirt onto my skin.
There was a whistle and then a whooshing sound as Hyperion summoned his creature out of the silvery-white clouds. I gasped in awe as a white dragon slithered out of the darkness. It had the body of a worm, or a large snake, which was covered in tiny mother-of-pearl scales that shimmered in hues of silver, azure, sapphire, lavender and ultraviolet as the moonlight punched holes through the clouds. It glided to the ground and, with a soft swish, landed on the wet grass. Its long tail knocked over the bird-bath as it tried to curl it to fit into our small garden. The bird-bath crashed to the floor, splitting in two as it hit the quartz edging that lined the weed infested flower beds. As the dragon settled, its long beard spread like a silver stream across the grass. It was then I noticed its mouth was clamped together with a brown strap, and its skin was covered in dirt and blood, and there was a brown leather saddle strapped to its back.
Was I dreaming? How could a dragon be real? But then, I was in love with an angel and I had seen the monster behind Hyperion's mask.
He shoved me forwards onto the grass. My right foot skidded through the mud, leaving a long depression in the lawn. The security light clicked on, illuminating the dragon's skin; it looked like it had been carved from marble, or from the moon itself. I wanted to reach out and touch it.
I glanced over my shoulder as Hyperion hissed into my ear, 'Stay there.' The dragon seemed to shudder as he stepped towards it. 'Melusine,' he said, 'keep an eye on her. If she makes a run for it, grab her.'
The dragon gave a low grumble.
'Oh do shut up, Melusine. I know you can't bite her. Sit on her then. I don't care what you do, just don't let her move.' He turned his attention back to me. 'But you'd be rather stupid to try it, wouldn't you?' he asked, 'Considering what's at stake.'
I straightened up, my chin high; I was determined he wouldn't see my fear. 'I'm not going anywhere,' I said. I doubted my trembling legs would carry me very far anyway.
Hyperion swirled on the spot and disappeared back into the house.
My phone rang. It was in my back pocket. Was it Josh?
My hands were hanging in front of me, tied at the wrists. I tried to reach my phone, but I was bound too tightly. I looked around to see if there was anything I could use to cut the cable ties, but there was nothing.
The dragon shifted, twisting its head to look at me. It studied me with its blue, saucer-like eyes, and gave a long sigh. Tears filled my eyes. Why was I feeling so sad? Why did I want to throw my arms around it and tell it, it was going to be okay? It was going to be okay, wasn't it?
I took a step forwards, my tied hands outstretched. It didn't move, so I inched closer. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. Finally, I found the courage to touch it. The dragon's flesh was soft, feeling like silk under my trembling fingers. It twisted its large head and nuzzled into my body. It smelled of grass and mud, of dried blood, and aniseed.
I jumped back as I heard Hyperion burst out of the house. I turned to see him striding over to us, Cassie slung over his right shoulder, her hands and legs bound together with ties. She looked like a deer, all trussed up, ready to be roasted.
The dragon recoiled and whimpered as he approached. He ignored it and slung my mother onto its back before turning his attention back to me.
'Come on,' he said, grabbing the back of my tee-shirt with his long spindly fingers. He tossed me roughly onto the front of the saddle, then climbed up behind me. His body slid behind mine, his legs closing in on either side of me, his crotch pushed hard into my back. I cringed, my stomach curdling as he fidgeted in his seat, pressing his body hard against mine.
'Up,' he commanded, pulling on the reins. The dragon slowly uncoiled itself as it ascended into the air. It didn't have wings, but slithered upwards, into the dark sky, like a snake moving through water.
St. John's was only a short distance away, nestled high on the hill, amongst the yews, cherry trees and oaks. It shone like a beacon in the darkness, illuminated by the spotlights dotted around its exterior. With a few minutes of flight we were at our destination, although part of me didn't want the ride to end; it felt like we were surfing on the waves of a moonbeam.
Hyperion ordered the dragon to land in front of the church. It spiralled down, landing with a gentle thud on the wet ground. Black clouds slipped across the moon, blocking out the natural light, and the sky suddenly burst, drenching us in rain. I shivered, through fear and cold.
He slipped elegantly off the dragon's back. He dusted himself down before turning and pulling Cassie off like she was a lump of meat. He threw her down, and she landed with a thwump on the grass.
I felt sick. She looked like a dead body, ready to be disposed of. Her hair was wet and sticking to the side of her blood-smeared face, her silk blouse was saturated with rain and now see-through, and covered in dirt and blood.
Hyperion grabbed me by the waist and lifted me off. His clawed hands reminded me of the grabber-hooks in an arcade machine as his nails dug into my flesh. He placed me gently on the ground.
I stood before him, shaking and wet. And feeling very vulnerable.
'Darling, darling Evie, even when you're soaked to the bone and dirty, you still look ravishing. Oh, how much fun we could have together, you and I.' He sighed, then leaned over and planted a kiss on my lips.
I was paralysed with fear and revulsion, unable to move as he squashed his lips against mine.
'Mmmm,' he said, as he pulled back, 'truly delectable. If only we'd met before Josh saved you.' He reached down and pulled a small silver dagger from the side of his boot, then slashed the ties binding my hand.
I glanced down at my wrists. They were marked where the plastic had dug into my flesh. My hands were full of pins and needles after being held at an unnatural angle and they throbbed as the blood rushed back into them. I rubbed my wrists absentmindedly and looked over to the church.
The stone spire reached up into the sky like a giant needle, the hands on the clock pointing to the time of ten-forty-three. At the foot of the tower, the great arched doors, decorated with two gold crosses, stood ajar, beckoning me to enter. Somewhere behind m
e, my father's grave lay silent and cold beneath his guardian-angel oak tree.
'So you know what you've got to do?'
I nodded. The breeze whipped up, kicking up the decaying petals on the ground.
'Go on then,' he said, slapping my bottom. His handprint burned into my flesh. I stopped still, feeling sick and shocked at his touch.
'Don't worry, I'll keep your mother safe,' he said, to my back.
I shuddered. Safe? That isn't what I would call it.
I began to climb the worn stone steps up to the solid oak doors.
'Oh, and Evie,' said Hyperion.
I looked over my shoulder at him but didn't reply.
'Don't try anything stupid.'
I ignored him and turned my attention back to the church. I reached out to touch the door but stopped. My heart seemed like it had stopped beating. I wanted to run. I didn't want to go in. I hadn't been inside since my father's funeral. My legs were shaking. I felt sick. I wasn't ready.
I took a deep breath. I couldn't run. Too many people were depending on me. I pushed my fear back down inside me and placed my trembling hand onto the wood. It felt rough under my skin like driftwood washed up on the beach. I pushed it gently. The stiff iron hinges groaned as it opened.
'In your own time, Evie,' said Hyperion, 'it's not like we're doing anything important, is it?'
I forced myself to move forward, put one foot in front of the other, and slipped through the gap in the doors.
I passed through the small porch and into the nave which smelled of polished wood and damp paper. Hymn books were piled up on a side table next to a white vase full of fragrant white roses and gypsophila. I felt small, and insignificant, under the deep blue vaulted ceiling, feeling lost in the vast amount of empty space. For the briefest of moments, moonlight streamed in through the stain glass window, illuminating the cross above the altar where Jesus' broken and bloody body was nailed.
The last time I had seen that cross, my father's polished coffin had been before it, draped in a huge bouquet of pure white calla lilies. I clenched my right hand as I remembered grasping my gran's arm as we sat on the wooden pews, down at the front. I don't remember the service much, just the image of Jesus and the jarring of voices singing Amazing Grace.
