by M A Roth
But he was running his hands along the walls, taking everything in. He moved to the outside of the bathhouse, taking in the stonework. I smiled and looked at the sculpture again. I moved closer. It was hard to stand fully upright as the roof was low. The further back I went, the lower it seemed to be.
“An interesting piece,” A deep voice said behind me, making me jump.
I swung around and was confronted by a striking young man. His flawless, pale complexion reminded me of Zee, but that was as far as the resemblance went. His eyes were dark brown, almost black, and they watched me with a mixture of hate and fascination.
“It creeps me out,” I said before turning back to the statue until my heart rate slowed down to a somewhat normal space. “I don’t understand why he is forcing the hound’s head back,”
“It’s Mithras, and that is no hound, he was known as a bull killer.” His breath brushed my neck; I hadn’t heard him move. I turned around and looked at him. His shoulder length, black hair had a slight wave in it and covered half of his face. I took a step back. My foot hit the base of the statue.
“Well, thanks for the history lesson,” I said, but he didn’t respond. He looked at me as if I was something to solve. His lips had a slight pull on both ends, making him look sad, or moody, it was hard to tell. My heart rate escalated again as he continued to stare down at me. His height was making his body slouch more than mine.
“You’re creeping me out more than the statue right now,” I said before I tried to push past him. His hand wrapped around my wrist, stopping me in my tracks.
“My name is Nicolas Frost, and I have come to take you home, Abigail Thornton,"
I stared up at Nicolas, my breath becoming shallow again, not in awe of his good looks, but in fear.
“What?”
“You knew this day would come and so it has.”
Nicolas slowly pulled a long dagger that was attached to his dark clothes. I hadn’t noticed it before and then it dawned on me that I hadn’t noticed much, but his face. His large frame was dressed in clothes that belonged to a different time. Black pants tucked into large boots, a shirt with a breastplate over it, and long pieces of material were wrapped firmly around his arms from elbows to his wrists.
“What do you want?” I asked, trying not to panic.. Maybe, I could talk my way out of this.
“You.” One word and I knew I was a goner.
My training kicked in. I kneed him good and hard in his manhood. He dropped the dagger and fell to his knees. My knee contacted with his nose while he was on his way down, causing blood to gush down his chin. But my actions didn’t get the results I wanted. The knee in his face seemed to shock him into action. He grabbed my leg and started to pull himself up. I joined my hands together and with all the force I could muster, hit him hard on the back. I could hear his painful exhale of breath, but it didn’t stop him.
The next minute, I was plastered against the wall on the far side of the bath house; one of his hands firmly around my throat as the other was outstretched, pointing at his dagger that was on the other side of the room. I watched it slide across the ground over small pieces of gravel and rise up into the air. The dagger was still moving towards us, and soon it rested in the hand that he had held outstretched.
My mind went numb at what I had just seen. What was he?
“Any last words, Abigail Thornton?” he asked, raising his dagger.
“Fuck you!” I screamed with fear and helplessness, and then, the cold metal scratched along my throat and warm blood spilled freely from it.
I looked at Nicolas in disbelief, but he looked back with nothing in his eyes as he watched me die. My hands went to my throat to stop the blood and my lungs fought for air. I tried to gasp, but blood spluttered from my mouth. My body was no longer able to hold itself up, tumbling to the ground, fighting to live. I can’t die like this. This can’t be the end. I thought.
Nicolas knelt down beside me. “Don’t fight it. You are only prolonging the agony,” he said without emotion.
“Get away from her.”
Nicolas swung around and stood with an incredible speed and grace, a sword now rested in his right hand. I could see Zee pulling an equally large sword from the air.
“Daniel, you’re a little too late,” Nicolas said.
Zee looked around him and his face darkened with fury unlike any I have ever witnessed. He launched himself at Nicolas with a battle cry. Sword struck sword. Darkness was coating the edge of my vision. I was going to die. My lungs burned for air. My blood now coated the stone floor. Someone threw themselves beside me.
“No, No, please, God, no!”
My eyes could barely focus, but I could make out red flaming hair. It was Cathy.
The noise around me had stopped and strong arms lifted me, then the darkness took me completely this time.
Chapter Twenty Seven
Abigail
Light burned the back of my eyes. Intensity grew until my eyes were forced open and air filled my lungs. I couldn’t see past the light that shone around me it was so bright. I could feel the skin along my throat knit slowly back together and then the light diminished. Zee’s face filled my vision.
“Abigail,” he whispered my name with fear and hope in his voice.
“You saved me again,” I said in awe of him.
“She’s alive!”
I looked at Cathy, Simon, and a group of people, who had just witnessed a miracle. Cathy and Simon’s jaws were slack, but the rest looked afraid. A few mobile phones were pointed at Zee and me. They saw the whole thing. Alarm filled my body. No, this couldn’t be happening.
“Zee, run.” I looked back at him as tears burned my eyes. But he didn’t move. “Daniel, you need to leave now, everyone saw what you did.”
I tried to stave off the panic, but Zee shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. Steven is looking for you”
What was he talking about?
“Fuck Steven. You need to leave before this gets back to The Reote, or what will happen when the world finds out? You’ve put your life in danger again, Zee, and for what… me?” I shook my head as the tears fell.
“Yes!” he said before lifting me off the ground and carrying me out of the baths.
The small group of people nearly tripped over themselves to get out of his way. Their faces filled with awe and fear.
“What are you doing?” I asked as the panic returned.
Zee stopped and smiled at me before placing his lips on my forehead. “Sleep, Abigail.”
The world phased out, and I fell into a dreamless sleep.
***
I awoke with soft pillows under my head. My arm lay across a solid form. I gasped when I remembered what had happened. My eyes opened quickly, and I looked up at Zee.
“How do you feel?” he asked.
I swallowed, but my throat felt dry. Zee climbed off the bed and filled a glass of water from its beaker. I took it and drank. My free hand went to my throat where Nicolas had run his blade across it.
“Who was he?” I asked without looking at Zee. His hand came into view, to take the glass from me. I could hear him inhale a deep breath, then exhale.
“He was a friend of mine.”
I looked at him then, but I couldn’t see any betrayal in his eyes, only anger. “Why did he try to kill me? He said that he was taking me home. What the hell did that mean?”
Zee came and sat on the edge of the bed, taking my hands in his. “I know you have lots of questions, but…” He trailed off, letting my hands go. “But the answers are not nice.” He looked up then and met my eyes.
I nodded, unsure of what to say. “Tell me, Zee,” I whispered, truly afraid of the answers, yet needing to know why Nicolas had tried to kill me. Actually succeeded in killing me. If Zee hadn’t been there, I would have been a goner.
Zee took another deep breath before he started, “Nicolas Frost isn’t from this world. He is a lord in Hades and at war with Lucifer for the throne. I believe he is figh
ting a good battle, but he hasn’t won it yet. He has turned over a quarter of hell into a snow encased landscape. He hopes to capture all of Hades.”
This was hard to wrap my mind around. I had believed hell was all fire and flames and Lucifer was the ruler. A war in hell seemed bizarre, but what the hell did it have to do with me? Zee must have seen the question in my eyes and his filled with dread.
“Nicolas wanted to take you to Hades to use you as a weapon in his war.” Zee stood, unable to contain himself.
I had never seen him look so scared before, now he was scaring me and I said as much, “Zee, it can’t be that bad, you’re starting to scare me,” I said and swallowed a mouthful of saliva when his eyes met mine.
“Your mother…” He couldn’t finish, and at the mention of my mother, my whole body filled with anxiety. “Your mother was chosen as a carrier for Lucifer.”
My spine went rigid at his words. “What?” was all I could muster.
Zee looked at me again. “You’re Lucifer’s daughter.”
I sat there, as if frozen in place, unable to let his words sink in. No. What? Lucifer is my father?
My stomach started to roil, my mind not able to accept what my ears had just heard. I raced from the room and made it to the toilet before I retched.
No, this wasn’t possible. The daughter of Lucifer. I almost laughed. I knew I had issues, but I wasn’t that bad. I wasn’t dark or cruel. I never pulled the wings off flies or the legs off spiders when I was a child. These were the traits of cruel people, but if I was, this was the reason my mum was depressed. Could I blame her? To have an abomination like me… unthinkable. Oh, God, my dad… did he take Sam away from me because of what I was and then kill himself? Was I truly responsible for what happened to my family? Did he know I wasn’t his? So many thoughts raced through my mind that I threw up again. This was too much.
“Abigail.” Zee knelt in front of me. “I never wanted to tell you. I’m so sorry.”
I looked at him and could see the truth in his eyes. The pain that ignited in my heart was so intense that I clutched my chest for dear life. Zee stayed on his knees beside me. We stayed like that for a while, no tears came, no words. I felt so numb.
“Please, Abigail, say something.”
I looked at him, really looked at him. The one who I loved. The one who kept me here and now… now what? What was left to say? That I was a murderer? A child that should have never been born? A girl who watched her mother die with no emotions? A girl who killed her father? A woman who fell in love with her guardian angel?
Zee shook me. “Abigail?”
“Yes?” I said through numb lips. I could have saved them. I could have stopped all of this from happening if I had taken my own life.
“I can see what you are thinking, Abigail. It’s not your fault. Your family was not your fault!” He held my face as he said the words so gently, my heart nearly broke in two.
I looked away, never having felt so… so what… disgusted, terrified? I didn’t even know. But I needed to get away.
“You can stop lying,” I whispered, feeling a tightness pull against my chest. “Please, just go. I’m begging you!”
I pushed Zee with everything I had in me and stood. He jumped up and reached out to grab me.
“Don’t. Don’t touch me. I need you to leave,” I said, feeling my heart rate go up.
“Abigail, don’t push me away. I am here for you.” His eyes pleaded, and mine filled with tears.
“I won’t hurt anyone else I love. You’re pure and perfect, and an angel, and I’m a monster.”
He reached me, holding my arms. “Don’t ever say such a thing. You have hurt no one. This wasn’t your fault. You were an innocent child.”
“Stop! Please stop!” My jaw tightened, holding back the emotions that swirled inside me. I felt like I was going to explode.
Zee nodded his head, appearing to understand I was fighting to control the rage inside me. “Okay.”
“Can I have a moment alone?” I looked at Daniel, really looked at him. I wanted to say a million things, but none seemed good enough.
He left hesitantly, and I stood there, unsure of what to do. But one thought circled around in my mind.
I was a monster… a killer. Tears blurred my vision, but I pushed them back, I had no right to cry, no right.
I locked the bathroom door, holding onto the handle, breathing heavily. My anger rising again. I pushed it down and opened the cabinet door. I took out the razor and held it tightly in my hand. Blood dripped into the white basin below me.
If I had died, they would have all been safe. Oh, God, now Zee would be in danger because of healing me and for what? He healed me, Lucifer’s… I couldn’t finish the thought without my stomach turning. My mind raced and panic came over me. That was why I was going to hell. That was why I had no birth certificate. Oh, God, this was not happening. Nicolas should have finished the job he started and I couldn’t hurt anybody else. I shouldn’t even exist.
I placed the razor on the ground, stamping on it until all the plastic had smashed and three small razors lay beneath my boot. My vision blurred with tears. I slid down the side of the bath and sat on the tiled floor. Taking a razor, I held it against my wrist, the tears poured down my face as all the people I loved danced before my eyes. Zee, Father Peter, Simon, Cathy, Sam, my mum and dad. What had I done? My hand shook as I held the razor above my wrist. What? Just like my mother. She had ended her torment here. She said she needed to go to hell and do what… confront the devil? I laughed, but my voice shook. I couldn’t live with this and what would Steven do if he found out? My body froze; he had taken blood… would I have some weird DNA? No, I had blood taken before and nothing had ever happened.
A coldness filled the bathroom, and I watched as the dripping tap froze, a drop held in suspension, like it had when my mother killed herself. Whatever took her was here with me.
Chapter Twenty Eight
Abigail
I looked around the bathroom between blurry eyes, but I couldn’t see anything or anyone. My breath came out in small puffs of air. My hand shook. I couldn’t do this and leave all behind me. It wasn’t fair. But the blade connected with my skin from a pressure above my hand. I flinched. The first cut was painful. My wrist burned as the razor sliced through it. Blood raced to the surface and spilled everywhere. Panic soon left my body and my hand moved involuntarily to my other wrist and slit it quickly before my hands hit the tile floor, the razor making a clanking sound as it landed. A smile spread across my face as images of my family raced through my mind, some part of me felt content, the other was panicked, but I focused on their faces. I would tell my parents how sorry I was. Tears continued to race down my face.
I could hear the roar of my name in the distance, but it was so far away, then a loud banging noise. I wasn’t sure as I was falling asleep into darkness. The noise got closer, yet it was still faint. My name. I opened my eyes as I watched the door handle move, but no noise touched me now. The door shook and then it gave way under Zee’s shoulder. He came to a halt. Father Peter smashing into him.
My eyelids no longer stayed open. I was floating. I understood that I was dying. I felt like I weighed nothing. I started to rise into the light. I could see the outline of figures. They felt warm. I inhaled a deep breath of the purest air that seemed to fill my lungs. I was going to heaven. I smiled as the figures started to materialize before me. It was a man and a woman, yet I still couldn’t see their features. I moved closer, almost there, then I halted as blackness reached out and grabbed me. I kicked it away frantically as it pulled me further away from my parents. No! No! I was moving through a black tunnel, the darkness tightening, suffocating me. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t see.
The air filled my lungs, and I gasped as the smell of blood and artificial air slammed into me. My eyes shot open as I gasped again for air.
Zee leaned over me. His face looked like he was in agony. He wasn’t looking at me, his head was bowe
d in concentration.
“Daniel, look!” Father Peter said, staring at me, but he didn’t come closer.
Daniel’s head snapped up, his eyes bore into mine. I wasn’t sure what I could read there, but he released my wrists. I looked down at the flawless skin, no cuts. Only the blood that pooled around me was the evidence of what I had done. He had healed me again. I met Zee’s eyes that were so hard. I had never seen him like this before.
“How could you?” he whispered, his anger making the words barely pass his lips.
“I… I don’t know. It just happened,” I said, as my emotions felt as if something tight held them into place.
I watched as Father Peter left with a heaviness and sadness around him. Zee’s words made me look at him.
“I can’t live without you!” Zee said forcefully. “If you ever…” He paused, and I could see he was fighting to control himself. “I won’t lose you, Abigail, not when I fought so hard to keep you.” my chest tightened at his words. “Please, promise me,” he said more softly, tears filling his eyes.
“I can’t,” I said and looked away, unable to meet his eyes any longer.
I felt dizzy from bleeding so much, twice now, but yet, I couldn’t die. I often heard the saying, you can’t kill a bad thing. It was starting to sound very true.
Daniel scooped me up in his arms and carried me into the empty bedroom. Father Peter had left. Guilt welled up inside me as Daniel laid me on the bed.
He sat down before taking my hand in his. My heart leapt in my chest.
“It wasn’t me,” I said.
His finger lifted my chin up so my eyes met his. “I know. I felt the cold,” he said and my eyes welled up again, the tears soon spilled over, and Daniel pulled me into his chest. Through my sobs, I thought of my mum.
“Do you think my mother was forced to take her life too?” I asked.
“I don’t know.” Zee’s voice sounded tired.
I didn’t want to annoy him anymore than I already had, so I pulled back, hoping to push him away, but he grabbed my shoulders.
