The City of Flame and Shadow

by Kim Richardson

  Rachel looked alarmed, and for a moment Alexa half expected the mortal girl to lash out at her again with the usual dead-girl insults, but instead Rachel reached inside her coat and drew a blade of her own.

  Matt followed her example and pulled out a large, steel-gray blade that looked more like a machete to Alexa than the usual operative short sword or dagger.

  Alexa felt Erik’s eyes on her, but she kept her gaze on the dark corridor. Her skin tingled with the presence of darkness. Evil leaked from somewhere inside this school.

  “Come,” said Milo as he strode down the corridor with soundless grace. “I believe it smells more fowl down this way.”

  Without another word, Alexa followed Milo, her head swimming with different scenarios of how to slap Rachel and her shoulders stiff with rage. She didn’t even look back to see if the others were following. At this point, she didn’t care if they came or not. But as she dashed across the polished floors, a loud tread of multiple boots sounded behind her.

  Together, the five of them sprinted off down the hall with Milo in the lead, past a large glass case stuffed with trophies, picture frames, and an assortment of gold and silver medals hanging by red and blue ribbons and a toy pig dressed in overalls.

  As they sped down the hallway, Alexa felt the familiar pulse of darkness intensify along with a weight in her throat of absolute dread and terrible foreboding.

  Could Hades be lurking in the shadows? Was he waiting for her?

  The hallway ended suddenly and branched out into two corridors, both leading into another long and gloomy hallway. Milo froze and raised one of his swords, motioning them to stop.

  Everyone halted, and nothing moved but Erik’s, Rachel’s, and Matt’s heaving chests.

  “What is it?” whispered Alexa, knowing that Milo’s keen angel senses far outmatched her own. When she gazed down the hallway, all she saw were more doors, corridors, and the same white painted walls. “Is it the angels? Can you sense them?” she said, glancing up and down the corridors.

  Alexa turned her head around, trying to feel something, but the darkness pressed on her angel senses like a weightless blanket.

  “I felt a shift in the Veil, like a ripple of light,” said Milo as he closed his eyes for a moment, a frown on his face like he was struggling to recall a memory. He opened his eyes. “I lost it. It was faint, but there’s definitely an angel presence here. I felt it.”

  Erik snorted behind her and Alexa shot him a glare. She turned back to Milo. “Which way do we go?”

  Milo stood still for a moment, and then he pointed with the tip of his sword down another corridor to his left. “That way,” he said and sprinted down the hallway.

  Alexa and the others hurried down the hallway after him. Where her boots clacked loudly against the hard floor, Milo’s silent thief-like stealth made him look as though he was gliding a few inches off the floor, the heels of his boots never really touching.

  Alexa’s nerves jolted in her frantically now that she knew they were on the right track. Milo led the way down the narrow space. Doors flew by on either side in blurs of grays and whites as Alexa galloped behind the angel.

  They passed so many doors that Alexa lost count. She was listening hard for the slightest sound of movement. The school was enormous with ample spots for demons to hide, waiting for the perfect opportunity to ambush them.

  What had happened to the angels? Was Hades responsible? Alexa couldn’t help but wonder if they’d been ambushed on a fool’s mission, just like this one.

  Milo continued to lead the way through the darkness. A door was open, and he motioned to the open door ahead and made his way silently inside, Alexa right behind him.

  She moved into the doorway. The room was short and narrow, with a low roof and small windows. Desks and chairs were tipped over, splintered with legs shattered as though they’d been thrown against the wall by something large and very strong. Maroon stains smeared the walls and the floor. When Alexa moved closer, she saw the figure of a woman lying motionless on the ground, her head twisted at an awkward angle. Milo bent down and put his hands on the body, his face grim.

  When he looked up at her, he shook his head gently and then stormed out the room.

  “Milo! Wait!”

  Alexa bolted after him, but not before she caught the expressions of anger and sadness on Erik’s face as he and the others huddled around the dead body.

  Alexa rushed back into the hallway and around the corner where she’d seen Milo disappear—and halted.

  Bodies littered the corridor. Cautiously, her right hand almost glued to the hilt of her soul blade, she stepped around the first of the splayed-out bodies on the ground. There were eight of them, spread out along the hall’s length. It was clear to Alexa what had killed them. They had been hacked apart, their limbs torn from their bodies. As Alexa edged closer, she saw that they had also been beheaded. But worse, she knew whatever demon had killed them had also taken their souls.

  Alexa kept moving. There was a crumpled body in the corridor beyond, a man with a gaping hole in his chest. They kept moving and Alexa saw another man lying on the floor. His face had been ripped to ribbons, the white of his skull peering through the torn flesh.

  “Did your angels do this?” Erik’s face darkened and he looked like he was about to be sick. “They murdered these people. Didn’t they?”

  “What?” Alexa whirled on him, keeping her voice low despite her anger. “No. Of course not. Angels don’t kill innocent mortals. They protect them. How can you even say that?”

  “Really?” Erik’s voice wavered angrily. “It wasn’t that long ago when angels came into our home and killed defenseless children.”

  Alexa sighed. “I know what you’re going to say, but that was different—”

  “Not it’s not,” Rachel seethed, her eyes welled with tears. “Angels tried to kill me, but somehow I survived. But only because I had someone watching over me…” her eyes flicked to Erik. “These people never stood a chance. They had no training, no warning, and no idea how to deal with these creatures—”

  “Angels didn’t do this,” repeated Alexa, seeing the revulsion that mirrored on Matt’s face.

  “How can you be so sure?” demanded Erik. “They’ve done it before. Why is this any different?”

  “What happened at Hallow Hall was an isolated case.” Milo turned around and faced Erik. “The circumstances were very different. These deaths aren’t related.”

  Erik shook his head. “Pfff—how the hell do you know? You can’t even tell if your buddies are here or not. You can’t tell me angels didn’t do this.”

  “They didn’t.” Alexa moved around the body. “Demons did this.” The words felt heavy on her tongue, as though she were trying to convince herself. “I can still smell the stench of demon, like curdled milk and vinegar and rotten flesh.” The smell hit her hard. “Trust me, this is demons’ work. Angels didn’t kill these people.”

  For a moment, no one said anything. Erik moved away, and the others followed his example, taking his sudden stop of argument as a sign he’d finally accepted Alexa’s version of events.

  They crept forward, glancing behind them as they went on down the long corridor. The farthest ends were in near-total darkness. Occasionally, Alexa heard Erik and the others whispering behind her, catching the usual “they’re all liars” and then the reoccurring

  “murderers.”

  Lying to Erik about the dead mortal was… awful. The truth was, she couldn’t be entirely sure it wasn’t angels. But Milo had stepped in and confirmed the suspicious deaths were the work of demons. She hoped he was right.

  Still, guilt weighed heavily on Alexa. She wore it now like a cloak made of steel. It pushed down on her shoulders, strained into her legs, and made every step painful.

  Suddenly, Milo halted, his head bent listening.

  The others stopped and Alexa edged forward to peer down one of the shadowy aisles. She couldn’t hear anything or see the slightest sign
of movement, but she felt the darkness, like a suffocating smoke.

  “Demons,” whispered Alexa over Milo’s shoulder. “Lots of them.”

  “Yes, lots of them,” breathed Milo. He had a strange smile on his face as he looked toward the end of the hallway.

  And then he shot forward again, like a hound following a scent. Alexa bolted down the hallway and made it just in time to see Milo kick open a classroom door and disappear inside.

  Alexa hurled herself in after him, her blade brandished before her.

  As her eyes became accustomed to the darkness of the room, she saw desks and empty chairs covering every surface of the classroom with maps and posters hanging in spaces between the bookcases that ran the length of the room.

  But no one was there. No demons. No angels. All was echoing, dusty silence.

  Alexa looked at Milo, and the confusion on his face mirrored her own. His eyes rested on her for a moment, his lips a thin line. His face went very still, and in that moment he looked suddenly much older.

  She turned at the sound of people approaching, and Erik toppled into the room, closely followed by Matt and Rachel.

  Nobody spoke. Alexa didn’t want to look at any of them. She felt embarrassed, and she didn’t understand why the room was empty. She’d been so sure she’d felt the presence of demons…

  “Is this a joke? There’s no one in here?” Erik stepped around the desks. After a moment, he turned to Rachel and Matt. “Come on, let’s get out of here—”

  A high, yowling cry sounded from somewhere outside the classroom—loud and terrified, a young person being hurt. Just then a they heard a crash as something heavy went through a window.

  Alexa felt the hairs on her neck stand up like wires. “That’s not a demon’s cry. That’s a girl’s!” Without waiting for a reply, Alexa bolted out the door and bounded down the corridor towards the sound.

  Her limbs powered by her M-9 suit, the balls of her feet barely touched the ground as she sprinted on the polished floors with doors and walls passing in a blur.

  She had failed to save the mortals in that nightclub, but she would save this girl. She had to.

  Behind her, closer now, were rushing footsteps and shouts. The thick demon stench was like running through a wall of smoke, pushing her back and trying to keep her away.

  Alexa veered right towards another long hallway and dashed along the corridor to where light poured through a door. While she recognized the cold and putrid presence of a demon, she sensed something else, too. Life.

  With a final leap, she found herself in a large, gymnasium-like room. Unlike the rest of the school, it was lit by rows of ceiling lights high above, as bright as day. Seats, stacked in ten-foot high towering pillars, lined the sides of the large room.

  A girl lay in the middle of the gymnasium’s floor. She was curled up in a fetal position with her face hidden in her hands. She was shaking.

  Alexa didn’t notice the shadowy figures that pushed off from the walls and shuffled towards her. Her eyes never left the trembling girl.

  Alexa could make out long black hair and delicate outstretched hands covered in blood as well as skin spotted with ugly bruises.

  As she approached the girl, she could see another large bruise on her cheek and the paleness of her face. Yet she could see the darting movement under her eyelids.

  Relief washed through her like a hot wave, undoing the tight cords of tension that had held her together this long.

  “It’s all right,” said Alexa. “You’re going to be okay.” She kneeled, setting her blade aside, and gently turned her over.

  Large black eyes stared up at her.

  And then the girl sat up and smiled, her pointed teeth smeared in blood. “Hello, angel.”

  CHAPTER 11

  ALEXA FROZE FOR HALF A SECOND. She blinked, staring at the girl’s face.

  From the corner of her eyes, she saw Milo, Erik, Rachel and Matt all move in around her, their weapons raised. But their eyes weren’t on the girl or her.

  Slowly, Alexa raised her head and turned around. A mass of creatures surrounded them. Their faces were emaciated and scabbed, with corpse-like skin and protruding eyes. The air stank of sulfur, spoiled meat, and blood.

  There was no mistaking what they were—belphegors—angels that had fed on mortal souls. While most of their faces were gaunt, some still looked human, their mortal suits still intact, as though they hadn’t had their fill of mortal souls. Their hands, stripped and skeletal, held long, slender death blades at the ready.

  The girl laughed. Her mouth peeled back in a smile and the skin broken at the corners. She sprang to her feet with the agility of a cat, her bare feet slapping against the hard floors.

  “Took you long enough,” she said and stuck a red lollypop into her mouth. “We’ve been waiting, waiting, waiting for you. I was about to give up on you when Stan thought he smelled angels. Turns out he was right.”

  Alexa grabbed her soul blade, stood up and took a careful step back, her eyes never leaving the young girl. She didn’t dare look at Erik. As the guilt she had felt moments earlier came down in an overwhelming rush of hot and cold, she strained to keep from shaking.

  The girl’s face was smeared in blood, human blood, as though she had rubbed her face in a large open wound. The majority of it was on her lips, her cheeks, and down her neck, with strands of her hair stuck to her face.

  The girl’s eyes widened as she stared at Erik, Rachel and Matt. “But even better … you brought lunch.” The girl began to skip around them, laughing.

  Instinctively, Alexa moved towards Erik and the others, placing her body protectively in front of them. She’d caught a glimpse of Rachel’s accusing stare before turning around.

  “What kind of demons are they?” asked Erik behind her.

  “Belphegors.” Alexa followed the bouncing girl demon with her eyes. She braced herself as the next words left her mouth. “Angels turned demon after they’ve fed on mortal souls.”

  Rachel hissed behind her before saying, “Looks like they’ve just fed on a bunch of kids.”

  “You lied to me,” said Erik. His voice shook with equal amounts of accusation and betrayal, cutting through Alexa’s chest like a knife. When she turned to look at him, his face was twisted like he’d bitten into something sour. “You said angels didn’t kill all those people,” shot Erik. “You knew this and you let us come here. How could you? How could you do this to us?” To me, his eyes said.

  “I didn’t know,” croaked Alexa, her chest tightening as though she was running out of air even though she had no need to breathe.

  “Liar, I can see it in your face.”

  “There was no way to be sure. You have to believe me.”

  “We should leave,” came Matt’s voice. “Create some sort of diversion and get the hell out of here. I’ll take my chances with Michael and Valerie—”

  “It’s too late,” said Alexa in a strained whisper. “They’ll never fall for a diversion.”

  As though the demons had heard them, shapes loomed in the doorway from where they’d emerged, blocking any means of escape. She heard Matt curse as she let her eyes roam around the room. She counted twenty demons, including the bouncing girl. The odds weren’t in their favor.

  Alexa glanced at Milo. His face was set as he watched the girl skipping around them with equal loathing and disgust. Then she noticed the pile of bodies. At least thirty were stacked together and lying in a giant puddle of blood, their limbs twisted in unnatural positions—all teens, and all very dead.

  A low growl escaped Alexa’s throat. “Who are you?”

  The girl never stopped skipping as she pulled out her lollypop, smacked her lips together and said, “Willow. And you must be Alexa, right? Hades told me all about you… and your little secret. Although we’ve never met, I know the strikingly handsome angel next to you is the mysterious Milo. Hi!” She flashed him her pointed teeth and had the nerve to look like a school-girl staring at her crush and batting h
er eyelashes.

  Alexa gripped her blade. “For some reason, the archangel Sabrielle thought you were in distress. She thought you were in trouble, but it seems she’s wrong about her precious Willow. You’re not a celebrated angel—you’re a killer. Worse, you killed these kids and fed on their souls… and by the looks of you… their flesh.”

  Willow rolled her eyes as she bounded around them. “Oh please. This world is overpopulated anyway. I’m doing it a favor, trust me. This world is suffocating. It needs to breathe—and I’m just doing a little weeding, that’s all. It’s not like a few teensy weensy souls are going to be missed.”

  “Where’s Hades?” barked Milo, who looked like he was about to use his swords on the girl demon. “Did he put you up to this? Is this,” he motioned toward the pile of dead mortals, “part of some plan? A deal you made with the pagan god? What did he promise you in exchange for your angel soul?”

  Willow halted in mid-skip. “I don’t know where he is,” she said shrugging. Then she skipped around them again, getting closer and closer with each circle. She hopped next to Milo and licked her lips. Her tongue was gray and covered in sores. “Give me a kiss, handsome, and I might tell you.”

  “I’d sooner cut out my own soul than let you near me, demon,” snarled Milo.

  Willow pretended to look offended. “Well, has it been that long since you had the touch of a woman?” She put her hands on her hips and made a vulgar gesture.

  “Enough with your games, Willow,” said Alexa.

  “Enough with your games, Willow,” called Willow in her mock baby voice, which echoed off the polished floors. She giggled, threw out her hands and twirled like a ballerina. “I don’t know where he is. Probably somewhere using his new toy to let out more Greater demons, I expect.”

  When she pulled out her lollypop again, Alexa noticed black talons where there used to be fingernails.

  “Forget Hades,” said Willow, her black eyes fixed on Erik. “Now, let’s talk about these juicy mortals you brought with you—stay!”