Empyreal

by Helsel, Spencer

  She and Nathaniel exchanged looks. He smiled. “You mean, she’s like me?”

  Ethan shook his head. “No, that would be impossible.”

  “You keep saying that. Why? Why is that impossible?” Dani asked.

  “Because,” he spoke lowly, as if afraid, “it’s never happened before.”

  She scoffed. “What? A female…whatever you call it? Numen? Like I’m the first one of those?” She meant it as a joke.

  But to her surprise, Ethan nodded. “Actually, yes,” he met her gaze, “you’d be the first ever in existence.”

  Her smile dropped. “You mean...?”

  Ethan nodded again. “There’s never been a female Numen before.”

  Chapter Six It was a mostly silent walk. The trio continued together, the plan to drop her off not an option anymore. Dani’s presence clearly disturbed Ethan. He wouldn’t look at her except to double-check she was still with them. And when he did, there was no longer an indifference in his eyes. If she had to guess, there was something a little closer to fear. He was afraid.

  Afraid of her.

  You’d be the first ever in existence. There’s never been a female Numen.

  No females. No girls. Dani touched the mark on her left arm. She

  didn’t cover it up. It seemed weird to, even though her skin felt no different.

  What magically tattooed her when she wasn’t looking? What was a Numen?

  How was she chosen? Why was she chosen? Was it odd her halo or

  whatever wasn’t on her right arm?

  By Ethan’s expression, the last answer was pretty easy to guess, but

  it didn’t help with the others. There was too much she didn’t know. “Where are we going?” Nathaniel asked. “You said there might be

  more wraiths. Where can we go that’s safe?”

  “I know a place for people like us.”

  They’d been walking awhile. It took Dani a second to realize they

  were near her house. Or rather, Ricky’s house. She checked her watch. It

  was almost nine p.m.; only hours since she ran away from home. She was

  only a few blocks away, but it felt like another world out of reach. Ethan stopped. “Where we’re going is a place no one outside of our

  people,” he paused, looking at Dani hesitantly before continuing, “and a

  select few others can go. We don’t allow Earthly possessions of any kind. So

  the bag can’t come.”

  Dani glanced at her pack. It was literally everything she owned and

  he wanted her to leave it?

  “I’m sorry,” he said, as if reading her mind, “but you won’t need it.” Could she really leave everything she owned? Slowly, she shifted it

  off her shoulder and walked to the edge of the street. Dense bushes lined

  one of the buildings near the sidewalk. Dani tucked the bag back behind

  them. If she had to, maybe she could come back for it. If not… “The necklace, too.” He told her.

  She paused, touching the chain around her neck. “It’s important to

  me.”

  “You can’t take it. The watch either. Or yours.” He told Nathaniel. “It

  all has to go.”

  “Can I take my glasses?” he asked. “I’m blind without them.” “No you’re not.”

  Dani scoffed. “I’ve known him almost my whole life. He’s almost as

  blind as a bat.”

  Instead of arguing, Ethan snatched the glasses off Nathaniel’s face

  and held them away. “Well?” he asked.

  “Hey!” Nathaniel blinked, but after a second, he grinned. “I…uh…I

  can see.”

  Ethan tossed the glasses on the ground, forgetting them. “Becoming

  a Numen changes you physically. You’ll be stronger, faster and any

  impairments disappear.” He glanced at her. “For both of you.” Then he

  quickly left them to finish discarding their things.

  Dani and Nathaniel removed their jewelry, placing them in the bag.

  She zipped it up and left it without looking back.

  “How do we get to this place?” she asked. “This place you say is safe

  for us, I mean?”

  “We take a bus.” He told her, continuing on.

  “A magic bus?” Dani half-joked. Stranger things had happened

  tonight.

  “No, a normal bus.”

  On schedule, the public transit pulled into the stop. Ethan jogged,

  calling for them to catch up. He moved abnormally fast, as if his legs held

  more power than they should.

  “Wait!” Dani called after him. “They’re not going to let you take that

  freaking sword on with you!”

  But Ethan ran to the front, sword plainly in the open. If the driver

  was concerned by his new fare’s armament, he didn’t show it. As Dani and

  Nathaniel joined him, he boarded without a problem. The driver, instead of

  collecting a fare, waved him on. No money needed. Puzzled, Dani and

  Nathaniel followed. Likewise, he allowed them to board, sans payment. Confused, they took seats near front; him in one, the pair of them

  across the aisle. The bus hissed and pulled onto the street. Ethan stretched

  out, arm on the backrest and leg across the open seat next to him with his

  sword.

  “How’d you do that?” Dani asked.

  “Do what?”

  “How did you get on here with that?” she pointed at his weapon.

  “And how did you get on without money? Did you Obi-Wan him?” “You mean with the driver? He can’t see my sword. I told you:

  mundani can’t see through the veil.”

  “Explain that.” Nathaniel asked. “What’s the veil you keep talking

  about?”

  Ethan shrugged, “It’s the thing that separates the supernatural from

  the natural world. It’s like a curtain that keeps us hidden.”

  “They can’t see you?”

  “They see only what they want to see. It convinces mundani that

  what they are seeing they aren’t actually seeing. See?”

  The pair of them blinked, confused.

  He sighed, thinking of a better way to explain. “Ever spot something

  out of the corner of your eye, but when you looked nothing was there? But

  you could have sworn it was? Then you told yourself it must have been a

  figment of your imagination?”

  “Yeah.”

  “That was you partially seeing past the veil. Something or someone

  was behind it, using it to remain hidden. Humans can see through it from

  time to time, but it’s usually by chance or by magic, and it hardly ever lasts.

  It’s not that they can’t see us or can’t see what we actually are; it’s just that

  our abilities convince them to forget us.”

  “So you’re saying you’re supernatural?” Dani asked.

  “I’m human, but yes. We can do more than most. Numen are,” he

  hesitated again, as if about to say something but then not, “supernaturally

  empowered humans. And we can use the veil on purpose, even against

  other supernatural creatures.”

  “No way.”

  “Way.” And then Ethan disappeared, suddenly not in his seat. A

  second later, he appeared in the row behind them. “See?”

  Dani flinched. “All of us can do that?”

  The ‘us’ made Ethan wince, but he nodded.

  “And you can make normal people see things?”

  He shrugged again. “It’s more we can make them not see things.

  And some supernatural objects, like my sword or my clothes, naturally do

  the same. We don’t have to concentrate that hard to cover them up. What

  the driver probab
ly sees is a boy wearing a hoodie. That’s about it.” Dani shook her head.

  “Is something wrong?” Ethan asked.

  “These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.”

  “What?”

  “Nothing. So we learn how to do all of that where we’re going?” He didn’t answer. He got very uncomfortable around her; like he

  forgot who she was until she asked questions. Then he remembered and became uneasy. She didn’t know what that was about, but suspected he

  wasn’t going to tell her. Not yet, anyway.

  They rode the bus route, making its stops for passengers. No one

  paid them any mind. Ethan rested his head against the window. Dani and

  Nathaniel talked a little bit, but mostly stared out the window. The bus

  pulled onto the Five and headed into Los Angeles.

  The lights of the city glistened in the night. It was very beautiful; like

  a star-spangled city in Heaven. As they rode, Dani peeled her eyes from the

  city skyline to the passengers sitting behind them. There were two, a guy

  and girl, all of twenty or thirty. They smiled back at her when they noticed

  her staring. Cute couple.

  Until their eyes melted. Dani swallowed a scream as their eyes

  disintegrated and the sockets filled with what looked like burning, orange

  coal-embers.

  Ethan’s hand slapped down her shoulder, quieting her. “Don’t

  scream.”

  “Did you see?” she was hyperventilating. “Did—Did you see them?” “Yes. Don’t worry. They’re not demons.”

  “They’re not?”

  “No.”

  “What are they?”

  “Just a couple of jinn out for a night on the town. Relax.” Jinn? What the hell was a jinn? She looked back at the couple, who

  talked in low voices with smiles like any other boyfriend/girlfriend. No one

  else on the bus noticed periodic cracks in their skin which spouted small

  gouts of fire. Their clothes never burned. The fire leaked through them,

  leaving them unscathed.

  “You’re seeing through the veil.” Ethan told her calmly, his eyes still

  shut and head tipped back. “It’s scary at first. Just relax. Everyone freaks

  out the first time.”

  He kept his hand on her shoulder, which made her feel a bit better.

  Nathaniel was equally disturbed by the two creatures posing as humans in

  the next booth. He took Dani’s hand and squeezed.

  They continued their ride into town.

  ______________________

  “A construction site?” Dani stared at the empty lot in front of them. “This is safe ground?”

  Ethan nodded.

  The lot was across from the Citadel Outlets, a fancy tourist trap for L.A. The lot was nothing more than a large dirt-and-gravel space, with some spare rebar and a trailer.

  “And how is this safe?”

  He headed off down the sidewalk to the main gate, following the chain-link fence bordering the property. Instead of passing through, Ethan stopped at the entrance. A sign with large lettering stating NO TRESSPASSERS hung right in front of them.

  “This place is abandoned.” Dani pointed out.

  Ethan smirked. “Is it?”

  “What does that mean?”

  “I mean,” he said, “that we—and a few others—can use the veil, even against ourselves. Objects can be clothed in it. That goes for buildings, too. So, look again, but actually look.”

  Dani and Nathaniel did. She didn’t know what she was supposed to be looking at or for, though. And then, as she looked, the plastic sign began to glow. And the longer she looked, the more things changed.

  As if erecting itself out of the rubble, a building formed in the empty space right in front of them. The sign moved higher. The chain-fence melted together and filled in with bricks from thin air, until it wasn’t a fence but a wall. The gate transformed from a simple lock-and-chain gateway into a pair of large, polished oak double-doors. The sign became neon as it centered atop the door. Burning orange tube-lights created a symbol of a fire and within that, red tube-lights melted into lettering, spelling out the name of the large, two-story building that hadn’t been there a moment ago.

  “Welcome to the Hellfire Club.” Ethan told them, knocking.

  A panel on the right door slid open. A pair of oddly-colored, greyishbrown eyes stared back out at them.

  “Password?” a deep voice demanded.

  “Open the sarding door, Rudolf.” Ethan told him.

  Dani glanced sideways at him. Sarding?

  The panel slid back in place and a lock clicked. The door swung wide and a man, who was easily over six feet tall and wide as a bus, stepped out. He had no hair on either his scalp or chin and wore a dark black shirt with the Hellfire Club symbol emblazoned on his right muscular peck. On the left it said SECURITY. From behind him, they could hear the thrum of music.

  “You talk like that and one day soon, boy, you’ll end up six feet under.”

  Ethan smirked, the first smile she ever saw from him. It looked out of place. “Sard yourself, Rudolf.”

  Sard yourself? Ethan was so normal, but then he said strange stuff like that. What was it? A weird slang from where he was from?

  The big man ignored him and turned his gaze on Nathaniel. “Is that him?”

  Ethan nodded. “Yes. That’s him.”

  Then he noticed Dani, too. “Uh…Ethan?”

  He already knew what the man wanted to know. “Is Judah here?”

  “He’s at the bar.” He thumbed over his shoulder.

  “Good. Have him call us a cab and come see me.” Ethan slid by him and into the building. “Come on, guys…er, guy and girl.”

  Nathaniel and Dani followed. As they moved past the big behemoth, she noticed his “skin” didn’t look like skin at all. It was grey, smooth, and sculpted. She realized why he looked so funny: he wasn’t a --man, but something made out of mud. What the hell?

  The door shut and both of them stuck close to Ethan as they walked down a short, dark corridor into the building.

  Dani didn’t even get through her first question. “Ethan, what—?”

  “Rudolf is a golem.” He explained.

  “A golem?”

  “A creature made out of clay and brought to life by magic. Judah, Hellfire’s owner, makes them and uses them as his security and staff. Usually, they aren’t the smartest creatures, but Rudolf’s been around as long as I have so he’s smarter than most.”

  “And how long is that?” Dani asked.

  Ethan didn’t answer.

  “What is this place?” Nathaniel looked around. The hallway was lined with burning lanterns inside glass and brass encasings. “Some kind of fortress? Sanctuary? Church? School?”

  “Better.” Ethan smirked again. “It’s a night club.”

  He opened a set of doors at the end of the hall and the music magnified. They stepped out onto a small raised landing of a dark-lit bar, which swarmed with people. Whatever Hellfire looked like on the outside, it was somehow twice that size inside. Lights strobed through the darkness, moving with the beat of the music that bounced from the DJ’s platform. The club was draped in reds and golds. Curtains and paintings, with walls covered in mosaics, seemed at odds with the packed dance floor and booths of modern deco. There were compartments along the walls on both levels ringing the room. A single bar took up the middle of the space, illuminated by multicolored lights and a massive neon chandelier. It was both like and unlike any other bar in LA.

  And staffed by golems.

  Pouring drinks, walking the crowd as security, serving customers; the large clay creatures were everywhere. Their skin reflected palely in the dim light, like sand under moonlight.

  “I have never been in a place like this.” Nathaniel murmured to her over the music.

  Dani agreed. “Li
ke modern chic meets…I don’t know.”

  “The term is baroque.” Ethan explained. “Judah is a fan of that century. Let’s get a booth. We need privacy.”

  They followed him into the crowd, which appeared to be human, but Dani already knew that the chances of that were slim to none. Several people similarly dressed to Ethan waved as they passed; same tunic-like hoodie but different colors, and all men. They greeted him as they passed with a strange bow, pressing two fingers to their forehead. More than once she spotted an ember-eyed jinn like the ones on the bus. There were other human-like people, but their eyes were colors no human had; greens and purples that glowed in the dark. Golem security and staff paid them no mind. She heard what sounded like a wolf howl over the music.

  They found an empty booth on the first floor, pushing aside a privacy curtain and taking their seats around a table. Ethan unclipped his sword, sliding it into the seat next to him and raised his hand for service. A golem appeared to take their order.

  “Galenical,” Ethan ordered, “straight and no belladonna. You guys want anything?”

  The pair of them just stared at him.

  “Right. Just for me then.”

  “Two Corinth.” The golem responded.

  He reached into his tunic and removed two coins. He placed them into the golem’s hand and it departed.

  “So,” Ethan sat back, relaxed for the first time Dani had seen him, “I’m guessing you have questions.”

  “About a billion.” Nathaniel said.

  “Well, I got my own.” His eyes fixed on Dani. “I don’t want to lie to you: I wasn’t expecting two of you, let alone a girl. I have no idea what that will mean, but I want to say I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to mistreat you. I assumed you were a mundanus and that made me careless.”

  “I’ll say.” She grumbled, but nodded. “And though you were being a jerk, I think I can put that behind me if you tell us what’s going on. So we’re both Numen? You called us Earthborn, too. Why?”

  “That’s part of why we’re here. Judah, the owner, knows a lot more about this than I do. His club is safe ground for people like us and he can explain things better than I can. Suffice to say: Earthborn, or Numen as we call ourselves, are special individuals with gifts.”

  “Who can kill demons?”

  “Yes.”

  “And there aren’t any girls?” she asked. “At all?”

  “No. There’s never been, at least as far as I know.”

  “Then how do you all—?” she stopped herself and burned with embarrassment. Did she actually almost ask him how they have sex? “Um…how do you all…make baby Numen?”