Ethereal Underground

by Briana Gaitan

  “Leon…” she started, but stopped, not wanting to let the words flow form her mouth for fear of his rejection.

  “Anna….please tell me. What happened to you for you to become so tired? In two days’ time, I have not left your side. Finlay has been covering my charges as I tended to you. There is no reason for you to be like this and he would not answer any of my questions. Also, the council has been here…but I would not let them in,” he explained, still looking to her for answers.

  So the Elders were looking for her. They knew what she had done and they had come to punish her. Annalise had known there was no way for her to get out of this, no way they would not have noticed the soul missing. She wasn’t sure what happened to the person once they were brought back to life when they were supposed to be taken. Not sure what kind of kink she had put in the way of the world, she was scared to even think about it. It was possible she had thrown everyone’s futures off. She was terrified to know that Leon had asked the Elders to leave.

  She reached out to grasp the cloth of Leon’s shirt as she looked up at him desperately, “You cannot turn them away. You will be cast out and made a fallen for protecting me.”

  His eyes opened in shock, grabbing her arms with his hands, just as the mortal had when he had awoken. Her eyes slammed shut with the memory, wanting to erase it from her mind. She was ashamed of herself, for stabbing her kind in the back. Leon….

  “What are you talking about?” he insisted, his grip getting tighter on her arms.

  She opened her eyes, begging him with them to remain calm, “I raised a soul, Leon, one that I was supposed to take.” Her breath caught in her throat, scared to hear his response.

  He let her go, stood up from the bed, and walked across the room. She watched as his hands went up to his head to rub it, his wings rigid with tension. She had seen this gesture before, one that had never been directed at her, and she dreaded what would be said next. It showed that he was very agitated. He turned back to her, arms crossing in front of his chest and looking down at her, “Why would you do that?”

  Annalise slid off of the bed and onto the floor, moving over to where he was and wrapping her arms around his legs and letting the tears fall from her eyes. She had to show him how very sorry she was, that she regretted bringing this mortal back to life, even though she wasn’t sure what had gotten ahold of her. “I do not know. I have no excuse. Please do not hate me. I could not stand it.”

  She felt him kneel down to where she was, curl his fingers into her hair as he pulled her close to hold her and whispered softly, “I could never hate you, but you should have come to me.”

  It bit her to the bone, the way his voice went from concern and caring to that of irritation and anger in two short sentences. As far as she could remember, he had never been angry with her. He was always understanding and caring, the only one in their realm to really get her. Still, she couldn't explain this turn of events herself, so why did she expect him to understand?

  She felt hurt, so she moved away from him and stood up. After she took a few steps back, she crossed her arms around herself. “I did not come to you because I knew you would be like this.” She tried to keep her face neutral.

  “Did you go to Finlay about this?”

  “Yes…” she whispered, unsure of why that was an issue. He was their friend after all.

  Leon pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head, clearly conflicted. “Do you realize what kind of trouble you are going to be in if this continues?”

  “I am quite aware of that, Leon, and I thought that perhaps you would care enough to help me stay out of trouble. Apparently I was mistaken,” she stated and lowered her eyebrows to scowl at him. They had never fought before, they had always gotten along. He was the one person who understood her, and he should know that she would never do such a thing on purpose. It was that keeper, she was certain; he had performed some kind of alchemy over her.

  Taking a step towards her, her counterpart reached out to run a finger down her cheek, but she stepped back. She could see the sudden sadness in his eyes as she did so, never brushing him off in all of their years together.

  “Anna, don’t be upset with me. We need to get you some help, figure out why you would do such a thing. You have never ignored your duty before. I am just trying to understand.”

  “You are doing no such thing. You are judging me. You have no idea what I have been through trying to deal with this except that your name might be looked down upon because your counterpart made a mistake!” Annalise threw her arms down at her sides and glared at Leon. She had never been so upset with him in all the years they had worked together. This anger inside of her was intense and overpowering, and she wasn’t sure how to deal with it. Leon would not understand. She had never seen him lose his temper, because he had no temper to lose. Here she was acting like a mortal child. She had been bewitched by this ‘Ash’ and she was going to find him. Finlay was right. She had to find him. Find him and insist that he tell her the truth about what had happened. That was the only way she could know for sure that she had not completely lost her mind or begun her decent down to being cast out. Giving one last look into those green eyes, she teleported to the other side of the realm where she could think in peace.

  When she returned home, she found herself alone inside of the small dwelling. She could hear several voices outside conversing, and she remembered that they were supposed to be roasting over the fire with Finlay and Slade. That was one of the reasons they had frequented the market, to obtain things to cook. She did not find herself particularly hungry or in the mood to be social. This was something she always looked forward to, but everything that had transpired had taken over her mind and she had forgotten. Walking over to the window, she peered outside and took in the scene.

  Finlay, Leon, and Slade were all sitting around the fire pit with something roasting on the wood above. Finlay’s hands were moving about theatrically, no doubt in some kind of exciting story. Annalise knew if she went out there, he would pull her into reenactments and she was really not in the mood. All of these emotions were swirling around in her head and all she could think of was the Elders swooping in and destroying all of them. She wasn’t sure how things would be with her seraph friends since she had acquired these newfound emotions.

  Still, she pulled herself to the entrance and forced a smile to her face. Leon turned his head to her as if on cue and let the corner of his mouth turn up in a grin. He stood up as she walked over to them, and reached out to pull her into an embrace.

  “Hello Anna,” he whispered as he wrapped his wings around the both of them. He pulled back and looked down at her, still keeping privacy up between them, “How are you feeling?”

  “I am fine.”

  “You are not being honest with me.”

  Annalise found it incredibly irritating that he was calling her out every time she tried to hide her feelings from him. This was different and he could never understand. He had never broken the rules, and she knew he looked down on her for it.

  “Can we just roast over the fire and forget about today?” she asked.

  Leon frowned but nodded, pulling himself away from her and placing a hand at her back. He addressed the others, “Anna here was just taking a walk.”

  He led her over to where the others were and she took a seat beside Finlay, who promptly gave her a wink and leaned over to her, “Well hello, Anna, imagine seeing you around here.” His hazel eyes bore into hers, showing that he was hinting that she needed to go to the mortal world.

  She gave him a frown in return, “I would not be anywhere else.”

  “How was your walk?” Slade asked from across the way, “Find anything interesting?”

  “No, there were not many about where I was,” she mumbled, casting her eyes to the ground. She did not enjoy being untruthful with her friend but she did not want him knowing about what had happened. The fewer seraphs involved, the better it would be for everyone.

  Finlay rea
ched out to twist the wood in front of him, demeanor quiet. This was how he usually was when other seraphs were around, more reserved and to himself, more proper in his language. However, he kept looking into his bangle as if he was waiting for something. He was not always this silent around this small group of friends. She wondered what it was that had his attention. It made Annalise uncomfortable now, to know that he was hiding his true self from even Slade. Whatever had been so interesting for him to share before she arrived was just a memory now. None of the seraphs brought it back up, and she doubted that they cared to. The seraphs relished the quiet and enjoyed the scenery around them. Annalise found herself slightly bored, something that had not occurred to her before. Other than Finlay’s stories there was nothing for them to talk about. Nothing went on in their lives, nothing but the duty. It was what they knew. Annalise opened her mouth to ask how Slade’s counterpart, Teagan, was doing when a buzzing sound went off.

  All of the men cast their eyes to their bangle, only Annalise did not. She did not want to go back to the human world. She had calmed herself down and had no desire to bring back the flood of sentiments. Her thoughts had been nearing insanity, to think that she could go speak with the mortal and demand what he had done to her.

  Slade smiled as he looked up at them, “That is me. I shall return.” He tapped his bangle and disappeared from sight. It was apparent to Annalise that he had to take care of something with his charge.

  “Have you returned to the mortal?” Leon asked suddenly.

  She looked up at him in shock of his blunt questioning, “No, I have not.”

  “I do not recommend you go there.”

  “I was only planning on going to their world if I have a reaping, Leon. I think that you need to stop worrying.”

  “I am not worried,” he clarified, “I simply do not want him to harm you. If he does, I will kill him.”

  Annalise knew this to be true. Leon would not spend too much time worrying over anything, it wasn’t a seraph quality. He would simply watch out for her and kill anything in his path that might cause her harm. The seraphs were simple. It was the mortals that were complicated. The Elders had taught them this, that the mortal’s emotions controlled them and caused nothing but trouble. The fact that Annalise seemed to be feeling more and more like one by the minute since she had saved Ash made her feel ashamed.

  “Friend, just calm down,” Finlay said, glaring at his friend and going back to turn the vegetables on the wood in front of them.

  “I do not want her being like you.”

  With a laugh, Finlay shook his head and leaned over to Leon, “No one can ever be like me.”

  Slade returned, back in the spot he had left, much to Annalise’s happiness. This would end the conversation. They returned to the silence that they had beforehand until Finlay let an excited exclamation, “And it is done! Feast your eyes everyone on your new favorite meal.”

  Annalise giggled, excitement filling her to try the new dish. No one else seemed to share in her enthusiasm, however, just nodding at the blonde as he began to pull pieces off and handing them out. Each one ate what was offered to them, and the reaper couldn’t help herself, “This is delicious Finlay, where did you find out how to make it?”

  “I have my ways.”

  “It is delicious,” Leon agreed quickly.

  “Yes.” This from Slade.

  Finlay gave her a crooked smile as he went back to eating his food. The group grew quiet again until the familiar buzzing sound went off. This time, Leon excused him from the group. He didn’t give her his usual goodbyes, and it made her sad, feel as if she had done something horribly wrong. She wondered where he was headed or what he was doing. Annalise could only hope that he would return safely. If she lost him without a goodbye she would be crushed.

  Once again, Slade’s bangle sounded. He excused himself from the group and vanished, leaving Annalise and Finlay alone.

  The guardian took the opportunity to look over at her with a knowing smile, “Go on, Anna. You know you want to go talk to the mortal.”

  “No,” she disagreed with a shake of her head.

  “Anna.”

  “What?”

  He took her face in his hands and made her look at him again, “Go Anna. If Leon gets back you may not have the chance.”

  She could see the seriousness in his eyes and hear it in his voice. Finlay was right. Even though she had tried to fight the pull that was drawing her back to the mortal world, she wanted so badly to go. Annalise had never broken the rules before and she had to figure out why it had occurred.

  “Thank you,” she said and placed her hands on his in return. She leaned over and gave him a chaste kiss on the forehead before tapping her bangle and teleporting to the mortal world.

  Chapter Four

  Ash

  Ash slammed a handful of gems on the table and gave a short nod to his bookie. He needed to blow off some steam, and he couldn’t think of anything better than gambling away his fight winnings. The blonde man smirked before taking the gems and put Ash’s name on the list.

  “Bad day?” he asked as he gave Ash his share of chips to play with. Ash took his gambling chips and grumbled. He couldn’t sit still. He hadn’t been able to sleep in two days, it was like energy and new life was constantly surging through his body. He couldn’t explain it, but something was off and it worried him.

  “The craziest, Finlay. You have no idea.”

  The man flipped his hat down lower over his eyes and leaned in close.

  “Better snap out of it Ash or they will take advantage of you,” he nodded toward the table in the other room. “Zander is playing tonight; he’s just itching at the chance to win back all his money.” Ash ran his hands through his hair and sighed. It had been a rough couple of days, maybe playing cards was not the best thing to do right now. His emotions were out for everyone to see. He put his chips back on the table.

  “Count me out.”

  Finlay nodded and put his gems back on the table. “Good call friend, let’s get a drink and relax tonight, stay away from the ring too. You look pretty awful; fighting won’t do you any better.”

  Ash had known Finlay for years, since he started coming to the eighth layer. He had taken him under his wing, shown him the ropes. If it hadn’t been for Finlay, Ash would have probably been killed that first day. He had never traveled past the third layer before. Unless it was on assignment, the keepers were forbidden from going to the lowest layers. He could still remember that first trip like it was yesterday. After an unusually rough assignment, Ash had somehow found himself jumping in a ship and traveling down. He had never seen anything so exciting before. His first day, he had joined in on a ring fight. No one knew about his keeper training, and they were unprepared for how fast and strong he was. After walking away with a pocket full of gems; Finlay had offered to buy him a drink. Finlay was a local; he took the bets and called the shots. Ethereal Underground was one of the most popular bars, not only because below in the basement it hosted a fighting arena and a gambler’s fantasy, but also because above was the perfect place to blend in and forget about the hard knocks of life. Ash trusted Finlay more than he had trusted most of the keepers. The man had his back, and had proven it many times over the years. When Ash’s mouth got a little bit too cocky with the locals, Finlay was right there ready to fight. When Ash had drunk too much, and couldn’t get home in time before the lights went out, Finlay was right there ready to take him home. Ash had never told Finlay what he did during the day, but he believed that he had an idea. After a few years, Ash had started to spend more time in the eighth layer and less time at the keeper conservatory on the surface. He wasn’t sure how he had gotten away with it for so long, but no one seemed to ask questions when he snuck out at night. In recent months, he had begun to wonder why so many people were forced to live underground while the surface was vacant. Many people believed it was because of safety; after all, the entire planet was smack dab right in the middle of a war z
one between dozens of planets. Ash had recently come to a different conclusion. The other day his suspicions were confirmed when he heard how the Officials talked. He now understood that the Officials kept the citizens oppressed because they were easier to control. Ash tried to push the rebellious thoughts from his mind. He didn’t want to become a radical.

  “Ash, you in there?” Finlay snapped his fingers right in front of his face, knocking Ash out of his thoughts.

  “Yeah Fin, sorry, let’s go get that drink.” They walked up the metal staircase that led to a doorway in the back of the Ethereal Underground. Once again Ash inhaled that familiar smell of fruity smoke and sweat. This place felt like home. The two of them made their way towards their usual table in the corner. No one else sat there, it was always open and ready for them. Once they took their seats, Ash looked around for Arie. She normally came by in the evenings, and he had been trying his best to avoid her and her pestering questions. He watched as Finlay grabbed a waitress by the waist and whispered in her ear. Finlay was smoother than Ash would ever be. The waitress giggled in response before moving on slowly to the next table.

  “She’s getting us some ale. “ Finlay grinned as he watched her walk away. Finely took off his cap and ran his fingers through his dirty blonde hair.

  “This place is pretty dead tonight, huh?” Ash noticed, looking around. There were no more than a dozen or so people at the bar.

  “No big games downstairs,” Finlay said without a pause. “Speaking of which, I never see you here on a working night….”

  Ash knew where he was headed, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to talk about it quite yet. The fact that he had no job right now or the fact that he couldn’t get the image of a blonde girl out of his head. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t shake her lovely face, even though the image wasn’t clear.

  “I’m taking a sabbatical.”