Ethereal Underground

by Briana Gaitan

  “And you have been working with these fallen? Do the Officials know?”

  Jaron didn’t answer; he only spun the blade across his hand like a baton before taking a swipe at Ash’s stomach. Ash jumped back with barely enough time and spun around to kick the wall. Using his entire body’s strength, Ash kicked off of the metal wall and aimed his other leg at Jaron’s hand. He meant to try and knock the blade from his grip, but Jaron was too fast and moved from within range. Jaron made a few more swipes with the blade, and barely missed each time. With a frustrated cry, Jaron made one final try for Ash’s heart. This time Ash was ready and grabbed his hand firmly once again trying to knock the blade from his grip. Jaron held on to the blade with a deadly vengeance and used his elbow to knock Ash in the face. Ash felt the ground slip out from beneath his feet as the two of them struggled for control. They both fell to the ground; each fighting for control of the blade. Ash gritted his teeth as he struggled to gather up all his remaining strength. The sound of a woman’s cry made them both look up and pause.

  A few feet away stood Annalise, with her gun in her hands.

  “Get off of him, Jaron. Back away slowly.”

  Jaron recognized the defeat and started to climb off of Ash.

  “You don’t want to do this seraph. An eye for an eye, Ash deserves to die.”

  Annalise looked conflicted as the held the gun out in front of her with two hands. She shook her head, her blonde hair swishing back and forth in her ponytail.

  “No, Endarial is the reason Jedzia is dead. Ash would never kill someone.”

  Ash couldn’t believe how blinded Jaron was about his own part in Jedzia’s death.

  The sound of Jaron’s evil laughter filled the tunnels echoing back and forth. “Ash? Ash has killed plenty. Tell her old buddy. Tell her how we used to visit the fourth layer.” He looked at Ash with a grin, but Ash didn’t look amused. He knew what Jaron was about to say, and he didn’t want Annalise to know. He wasn’t proud of the things he did as a keeper, and she wouldn’t understand.

  “Kill him Anna. Now!” he demanded, but she didn’t move.

  “No? Well…” Jaron took a step further away. “Ash here murdered an entire crew. Spacecraft 908, carrying medical supplies to the fifth layer. We were given orders because there were rebels on board. He blew it up. There was also the time-”

  “Kill him Annalise. He’s working for the fallen. He was the one who called them to the keeper nook that night.” Ash grew impatient. Annalise needed to end this right now. He didn’t like Jaron airing his dirty laundry.

  “Ash is also responsible for not one but two keeper deaths.”

  When Jaron said this, the interest in Annalise’s blue eyes flashed. So the keeper continued on. “Ash was supposed to go with a newly trained keeper to track down and bring back a drug peddler on the eighth layer, but Ash got sidetracked with some girl of the week. The keeper, Gabe was his name, he went alone hoping to find Ash already at the home. Ash never showed up- the poor boy was dismembered limb by limb for information. That’s what started this sabbatical by the Officials. It was only when they learned the extent of Ash’s activities that they started to become concerned.”

  Ash took a deep breath before he had the nerve to look across the tunnel. Her blue eyes were wide with disbelief and fear. His heart ached with his own disappointment.

  “It’s not like that Anna- I swear,” he pleaded with her. He wasn’t proud of the decisions he had made in the past, but Jaron was twisting the truth.

  Jaron, who was obviously losing it, gripped his dagger tighter and took another step back. “He’s a monster Anna. A reckless and careless monster.”

  She looked back and forth between to two men, torment glossed over her eyes.

  “Trust me,” Ash mouthed to her. He hoped she would end it all right here. He wanted her to believe him. Ash didn’t teeter on two worlds anymore. He had to declare a loyalty to someone, and the keepers no longer owned him.

  With his final word, Annalise pulled the trigger on her gun hitting Jaron square in the chest with the silver bullet. He flew back and hit the floor.

  The popping noise echoed in the tunnel, causing her to jump back. Ash jumped up and ran to her side.

  “I’m so proud of you,” he whispered.

  “I do not like it when people call me Anna,” she replied.

  They both looked at Jaron’s lifeless body, jealousy and hatred had driven the poor keeper mad. In a way, Ash felt sorry for him, but the feeling was quickly washed away. He had come to the tunnels to kill Ash and return the betrayer to the Officials.

  Annalise slammed the still hot gun against Ash’s chest. She didn’t say a word. She refused to look him in the eyes.

  “Talk to me,” he begged. He knew she was mad. He could feel it. He had snuck out of the bed after she had given herself over to him. He didn’t mean to hurt her; he had just needed some time to think.

  Even though her face was emotionless, he knew what a big step she had taken. He tried to ignore the hurt that drifted off of her. Annalise had just made her first kill.

  Finally she opened up her mouth to speak, “I-”

  She was cut off by Finlay and Arie running down the tunnel from the entrance of Natara’s home. Finlay made it to them first, but Arie was close behind.

  “What’s going on? I heard a gunshot,” he exclaimed. He looked at the sight before him.

  Arie stepped over toward Jaron’s body.

  “Oh moons,” she said shocked. “How did he get down here?”

  Ash put the gun in his pants and walked over to the body. He pulled the keeper blade from the dead man’s grip and felt the power instantly fill him.

  “He must have followed us from the Ethereal Underground, he was here to kill me and bring me back to the Officials.”

  Arie suddenly understood what was going on, she wrapped her arms around Ash and held him tightly.

  “You’re a rogue keeper, of course they wouldn’t let you just walk away.”

  Ash put his arms around his friend; she knew what his future held. It wasn’t like he didn’t expect it, but until Jedzia’s death, a part of him had expected the Officials to turn their heads and overlook his mistakes. He had always been a favorite of Sune, but now his influence seemed to be lacking. Now that he knew that Jaron was the one to call the fallen to the nook; he wasn’t sure what to do with the new found information. Would anyone believe him?

  “I do not understand,” Annalise said.

  Finlay put a hand on her shoulder protectively

  “If you are a keeper, you are a keeper for life. If Jaron was down here looking for Ash, the Officials must have decided his fate.”

  Ash let the redhead go and turned to Annalise.

  “I was already teetering on the edge when I was put on a sabbatical. They believe that I lead the fallen to the nook and caused Jedzia’s death. It must have broken the vote.”

  Finlay walked over to Jaron’s body and lifted him up in one sweep over his shoulder. He made it look so effortless.

  Ash punched Arie in the shoulder playfully as he caught her gawking at the seraph’s strength. She looked away embarrassed and rubbed her arm.

  “Maybe Jaron came looking for you on his own. He seemed to be very angry with you.” Annalise told him.

  Ash put his hand on the back of each of his friends and slowly ushered them back towards the house. He looked around nervously.

  “It’s possible, but right now I’m not worried about them. I’m worried about anyone who heard that gunshot. We need to get out of these tunnels now. It’s not safe.”

  Finlay was already way ahead of them. “Ash take them back, I will dispose of the body before a reaper shows up.” They both gave a short nod before going their separate ways.

  Natara greeted them at the door, her dark hair pulled high up on her head and her lips pursed with curiosity.

  “What are you three doing?” she hissed, ushering them inside the small home. “Do you think I can afford to
be seen having keepers and seraphs outside my home?” Ash pushed the two girls in first, both of them apologizing to the woman who had graciously opened up her home. Ash gave her a crooked smile, but didn’t say a word. He had a bad feeling about this lady, as much as he wanted to trust her. Something about her just didn’t sit right. Over the years, Ash had learned to trust his keeper instincts, and he wasn’t about to abandon them now. Natara went back into the kitchen where she was setting out a huge array of foods. Looking at it, Ash realized how hungry he was. He hadn’t eaten in days, and had slept only a handful of hours. Normally he would be worried, but he figured it was the seraph inside him now that no longer needed so much of those mortal things. He grabbed Annalise’s arm and pulled her to the corner of the room.

  “We need to talk about what just happened.”

  Annalise shook her head. “Not now, not with everyone in the room.” Her eyes focused on Arie who sat comfortably on a chair only a few feet away.

  “Trouble in paradise?” Arie asked. She raised an eyebrow and gave them both a suspicious look.

  Ash took a moment to gather his thoughts.

  “We don’t need to worry about the keepers looking for me. We need to focus on killing these fallen so Annalise can get back home. I am the reason she is being banned, so I will make sure she gets back there. If that is what she wants.” He looked at Annalise from the corner of his eye. Back home was the last place he wanted her to go, but he wasn’t about to assume anything right now. He didn’t deserve her; he had no right to ask her to stay.

  Arie nodded in agreement. “They won’t send too many people down this far- plus I’m the one who they usually hire to find traitors. I won’t hurt you.” She gave Ash a quick wink. It was typical of her to flirt with Ash, but this time it only made him feel awkward. He looked at Annalise again, but she refused to look his way. She stared at the wall, deep in thought.

  Ash cleared his throat to fill the awkward silence. “I hope Finlay is okay,” he muttered.

  Annalise let out a loud but short laugh.

  The others all looked her way, it was so unusual for her to be so loud.

  “Finlay is used to cleaning up your messes,” Annalise explained. “After all, he was your guardian.”

  “What are you talking about?” Ash asked. He remembered her explaining what the different seraph roles were, but she had never mentioned Finlay’s role.

  “Finlay is, or was, your guardian. Who do you think has been there making sure you do not get into too much trouble or get hurt?”

  It made sense, Ash thought. Finlay had been in the right place at the right time when they met in the underground and since then he always seemed to pop up when needed. Except for the one time he didn’t; the night Ash was supposed to die.

  Arie’s eyes were lit up with excitement. “Do I have a guardian too?” she asked.

  “Did I miss anything?” A voice appeared from the front door. Finlay walked in covered in a red clay like substance. His usual blonde hair was dark and matted against his head and his clothes were singed along the edges. Arie rushed over to his side.

  “What happened?” she exclaimed as she picked off some of the red stuff from his shirt.

  “I threw Jaron in a volcano,” he boasted.

  Natara walked in from the kitchen to see her friend tracking in dirt all over her floor.

  “Jaron? Oh my- Finlay you are covered in dirt. In my home!” Ash could have sworn he saw her eyes flash black for a split second before she waved her hand at Finlay. A gush of wind tore through the room causing books to fly off the shelf and a mirror to fall off the wall and break. Arie let out a small yelp as Finlay pushed her against a wall and Ash instantly put an arm out in front of Annalise. He wasn’t sure what was happening, but he was certain Natara was about to try and kill them all.

  The wind hit Finlay straight on, but it didn’t seem to faze him. All of a sudden, all of the terrain, soot, and dirt drifted off of him and lifted from the ground. Natara threw her hand back behind her pointing at a small potted tree in the corner. Finlay looked cleaner than before.

  Everyone’s mouth dropped in amazement as the particles fell into the pot.

  “That- was- amazing!” cried Arie, she ran up to the brunette and started to pester her with a dozen questions.

  Ash felt more scared than impressed though. He turned to Annalise who seemed to have a similar look on her face.

  “Too strong for a fallen stripped of her powers,” he whispered. If Natara could use her powers so easily like that, what could Endarial dish out, or Loki, for that matter? The fallen were supposed to be weaker.

  When she didn’t answer, he retreated. She obviously needed some more time to sort out her feelings. Confusion and anger still drifted off of her. Seeing Finlay so clean made Ash long for the same.

  “I’m going to take a shower before we eat.” He walked away, leaving her to pout in the corner.

  Sometime later, Ash stepped out of the small bathroom feeling relaxed and refreshed. He hadn’t realized how dirty all this traveling had made him, and he felt pretty embarrassed that Annalise had seen him so dirty last night.

  He retreated to the bedroom he and Annalise had shared the night before and laid down on the bed. He couldn’t be around her right now. The entire time he was in the shower, he kept feeling her disappointment and it was killing him. He wanted so badly to just scoop her up and ask her to teleport them to some far off planet and never come home. He wanted to say screw duty, but he couldn’t. He wanted to protect her, but he also wanted to kill Endarial.

  He felt a small smile appear on his face as he heard a quiet knock at the door before opening.

  Looking up, he saw Arie’s red hair instead of the blonde he was expecting. He tried not to look disappointed as she sat down on the bed.

  “You need to come eat.”

  “I’ll be out soon; I just need some time to think.”

  She nodded. She knew not to press the issue, and began to walk back towards the door. She made it only a few steps before she swung back around and put her hands on her hips. “Is there something going on between you and Annalise?”

  Ash sighed and threw the pillow over his face. He didn’t want to discuss this with her. “It’s none of your business, Arie.”

  He felt her reach over and grab the pillow that blocked her view.

  “I knew it.” she smiled broadly “You and the seraph are doing the hissy.”

  “I said it’s none of your business.” Ash sat up, annoyed that Arie was prying. She rarely pried; in fact she usually tried to keep the subject off of the females he and Finlay would pick up at the bar.

  “Oh, so who I date is your business, but not the other way around?”

  “Yes,” he said, “Finlay is way too old for you. You are nineteen. He is like a thousand years old.”

  Arie just stood there staring at him with a dumb look on her face. Of course, he knew it was because Annalise was just as old as Finlay.

  “Plus,” he continued, “I am more responsible, mature, and grown up than you are.”

  Again, Arie gave him her blank stare. Of course, Arie was all of those things. Ten times more those things than he could ever be. Ash silently cursed himself. He couldn’t think of any excuses. He just didn’t like the fact that Arie was with any guy. He wanted to protect her.

  “Just don’t fall too hard for him,” he said after a long pause. “I know Fin and he is not a one woman kind of man. In fact- the guy doesn’t stop at women if you know what I mean. He’s just about hit up any species that has walked through the Ethereal and then-”

  Arie put her fingers up and held them against Ash’s lips.

  “Shhh. I don’t want to hear anymore. I didn’t jump into this blindly. I know he doesn’t care about me the way I do him- Natara told me that seraphs don’t have the same emotions we do but I waited too long for you Ash. You made it very clear that you didn’t do relationships- that you weren’t allowed. You’re not a keeper anymore. Does that cha
nge anything?” She looked into his blue eyes searching for an answer. Ash closed his eyes and sighed. He did not want to have this conversation with her right now. He had too much on his mind already.

  “No, Arie. It doesn’t change a thing. You are like a sister to me. It would be too weird.” He patted her right shoulder and stood up to leave the room. He didn’t want anyone to think something was going on. Arie looked hurt.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, stopping at the door. “I really care about you Arie, but right now my heart belongs to someone else.”

  “I knew it- I knew it!” she hissed with an accusing finger out. “I got you to confess,” she taunted.

  Ash groaned again. Arie was manipulative; she had to be in her line of work. He should have known.

  “So that whole speech?” he asked.

  “Yup, just a way to get you to confess. If you haven’t noticed there is a blonde seraph out there that I’m crazy over. Just be careful, we all need our minds clear if we’re going to be able to win this fight.” She reached over and opened the door to leave. “I’m starved.”

  Ash followed her into the main room toward the lofty smell of something delicious.

  Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Finlay and Annalise huddled on a chair talking. He didn’t like how close Finlay was sitting to her. He also didn’t like it when Finlay reached out and squeezed her knee. Ash swallowed his anger and watched as they both noticed his presence.

  Annalise jumped up. She was nervous, she must have told him. The thought of her sharing their most intimate moments with anyone, especially Finlay, made his blood boil.

  Ash stared coolly at Finlay as the blonde strolled over to where he stood.

  “You better watch yourself,” Finlay warned. Was Finlay threatening him? Was he referring to Annalise or Arie?

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You are playing with fire here. Annalise is very new to this world- she doesn’t understand the carelessness of mortals. Watch yourself.” Ash started to open his mouth, he wanted to tell Finlay where to shove it, but he really didn’t feel like having another broken hand. Luckily, Natara interjected just in time.