by Tara Brown
I scowl, “He was a kid. How is that competition?”
“He would have become competition. He was a freak of nature. I knew it. Well, I suspected. Stella and I. He stayed young for so long. He never matured until you did.”
“What?”
“When you were born again, they noticed he started aging again.”
I am stunned, “You knew this all along?”
He nods. Gretel and I have always been the worst of enemies, but we had one thing in common.”
I sneer, “Keeping me and Wyatt apart?”
He nods.
I feel sick. I don’t even know how to respond. I knew I hated her for a good reason.
I turn and watch out the window, desperate to be off of the plane and back in London.
“I am sorry. I just love you so much.”
I nod, “I know.” And it’s true. I know he loves me. He is just such a monster, he has a hard time being normal with showing it.
He takes my hand in his and kisses it. It makes me feel worse. All this time. All this time, Wyatt and I knew each other from before.
I lay back and wish the dead would take me, but they don’t. We land in Northern Africa, and I walk off the plane to something I never expected to see, peace. There is no smoke, riots, fire, or death. There is silence, sand, and wind. We are the only people here. The sun is setting but the air is still warm.
I look around, feeling the history and the heartache instantly. Liana and Ezara know this place. I look back at Constantine, “This is the place.”
He knits his eyebrows together. I point at my heart, “Liana and Ezara.”
He nods, “Like a beacon?”
I nod. I go left but it fades so I turn right. I walk for a while until I come to a riverbank. It’s muddy and sandy. I fly across. Constantine jumps it. I smile, “I thought you couldn’t cross moving water?”
He rolls his eyes, “That’s witches and it’s not even true.” He takes my hand in his and pulls me along. I veer us right again. We don’t need a marker for where to go. The scariest thing I have ever seen is there on the horizon. I know then, we are in the right place.
The dust of the sand kicks up as the hooves beat against the soft ground, coming towards us. They almost shake the ground they are so large. A white horse, a black horse, a fiery-red horse, and a pale-grey horse all ride to us. The riders do look like the cast of Dementors from Harry Potter, evil and grim-reaper like.
They carry swords, axes, and hammers. I gulp, “What now?”
He squeezes tight, “Pull that sword and give me the dagger down your pants.”
I pull it out and pass it to him. I hold my sword steady, “Come on, Ellie.” I feel her fill me up, but even she is trembling at the dark skies behind the horsemen. They barrel down on us.
I am shaking when they finally get to us. They ride in a circle around us. It is so familiar, I swear I have dreamt of it. I drop to my knees, bowing my head to them.
I hear a scream in the air. It is a man’s, “Come to me horsemen, see that I do not fear you. I am worthy of the gifts you have to give. Not like her, I would face you in battle and earn rewards!”
I don’t lift my head but I can’t help but wonder why the man behind me is such an idiot, or am I a coward? No he’s a moron. He can’t win against them.
A horse stops and the rider drops to the ground. He walks to me in his huge metal boots.
“Rise!” His voice is like the nixie, but completely opposite and evil. I stand, not lifting my head to look upon him. I have a bad feeling.
“You would not look upon me?”
I shake my head, “You are death.”
“I am conquest. I am the first rider.”
“I would look upon you. I would look upon you and kill you.” I hear a man’s voice over the wind and the horses. I see Constantine’s feet near me. He isn’t moving. He must be doing the same as me. The man behind me has to be Lucifer.
“You would face me?”
The man screams in pain, and I feel like maybe for once, I have made the right choice.
The second horse stops and the rider dismounts. He walks to me in all his state, “Would you face me?”
I shake my head, “No, my lord.”
He walks past me. The man screams in agony again. He says words but they are muffled and make my skin crawl. I wish he would die. I hate that I wish that, but I cannot listen a second longer. The third horseman jumps down and stomps to me, “Will you face me?”
I shake my head again, tears rolling down my cheeks. The rider walks past me, making the man scream again. I don’t know what is happening around me, but I suspect I shouldn’t look.
I am too scared to look.
Finally, the fourth rider stops circling us. He dismounts. But he pauses. He walks, not like the others but softly, towards me. He stops in front of me and then takes a step closer. He leans in, I can smell rot and decay, and yet, it is appealing.
He whispers on my neck with his hot breath, “Would you look upon me and let me do my worst?”
I twitch, shaking my head. I don’t know why, but he bothers me the most. He gets too close and makes it too personal, like he knows me. He lingers, smelling me.
He pulls back, “Not even a slight glance?”
I shake my head again.
He walks past me and the man behind me begs. He pleads for his life. I don’t know what he says because he sounds weird, like his tongue is missing. But I can get the gist of it.
The sand starts up as if they are riding their horses again. The man screams and slowly the riders start to walk back to me. They drop to their knees in front of me, one at a time. I don’t look up. I don’t know what to do, but I know I need to be humble in front of them. Or cowardly, however you want to say it.
When the final horseman is kneeling in front of me, I look up. They are black knights kneeling in the desert against the fading light of the sun. I turn, gasping when I see the man. He is frozen and twisted. He is not my father, not in his regular body, but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t be my father; he very well could be.
He has sores, a gaping mouth, stab wounds that leak dark blood and broken bones. He kneels, as if frozen in that position.
Constantine looks at me, wide-eyed and confused. I shake my head. He looks at the horsemen, “What does she do now?”
“Free us, blood of Lillith.” They all say it in unison and it rumbles through the earth to me. I almost nod, finally the whole blood of Lillith thing makes sense. I am the blood of Lillith. I will draw the horsemen to me. I look up at the sky for second, “You knew all along didn’t you? You’ve always had this planned.”
I swallow hard, pulling my sword and looking at Constantine again. He shrugs, biting his lip. He does a motion, like he’s swinging the sword. I look back at the riders.
I lift the sword over my head, take a deep breath, and lower it like I’m friggin’ Ned Stark. The sword hits and the horseman’s cloak crumples to the ground. Something black like smoke rises from his body. I look at the next three and shudder. This is weird.
“Sorry about that.” I lift the sword again and again and again, until all four cloaks are lying in the sand, and I am surrounded by black smoke.
Constantine starts breathing again, “Oh my God, not even a little bit kidding. I thought we were dead.”
I drop the sword to the ground, “What happened?”
He shakes his head, “I have no idea.”
I point at the frozen man, “Who is that?”
He shrugs, “I have no idea.”
“Is that the antichrist?”
He gives me a look, “Rayne, we were at the same party. I have no idea.”
I sigh, “Where is my father?”
“Who cares? I feel like I’m having a stroke, and I don’t think that’s even possible.” Constantine offers me his hand, “Let’s go home.”
I nod, “Okay.”
We turn to go back to the plane, but Lucifer standing there, with the full moon rising behind him. He i
s beautiful, ominous, and awful all at once.
“I can’t believe that you did it.”
I scowl, “What?”
He nods, “You lived. I have to give that one to you. I assumed they wanted you to face them, and of course, God wanted you on your knees. How pious of you.”
My lip trembles but I start to laugh. He looks affronted by my laugh, but it makes me laugh harder. Constantine laughs with me, “What is it?”
I snort, “I thought about the whole Indiana Jones thing.” I drop to my knee, “When he gets the Nazis to open the Holy Grail and they shouldn’t look.”
Constantine laughs harder, “Indiana Jones saved your life.”
Lucifer looks confused, “Who is he?”
I snort again.
Lucifer shouts, “STOP LAUGHING!”
Of course, like I’m seven years old, I laugh harder.
He pulls a gun from his hip and shoots me in the arm. I stop laughing as the bullet stings and blood trails down my arm. Constantine stops too. He walks to me, cautiously.
Lucifer sighs, “Give me the power.”
I look at Constantine, “What power?”
“The horsemen, what did they give you?”
I shake my head, “Nausea.”
He leans forward and screams at me, “WHAT DID THEY GIVE YOU?”
I flinch, “I-I-I-I don’t know. Nothing.”
He storms across the sand to me, grabbing me by the arm he has just shot. He presses his thumb into the wound, “The prophecy is that you will gain power from their death and be able to kill the antichrist and save the world. Now tell me what you felt.”
I shake my head, “I swear, nothing. I swear I feel exactly the same. A little freer knowing they’re dead.”
He squeezes harder, making me scream. Constantine tackles him into the sand. His fangs are out and his eyes are black. He drags his nails across Lucifer’s neck. Black blood spills out. I grab one of my daggers from my pants and jump, stabbing it into his heart. He knocks Constantine off and pulls the dagger from his heart, snapping the blade. He tosses me back, I leap for the sword but he jumps up, stomping on my leg. He grabs my sword and swings around, stabbing Constantine in the chest with it. He gags. Lucifer turns and looks at me. Black blood drips from his face. “You know, when you were a baby, you used to sleep in my lap. I would twirl your hair and sing to you. You could sleep like I have never seen, for days. You have always been the most amazing child.”
“You always tell me what a failure I am.”
He shakes his head, “You are now. Look at you—we made you perfect and you waste it on him.” He points upward. He laughs, mocking me. “You could own the whole world and make them all bow before you. But you refuse to acknowledge your greatness.”
“What is great about making people bow before you?”
He smiles, it’s a wicked grin. “You sound like him.” His face turns fierce, “I hate him.” He launches at me again, taking me to the ground. My back slams into the sand. His fists hit me. My face jolts and jerks with each hit.
He gets up and I cry out when his boots hit my side. I feel my ribs crack. Lucifer kicks again, but suddenly a broken sword sticks out of his stomach. He turns, swinging his arm and knocking Constantine back into the sand.
I spit blood onto the sand, “Why are you hurting me, just kill me. Leave him alone.”
He laughs, “I don’t want to kill you, I want to take the light from you. Now use it, show it to me.”
I shake my head, “I don’t know how.”
He kicks again but the boot hits my chin. I’m knocked back. I swear my jaw is broken. He gets on top of me again, “Use the light, Rayne. Show it to me.”
I start to cry. He mocks me, “Crying isn’t the light, use the light. Do it for Daddy, Liana.”
His voice grates on my last nerves. I backhand him. He falls back. I look at Constantine. I rub my hand over my chest, feeling the spot where my heart is. I close my eyes, remembering the moment Wyatt put it there, the dagger with his love on it. I reach into my chest, pulling it from there. I scream as the dagger comes out. Lucifer gives me a look as he wipes the black blood from his face. I look at him, hatred and pain filling me with every detail I see. I point the dagger at him, “Who is the antichrist?”
He laughs. I scream, forcing my wings from my body, “WHO IS HE?”
He staggers back, stunned by the wings. “They are so beautiful.”
I look at him, seeing it suddenly. The power I gained from the horsemen. I smile at him, “You never could have gotten the power from them.”
He scowls, “Where is it?”
“You know why you couldn’t have it? Because it is something you cannot grasp. The thing I gained from them is belief. I believe. I know God is there. I bowed my head before the horsemen, and I was humble and pious. Not on purpose but by instinct. I believe. I never did before this moment. But they knelt before me and sacrificed themselves, because they knew I was the hand of God. I don’t want to be. I don’t need to be. I wish I weren’t. And that is why I am.”
He laughs harder, “You think belief will get you anywhere, Rayne? You are an idiot.”
I hold the sword up, “I believe I can beat you because he believes in me.”
He nods, “Then come at me.”
I look up at the night sky, smiling at the stars above me, “I don’t need to.”
Light shoots from my wings and hands, blasting from me in all directions. It buzzes from me, blinding him. I can see it, like I am looking through the light. I walk slowly to him, holding the dagger of the man I love. I grab Lucifer’s head, jerking it back. He cries out, but my blade slides across his throat and he falls. When he drops to his knees, I bring my arm back and swing, beheading him in one fell swoop.
I drop to my knees and tears pour from my face. The girls inside of me are sobbing. I hold him to me as the light dies away. Constantine gives me a stunned stare. I close my eyes, feeling the change of his dead body to feathers. I grip them and cry. Because even though he is dead, he was my father. He sang to me and twirled my hair.
The End of Days
Love
His lips against mine taste like cigarette smoke but his evil is like a s’more. He drops down into the deathly-silent city street. Constantine scowls, “Have you had your fill?”
I shake my head. “There is a good one here, I can smell him.” I wander the streets, but it’s like he’s evading me. He makes me hungry in an unnatural way. I feel like a drug addict roaming the streets looking for that dealer I know is there.
Constantine grabs my arm. His eyes dart about the dusty city, “We need to go now.”
I nod, “Okay.” The walk back to the plane is quiet. He knows I am confused and exhausted.
Finally he asks, “So belief? That was it?”
I nod, “That was it. I am the blood of Lillith so the horsemen were drawn to me. Only the blood of Lillith could actually take them down. Lucifer never could have killed them. It had to be a mercy killing, a sacrifice. He wanted something from them. I wanted to free them. It’s like the garden—if you want it, you can’t find it. But if your desire for it is pure enough and you want nothing from the garden, it will find you. I have only ever gone there to kill my mother and free the fae from her, and to free Mona and you.”
He smiles, “None of that was quite what it seemed, though was it?”
I laugh, “Not quite. My mother was a captive of the fae, I still don’t get that one. And you were dead and Mona wasn’t being held there. She was staying for Gill. It’s all crazy. I can’t even think about it, it makes my head hurt.”
He laughs, “You make my head hurt.”
I look down, “And your heart.”
He shakes his head, “You pulled Wyatt’s blade. Why?”
Giving him the most honest face I can, I say, “Because I don’t need it. I know who he is to me.”
He winces, “And who I am to you as well?”
“Yes.”
“Who am I?”
/>
I look back at the desert, “You are my dear friend. My very dear friend.” I can feel him vibrating with anger but he controls it.
“I deserve that, don’t I?”
I shake my head, “You deserve love, like the rest of us.”
He shakes his head, “I don’t. My family has always been evil. We have never been anything but.” He takes my hand in his, “But in my defense, I am a heartless beast.”
I grip his hand, “You are not heartless. You are anything but.”
I look at his heart, “When I told you it was Lillith’s blood on the knife, why did you look so interested?”
He smiles, “A man must keep some secrets, Rayne.”
I narrow my gaze, “You aren’t plotting, are you?”
He laughs, “Always.” He points, “The plane.”
I smile, “Thanks for not asking me to fly us. I hate flying.”
He laughs harder, “I don’t expect you to carry me, love. I never have.”
The pilot is pissed about fuel and a bunch of other things. The road we have landed on is not great for takeoffs, and he thinks we might die.
I close my eyes when I get into my seat and they take me instantly.
“Nene?”
I hate the feeling in my heart, “Willow.” I run to her. We are in the painting but it looks different, less somehow.
She brushes my hair from my face, “Are you okay?”
I shake my head, “No.”
She kisses my cheek, “I am sorry you had to do all of that.”
I slump down on the grassy hill we are on, “When I killed him, I saw things. I saw his face smiling at me, kissing my wounds and telling me he loved me. It was awful and amazing.”
She sits next to me, “But you have killed him. You have killed the seven devils. You are free of them, and the horsemen too.”
I look at her, “Then why does it feel like it is the calm before the storm?”
Her eyes glisten, “It is. End of days starts now. You must kill the Antichrist as he rises up, before he succeeds in taking the throne. You must kill him and then the world will reset, and there will be peace.”
I sigh. “End of days starts now? What about the shit show out there already?”
