by J. C. Diem
Her head cocked to the side and she looked at me. “I do not understand.” All three of them spoke as if they came from another era. My mother had sounded a bit like them, as if she’d been raised in a posh home. For all I knew, maybe she had. She’d never spoken of her parents and I had no idea if she’d had any siblings.
“Angels look beautiful and demons look hideous to me,” I explained. “I guess this means I can tell good from evil.”
“Her talents appear to be flawed,” Brie said in a clipped tone. She almost seemed to be angry that I could see something that she couldn’t. “The demons do not always appear hideous to her.”
“It seems to come and go,” I admitted.
“Perhaps you only see their true natures when they are contemplating doing evil,” Sophia mused. “This could prove to be a very useful ability, even if you cannot see what they are all the time.”
“Being able to see them gives me an advantage,” I conceded, “but I doubt I’ll be able to sneak up and stab them all in the back. I need to be able to defend myself from their attacks.”
Brie’s lips turned upwards in a smile that wasn’t the least bit friendly. “Then we should begin your training immediately.”
Leo rubbed his hands together and grinned gleefully. “This is going to be fun!”
I tried to share his enthusiasm, but I was already dreading the training session. They might be smaller than me, but they were immortal beings who possessed God’s grace. I was just a lowly human who happened to be able to see holy and unholy spirits. That wasn’t going to be much of an advantage when fighting them. I had a feeling training with the twins was going to be a humbling and humiliating experience.
Sophia went in search of weapons that we could practice with that hopefully wouldn’t maim me. Meanwhile, Brie and Leo shifted the table and chairs aside to give us room to train. They picked up the table as if it weighed nothing, which meant they were far stronger than they looked.
The clairvoyant returned with smooth wooden sticks that had once been a broom handle. She was apparently strong enough to snap it with her bare hands. “Good luck,” she said and handed me a stick. I took it gingerly, already feeling like an idiot and we hadn’t even started yet. Too round and too narrow, the stick didn’t fit into my hand comfortably. The dagger had a much better grip, but I’d probably end up stabbing myself if I tried to use it.
Brie faced off against me, holding her stick as if it was a deadly sword. I copied her stance and was completely unprepared for it when she lunged at me. The dull point dug into my ribs hard enough to almost break the skin. “Ow!” I complained and glared at her.
“You didn’t even try to defend yourself,” she said in disbelief. “You just stood there and let me stab you.” Leo sniggered, but it changed to a pretend cough when I narrowed my eyes at him.
“I have news for you, Princess,” I said to her acidly. “I’m not trained in self-defense. That’s what this session is supposed to be for, remember?” She sucked in an affronted breath, but I wasn’t done yet. “If you’re just going to stab me without teaching me how to avoid your attacks, then there’s no point training me at all.”
“Violet is right,” Leo said before his twin could descend into a tirade. “She has absolutely no fighting abilities whatsoever. She may have escaped from three demons, but it was clearly only due to blind luck. We need to start from the beginning and show her the very basics.”
Brie rolled her eyes then conceded his point. It was obvious I was about as far from being a warrior as a person could get. “Come here,” she commanded me imperiously. My hackles immediately rose, but I fought to keep hold of my temper. Like it or not, she was my teacher. I had to at least try to be a good pupil. “Copy me while I defend myself against Leo,” she instructed.
Her brother obediently stood opposite her while I copied Brie’s stance and the way she held her stick. Leo stepped forward and stabbed his weapon towards her stomach. Brie simultaneously stepped to the left and swept her dagger to the right. Their wooden blades clashed and his attack was deflected, leaving him open for her to stab him in the neck. “See?” she said to me. “Nothing could be simpler. Now you try it.”
Leo shifted to stand in front of me and smiled supportively. “You can do this, Violet.”
“If you say so,” I muttered. Then his stick was coming at me and I panicked. My feet tangled as I tried to deflect his attack. Falling towards him, I almost impaled myself on his stick on the way down. Landing on my face, my weapon flew out of my hand and rolled out of reach.
Staring down at me in stunned silence at my display of extreme ineptitude, the twins exchanged a look. “This might be harder than I had expected,” Brie said with a sigh. She turned to Sophia, who was trying to hide her discouragement behind her teacup. “Are you absolutely certain that she is the right person?”
Sophia schooled her expression to neutrality and nodded. “I am positive,” she replied, yet she sounded uncertain.
Leo offered me his hand and helped me to my feet. He might be small in build, but he could probably throw me across the room with no effort at all.
“Try again,” Brie ordered. She watched with judgmental eyes, holding onto her stick like she wanted to smack me upside the head with it. I had a feeling it was going to take all of her patience, and mine, to forge me into becoming the warrior that everyone expected me to be.
₪₪₪
Chapter Eleven
After a full week of being repeatedly slashed, sliced and stabbed, I was covered in bruises and was completely humiliated. It had quickly become obvious that I had absolutely no fighting skills at all. Like Leo said, blind luck had kept me from being taken by the demons.
“This is hopeless,” Brie despaired after I failed to block yet another simple attack from Leo.
“Gee, thanks for the words of encouragement,” I said sarcastically.
“I hate to agree with Briathos, but she is right,” Leo said to back up his sister. Only their vessels were twins, but their nearly identical faces made it impossible to think of them as anything other than siblings. “I have never seen anyone so utterly useless at fighting before.”
“Perhaps Violet’s skills lie in other directions,” Sophia suggested. She was sitting at the table with an ever present pot of tea in front of her.
Giving up on training for the moment, I sank into the seat across from her and poured myself a cup of tea. Sophia had bought me new clothes, including several sweat suits for training. My t-shirt was plastered to my back with sweat. I was both mentally and physically exhausted.
Stirring my tea, I tried to hide my depression as homesickness washed over me. I missed my mom with a constant ache. It was supposed to be a special day, but I hadn’t bothered to mention that it was my seventeenth birthday. I highly doubted my new friends would care. Angels didn’t age and had no need to celebrate the day of their creation.
My mother would have made me a cake and we would have spent the evening watching my favorite movies. After she’d gone to sleep, I would have snuck out to see Zack for some one on one time. I might even have let him take our relationship a step further than just mere kissing. For a moment, my lips trembled with tightly controlled grief at everything that I’d lost.
Instead of a fun day and an exciting night, I was stuck in Manhattan with three people that I barely knew, learning how to fight demons. The worst part was that I clearly sucked at it. I’d never been the sporty type and my coordination was decidedly lacking. While the twins looked graceful when they sparred, I was an embarrassment to behold.
Sophia opened her mouth to say something, probably yet another platitude that I’d eventually learn how to fight, when her back went rigid. Her eyes went distant as she seemed to be watching something the rest of us couldn’t see.
“She is having a vision,” Leo told me in a hushed tone when I sent him a concerned look. He and Brie sat down to wait for her to recover.
The vision only lasted for thirty seconds or so b
efore Sophia blinked and looked at me. “You must go to St Andrews Plaza and you have little time.”
“What? Why? I don’t even know where that is.” Sophia’s store was in Midtown, only a couple of blocks away from Times Square. I’d only been outside a few times and I hadn’t travelled far. Manhattan was still largely a mystery to me.
“Take the subway from Penn Station to Chambers Street,” she instructed me. “Head east and look for the large red discs. You will meet someone who will be instrumental in aiding you during the trials ahead.”
“It is not necessary for Violet to take the train,” Leo pointed out. “Brie and I can take her there in an instant.”
Sophia shook her head regretfully. “My vision showed her taking the subway. It would be best if she did not deviate from this path.”
“Can I at least get changed first?” I didn’t particularly want to leave while I was still dripping with sweat. I hadn’t even finished my tea yet. Frankly, I was trying to think of excuses to procrastinate. I’d proven over and over that I was inept at fighting. If I were to encounter any demons, they wouldn’t have much trouble capturing me and bundling me off to their master.
Sophia nodded. “Yes, but you must hurry.”
Reluctantly pushing away from the table, I went on the move. I dashed into the kitchen then took the stairs up to the second level and entered my room. I stripped down to my underwear, toweled myself off then hastily pulled on my old, torn jeans, a t-shirt and a black hoodie.
Taking the tie out of my hair, the bulk of it cascaded down my back. As usual, I’d braided the sides and had plaited them together so it was under control and out of my face. Donning a pair of black boots, I snagged my dagger out of my backpack. My hoodie had pockets that were large enough to contain the sheath that Leo had given me to hold my weapon. I slid the dagger inside then trotted back downstairs.
Brie and Leo moved to follow me, but Sophia stopped them. “Violet must go alone.”
“She still doesn’t know how to fight,” Brie protested. I didn’t kid myself that she cared about me. I was just a tool that she was attempting to sharpen so I could do the job that had been set for me.
“Can we at least follow her at a distance?” Leo asked. I was pretty sure he actually was starting to care about me. Stabbing me countless times with a blunt stick had forged a bond between us.
“No,” Sophia said in a tone that brooked no argument. “She must do this on her own.”
“I’ll be back before you know it,” I said with as much reassurance as I could muster. “Either that, or my body will end up in a dumpster somewhere.”
Leo tried to smile at my quip, but dread filled his eyes. “Be careful, Violet. You are not ready to face demons yet. If you see one, run.”
It was sage advice and I would do my best to take it. With a nod, I left the store and started running.
₪₪₪
Chapter Twelve
Penn Station was only a couple of blocks away from the store. I took the stairs downward, weaving between the other commuters. I received annoyed glances when I accidentally jostled a few people. I was more concerned with speed than with being polite.
At Sophia’s urging, I’d bought a metro card a few days ago. Instinct must have been behind the suggestion. Already having the card meant I didn’t need to waste time purchasing one now. Making my way through the gate then down the stairs, I saw a train pulling to a stop. A quick check of a map on the wall told me it would take me where I needed to go and I hurried over to it.
It was nearly ten pm, but the subway was far from deserted. My bracelet seemed to be working to keep me hidden from demons, but I wasn’t taking any chances on being recognized. My hair was tucked beneath my sweater and I’d pulled the hood up to hide my face from view. Glancing around, I saw two flickering faces that transformed from normal to hideous and back again frequently. The lower level demons seemed to have trouble controlling themselves. I wondered if the higher level hell spawn would have better luck at hiding themselves from my ability to see their malevolent spirits.
Waiting for the doors to open, I entered the train and took a seat near the door. Other commuters shuffled on after me. They sat or stood and wore blank expressions as we took off. I watched people come and go at each stop from within the shadows of my hood. No one paid much attention to me.
When we reached Chambers Street, I disembarked from the train. Taking the stairs up to the surface, I oriented myself and headed east as instructed. Sprinting through the streets would be sure to draw attention, so I maintained a fast walk instead. With my hands in my pockets, my dagger was within easy reach as I kept watch for anyone suspicious. There were fewer people out and about here than in the center of the city, but there were still cars and pedestrians around.
Nearing the end of Chambers Street, I came to a large building with a high archway in the center. I passed another subway entrance in the middle of the arch before stepping out into the open. I hadn’t seen St Andrews Plaza yet, but the red discs Sophia had told me to look for were right in front of me. Studying them, I realized they were some kind of artwork. Short, stubby trees in large round pots had been arranged near it. It would have been almost parklike if the ground had been covered in grass rather than bricks.
Moving closer to the discs, I saw a church over to the left. I assumed it was St Andrews and that I was standing in or near the plaza. A few lamps weakly illuminated the courtyard, but most of the area was in shadows.
I was used to seeing crowded streets by now and the plaza was eerily deserted. Turning in a circle, I didn’t see whoever I was supposed to meet. Feeling as if I was being watched, I wended my way through the pots to the far side of the discs.
Catching an unpleasant scent, I wrinkled my nose. It smelled like someone had gone to the bathroom somewhere nearby. There were a lot of homeless people in the city, so it wouldn’t really surprise me if one of them had staked out their territory here.
Picking up another scent, it was cloying and almost sweet. I was pretty sure it was blood. If I could smell it this strongly, then it meant a lot of it had to have been spilled. With the combination of blood and the stench of human waste, I suspected that a body was lying somewhere nearby. I just hoped it wasn’t the person I’d been sent to find.
Taking the dagger out of its sheath, I gripped it hard as I spied a body lying on the grass at the top of a nearby set of stairs. I climbed them and slowly approached the crumpled form. I kept my distance so I wouldn’t contaminate the scene. Once the body was found, forensic specialists would be called in. I didn’t want to leave any evidence of myself behind.
Steeling myself, I looked down at the face of the corpse and my breath caught in my throat. It was a girl about my age with long blond hair and wide, staring eyes. Her t-shirt had been torn open to expose the terrible wounds that had been inflicted on her.
Looking at the gaping hole in her chest, I was too numb with shock to feel ill. At first, all I could see was bloody flesh and white bone that had been torn asunder. Then I realized that her heart was missing. My gorge rose when I spied a red lump about the size of my fist lying on the grass a few feet away. Someone had carved her heart out and had squeezed it to a pulp.
Sprinting away from the body, I desperately fought against the urge to vomit. Sophia had sent me here to find this girl, but I’d been too late. She’d already been killed by the same creatures she was supposed to help me defeat. With my utter lack of fighting skills, there was no doubt in my mind that I would end up like her the next time I ran into my enemies.
Filled with terror at the possibility of facing the same fate, I kept running. Bypassing the archway, I entered a small courtyard with trees that were ringed by circular wooden seats. I spied a brightly lit bridge to the left and headed towards it. Reason had fled and my instincts had taken over. I hadn’t tested the theory that I was imprisoned in the city yet because I’d had nowhere else to go. Now that I’d seen what my destiny would be if I stayed, it was time to te
st whether or not I really was trapped in Manhattan.
Drawing closer to the brick structure, I immediately recognized it as the Brooklyn Bridge. It was much taller than I’d imagined and had twin arches with metal girders stretching up to the top of it. The path changed from concrete to wood as I reached the bridge. Cars passed below as my feet pounded on the boards. My breath came hard and fast, reminding me that I wasn’t an athlete.
A white line cut down the center of the footbridge. Diagrams instructed pedestrians to stay to the right and bicycles to stick to the left. Since I was the only person on the bridge, I ignored the signs as I continued up the incline.
Running as fast as I could, I smacked into an invisible barrier just before I reached the archway. Crimson light flared and a sizzling sound filled my head. I was sent flying backwards with a shout of pain. Hitting the wooden boards hard enough to leave splinters, I passed out.
I woke up a few seconds later. Stunned by the collision, my ears were ringing and red spots danced before my eyes. I guess that answers the question about whether I’m really trapped in Manhattan, I thought dazedly. Whatever spell the demons had used worked on me just as well as it did on angels. Apparently, I wouldn’t be going anywhere.
Struggling to my feet, I made it about a hundred yards away from the invisible barrier when I sensed that I wasn’t alone. Looking back over my shoulder, I saw two men standing near the twin archways. Their faces flickered, betraying their evil natures. Exchanging a look, they started towards me.
Turning to run, I only managed a few steps before two more men appeared out of thin air, blocking the way. I looked around in desperation, searching for an escape route. I could climb over the metal barrier to my left, but it was a long drop to the road below. If I survived the fall without breaking my legs, I’d probably be hit by a speeding car. A quick check told me the path to my right was just as inaccessible.
