by Zoey Derrick
Nothing has changed in the white room since Saturday night except that Elizabeth, Zirah, Seraphina, Connor and Celeste are all already in the room.
When they come in Elizabeth gestures toward the couch, indicating that Mikah and Vivienne should take a seat. “Listen, I know a lot has transpired over the last couple of days, however, we now know that a trap was laid out for you by Riley. He killed your mother in an attempt to bring you to the funeral home.”
Mikah’s heart rate rises quickly, and Vivienne can feel the tension in his embrace. She looks to him, hoping to comfort him.
“Riley went to great lengths not only to kill Rebecca, but also in his attempt at laying a trap for Vivienne. He’s yet to discover that Vivienne is with anyone. At least from what we can tell. Riley figured that if Rebecca was dead, Vivienne would run straight to the rehab center and she would go alone, therefore giving him the opportunity to complete his task.”
“Which is what exactly?” Mikah asks the question everyone is thinking.
“At this point, from what information we’ve received, we believe he intended to kidnap her and take her back to the devil.”
“So what are we supposed to do about him?” Mikah asks. “Can we call the cops and have—”
The look on Elizabeth’s face says it all: The police can’t stop Riley.
“We need to...” Mikah doesn’t finish the sentence. He doesn’t have to. His heart beats even faster.
“Yes, this is a matter for the guardians to handle.”
Vivienne is overcome with guilt; if it hadn’t been for her meeting Riley in the first place, they wouldn’t be here today.
Mikah can feel her worry and the pain she is feeling in his wings; they begin to burn.
“Vivienne, do not blame yourself, this is not your fault. You see, your daughter— Have you thought of a name yet?”
Vivienne responds by shaking her head.
Elizabeth half smiles but continues. “Your daughter will have the power to overthrow the devil, and the devil knows that. He is so blind to the truth that he will stop at nothing to ensure his survival.”
“What do you mean ‘the truth’?” Vivienne asks.
Elizabeth starts to pace again. “The battle between good and evil will never end. It can’t end.”
Everyone in the room looks to each other, confusion written all over their faces.
“There are two reasons for this,” Elizabeth says. “One being that the devil, like Dia, can appoint an heir. So even if we overthrew Link, his heir would take over.”
“Does Link have an heir?” Mikah asks.
“No, though if he fails to capture Vivienne, he will seek one as quickly as possible.”
“Why would capturing me be to his advantage?” Vivienne asks. The question that has been bugging her since Elizabeth first mentioned it.
All eyes are on Vivienne, and it seems to her that the others already know the answer.
Zirah steps forward to answer. “Capturing you means that your daughter, though of the purest angelic blood, would be raised by the devil himself, therefore giving him the weapon he would need to overthrow Dia. You see, the path an angel takes is based on how they’re raised and the choices they make. If your daughter were to be raised by Link, he would have control over her and she would learn no other way but his.”
Everyone is silent for a moment.
Vivienne can’t think of anything to say. She knows that no one in this room would ever let that happen, including herself and Mikah, which means that Link will have to find his own heir. She guesses Link wouldn’t be the type to settle for second best; he’d want one of his own. He’d just need the right woman to help him along in that scenario.
One name runs through Vivienne’s head, a name she hasn’t thought about since that dream in the hospital. “Nyssa,” she whispers.
TWENTY-ONE
“Whoa, who?” Mikah says.
“When I was in the hospital, right before we left—” She glances at Mikah. “—I had a dream. A dream where I was in a dark cave. I couldn’t see anything or anyone, but I heard voices. Riley was there, though based on what I heard, he was either dead or unconscious. And someone, I’m assuming it was the devil, was talking to a girl who said her name was Nyssa.”
Mikah recognizes the name but doesn’t understand the significance behind Vivienne’s realization.
“Do we know who Nyssa is?” Elizabeth asks Vivienne.
“No, I never saw her face, but I know a Nyssa from the diner I used to work at.”
Elizabeth stops in her tracks and turns toward Vivienne.
“Do you think they are one and the same?” Elizabeth asks.
“I can’t say for certain, and I’m not sure I want to find out. But I’m also not sure when in time this happened. Or will happen. In the dream I was pregnant, further along than I am now, so I’m guessing it hasn’t happened yet.”
Ideas begin turning in Elizabeth’s head, and she turns to Red. “Can we figure out who this person is?”
Red takes a step in Elizabeth’s direction. “We will do whatever we can to try and find out. Though I’m not convinced she’s significant.”
“Good point, but I’d rather try and figure it out before Link does.”
Elizabeth goes back to pacing. “As far as Riley is concerned, we’re aware that he is not acting alone. Though Link has a lot of confidence in Riley’s ability to complete the task he’s been sent to do, he doesn’t trust Riley enough to send him out on his own. Which is why I believe that Riley is meant to kidnap Vivienne and bring her back to Link. But again, it’s speculation.”
Vivienne takes a deep breath and places her head in her hands. Exhaustion begins to overwhelm her. “How do I stop him?” she mumbles.
“You, my dear? No, you don’t stop him. We stop him.” Red says, and Andrew, Celeste and Connor step forward.
“You cannot do it with the four of you. You will need Mikah too,” Elizabeth says, her voice a whisper that resonates throughout the room as if shouted through a megaphone.
Vivienne begins to sob. She understands what the potential consequences of Mikah helping are, and she can’t even begin to process the idea. “There has to be another way,” Vivienne cries.
Elizabeth kneels down in front of her. “Vivienne, believe me, I wouldn’t send him to fight if there was any other way. I don’t know what kind of fight this will be, but I can assure you that we have the advantage.”
All eyes immediately turn to Elizabeth, and Vivienne raises her head to look at her.
“What do you mean?” Mikah says hesitantly.
Elizabeth smiles slightly. “Well, for one, we’ve taken away their element of surprise. With the level of protection that is in place around both of you, Riley cannot find you until we’re ready for him to do so. That is why he tried to get you to the rehab center.”
Mikah stands and takes a few steps away, trying to figure out where his mother is going with all of this.
“Mikah, I suggest you both plan to stay in your apartment, versus the one downstairs, for the foreseeable future. Though both are protected, your penthouse has more layers of protection, along with fewer access points.”
“Alright, but please tell me that’s not all we have in our arsenal. I don’t know if that will be enough.” Mikah’s pessimism drives a valid point.
Andrew chimes in for the first time. “Do you honestly think that whoever was sent with him will leave Riley alone, unsupervised?”
“No, Andrew, I don’t think they will leave him alone, at least not intentionally. And no, the penthouse is not your only weapon, though that may be the wrong word for it.” As Elizabeth speaks, Zirah and Seraphina move to stand alongside her.
“Please stop with all the vagueness.” Mikah’s patience is wearing very thin.
“I cannot tell you how your battle will end because we do not know. I can only give you some strategic help. With any luck, that will be everything you need to survive. Our first advantage is being able t
o control when and where Riley sees Vivienne. We will know they are coming and we will set them up, luring them into a trap of our own. Vivienne herself is the second advantage.”
TWENTY-TWO
“Wait, I don’t understand. How am I the second best thing we have to beat these guys?” Vivienne stands and walks toward Elizabeth. “I’m nobody, I haven’t got a clue how to fight and wouldn’t even consider it.”
“Though you will need to be the one to lure Riley out and into the trap, you will not need to fight. Your talent lies elsewhere. Over the course of the last month or so, have you ever wondered how you were able to heal so quickly from your injuries?”
A flood of images runs through Mikah’s mind: Vivienne nearly dead in her apartment; her lying in that hospital bed; her body healed, almost as if the attack hadn’t happened at all.
Though Vivienne was unconscious through the entire ordeal, she recalls that, other than exhaustion, she felt no pain. She was unable even to determine the level of injury she incurred during Riley’s last attack, so much so that she had to ask Dr. Alston whether Riley had raped her.
“Yes, I’ve thought about it, but what does that have to do with us trapping Riley?”
Zirah joins the conversation. “Everything, Vivienne. It means that no matter what happens during the fight, or whatever happens with Riley, you can save your guardians. Your extraordinary ability to heal doesn’t stop with you.”
Mikah remembers Seraphina telling him that he helped Vivienne heal. But if she’s the one with the healing ability, she didn’t really need him, did she?
Yes, she did. She needed your strength, your encouragement, and your need for her in order to pull herself through. Seraphina’s voice rings clearly inside Mikah’s mind and he understands. You gave her hope.
“How?” Vivienne breathes. She hadn’t healed herself consciously; how was she supposed to heal anybody else?
“We will teach you,” Seraphina says aloud to Vivienne. “Just like we will teach Mikah what he needs to know. Though Andrew and Connor are pretty deadly, so there may not be much he needs to do.”
“Do we have that kind of time?” Mikah asks from behind Vivienne.
“You do. As I said, you’re fully protected within the apartment, and when you go out the same applies. We can drop the protection anytime and expose you to Riley when you’re ready.”
“But if we’re fully protected, why do we even have to expose ourselves to him at all? Or to anyone for that matter? What is the point of all of this?” Vivienne is rather upset. “Why can’t we just leave it alone and forget about it?”
Mikah takes a deep breath. “I think I can answer that one, Vivienne. If we don’t fight, you will never be in the clear.”
“Mikah is right,” Elizabeth says. “Riley is not all you will have to worry about in your lifetime, however he is the one who poses the biggest threat to you now. The devil knows that he’s found something in Riley. The anger that, for whatever reason, Riley holds against you is a very powerful tool, and Link will do whatever he can to exploit that. If you, Mikah, and the guardians eliminate Riley, you send a message to the devil that even his best men will be unsuccessful.” Elizabeth paces again. “Link is too blind to see that evil will always exist, that it has to. There has to be a balance in the world of good and evil. When Riley fails, he will turn to his next tactic.”
“Which is what exactly?” Mikah says flatly.
“An heir.” Zirah steps forward. “The devil will seek an heir to his throne so that when your daughter comes of age and if she decides to defeat him, the circle of hell continues with that heir.”
“What happens, hypothetically speaking, if my daughter defeats the devil and there is no heir?”
Elizabeth, Zirah, Seraphina and Red all look at each other, but no one seems about to answer.
“I don’t recommend ignoring that question,” Vivienne says, a warning note in her voice.
Elizabeth looks at her, anger in her eyes, but she softens when she realizes who it is that she’s talking to.
“If the devil has no heir when he is defeated, a state of anarchy will break out within the walls of hell. When that happens, hell on earth will be born and the destruction of mankind imminent.” All eyes are on Elizabeth, fear and understanding radiating throughout the room. “You see, again, it is about the balance of good versus evil.”
No one says anything. Vivienne takes a few steps back to sit back down. “We have no choice.” Her voice is weak and quiet.
“Believe me, I wish there was.” Elizabeth’s voice has taken on a somber tone, and Vivienne places her head in her hands again, deflated and exhausted.
“Is there anything else we need to know?” Vivienne says through her hands.
“No, not right now,” Elizabeth says. “You, Mikah, Red, and the other guardians can work on your plan. Mikah, when you’re ready, speak to Red and you two can discuss training. Vivienne, you will need to come to Elysium for yours. Zirah and Seraphina will be more than happy to help you. I suggest that you don’t wait too long to get started. The sooner we can end this, the sooner it will be over.” Elizabeth, sensing his determination to be done with this, approaches Mikah. “But you do not need to do this alone, my son. Those in this room will help you, and you will have Elysium on your side when you go.”
Mikah takes his mother by the arm and kisses her cheek. He whispers in her ear so that only she can hear it. “I know. And you know that I will do anything to keep both of them safe.”
“Do not be a martyr. Protect them and yourself,” she whispers back. She knows how much Vivienne and her daughter mean to him, though he may not yet realize it himself.
He kisses her cheek once more, and she goes to Vivienne and kneels in front of her. “I knew from the very first moment I saw you, so many years ago, that you were special.”
Vivienne raises her head to look at her. Elizabeth’s eyes are soft, warm and a comfort, but they are wary too.
“Your strength, your determination, and most of all your heart are pure. Call on me at any time if you need to talk.” Elizabeth kisses Vivienne on the cheek. “Go now and rest.”
TWENTY-THREE
“What do we do now?” Mikah asks. He, Vivienne and the guardians are back in his penthouse, standing in the dining room.
“We need to establish some type of daily routine for Vivienne. Like walking along the river or going to a store nearby. And while she’s engaged in this activity, we have to drop her protection.” Red says.
“No. Absolutely not. She cannot go out unprotected and alone.”
“Mikah, she will not be alone. We will all be there with her. But she has to appear alone. We need to be able to draw Riley out, get the attention of Link, who will send Riley in to do whatever it is he wants him to do. But in order to do that, we have to lay the trap, and in order to do that, her presence needs to register with the devil’s watchers. They need to know at what time of day they can expect her to show up. Once they’ve identified her pattern, they will pass the message along. Exposing her one time will not draw out what we’re after.”
“I don’t like the idea of using Vivienne as bait,” Mikah says, but his tone is more plaintive now than commanding.
Vivienne looks at Mikah. “We have no other choice.”
She’s right of course, and Mikah knows it, but fear grips him; he is putting her in danger, something he swore to himself he would never do again.
“She’s right, Mikah, we have no other choice,” says Red.
“I know, it’s just...it’s so dangerous. He got to her once and I couldn’t live with myself if he gets to her again.” He looks to Vivienne, on the verge of tears at the idea of anything happening to her.
“We have a plan in place,” Red says, “we just need you two ready and willing to make it happen. No harm will come to Vivienne, we will make sure of that. We will do everything in our power to make sure no harm comes to anyone, but Vivienne’s protection is our main concern.”
Red
’s commitment to keeping Vivienne safe makes Mikah feel a little better about the situation, but still he’s not convinced.
“You don’t think I worry about you?” Vivienne whispers to Mikah, aware that his concern for her safety could drive him to try and stop this from happening. “All of you? It would kill me if anything happened to any of you.”
“We know,” Red says, compassion in his eyes.
Something occurs to Vivienne. “I’m not sure that I’m understanding all of this,” she says. “If the devil likes control, why doesn’t he handle things himself?”
“The devil doesn’t do his own dirty work because he knows that there is always a chance that someone could defeat him. He uses ‘tools’ like Riley to keep himself out of harm’s way.”
“Okay, so where do we come into all of this? How does our defeating Riley change any of that?” Mikah asks. It is the same question that’s weighing on Vivienne’s mind.
“The devil killed Riley, thus making him a tool at his disposal to do his work. Until the demon Riley is destroyed by something other than the devil, Link can continue to use him as he sees fit. When he is destroyed, Link has no choice but to send him into hell.”
Vivienne recalls the stories of Dante and the circles of hell and wonders idly which circle Riley will fall into once he is destroyed.
“We destroy Riley,” Red says, “and Riley is no longer a threat to either one of you, and the devil goes about his task of finding an heir.”
“I’m willing to do anything if it means that Riley never bothers me again and I know that my daughter is safe,” Vivienne says with more confidence in her voice than what she’s had since Red knocked on the bedroom door.
“That, my dear, is why you are an angel,” Red says.
“When do we start?” Mikah asks.
“Tomorrow morning around nine. We will have Vivienne go for a walk, and we’ll drop her shields, putting her on the radar. My guess is that it will take at least three or four days before the watchers report back to Link. They will be certain that this is a daily thing before they report. If there is anyone they don’t want to piss off, it’s the devil.”
