There was a group of girls giggling and munching on something that looked like stuffed mushrooms and chicken satay, but that wasn’t what caught my eye. Behind them was a bronze of Satan. It looked very similar to the one at the Louvre, I remember seeing long ago. The piece it reminded me of was done by sculptor, Jean-Jacques Feuchere, but it had to be almost two hundred years old. This was certainly a pretty accurate replica and just as eerie as the original. The way the wings framed the being, and the ligaments in the legs were so defined, leading to the toes, which were actually talons was quite creepy. It was quite a sight and, unfortunately, very accurate to the real dark demons in their true form. A shudder went through me.
Looking to the left, I noticed another hidden door that wasn’t so hidden. Seeing Sean busy with a group of possible recruits, I made my way to the concealed opening. I gently pushed on the wall, and nothing happened. Trying not to make a scene, I tried leaning on it with more pressure and still nothing.
I stepped back and looked at the sculpture again, wondering if it had anything to do with getting the wall to open, when I saw a very fine break between the left wing and Satan’s back. That had to be it. I looked quickly behind me, and Sean was still distracted, salivating over his fresh blood, so I slowly grabbed the wing and pushed it down. The wall began to shift, and I stopped as soon as I saw enough space for my body to slip through.
A girl noticed me as I was making my way through the opening, and I put my finger to my lips, hoping she would abide. To my horror, she came over and slipped through the wall as well. I found myself on a steep staircase, with no light. Feeling for each step I took, as I went down deeper into the hidden part of the home. The girl seemed to be following right behind me.
“What do you think this is?” she whispered.
“A place we don’t want to get caught in,” I said. “So be on point.”
We finally made it to the bottom of the stairs, and I saw a lamp that I could turn on. Hopefully, it would only give us just enough light, without alerting the upstairs gathering, to see where we were.
The moment the light radiated over everything, the girl gasped. This was my fear. This is where they were turning people. The overwhelming feelings of negativity swept through me, and my spirit became heavy.
There were chains attached to the walls in front of me. Tables like the one I saw in the club during that horrible night in Seattle were along the farthest wall. The worst thing I saw was down the hallway. There were makeshift cells lined up.
“I don’t understand,” the girl mumbled to me. “What is this place?”
Turning around to face her, I looked into her caramel brown eyes. She didn’t belong here.
“This is where they turn people to demons. No matter what they are trying to tell you upstairs, anyone who agrees, will be turned into a brainless ghoul. At first, there will be some perks, and you’ll be able to socialize with the others. But eventually, after each new mission is completed you’ll get pushed further and further away from contacting others. It’s a really lonely life, but they don’t even realize it because they are too brainwashed.”
Her lips started trembling. “I want to get out of here.”
“It’s okay. I’ll make sure you do. Now let’s get back upstairs,” I told her.
Grabbing her hand, we ran up the stairs, entering back into the gathering room. We quickly closed the wall, and she stuck by me.
Sean looked over at me and smiled. I was pretty sure he knew where I had gone, but it didn’t matter. There wasn’t anything he would do right now. He doesn’t want to scare off the rest of his potential victims. I smiled back and turned towards the bar. I knew better than to drink anything from here, but it, at least, gave me a purpose.
Someone rested their hand on my shoulder. I turned and saw a guy smiling back at me.
“What do you think?” he asked me.
I didn’t know what to say. Do I take this time and try to dissuade him and risk blowing my cover or just play along? I looked over at the girl who was not more than a foot away from me, her eyes still terrified from what she saw below.
“I think if it’s too good to be true, it probably is,” I said, somewhat satisfied with my answer.
“That’s what I was thinking too. Watch this,” he mumbled to me and winked.
“So anyone with half a brain knows that this isn’t all fun and games. What are you expecting from us? What’s the catch?” the guy asked Sean, from across the room.
There was an immediate shift around us. It was like everyone here would rather pretend it could be possible than ask the tough questions.
“What do you mean? There’s no catch. You just have to subscribe to our way of life,” the demon replied.
“And what is that way of life?” The guy was getting very arrogant, and a smile spread across his lips that I recognized instantly, regardless of the body that was in front of me.
It was Athen. He shapeshifted, too, and he was here. I was so relieved but a little angry. This was supposed to be my thing, but watching him in action was pretty sweet.
“You receive a few jobs a year to do, and once they are complete, we leave you alone until the next time.” The demon was unable to hide his aggravation.
“What are the jobs? You really surprise me as far as comprehension or lack of it,” Athen retorted. He knew the demon would do absolutely nothing in front of this crowd.
“If we need someone to step in with some choices that a human is about to make, then that’s when we will call you up for service,” Sean replied.
“Huh, doesn’t sound like it’s for me. Sounds too good to be true,” Athen replied, smiling at me.
“We aren’t asking you to do anything illegal!” The demon was on the verge of losing his temper.
“There is no such thing as illegal in the underworld, my friend,” Athen said, turning to the completely captivated crowd. “If I were you, I would follow me right out the door we came in through. At least, if you want to save your soul.”
Athen walked by me and grabbed my hand, marching back through the study. The girl followed on my heels, and I heard a few footsteps behind me and was thankful for how ever many might be following.
“Nice one,” I whispered to Athen, squeezing his hand.
“Well, he’s not going to want to ruin his rep in front of everyone.” He turned around, gauging how many were coming with us out the door.
“How many?” I asked, not wanting to look.
“I’d say a third.
“I’m so glad you showed up, but I have to tell you I’m not digging this new look you’ve got going,”
“Yours isn’t so hot either,” he said laughing.
We reached the front door and opened it, letting out all the ones we could help for the moment choose a better life. I was thankful so many were leaving with us. The last one was out the door, and Athen and I were just shutting the door behind us, when the demon put his foot in the opening.
“Hey, you think you may have won this little thing?” the demon was seething, “but you didn’t even break the tip of the iceberg.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, which only made him angrier, and Athen squeezed the door closed on the dark demon’s foot.
“Now, my angel. Let’s get out of these creepy shells,” he told me.
“I couldn’t agree more. Just promise me, if I have any mishaps, you won’t tell a soul,” I begged.
“You’ve got it.” He winked at me.
Chapter 23
It was amazing to be back in Whistler. I was feeling much better, not perfect, but better. Much had happened since I first spotted Athen in the Grizzly Pub. It felt unreal when I think back to it. Everything changed so drastically. There’ve been events in this last year, which were beyond anything I would ever have imagined. Cyril pulled the car onto the street before we reached our home. He had the radio blaring The Black Key’s Lonely Boy, which seemed all too fitting.
Looking over at Athe
n, I could tell he was thinking the same things. The first few adventures we got to go on together, ziplining, dog sledding, evenings at the pub were all so innocent and enjoyable. It gave me the hope of what we could look forward to in the future. A smile covered his lips, like the weight of the world had momentarily been lifted, as we both daydreamed back to that one snowy winter’s eve.
I grabbed his hand as I leaned my head against the car window thinking about the first moment I saw him or, rather, the back of him. That’s all it took. Enjoying the feeling of his magnetic pull that was impossible to explain to anyone else was incredible. And then his eyes, they were so captivating! Thinking back to those first few moments created a giddiness inside all over again. The way he pursued me was the most magical, unbelievable experience I had ever been a part of. At the time, it seemed impossible that someone like him would ever even glance my way. Wow, how things change!
Athen squeezed my hand, and I looked over.
“I love you. You really are my everything.” His eyes filled with the mischief we had both been missing since the almost daily battles erupted months ago. I think we were able to get back to that playful place, because we knew we were close to the end. Either way it went. There was nothing more that we could do. We trained for this battle. We had made decisions we never thought we would be faced with making. The time was about to come, and there was nothing more we could do, until it actually began. I think we both knew this and wanted to ensure the days, leading up to the battle, were at least happy ones.
The old me would’ve tried to read something into this, like does that mean we think we’re going to lose? But I now know, it means nothing of the sort. We need to live in the here and now and enjoy everything about each other, because our love will only make us stronger.
Athen circled his finger around my wrist, leading his way up to my forearm. His light touch brought chills to my skin. I was thoroughly satisfied with the knowledge that for the next few days, we would be allowed to put everything aside and concentrate on us.
“I love you too, and that’s why we are going to defeat this evil. We have love on our side, not hate,” I whispered back to him.
“Hun.” He lifted my chin up to meet his gaze. “No more work talk. We need to focus on what’s most important to us. No matter how hard it is not to talk about everything, we really need to try. This is our last chance before it begins, and I want our time to be about us, not them.”
Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath in, I felt the oxygen travel through my entire body refreshing me and purging any thoughts that might want to invade my mind in the days to come. He was right. Nothing I thought about would help us win or lose what we were about to face. The months of training and strategizing had to be put to rest until the time to fight arose.
“You have my word,” I told him, as I scooted over to kiss his cheek.
We pulled in the driveway of the home that we all shared, and I blurted uncontrollably, “How about Athen and I go stay at my place in the village. Nobody’s got it rented out.”
Cyril looked at me in the rearview mirror with a grin as wide as I had ever seen, nodding completely amused.
“Why would that be, Ana?” he said, chuckling.
“Cyril!” Arie’s voice squealed with the pure joy that his humor always brought to her. She pinched him gently on his cheek. “Shame on you!”
My face felt warm with the embarrassment my outburst implied, but I didn’t care any longer. There were things I missed, and there were things I needed.
“Let me guess,” Cyril said.
“Uh, yep!” I laughed.
“Well, I think we can make that happen,” Cyril said, as he put the Jeep into reverse and began to back out of the driveway.
“What? I don’t get to go see inside first?” I did my best to act incensed.
“Oh, geez… Sorry, kind of thought you had other things on your mind.” Realizing Cyril was going to be ribbing me incessantly thanks to my lack of tact, I smacked him on his shoulder and did my best to glare at him in the rearview.
Trailing back towards the outskirts of the village, the excitement level began building again. The lights were up in all of their glory, wrapped around every tree limb and statue that was exposed. I couldn’t hide my smile and Athen was so right. We needed this and no discussion of what was about to come. Now was the time to relish what we have.
Cyril circled around the Westin’s drive, and the valet quickly came over to help. Opening the doors, I jumped out and ran around to Athen.
“Checking in?” The Bell Captain asked.
“We sure are.” Athen smiled, hugging me bringing right back to the night we first met.
***
Matilda was right on our heels as we made our way on to the elevator. I was so excited to see it again. I had spent so many years curled up inside with Matilda, waiting for a life I thought was non-existent. I pressed our floor, and the door close button, as fast as I could.
“You know that doesn’t actually do anything, right?” Athen asked, completely amused.
“Nope! Never heard that,” I said, grinning. “Look at that! The door closed.”
I began chuckling, and before I knew it, Athen slid next to me, clasping his hands around my face, bringing my lips close to his. The elevator arrived on our floor all too quickly, and we followed Matilda out into the hallway.
Athen unlocked the door and pushed it open. Matilda took off from behind us and ran to the chaise and jumped up on it like she never left. I was amazed. Everything looked just like we left it. Even with the amount of renters we had in and out of the place, nothing was out of its spot.
They would be bringing up our luggage shortly, so it gave me time to look over everything. The red overstuffed velour pillows were all on the couch, and the guest book I laid out on the coffee table was still there. I was excited to go check out who had stayed here over the last year and any fun memories they might’ve left for us.
The kitchen was pretty bare since we cleaned out most of my personal items, but if we needed anything, we could go grab it from our other place. Athen came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. I couldn’t wait to revisit all of our old stomping grounds with him.
“This is exactly what we needed,” he whispered ever so lightly for me to hear.
Spinning around, I let my lips fall onto his, taking in the softness of his mouth. My hands began running up his back, and I thanked the heavens that I had blurted out for us to stay here by ourselves. As Athen began sliding his hands around my waist, the knock on the door echoed through the hall.
“Oh my God! It is going to be like old-times! Interruptions included around every corner!” I said laughing, swatting at Athen. “Go get the door.”
The bellboy came in, and Athen had him drop everything off in the entry. We would take care of it on our own time. Tipping him generously, Athen closed the door quickly.
“So, where were we?” he asked, coming over and picking me up.
“I think this is about the place we left off,” I whispered, as he carried me towards the quietness of our bedroom.
Gently placing me on the goose down comforter, I looked at him with more love than I thought possible. In the beginning of my Awakening, I thought there was no way I could love him any more than I already had, yet our love had only grown with all the hardships that came at us.
He bent over me, gliding his lips down my neck towards my collarbone. Stopping, he stood back up and winked at me.
“Probably don’t need to give the neighbors a show,” he laughed, sliding the red velvet curtains closed with one swipe. He turned off the only light in our room and came over to where I was laying.
“I want you to take control. I need that. I need you. All of this fighting – these battles – I need to be reminded of what it is to have some sort of normalcy,” I said.
Athen was absolutely mesmerizing standing over me. I wanted him so badly. His grey flannel shirt wasn’t buttoned all the way, whi
ch only worsened the effect his body had over me. I had to get that off of him.
“You do, huh,” he whispered, bending down over me. He gently traced his finger along my chest leading to my stomach. I was thankful I was only wearing a camisole. His smile returning, he lowered his lips down to my neck. The electricity shot through my body, as his lips softly skimmed over my collarbone. It was just like the first night on the beach in Kingston, only more powerful. Our connection was growing by the minute, and I needed everything he had to give.
“Watching you fight the way you do...” he whispered, standing back up, “is pretty incredible. To see you like that,” his voice trailed off, as he traced his finger along my arm.
Smiling, I let the words embrace me with the power they held.
“It’s hard to believe that you’ve come so far. Sometimes I forget that you’d been out of my life for fifty years. It’s like you never missed a beat. You absolutely amaze me, Ana. You light up everyone you touch, including me. You’ve allowed me to see the possibility of another world, a better world,” his voice carried the strength that I needed.
His words guided me to another place. One where we could put aside our worries and only listen to our soul’s desire.
“Quit talking.” I sat up, pulling him down on top of me. “Isn’t that what you always tell me in this type of situation?”
“For good reason,” he uttered right before our lips began a journey into each other’s souls for the night.
***
The morning light trickled in through the curtains. I had no idea what time it was and could care less. Rolling over to see Athen next to me, gave me everything I could possibly want. I didn’t need anyone or anything else besides him. His hair was completely disheveled, and he had on his outfit from letting Matilda out earlier. My heart melted as I thought about him quietly sneaking out, making sure not to disturb me. His thoughtfulness never escaped me.
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