by Michael Dean
Fate
By: Michael Dean
Fate
Copyright © 2015 by Michael Dean. All rights reserved.
First Print Edition: July 2015
Limitless Publishing, LLC
Kailua, HI 96734
www.limitlesspublishing.com
Formatting: Limitless Publishing
ISBN-13: 978-1-68058-200-0
ISBN-10: 1-68058-200-3
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to locales, events, business establishments, or actual persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental.
~Dedication~
To anyone who has read this saga up to this point, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 1
DISARRAY
The world is slowly coming unraveled, descending deeper into a season in the abyss, and I’ve been all over it as of late. Not strictly searching for War, but stopping the madness that has crept up like cancer clusters all over the planet. Humanity is losing its way at a faster rate than before. Those that have risen from the underworld, following the commands of Christian and War, are influencing the minds of mankind in a much bolder fashion.
Before, beings like myself would creep and crawl around the world and through the minds of humans so as to avoid the ever watchful eyes of the heavens, but now it’s as if the line has been crossed and Hell no longer fears the wrath of Heaven for “pushing things too far”.
I can’t help but wonder where Argento and Elysia are and the hordes of angels that claim to care for and watch over the mortal race. I’ve been all over the earth and have not seen nor heard anything more out of them; not a single trace of any angel. It’s as if the heavens are turning a blind eye to what’s going on. I can’t help but think back to my conversation with Christian in Middleton. What he said about Argento. Maybe they have no interest in aiding me, only playing a charade to ultimately achieve a far greater purpose than what myself, Shade, my family and friends are fighting for. It’s possible that we are just pawns, readily disposed of when the scales of balance between good and evil begin to swing one way or the other.
I don’t know who to trust anymore. Well, I will never trust Christian or anything that has to do with the underworld, but it doesn’t mean that there isn’t an air of truth to some of the things he enlightened me about.
I just returned from Shanghai where people were rioting and looting all over the city. There have been many evils being committed in so many ways by people that I can’t possibly stop all the hate alone. I’ve only been able to slow the bleeding. Hell is gaining a firm foothold over the mortals, one location at a time.
Prior to that I took it upon myself to assist, on the down-lo of course, cities like Moscow, Sydney, Montreal, and of course several major and minor cities within the United States. I feel like this worldwide unruliness is a purposeful ruse put in place just for me, keeping me busy, but I can’t be sure of that.
What makes me think this way is because everywhere I went while in between helping the humans I’ve been one step behind confronting War. Instead what meets me is an influx of either vampires or demons, or both, fighting me at every turn. I feel as if I’m chasing War, like he’s buying time for something.
War is known in Hell as the hunter, never the hunted, which makes his or her behavior, given what form War has taken, equally strange. Maybe it’s simply because he’s use to being confined in Hell for the most part and he’s just trying to “play” a little while he’s out. I don’t know. It’s weird nonetheless.
Despite those recent insights scattered throughout my mind and the events unfolding around me, the thought of my engagement to Shade is still at the forefront. Due to my recent distractions the details and coordination of our wedding has been placed squarely on Shade’s and our parents shoulders.
Now that I have returned home, yet again, from another outbreak, I figured it was time to see how far along they were in the planning of this event.
The first stop I had to make besides checking in at my spot, which has been my usual habit as of late when returning back to Mountainside, was to check in with my family. When I got home, Scruffy opened the door to greet me as I walked up.
“What’s up, Batman? Chasing all over Gotham fighting crime again?” He grinned and waved me inside the house.
“Batman? Batman’s got nothing on me,” I kidded.
“Yeah, well, I never thought I’d see a day when a demon was trying to stop evil instead of creating it…much less being a friend and a brother to me. You’re a weird dude, bro.” He chuckled and patted me on the back.
“Leo…you back home?” Amanda, my mother of course, walked out of the kitchen wiping her hands with a tissue like she was cooking something. “You want something to eat?”
“Ahhh, he doesn’t need anything of substance. Just serve up some dirt. He can’t tell the difference.” Scruffy answered for me with a half-cocked smile and a nod.
“Shut-up, dummy,” our mother smiled and shook her head, “c’mon on in here and get yourself something. I was just about to put up the leftovers.”
“Sounds…great.”
After gathering a plate of food that looked fantastic but I knew would taste horrible because of me being what I am, I sat down to relax for the first time in quite a while.
As I ate, I briefly informed them on what I was up too while I was out and about. Amanda cleaned up and Scruffy sat down at the table next to me. Benjamin walked in and greeted me, grabbing a spot at the table to talk. When Amanda was done she joined us all. I was the lone eater.
“Does Shade and the rest of the Lewis clan know that you’re back?” Benjamin asked.
“Nope—not yet. I’ll swing by and see them a little later if that’s okay. I just need to settle my thoughts for a few and spend some time here with you all.” I continued to scarf down the soot and ash tasting delicacies that were lasagna and garlic bread.
“Well, you’ll be happy to know that Shade has put together a wedding date for the two of you.” Amanda chimed in.
I stopped chewing and raised my head to her.
“Looks like the two of you will be tying the knot this spring.”
“Oh yeah?” I raised my eyebrows, realizing that it was only a few months away being that we were going into winter again.
“Oooohhhh yeaaahhhhh,” Scruffy bounced his brows up and down in a seductive manner, “looks like you and Shade will finally be able to get your boogey on my man…if you’re up to the challenge? Can a demon even get it on?”
Amanda picked up a dishcloth lying on the table and tossed it at her son. “Mark Spears…that is just crass.”
I smiled and Scruffy snickered as he grabbed the cloth, tossing it back across the table to our mom. I glanced over to our father and he had a sheepish grin on his face as well.
“Anyway…before your disgusting brother,” then she too looked over at Benjamin, “and classless father…”
“Heeeyyy.” He interrupted with a laugh.
“…interrupted me. As I was saying, the date has been set for late spring…likely in June.”
“Where?”
“Well, Shade struggled in deciding between two locations. She originally wanted to do it in the Gardens of Zeus…under the arch by the fountain. The flowers will be in bloom at that time and we thought the setting would be beautiful. But then she mentioned a location that seemed to be dear to her, a spot that the two of you frequent I guess, buy the Gold Rock River? That’s where she has decided the wedding should be held. Does that sound okay to you, Leo?”
“It is dear to her…to us. I love that place. Sounds perfect.”
“Well, it certainly isn’t going to be as cheap as I’d hoped,” Benjamin added.
“We don’t have too…” I began to say before Amanda interrupted me.
“Oh, you two boys, hush-up. You’re going to give Leo a complex about this…stop teasing him. It’s a once in a lifetime thing for a very unique set of people. It’s our pleasure to do it for the two of you…along with the help of Shade’s parents of course. Besides, hosting it at Gold Rock saves a few bucks anyway, but that’s beside the point.”
“Yeah, well, Richard didn’t mind spending an extra few bucks on the shotgun he bought for the wedding right after Shade told him about your proposal to her.” Father continued to tease as Scruffy laughed hard.
“You should see the awesome spot they’ve picked out for the honeymoon for the two of you. Even Sheriff Taylor chipped in a little on that one,” Scruffy mentioned.
“Shut-up, Mark!” Both parents spoke at the same time, scolding him for obviously speaking up about something that was supposed to be a surprise.
“What do you mean?” I curiously asked while getting up to clean off my plate and put it away.
“You’re just going to have to wait and find out about that at the reception, son.” Amanda shut it down.
“Sooo…wow…you guys have been hard at work on this while I’ve been busy. I feel a little guilty.”
“I’ll say.” Benjamin winked.
“Don’t worry yourself, hun. It’s our pleasure to help. Besides, you’ve been helping out in a much bigger fashion. With all that is going on in the world right now, we may be living on borrowed time for all we know, might as well seek out good times while we still can. It’s the least we can do. You’re right though, the wedding dress has been picked out, your tuxedo and what the groomsmen will be wearing have been picked out, as well as the bridesmaids dresses, the food, guest list, pretty much everything is taken care of. All that you have to do is pick your groomsmen and everything should be in place and good to go…given a few finishing touches that I’m sure will remain, it should be one beautiful wedding.” Amanda stood as I walked by her to sit back down and she hugged me, planting a kiss on my cheek.
“Yeah, now all you have to do is stay alive so it can happen.” Scruffy kidded, but there was more truth than humor behind the statement.
“You’re not going to be alive much longer if you say something like that again young man.” Our mother waved her finger at him.
“I’m kidding…I’m kidding. Leo is a bad ass. He’ll be just fine.” He looked at me as I sat back down.
I flashed a half smirk at him but couldn’t help harboring a sinking feeling deep inside of me about the validity of his intended joke. It was highly possible that the groom could leave the bride standing alone at the altar. I couldn’t do that to Shade. That would be devastating to her and all the families involved. Not because I would intentionally not marry her by being absent at our wedding, but because my absence would mean I was dead most likely. I didn’t want to put Shade, her family, or mine through something like that. If my fight with War comes before the wedding, I’d have no choice, like I had any other option anyway, but to take him out.
After a few more brief words, I wanted to go and see Shade and let her know that I was back and okay. Benjamin and Amanda gave me permission and out the door I went. I was over at the Lewis household in no time flat. Before I could close the little white gate behind me that allowed me to walk up the pathway to their front porch I was almost tackled by an overzealous Shade.
“Hey baby!” She jumped on me and hugged me tight before laying a deep passionate kiss on me. “I’m glad to see that you made it back again and are well.”
“I’ll always return for you…always.” I leaned in and kissed her again as I picked her up off her feet and held her to me.
“Easy you two…you’re not married yet.” A suspicious Richard called out from the front door of the house.
“Sorry dad,” Shade answered him as I placed her back on the ground and let her go.
“Yes…yes sir, I apologize,” I said, a little embarrassed.
“You guys get in here before the neighbors see you and get the impression that this is a house of ill repute or something.” He smiled sarcastically and waved for us to come in.
Shade grabbed me by the hand and pulled me up and into the house. Before I could settle in Anne approached me and gave me a hug before grabbing my other hand and the two of them pulled me into the direction of Anne’s office area.
“Have fun, son.”
I looked back to see Richard roll his eyes playfully and plop down into his chair, opening up a sports magazine of some sort. I could tell he wanted nothing to do with wherever the two ladies were taking me. Once I walked into the room, more like was yanked into, I saw why he made himself scarce.
All over the family office desk were various pictures, papers, and magazines of everything you could imagine that had to do with coordinating a wedding. Not that I don’t love Shade or our families, but I immediately wanted to turn around and go back into the room with Richard. All Shade and her mother did were talk over one another in an excited fashion as they bombarded me with information concerning the wedding. I couldn’t make heads or tails out of what they were trying to tell me about the event. All I could do was grin and agree as they rattled on.
I guess this is a trait I share with human males. When it comes to something like weddings, we’d rather sit on the sidelines and just be told to show up on time. Thank goodness, I can’t believe I’m thanking something like this, but I’m kind of glad that I’d been distracted as of late with the mayhem going on in the world because fighting Hell seemed to be a little less stressful than keeping up with details of our wedding coming from the women in our families. Holy crap.
“So…what do you think, Leo? Does all this sound good?” Shade asked, pulling me out of my overwhelmed state.
“Uh…” I cleared my throat, “Uh…sure-yeah-that sounds perfect.” I sheepishly grinned.
“You didn’t hear a thing we said did you?” Shade shook her head around and smirked at me with sarcasm. All I could do to answer her back was shrug.
“Ugh, you’re no different than Father, Mark, and Benjamin. You tune out whenever women speak details. Are you sure you’re not human in there somewhere?” Shade teased.
I cracked a half-grin, “Maybe I’ve picked up a few bad habits from you mortals?”
“Don’t include us in that you statement.” Anne shook her head, “Without us women getting things organized on this planet, you men would show up unshowered and underdressed for everything.” The two of them giggled.
“I’m not going to pretend to deny that.”
“Well at the very least Leo can you give us your stamp of approval about the tuxedos?” Anne reached down and handed me a pamphlet with pictures of models in the tuxes that they had decided on for me.
I took the paper and looked it over briefly. I had to admit, the suit looked very dapper. The pants and the inner and outer wear up top was solid white. On the contrary, the tie was black along with the shoes. It reminded me a little of something that was close to what Christian would wear.
They then handed a picture of a small red rose they had picked out that would be pinned to the breast of one side of mine and the groomsmen’s suits. They really had everything picked out to the last detail.
“Wow. This looks great.” I handed the papers back to Anne.
“Well, I’m glad you approve. Not that it would change things if you didn’t.” She smiled and winked at me.
I laughed.
“Yeah, I think you are going to look hot in that.” Shade leaned up and kissed me on the cheek.
“What about the brides dress?”
“Whoah!” They both said at the same time.
“Easy there lackey, don’t you know that you’re not supposed to see the brides dress before the wedding?” Shade nudged me with a playful smile.
“I thought I wasn’t supposed to see the bride actually in the dress before the wedding? Didn’t know that standard stood for the dress too.” I continued to grin.
“Well, whether it does or doesn’t…you’re still not seeing it until I walk down the aisle.”
“Fair enough.”
“Leo…get out of there before they soften you up!” Richard called out from somewhere in the house in an effort to rescue me.
“You shut your trap, mister!” Anne fired back at him with a chuckle, “Shew, shew.” She waved her hand at me dismissively, “you are free to go. Go back and play with the clueless men around here.” She drew her gaze back down to the scattered pictures and papers on her desk.
Shade laughed and reached for my hand, giving it a squeeze before I left the room.
I went into the living room and sat down next to Richard. He never so much as glanced at me from out of the sports magazine he was holding up in front of his face.
“You’d been in there long enough. Thought I’d pull you out before you came walking out of there in a dress and pigtails,” he said with a straight face.
