Hans chuckled. “Perhaps I, too, am tired of this game. It is no wonder Eliza and Vincent had kept everyone at arm’s length. Master Vincent never did tell Madeline how he felt.”
“With the way things are going, there is a chance you will see them again if you live long enough. Fates can be reborn, which means that other souls can come back also.”
“You’re right. I will consider your words and place my hope in seeing Master Vincent again. Before then, I have to figure out a way to keep Perri safe.”
“Very good. Now may I get some rest? I had a long day.”
Hans stood. “I will see myself out. Thank you for giving me some of your time.”
“It is the least I can do for someone who keeps my secret.”
When Hans left, Lucious’ eyes settled on the wooden box sitting atop of his bedside table. He picked it up and undid the catch. Studying the clear crystal, he itched to get a glimpse of Helena.
Would one second be enough?
He licked his lips and lifted the orb. The clearness was replaced with fog. Her face appeared in the middle of it. It seemed like she was talking to someone and smiling. Although his heart no longer beat, the tightness in his chest grew. He traced the outline of her cheek with the silly cat face painted on it. The smile she sported for another man, sitting beside her, caused him great heartache. It was better if she moved on, or so he liked to tell himself. The hidden truth remained—he wanted to hold her again, kiss her soft lips, and bring their bodies close.
Fool, you cannot have her!
He placed the crystal back in the box when a frown formed on his face. The man beside her was Ben. What is that hunter doing there? Lucious’ teeth ground together. That hunter would not go to see her without a reason. Whatever his plan was, Lucious was certain it would bring her more misery and misfortune. He needed to find out where the vampires guarding her had gone to.
Lucious climbed to his full height and swayed on his feet. Exhaustion and stress had caught up with him. His vision blurred, and he collapsed on the spot.
3
THE PAINFUL PAST
HELENA
B en led her through the party goers until they reached a staircase. He motioned for her to follow, and, with every step, she repeated in her mind how bad an idea this was. The guy seemed to be in his late twenties. There were tonnes of suspicious things going on around him. He had scars on the back of his calves, too. As she climbed the stairs, she imagined that this was how he led his kidnapped victims to their doom. She shook her head to clear the image of terrified women screaming. He said he knew her from the past she couldn’t remember.
Is that the truth?
Ben entered one of the bedrooms, and she raised a brow. This has to be a joke. Do I look that gullible?
He peered around the doorway. “Are you coming in or not?”
“Who am I supposed to meet again?”
“A friend. Trust me.” He motioned for her to join him.
She didn’t move. In that instant, she dreaded that this interaction may dramatically change her life for good. Her parents were terrified enough to lie to her on a daily basis with false smiles. There were gaps in her memories throughout her life, which she couldn’t piece together. A large part of her was gone like a puzzle missing multiple pieces.
Would it help put everything back into place? Didn’t I forget him and whoever was waiting for me for a reason?
“Helena?”
“I don’t know why I’m this nervous,” she said with a strained giggle, desperate to avoid his penetrating stare.
Ben stopped a safe two feet away from her. He slid his hands into the pockets of his shorts, leaving his thumbs to peek out. The smile he wore had vanished and was replaced with a peculiar silent plea she couldn’t understand. “Please. Trust your instincts. You must know that you can trust me. I mean, we may not have been the best of friends from the beginning but, right now, you are the reason I am trespassing on another group’s territory. Without your return, we believe something bad will happen.”
“Like what?”
He sighed and grabbed her arm. Pulling her along, Ben dragged her into the bedroom and shoved her inside. “She’s here.”
Helena’s blood ran cold and all sounds seemed to fade. In the moonlight filtering in through the large windowpanes, a young woman bit into the neck of an unconscious person. Stumbling backwards, Helena’s eyes bulged out of their sockets as she struggled to find her voice. Her back bumped into someone. Turning her head, she discovered her friend.
“What’s happenin’? Why’d you come up here?” Britney asked, slurring her words.
The door behind them slammed shut. Ben locked it with a key and pocketed it. “Do you remember anything?”
Helena wrapped her arms around Britney who seemed to sober up once a bloodied body fell to the ground at the redhead’s feet. Her friend pointed at the girl, saying, “What the fuck? I know it is Halloween but—is that guy dead? Oh. My. God…”
The redhead’s eyes glowed crimson, and Helena’s body relaxed against her will. In her arms, Britney did the same. Their arms fell away from each other.
“Calm down, Helena. We’re trying to help you,” the redhead said in a soothing tone.
“Look, whoever you are, let Britney go. She’s done nothing wrong,” Helena said in a shaky voice.
“Ben?” the woman said, looking at him. “What do you think?”
“Shock therapy obviously didn’t do it for her, and her friend showing up is an oversight on my part. I should have noticed her coming up the stairs. Let’s do this one thing at a time. Have you gotten used to the vampire influence?”
Helena’s attention jumped between the two of them as they talked in foreign to her terms. Her hands balled into fists, and she pushed Britney behind her back. “Did you hear what I said?”
“I heard you, Sis, loud and clear.” The woman grinned with bloodstained teeth. “We’ll let your friend go soon enough. Ben, knock her out.”
Before Helena could move, Britney’s legs caved, and Ben caught her around the waist. He lifted her and laid her unconscious form on the bed with care.
Anger replaced any shred of fear Helena felt. She marched up to Ben and tried to punch him as hard as she could.
He caught her hand and bent it backwards to the point where her knuckles brushed her shoulder blade. A sharp pain sliced through her arm, sending her to her knees as she cried out.
Ben released her immediately. “Please don’t attack. You’re not strong enough to fight me.”
Rubbing her aching arm, Helena glared at the two strangers. “You lied to me. You said we were friends.”
“We are. That was the truth,” he said.
“Then why did you hurt my friend? Why are you doing this to us?”
The redhead squatted in front of Helena and took her hand in hers. The stranger’s chilled touch sent a shiver down her spine and populated her arms with goosebumps.
“We are your friends, and you are like family to me,” the girl said with a faint smile. “What happened was that you died and came back. The tracking bracelet I gave you got lost in a field, and I couldn’t find you afterwards. I had to ask Ben to help me track you down.” She planted a reassuring hand on Helena’s shoulder. “Ask yourself, why aren’t you freaked out about seeing a demon drinking blood from a human? Any normal mortal would have fainted or screamed until our ears bled.”
Helena’s brows drew together. She hadn’t once considered the redhead’s glowing eyes or blood-drinking odd. Instead, she focused on trying to keep Britney safe. And the death the stranger mentioned, Helena couldn’t have died, right? Dead people didn’t come back to life unless… “Am I a zombie?”
The girl and Ben burst out laughing at the same time. After a while, the redhead clutched her sides as she rolled on the floor. “Oh my God! Ben, if I still needed to breathe, I’d be dead.”
He cleared his throat. “Maya, let’s get back to business. She needs to remember before we can assess the situatio
n. We won’t know how far Lilia got unless we bring her back to normal.”
The name ‘Lilia’ struck a chord. Helena’s headache returned, and she gently massaged her temples as she stood up. “Who is Lilia?”
“A fate. She’s here to save the world.” Maya cupped Helena’s cheeks, forcing their gazes to lock. “Now because our trip down memory lane and shock treatment didn’t work, I’m going to try using vampire influence. This may hurt a little, so relax and…think of nothing.”
“How much will it hurt?”
Maya shrugged. “On a scale of one to ten? Possibly a two. A mild migraine, I assure you.”
Helena did as she was told and relaxed her shoulders. She stared at Maya’s hypnotic red eyes. The glow in them intensified to the point where they could be compared to the traffic lights at night. A low droning ache started to build at the back of her head. It slowly intensified the longer she looked. She desperately wanted to close her eyes, to blink, but her body ignored her. Even her words, pleas for the process to stop, never reached her lips.
The pain became unbearable and something in her mind lifted—like a barrier shattering into a million glass fragments.
Maya drew away. “It’s done.”
Loud voices and visions filled Helena’s mind, and she clutched her head. Tears blurred the room she could no longer see. Her fingers tugged at her hair, pulling at the roots. It was as if someone drove drills into her skull over and over again.
“Shit, this wasn’t what I expected!” Maya’s distant voice almost faded into the midst of echoes bouncing around in Helena’s head.
“Get her something to bite on. Quick!” Ben shouted.
Lost to the world around her, Helena became absorbed in the torment her body was suffering. Sweat beaded on her skin. Her breathing grew laboured, and she folded in on herself, knees tucked close to her chest. Something was pushed into her mouth and her teeth bit the rough leather.
After what seemed like an eternity, the room went silent and the voices quietened. Too weak to move, she shivered uncontrollably. She peeled open her eyelids long enough to see Maya’s terrified face. Tears ran down the demon’s cheeks as she mumbled her apologies.
“Maya, please kill me,” Helena whispered and her conscience faded.
Helena stared at the picture of a field on the wall of their hotel room for almost twenty minutes since her the last episode. No amounts of painkillers seemed to do any good. The suffering wasn’t physical but inflicted by her mind. It hurt to move her swollen eyes and the rawness of her throat prevented her from talking. The events of the past year kept surfacing—memories Lucious dared to lock away. She had forgotten her friends, her life, and who she was.
How could he do this to me?
Each time she called out to Michael, he wasn’t there. She knew something was wrong. Just like the time when he went missing while her string was grey, his protective layer around her shields was no longer present. She was alone.
Her heart gave a squeeze, and she gripped her wrinkled dress. The crippling headache was gone for a minute. It was replaced by a migraine from her relentless tears. Every thought hurt.
After Lucious said we would be together, he made me forget everything. Why?
Another memory hit her, forcing her spine to arch as a sharp pain erupted in her chest. The blade Laura drove into her heart, she could still feel it as if it never left her. Helena gasped for air, reliving the scene. She screamed her pain into a pillow, wishing the agony would cease. She begged for it to end, but her pleas went unanswered. The solid oak headrest could be a solution. She imagined bashing her head against it until the pain became her oblivion.
A cool hand landed on her damp forehead, making the suffering recede enough for her to relax a little.
Maya’s sobs reached her ears. “I’m so sorry, Sis. I didn’t know you would have to relive every memory like this.”
“Water…please…” Helena whispered in a hoarse voice.
Maya’s hand moved away. A split second later, she returned with a glass in hand. She helped Helena into a sitting position. “Here, drink this.”
Grateful for Maya’s kindness, Helena pushed the cold water down her aching throat. After a few more sips, she handed the glass back and lay back down.
Maya set the glass on the bedside table and held Helena’s hand. “Can you eat? You’ve been like this for almost a day. I’m afraid you’ll get sick…”
Helena attempted a smile which turned into a half-grimace. Her unsettled stomach twisted at the thought of solids. She shook her head. “No food.”
“But you need to eat to regain your strength. Because…never mind.”
“What?”
Maya withdrew her hands and nibbled on her lower lip. “Your eyes, they’re different. It’s not good for you to be this weak right now. If you don’t get better, Lilia will take over.”
“Isn’t that what you wanted?”
Seeming genuinely shell-shocked, Maya snapped, “No! God, no! I only wanted to give you a fighting chance.”
Too drained to argue, Helena rolled away from her friend and buried her head under the pillow where there was no light. She closed her eyes, recalling the last time Lucious had kissed her. His silent suffering polluted their final seconds together, and she couldn’t imagine how hard it must have been for him to let her go. While her memories were locked away, not once did Lilia creep in to whisper into her mind.
Did he do it for me? She needed to know the truth.
Most of Sunday, she stayed in bed. Maya and Ben took turns to look after her. Helena managed to check her phone, finding over fifty missed calls from her mother and Richard. With a heavy sigh, she redialled Richard’s number and waited for him to answer.
“Helena? Is that you?” he shouted into the phone.
She winced. “Yeah.”
“Where are you? We’ve called Britney’s house, but she doesn’t remember what happened last night.”
Helena could hear her mother in the background asking, “Did you take drugs?”
Helena laughed, which sounded more like a series of croaks. “No. I didn’t take drugs. I met some old friends.”
Her parents went silent. Richard was the first to speak. “What old friends?”
“I got my memories back. I know what happened in July and the events leading up to it. I even know why you have lied to me for three months. As much as I want to understand you, I can’t.”
“Helena, return home this instant,” her mother screeched down the phone.
“I’ll be back tomorrow to pick some things up.”
Her mother’s agitation rose. “No! Come home now. You are grounded while we—”
“Mum, you can’t keep me in a cage my entire life. Lucious needs me now more than anything. I can’t let him be in the darkness by himself.”
“You died in front of us! Do you not understand that? Actually, you must be crazy. We will find a doctor or a clinic where they can take a look at you. Dealing with those things has made you…”
Helena gripped the phone in her hand, preparing for the punchline her mother wanted to deliver. “Made me what?”
“They made you into a monster.”
“Sasha!” Richard warned.
It was too late. Helena ended the call and turned off her phone. She studied the new clothes Maya had brought for her to change into.
She decided to take a shower first. Once she let the water run, she stripped down to her underwear and glanced at her reflection in the mirror above the sink. The pale complexion wasn’t what stopped her in her tracks. Her eyes were different. The left iris remained hazel and the right had turned turquoise.
“Hello, Helena. I believe there is much work to be done,” Lilia spoke in her mind with triumph. “This time, try not to struggle too much.”
Helena grabbed the sink’s edge. Her fingernails slid along the smooth ceramic surface as she struggled to contain Lilia. With each passing second, the scraping inside of her skull intensified, and her
knees buckled. Lifting her head, the ceiling started to get black spots on it. She knew she didn’t have long.
“Please,” Helena forced out through her teeth. “I have to see him one more time before you do this!”
“This is not up for debate. The cycle must be completed or humanity will be enslaved,” Lilia replied sternly. “Put aside your selfish desires. We must move swiftly.”
Once the last piece of the ceiling vanished, Helena’s body hit the ground. She could no longer feel the cold from the tiles touching her skin or hear the running water in the shower. Inside her shields, she faced Lilia. Long black hair ran down that woman’s back, brushing her snowy dress.
“You are afraid to let go, I understand,” Lilia said in the softest voice and gave Helena a sympathetic look. “You must realise that even if I do not claim you as a vessel, the cycle will continue.”
“Then why are you so desperate to do this? Why not find someone else?” Helena yelled in frustration.
“This is not something a mere mortal will fathom.”
Helena glared at her. “Try me.”
“Even if I did take a step back in this cycle, it does not mean it would end. Many humans will die if Arthemis is awakened. When that time comes, he will take his vengeance on your world. So, tell me, Helena”—Lilia took a step forwards, lifting her hand to stroke Helena’s cheek—“how many billions of souls are you willing to condemn for a single man?”
Helena broke eye contact with the blue-eyed beauty. Among those people, there were her family, her friends, and everyone she had met during her travels. Lilia’s words rang true, yet the heaviness of the burden created more doubts. “You could be lying.”
“I did not sacrifice the lives of everyone I loved and cared about to play a game. Michael gave up his existence to give you a second chance, which you have squandered. It is my turn.” She placed her hand in front of Helena. “Take it and sleep through this nightmare. I assure you, the pain you have suffered to this day does not compare to what is ahead if you do not take my offer.”
Helena took a cautious step back. “But it is an offer, which means I can just not accept you.”
Fated Origins: An Urban Fantasy Novel (Helena Hawthorn Series Book 4) Page 4
