Legends of the Damned: A Collection of Edgy Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance Novels

by Lindsey R. Loucks

  “Where?”

  “We need to stop at the train-yard. We can bury him there.”

  “Okay,” he said.

  He went back into his thoughts. It would be nice, getting to bury a memory of his friend before he was arrested. He ran a play of the next few hours in his head.

  Sara said they could stay with one of her friends and August didn’t want to see his brother again. The shame it would bring to him, for what he did. August really didn’t regret his father’s death. But he did regret having to put his mother and brother through it.

  First, they would bury the effigy. Then, they would go to her friend’s house. And then not an hour later, the doors would burst open and he would be surrounded by police. Taken and tortured in the gods’ prisons before being put to trial and sentenced to death. Hung from a pillar of ivory, with his body whipped bloody and left to die for the whole world to see. Left to die as an enemy of the human race, as the bugs crawled through his open sores.

  He rubbed the handgun in his pocket. He wasn’t going to die like that. As an example. He was going to go down with a fight.

  He looked at Sara; she was staring at the box in her lap. Sorry, Sara. But he was never completely into this revolution. He was never a fighter or a hero. He was a coward, a fake. He had never had any drive in his life. He was lazy and selfish and now he was going to die like a coward. Going out with a bang. Maybe the rebels could use him as a martyr, to inspire humans to rise up against the gods. Maybe then his life would’ve had some worth. Only then would he have done some good in the world.

  Looking past everything he’d done in his life. Coasting through school with a B average. Losing job after job after high school with nothing to show for it. To killing his father who was just doing his job. He’d never done anything special or exceptional. They would never make him a martyr, they’d never make him a hero. He didn’t deserve to become one. He hadn’t done any good and he probably never would.

  So what use was he to the world?

  He stared out onto the road as it curved along the mountains. The blue ocean reflecting in the sun light. Almost losing Sara, he learned that the only thing he had left in the world was her.

  It looked like she was the only one returning home.

  He had no home left.

  Kevan sat on his mother’s couch. The house was his now, she had given it to him in her will. The place was still dusty and dirty. He wasn’t sure what he would do with it.

  Luna would love to live in a house, but there were too many bad memories there. He wanted to sell it, but there were still other things on his mind.

  His phone dinged next to him. A text message popped up. It said “Train yard.” Kevan stood up and walked to the gun rack. This was it. He looked over the guns and stopped at an M1 carbine. The M1 had been his father’s favorite gun.

  Fitting.

  Kevan grabbed it.

  August and Sara stood over a small hole in the ground. The sun was starting to set over the train-yard. The wind began to pick up. August shivered in his small jacket. Sara suggested he buy a better one. But he wouldn’t need a jacket or anything after today.

  Sara stepped closer to the hole. “A place so nobody will disturb it.” She placed the box in the hole and August filled it in with dirt.

  Sara closed her eyes. “He is in his heaven, all is well in the world,” she whispered.

  August stared at the dirt. All is well in the world, he thought. It looked like he would meet He sooner than he thought.

  Sara said, “August.”

  August looked up. She was staring at the woods. Kevan was walking toward them from the woods, with his gun raised.

  August pulled out his gun and held it beside him. Sara walked off to the car without a word.

  Maybe it would be better if his brother would kill him. To complete the circle of violence. August stared at the train tracks, his brother closing in, gun raised, not firing a shot.

  “Well, are you going to do it?” August asked.

  Kevan swung his gun at August, and August jumped back. Kevan charged him and tackled him to the ground.

  August struck Kevan in the face and kicked him off. He got up and pointed his gun at Kevan. What the hell was Kevan doing? Why didn’t he shoot him?

  August looked at the gun in his hand. He threw it to the ground; he wasn’t about to shoot his brother.

  Kevan got up and ran for him. “You bastard.” Kevan swung his fist at him, the hit connected and blood erupted from August’s face.

  August fell back onto the tracks. Fuck. Kevan kicked his chest and August dry-heaved.

  “You coward,” Kevan said. He dropped on top of him and laid his fist into his face. August heard a distant train whistle closing in. “You’ll never be the man our father was.”

  Kevan’s fist stopped. He held August down. Not that he could get up in his state.

  Kevan continued, “You ruined everything.”

  The whistle got closer.

  “You killed our father, you destroyed my home.”

  The train lights overcame them.

  “You coward! Everything is your fault, I lost everything because of you! You’re dead to me.” A tear dropped from his eyes onto August. “You’re dead to me.”

  August could feel the vibrations of the train tracks. Death was near. “If this is how it’s going to be, then I’d rather die by the hands of my own family.”

  The sound of the train whistle eclipsed them. August didn’t struggle as the train hit.

  The train passed by and then was gone.

  August lay on the ground alive.

  Kevan yelled, “Fuck!” and punched the ground. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t kill his brother.

  August looked at his hands. They were bloody from the fight but besides a bruised face he was fine. What was he thinking? Wishing for death. When there was still someone who needed him.

  Kevan.

  Kevan sat, dejected, on the side of an abandoned railcar, staring at the ground. August got up and sat next to him.

  There was a five-minute-long silence. August didn’t know what to say. His brother couldn’t kill him, even when he deserved it.

  “I couldn’t do it,” Kevan said. “My family is dead because of you, because I’m weak and because you’re a coward.”

  “Why are they dead because of me?”

  “I’m supposed to kill you, August. And I couldn’t do it.” Kevan never took his eyes off the ground. “Ifor told me to kill you, now I’m dead.”

  “We could run. You, mom, Sara and I, could run.”

  “Mom is dead.”

  “What?”

  “Her head blown off. Thanks, August, it was because of you that she died. She was used as leverage to get me to come after you.”

  “What…no…” August stared into the ground. His mother was dead. It was his fault.

  “You’re a home wrecker.”

  August continued to stare at the ground. He couldn’t look his brother in the face. He was trying his hardest to hold back his tears. “Why did you come for me if they already killed our family?”

  “I have a wife and kids now, August. My family is gone because of you.”

  August looked at his gun on the ground a few meters away from him. All of this was his fault. He would never get to meet his brother’s kids. His brother would never get to experience a life full of happiness, watching his children grow. Because of him.

  He could do something. They could run. They could fight. If worst came to worst, he’d die for his brother, August could let them kill him. Let them pull the trigger his brother couldn’t.

  On his own terms. They could go to their parents’ place and he could tell Sara to park close to the back so they could run while August distracted whoever was coming and he could let them kill him.

  August finally looked at his brother. “We could go down with a fight.”

  Kevan sat on the couch in his mother’s place. He had his gun in hand. Because he couldn’t pu
ll the trigger, his family was going to die. Luna and his kids.

  He needed to figure a way out while keeping his family safe. He couldn’t think of anything. Brookes was Ifor and Ifor were the gods.

  He sent a text telling Luna to lock the doors and windows and pack their things. He didn’t think that would help, but it helped for his peace of mind.

  He stared at the gun in his hand. It would’ve been easy, just with the flick of his fingers and all his problems would’ve gone away. And then he could start over again.

  August peeked out of the window. The sun was down and they only lit the house with candle light.

  August said, “Where is this guy you said was going to come for you?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Sounded like you wanted an excuse to kill me.” August laughed. Kevan didn’t return it. “Sorry.”

  “He’ll come,” Kevan said.

  “If you’re saying he’s coming for your family, why don’t you just run?”

  “It wouldn’t work. It’s Ifor.”

  “I was in hiding for almost a year, Kevan. It’s possible. Sara’s mother is with the rebels. She could get us fake credentials. We wouldn’t even need to be brothers anymore, we could end this dysfunctional relationship. You can leave this state, even the country and start over again.”

  “It…” It wouldn’t work, it shouldn’t. Why hadn’t Brookes come for him yet? Kevan got a text from Luna. It said “Still good.” He asked Luna to text him every thirty minutes. It was almost midnight. Maybe August was right for once. He texted her to put her things near the door.

  A toilet flushed somewhere in the house and Sara walked into the living room.

  August said, “Hey, Sara, could your mother make fake identities for Kevan and his family?”

  Sara didn’t say anything and looked at Kevan.

  August said, “What is it?”

  “Nothing. Yeah, I could ask her. We could go back down south to where we used to live. I remember her saying she had a safe house there. I know where she keeps the key. We could go there.”

  August looked at Sara. She had wanted him to come home and this was what happened. She probably felt like it was her fault.

  “Let’s go.”

  Queen stared out at Los Angeles, the city of the angels. But it was really the city of the gods. The skyline expanded out miles and miles. The dying sunlight painted the skyscrapers steel blue as the lights of the night began to come alive.

  She was near the top floor of the tower of Ifor, the tallest building in the world and the gateway to the heavens. Her base of operations. Not every god could teleport anywhere they wanted; this tower was how they came to and from the heavens. The door opened behind her.

  Sounds of an office echoed in and stopped once the door closed.

  Svante walked up beside her. “Speaking to me in a public place. Do you think the other gods can save you? It’s easy enough to make a body disappear.”

  Queen looked at Svante; he was still angry. “I removed my people from your domain, even though a well-known criminal is currently roaming it. But as the tower of Ifor is in your domain, I still require you to let us operate in this city.”

  Svante laughed. “Did I really scare you that much?”

  “I don’t want to fight. Another war of the gods wouldn’t do any good.”

  “You shouldn’t let a god lower than you push you around, Queen. It doesn’t look good for your rule,” Svante mocked.

  Queen bit her tongue. “I’m not. I can see a mistake when I’m making one. Just so we’re clear, I’m the ruler of Ifor, you’ll have to obey my orders from now on.”

  “I’ll obey them if they’re in the realm of sanity. I hope you make better decisions in the future.”

  “Svante,” she said.

  Svante sighed. “Alright, Queen, I’ll follow your rules and commands when I feel like it.”

  In a flash and bang, he was gone.

  Fucking Svante.

  That would have to be good enough to get him off her back, she hoped.

  “I’m impressed, Queen. Modesty suits you.” Michael appeared from out of nowhere. His wings were gone.

  “I only do what is needed for Ifor.”

  “What about the killing of millions.”

  “That was a slight error in judgment.”

  “A slight error in judgment? I’ve never seen such a firm hand of judgment cast onto a nation for a choice few people.”

  “Like I said, a slight error in judgment. I scaled down Ifor’s military and containment forces. Released prisoners who were accused of anti-Ifor activities without proof and stopped public executions. Those aren't the actions of a warmonger, Michael.”

  “Hmm, even so, I will be watching you Queen.”

  “I am the leader of Ifor, as I am the eldest god. If you have a problem with that, speak with the others.”

  Michael shook his head and disappeared.

  Michael, the single angel of He. When He created Queen from the clouds of the Radiant, when she first opened her eyes, there he was, Michael, kneeling next to the throne of He.

  She was the first god to be born and Michael was already there. Already watching over them.

  She looked back out of the window and at the ants below, fighting to live in a world that He created. She’d had a realization about them earlier in the day.

  She didn’t need to lift a finger anymore. The rebels were already rising up, humanity was already starting to rebel because of her previous actions. She could stop the torture, the killings but the momentum was already going and there was no stopping it.

  And because of the Omniscient Man’s help, the rebels were going to gain the power to fight. He played right into her hands. She laughed.

  Soon, there would be a war, and when the gods won, she would rule over the world her way.

  6

  The Faithless

  August sat on a couch, staring at a turned-off television. Back where he started. His baby nephew and niece were asleep on the couch to his left.

  He’d been playing with them all day and now he was tired. They were drooling on his new bed. He and Sara took the living room, while Kevan and his family took the bedroom. The place was already furnished when they came, which was good.

  Kevan stood next to the window.

  August said, “Staring out of the window won’t change anything. I doubt we were followed. It’s been a week.”

  “Something doesn’t feel right.”

  “Nothing ever does when you’re on the run.”

  “You would know.”

  Kevan was getting better. When they first arrived at the apartment, he was understandably cold toward him. But August was slowly breaking his shell. A shell Kevan had gained in the first place because of him.

  “Come and sit down and make sure your kids don’t fall off the couch. I need to talk to Sara,” August said.

  Kevan took one last peek out of the window and sighed. “Okay, make sure to ask Sara about our credentials, I’m not sure how long they usually take to get made but I want to get the hell out of this place.”

  “The gods rule everywhere, Kevan. The credentials would only help you stay low.”

  “I don’t care, I want to get as far away from Sotira as I can.”

  “Okay, okay, I’ll ask her.” August got up and passed Luna in the kitchen. Seemed like she had become the designated cook; he had smelled the food in the living room. Bacon and eggs.

  He walked into the bedroom. Sara was sitting on the floor praying to her makeshift shrine.

  “Sara,” he said.

  She shushed him. She bowed her head and continued. “He is in his heaven, all is well in the world.” She stood up. “Yes.”

  August was getting tired of that crap. She didn’t need to pray at every freaking hour of the day. She changed into a completely different person after the accident. Just like his father. He hated it.

  “Any word on my brother’s family’s new identities?”

/>   “No,” she said a little too quickly.

  “Do you have any idea how long it will take?”

  “No.”

  “Just no? They’ve been here a week, they can’t just live here forever.”

  “Sorry.”

  August stared at her, if she couldn’t help him with her brother, he could at least go see the rebel leader. His future looked bleak, he had accepted that, but he might as well help the rebels while he was still figuring things out.

  “I need the contact information for the rebels.”

  “I don’t have it.”

  She was lying. He knew she was.

  “What about your mother?” he asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  “You don’t know?” August said skeptically.

  “Why do you want to go to the rebels?”

  “What do you mean why? To fight.”

  “We could go to Ifor instead, you and I and your brother and his family, they could help us, they could—”

  “Are you fucking stupid?” August yelled. “What the hell do you think this is? What the hell do you think we’ve being doing for the last year? Huh? Fucking around, wasting my fucking time?”

  Sara drew back. Her eyes darted around. Trying to think of what to say. She muttered, “They…they could help us, they’re supposed to.”

  “Give me the rebels’ contact information.”

  “No—”

  “Now!”

  Sara started to tear up. August didn’t care anymore. She was losing her fucking mind. She went to her bag and pulled out a piece of paper. A phone number. She held it out for him and he snatched it away from her.

  “August—”

  He slammed the door as he left. He walked to the living room. Kevan was staring into his knees. Maybe they didn’t need to run away. Maybe they could fight.

  August said, “Hey Kevan, come with me. I have something to show you.”

  Kevan and August walked down an alleyway. Ezekiel stood at the end of it. They walked up to him.

  Ezekiel said, “So, who’s the new guy?”

  “My brother,” August said. “Kevan.”