by Reid, Susan
I didn’t even know what to say or think. Why was I feeling both sad and emotionally nostalgic?
It was just a flower.
“Maybe now that it has some water, it’ll come back.” She whispered.
I nodded slowly, finally snapping out of my trance. I traced a finger along a delicate petal. As soon as I touched it, I gasped. Another flash of memories flooded my mind, like fluttering pictures. Lights, a field of wheat, darkness, and a— really tall, and well-built police officer in a black uniform. That was all I had a chance to glimpse.
“Are you alright?” Lira’s voice pulled me away from the vision.
I licked my lips and nodded. “Yeah.” I said quickly, which was a lie.
I looked up at my reflection in the mirror above the chest of drawers.
I assumed that I looked the same as before, when I was mortal. My hair was full, long and spirally curly; light brown and ash blonde in color. My skin was a sun-kissed, tan shade. I recognized my eyes—navy blue, but the super, bright white haze of light around me was new, and Durien hadn’t been exaggerating.
I blinked rapidly, rubbed my eyes, and then reopened them. This time, the glowing halo of light around me appeared, even brighter.
I turned and looked at Lira for a moment but saw nothing. When I looked in the mirror again, my glow was gone too. I guess even after seeing the auras of all those other beings out in the darkness, my ability was still slowly sputtering into full fruition.
“I got you a notebook and some pens for your journals over there.” Lira pointed to the desk.
“Oh, thanks.” I smiled.
“You’re welcome.”
I looked at Lira again, surprised to find her staring at me inquisitively, as if she were seeing something else that I wasn’t aware of myself. I admired her child-like features. She looked younger than sixteen and she reminded me of a kid sister. I already felt protective of her, given her small stature and friendly demeanor.
“What is it?” I asked her.
She smiled with a hint of nervousness and shook her head. “Nothing, I’m just…curious.” She said innocently.
I raised a brow, wondering where her curiosity about me lie.
“About your aura is all.” She quickly added, as if she were guilty of something.
“What about it?” I asked.
“It’s beautiful. I’ve never seen one like it since I’ve been here. You’re going to be targeted…a lot.” She said softly. She seemed scared for me when she said it though.
“Good to know. I guess I’d better take this training seriously then, huh?” I smiled to lighten the heavy knot of apprehension that began to twist in the pit of my stomach.
Lira nodded emphatically. “I would.”
What would happen if I decided that I didn’t want to be a warrior? Did I even have a choice? Durien said that I still had free will, right? The free will to choose what though? I was already dead, or immortal. What other choice would there be?
I eyed her curiously. I don’t know why it took this long for it to hit me.
“It was you wasn’t it?” I said.
Her eyes widened. “Me? Me what? What do you mean?” She began backing away, as if I were going to jump and beat the crap out of her or something.
“You were there when I was coming up the stairs, after I awoke.” I then told her.
She swallowed, unsure of whether to admit to it, or try to deny it.
“I-I wasn’t spying on you or anything…I promise!” She said holding her hands out pacifyingly.
I sighed. “I’m not upset or accusing you of anything, but now you have my curiosity. Durien said you were a scout. What does a scout do, seeing as you have no brandings?” I asked her.
She relaxed once she realized that I wasn’t angry with her,
“I was excited and in awe of you, that’s all. Being that you were the last one to rise and you’re...different. We were all excited— sort of,” She was babbling, an obvious nervous habit. “And a scout is a chosen, who can go above and beyond any physical barrier, or obstacle that a normal warrior can’t go, or pass through. Like small caves, underground, walls, places that are too hot or cold, and really high places.” She went on to explain.
My brows furrowed with suspicion when I thought of what she meant.
“Being a scout is my essence. Essentially, we’re spies,” She then offered, after reading my expression.
A disquieting thought slithered into my mind just then, and I instantly narrowed my eyes at her.
“Spies? I’m going to guess that there are male scouts too, right?”
Lira shifted from foot to foot, and nodded with wide eyes.
I sighed and threw my arms out in annoyance, “Great, lovely. What kinds of things do you spy on?” I then asked with a hint of agitation.
She held up her hands in a placating gesture. “It’s not like you think, believe me. We all have a high regard for integrity and honor. No one would ever try and spy on you like that here.” She eased.
“Really? And how do you know that?” I replied with my arms folded across my chest.
“It’s forbidden. The angels can see all, and the elementals are everywhere. They all watch all of the time. Anyone abusing their essence has it immediately taken from them. It was ingrained in all of us, at least to me when I first got here.” Lira then explained.
I paused and studied her for a few more moments. She was sincere and it eased my irritation a bit.
When I finally relented and accepted her explanation as truth, she gave a relieved smile.
I glanced over at the lily again, briefly. “So, how do you spy from here? Durien said you don’t leave the hall.” I then inquired.
She smiled, skipped over to one of the beds, climbed onto it, and scooted towards the middle, sitting Indian style.
I watched as she got comfortable, rolling her neck in slow circles, before closing her eyes and commencing to breathe slow and rhythmically. She looked like a mannequin to me. I wondered if she were still breathing at all after a few moments had passed. It was as if she were in a trance, or deep sleep.
After about five minutes of simply watching her— do nothing, I sighed heavily with a hand on my cocked hip, feeling as if she were trolling me.
“Lira?” I called out sharply.
She didn’t move or speak.
That’s when something light brushed the back of my hair. I gasped and spun around. My eyes darted from one corner to the other but there was no one there.
I felt cold air and the light scent of ozone. The scent was more prevalent— above me, so I inhaled deeply and followed the scent with my eyes first. I tilted my head back to look up. I had to back up in order to get a full view of the transparent, holographic mirage of Lira— floating near the ceiling, and doing a pirouette, followed by a curtsy.
Holy…my mind reeled.
I looked over at her inert body, still sitting in the middle of the bed with her eyes closed, and then back up at her ghostly form. She was gesturing for my attention, wanting me to watch her hands.
She pointed to herself, tapped her mouth, then pointed to me, and animatedly shook her head no. Then, she pointed to her mouth, and then my ears, shaking her head no once again. I took those to mean that she wouldn’t be able to speak to me, and I wouldn’t be able to hear her. Then she pointed to my mouth, then her ears and nodded, meaning that she would be able to hear me.
A smile of amazement crept across my face, as I watched her do the backstroke from one corner of the ceiling to the other. She did a somersault, and then drifted down to where I stood, levitating a foot above the ground.
I could see right through her ghostly image. I slowly reached out with my index finger. Naturally, my finger passed right through the her and she giggled. She finally did a graceful, backwards swan dive back into her physical body. I watched in amazement as her muscles twitched, flexed, and then her eyes blinked open, as if she had simply been sleeping.
She grinned when she looked
at me, expecting a comment.
“That is incredible!” I mused.
She scooted off the bed with a coy grin. “It comes in handy. The shadows and other spirit beings can see me, but they can’t touch or hurt me…unless they get a hold of my physical vessel, which is why scouts don’t leave the hall.” She said.
Well, that makes obvious sense.
“Vessel?” I then questioned.
“Well, we all refer to the physical body as simply being a vessel. Who you are, is in here,” She pointed to her head, “And here,” She then said pointing to her heart.
I smiled with a nod. “Well said.”
“It sucks that we can’t communicate back and forth though.” I then replied.
“I know, but hand signals and gestures work just as well too. You’ll be learning those in training.” She explained.
Lira waved me forward to follow her. “Come on, let me take you to the supply room, so you can get your own toiletries. You should go to tailoring first thing tomorrow. They’ll get you sized so you’ll always be able to get clothing made when you need it. I can show you where they are now, if you want.” She offered.
I nodded, meeting her in the doorway and we entered the corridor once again.
“Sounds good. Let me ask you something, about that Devlin girl.” I began.
The curiosity had always been at the back of my mind since dinner.
Lira stopped and turned around to face me, already appearing somber. “Sure.” She said, and it barely came out as a whisper.
“How was she taken, and by what?” I then asked her.
Lira licked her lips in hesitation, staring down at the toes of her canvas shoes. “A fallen. They’re everywhere, and the majority can cloak themselves. When they do that, you guys can still scent them but they’re invisible to your eyes. I can see them when I’m scouting…and…” She seemed flustered and saddened.
I was beginning to get the idea. I didn’t want to make her feel bad or upset. Though I wanted to know, I shouldn’t have asked.
“I’m sure it wasn’t your fault.” I whispered, wanting to give her more comfort than mere words.
She swallowed and nodded, still not meeting my eyes. It was apparent that she didn’t believe that.
“Hey, you wanna play a game of that paddle ball thingy afterwards?” I asked her, remembering the game that Anthony wanted to challenge Gabe to.
She shook her head no. Then her face beamed cheerily once again, which had been my intent.
“I know something that’s way more fun though.” She grinned.
VII. Cam`ael:
I wanted to go somewhere out of University range, and get away from the filth that was beginning to creep in behind the wake of Morning Star. Glory still lingered, from having conversed with the angel, and though it humbled me, it left me a bit perplexed.
I bypassed the Bagel Company, seeing that it appeared to be teeming with a ratio of fifty percent University students and faculty patrons. It was during this visit, that I wished Rahab were here to run his diner. I guess I could summon him but I didn’t want to create a big deal over this. I simply meant to check things out, and make sure that her friend China remained safe.
After making a complete circle around several blocks, I finally settled for a café that served cafeteria-style food. The people in here seemed oblivious to the recent school shooting for the most part. There were a few hushed conversations about it though, as people browsed their smartphones for the latest news updates.
Most of them were already jaded by yet another tragedy of random violence. The act followed a string of so many similar ones taking place all over the world lately. It didn’t count the recent deadly fire that Morning Star had unleashed, via the dark divine and demon infested rock concert, not long ago.
His intent had been to lure Starling into his waiting portal, but I had thrown a wrench in both his and Drakael’s plans, by trusting my own gut. Unfortunately, he still managed to successfully gather and pull in a huge mass of young human souls and bodies by the end of the concert. It was a nice consolation prize for all of his elaborate trouble.
Drakael’s delayed fall from the kingdom took me by complete surprise. Even though Starling was immortal now, he was certainly not going to be the last fallen to attempt claiming her again.
There would be much worse things to come, here in the mortal world. Those of us in the spirit realm already knew it.
As always, all eyes turned towards me once I entered the cafe. It was hard not to notice the amount of dark energy in the vicinity. Even more so, the prominent signatures of Succubus’ that were in here right now. Being my counterpart, I knew the scent well. I panned the entire café, zoning in on them automatically. I wasn’t surprised to see that they had already homed in on me as well.
Despite the fact that they had claimed the extreme interest of the table of frat boys behind them, they continued to stare me down seductively.
There were three of them, two blonde-haired women, and an ebony haired one. They were all sultry and beautiful of course, with light lunches of salads and grilled chicken sandwiches spread before them, to perpetrate a sense of normalcy. I instantly thought of Berith for a fleeting moment—unsure of why.
As I made my way to the counter to sit, I kept them in my periphery. I moved past women who were mimicked by their children, with mouths open, in awe of my height, the badge, and the gun —or all three more than likely.
I removed my hat and slid onto a stool. Grabbing a menu, I pretended to peruse the specials. Desire and dark lust magik, began to slither against me like an affectionate cat. It curled around my body like liquid stroking fingers, through the layers of material that I wore. The gentle sensation of probing fingers were seeking out all of my sensitive parts on purpose and it was beyond maddening.
I instantly stiffened, painfully confined to the snug fit of the uniform pants. I was throbbing with an ache that could only be satisfied in three ways. I had to work hard at keeping the lust that I was emanating corralled—or every capable human in the entire café, would be on the verge of orgasm shortly. It was an automatic response to the powerful assault of their seduction.
Damn.
“What can I get you?” The young waitress whispered. Her words dripping with desire.
She was a college student, thin and perky. Cute, but not the kind I typically siphoned pleasure from. She was way too—loose.
I shifted myself again in the confines of the uniform pants. Heat was rising rapidly in me, slowly igniting the familiar carnal craving that I was trying to avoid.
It was difficult, because I needed it— I wanted it.
I tried to block it but it didn’t matter. For all the lust energy that I was forcefully getting from all of them simultaneously, they may as well have been under the counter, each taking a turn in sucking me off.
I suppressed a moan, and immediately glanced over my shoulder to eye them annoyance— only because this was the human world and a public place. That notion brought me back to the task of finding out just why there were so many dark fallen in and around this city all of a sudden. What Morning Star had wanted to happen, had already taken place. Starling was no longer here.
Now, I was suspicious.
“I’ll just take a coffee and fruit Danish, to go.” I ordered quickly, with another irritated glimpse at the trio.
Two of the frat boys were turned around in their booths, obviously engaged in pathetic attempts to flirt with and compliment the dark-haired Succubus. Her glamour made her appear to be either Asian or Spanish. If only they knew.
The other two Succubus’ maintained their steady lust assaults on me. It was irking, more than arousing me now.
I felt a sudden, light tapping on my elbow.
“Excuse me officer sir, there are two men beating on a young man outside. I think they may be trying to rob him.” An elderly man, with an expectant look of shock on his wrinkled face, pointed back in the direction of the café’s front window. Several
other patrons were also looking out of the window with anxious expressions. Then, they all turned to look back at me with the same expectation as the old man— for me to do something about it.
My initial and natural reaction was to shrug, because I honestly didn’t give a shit, but then I remembered what I was wearing. I groaned internally. He did address me as Officer.
I hesitated, until I scented an unusual and powerful energy, much different from that of the Succubus’, and even Morning Star. That was enough to engage my caution and curiosity. The dark power in me awakened and began to stir.
The smell of strong black magik, laced with decay and wicked, foul smoke; hit me like a spiked fist.
Without question, I headed outside with a quick glance back over my shoulder at the three demonesses, who didn’t seem at all alarmed by the damning scent.
Odd.
I shifted my sight into that of my spirit form, in order to see what normal man couldn’t. There were dark beings flitting all around this area. However, it was the tall, lean, dark-cloaked figure of a being, whose face remained hidden in the dark recesses of his hood, who stood out. He was gliding along slowly as if simply sightseeing.
The presence of hands and feet were a mystery. There were literally hundreds of large, black crows flapping and rustling all around him— seeming to be coming from…the inside of his long cloak. It made me picture the image of filth being swarmed by large black flies. The actual metaphor wouldn’t have been far off.
Their beaks were sharp, glinting with metal even though they were alive— well, at least given life through some form of elemental dark magic no doubt.
I’ve never seen this being before. Though I couldn’t see his face, I knew he was looking right at me too.
There was no friendly aura or intent coming from him, nor did I expect there to be one.
I readied myself to dive back into the spirit realm, and prepared to fight.
With my eyes on him, I extended my periphery to search for the original fight that the elderly man told me about, and then I spotted them.
