by L. L Hunter
“Dave, I need your help.” It was Lakyn, and it looked like he had been running.
“Lake, what’s going on? You aren’t supposed to be in here. My boss will have a fit,” said David.
“He’s out there talking to my father, something urgent,” breathed Lakyn, still trying to catch his breath.
“What’s wrong?”
“She’s here!” he burst.
“Who?”
“The girl I told you about. You know, the one I’d been sketching though haven’t seen in six months.”
“How could I forget?” sneered David with sarcasm.
“Please! I need you to make me a Crème Brule. Girls love them.”
“But how do you know this girl actually does? She could be a different kind of girl.”
“She’s in a league of her own,” said Lakyn dreamily. He drifted on a romantic sea whenever he spoke of Rachael, but here reality quickly snapped him back. “Will you do this one thing for me?”
“And what will you do for me?” David retorted.
“I’ll take you to the factory to try out some of the prototypes.”
Pleased, David smiled. “You have a deal.”
Lakyn’s father was holding a private function to stimulate interest for their family company. Lakyn entered the crowded ballroom.
“Here’s my eldest. Lakyn, come over here and meet these fine people,” said Zachariah, reaching out his hand to present him. He couldn’t disappoint his father.
“Hello,” he said, nodding politely to a middle-aged couple before him. The man with light grey hair and sapphire blue eyes was wearing a top hat, while the woman wore a gold long-sleeved gown and her hair was strawberry blonde.
“Lakyn, this is Joseph and Mary Porter. They have a granddaughter just a little younger than Dyston. And Joseph here is going to be working at the company.”
“That’s nice.”Lakyn was bored. His one concern was elsewhere—finding Rachael for their secret date. His father bragged.
“Lakyn is Head of Design. He’s a brilliant sketch artist, aren’t you, son?”
“I’m not all that good, but apparently, my father likes my work enough to keep me on,” he joked.
“I would love to see the finished products some time,” said Joseph. “I’m fascinated by the weapons you create. They’re pure genius.” Lakyn in honesty believed he wasn’t that great, but he thanked his admirer anyway and excused himself.
Then, as he pushed away, he spotted Rachael through the crowd. She appeared bored, also. This was his cue to rescue her. He snuck up behind her and swooped her away.
“What the…” she cried, startled, as he led her through more doors until they were alone.
“Lakyn, what’s going on?”
“I’m rescuing you,” he told her, acting as if what he did was completely normal. She smiled lovingly.
“Oh, thank you. Honestly, I didn’t know when I would be seeing you again. When I saw my brother’s invitation to this party with your family’s name… I just had to come.” She stepped closer to him. Her dark brown hair shone brightly, as did her silver dress under the lights. It accentuated the white streak in her hair. Lakyn wondered if the streak was dyed or natural.
“Shall we take a walk?”
“I’d love to,” she smiled and hooked her arm through his as he led her down the corridor.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Fate
Present Day
Lakyn was at a loss. With the convent destroyed, and no means of contact, he was beginning to think Rachael was lost forever. But strangely, something in the appearance of the mysterious young Nephilim girl at the convent ruins struck him as familiar. Could she be related to Rachael? He decided he had to find this girl again. She was the only possible link he had to Rachael.
Lakyn opened the door and ambled out of his room. David had left moments earlier to go hunting for dinner, though not before Lakyn had healed the arrow graze he had suffered.
“Lakyn, excellent. You’re up. Come look at the plans we devised,” said Zachariah, hunched over a table in the centre of the room and looking at a large sheet of paper. Abel, Abraham, and Peter were crowded around him.
“Tell me later,” Lakyn grumbled. “I’m going out.”
“Wait, son. What is with you lately? You haven’t been focused. Eyes on the prize, remember?” His father had risen from the table to stand beside his son. His hand came down heavily on Lakyn’s shoulder.
“I am focused… always have been. Right now, I have to do something.”
“Don’t go out alone, Lakyn. We have enemies, remember?”
“I’m fine, I’ll survive.” He shrugged away from his father and made his way towards the steps that led to the outside world. Zachariah didn’t bother to pursue the matter. He was at a loss with both of his sons, In fact, but more so with his eldest. Of the two, Lakyn had drifted the furthest off course.
“So… Jacob?” began Abel.
“Ah, yes. That’s where we were. Thanks for drawing me back. So I think Jacob’s next actions are rather predictable,” said Zachariah. Abel grinned in agreement.
“Predictable? Why?” asked Abraham.
“Love makes one do crazy things, but they are predictable things.”
“Ahh, yes. As in those sappy female films that are all are so cliché,” inserted Peter. Everyone turned to look at him.
“What? I’ve had girlfriends.”
“Back on track. Now all we have to do is wait,” said Zachariah, refilling his scotch glass.
Lakyn flew effortlessly out of the city. He couldn’t help but think of her and what the second occasion of their meeting had meant to him. Somehow, he knew for sure she was alive. He could feel it.
Fourteen Years Earlier
“So has your brother eased up?” Lakyn asked as he and Rachael walked together through the corridors of the hotel.
“What do you mean?” she inquired.
“Well, he’s here, isn’t he? If he hated my family, then he wouldn’t be here.”
“You’re right,” she said. “I think he’s trying to find out if the rumours are true.”
“You don’t believe that, do you?”
“If I did believe them, I still wouldn’t care.” Stopping mid-way to their destination, Rachael moved closer to him. “And I wouldn’t do this…” She twisted her fingers through his shaggy dark hair and kissed him passionately. Lakyn lost his breath in his need for air that he couldn’t help but let go. He melted under her touch. They leaned back against the wall.
“I think… I think we should find a room, you know… in case.”
“In case someone finds us… my brother? You’re right,” she continued.
“Or my father. He considers love as weakness.”
“But what do you think?” she asked gently.
“It’s the strongest, most powerful thing in the universe.” Rachael smiled at him and took his hand. He smiled back as she led him to a room.
“I think… it’s this way,” he said.
“You know where the empty rooms are?” she asked, surprised.
“Well, no. But I do know where the room I booked is.”
“You booked us a room? So, you planned this, didn’t you?” She smirked.
“Well yes… kind of,” he smiled sheepishly.
“You truly are a devil.” She kissed him again as he took a card from his pocket to unlock the door. Rachael entered first. Surprise met her. In the centre of the room was a candle-lit meal for two.
“Oh, my. This is the most romantic thing I’ve ever known.” She turned to face him. He hadn’t taken his eyes off her. “The sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me.”
“You’re welcome. It’s the least I could do.”
“You are the sweetest guy ever. The angel of fate brought you to me,” she whispered as she kissed him again. She unzipped her glistening dress, letting it fall around her ankles. Lakyn’s blue eyes drank her in lovingly. Her slim legs and her hour-glass waist, her
strapless black bra, her lips, and last, but not least, her glossy brown hair, almost the same shade at his.
“What’s wrong?” she laughed, catching his adoring expression.
“Sorry. It’s just that you’re the most beautiful creature I have ever seen.” He stepped forward and held her to him, their bodies touching. Lakyn felt her fingers at his shirt unbuttoning it. He kissed her neck tenderly, then picked her up and carried her to the bed.
“Your brother will kill me.” He worried as they lay tangled in the king-sized bed.
“Let him try.” Her lips defiantly pressed his but in time she sat up.
“Something wrong?” he inquired, sitting up behind her. His lips found her shoulder blade, drawing a soft moan from her lips.
“I’m starving.”
“Let’s eat then.” They dressed and sat down to the Crème Brule.
Present Day
Lakyn shook away the memory. It had been the first time they had truly been together, but also, the last time he had seen her. Hers was the sweetest of memories, but also, the one that hurt the most. So he kept it locked in the vault of his head, vowing never to draw it out… until now. He didn’t know why the memory now came spilling out, but he did know that something pulled him back to where it all began. His heart seemed clasped to a thread of gold, the other end of which was his fate.
Circling around the immense Crown Casino, he landed on the rooftop and entered the door leading to the building’s elevators. He made his way to the first floor and along the corridor, until he found the place he was looking for. Inserting the card in the slot surfaced another memory for him, but it was a dream, as if he were dreaming while wide-awake.
Fourteen Years Earlier
“This is amazing, Lakyn. Did you do this?”
“Nah. I can’t really cook. My friend David made it for us.”
“Tell him thank you.” She met his gaze and smiled... a smile that Lakyn returned.
“I will.” There was a knock at the door. Lakyn was about to call out that they were busy but the door had already burst open. Rachael jumped up to face the intruder.
“Adam! What are you doing here?”
“What do you mean? I should ask you the same question. What are you doing here with him?”
Lakyn stood to support her. He tried to step between Rachael and Adam but she blocked him. Rachael muttered the truth of her heart.
“I love him,” she declared to her brother. But Adam only snickered.
“You can’t love him. You’re a mere sixteen. You don’t know yet what love is.”
“I know more of love than you do,” she retorted, eyes glaring.
“Yeah, sure you do,” evading her truth.
“You haven’t found love yet, Adam, because your heart is so hard. Love can’t penetrate it.”
“I don’t need love,” he defended. “Now step away from that demon and come with me,” he commanded.
“No!” Rachael moved her body in front of Lakyn’s in defiance.
“Very well. You don’t want to leave him now, then you never will,” Adam declared, opening his palm, from which a bright blue light emulated.
“Adam, please. No!” pleaded Rachael.
“You asked for this.” Adam pushed the light towards them, engulfing them.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Magic
Present Day
“Lakyn!”
Lakyn couldn’t believe what his eyes told him. It was really her, not the youthful Nephilim girl he remembered from the convent ruins.
“Rachael, how…?” Words failed him. All this time he had believed she was dead, and now she was in front of him, perfectly alive.
“Hello, Lakyn,” she smiled winningly.
“No! You can’t simply ‘hello’ me. What happened to you?” His feelings rushed wildly. Was he going to snap? She stood amazingly before him. “You disappear for fourteen years leaving not a trace and now you just turn up! And of all places, you appear in the very spot we spent our first night together?” he said in anguish. “I don’t understand.”
“Yes, indeed. This is the place where it all began.” Beautifully, she walked towards him. “I’m trying to fathom what has happened just as much as you.”
Lakyn, at a loss, seated himself on the bed. He could hardly believe she was there with him.
“And what have you come up with?” he asked her.
“You remember what my brother did to us?”
“Yeah. How could I forget what Adam did? Being zapped with his bright… magic. I’ve never known anything like it.”
“Adam’s Trait is unique. He has the ability to wipe people’s memories clean and push them back in time, so they can start over.”
“And that’s what happened to us?” Lakyn wondered.
“I believe so, yes.” Rachael said. Lakyn pondered that for a moment, and then spoke.
“No wonder I couldn’t remember you, except in the past few days. And even then, it’s been in little flashes.”
“You’ve remembered because… I’ve been trying to find you.”
“You couldn’t have just come to me at the Academy?”
“No. I had to find you in your dreams,” she murmured tenderly, stepping towards him, “but it wasn’t successful though. Something blocked me.” She sat on the bed beside him.
“It wasn’t me, I swear. I’d never block you,” he assured her. Rachael smiled and moving closer to him, put her hands in his. Lakyn drew back warily however, and dropped them.
“But why now? Why so long?”
Rachael didn’t reply but stood up and began pacing backwards and forwards.
“Rachael?”
“It was for my daughter,” she declared to his amazement. “Okay? So it’s important.”
Daughter.
Lakyn’s head swam. Rachael has a daughter? Who’s the father? His thoughts tangled.
“You have… a daughter?” he asked in disbelief.
Rachael nodded. Slowly, Lakyn began to put the pieces together.
“That Nephilim girl in the ruins… that was her?”
She nodded again. “Yes. She’s been trying to help me remember.”
Lakyn stared at the wall opposite. He was beginning to see it all now. If the young Nephilim in the convent ruins was Rachael’s daughter, and she appeared to be fifteen or sixteen years of age, then she would have been conceived around…
“That’s the reason, isn’t it?” he burst out. “You’re seeking me out now, because she’s my daughter… isn’t she? It fits.”
Rachael slowly looked down at her sandals and then back up at him. “Yes, she is your daughter,” she affirmed, watching him tenderly. What seemed to be minutes passed.
“What’s her name?” He could barely whisper.
Rachael stepped towards him and sat back down on the bed. “Eden.” She met his eyes. “Lakyn, forgive me. I’m sorry for delaying this so long. But I only just remembered.”
“Remembered… what?”
“Who her father is. It’s her eyes, something clicked. They reminded me of you. It’s undeniable whose eyes they are.”
An image flashed before Lakyn: the young girl in the ruins looking earnestly at him when she reached and held his arm… her eyes the colour of a cloudless sky. In that moment he knew it was true.
“You said it was important for her sake, that you find me. Why?” he asked with puzzlement.
“She has begun to show a Trait, and it frightens me.”
“What is it?”
“Death.” Rachael’s voice barely came out as a whisper. “Her Trait is death.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Renew
Fourteen Years Earlier
Rachael landed with a thump on a floor as hard as cement. She struggled slowly to her feet and gingerly rubbed her bottom as she took in her surroundings. Strangely, this floor wasn’t cement at all. It was linoleum, in fact... black and white-chequered. She was standing in a kitchen straight out of the ninetee
n-fifties. The cupboards were watermelon pink and the counter tops of mint green. She stooped over the sink to look through the window. Outside was an idyllic yard bounded by a white picket fence, and in the driveway stood a baby blue Chevy. And inspecting that baby blue Chevy was a dark-haired handsome young man in a white singlet and jeans. Rachael’s heart leaped to her throat.
Lakyn.
She had no recollection of how she arrived to the place, but she knew she liked it. She had always wanted to live in a cute little house in the suburbs. “Maybe my dream has come true,” she wondered. Walking out though the front door, she inhaled clean fresh air. Springtime had come and the birds chirped happily. Rachael pushed open a small gate and joined Lakyn on the driveway. He lifted his head upon hearing her and smiled warmly.
“Hey, babe,” he said. He kissed her lips, his hands on her swollen belly. In that same moment, Rachael realised in wonder that she was pregnant. But how could that be? They had been together mere minutes. And they had just risen from bed. She couldn’t possibly be this pregnant. And how could Lakyn have known?
“Are you feeling okay, babe? You seem worried. And you’re looking pale.” He put a hand to her forehead.
“What day is it?” she inquired. This was all so foreign to her.
“It’s Wednesday.”
“And what is the date?”
“The 29th of August. You sure you’re all right?”
“No. Not really.” Her legs felt weak. Lakyn, sensing this, helped her lean on the hood of his car. “How ever did we get here, Lake?”
Tenderly, he pushed a stray lock of hair back behind her ear. “We moved here so we could be together and raise a family. Because our families don’t approve of us.”
“What year is this?”
“1956. I’ll call a priest to check on you and the baby…”
