by E. S. Mercer
“Yes, but what about Michael?” he retorted.
I reached up, cradling his face with my hands as I forced him to look me directly in the eye, “I will figure this out, for all of us, I promise.” “Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Ksenia barked, interrupting us. I thought maybe she was yelling at me when out of the corner of my eye, I could see Zara coming towards us with her knapsack in hand.
“You need my help,” she answered, throwing her bag on the floor by her feet. She pulled up her long hair into a ponytail as she attempted to prepare to join us.
“Absolutely not!” Ksenia cried. “I forbid it.”
“That is absurd!” Zara argued. “She is my best friend and she needs me.”
“She has all the help she needs,” Ksenia replied. “You are not going.”
Zara started to throw a tantrum as she realized the Queen wouldn’t back down, “But Ksenia!” “She is right,” I interjected, leaving Gabriel’s side. I knew why Ksenia didn’t want her to go and hoped that maybe by me stepping in, Zara would back off. True to Zara form, however, she wouldn’t take no for an answer.
I turned towards the Gypsy Queen who was equally as stubborn. “You need to tell her,” I mouthed.
“What good would that do?” she asked. “I don’t need that kind of drama before I go.” I marched over to Ksenia, implicating my own ability to stand my ground. “If you don’t give her a good enough reason, she will try and follow us,” I replied.
Ksenia knew I was right, but still refused to tell Zara why it was so important she stay behind. “If you don’t, I will,” I said as a last-ditch effort to plead with the matriarch. “We need to go,” she demanded, ignoring me, “If you want to go now, then we need to get on the road before dark.”
“The vortex isn’t close?” I asked, following her.
“You don’t get to Abyssus through a regular vortex,” she chuckled. “It is a little more complicated than that.” “Then where are we going?” I asked, knowing how much it was annoying her.
“Back to Heaven City,” she answered through gritted teeth. “We need to get to Aljann.”
“I thought Aljann was destroyed?” Gabriel interjected.
“I guess we won’t know til we get there,” she replied. “If we just keep talking about it, we will never know.”
“So, let’s go,” Zara chimed in, skipping in front of us.
“Ugh, fine,” Ksenia grumbled. “You can ride as far as Heaven City and then you stay with Uriel and wait for us.”
"Whatever you say,” Zara chanted, jumping on the back of Uriel’s bike and holding on for dear life.
“The child is driving me nuts.” Ksenia cried, walking towards her car.
“As stubborn as her mother," Constantine whispered, as he came up behind her. “She gets it honest.”
She glared at her father as she opened the door. “Shut up old man,” she barked. “Seriously, you are all are annoying the hell out of me.” Alistair, who had stayed behind to take a phone call, waved his wife over to speak in a very disturbingly serious conversation.
“Is everything ok?” I asked, walking towards them.
“Not really,” he answered, waiting for Gabriel who had noticed our little pow wow and was making his way over.
“It seems the void has been opened,” he continued. “The Abys have been are spotted in subway tunnels, waiting for nightfall.”
“Aby? What is an Aby?” I asked.
“It’s our nickname for the cursed. They are from Abyssus,” he replied. “Clever! But what does that mean?” I asked. “It means they will infect any mortal they get their hands on,” Elaina answered. “Once the sun sets, they’ll flood the streets and if they are loose, so is Leviathan.”
I know my questions had to be frustrating, but I really didn’t understand any of it. "Why at nightfall?"
“The void is dark, with no natural sunlight to warm them, so our sun would burn them to a crisp,” Elaina replied.
“But my brothers, what about them?” Gabriel asked.
“No word. I’m sorry,” Alistair replied.
“Hyperion did this,” I muttered. “He is finally played his hand.”
“So, what now?” Gabriel asked again. “Give me a minute,” I said, walking away. I needed to sit, think and come up some plan to end this. It was apparently why I was here and I hadn’t begun to imagine what I needed to do. The mutterings of the crowd, however, kept me from focusing so, I walked behind the wall of the ruins and leaned up against the cool stone for some comfort. I closed my eyes and desperately tried to tune them all out, begging my other self for some guidance. I had been able to connect with her before, and now more than ever, I needed her help. Soon, I was able to tap into her power, drawing strength from her and her ability to locate Michael and Raphael. I could see them vividly, Michael, tied to a crumbling altar and Raphael, drained nearly dry, curled up in a cage barely breathing. They had been brought to , by Leviathan, who waited patiently for me to arrive. He had been warned by my father’s messenger that I would be coming for them and was determined to deal with me before moving on to the mortals.
“I have to go to Aljann,” I announced, turning the corner. “And I have to go alone.”
“That is completely absurd,” Gabriel argued, looking back at the Renaldis. “You are not facing Leviathan by yourself.”
“I have to,” I replied, stroking his arm to calm him down. “Ksenia and Constantine will get me into Aljann while you and your siblings wait back at the Manor. I need the Renaldi’s to do what they can to protect the mortals from these creatures while I will rescue your brothers.”
I could see that Gabriel wasn’t quite understanding why I had to do it alone, but the truth was, I wasn’t quite sure either. I just knew I had to do it by myself. “I will be ok, no matter what happens, it is meant to be.”
“You really honestly believe that?” Ksenia asked, joining the conversation. “You would leave it up to fate?”
“Her whole life was prophesied,” Uriel responded, “so what do you think?”
“That isn’t what I was asking,” Ksenia jabbed. “I think you need to chill out a bit.” Uriel, who was more aggressive than usual, started to get into Ksenia’s face. “I don’t even know why you are here,” she snapped back. “None of this has anything to do with you.”
“You are right,” Ksenia agreed. “It doesn’t. I would gladly go back to minding my own business and let you handle it.” Nothing was obviously making Uriel happy, because Ksenia agreeing with her made her even more irritated. “Of course, take the coward’s way out, just like you are with not telling Zara she is your daughter.” She immediately realized the gravity of what she had said when she saw the terrified look on Ksenia’s face.
“Oh shit, she’s behind me, isn’t she?” he asked, slowly turning around. “Oh, my gods, I am so sorry,” she cried. “I didn’t mean…” “Your mouth is out of control,” Ramiel reprimanded, as he caught Ksenia from collapsing on the ground. I ran towards Zara who nearly fainted herself, helping her slowly to her knees.
“I am really sorry,” Uriel reiterated. “I forget myself sometimes.”
“Yes and it gets people hurt,” Gabriel added. “Please just stop talking and let them sort this out.”
“Maybe this is a good time to get you back to the Manor,” Alistair offered.
I looked up at Gabriel who understood immediately that I agreed. Elaina also understood and took Zara from me so I could say goodbye. “Please don’t do anything stupid while I am gone,” I said, grabbing Gabriel. Something told me that waiting in the Manor wasn’t going to be enough for him and I had to at least try to ask him to stay safe. “I know you want to look for my father, but now that these monsters are loose, they will come after you.”
“I can take care of myself,” he replied, kissing me. “I always have.” “But this time it is different,” I said, looking up at him. “Now that I know who I really am, our fathers are going to do everything in their power t
o stop me, even if that means hurting you.”
“I get it,” he replied. “I do. Just concentrate on being safe and getting my brothers away from that beast.”
“I do love you,” I said, starting to pull away.
“And I love you,” he replied, pulling me back. He grabbed the back of my neck and head with both hands and looked me dead in the eye. “No matter what happens, please hold on to that. My brother will tell you the same thing and I believe he means it, but I,” he said, looking down for a moment, “we are meant to be together. We will be together.”
He kissed me again and then motioned for his sister to follow him to one of the vacant cars.
“Ramiel,” I said, grabbing the brother’s arm, “I know you wanted to help me save your brothers, but they are the ones who need you now.”
“I know,” he replied, “but that doesn’t mean I’m happy with this.”
“I know,” I chuckled, leaning up to kiss his cheek. “I wouldn’t expect you to be.”
He winked at me as he kissed my forehead. “Stay safe Evangeline.”
As they got into the car, I took Zara back from Elaina and turned my attention towards Ksenia, who was now in the arms of her father.
“I think it is best we let these two talk,” I said, grabbing Ksenia’s hand. “You need to sort this out so she can go back to the Manor with them.”
“I’m not going anywhere!” Zara demanded, pulling away from me. “You aren’t benching me anymore.”
“We don’t really have a choice,” I replied. “Please hear her out so you can understand why we are asking you to stay behind.” Zara glared at me, less than thrilled at the idea of having a conversation with Ksenia, but Constantine and I refused to let them go any longer without one. Once the conversation was over, however, Zara found herself in a less forgiving mood, storming off and leaving her mother in tears. Zara refused to say anything to anyone as she whipped open the car door and plopped herself into the seat, angry and confused.
Uriel demanded that they leave, but I, being the friend that I was, couldn’t let her go like that.
“You have to forgive her,” I begged, leaning into the car. “She did what she had to keep you safe.”
“Still, she coulda told me,” Zara replied.
“She really couldn’t, just the knowledge of you could have been dangerous and you know that,” I said, shooting her a look, “be nice.”
She glared at me, trying to stay mad, but I smiled at her, causing her to break.
“I love you jerk,” she said waving me away.
“Love you too brat,” I said, shutting the door. I realized as they drove away that I actually didn’t need Ksenia’s help anymore. Leviathan was in Aljann waiting for me and that was a place I knew how to get to. But Constantine insisted they stick with it, helping me at least get to where I needed to go.
*****
Between my fear and her anger, the car ride to Heaven City was a very quiet one. There wasn’t much for us to say on the matter and Constantine, knowing full well how necessary the quiet was, let us stare out the window in peace. He too had his own thoughts about facing Leviathan, and prayed quietly to have his chance to seek revenge. Or at the least, save the woman he loved.
I finally spoke up, requesting that the driver take us to Aaru. I knew it was the best place to access Aljann, as I had navigated that before. I forgot however, until we arrived, that the club had gone back to normal, which would make it a little harder to access. As we pulled up, lines of welldressed and desperate twenty-somethings filled up the sidewalk in front of the club, while bouncers kept the ‘ugly’ people out and music spilled into the streets along with the vomit and alcohol left behind by its overlyintoxicated patrons.
“I guess we are just going to have to go right through them,” Ksenia said, opening the car door. As I was hit in the face by the stench of the club life, I hesitated, pulling myself back into the car so I could take a deep breath and muster all the strength I had in me to face what came next. Leviathan fed off fear and insecurity and I was full of it. As for everyone else, I needed them to see that I could handle whatever was coming. I was tired of them seeing me as fragile.
“Ok, let’s do this,” I said, finally bolting out the car door. I didn’t wait for an invitation to get in the club. I waved and blew a kiss at the cameras, and then pushed my way through with my gypsy friends behind me.
“No, no, you cannot be here!” Noita cried, meeting me inside the door. “You have already caused us enough trouble.”
“That is really not my problem,” I countered, walking passed him. “I have bigger issues to deal with than that.”
“You? Have you heard what is about to happen on these streets?” he asked, trying to stop me.
“Yes,” I replied. “And Leviathan is in Aljann right now and he has Michael. So please let us pass so we can get down there.”
“Please, please just two minutes,” he begged, pulling at me.
“Fine, what is so important?” I asked, refusing to look at him. “And what are you doing here if it’s so dangerous out there?” “You aren’t safe here, none of us are,” he replied. “Your father has already sent Abraxas here to find you. Samiel has sent his people for me. It is only a matter of time.”
“Then why are you here?” I asked again.
“Because this is my home,” he replied. “I’ve enchanted it so they can’t get to me, but you can’t stay here, they will get passed it eventually I am sure.”
“I am not staying here,” I retorted. “I’m going to Aljann.” “Exactly,” he cried. “You aren’t safe!”
“I have to take the risk,” I answered, slightly annoyed. “I need to get them back and then worry about the rest later.” “Listen,” he started to say, grabbing the back of my shoulder. But as my hand raised, to swat him away, a bolt of light shot from my hand, hitting him in the chest and throwing him across the room and into the oblivious crowd.
“Leave him,” Ksenia suggested, walking towards the basement door. “We need to get this done quickly. You know how time works in Aljann.”
I started to panic as soon as she mentioned time. Tonight, the creatures were going to flood the streets and we wouldn’t be back to help stop it.
“But you can stop it,” a voice in my head replied. “You have the ability to manipulate time.”
“You mean you do,” I responded, realizing who was talking to me. “You are me,” she said. “You can do what I can if you just believe. You will know when the time is right and know what you need to do.” “God, I hope you are right!” I sighed.
“Right about what?” Ksenia asked, handing me a sword.
“Nothing, just talking to myself,” I replied taking the sword from her, “what is this?”
“A sword,” she answered sarcastically.
I shot her a look, “I know that. Why can’t you people just carry guns?”
“Because guns only kill mortals,” she replied. “Swords enchanted with Hyperion’s magic kill everything.”
I shrugged my shoulders and moved through crowd on the dance floor, asking why they hadn’t advanced their weaponry after so many years. According to Uriel, the realms were just as a progressive as the rest of us, so you would think guns would have replaced the sharp blade ages ago.
“It’s tradition,” Constantine replied. “I carry a gun as well, but my sword has always been my greatest companion.” “Oh,” I replied, staring off towards the dark stairs. Something was telling me this journey was going to be a little more eventful than I had hoped, and no matter how much I tried, I wouldn’t be prepared for what was coming.
I had been so focused on what I needed to do that I hadn’t noticed that I had walked into the middle of a brawl between two large men, who found themselves fighting over the same scrawny blonde. One of the men pulled out his gun, blinded by strobe lights and jealousy, pointed it directly at my head. Still, I didn’t see it. Ksenia and her father did, however, lunging to pull me out of the way. Just a
s they reached me, the gun went off, hurling a bullet towards my head and finally catching my attention. I turned, looking straight at it, as it slowed down to a sudden stop. I just stood staring at it, as the man dropped the gun and took off running. Ksenia and Constantine were pawing at me, calling out my name, but it sounded more like gibberish and echoes. Completely stunned by what was going on, I closed my eyes and just wished I could get out of there. When I opened them, I found that I had gotten my wish as I was standing on a roof top, in the middle of what was left of the Gateway City, as Ksenia and her father were down on their knees, vomiting from the effects of the trip.
“I don’t think mortal bodies are meant to travel like that,” Ksenia said, wiping her mouth on her sleeve and then standing up. “We are just a little too fragile.”
“I don’t even know how I did that,” I said, staring at my hands. “All I did was wish I wasn’t there.” “Well, it worked,” she replied, picking her father up. “And I didn’t like it.” I ignored her, as I looked out over the ruins. The place was crawling with the ‘cursed,’ attacking each other with an asperity I didn’t’ expect. They had been described to me as lifeless, empty creatures, searching for a way to feel again. Creatures that were hungry, which made them dangerous. However, the ones below us, seemed to pose more a danger to themselves then to us. Something had changed them, quelled their hunger and driven them mad with passion, lust and frenzied desire. Orgies of creatures fornicating with and mutilating one another were seen all around the city, as the haunting sounds of screeching and moaning began to pierce our ears.
“What the hell is happening to them?” Ksenia asked. “This must be what it looks like to overdose on a Cimmerian,” I chuckled nervously, jumping off the roof. Ksenia and her father followed, as she glared at the bodies she stepped over, disgusted by their carnal behavior.
“I think it is fascinating,” I chimed, catching a glimpse of her abhorrence.
“Fascinating?” she asked. “How is this fascinating?” “The simplicity of it,” I replied. “How man can become no greater than the lion or the rat when stripped of their humanity. They are held to higher standards, but in truth, humans are nothing more than animals that can talk.”
