by Maya Nicole
It was evident that Lilith had made this her room, but some of my mother's gowns, shoes, and accessories sat right alongside what I assumed to be Lilith's. I guess when you're seeking revenge you don't have time to clean.
I set the box on the top of a cabinet and opened the drawer my mother kept her everyday jewelry in. I frowned at the mess. Lilith was not the most organized, but I could see a few of my mother's pieces under the mess.
I found what I was looking for and put the key in the hole and turned it. There was a small click, and I lifted the lid. I wasn't prepared for what I found.
I gently lifted out the paper folded in half and opened it. It was probably older than I was, and while it was well preserved because of the box, it was still delicate.
I gasped.
"What the fuck?" I whispered. It was a suicide note from someone named Carson.
None of what was in the box made sense. There was a lock of dark hair, a pair of baby shoes, and a glass container of teeth. It was similar to the boxes she had kept with the same things for me, Reve, and Taylor.
"Sammy?" I jumped at the sound of Kage's voice as I pulled out the last piece of paper that was on the bottom of the box. "What is it?"
"It's a baby box. My mother kept keepsakes from when we were small, but we all had been given them when we turned a quarter of a century old." I frowned. "The boxes weren't locked like this one."
"Maybe she kept some of the things for herself? Mothers can be funny like that."
I opened the folded paper. "No." I gulped and looked at the two babies staring back at me. I read the writing under the drawing. "Taylor is a twin."
Chapter 12
Samara
If my mother was still alive, she would have some serious explaining to do. Not only did she have one secret love child, but she had another child we had known nothing about.
Where had he been all my life? Did Taylor know he had an identical twin brother? Things weren't adding up.
Everyone except Nico was asleep as I paced in the small sitting area of my room. Kage had even fallen asleep after leading me back to the room.
"Maybe she never told you because it's not something we talk about." Nico spoke so softly that I had to stop pacing to hear him. I knew what he meant; he rarely spoke of Becca or his child. "That note though... maybe there was something wrong with him and he was sent away."
"But Reve would have told me had he known, wouldn't he?" I tried to think of any clues that would have pinpointed to Reve knowing. Reve and Taylor were only two years apart though. "I don't think he knew."
He ran his hand over his face and looked up at me. "We should sleep and research it tomorrow. It's been a long few days. Hell, it's been a long month."
I looked over at the bed. With Kage sleeping in it along with Amari, Val, and Raphael, there was really only room for one more person. I needed a bigger bed.
"Why don't you take the last spot in the bed and I'll sleep here. I'm going to go grab a snack in the kitchen." I grabbed Nico's shirt he had discarded on the back of the sofa and pulled it on over my tank.
He stood and eyed the bed. "You think I'm sleeping with those four smelly motherfuckers?"
"You like to cuddle."
"Yeah, but with you." He pulled me to him and kissed me softly before walking to the bed and climbing in the gap between Kage and Val. Raphael grunted at the end of the bed when Nico accidently kicked him.
I shut the door behind me and walked down the stairs. I headed to the kitchen, but before turning inside, I looked down the hall. My father, the shaman or whatever he was, stood at the end, staring at me.
He hadn't joined us for any meals and I had only seen him once since he came out of literally nowhere to tell me the reason I was born was to take his powers.
He started walking away, and I wondered if it was wise to follow him. I jogged to catch up, walking a few feet behind him.
We entered the atrium, which looked completely different than it had before. Life had returned to it, and not just the type of life that Inferna grew, but the life that Earth grew.
Without a word, he walked over to the benches and sat down. Luckily not on the one that I had sex on. That wouldn't have been weird at all.
"Why are we in here?" I sat down at the other end of the bench and turned toward him.
Right before my eyes, his hair turned white and his smooth skin wrinkled and thinned. I gasped and he chuckled.
"This is my true form. I thought you should see it." He raised a hand and examined it. "When you are older and more skilled, you will be able to disguise your true self if you wish as well."
I had a bad feeling in my gut and my heart sped up. "What do you mean?"
"It's time, Samara." He folded his hands in his lap. "I thought I was going to have a little more time, but you need the light more than I do."
I frowned. "I don't even know what to do with it."
He held out a shaky hand to me. I couldn't tell if it was from fear or because he was so old. I took it and put my other hand over the top.
"The light will do as you ask. It can build the tallest peaks and the bluest oceans. It's a never-ending source of possibilities."
"Why did things go so wrong here in Inferna? Why didn't you just flee like your brother?"
"I tried to create a utopia, and the thing with light is there must always be a certain level of darkness to balance it out. Nothing and no one is ever entirely good." His eyes glistened. "My brother understood that, but I didn't. The captain must go down with the ship, so I stayed."
"How do I..." I gestured to all the plants growing. "Grow things?"
"If there is a will, it will happen. You have accessed your light before, have you not?"
"Only while sleeping, and umm..." I wasn't about to tell him that it happened during sex.
"Both of those things stop you from overthinking things." He let go of my hand and held his palm out. A purple flower appeared, and he handed it to me.
"What's the deal with the lightning?" I had so many questions I wanted to ask him, but it seemed like this was his goodbye.
"Your body is seeking light. The lightning is caused by you. As soon as your mother fell pregnant with you, the storms started."
My eyes widened, and I dropped the flower to the ground and stood. "I've caused people to turn to vacants?"
"It's a balance, Samara. You have to remember that. Not everyone can live. Not everything can be rainbows and butterflies."
I had no clue what rainbows and butterflies were. "Is this how it's always going to be? Me taking light from the lightning which stole it from people?"
"Of course not. My light is an infinite source. The lightning is my fault. Don't blame yourself for that."
"How can it not be my fault if it seeks me out to give me the stolen light? That's what it is... stolen." There were plenty of demons who had been turned to vacants from the lightning.
"Dream demons are very closely related to succubi and incubi. They feed off an emotion they help create. The lightning is just a manifestation of that side of you and the light source you lack." He stood and took my hand again. "Are you ready?"
"No." How could I ever be ready to have so much light magic that I would be able to create landscapes as beautiful as on Earth? How could I be ready to let go of a father I hadn't even known existed?
"I wish things could have been different." Before I could respond, warmth spread up my arms and hit me in the chest.
I squeezed my eyes shut. It felt like the entire sky had decided to send lightning bolts straight to my chest. It didn't hurt, but the pressure was intense.
My head spun and my father's hand slipped from mine. I felt like I was floating and squeezed my eyes tighter. My back hit something soft.
I opened my eyes to find myself cushioned by a bush that had grown under me. I sat up and looked around.
"Hello?" My father was nowhere to be seen.
I stood and nearly tripped over a pair of shoes. His shoes and cl
othes were in a pile. Had he just vanished into thin air?
The door to the atrium crashed open, and a panting Raphael came to a stop in the doorway. The others, except for Amari, crashed into his back and sent him stumbling into the room.
"Sammy!" He rushed forward and pulled me into a hug. "What the fuck? I could sense a gigantic burst of light energy and I thought something bad had happened to you."
"I'm fine." I pushed him away and he frowned. "I'm tired. Let's go to bed."
"Wait a second, what happened here?" Nico looked down at the pile of clothes at my feet and pointed to the giant bush I had just climbed out of. "That wasn't there the other day."
I shrugged. "It was like this when I came in here."
"He gave you his light." Kage pushed Nico and Raphael out of the way and took my face in his hands. "You are the light now."
"Don't be so corny." I pulled away. "It doesn't change the fact that people are dead or vacants. And that I made who knows how many people vacants since the day I was conceived."
I picked up the pile of clothes and a key clinked onto the floor. I picked it up and examined it. Kage snatched it from my fingers and examined it before looking at the other door of the atrium.
"I picked this up the other day but then dropped it in a bush by accident. It's a very old key, not used anymore. When I met your father I had tried to get through this door." He walked toward the door and inserted it into the lock. "It was iron though and I couldn't get through." A horrible screeching noise echoed in the room as he turned the key and pulled the door open.
"Why would he have that key though?" I walked forward and Raphael grabbed my arm. "What?"
"It might be dangerous. Yeah, Kage found it on the ground, but for your father to have it in his pocket?"
"Well now we'll never know, will we?" I ripped my arm away and walked past Kage.
The four of them followed me quietly. I could feel their concern over my snappiness and a little bit of hurt feelings from Raphael. I hadn't meant to be such a bitch, but I didn't quite know what to do with myself.
It was as if I was outside of my own body, just far enough away from it to still have control, but not completely connected with my movements. I probably needed a good night's sleep.
The floor sloped downwards, and as we walked, the sconces on the wall lit with our movement. The air was stale and smelled of wet dirt. I didn't know what we were headed into and wished I had the forethought to bring a weapon.
"Do you think there's treasure down here?" Raphael asked.
Val sighed. "No. These are the catacombs. They stopped being used when King Rian took the throne."
"Why?" Nico was right behind me and I felt the electrical charge of him from behind. It was a weird feeling. I stopped and he nearly ran into me. "Warn a guy when you're about to stop like that."
"Did you hear that?" I held up my hand for them to be as quiet as possible. If Amari was with us he'd know exactly where the sound was coming from and possibly what it was.
I looked over my shoulder at Nico, and he shrugged. Val pointed ahead where the tunnel we had headed down split in two directions.
"Oh, geez. This is like one of those really bad D grade movies where the idiots pick the wrong corridor and die from an axe murder serial killer."
"What?" Kage practically squeaked.
"Nothing. Just a joke." Raphael put his arm around his shoulders. "I'll protect you, snookums."
Kage swatted at him and pulled out from under his arm. "This isn't funny, Raphael. Grow up."
I started down the corridor with the sound of the dripping. I didn't think my father, who had carried enough light in him to create worlds, would have a key that led to something that would kill him.
Unless he had simply just found it and put it in his pocket. It was a cool-looking key.
We passed several archways that led into chambers that had skulls embedded into the walls. It was beautiful, and I didn't understand why I never knew about it. Who were they and how had they died?
"I f-feel like they're w-watching m-m-me." Kage's fear was making me anxious, but he also had an underlying surge of courage.
The air grew cooler the farther we walked. We hadn't been walking that far, maybe a few hundred yards when we came to another iron door. It was the same as were used in the more permanent dungeon cells with a small covered window to see into the room, and a place at the bottom that opened to deliver food.
I tried to pry open the window, but it was rusted. It was rather damp, and iron and water weren't friends.
I put the key in the door, and when the lock refused to turn, a surge of anger welled up inside of me, knowing I wouldn't have my questions answered.
"Uhh, Sammy, you're glowing." Val took my hand. "You look like you're getting ready to murder someone."
I lost what small sliver of cool had remained and kicked the metal door despite only having slippers on. It flew open as the metal ripped from the hinges and fell with a loud thump on the stone floor.
"Well, that answers the question of just how much power she has," Raphael mumbled.
I was so numb to everything that I quickly got over my shock at just kicking down a rusted iron door. I didn't have time to be shocked or in awe of what had just happened.
I stood in the doorway and took in the bedroom. It was so out of place down in the catacombs and it didn't make any sense to me.
There was a small sitting area lined with bookshelves, a desk covered with papers and books, a small area that had a stove, and a large bed that looked just as grand as in the main part of the house.
Val slipped past me and walked over to the desk. "Sammy. You should see this."
I didn't want to move from my spot by the door because it was the only way of escape from this fresh hell I found myself living in.
Nico gave me a reassuring pat on the back, and I moved into the room and next to Val. He had a thick piece of paper in his hand and I frowned.
"Why is there a picture of my family down here?" Deep inside, I knew why, but knowing and admitting were two different things.
He set it down and picked up a journal, flipping through it. "Carson. That note you found in the box is from Carson."
I snatched the book away and flipped through it. "Why would they lock him down here?"
Opening to a page, I started reading.
Tonight was the last time my mother said she would visit me. She says I'm starting to scare her with my obsession with my brother. It's unfair I have to stay locked in this cold, musty room when he is free.
Do you see the marks on the last page? That is how long it has been since my mother has visited me. Sixty-six days. Today is my fourteenth birthday.
The voices started last night. They haven't stopped. They want me to free them.
I tell the voices to free me.
That was the last thing written in the journal and I shut it. It wasn't much to go on, but it was clear that my mother and father had kept a pretty big secret locked away. The question was, why?
Chapter 13
Nico
Sammy was not doing well. I saw it in the way her shoulders slumped and her eyes glossed over when we spoke to her. It was as if one moment we had been laughing and gathering nuts in the woods together, and the next, we were right smack dab in the middle of a campfire horror story.
She wasn't sleeping well, and more often than not, I found her staring at her hands or staring at Amari, who was still passed out. It was possible the panther was making up for all the lost sleep.
I hoped he woke up. He had grown on me.
"Nico," Kage whispered from the end of the bed. I sat up and rubbed my face. "I need your help."
I strategized my escape from being in the center. Sammy had finally fallen asleep and was laying with her head on Amari's chest. Never in a million years did I think I'd be okay sleeping in the middle with an asshole angel at my back.
I managed to get off the bed without waking anyone and followed Kage out into the ha
ll. I looked down at my boxers and hoped whatever he needed help with didn't require clothes.
"I need to move a bookcase, but it's not budging." He led me down the hall to the library.
The library wasn't big, but was comfortable, with seating, and the smell of books in the air. Stacks of books lay on the floor and shelves sat empty. I hadn't even known the shelves could be moved.
"Couldn't it have waited? I wasn't ready to get up yet. Did you even sleep?" I grabbed the other side of the bookshelf and helped him move it out. "Aren't you going to stuff yourself too full of magic or something?"
I plopped down in a chair and watched as he got on his hands and knees and began cleaning the floor. He was going to hurt himself.
"No." He cleaned in silence as I sat and watched him.
He was definitely less timid than he was before, but still just as neurotic. I understood he missed Picard, but like Raphael told him, Picard was probably like a cat and had nine lives.
Amari would be the one to know the answer to that.
"It'll get easier." I leaned forward with my arms on my legs.
"What will?" He dipped the rag he was using in a bucket, sloshed it around, and then wrung it out. "Help me move it back?"
We heaved it back before moving out another book case. "The pain of the loss. It does get easier."
He frowned and looked down at his feet. "I didn't mean to make you think about that."
I put my hand on his shoulder. "As a wise woman with purple hair once told me: Picard wouldn't want to see you like this. Walking around like a lunatic and cleaning everything is only hurting you."
"It's not just that. I'm worried about her." He met my eyes and his brows pinched together. "Nothing adds up."
"No, it doesn't. Mysterious unknown cursed brother locked in the catacombs. His twin acting unlike himself, but how..." I shook my head, thinking it was ridiculous. It would be obvious if Taylor was Carson, wouldn't it?
