Dark Temptation

by D. S. Molinari

  Alanis followed him without protest. Just a few days ago, she had the life of a normal seventeen-year-old girl: she went to school, had many friends, a boyfriend she was starting to know, and a father who watched over her. Her only concerns were passing exams and looking attractive to Chase. But, above all things, the shadow world didn’t exist for her. Now she had none of that, she wasn’t even alive as she was supposed to, and the shadow world was the only one in which she could exist.

  And there he was. For some reason beyond her understanding, Kaliel was the only one there for her. But she hadn’t had time to think about that. At first glance, the boy was cold, arrogant and selfish. However, it was clear that he was worried. He had freed her from Mikah's orders more than once, allowed her to stay in the most comfortable room, accompanied her in each of her whims and guarded her like a guardian. Or, maybe, he did follow Mikah's orders and those were, precisely. The truth is that there was something wrong with him. Kaliel was like those hundreds of stone angels who guarded the dead in the cemetery: beautiful, cold and sublime, and she was the dead he protected. The same thing had seemed to her the day she met him. But, unlike those statues that immortalized laments and eternal supplications, Kaliel hid any trace of feeling from his face. Why did he do everything he did? Who was Kaliel?

  “Why were you in my room last nights?” She told him when they had left the cemetery.

  He walked leisurely down the sidewalk with his hands in the pockets of his black jeans.

  “Because it's my room...” he remarked.

  “Not that room! I mean Halloween night and the next... A moment! You were also at the club!” Ali covered her mouth to suppress a scream. “Those wings were... What are you?”

  Kaliel laughed almost scornfully.

  “I am not an angel. I'm sorry to ruin your teenage fantasies...”

  Ali felt somewhat offended by the comment and also embarrassed. She decided she didn’t care about Kaliel. He could go to the very hell as long as she could find her father and find out what happened to Chase. But how would she do it?

  “I need to know what happened with Chase” she said.

  “Who is that Chase you're talking about so much? Why do you care so much?” Apparently Kaliel had some difficulty understanding human feelings, she thought wryly.

  “He was my boyfriend”.

  “The little prince who stopped you under the window?” He mocked.

  “Yes... that one...” answered Ali clenching his jaw. He was an idiot and, definitely, he was not an angel.

  “Don’t ask me! I don’t know… Ask Annabeth”.

  “How insensible you are! If you prefer, I'll ask the police and let everyone know that I'm still alive, kidnapped by a group of mad people who hide in a church!”

  Kaliel stopped and looked over his shoulder with an indifferent expression.

  “Tell Mikah. Maybe I'll lock you in some luxury suite in the dungeon pavilion..." Kaliel sighed in annoyance. “My mission was to keep an eye on you: I have no idea what happened to that boy. Really, ask Annabeth: her mission was to kill you”. He took a few more steps and stopped again: “And she almost gets it... I can’t protect you if you run away”. That seemed more like a kind of confession.

  Protect her? So she was just a mission? Would it be part of Kaliel's redemption?

  A scream snatched her from her thoughts at that moment. Kaliel was also alert. More screams came from an alley that was across the street. He ran off with incredible skill and she tried to catch up with him. Two women struggled. No! One of them had that indestructible air... It couldn’t be. A vampire attacking a human in broad daylight? Darry's words echoed in Ali's mind: The war has started!

  “It's good that there is no longer a pact that defends you!” Kaliel exclaimed and launched against the vampire.

  With a blow he knocked her down. They both rolled to the opposite wall of the alley while the victim remained unconscious on the ground. Ali hastened to help her. There were no bites in her neck: she was safe. People gathered in a row at the entrance to the alley and shouted: Someone call the police! There is a wounded woman, call the ambulance! Somebody do something! Ali understood that Kaliel must look like the man who attacked a young girl. After all, if she wouldn’t have known that this delicate woman was a fierce demon of the night, she would have thought the same thing.

  “Kaliel, we must go away!” She warned him but he ignored her. Ali tried to lift the fainted girl in her arms. “Okay, she just fainted! Don’t approach!” She tried to prevent people from approaching the alley next to an angry vampire. Her gaze then met a strange glass bottle that was lying very close to them. There was still some content left. It was red. At that moment, the girl began to tremble and then to convulse in her arms.

  “What's wrong? Calm calm!” Ali didn’t know what to do. She wanted to scream for help but if she did so more people would be put at risk. No, it was already late: some boots came running up to her.

  “She's turning” Sabrina said and picked up the same bottle that Ali had seen. “Demon blood...”

  What a fool she had been! Chase had already told her that it was not possible to turn people into vampires with an insignificant bite.

  “We must take her from here as soon as possible” Sabrina said and lifted her up.

  Jared appeared and, mysteriously, made people leave the place.

  “They won’t remember anything” Sabrina said in a reassuring tone.

  Finally, they managed to immobilize the vampire and they also took her away.

  Once in the cathedral, Mikah received them in the same room as always: the one with the fireplace and the books. Sabrina knelt in front of him, showing him the girl she was still carrying while trembling as if feverish. Mikah touched her forehead with the tips of his snowy fingers and then stroked her face.

  “It's too late” Ali sensed a certain affliction in his voice “She's turning into vampire. Take her to rest, now she is a Redentto...”

  Kaliel was the second to go to the presence of Mikah and violently throw the immobilized vampire. Mikah touched her with equal delicacy. There was no rancor in his manners. Instantly, the vampire was able to speak and laughed.

  “Have Darry ordered you to do it?” Mikah asked her.

  “Simply, Darry no longer forbids us to do it...” the vampire replied and laughed again.

  “You don’t have to do this” Mikah told her as if he reproached a child with tenderness. “You are immortal but that doesn’t mean you cannot be killed. And now that the covenant has been undone, it is very likely that it will happen. You know where you're going if you continue on Darry's side... Stay with us, Heather...”

  “Neither all the pleasures of this or the other world will make me betray Darry” the vampire exhibited a malevolent smile.

  “Okay, we'll give you time to think about it” Mikah solved calmly. “After all, we can’t let you go after what you've done”.

  With a simple gesture of Mikah, Jared imprisoned the vampire and began to drag her as he had done with Annabeth. But this one didn’t try to resist. She just started laughing in a shrill way.

  “By the way, your friend was the most delicious snack I tasted in my life” the vampire turned to Ali with a perverse expression. “His blood, flooded with absolute terror, became sweeter as he understood that he was dying... Now that I have discovered that I shouldn’t kill my victim before drinking his blood... I can’t give up this new pleasure!”

  It was as if a dagger had pierced Ali's heart. At first she felt an uncontrollable anguish but couldn’t burst into tears; that's what the vampire wanted. Suddenly, her feelings turned into a silent hatred and she couldn’t help but watch at her with contempt as if she could set her on fire with a glare. And she did.

  The vampire grunted, in an attempt to hide her pain. Jared released her as if she burned and the girl fell to her knees, on fire.

  “No!” Cried Mikah. “Repent, Heather!”

  “Never” spat the vampire with effort. A kin
d of crack that oozed smoke and spattered sulfur, opened under her body. “I'll wait for you in hell, you girl and your Grigori!”

  The flames engulfed her and swallowed her. When the crack closed, there was no trace of the vamp.

  10

  The Watcher's temptation

  Mikah issued a series of hasty orders in a language that Ali didn’t understand and that she was sure she had never heard. Instantly, the Redentto vanished from the room leaving them alone, except for Kaliel, who was standing idly by like a capricious child. Mikah didn’t bother arguing with him. Moreover, he pretended not to see him. He completely ignored Kaliel as a way of showing him that nobody cared about his tantrums and that his presence wasn’t so remarkable as to interfere in his affairs.

  Then Mikah turned to Ali with a stern look. His amber eyes were lit like two pits of molten gold waving.

  “What you just did is very serious” his voice was shrill as thunder but still kept calm.

  “I did nothing!” Ali was horrified and just about to cry.

  What was all that? Why did they accuse her again?

  Mikah descended the steps towards her as fast and delicate as if he were floating. He brushed her cheek with a soft, deliciously warm hand, as if he were seeing her for the first time, as if he were proving she was real. His touch gave her absolute peace and fear fled from her as if fear itself could fear something greater than itself. Ali couldn’t help but be surprised at Mikah's attitude: no matter how serious the issue seemed or if he tried to sound angry, deep down, he could sense the tenderness and compassion with which he observed everyone, even the vampires. Now he was looking at her with that stone expression that tried to compensate all the pain that was showing in his eyes. Ali was confused, she didn’t know how to react or what she was supposed to understand but there was only one thing she was interested in:

  “How do I find the Gladius Dei?”

  The atmosphere broke as abruptly as if someone was tearing a canvas. Mikah turned his back on Ali and walked back to his pedestal in front of the fireplace.

  “You don’t want to do it...” he answered.

  “Yes, I do” insisted Alanis. Mikah knew it; Mikah knew many things and Ali had just confirmed it. “They took my father and...”

  “Your father...” the thunder voice of Mikah rose above hers “...has spent his life protecting you from Gladius Dei”.

  “That makes no sense. My father was a priest, he feared that the demons and his sinful temptations would reach me... But if the Gladius Dei fights against those same things. Why would he want to protect me from them?”

  Mikah turned around again and this time his gaze was also directed towards Kaliel as if the matter were really obvious. But she didn’t understand it. She never understood anything and she was getting tired of being the only one who never knew anything.

  “Jonathan Elliot was not just any priest...”

  Ali's throat tightened at the words. She had recently discovered that her life had been a lie but not that, not her father.

  “He is a deserter of the Gladius Dei” Mikah affirmed as if he had always known. “The issue is: why did he run away? At first I thought he was escaping, tormented by that demon. But now I understand...”

  “What do you understand!?” Ali urged.

  Mikah came up to her again and took her hands.

  “These gifts that you have... They were not given to you by God” sentenced.

  Unconsciously, Ali sought refuge in Kaliel. She needed a look to confirm that it was really nothing serious, that all this was just speculation. But instead, the boy looked petrified.

  “Don’t worry” Mikah continued, “the Gladius Dei will come here but they won’t find you. You are strictly forbidden to leave the cathedral” his words sounded like a condemnation. “And you are no longer in charge” he said to Kaliel. “You haven’t been able to accomplish anything I entrusted to you”.

  Contrary to what Ali thought, Kaliel didn’t react with pride but seemed oblivious to major concerns.

  “This is no longer about you, Mikah” he muttered as he put his hands in the pockets of his jeans.

  Then Kaliel left. A deep disappointment invaded Ali. A feeling of loneliness He had turned his back on her and left as if he didn’t care in the least. Of course he didn’t care, after all he had already told her: she was a mission. And Mikah had just finished it. Ali remained silent all the way to a dark and damp room to which Mikah led her. What was happening with her? Her last days might have been too traumatic and she was getting confused. Maybe she had leaned too much on Kaliel as a desperate measure to resist so much loss. She didn’t expect a fairy tale, she didn’t ask that the boy suddenly become her savior prince but at least that he felt a little compassion and pity for her. She really needed a friend at those times.

  “Sorry. I just want to help you” Mikah murmured when he left her in that gloomy room. “You will stay here for now”.

  Ali didn’t resist but didn’t answer either. She was applying the same ice law that Mikah knew how to administer so well in Kaliel. Finally, Mikah closed the heavy, thick wooden door with a thud, followed by metal clinking of locks. Arms folded across her chest, Ali sat down in the ragged chair that occupied a third of her new prison and gave a snort of resignation. This time there were no windows to escape, only four walls, an armchair, a small table and a wardrobe covered in dust and cobwebs.

  With no other options, Ali leaned back in the chair to think about the supposed "gifts" that Mikah had mentioned. If God hadn’t given them to her then who had done it? Did someone have to do it? Couldn’t she just have been born that way? Yes. She was born that way. Once, when she was six years old, she had lost her ball in the woods. When she went to look for it, she saw a bright being like a star standing next to her. Then, that summer night, she had seen through the window what at first she thought was an oversized dog until she noticed that he walked on two legs. And those shadows that chased her wherever she went. Why had she never remembered any of that until now?

  Her father had screamed at her every time she came to him in terror. At first he told her that it was all in her mind, that they were imaginary friends, that it had been a nightmare, and then he began to call her a liar. So she ended up choosing to take refuge in silence until she forgot everything. Or almost everything. She could never have forgotten a face like that…

  Ali fell asleep. In her dream, she walked cross-country, taken by Chase's hand and laughing. She could hear the roar of a nearby stream of water crashing against the rocks. It was the river. It was very close but they knew it late. Beyond the trees the ground fell into an abrupt ravine that took them straight to the water and then the idyll turned into a nightmare. Chase had disappeared while she struggled to dislodge her dress from some branches that were completely submerged in the bottom of the river. The air was running out. Ali tried desperately to escape and shook her whole body. She was going to die. At that time, the waters became murky and hundreds of snakes came to curl up in her body imprisoning her. Immobilized, she could see how a man with sadistic expression watched her squatting from the shore as if enjoying her death. His face was horrible and from his mouth came a forked tongue that kept shaking beyond his wide smile. Ali began to faint. Saw the light. But it was not the death that came to look for her, it was more like a star that fell from the sky at full speed and landed with one foot on the head of that terrifying creature. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Two huge white wings like shreds of cloud, an equally glowing outfit and golden hair like gold springs that compressed and stretched with the impact. With his hands still on his waist he opened his immense wings and the earth trembled, opening and swallowing the unfortunate demon. The next thing she saw was a hand pulling her out of the water and those wings. He was an angel. He was... Kaliel?

  “That stupid Kaliel!” Ali woke up furious. It wasn’t a good time for her mind to play games.

  “I don’t know why I care...” Kaliel sighed, standing against th
e wardrobe. It seemed he had been watching her sleep for quite some time.

  Ali stifled a scream.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” She tried to sound annoyed but she was actually happy. “They sent you to watch over me? Ha! Mikah has returned your mission to you?”

  The sarcastic smirk erased from Kaliel's face immediately.

  “I know! I know! You don’t follow orders from Mikah” Ali taunted as he got up. “Then what are you doing here? Do you control that I don’t escape?”

  “I was coming to get you out, but since you are receiving me like this...” Kaliel said as he pulled out a small key that he had hanging from a chain on his neck. He was enjoying his scene. “But if you don’t want to see me, I'll understand”.

  Kaliel went into the closet and she heard him close it from the inside. Ali remained confused for a few moments until she understood: it wasn’t just a closet, it was a passageway.

  “Wait!” She ran to the closet door and began to beat it. She knew a better way to make him listen to her: “Mikah doesn’t allow you to be here?” she asked, faking an innocent voice.

  Instantly, Kaliel opened one of the doors to reveal his hard expression but Ali gave him no time to speak. With a quick movement, she grabbed his shirt and pulled her into the closet. The place was extremely narrow and they hardly fit into it. She began to doubt that it was a secret door. Ali released Kaliel's shirt but her hand found no other place to be located. It was impossible to move.

  “If Mikah hasn’t sent you to take me out then who made you come for me?” Ali asked when she noticed that Kaliel could not speak. Then he regained his proud countenance:

  “I did it because I wanted to” he answered with cold eyes that he didn’t apart from her and that seemed to want to freeze her to the soul.

  But all Ali could feel was heat. Would she have overreached? Maybe Kaliel and Mikah had serious reasons to hate each other; maybe she shouldn’t bother him again with that. At that moment, Kaliel's arm worked its way up her waist, lifting her shirt as it went. His skin wasn’t warm like Mikah's but Ali felt as if the very flames of hell were emerging from within him. For a second she imagined that he was holding her against his chest and his wings were enclosing them. The next second she heard the clack on the wall at the back of the closet when it unlocked and opened. Three seconds later she was in a dark stone corridor trying to get into the shadows to hide the stupid face she knew she surely had.