by Kailin Gow
Lux looked down at Ida’s hand over hers then up to Ida’s eyes. “I guess I missed out on a lot of stuff, too.” She looked up to the house. “Well, we’d better go in.”
Lux opened the car door and headed to her house. Even before she opened the door, she could hear John speaking to her parents. Hearing her mother and father’s voices brought her back to her childhood, to all those years of being loved by them, supported by them and protected by them.
Without knocking, she slowly turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. Her mother stood at the counter with a glass of red wine in her hand while her father and John were seated at the kitchen table.
“Hi,” Lux called out.
“Lux!” her mother called out as she came around the counter. “Oh, honey. I’m so glad you decided to come.”
Lux hurried into her mother’s arms and hugged her tight. “This is so weird,” she whispered into her mother’s ear.
“Relax, honey,” her mother said. “You’re surrounded by people who love you and who want the best for you.”
“Hi, sweetie,” her father said.
Lux went to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek then kissed John as well.
“Well,” Ida said as she pulled out a chair and sat down. “Isn’t it nice being here all together?”
A long and tense silence followed.
What do we talk about? Lux wondered. The good old days? The missed experiences?
“You guys are quite busy, I hear,” David said.
Lux nodded as she pulled up a chair beside him.
“You know,” Laurie said. “I know we all have a lot of catching up to do, so I thought…” She walked over to the small table by the back door and picked up a pile of photo albums. “These might be a good ice breaker.”
Lux smiled at her mother. She was such a warm and loving person, always so eager to put people at ease, to make them feel welcomed.
She brought the photo albums to the kitchen table and Ida and John each took and album and started flipping through the photos.
Ida pointed to a picture of a very young Lux. “What are you crying for?” she said.
Lux smiled wistfully as she looked at the picture. She was about ten years old and wearing a soccer uniform. “We’d lost,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “I was devastated.”
“And what about this one?” John said, showing her a picture of her with her hair up, a fake diamond necklace and long, white silk gloves.
Lux laughed. “Oh, brother. I had forgotten all about that.”
“Lux developed quite a dramatic flair when puberty hit,” Laurie said.
Ida looked questioningly at Lux.
“On a whim, I joined the drama club.”
“She didn’t only join the drama club,” Laurie said. “She auditioned and got the lead in My Fair Lady.”
Ida cocked an impressed brow. “I’ll admit that I don’t know what that is, but it sounds impressive all the same.”
Lux smiled, remembering that period in her life. She’d already been slaying demons for years, but the foray into regular and entertaining human activity was the perfect antidote to all the ugliness she so often faced.
“It was a fun time,” Lux said.
“Unfortunately,” Laurie called over her shoulder as she headed back to the kitchen, “she wasn’t able to be in the following year’s production of The King and I.”
“Duty called,” Lux explained.
“I know how that feels.” Ida looked sympathetically at her daughter. “I’ve had many plans put aside because of the call to duty. Dinners, theater, vacation getaways. None of that matters when the call comes to destroy an army of demons.”
“Well,” Laurie called from the kitchen. “Enough with all this talk of demons and the like. Dinner is ready.” She came to the table wearing oven mitts as she carried the aromatic lasagna and set it in the center of the table. “Serve yourselves.”
The large serving spoon went around the table as everyone scooped up a large portion and set it in their plate.
During dinner everyone made an effort to keep the conversation light and fun. Dessert brought about the topic of sweets and varying tastes in coffee. But the moment the table was cleared, the subject matter turned a little darker.
“So,” David said. “What do you have in mind for our little girl?”
“Dad,” Lux whined. “I’m not a little girl.”
“I didn’t say you were. I just said that you were mine… you know.” He stammered then looked at everyone around the table. “Oh, hell. You know what I mean.”
“I know that you already know a lot about the talent that Lux has,” Ida said.
“Yes,” Laurie said. “And we’re so proud.”
“I won’t lie to you,” Ida said, clasping her hands together and leaning forward over the table. “Things are going to get rough. We’re expecting something major.”
“Really?” Laurie said, shooting a concerned glance at her husband. “Like what?”
“Don’t even bother asking, Laurie,” David said. “You know they can’t tell you.”
“He’s right,” Ida said. “But what I will tell you is that I have complete faith in Lux. She’s good at what she does. In fact…” Ida turned to look at Lux. “If she would allow herself to believe it, she’s the best.”
“I don’t doubt it,” Laurie said. “She’s always been good at everything she puts her mind to.”
“We’re very proud of you, dear,” David said.
“I know, Dad,” Lux said. “And I owe so much to you two.”
“It’s been our privilege to watch you grow up,” Laurie said.
Lux looked at them, then took a closer look at David and John. “So, you’re my uncle,” she said softly.
Instantly, she saw the pain it brought him.
“I’m sorry,” Lux quickly said. “I mean. It’s just been a lot to take in. I was just thinking out loud.”
He nodded.
“If you two are brothers, how is it that one became a slayer and the other one didn’t?”
The brothers looked at one another and for a moment Lux regretted asking the question. But then they burst out laughing, each pointing a finger at the other.
“I guess you could say that we’re genetically pretty different,” David said. “I’ve always been more cerebral and quiet.”
“And I was always rambunctious and hyper-active,” John said. He quickly grew more serious and solemn. “When I was very young, I always had a fascination with the battles of good vs evil. The first time I slayed a demon, if I can even call it that, I was in third grade.”
“A kid in my class,” John went on. “Roland. He was the type of kid who loved to torment dogs and cats, or any other creature he could get his hands on. Out in the school yard one day, he caught a toad and made a show of torturing it in front of all the younger kids who screamed and cried as Roland yanked off the poor thing’s legs.”
David shook his head. “He was a nasty kid. I mean I know there are kids out there who just never learned any better, who never get enough love. But this kid… man.”
“When he couldn’t get his hand on a smaller creature,” John said. “He would pick on the smaller kids.”
“And I turned out to be the smaller kid he liked to pick on,” Dad said.
“At first, David didn’t tell me about it. I’d be off in my corner of the school yard, hanging out with my friends and I would hear about some poor kid who’d had his lunch money stolen by Roland.”
“But when I met up with John to walk home together,” David said. “I had a black eye and a bloody lip.”
“He refused to tell me what had happened,” John said. “But I suspected. So, the next day, instead of hanging out with my friends, I headed to where the first graders played and there was Roland pushing little David around.”
“He was doing a little more than just pushing me around. He’d taken my lunch, he’d smacked my baseball cap off my head and when John arrived, he
had me by the throat and was pushing me up against the wall.”
“David was blue, as in lack of oxygen blue.” John put his elbows on the table then clasped his hands together and brought them to his lips. “When I came up behind Roland, I put my hand to his shoulder and turned him around. He turned to me, all while still holding David to the wall. I had never seen eyes like that. I had never seen anyone who had such hatred.”
“There are nights when I still see those eyes,” David admitted.
“Me, too,” John said.
“Well,” Lux said. “What did you do?”
“I punched him,” John said. “But it barely affected him. So, I punched him again, harder, right smack in the nose. Blood ran down over his lips, and he just licked it up and smiled. I punched him a third time, giving him a bloody lip. He still smiled and he still held David to the wall. I hit him again and again, but only when a teacher came around and pulled the three of us apart was David finally able to breathe again.”
“Was he a demon?” Lux said.
“I don’t know. I didn’t fully understand what a demon was at the time. But there was certainly something evil about that boy.”
“What happened to him?”
“After that day, we never saw him again,” David said.
“And after that day, I had a whole new opinion of what was good and what was evil.”
“So, while I was traumatized by the event,” David said. “John was motivated by it.”
John sat back and smiled. “And here we are today.”
Chapter 9
The dinner turned out to be much better than what she had expected. Ida thanked Laurie and David for bringing up Lux to be as normal as she could be, while John and David shared tips on being a dad.
At the end of the get together, everyone was hugging and laughing like they’ve known each other for years. Thank God, that went so smoothly, Lux thought. The love each parent had for her outweighed any drama and jealousies.
Lux was as happy as she could be after that now that she had finally met her real parents along with her adopted ones. Life was good having her real parents back in her life, along with all the boys she loved. But a few days later, all hell broke loose, literally.
“What’s going on?” Lux said to Moore as she jumped out of her car.
She’d just pulled up in front of Moore’s mansion to find two yellow school busses parked out front. Dozens of warrior slayers were getting into each bus.
“They’re heading back to Vegas. We’re bussing them to the airport. They should be there before lunch.”
“Why the rush? Is something going on? Why Vegas?”
Moore looked down at her. “I thought you knew. I thought that was why you hurried over here. The Vegas portal; it opened up again. Some have reported demons posing as humans and walking up and down the Strip looking for victims.”
Lux shook her head. “Shit! Really?”
“I’m afraid so.” Moore glanced at the buses. “I think it’s going to get pretty ugly.”
“Are they ready?” Lux said, glancing at the line of slayers. “I mean, if demons are posing as humans… Not everyone can detect that. Do you really think they’re ready for such a fight?”
“They’ll have to be.”
Lux noticed Professor Angelo joining the line and felt a bit relieved. At least someone of significant experience would be with this first team.
“Are there other experienced slayers going with them?”
Moore looked to the ground.
“Moore?” Lux said, trying to meet his downcast gaze. “Who’s going with them?”
He looked up to her, but still said nothing.
Then, from the corner of her eye, she saw them. “Never mind,” she muttered to Moore. “I think I just found the answer.” She glared up at him. “Were you really going to let them leave without giving me a chance to say goodbye?”
She turned to walk to Sully and Lucas, but Moore grabbed her arm and held her back.
“Are you going over there to just say goodbye, or to try to talk them out of leaving?”
Lux stared at him and grimaced. “To say goodbye,” she lied.
Moore snorted. “You never were a good liar.”
“There are far more experienced slayers out here,” she argued. “Why them?”
“For starters, they are, despite their youth, among the most experienced slayers, but they also have a private jet that will bring this team to Vegas quickly. I offered my jet, but they insisted on taking theirs and going with the team.”
“That’s a weak excuse and you know it.”
“All right, then. How about this?” Moore said. “They’re from Vegas. They know the area. They know that portal. They know the Strip. Want more?”
Lux pressed an unhappy grin. “All right. You’ve made your point. I’ll just go say goodbye.”
Chapter 10
Lux knew she was in a dream, but it was a sweet dream that she didn’t want to awaken from. Her men, her team were all with her, strong, healthy and happy. She went from one to the other, sharing a kiss, a hug then slipping into bed with them, one after the other.
There was harmony and great respect. The men all loved one another, worked together and played together.
Her dream brought her out of the darkened room, out of her lover’s warm bed and out into an open field. Wildflowers bloomed and bees buzzed around, greedily sucking up all the nectar they could.
The sun was high, and a light breeze rustled the leaves in the huge oak trees that surrounded her.
She breathed in the sweet scent of strawberries and fingered the soft leaves of a flowering bush. Butterflies fluttered about and forests animals frolicked happily.
Demons had been eradicated and all was right with the world. Love, peace and kindness reigned.
Smiling, she turned to watch a field of sunflowers quickly emerge from the moist soil, growing and reaching for the sky, seeking more of the sun as they swayed in the gentle breeze. They reached maturity, grew to over six feet tall, blossomed and prepared to spit out their many seeds.
But instead of seeds, the beautiful sunny flowers shriveled up and blackened. Their stalks thickened and the leaves became thin black limbs, reaching out for a victim; a soul.
Lux tried to run, but her legs were like lead, and her feet sank into the mucky earth. The sunflowers uprooted and the thin legs became mobile. She looked back and though the sunflowers weren’t moving fast, her own movements were too slow.
She tried to scream, but her mouth was suddenly filled with sunflower seeds. She ran faster, but she sank more and more into the now loose, dry sand.
The flowers, now completely transformed into the demonic beings they really were, came after her with more speed, and a murderous rage.
She knew she should fight. She knew how to fight, didn’t she? She turned to face them. There was no longer any trace of the sunflowers they’d once been. They were pure evil; demons out to destroy her.
“Why is there evil in the world?” she called out.
“Just think how boring it would be if everyone was good and pure,” one demon said.
“There would be peace and harmony,” Lux argued.
The demon yawned his boredom and reached out to grab Lux by the neck. “This,” he spit into her face as he forced her to face him, “is far more fun.”
She didn’t fight back. She couldn’t. She didn’t know how. She had no strength.
“Do something,” Brax called out to her.
“Fight them,” Moore said.
“Come on, Lux,” Asher said. “You can beat them. They are merely minions. Inexperienced demons. Just fight!”
“No!” she cried out as she held up her useless hands in front of her face.
“Fight!” Sully shouted.
“Slay them,” Lucas said.
“They’re taking over,” Ida said. “You have to do something quick or the world will be destroyed. We’re relying on you, Lux. Only you can save the world.”
“They’re everywhere,” John added. “Lux, do something.”
“Fight, Lux,” Romeo said. “Fight, or else they’ll take over the world.”
“Lux,” John said. “Lux!”
With a start, Lux sat up in her bed, sweat running down her back. She looked up to see John at the door.
“You okay?”
Closing her eyes, she sank back into the pillows and waited for a moment as her heartrate returned to normal.
“Nightmare?” John said as he came into her room and stood at the foot of her bed.
Lux nodded. “I couldn’t fight. I was useless as a slayer. I had no idea what to do.”
“Pre-battle jitters,” John said with a smile.
She sat up and looked at the pretty floral pattern of her comforter. “Everything was peace and harmony. I was so happy. Then, all of a sudden, everything was dark and ugly.” When John remained silent, she looked at him. “Another portal has opened, hasn’t it?” she said, hoping she was wrong.
“Yes,” John said softly.
“So, it wasn’t just a dream… just a nightmare. They really are coming. First Las Vegas, and now…” She pulled the comforter off and threw her legs over the edge of the bed. “Where? Where have they broken through?”
“Los Angeles,” John said. “I came to tell you that Hector is heading out there.”
Lux nodded.
“I’ll probably be joining him.”
Biting her lip, she looked up at him. “Sully and Lucas have gone to Las Vegas. Now you and Hector and going to go to Los Angeles. Who’s next?”
John shrugged. “These aren’t going to be easy times, Lux. At some point, everyone is going to have to get their hands dirty and fight it out.”
Chapter 11
After John and Hector left for Los Angeles, Brax and Asher headed to Miami.
“I should be next,” Lux said at the dinner table that night. “I should be sent out to the next portal that shows signs of opening.”