The Celestial Rose BoxSet

by Annalee Adams

  “RUN!”

  Turning back, I pulled the child along, hopped up on the counter, and lifted her up and out of the window. I couldn’t have planned it any better. Still running on adrenaline and sigil strength, I pushed her out, free and to safety. As I started to crawl out, the little schoolgirl turned to face me, giggling. What was she doing? Then I realised the snarling, spiders don’t snarl. People do. She picked up a shard of glass and plunged it into my hand. Finally I focused on her face, I hadn’t really looked before. I had just grabbed her in the darkness and pulled her free from the silken spider. If only I’d looked. The sweet little girl was clearly a mutation, a chilling doll with a pale face. She was like one of those creepy porcelain dolls I used to get for Christmas. She looked human, but her glass eyes and wide mouth gave her away. Inside her mouth were rows of serrated teeth. She was clearly the cause of all the bodies.

  Jeez, I didn’t see that one coming. Falling backwards, I landed before the spider, screaming. I had no chance. I was doll bait, spider bait, or even worse, a mixture of both. It was as though someone read my mind in the horror film category. Two scary films, one catastrophic ending. I was screwed either way. No matter how much I wriggled, how loud I screamed, no-one could hear me. I’d taken the path to save children. Lilith must have known me well when sending her minions out to get me. The spider encased me in silk as the kid used her enormous strength to lift me out of the window and into a well of despair. What was once playing fields, bandstands and football pitches, was now an ignited black mass of death. Hundreds of mutations stood around the barren landscape.

  CHAPTER 54: LUCIAN

  “Taylor?”

  Shit. Where was she? This bloody place! I knew I should have whizzed her out of there. But no, I had to be all loved up and follow her like a sheep and now look at the mess we were in. Damn, I feel like I’ve been in a fight with a hellhound. My bloody neck... it was going to take weeks to ease that suffering. There weren’t enough painkillers in the world to help my dead body. Bloody hell, where was she? She had better be alright. They better not have hurt her.

  Searching the woods, I backtracked, heading over to her house. It was empty. Where had everyone gone? There were hordes of people earlier. Why was it so dark? How long was I out? Shit. Fuck. This was not good, this really wasn’t good!

  “Taylor!” I yelled. “Taylor, damn it, answer me!”

  Where the hell was she? There had to be a quicker way to search than just yelling. I needed help. Lawrence would know what to do.

  Speeding towards the mansion, I spied a few humans scratching around for food. Except they didn’t seem quite as normal and boring as they were before. For one thing, they could see me as I sped by. No mortal could see me when I used my abilities. What had Lilith done to them? They were things now, in between human and mutation, scuttling around for a reason to keep on living, morsels of their previous existence.

  The mansion came into sight as I sped up the country road between the louring trees and old street lamps. “Lawrence!” I yelled, speeding up to the front door. “Lawrence!”

  Pearce opened the door, yelling. “Where the fuck is she?” he screamed as he ran up and knocked me down.

  “What? Get the hell off me, man, I haven’t got time for this.”

  “What, you haven’t got time? Where were you when my girl was killed? Where were you when your girl drove a knife into the heart of my girl? Where the fuck were you?” he screamed, throwing punches.

  “Shit.”

  “Shit. Exactly. I don’t know how to save her, Lucian,” he sobbed.

  “Where is she?”

  “In here,” he said, pulling me into the mansion. Running in, crowds of people huddled together; some I knew, some I didn’t.

  “Over here,” Lawrence demanded. “Quickly, there’s no time.”

  I bit open my wrist and filled her mouth with blood. Her body was cold. Had it been too long?

  “What now?” Pearce said, crying. “Why isn’t she getting up?”

  “It can take time, Pearce, give her time. She has to choose to come back.”

  “Please, Jessie, please come back.” Pearce begged as he knelt beside her, holding her hand, rocking. “Please honey. I love you. Please, it’s not too late.” He howled. “Please don’t let it be too late.”

  Tears welled in my eyes. Shit. I hoped she was okay. I walked over and placed a hand on Pearce’s shoulder. “Give her time.” I said.

  I turned and walked over to Lawrence. “What’s happening?”

  “We hoped you could tell us that. Have you seen anything?” Lawrence asked.

  “Nothing that could be of any help. All I’ve seen is darkness.”

  “That’s disconcerting.”

  “Yes. Where is Taylor? Why did she do that to Jessie?” Lawrence asked.

  “I don’t know. That’s why I’ve come here. I need help searching for her.”

  “Pearce said Rowena had her, she controlled her, but then Taylor broke free and fled.”

  “So, she’s still out there. We have to find her before Rowena does.”

  “It looks like Rowena did quite the number on you, too.” He said, checking my neck.

  “It’ll heal.”

  “You’re lucky, Lucian.” He paused in thought. “But you’re right, we can’t let Rowena take Taylor. Not only because she’s family, but also because she’s Eve, the most powerful being on this Earth. You do know that, don’t you?” he asked, eyeing me as I responded.

  “Yes, Lilith told me, then Taylor did. But she doesn’t remember much and has no control over any of her abilities anymore.”

  “It must have happened when she was reborn,” he said. I nodded. “You say you saw Lilith?” I nodded. “How was she?”

  “She stabbed me.”

  “Ah, she’s still the same Lilith then.”

  “Sadly, yes.”

  “Probably best we steer clear of her and end all this mess before it happens.”

  “Have you looked outside lately? It’s already happening!” I said.

  “Yes, but it’s confined to Elvington so far. Harland said he saw Gabriel, he’s bringing in reinforcements. We just need to wait.”

  “We can’t wait, what about Taylor?”

  “Harland’s out there now, tracking her with his pack.”

  “He is? Thank you. I’ll head out to join them.”

  The door blasted open. Harland walked in. “Too late mate,” he said as he threw the corpse of a fire Demon on the floor.

  Lawrence frowned. “Watch the rug, Harland! These pack animals have no respect.” He muttered, heading out of the room.

  “What do you mean too late?”

  “I heard you from outside. She’s gone mate. They took her through some portal thing.”

  “What! When?”

  “About fifteen minutes ago. I caught one of the Demons that had you both earlier. Do you remember what happened?”

  “After being pummelled, no.”

  “That’s probably a good thing.”

  My brow creased. “Why?” I asked.

  “I could hear her screams from the lake, mate. I tried to get there but when I arrived you were out cold, and she was gone.”

  “Gone where?”

  “I don’t know, but that guard had this.” He said, passing me a bloody piece of cloth.

  I opened it slowly and my stomach clenched. Did I want to know what was inside? Unwrapping it, the shape felt familiar. I didn’t need to ask. I knew what it was without even looking. But I had to see, had to confirm it. Unravelling it, her finger dropped out, caressing my hand with her pretty pink nail polish and moon-phased engagement ring. Dried blood coated it as it lay dead, cold, and rotting.

  My whole body tensed. What the fuck had they done to her? My eyes creased, lips pursed. They would pay for this. I’ll kill every fucking one of them. Fists clenched, I lashed out and punched a hole through the wall. The room fell silent, all eyes on me. Elisha walked over, leaving three girls behind.
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br />   “What is it?” she asked.

  “It’s Taylor.” I said, tears streaming down my cold, dead face.

  “What?” Nic shouted, running over, his boyfriend in tow.

  “I’ll kill them!” Julian boomed from the back of the room. He stomped out with a flow of jagged icicles embedded in the wall behind him. The front door slammed; he was out for blood.

  “Shit, Luci,” Joey said, appearing with the kid. “Sorry mate, she was a good one.” He put his arm around my head, pulling me in. “We’ll find her mate, then you can sew it back on.”

  “Err thanks. I’m glad you made it here.”

  “Hey, Mr. Fang.”

  “Hey, kid.”

  Joey let me go and Elisha pulled me in. “Come on, we can go and look.”

  “Harland said they’d taken her with the others, through a portal. I can only presume she’s in Enoch again.”

  “Fuck. I hate that place.” Harland said, walking over.

  “Don’t we all.” Elisha said.

  “But if she’s there, Lucian, we’ll go get her.” Nic said, patting me on the back.

  “Who’s the new man?” I asked, looking up at the guy he had in tow.

  “It ain’t the best timing for introductions, man,” Nic said.

  “It’s okay, I’m glad you’ve found someone. You were beginning to get annoying all alone.”

  “Ha Ha.” Nic pulled the new guy forward. Blond waves met rich blue eyes and tanned skin. “This is Jayden.”

  “Is he normal?” I asked. I couldn’t exactly trust my instincts. I was a mess of emotions and liable to succumb to killing every living creature in the world.

  Nic smiled.

  Jayden smiled. “Yes, I am.” He said. "But I know about you all. I’ve been watching you for a while.”

  “Huh?”

  “I’m a hunter.”

  “What the fuck, man?” Joey piped in. “No fucker told me there was a hunter in this ere grand establishment.”

  “Really?” I asked Nic, “Come on. Nic, a hunter?”

  “Hey, I’m not working right now. I came up here because I heard about the beast attack. Then I met Nic. I actually thought he was a beast until he turned back into human form.”

  “Oi, I was a bear at the time, Jay.” He gripped Jayden’s hand.

  “Okay, a bear. I nearly shot you.”

  “Aren’t you glad you didn’t?” Nic smiled, Jayden turned and kissed him in return.

  “Fuck, now you’re kissing a hunter? This world has gone fucking mad.” Joey said, walking off.

  I nodded. Now how did we find Taylor?

  CHAPTER 55: TAYLOR

  Where was I? I came to in the darkness, unable to see the light. Living in a nightmare was a horror within itself. Hell felt like it’d be somewhere to cherish at the moment. What was in the darkness around me? My mind roared as I heard movement in the abyss.

  I remembered when Hell was created, a moment in history to enchain those that turned to evil, giving them an eternity of suffering. It felt right at the time, justice had been served. Especially after father turned over to the dark side And Adam and I had to get a handle on things. It became so black and white; humans were either good or evil, there was no in-between. If the scales slipped to the dark side, they were damned for an eternity. Broken souls forever twisting in torment.

  For me, nothing seemed worse at the moment than my own devilish imagination purring thoughts through my mind. I couldn't be here, I needed to get out. But my body was stuck, fixated in position as my eyes closed and passing moments fled through my mind. Reliving the torturous memories frightened me, my body stiffened, claustrophobically stationary. Don’t think about them, move past them. But what could be worse right now than reliving Caleb’s death? Mum's death? Killing my father again? Seeing Lucian's neck snapped? Killing Jessie in cold blood? I had a long list of shit that weighed against me. The darkness had tainted my heart and it didn’t feel like there was a lot of good left in it. It was just a ploy, a way into my head, the opposite of the light room in Elysium. It had to be. I remembered from my visit to Enoch earlier that she liked mind games. Hell, Rowena was a prime example of that, with her twisted complexion that resembled the Joker from Batman. What was she thinking?

  Even my mind wasn’t secure, nothing left to hold onto as I felt like my private life was made public. She’d entered my whole life trying to find a way in, anyway to torture me until I ceased to exist. Instead of physical pain, she chose this, and what a good choice she’d made. She gave me a past memory in which I awoke in a cave, chained to the wall, damp and dirty. The chains were rusted, built into the walls. I remembered the place. I knew the horror that lay in wait. Today was the day I lost my brother. My eyes focused further, there he was, curled in the corner, bloodied and beaten, fighting away his inner demon as the Beast bled him dry. My little brother was the young age of eleven when he was taken. Such a short, innocent life to live. He hadn’t really lived, though. He’d lost his mum young, and now he was about to lose his own life, and later his dad's. Life was cruel to Caleb, life was a shitstorm on heat, and I knew what happened next.

  The Beast entered. Jeez, I never wanted to see that thing's face again. It stomped over to Caleb and stabbed him in his thigh. I screamed. I couldn't watch it again, couldn't live through it. I was out of control. There was nothing I could do to help.

  Remember, Taylor, remember it isn’t real.

  Caleb screamed in agony, twitching as his body spasmed from the poison taking over. I couldn't see it. Hands clammy, tears welling up, I bit down on my lip. I couldn't see it again. He was too young. He was only a boy, just a child. Take me, damn you, kill me instead. His distress broke my heart as I pulled closer and closer, bracing my feet against the wall, trying to pull the chains free. I needed to get to him, hold him close, take away his pain. If he could hold on for a little while longer, I knew Adam would come. He would save the day. Just a little longer, Caleb, please kid, please hold on.

  “Taylor!” he shrieked, the excruciating pain reverberating in his voice. He held out his hand to me as the Beast tossed it away, keeping us close enough to see each other, but far enough away not to touch. Claws grew out of the poor kid’s hands, my brother, the monster, as he ripped away his own flesh and blood, screaming in agony.

  Writhing in pain, with broken limbs and bloodied skin, he crawled his way over to me, begging for mercy. But it wasn’t just Caleb anymore, it was the Beast in him taking over. He wailed and withered as I pulled him next to me. Gripping his broken body with my legs, I tried to offer any kind of comfort I could. He pleaded for help, screamed, as he tore his own face apart.

  I closed my eyes. I couldn’t face looking at him anymore; his poor mutilated face. He pleaded and begged for an ending. I held him tighter as he lashed out with his claws. I needed my arms free, needed to hold him. Instead, I was chained in pain, ignoring every slash he made. I forgave his every attempt at biting me out of agony and anguish. I couldn’t save him. My little brother was dying the most disturbing of all endings and I could not do a damned thing about it. I couldn’t even summon the power to end his life, to save his soul, to ease his pain as I felt him jerk violently, gargling on his own blood, choking the life out of him. His heart slowed, and his breathing faltered as he gradually let go of me, twitching. I gripped him tighter and he died the pain of a thousand deaths that day, and with him, part of me died, too.

  I was sobbing uncontrollably as the Beast laughed, picking Caleb up like a ragdoll and throwing him into the corner like trash. Wailing for it all to end, I had kept my eyes closed. Darkness came, the scene went black, and I shook in fear of what would come next.

  The next story, I couldn’t remember. Not quite, anyway. In the next story, I was a twelve-year-old girl giving birth to a son. I remembered the time, I remembered holding him as he came. I also remembered dying because of him. It wasn’t his fault, it was the times, the paranoia that stripped the nation back then. That memory was the day I died a vir
gin mother.

  In another life, at such a tender age, it was frowned upon to mate with another before marriage. The year was 1693. The year of peasants, poverty, and broken promises. Salem was at unrest; many innocent females were accused of witchcraft. I was the child of a pauper, rich in nothing but love. But love came too quickly as my daddy was strung up for raising a witch and my child was cast out as a Demon, slaughtered by pigs. No-one believed I was innocent. No one recognised the fact that I was born a virgin and died one. No-one wanted to listen as I pleaded for mercy from the inquisitor. My child was a gift from God. He spat at my god and said I was a fool. No god would allow a child to bare another child. Only Satan himself took children in their sleep. The high priest screamed betrayal and the make-shift court screamed justice. And, as I marched to my own death, I could hear my baby crying, screaming for his mummy. Where was he? What were they doing to him? I cried, pulling at my roped cuffs. Leave him alone!

  The men marched me to my death, but before I died, they allowed me to see my baby boy one last time as the pigs tore him apart. I died twice that day; once as a grieving mother and the second burned at the stake. But as I finally withered, my light triumphed, fled through the fire and ignited the village. Blasting my light across the realm, I took every mortal down with me. How dare they murder my father? How dare they slaughter my child? They were both innocent. So was I. They were the Satan worshippers, not me. How fucking dare they? And as I wailed in anguish, feeling my skin turn to cinder, my eyes closed, darkness set in, and I waited for another torturous end.