Death In Her Eyes (Children of the Fallen Book 1)

by ERIN BEDFORD

  Okay, so now I felt bad. Well, worse actually. Sure, Dharma had been asking for it, but I didn't mean to mess her up completely, just scare her off a bit. Still, there was something about their accusation that bothered me.

  "Why did you think I was?" I cocked my head to the side. "None of the teachers do."

  "Exactly," Bishop pointed out. "You didn't have a trial period. You didn't get escorted by an elder for the first six months. Not like the rest of us. Plus, you're..." His eyes went up and down my form with a conflicted expression.

  "I'm what?"

  "Older."

  I leaned forward, afraid that I'd misheard him over the music and Charity's wailing. "What? What does my age have to do with it? Aren't you all high schoolers?" I gestured around the bonfire.

  Bishop nodded. "Yeah, but every one of us save Ayden got here when we were just showing our powers, around thirteen years old. Or if their parents knew about their powers even younger. You're what, twenty?"

  I sputtered in my drink. "Excuse me. I'll have you know I will be nineteen in two months. Besides, I'm hardly ancient."

  "But you've had your powers longer. You should have been found before now." Bishop and pot guy stared me down, as if expecting me to sprout wings then and there.

  "I don't have to explain myself to you, but because I feel bad for hurting your friend, I'll say this once and only once. I'm not, nor have I ever been, an angel. I didn't even know they existed until two days ago!"

  "Elle!" An excited squeal broke through my standoff with them. "There you are. They're about to start!"

  I twisted around to see Ayden, who then collapsed against me. Apparently, she was too drunk already to care that she broke her no touching rule. I flinched against her death, but then had to struggle to keep her upright.

  "Geez, someone can't hold their liquor," I wheezed, trying to keep her from knocking me to the ground.

  Ayden giggled and tapped my nose. "You're pretty. I bet you have had tons of sex. Unlike me. Who's a complete vir—"

  "Hey!" I cut her off and turned her toward the others looking on. "Look! It's Charity and Bishop! And..." I blanked as I tried to recall if I actually knew the pot guy's name.

  "Blake," he supplied helpfully, eyeing Ayden up and down as if she were a prospective treat.

  "Yeah. Well." I shifted until I had a better grip on Ayden. "It was nice chatting with you all. Let's not do this again." I gave them a stiff smile before half dragging Ayden away. Finding a bench near the bonfire, I asked, "What's this thing you wanted me to see?"

  "What thing?" Ayden stared up at me blankly.

  "You know, the once in a lifetime thing you told me I had to come see," I tried once more, wondering what the hell was in her drink.

  "Oh yeah. The thing. It's starting, but we have to..." She tried to stand up, but her world went sideways, and I had to catch her again. "It's that way." She pointed a wagging finger toward a little pond not far off.

  "Okay. Good. Let's—" I caught sight of the twins. "Hey, Zephyr and...uh fuck, Bayu. A little help here?"

  The twins turned from who I now saw was Coral and Joash and rushed toward me.

  "Geez, Ayden. Getting started early it seems?" Zephyr chuckled, looping his arm under her legs and lifting her up. Thankfully, her skirt was long enough not to show off all her goods to the party as we walked her over to the pond.

  "So, what's this miraculous thing that's supposed to happen tonight?" I drained the last of my cup and crushed it in my hand.

  We leaned Ayden up against the back of a log laying on its side on the ground before sitting on it ourselves. Coral sat next to Joash, her eyes barely leaving him for a second, and the twins sat on either side of Ayden. I sat at the end next to Zephyr, who left a good half a foot between us.

  "It's kind of a show," Zephyr answered, his eyes focusing out on the pond. "All of the elementals come together and let our powers intertwine, becoming one together in a dance of sorts, but it looks like Ayden here isn't going to get to do it this year." He bumped her on the shoulder as she snorted and snored, leaning her head against his leg.

  "So, kind of like how you used your wind and fire powers on that first day?" I leaned forward so I could see all of them.

  "Kind of, but to a larger extent, and we have a lot more space to work with." Joash spread his arms out to measure the pond length.

  Coral grinned happily and bobbed her head in agreement. "It'll be pretty cool looking. Especially to someone who hasn't seen that kind of stuff, like you."

  I rocked in my seat a bit. While my nerves were buzzing to get on the road, I was a bit hyped up to see what they were all going on about. After all, it was a once in a lifetime show. I couldn't miss it, could I?

  AS IF ON an unspoken command, everyone at the party quieted. Those who were around the bonfire doused the flames and made their way over to the pond. A hush came over the water as everyone gathered around.

  Something in the air, like a sort of pressure, danced across my skin, setting my hairs on end. The twins lifted their hands before them while Joash held a single hand out. Coral clasped her hands before her as if praying.

  "Watch." Ayden sobered up enough to grab my ankle.

  I jerked my eyes back to water, waiting for whatever was going to happen next.

  Suddenly, the sky went dark. The moon and stars, which had shone down on us before, were now blocked out by the clouds. Clouds that hadn't even existed until just now.

  The entire clearing was pitch black. I couldn't even see my fingers in front of my face. Then a single glow, a drop of light that was barely a blip, burned in the middle of the pond. The single drop of fire turned into two, then three, multiplying until there were so many, I couldn't count them. They grew and morphed until a faceless featureless form developed from each one of them, not more than a foot tall.

  As if to some unheard music, they began to dance and spin, twirling around in skirts of flames across the water. In sharp and fast movements, their arms and legs punched out and kicked to the sides.

  Each fiery figure darted about the water, causing ripples to spread out, small at first and then larger, until the entire surface undulated with micro waves. The waves shifted and curled, folding in on themselves as they gathered together into their own glowing faceless and featureless figures. They pranced around the water in fluid happy movements, much different than that of their fiery counter parts.

  The fiery figures seemed annoyed by the water figures dance. They stopped in place, shaking as they watched the water figures skip and hop across the pond surface, their ripples causing the ones created by the fiery figures to mesh and collide. The fiery figures heads turned to each other and seemed to nod in agreement before they darted across the pond in a flash. The water figures didn't see them coming as they shoved past them. Their fire hissed at the contact with the water, filling the scene with steam.

  The water figures paused in their dance, watching cautiously as the fiery figures spun and spun until I felt as if the world itself was moving. I clutched the wood beneath me, letting the pain of the bark bite into my hands to ground me. I'd never seen anything like the sight before me. When Ayden had told me it was once in a lifetime, I'd thought she was exaggerating. My guilt of leaving had been pushed to the side from the vision of the dance before me. I thanked whoever might be listening that I'd decided to stay for this.

  "Keep watching." Ayden was sitting up now, her eyes on the dance before us. "The best part is coming."

  I turned my gaze back to the pond, searching for what might happen next.

  The fire and water figures were in a standoff of sorts. Each one of them doing their own form of dance, trying to outdo the other. A rumble beneath our feet startled me, but one look around the pond and I relaxed. No one else seemed bothered by it.

  The fire and water figures battled it out on the open surface, unaware of the growing ripples bubbling up from the center of the pond. A darkness pushed against the surface, pulsating and fighting to the top. W
hen it broke the top, a large glowing green figure with wings made of leaves and branches spread out the length of the pond. The mother nature type figure loomed over the fire and water figures. They stopped their fighting, gaping up at the giant before them.

  The water figures scrambled over themselves, pushing past the fire figures to get closer to the green giant. They cuddled up to it, letting themselves be absorbed into its form, allowing the green giant to grow bigger and stronger by their sacrifices.

  The fire figures, though, were different.

  They stared up at the giant with awe and fear, but not many went closer. Those who did venture toward the giant burned it wherever they touched. The giant swatted at them, knocking them off their feet and into the watery depths below.

  When the other fire figures saw this, they grew in form and anger, charging at the giant as one. The green giant batted at them like buzzing gnats, but there were too many of them. The fire overcame the giant, burning it down until there was nothing left but burnt earth left in the middle of the watery grave of their friends.

  Then one by one, the fire figures sagged and slowly walked into the water, letting it envelope them as they hissed and bubbled out of existence, leaving us in complete darkness.

  Silence filled the clearing, and then a sudden thunderous applause erupted. People hooted and hollered. Someone lit the bonfire back up, and the clouds covering the sky were blown away.

  I shifted to the others with a mixture of emotions in my chest. It wasn't hard to figure out what the whole performance depicted. The battle of the angels versus the fallen. The green giant was meant to be God. However, the ending was what stumped me. If the fallen found God to be the evil, then why did they seem so sad at the end of it all?

  "So, what did you think?" Zephyr turned to me with a curious smile.

  Shaking away my philosophical thoughts, I smiled back at him. "It was great. Really. You guys were right, it was like nothing I'd ever seen before. I'm glad I came."

  "Good." Bayu beamed at me from the other side of his brother. "We are too. We don't get many mentals who are as easy going at you."

  I burst out laughing.

  "What?" Bayu asked, glancing to his brother and back to me. "What did I say?"

  Shaking my head, I waved him off as I stood. "Nothing. Don't worry about it."

  "Where are you going?" Ayden shifted against Zephyr's leg, her glassy eyes now clearer than before. "The night's still young."

  I chuckled down at her enthusiasm. "Yeah, but I'm tired. I think I've had enough excitement for the night."

  "So have you, for that matter." Bayu placed his hand on Ayden's head, making her swat at him for messing up her hair.

  "Oh, okay, Dad. Thanks for the advice." Ayden giggled, but Bayu frowned at her.

  Huh. Did Bayu like Ayden? Not surprising, the twins stayed attached to her side every time I'd seen them. Sadly, though Ayden only seemed to have eyes for Bishop. She was searching for him as we spoke.

  "Well, I'm going to find another drink." Ayden wobbled to her feet, winking at me. "Do you need me to walk you back?"

  Smirking at her inability to walk straight, I shook my head. "No, but it looks like you might need some assistance. Are you sure you should drink some more?"

  She blew a raspberry and waved a hand at me. "I'm fine. It's more these shoes than my alcohol level. Besides, the performance always sobers me up." She played it off, but I wasn't so sure.

  I shifted to the twins. "Can you keep an eye on her? Not that I don't think you would anyway, but I don't want to find out she fell in the pond in the morning."

  Zephyr laughed and looped his arm around Bayu's shoulders. "Don't worry, we got this. This isn't our first Ayden rodeo."

  I laughed with them, shaking my head, but my guilty conscious was eased by knowing I wasn't leaving Ayden on her own.

  I didn't bother telling Coral and Joash good night, since they were too wrapped up in each other. Well, if their mouths molding together were anything to go by. Good for her.

  Happy that my weird wacky trip into the Nephilim world would end on a good note, I dug my phone out of my purse and started toward the dirt path. I shot a text off to Nikki, letting her know I was leaving the party, then pulled up the map app on my phone.

  Lifting it up so I could see it better, I stared at the little numbers telling me how long it would take me on foot to get to the nearest town.

  "Three hours?" I gaped at it in horror. My dad had to pick somewhere that was out in the middle of nowhere. Why couldn't he have picked somewhere that was conveniently next to a bus stop or even a taxi service? On that thought, I tried to use ride pick up app, but I was too far out for anyone to come get me.

  "Just my fucking luck."

  I scowled and threw my purse over my head, looping it across my chest as I got ready for the long trek to town. It was a good thing I'd worn my boots. There was no way I'd have made this walk in heels.

  When I got out of the woods and back onto the cobblestone path, I took one more glance at the school. I hadn't been here long enough to get attached, not that getting attached had ever been a problem for me. Still, there was something bittersweet about leaving.

  I sighed and changed directions. Instead of going into the school gates, I took the path leading to the driveway and then that to the road. No one stopped me. No one was even out to care. It was all a bit anticlimactic, if I was being honest.

  A part of me wanted someone to come after me. To tell me to stop and stay. That I belonged here. Not the sane part, but that small part that still thought that there was a place for me in the world. If today had shown me anything, that wasn't or would never be true. I was a freak amongst the freaks, and that was just the way it would always be.

  I got about a mile or two down the road and was already fed up with the walking. My mouth had long gone dry, and I wished I'd at least packed some provisions for the walk. I'd have tried my hand at hitchhiking, but no cars came down the road. It was as if the world didn't even know the school existed. Though, there was a street leading to it as well as a sign I passed on the way out.

  Fallon Academy for the Gifted.

  I scoffed when I'd seen it. Really? They couldn’t have been more creative? Like misspelling fallen was really going to throw anyone off.

  And academy for the gifted? Yeah, right. Cursed more like.

  If I was really gifted, I could make someone stop and give me a ride. Someone right now. I paused on the street and closed my eyes tightly, focusing with all my might. Come on. Come on. Come on. Some nice old couple come down and see this poor defenseless girl walking on the side of the street. And they just have to give her a ride. It's dangerous to be walking alone at night.

  I peeked an eye open. Nothing. Nada. I sagged with a heavy breath. Fuck.

  I didn't exactly expect it to work, but one could dream.

  Kicking the ground as I walked, I grumbled to myself about everything that had gone on since Officer Rhoades had shown up on my doorstep. I almost went blind when a set of high beams blasted me in the face.

  I threw my arm up to cover my eyes and stepped back as the car blew by. I spun around and flipped it off. "Fuck you too, buddy!"

  To my shock and horror, the car stopped. It slowly backed up, and with each foot, I started walking again. Crap. The one time I prayed for someone to pick me up, and someone almost runs me over. Now they were coming back because they missed.

  Unfortunately, the car was faster than I was, and I found myself staring into the tinted passenger window of a black sedan. I frowned and watched the window buzz as it slid down, revealing my dad's disappointed face.

  Shit.

  “Eleanor.” My dad’s voice came out neutral, but I could sense the anger he was holding back as he stared at me. “I have to say I am surprised to see you, out here, past the barrier, in the middle of the night, alone.”

  “I’d say it is quite a surprise to me as well.”

  Of course, fucking Azazel leaned over the cente
r console and peered at me through my dad’s window. Double shit.

  “Well, you know. It’s a nice night, and I thought a long walk would do me good. You know, clear my head after everything.” I tried to play it off like it wasn’t a big deal as I began to walk again.

  Sadly, they didn’t take that answer well. The car stopped completely, and the passenger door opened. I didn’t stop walking, even when my dad’s presence was right behind me.

  “Eleanor.”

  “Elle,” I corrected him again, not even bothering to look back at him as I glanced down at my phone. Not even halfway there before I got caught. Damn.

  “Elle, I don’t know how I can make you understand the danger of you being out here on your own. I’m not even thinking about how you even got out.” He muttered something under his breath that sounded like a curse, but didn’t elaborate further.

  “I’m going home.” I shot over my shoulder. “You have no right to keep me here.”

  “I have every right. I’m your father.” He grabbed my shoulder and pulled me around.

  I jerked back from him. “No. You might have donated your...seed.” I threw a disgusted hand at him. “But you didn’t raise me. Mom did. You only came around when we were convenient.” I tried to stalk away, but his hand latched onto my elbow, keeping me in place no matter how much I pulled. He was stronger than he looked.

  “I know I wasn’t there for you, but there were extenuating circumstances. Ones that I will not go into here.” His eyes grew worried as he scanned the area around us. “We are not safe, Elle. The block I put on you and your powers has almost faded. I can’t put a new one on until it’s completely gone. I’d prefer it to be behind the school’s barrier.”

  I stared down at the mark on my hand and then glowered at my dad. “I don’t know exactly what this does, but I know I’m not letting you do anything to me here or back at your mutant school.”

  “Nephilims. Not mutants.” My dad rolled his gaze to the heavens before placing his face in his hands. With an exhausted breath, he lifted his head but the expression on his face wasn’t that of an annoyed parent but of alarm, even fear. “Elle, get in the car.”