by K L Rymer
Then there’s poor Lilac. Naturally pretty, but her vanity will be the end of her one day if she doesn’t stop messing with that face. And last but not least, Penelope, breaking up more marriages than I can count on all my toes and fingers combined.
Sure, none of my friends were exactly perfect, but they don’t deserve to lose their lives. People can still change. Beth and Bryony are already there, but there’s still hope for Lilac and Penelope.
I suppose White makes a point with all those child molesters and murderers out there, but again their deaths are not his call to make. He’s no god in the end; I only told him that before to appease his huge ego and to possibly change his mind.
I’m so confused. What to do, what to do. If there’s a small chance I can stop White and avenge the two people I loved the most, I can save humanity.
I open my eyes, looking at those two silent figures on the ground through a veil of tears. Eli had reached his hand out to Crystal before he slipped away from this world, and I choke back a sob.
He really did love her, and she’d loved him too. There was no doubting it. Even my followers had seen the love blossoming between them. The reason the story gained so much traction.
Who doesn’t love a good old-fashioned, star-crossed romance after all? And now they’re dead. A real-life Romeo and Juliet.
For them, I will stop White.
I rise to my feet, meeting White’s eyes. He’s super tall. I only reach his neck, even in my high-wedged boots.
“Fine. I will join your cause, Lord White.” I show him my hand.
He gazes down at it for a while, and I grow impatient. What’s taking him so long?
Finally, he closes his large hand around mine. “It will be a pleasure working with you, Miss Black. At last, our families can work together. Good and evil coming together for the common good.”
More like evil and evil coming together for no good at all, but I smile, batting my eyelashes, and I see the lust flash through his eyes.
Hey, he’s still a man after all. And I am sexy as hell. I’ll have to use his momentary lapse to my advantage.
Ashley keeps a wide berth between us as we exit the ruined forest. It’s now become lifeless and barren. A shame to leave two people I love in a wretched place like this.
I look back. “Wait... can I have a moment alone with them please before we leave?”
White barely gives them a second glance. Not even his daughter and my blood boils.
At least one of us still has respect for the dead.
“You may,” he nods, leading Ashley away into the forest.
The has-been heartthrob gives me a desperate look, and I try to read the expression in his eyes.
It almost resembles fear, regret, but I put it out of mind, only wanting to be with Eli and Crystal.
Thank God White never vaporised them like he did Uncle Randall. Not that I cared for the latter anyway. I always hated the man; I’d heard him make racist remarks about my mother once, chastising my father for marrying a foreigner. My father had never even had to thrall my mum. She’d fallen for him naturally, a woman way out of his league.
They don’t lie too far from each other. If I could just move Crystal closer, they can be together forever. Their entwined bodies will rot under the trees, becoming fertiliser for the forest. If I’d had the time, I’d bury them, but White wasn’t that merciful (his dead daughter lying before me was proof of that).
I release a deep, shuddery breath, and tuck my hands beneath Crystal’s lithe form, dragging her closer to Eli.
But I drop her soon after.
She’s warm.
How can that be?
Slowly, I reach a hand across to her doll-like face and graze her skin, and my heartbeat rises.
I’d never actually seen her die, so a part of me wonders if she was just acting dead all along (putting that performing arts degree to good use), unless she’s unconscious. Though I’d seen the light fade from Eli’s eyes right before me, I still stretch across, placing my finger to his cheek. A gasp leaves my lips.
Still warm. Sure, it can take a while for the body to cool down after death, but this was no ordinary warmth, and for a moment I hope they’re still alive.
But when I check their pulses, I feel nothing. Dead silence, and I hang my head.
I was actually hoping for a minute that they would be alive.
What a fool.
With a sigh, I lift Crystal again and lay her down next to my cousin, and I gaze down at them for a while.
They really did make a beautiful couple. They’d have had gorgeous children. Ones who would have called me Auntie Misaki.
Crystal almost looks as if she’s sleeping, and I wish I could see those luminous blues for just one more time.
Eli, the handsome bastard. Even in death, he’s attractive. He got his looks from his mother, Lily, after all (he definitely hadn’t got them from frog-faced Uncle Randall).
Eli’s hand still reaches out for Crystal. So I lift it and place it over hers, and that’s when I see the spark. It’s small, but it was there, like a small bolt of lightning.
Was it some residue energy? Eli and Crystal may be dead, but their bodies will still harbour their powers, and those powers just reacted to one another.
Yet the spark doesn’t return when I try again, and I sigh. What did I expect? That I could restart their hearts? Pathetic. As I said, it was just some residual energy.
“Miss Black? Are you finished? I hate to rush you, but time is of the essence.”
I grind my teeth at the sound of that heavenly voice, and turn away at last, never looking back.
For Eli and Crystal, I will defeat Lord White.
3. Crystal
The storm swirls around me, and I grip a tight hold of the tree.
If I’m not careful, I’ll be swept away into that terrifying red sky.
It looks like something straight out of hell, and I squeeze my eyes, wondering how I got into this frightening place.
The last thing I remember was Eli’s heartbroken face, and then everything turned dark. I couldn’t move for a while as all I could see was black. Nothingness.
But then I fell, like Alice down the rabbit hole, and ended up in this horrifying storm.
The ground below me is covered in hot ash. It blows up into my nose, burning my eyes, and I scream in pain.
The storm laughs, a rumbling, evil sound that shakes the land, and I’ve never felt so hopeless.
I will be stuck here for an eternity. The only thing keeping me grounded was an old, dead tree. But it was only a matter of time until I could hold on no longer, and then I would be swept away into the storm, swallowed up by that terrifying red cloud.
Slowly, I take another peek at the angry clouds above, and my heart trembles.
A monster of a storm cloud looms in the sky like a great volcano, spurting red hot lava into the atmosphere.
Amidst the red mass sits an eye, it’s long, slanted pupil fixed solely on me, and I shriek when it morphs into the blue eye of my father.
The storm cloud cackles again, sending another gust of powerful wind my way, and I cry out for mercy.
“Please, stop!”
But it continues to howl, and all I can hope for in that moment is death.
But death won’t come, because I’m already dead. Shot down in my prime by the one I’d thought loved me most, and now here I am trapped in this hell for all eternity.
I guess I wasn’t as good as I’d thought after all. Angels do go to hell, and I pinch my eyes shut, letting my tears blow away with the wind.
“Eli...” I whisper, just wishing my prince were here beside me. He would be my anchor against the wind instead of this cold, lifeless tree.
Heaven or hell, it wouldn’t matter. I’d still be happy, so long as he was with me.
“Please... come to me...”
It was selfish. As far as I know, my demon was still alive, grieving over my death in the land of the living. I shouldn’t want him
here with me. But I still need him to give me strength.
Maybe I can imagine myself in his arms instead.
I relax my grip on the tree and breathe a long, gentle sigh, picturing Eli for just a moment.
Once again, I see his storm grey eyes and dimpled smile, and the wind calms around me.
Then I envision his lips, those beautifully moulded lips as I place my mouth to his, kissing him fervently. His spicy, erotic taste fills me once again, waking every cell in my body, and the cloud shrieks.
Alarmed, I peer back up, drawing a loud gasp. The cloud has shrunk in size and I think I finally understand.
The storm is a manifestation of my fears. That’s why it had my father’s eye.
But so long as I keep thinking about Eli, its power over me lessens, and I will become strong again.
I will find Eli. And I will get out of this hell zone.
The storm cloud gives one last echoing cry until it rolls away, and I drop back to the ground, the wind disappearing at last.
Heavy breaths leave my lungs as I still grip onto the tree for dear life, not daring to see what has become of the landscape. With the storm gone I will be able to see better at least, but there will still be waste to the land.
My heart thumps, the only sound I can hear in that moment.
It’s deathly silent. With the howling wind gone, all sound has ceased, and it’s like I’m back in the nothingness.
I gulp. I’d take the angry storm over that empty black any day, the land where I’d felt nothing. Only loneliness.
And I actually thought for a moment that was it. No heaven or hell. Just black.
Terrifying.
A warmth soon washes over me, and then I hear the chirp of a bird and open my eyes.
A beautiful green landscape surrounds me, the sky the most brilliant blue I have ever seen, and I stagger to my feet.
It’s like something from a child’s drawing, and tears roll down my cheeks.
I’ve... never seen anything more wonderful. This truly was heaven.
A luminous rainbow arches over the sky where puffy white clouds soar. Suddenly, something jumps through the clouds, and I gasp when I recognise the shape of a blue dolphin.
It’s not the only one. There’s a whole pod, jumping and swimming through the clouds, and I laugh for joy.
Flowers of all shapes and sizes dot the grass as I make my way down the hill. Rabbits, birds and other animals come to greet me as I reach my arms out. There are monkeys and parrots too, and I giggle, twirling around in a beautiful white dress.
I definitely wasn’t wearing it when I’d first arrived.
Something flashes over the hills, and I shield my eyes against the bright light. It soon morphs into a shape on four legs, and it looks like a horse.
Only when it comes closer do I recognise the horn, and I fall down to my knees, gazing up in wonder at the magnificent unicorn as it prances up before me, shaking its shiny mane.
The great mythical beast gazes down at me for a while, and I see I’m not the only one who has fallen to their knees. The other animals do too as if to pay their respects, and I lower my head, following their example.
A great pair of gilded hooves steps closer and I raise my head again, looking into those intelligent gold eyes.
They match the unicorn’s coiled horn, and I can only imagine what kind of magic it holds.
The unicorn lowers its front legs, and I narrow my eyes in confusion. Did it mean for me to pet it?
It gives an impatient snort and inclines its head at its back, and I finally understand.
It’s allowing me onto its back. Just like the hart at my father’s estate.
So I rise to my feet and climb up onto the unicorn, and then we gallop off. I bend forward, keeping my eyes on the horizon.
I’ll find my way back to you, Eli.
4. Eli
Sometime later I stir, lying flat on my stomach on a hard, cool surface.
I open my eyes slowly, adjusting to a bright light.
I can’t see tit for tat, and I groan, never feeling more disorderly. Where the fuck am I now? What happened to the LSD fuelled landscape? Did the blue whale finally dive back down to earth and swallow me up?
Soon my eyes adjust, and I meet my reflection on the other side of a mirror.
I still wear the black Italian suit as my hair lays dishevelled over my face. My reflection lies beneath me too, and to the right and left. In fact, I’m reflected everywhere, and I groan, my head spinning in circles.
I’m lying in some trippy mirrored room, like the type you see in funfairs, and I just can’t... fuck this.
I press my cheek against the cool glass once again, too weak to move. All I can do is lie there, my heart banging like a drum. I fog the glass, and I wonder how I’m still producing heat. Why does my heart still beat?
Did I really die? I should be a cold corpse with a dead rotten heart now, right?
This world’s just too much to take. A part of me almost yearns for oblivion again, but then that cold shiver runs down my spine, and the thought leaves my mind at once.
Carefully, I roll onto my back, meeting my grey-eyed reflection in the ceiling.
There are bags under my eyes, and I’ve never looked more like shit. But it’s not like anyone’s here to see me, anyway.
As far as I’m aware, I’m alone in this glass box.
A high-pitched giggle echoes through the room, and I whip my head around.
Where did it come from?
Another laugh sounds, and then the glass bangs all around me. I can feel their fists vibrating through the walls. They’re even coming from below, knocking into my back, and I sit upright, shuffling into a corner.
They won’t stop. Whatever they are, they’re peering in at me through some creepy two-way mirror. They see me but I don’t see them, and I feel like a poor chimp at the zoo, kids banging on the glass to make me rouse.
That’s what they sound like, children, and my mind goes back to the floating lights.
Are they the same?
They continue their incessant banging, and I wonder now if I truly have awoken in hell with the claustrophobia and lack of privacy. And although I may love nothing more than looking at my stupid face, I don’t care much for seeing it reflected a hundred times over. Especially when I see the fear and stress taking over my usually calm demeanour, and I finally know what they’re trying to do.
They’re trying to rile me up so my demon comes out to play, and I won’t give them what they want. I’m not some beast they can shove into a box for their own form of fucked up entertainment.
I cover my ears and close my eyes, trying to block them out, but they echo inside my brain, jabbing and hammering with their tiny fists, and finally, I explode.
My wings burst from my back and I charge at the glass, snapping my fangs at whoever stands on the other side. Screams echo all around.
Demonic red eyes stare straight back at me when I look in the mirror, and there I am, the monster I know and love. My horns sprout from my forehead, creating long, eerie shadows, and they feel heavier, more painful now.
The room’s not even large enough to house my bat wings. They stretch around me, squashed against the glass, and I wince, unable to move.
I’m stuck, but it’s not like I don’t deserve it. They wanted to bring out the monster in me, and they got it.
It must have been some type of test. Send me to heaven or hell.
No surprise which they’ll pick.
Perhaps they’ll just keep me inside this glass box forever where I’ll be constantly ogled at like an animal for the rest of eternity.
A true prison.
It’s not as if I could starve to death either. No. This truly was eternal.
My new suit’s ruined. It hangs in shreds, destroyed by my wings, and I sink back to the ground, my hoarse breaths bouncing off the glass around me.
I’m never going to find Crystal.
“I... I know I deserve to rot awa
y inside this box, but please... there’s someone I need to find. If you could just let me go so I can find her... I promise... I’ll come straight back. I’ll take whatever punishment you deem fit. I’m a monster, I know I am. Always have been. Eternal damnation’s all I could hope for in this life, but please... let me see her for just one more time. I... I love her...”
My sad little voice seems to echo beyond the mirrored room, but I know it falls on deaf ears. Out in the desert, I’d thought the mysterious little stars were actually helping me. But it appears they were just lulling me into a false sense of security.
They’d only meant to trap me here instead.
My wings withdraw at last as I hang my head, returning back to my normal form, and now I release the world’s heaviest breath.
I’d been a fool to think they’d grant me my wish.
“Then all I ask is this... make sure she gets to go to the good place. She’s pure and innocent, unlike me. A tainted soul. It would be enough for me to know she’ll go on to be happy.”
I flinch as the mirrors burst to life next, and instead of my reflection, I gaze into a snowy TV screen.
What in the...?
Images play out before me, and my heart skips when I recognise the scene. It’s the moment before my father went to attack Crystal with a fireball, and I jumped in the way and took the bullet for her. It’s all in my POV as if the stars had ripped the film right from my memory.
My throat closes when Crystal’s blue eyes fill the screen, and I stagger up to my feet, placing my hand to the glass, and I can almost feel her.
“Eli...” she whispers, and I can’t bear seeing the pain and fear in her eyes; I’d felt the same gut-wrenching fear too when she’d died in my arms.
Then the memory fades and I know it’s because I’d lost consciousness at that point, and I pound the glass.
“No! Bring her back!”
Another image lights up the screen. There’s smoke everywhere, but through the haze I recognise Leila. Her eyes meet mine and then her blood-curdling scream almost sends a crack through the glass. The rest of the memory plays out until it shows an image of me donating to that sick little boy, Elijah, and another where I comfort an eight-year-old Misaki after her mother left.