Grey Dawn

by K L Rymer

  If not, then he didn’t deserve to be called God, any more than Lord White did, and I’ll gladly take my first class seat to hell.

  Humans learn by making mistakes. If we were all so perfect, then we wouldn’t be human at all.

  White was already making plans to move down the country and test his ‘cleansing’, just like he did at Crystal’s ceremony.

  And Ashley was just happy to go through with it all. A lot of those people were his fans, some even as young as nine, and I should know (I’d spent a good half hour arguing with one on the internet once before I’d signed off, having enough).

  The whole cult was prepared to sit back and let White carry on with his manic plans, especially Lydia, the so-called philanthropist.

  Such hypocrites and it boils my blood.

  The angry thoughts swirl through my mind as I make my way to the sacred forest, accompanied by my new bitches.

  Leila is a feisty lioness beneath all that shyness. She’s even started ‘rebelling’ against White, wearing a black band around her ankle, despite her sister’s warnings.

  I would hate for the girl to get in trouble, so we all agreed that Leila would only wear it on our nightly missions, along with her charcoal makeup.

  It seems she’s becoming a normal teenager at last. Leticia, however, is still as cautious. Even as we walk, she keeps gazing over her left shoulder, and I tell her to relax.

  As a demon, I would have sensed an extra set of footsteps. So she has no need to worry. We’re good.

  For the last several nights, we’ve been going down to visit Eli and Crystal in the crypts, performing rituals to bring back their powers.

  So far it only worked on Crystal. When the girls cleansed her body, she glowed like a star, and then the whole crypt filled with light. Eli’s power, however, worked quite differently; it wasn’t pure like Crystal’s, so it couldn’t be activated by cleansing.

  My only solution was to activate Crystal’s powers, which in turn could activate his by mere touch, but it was a longshot.

  I mean, we could always try necromancy to bring his demon back, but when I suggested it to the girls, they’d almost had heart attacks.

  No dark magic then. A shame.

  Besides, their angel and demon halves were bonded to their human souls. The only way to bring back their powers was to bring Eli and Crystal back with them.

  So until then, we’re stuck.

  We move along the edge of an ugly chain-link fence that White erected around the forest, then slip beneath a hole that a kindly bunch of rabbits dug up for us.

  Even though Crystal’s dead, her magic lives on. Leticia and Leila told me Crystal had held a certain power over the animals, and I’m not surprised. The girl was the incarnation of Snow White herself, and just like any typical fairy tale princess, she could befriend wildlife.

  So it was no wonder the animals teamed up to help us on our quest to bring Crystal and Eli back. They want their forest back after all, the one White cruelly took from away them.

  The forest still smells of smoke, and the sisters cover their noses. I’m a little more accustomed to the residual smell of hellfire, so I needn’t bother.

  We pick up our pace through the dead, lifeless trees, past the frozen waterfall, and finally we make it to the underground tunnel.

  I summon a fireball to give us light, our feet echoing off the walls. The girls have long stopped being afraid of my powers, and have learnt to trust me. Leticia especially, who’d practically jumped over her little sister the first time I summoned fire.

  What did she think I was going to do? Throw it at her? How juvenile.

  We seem to be going down into the heart of hell itself, and before long we enter the great crypt. My heart breaks when my eyes land on those silent forms.

  These crypts were where White’s ancestors were buried after all. The Blacks have their own allotment, so it sucks to leave Eli in the enemy territory for all eternity.

  But so long as he’s with his sweet angel, I know he’s happy.

  They lie side by side on a stone plinth. I haven’t been able to re-create that spark I’d made the first night with their hands, but I’ve still tried regardless.

  But nothing happens, and I’ve become restless.

  Slowly, I head towards my cousin, taking a sharp intake of breath. It blows the flames in my hand, but I manage to keep them aloft.

  I’m still not used to seeing him like this. Sure, his power has preserved his body, so no rigamortis or rotten stench, but still... it hurts.

  He could almost be sleeping, and when I lift the flames higher, it brings out the contours of his face.

  I shake my head. Eli always had been ridiculously handsome (as every single female friend of mine had kindly assured me). Perfectly formed, just like his mother. I remember how Auntie Lily used to apply her lipstick, and she always made it look so effortless.

  Eli has the exact same lips. If he’d been born female, he’d have put men to sleep with that Cupid’s bow alone. His really does live up to the name; his top lip resembles the curve of Cupid’s bow, the philtrum the shaft of the arrow.

  Leila comes to stand beside me, and we both gaze down at him for a while. Next, she brushes his hair aside, then looks my way, a tight smile on her face.

  “We will bring him back, Lady Black. Both of them.”

  I return her smile and move to Crystal.

  She lies as still as a doll, her ethereal glow making her look like a heavenly star. I just wish she would open those luminous blue eyes and dazzle us all once again.

  It’s a shame I haven’t seen them since I escaped the Black Estate.

  Leticia starts to unfurl Crystal’s dress to commence the cleansing ceremony, and then a shuffle sounds in the corner. I throw my fireball when I see a shadow.

  Shoot first. Ask questions later.

  That’s my way.

  “Ow!”

  Quickly, Leticia fixes Crystal’s dress and comes to stand by her sister, protecting her.

  I creep closer to the shadow, readying another fireball. The light from the flames washes over the dark corner, and then I come face to face with Ashley Fawn.

  Fear takes over his eyes when he sees my fire, and then he staggers backwards, cradling his arm where I’d hurt him.

  “S-stay back!”

  I don’t move an inch, keeping my burning eyes on him. “What are you doing here.”

  It’s not a question. I demand to know his answer.

  He glares back, hysteria forming in his big brown eyes. “I could say the same for you, Black. Sneaking around, are we? White said no one was to enter the sacred crypt at all costs!”

  “So why are you here? Sneaking around are we too, hey, Fawn?”

  Ashley falls silent, and I smirk. Disobeying his master? For shame.

  I gaze around the darkened cavern. “Have you really been sitting down here alone in the dark, Ashley? I have to give it to you. I’d always thought you were a wimp.”

  He sighs then looks at Crystal, and I finally understand.

  “No... she’s been providing me light. Even in death, she glows.”

  A cold bitterness takes a hold of me next, and then I put my fire out. Now Crystal’s the only source of light left.

  “No thanks to you. Been coming down here to enjoy Your Holiness’s handy work?”

  He flinches, closing his eyes. “No... I... just...”

  “Look me in the eyes like a man, Ashley.”

  Finally, he peers up, and his eyes shine like beacons. A tear slips over his cheek. “I... never meant for it to... to get this far...”

  I narrow my eyes. “You never really thought White could be capable of killing his own daughter? The man who wants to purge the population?”

  The tears escape in full now and then he sniffs, wiping his eyes. I palm my face. He really is such a baby. What do his fans see in him?

  “C-Crystal d-didn’t deserve it...”

  “You’re damn right she didn’t!” My voice bou
nces off the walls, and the whole cavern seems to shake.

  Ashley crouches and curls up in a foetal position, rocking back and forth, and I turn away, sick of the sight of him. My gaze falls on Eli, and my eyes well up with tears.

  “My cousin didn’t deserve it either. And to hear your precious lord taint his memory hurts. Eli... he never would have hurt Crystal. White’s nothing but a liar, and you know it, Ashley. You chose the wrong side.”

  He splutters now and looks up, desperate. “I’m s-sorry, M-Misaki... about everything... the part I played in destroying your family. Eli... I... I once looked up to him, and now... he’s gone. This is all my fault. I don’t know who to turn to anymore. His Holiness’s wings... They’re black as a raven’s now.”

  My heart thumps. Black as a raven?

  “What are you talking about?”

  “L-Lord White,” Ashley stammers, swallowing a deep breath. “Doesn’t display his wings as much now... because he doesn’t want anyone to see how evil he has become. The same reason he doesn’t want anyone to enter the forest. The sacred pool’s frozen solid. He turned it ice cold after he killed Crystal. He’s not the man he used to be.”

  “Well, no surprises there.”

  I look around to meet Leticia and Leila’s eyes, who look just as shocked by the revelation.

  So, black wings? Remind you of any other particular fallen angel? Right before God himself pushed him out of heaven?

  Shame Michael Lord White was named after the wrong archangel. He was no warrior in the end.

  His parents should have called him Lucifer.

  Finally, I lean before Ashley, placing my fingers beneath his chin as I lift his face.

  I’m not going to thrall him. I want Ashley to join our side of his own free will. That way we can make this a fair fight.

  “Ashley, promise me now that you will join our side, and help us avenge Crystal and Eli. Help us save the world. White has become an evil man. He is not the saviour this world needs.”

  He hiccoughs, and I’d find it adorable if the situation weren’t so dire. But when he looks up again, his eyes burn with new light, and there’s the sexy, broody Ashely I love and know. The one from all his posters.

  “I’ll do it.”

  With a smirk, I rise to my feet and give him my hand. Hopefully, Ashley will rebel like sweet little Leila and wear the black band in silent protest.

  “Welcome to the Black family, Ashley.”

  12. Crystal

  The streets of the city are like a warzone. Everywhere I look there’s chaos and destruction. I’ve witnessed explosions and crime that you only see on the news, and in one street, a man was stabbed right before my eyes.

  I ran away in panic, getting as far away as I could from all the horror, but it’s everywhere. I am not safe in this city, and no matter how far I run, I always end up in another dead end street. It truly is a labyrinth, and if I don’t find my way out soon, I’ll be trapped forever.

  But this was to be my final test before I can go back to earth and be with Eli again.

  And then we can finally defeat my father and be together forever. Heaven, earth or hell, it wouldn’t matter to me. So long as I was with Eli.

  I keep to the shadows of the city, stepping over questionable pools of liquid as I hang my head. A group of hookers stands to the end of one street, staring me up and down. One chews gum while the other smokes a cigarette.

  They appear like human women, but their eyes are soulless. Empty. Just like all the other inhabitants I came across, such as a homeless child, and a smelly old drunkard.

  I’m not sure whether they were human at one time, but it begs to wonder if they had all once been souls just like me, wandering the terrains of limbo, only to end up here, and I dread to think of what would happen to me if I don’t find my way out.

  A city of lost souls. That’s the only way to describe this place. It’s neither heaven nor hell, just something in-between.

  A cool mist soaks my skin, and I shiver, picking up my pace, and the hookers cackle behind me.

  “She’s a fool if she thinks she’s going to last long in that dress.”

  I peer down at my dress. I still wear the beautiful white flowing gown, but now it lies in tatters, having been dragged through the gritty streets of the Lost City for hours. Well, it feels like hours, but it could have been a lifetime for all I know.

  One woman I passed wore her hair up in a 1960s beehive. Another gentleman had a Victorian top hat, and I shudder, lifting my skirt to rush through the streets.

  No, I will not end up like those souls. I will escape, and I will get back to Eli.

  A gunshot sounds behind me, and then a group of people rush down the street, screaming. My heart pounds when I see that trigger happy gunman next, shooting up at the smog-covered sky, and then I dash down a side street.

  I pass dirty old dumpsters then climb a high chain-link fence, my dress getting caught on the piercing wire as I slip down, cutting my legs.

  A stitch forms in my side and I slow down, my breaths bouncing off the greasy brick walls.

  I have nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide, and I finally collapse, kneeling down against the grimy brick wall.

  It’s hopeless. I will be stuck in this horrible city forever, and I will never see Eli again.

  His handsome face fills my mind, and I choke on a lump, wishing I could touch him once again.

  “E-Eli...” I whisper, my hands shaking as I cover my face.

  A distant explosion goes off, setting off a million car alarms. A couple screams at each other from an open window a few feet up, and then something smashes, and they soon stop.

  A baby cries inside another window, calling out for a mother who will never come, and I hiccough, the tears escaping at last.

  I’m just another baby too after all. Lost and alone for all eternity.

  After a while I lay my head back, falling asleep. Well, at least I think I do, because when I wake again, a dark shape watches me from across the alleyway, and my heart thumps as I start to sweat.

  It’s the same entity from the sacred pool, and I shiver, utterly powerless to move.

  It just continues to stare, and all I can do is watch it back, my chest rising and falling as mist escapes my lungs. “Who...who are you?”

  The beast growls and my lip shakes, yet I press on. “What do you want with me?”

  It’s white, glowing eyes narrow next, and then it chuckles, a harsh, chilling sound. “I’m here to help you, Crystal.”

  “Help me?”

  “Yes.”

  It slithers out from the shadows to take the form of a tall, misshapen man. He wears a fine black suit but his face is blank. No eyes, nose or mouth, and I shuffle back.

  He’s not human, whatever he is.

  “There’s no need to be afraid, Crystal,” he whispers through an unseen mouth, prowling closer. “As I said, I only want to help.”

  I look up at that faceless man, promising myself that I will not take up his offer.

  I’ve never seen a creature more terrifying.

  “No,” I reply. “I don’t want your help.”

  “But I can make all your dreams come true. You want to be a star, don’t you?”

  My heart picks up, and then he fills my head with visions of me singing on stage. The crowd cheers, throwing roses as I’m a shining star, a standing ovation, but then I push the images away, sticking to my answer. “I said, no.”

  “Of course you do. Ever since you were a little girl, you dreamed of singing, Crystal. I can make it happen. Just come with me, and I can make all your dreams come true.”

  This must be how souls get lured in this place. Show them what they desire most.

  Unlucky for Mr Noface, my only dream is Eli. I could care less about being that star now, the one who can sing in front of thousands, receiving nothing but praise as I win multiple awards, and I shake my head, getting lost in my fantasies.

  No, I do not want whatever he offers. It will come wit
h a price, my soul most likely.

  A mouth appears on Mr Noface’s jaw, and I shudder when I spot those sharp teeth. “I know where you can find him...”

  My blood runs cold. “I... I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  He steps closer and kneels down beside me, and his face changes right before my eyes.

  The sharp teeth shrink back into his mouth, and now I gaze up at the face I love most.

  “Eli?”

  My handsome demon smiles back at me, displaying those sexy dimples, and my heart flutters. “In the flesh, my sweet angel.”

  I stare into those piercing grey eyes, unable to believe what I’m seeing. It couldn’t be... Had Eli really found me? Like he always does?

  Slowly, I reach across and graze his cheek. I move my thumb over his soft, chiselled lips, sobbing.

  “Eli... it really is you...”

  I fall into a dreamy haze the longer I gaze into those familiar storm cloud eyes. They swirl faster than ever, a spinning tornado, drawing me in, and my own start to droop.

  At the back of my mind, I know something’s not right, yet I still hold on to that small ray of hope. I’ve found my demon. That’s all that matters.

  Eli takes my hand and kisses my knuckles, and I sigh, falling into his arms. I bury my nose into his neck. He smells as spicy as I remember.

  “I’ve got you now, my sweet angel...” he whispers in my ear, and I shut my eyes, falling deep under his spell.

  I have my demon at last.

  13. Eli

  The small lights guide me across the great plains of limbo once again.

  Honestly, I’d thought I’d seen the last of them, but here they are, taking me to my next destination.

  I reflect on the time I had with my mother. It was a shame we had to part all over again, but at least this time it was different. She truly was at peace, no longer living under my father’s mercy.

  He’d been just as cruel to her as he’d been to me after all.

  Besides, at least I know we’ll be together again. Maybe not now, but one day, I will see that beautiful smile.

  I don’t close my eyes this time, and it’s like the whole universe flashes before me. I see distant star formations and galaxies of various shapes and colours, and I truly feel blessed to bear witness to it all.