Amongst the Fallen

by Devin Lee Carlson

  “We have forever referred to ourselves as the Fallen. Over time, our memories returned and elders from opposing clans argued about our origin, wondering from whence we had fallen. Some speculate we were once members of an angelic hierarchy, from the lowest cast of messengers who traversed the universes.”

  The elder spoke as though giving a dull lecture. I fought the urge to yawn, the banter old news, most of it written in the scrolls.

  The immortal droned on. “Some believe we once had wings of brilliant light and energy, plucked from our backs as punishment. We have no idea if our thirst for blood is part of our nature or a curse thrust upon us.”

  “Punishment? For what?” I asked. Beings similar to angels banished from the heavens came to mind. Had Duncan mutated our DNA by infecting us with a race of demons? My extremities itched all over. Ariane kept eyeing the door, probably wishing she could make a run for it. After listening to him drone on, a quick exit would suit me just fine. From this point on, the elder full of BS, I promised to dig the information from an alternate source.

  “It’s an assumption, one of many.” Cayiel’s attention drew to Abyss. My head cocked ever so slightly as I studied the two Caderen. Had the she demon telepathically warned the elder to say no more? Sabree also glanced in Abyss’s direction as if he caught the tail end of her message. Closed captions above their heads would make my life easier.

  Cayiel spread his arms and stepped closer. “This is all we know. Please allow Sarieff to show you around.” He pointed at the door to direct Ariane, me, and our guide to the exit.

  Sarieff’s wavy, black hair fell over his face. His slender fingers pulled it back across his head to reveal a thin streak of white close to his hairline. He held the door open and said, “If you’ll accompany me.”

  If that blather was Cayiel’s best answer, then he was either grossly ignorant or purposely withholding information. The mention of Turian, the rumor of wings, and my travels through the portal universes confirmed most of what Sabree had already divulged. The ancient scrolls had offered more information than this bunch of arrogant snobs.

  Sabree caught my troubled expression. “Relax, you and Ariane go along, but keep your guard up. I’ll only be a moment.”

  One moment too long in this godforsaken hellhole. I sprinted to catch up with my sister. Rescue her from the brunt of the guide’s attention.

  39

  GHOUL WHISPERER

  A s the door closed, Cayiel flashed a knowing glance at Sabree. “Were you able to retrieve a,” he started to ask as his brow furrowed, “a flash drive?”

  “Oui,” Sabree answered with hesitance. He slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out the yellow flash drive. He noticed how Cayiel and Abyss exchanged subtle glances. “From what I understand, they’re color coded. I need to secure a red and blue drive to complete the journal.”

  “What’s taking you so long?” Abyss asked. “Too much trouble with the twins?”

  “No trouble. Just call me the Ghoul Whisperer,” Sabree said. “Trouble comes from Duncan’s protégé, Morgan Wayde.” Sabree nearly choked on his words. Of all the stupid things to admit, that a mortal gave him trouble. He despised how easily she rattled his nerves and hoped Cayiel would have the gumption to take control of the conversation. His and Abyss’s embittered relationship was common knowledge amongst the Caderen. Trust in his fellow clan members had deteriorated long before they forced him to volunteer for this task.

  A loner and rebellious in nature, especially to clan rules, Sabree despised the meetings and formal hoopla. Conceivably, some of his distrust and new outlook originated from being exposed to the twins. And now, from drinking their blood. He feared his clan might recognize the signs, so he activated his defense shield on full force.

  “Leave us, Abyss,” Cayiel ordered. “I wish to discuss the journal in private.” Her usual hiss of disapproval brought a smile to the elder’s lips as she left the room.

  The clan leader had a knack for perceiving mistrust amongst his members. Cayiel’s perception was dead on when it came to Sabree’s reservations about Abyss. For now, he found little reason to confide in Cayiel about his animosity toward Abyss or the life-altering infection. Sabree no longer depended on the clan for support and companionship; that would come from his ghoulish meal tickets. If the clan proposed to end the twins’ lives, he would prevent it at all cost, even if it cost him banishment.

  Not such a big deal. He’d end up like his father, another Fallen rogue gone AWOL. Sabree bit his lip to conceal his rising emotions. He still found Brian’s recent revelation an alarming mess. Could the zygotes, mutated with human DNA, inherit Turian’s memories? Brian could foresee future events and read ancient scripts, a feat even the elders had trouble deciphering.

  With Abyss gone, Cayiel let his weariness show as he slumped into a massive chair. His slender fingers patted the arm of the adjacent seat, urging Sabree to join him. “We must talk. Nothing’s changed since we last met: a copy of the entire journal must be collected, the twins destroyed, and all evidence of their existence erased.”

  The elder’s fangs caught the reflection from the overhead lights. To Sabree, the design resembled a crystalline web. From its center, a huge glass dome hung from it, perhaps to represent the spider. Icy critters crept up his spine, brought on by the claustrophobic web that drooped overhead, and the spoken word erased. It only meant one thing: Cayiel planned to obliterate everyone and everything involved with this project from Caderen history, including himself. At least that’s how he perceived the statement.

  “What about the formula Duncan created?” Sabree drew in a much-needed breath before he continued, choosing his words carefully. “I thought our scientists were going to examine the anti-vamp serum?” He chewed on his lower lip for having to parrot Brian’s nickname for the serum. “Perhaps use it against the DanJal.”

  “The contents of the journal must be destroyed. If we change what we are, release from exile will never come.”

  “Release?” Sabree protested, “Your logic is ludicrous. Why should we suffer for our ancestors’ mistakes? The Malakhim exiled us. Probably forgot we exist. What makes you think they even care?” The elder’s rationalization, drummed into his head too often, made his stomach churn. Sit on their asses, do nothing but waste away until the Malakhim return, swooping down from the sky to rescue them from their dismal existence. Doubtful, for only the foolish dwelled on such pipedreams. Sabree thrived on the present, not the past.

  “After living thousands of years in and out of slumbers, if I gained nothing else, at least I recognize your anxiety. Are you troubled?”

  Moi, troubled? Sabree blocked Cayiel from detecting his panicked realization. As far as he was concerned, he had more going for him than most of the Caderen. None of his clan knew he was an Original, one of those exiled, and he planned to keep it that way. Like Turian, some of his memories remained intact. The ordeal of living thousands of years prior to the exile, and now thousands more on Earth, sobered even the most resilient of the Fallen, including himself.

  Cayiel eyed him with care before he spoke. “From what you told Abyss, our powers will diminish if we use Duncan’s formula. Can you imagine not being able to mist at will? The drug would render us vulnerable to the human race and to opposing clans who refuse to use it.” Cayiel raised his hand to silence him. “Let me finish. We must gather all nine drives and destroy any existence of the journal. I have assigned the task to others. They will force Wayde and the DanJal to hand over their flash drives. Not all is lost; we have our best minds working on how to clone blood superior to humans.”

  “Hope for the future,” Sabree stammered. Like a crack of thunder against blue sky, an idea flashed, so sudden he feared the fireworks inside his skull would announce the idea to the world. To celebrate his racing thoughts, he imagined himself leaping around the room, waving his hands overhead, and giving Cayiel a big hug. Disciplined, he remained seated and concealed his excitement under a cloak of aloofness.
/>   His clan leader had just handed him the answers to all his problems. This newfound hope would hasten his search for a brilliant geneticist to formulate a generic version of the twins’ blood. Independent of the ghouls, he could live without limitations once again. “Bravo!” Sabree forgot his place. He folded his arms across his lap and apologized. “Forgive my outburst. That would free us from feeding on humans, so we could coexist.”

  “Nonsense—never!”

  Sabree frowned and then laughed. Cayiel magnified his outburst on a grander scale. “Kidding of course. You know how much I despise humans and their idiosyncrasies.” Before Cayiel could answer, Sabree stood up to leave and handed him the yellow drive. “I promise to deliver more.” Sabree ignored Cayiel’s telepathic farewell as he reached the door. The act of offering this drive should enforce Cayiel’s trust in his ability to serve. In the future, Sabree made a promise that he’d keep any and all drives that he secured from then on.

  In the hall, the hollow sound of the doors bolting shut startled him. Or was it the unnerving presence of Abyss down the hall? He glared at her, assured she had heard nothing. The Caderen constructed the assembly room walls to prevent any of the Fallen outside from telepathically eavesdropping. Sabree’s mouth twisted. His fiendish grin sent her a message to stay away.

  Abyss flashed him a look of disgust and misted into nothingness.

  Pleased with himself, Sabree slid his hands over each other to wipe her from his concerns. He had an idea where to find the twins and judging by the amount of time spent with Cayiel, he misted into the Hall of Scrolls outside the unit of main laboratories.

  3 3 3

  From the vantage point behind the large flat panel, I spied Sabree misting into view next to the guide. Sarieff clung to his frown without releasing his gaze from us. I tilted my head to overhear their whispers.

  “The ghouls ask too many questions. Look at them; pure impudence if they think they can read our ancient scrolls. Even with my extensive training, I cannot decipher the language.”

  Sabree met my eyes. “I’ll take over from here.”

  Sarieff clicked his heels together and departed quickly.

  Now alone, Ariane waved Sabree over while my fingers drummed the keyboard.

  Sabree sauntered over. He seemed so full of himself. Guess the meeting with his elder went well. I didn’t give him a chance to open his mouth. “Quick, what’s your password?”

  At no fault of his own, lacking computer savvy, Sabree answered without considering the consequences. “Hermes.”

  “Aye, too easy.” After I winked and nudged Ariane’s arm, my fingers continued to bang the keyboard in haste. I now had access to the untranslated scrolls and was in the process of downloading the files into my cloud account. Unlike me, my sister couldn’t read the scrolls. That fact had troubled us both—her more than me. Together, along with the ancient knowledge, my dreams, and Turian’s sporadic memories, I hoped to understand the rationale behind the portal. “Done, thanks.” I logged off the system.

  “For what?”

  “Never mind, I’ll tell you later.” I exchanged glances with Ariane and caught her smile of approval. “We’ve seen enough; can we go now?”

  “At once.”

  On our way out, Ariane chatted about the Caderen’s appreciation for sciences and the arts. The scientific laboratories surprised her as well. Thousands of years of knowledge uninterrupted by war, the dark ages, and mortality would astound the human race. “Too bad no one can coexist,” Ariane said.

  “God forbid,” Sabree replied without inhaling. “Look, we need to talk. Let’s do lunch.”

  “Lunch?” Ariane asked. “Sounds like a wonderful idea.”

  “Bullshit,” I said in a pretense sneeze. “It’s his way of herding us into his sneaky agenda.”

  I glanced at my fist. Tucked inside, I squeezed a polished gemstone I stole from one of the Caderen labs. Not my fault. The damned gem jumped into my hand. I had no idea what to make of it, except that the stone passed for the radiant jewel I took from the DanJal complex. However, this gem was bright amber as though afire. Something to add to my collection; something fun to explore later on.

  I cleared my throat when Sabree shot a glance my way. The jewel wasn’t the only prize. In the left pocket, my fingers outlined the square dimension of our only family album. My grin displayed a full set of teeth, certain I earned the title of kleptomaniac.

  40

  WON IT ON EBAY

  M iles from the Caderen lair, we arrived at a small roadside café in Sedona. Sabree parked the car and killed the ignition. Together, we pulled off our blindfolds without waiting for his okay. I welcomed the visual freedom and jumped out of the vehicle to rub the kinks out of my legs.

  Ariane giggled. A quick glance at Sabree made her smile when he arched his back in a catlike stretch.

  “Well, boys and girls, that excursion was a bust.” I gave her a playful shove to veer her thoughts away from his seductive ways.

  Minus a comeback, Sabree led us to a table sheltered by a protective umbrella. Seated, we spoke not a word except to give our orders to the server. Minutes later, sweets instead of lunch delivered, I dumped packet after packet of sugar into my iced tea. My sister’s approval made me glance her way.

  Ariane savored the huge slice of lemon cream cake she ordered. Like my own, the cravings for sweets had unavoidably crept into her life. Last week, she ate a two-layered Devil’s Food cake in one day without sharing a single slice. I knew all about her cravings, having been refused a slice more than once. Surprisingly, our weights never varied.

  I grunted again as I dumped one sugar packet after another into the tea. The brew would never appease my taste buds.

  Her nose puckering, one side of Ariane’s upper lip curled when I tried to drink the thick sludge. Perhaps if I dipped a piece of the frosted cake into the tea it might sweeten it some more. Speaking of sweets, Sabree’s behavior of late seemed a wee bit on the sugary side. Was I right about his hidden agenda? Could the leech be sweetening us up for the kill? Then again, he seemed withdrawn, almost lonely. Perhaps an odd relationship might emerge between the three of us. A ménage à trois as Sabree would put it.

  I cursed myself for toying with possibilities of friendship and stole a glimpse without looking into his eyes. Then almost undetectably, half an inch at a time, my sister’s hand slid closer to his. Her dreamy eyes were fixated on his every action. Frustrated, I ripped another packet in half. Sugar flew everywhere.

  When Sabree and Ariane looked my way, I said, “Can’t get this sludge sweet enough.”

  “The more intense the craving the more you need to find a donor.” Sabree raised his glass and smacked his lips. “Luckily, for you, I used only five packs.”

  Threat or not, the leech had no business reminding me day in and day out. I tossed the contents of the glass onto the ground and shoved the cake into my mouth. My cheeks puffed up like a squirrel’s as I chewed. The lemony frosting spilled from one side of my mouth. The sleeve of my hoodie took care of the dribble.

  Disgusted, Ariane tapped the table in front of me. “Here’s how you eat cake, dear brother.” Lemony sweetness filled my nostrils when she lifted a forkful to her lips and slipped the morsel into her mouth. Bet the creamy cake melted on her tongue before she chewed.

  Perhaps Sabree was right. I’d rather ignore the hunger pangs until they became unbearable. Only then would I resort to feeding on human blood. The anti-vamp serum seriously depleted, I suspected Ariane took one pill every-other-day and, soon, it would be every third. She must’ve thought I wasn’t paying attention when she doubled up the dose for a few weeks. My heart thumped against my chest. Except for the drive from Scotland, we were no closer to finding the complete journal. Like most, this entire day had been a waste. Once home, I’d get the ball rolling to find the next drive.

  “Enough about sugar,” Sabree snapped. “I must warn you about the amulet.” He pointed at the bracelet on my wrist.

  F
irst, the woman with pierced brows ogled it and now Sabree. Did all of the Fallen have an eye for jewelry? I shrugged and rolled my eyes. “Oh, this trinket? I won it on eBay.”

  “Be serious. The amulet belonged to Turian. If you can control it, perhaps you do share his memories and abilities. This means Turian’s genes dominated the tainted human DNA. I couldn’t be happier that you’re both linked to him.”

  “The amulet is definitely linked to me.” At first, Ariane giggled at my wisecrack, until my jaw clenched. Then she muttered an obscenity. The damned thing brought me to tears when it dug into my wrist bones.

  “I have no idea why you share his memories and now his abilities,” Sabree said. His eyes darkened enough to reveal genuine concern. “Should be next to impossible when tainted with the human mutation. But no matter, I won’t let you return to the portal.”

  “Portal?” Ariane asked.

  Big mouth immortal. How dare he shove his nose in my business and bring my sister into it. I scoffed at his bold demand. “You have no right to dictate when I visit the portal.”

  “What portal?”

  “I’ll explain later, Sis.” I gave her the familiar do as I say frown. “Now’s not the time.”

  Sabree reached for her hand. I sensed how his gentle touch sent shivers up her arm by the way her cheeks flushed. A wee bit of focus from my mind, visualizing how I wacked his hand off my sister’s, almost made me slap a high-five when Sabree jerked all over and pulled his hand into his lap. Woohoo!

  “Your dear brother, Ariane Rose, has kept you out of the loop.”

  “Anyway, what’s it to you?” I said, licking frosting off my fingers. “Afraid your meal ticket would be forever lost in the portal? Or are you worried I might discover the truth about the Fallen?”

  “I expected the rude response,” he said, “considering my tactless and selfish approach. But heed my warning, Brian Ross. I fear you may never return, and as a result, I will have to feed on your sister’s blood, thus taxing her system.”