by L. L. Wright
“What do you remember?” he asked. His eyes bore into her and the question felt more like an interrogation.
“I saw her first memory when you brought me here after the fire. It was on the beach. You asked if she was happy, and she said ‘almost.’” Emmie felt a sad smile flash across her lips. Her stomach tightened as she thought about how unfair it was that she had a view into Leo's private past. Memories of a life before me, she reminded herself, and if she were still here by his side, I wouldn't be. The thought made her feel sick, and she moved her hand to rest on her stomach.
“I asked her what she wanted,” Leo said, his eyes were distant as he recalled the memory. “And she said, me.”
“All of you. Forever,” Emmie whispered. Her hand was still on her stomach and she fought back the sickness she felt rising as a single tear rolled down her cheek and she closed her eyes to hide the ones she felt sure would follow.
“Yeah,” Leo said, and Emmie looked up to see his phone pressed to his ear. “We’ll be right down.” He slid the phone into his pocket and looked up. His eyes met Emmie's and he crossed the room, wrapping his arms around her. She felt her body relax into his and she wiped away the tears that continued to fall.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispered, kissing the top of her head.
“It’s not your fault. You didn’t do this to me,” Emmie said, stepping out of his embrace. “I shouldn’t have another woman's memories in my head. I shouldn’t have someone else's blood in my veins.” She shook her head helplessly and fought back another wave of tears. “If that was Collin we should go,” Emmie said as she walked toward the door, desperate to get out of the small space. Just breathe.
36
Leo
What is wrong with me, Leo thought as he stood behind Emmie in the elevator. When the doors opened at the basement level she hurried toward Collin’s lab, and he followed, leaving a few feet between them. She would be crazy not to shut me out after that. His thoughts were scrambled and chaotic as he walked down the hallway trying to think of a way to fix the damage he was sure he had caused with his trip down memory lane at Emmie’s expense. He ran his hands over his eyes, blind to the fact that Emmie had stopped, frozen in the doorway, until it was too late. He ran into her back, and she lost her balance.
“Woah,” Collin said, rushing forward with inhuman speed. He grabbed her arms and pulled her up, steadying her and looking into her eyes. “Emmie? Are you ok?” Leo followed her intense stare to Collin’s computer monitor, where he had left a picture of a beautiful woman with long blonde hair. Hailey.
“Crap,” Collin said. He let go of Emmie's arms and took a step back, running his hand through his shaggy hair. “I opened her file to compare your brain scans, and then I just forgot to close it,” he explained. His apologetic eyes darted between Leo and Emmie.
Leo watched as Emmie inched closer to the computer. She tilted her head to one side and stared at the computer screen with intense focus. Her hands shook as she reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. She tapped the screen several times before laying it on Collin’s desk and backing away. Her eyes were still wide and frozen. Leo could hear her heavy breaths as he moved closer to look at her phone.
“Emmie, what is this? Who is this?” he asked as he stared at her phone, and then back at the computer screen.
“My mother,” Emmie said through shaky breaths. She turned, bracing herself on the metal counter.
Leo dropped the phone back onto the desk. His mouth fell open and his mind froze. Am I in shock, he wondered. Is this what shock feels like? Can angels even experience shock? He watched Collin pick up the phone and hold it next to the computer screen. His eyes darted between both photos.
“I’d love to say something helpful right now, but I’m drawing a blank,” he said, shaking his head and covering his mouth with one hand.
“How is this even remotely possible,” Emmie asked, turning around and looking at Collin with wide eyes. She pointed at the computer screen with a trembling finger and shouted, “she’s dead.” Then she grabbed the phone out of his hand and whispered angrily, “and she’s a demon.”
Leo crossed the room and placed a hand on her back. He had never seen Emmie raise her voice, and had never seen her shaking with rage.
“Don’t,” she warned, walking toward the door. He could hear her deep, ragged breathing, as she tried to calm herself down. She paused at the door, still shaking and licked her lips as she looked down at the floor. “I wasn’t great at controlling my powers, but I dealt with them. And I wasn’t thrilled when I found out that I was some kind of supernatural demon experiment, but I dealt with that too. But this, I can’t deal with,” Emmie said, shaking her head. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the keycard, slamming it down on the counter. Then she tossed her phone next to it and walked out the door.
Leo watched her walk down the hall and open the door to the stairwell. He ran his fingers through his hair and groaned. What's the point in chasing after her, I don’t even know what I'd say. I can't fix this.
He turned to Collin who looked as stunned as he felt.
“I didn’t see any of this happening when I called you down here.”
“That makes two of us,” Leo said. “How the hell is this possible? How can the woman I loved and lost twenty years ago be alive and well, and masquerading as a demon?”
Collin shook his head and sat down at his computer. He closed the open file and pulled a piece of paper off the printer. “It’s not. None of this makes any sense,” he said. “Emmie’s EEG is completely normal, and so is her blood, relatively speaking of course. All traces of demonic energy are gone. She’s half human and half angel, and neither half shows any defect. Her memory flashes should clear up on their own within a few days. But the transferred memories are a different story. I don’t have an explanation for how or why that's happening. We are angels, every cell in our tissue and blood is angelic. It makes sense that our abilities could be shared through blood, under the right circumstances, but blood memories? Not even I can wrap my mind around this.”
“And what about the latest development,” Leo said. “How can Hailey be Emmie’s mother? How can my dead angelic soulmate be a demon?”
“We don’t know that she is her mother,” Collin shrugged. “She raised her, but we don’t know anything more than that. As for the rest, you heard Chamille. She said if Hailey wasn’t dead they could have injected her with enough demon venom to extinguish her soul, making her impossible to track. Giving the illusion of death.”
Leo shifted his gaze to the floor. He’s right. There are a lot of possibilities, and almost all of them are more likely than Hailey actually being Emmie’s biological mother.
“So now what?” Leo asked. “What can we do to get to the bottom of this? I need answers and Emmie deserves to know the truth.”
“I think we need to speak with Chamille. She needs to know what’s been going on here, and if anyone can help us sort out this mess it’s her.”
Leo shook his head and crossed his arms at his chest. “I don’t trust the elders. They’ve known the demons were trying to rebuild their numbers for years. If they had told us about the blood and the experiments we could have put a stop to this years ago. Who knows how many humans they’ve killed in their experiments. I doubt that Emmie was their first or their last. As far as I’m concerned the elders gave them a head start,” Leo seethed, as he walked toward the door. “Besides, I have some serious damage control to do here. If I can even find her, that is.”
Leo stopped in the hallway and tried to feel for Emmie’s energy, the way he had been able to do with Hailey. Like two magnets, pulling at each other until we were close enough to connect, he thought. He cleared his mind and reached out to feel for her angelic blood and the bond that they shared, but his gut just kept telling him to go home. She needs some space, she’ll come back, just trust her. He stepped into the elevator and once the metal door slid shut he cradled his head in his hands. Giving into
the thought he had pushed away for more than an hour, Hailey is alive. Leo sighed. He remembered the words Chamille spoke in the hall of truth, and he knew she believed in what she said. But what if she was wrong? If we were able to burn away the demon blood and venom in Emmie’s human body, why couldn’t the same be possible for an even stronger being, a pure angel born of heaven? He raked his fingers through his hair and tried to push away the thought, but his mind kept reeling with the possibilities. What would that mean for him and Emmie? Would she understand if Hailey returned to The Faction, and to him? Would Emmie remain at Faction Towers, loyal to her angelic blood if the woman who experimented on her and changed the course of her life was welcomed back with open arms and a clean slate? Would The Faction ever do that, would they pardon Hailey for the things she did while under the influence of demon blood? The questions kept coming as the elevator bell dinged and Leo stepped out and looked down the hallway. His heart jumped, and then it raced wildly. He saw Emmie sitting on the floor at the end of the hall. Her knees were tucked up to her chest, and her oversized sweater pooled on the floor around her as she stared straight ahead. The million questions weighing down his mind a moment ago melted away as he rushed down the hall toward her.
“What are you doing?” he asked quietly. He followed her gaze to the blank white wall on the opposite side of the hallway. “Emmie?”
“Hmmm?” She made the sound without moving. Her eyes were distant and glossy.
Leo knelt in front of her, blocking her view and forcing her to look at him. “I get it. It’s a lot. You’re dealing with more in this one moment than most people have to handle in a lifetime, and I’m sorry. I wish I could just take some of this away, but I can’t and I don’t know how I can help you get through this,” he whispered, brushing his thumb down her cheek. “Just tell me what I can do.”
Emmie turned away. She looked down the hallway at the silver elevator doors and pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. Then she let out a deep breath and looked up into Leo’s eyes.
“When I look at you I feel like my heart is tearing in half, and I don’t want to feel like this anymore,” she said, pausing to take another breath. Leo could see the tears pooling in her eyes despite her strength and will to stay in control. “I wish things could be different. At first, you made all of this a little bit easier to handle. You were my blue-eyed beacon of hope in all of this darkness, because if you and I could be together, maybe everything else wouldn’t be so bad, you know? But, these memories I have, and all of this stuff with Hailey or Melody, whoever she is. It’s too much, and I just can’t.” Emmie closed her eyes and stood up. “My life began to fall apart the day we met, and I know that’s not fair, because below the surface it was always a mess, but ignorance really is bliss.” She took a few steps and then Leo heard her sniffle. He watched her from behind as she wiped her eyes on the sleeves of her sweater, and he felt his chest tighten with all of the words he desperately wanted to say. All of the things he knew could never fix the situation they were in.
He pulled her keycard and phone out of his pocket and handed them back to her. “I’ll stay with Collin tonight, and we’ll get your room sorted out in the morning,” he said quietly, then he turned and walked back down the hallway.
37
Emmeline
Emmie sighed as she looked around at the empty suite. She closed the door behind her and slid down to the cold tile floor, what am I doing, she asked herself, am I just going to stay here and embrace being an angel, whatever the hell that means? What other choice do I have? She rubbed her eyes and pushed herself off the floor, walking over to the bed and laying down on the side where she had woken up this morning. Emmie stretched, and turned onto her side, scrolling through her phone. She opened her messages and texted Lisa.
Emmie: Hey. When can you come visit?
She laid her phone beside her on the bed and closed her eyes while she waited for the familiar buzzing sound.
Knock, knock, knock. Emmie sat up in bed and looked around the bright sun-filled room. It was all real, she thought, the good and the bad. The knocking on the door continued, and she climbed out of bed, running her fingers through her hair as she walked toward the door.
“Morning,” Collin said as he pushed the door open wide and walked in. Leo followed behind him, heading down the hall without a word.
“What time is it?” Emmie asked as she searched the unmade bed for her phone.
“Almost ten,” Collin answered.
She pulled her phone out from under her pillow and tapped the screen, but nothing happened, I fell asleep waiting for Lisa to text me back, and I never plugged my phone in, Emmie thought. She groaned as she attached the wire and walked back into the kitchen. Almost ten, she repeated to herself, as a wave of guilt washed over her. I shouldn’t have slept for so long, I’ve already lost weeks of my life thanks to my mother, Emmie shook her head. Her name is Hailey. That monster is not my mother.
“Get ready so we can grab some brunch,” Collin said, sitting down on a barstool at the island.
Emmie walked down the hall to the bathroom. Her peripheral vision caught a glimpse of Leo in the office as he pulled a shirt over his bare chest. Her attention snapped in his direction and her gaze paused on the black ink on his chest. A complicated pattern contained within the hard outline of a circle. It looks like a maze, she sighed. She felt her heart skip a beat as she followed the lines to the center, longing to trace them with her fingers. No, don’t go there, she told herself, cutting off the train of thought. Then she pressed her eyes shut and hurried into the bathroom. Emmie returned to the chaos of the day before. I was so angry and afraid, she admitted to herself, but I had to be honest. None of this is Leo’s fault and I don’t want to lead him on when my mind and my heart are such a mess. For me, too much has happened, and pretending that things aren't complicated and painful is a lie. She pulled the door closed and flicked on the light switch.
Emmie turned her attention to the expansive mirror hanging above the vanity and sighed deeply as she caught a glimpse of her reflection. She ran her fingers through her tangled and disheveled hair before turning on the shower and undressing. Once under the water, Emmie did her best to clear her mind as she scrubbed her skin and washed her hair. She stood under the showerhead watching as the soap pooled around the drain before being pulled down into the darkness. Emmie startled and slipped backward as the memory of the darkness that pulled her under, keeping her trapped inside her own dreams came rushing back. She fell onto the stone floor of the shower and leaned against the tile wall, wishing that her pain and fear could be rinsed down the drain as easily as soap and water. But it can’t, and I have to take control of my own life. I’m an angel and I need to figure out what that really means. The hot water sprayed her skin, relaxing her tense muscles and easing her mind while the room filled with steam. She remembered the first day of school, she had stood in front of her bedroom mirror staring at the plainness in her reflection, longing to be different, and now she was. Everything comes at a price, she thought as she turned the knobs on the shower, adjusting the temperature. Would I go back if I could? she asked herself, letting her mind wander. If I could erase all of this ‘angels and demons’ stuff and be back at school with Lisa thinking I was a witch with control issues, would I do it? She shook her head, pushing away the thoughts. She knew there was no easy way out of her current situation, and daydreaming about it wouldn’t change a thing.
Emmie stepped out of the shower feeling energized and ready for what she knew lay ahead. She dried herself in a plush towel before slipping into a pair of athletic leggings, a long sleeve shirt and one of her oversized cardigans. She shuffled around the bathroom opening drawers, cabinets and, closets in search of hair clips, a comb and, a toothbrush. She was startled by a soft knock on the door.
"Just me," Leo called from the bedroom. "Is everything ok," he asked through the closed door.
"You can come in," Emmie said, quickly checking her reflection in the mirror, a
nd wishing she had found that comb.
"I thought you might need this," he said as he opened the door and handed her a duffle bag. "Lisa brought this for you the first time you were here," he said.
“I remember that,” Emmie smiled. “I think I have most of my memories back, at least from while I was here. There are still gaps from those two weeks though,” Emmie huffed.
"You’ll get them back. Collin said it should be a few days," Leo said.
“I know. It’s just hard to think about not knowing where I was or what I was doing for a block of time like that.” Emmie shrugged. “Anyway, we need to have a serious talk,” she said, standing up tall. “Now that I am a real angel, with no demonic abilities to speak of, I want to learn angel stuff.”
A coy smile tugged at the corner of Leo’s mouth and his eyes widened. “Angel stuff,” he repeated, pressing his lips into a hard line and nodding his head. He slowly back out of the bathroom and walked down the hallway and Emmie followed closely.
“Yeah, angel stuff. What exactly do angels do when they aren’t pretending to be teenagers? Where do your abilities come from and how can I learn everything I’m supposed to know to fit in around here?” I have like thousands of years of knowledge and experience to catch up on, no big deal or anything.
“I don’t know if you should be jumping in headfirst right now,” Leo said, leaning against the refrigerator. “Your demonic half has been gone for less than forty-eight hours and The Faction is on high alert now that we’ve confirmed that the demons are trying to build an army, and experimenting on humans to do it.”