“Oh.” The woman’s eyebrows shoot up. “In that case, let me show you the place.”
She stands up and walks over to a wooden box hanging on the wall. I see rows of brass colored keys hanging on hooks in four different rows. She grabs a key off of the bottom row then moves out from behind the desk.
“The elevator doesn’t work, so you’ll have to take the stairs. The only apartment we have left is on the sixth floor.” She warns us as we follow her out of the office and to a narrow staircase. “There is a wider set of stairs at the back.”
We follow the tenacious old woman up flight after flight of stairs. I’m surprised at how fast she can move given her advanced age and simultaneously grateful I’m in good shape. When we reach the top floor, the sun streams in through a window at the far end of the hallway. The carpet would have been a beautiful red and gold pattern at one point, but now it's a dull worn mess. This entire building could use some redecorating. Given what I’ve seen so far, I don’t have high expectations for the apartment we are about to view.
Halfway down the corridor, we stop in front of a solid oak door with the number six-twenty on it.
4
Ash
As the door swings open, I’m greeted with dark maple hardwood floors and off-white walls. The apartment isn’t very large, and although outdated, it is clean. Walking into the kitchen, I notice white radiators against the walls. The kitchen sports a refrigerator, stove, and minimal cabinet space.
“The bathroom is off of the bedroom.” The old woman points out.
I poke my head in the bedroom, and although the closet space is laughable, it’s large enough for a bed and dresser. Entering the bathroom, the age of the apartment is even more apparent. Green tiles line the bottom half of the walls, while the top half is painted a crisp white. A thin strip of black tiles separates them. Even with its age, it isn’t ugly.
A large sheet mirror takes up the wall over the sink. There is a bathtub, with green tile covering its face.
“What do you think?” I ask Lilith.
“I think it’s perfect for you to continue your studies.” She winks at me before turning to the elderly woman. “What’s the process for renting this place?”
“Follow me back to the office and we will fill out the paperwork. One month rent up front and a second month for security deposit is required.” She replies after looking at us one more time. “My name is Edith and I run this place, and I’ll warn you one more time. I don’t put up with any funny business around here.”
“No funny business here.” I hold up my hands.
We follow Edith out of the apartment and watch as she carefully locks the door behind her. Going down the stairs is easier, but I think I’m going to have the best ass any demon has ever had living here.
When we reach the foot of the stairs, I round the corner without looking where I’m going and immediately hit a stone wall. It feels like a stone wall, anyways, but it’s really a drool worthy man. Tall, jet black hair, warm hazel eyes that see straight through me and muscles for days. Yup, wasn’t expecting that here.
“Sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going.” I feel the tips of my ears heat. What is causing that sensation? Is being in the human world messing with my body now?
“It’s fine. We don’t see many people your age here. Are you visiting someone?” he asks as I back away, afraid I’m going to put my foot in my mouth.
Fuck, Ash. Get it together. Men are the least of your worries right now. But he is mighty fine on the eyes.
“No, there's church… apartment live, bye.” I rush into the office before I can open my mouth again. Damn, I couldn’t even form an articulate sentence. Part of me hopes I never run into that man again, while another part hates that idea.
Lilith is looking out the window, her lips pursed into a thin line.
“I thought you said that young people didn’t live here.” She turns and stares at Edith.
“No… I said we typically don’t appeal to a younger crowd. The Stone family has owned an apartment since the building was opened. We can’t do anything about them.” Edith gazes out the window at the man standing by the side of the street then mutters under her breath. “Sometimes I wish they would move out, but then what would I have to look at on boring days?”
“How many of them are there?” I ask, sneaking peeks out the window myself.
“There are three gentlemen occupying the apartment at the moment. They do mostly keep to themselves, when they aren’t disturbing the other residents,” Edith sighs as she hands a clipboard to me. “Fill this out and we will get you settled in.”
I sit down on a thin metal chair next to the wall and look over the paper. Crap, I don’t know any of this information they want. Lilith lowers herself in the seat next to me and grins.
“Don’t worry, love. I’m sure Edith won’t mind if I fill this out for you. We both know you’re handwriting is illegible.” She takes the clipboard from me and runs her finger down the page, the words magically appearing in front of my eyes.
“Thank you, Mom.” I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding.
“That’s fine as long as she signs.” Edith waves her hand in the air.
I look the page over when Lilith hands it back to me. She claimed my last name was Darcy. I’m going to have to remember that now. I sign the bottom, remembering to get the last name right, then Lilith pays the little old woman, we get the keys, and leave the office.
As we walk outside, I crane my neck looking for the Stone man, but he’s nowhere to be seen. I still can’t decide if I’m relieved or disappointed.
A car pulls up and we get in. Lilith gives them directions on where to go and we're off. We spend the next several hours going from store to store, collecting furnishings for the house, clothes, and other things I might need. Lilith hands me a small piece of plastic with my name and new address on it.
“This is your ID. Don’t lose it because you’ll need it a lot in this world.” She shakes her head. “Humans are strange creatures.”
Before we head back to the apartment, we stop at a bank. We enter the tall brick building and Lilith helps me set up an account. After filling out their paperwork and depositing money, they say they’ll mail me a card to access the money. We get back into the waiting car and head back to the apartment to meet the delivery drivers. Somehow Lilith convinced them to have everything delivered today.
The driver parks in front of the apartment building and helps us carry our packages up the six flights of stairs. Had he realized we were on the top floor, I doubt he would have offered to help. At least Lilith tipped him well for his service.
The rest of the day flies by in a flurry of deliveries, and when it all settles the apartment is comfortably furnished and my refrigerator is full of strange human foods. My stomach has been gnawing at me all day, but I haven’t been brave enough to try the foreign food. Visions of the gluttony torture room flashes through my mind and I shudder.
I flop down on the couch and stare at the blank screen of the television.
“Now that you have everything you need, I’ll leave you with one last thing.” Lilith holds out a manilla folder. “This is the information I’ve managed to gather on your mother’s activities in the human world.”
I take it from her, my heart pumping faster in my chest. What if I learn something I really don’t want to know? But honestly, what could be worse than what’s already happening?
“Thank you, Lilith.” A sad smile perks up the corner of my lips.
“Just be careful. I’ll check in when I can, but it may be a while. I’ve been gone much too long and it won’t have gone unnoticed.” She watches me as she disappears.
I can’t decide which prospect sounds worse, eating human food or learning more about my mother’s secrets. I have to pull up my big girl panties and get this over with. I’ve never been a coward, and I’m not about to start now. Food first, then secrets.
I push myself to my feet and shuf
fle into the kitchen. After examining the contents of the fridge, I decide to try something easier to start with. We stocked the cabinets with packages full of ready to eat foods. Maybe those will be easier to eat to start with.
A bottle of water and a bag of Lays in my hand, I lower myself at the dining table. As I pull apart the foil bag, it makes a satisfying hissing sound. My mouth waters at the salty aroma wafting up at me. Maybe human food isn’t what I thought it was after all.
I grab the crispy chip and take a small nibble. My eyes widen as the salt hits my tongue and I take a bigger bite. Yup, gluttony just makes it appear gross. Now I understand how so many humans can overindulge to the point of sin. This isn’t bad at all! I finish off half the bag, then drink the crisp, clean water.
After putting the bag away, I drag my feet on the way back to the couch. I know I’m just putting off the inevitable. Why do I care so much? I’m a fucking demon for Lucifer’s sake. I shouldn’t care about my mother’s secrets. But if Lilith is to be believed, and I think she is, that’s only half of my identity.
I scoop up the folder and I take a seat. Opening it to the first page, it’s just a list of dates and times. I skim through to see if anything jumps out at me. They are all from around a year before I was born. The next page has a list of places on it, mainly the town I’m in. Pulling out my ID, I see one of the addresses is close by.
Lilith must know more than she let on. Why else would she position me right here?
I flip through the last of the pages. There’s nothing to point me in the right direction, or at least I can’t make sense of it if it is there. Maybe if I look up the addresses on the list?
It’s worth a shot.
I bring the folder with me as I take a seat at the small desk now set up in the corner of the bedroom and turn on the new laptop. It hums to life and I connect to the internet from my new phone. A man is supposed to hook up a more permanent internet connection tomorrow, but this will work for now. Things wouldn’t move this fast in the demon world. I’m still not sure how she managed it all.
Focus, Ash.
I type the addresses into the browser one by one. They are random places. A restaurant here, a shopping mall there, until the last one. It’s the church across the street. What would a demon be doing at a church? It stands for the opposite of what we are.
I slam the laptop closed, frustrated by the answers I’m finding, or rather non answers. Nervous energy courses through me as I jump out of my chair and pace back and forth, trying to get a handle on all these changes. I knew deep down this wouldn’t be easy, but I feel like this is a hopeless mission. Why do I need to find out who my father is anyways? It’s not like it’s going to bring my mom back or allow me to go back home. These stupid emotions I’ve developed are too much. I can’t keep oscillating between them.
I growl in frustration as a wave of pure despair washes over me. My knees buckle and I crumple into a heap on the floor. My eyes burn and when I reach up to rub them, my hand comes away wet. These stupid emotions! Why did she have to get knocked up by someone who wasn’t a demon? And why did she hide it from me for all these years?
When my tears finally stop flowing down my cheeks, I pick myself up off the floor and settle in on the couch. I turn the television on and decide to see how humans spend their time. If I’m going to fit in, I need to figure these things out.
5
Gideon
In all my years on this earth, I’ve never sensed something quite like her. I glance behind me as she enters the office. My brothers and I have lived in this building since its construction. Women have come and gone, but not one of them has caught my attention before today.
Instead of crossing the street to my post, I stand on the sidewalk lost in thought. Our kind doesn’t mingle with humans more than what is required. We are the protectors of this world. The keepers of the balance. The mediators between good and evil… if you can label either side. One cannot exist without the other.
Our family has held our post since the beginning. We were created during the fall as a failsafe. One side cannot overpower the other, or all could be lost. My brothers and I take our work seriously, holding the position of our father before us and his father before him.
I can sense her watching me through the window. There’s a demonic presence with her, but I cannot tell if she’s aware of it or not. It takes all of my resolve not to rush back inside and ask her who she is… or what she is rather. She’s not of this world, that much I know for sure. But she’s also not of any world I know of. I need to discuss this with my brothers. We need to learn what she is and what she’s doing here.
I glance over my shoulder and she’s no longer at the blinds. Taking a deep breath, I cross the street and allow my wings to unfurl from my back. With a jump, I allow my wings to lift me to the roof, then settle in next to Josiah. My body tingles as it shifts into my other form, hardening into a cold, grey stone to match the church.
“What took you so long, brother?” Donavan’s voice enters my mind.
“I ran into someone intriguing. She’s not like anything I’ve met before and she may present an issue.” I broadcast to both of them.
“What do you mean?” Josiah swivels his stone head to stare at me.
“She’s unlike anything I’ve ever sensed before. She’s not human, but neither is she angel or demon. I don’t know what she could be.” I admit as I watch her exit the building with a powerful demon. “She’s the white-haired woman exiting the apartment building.”
“She must be a demon!” Josiah hisses, his eyes locked on the pair. “That’s Lilith.”
“That doesn’t mean she’s a demon. She doesn’t feel right.” Donavan argues.
“Whatever she is, she’s leaving now. Was she visiting someone?” Josiah watches as the pair climbs into a car.
“I think she might be moving in…” My voice trails off as the car drives away.
We fall into a comfortable silence as the sun makes its journey across the sky. In this form, I don’t feel the weather, be it hot or cold… rainy or sunny. Time seems to pass differently as well. I just exist as one with the church, my senses open to any celestial or demonic beings that transverse our territory.
The demon, Lilith, is moving all over town, from one shopping district to another. What is that young woman doing with a demon like that? As the afternoon approaches evening, I can sense them coming closer, my spine tingling by the time they pull up in front of the apartment building.
The driver helps them unload their shopping and I watch in rapt fascination as the wind blows through her white hair. She’s moving into our building. A pit grows in my stomach. Something is telling me she’s going to shake up our world, and I don’t know if I’m prepared for this.
A faint buzzing in my head is easy to ignore until the cloying stench of angel makes my nose scrunch. The sickly sweet smell of decaying flesh and crimson carnations, as if someone tried to cover a rotting corpse with a can of floral air freshener.
My brothers and I stretch out of our stone poses then slowly shift back into our human forms. I pace the roof of the church, trying to spot the newcomer. Having both demons and angels mere feet from each other is a recipe for disaster. Celestials are tricky beings. Although we can sense them, unless they want to be seen, it’s nearly impossible to spot them.
By the time we spot him, he winks at us and disappears again, this time his scent dissipates on the wind. Was he just here to check up on Lilith? It is unusual she’s here. We need to keep an eye on this new woman and her companion. Humans wouldn’t survive an altercation between both sides, and we’re the only thing standing between them. So much for the uneventful life we’ve been living.
It appears our new neighbor is going to keep us on our toes.
“Let’s call it a night.” Donavan steps up next to me and stares at a window on the sixth floor.
My eyes track up and I see the young woman putting away her purchases as Lilith directs men carrying furniture
into the apartment. What is her role in this? Why is she helping this strange woman?
“We should take shifts. A high demon and an angel in one day… we need to be more vigilant. We’ve grown lazy in our duties.” Josiah scowls, the muscle in his jaw ticking in irritation.
“Fine. Who wants the night shift?” I sigh, attempting to cover the annoyance in my voice. He has a point and I hate it when he’s right.
“Thanks for volunteering.” Donavan chuckles as he jumps from the roof. “I’ll relieve you at sunrise.”
“If you don’t want the night shift, I’ll take it.” Josiah rolls his eyes.
“I didn’t argue, did I? Go home and get some rest. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I shake my head.
“Contact us if anything happens.” Josiah meets my eyes, his deep brown ones boring into my own.
“I will, brother.” I nod.
As I watch him jump from the roof, I take my perch, shifting back into my gargoyle form. I angle myself to look into her window, unable to fight the obsessive desire to watch her every move.
Lilith leaves and the young woman moves about the apartment before settling on the couch and falling asleep. I need to get to the bottom of this and discover what she is. This obsession is interfering with my purpose and that’s not acceptable.
6
Ash
The television is blaring in front of me as I blink groggily. I must have fallen asleep on the couch. I stretch and wince at the pain coursing through my neck. I make a quick breakfast then shower.
Once I’m dressed for the day, I decide to check out the church. There must be a clue of some kind there. I look a lot like my mother… maybe someone will recognize her through me. Can demons even enter churches? I shake my head as a grab the key to the apartment. I step into the dimly lit hallway and lock the door behind me.
Ash and Stone (Hidden Truth Book 1) Page 3