by L. J. Sealey
“You didn’t have any fresh juice so. . . ” They both laughed. It was hard to act normal though. Reality had returned and her conflicting emotions were hard to ignore. As much as she wanted to revel in her joy at having spent the whole night with Michael−him bringing her breakfast followed by a tender morning kiss−she couldn’t. The whole wonderfully perfect situation was overshadowed by the dread that was looming over her.
If Michael noticed her glum face he didn’t say anything. “Enjoy your food,” he said as he stood up. “I need to call Evo for him to come pick me up. I’d prefer to leave my car here if you don’t mind.”
Lacy managed a nod as she pushed a piece of bacon in her mouth which suddenly tasted like cardboard. Michael’s words had just instantly killed her appetite. She was no longer in the mood to eat but would do so. Michael had been kind enough to make her breakfast so she wouldn’t disrespect him by leaving it, even if she had to throw up afterwards. His eyes lingered on hers a moment before he turned and left the room.
The clock was ticking. Soon they’d be saying goodbye to one another but while he was still here in her house she could pretend he wasn’t going anywhere.
After finishing the breakfast that she surprisingly ended up enjoying, Lacy was now dressed and at the sink in the kitchen filling the jug for the coffee machine. She hadn’t showered; that would have taken up too much time. Instead she’d picked out some fresh clothes, tight black jeans and a midnight blue T-shirt, and hurried to the kitchen in her slippers, picking up the car keys from the mat by the front door that Alethia must have posted during the night. Michael had flashed her a tentative smile as she’d passed him in the front room while he was speaking to Evo on his cell.
“He’s on his way.” Michael said quietly behind her, sounding as dejected as she felt as he joined her in the kitchen.
She placed the coffee jug down on the counter. It was too soon. She wasn’t expecting him to leave straight away. Her shoulders dropped. “I was about to make coffee too.”
Suddenly strong arms wrapped around her and Michael placed a kiss on her neck before resting his chin on her shoulder. Oh, God. She couldn’t do this. She closed her eyes.
“We can have coffee,” he murmured next to her ear. “Evo’ll just have to wait.”
He turned her around to face him, lifted her chin with his finger and then kissed her mouth tenderly. Then she hugged him and rested her head on his chest, discreetly rubbing away the unshed tears from her eyes.
Their embrace was short lived when there was a hard knock on the front door.
“That’ll be him now.” Michael gave her a half smile and left to answer it.
Lacy carried on making the coffee, filling the jug a little more assuming Evo would want one too. She took a few deep breaths in an attempt to compose herself as she heard Michael and Evo’s voices growing louder as they approached.
“Hey.” Evo said over the noise of the coffee machine. “Do I time things right or what? Black, two sugars please.” He winked at her as he sat at the table.
Normally he irritated the hell out of her but strangely enough, she welcomed his buoyancy with open arms today even though she didn’t understand it. After all, he was accompanying Michael on his little trip but didn’t seem to be at all concerned. She would never figure the guy out.
“Do I smell bacon?” Evo asked, leaning back and kicking his ankle up onto his knee. His arm was flung over the back of the chair.
Michael grabbed something from the fridge. “You did. Here,” he said, throwing something at Evo. His friend caught the packet of raw bacon with a look of disgust on his face. “You’re welcome to cook some.”
“Charming. I’m throwing my life on the line for you today and you can’t even cook me some damn bacon.”
Michael leaned against the counter and stroked Lacy’s arm with the back of his hand making her realise that her whole body had tensed at Evo’s flippant words. “I’d rather go it alone than wait on you like some dumb shit,” he replied.
Lacy couldn’t hold back her chuckle as she stirred the three cups of coffee. She carried one over to Evo, who was reaching into the inside pocket of his black leather duster, and placed the mug down in front of him.
“Thanks,” he said in a low voice and then winked at her. She wasn’t sure how comfortable she was with that, but soon realised it was for a reason.
“Well, see. . . then you wouldn’t have this.” Evo held up a small silver ring which had multicoloured jewels encrusted all around it. His proud smirk made Lacy raise an eyebrow.
“Shit! Evo, that’s Alethia’s ring. How did you get it?” Michael immediately went to Evo and took the ring from him. He was clearly surprised by the small, non-descript looking thing but why? What was so special about it? And yes, how did Evo get it?
His cocky face remained the same. “Let’s just say I’m good with my hands,” he winked again, at Michael this time.
“You didn’t. . . Is that where you were going when I spoke to you last night?” Michael’s face was a mix of shock and admiration. Evo didn’t answer, just carried on looking smug.
“What’s going on?” Lacy asked, confused by the whole exchange.
Michael answered. “This ring was given to Alethia by her father. It catches demons somehow. But we don’t even know how to use it.” That last part was directed at Evo who was now gesturing with his fingers for Michael to give it back. “You may not know. I, on the other hand, do.” He flashed Michael a proud grin while taking back the ring and tucking it back safely inside his pocket.
“And how the hell did you manage that?”
Evo raised an eyebrow. “You have to ask?” was all he said, and she was pretty sure they both knew what he meant. Lacy was actually a little surprised that Alethia had succumbed to Evo’s charms. Granted she hadn’t known her longer than five minutes but even so, Lacy thought her wiser than that. Evo was obviously better than she thought.
“Uh, Michael, don’t want to rush you buddy but we really should get going.”
As soon as the words had left Evo’s mouth, Lacy felt her knees buckle a little. In an attempt to distract herself from her imminent anxiety attack, she busied herself by grabbing the cups from the table and she placed them in the sink. She turned the faucet on and heard Michael mutter something to Evo. “Take care Lacy. Oh, and when we get back, I want some of that bacon.” Evo said as he left the room.
After filling up the sink she turned the faucet off to a dead silence.
“Hey.” Michael said after a few moments as he placed his hand on her shoulder and turned her to face him. As Lacy looked at his beautiful pale blue eyes she choked back a sob. His expression was as pained as hers. The feeling that this was goodbye as evident on his face as it was in her heart. He pulled her into him and wrapped his arms around her tightly. She did the same to him and in that moment, his warmth, his scent, his closeness broke her resolve.
She lost it.
Tears began to stream, dampening Michael’s sweater. He must have heard her hitched breaths because he tightened his hold on her, kissing the top of her head. She didn’t know how long they stayed like that in each other’s arms, but when Michael eased her back so he could look at her she knew it hadn’t been long enough.
He wiped at her tears with the tips of his fingers then tilted her chin, covering her mouth with his in a lingering kiss. “I have to go.” he said in a husky voice while resting his forehead against hers. He closed his eyes and let out a slow ragged breath.
When he moved to leave her she managed to speak, “Michael−” but her words were cut short when he placed his hand over her lips and shook his head. “Don’t. . . ”
Another tear escaped and ran down her cheek and she swallowed hard. Aside from burying her sister, saying goodbye to him truly was the hardest thing she’d ever had to do in her life.
“I’ll see you soon, ok?” His eyebrows raised a little and he looked at Lacy with reassurance.
“Promise?”
; Michael placed his hand on her cheek. “I promise.” He gently kissed her forehead, turned and left.
Lacy stayed in the exact same spot for what could have been a few minutes, a few hours, she didn’t care. The man who she feared she was falling in love with had just said goodbye to her for what could be the very last time. She was numb, devoid of all feeling.
When she finally managed to move her legs she grabbed the phone, called work and told them she had a severe stomach bug−no way she could face it today−and snuggled on the couch with a blanket with the intention of watching trash TV in the hope it would take her mind off things. It didn’t. Instead she just sat and stared.
Lacy had no idea how long she’d been transfixed on the TV screen. The show that was on when she’d first sat down had finished and Extreme Makeover had taken its place. She hadn’t even noticed that the sound was down until now. She wanted to get up from her zombie-like state and at least take a shower but she had no chance of willing her body to move. This was worse than she’d anticipated. When she’d imagined Michael leaving and the state she’d be in, it hadn’t been this bad.
She groaned and pulled the blanket right up to her chin suddenly feeling the air turn chilly. Oh well, at least she’d have no choice but to move soon when she’d have to turn the thermostat up on the heating. The temperature must have dropped outside.
She pushed the blanket off and was just about to get up from the sofa when a sudden humming sensation began to sound from over by the door to the hallway. She paused to listen. It grew louder and then, in the exact spot that her eyes were fixed, a swirling gray mist formed from nowhere. Before she could do anything other than freeze with fear, a familiar figure appeared and the gray mist dissipated as quickly as it had formed to reveal a tall, dark haired woman, dressed in navy blue tight jeans and a black figure hugging turtle neck top under a tan knee length coat, with a very troubled look on her face.
“Alethia?” Lacy gasped as she rushed over to her, taking her arm and walking her to the sofa. “What’s wrong?”
Alethia blinked and shook her head as if to re-load her batteries. “Where are they?” She grabbed hold of Lacy’s arms, her desperation causing Lacy’s heart to race with concern. “Evo and Michael, where are they?”
“They left about an hour ago I think. Alethia, Evo is performing a ritual that will let them enter Hell. I’m so s−”
“Where? Where are they performing the ritual?” Her unusual caramel colored eyes were wide, staring right into Lacy’s.
“They were going to Michael’s apartment at the university.”
“We have to stop them.”
Lacy instantly felt nauseous. The fact that Alethia’s usual calm had abandoned her was a huge cause for concern. “Why. . . Alethia, what’s wrong?”
“The ring. . . Shit. He can’t use it. There will be terrible consequences if either one of them try.”
“What? The ring that you gave to Evo? What consequences?”
“I didn’t give it to him. He took it from me.”
“What consequences, Alethia?” Now Lacy was the one who was frantic.
The deity’s shoulders slumped as she began to explain, talking so fast Lacy only just about understood her. “It was created by my father and only he can decide who can use it. It was designed in such a way that if it happened to fall into the wrong hands it would. . . ” she paused.
“What? Alethia, tell me please.”
“If Michael or Evo use that ring. . . instead of trapping the demon they are wielding it on, it will reverse the process.”
“Annnd?” That didn’t sound good.
“By trapping the person who uses it instead.”
Lacy’s breath left her lungs in a rush and she suddenly felt quite dizzy. “Oh. My. God! We have to stop them.” She rushed to get into her coat and scarf, shoved her warm camel skin boots on her feet and grabbed her car keys.
As she headed for the front door she was stopped in mid-stride as Alethia grabbed her arm. “There’s no time for that. We’ll have to go my way.” She took hold of Lacy’s upper arms, wrapping her hands around her tightly. “Hold onto my arms. And your stomach.”
“My stomach, why?” Lacy asked as she placed her hands tentatively on Alethia’s arms in the same way.
“Because you’re probably about to lose it. Humans don’t usually cope well with this. Now hold tight.”
Before she could respond, Lacy was being swept into a swirling black mist, suddenly losing all sense of where she was. The disorientating rush of dizziness that consumed her in the next moment was sickening. No wonder Alethia said to hold on to her stomach. She honestly felt like she was about to throw up her whole insides not just her stomach. It was much worse than last time. Just as she felt she was about to pass out, the swirling began to slow and the darkness that surrounded her a moment ago began to fade. Alethia came into view and Lacy realised she was still gripping on to her arms for dear life. White and blue painted walls began to appear either side of them and when the last bit of gray haze had disappeared, she recognised where they were: standing in the corridor outside Michael’s front door.
Alethia helped her regain her balance. “Feeling Ok?” she asked, still holding on until she was sure she was ok.
Lacy waited a moment before answering. “Yeah. Actually, I feel fine.”
Alethia shrugged her shoulders. “You’re stronger than you look.” She smiled slightly but then it quickly disappeared and she turned to face the apartment door. “I couldn’t get us inside. He must have spelled it with something.”
Lacy didn’t care and rapped her knuckles on the door. “Michael! Michael, are you in there?” No answer. She knocked again, harder this time; still no answer. “Oh, no! They must have done the ritual already.”
Alethia grabbed Lacy’s shoulder and pulled her back from the door. “Allow me.” She crossed her arms over each other in front of her chest and bowed her head, eyes closed. After a couple of seconds Michael’s door flew open.
Shit! She was good to have around in situations like this.
They both walked into the living room where a pile of unusual looking items were scattered around the coffee table, including what looked like a bowl with blood in it and another with what appeared to be burnt ashes. Lacy went cold. She wasn’t usually one for cursing but with a trembling voice she said, “Alethia, what the fuck are we going to do?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
It wasn’t the blood soaked walls of the many caves, nor was it the horrific, bloodcurdling screams in the distance that made Michael’s skin crawl as he remembered his torturous time in the pit. No, it was the stomach churning stench of burning flesh that was at the forefront of his memories. The familiarity of that alone was why he felt as uncomfortable as he did at that moment. Both men made their way down a long tunnel cut through a large rock formation that they’d suddenly appeared in front of after completing the ritual−which was downright weird by the way.
It hadn’t been as bad for Michael, but how Evo had managed to endure the pain−which he could only imagine−of slicing his own flesh and then stuffing his wound full of the pasty blood and ashes mixture, all the while chanting strange sounding words, was unimaginable. It was only when he cauterised the sliced flesh back together with that strange looking wand that his buddy screamed like a bitch.
Couldn’t blame the guy though.
“Man, this is some freaky shit.” Evo said as he walked a few steps ahead with a burning torch that he’d grabbed at the entrance of the tunnel. He was passing it over the seeping walls inspecting every inch of them with the light from the flame. “I don’t even want to know what that shit is.” His nose curled up at the sight of some black ooze that was about to drip down from above him. He moved his body out of the way just in time.
Michael hadn’t known what to expect before they’d arrived. His memories of his time in Hell were very limited but he was pretty sure he hadn’t been given a grand tour of the place. No. He’d been locked away
somewhere and forced to endure things that even the devil himself would have squirmed at.
He stayed behind his friend, eyes scanning the shadows, as they continued deeper into the tunnel. Evo had his not-so-demon friendly knife in his right hand ready to stick it into anything that came near, while Michael had stuck to the regular type, but he’d opted for one in each hand.
It was too damn quiet.
The distant screams had quietened down the further into the cave they’d gotten, and apart from dripping sounds and the occasional curse from Evo, there was deadly silence. Michael didn’t like it at all. Neither one of them had a clue how to find Lucifer, or what dangers they were heading for, but Michael was prepared for anything and had a feeling that the evil bastard, if he didn’t already, would know he was here soon enough.
The silence was unnerving.
After Michael and Evo argued the toss about which way they should go when they reached an intersection of tunnels−straight on, right or left−they ended up taking a right and it wasn’t long until they found a small archway in the rock. As they cautiously entered what looked like a dark cavern, bizarrely, and in the blink of an eye, they found themselves in a room that was almost. . . normal. Aside from the fact that the walls were nearly black with dirt, as well as the worn floorboards and the remains of old furniture, the room looked familiar.
“The Fuck?” Michael heard Evo say as they both stood in the middle of the room. It was like they’d just stepped through a portal that had led them straight out of the pit and. . .
Wait. Michael had been here before. As he looked closer he realised why the interior looked so dirty: It was the remnants of a fire and now he could even smell it, the harsh scent of the charred surroundings began to sting the back of his nose and throat. But where was this place?
As he walked out of the door that had now replaced the archway they’d both just come through he gasped, awash with confusion at the fact that he hadn’t returned back to the cave. Instead, he was in a hallway that was much more of the same: blackened walls with burnt out pictures hanging upon them. A strange pull was leading him down towards three doors at the end: two on the left and one on the right. It was the one on the right that he went to.