Revelation: Trinity Part 1

by Gemma Humphrey

  ***

  Ana stretched out beside Rose, in a patch of grass at Christ’s Pieces Park.

  They’d found a secluded spot, just off Milton’s Walk, lined by trees, tucked into the corner of the park, far away from the boys kicking footballs across the field, and dogs being walked, and the steady thrum of chatter as people made their way across the park mingled with the call of birds and the rustle of the breeze through the trees, the scent of freshly cut grass wafting by.

  “Is Christian taking you to the Ball?” Ana asked, smiling up at the spring rays that filtered through the canopy of green above her.

  “No.” Rose was trying to manipulate the growth of the daffodil buds below the trees, stating intently. “I’m meeting him there.”

  Ana frowned in sympathy. “Is that because of the whole student-teacher thing?” Rose nodded.

  “That sucks,” Ana sympathised. “But you can come with me and Ben,” she offered, “If you want.”

  “I don’t know,” Rose looked up from the bud that was slowly dragging itself out of the earth. “I don’t want to intrude – there’s nothing as fun as a third wheel.”

  “It’ll be fine.” Ana said, “We’d only head over with you anyway – with or without Christian.”

  Rose nodded, allowing that. “You sure you don’t mind?”

  “Nope. It’ll be fun! We can get ready together.”

  Rose smiled. “Thanks.”

  “So what are you thinking of wearing?” Ana asked, as she stretched out again.

  The daffodil Rose was focusing on bloomed to life in front of her. “I don’t know. I was playing with the idea of wearing purple,” Rose said, with a smile, “As it seems to be my colour now.”

  “That’s pretty,” Ana gestured at the daffodil before contemplating. “Purple works,” she decided, with a nod. “I’ll go in blue – that way we’ll match.”

  They giggled as Rose turned her attention to the petals, turning them a rich dark purple, which faded to a light blue.

  “You’re getting good at that,” Ana noted, as it turned back to yellow.

  “It’s getting easier,” Rose agreed, “Since we’ve stopped pushing what I can’t do and focused on elemental work, It’s come fairly quickly.” She stared at the flower in front of her. “I still don’t see how I’ll end wars though.”

  “Maybe there is something we’re missing,” Ana suggested. “Like before. We didn’t know you could work with the elements until you tried.” She smiled, “You’ll figure it out in time.”

  Rose nodded, her eyes still on the flowers as she made another grow.

  Ana spied a pack of bubble mixture in Rose’s bag and reached out for it. “What’s this?” she asked, curiously. “Bubbles?”

  “Christian picked it up,” Rose said. “I’ve been using it to practice.”

  Ana opened the lid, drawing out the little wand inside. She blew a cloud of bubbles into the air and they fell around her.

  “Let me show you,” Rose said, and Ana handed the pot over before her eyes focused on something behind Rose.

  Rose turned and spotted two girls heading towards her. Checking their aura’s at Ana’s pointed look, she found both were blue – one the lighter shade of the Nephilim.

  Rose had seen the occasional Naphil aura in large groups of students – there weren’t many around – but none had ever looked to engage her in conversation as these girls seemed about to. She put the bubble wand back into its little pot as the pair reached them.

  “Hi,” A thin girl with wispy blonde hair greeted them, her black haired friend looking around cautiously.

  “Hello,” Ana said as Rose nodded in greeting. The girls continued to look around, clearly searching, before Ana spoke up.

  “Have you lost something?”

  The black haired girl looked over from where she had been studying the trees, her eyes rimmed in thick black eyeliner. “Uh,” she looked to her friend, “No,” she said, “I just thought I… heard something.”

  Rose shot Ana a look, who nodded. Both knew that they hadn’t heard something, so much as felt it.

  The blonde shrugged. “Well there’s nothing here,” she said to her friend, before spotting the daffodils. “Oh pretty,” she nodded to the blooms. “I’ve not seen any that big this year,” she frowned, almost imperceptivity. “Anyway,” she shook her head as she moved back, as she turned. ““See you around.”

  She nodded goodbye, before following the other girl back across the field, throwing them one last look over her shoulder. Rose and Ana stayed silent until they were far enough away to not be overheard.

  “That was weird,” Ana said eventually, watching them go.

  Rose nodded. “It must be getting stronger.” She looked to Ana in concern. “Can you feel anything?”

  Ana nodded. “I’ve felt it a couple of times now,” she said, “I wondered if it was just because I knew it was happening…”

  “I don’t know what to do about it,” Rose admitted, eventually. “If I don’t learn, I can’t protect myself, but if I do, I’ll draw them to me faster.” She looked at Ana, “It’s a vicious circle.”

  “A couple of Nephilim won’t hurt,” Ana shrugged, “And you’ve not been attacked again, right?”

  Rose hesitated, looking at Ana cautiously.

  “Rose?”

  “I’ve been feeling watched,” she admitted, “And not just from Christian – I know what that feels like.”

  “Does Christian know?”

  Rose shook her head. “He’s worried enough as it is. I didn’t want to make him think he needed to be around me every waking minute.”

  Ana frowned.

  “It’s nothing,” Rose insisted, “It’s not like anyone has tried to hurt me. Not since…” she trailed off, not wanting to think about her attack – or Nate.

  Ana contemplated her, before she shrugged. “I guess he doesn’t need to worry any more than he already does.” She rolled her eyes; Christian was the world’s best worrier. “I’d feel better if he knew though.”

  “I’ll tell him,” Rose said, “Just not right now.”

  Ana nodded, thoughtfully, “You know him best I guess.” She reached for the bottle on the grass, offering it to Rose, “Now, what were you going to show me?”

  Rose grinned, pulling out the wand. “Watch,” she instructed, before blowing a string of glistening bubbles. They began to bob – not falling to the ground as they should. She blew them gently, spinning them around Ana as she dipped the wand back into the pot, adding to the whirling orbs.

  Ana gasped in delight, reaching out to one. Rose concentrated and it floated into Ana’s hand, sitting in her open palms without bursting, as the others continued to pirouette around her – reflecting refracted prisms of colour, as they swirled in the air.

  The snap of a twig, too close to their hidden corner, had the bubbles all bursting at once, shattered around Ana like tiny, silken fireworks.

  “Oops!” Rose winced, her eyes on the tree-line, relieved to find no-one there.

  “Never mind,” Ana said, standing up and brushing down her jeans. “We’ve got to meet Ben anyway.”

  Rose packed up and they headed out, chatting as they wandered along the path through the dappled sunlight.

  ***

  Nate was walking through the park, on an errand for Elle, when he felt the tug of the Archon. He hesitated, feet rooted to the spot, knowing he should ignore it, before giving in and following it to a secluded corner, sheltered by trees.

  Peering through the foliage, he spotted Rose laughing at Ana who was surrounded by a whirlwind of what appeared to be bubbles, giggling as they shimmered and wheeled in the air. Rose looked fresh and happy as she stretched out on the grass contentedly. The sound of her laugh rang out again and Nate felt light, chuckling quietly as Rose made the bubbles change direction – just enjoying a moment of fun.

  His heart constricted as he caught himself, realising that he was supposed to be staying away from her. He’d avoided he
r at all costs since their almost-kiss – determinedly flushing her from his system with a little help from Elle’s eager administrations and a steady dose of alcohol. Yet, here he was, tormenting himself over one small glimpse.

  He shifted his weight in frustration, wincing at the crack of a twig under his feet – to be caught snooping like some kind of peeping tom was all he needed.

  Rose turned towards the sound, and Nate heart jumped as she appeared to look right at him, but the bubbles burst, and she turned her attention back to Ana, who was mildly stunned by the mini-explosion.

  Nate watched as they packed up and headed off, the sun highlighting the red tones in Rose’s hair wherever it hit. She was beautiful, he mused, as she tossed her head back in a laugh at something Ana said, the longing he felt catching him off guard as always.

  It didn’t matter, he reminded himself, forcefully. In a few weeks, she would be out of his life for good. He could forget her and all the emotional baggage she came with. Nate sighed, realising that it couldn’t come quick enough as he made his way back across the park in the opposite direction, ignoring the pull of his heart.

  ***

  Christian walked through the dark streets of Cambridge, enjoying the stillness, the quiet of the empty streets.

  It had been a busy few weeks for him. Rose’s Beacon was ringing out louder now, and the Celestia had been flocking to Cambridge in their droves. Christian had been working to intercept them, keeping them away from Rose in any way he could.

  It was the Nephilim he’d seen the most, entirely unaware of why they were suddenly drawn to visit Cambridge, following an invisible tug in their ribs that they couldn’t explain.

  Christian nodded in greeting to all those he saw, and they usually nodded back, seeing in him what their conscious minds could never acknowledge – that they were similar, that he too, walked through this world with secrets on his shoulder.

  It was a lonely life for most Nephilim. Ana was one of the very few exceptions Christian had seen in his lifetime. They were nomads, imbued with a desire to roam, and had an intrinsic respect for the world around them, a desire to see it all. They never married or had children of their own, somehow knowing that there would come a time when they would have to say goodbye to those they loved. To pack up and leave whatever home they managed to create, lest their unnaturally long lives give them away as … other.

  To his surprise, the Cambion – the Fallen equivalent – were much the same, They too, came in the day, lacking the desire to hide, lacking the understanding of what they sought. They arrived to search the city, departing only when they realised the tug they felt could not be traced – not by them, at least.

  It wasn’t for Nephilim, or Cambion that Christian searched the streets in the early hours each morning. Nor was it the various Celestia that had visited, seeking him out as they felt his presence. They were usually nothing more than Messengers, those higher up the choirs seeming to have some insight into what they were feeling, some understanding of what –of who – created that pull.

  No, it wasn’t the light that Christian searched for, prowling through the city each night, but the shadows. Those that arrived under the cover of darkness, who followed the pull in the dead of night.

  Christian had slain many Fallen these past weeks, dispatched in ever increasing numbers, and still they came.

  He knew Rose was aware of those that sought her out, of the rise in numbers over the past week. He had felt her reactions when she had sensed the glimmer of the Nephilim, the Cambion, even the Messengers curious enough to risk a glimpse of the legendary Archon.

  The fact that she didn’t tell him both frustrated Christian, and warmed his heart. There was no malice to her lies, only a desire to keep him safe – protect him. A thought that had him smiling in the darkness.

  It was why he hadn’t told her about his nightly wanderings. Why he had let her keep the illusion of normality. He held back the dark each night, so that she could still enjoy the light – at least for now. At least for a little while longer.

  Christian felt his senses flicker, registering a presence, a threat, and cocked his head in its direction, measuring. His blood hissed through his veins, the welcome rush of adrenalin coiling through his body, even as he stilled, waited.

  He smiled again, into the dark, and it was no longer the smile of a lover thinking of his heart, but the smile of a predator scenting his prey.

  His steps were light as he skulked through the deserted streets, a wolf in a concrete forest.

  There were a number of them – more than three, less than ten, and he tracked them away from the main streets, into a small, industrial courtyard.

  Just one road over from where students began to pile into taxis, seven demons stalked past a mechanic’s workshop, one single bulkhead light garishly illuminating their path through the brick buildings.

  Christian followed noiselessly, assessing their rudimentary battle gear with a critical eye until a glint of silver caught his attention; two swords, slung haphazardly across the back of the demon closest to him, who talked quietly with another. Grinning at his good fortune, Christian strode forward, uncaring as his footsteps echoed against the concrete.

  He was reaching for them by the time the second man turned, too late to stop as Christian grabbed the tarnished silver grip and yanked them from their sheaths in a hiss of metal. He strode past, testing their weight as he flipped them backwards, driving one under each arm – and straight into the chests of the men who had moved, as one, to re-claim them.

  The commotion had the remaining five turning, but Christian was already running, launching a flying kick to the chest of the man directly in his path, kicking out at another before he’d even hit the ground.

  A warning sing of metal had him whirling to deflect a blade intended for his neck, simultaneously parrying a strike to his chest, enjoying the shock reverberate up his arms as he blocked; it had been far too long since he’d fought with a sword.

  Sending the first to his knees with a vicious kick to the groin, he sliced at the unguarded chest of another, dodging an attack to his back before his sword ran home, sinking deep under the ribs of a demon, who snarled as blood bubbled from his lips.

  But Christian was already turning to skewer another, using the impaled man as a shield as he wheeled to kick yet another in the face.

  He spun, one blade slicing into a throat, blood spilling crimson onto the concrete, before the other sank into a chest, the demon crumpling to the ground, glassy eyes still wide in pain.

  Christian exhaled, turning slowly to the one remaining demon, blood dripping from his rapidly swelling nose. He held out his hands in surrender, stepped back on his heels, as if to escape – and Christian thrust his blade into his chest, watching with grim satisfaction, as he slumped to the floor.

  ***

  It was three in the morning, when Rose, Ben and Ana collapsed onto the grass by the banks of the river, deciding that they couldn’t take any more dancing. The party was in full swing around them in the grounds of Magdalene College – music and laughter drowning out any attempts at conversation.

  They’d made it to the end of term. Exams were done and final papers had been handed in. There was no going back – for better or worse.

  Rose felt lightheaded, the alcohol buzzing through her veins, the stars wheeling above her as she stared up at the inky sky, not a cloud in sight.

  “Bit different to the Pembroke affair,” she huffed a laugh, remembering the refined garden party they’d attended just days before. There they’d been served cocktails as a jazz band crooned quietly in one of the courtyards on campus. Compared to that, this was bedlam.

  “No!!” Ana was giggling, kicking her legs about like an excited toddler as Ben leaned over, his fingers running up and down her sides playfully. “Don’t tickle me!” she shrieked as he continued, grinning. “I’m not responsible for your injuries if you tickle me!”

  Ben grabbed her ankle as her foot veered dangerously in his di
rection, proving her point.

  Rose propped herself up on her elbows as she gazed about, watching with interest as three students she didn’t recognise took part in a bizarre ritual consisting of drinking alcohol through a fish smeared in what looked like marmite. Rose gagged and looked away as everyone cheered around them.

  Ben, who had stopped tickling Ana to watch another group dragging a large paddling pool out onto the grass, began to chuckle. “They’re about to start the jelly wrestling.” He grinned as two girls stripped down to their underwear and stepped into the pool, their shrieks ringing out into the night as jelly squelched between their toes.

  Rose, not in the slightest bit interested in watching a group of drunken girls get covered in jelly, sat up. “That’s it,” she declared, as the first cheers went up from the growing crowd, “I’m going home.”

  “Take me with you,” Ana muttered, already half asleep where she lay, using Ben’s arm as a pillow.

  Rose pulled herself to her feet, grabbing Ana’s outstretched hand and attempting to pull her up – before she lost her balance and hit the floor, her tailbone jarring against the cold ground.

  Ben huffed a laugh at her surprised expression as he reached out to her, miraculously managing to get her upright again.

  “Leave this one to me,” he said, nodding at Ana. “You just concentrate on staying on your feet.”

  Rose giggled as she swayed, before being engulfed in a pair of muscular limbs. Christian swept her up into his arms easily, chuckling as he took in the state of her.

  “Christian!” Rose exclaimed happily, reaching up to grab his face, planting a wet kiss on his lips.

  “You’re wrecked,” he chastised, his eyes flashing in amusement as she trailed kisses down his neck.