by Idella Breen
I was speechless as I walked next to June. Then something she said bothered me. “You said you have to play it on a demons violin? What is that?”
June frowned. “A demons violin is made of gold but only certain people can play it.”
“What do you mean?”
June stopped and turned to me. “It’s a demonic treasure that only high ranking demons possess. To play it, a person’s pain must be greater than the pain the violin can inflict.”
“What happens if it isn’t?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“So we’re going to get Kaleb to play it?”
“No, Eliza.”
“No?”
“He is forbidden to play it for an angel. It would break the rules of the truce between the angels and the demons.”
I frowned. “So, who’s going to play it.”
She didn’t answer but began walking again. I reached out and grabbed her hand. “June, we talked about this.”
She signed but turned back. “I am, Eliza. I’m going to play the violin.”
***
“The hell you are!”
“We don’t have time for this.”
“Then make time for it!”
June met my angry gaze with a patient one. “Eliza, we don’t have a choice.”
I frowned. “There’s always a choice.”
She smiled and nodded. “You’re right. You made your’s now let me make mine.”
I let go, but she reached out and locked our fingers together. She pulled me in the direction of an empty apartment building. No longer were we on the sidewalk just outside an alleyway. I suddenly realized that while we were speaking June had moved us through another portal. It was reassuring that my stomach didn’t flip out this time. Maybe, I was getting used to it. The abandoned building had boards covering all of the entrances but June walked us around to the side of it and paused in front of a window. She reached out and pushed on the board covering the window, and it slid out of the way.
“Come on,” June whispered and stepped through the hole. Taking a deep breath, I followed her and stepped through the opening. I expected it to be dark and cold inside but as I stepped passed the threshold a tamed heat wrapped around me and a subtle light illuminated the open space that could have been a living room once. The light was coming from candles scattered about the room.
I turned to June as she reached out for my hand again. “Are there people here?”
She nodded and whispered. “Stay next to me.”
“Okay.”
She pulled me into the room and led me through a hallway. Trash littered the floor, and I gasped when a rat ran across my path disappearing into an open room. We came to a flight of stairs leading up but I hesitated when I put my weight on the first step, and it gave a little too much under my foot. I tried to step back, but June wouldn’t release her hold on my hand.
“Don’t worry. I’ve got you.”
I nodded and followed after her quickly. The stairs led up to another hallway with several closed doors. I could hear hushed voices coming from the other rooms as we walked passed them and came to a pause by the door third from the left. June reached out and turned the knob, pushing it open.
The smell that was released from the room was a mixture of rotten food, body odor, and the result of bodily functions. I gasped and immediately regretted it. Covering my mouth and nose, I attempted to rid myself of the vile odor but was unsuccessful. June seemed unaffected as she pulled me into the room. It was warmer than the rest of the house. I glanced around and found the source of heat and light. A small fireplace at the far end of the room was the reason for both. It was well stoked with what looked like books and newspapers. There even seemed to be clothing burning in the flames.
Letting my eyes trail around the rest of the room I was able to see that there were old ratty mattresses scattered about containing several people in varying states of dress. Some were completely bare while others were partially clothed. No one seemed to mind the chill that was still in the room despite the heat of the fire.
“What-“
June held up her hand silencing whatever questions I wanted to ask. She had scanned the room before her gaze seemed to settle on a teenage boy. She pulled me in his direction. I watched as the boy whispered something into a woman’s ear all while closing her hand around an uncapped needle. The woman’s eyes were empty as she plunged the needle without hesitation into the crook of her arm. Her whole body seemed to pull taught at the sudden intrusion, but as she pushed the plunger forward, she seemed to sag in some relief until she drooped then fell back onto the mattress.
We came to a halt behind the boy and June cleared her throat getting his attention. He looked up at us confused for a moment before a wicked grin spread across his face.
“Kaleb,” June stated in even tones.
He chuckled and stood. His youthful face threw me off as I was used to his mature features. The eyes that met mine were still as dark as I remembered, though. His voice was boyish and cracked a little as he spoke as if he was just entering puberty. “June! I see you’ve brought me a snack.”
I shuddered, and her hand tightened around mine.
“Kaleb, I’ve come for your treasure.”
He tilted his head to the side as he studied June. “My violin?”
She nodded, and he grinned. “Has Death requested something unreasonable? I wonder what that old bastard has up his sleeves this time?”
“Your violin.”
He pouted. A cruel expression on such boyish and haggard features. “You’re no fun.”
“Kaleb.” She warned.
“Yes, my dear. I hear you. I’ll lend it to you then but only until sunset.”
June frowned. “Aren’t you going to ask for something in return?”
He grinned. “Do you want me to?”
She didn’t answer so he continued. “June, June, June. How little you think of me? I have a good idea of what you have planned and I dare say that it will be payment enough to watch an angel shed tears. Those self-righteous winged beasts always piss me off. Let’s just say that you are doing me a favor.”
I glanced to June. She didn’t seem convinced. I tightened my grip on her hand. “Just take it June,” I whispered to her.
She sighed but held out her hand. Kaleb smirked and snapped his fingers. A golden violin materialized in June’s hand. She held it with ease despite the material it was made from. I felt a tug on my hand as she began to lead me away from the demon, but he reached out and grabbed my shoulder stopping us.
“You do know the payment to play a song, right?”
I nodded. “Pain.”
He grinned. “Be careful, it tends to be greedy.”
I frowned. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Kaleb released me and held his hands up in surrender. “Then have at it, kids.”
June tugged on our joined hands again. “Come on, Eliza.”
I let her lead me away from the demon, his haunting laughs echoing off the walls of the old house as I was led out. We weren’t free from them until we stepped outside the abandoned building.
“Now, we have to go to the gallery. Gabriel is still there.”
“June.”
She turned to me. I glanced down at the demonic instrument. It looked harmless, normal even, except for the fact that it was made of solid gold. Nothing would lead one to believe that it fed on the pain of the one who struck its chords. I looked back up meeting June’s gaze.
“Are you sure about this?”
“It’s the only way.”
I shook my head. “That’s not what I asked.”
She held up the violin, and I watched as her throat bobbed when she swallowed. Was she scared? Why was she so hard to read sometimes?
“You can tell me if you're afraid. I’m scared too.”
She met my gaze, hers steadfast but wary. “I’m scared. But I’m also sure.”
I nodded and held up our joined
hands between us. “Then we can be scared together.”
June smiled. “I don’t think I would mind that.”
“Good, because we’ve made our choices. Now, let's see them through until the end.”
June pulled me into her and wrapped her arm around my waist. “Are you ready?”
I leaned in and lightly kissed her lips before pulling back and smiling. She nodded then faced forward. “Then let's finish this.”
Chapter 12
The world morphed and blurred around us until it finally stilled on the surrounding of the gallery. My stomach settled quickly, and I pulled my head off of June’s shoulder. Stepping forward, June released me and looked around.
“He should be inside.”
“Should we just wait until he comes out?”
“That won’t be necessary. I’m here.”
I turned to the entrance of Philo’s only to see Gabriel exiting the gallery and making his way through the parking lot. This was it. There was no going back now. We had to get the tears then we had to figure out how to get Kaleb’s blood. Whether we would gain our freedom or not was resting on these next few hours. I just hoped that my bad luck wouldn't suddenly kick in. Taking a deep breath, I yelled. “June, now!”
She placed the violin between her chin and her shoulder. I belatedly realized that a violin is usually played with a stick called a bow, but that was absent at the moment. Instead, June took a deep breath, relaxed her shoulder and plucked one of the strings. A multitude of sounds erupted from the tiny instrument. The sound of an entire orchestra tuning at once blasted in the open air before settling on the single somber tune of a violin. Gabriel stood in place as if waiting for what was to come next. Was he expecting this?
I turned back to June and listened as she plucked several strings and a melody as haunting as it was powerful played out in the fading light of the day. The sound of the violin reverberated from the golden strings with a strength I had never known such a small instrument could wield. June's face seemed to tense in concentration as the pace at which she plucked the strings increased, and the melody played a beautiful scale.
I could feel my eyes sting as tears threatened to fall. The song carried a great deal of pain and longing. My heart clenched as I watched several emotions play out across June’s face. A masculine cry caught my attention, and I turned back to Gabriel only to see the archangel kneeling on the concrete, holding his head, flickering between the young human I knew him as and the angelic being he truly was. As June reached a crescendo, he cried out in agony, and his body settled on the angelic form.
Wings as white as untouched snow, spanning the length of the cars next to him on each side, Gabriel seemed to be illuminated from the inside by an ethereal light that permeated outwards from his very being. He groaned and fell forward resting his hands on the ground. His wings spread their full length, stretching before folding back into his back and suddenly only a man kneeled before me.
A sharp sound from the violin snapped me out of my daze, and I quickly ran forward towards the angel only to realize I had nothing to catch the tear in.
“Shit!” I pulled my purse forward and dug through it.
“Shit! Shit! Shit!” My hand brushed against something plastic, and I grasped it pulling it from my purse.
“Thank you!” I held a water bottle in my hand.
Emptying its contents quickly I dropped to my knees next to Gabriel. I was shocked by the tears streaming down the man that had always seemed like a cocky asshole whenever I bumped into him. I almost felt sorry for the guy. Then I remembered that the last time I bumped into him, he tried to kill me. “Fuck it!”
I held the bottle against his face and let a few tears dropped into it. I didn’t know how many I needed, but after a few seconds, I stood. Would it be bad karma if I kicked and angel while he was down? Shaking my head, I ran back over to June and rested my hand on her shoulder.
“June, you can stop now.”
She continued to play and didn’t even seem to register that I had spoken. “June.”
I looked down at the chords of the violin and gasped. They were covered in blood. June’s blood. I reached out and grabbed the violin, but she pushed me away and continued to play.
“June, stop! You’re hurting yourself!”
She continued to play. Plucking the strings and covering them with her blood. I dove at her, but she sidestepped out of the way.
“Stop!”
A deep throated laugh stopped another attempt at tackling her. I spun around only to watch as the shadow of a red sedan morphed and grew revealing Kaleb. His parting words rang in my ears as the demon chuckled before me. “…It tends to be greedy…”
“You!” I stalked towards him but stopped as I remembered that he was a demon and I had no way to fight him if he decided to attack me. The only two lines of defense I had against him were currently occupied and in pain.
“Me!” He gleefully answered.
“Stop her. Stop the violin.”
Kaleb grinned. “What will you give me?”
“You planned this! You planned this from the moment we took your stupid treasure.”
He shrugged. “Nothing is free in this world.”
“But you said-“
“My dear, why would you trust a demon? A demon without a contract is bound only by the power of his true name. You have neither, so I have broken no laws but a simple lie to a human.”
“But…”
He laughed. “So, I’ll ask again. What will you give me to save your lover? She’ll die you know? She’ll play until the pain consumes her and madness takes over. The payment of pain that the song she plays demands can only be paid in full by my lord and master. She was a fool to attempt to make such a payment, and now our dearest June will pay with her eternal sanity. But I can stop her. I can free her from the grips of the demonic treasure if you offer me something of value.”
I glanced to June. She will hate me. I turned back to Kaleb. “I know what you want.”
He grinned. His smooth voice was mocking as he ran a clawed hand through his dark locks. “And what is that?”
“You want my soul.”
“Ah, indeed. You are not as simple minded as I was led to believe. So, will you offer it? Your soul for her sanity?”
I squared my shoulders and met the dark abyss of his eyes. “I-“
“Ah!” A deep guttural growl cut off my answer as an enraged angel flew past me and slammed into June. She cried out as a beam of light slashed at the violin in her grasp shattering it to pieces. Gabriel stood, holding June in his grasp, with the demonic treasure at his feet. His face was blotchy and red, but his baby blue eyes were a raging ocean as he stared down the demon in front of me.
Kaleb had the wits to take a step back. The angel walked over to me and pushed June into my grasp. I fell to the ground from her weight and watched as the archangel and demon faced off.
“Now, Gabe. I’m sure we can work this out civilly. There is a truce between our kind. You wouldn’t want to be the one to break it first now would you?”
Gabriel sneered. “You are despicable, demon! Enough of you silver-tongued lies. This ends now!”
The angel raised his hand revealing the beam of light I had witnessed destroy the violin was, in fact, a blade made of light. Gabriel held it above his head and charged the demon. Kaleb attempted to morph back into the shadows but the light the angel emitted from his body blazed dissipating all the shadows, and Gabriel slashed, slicing off the demons right arm.
Kaleb cried out in agony, and his arm sizzled as it cauterized. The light faded, and the shadows quickly claimed the demon within their grasp dragging him back into his realm. The arm landed a foot away from me gushing blood. I laid June down on the ground and kissed her on the head. Then I ran over to the still bleeding arm and grabbed it. The limb wiggled a little, and I wanted to scream as the blood spurted everywhere. But I held it over the water bottle and let the crimson liquid gush into it, mixing with the salty
tears.
As I was holding it, the limb suddenly began to sizzle. I dropped it and watched as the shadows rose to claim it as it melted into them.
“Gross,” I whispered and ran back over to June. Gabriel was standing over her resting his hands on her shoulders.
“Leave her alone!” I yelled and attempted to push him away, but he was like a solid stone wall.
Gabriel chuckled and stood. “I was simply healing her wounds.”
He stepped away, and I pulled June back into my grasp. Upon closer inspection, I confirmed the truth of his words. I looked back up. “Thank you, I guess.”
The angel nodded.
I frowned up at him. “Why did you help us? You’ve been nothing but a jerk to me this whole time.”
Gabriel smiled and shrugged. “Then let me formally apologize for my misconduct during this process. All I can say in my defense is that I was but a simple angel. I have since been promoted to the rank of an archangel, and as such, I have been granted some of the wisdom from the Cogs of Time. The way I treated the both of you was unacceptable. I hope you can one day find it in yourself to forgive my actions. I may be a celestial being, but I’m not perfect. Even angels make mistakes, especially when we are young. It’s no excuse, but now that I know and understand the purpose of some things, I have come to respect the roles that you and June play in the grand scheme.”
Gabriel bowed deeply before standing straight. “June is healed, and my purpose has been served. I will return the both of you to Death.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
Gabriel nodded. “Just remember that Death is neither good nor evil. He serves a purpose. Sometimes what he does seems evil, but the truth is that his greatest concern is to keep the balance. That doesn’t mean that he has your best interests at heart. Death is a title for a position of great importance. He will do whatever it takes to keep that title.”
“I think that I understand.”
“Good.” Then he placed his hands on both of us, and the feeling of wrongness filled me as the world around me shifted. I closed my eyes and gripped onto June tightly. Going back to the Otherworld was way worse than traveling to different places in the physical realm. It always felt like someone was trying to rip my soul from my body only to let go at the very end.