Suddenly the water around me was sucked away and replaced by a bubble of air. I didn’t like that and projected the coils of my bony spine to project into shards. I did the same with my hand aiming it into the direction I could sense him and shot. My claws painfully projected forward and I nicked him. Of what part of his body I wasn’t sure. My spine clawed up the bubble of wind that constricted me and my breath. Finally, my spiny back slit the air bubble open and water gushed back in so I could take a breath.
He was trying to catch me like a damned fish. I swung my body to the side and decided I would do this the best way I knew how. Head on. Within seconds, the force of our impact met one another as he tucked his wings behind his back and propelled through the water. He wasn’t as fast as me in the water and if I wanted, I could have escaped. But I would never let anyone who attacked me, live.
I let a high-pitched siren go. Instead of clutching his ears like most did, he grabbed at my throat despite his bleeding ears. I pushed his hand away upper cutting my claws into his stomach. He blocked it and kicked me in the stomach pushing me away. I grabbed hold of his calf, piercing my claws into it. And that was the bait I realized as soon as his wings spread wide and pushed strong against the water. We broke through the surface and I let go of my grip. I was meters in the air. I had no demon that could fly and I was in the middle of the sea. Before he could grab me, I painfully allowed the spikes attached to my spine to painfully form around me like a shell. It looked like a purple coral from the inside and I knew the colors of pearl were outside. I allowed enough space to project my hand out and unleashed my long claws trying to pierce him.
He dodged it. I almost hit the water when another brush of wind gathered me high and a brush of disastrous smelling substance hit me in powder form. I screamed in pain. It felt like my insides were burning away. The powder forced my demon to retract. Whatever that powder was, it coiled my demon in a painful manner. My body couldn’t move as the glower of my tattoos faded and my back hit the water. Hard. Despite my body near being unmanageable to move I still swam but it was nothing in comparison to the sheer force of when he imploded into the water and scooped me in his arms.
I kicked and punched at him but my normal form was nothing in comparison to his sheer might. I had never met a match like this. The only person whose strength I couldn’t oppose on such a scale was Haymen’s. My hands were tied behind me and I made a last effort to wriggle out. I kicked him in the nuts which gained me the reaction I expected. When his grip loosened, I kicked off him and propelled for the water again.
I internally clapped for myself. Well done Vi. You’re plunging into water when your hands are tied behind your back. Well thought out, Sport.
Before I hit the water, he scooped me again. His face was pissed and as I went to wiggle away again his lips met mine in a wave of fury. That poisoning kiss instantly put my body to sleep.
Chapter Seven- Gabe
I crouched on the terrace of a small townhouse in a small suburb of Shabeah. I knew it would be a few hours until Haymen’s Guardian, Vivian, awoke since I put her to sleep. I was anticipating Haymen’s attention at any moment and was surprised he hadn’t yet discovered me in his city. Especially when I had swooped down on one of his flashy demon summoners.
Vivian was her name and I knew with a face like that she would’ve enticed Luke very easily. I was so pissed at him for giving into it. I was surprised by her guts to fight against me and even more so that she actually landed a few marks. I looked down at my calf that she sliced open and the puncture wounds to my stomach. Only dry blood remained, not even a mark to remain. It didn’t heal as efficiently as they usually did. Which meant this little Guardian was contracted to some high-class demons. The tattoo across her chest stretched wider than ones I have encountered before. I was curious as to why this Guardian in particular had the strength to even oppose me momentarily.
I wanted to kill her to make a statement to Haymen. A head for a head. But there was a greater purpose of confining her and taking her to the high courts. I wanted Haymen to be held accountable and slowly destroy this empire which he so proudly built. I knew he was up to something. Always have been and always would. This pet Guardian of his was my excuse to unravel that. Then I would dispose of her. I would never forgive someone who killed one of my own. This was personal as much as it was political. I loosened my tightened fist reminding myself to rein in that temper. Luke was my own. I had to make sure to play this correctly. If I lost my temper now, his sacrifice would all be for nothing.
I expect to see Haymen soon. He didn’t like it when his property was taken and I imagine he’d be pissed over this pretty doll of his. It had been a few hundred years since I last saw him and I looked forward to having something of his in my own possession. If she didn’t repulse me so much I might’ve even teased him with her in my clutches. But one thing was certain, I did plan to kill her in front of him. I needed the council’s approval and to serve her justice for the crime she committed. Either Haymen would step out of line from the treaty or I would take an eye for an eye with a public execution. None of it would bring Luke back but I couldn’t stand by and do nothing.
I watched the man in the small townhouse. I found classified information about Vivian’s former life including her previous housing. I needed more information on her so I knew who and what I was dealing with. No secrets that could discourage the high court’s opinion on her justice to be served. Haymen was selective about his Guardians and most already had some status about them. But I had found very little and an average background on her. I was woken up when Lukes body was reported dead. Lacking a cool head, I ported straight to the outskirts of Shabeah and swooped in sniffing her out. I hadn’t even thought to dress appropriately.
The male living in the townhouse was Vivian’s boyfriend five years prior to her rebirth. He still lived in the same complex that they had shared. She was a dog walker and worked part time at a café. Very ordinary and nothing that Haymen would usually go for in all his years. When the lights went out, I swooped in silently to the hinge of one of the open windows that was slightly ajar. Very unguarded for someone who lived in a central city that was run by demons. Especially with a former lover who was now demonic herself.
I opened it and held my wings in tight so my sensitive wings wouldn’t scrape the window. It was pointless, I still barely fit. A golden Labrador ran at me. Before it could bark I eased it telepathically. I could speak with animals, sooth them as a second natured gift. It was a minimal power of mine but one that comforted me at times. It was different in this era from the war horses I had spoken to years ago to now neighborhood hounds. It grimaced low and came over to sniff at me. I held out my hand where it licked and wagged its tail.
“It’s okay,” I said to him quietly. As soon as I patted him I realized that he had smelled Vivian on me and that he was crying for the owner that he had lost long ago. The pooch openly showcased memories to me of her.
“Hey boy,” her voice was sweet and so human. Her crimson hair was pulled up in a ponytail. I could feel that she was fragile. So simply human and happy.
I pulled back to the now and looked at the dog which missed his owner so much. Animals were much like children, so innocent in the sense that they would so openly display their feelings and emotions to one that they trusted. Some were more guarded than others but not this one. He had no reason to be. This dog remembered her to be a good person. I lifted up the tag of his collar and scoffed at the name.
“Lassie!” She yelled out at him in the vision I could see to be the kitchen in the room next to the one I was standing in. She was serving a dish for him.
“Hey you,” the boyfriend pushed away Lassie in playful measure to hug her from behind. Her skin seemed to flush and glow in comparison to its cold demeanor now. “Why don’t I get my meals dished up with such glee?”
“Because the dog has my full heart,” she mused and kissed him.
I was pulled out of the vision. She was telling the truth. This dog had
meant everything to her. I didn’t have the heart to tell the dog that she was now a demonic evil bitch. It was best that he thought his owner were dead.
I looked around the dark room which had boxes in it. Very little furniture remained, he was obviously moving. I didn’t bother going into the room where he slept and only inspected the rest of the house. The dog followed me around with curiosity and hope that I would return him to his true owner. An open bin caught my attention which held photos that had been thrown out.
I collected the photo from the top. It was a photo of them happily hugging with Lassie in the front. I realized that she was with child. I don’t even think she knew that she was pregnant. Women had a natural glow to them when they had conceived. For an angel of my age it was easy to see from a mile away. I took the most recent photo of them and placed it inside of my pocket.
Lassie came to me again and brushed himself against me. This time the memory was the demon summoner who watched him from afar through the window. Vivian’s crimson hair covered most of her face as she hunched over in the same spot that I stood before. Memories flooded to me of many nights when she would sit in the same spot. There was no emotion in her face only a distant stare as she watched on. Lassie would bark at her but she always made sure not to be seen by her lover.
“You seem to have verbal-vomit like your master,” I said to Lassie who looked up at me with his tongue hanging out in a smile. “Dear friend, I would like to take something from you. I need it to return to your master,” I said. I pulled out a small knife and Lassie only pulled back his ears. He wasn’t scared of me but weary of what part I guided the blade towards. I cut away apart of his lock. I would never hurt an innocent creature but the demon summoner didn’t know that and I was curious as to whether it would bring a reaction out of her. And if it did I could use it to my advantage. Because emotion was what made people unstable and I had every intention to make her and Haymen to unhinge.
Chapter Eight- Vivian
Another shadow dream memory from when I was eighteen and moved in with my boyfriend. A year had passed since my mother had died and our relationship was only new. He stuck by my side despite the hard beginning and then we decided to move in together. I had hated our first apartment. I told him that there was something about it that unsettled me. One room in particular that I couldn’t stand the feel of and made sure the door was closed at all times. It was a small house, befitting for the two of us who wanted to start afresh together. My two cats were unsettled in that house as well feeling the same unnerving presence linger. I thought that maybe it was the house, until I realized that the entity was following me. I had always seen these dreams and knew their touch that could hurt me within my sleep.
The memory was clear and it was as if I was reliving it all over again. It was a small combined living room and kitchen, very small in size. The old wooden floors had holes in some parts where you could see the ground beneath. When turning to the left, I was greeted by the three doors of my rooms in the house. The left was our room. The small one in front of me was used as storage and the third on the right was always closed. I went into my room to collect my handbag before I left for work. When I came out I stared at the flooring of where blood began to pool from that room which remained always closed.
The dream went fuzzy and lucid like it always did when I was no longer alone in my sleep. My dream was being controlled and leading me to some devastating end. The blood spread quickly towards my feet. I ran into the living room with tears, terrified of whose blood that might’ve been on the other side. I ran for the back door through the kitchen and laundry room but something grabbed me and pulled me to the left and into the bathroom.
I was grabbed from behind and a hand wrapped around my throat and angled my face up. I looked through the mirror to the stranger who held me from behind. I was greeted with the blackness of a figure, who had no definition, no eyes nor lips or anything that I could fixate on. Tears blurred my vision as it forced me to stare back at it in the mirror.
“How do you kill something that isn’t real?” The male voice purred into my ear with laughter. And he was right. It was the question I had been asking myself since I was fifteen and began receiving ‘visits’ from these entities. His laughter swelled my ears as I closed my eyes and so badly prayed to wake up. Wake up. Wake up.
My eyes burst open and I rolled over to touch the small icon on my side table. I would have to record this in the Shadow Mind Journals. Instead, I was greeted with cold stone. I properly opened my eyes and jumped up in one clean movement to search my surroundings.
There was nothing but brick walls enclosing me in darkness. Only the light blue of my tattoos brightened the room. I tried to call forth my cat demon for better sight but she was asleep. All my demons were. I put my hand to my stomach getting flickers of memory and then growled.
“Angel boy?!” I yelled, aggravated now. What on earth was that powder shit he blew on me that forced my demons to recoil and that sleeping kiss?! How had I been beat? Just because I couldn’t call forth my demons didn’t mean I was left for weak. My strength wasn’t anything to be taken lightly either. I searched the walls surrounding me even the one above which was too high for me too reach. I tapped along trying to find a weakness anywhere in the foundation. No variance. Giving up on intellect I went back to my most primitive nature. Force.
I took in a deep breath and punched into the brick of the wall. My hand crushed under the impact and I instantly retracted it. “Mother fucker!” I started cursing as I shook it back and forth realizing that only created more of a throb. I held it close to my mouth grunting into it as if the noise would bring it back to life. “What the fuck?” I said looking down on my hand that was now clearly broken. What happened to my strength? If it weren’t for the deep maroon almost black blood coming out in blotches I would’ve thought I were human again in this sedated state.
I looked around having nothing to wrap it in. Great. I sat back against the wall. I was in some kind of angel prison for a crime I didn’t even commit. Well unless this was all over Mr. Greenhouse. Then I most definitely killed him. I charmed a smile remembering his face as I emasculated him. Worth it.
I heard noises around me but couldn’t identify which side they came from. There was no clear opening to this prison. A light shot down from above and I filthily looked up at the angel boy who looked down on me. Great I was in a pit about twenty meters in the ground and had no way of scaling the walls with a broken hand. Fantastic. I wanted to personally congratulate myself on the idea of using brute force.
I could hear others speaking to him but couldn’t see them. He dismissed them and jumped into the hole. His drop was silent but his landing rocked the ground I sat on. Purposefully, I considered. A display of power. Boring.
“Rather showy wouldn’t you say?” I said wavering my good hand and clutching the other close to me in hopes that he wouldn’t see it. I wasn’t entirely sure what my healing rate would be like in this current state and I didn’t want him to know that I was weakened. Alas, it was the first thing he saw and he cocked a dirty smile.
“Broken hand?” he asked, his emerald eyes finding amusement mixed with his resentment for me. Sweet justice, he might have well said.
“More like broken heart from being so poorly treated. Most would offer to buy me a drink before they locked me in their dungeon,” I said charming a cocky smile.
“I want to kill you,” he said. “But I can’t until you admit to everything that you’ve done.”
“Yea, here’s the thing,” I said as I stood up dusting the few strands of straw on me. The floor had a few strands of hay lying about. Rather primitive. “I didn’t kill your angel lover. I’m sorry I didn’t realize you were an item. I suppose that makes this the awkward mistress talk,” I said wavering a hand between him and me.
He wrapped his hand around my throat and raised me off my feet. “Do you think this is funny?” He cussed at me, a few flecks of his spit hitting my face. Disgusting.
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“Momentarily, I did,” I said as I wiped away the spit. My words came out strangled but I kept my composure. This wasn’t my first time dealing with such conflict. “If you wanted to kill me, you would have by now,” I said through one gush of breath. “But you haven’t which means you can’t. Funny thing that treaty,” I said through a cracked smile that I knew drew blood. I didn’t close my eyes as I waited for the backhand that would come. Instead he dropped me back onto the ground. I landed on my broken hand cursing under my breath.
“I preferred you in your pajamas,” I spat, enjoying how riled he was becoming. It was too easy.
“Why did Haymen choose you?” he asked me directly. I side glanced him with a coy smile. So, he was trying to get some information on me. Perhaps Haymen and him knew each other. Suddenly, I realized this might not be about me at all. “You were nothing special before. Yet you seemed to have signed some pretty serious contracts with the sizing of your tattoos. Who are you?”
I looked down at my short-sleeved leather shirt which revealed parts of my tattoo. I looked up at him with a suave smile. “Angel Boy, did you take a peek while I was sleeping? First you disempower me, then you steal my first kiss, and now, you’re doing ennoble things to me as I sleep?” I said abashed.
He pulled a photo out of his jacket and threw it at me. I only had a brief glance and looked back at him. Aiden. It was a photo of me and Aiden. And Lassie my Labrador which I adored so much. Suddenly all humor had vanished. Which wasn’t good. For him.
“Where did you get this?” I growled trying to sound reasonable. It came out feral. I looked up at him. The size of his wingspan, even when tucked behind him, they stretched close to the walls.
He smirked at me, actually smirked. All reasoning was gone. I lunged for him. He sidestepped and pinned my good hand behind me. He pressed me against the wall. I could feel the heat radiating from him onto my back because it was so contrast to the coldness of my own. My broken hand was crushed against the brick at my stomach. I breathed out frustration, flicking my hair out of my eyes. Although pinned tightly I raised my feet against the wall and pushed back with all my might. It made him take a few steps back and I swung at him with my broken hand. He had already caught me and now pushed me into the ground my mouth tasting the straw.
The Shadow Minds Journal, #1 Page 7