by Lillian Grey
Vanessa Stanton
Chapter 40.0
It was silent for the rest of the ride to the airport. We just managed to catch a flight and not having baggage let us reach the gate just in time. For the entire flight, he looked out of the window and I could tell he was thinking deeply about Aaliyah. Likewise, I was thinking about Alik… Or more so what flaw in me would drive him away from me like this? Was he still so worried about hurting me after Aaliyah did whatever to him? Or maybe she didn’t do anything to him; maybe it just wasn't strong enough the first time? Was my hold on him really so weak because I was just a human? Now that he found a vampire that was much stronger than the others, did he not want me anymore? Everyone called him a genius and gifted, could he only love someone on his level? "We will be arriving in Jamaica in a few moments, please fasten your seat belts," came the voice of a lady over the plane’s intercom and we began to descend and landed shortly after.
"So now what?" I asked as we left the plane.
"What do you mean?" he replied, looking around.
"How are we supposed to find Eden?"
"Oh, he’s not that far from here.”
We walked over to the car rentals’ area and skipped the desk and walked into the lot of cars. He mumbled to himself about color and I think makes and models until we stopped at an Audi SUV. He waved his palm over the locks and it clicked, the same with the ignition. No one gave us so much as a second glance as we left.
“I was beginning to think you had no powers,” I couldn’t stop myself from saying.
“Watch it girl, I rather not kill you.”
“It’s just that we drove to the airport, took a plane, and just stole a car. Is there no transportation spell or something?”
“What I do isn’t magic like you read in some Harry Potter book. My manipulations are precise changes in the states of what you know to be matter. I have never moved a human before and if I so much as miss the slightest thing, you could end up inside out. I need you alive, a few hours on a plane won’t kill you as easily as I could.”
“Oh, okay,” I said, thankful for the flight.
The picture perfect beaches were gone, replaced with shabby shacks and rough dirt roads. The people watched us as we drove by as if they knew who was in the car with me. The feeling became more and more ominous as we drove on until we came to a random house. It looked to be falling apart with holes in the walls and glasses. On the porch sat a man in raggedy-patched clothes, his long dreadlocks matted with dirt in odd contrast with his caramel colored skin. Lucifer stopped the car and got out; I followed as he walked up onto the porch.
“How ya’ doin’?” said the man.
“Eden, stop the games,” said Lucifer, as if Eden’s disguise was badly done. If this was a disguise, I thought it was a very good one. I’d never take this man as God.
“How ya’ be knowing meh name? I don’t eva remember selling’ to ya’.”
“Have you been in this form so long that you forgot what you are?”
“Look brotha’ I don’t know what ya’ talking bout, but if ya’ wants ta’ buy something, I got all kinds of stuff ya can’t get anywhere else,” the man stated, confused, but he still seemed intent on selling us something.
Lucifer sighed and then sunk down into an attacking posture. His kick was so fast that you could see the force move the tall weeds around the house. The man seemed to act out of instinct. He pushed off the porch with his feet and flipped the bench he was sitting on and rolled behind it. Then, a bright light began to form behind the bench and Lucifer yelled for me to run. I ran for the SUV and covered my head just as the bench was blown apart and Lucifer caught the light in his hand. The impact caused a shock wave that was strong enough to be visible. Lucifer was struggling with the light that was now a ball in his hand. With a heave, he slammed it into the porch, which shook the ground so violently that the SUV’s windows shattered and the tires popped.
“Felt like you were really trying to kill me there,” Lucifer said, standing and brushing dust off himself. The house, along with the others for about a mile, now lay scattered in the weeds, blown off their foundations.
“Well, keep your feet on the ground next time,” a man dressed in loose white cotton pants and a matching button up shirt said. He had a straw hat tilted to the right with a thin black feather in it and small circle glasses; the dreadlocks were now gone and replaced with a neat low cut hairstyle.
“How long were you in that form?” Lucifer asked, seeming to want to keep this meeting friendly.
“I think the better part of a hundred years. The people around here started to praise me as some god,” he said, looking around. I did as well and this time, I noticed the bodies that lay with the wreckage. “You getting sentimental, saving that one human, Lucifer?” asked Eden stiffly.
“No, she’s needed is all.”
“Something to do with why you made the visit?”
“Aaliyah is free, Eden,” Lucifer informed, changing the topic.
“You know, we got lucky last time we sealed her. She could kill us this time.” Eden didn’t seem worried at the prospect of death.
“Unless we kill her first.”
“You sure about that? Last time…” Eden started, still sounding indifferent, but his face gave away another emotion.
“Was another place and time,” Lucifer finished through clenched teeth.
“Well, I can’t find her with all your other fanged friends populating the world now. We may have to wait for her to show herself.”
“That’s what the human is for.”
“Girl, come here,” Eden beckoned, but I watched, still in the SUV. I hadn’t noticed the deep cut on my arm as it healed nearly instantly.
“She is a hybrid; she’s still human, but with a few vampire upgrades thanks to their blood. Your little trick won’t work on her.”
“Vanessa, will you please come over here?”he asked this time, not commanding like he was at first.
“How do you know my name?” I asked, opening the door slowly.
“You do know who I am, right?” I was getting tired of people using a tone that implied I had asked a stupid question even if it was a stupid question.
“Okay, yes, stupid question. So do you know everything else?”
“No, I can’t really get a read on you; that stupid vampire blood of yours is stopping me.”
“Then how did you know my name?”
“He shouted it when he told you to run,” he said in that matter-of-fact tone again.
“But you said…”
“It’s a habit to use every chance to make myself seem great and powerful. So, what is your part in all of this?”
I started to explain the situation and as I went on, his expressions went from surprise to loathing, and then back to understanding. I had lived this story up until this point, so I figured it was just the shock of what had gone on.
“What is it with you two and loving evil? Of all the things I create, you pick the evil.”
“They are not evil; you just consider everything you do to be good and all else evil,” Lucifer claimed.
“No, you just remixed my humans, messing with their good nature.”
“What nature? You made beings that lust for power and self-worth. You enhanced emotions and toned empathy; don’t blame others for living up to your expectations of life.”
“Both of your emotions could destroy the world.” Shouted Eden.
“Rebuild it again. Like you care what happens to the humans. Look at what you’ve done here. You always were a cold hearted bastard, you know that?”Lucifer rebuked.
“You always were a sentimental dumb ass.”
“Can you two stop? There are more important things to do,” I cut in. I couldn’t believe I had to break up name calling between God and the Devil.
“So how long is it going to take the vampire to find her?” asked Eden.
“I don’t know, are you in a rush?” asked Lucifer.
“Well, wha
t do you expect for us to do while we wait?”
My phone rang in my pocket. Could Lilith have found Aaliyah already? When I looked down, it was June who was calling me.
"Hello?”
"Vanessa, it’s June," she said and there was something off about her tone that I couldn’t place.
"Hey. Have you found Aaliyah yet? I suppose Lilith has told you the story by now."
"Yeah, we know where she is, but we didn’t find her, she came to us."
"What do you mean?"
"Lilith is dead. Aaliyah killed her in person."
"No!" I screamed in my mind as I dropped to my knees in the dirt, tears forming in my eyes. Lucifer came over and took the phone from me.
"June, my name is Lucifer. It is important that you tell me where you are."
"I’m with Lilith's body in her penthouse in New York."
"Stay there; we will be there in a moment," he said as he ended the call.
"Come here, Vanessa," Eden called over, holding out his hand. There was a strange feeling as if I had been dipped in cool water and everything went black as I touched his hand. Suspended in time, I fell screaming for help as I imagined Lilith dead before me. My voice grew shrill and my eyes dried as I lost the ability to cry. The pain and sorrow I felt couldn’t be expressed; it bottled up inside of me until I exploded. Light burst into my world and I blinked. When my eyes opened, I was looking around Lilith's penthouse.
“What was that…” I gasped.
“Your emotions and conscious mixed as we traveled. For a moment, you experienced an intense projection of your emotions,” Eden said, releasing my hand.
I looked around and saw June on the floor next to Lilith and it was more painful than in my hallucination. Strips of scarlet traced June’s face; specks of blood littered her shirt. I held out my arms to June and she came over, resting her head on my shoulder and we cried. Lucifer and Eden walked about the room as if they were both looking for something and at the same time, came to kneel by Lilith’s body. Eden took Lilith’s wrist in his hand and suddenly it was like the room was out of focus. The broken glass and things around the room were overlaid with where they should have been; Lilith was on the phone in the seat next to June and me. I reached out and my fingers slipped through her as if she wasn’t here. Lilith looked up from her call and I followed her gaze. Aaliyah was leaning against a wall, watching her. Aaliyah walked over to Lilith and placed a hand on her chin tilting her head back. Their lips met and Aaliyah laid Lilith on the couch under her. When the kiss ended something so loving turned to hate and Lilith threw Aaliyah off of her before Aaliyah's fingers made their way around her throat. Lilith dodged Aaliyah’s attempt to grab her and moved for a sword on the wall, but Aaliyah turned and caught Lilith by the waist. There was no fighting Aaliyah’s power, it seemed. Lilith was thrown about the room like a rag doll. Aaliyah would allow her to get up and recover before her next savage attack until Lilith looked unable to get up anymore; she had lost so much blood. In the ghostly replay, Lilith now lay where she was and Aaliyah bent over her and bit into her neck. You could see the life in Lilith’s eyes being slowly sucked out of her body until her once bright eyes were cloudy with a dull mist. Aaliyah stood up and looked down to where Eden and Lucifer knelt, as if she knew they were there.
“Lucifer, I know you will find this impression. Why are you playing these little games? You and Eden both know where I will be, so meet me there in three days.”
“Lucifer, protect Vanessa, please. I beg of you…” Lilith struggled to say.
“Quiet, you traitor. I am saving your little human pet for last. I know that fool will bring her with him; he couldn’t stop himself if he tried. She is the last link Alik holds to those pathetic humans and once she is gone, he will be all mine. Maybe he will kill her himself.”
“My son would never,” coughed Lilith. “You will be the one he kills, you bitch.”
“I know your so-called son better than you ever have; he won’t betray me, unlike you,” she spat, placing her foot on Lilith’s face. “He will thank me for killing you and only be sorry he did not do it himself.” She broke Lilith’s neck with a flick of her foot. There was no way her body could heal that damage in its state and Lilith’s eyes looked to where I was sitting as the last life left them. Aaliyah held out her palm to where it was directly over Lilith’s face and a white mist rose from Lilith’s body. Aaliyah collected the mist until it began to swirl and form a tiny white ball. “I will see you in three days, Lucifer. Oh, and don’t worry about the girl; I want you to bring her with you, so I will not harm her. She can go say goodbye to her family if she wishes.” Then, she closed her fist and the ball cracked and exploded in silence. No scream filled the air as it had the other times I’d seen this happen; there was just a soundless void and Aaliyah turned and slowly walked out of the room and everything came back into focus.
Lucifer and Eden stood up and looked at each other; understanding seemed to pass between them.
“What did she mean when she said that you know where she will be?” I asked in a shaken voice.
“She's in my garden and won't let us in for three days,” said Eden.
Alyon Alik
Chapter 41.0
The young girl awoke hours after having blood for the first time in a room of stone back in her home country, but she did not know it yet. I sat with her, a book in hand, reading as rapidly as possible, the library within the temple we called home was filled with secrets I had never dared to imagine. All of a sudden the girl sat up very fast and I moved to her side.
"Shhhhh." I cooed trying to calm her sitting next to her on her bed, but she didn’t seem to need any calming.
She was no longer the scared girl she was in New York, instead she seemed collected and cool despite the situation. So I took a step back and she turned in the bed to swing her feet over the edge and standing. Standing seemed to be a new sensation for her, but she quickly tested her limbs with a series of movements and hops.
"Do you have a name?" I asked her and she just looked at me.
"Her name is Luna," Aaliyah announced as she walked into the room sitting down on a table close to the girls bed. "She is your new shadow; she will do everything you ask of her." Aaliyah wiped the hair out of Luna’s face. "Won’t you?" The girl looked terrified by Aaliyah’s touch and she slid behind me. Aaliyah stood. "Good, she knows her place." Aaliyah gave me a kiss and left the room.
"Luna, it’s okay," I said, leaning down. The girl relaxed. "If you don’t mind, I would like to try something," I told her and she nodded.
The temple we were in was a pyramid almost twenty stories tall in the middle of the Garden of Eden. Its exterior was smooth except for a line of stairs rising to nearly half the height of the pyramid. Its capstone was an onyx gem that shone in the light of day, casting a dark shadow on the surrounding forest. The interior seemed to have grown over time. I found books in the library about the structure and one contained the plans for the current structure and days before with blank pages in the end. It made me wonder whether or not the pyramid recorded its own growth. Vanessa would have been fascinated by all of this, but I had to block this thought from my mind.
However, what I was interested in was the young girl following so closely behind me that she could have been my shadow. I took her to a large room filled with weapons for hand to hand combat: swords, knives, daggers, axes, and anything you could think of lined the walls of the rectangular room.
“Pick whatever you like the most," I told her and she timidly moved off and searched the walls. I went to a section of swords and pulled down a katana, my sword of choice, placing it hidden behind my back. She ended up with a unique Japanese sword of her own, its blade was longer than that of a katana’s with the sheath and hilt it was maybe an inch shy of her own height. "Are you sure?" I asked her, she nodded. "Defend yourself."
I attacked her, moving as fast as I could. I drew the sword and made a slash, but she vanished. She reappeared behind me, clutching
the sword in her hands to her chest as if it were a teddy bear. I moved again and she blocked the swing, holding the sword out as if she was scared. I took a short hop back and readied to attack again. I moved and she took a hop back, I attacked again and she took a hop back. I moved again and she hopped to the left. I then took a hop back and she attacked out of nowhere, drawing the sword I didn’t think she had the arm length to draw. A series of savage attacks followed, each more creative and powerful than the last. We fought like this for thirty minutes her main shortcoming was she wasted more energy than she should have with every swing.
I didn’t know what it was I was supposed to do while here and I was given a girl who seemed more scared than anything, so I spent the day teaching her how to fight. It seemed to relax her as we went on, giving her a sense of power she hadn't known after being helpless for so long. That was until Aaliyah returned with Ceil in tow behind her. Luna, who had been crouched to attack immediately assumed a submissive posture and moved to my side, clutching her sword to her chest.