by Paige Watson
“And she wouldn’t want you to risk your life. She wouldn’t want Aden to get you.”
“I have to go to her,” I said, struggling against her.
“Don’t let her death be for nothing. You still have to be protected!” She pulled me back from the center of the room, but my focus was still on Donovan.
He grinned as he wiped the blood from his blade. Then he pointed it at me. “You’re next,” he mouthed. I shuddered uncontrollably, as he began walking in my direction. Caroline still had ahold of my hand and she dragged me to where Noah was standing. I looked back at Donovan, and saw he had disappeared in the swarming mass of souls.
“Noah, you have to get out of here!”
“I’m not leaving you here,” he said, looking at Caroline.
“You have to! If Aden gets you, you’ll be as good as dead,” she yelled, trying to push him to the door. “He’ll cut your heart out.”
“I’m not leaving you here!”
I looked back and forth between them. Neither of them would back down. Suddenly, Caroline threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. The knife fell from his hand, as his arms wrapped around her waist. I just stood there, watching the two of them kiss.
“I’m sorry,” she said, when she pulled away from him.
“Why would you be sorry for that?”
“I’m not,” she answered. “I’m sorry for this,” as she spoke, she lifted up a scrap of wood and hit him on the head. He had just enough time to look startled, before he crumpled to the floor.
“Caroline! What the—?”
“Evey, you have to help me hide him!”
“What are you talking about?”
“I knew he’d never leave and I can’t bear the thought of Aden getting him. Please, help me hide him!”
“Caroline—”
“Please!” I could see tears running down her cheeks, as she grabbed his arms and started dragging him toward a small door. “I can’t lose him Evey; I won’t lose him.”
“We better hurry,” I said, as I took his legs. We pulled him over to a small closet faster than I thought possible. Inside was a broom and a couple buckets. We shoved Noah inside and covered him with a tarp. You couldn’t even tell there was a body lying beneath its surface. We shut the door and looked
back, out into the room. Masses of souls swirled into a black sea. Conrad, Helen, and Milton stood in the center of the room circling, around one another. They each had a weapon poised at the ready.
“Enough!” A voice from above us called out, ending the fighting. As if controlled by an unseen hand, the souls fled back to the shadows from which they emerged. A wave of utter fear washed over my body. I knew who the voice belonged to before I even looked up. Aden stood above us, on a small landing that stuck out over the center of the room. I looked to Conrad and saw his eyes were on me. I ran to him and jumped in his arms before I even knew what I was doing.
“I’m so sorry. I should have listened to you. You knew this was a trap.”
“It’s not your fault,” he said, kissing my forehead.
“Yes it is,” I said wiping at my tears.
“You didn’t know this would happen.” He held me to him, in a tight embrace.
“I love you more than anything,” I said, my face buried in his chest.
“I love you too.”
I turned my gaze upward, and saw Aden was watching us. His dark eyes narrowed, as he looked at me. I moved to stand in front of Conrad, trying to block him from Aden’s view. Slowly, Aden descended the steps and made his way toward all of us.
“Hello my love,” he said, his eyes never looking away from me. “It’s certainly been a long time.”
“No one here needs to get hurt. I’ll go with you and not put up a fight, if you promise everyone else here walks away,” I said, still standing in front of Conrad.
“One thing I’ll always admire about you is your heart,” he said with a sinister smile. “You never cease to put the welfare of others before yourself.”
“Aden, I’m begging you. No one has to get hurt.” I took a step toward him. “I’ll go with you, if you’ll agree to that.”
“No, you won’t,” Conrad, said taking hold of my hand.
“Let her speak for herself Bourdet,” Aden said. “Maybe she wants to come with me.”
“That’ll happen over my dead body,” Conrad growled.
“It would be my absolute pleasure to assist you with that,” Aden said, as he pulled out a long sword.
I looked at each of the two men. Conrad had his weapon out in front of him. He looked ready to strike at any moment.
“No!” Everyone turned and looked at Helen. “You promised that if I told you where to find her, you wouldn’t hurt Conrad!”
“You did what?!” Conrad shouted at her, letting anger rise into his voice.
“I knew it would only be a matter of time before he found her, I just knew it,” she sobbed. “I’ve seen you get hurt too many times because of her, and I couldn’t bear to see it happen any longer.” She took a few steps to Conrad and held out her arms to him. “Please Conrad, just let him have her and leave with me. We can walk away from all this and start a normal life together.”
“No, I’m not going to leave Evey and I never will.” He clutched his sword tightly with one hand and grabbed my hand with his other. “You’ve betrayed the Concilium and secundae by aligning yourself with him.”
“I was just trying to keep you safe! It’s what you mother and Cecily would have wanted.”
“You don’t know anything about what they would have wanted!” he yelled.
“I know what they went through after you died, because I was there! I stayed with them for weeks. I held Cecily at night as she cried for you. And you know what happened to me when you were gone, you know what I did.” She enunciated her last statement as she stared at Conrad.
“And yet you teamed up with the man who had me killed.”
“It was the only way to protect you. It was the only way to be sure I’d see you again,” she pleaded.
“It doesn’t matter either way, because I’m still going to kill him,” Aden said, brandishing his sword.
“What?” Helen looked at him in surprise.
“Oh come on,” he said, brushing a dark curl from his eyes. “You didn’t actually think I would let him go just like that, did you?”
“I—”
He took a few more steps in our direction before stopping. He was a couple inches shorter than Conrad but looked just as strong. I wanted all of this to end. I didn’t want to inflict pain on anyone else. “Please, Aden, it doesn’t have to end this way.”
“When you sleep with my wife, in the bed I gave her as a wedding present, I’m afraid it does.” His dark eyes were glued on Conrad. Everything about him seemed to be masked in shadows; from his dark eyes and hair, to his black clothes. His mouth contorted into a snarl. “Donovan, call for the souls to come back and take Evey, but be sure to leave Bourdet for me,” he said, as a dark smirk crossed his face. “This all ends tonight.”
“No, I won’t let you hurt him,” I said, standing in front of Conrad.
“Evey, it’s ok. When I kill him, we can go back home and be done with this,” Conrad replied. He gently pulled me to his side and took a step toward Aden.
“Do something, Evey!” Helen grabbed me by my shoulders and started shaking me.
“I’m trying!” I pushed her away from me. “Aden, please just let me go with you and leave Conrad out of this.”
“As much as I would like to see you happy, I’m afraid that’s something I just cannot do.” I looked around the room. Aden stood on one side with Donovan, while Conrad, Helen, and I stood on the opposite side. Milton had moved around, to stand on Conrad’s left. Caroline was standing away from the group leaning against the door of the closet where we hid Noah.
I caught her eye. “Stay there,” I mouthed. She nodded slightly, to let me know she understood what I was telling her.
; “Donovan,” Aden called out. “Now!”
As he uttered his command, the souls that had retreated into the gloom, now swarmed upon us with a vengeance. Helen ran forward, taking one down with her knife. I watched as Donovan descended upon Milton. The two men were engaged in a rapid battle of flying swords. Their weapons moved faster than I could keep up with, and with everything happening, I wasn’t sure where I should look. Conrad gently pushed me aside, as he ran to meet Aden. Their swords clashed in midair. I watched in horror, as the love of my life battled the man set on ruining it. There had to be something I could do, but what? I was weaponless, and if I tried to attack Aden I was sure it would distract Conrad. My knees buckled underneath my weight and I sunk to the floor. I couldn’t hold back the tears as I watched Conrad and Aden fight to the death. Conrad had to win, because any other alternative just wasn’t feasible at the present time. I was sure at any moment my heart would burst through my chest, and leave a gaping hole in my ribcage. I held my hand to my chest and felt my pendant pressing against my skin. The seeds. I scanned the room and saw that everyone was preoccupied, before rushing over to Caroline. I took her hand in mine, and jerked her behind a pile of scrap wood. Thankfully, the pile of broken lumber was large enough to block us from the rest of the group. I quickly undid the clasp on my necklace and flipped the pendant over in my hand. I had to stare for a minute, before I saw the tiny fastener and opened it, revealing the hollow cavity beneath. I carefully turned over the necklace. I had been right about where the seeds were hidden. Three brown apple seeds tumbled out of the necklace and into my hand.
“Evey, how did you know where they were?”
“I had another flash. Conrad’s mother told me about the hiding place.”
“Where are we going to hide them?”
“We aren’t going to hide them,” I said. “You are.”
“No, I can’t do that,” she said, as she shook her head. “We should find somewhere to put them.
“They have to stay with you, Caroline. You’ll be able to protect them, I know it.” I opened up her hand and dropped the seeds inside it. She closed her hand, squeezing it tight. I put my necklace back on and stole a quick glance to the middle of the room. “Caroline, I want you to hide and wait till everything is over before coming out. If things go badly, I want to make sure you and Noah will be safe. The two of you can protect the seeds and each other.”
“I won’t leave you,” she said.
“You have to. Noah will take care of you; he really cares about you. He won’t let anything bad happen to you.”
“But Evey—”
“Caroline, I know you want to fight and you’re one hell of a tough cookie, but right now you need to run and hide. Protect yourself and protect the seeds.” I took her hands in mine and squeezed them. “If Aden is killed, I will come and find you, but if he isn’t…” I said, taking a deep breath. “If he isn’t, then you have to hide until it’s safe for you and Noah to come out.”
“I don’t know if I can do that,” she said. A single tear trailed down her cheek, running into the corner of her mouth.
“You can. You’re so much stronger than I am. I know you can do it.”
“But you’re my family,” she said.
I looked in her green eyes that were swimming with tears; just waiting to be released. “I know,” I said, pulling her into a hug. “You’re the only family I have left. That’s why you have to do this for me.”
“Ok,” she whispered. “You can count on me.”
“I know I can.” I held onto her for another second before slipping out from behind the stack of wood.
Helen was making good work of the souls, as she slashed her knife around her. Milton and Donovan were still engaged in their duel, but they had both sustained various injuries. Donovan had a nasty looking cut on his left shoulder and drops of blood were dripping from Milton’s right leg. Conrad and Aden were moving about with incredible speed, as they continued to fight one another. I had never seen a look of absolute hatred like the one Aden wore as he fought Conrad. I could almost see the waves of animosity that rolled off him, as he swung his sword at Conrad’s head. Conrad ducked just in time and implanted the tip of his blade into Aden’s side. The gleaming silver was stained with Aden’s blood as Conrad pulled it from his flesh. A scream pulled my attention from the men fighting in front of me. I looked to Helen, and saw a soul had his hands firmly gripping each of her knees. He drug her behind him; leaving a smeared pathway through the black muck and blood that covered the floor. I ran over to where Noah dropped his knife and retrieved it, before I set off to help Helen. I slid on the slippery floor and almost collided into the soul as I reached them. I saw the silver glint of another knife near his feet. I picked it up quickly and severed both hands from her legs before he could drag her any further. Then I
thrust both knives into his stomach and jerked my hands in opposite directions through the soul’s putrid flesh. His insides surged through the gaping hole like a black waterfall. To my left, I could see another charging for us and I threw the dagger into its chest. I bent beside Helen and held my hand out to her.
“Thanks,” she said, as I pulled her up to her feet.
“You’re welcome,” I replied, trying to catch my breath. Five more souls began circling around us, like vultures on a rotting corpse. I ran to get the knife and stood with my back to Helen. “We can take the last of them together,” I shouted to her.
“Ok, but just know, this doesn’t mean that I like you!”
“If ever there was something we agree on, believe me, it’d be that,” I answered.
I thought she said something else, but her voice was cut off by the shriek of another soul. I ran forward, meeting two of them, as they sprinted in my direction. I dodged their outstretched hands and plunged the dagger through the ribs of a young girl. She looked the same age as me and I cringed, as I jerked the blade from her body. However, I didn’t dwell on the thought for long, because a tall, skinny figure hurtled over the melting girl, almost smashing into me. It was a boy. He couldn’t be older than fifteen, and his eyes locked onto mine as I faced him.
“Eve, daughter of God.”
“How do you know my name?”
“He wants to see you burn,” he said. His teeth were black, and his white hair was matted with grime and debris. “He wants to take your soul.”
“Who does?” The words were out of my mouth before I could stop myself.
“The one who tempts us all,” he said, sliding a gray tongue over his lips. I wasted no time in stabbing the knife deep into the neck of the boy. Despite the fatal wound to his neck, he lurched forward in an attempt to plant his mouth upon my own. I tightened my grasp upon the handle of the knife and rammed it into the side of the boy’s skull. I withdrew the blade and watched as he disintegrated into a pile of sludge. Before I could think about what he said any further, my body instinctively turned back to Helen to see if she was alright. She wiped her knife off on her dress and looked to me. We scanned the room, trying to see if there were any souls we had missed. As I looked up to the ledge above us; a gasp of pain rang out through the room. I immediately started looking for Conrad. I saw he was still fighting Aden and didn’t appear to be injured. That meant the noise had to come from Milton or Donovan. I spun around and saw Milton was kneeling on the ground in front of Donovan. His sword was on the floor, too far away for him to reach. Donovan stabbed him through the shoulder, causing Milton to double over. Helen ran to Donovan, but he smacked her with the back of his hand. He hit her with such force, she flew through the air like a rag doll, and landed in a heap a few feet behind him. I grasped the hilt of the dagger tightly in my hand, and prepared myself to attack Donovan. But it was no use. Before I could reach him, he kicked Milton over and cut off his head. I felt my stomach turn, as the warm caramel skin of his face, rolled away from the rest of his body. This wasn’t the way this was supposed to happen. We were supposed to rescue my mom and return to Everest’s apartment. I wasn�
��t supposed to watch people I cared
for, die at the hands of Aden. The knife slipped from my fingers and I collapsed to the floor. Conrad and Aden were still at each other’s throats. I had failed Conrad again. I put all of us in this position and any deaths that occurred from it were because of me. My entire world was crumbling around me, and in my heart I knew there was nothing that I could do to stop it.
Aden’s shirt was wet with the blood that dripped from his side. He and Conrad were both starting to look tired, and I wondered how long they could continue fighting. There had to be something I could do to help him. I mustered up the last of my strength and started to crawl toward them. I was only a few feet from him when I felt a pair of arms tighten around my waist. Donovan was heaving me up from the floor. I tried to fight against him, but he was too strong. I screamed out, as I struggled in vain to release myself from his grip. Conrad spun around, as he heard me call out. I bit down on Donovan’s arm as hard as I could. Drops of blood dotted his skin where my teeth had been, and he released me. I smacked into the concrete floor, feeling as if every bone in my body was shattering. Conrad started to move to me but suddenly came to a stop. Inches of air separated us. I cried out, as I noticed a silver tip, sticking through his chest, right where his heart would be. I felt as if my own heart was being ripped in two, as I watched the metal rescind from his body, causing blood to soak through his shirt.
“Conrad!” I caught him just before he crashed to the floor. “No, no, no” I said, feeling the hot tears flowing from my eyes. I pressed my hand to his wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding. “You’re going to be ok. I-I’ll take care of you and you’ll be fine.” I could see the piercing blue of his eyes begin to soften.
“You can’t fix this Evey.”
“Yes I can; I have to,” I said, clutching his body to mine. “You’re going to be ok, I promise you. I’ll fix your wound, and we will go home, and no one will take you away from me again.”
“Evey,” he whispered.
“You can’t leave me; you just found me.”