by S. A. Carter
‘What happened?’ My voice comes out muffled, my throat dry and raspy.
Ama grabs my hand more firmly. ‘Listen to me. You need to tell me where you were.’ Her green eyes are fixed on mine with purpose.
Fear rattles through me as I remember the long, dark passageway. The ancient door scarred with blood and pain. There was the feeling of someone waiting behind that door, someone who was keeping all those people prisoner. Someone so dark and evil that fear fed on his…
Erebus.
Uncle Jo moves forward and kneels down beside the bed, placing his hand on my shoulder. ‘You’re safe now.’
I shake my head like a crazy person. ‘Not safe, not safe.’ My eyes dart around the room, stopping when they reach the worried face of Julian. ‘He’s going to bring about the apocalypse. He’s going to kill us all.’
Julian moves forward, his luminescent eyes hovering above me. ‘Who, Elena? Erebus?’
I nod as a sob escapes me. Julian’s eyes wash over every inch of me, his dark eyelashes beating rapidly as he mumbles something in Latin.
Without thinking, I reach for him and his arms enfold around me.
His hands gently stroke my back. ‘It’s okay. Everything is going to be alright. I won’t let him hurt you. I won’t leave you.’
Tears cascade down my cheeks as I burrow my face into his warm chest. He cocoons me in his arms, the pounding of his heart intensifying as I press my cheek harder against him. His warmth flows through me, drying my tears, the beating of our hearts becoming synchronised.
Ama clears her throat, the room suddenly deathly quiet. As I reluctantly draw myself away from Julian’s embrace, I find that everyone is watching us. Ama is looking between us, her smile sincere but her eyes worried, and Uncle Jo is…well, Uncle Jo is scowling but there is a certain level of acceptance in his hazel eyes.
Julian stands up, avoiding my uncle’s glare, and squeezes my hand before taking up his position by the door. Ama flashes Julian a wary glance before sitting back down on the bed, her dress effortlessly accommodating her position.
She pats my hand. ‘Are you alright, Shem?’
I quickly glance at Julian. ‘I’m okay.’
She sighs, her delicate features pinched with concern. ‘Can you tell us what happened?’
The dream returns and I pull the blankets up tighter against my chest. Without knowing how or why, I am almost certain that I astral travelled. The weightlessness, the feeling of really being there in that place, hearing the cries of those poor people locked away in that morbid dungeon. Nothing else could explain it. I’ve astral travelled before, more so when I was younger, and it always happens during sleep, my soul leaving my body and taking flight to other realms and places that would seem unbelievable to anyone else.
Usually I’d wake feeling euphoric and dreamy, but not this time. This time was wrong, like I shouldn’t have been there, like I was sneaking into a forbidden place hidden from human eyes.
I stumble over my words as I relive the experience. Five sets of eyes follow my every movement, five sets of eyes show a range of emotion as I explain what I saw and felt. The last words out of my mouth involve my suspicions about Erebus being behind that door.
Julian steps forward. ‘You think Erebus was there?’
Ama stands up protectively, her energy expanding, commanding everyone’s attention. Her aura emits a rose coloured light not usually seen within her energy field, and I sense there is something different about her. I just can’t quite put my finger on what it is.
‘You were in his world. You must have astral travelled, Shem.’
My suspicions exactly.
Something Ama just said startles me. ‘Whoa, you know about Erebus?’
‘Yes.’
‘But…how?’
‘Josiah filled me in on all the information you’ve acquired.’
If Uncle Jo filled her in while I was under, then I must have been gone a while.
‘How long have I been out?’
‘For the last three hours,’ she says.
‘What?! But it felt like only minutes.’
‘You know time is different in other realms. It may have only felt like moments there, but here time is slower.’
‘But…you can never stay here that long. How is it possible that you were able to pull me out of there?’
Confusion swirls around me as I try to gain my bearings. There was a reason I was there in that place and I need to try and understand what the purpose was. If it wasn’t for Ama pulling me out I could still be stuck there, helpless and unable to resist opening that door. A niggling feeling scratches at my brain, making me feel like I’m missing something. Something important.
She gently folds her hands in her lap. ‘There are many things we need to talk about.’ Ama clears her throat. ‘Could everyone give Elena and I some time alone please?’
Uncle Jo, Sam, and Julian pass me worried glances before they exit my room. She waits for everyone to evacuate before sitting back down.
Magi remains.
‘Come here, girl.’ I pat the bed and she jumps up without hesitation.
I silently ask Magi if there has been any disturbances overnight. She assures me that all has been quiet, which is a bit odd considering the new threat we are facing.
Ama’s eyes wander over my face. ‘Shem, last time I was here I gave you something. Do you still have it?’
The parchment. ‘Yes, of course.’
‘Good. You must keep it safe.’
‘I know, Ama. You told me already.’
She nods her head, but her features are pinched tight as if she’s eaten something bad.
I grasp her hand. ‘What is it? What’s wrong?’ Her green eyes focus on me and I notice speckles of purple and gold light flickering around her. ‘What’s different about you?’
She gives me a sad smile. ‘You always were an intuitive little thing. You know when you were five, you and I were talking one day about garden fairies. And all of a sudden you jumped up and said “Mummy needs me”. You raced out of the room, your pretty lemon dress trailing behind you. I couldn’t follow you back then, I didn’t know how, so I waited for as long as I could. You returned a little while later and said “Mummy was hurt, Ama, but I fixed her all up. Now what was that about the fairy lights?”’ She laughs, a soft tinkle that sounds pretty to my ears.
I smile. ‘I don’t remember that.’
She waves her hand in the air. ‘Well you were only little, and you were so cute!’ Her gaze wanders off, remembering that time.
My brow creases. Where is she going with this? Ama isn’t usually the sentimental type.
‘Ama, you’re starting to scare me.’
Her smile falters and she nods her head. ‘I know, sorry.’ She grabs my hand. ‘Things have changed, Shem. After I saw you last time I was…detained.’
I sit up. ‘Detained?’
She pats my hand. ‘Now don’t get upset, I’m fine. I just need you to listen. I stole those parchments, which in hindsight wasn’t the best move I’ve made, but I felt it was important for you to have them. Trackers detained me on my return and I was taken to the Elders. Let’s just say they were not happy with me. Apparently I have been a thorn in their side over the years and this time I overstepped the mark.’
‘I’m not sure what you’re trying to tell me…?’ I say, confused.
She flattens out her dress. ‘Well, to put it bluntly, I got in trouble and they gave me an ultimatum.’
‘An ultimatum? What do you mean?’ I ask, not liking where this is headed.
She shrugs her delicate shoulders, attempting, and failing, at being indifferent. ‘It was either help them, or be kept bound to The Other Side.’
‘Bound? As in…you can’t come and see me anymore?’
She nods.
‘But…but they can’t do that! Did you tell them to jam it?’
A soft smile graces her lips. ‘No, I didn’t. Although it would have been fun to see their reaction if
I had.’
I fling the covers off, throwing my legs over the side of the bed. ‘So what do they want you to do?’
She looks at Magi sadly before meeting my eyes. ‘They want me to help you stop Erebus.’
Chapter 21
I jump off the bed. ‘Whoa! They already know about Erebus?’ She nods. ‘But you just said Uncle Jo—’
She puts her hand up. ‘What I said was that Josiah had filled me in.’ A sigh escapes her. ‘They have their own ways of finding out this information, as you can imagine, so yes, they know about Erebus. But only very recently did they discover his plans, and some of their information isn’t as thorough as yours, if truth be told.’
Well that doesn’t surprise me. Uncle Jo is the most intelligent person I know. His uncanny ability to uncover information and decipher it with such intuitive perception astounds me all the time. I’d like to think that after all these years some of it has rubbed off on me as well.
‘So you know how he wants to use me and Isis?’ I say, embarrassed and angry at the same time.
I never thought about my virginity as something that was truly precious. I just thought that I would wait until I felt like it was something I really wanted to explore with somebody. The fact that it hadn’t happened yet didn’t bother me, well…maybe a little, especially since my hormone surge recently kicked in, but knowing that Erebus wishes to just take it from me and abuse it with such malice makes me physically sick. It’s not his to take.
Her aura turns a dark red. ‘Yes, I do.’
I turn away from her, feeling angry and resentful that not only does Erebus want me, but even The Other Side wants a piece of me now as well.
‘Ama, this is ridiculous! They seriously want me to stop him? How do they think I can do that? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I have nothing better to do than be at the beck and call of Heaven itself.’ I choke out a laugh. ‘But what do they expect? Would the Elders like me to wear a chastity belt?’
She smirks. ‘Creative idea, but no.’
‘And why, if they know about him, aren’t they stopping him themselves? Haven’t they got an army of…of angels they can use or something?’ I kick my shoe across the room, stubbing my toe, but pretending I didn’t just hurt myself.
She cocks an eyebrow. ‘Stub your toe?’
‘No!’
She stands up and floats towards me, grabbing my arms. ‘I love you, but you are such a bad liar. Let me see it.’
I pull away from her. ‘No, I don’t need your help. Plus, I didn’t even stub it.’
She shrugs her shoulders. ‘Suit yourself…child.’
I scowl at her as I plonk myself down on the sofa. ‘This is all so messed up.’
‘Yes, it is.’
I look up. ‘Do you know that he killed Blake?’
Hearing myself say those words sends stabbing pains of guilt and remorse through me.
Her face softens. ‘Yes, Shem, I do. I’m so sorry about your friend.’ Her hand falls softly against my shoulder.
I bite my lip, trying to avoid the tears that are threatening to come again.
‘It wasn’t your fault. You have to know that.’
I wipe my eyes. ‘Well then whose fault was it? Because if he hadn’t of come here last night he would still be alive.’
‘Would he?’ She raises an eyebrow before sitting down beside me. ‘You spend so much time trying to protect everyone that you forget we each have our own destiny. You can’t control fate.’
I rest my head against her shoulder and she strokes my hair. Her touch soothes my pain, if only for a moment.
‘He is in a better place now, Shem. And I know that wherever he is, he doesn’t blame you for what happened.’
I think of Blake’s family, of what they would be going through. I know because I’ve experienced the raw pain of losing someone you love. My family has suffered more than most, and while I believe in the afterlife, it doesn’t bring as much peace as it should right now. Hopefully in time it will.
Ama’s energy shifts and an uneasiness passes over me. I lift my head to look at her. ‘There’s something else, isn’t there?’
She purses her pink lips and looks away from me. ‘There’s one more thing, but we can talk about it another time.’
More? I don’t know if I can take much more to be honest. In the last few days I’ve reunited with Julian, saved my best friend’s boyfriend, who also happens to be a shapeshifter, discovered that Taqôq Wiyon is alive, and that Erebus is a Dark Lord who potentially wants to use me and Isis to bring about an apocalypse. And now Blake is dead and Ama is telling me that the Other Side wants a piece of the action as well. If “more” had a face, I’d punch the crap out of it right now.
‘We don’t have time, Ama. Tell me.’
She lets out a woeful sigh. ‘Shem, how do you think Erebus found you?’ Her arms fold across her bosom, highlighting the auburn frill of her neckline.
Shaking my head I say, ‘I have no idea. Apparently a Dominus didn’t believe I was dead and went out on his own to investigate, hiring the help of the Vaga. At least, that’s what Julian said.’
Her eyes momentarily dim. ‘Yes…Julian. We’ll come back to him in a minute.’
I forgot that Ama would have met Julian for the first time while I was astral travelling. I cringe inwardly, thinking about what that scene would have looked like. I’m betting it wasn’t fun.
‘Erebus didn’t find you by accident.’ She pierces me with her green eyes and a deep chill skates over me. ‘He found you through your mother.’
The soft rustle of her dress is the only sound I hear as her words penetrate my soul. Everything else becomes white noise. I don’t even notice when Magi lays her head on my lap.
My hand automatically clutches my locket. ‘Mum?’
A nod of her head confirms it.
The deep fissure within me where I keep my darkest feelings cracks open, letting a rush of profound pain seep out.
‘I…I don’t understand.’
Her composure starts to slip and the fissure opens a little wider, knowing that what she is about to say threatens to topple me over the edge of my already precarious state of mind.
‘Elena, Erebus has your mother.’
I shake my head violently from side to side. ‘No. That’s not possible!’
‘Shem—’
‘No! He…he can’t have her.’ I jump up off the sofa, turning my wild eyes on her. ‘You’re lying!’
She slowly stands, her aura expanding, lighting the room up in a flash of purple and gold. ‘You need to listen to me.’
‘No, I won’t listen!’ I shout. ‘What you’re saying can’t be true. Mum is dead. She can’t be his prisoner. She can’t be.’
Please don’t let it be true. Please don’t tell me that the reason I haven’t seen Mum is because he’s had her all this time, had her locked away somewhere…
‘The dungeon?’ I whisper.
Ama’s face crumbles as she nods once again.
Erebus has Mum locked up in the dungeon.
The fissure breaks open and a cry of pain and anguish escapes me, so raw and primal that I fall to my knees, my heart and soul breaking, any light left within me going dark.
Ama cradles me in her arms. ‘I’m so sorry, Elena.’
Uncle Jo’s face is filled with a deep, unrelenting sorrow. As twins he and Mum were exceptionally close, and to lose her crushed him in more ways than one. Now to find out that she is being held prisoner in that hellhole has just unleashed his pain all over again.
He lays his head in his hands. ‘How can this have happened?’ He lifts his head to look at Ama. ‘How can he have her?’
The living room is quiet, all of us numb and grief-stricken at the news that Erebus has Mum.
‘The balance between good and evil has been going on since the creation of time, Josiah,’ Ama says. ‘Erebus rules his own dominion, and he has his own ways of manipulating that balance.’
‘But Evie was good. She shoul
d have been protected, surely?’
Hearing Uncle Jo say Mum’s name rattles me. Julian grabs my hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. I lace my fingers tightly with his, scared that if I let go I’ll never make it back from the dark abyss that my soul had been plunged into.
Ama shakes her head. ‘None of us knew where Evelyn was. It’s been years since we even caught sight of her. You know that. She wasn’t on The Other Side…at least not in a normal sense.’
After Mum died I tried desperately to connect with her spirit, to know if she was alright. Even Ama searched the planes of The Other Side looking for her, but with no luck. We didn’t know where she was, and it wasn’t until I was in Egypt with Uncle Jo, trying to find the light of Isis, that she revealed herself to us, helping us in our search. Since that time there has been nothing. No spell or prayer to summon her has ever worked. I had always hoped that after helping me she would have moved on, found some peace, but now I know that that hasn’t happened.
Ama continues. ‘And even if she was, it’s not like her soul can be controlled. It doesn’t work that way. Free will extends to her soul, just as it extends to yours. Erebus’ power would be strong enough that he would have been able to track her down, especially if she was outside certain spiritual parameters. There would have been nothing they could have done.’
Uncle Jo raises his voice. ‘Yeah, well I find that hard to believe. Forgive me if I don’t buy into the whole we-can’t-interfere bullshit!’ He stands up, raking his hair in frustration, his body trembling with anger.
‘Josiah, please. I understand—’
‘Do not give me the speech about how you understand, Amaris. Do not!’ He points his finger at her. ‘You have no idea how I feel right now.’ He moves over to the window, crossing his arms and looking out into the dawn of another day.
I know his agony. I feel it too. It’s a helpless, hollow wound that will never heal. Tears sting my eyes again, but I refuse to let them fall. I’ve done enough crying to last a lifetime.
‘We can’t leave her to him,’ I say, my voice uneven. ‘I won’t allow it. So why don’t you tell us what they know, Ama?’