by A. E. Watson
I lift my other hand to shield my eyes from the sunlight. It’s reddish like it too has been burnt. Nothing moves except the trees and bits of debris around the house and in the destroyed yard. The wind has a whistle to it. I can’t help but wonder if the loneliness of it all has always been here but the noise of us covered it up. Now it’s all that's left. Us and a void we created.
Instead of flying, I take off running through the house, jumping out where there was once a window. I land on the ground with a thud but ignore the fact I’m making sounds, and push myself hard for the docks. When my feet land on the boards I hear the evidence that I’m not alone. I push harder, leaping at the end and landing in the ocean. The nixie are here, pulling me down into the ocean with them.
When they get me low enough that we can’t see the surface anymore, they stop swimming. A red-haired nixie, who I don't think I’ve ever seen before, turns and smiles. She looks scared. “Rayne, are you all right?” Her sweet voice is like a melody being sung on the waves.
“No. Where’s Willow and the earth witches?”
She lifts her hand to the sky. “The air witches. They fled a while ago. All of them.”
“How long have I been inside the painting?” My mind can’t comprehend any of this.
“Almost seven months. The earth witches came to us and asked that we keep an eye on the house. They put their mirror in the house and charmed it with all of their magic. They have none left.”
I reach into the tiny sack and pull out the mirror, offering it to her. “Can you keep this safe from Lucifer?”
She shakes her head. “No. He can come down here, and he can possess lower angels to come and kill us. We gave ours to Lillith to protect in the garden. Is it still there?”
“Yeah.”
Her sparkly eyes land on the pouch. “You could always return this one to its match.”
“But then I won’t ever see my friend again.” It’s selfish and pathetic, but it’s actually my reason for not doing that. I don't have a noble cause. I don't want to miss everything. “She’s having a baby.” The words sort of choke from me pathetically which is saying a lot, considering we’re speaking underwater, a skill I have improved upon only slightly.
“Your path is one of sacrifice.” It hurts her to say it; I can see the pain in her eyes.
The bitterness and pain of losing everything, even Mona, should kill me, but there’s just no fight left in me, not to battle the thing I can’t beat, my destiny.
“I know.” My shoulders slump as I accept my fate and turn my face to the surface. “I’ll go to the air witches. They must have a plan to kill Lucifer.” Grasping the pouch, I swim as hard as I can for the red sun, bursting through the surface with wings and droplets of water filling my vision.
I power fly for the sky, heading for the white castle.
Dark wings catch my peripheral, making me pause mid air as Wyatt catches up. His eyes are missing their sparkle, the life they once had. The evil coming off him is intense. It teases at me, pulling me to him. But the allure stops there. He’s shirtless with an obsidian raven’s feather over his heart.
“Hey, Sis.” He waves sarcastically. He looks the way he did when he hit me. I hate this side of him.
“You know?”
“Of course. I was there when Dad made the mirror for your mom to come to him.” He laughs, mocking both of us maybe.
“What?” I’m missing parts of the story. Something has changed and it’s not just our relationship.
He rolls his eyes. “Dad sent me to fetch you.”
I’m about to agree when I remember I have the mirror and I can’t risk that falling into Lucifer’s hands. “I’m busy.”
“Don't make me come get you.” He lifts a dark eyebrow and leans forward threateningly with his wings gently flapping behind him.
“I’m not in the mood to play fight, Wyatt.” I start flying upward just as he does. He pushes it, hammering the wind with his wings. I try to mimic him but he’s a superior flyer.
His hand seizes my foot, pulling me back. I try to kick, but he yanks me harder, grabbing me by the waist and holding me tightly to him. “I missed you.” He grins wide.
Driving my knee upward into his groin. He cries out but I ignore it and lean in, seething, “I said I’m not in the mood.” I shove him off and fly up as several blond angels descend.
“We’ll have you, Rayne. One way or another, you’ll join us,” he growls.
I flip him the bird and fly upward with the backup of angels.
When I land at the white city Willow comes blasting from the castle, attacking me in the cloudy air.
“Don't you ever do that to me again!” She swats me.
“Ow, Mom! Stop!” I cry out as she whoops my butt. She hits my arms and back, not hard, but enough that I feel her wrath.
“Rayne Willow Whynde, you will not sass me back! You ever do that to me again, and I will kill you myself! Do you hear me?” She has me by the ear.
“Yes!” I’m about to beg, but she releases my ear and wraps herself around me. “We couldn’t find you.” She sobs, glomming on to me. “We couldn’t find you.”
“Have you seen Constantine?”
“No, darling. He wouldn't ever come here.” She shakes her head. “Michael is looking for you. He said he needs to see you the moment you arrive.”
I jump up. “I need to find Constantine.” I wave at her and run inside, hoping to find Mystica. She would be the only one who would know anything.
The air witches, earth witches, and fire witches all under a single roof liven up the white castle. It doesn't look so sterile or pristine. It has noise and scents drifting in the air. It has life. The witches look happier, even when they see me.
One face doesn't look livened up though when the bright-blue eyes meet mine.
Michael storms toward me, looking mighty fierce. He doesn't speak but enters a room giving me a look. I follow him against my better judgment. He looks like he might eat me when I get in there, but I need answers, and I know he has them. He slams the door.
“Explain yourself!” He looks different, sort of evil. He doesn't smell like it though. I don't hesitate to lean in and get a good sniff. He deflates and loses the scary expression on his face. “I am still me. Lucifer hasn't come to claim my body yet.”
“What happened? What’s different?”
“That depends on what you have changed in the last five minutes.” He says it like he’s going to laugh but the homicidal look on his face suggests he might not.
“I went back in time and killed each of my sisters before the devils could ever fill them with evil.”
“Oh, I know that part, Rayne.” His nose wrinkles. “Dear Father in Heaven, I know that.”
“Can you see the world the way it was before I went into the mirror?”
He nods. “I see it both ways. It’s exceptionally conflicting. Why would you do this? Lucifer is much stronger and Wyatt is as evil as the day is long. The fae queen, Faranelle, is on their side. We have no allies but the witches, and the earth witches have no power left. They used every last drop to protect that infernal basement where you were. And the fire witches can’t use their ancestral magic up here.” He sounds desperate.
“I took the power my sisters unintentionally gave to the Van Helsings and my father when they died by Lucifer and Van Helsing hands. Whoever takes the life of the sin eater gains her strength. Like Highlander.”
He blinks, clearly drawing a blank on the movie reference. “Which was why Lucifer and Gretel were always the ones to want to do it.” His eyes brighten again. “So now you have all their strength?”
“Theoretically.”
He lifts a large hand to his nose and pinches the bridge. “That's not the answer I want.”
“I do. Just not in me. It’s in a weapon that can be used to kill Lucifer.”
“Don't forget about your broth—” He stops and grimaces. “That complicates things. In the previous world, you and Wyatt were akin to s
piritual brother and sister. But in this world, your father is his father.”
“Oh God.” It’s exactly what I was worried about when I saw Lucifer’s wicked face in the doorway at the Van Helsings’ castle as I killed Maggie.
The fight in me—no, the hope—falls away. It’s the last remaining nugget of it.
“No!” I drop to my knees as tears flood my eyes. I shake my head. I fight the truth but it’s there, smack in my face. “Everything is wrong.”
“Rayne, don't cry. It might be wrong but it’s not over.” Michael sounds concerned, but I don't care how lost I look, I know how I feel and it has to be worse. His warmth is there. It’s everywhere, but like a ship lost at sea I can’t see the light of him through the storm. He pulls me in, giving me shelter in his arms but nothing can stop the emotional beating I am taking.
My heart feels like a thousand daggers have cut into it.
“Maybe I’ll give you a minute,” Michael speaks softly. The warmth is gone then. I am alone and cold and devastated but only for a second.
“Nene!” Willow rushes in, hugging me. She doesn't talk or try to cheer me up. She holds me and lets me close my eyes and cry.
She rubs my back as memories start to filter in and mix with the old me. Many aspects of the story of my life have changed. I didn't meet my friends or Wyatt at college.
My life is a new story. One I don't care to know. I liked the old version of me and my truth. It was messy but it was mine. This feels forced on me.
There’s no college in my past now. The world is on fire and has been for some time now.
The facts start pouring in.
Willow hid me in a monastery when the darkness started. I was sixteen then.
I met Mona and Michelle there. Michelle betrayed me, again. She told my dad where I was.
Constantine is the one that doesn't make sense. He has no reason to love me. He isn’t part of my life anymore. There is one time in all my memories when I think he showed up at the monastery. He stayed just outside, staring at me from the shadows. I don't think the look on his face was one of love. It might have been the face of someone about to commit murder.
My mother is dead. I killed Lillith at the gate of the garden the same way as before.
And perhaps the most painful revelation is that Wyatt’s on Lucifer’s side this time. He is his real son. His marriage to Gretel is real. Maggie Van Helsing doesn't even exist.
The memories sit in layers. The old ones are the foundation and these new ones are like a light blanket. No matter what, they don't change anything. The end result is the same.
My brain hurts with the idea that we changed the ripple of time. I don't need to analyze it. I just need to kill my father.
The grip Willow has on me is startling. “You’re alive!” I squeeze her harder, realizing the changes aren’t all bad.
“Yes.” She smiles and wipes my face. “I am.”
“Fitz?”
Her face pinches when I say his name. “Haven’t heard that name in a long time.” She pulls back like she might explain, but I lift a hand. “Don't bother. It doesn’t matter. The whole thing is giving me a headache.”
“What’s your plan?” Her eyes drop to the pouch in my hands. “Is that what I think it is?”
I nod once and lift my finger to my lips.
She exhales loudly and leans in, whispering in my ear, “We worked very hard at getting that away from Michael. He’s got a scheme that sounds a lot like his old one—send all of us good people through to the garden where he will naturally rule. I don't dislike the man; I just see his end game is one of self-preservation more than it is sacrifice. In this final battle we must all sacrifice to win.”
“I need Constantine.”
“He wouldn't come here, I told you. He’s not exactly on their side but his sister Stella is with Lucifer. Which means Constantine won’t help you.”
“Are there any vampires here? Any at all?” I have a need and I doubt she’s going to like it.
“There’s a woman named Arra. She joined us recently.” Willow’s eyes fill with a look of doubt. “Why?”
“I need a vampire.” I walk to the door, cracking it and giving Michael something resembling a smile, even though my heart is breaking in my chest, what’s left of it anyway. “Can you get Arra, please?”
“The vampire?” He scoffs.
“Yeah.”
He looks like he might argue but he doesn't. I close the door and look back at Willow. “Has Constantine been in contact with anyone?” I can’t believe he isn’t part of my life. He’s the constant in my world.
“No. He lives alone in England at some castle on the moors. He’s a recluse and a disgusting vampire.” She says it as the door opens and a redhead with dark pools for eyes walks in.
Her nose wrinkles at what Willow has just said.
“Hi. I’m Rayne.” I can only hope she isn’t the vampire I just ordered. Her sneer suggests otherwise.
She cocks an eyebrow. “I know. We’ve met.” She looks annoyed, maybe a bit hurt or disappointed.
“Oh.” I’m about to say I didn't know that but her face causes something like a lightening strike to hit me in the head as the memory of her flashes through my mind. “Right.” She came here because she didn't like what Lucifer and Wyatt were doing. We’re friends. She trusts me and I her. She knows my whole story which means this will be easier.
I turn and pull the mirror from the pouch, looking at Willow. “You need to take this with you to the garden and destroy it.”
Willow looks confused. “What?” Her eyes dart at the vampire’s.
“Mona’s having a baby. She might have already had it. She needs a mom and the baby will need a grandma. They need you. Here you have no magic and won’t be of service or able to defend yourself.”
Willow opens her mouth to argue, but I look at Arra. “Make her do it.”
Arra gives me a look like she wants to fight me on it, but she doesn't. She flashes to Willow, clutching her face and compelling her. “Take the mirror to the garden and care for Mona and the baby and love them. You want this.”
Willow’s face goes slack. “I want to take the mirror from here, Rayne.” Her words are lazy like she might forget them before she even says them.
I hand her the mirror, cracking off yet another chunk of my heart but refusing to show Willow the agony inside me. Blankly, she takes the mirror. Her eyes draw to me once. “I’ll miss you.”
“I’ll miss you more. Tell Mona that I sent the very best part of me.” My voice cracks as tears flood my face.
“I will, Nene. I love you.” She wraps one arm around me.
“Love you too.” I take a long, deep inhale of her sweetness and sigh. “Bye, Mom.”
“I’ll see you again, kiddo.” She kisses me and climbs in, taking the mirror with her.
My finger aches to grab it and pull her back or go with her, but I force myself to sit perfectly still as my mom goes to my best friend, taking the only way to either of them with her.
Arra’s shoulders slump. “That is the saddest thing I’ve ever seen, and I don't fully understand what you just did.”
“Thank you.” Tears silently stream my cheeks as I nod.
I don't know why I’m thanking her, but I don't have another response to the heartache or the words.
Maybe I am becoming a bit numb.
Hopefully.
Chapter Seventeen
My sisters are all dead.
Their spirits are even gone.
I know this because for the first time in my entire life, or any of my other lives, I have the urge to sleep on my own. I want to lie in the dark and be alone.
Perhaps it’s the darkness inside my heart since all the light has left me.
Or the fact I feel like I am a shadow, a cloud made of pain pretending to be a girl.
Whatever it is, when I get to the room they say is mine, I fall onto the bed and close my eyes. Something remarkable and strange occurs. The world goes da
rk and my brain brings all my fears to life in a succession, like evil is parading through my mind.
My mother isn’t dead; she’s secretly hiding in the garden and she’s going to trick Mona.
Lucifer has Mona’s baby, Lillith gave it to him.
Willow is again dead.
Wyatt is my brother and still wants to love me.
Constantine is on the bad side.
All my fears play out like a silent movie in black and white.
I toss and turn, sweating and crying out.
Eventually, I blink and maybe wake, confused and lost, reaching into the dark for something familiar.
Warmth is there and I curl into it.
Hands grip me as arms surround me. It’s exactly what I need. Until the lips belonging to the person whisper into my neck, “Come with me! Let me show you how the world will burn for us.”
My body comes to life violently, thrashing to be free of the human blanket. I kick and fight, screaming out.
“Rayne!” A voice tries to bring me to it, like a beacon showing me the safe way home.
But the fight in me is desperate. Fire burns in my back as a scream tears from my throat.
“Rayne!” Someone’s hands dig into my arms, shaking me. I open my mouth to scream again but a hand clamps down. Through the tears and fear I manage to get a visual, pausing my rage the moment I see Michael’s worried face.
In a panic, I glance about the room, searching for the vileness that is my family, but no one is here apart from the archangel.
“What happened? Where’s Wyatt?”
He takes a breath before speaking, “He’s not here, of course. You had a bloody nightmare.”
“What?” The memories of the images and words are fresh. “It wasn't real?” It’s almost more of a statement than it is a question.
“No.” He’s still in shock or something. He looks confused. “You were dreaming. You scared the bloody hell out of me.”
“Yeah. It felt weird, real.”