Nightwish (An Echoes of Eternity Novel Book 1)

by Sydney Bristow

  I immediately envisioned the man having a heart attack, so I made my way over to him cautiously in the event that he used this production as a ruse to lure me into lowering my guard. “Are you okay?” Once again, I was startled by my complacence. Hadn’t I considered calling the cops a minute ago?

  Mephisto took a few more moments to catch his breath then rose, his flabby face red from all of the blood rushing to it. “Nope, I just came for the sword.” The blood had drained from his face, and he gave me a vibrant smile as he gestured to the sword. “I’ll just snap that puppy up… and heck…” He extracted a blue and red Spider-Man nylon Velcro wallet from inside his gray Members Only jacket. “I’ll even let you ring me up for it…Savvy?”

  “Did you just quote Captain Jack Sparrow?”

  “Sure did, little lady. Just had me a Pirates marathon. What a hoot!”

  I didn’t know whether to laugh in his face or yell at him to leave the shop. Still, I decided to remain vigilant in case he became hostile, however unlikely that seemed.

  “Now then,” he said, licking an index finger and thumbing through a pile of Benjamin Franklins in his wallet, “name the price.” No matter how many bills he flipped past, the stash seemed never-ending, yet the wallet remained the same size.

  Mesmerized, I couldn’t help but look into the man’s eyes. “Look,” I said, regaining my wits. “You have to leave. Now.”

  His smile folded into a frown. He stopped counting. “I must say, your customer service skills need some polishing. Might I suggest—”

  “What? You broke into my store.” Why was I negotiating with him? “Leave now!”

  Mephisto now wore the equivalent look of a sad puppy face. “I’m sorry.” He screwed his lips together like a defiant child who felt he had suffered wrongdoing. “I can’t leave without getting what I came for.”

  Sensing the situation transforming from comical to potentially dangerous, I slipped my phone out of my pocket and raised the sword, willing to cut him down if it came to that.

  “That would be a mistake.”

  And without another word from him, I said, “I agree.” Then I lowered the blade without a second thought. A moment later, after wondering why I’d relaxed my fighting stance, I realized that Mephisto had somehow tricked me.

  “Don’t feel bad.” A beaming smile revealed teeth so jagged, crooked, and discolored that they looked like a white picket fence battered into submission by decades of environmental weathering. “The power of persuasion is a strong ally.” His grin brightened.

  “Did you just do a Jedi mind trick?” I asked, now realizing why I had gone along with his humorous asides over the past few minutes without forcing him to leave the building.

  He clapped his hands. “A wonderful analogy. And yet another entertaining series. I pulled a marathon on that one a while back as well. That Darth Vader: such a sympathetic leader. I was rooting for him through all the films!” He glanced at the Minnie Mouse watch on his left wrist. “We can talk films all day, but I promised my lady friend that we’d start watching Sex and the City tonight.” He let out a heaving sigh. “Seems another marathon is in our midst.” He patted his belly, making the cellulite there jiggle. “I’ll need to store up for the long-haul.” He cocked his head at me. “There are 94 episodes, plus two feature films. I’ll have to make another beer run before the night is over!”

  Doing my best to ignore the misdirection of this pop culture enthusiast, I said, “You will not leave with my sword.”

  Mephisto bent over and looked into my eyes, all pretense gone. “How disconcerting.” He stood upright, disheartened. He blinked and the irises in his eyes turned into flaming red orbs. He blinked once more, and they returned to normal.

  Startled, I lifted my sword, aiming at his heart. “You’re a demon!”

  He clicked his tongue against the bridge of his mouth, eliciting a tsk-tsk-tsk sound. “Indeed. I thought it was only good taste to disclose my identity. But do you greet all of your customers this way? That’s just unacceptable. In fact, I’d like to see the manager.”

  “I’m the manager. And the owner.”

  He cringed as though the news induced physical pain. “How unfortunate…for your customers, that is.” Then his face flattened. Expressionless, with eyes that looked as bright and turbulent as the planet Venus, Mephisto now appeared void of emotion.

  “You know things you shouldn’t,” I said, focusing to prevent Mephisto from pushing his thoughts into my brain. Too bad he didn’t use the same wavelength that Alexis applied while trying to access my brain. Otherwise, I would have caught him. I figured that our connection as twins had something to do with my ability to catch my sister the moment she tried to enter my mind. I appreciated that level of twin-tuition.

  “And unfortunately, you don’t know what you should.” He stepped forward, no longer moving awkwardly but spry and sleek, until the tip of the blade poked his chest. “My underworld brethren know your grandmother has passed, and I assure you, once they enter this dimension, they won’t be as genial or understanding as I am.”

  It occurred to me that Mephisto hadn’t recently slipped into this dimension. Otherwise, based on the way he stared at the sword, he would have no doubt shown up earlier to confront me. As a demon, he surely had supernatural powers other than the power of persuasion. So why didn’t he try to forcibly take the sword?

  “What do demons want with me?” I asked.

  “They want the weapons your grandmother had tucked away. Afterwards, of course, they’ll want to kill you.”

  Mephisto hadn’t glanced at the secret chamber, which meant in all likelihood, he didn’t know it existed. “What’s so important about them?”

  “Now that’s intriguing!” He stared at me for a long moment, fascination flashing across his face. “Your grandmother didn’t prepare you for her passing, did she? Such a shame.” He cocked his head with empathy. “And yes, I’m a demon. I can be friendly…” His kind expression vanished, once more replaced with dead eyes. “Or I can be deadly. It all depends on your level of cooperation.” He smiled. “Moving on...” He gestured to me then motioned to himself. “You and I seem to have built a foundation of trust.”

  “I wouldn’t say that.”

  “That’s why I said it for you.” He stepped to my right and slowly circled me, beaming like a pompous child whose parents spoiled him by granting his every wish. “Now then, you have questions, and I have answers that no one else can provide. A trade is in order, is it not? I give you the answers you seek, and you allow me to reclaim the Soul Sword.”

  That meant it had once belonged to him. Darius said that he’d once owned the sword as well. Did he steal it from Mephisto? “We’ve made our intentions clear. I’m not going to hand over this sword. Please leave before I remove you from the premises.”

  “Now that would be a sight.” He let silence fill the air between us for a long moment.

  I recalled Darius telling me that in the presence of humans, demons needed to blink three times, revealing black irises each time. However, Mephisto blinked just once, disclosing blood-red orbs. I assumed that he was not a typical demon. More than that, my intuition told me that he was much wiser and more powerful than the average demon.

  “Mark my words: one day, you will regret your decision. When that day comes, you will beg me to take that sword from your hands.” Then his face brightened, once more revealing the same jolly behavior he’d carried during most of our conversation. “But until that day…” He snapped his fingers. And disappeared.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  After Mephisto stated that his underworld colleagues would soon descend upon me, and because Mephisto looked like he’d enjoy sending them to The Antique Boutique, I didn’t waste another second in the shop. I needed answers, so I stored the Soul Sword in the secret chamber and went to the only place I might get them.

  Now standing on a creaky, warped wooden front porch in Logan Square, I knocked on a black oak door that had been battered
by the elements. Luckily, the exterior needed no further upkeep, as the single-story flat was wrapped entirely in brick.

  The door opened and Delphine stood before me. “Serena,” she said softly, not the least bit surprised by my presence. A smile surfaced as she met my gaze. “You didn’t trespass by astral projecting. How very thoughtful of you!”

  I trusted the residual affects of that journey inside my subconscious to guide me through the city streets until I arrived at their doorstep. “I aim to please. Especially when it comes to visiting my evil mother and wretched sister.” I enjoyed watching Delphine’s pompous smile falter. I also responded that way to throw off any sense that she intimidated me. I only hoped she didn’t sense the undercurrents of fear pecking at my skin.

  A second later, my mother stepped aside with an overly cheery smile. She opened the door and gave me a view of the living room. “Please join us.”

  Alexis sat on the beige sofa, chomping into a red apple before chasing it with a healthy gulp from the half-empty bottle of blueberry-flavored vodka she clenched in her other hand. She glanced my way and…immediately did a double take. Shocked, she almost dropped the bottle from her hand. When she recovered, she let out a heap of air in relief, mesmerized by the bottle in the same way that Mephisto had been captivated by the Soul Sword.

  “What is Poland?” Celestina shouted at the television, kneeling down in front of a glass coffee table littered with coffee rings, pretzel salt, and other remnants. She waited for the Wii U Jeopardy game to reveal whether she’d given the right question to the answer Alex Trebek’s voice provided.

  I smiled at the sight of my niece, so bright and well-mannered. When I was thirteen, I’d accidentally confused Poland with Pluto, only to have every student in my social studies class turn and laugh at me. And here sat Celestina, stating that Germany had triggered World War II by invading the country I thought was a huge rock past Neptune. Perhaps she’d sidestep the self-serving nature of her mother and grandmother. That thought made my heart soar.

  I looked right and left, anticipating some sort of sabotage, but no attack was forthcoming, so I entered the room.

  Celestina spotted me and glee eclipsed her serious expression. “Aunt Serena!” She tossed the controller aside, pushed off the carpet, and rushed toward me with unadulterated excitement.

  She bumped into my legs, knocking me back a foot or so, but when she hugged me tight, I felt such an outpouring of emotion that my throat constricted, making it impossible to tell her how much I appreciated such an affectionate welcome. After all, my mother and sister didn’t seem like huggers. This response provided further evidence, however, that Celestina hadn’t formed many of the same social cues as others her age. After all, at her age, many kids preferred to act cool by not needing anyone in order to prove their independence. Nonetheless, I held Celestina tightly, glad that she wrapped her arms around my back.

  “Well, well,” said Alexis rising from the couch with an irritated expression. “Look who decided to show up without going all Sue Storm on us.” Seeing my confusion, she scoffed. “The Invisible Woman…from the Fantastic Four.”

  “But I’m not invisible. I can only project my spirit in a place other than my body.”

  She grimaced. “Same difference.”

  “What brings you around so late?” asked Delphine, closing the door behind me.

  Locking eyes with my sister, I felt guilty that Celestina had rushed away from Alexis and had such a strong connection with me. “Hi, Celie,” I said, the nickname coming to me without thought. It just felt right.

  Far from annoyed, Celestina looked up at me with a smile, obviously content to have a new nickname. “Guess what, Aunt Serena? Mom and I were just talking about you. Isn’t it crazy that you came by, like, ten seconds later?”

  “Yeah,” said Alexis in monotone. “Crazy.”

  Delphine chuckled at her granddaughter’s comment. “It’s intuition. Even the lowliest humans are in tune with that sensation.”

  Admonished, Celestina removed her arms from around me and cringed as if a whip had lashed her.

  “It’s a good thing,” I told her. “It shows that your mind, body, and spirit are in tune with each other. It’s rare.”

  “Rare!” Alexis spat. “Rare? Who do you think you are? Barging in here like you’re one of us.”

  “Actually, I knocked, and your mom opened the door. If you lay off the booze,” I said, gesturing to the bottle in her hand, “you might be able to sit at the big-kid table one day and have adult conversations.”

  “You mean our mom opened the door.” She seemed satisfied by that logic.

  I left Celestina behind as I strode toward Alexis, unwilling to let her get the best of me. I expected her to reek of booze, but she looked coherent and acted alert. Perhaps she’d just begun drinking. “You can’t get in my mind, and you can’t freeze me into the ice age, so let’s skip the name-calling.”

  Alexis’s wicked grin looked like a demonic jack-o-lantern. “Whatever, half witch.”

  “Now you’re just making a fool of yourself. I can either be a full-witch or a third-of-a-witch.”

  “I may have only gotten my GED,” she said, her voice slurring and even trembling on the acronym, revealing that she felt inferior to have only earned the equivalent of a high school diploma. “But I’ve got my own line of lingerie. It’s called Design Your Universe.”

  That statement made me snap my mouth shut.

  Alexis’s smarmy smile brightened at my loss for words. “It’s an online business, and my partner and I have made over $600,000 in sales over the past eight months.”

  “And how did you come by that stroke of luck? Magic?”

  “It helped,” she said, looking over at her daughter, obviously proud to have used the gifts that were bestowed upon her to do whatever it took to succeed. “But we wouldn’t have made a penny without my designs. And here you are, Little Miss University, trying to prove that spending $60,000 on four wasted years in college was worth a diploma.” A grin lit her face. “How will a degree help you become a rock star?” Her laughter echoed throughout the house.

  “At least I earned what came my way.”

  “What do you plan on doing with that sacred piece of paper? Roll it up to slap a demon upside the head?”

  I wanted to knock that proud smile off her face, but I sensed Celestina staring at me, waiting for me to respond. “No matter what I do, succeed or fail, I’ll have been honest with myself and everyone else. That’s more than you can say.”

  Alexis continued to smile at me, as though she’d won a standoff.

  Meanwhile, Celestina didn’t know what to make of our bickering.

  Rather than continue trading insults, or even worse declare my true intentions for stopping over, I threw my arm around Celestina’s shoulder and said, “Your mom and dear old granny said something about hosting a weekly dinner and game night. I forced a melodramatic smile. “Who’s up for Parcheesi?”

  Celestina plugged her hands against her hips and presented me with a look of disbelief. “Yeah, right!” Despite that, she seemed comforted that I’d ended the spat between her mother and me. She snatched the remote from the coffee table and switched the channel. “Hey, look, it’s The Wizard of Oz. I’ve seen it like six or seven times. The Tin Man is my favorite. He’s not afraid of feeling things.” She rattled her head, aggravated to have revealed that information. “Do you hate the Wicked Bitch? That’s what Mom calls her. “She’s soooo evil.”

  “The Wicked Witch…or your mom?” I asked, grinning.

  “Ha!” Celestina twisted around to address her mother. “She totally got you. But, no, seriously, I’m glad Mom and Granny aren’t like the Wicked Witch.”

  At that last statement, I glanced at Alexis who hit me with a disturbing grin. Moving onwards, I saw my mother try to hide a similar smile. They seemed to rejoice in their villainous behavior. I concentrated on my niece, silently promising her that I wouldn’t let her follow their path.

>   “See?” Delphine said. “We’ve got nothing to hide. But you do, isn’t that right, Serena?”

  “Yes.” Instead of holding back, I decided to be straightforward. “I’ve got something you want.”

  “The Book of Souls?”

  “Yes.”

  Delphine’s smile brightened. “So why don’t you give it to us? Surely, it’s of no use to you.”

  “True. I have no interest in it. Since no one has helped me develop my powers, I wouldn’t know what to do with it if I did. But here’s the thing… you and Alexis want it very badly. For that reason, I’m not willing to part with it.”

  “I told you,” said Alexis, scowling. “She’s just—”

  Delphine shushed her. “There must be a better reason than that.” She remained quiet for a few moments. “Is it because you’re jealous? You didn’t have a rightful home? You didn’t have the mother-figure you so desired?”

  “No. I had to kill her.” I shrugged, doing my best to act as if I didn’t care, even if the words cut into my heart. “You know how it is.”

  “I do.” She nodded slowly. “I certainly do. So what will you do with the grimoire? Burn it?”

  “I might. It depends.”

  “Depends on what?”

  “Why you want it so badly.”

  “How very sad,” Delphine said. “You don’t know about your heritage or even about your own powers. My mother did a terrible job raising you, didn’t she?”

  “She was strict but affectionate; obstinate, but understanding. I was proud that she raised me.”

  “That’s not the experience I had with her.”

  “I guess that happens…when you have an egotistical and immoral daughter.” I looked from Delphine to Alexis and back to my mother again. “I’m sure you can relate.”