Inside the Fire

by Heather Glidewell

  “Sorry I suppose I got turned around along the way.” I said extremely confused. Any excuse would work for me right now.

  Seriously, I swear the sun was still up when I arrived.

  “Do you know who I am?” She asked me placing candles around the room.

  “No.” I said slowly.

  Was I supposed to know who she was?

  “Well then let me give you a crash course.” She smiled. “I am the demon of nightmares.” She bowed gracefully then started to giggle like a school girl. She clasped her hands together and looked at the window.

  “OK here is what I am going to do. I am going to sit here with you as you go back in time. Nobody else will be able to penetrate your mind while I am here. Lilliana was strong but I am much stronger when it comes to mind games.” She giggled again and rushed over to take a seat next to me.

  “Ok.” I said slowly watching every move she made.

  “You will be her.” She grabbed my face. “You will see through her eyes and feel what she feels. However when you come back you will know what you saw and how she felt and it in no way will it be tied to you. There is no coming out early if it gets too scary and you will not have your powers. So just remember you cannot turn anyone to ash.” She kissed me on the lips. A very awkward kiss to be precise.

  “Will you be there?” I asked, the room was starting to spin.

  What could be on her lips to cause me to reel?

  “No. I will be here silly. You are on your own with this one. I have faith you will come out just fine.” She kissed me again and the whole world went black.

  ****

  It moved similar to a fast paced movie really. As soon as the outside world went dark I found myself nestled in the warm body of an eighteen year old girl. I could feel her emotions, hear her thoughts. She was a happy girl with nothing but wonderful thoughts in her head. His face was vivid in her mind and I could feel the love she had for him all around me. How I knew this feeling I’m not really one hundred percent sure since my experience with being in love felt more like heartburn and dread mixed with the anticipation that the world would end.

  We were sitting at her desk doodling hearts on a piece of paper when he came into the room. My own feelings seemed to separate for a moment as excitement filled her body. She was having all these happy thoughts that were making me want to gag.

  She flung herself into his arms as she giggled with glee. He wrapped them around her and held her close kissing her forehead and whispering how much he had missed her. The conversations were muffled for the most part. All I could make out is that they hadn’t been together in quite a while. In fact she hadn’t seen him in a week and his appearing from nowhere filled her with a happiness that I had no clue how to understand.

  He didn’t look like the boy that haunted me. He looked alive and carefree, very happy. His eyes were brown and soft. If I didn’t already know the outcome of this relationship I would assume that he would cause her no harm. His touch was warm and comforting and his kisses were sweet and innocent. She loved this boy with all her being and he loved her.

  I could feel that he fueled every fiber in her body. She longed for him when he wasn’t there and when he was she felt complete. I knew that feeling. I felt it so much with Wesley, that feeling I get when alone. I was nothing without him, but with him I was everything. She was so madly in love with him and the thought of what happens to her in the end sends a shock of pain through my soul.

  Suddenly we flash forward and we are standing in a field picking flowers as he watches from a blanket. His eyes are darker but he still holds the same emotional balance he did when I first saw him. It had been several weeks since she had seen him. He had made plans to go on a vacation to Germany with some of his college friends and just returned. He looked different. There was a darkness in his eyes that wasn’t there before he left. He seemed lost at times and quite jumpy. She brushed it off as nothing, deciding it was just the fact that he was tired.

  She ran towards him and pounced landing in his arms where he held her kissing her sweetly and telling her that he loved her. She was concerned still. He had been acting funny since he had returned from Germany. Talking to himself when he thought she wasn’t looking. He was always tired it seemed and his complexion had paled. He had gone missing a few times in the days since his return. His parents frantic pulling her from her bed in the middle of the night demanding to know where he was.

  Things had been happening to her too. She kept having dreams of herself standing in a field looking up at the Heavens when suddenly wings would erupt from her back and she would take to the skies and fly. The freedom she felt scared her. Everyone dreams of flying but not everyone dreams of being an angel. She hadn’t told him that she had woke up with feathers in her bed or that she often found herself levitating. She didn’t want to scare him, he was so sick. This is why it had taken so long for him to get to her after he got home. He had been complaining of headaches and jet lag. She had let it go knowing that as soon as he could he would be there in her arms again.

  Another flash forward and we were standing in a parking lot his hands were hard on her arms and he was screaming at her. His eyes were full of rage and loathing. She was scared. He had disappeared the night before and when she asked him where he had gone he had exploded on her.

  She had found him drawing pictures of another woman and she was concerned he was disappearing at night to be with her. The images he drew were so detailed and careful that the girl on the page looked almost real. The image in her head was foggy I couldn’t make out the drawing completely but the thought that there was a connection somewhere was nagging me.

  Instead she was insulted and then assaulted in the parking lot. He tried to correct himself like he was having some internal battle but she couldn’t understand it. His fist came back and with tears in his eyes he slammed his fist into her face. Her world went dark. I was confused, nothing happened at first then slowly her eyes opened to the horrifying world around her.

  We were in an alleyway her hands tied above her head, fear started to fill me. I knew this. I knew what would happen. I didn’t want to be here for this. I wanted to be back in Castlevania looking at Mara. I would rather be lying on that aged, yet soft, red couch discussing anything but what happened to this poor girl.

  Instead here we are clothes torn, wrists bleeding, and an enraged boy standing in front of us with his teeth clenched. He didn’t look like the boy that I saw in the first vision. He looked more like the monster that haunted me. He was pale, angry, and his eyes were black as night.

  The only thing that he wanted to do was hurt her. You could see it on his face feel it in the way he hissed at her. He assaulted her in that alley way in a manner similar to mine. He tore from her the innocence she had tried so hard to protect, the entire time ignoring her pleas for him to stop. When her screams fell on deaf ears she pled for death to come rapidly, but it wouldn’t come. She willed her wings to form to take flight. Miraculously from her back sprouted two beautiful white wings. The event was so painful and she was too weak, her body would not take to the sky. This seemed to anger him as her brilliance hung limply from her shoulder blades.

  He hit her, screamed at her, and told her that she had betrayed him. That the voices had been right. After what felt like years he cut her loose and put her limp body into the trunk of his car. The vision went dark again. She was scared and with her last ounce of strength willed her wings to disappear hiding the beauty that was supposed to save her.

  We were in the dark, we were scared, we were crying. The rest of the final vision was blurred together as if I was watching it through teary eyes.

  He would pull her screaming from the dark hiding space to assault her again and again until finally after a week of experiencing the same pain and betrayal by the hands of the boy that she loved her wish came true. At first it seemed distant, an image fa
ding slowly into focus. Finally, we saw an angel in front of us with his arms outstretched his eyes were sad but his smile was sincere. Her soul parted from her body and we took our last breath. I felt peace at last as she was set free from this horrible nightmare.

  ****

  “Dawn?” The voice was sweet yet demanding as cold hands clasped my cheeks.

  I jumped upright and found myself staring into the black eyes of Mara. My emotions were erratic, and I threw myself into Mara’s arms. She seemed confused as she wrapped her arms around me and rocked. I realized I was no longer in the castle I was in my own room my mother and father sitting at the end of my bed with their hands twined together just staring at me.

  “It was horrible!” I screamed, confused. “How the Hell did I get home?” I demanded looking at the three of them.

  “He brought you.” Mara said softly then stood up and moved away from me.

  “What?” I said searching for answers in their faces but saw nothing.

  “Ramiel, he brought you home.” Mara said looking at my parents like she wanted them to tell her she could leave. She wasn’t comfortable being there I could feel it.

  “Of course he did.” I said to myself before standing up, the sun was up. I looked at Mara and then back at the window. “I don’t even know what time it is.”

  “It’s Sunday, eleven in the morning,” My mother said softly her eyes were puffy from crying. I wondered if she had touched me while I was in the vision and seen the horrible things that I had seen.

  I felt fire surging in me, anger radiating at my core as all of it started to make sense. Every last ounce of it sinking in and giving me insight to what was happening to me. I was on the same path as her. I looked at my mother and father frowning.

  “I’m going to kill her.” I hissed.

  My father looked at me and shook his head.

  “You are strong but I don't know if you are that strong yet. You have a lot to learn. She's had centuries of growing and training. You honey, have had only eighteen years. Where she possesses the ability to maximize her strength. You still set your bed sheets on fire during a bad dream.” He glanced at Mara his eyes sympathetic. “You were always a good friend to me. Thank you for taking care of her.”

  Mara nodded and looked at my mother.

  “You have raised her well Angel. She is definitely a strong one in both arts. When the battle breaks above I hope to be below.” She gave me a candid wink. “Now if you do not mind I need to return home before they start asking to many questions. Lucifer himself will come looking for me if he deems it necessary and I would hate for you to meet him under these circumstance.” My father smiled at her again and she disappeared in a cloud of smoke. I blinked a few times as the sulfuric odor burned the inside of my nose and my eyes began to water.

  “Do all demons smell like that?” I asked standing up and fumbling around my room. I had a lunch date that I had no intentions of breaking. With everything that was going on I could really go for a little normalcy.

  “Well…” My father laughed. “Yeah. You know the whole Hell fire and brimstone bit.”

  My mother pulled away from him and was standing next to me fighting the urge to touch me.

  “What he did to her was horrendous honey, but what he did to you was just as bad.” She said softly putting her arms around me. “He took something that you can never get back.”

  Why was she comforting me, I was fine damn it!

  I choked. “You know what’s worse than all of this?” There was a tightness in my chest as my mother pulled away. “I went through all of that, felt everything that she felt and I still do not know her name. How can I be so in tune with a body that I do not know?”

  “Krista, her name was Krista.” My mother said her voice shaking. “I do not know who her biological mother was nor do I know her father. She was adopted by the family that I knew. A little miracle of Heaven is what her mother called her. She came into their lives not long after she found out she couldn’t have children of her own.”

  Knowing her name didn’t help any, in fact, it just made the tightness more unbearable and I felt hot tears forming in my eyes. I had to get my mind off of this or I would start obsessing.

  “Jonathan was a victim too, you know.” I looked away from her and rubbed my eyes. “I learned a lot in that vision that made quite a few things here seem a little more possible. He was played, nothing more than a pawn in the whole mess.”

  “I figured there were connections between the two beings. Usually one doesn’t show without another in tow.” My mother frowned.

  “She caught him talking to himself. Then she found him drawing strange pictures. Finally, he would disappear at night. She started to see physical changes. Like looking tired and sick pale features. On the night he attacked her he was constantly telling her she had betrayed him. It was as if something was whispering in his ear making him do all these horrible things." My mother looked flabbergasted. "Mom, he had the same things done to him that are being done to Wesley. What I don't understand is how he is here if dad killed him."

  "Well honey, your father didn't kill him per say. He was still alive when the paramedics got to the station. What happened after the ambulance ride is unknown. It was all over the news that the boy had died in transit. There was never a funeral. His parents were so ashamed of him that they just put his body in the ground." My mom was shaking.

  “Seriously this story gets more and more elaborate. Is there anything else that I need to know about what happened that day?” I asked.

  I was becoming increasingly tired of the lack of information that was being provided about this story. My mother and father both shook their heads, so I only had one option. I had to believe everything had been told to me about that night eighteen years ago.

  "What do you know about a Lilliana?" I asked quietly twining my fingers together.

  My father put his head in his hands and sighed.

  “Lilliana is the product of a low level demon having a tryst with a high level vampire in the mid sixteen hundreds. Since demon blood runs hot we tend to have children at an accelerated rate. Also, vampires very rarely procreate, the demon nature of course took priority. Lilliana’s mother gave birth four months after conception to a half demon half vampire child." He looked up at me his eyes were turning black.

  “She grew up rapidly but stopped ageing around eighteen or nineteen years old. I’m not sure of that exactly. It was shortly after that her mother was found drained in an alley way.” He shrugged and continued. “Lilliana enjoyed feeding on the emotions of her suitors before she dipped her fangs into their blood. It gave her a high so to speak. She wanted to have some form of connection to their feelings. This made it easier to bend them to her will when she needed them. There was a time when she went on a murderous rampage. Killed quite a few women in a small town in Italy at the turn of the 19th century." He let out a chuckle, "That was a mess to clean up let me tell you." He looked up at me and frowned.

  “She’s created few companions and none have stayed by her side. Many of them finding death not long after their creation. Yet she still tries to find that perfect mate. She's a typical woman. Only difference is she has eternity to brood while most only have a lifetime. She’s known to be vicious and incredibly strong. She has the ability to infiltrate dreams, like Mara, and manipulate images also known as hallucinations. She often portrays herself as the victim in dreams to get sympathy from the desired prey.” My father looked at me like I had lost my mind when I put my hand up motioning for him to stop.

  I couldn’t take anymore of her biography, the more he spoke the more I wanted to wrap my fingers around her throat and squeeze till her head popped off.

  “What did Lilliana look like?” I asked impatiently.

  “I never had the chance to meet her really. I spent more time cleaning up after her. She spent more time on Earth than I did, prior to
this sentence.” He looked at my mother who was pale a ghost. “However, they said she was beautiful with red hair and wild green eyes.” He looked back at me. “Why is she looking at me like that?” He asked pointing at my mother.

  I rolled my eyes and took my mother’s hand.

  “Dad, Mom's already figured out that Lilliana is Miranda. From what I understand she takes on a new name every so often, this means what Wesley knows her as isn't what John knows her as. If I hadn't seen the vision that I did I would have assumed them to be two separate women.”

  “You have got to be shitting me!” He exclaimed his eyes lighting up.

  “I wish I was dad.” I looked at my mother. “So you know what this means?”

  “History is repeating itself.” I thought my mother would pass out as she stumbled her way to my bed and sat down. “There is far too much to this honey, this is quite the pickle we have here.”

  "Well if it makes things any easier, at least we have now simplified the whole John and Wesley thing." I said softly sitting down next to her.

  "There are still so many more things that have to come into play here honey. This isn't a TV show where in a half hours’ time the heroine saves the world. This is real life. We have two hybrids out to get you. Both of which have had more time to prepare for a situation like this. This is a tangled web you have managed to get yourself into. I have half a mind to pack up everything and leave this house." She paused, she was so flustered.

  "But he's Greg's boy, and Greg has been a good friend to us." She looked at my father. "We need a plan, we need to sit down and figure out what we are going to do. We cannot be with her every second of every day and I'm not going to confine her to her room. We already know that doesn't stop him." She was still shaking.

  I felt like my head would explode, there was far too much information buzzing through the crevices of my brain that I needed to escape. I needed to just forget, to have a moment of normalcy.

  “I’m going to take a few hours and just pretend to be normal. I think that is something all of us should do. I have a lot to think on, so do you. I do believe that I have earned one hot lunch with one best friend.” I said slowly.