The Shadows Trilogy

by Cege Smith

  “Why are you dredging up this ancient history?” Lillian crossed her arms and stared at him impatiently.

  “I’m telling you this because Joseph isn’t the one who took Rosalyn’s energy. I did. And Rosalyn wasn’t the only one. Obviously when Mikel wiped my memories, those went with them, but when I was in Purgatory, they started to come back. I started to remember who I had really been before I became David Mitchell. I remembered being Jack Bradford.”

  Lillian gaped at him. “There’s no way that’s true. You wouldn’t have been strong enough to do any of that. You didn’t even know a way to do that.”

  “Don’t forget that Mikel inhabited my body on and off for over a century. I think that there was enough residual magic left inside me for it to be possible. That first time, with Rosalyn, I didn’t mean to do it. I was actually trying to warn her about Joseph. But once I got a taste of it…” David paused just long enough to lick his lips, “It was such a rush that it was addicting.” He took a step forward and was pleased to see that Lillian took an uncertain step back. “I had to be so careful. I couldn’t let you or Joseph find out what I was doing because I was afraid you’d make me stop. But now I understand that was silly. I know you would have been proud of me, following in your footsteps.”

  “No,” Lillian said, shaking her head. “It’s not possible.”

  David reached up and touched her shoulder. He braced himself just in time as the shock of the surge up his arm shook them. He forced a smug smile on his face as he stepped back. Then he looked at his hand, balled it into a fist, and then blew on it splaying his fingers wide. “Five precious years in your current state, gone. Good thing you make a habit out of regularly sucking someone else’s life force to remain young.”

  Lillian’s face was incredulous. All of the color drained from her cheeks, leaving them ashen and grey. “I never suspected.”

  “I was really good at lying. Almost as good as you,” David said pointing at her. “You ask why I’m doing what I’m doing. I’m doing it because I want to, because I chose another path long ago. I don’t want Ellie. I don’t want the life of a pathetic sap. I want to be strong. I am strong.”

  “If you weren’t about to be bound to my will forever, I’d almost be worried,” Lillian said with an uncomfortable chuckle.

  “Then let’s get moving,” David said. “I don’t want to be late.”

  They stood there and stared at each other for a few moments, but David never wavered under her scrutiny. Finally, Lillian swept her arm out. “Of course.”

  David held back a sigh of relief. He had done it. He had claimed Joseph’s crime as his own. Now there was only one more part to play, and he needed to finish it before Lillian had a chance to check up on his story. Soon, very soon, Lillian would have no idea what hit her.

  They walked in silence and then they reached what appeared to be a dead end. Lillian’s hand flashed around the edges of the wall, and a door appeared. David looked at her inquisitively, but she just shrugged and swung the door open, motioning for him to step inside.

  The first thing he noticed was the small pool of water in the center of the room. There was a small set of steps leading down into its murky depths. The room itself was circular and tapered candles lit up the walls all the way around it. David saw a small bench off to the side with a small pile of clothes.

  “You’ll find your robe there,” Lillian said pointing at the bench. “You have two minutes to get ready.”

  David hurried over to the bench, his thoughts a jumble. He felt the buzzing inside of him that he knew was because of the small amount of energy that he had taken from Lillian. It had been the only way that he could prove to her that he had done the things that he said he had done. Her suspicious nature had played right into his hands.

  He found a pair of black pants on the bench with a shot of silver that ran along the sides, and a heavy black robe. He slipped out of his clothes and into the pants and robe. Instantly he began to sweat. It was like the temperature of the room was rising.

  He turned to find Alain and Lillian standing across the pool from him. Alain was wearing a black hooded robe, and Lillian stood in a black slip dress that accentuated the paleness of her skin. It hadn’t been his imagination. Lillian’s slight frame and bony cheeks were looking haggard, and her hair was no longer shiny and vibrant. He knew that his actions had accelerated her aging process and felt a momentary burst of glee at the idea. He had struck a blow to her vanity, by far one of her weakest points.

  Alain motioned toward the water, and his booming voice filled the room. “By your own free will, you are entering into a pact with the sector of Hell. If at any time in the future you attempt to break this pact, your life will be forfeit and your soul damned forever. Do you understand and accept these terms?”

  “I do,” David said, raising his chin. He knew what to do. He stepped around to the stairs and descended quickly into the water. It was near boiling, and he could see the steam rising off of it. Rivets of sweat ran down his face, and he wanted nothing more than to ditch the heavy robe, but he knew better than to disrupt what had been started.

  Lillian followed behind him into the water, and when he reached the middle, he turned to find her just a foot away. Her eyes gleamed with excitement. Above them, Alain reached out his hands and started to chant words that David didn’t understand.

  A silver dagger appeared in the air between David and Lillian.

  “The one who does the binding will consecrate the agreement in blood,” Alain said.

  David looked up and wished he hadn’t. Alain’s head was thrown back, and he appeared to be in the throes of either pleasure or pain. David wondered if it wasn’t a little bit of both. Lillian swiped the dagger out of the air.

  “Now, Lillian,” Alain said.

  “David Mitchel, once known as Jack Bradford, do you swear that, with this binding, you will serve the darkness of Hell?” Lillian’s eyes bore into him.

  David felt the weight of her words. He feverishly hoped that Veronica had known what she was doing. “I will.”

  “Do you swear that you will obey me, Lillian Bradford, as your Master for the rest of eternity?”

  David’s throat clenched at the horror of the idea. “I will.”

  “You openly and without issue give your soul over to the darkness, now and forever?”

  “I do.”

  The two small words weren’t even out of his mouth before he saw the flash of metal and then it was embedded into the side of his throat. Pain like he had never felt before exploded throughout his body. It wasn’t just physical pain, but mental as well as his body and his soul obeyed the words of the spell being cast on them. He could feel the world elongate and then snap back into focus just before Lillian advanced on him and pushed him down, submerging him into the water.

  Even underneath the surface, Alain’s muffled words rippled in David’s ears. He struggled against Lillian and watched in horror as the murky water rippled and changed to red. He knew that he was strong, but Lillian was stronger. Her grip never wavered, and just as David was about to pass out, she released him and his head shot back over the surface, gasping for air.

  He knew what he would find. Lillian’s slit palm grabbed his neck where she had stabbed him and pulled him close. Madness danced in her eyes, and for a moment he thought that she was going to kiss him. Instead, her lips stopped just short of his.

  “You are mine now,” she whispered. “Say it.”

  A hum filled his body in response to the mingling of his blood with hers, and David’s teeth chattered. A hazy kind of fog settled over his vision.

  “I obey and serve,” he said. His voice was hoarse and sounded somehow different to his ears.

  Lillian smiled and then removed her hand. Without her support, David slipped and fell backward. He splashed and flailed in the water for a few moments before finally regaining his footing. The water was thicker now, and he feared that, in some way, Alain had changed it to blood. As he stood there
, wet, and scared, he saw that Alain waited for him at the top of the steps.

  David felt different. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but something within him had changed, and not for the better. But he had to put that concern aside. He had hopefully accomplished what he had set out to do. Now he just had to wait for the right opportunity to strike. If things were truly spinning out of control in the Afterlife the way everyone suspected, he didn’t think it would take long. He just had to watch and be ready.

  David took the steps slowly, not trusting his feet. Finally, he reached the top. Alain reached out and opened his fist. In it sat a small silver pin. It was of a snake eating its own tail, the symbol of one who was a servant of Hell.

  “Welcome to the fold, David.”

  David took the pin out of Alain’s hand. It felt like nothing in his grasp it was so lightweight, but he knew that it had enormous implications. Alain said a few more foreign words and then David’s robe whipped around him. He was amazed moments later to look down and realize that they were dry.

  Lillian stepped out from behind Alain and then embraced David. “Now we begin anew. I have so many things to show you.”

  David jumped as the door behind Alain flew open with a bang. He saw a small blond boy who couldn’t have been more than four or five years old standing there with a wide gash across his forehead.

  Alain turned, “What is the meaning of this?”

  “Master, we have a problem,” the boy said.

  At that moment, David knew with certainty that whatever problem the child had run into, it had something to do with Ellie.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  “It won’t be long now,” Mikel said, wincing as he sat down with Ellie and Lucy on the staircase leading into the foyer. The three of them stared up at the chandelier. Ellie realized that she’d never be able to look at it the same way again.

  “We gave those things one hell of a wallop,” Lucy said. “They would be lucky to remember what their names are right now.”

  “I think you underestimate Scolosi demons,” Mikel said. “You caught them by surprise. They weren’t expecting you and Ellie to be so strong together. It’s a mistake they won’t make again.”

  “Lucy, are you sure you’re okay?” Ellie was tired. She felt like every bit of her energy had been drained, but listening to Lucy and Mikel argue made her feel like some kind of normalcy had returned to her world. “Melissa basically skinned you.”

  Lucy shuddered as she ran her hands over her healed skin. “Not something I would like to experience ever again. I’ve blocked it out already, so stop bringing it up. Enough about me, what about you, Ellie?”

  “We have to figure out a way for you to do magic without stabbing me,” Ellie said with a small smile. “Thank you for saving us, Lucy, or at least buying us some time. We do have to talk about what happened though,” Ellie said. “Mikel’s right. We have to be ready for them to retaliate.”

  “They will be reporting their failure to their Master,” Jake said as he appeared from around the corner of the staircase. “He will come for you, and he will come soon.”

  “Not ready to tell me who that is yet?” Ellie asked.

  Mikel turned and looked Jake up and down. “So this was your little informant, and the one who turned us in.” He leapt to his feet, but Ellie grabbed his arm.

  “Stop! Jake did what he had been told to do. But he did come back to help me, and thereby he helped you. So far, you two are pretty much even in my book. You’ve both managed to betray me, but you’ve also both helped me out a little bit to make up for it.”

  Mikel shrugged her arm off. “I don’t trust him, and you shouldn’t either.”

  “If I lived by that logic, Mikel, I wouldn’t trust anyone here in the Afterlife,” Ellie said with a sigh.

  “Actually, that’s the smartest thing you’ve said today,” Mikel said. He still hadn’t taken his eyes off of Jake.

  When Mikel wouldn’t move, Ellie stepped up in front of him, put her hands against his chest, and pushed him backwards. “This isn’t helping, Mikel. If you aren’t going to be useful, then I suggest you leave. Take a way line and go somewhere else.”

  “You need me,” Mikel said.

  “Unless you start ponying up some information, then you’re just in the way,” Ellie said crossing her arms.

  Mikel frowned. Then he pointed at Jake. “That one is bound to that Master. He’s no different than the things that were just here.”

  “Yes, I know he’s bound to someone,” Ellie said. “But he’s under some kind of spell that won’t let him tell me who that is. So we need to find out another way so that we know who we are dealing with.”

  “Do you really want to know?” Mikel’s voice was low.

  “What are you hiding, Mikel?” Lucy’s voice was heavy with suspicion.

  “I had a lot of time to think dangling from that chandelier. I realized that it was possible that I had missed the obvious, and seeing your ex-husband here just confirmed it all for me,” Mikel said. “You aren’t going to like the answer when I tell you.”

  “Tell me anyway,” Ellie demanded.

  “There’s only one person in Hell with the kind of power necessary to control three Scolosi demons, and who would also have such a vested interest in you that his influence could be seen in every part of your life,” Mikel said.

  “Who, Mikel? Stop playing games. Just tell me,” Ellie said. She was frustrated with Mikel’s evasiveness.

  “I’m simply trying to explain to you how I arrived at my conclusion. It’s got to be your mother’s father, Alain.”

  Ellie felt as if she had been punched in the stomach. She felt the blood drain from her face. “My grandfather is alive?”

  “What makes you think that they would be dead?” Mikel asked. “Melanie told you that your parents were Pure Ones, and I told you that your mother’s father held a powerful position in Hell. The disgrace that your mother brought on him almost caused him to lose that position, and believe me, he never forgot it. I didn’t want to believe that he could have murdered his own daughter. He doted on Milla and always told me how much he missed her. But it can only be him.”

  “So what you’re saying is that my grandfather, someone I have never met, sent a pack of demons to torture me?” Ellie said.

  “Need I remind you, they didn’t torture you?” Mikel stated. “They were supposed to keep you here, likely until Alain arrived. Me, Jeffrey and Lucy provided the entertainment.”

  Ellie leaned on the bannister and stared up at the chandelier. She had wished for years that she had more family. Her parents told her that her grandparents were dead. Now that she found out that she had some, it was devastating to think that a person related to her would want to harm her. “Why kill Jake?” Then she whirled around and glared at her ex-husband.

  “I told you, Ellie. I was interfering where I wasn’t supposed to be interfering. There was a chance that I could have scared you away with what I told you about my dreams,” Jake said with a sigh. He couldn’t meet her eyes. “I was punished.”

  “What does he want with me?”

  “What does anyone want with you?” Lucy said. She moved closer to Ellie. “He wants to use you.” She jabbed a finger in Mikel’s direction. “Just like him. Just like Lillian. You can’t believe him, Ellie. The man lies for a living. Let me reach out to my contacts and confirm this before you believe anything he says.”

  “I hate to tell you this, Ellie,” Mikel said. “But if Alain is on his way, I need to leave here. Now.”

  “What??” Ellie and Lucy said at the same time.

  “I can’t be found here. The demons will tell him that they saw me here with you. I need to go.”

  “So what, you just use Ellie to escape Hell and then dump her when you said you’d help?” Lucy hissed.

  Ellie put up an arm to stop her friend. “It’s fine, Lucy. Let him go. I don’t care. We don’t need him.”

  Mikel flourished a small bow and then he backed away
down the hallway. Ellie heard the door to the basement open and close. She couldn’t believe that Mikel had decided to run. She had made a mistake.

  “Coward,” Lucy said glaring at the space where Mikel had just stood.

  “Focus, Lucy. If he’s right, then I’m in big trouble. We need a plan,” Ellie said.

  Then Jake drew their attention when he moaned, and his head dropped into his hands. Ellie quickly went to him. “Jake, what is it?”

  Jake’s haunted eyes lifted to hers. “It’s too late, Ellie. He’s already here.”

  The front door blew open, and Ellie saw deep black tendrils of smoke swirl into the room. Three figures materialized from the smoke, an older man who bore a stunning resemblance to her mother, Lillian Bradford, and David.

  Ellie fell backwards and stumbled on the staircase. “David?”

  David’s cold stare froze her in her tracks. “Hello, Ellie.”

  The older man strode forward, and that was when Ellie realized that she couldn’t move. “Uncanny,” he said as he studied her face. “You look so similar, and yet so different.”

  Ellie struggled against her invisible bonds. “I know who you are.”

  “Forgive me,” the man said with a small nod of his head. “I have been waiting for this moment for a very long time. My name is Alain, and I am your grandfather.” He paused for dramatic effect. Then his head whipped to the side finding Lucy hidden just around the corner of the staircase. “Ah, yes. The witch. You made quite a mess of my demons with your loophole of unbinding my conjuring spell. They are eager to repay you and I’ve promised them they will be able to do so, over, and over, and over again.”

  The unspoken promise of unrelenting pain made Ellie shiver. Her eyes kept returning to David’s handsome face. Lillian wore a smug grin that Ellie wanted to slap off her face. Then Lucy cried out as invisible hands dragged her forward.

  “I count two. Now where is my escaped charge?” Alain said. He was so close that Ellie could feel the heat of his body. “Where is Mikel?”