by Turhan
***
He was taking a sip of his coffee at the bagel shop when I said, “Hey, I’m feeling a little dejected here, how high does a girl have to raise her skirt to get you to notice them?”
It was so funny, he almost fell off his chair. “No, I mean no, you’re gorgeous,” he said. “I just thought you never even noticed me, like I’m not even in your league.”
“Well, you can ask me out for dinner,” I pushed his open mouth, shut. “Because I think you’re kinda cute.”
“Thanks, sorry, I mean yeah I’d love to take you out for dinner, when−?”
“Seven,” at Aquarius I quickly said.
***
“She passed out again, you fool!” Ophelexa had turned her acid remarks at Smelly. I hadn’t passed out, I was faking it to catch my breath before they decided to do away with me for good. The rustling at the back of the hall became clearer, I could hear soft voices, whispers from someone.
“Oh, come in, Qirvana,” Ophelexa whipped around to address the voices. “See for yourself the reason we have to go ahead with−”
“Silence!” Qirvana spoke as though she was challenging Ophelexa’s authority. “Who is the focus of your power trip today?”
“This She Angel wants to destroy our plans for domination,” Ophelexa hissed under her breath as she pushed Smelly aside and slapped me to bring me out of my feigned passing out.
Beat up and barely able to breathe after being tortured for what seemed like hours, I was somehow able to recall the name Qirvana. Ophelexa mentioned her just before attacking me back at the meeting. She is the leader of the dissenters and doesn’t want to murder Sarturas’ daughters after they’re impregnated. Great, rape is fine, but not murder.
I had to learn more, is she the weakest link? It was time for me to pretend to come out of my pretend passed out mode
Coughing violently, it felt like my guts had been torn out. Blood was streaming down from my nose after Ophelexa had slapped me and I had no idea how I was going to speak. So somehow motioning with my head for her to come a little closer, and as her face lay next to my mouth I said something, the same something I said years ago to my ex-boyfriend, the one that shot me in the chest. He had walked over to me and was mocking me as I was bleeding on the floor. Managing to kick him down, I put my face against his, and in my agony whispered, “Hell can’t hide you and heaven doesn’t want you, if I make it out of here alive, you’re dead.”
“Heaven’s whore!” Ophelexa screamed at me. “We’ll see who dies first.” She grabbed my throat, raising me up off the floor and I could feel the pressure from her Cobra thumb-ring against my larynx. My eyes rolled upward, then, she squeezed harder still. “Kylar!” I was trying to connect with him one last time. “I think I’m dead,” This time, I really did pass out.
Somewhere in my subconscious state I could faintly hear ancient instruments like the lyre, and Pan’s Pipe wafting in the echoes of a musical chamber. I was crying in this tranquil place, finally beaten and without hope.
I was in a state of half-life, somewhere between being dead, yet still clinging to the vestiges of being alive, my mind was still active. It wasn’t one of those seeing the light at the end of the tunnel moments, but it was a time for reflection.
***
I heard a story one time from an old lady. I had recently turned seventeen and was sitting on a garden bench outside my home, waiting for a girlfriend so we could go on a double date. An old lady, hunched over and looking as though she had seen better days stopped and asked me to buy some purple heather from her. I tried ignoring her but she came and sat right next to me. If eyes are the windows of the soul then the old lady’s looked like they belonged to a queen, not just an old woman.
This was the old lady’s story. “Once upon a time,” I was thinking OMG, corny or what?
“A young maiden had fallen deeply in love with the man of her dreams, but at the time her love for him couldn’t be fulfilled, she could only love him from afar. He fell in love with another maiden and his love for her was never fulfilled because she had another love.” “Aww,” I said, pretending to be interested. “Time went by,” she continued, “and finally the two of them were thrust together by circumstances, not of their doing.”
I was beginning to get impatient with my girlfriend that I was waiting for, I wished she would hurry up and get here.
“Tragically after a short time together they were torn away from each other and having no hope of ever seeing her love again, the young maiden drew her last breath and died.”
Something about her story finally made me curious, like it was important that I know more, “So what’s the moral of the story?” I asked.
“This is for you,” she said.
Hearing my girlfriend pull up in her car I turned away. “I’ll be right there! I just have to say goodbye to . . . ”
“What are you talking about? There’s no one there.”
The old lady had gone, but when I looked down at my lap, she had left me the purple heather and a note that said, “There is always hope.” and it was signed ‘V’
***
Drifting in and out of consciousness I could still hear magikal music playing and water trickling, it was so calming, maybe I’m in heaven, and there was a beautiful fragrance in the air. Slowly my eyes began coming back into focus and I could still feel every kick and punch from my ordeal with Ophelexa. So, I wasn’t in heaven after all, but what I was in, was a bathtub shaped like the glass slipper Cinderella had lost. Not like the kind anyone has ever seen, this looked like it might have been carved out of a single hunk of diamond, nothing else could look as beautiful as this. No longer tied up, and free to move my arms, I rubbed my eyes until I could see clearly.
The room was shaped like a cathedral with huge windows rising to the ceiling, the walls were covered by weapons of medieval warfare, and, by purple Heather. It was in the openings in the walls, at the side of my bathtub, and there was a huge centerpiece on a marble table in the middle of the room. ‘V’ was telling me not to give up hope of seeing Kylar again, and I was damned if I wasn’t going to listen.
“I need clothing!” Yelling the best I could, considering my ribs were hurting, it came out more like a raspy half yell. “Is anybody−”
The music stopped and I could hear footsteps echoing in this huge room I was in. “Welcome to Sedah Hall, Sin-dy,” Someone said as they approached me. “My name is Qirvana.”
She waved at a feminine looking demon that brought over a shimmering silver gown. I stepped out of the bathtub and she placed it over my head and let it drop over my body and tied a sash around my waist. Another wave of her hand and several other demons brought in a long farmhouse table and chairs, then covered it with food and wine fit for a queen.
“Don’t think for a Hades minute that I’m going to tell you who I was talking to,” I was surprised after the beating I took from Ophelexa that I still had the courage to speak this way. “I would rather die first.”
“Don’t say anything you don’t want to say,” Qirvana said. “But I do have some questions for you.”
“Where does Ophelexa fit in with this discussion?” I asked, as I sat in front of a large chocolate cake. “She doesn’t seem like the discussion kind of lizard.”
“Please, help yourself,” Qirvana could see me staring at the cake and I didn’t need a second invitation. Pulling the whole thing in front of me I started eating it, well, more like devouring it.
“You need to slow down a little,” Qirvana said. “But I understand, chocolate is a go-to food when humans are distressed?”
“Cut the small talk about chocolate cake Qirvana,” Somehow managing to sound brave again, I said. “Why don’t you get straight to the point, before Ophelexa comes back and finally kills me.”
“Don’t be concerned about Ophelexa,” she said. “We don’t see eye-to-eye and she has been summoned to oversee the gathering of the girls before the Feast of Fevronia. If you’re quite finished I’d like to a
sk you something.”
“Well I don’t intend on sticking around here much longer,” I said. “There’s a massacre scheduled, and we’re not−” Damn it, I said we’re, so I had to go with it, like I meant to say it. “We’re, not going to let it happen.”
“Let’s start with your use of, we’re,” Qirvana said. “To whom or what are you referring?”
I had to lie, and quick, I didn’t want Qirvana to suspect I was talking about Kylar and his sisters. “The Third Millennial Templars,” I said. “We’re, going to stop you and Sarine from overthrowing the Angels of Heaven.”
“It’s too late for that,” she said. “The Impregnation Ceremony begins tomorrow morning, and there will be no liberation for the girls, Sarine has spoken.”
Tomorrow morning, how am I going to convince Qirvana that going ahead with their Impregnation Ceremony will do more harm than good to Sarine and her followers?
I had to think of something plausible, but what? “If you go ahead with this nightmare of a plan,” I said. “Then Sarine better get ready for the backlash, I’ve been around Sarturas long enough to know that you, along with many other powerful demons don’t want their childrens hearts to be served up as an appetizer, am I right?”
“Interesting, Sin-dy,” she said, as she began walking behind me. “What do you suggest, or, what do you think, can be done to thwart a daughter of Lucifer?”
“You’re creeping me out,” I said. “Why are you behind me?”
I guess I was getting overconfident in my tone. Qirvana grabbed the chair with me on it and dragged me across the room and elevated herself in a seated position right in front of me. “There, is that better?” Sarcastically, she asked. “Oh, and before you answer my question I want you to know that unless you start to cooperate, I’m not going to be as pleasant as Ophelexa, are we clear?”
Pushing my chair away from under me and finally feeling some of my strength returning, I also elevated myself in front of Qirvana. “If that bitch Ophelexa didn’t get me to talk, then there’s nothing you can threaten me with, is that clear enough for you?”
“You may not fear death,” she said. “However, if your intention is to emancipate millions of Cambion of Sarturas, then now would be a good time to elucidate me as to how you’re going to accomplish this, maybe I can help.”
Finally, Qirvana opened up, she is against Sarine’s plan.
“Let’s face it Qirvana,” I said. “The only way Sarine will listen is if she thinks her life is in danger. If she pisses off her daddy by starting a war in Hades between half−”
“Half? Do you mean half of all the demons in Hell?” she asked. “That’s ridiculous.”
“Really? Is that why in the last six months, thousands of demons have been executed for all of Sarturas to see, in the skies?”
I think I was getting through. Qirvana lowered herself to the floor and was pacing as she pulled her long platinum hair out of its rolled up spiral on top of her head.
I carried on speaking while the going seemed to be good. “There are probably hundreds of thousands of times more demons than have already been killed that are afraid to speak up, face it.” I said, as I lowered myself too and began circling Qirvana, trying to see if her eyes were going to reveal what she really thought.
“You, the very bravest of all the dissenters, and if I’m not mistaken, their leader−”
“What?”
“You heard me,” I said. “Ophelexa” . . . I let her name hang in the air for a second, “told me that’s what you are, the leader of the insurrection.”
“Your plan, your idea Sin-dy,” she cautiously enquired. “I want to hear it.”
“Stealing the honor of the daughters of Sarturas, or as you called them, the Cambion. needs to be delayed,” I said. “You have to let me go so I can make a plan with some others.” I could see she was intrigued when I said, some others.
“I told you earlier, I need to talk with the Templars. I want to tell them that you’ll have the Adamantine Gates opened and that they won’t be challenged by that rabid three headed dog Cerberus or any of Sarine’s forces.”
“I can’t do that, I can stall the Impregnation Ceremony,” she said. “But no one can leave the gates of Hell open, wait a minute, no one except for Lucifer himself, but how do I convince him−”
“Tell him that Hell will be divided and as a result weakened by his daughters plan. It’ll only strengthen his enemies in heaven if there are fewer demons because of an all-out war.”
I don’t believe that everything that was coming out of my mouth made sense, even to me! But did it make sense to Qirvana or was this all an act by her to draw me out? Was I being naïve to think she would actually go along with this?
“If I can do what you’re asking,” she waved a demon over to her side and whispered something that startled the demon, who then left our presence. “We have to make a pact.”
“A pact?” I was starting to worry, where did that demon just go to, were they getting ready to do away with me? I had regained a lot of my strength and even though I felt I could alter-witch and hide or fly out of here, the chances of me getting completely away were pretty slim, probably impossible.
“Ophelexa is right, I am the leader of the insurrection, but even if I succeed in standing up to Sarine’s forces, I am doomed. I will always have to be looking over my shoulder, she’s going to want revenge, that is . . . ” She was facing away from me, but turned enough to see my reaction.
“I can help if we make a pact?” I questioned. “I can help save your life?”
“I have to leave Hell,” she said, “and only you can help me.”
This was an incredible turn of events. Ophelexa brought me to Sedah Hall to my certain death, but here I was, striking a deal with her enemy. But at what cost?
“First, you have to tell me what the Templars−”
“They’re going to escort every last girl out of Hades and back to my world. It’ll be a huge risk for them and I don’t even know if they’ll do it, but what other choice do either of us have?”
The demon returned, she had a jeweled box that she placed on a table in front of us.
Qirvana stepped closer to me, and for the first time in my life I could see deep inside a demons eyes. They were spinning and flashing and had explosions of a thousand colors, the eyes of all the souls they had taken?
“What is the pact Qirvana?”
“I’m going to give you something,” I looked down at the jeweled box. “No, not that,” she said.
“Get out of here!” Qirvana was shouting out an order to the demons that were still in attendance around us. “All of you.”
As soon as they had all gone she changed her form, she was no longer a demon, she became human, like the girl next door kind of look. “If this plan succeeds,” she sweetly said. “You have to find me a safe haven in your world, that, is the pact you have to make with me.”
“Where am I going to find somewhere for you to live,” I asked. “In a townhouse?”
Qirvana picked up the jeweled box and opened it, a knife? I tried to back away but she grabbed my arm and for some reason I trusted her, I didn’t struggle to get away.
“A pact has to be honored in blood,” she said. “If we do this, we will become blood sisters.”
My eyes opened wide, “You’re going to cut us and mix our blood?”
“Like you said earlier Sin-dy, what other choice is there?” She placed the sharp edge of the knife against my wrist. “Yes, or no,” she asked.
“I must be crazy to trust a−”
“A Demon?” she cut in, as she changed back to her former demon self.
Not wanting to show any fear, I took the knife from her hand, placed the edge on her wrist and asked, “Yes, or no?”
Qirvana placed her hand over mine, “Do it, daughter of mother Gaia.”
“No problem,” I said. “Daughter of Hell.”
Fearlessly we looked at each other and drew the sharp edge of the knife again
st our wrists and placed them together. Qirvana pulled the sash from my silver gown and bound our wrists together, letting our blood mix. Nothing, can describe the feeling I felt, as the cocktail of human and demon blood, swept through every strand of DNA in my body. We became blood sisters.
“We have to make this look like we had a fight,” I said, as I removed the sash that was now a psychedelic colored mix of an Alter-Witch and Demon blood. “It’s time for me to go.”
“I told you earlier that I was going to give you something,” she said. “Stand aside.”
Qirvana took an ancient broadsword down from the wall, “This is what I want to give you.”
At first I thought Qirvana meant the sword, but she walked away from me, raised the broadsword with both her hands and brought it crashing down and shattered the bathtub I was in earlier. The water poured out and pieces of the tub flew in every direction. Picking up a piece the size of my head she placed it in a leather bag and put it down in front of me. “This is a diamond. It has no imperfections and in your world it is priceless.”
“Should be a nice down payment on a castle somewhere for you,” I joked.
“Your escape has to look realistic,” Handing the sword to me she said. “I want you to injure me, here in my side.”
“Are you sure?” Barely able to pick it up I waited for her to steady herself. Qirvana placed the sword at her waist. “Now swing!” she said. I pulled back on the medieval weapon and brought it crashing against her side, she buckled to the floor and roared in pain.
“Time for you to go sister and don’t let me down,” she said. “I’ll give you enough time to make it out of here before I call for help. Fly high and head toward the crystal mountain, you’ll be back in Sarturas in a few hours.”
“How will we communicate?” I asked.
“Don’t worry,” she said. “I’ll find you.”
“I’ll take this too,” I said, as I picked up the knife we became blood sister’s with. “You never know when a girl is going to need a good knife.”