by L. L Hunter
Light sparked, and Willow’s face came into view, but it wasn’t her dagger that illuminated the dark room. It was a lantern. Where was her magical, ethereal dagger?
“Hello, Angel. Time for a little walk.”
Willow hauled Melody to her feet and pushed her forward. Melody stumbled over something on the ground, but soon, she found her feet again.
“Hurry. We don’t have much time before your little boyfriend and others figure out you’re missing. I want you all to myself so I can have some fun.”
“What are you going to do? You don’t have to do this, Willow.”
“Shut up. Yes, I do. You’re immortal, and I’m a mere Nephilim. So, if this plan is to work, I need to be immortal too.”
She wanted to know what plan she was talking about, why she needed to be immortal, but there was the issue of her own immortality. How was she going to tell Willow she might not be immortal much longer? She wouldn’t. She would find out soon enough.
Willow dragged and shoved Melody out the door and into a long corridor. The corridor was lined with stainless steel, and the smell of bleach and blood lingered in the air. Where were they? They rounded a corner and entered a small room with a dentist’s chair in the centre. And standing on the other side of that dentist’s chair was Abraham.
“Hello, Melody. Nice to see you again,” he said in his familiar gravelly voice. Melody watched him cautiously as she was shoved into the dentist’s chair, and that’s when she noticed the flicker of light underneath the collar of his shirt.
“Why am I here?” she asked.
“Simple. You’re going to help us with a little something.”
“Willow mentioned something about needing to be immortal. Why do you need to be immortal, and what have I got to do with it?” she said, switching her focus between both of them.
Then Abraham smirked and pulled something out from under his shirt. On one single leather rope were two souls in separate crystal spheres. One streaked with black and white, and the other weaved with golden thread. She knew what they were immediately and gasped.
“Yes. Exactly. I managed to save Jazmine’s soul, and mine was never destroyed. But back to Jazmine. I need a new body for her as you so conveniently destroyed her old one. Thanks for that, by the way. It just so happens that Willow has volunteered to be that body.”
Melody still didn’t know why they needed her, but it was all made clear. She should have realised.
“So you see, there is a slight problem,” said Willow. “As Jazmine was the Angel of Fate, a powerful immortal being, and I, a mere half-breed, my body isn’t strong enough to house such a powerful soul. That’s where you come in.”
“But the body my soul is inhabiting is human, and I’m pretty sure it’s holding up okay,” stated Melody.
“Yes, but that little virgin wished for it,” said Abraham. Melody shot him an icy glare.
“It’s all a matter of will. Humans have free will. Angels do not,” said Willow.
“But you’re Nephilim, aren’t you? You’re half human. I’m pretty sure you’d have free will.”
“Ugh. It doesn’t matter. I’m not strong enough. I was always the weak one. Samson made me feel like I was the most powerful woman on earth. Now that he’s gone, I have no hope. No purpose. Until now. It wasn’t until Abraham approached me, asking me to join him in continuing Samson’s mission, that I knew I still had a purpose. I want to feel powerful again. And with your blood, your immortality, and Jazmine’s soul, I’ll feel invincible.”
Abraham whistled as if calling a dog. Then two demons stepped into the room dressed in hospital scrubs. They walked toward Melody and pinned her down while Willow picked up a scalpel.
Melody screamed.
Chapter 7
Gabe hated math class. But he was good at it. He had a natural, logical brain, so he had finished all his work with twenty minutes to spare. He put his head down on his textbook and thought about the flash drive sitting in his room. He wanted nothing more than to go back to his room and read through his grandmother’s notes about guardian angels, except he had to make an effort, not that he cared. He cared for nothing else but getting Melody back. However, he had to be present in his own life as well.
Something dark caught his eye out the window. He had been facing the window but not really looking at anything. He sat up and watched the dark shape hover above the London skyline. It was too large to be a bird. Was it an angel? It had black wings. Then he remembered how Max said his father had initially had black wings, but now they were dark grey. The wings on this creature didn’t look grey. They were as black and as dark as evil itself. He had never seen anything so black. The black-winged thing hovered in the same spot opposite Michael Academy. He suddenly had an uneasy feeling. It was as if they were watching him. Could it be Samson? He soon shook off that thought when he remembered that Samson was dead. Melody had killed him, body and soul.
Thankfully, the bell rang, and he could leave the room, but he watched it over his shoulder and could almost feel its eyes on him. He shuddered and hurried to his next class.
Gabe’s next class was agility and fitness, for which Gabe was glad. He needed to work off this anxious unease he had been feeling lately.
As he ran laps around the indoor gymnasium, he thought about Max’s visions. The black-winged thing could be a sign of the impending war. He was unsure why there was just one demon watching him, though. It had to be a demon, and they had to be watching him, because why else? He knew Abraham was still alive, and in Max’s visions, he was the new leader of the underworld, the new general of the demon army.
He focused on his breaths and his steps. He needed to be stronger so he could fight. He needed to practise using his traits so he could sedate whatever demon came at him.
As he rounded the next corner, ready to begin his next lap, the demon alarms went off. All the students screamed and dropped to the floor or held their heads. The sound was deafening. Then his grandmother’s voice came over the intercom.
“Attention Michael Academy, all students and faculty must make their way to the dining hall immediately. I repeat, all students and faculty must make their way to the dining hall immediately.”
There were no further words or instructions, and when the announcement was over, everyone stood around looking confused and worried.
“Boys and girls, quickly and quietly, please,” said Mrs Harris, their fitness professor.
“What’s going on, Mrs Harris?” asked a blonde Nephilim. Mrs Harris walked over to the girl and her friends and ushered them toward the door with hands around their shoulders.
“It’s okay. We’ll find out when we get there. Gabe? Quickly now.”
He snapped out of his daze and realised he had been standing in the middle of the room like a deer in headlights. He quickly followed the rest of the students out of the room.
When they arrived at the dining hall, everyone found a seat and waited for the rest of the school to join them. When everyone was seated, there were enough chairs in the spacious room for all the students at one time. Gabe’s grandmother Miss Abigrine joined them and made her way to the front of the room.
“Students, you may be wondering why the alarms have gone off and why you’re here. The alarms went off because a demon has strayed too close. Don’t panic. However, I must make you aware that, at this very moment, the school is surrounded by demons.”
Frantic whispers started at one end of the room and soon erupted into cries of panic throughout the room.
“Now, students. It’ll be okay, as long as you stay behind the wards. We have alerted the Capital, and the president has sent guards to help protect us. The Goddess Scarlett and her husband Dyston are also on their way. We ask that you please carry on with the rest of your classes as normal. The demons don’t look like they are going to attack, but we have assembled protection just in case.”
That did nothing to appease the feeling of fear in the room. Some of the younger Nephilim girls were crying and were huddle
d together with their friends.
“Don’t leave the Academy under any circumstance. In case of emergency, and if you really do need to leave, you will be assigned a guard for protection, but you will need to see your professor, who, in turn, will notify me if anyone needs permission to leave. You’re free to go to your next class. Thanks, students.”
Gabe sat still and silent in his seat. He didn’t move. Why was this happening? Was this because of him? Was he endangering his fellow students because of who he was? A tap on his shoulder brought him out of his daze. He turned and saw Eden sitting behind him. She was leaning forward on the back of his chair.
“Hey, do you know what’s going on?”
“No clue. But I have a feeling this is about me.”
“Dude, not everything is about you,” Eden joked. Gabe shot her a glare. “Sorry. Wrong time for jokes. But seriously, why do you think this is about you?”
“Just a hunch. Based on Max’s vision, we know something is brewing.”
“Yeah. Judging by the demons surrounding us.”
“So, the question is, what do they want?”
Chapter 8
Melody knew the exact moment when the scalpel hit her skin. The pain was barely a faint pressure against her skin, but when the demon holding the blade pushed it deeper, the pain was unlike anything she had ever experienced. No, that was a lie. The first time she lost Gabe, that was the worst pain she had ever experienced. That pain tore apart her mind and soul. This was just pain. Just her body. But it still hurt. She tried to move, to see what was happening, but someone had tied down her wrists and ankles.
It was just a little cut. And that little cut was nothing compared to what they did next.
Willow laughed manically as the demon sliced through Melody’s torso, drawing lines of blood, a bloody sketch into her skin.
“All right, that’s enough. You’ve had your fun. Let’s just drain her so we can get on with it,” said Abraham. Melody tilted her head so she could see Abraham. He glanced at her for a second before diverting his gaze. What was he up to? That reaper was hard to read.
The second demon in scrubs, the one who hadn’t been slicing and dicing her just a moment ago, brought forth a piece of plastic tubing with a metal spout on the end. The tip was flattened and about three centimetres wide.
“What is that?” Melody asked, suddenly even more afraid.
“We need to drain your blood, Angel,” said the male demon. His irises glowed red, and his voice was deep with a hint of a European accent. He was probably some local guy Abraham and Willow had picked up and possessed off the street. The European demon stepped closer and held up the tube with the metal spout, and reached for Melody’s neck.
“What are you doing? Get away from me!” She screamed and kicked out. The demon shouted and dropped the tube.
“Ugh. You little bitch. Can someone sedate her?” said the demon, clutching his hand Melody had kicked.
“I wanted her awake. She needs to be awake while her blood is being drained,” said Willow. “But I suppose we can sedate her a little. It will be pointless, though, because when she loses enough blood, she’ll lose consciousness.”
She held her hand out for a syringe, and one of the demons handed her one. Willow moved toward Melody and stuck the needle into her thigh.
Melody tried to fight, to kick, to scream, but it was no use. She soon lost her fight, and her world went dark.
When she came to the next time, Melody’s head throbbed like crazy. She blinked. The light seemed too bright. Black dots danced before her eyes and her mouth was as dry as a desert.
“W…water.”
“You’re stronger than you seem, Angel,” said Willow in a condescending tone. She held out something toward Melody. She turned her head enough to see what it was and wanted to cry when she saw it was a glass of water. She took it thankfully and drank it greedily. When she handed the cup over, her hand brushed against a plastic tube. Carefully, she ran her fingers up the tube toward her neck, and it was there she discovered the end of it had been inserted into her jugular vein in the side of her neck.
It was then it all came back to her.
They were draining her blood to give to Willow so she could become immortal and carry Jazmine’s soul. Horrified at the prospect of losing all her blood and possibly dying, she followed the flow of blood through the tube and saw that the bag hanging on the IV pole was almost full.
“Believe it or not, that is the fourth bag. And you’re not dead yet. There is something incredibly fascinating about angel blood.” Willow’s eyes shined with wonderment and power. She looked crazy. Drunk on power.
Melody looked at the bag hanging on the stand filled with her blood. The fourth bag. How many more bags would it take to completely drain her? She felt like she could eat a huge steak, but she didn’t feel completely lacking in energy yet.
“Surely you have enough already,” said Melody, hoping to make them stop.
“No. We need at least six. A little bit more.” Willow clicked her fingers to someone out of view, and a demon came and quickly changed the bag. They were now onto the fifth bag.
Chapter 9
Max peered out his bedroom window and startled when one of his grandmother’s guards stared back at him. He pulled down the blind and turned back to his friends.
“This is insane. We can’t even leave the Academy. I wanted to see my parents.” He sulked, flopping back down on his bed. Eden was reclined with her feet on his pillow. He shoved them off, but she just put them back on again. He gave up. Asher sat on the edge of the bed with a bowl of chocolate balls, which he then proceeded to feed into Eden’s mouth. Max rolled his eyes and turned his attention to Gabe. Gabe was spinning round and round on Max’s desk chair and throwing chocolates in the air and catching them in his mouth. It was the end of the school day, so classes were over, but everyone was bored and clearly going stir crazy.
“Guys, what are we going to do?” Max asked.
“Nothing. Unless the demons attack. Which they won’t,” said Eden from her prone position on the bed. She tilted her head back and smiled as Asher placed a chocolate in between her lips and then leaned down and kissed her. Their kiss turned into a full-blown make-out session as they fought for ownership of the chocolate. Asher won.
“Damn it!” She laughed and feigned sulking as she sat up and tackled her boyfriend to the bed. Gabe threw a paperback book at them.
“Get a room, guys! Geez. Keep it PG.”
Thankfully, their eyes were saved when there was a knock at the door. It opened, and Max launched himself off the bed when he saw the familiar face poke through.
“Mum!”
“Hey, baby.” Scarlett couldn’t take a step before Max had launched himself into her arms.
He was now a head taller than she was, so Scarlett had to look up to see her son.
“I thought I wouldn’t be able to see you. We can’t leave the Academy.”
“I know. That’s why I came. I have some news.”
Eden and Asher sat up and turned to face Scarlett. Gabe stopped his revolutions on the chair.
Scarlett swallowed the lump in her throat and looked down at her hands, which were clasped tight over her abdomen.
“I’m afraid Jazmine is still alive.”
“How is that possible?” exclaimed Eden. “We toasted that bitch.” If Eden’s father were here, he’d fix her a pretty icy glare. Instead, Asher gave her a warning look that told her to behave in front of their goddess. “Sorry. But it’s true.”
“Yeah. How is she still alive?” asked Gabe.
“Her soul still appears on Benjamin’s map. It seems Abraham must have saved her soul before her body was destroyed. But that’s not all.”
“Great. What’s next? Abraham isn’t being a model citizen? Because that would not surprise me. That guy has more secrets than cats have lives.”
“You might be right. We don’t know for sure, but Dyston suspects that to be true. Oh, and that’s n
ot all. Sorry.”
“What else? Just push the knife in further, why don’t you.” It was Max’s turn to give Eden a warning glare. She put her hands up in surrender.
“What is it, Mum?” prompts Max.
“I’m sorry to report this, but Melody is missing.”
Gabe’s heart sank into his stomach and stopped beating. He had begun to spin on the chair again, but he froze and planted his feet heavily on the wooden floorboards.
He barely heard anyone’s words. His world stopped as he tried to get his head around this news. Melody was missing? No. It couldn’t be true. She’d probably gone off somewhere to clear her head. She was probably on some tropical island in the South Pacific Ocean.
“How is she missing?”
“Aria came to see me earlier with the news. She heard her cries. She’s in trouble.”
She’s in trouble.
Those were words Gabe did hear. His head snapped up.
“We have to save her.”
“It’s too risky, Gabe. There are demons surrounding the Academy,” Scarlett told him.
“I don’t care,” he said defiantly. He got to his feet as he held a green ball of electricity in his palm. “We’ve faced thousands of demons before. Besides, these don’t look very fierce. They haven’t attacked yet.”
“Yes. But they could if provoked. The order from Beth is to stay inside the wards. Let us handle it.”
Gabe’s eyes glowed emerald green, and he shot a bolt of lightning toward Scarlett. Her eyes widened as it hurtled toward her.
“No! Melody needs our help. She needs me. I will be going to save her with or without your help. You can’t stop me.”
“Gabe? What are you doing?” Max asked as he placed a hand on Gabe’s shoulder.
Gabe turned to look at him with the scariest look Max had ever seen—before throwing Max across the room. Max hit the wall and slid down. Scarlett screamed, and Asher ran to Max’s side. Gabe turned his attention back to Scarlett. He was about to throw out another bolt of electricity when the door to the room flew open and Dyston burst in. He threw out his own bolt of blueish-white power and pinned Gabe to the wall above the desk.