“I’m just here cause Aaliyah is, but if any of you are looking for a fight, I could be up for that.”
“Aaliyah tried to have you killed; why are you still loyal to her?” I questioned.
“Aaliyah didn’t try and have me killed, that decision was Alik’s. Aaliyah just suggested a method and he didn’t do it.”
“But…”
“I lost the fight against Alik anyway; I don’t hold it against him or Aaliyah. Don’t bother to try and tell me otherwise.”
“But…”
“She has a point, Vanessa. Just leave it. We should head to the temple,” said June.
“So no one is up for a fight? Ah well, suit yourself,” she said, closing her eyes again.
“Come on, it’s this way,” said Eden.
We left Ceil under the tree and headed back into the trees and by this time, we had been walking for hours and I had begun to grow tired. My feet became really sore and I tripped.
“Are you okay?” asked June as she helped me up.
“Yes, just a bit tired,” I said and the tiger, Nela as I had come to call her, came over and nudged me and leaned slightly, as if telling me to sit down on her back. I did and she continued on following the others with me riding on top of her. “Thank you, Nela.” I scratched her ears as we walked along.
We came to another clearing and what I assumed was the temple. There were five massive glass domes with the center dome
rising at least a hundred feet into the air; I could see the inside all five and beneath the glass, a black mist that glimmered with clouds of red and gold, blue and yellow, and tiny dots of light that twinkled brightly slowly swirled. I was stunned at the beauty of it. Until I took a look at the pyramid behind these domes that it made feel like marbles. Its exterior rose no less than thirty stories with the cap stone of onyx casting a shadow of a deeper black that seemed to be following us as we made it to the base of the pyramid.
“What did you expect? Ancient stone and crumbling rock?” Asked Eden when he noticed my awe.
“What is all of this?”
“A reflection of what you call Heaven; if you could see the bottom of the sphere, you would see a reflection of what’s considered hell. It stands for all I created; I guess you could say it’s a temple of creation. The ptramid when i was list here stood about twenty feet tall and had a single room in it, it grows with man and records their history, as the domes with the Lunarians and the Solarians in Heaven and Hell. Man seems to have been very busy.”
We continued to walk forward up to a set of stairs that climbed halfway up the exterior of the pyramid to an opening I couldn’t see from the ground. Once inside, stars lit our path and we headed for what I guessed was the center. The hall we walked down was made of a black marble; small stars floated along, lighting our path and making pictograms on the walls twinkle. Animals that I knew and some I had only heard about in myths glowed from the starlight, but as I looked around, I couldn’t help but think that something was missing.
“What are looking for?” asked Eden, noticing that I was looking for something.
“There is no central pictogram or hieroglyph; I was expecting to see you around here to be honest.”
“You won’t find any.”
“Why is that?”
“Why should there be? When rulers mistake themselves for Gods and see themselves above those they rule over, that’s when
greed and corruption take over.”
“But you are God,” I said as we began down another long hall with a low light at the far end. ”Why shouldn’t they worship you?”
“I don’t deserve to be worshipped. When I became spiritual leader of the Solarians, that’s all I was supposed to be. To my people, God does not have the same implications as it does to humans. I wasn’t called God in a human sense until a few of my followers started to spread rumors of powers I did not have to boost morale. I did not want to be worshipped, but duty forced me to go along with it. I was the most powerful Solarian for three hundred years and endowed with near omnipotence, what else was I supposed to do? Sit by and watch my people die around me while I did nothing?”
“Of course not, I mean I didn’t mean to imply.”
“It’s okay. I’m probably being a little over dramatic,” he said with a weak smile. “Although, when I made you humans, it was with the intent to blend in and just fake my death so often as to not appear as anything different. It didn’t work out that way when I found it,” he said and there was something odd about his tone.
“Found what?”
“Her soul. I thought the gates had been destroyed and there was no way to recover or reach it. I shouldn’t have been greedy and called her back; she had left already,” Eden seemed to be whispering to himself. I wasn’t sure if he was sure of what he was saying or even knew he was saying it. “When she died, I lost it. The Lunarians were gone and the Solarians were also gone. I acted out of anger and ruined that chance. That technique I declared forbidden and yet I did it and I shouldn’t have; thousands died in my rage. Our people became prisoners of that damned dimension at the mercy of the Lunarians. I was left alone on this planet; despair reigned my soul and I tried to fill it with failed creation after creation. Falling deeper and deeper…” If I could hear Eden, June and Lucifer had to as well, but they seemed to be ignoring it as we walked down the hall, the light becoming brighter. “I don’t know how it happened; I hit a low point, called out to her, and she came in my despair. I thought I failed again, but she sat up, touched my face and it was like I was reborn. With her by my side, this was the result.” He looked around the hall. “Then he got out and turned her against me. My anger took over again and I removed her; I
couldn’t bring myself to kill the woman I loved. Everything began to fall and I acted to save my creations from the one flaw I put into their system. Still, there was death and desertion; I did no better and left them to their own devices. It created a rift and wars spread, families torn all because of me,” Eden said as we crossed the doorway into a larger chamber. I couldn’t describe the emotion in his voice
“The sentiment of a coward,” said Aaliyah.
“The cold words of a bitch,” Eden retorted, his broken and pained emotion covered in an icy coldness.
“Sticks and stones, love. Well, I guess that was a long time ago, but some habits are hard to break, Eden.” Was there something that I was missing? Aaliyah smiled into Eden’s face and his stricken expression made his moment of cold vanish and it seemed like her words stabbed him. Lucifer watched Aaliyah and his face mirrored Eden’s. What had she done to them or they do to her to make her act this way? Aaliyah waved her hand and it was like hands grabbed us and we were pinned against a high wall. “You kept me waiting quite awhile.”
Eden closed his eyes and we dropped; June caught me just before I hit the ground and Nela came over worried. “Stop with the games, Aaliyah.”
“You mean life?”
“Life isn’t a game,” I said.
“Yes, it is. We are all dealt a hand, and depending on how you play it, you’re better or worse than the person across from you. Now, please sit down; we are waiting for one more, before we discuss the destruction of the planet,” she said, pointing to four chairs that sat across from her. One chair on her left sat empty. Lucifer and Eden both took seats and June and I followed. Nela sat on the ground next to me, her head in my lap. “This is pleasant, isn’t it?”
Vanessa Stanton
Chapter 46.0
Aaliyah just smiled, her eyes moving across all of our faces slowly. She then leaned back in her chair and looked up. I followed her gaze; the only light in the room was coming from a few thousand tiny lights of various sizes slowly drifting in a clockwise circle. The table we sat at was rectangular and had a chart inlaid on it; I guessed it was a cipher for the star thing above us. Then I looked back at Aaliyah, who was now humming to herself, and I wondered why none of them took this time to attack her. Lucifer was sitting there trying to seem relaxed with his eyes fo
cused on Aaliyah while Eden seemed tenser, as if he was ready to strike. She was alone and judging from their last battle, it looked like they could have easily taken her if Alik had not shown up. Something had to be going on that I coiuldn’t see.
“Aaliyah,” came Alik’s voice.
"Alik, love, you’re back," Aaliyah said as she smiled.
"Sorry I kept you waiting so long; how is everything here?"
"Just that awkward silence you get at the best of dinner parties I hear. Maybe we should have fed on Vanessa," she suggested. I didn
t know if she was watching me as I was focused only on Alik.
I stared, unable to speak again; Alik would not look at me as he sat down next to her. Behind him was a young girl I had never seen before. her eyes were blue but they glowed like Aaliyah’s, as well as her skin was the same beautiful golden brown. She caught my eyes for a moment and a smile flickered and died on her face as she quickly looked away. Alik’s eyes were trained on Eden and Lucifer, more focused than i had ever seen him. It started to hurt to look at him, so I watched the young girl who was carrying a sword almost her height. Nela nudged me as she purred and I scratched her ears for something to do. Why wouldn’t Alik look at me? Was he scared to see some pain in my eyes that he may have caused? No, now that he had Aaliyah, it couldn’t have been that. She was beautiful for a vampire; she was more powerful than any vampire, and she wanted him so completely. What more could he ask for? These were things that I could never give him. I was lucky to have him for the brief time that I did, and I was stupid for keeping him away for so long. So much time wasted that I could never get back…
"June," Alik’s voice interrupted my thoughts..
"Yes," she replied, looking at Alik.
"Thank you for this," he said, holding up the sword. "It’s beautiful."
"Lilith always had great taste."
"Yes, she did." When he said that, I caught the use of past tense.
"You know," I couldn’t help myself from saying.
"Do I know what?" he asked, still not looking at me, he had removed the sword from its sheath to examine the blade instead.
"That Lilith is gone!" I finished even louder.
"Yes, of course he knows. Did you think I would keep that hidden from him, little girl?" Aaliyah questioned, tauntingly.
"Shut up; I wasn’t talking to you, was I?" I yelled, flashing an
angry look in her direction. "Alik, please tell me you had nothing to do with your mother’s death."
"Vampire do not have mothers; she was no more than a stepping stone into a life he was
made for," Aaliyah stated.
"Why do you continue to talk when no one is speaking to you?" The anger grew in my voice to new levels. "Alik, answer me!"
"Yes, I did know." He was hiding the sadness in his tone, but it was clear to me. I was to angry to care what that meant.
"And you let that," I pointed at Aaliyah, “live afterwards?” I finished.
"Yes I did." He finally looked me in the eye, he was telling the truth and that pissed me off more.
"How could you?" I screamed, getting up and walking around to him, forcing him to look into my eyes again. "Tell me you didn’t agree to let Aaliyah kill your mother."
"I killed Lilith because she betrayed me by forgetting her place, she instead sided with them.” She pointed to Lucifer and Eden. “Once Alik knew, he agreed it was a necessary step."
I reached down and pulled Alik’s sword out of its sheath. I swung at Aaliyah who grabbed my wrist, stopping me. She then flung me across the room like a toy she got fed up with; Nela just managed to help break my fall. "Maybe I should have killed you instead, girl." She moved to attack me and a lot happened at once. Eden and Lucifer saw it as a chance to attack Aaliyah; Ceil and Alik stopped that both with blades at Eden and Lucifer’s necks. Aaliyah
held June’s sword between her fingertips, i hadn;t even noticed Ceil enter the room.
Aaliyah laughed. “Can you feel the tension in the air? You could cut it with a knife.”
“Yes, you could,” Alik agreed.
Alik then took his sword from Lucifer’s neck and with a twist of his wrist, plunged it into where Aaliyah’s heart would have been. She released June’s sword and Lucifer twitched toward Alik. The young girl caught him off guard splitting the hand he twitched down the middle, Lucifer screamed. June twisted her sword around and plunged her blade into Lucifer’s back and he fell to his knees clutching his hand.
“What is this, Alik love?” coughed Aaliyah in a nervous and shaky voice..
“Enough time has passed; all three of you have played this little game long enough,” Alik replied.
“I loved you,”she sobbed.
“Did you love me, or my power? In this life I doubt you ever knew what that word even meant. You say you loved Lucifer once Eden had casted you out, but you betrayed him. As Eve, you claimed to have loved Eden. However, for your own ends, you betrayed him for Lucifer. You have no more than a taste for power, something you infected the rest of the vampire with. It was only a matter of time before you would try to betray me.” Alik looked at Eden, whose face was torn with pain. “Your Eve died a long time ago, whatever you wish you brought back, she is not it.”
“How do you know that?” whispered Eden.
“People are not pawns for you to play with. This is for my mother,” said Alik, twisting the sword in Aaliyah’s chest and she fell to her knees screaming.
Lucifer tried to move again, his eyes blazed with hate for Alik. June then took that opening to take off his head. Ceil’s blade was already at Eden’s neck; Eden didn’t care though, his pain was replaced with anger. He also twitched toward Alik, and Ceil twisted around at the same time as June and lopped off Eden’s head as well. Aaliyah screamed as Lucifer and Eden’s bodies dropped to the ground and lay motionless, .
“Even you lost yourself in the start of all this,” Alik said to Aaliyah. “You no longer know where the lies end and the truth begins.”
“I know the truth!” she yelled.
“You only know the lies. Lies that were repeated until you told yourself that they were true to keep that smile on your face and the guilt at bay for what you did.”
Alik pulled the blade out of Aaliyah and she tried to use that as an opening. She failed in her attempt and Alik dodged her grab and got around behind her to place a hand around her throat with his free hand. She tried to break his grip, but he matched her movements. It was the first time I had ever seen any fear in her eyes as she coughed up more blood and fell to her knees. Slowly, a black smoke rose from her eyes and mouth and formed the same ball I had seen three times in my life already; her soul was leaving her body. Alik released her and her body fell limp to the stone ground. He then closed his fist around the dim sphere that was her soul and the sound of the crack bounced around the room. Aaliyah was more than dead now.
Alik then ran to where I sat shielded by Nela and she let me up at his touch. He held out a hand and he got me to my feet. His touch was something I missed more than I had realized and it was far better than I remembered. My eyes filled with tears as I hugged him and he placed his arms around me. Then, I remembered what he had done to me and my anger boiled, getting the better of me, and I pushed away from him.
“What’s wrong?” he asked with concern in his voice.
“Nothing,” I said, walking away from him.
“Vanessa, you’re a horrible liar,” he said, looking into my eyes. I turned for the entrance to the room and he followed me out. He kept back, letting me cool for a moment until we reached the light of the steps outer steps.
“I’m sorry, Vanessa. Really, I am.
“You think sorry will make me forgive you for what I have been put through in the last week?”
“Of course not. I wish I would have been able to keep you from seeing any of that, but I couldn’t.”
“And Lilith?”
“I swear to you that I did not know anything about it until Aaliyah
told me the moment she got back,” he sighed and placed his arms around me again.
“Why did you leave us? Why did you leave me?!” I yelled, crying in anger.
“It was the only way to keep you alive; if I had fought Aaliyah, she would have killed you seeing how your life was the reason that was keeping me from her. You see how she was; it’s all I could do. I didn’t expect her to find us that night.”
“What do you mean?”
“Lilith knew Aaliyah had been in New York for awhile and was a
voiding us. She was looking for something; well, looking for you. She couldn’t find you until she gave up and went to Lilith herself to ask; that’s why I got you and Sam away from your house.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
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