by Azzurra Nox
“Let her go!” Jon’s harsh voice interrupted them. It was coming from her left, and she could hear the scruff of dirt as he rushed in her direction.
Tears swelled up in her eyes. She couldn’t believe what Adriel was telling her. Struggling to free herself, she managed to move a little forward exhaling loudly.
“Are you saying that if I hadn’t gone back for the book she would’ve been alive?”
“Ditto, princess.”
“Then it’s my fault?”
“The guilt broke you. You always knew it. It’s why you tried to kill yourself, precious,” her remaining wing wrapped around Lena.
“Don’t touch her!” Jon rushed towards them, barging like a bull crashing into them. But it didn’t seem to startle Adriel at all, as she easily dismissed him with a flick of her wrist. Lena cried out seeing Jon fall backwards, flung like a rag doll on the ground a couple of feet away from them.
“STOP! It’s me you want,” Hope interfered, her hair was blowing wildly from a sudden gust of wind. Her voice sounded strange, like it was echoing into a dark damp tunnel. Light emanated from every pore of her, like she were literally radiant. Her feet dragged, suspended in mid-air as she moved swiftly towards them, floating.
Adriel screamed at the extreme light that came in her direction, but yet her grip on Lena didn’t relent. The light was burning little holes into her skin, tearing the flesh apart. Hope continued to come towards them, and to Lena’s horror, she watched as blood spewed from her mouth. She didn’t understand what was happening but Adriel seemed to know because she was laughing hysterically, “You’re too weak! You can’t handle the power!”
“I won’t let you hurt anymore of us!” Hope sputtered as blood spilled forth between her lips. She murmured something in Latin, and threw a shard of glass in Adriel’s direction. The glass tore through Adriel’s wing. Some of the feathers fell on the ground. Adriel cowered, a shrill emitted from her lips. Again, her fingers were still deadly fastened upon Lena and there was nothing she could do to disentangle herself from her. Hope then fell to the ground, senseless.
“Oh god…no!” she cried, tears streamed down her cheeks, the melted eye makeup burning her eyes. Jon was out of her sight, Hope was on the ground and there was no one else that could get her out of this predicament. There was no fight left in her.
Despite her eyes being half-closed, she noticed a glimmer in the corner. Someone was dragging along the dirt road. The only visible thing she could make out was the blue hair, and she bit her tongue before she could exclaim the name. Connor. His stance was stealthily like a ninja on a secret mission. Careful in his approach, not wanting to be seen by Adriel. Something gleamed in his hand. He made the signal for her to remain quiet with his index finger, and she blinked in acknowledgment, too fearful to make any other movement, not wanting Adriel to notice him there.
He raised his hand, and that’s when she noticed that he was holding a shard of mirror. Surely he had gotten it from Hope. He dramatically plunged the sharp instrument into the back of Adriel’s leg, and twisted it. She shrieked loudly, the sound piercing through Lena’s skull like a razor cutting through a sheet of paper. Momentarily, she released one hand from Lena and turned around to seize Connor by the throat with the other. Dumbfounded, Lena watched as Adriel sunk her sharp nails into his neck. His blood soaked her face, some of it splattered unto Lena too. He didn’t even have a chance to react, nor make a sound except for wheezing gasps as he choked on his own blood.
“No!” she cried out, closing her eyes as tight as she could because she didn’t want to assist the massacre. She refused to open her eyes even when she heard the heavy sound of his body being flung across the park. By this point Lena’s nerves were wearing her down and she was shaking like someone infected by the chills of malaria.
“Weak! You’re all too weak! You’re up next, pretty girl!” Adriel told Lena in a menacingly voice. Despite the glass had torn up parts of her wing and her leg, her strength was unfazed by the wounds.
Lena’s breathing became irregular, and she started to feel lightheaded, unable to budge even an inch.
“Don’t listen to her!” Michael shouted. He was right above them now, his sword emanated a strange fiery heat that could be felt down below. “It wasn’t your fault. She’s been trying to reel broken souls in using their guilt or weaknesses against them! You know this!”
“She’s mine, Michael. Let me be!”
“No, she’s mine,” he said heading straight for them. There was a collision. Black surrounded Lena for a moment as her back smacked against the rock. Her head throbbed. Thrown back and a little confused, she searched for signs of Michael. A light so bright that could illuminate all of Los Angeles shot up towards the sky. Then she saw Michael standing above Adriel. She was struggling, but to no avail because he had his foot on her back. Her remaining wing flapped incessantly. Black liquid was strewn across her face. Breath ragged and gasping, she seemed to speak in tongues, or at least Lena didn’t understand what she was saying.
Lena was too afraid to move, she stayed where she was at, watching Michael swing his sword over his head. His wings looked bigger than usual, his bare chest gleaming with muscles as though he were unbreakable. There was an aura of dominance in the way he was over Adriel.
“It’s over, your reign is dead.”
“My army is still out there.”
“An army without a general to command it is useless and weak.”
“You don’t know my soldiers…they are loyal….they gave me the power….” she gasped, trying to pull herself up but he kept her pinned to the ground.
Michael’s sword shined like a diamond in the sun, and before Lena had a chance to close her eyes, he had brought the blade down upon Adriel’s neck. Her head rolled away from her body releasing a thick black fluid in its wake. The black hair gave way to light blonde locks, and the glowing red eyes became the fairest blue. Lena saw the black wing slowly dissolve.
“Bethany?”
Michael took his eyes away from the beheaded body and looked over at Lena. “She must’ve been her vessel, it’s why she was so powerful.”
Tears welled up in Lena’s eyes.
“I don’t understand…”
“Bethany must’ve invoked her.”
“Couldn’t something have been done?” she sobbed. “Couldn’t we have saved her?”
“No. She let Adriel give her the power. Their existence fused as one. There was nothing we could’ve done.”
He raised his sword once more, and turning Bethany’s body over, he plunged the blade in the center of her heart. Blood splattered up to his face, drenching Michael’s hair. His eyes looked both ferocious and triumphant. A little smirk spread on his lips. Lena watched him pluck her heart out and crush with his hands. Chills ran down her spine seeing him act so violent, shrinking away from him. She recoiled against the bushes, shuddering. Suddenly, Bethany’s body turned to ashes.
She couldn’t take her eyes off of Michael’s bloodied hands. Drenched in a bloodbath, he reminded her of the protagonist in American Psycho, Patrick Bateman. Their eyes locked for a moment. She was tempted to say something, but wasn’t sure how to string words together that wouldn’t sound contrived or cliché. Setting down his sword, he walked over to her. He offered her his hand, to help her up. She flinched, incoherent sobs attacked her and she no longer could hold in the horror of the bloody scenario she had just witnessed as she screamed.
“Are you okay?”
She couldn’t reply, shaking and sputtering nonsensical words. She looked around her and noticed Hope lying on the ground only a few feet away from her. Connor had been launched in the opposite direction. Michael touched her cheek, both their faces splattered in blood like a drug induced Dali painting. She breathed hard, trying to control her terrified induced tremors. For a moment, they both said nothing, till she heard Jon croak, “Lena, are you okay?” limping along the dirt road
She quickly turned to him. He walked as if he were
in pain. His presence pulled her out of the horror she had been thrown in as relief flooded its warm release on her.
“Jonny!” she made her way to him, he embraced her like she was the one thing he couldn’t let go of.
“Where’s Hope?” he asked frantically, “And Connor?”
“He didn’t make it,” she said in a grave tone, unable to remove the image of Adriel tearing at his throat from her mind. “I’m sorry…” she was about to add that Hope too hadn’t made it when Michael’s shouts interrupted her.
“She’s still breathing!” he was kneeling beside her, passing his hand over her face. She started to cough and then flung her eyes open.
“Hope!” Jon too, got to his knees taking hold of her. He lifted her head up, “Are you okay? I’m sorry, we tried so hard…”
“Is she dead?” she croaked.
“Yes,” Michael assured her, “She’s gone forever.”
“Then it worked! Peg’s energy gave me the strength to weaken her!” her lips were dark from the blood that had spilled forth during the battle, and her forehead a meadow of cold sweat beaded in tiny droplets.
“We succeeded,” Michael told her, “The spells weakened her power. We broke her vessel. I wouldn’t have been able to capture her otherwise. I’ve been trying to eliminate her for centuries.”
“Where’s Connor?” attempting to sit up.
“She got to him,” Lena said in a sullen voice, still shaken up from the events of that night. “I’m sorry.”
Hope was silent, biting her lips, as tears rolled down her pale cheeks. She sobbed, and Jon hugged her, with whispers of, “I’m sorry, we did everything we could.” The night hours were lessening, and soon it would be dawn.
* * *
The gang had been stricken to find out that Bethany had been behind Adriel’s murders. That in some way, giving her a vessel, she had aided her in the deaths of her own classmates. But another thought that was just as chilling clung to Lena. The mission was over. This realization hit her like a truck barging into a distracted pedestrian. A steel link clasped around her stomach and she felt queasy. She didn’t want to lose him so soon, not now.
“I don’t want you to leave.”
“I don’t want to go.”
“Then don’t,” Lena whispered, “You don’t have to.”
The mist had changed to a drizzle and the world had turned into shades of greys and blues.
Crestfallen Michael murmured, “You know that I have to.”
They stood looking at each other. Each with pain in their eyes. It had started to rain, but neither of them seemed to pay attention to this minor detail in such an intense moment. He took hold of her and pulled her to him. His hands cupped her cheeks and kissed her. Lena melted into the kiss. Somehow feeling his strength flow into her, the divine light piercing into her being, or maybe it was just a reverie. Their breaths were hot and heavy, and her hands pawed at his chest and blood soaked hair. His bloody palms leaving imprints on her cheeks, but she didn’t care. Nothing seemed to matter in that moment. All that counted was that she was alive and that love was filling up every void she had. A distraught longing clung to her chest and she knew that she was only kidding herself if she thought that he could stay behind.
“But I love you,” she said, “That has to mean something,” her face was wet, tears stumbling down stubborn eyes that tried to keep them in, becoming one with the rain.
Michael’s embrace was both strong and affectionate. He held her in a manner that indicated that he was hurting just as much as her.
“I can’t stay.”
“Why not?”
“My time here is up,” his emerald eyes looked like two limpid pools of sadness at that phrase, and yet he kissed her once more. They shared each others’ breath, the kiss both passionate and sullenly desperate.
“But I love you,” her repeated plea.
“I know. I love you too, but it’s not enough.”
Lena was the first to pull away, she couldn’t bear him doing so before her. She wanted to be strong, even if it killed her.
“I see,” her hollow reply. Forcing herself to turn around, she started to walk back up the trail that led her to the letter H. With every step she could feel his eyes burn into her back, maybe secretly detesting that she was making him watch her walk away. Head high and heart six feet below, Lena trudged her feet forwards. Both felt heavy like dragging lead. Something in her was breaking. Maybe it was her heart, or her sanity. Her chest convulsed with sobs that she refused to release. She felt something take hold of her hand. It was Jon. Hope was right beside him. She squeezed his hand, the three of them silent, attempting to absorb the events that had unfolded that night.
The HOLLYWOOD sign was up ahead, and that’s all she wanted to see. Maybe if she kept on walking towards it, this land of promised dreams could bring her to her destination. Some day she’d be reunited with Michael and all of this wouldn’t matter. But for the time being she only wanted to focus on the sign, and smiled. If anyone could dream big it was here in Hollywood.
The End.
Table of Contents
Part One
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Part Two
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Part Three
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six