by Candis Vargo
As I stared at myself in the mirror, I could feel the energy swirling around me. I thought about my full potential and opening my mind and eyes to whatever they may be. I opened myself to whatever powers I may receive, focusing on that leaving any negative energy behind me. Em started to chant as the flames began to rise one by one this time, not all at once like before.
“Lady Constanza, who holds Devine Wisdom
Open her blind eye and show her the light
Her abilities rise, as her defenses fall
Let her perceive the realms of the unknown
Give to her, all that is hers to own
So mote it be.”
All at once the energy that was swirling around me, was suddenly was on top of me. In the reflection of the mirror I faintly saw the flames of the candles higher than I have ever seen them before. The colors changed from red, to blue, and then to green. It felt like I could no longer breathe, as though my lungs had collapsed inside of me. Using one hand I grasped my chest in pain and the room started to spin in circles.
As I continued to stare into the mirror, I watched as my eyes dilated rapidly and my body stiffened. Still unable to breathe, my grip on the mirror tightened and my knuckles whitened. Not even a second later I suddenly went limp and the flames disappeared in sync. Dropping the mirror, I looked up at Em to see if it was safe for me to leave the circle. With a nod of her head, I crawled out.
“Holy shit! I can breathe again. My God, what the fuck was that.” I asked gasping for air in between each word.
“That was all you. That was your energy and powers entering you all at once. Instead of slowly over the next few weeks, they hit you all at one time. It worked.”
Her smile was as big as it was when she found out Chace and I had sex.
My God! That fucking hurt!
“You didn’t warn me it would be like that,” I complained.
“I didn’t think I needed to, considering the pain you’ve been having in your head from your strength overpowering the compulsion. I figured you would already assume it would hurt!”
“Bitch.”
“You want to test them out?” she asked anxiously.
“Test what out?”
“Jackass, your full abilities! See what all you’ve gotten! The coven assumed you’d get something no one else has gotten before. No one else has had the pain you’ve been having, so we are all kind of curious.”
“Just, give me five minutes and a Dr. Pepper.” Still trying to catch my breath, I flopped myself down on my bed.
Em was laughing as she walked out of the room. When she came back she had a can of Dr. Pepper and a Slim Jim.
She knows me so well I thought.
My five minutes turned into fifteen. After I felt like I had gained my strength back from Em’s magic we walked outside to the training field and I saw Father waiting for me. My first initial thought was that she told father I wanted to train. It took me a second for me to realize who was standing behind him. At first I saw Roland, then Ethan. From there the group of people stretched back into the musky forest.
What? Did they all come to see me train? I thought to myself.
The closer I got to group of people, the expressions on their faces told me different. They didn’t come to watch me train; they didn’t come for me at all. My heart quickened and my pace slowed down as I walked closer to my father. He looked at me, his sword in hands with the tip pointed into the ground.
“It has begun.”
Chapter 9
Those three words; that was all it took. With a quick nod to Father, I looked at the other faces in the crowd. All were cumbersome. Roland stepped forward and handed me my sword. Taking it, I turn to whisper to Em.
“If it doesn’t go right for me out there today, can you find him and tell him I love him. And let him know what happened, please.”
She knew this was a big risk, not only for me, but for all of us. So she didn’t tell me not to think like that. She simply understood and nodded.
The day had finally arrived, The Great War. Not the one between Heaven and Hell during the apocalypse, but it seemed like it should be. It would most certainly be the end of the world for me if things went wrong.
We walked to the War Field and saw that the Fallen had already taken form on the opposite side. This was it. This was the day I have been training for. The day we all have been waiting for. Even though it was sooner than we had expected, we were ready.
There wasn’t anyone talking, no one was trying to come to an agreement and there definitely wasn’t any procrastination. Those of us, who had wings, let them open. I can honestly say, the Fallen were beautiful with their wings showing. Their wings stretched from above their heads to below their knees. The feathers were white with a smoky grey wrapping the outer edges of each individual feather. On the bottom of their wings, the feathers were each about a foot long.
The main way you could tell a one of the Fallen from an Angel was the color of those feathers. On an Angel, they are pure gold. On the Fallen, those feathers are black with sapphire red streaks scattered throughout them. The Fallen must have stood at least six feet apart so they had room for their wings to expand. I began to wonder to myself, how I could possibly kill something so beautiful, so peaceful looking. That thought quickly diminished when I remembered why we were here. They were the ones who killed my Mother. And this; was war.
The Vamps had their glistening fangs exposed and were ready for the taste of blood. Although they couldn’t kill one of the Fallen they sure as hell could help anguish them enough for one of us to take out. We were lucky enough that the bite from a Vamp would pass enough venom to make even an immortal to behave like they were on a hallucinogenic. The Fallen are not easy to take down. But we sure as hell were going to try. Fuck, we weren’t that easy to take down either. I knew there was going to be a lot of blood shed from this war.
Each side ran to attack. It was soon after I found myself against my first Fallen. With my sword drawn, I balanced myself to ensure I was in the perfect position for my most powerful moves. There was no walking around in a circle like I had trained with my father. Our swords instantly clasped together creating sparks flying through the air that resembled snowfall in the winter. We were subconsciously mirroring each other waiting for an open attack. The sound of ringing echoed off the mountains in the distance as everyone had their swords hitting another. Screams filled the hollow air inside of the field.
After several minutes of just hitting sword against sword, the Fallen managed to draw down his sword and slice my arm. The iron inside of his sword crawled through my blood; causing an overbearing amount of pain. Now I was officially pissed the fuck off. I began swinging my sword with more strength and power behind each and every thrust. I could see the Fallen start to stumble backwards with every hit that landed on his sword. He was starting to get clumsy and became hesitant. Filled with adrenalin, I raised myself up with my wings knowing that the Fallen would follow me. We were in the air, only a few feet off of the ground.
I used some of my magic to abruptly appear in front of him. Drawing my knees up I kicked his chest so impenetrable I managed drive him back down to the earth. Following him down; our swords clasp together as we each tried to extinguish one another.
Now holding the sword only in my right hand, I took my left one and struck him across the face. Instantly, I could see anguish in his face; I knew this was my opportunity. I lifted my sword for a split second before I swung it down at an angle. I sliced through his abdomen; blood poured out from the Fallen and ran down his body. As he curled in pain, I elevated my sword in the air with both hands as my wings lifted me up. I could feel his blood trickling off of the sword and onto my hands.
I let my arms fall as my body weight followed bringing me back toward the ground. I descended upon him and detached his wings. With a snarling scream escaping from his lips, the wings fluttered on the ground landing beside him. I watched as his body rose in the air, arched in pain. Letting out
his final scream, the wings began to burn in flames of pure white and his body fell down onto the grass in front of my feet. The fiery wings soon crumbled into a dusty ash. I stepped over him not even taking a look down at his body. I was ready for the next fight.
As the war raged on I quickly looked around, trying to check to see if my loved ones are okay. The witches were still in the back ready to cast if need be. Em was standing there, terrified yet strong. I saw Roland in the distance fighting against one of the fallen. I watched for only a moment, noticing that he was looking for any available opportunity to sink his fangs into the neck of the Fallen and taste his sweet blood. He must have been relieved to let his true nature of killing take over as he gave in to his Vampirism. As I looked around some more I couldn’t seem to find Ethan anywhere which worried me. If anything happened to him, it would slowly kill Em inside. I prayed that he was still alive.
Another one of the Fallen approached me; of course it was more like running with a rage of fury. He came at me swinging his sword, screaming with hate. I couldn’t help but notice the dripping of blood flowing down from his neck. Apparently one of the Vamps got to him, but unfortunately he managed to get away. I hoped whichever Vamp managed to bite him was okay. I was just grateful the venom had already spread.
Still running at me he took his first swing as he held his sword with both hands. I threw myself on the ground and twisted my body to the side. This one was much faster than the one I had just killed but one thing was for certain; he did not train nearly as long or as hard. If it wasn’t for the lack of training and the venom I know he wouldn’t have come running at me with his sword in the air let alone screaming from a good ten foot away.
He was completely off balanced which made his motions much more incompetent. After manifesting myself on the ground behind him I crouched down with one leg underneath me, leaving the other out slightly forward. As I swung my sword sideways using the force behind both of my hands I sliced open the back of his knees. With a quick snarl, he turned around and tried to strike me down. I blocked his attack with my sword and I jabbed at him to distract from what I was about to do. I quickly positioned myself to strike upon him in a way that would take off half his face and I glanced behind him.
Finally, I saw my Father. Relieved by the fact that he’s still alive, he too was in the midst of fight. Both he and The Fallen had severe gashes in their skin, covered with stains of blood. I watched him raise his sword in the air as he positioned himself to separate the wings off of...
"Daddy no!" I screamed as loud as I possibly could and I forgot all about the Fallen I was fighting.
Using every ounce of magic I had in my body, I placed myself in between my father and the Fallen. With the time it would take someone to close their eyes, I was there. I couldn’t let this happen. Chace was there, with his wings sprawled out. They were not the wings of a Pixie; they were the wings of the Fallen.
How could I be so blind? How could I have not known? The man I am in love with is one of them? I thought to myself right before my father’s sword came down on me.
I took the strike that was meant for Chace. As the sword sliced into my shoulder I crumbled down to the ground. My body stiffened as it began to pulsate. I wasn’t sure how deep my father’s sword went, but it felt a though I was sliced in two. At this point, I really didn’t care. I managed to save Chace. That was all that mattered to me.
The war came to an abrupt stop. My father watched as Chace knelt by my side; the one I love knelt by my side. As he was kneeling down, he took my head and placed it upon his legs. I have never seen Chace completely speechless until now. He just stared at me, slowly looking back and forth between my shoulder and my eyes. I noticed the tears streaming down his face as he leaned in and kissed my forehead. Once my father could grasp the images of what just happened, he followed him down by my side. He looked at Chace, then back at me. A look of knowing passed through his face as he stroked my hair.
“Chace…” That was all I could manage to say, even then it came out as a whisper. With a quick glance around, I saw everyone wearing the same expressions on their face, one that said, "Oh shit, what the hell happened? What the fuck did we just do?"
But they couldn't have known. Hell I sure as hell didn't know.
Judging by the way Chace had reacted, he sure as fuck didn’t know either. One thing was clear though, everyone knew about Chace and me in an instant. They could all see it when they looked at us; they knew the love we had for one another. It was strange how before, I longed for the moment everyone could see us like this, together and in love. But this wasn’t how I pictured the moment would be.
The world around me started to darken and slip away. I could hear people around me speaking, but they were faint whispers and echoes in my ears. As my vision continued to darken, it wasn’t long before it all disappeared from my sight.
I didn’t stay in the dark, I was taken someplace else. Somewhere I was never supposed to have been. It felt as though I was being lifted through time to arrive at my destination, wherever that was going to be. Everything began to clear as I smelled the familiar scent of Lavender and Honey.
My mother used to spray on Lavender perfume, and she always took honey with her tea. It was the smell of my mother.
That was when I saw what I was never supposed to see. All at once I remembered, all of my forgotten memories.
Chapter 10
I was lying in bed anxiously waiting to hear the sound of footsteps toward the kitchen. I knew she would go out tonight, like she did every other Thursday night. Not knowing where she was going, or what she’s doing, naturally I was curious. Mother was not a very secretive woman; she always said things the way she saw them and did what she wanted to do. This was the only thing she was secretive about. Nobody knew about her quietly walking out of the house at night, nobody except me.
Finally hearing the squeaking of the kitchen door, I jumped out of bed and slid into my slippers. Tonight was the night I was going to figure out what she’s doing. I tip toed down to the kitchen as fast as my little legs would take me, making sure she’s out the door completely before entering. Sliding my head around the corner to the kitchen, I saw her outside through the glass in the back door. She was walking out back of the house toward the stable. I knew she would hear the door if I opened it, so instead I went out the window that was closest to it. I remembered to cast my glamour on myself to make sure she didn’t see me.
Slowly and quietly, I followed mother though the field. I watched as her long white nightgown flowed behind her as she walked. Her long blonde hair that was down to the middle of her back danced in the wind. She never once turned around, so I continued to follow her as she disappeared into the darkness of the trees.
Mother stopped at a small opening in the trees, glancing around as though she was looking for someone, or something. I placed myself out of her view, and hid behind a tree. Even with my glamour, I didn’t want to risk her seeing me. I sat there for a few moments until I heard a voice of a man. Looking out from behind the tree, I saw the man and my mother, their voices which started out as a whisper grew louder, as though they were fighting. With a closer look, I saw him. It wasn’t just any man; it was one of the Fallen. I listened closer to try and understand what they were saying, why they were arguing.
“I don’t’ know who the fuck you think you are, but you can go back to hell where you belong.” Mother’s voice was filled with rage.
“Sweetheart, what are you talking about? Will you listen to what you’re saying?” The Fallen held out his hands like he was trying to calm her down.
“I know damn well what I am saying. And do not call me sweetheart. You cannot fool me. I know the man I love more than you ever could. I know how he acts, his movements, I know everything. Do you understand? You. Are. Not. Adrian.” She spoke slowly, making sure to separate her last words for him to understand.
“I don’t understand,” said the Fallen.
“No, I am the one who does
not understand. What do you want with me? Why have you crawled your way from hell to come here? Why? What is it you want?” Mother’s voice was both shaky and stern.
“What I want dear Malita is you.” The Fallen stepped closer, trying to place his hand on her shoulder.
“Stay away from me. And stay the fuck away from my family. If you as much as get near my daughter, by the Heavens I will find a way to slaughter your ass.” She backed away from him before he could actually touch her.
“But you won’t be around for it,” he said with a haunting voice. A sly smile formed on the face of the Fallen with his eyes narrowing.
Those were the last words spoken between the two of them. My Mother turned to walk away, once her back was toward him, he raised the sword back behind his shoulder.
That sword. I know that sword! Roland was right. That is my father’s sword. But how? I…I don’t understand. How did the Fallen get Fathers sword? My thoughts were cut off as the Fallen, ever so easily, swung the sword at her neck. With a clean cut, he nearly decapitated her as though it was nothing to him. My mother’s body was lying limp and lifeless on the ground soaking in a pool of her own blood.
I watched as smoke rose from my Mother’s wings, as they slowly shriveled up like melting plastic. It felt as though my heart stopped and a knife was slowly turning in it, cutting it open. Tears rolled down my face as I was trying to convince myself that this wasn’t real, this was just one bad dream. I was broke, troubled, and confused all at the same time. I hoped I would wake up any moment to my Mother, still alive, standing by the side of my bed. But that never happened.
When I was finally able to scream, my glamour fell. I have never screamed so hard in my short little life. The Fallen looked at me, startled. He began to walk toward me, but I backed up as far as I could go, until I was stopped by a tree blocking my escape.
The closer he came to me, the faster my heart raced. Those eyes…there is something about those eyes. As he closed in on me, I watched his body shift. The wings started to dissolve and his body shortened, only by a few inches. His face began to take on an entirely new shape; it was like he was turning into a human.