“Ivy.”
I recognize his voice as my pupils adjust to the night. “Jack?”
“You didn’t come home,” he despondently croaks with worry and shame.
I note my exposed body and swipe the covers tangled at my feet to cover myself. “I’m sorry. I needed some space.”
“I can’t do that now.”
“Well, it’s not really up to you now, is it?” I lament with deliberate force.
Jack walks to the side of my bed, pulling his wings inside himself as he sits on the edge. He leans forward and rests his elbows on his knees, clasping his hands. I want to reach out and run my hands over the smooth curves of his muscular shoulders. His head hangs low as he stresses, “I’ll go if that’s what you really want, but your body's beginning to change. You'll start to feel sick and will need help if you want to alleviate the pain of the transition.”
“I can handle pain.”
He reaches out to switch on my bedside lamp before leaning an arm over my body to look into my eyes and search my face. His other hand brushes my cheek with the back of his fingertips. “You’re so brave, Sunshine. I know why you feel you have to do this on your own." Jack hesitates before confessing, "I don’t want you to do it alone. I’m here. If you’re going to go through with manipulating Trey for information, then I want to help you with that too.”
“Really?” I marvel, wide-eyed.
“Really. My feelings for you may be clouding my judgment. I’m having a hard time staying mad at you and telling you ‘no.’”
“And how do you feel about me, Jack?” Without words, his lips crash into mine. My hands roam over his bare chest and down to his hips to pull him towards me. I can’t get close enough. Jack pulls back with hesitance, and I open my eyes. His brows furrow in concern. “What’s wrong?”
“Your metabolism's changing. It’s started.” His voice is stronger than when he first appeared.
“How can you tell?”
“You have a fever. It’s only going to escalate until your body accepts the change. Once your body acclimates to the fever, you won’t feel sick anymore, and your body temperature will be higher from that point on.”
“Is that why I’ve been sweating all night?” He nods his head. “I thought it was because I was wearing a hoodie tonight,” I chuckle.
Well, so much for trying to have some fun before the change.
“You should get some rest.”
I scoot down further under the blankets. “Will you stay?”
“As long as you want me," he confirms, and I shift over to make room for him. He lays back and makes room for me to lay into his arms, against his chest. “Goodnight, Sunshine.” He kisses my forehead and smooths my hair affectionately.
“Goodnight, Jack.”
The forest is quiet and dark, save for the rustling of water across the rocks of the riverbed. The full moon reflects across its surface, illuminating the surrounding foliage. A tall cloaked figure dashes through the trees on the opposite side of the river. I'm pulled with an urgent sensation to stay with the mysterious person. Hiding in the shadows, I follow the figure through the dense forest. We emerge in a field beside a large church. The cross on the bell tower is menacingly silhouetted in the gray sky. The figure glides soundlessly to the large doors of the church and pulls something out of its cloak to set it down gently on the steps. The figure pauses, looking down at what it left before vanishing into thin air.
The pull I felt towards the figure changes direction and pulls me to the front doors of the church. Approaching the steps with caution, I see a bundle of white cloth laying in front of the doors. Taking the first step, the bundle moves, and a baby begins to cry. I run the next six steps and kneel down beside the abandoned baby. Reaching out to pick it up, darkness swarms my vision, forcing me to leave the helpless baby behind.
Shedding the blanket of sleep, I find Jack is mysteriously gone again. He never seems to be around when I wake up. A folded parchment catches my attention from my desk in front of the window
Sunshine,
I’m sorry I couldn’t be there when you wake. There's been a lead on your mother. I won’t be back until tonight. Please be careful and text me if you need anything.
-Jack
My mother. If she’s an Arch like Jack, maybe he knows her. I wonder if she’s like Evelyn. What will she look like? Will she have blonde hair like her and Jack, or will she have black hair like me? What does my father look like? Maybe I get my black hair from him?
I check my phone and find that Trey sent me a text with the address where to meet him and said to dress for some hiking. Hiking? Really? I groan and leave my room to take a cold shower. I can’t stop sweating. Other than feeling constant heat throughout my body, I don’t feel sick at all. The shower cools me down, but beads of sweat surface across my face as I dress. No point in putting makeup on if I’m only going to sweat it off. Irritation bubbles in my chest.
Trey’s directions lead me to a secluded forest. I had imagined he was meeting me at a park with trails for hikers. Instead, there's dense foliage all around with mountains in the distance. Trey's waiting for me by the trunk of his car as I park on a patch of dirt off the road behind him. I leave my car and lock it behind me, making sure to bring my phone along. “Just so you know, I’m not much of a hiker.”
Trey opens his trunk to pull out a backpack full of gear, “It’ll be fine. It’s not that bad. Gives you a chance to connect with nature, and the view from the top is intoxicating.”
“Sounds nice,” I acknowledge, a forced grin hiding my uneasiness about our location.
Trey closes his trunk and holds up a rucksack. I turn my back to him and slip my arms through the straps. It isn’t as heavy as I anticipated. “Ready?”
“Lead the way,” I suggest with a sweep of my hand.
He leads me down a trail that's grown over, long forgotten. We don’t speak except for the occasional ‘this way’ and ‘are you alright back there’ from Trey. My head's starting to pound, making my ears ring. Three miles into a constant incline, I hear the trickling of water.
Trey says, “There’s a stream up ahead. We can break there if you need to.”
“Good. My legs are burning.” As we approach the bank of the stream, sweat drips from my face, and my clothes are sticking to my skin. The wide stream stretches across our path. Sun shining through the trees reflects off of the surface of the pristine water, causing it to sparkle as it trickles over the smooth rock bed. I let my rucksack fall to the rocks under my feet and plop down onto the bank. My cheeks are flush with fever, and I try to regulate my breathing and heart rate with calming breaths.
“Here. Drink this,” Trey hands me an aluminum flask. I raise my eyebrow at the container. “It’s just water,” he chuckles.
“Why should I trust you?”
“It’s understandable that a being such as yourself wouldn’t trust a lowly demon like me. Especially with the way I’ve treated you, but you can trust me. I swear to explain everything when we get to the top.”
I take the flask from his hand, throw back my head, and let the water run down my throat. It's the cleanest water I've ever tasted. Its resplendence awakens my overused muscles, and my energy rekindles in a flash after drinking it. “Wow. I must have been really thirsty. I think that’s the cleanest water I’ve ever tasted.”
“It comes from a natural hot spring. Untainted. Pure. It comes in handy.”
“I feel like my energy's been restored. I feel great!” I radiate.
“It’s said to have natural healing properties,” Trey adds, shrugging his shoulders.
What did he give me?
I'm suspicious as the pounding in my head eases, and I'm finally able to hear my surroundings with more clarity than I've ever had. The hissing of cicadas is so clear, I bet I can count how many are within a hundred feet of us. The amplified buzzing and clicking of their bodies vibrates with an overpowering hum. “Where are we going from here?”
He points a
cross the stream, “Up.” He smiles at the mountain with excitement. “We have to cross over, so you may want to take your shoes off.”
I untie my shoelaces and slip my boots off. I stuff my socks inside, revealing my navy blue toenail polish. I tie the shoelaces together in a knot, stand up to replace my rucksack on my back, and hang my shoes across my neck by their bound laces. “I’m ready. I can’t wait to see the view at the top.”
“It’s breathtaking.”
We tread through the ankle deep water. The bed of rocks is slippery under my bare toes, and I fear losing my balance. Trey reaches for my hand to help me onto the opposite bank. I gasp as he pulls me to him, our faces inches apart.
“Are you ok?” he asks with a low voice. The sunlight shines on his brown eyes and reveals a tinge of red within them.
He’s a demon. You knew that. Play it off.
“Yeah. I just thought I was going to fall.”
Trey looks at me with an adoration I’ve never seen from him. He holds my hand tight, “Ivy, I can’t tell you how sorry I am for acting the way I did. Your forgiveness is important to me. I would do anything to earn back your trust.”
A flutter in my chest disturbs me. It isn’t attraction. It’s pity. I feel sorry for Trey. “Well, you’re doing a suitable job so far,” I compliment, because I need him to tell me where to find Beleth and the missing angel.
His smile meets his dark eyes, “Let’s go. The top is the best part.”
Trey steps back, and we put our shoes back on. “Trey?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m feeling pretty good. Do you think you would be up for running to the top?” I'm in a hurry to get there, so he’ll start talking.
His eyes widen, and his smile grows, “Hell, yeah.” He turns and starts jogging. I take off behind him. He quickens his steps, and I have no trouble keeping up with him. My ponytail swings side to side with the motion of my body. About a mile up, a large bird swoops into the dense foliage to our right. I keep running. The bird seems to be following us, every once in a while resurfacing and diving back down. We reach the top of the mountain, and I bend over panting. I recover faster than I expect and stand up.
Abandoning my pack on the cliff, I move to the edge with diligence in awe of the scenic view before me. Words leave me. Trey leaves his rucksack beside mine and joins me on the threshold between earth and sky. The never ending expanse of green mountains and valleys impacts my soul on a deep level. Seeing something outside of myself, I sense a transcendence of my spirit over the boundaries of haze and into the magnificence of nature. A connection that exists the way The Creator intended.
“What do you think?”
“It’s…beautiful. But it's more than that. I can’t explain it.”
“I knew you could appreciate it. Here, sit with me.” Hesitant at first, I sit next to Trey on the precipice of the mountain with our legs dangling over the edge. “It makes you feel so small in the grand scheme of things, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah.” All is quiet with the wind cooling my cheeks.
He’s a completely different person, right now. I don’t understand. One minute he's the demon I know he is. The next, it truly feels as if he had just made a mistake. As if he’s two different people. People? Maybe 'beings' is the correct phrasing. I’m tired of the yo-yo between us. I just want to be honest with him. Hopefully, he’ll be honest with me.
“Trey?”
“Huh?” he grunts without looking at me.
“Can we stop with the charade? What do you want with me?”
He faces me with confusion, “What do you mean?”
“I mean, let’s stop playing games. I know you know what I am—or what I might be because I’m not even sure. And I know who you are… What you are… What do you want from me? Why bring me all the way out here?”
He lets out a heavy sigh, “I’ve never liked being who I am, but there are consequences for disobedience. I’m going to tell you what’s going on, but please don’t freak out… I was given a duty to find you and keep tabs on you until someone could come take you to Beleth. Only recently, did I find out why Beleth wanted you so badly. I just thought you were another fledgling—a being coming into their abilities. Beleth's always on the lookout for new recruits, but you became a different case.” The pieces begin to fall together. Only, I can’t understand why he would want to tell me all of this.
“The King of Sheol plans to dispatch executioners on your behalf, so your essence will serve him in the underworld. You’ll be his weapon against the Light. Beleth says this is your destiny. But they only have a limited amount of time, because once you've fully transformed, you'll have the ability to choose between Light and Dark. He doesn’t want you to be able to have that choice.”
“What! I’m going to be executed? What do you mean a weapon?” I jump to my feet and back away from Trey.
He stands up to join me. “Ivy. Please believe me. Even though I was sent for you, ever since Jack's race you bet on… The plan was to get into your head on our date that night. Jack warned me to leave, so I did. I'm no match for him. Then you kissed my cheek at the race, and I felt you. It’s hard to explain. I just know. Your spirit's like no other I’ve ever encountered. You have a delicate elegance and beauty inside of you. I couldn’t go through with it. The night of the party, I felt drawn to that beauty. I wanted to know you on a deeper level. To get inside and relish in a beauty that's been withheld from me my entire existence. My greed overwhelmed me, and I went too far. I have no excuse. I feel horrible. Since then, I've made it my mission to make it up to you. I feel a responsibility to protect you from Beleth. I’ve never felt that before. It’s very new to me. I've vowed to myself to protect you any way I can. Beleth said—”
“Trey!” I scream as a dark angel flies down and thrusts a sword through Trey’s back and through his chest. Trey cries out with a shriek that pierces my ears. I don’t think as I charge forward to help him. The dark angel lifts Trey into the air on his sword, out of my reach. “Trey!”
The angel drops Trey back down to the cliff. I try to run to him, but I'm being lifted from the ground and carried over the edge. I look down.
Shit, shit, shit!
I want to fight back, but I'm afraid of falling the thousands of feet into the valley below. “Put me down! Let me go!” The angel’s cold chest makes me want to pull away more.
I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die!
I can’t concentrate on where he's taking me. I squeeze my eyes shut and try not to vomit. I sense him slow and begin to descend. When I open my eyes, we're at the mouth of a cave. He flies into the darkness, and I know this is my chance to fight back. I kick and scratch and pull, but his muscles are hard as stone. He doesn’t even flinch. The cave is pitch black. I can’t see my surroundings. Fear runs through me. A light starts to glow brighter the further we fly into the cave, my toes dragging the ground every few feet.
Are we leaving the cave again?
The light grows, and I realize it isn’t the mouth of the cave. It's a hidden pool of still green water. Steam rises from its surface. I'm dropped on my stomach next to the eerie, glowing water.
“Stay,” the angel’s voice is so deep it's a lion's roar.
“Fuck you!” I jump to my feet. The angel smirks with a glowing fire in his eyes.
Wrong answer.
The back of his hand meets my face with unfathomable force. My whole body twists. I begin to fall, and my world goes black.
Pain. My head's throbbing, and my leg's bleeding. I can’t see straight. Memory comes back to me with a vengeance. Trey. Oh, no! He’s dead. Where am I? Where's the angel that brought me here?
I roll over onto my back. Searing pain shoots through my whole body. He’s gone. How do I get back? Jack.
I dig my phone from my pocket. Shit! No service. I’m fucked.
I try to call Jack anyways. The only thing I hear is the steady beeping of disconnection. “Damn it!”
I try to get to my knees, and they f
alter beneath me. I pull myself forward to the edge of the pool of water. Clouded green liquid lights my face, but I can’t see my own reflection. I contemplate crawling in the other direction to the mouth of the cave, then I think maybe I should let my body heal itself first. At the rate I seem to be healing these days, it should only be a few hours before I can stand again. I twist to rest on my back and take in my surroundings. The air is dank and makes it hard to breathe through my agony. I'm in an open area surrounded by columns and draperies of stalactites and stalagmites. Their damp surfaces glisten, and I can taste the minerals in the air.
It’s so hot! My breathing picks up, and my heart's pounding so hard in my chest it rocks my body with convulsions. I feel faint and turn my head to the glow beside me. I want to drink the water, but I can’t move my body. The heat and pain become overwhelming, and I lose consciousness again.
I awake off and on, losing track of time. My fever is worse, and I start to hallucinate. Beetles skitter in my direction, and I still can’t move. “Jack,” my voice is an infinitesimal rasp as I try to call out to him for help. I know he can’t hear me. It’s hopeless, but I feel a relief of peacefulness at his name on my lips. Darkness takes over my vision again.
“Ivy.” Someone's tapping my face. “Come on, Ivy. Wake up. Come back to me.”
“Jack?” I croak.
“I’ll take you to him.”
I feel the cold touch of arms being wrapped around my body and lifting me to a bare chest. My stomach drops at the pull of gravity, and I cry out in pain with the movement. I feel myself floating, but I can’t force my eyes open. Emotions surge through me; such sorrow and regret, love and loyalty. “Jack?”
“It’s Trey, Ivy. I’m taking you to him. Stay with me. I’m going as fast as I can.” A thousand wasps sting my cheeks as an icy gust sweeps my face. I fight to stay lucid, but it becomes too much for my body to handle.
Chapter 11
The Helio Trilogy: Volumes 1-3 Page 14