by Riley London
“Not to ruin your vibe or anything, but I think you might care a little more about what people think than you’re willing to admit to yourself.”
“Whatever.” Zachary chuckled again, as he headed into the party. “Are you coming or what?”
“I’ll be inside. Just gimme a sec.”
“Whatever you say.”
I turned back towards the hallway, just in time to see Charlie walking up to me. He was wearing a huge smirk, and an all-white tuxedo, complete with his hair styled into a pompadour and glittering black pumps on his feet.
“Is everyone just refusing to dress on theme for this party or what?” I laughed, as I glanced over Charlie’s outfit. “Didn’t the theme say 80s? Why are you dressed like disco’s still cool?”
“Because disco is never going to die.” Charlie’s smirk grew even wider. “Speaking of people not dressing on theme, why are you dressed like you’re in a biker gang from the 50s?”
“Because leather jackets will never die.” I played on Charlie’s words as I beamed back at him. “Ready to go in?”
“Oh, baby.” Charlie pulled a wide-tooth comb, seemingly out of nowhere, and used it to press his pompadour back just a little further. “I was born ready.”
“You’re completely ridiculous. You know that?” I couldn’t stop laughing, as Charlie and I made our way inside of the auditorium.
“Oh wow. Are they serving alcohol here?” I pointed towards a table that glowed with drinks of various reds and blues.
“Nah.” Charlie explained. “I heard some guys talking about it on my way over here. They just bless the drinks to get ‘em that super cool color.”
“The angels are okay with that?”
“Looks like it.” Charlie smiled. “I’m starting to think that the angels are some seriously mysterious beings. The longer I stay here, the less I understand.”
“I feel the same way.” I looked around the room, taking in the excited noises and ecstatic dance moves coming from some of the students. “But we might as well relax a little bit. I don’t think anything too mysterious is going to happen tonight.”
“Me neither.” Charlie agreed, as he reached down for my hand.
But I moved my hand away from his grip, as I quickly shook my head. “Sorry. I’m still working on trying to control how I feel when you touch me, and I don’t think this is really the place for public sex.”
“Is anywhere the place for public sex?” Charlie grinned.
“Sure. Public bathrooms, beaches when it gets really late at night—”
“Are these places you’ve thought about having sex in public? Or places you’ve actually had sex in public?”
“Who’s having sex in public?” Zachary wandered into our conversation.
“No one’s having sex in public.” Charlie assured him. “We were just talking—”
“Hey! No! No sex! No sex allowed!” Benjamin was whisper-yelling at us, as he approached our conversation now, too. “You will not ruin this event for me. It’s my first time putting one of these on for the academy, and it needs to go off without a hitch. Understand?”
I peered over at Benjamin, and soon smiled to myself as I analyzed his outfit.
Of course, Benjamin Nash was dressed on-theme. He was wearing blue jeans, and a letterman jacket, the color of which matched the red in his hair.
He looked like literally every bully in every 80s movie ever made, and nothing tickled me more than the thought of Benjamin as a bully.
It was the total opposite of something that he’d ever be, and I think that’s what made the outfit so perfect for him.
“Your outfit is perfect, Benjamin.” I took the time to compliment him.
“Thank you.” Benjamin smiled in return. “I thought about it for a straight week.”
Benjamin then turned his attention to Zachary. “I see you still decided to go with your heart, and not the theme that the rest of the planning committee and I decided on.”
“If I don’t challenge your rule, Benjie, you’ll become a tyrant. And we can’t have any tyrants on the council, now, can we?”
“I already told you. I’m not interested in being on the council.”
“That’s what you say now.” Zachary rolled his eyes. “Just wait until we hit senior year.”
“I like your outfit, too, Benjie.” Charlie added onto my compliment. “Sorry! I meant Benjam—”
“No. You can call me Benjie.” Benjamin nodded. “We’re friends, aren’t we, Charlie?”
“We’re friends?” Charlie sounded so surprised. “Yes. Friends. Totally. We’re friends.”
“For the record, just because you two are friends, doesn’t mean you and I are friends.” Zachary directed his words towards Charlie, as he clarified his stance. “I’m barely friends with her.”
“Don’t talk about me like I’m not standing right here.” I quipped, before playfully pushing Zachary a little to the side.
“Aww, yeah! This one goes out to the ladies!” The DJ screeched, as the music in the auditorium turned into something more upbeat and fast-paced.
I instantly recognized it as a synth-pop-girl-power-anthem, a song that Garry would’ve blasted through his bar’s speakers without a moment’s hesitation.
The realization sent a wave of sadness through me, as my heart sank behind my chest.
Garry was dead. Garry was dead. Garry was dead.
And so was my old life and everything in it.
Tears threatened to fall from my eyes, but they were interrupted by the sight of Charlie awkwardly swaying from side to side. “Celeste! Let’s dance! You love this one, don’t you?”
“Yeah. I do.” I sniffled, before I began to move in time with the music.
“Are you guys getting in on this one or what?” Charlie asked, as he glanced over at Benjamin and Zachary. “Or is dancing not really your thing?”
“Oh, dancing is my thing.” Zachary smoothly moonwalked a few feet away from us, before he bust out into a robotic dance.
“Oh no. Oh my God. Why would you get him dancing?” Benjamin groaned, as he turned away, heading back towards the drink table. “I refuse to be a witness to this.”
“You’re just scared of my sweet moves!” Zachary called out. “Why are you always running away from the rhythm?”
I laughed at the scene unfolding around me, with Zachary shouting over at Benjamin, now challenging him to a dance-off, and Charlie still attempting his own version of dancing right in my vicinity.
Yeah. Garry was dead.
But I wasn’t.
I was happy in this moment, with my newfound life, my newfound friends, my newfound home.
And a part of me hoped that Garry would’ve been happy to see me like this, smiling, safe and secure.
Just then, someone bumped into me, hard.
I turned around to see who it was, assuming it’d just been an accident on the dancefloor. But nearly as soon as I’d turned around to face them, there was a knife being buried deep into my stomach.
Shit.
I looked down at the knife, still protruding from my abdomen. I then calmly pulled it out of my skin, inch by inch. As the weapon fell to the floor, I gazed up at the angel who’d stabbed me.
It was Micah.
Except, his eyes glowed red, and his stare was completely vacant.
“40 bodies.” Micah murmured. “40 bodies for tribute to Abaddon.”
No.
I backed away from Micah, almost tripping over my own feet in the process. I managed to recover my stance, as I whispered my next words. “Sana eam.”
And the stabbing pain in my abdomen disappeared.
“Hey! Back off!” Zachary yelled, as he was surrounded by angels, all with their swords drawn on him. “What the hell is up with you guys? Is this some kind of sick joke?”
“Zachary!” I bounded over to where he stood, but I couldn’t break through the group of angels gathering near his frame. “Get out! Get away from them, Zachary!”
Za
chary seemed to have heard my warning, as he drew his own sword now, too. He brandished it with ease, immediately knocking swords out of different students’ hands, before he was able to run towards the side of the auditorium.
“We need to get the hell out of here!” Zachary screamed, as he continued to move through the auditorium. “Benjamin! Watch out!”
Benjamin’s sword was already drawn, and there was a plethora of liquid decorating his letterman jacket. It seemed as if he’d sliced right through the beverage table and was currently positioning himself near the closest exit.
“Charlie!” I yelled, and soon felt electricity somewhere near my side. Charlie had wrapped his arm around me, before he moved us both towards the auditorium’s wide-open doors.
Once we’d all reached the other side of the venue, Charlie slammed the doors behind us. Then Benjamin pulled an old-fashioned silver lock-and-key out of his pocket and fastened it onto the doors themselves.
“Is that going to be enough to hold them?” I asked, as I watched the doors shake, the students’ fists pounding on them, again and again.
“Auxilium.” Benjamin spoke the word over the lock, and it began to glow gold. “It should hold them now.”
“I thought that was only for weapons.”
“That lock is our weapon now.” Benjamin’s tone was steady. “And I suggest that we lower our swords until we find out what’s going on. We don’t want to risk hurting one of our own.”
“Is that against the commandments?” I asked, my hand going towards the hilt of my sword. “Even if they’re trying to kill us, too?”
“It’s not about the commandments, Celeste. These are our friends. Classmates. We know these people.” Benjamin shook his head. “And we know that they wouldn’t do something like this. Not without reason.”
“Abaddon.” I replied. “After Micah stabbed me, he mentioned 40 bodies. He mentioned needing a tribute.”
“Holy shit.” Zachary’s eyes went wide. “Did Abaddon—Did he get his demons to possess angels? Since when can demons do that?”
“If Abaddon’s the Prince of Hell who escaped, then he’s much stronger on the surface than he ever was in Hell.” Benjamin’s words were quiet. “Who knows what the limit of his powers may be? Or if he even has any, at all.”
“But getting angels to grant him tributes?” Zachary shook his head. “He’s going to make them break the commandments. He’s—”
“He’s going to doom them to Hell.” I finished Zachary’s thought. “Abaddon is going to doom the angels to Hell. Why would he want something like that?”
“Well, if he’s ramping up to a war, who wouldn’t want a bunch of specially trained soldiers on their side?” Charlie suggested. “It’s psychotic, but it makes sense, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah, but if he’s so psychotic, why aren’t we possessed, too?” Zachary asked.
“Because I’m not a psychopath.” There was an unfamiliar voice that suddenly joined our conversation. “I’ve always been a man of honor, regardless of what your history books might have to say about me.”
I turned to see a man with dark, maroon skin and sharp, scarlet eyes.
He was decked out in silver armor, from his chest all the way down to his legs. His armor had inscriptions on it that I couldn’t read, but they reminded me of the verses I’d studied in Mr. Toorin’s Latin class.
“Good evening, Daughter of Lilith.” The man spoke directly to me. “May I have a word?”
“Celeste. Don’t.” Benjamin warned, as he flourished his sword.
“Yeah, Celeste. You need to stay back. We’ll give you cover, and if it starts to go south, you’ll need to run.” Zachary stepped beside Benjamin, positioning his own sword, too.
“We’ve got this, Celeste.” Charlie nodded towards me, as he took a step towards the stranger, as well, even though he didn’t even have a weapon on hand.
“Don’t be foolish.” The man sighed. “This is not a battle that you can win, and it is also not a battle that I’m interested in pursuing. I only wish to speak to the girl.”
“Yeah? Then, you’ll have to go through us first.” Zachary rushed towards the man in silver.
But his target barely moved a muscle, simply waved his hand towards the side of the room.
And Zachary’s body went flying, hitting the wall at full force, before slumping down towards the floor.
“Zachary!” Benjamin yelled, as he ran over towards him. But within seconds, Benjamin joined Zachary in his pain, as the man in silver threw Benjamin’s body against the wall, as well.
“Stop! Please! Stop!” I held my hands up in surrender. “Please. Don’t hurt them anymore.”
Don’t hurt Charlie.
He wasn’t like Benjamin and Zachary, if he was thrown against a wall like that, I was worried that it could crush his spine, do some permanent damage.
“Ah. Cor tuum.” The man in silver looked over at me. “Do not worry, Daughter of Lilith. I am not going to hurt your heart. Although, even if I did, I can’t imagine that it would have much of an effect. You seem to be in good health, yourself.”
Cor tuum?
My heart?
I didn’t have time to think about the man’s strange words, as I took a step closer to him. “What did you want to talk to me about?”
“Come over here.” The man attempted something like a smile, but it looked so strange and out of place on his features. “Walk the grounds with me.”
“Celeste. Don’t.” Benjamin groaned from his place on the floor.
“Don’t go. Celeste, please. Don’t go.” Charlie murmured, underneath his breath.
“Celeste.” All Zachary said was my name, as he clutched his torso in pain.
“I’ll go with you.” I nodded towards the man, as I walked up to his side. “Promise you won’t hurt them anymore?”
“I promise.” The man returned my nod.
“And the other angels, the ones in the auditorium. You’ll let them go?”
He waved one hand briefly. “It is done. Now come,” he said, as he started to stroll down the hall. “We have much to discuss.”
“My name is Abaddon.” The man in silver introduced himself, as we walked over the grass in the quad. “But I’m sure you already knew that, if you’ve been enrolled at this fine establishment.”
“I didn’t know that, actually.” I admitted. “I mean, I had a feeling, but I wasn’t sure.”
“You’re unaware of the Princes of Hell?” He asked.
“Not entirely. I met Ashmedai a while ago.”
“You met Ashmedai?” Abaddon threw back his head in laughter. “That must’ve been an entertaining evening. He is a rather entertaining man.”
“Entertaining. Hmm. That’s not the word I’d use to describe him. More like manipulative.”
“Well, it is in his nature. It’s in all of our natures, really, if one ponders on it long enough.” Abaddon hummed. “Which brings me to the question of your very existence. How in the world did you come to be, Celeste Venoix?”
“I don’t know.” I answered. “I’ve never met my parents or anything like that.”
“You’ve never met your parents...” Abaddon nodded. “Yes, that makes sense. I believe they snuck you to the surface, when you were nothing but a tiny child.”
He then stopped in his tracks, as his eyes bored into mine. “Would you like to know my theory, Celeste?”
“Sure.” I shrugged. “Why not?”
“My theory is that your mother, the demon-witch, snuck into an unsuspecting woman’s body.” Abaddon continued. “She possessed her. And your father, Lucifer, must’ve possessed someone as well, a man somewhere on the surface. The two met while in these borrowed bodies, and that’s when they created you.”
Abaddon tried to smile again, but the motion only unnerved me. “They used earthly forms to make you, and then they took you back to Hell.”
“And now, you’ve come to kill me, right? Send me right back to the afterlife?” I tried to keep m
y voice steady, but I could hear it faltering in my ears. “All so you can rule Hell on your own?”
“Kill you?” Abaddon seemed insulted by the phrase. “I have not come to kill you. If I wanted you dead, you would be dead within seconds.”
Abaddon began to walk once more, and I struggled to keep up with his long steps. He appeared to be an average-sized man, but with the steps he took, I wondered if he was a giant in a past life.
I then wondered if he was a giant in Hell, merely disguising himself in an acceptable human form while he was on the surface.
Mr. Toorin had touched on that idea once in his lineage class, the idea that giants had descended from demons, that demons had come to the surface before to mate with humans.
All my thoughts swirled around in my head, making less sense as time went on. When everything felt truly incomprehensible, Abaddon stopped his pacing yet again.
“I’ve come to gain your favor.”
“...What?” Shock lined my tone. “Why do you need my favor?”
“Ah, that’s right. You haven’t met your parents.” Abaddon laughed, long and loud. “Going to war with Lucifer and Lilith is something that I would like to avoid, if I could. I believe that the best way to mitigate our current political situation would be if I were to use you as a bargaining chip. I believe that if I returned you to your parents for safekeeping, then they would abdicate their throne to me.”
“What makes you think they want me back?”
“Every parent yearns for their children, living or dead.” Abaddon continued. “And for the sake of utter honesty, I truly believe that you are their favorite child. The one that got away. It would be like the prodigal son returning once again.”
“Of course, I’m their favorite. I’m their only one.”
Abaddon shook his head. “No. You are not alone in your lineage. There is another.”
There is another.
The words felt like a dagger, right in my chest.
My parents had another child?
“You did not know?” Abaddon folded his arms behind his back.
“How could I have known something like that?” My voice was quiet and low. “I have a...brother?”
“Sister.” Abaddon corrected. “Trinity.”