“Archangels, of course, how could I not factor that in this equation?” Luxor drawled. She heaped a spoonful of gelati in her mouth before an idea dawned on her. “The library, when my knee popped out, the voodoo with Ms Suarez and Meredith acting like mother of the year, the truth was there, and you covered it up. Isn't that lying?"
"No, it's just not divulging the whole truth. Besides I showed you where to find answers, if you read the book I borrowed, the path to this revelation would have been smoother.”
Hunter turned off the main freeway driving down a deserted rocky road into a secluded area. She recognised it as the lookout he had previously taken her too. “That’s all about to change.”
He wordlessly exited the car and gravitated towards the barrier. Climbing over with ease, he perched himself on the edge of the cliff.
Luxor removed the jacket, she had become all hot and flustered. She followed him but stopped against the rails when she heard the water crashing furiously against the rocks underneath. Keeping her hands steady, she lifted one leg, then the other holding on tight and plastering herself to the fence. A common factor she had found was when the tough issues arise Hunter tended to deflect and change the course of questioning or push her to a point where she had no choice but to follow his lead.
"Did you want it in a Once Upon a Time style?" Hunter glanced over.
"I want a straight up hard-hitting facts style," she said and looked up at the angry, grey clouds which started to produce rain. “Can we talk where it's not wet, windy, the chance of being struck by lightning or plummeting to our deaths?" She quivered, regretting removing the jacket.
“Anymore possible deaths you want to include?” Hunter smiled and Luxor scowled. The nerves simmered when Hunter clasped her arms around her shoulder, securing her. “Fortunately, we'd survive. Sometimes after a torrential downpour, the misery will dissipate, but it would be worth it, because in the end glory will be unveiled."
“What are you rambling about?"
"A rainbow." He turned her face towards the multi-coloured arc. "Being Unveiled is just like that."
Luxor squinted, not seeing the rainbow, and rubbed her forehead. "I understand your Skittles obsession but I'm two seconds away from flipping it and throwing you off the edge," she threatened.
"A Nephilim is born normal, grows up as any other person would but their angelic side remains dormant. It takes one monumental accident, one so severe, so life altering it changes the course of their life. That's how one is Unveiled and their angel side is activated. That’s when all the changes happen; veins, enhanced growth and change of eye colour."
The accident in the gymnasium!
"But my eyes didn't change colour." On command she rubbed her eyes and bowed her head to avoid eye contact. “Or at least to everybody else.”
“Only ones who have celestial blood, even if it’s a drop can see beyond and notice changes.”
"Take your contacts out." He held out his palm.
She refused not willing to expose the last part. For her, it was the most important, like the old adage said the eyes were the windows to the soul.
What if her dark and damaged soul shone through?
“It’s important for the acceptance process. Nephilim’s eyes are unusual, almost mystical, that's what makes us stand out. That and our God-given looks."
“You’re so conceited!” She laughed at his self-worth.
Hunter scoffed. "And you weren't? Before your Unveiling don't tell me, you weren't this superficial, shopaholic who screamed if she broke a nail." She pursed her lips and stayed silent because he just summed Ellie up. "Just what I thought. All this happened when you came out of your coma, wasn't it?"
"My coma? How do you know?" It was never incorporated in her student file, only a few people knew what happened.
Hunter hesitated. "It’s common knowledge.”
Luxor stopped, her attention on high alert. “And that’s how you found out? By my files?” She said wondering how far it extending. Considering Hunter had difficulty reading more people would have to be on in it.
“Not exactly.”
“How not exactly? You’re stalling, and I’m getting peeved off.”
“We wouldn’t want that.” He stared out into the distance a crestfallen expression crossed his features. “Principal Wright,” he admitted.
"How can he know? I just found out."
"That's what I'm trying to tell you. After you Unveiled you became accessible to everybody—me, angels, demons, and the fallen angels. That's why you need to be prepared, so one day when the time comes you can protect yourself. I'm just helping you out."
She furrowed her eyebrows. "That doesn't make sense. If I became accessible to everybody then how does Principal Wright know? He's normal." Hunter gave her a look which suggested otherwise. "Not him too. What is he?" Unless Principal Wright was a demon that only left angel. It would explain a great deal, he'd been there whenever she needed help, although his tactics lately had been unorthodox.
“Thanks for the heads-up.”
"What did I tell you about the Eleventh Commandment? Just put it this, way he's not one of us."
“So, what exactly can you tell me? We wouldn’t want the Archangels castrating you, however warranted it is.”
“Ha ha. And she has a sense of humour. Who’d knew?”
"Tell me more. I need to know all the other times, if things are to make sense, I need to know what was real and what wasn't."
"I don't have all day."
"There's that many?"
“Oh Angel, you’ve opened Pandora’s Box now. Let’s see what else you can find,” he said darkly and returned to the car.
Luxor conceded defeat, slinking back into the plush interior. "Where are you going?"
Hunter revved the engine and zoomed onto the freeway. The music calmed him down and occasionally, his expression would shift from contentment and calm, too deep in thought, which furrowed his forehead. Luxor switched off the music as he rounded Devils Bend with a sharp turn, her shoulder slamming against the door, her backpack flying forward into the footwall.
"Where are we going?" Luxor repeated.
"I don't know," he whispered, stuck in his own world.
"What do you mean you don't know? Take me back now." She raised her voice.
"Can you shut up I'm trying to think," he growled, his fists tightly clutching the steering wheel.
"Can you slow down?" She choked out, holding onto the side of the door.
The speedometer flicked to the very end, the moon against the blackened night, swirling. The ferocity he exhibited on the freeway had her fearing for their safety.
"When you learn to drive only then can you judge my skills," he told her coldly, easing off the accelerator.
"Hunter you're scaring me. What's going on?" She stroked his fists and loosened his grip, wishing he would talk to her, internally or externally. As she stared up at him, a jagged pain shot through Luxor's chest and she gasped—loneliness, rejection, judgement. His emotion transcended to her, and she drowned in them. She wanted to comfort him, his pained expression tugging at her heart.
Hunter turned off the freeway and drove for another fifteen minutes until they reached an empty block of land. He barrelled down a gravelled driveway stopping short of a smashed-up barn. He made no attempt to exit the car and his silence was fraying Luxor's already shattered nerves.
This is it, he's finally going to end me.
"If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it by now, I wouldn't have brought you here." He slammed the door, moving forward without her.
"And where is here?" Luxor joined him and sidled up close, her fingers itching to grab onto his shirt like a lost little girl.
Distinguishing Hunter's scent from the bush was hard, it was as if he was a part of the land. Raw, wild and natural, and no matter the weather he'd adapted. Hunter halted in his steps, the ability for them to sense each other's emotions heightened. She was drawn into his frame as he allo
wed her to round him, he held her close to allay her fears. His vibe relaxed and he let out a contentious sigh that reverberated from his body to hers.
Together they walked a short distance through a plethora of shades of green of trees, shrubbery, and knee-high shrivelled grass. Weeds curled their way around the porch, sucking the life out of the rotting double story, weatherboard house. The shutters banged against the windows on the verge of collapse.
Hunter placed his palm on the door and it swung open, clasping his trembling arms around Luxor. She faced him, as he stayed still watching Luxor's expression. She surveyed the empty room with a lone stained couch in the middle of the room.
"What is this dump?" Luxor asked, confused as to the reason why he had brought her there.
"This is where I live." His voice was low, tugging her sleeve gently and pointed to the corner. Luxor silently followed up the flight of stairs. "Watch that step." Hunter clasped her hand just in time.
Luxor was led down a narrow hallway passing a series of rooms each of them different from each other. Castor and Theo had a shared room, on one side clothes scattered everywhere, piles of knives and vodka bottles littering the floor, on the other books. It was obvious whose side belonged to who.
The next room was neat with a double bed with pretty blankets, a mismatched chest of drawers, topped with picture frames, perfume, jewellery and makeup.
Hunter headed into the next room half the size as Luxor's a lone single mattress laid on the floor, a threadbare blanket on top. In the corner a bucket catching the drops of rain that seeping through the cracks in the ceiling. A few mouse traps were positioned in two of the three corners, and up above, mould spread across the roof and peeling wallpaper. A mountain of Skittles packets littered the floor, with Vodka bottles lining the wall from one side to the other. All empty.
Hunter gave her fingers a tight squeeze and in a small gesture seemingly exposed a piece of himself that he never dared to show anybody else.
"You live here?" Luxor whispered, her eyes taking in the minimalism. Surely this was a joke, she couldn't fathom anyone living in those circumstances.
Hunter gave a lop-sided shrug. "Beats the streets." He released her fingers and a dark wall had been put up.
He’s homeless. He’s squatting.
“Where’s your father? You lied when you said you lived with him.”
“You didn’t need to know.” He said bluntly.
“How long have you been alone?”
“Does it matter?” he said tersely, his shoulders stiffening up. “And FYI I’ve never been alone. I have family, blood means shit all...”
“I’m trying to know you better, you’ve spent all this time digging into my life.”
“For a good reason.”
Luxor scoffed. “How long?”
Hunter hesitated. “Since I was twelve.”
“Five years?” Her voice hit a high note. She couldn’t even imagine going into the city at night, let alone struggling for food on top of that. “What kind of parent would abandon a twelve-year-old?”
“Yeah five, let’s go with that.”
"Where are all your possessions?" she said aware she was reaching her quota of questions before he would get annoyed.
Hunter pursed his lips and exhaled sharply. "I don't need anything besides clothes and toiletries.” He moved to the corner of the room and retrieved a mountain of beige manila folders, with different coloured post-it tags sticking out from the side and cradled it within his grasp. "I need to show you something." He bent his forefinger urging her forward.
Hunter spread the files across the mattress and picked up the top one. "Showing you that sometimes Castor and Theo's gifts are needed, just like each and every one of us."
Luxor plopped down at the head of his bed and read the top file. Medical. Opening up she was taken aback to see her name on the top. "What's all of this?"
She read the next files. Education. Legal. Medical.
"Showing you that regardless of our methods, I've only done it to give you the best life. Read through it you'll see the proof you need about Meredith's true intentions."
Luxor squinted her eyes skimming the files picking up on the obvious words, "mentally unstable," "ward of the state," "Paradise Heights Psychiatric Hospital."
It was a vast contrast to the files that she had been forced to sign. When she was in the right headspace, she'd peruse each file meticulously.
"You got the doctor to blame my blood on the medication?"
"It was needed, otherwise you'd be tested on like a guinea pig," Hunter justified.
"And my intolerances?"
"Your body is in transition and has begun to reject Earth's food. Yours appears to be starting with wheat and dairy. My body has eliminated most of nature’s food sources, including animal meats and by products. Hence why I'm vegan. I could blitz non banned foods into a drink to make it bearable."
“Except you don’t.”
“Because it tastes like shit. I prefer beverage of another variety.”
Luxor rolled her eyes at his impending alcoholism. That’s if he wasn’t already. "Will I be like that?"
"Hard to tell, but it'll probably hit you harder. The stronger you are, the more dominant your angel side is. It's like the darkness of the blood. Having navy is rare, almost as if it's...” He paused and gauged her reaction. “We altered everything so you wouldn't be jailed or institutionalised," Hunter told her calmly.
Too calmly.
It unnerved her that he flippantly released all of this information. Who could be sure where she would have ended up? It wasn't as if she wasn't grateful, but the niggling voice at the back of her mind told her it was a regular day at the office, and any damage done wouldn’t affect them.
"What else did you alter here?"
There was a mountain of instances that never added up and she hoped he would give her the information she desperately needed.
"Hmmm." Hunter paused, tilting his head from side to side as if he was indecisive after the information he'd provide. Meanwhile, Luxor was on the edge, eager to hear at least one truth. "Remember when the History class was closed?" Luxor nodded. "You have an incident the day before and well you damaged the classroom. Theo and Castor had to use their gifts on Scarlett and say she was attacked by a dog when in reality parts of the roof collapsing had injured her."
Luxor nodded, absorbing all of these real moments to process. The heatwave excuse she was given was false, Principal Wright had lied, which wasn't surprising since he wasn't fully human and had some part of the construction of her life. To fully save her from joining the crazy train indefinitely, she'd buy an exercise book and have Hunter dictate it all if it came to it.
"What else?"
"When Scarlett threw that baton at you, we had to do damage control with the class but most of all with Meredith. I hated she didn't pick you, and you were so out of it so they compelled her so you thought she did, and acted like the perfect mother. I'm the one who brought you home and into bed, and stayed until she came home. I hate her so much Angel, she was never there when you really needed her. When I saw her grab you when you came into town I wanted to pounce and rip her throat out."
"Wait, what do you mean 'came into town?'"
Hunter let out a low curse. Moving to the opposite side of the room he gathered loose vodka bottles and lined them along the wall.
“Hunter,” she warned.
"I'm the reason why you are here. I had to make sure you arrived."
"Do you realise how creepy that sounds? You have altered everything, not to mention you almost caused a car crash. I thought you were a damn gorilla!"
He furrowed his forehead. "Why would a gorilla be out in the open?"
"Hunter!"
"I'm not that hairy, am I?"
Luxor moved away from him, she needed space from his overbearing nature. "Is everything a joke?" she asked rhetorically. "What's Melita's role, it's clear what the twins are, and yours is to help newly Unveiled Nephi
lim, but I can't figure hers out."
"Her father didn't have any significant role.”
Her head pounded and it took longer than usual to process any information. She didn't waste any time getting back on track, she was going to use up every opportunity.
"Meeting me? Nothing is by chance? It's all constructed?"
"You honestly believe in that fate bullshit?” Hunter angled his body towards hers, clasping her hand and laid it onto his chest.
Emotion shot through her, a surge of desperation and begging. She felt his anxiousness and hopelessness, but something worse lingered underneath. There was the darkness of fear within him. Luxor gasped when the connection was broken, the abundance of emotions depleting her energy.
“Apart from Meredith who stayed a few minutes a day, and Aiden who lurked around like a stalker, you were alone. Theo and Castor compelled him to stay away.”
"Meredith would have stayed more." A few minutes wasn't nearly enough time, surely, she wouldn't leave her.
"Well she didn’t,” Hunter growled. “She was too busy trying to save her marriage. Steven wanted you out of their lives, and she agreed. They both filled out the application forms to send you to boarding school but by then you’re were being charged, and your so-called parents were being sued, and they couldn't afford it anyway. Steven had enough and left Meredith and she had you condemned to a mental institution when you awoke."
Luxor shook her head. “I don’t believe you, she would have fought for me. I'm her blood, she wouldn't have gotten rid of me."
"You ruined her life, a cursed child who wasn't worth the torture your mother endured. Those were her words. I have proof, every documentation." Hunter directed it at Meredith's actions. "You deserved more than that and I was determined to provide it."
"You're a liar. Meredith wouldn't do that." Luxor scampered back, teetering on the edge in more ways than one. Lately Meredith and her had come a long way and had become more accepting of each other. She'd had to reign her temper in and talk logically to Meredith, but she'd eventually gotten her answers, these couldn't be a new batch of lies.
He had a look of determination to send the message and would do any means to make her believe. "Answer me this. Do you think a judge would order a teen accused of attempted murder a slap on the wrist and a mere rehabilitation program? Yeah, I didn't think so. Oh, not to mention the judge and Verity's father were old college buddies."
Unveiled: The Chronicles of Luxor Everstone Page 42