Angel addressed Desmond, “Desmond flare, please.”
Desmond lit his hand and guided everyone down the stairs and through the passage. Angel was the last one to follow. Desmond found old-fashioned torches hanging on the wall and lit them up as they progressed. The walls were concrete and sweaty, and the floor was made of dirt. It was dreary and the smell of mildew grew stronger. The team walked through a long tunnel, examining the directions of passages available, when Angel yelled from behind, “DESMOND!” Before Desmond turned to acknowledge Angel, they saw Keiko staring mindlessly at the end of the tunnel. The shouting made her turn to see everyone, and she began running in their direction on all fours at a speed no one had ever witnessed. Everyone froze except for Anu, who walked in front of Desmond to welcome Keiko with open arms. Angel couldn’t get Keiko’s crimson eyes out of her mind. She was still in her demonic form. Once Keiko reached Anu, she stopped and began sniffing him like a dog inspecting its territory. Anu embraced his daughter; but she quickly jerked away, as if encountering an unfamiliar scent. Or worse, she recognized danger. Angel walked over to Andrew and whispered in his ear, “That’s not the real Anu, and she knows it.”
“I’m starting to figure that out,” he responded.
Keiko stared at Anu and sniffed around him. Anu extended his arm in an attempt to touch Keiko, but she quickly slapped his hand down. “L...I…A…R…,” she hissed. Everyone surveyed the situation, wondering what she meant.
She then walked over to Sammy, smelling him in the same manner. She touched his bare chest and got closer to his ears. Keiko licked the side of Sammy’s neck right below his right ear. He flinched. “Ewww, disgusting,” he said angrily.
Keiko’s eyes widened and once again began to glow. “L...I...A…R...S…sssss,” she hissed again. “NOT my father,” she said to Anu. She pointed to Sammy. “Imposssster,” she hissed as if a snake was talking for the first time. “LIARSSSSSsssssssss.” Keiko’s voice viciously bellowed. Everyone cringed, covering their ears and crouching the ground. The pain and ringing in their ears were too much to handle. Angel tried her hardest to shield herself but felt tiny drops of blood seeping out of her ears. Keiko’s screams blew out everyone’s eardrums. She was extremely powerful while in her demon form. The echoing roar of her shrieks was followed by a deafening BOOM. Angel felt a viscous, warm substance on her hands, hair, and face. She then heard the thuds of two bodies dropping. Oh shit, thought Angel.
20
Welcome to the Leaders’ Den
When it finally quieted, Angel peeked her head up to get a better view of what had happened. Everyone else was doing the same. They all rose, taking in the chaotic scene around them. The former Anu and Sammy were now headless and dead. Keiko literally screamed their heads off. She then walked over to the dead bodies and pulled their hearts out of their chests. Angel’s ears were still ringing; and although everyone around her was speaking, she couldn’t hear a thing. She leaned her forehead against the concrete wall, tears running down her face. She placed her hands on the walls and began banging on the concrete in frustration. Andrew walked over to Angel and placed his gentle hands on her back.
“Shhhhh now, now, Queen,” she thought she heard him say but wasn’t sure as he sounded so far away. Angel quickly regrouped and concentrated on healing herself. She recovered within minutes and then turned to check on the rest. They were having hearing issues, as well. She went about healing everyone to quickly get back to the matter at hand.
Pierre approached Keiko, who was standing idle as if nothing had happened. “What the hell was that about?” shouted Pierre into Keiko’s face. “You just killed them.” Pierre turned his back to Keiko to address the group, his voice still shaking with fury. “I don’t believe this. Why are we still even here?
“NOT father,” Keiko hissed.
Pierre turned back to Keiko, surprised that she spoke. “What did you say?” he asked.
“NOT father. NOT Sammy. Imposter, Imposter, Imposter, Imposter, Imposter, Imposter, Imposter, Imposter, Imposter,” she repeated over and over again like a broken record.
“I guess they were imposters,” said Desmond.
Everyone looked at the dead bodies on the ground that used to be Anu and Sammy. They began to wither, and the flesh and the bones disintegrated in the ground until they turned to ash. They watched as the ashes mixed in with the dirt floor. Keiko reacted quickly and grabbed Pierre by the neck. Everyone stepped in to break up a psychotic brawl between them. Keiko began to shout, “NOT MY FATHER, NOT MY FATHER.” She let go of Pierre’s neck, her face, still blue-veined and angry.
“Everyone, we need to calm down,” said Angel. “They are still here. We need to search for them in these passages. They could be anywhere,” she said, overwhelmed.
“I sort of knew that Anu seemed off, but I didn’t want to believe it,” said Andrew, confused.
“I knew that wasn’t Anu from the minute he gave himself to me. The real Anu would never have given in so easily, stubborn bastard,” remarked Angel, disdainfully.
“Now what?” said Desmond. “Well…” Angel’s sentence was cut off by loud clapping hands.
Everyone turned to see a tall V wearing a long red cloak and a designer dark blue suit walking their direction. Keiko turned and hissed at the sight of the V wearing a long gold pendant with the letter L shining brightly. The V was pasty looking with short dark hair and dark brown eyes. He was older, possibly in his late forties when he was turned. His lips curved as he smiled in a sinister manner and his eyes narrowed on Angel. His applause came to a halt when he drew closer to her.
“I will have to hand it to all of you. I didn’t think you would make it this far, although I was rooting for you all. You are all special and just a delightful and magnificent sight to behold. I swear, staring at you Angel, and by Angel, I do mean the Queen, is unbelievable. You are beautiful, fearless, strategic, and yet passionate. You have this aura of goodness about you. And you smell of purity and infinite power. I wonder what Anu didn’t see in you,” said the V in a deep British accent.
“LEADERS...,” hissed Keiko.
Angel walked in front of Keiko, ready to protect her friends. Andrew, Desmond, and Pierre flanked Angel, protecting her on both sides. The rest of the group huddled behind her, waiting for the fight to begin.
“Is that true? Are you one of them?” asked Angel fearlessly.
“Am I ONE of them? Darling I’m the ONLY one left standing,” The V said humorously. “Your Asian demon friend killed my other two partners, just as I hoped she would. God…it feels so damn good not having those whining assholes next to me anymore. Do you know how long it took me to plan their true deaths? Take a wild guess. Anyone? No one?”
Everyone stared in silence, not understanding what was happening, not grasping the humor behind the Leader’s actions.
“Seven hundred years. Seven hundred wanking long years. Man, I thought I was going to off myself if I had to go through another one hundred years with their, ‘Ed, we need to start a V rule about drinking in public, or Ed we need to get better coffins, or Ed we need to make our Ls bigger. The Vs may not respect us if they don’t see it.’ Oh, bloody hell, I couldn’t take another damn minute,” the V mocked, rolling his eyes.
“Oh, Where are my manners? Let me introduce myself. I’m Prince Edward Veen of the former Seven Islands. But you can call me Master Veen, for short because Ed sounds so stupid; and only the stupid called me Ed, like my two stupid dead partners,” he laughed. He held out the back of his hand for Angel to kiss, but she just stared at him blankly.
“You know, originally I thought it would be the Queen that would kill these two twats.” He motioned to the little bits of ashes on the ground. “But instead, Keiko beat you to it. Her, a demon, ha! I didn’t see that coming. Ding, dong, the bastards are dead, Yesssss!!!”
Master Veen laughed and did a little victory dance in a circle on top of the ashes that were once his lifelong partners in V law. Everyone watched his disrespectfu
l actions and were speechless, taken clearly by surprise. The Leaders seemed more of a joke than a pack of tyrants. Angel grew extremely annoyed.
“Enough,” she said angrily. “Where are the real Anu and Sammy and any other prisoners you have?” Her eyes shot grey in instant fury.
Master Veen smiled in amusement. “I like the grey thing you do with your eyes. It's assertive, yet intimidating. Well, at least it tries to be. You’re so cute when you do that,” he teased.
“Alright I’m about done with this fool,” said Andrew, stepping up to Veen and punching him dead center in the nose. Veen yelped in pain and fell on his ass, making a loud thumping sound when he landed.
“OWWWWWW, come on, did you REALLY have to do that? I was going to get to the point. I’m just trying to gloat for a moment,” he whined, holding his nose up and wiggling the bone. He began to sniffle and wipe blood dripping from his nostrils using his cloak. He felt nervous as he delicately touched his nose and began to wiggle it more, noticing it was loose. He walked over to Angel, “Agg, I think he broke my nose. Can you see it? Do you see it? Right there, the bone is it wiggling?” Master Veen held his face near Angel so she could get a closer look at his broken bone as if she was a doctor.
Angel shoved him away aggressively. “What’s the matter with you? Heal yourself.” She stated with frustration.
“You know how bad that’s going to hurt when it heals? Can you do it for me?” he asked.
“No!” shouted Angel.
“You’ve lived longer than me. I’m sure this isn’t the first bone you’ve had to regenerate,” said Andrew.
“It is. I’ve never broken a bone before. I don’t fight; I’m the brains behind the operation, not the thug. Dammit, please don’t hurt, please don’t hurt, please don’t hurt,” he said to himself, looking up at the ceiling as the cartilage began repairing itself.
“What a coward,” said Illy.
“Hey, I heard that. I’m still in the room, you know,” replied Veen. Angel sighed and felt an overwhelming feeling pass over her. She couldn’t believe she was dealing with such an idiot.
As Master Veen’s nose healed, he spoke. “Alright, hear me out. I will release everyone we have. I don’t want to get hit again.” He had the group's full attention. “We have two levels below where we’re standing. The one under us is filled with lost angels.”
Angel walked over to him, grabbed him by the neck, and pushed him up against the wall. “How many of my people do you have?”
“Just a few,” he muttered, unable to speak clearly. Angel let him go.
“Why? Why do you have my angels?” she asked.
“We were looking for you. We weren’t sure if who we captured was you or not. But once we heard you had disappeared without a trace, we figured we would hold on to them. We later learned that Master Anu was searching for Queen Angel, just like us, and for the same reasons. Your blood. Your blood is the gateway to become the true Master of all species and, with that, we can conquer all.”
Angel looked puzzled. “Wait, I was told that your plan was to get me out of the way so that you could take over the entire species and enslave the humans. My blood is what’s connected to taking over every supernatural?” asked Angel.
The Leader chuckled, “All that time you spent with Master Anu and he never told you? Let me guess, did he seduce you and take a drink for himself, then found out it didn’t work so he kicked you out? He tends to dispose of things when it doesn’t work out for him.” Andrew stepped into the conversation, trying to ease Angel’s anxiety. Angel felt betrayed. She thought Anu saved her in order to save humanity and other supernatural beings, instead, he lied to her.
“Don’t listen to him, Angel,” said Andrew. “Initially, Master Anu didn’t know that drinking your blood would bring great power. He determined that fact days after he drank from you. He sent you away because he knew they were coming for you. He couldn’t communicate with you because they would find you and find him. Everything he did was to protect you,” Andrew then turned his focus back on the Leader, “Don’t try to manipulate her.”
Master Veen couldn’t believe his eyes, he quickly shot back with his response. “Manipulate? Me? Never! I’m stating the facts. Seriously, how much research does one need to do to understand that she is an ANGEL, sent to earth by GOD himself, blessed with the hands to protect his precious world. For our species, US, drinking from the main Queen, the sacred one, is the same as drinking the blood of the creator himself. I knew that about her for centuries. I’m sure Master Anu knew that about her when he first captured her. The wanker is a scientist, for goodness sake.”
Angel couldn’t wrap her head around everything. She was sent to earth to protect the angels and the humans from evil and other supernaturals, not to be the downfall of the world, not to be the key for other paranormals to take over. How long were they waiting to kill her so they could rule the world? Was this a test from her grandfather, GOD himself? Angel closed her eyes tightly, trying to figure out what to do and what to believe. Could she believe Andrew, that Anu never wanted to hurt her, and that all his intentions were genuine? She turned to the only person she knew she could trust. Grandfather, tell me what to do, she silently prayed.
Master Veen leaned against the wall and folded his arms. He stared at Andrew and spoke, “When I found Anu’s location, I sent the creatures after him and Angel. Only, she was already gone. We were originally going to kill him and his pet Sammy but decided to torture Angel’s location out of them instead. It didn’t work. They wouldn’t talk, no matter how bad it got. We felt it was best to keep him alive because we knew she would come for him. Love makes people do stupid things.”
Angel grew furious, but something inside her told her she needed to remain calm. She walked over to Master Veen. For an ancient V, he was pretty handsome.
“So, now that I’m here and in the flesh, what do you want in exchange for everyone? My blood?” asked Angel. Angel glared at him and had the sudden urge to break his nose again, but didn’t.
Master Veen dug into his left pocket and handed Andrew keys. He pointed to a very dark and dreary passage and waved his hand, magically lighting the torches on the wall. “Follow that passage to the end. There is a door that will lead you one level down. All the angels are there.”
Angel took the keys from Andrew and handed them to Pierre. “Take all the angels with you, except for Desmond, and free our people. Meet us at the plane. The rest of us will meet you soon enough,” said Angel. Pierre complied and everyone disappeared through the passage.
Angel turned her attention back to Mater Veen. “Now, Anu and Sammy.”
“Queen, you haven’t asked me yet. Why?” asked Master Veen, feeling comfortable enough to share his life story.
“Let me take a wild guess,” replied Angel, repeating his words from earlier. “I’m pretty sure it’s the same villain story as usual. You were tired of living in the shadows; your partners overlooked you. You wanted to be respected by your species, not just for your intelligence but for your power. You wanted to rule everyone under your own terms. But to do that, you needed greater power than what you already had. Me!”
Master Veen began to applaud. Angel hated clapping by Vs. When they did it, nothing good came out of it. However, Master Veen clapped because he was genuinely impressed.
“Now I see why Anu fancies you. You are quite the perceptive one. I wasn’t the toughest, but I am the most intelligent, which is why when my partners came up with the plan to dominate all species, I knew it was my opportunity to eliminate them. The world does not need three rulers. It only needs me. It was my idea to set up the illusion of a beating so that you would come and save the day. Bloody hell, I practically cheered on my partners when they said they would phase into Anu and Sammy in order to trap you. The one thing I didn’t see coming was Keiko, but she fit in perfectly. I captured her without my partners seeing me and waited in the shadows for you. When I could smell my partners coming I set Keiko loose, which explains w
hy you saw her staring in the dark. She was staring at me. She sniffed them out in seconds. Watching her tear them apart was magnificent. Now that I think about it, you should all be thanking me. I saved you. They were going to kill you down here and make Anu and Sammy listen to your screams. But I got to them first. Sweet Victory!” boasted Master Veen. He continued to speak. “We had some good years; but as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. But their end is now my new beginning.”
His end will be my new beginning, as well, thought Angel.
“Shape changing Vs―I should have known the Leaders were the ones,” said Andrew.
Angel grew curious. “Is that a common thing in your species?” she asked Andrew.
“No,” interjected Veen. “They were the last of their kind of phasing Vs. They were extremely ancient; they could do a lot of things. Fly, phase, and kill people with a dirty look―crazy stuff. Even more of a reason why I’m glad they're dead. I couldn’t do any of that. I grew tired of them being better at everything. Seven hundred years of ‘Look at me, look at me,’ aggg, how irritating,” said Master Veen, falling into a bitter mood.
Angel interrupted Master Veen’s speech. She was growing impatient and angrier by the second. It was time to cut to the chase. “Okay, we get it. So, all this because you want to be king.”
She wanted to rip the smug look off his face. Angel couldn’t bear to be in the damp, smelly passage any longer. She just wanted to see Anu.
“Fine!” said Angel. “You want my blood? Then I will give it to you. In return, you let Anu and Sammy go.”
Trapped Inside Humanity Page 24