Cataclysm (24 page)

Everyone began discussing what they had just seen between themselves, and I tried my best to blend in. It was hard hearing the ignorance running through the crowd, but it wasn’t their fault. At least, that’s what I told myself.

“Can we live anywhere we want?” one of the men asked. He had a very negative vibe around him.

The demon smiled and, without lying, answered his question. “You can live wherever you want, and in an instant, you can pop up somewhere else just as glorious to live if you need a change. If you didn’t like what was going on in one place, you can forget about it in the next.”

That certainly was one way of putting it. Unfortunately, the man loved the answer and eagerly went back to chatting with the group of people he had found.

I was searching the new room we had entered, for any sign that there were going to be changes happening today. The room felt very cold, and I began wishing I hadn’t been so stubborn, when I decided I wanted to do this myself.

There was a group of girls giggling and munching on something that looked like stuffed mushrooms and chicken satay, but that wasn’t what caught my eye. Behind them was a bronze of Satan. It looked very similar to the one at the Louvre, I remember seeing long ago. The piece it reminded me of was done by sculptor, Jean-Jacques Feuchere, but it had to be almost two hundred years old. This was certainly a pretty accurate replica and just as eerie as the original. The way the wings framed the being, and the ligaments in the legs were so defined, leading to the toes, which were actually talons was quite creepy. It was quite a sight and, unfortunately, very accurate to the real dark demons in their true form. A shudder went through me.

Looking to the left, I noticed another hidden door that wasn’t so hidden. Seeing Sean busy with a group of possible recruits, I made my way to the concealed opening. I gently pushed on the wall, and nothing happened. Trying not to make a scene, I tried leaning on it with more pressure and still nothing.

I stepped back and looked at the sculpture again, wondering if it had anything to do with getting the wall to open, when I saw a very fine break between the left wing and Satan’s back. That had to be it. I looked quickly behind me, and Sean was still distracted, salivating over his fresh blood, so I slowly grabbed the wing and pushed it down. The wall began to shift, and I stopped as soon as I saw enough space for my body to slip through.

A girl noticed me as I was making my way through the opening, and I put my finger to my lips, hoping she would abide. To my horror, she came over and slipped through the wall as well. I found myself on a steep staircase, with no light. Feeling for each step I took, as I went down deeper into the hidden part of the home. The girl seemed to be following right behind me.

“What do you think this is?” she whispered.

“A place we don’t want to get caught in,” I said. “So be on point.”

We finally made it to the bottom of the stairs, and I saw a lamp that I could turn on. Hopefully, it would only give us just enough light, without alerting the upstairs gathering, to see where we were.

The moment the light radiated over everything, the girl gasped. This was my fear. This is where they were turning people. The overwhelming feelings of negativity swept through me, and my spirit became heavy.

There were chains attached to the walls in front of me. Tables like the one I saw in the club during that horrible night in Seattle were along the farthest wall. The worst thing I saw was down the hallway. There were makeshift cells lined up.

“I don’t understand,” the girl mumbled to me. “What is this place?”

Turning around to face her, I looked into her caramel brown eyes. She didn’t belong here.

“This is where they turn people to demons. No matter what they are trying to tell you upstairs, anyone who agrees, will be turned into a brainless ghoul. At first, there will be some perks, and you’ll be able to socialize with the others. But eventually, after each new mission is completed you’ll get pushed further and further away from contacting others. It’s a really lonely life, but they don’t even realize it because they are too brainwashed.”

Her lips started trembling. “I want to get out of here.”

“It’s okay. I’ll make sure you do. Now let’s get back upstairs,” I told her.

Grabbing her hand, we ran up the stairs, entering back into the gathering room. We quickly closed the wall, and she stuck by me.

Sean looked over at me and smiled. I was pretty sure he knew where I had gone, but it didn’t matter. There wasn’t anything he would do right now. He doesn’t want to scare off the rest of his potential victims. I smiled back and turned towards the bar. I knew better than to drink anything from here, but it, at least, gave me a purpose.

Someone rested their hand on my shoulder. I turned and saw a guy smiling back at me.

“What do you think?” he asked me.

I didn’t know what to say. Do I take this time and try to dissuade him and risk blowing my cover or just play along? I looked over at the girl who was not more than a foot away from me, her eyes still terrified from what she saw below.

“I think if it’s too good to be true, it probably is,” I said, somewhat satisfied with my answer.

“That’s what I was thinking too. Watch this,” he mumbled to me and winked.

“So anyone with half a brain knows that this isn’t all fun and games. What are you expecting from us? What’s the catch?” the guy asked Sean, from across the room.

There was an immediate shift around us. It was like everyone here would rather pretend it could be possible than ask the tough questions.

“What do you mean? There’s no catch. You just have to subscribe to our way of life,” the demon replied.

“And what is that way of life?” The guy was getting very arrogant, and a smile spread across his lips that I recognized instantly, regardless of the body that was in front of me.

It was Athen. He shapeshifted, too, and he was here. I was so relieved but a little angry. This was supposed to be my thing, but watching him in action was pretty sweet.

“You receive a few jobs a year to do, and once they are complete, we leave you alone until the next time.” The demon was unable to hide his aggravation.

“What are the jobs? You really surprise me as far as comprehension or lack of it,” Athen retorted. He knew the demon would do absolutely nothing in front of this crowd.

“If we need someone to step in with some choices that a human is about to make, then that’s when we will call you up for service,” Sean replied.

“Huh, doesn’t sound like it’s for me. Sounds too good to be true,” Athen replied, smiling at me.

“We aren’t asking you to do anything illegal!” The demon was on the verge of losing his temper.

“There is no such thing as illegal in the underworld, my friend,” Athen said, turning to the completely captivated crowd. “If I were you, I would follow me right out the door we came in through. At least, if you want to save your soul.”

Athen walked by me and grabbed my hand, marching back through the study. The girl followed on my heels, and I heard a few footsteps behind me and was thankful for how ever many might be following.

“Nice one,” I whispered to Athen, squeezing his hand.

“Well, he’s not going to want to ruin his rep in front of everyone.” He turned around, gauging how many were coming with us out the door.

We reached the front door and opened it, letting out all the ones we could help for the moment choose a better life. I was thankful so many were leaving with us. The last one was out the door, and Athen and I were just shutting the door behind us, when the demon put his foot in the opening.

“Hey, you think you may have won this little thing?” the demon was seething, “but you didn’t even break the tip of the iceberg.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, which only made him angrier, and Athen squeezed the door closed on the dark demon’s foot.

It was amazing to be back in Whistler. I was feeling much better, not perfect, but better. Much had happened since I first spotted Athen in the Grizzly Pub. It felt unreal when I think back to it. Everything changed so drastically. There’ve been events in this last year, which were beyond anything I would ever have imagined. Cyril pulled the car onto the street before we reached our home. He had the radio blaring The Black Key’s
Lonely Boy
, which seemed all too fitting.

Looking over at Athen, I could tell he was thinking the same things. The first few adventures we got to go on together, ziplining, dog sledding, evenings at the pub were all so innocent and enjoyable. It gave me the hope of what we could look forward to in the future. A smile covered his lips, like the weight of the world had momentarily been lifted, as we both daydreamed back to that one snowy winter’s eve.

I grabbed his hand as I leaned my head against the car window thinking about the first moment I saw him or, rather, the back of him. That’s all it took. Enjoying the feeling of his magnetic pull that was impossible to explain to anyone else was incredible. And then his eyes, they were so captivating! Thinking back to those first few moments created a giddiness inside all over again. The way he pursued me was the most magical, unbelievable experience I had ever been a part of. At the time, it seemed impossible that someone like him would ever even glance my way. Wow, how things change!

Athen squeezed my hand, and I looked over.

“I love you. You really are my everything.” His eyes filled with the mischief we had both been missing since the almost daily battles erupted months ago. I think we were able to get back to that playful place, because we knew we were close to the end. Either way it went. There was nothing more that we could do. We trained for this battle. We had made decisions we never thought we would be faced with making. The time was about to come, and there was nothing more we could do, until it actually began. I think we both knew this and wanted to ensure the days, leading up to the battle, were at least happy ones.

The old me would’ve tried to read something into this, like does that mean we think we’re going to lose? But I now know, it means nothing of the sort. We need to live in the here and now and enjoy everything about each other, because our love will only make us stronger.

Athen circled his finger around my wrist, leading his way up to my forearm. His light touch brought chills to my skin. I was thoroughly satisfied with the knowledge that for the next few days, we would be allowed to put everything aside and concentrate on us.

“I love you too, and that’s why we are going to defeat this evil. We have love on our side, not hate,” I whispered back to him.

“Hun.” He lifted my chin up to meet his gaze. “No more work talk. We need to focus on what’s most important to us. No matter how hard it is not to talk about everything, we really need to try. This is our last chance before it begins, and I want our time to be about us, not them.”

Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath in, I felt the oxygen travel through my entire body refreshing me and purging any thoughts that might want to invade my mind in the days to come. He was right. Nothing I thought about would help us win or lose what we were about to face. The months of training and strategizing had to be put to rest until the time to fight arose.

“You have my word,” I told him, as I scooted over to kiss his cheek.

We pulled in the driveway of the home that we all shared, and I blurted uncontrollably, “How about Athen and I go stay at my place in the village. Nobody’s got it rented out.”

Cyril looked at me in the rearview mirror with a grin as wide as I had ever seen, nodding completely amused.

“Why would that be, Ana?” he said, chuckling.

“Cyril!” Arie’s voice squealed with the pure joy that his humor always brought to her. She pinched him gently on his cheek. “Shame on you!”

My face felt warm with the embarrassment my outburst implied, but I didn’t care any longer. There were things I missed, and there were things I needed.

“Oh, geez… Sorry, kind of thought you had other things on your mind.” Realizing Cyril was going to be ribbing me incessantly thanks to my lack of tact, I smacked him on his shoulder and did my best to glare at him in the rearview.

Trailing back towards the outskirts of the village, the excitement level began building again. The lights were up in all of their glory, wrapped around every tree limb and statue that was exposed. I couldn’t hide my smile and Athen was so right. We needed this and no discussion of what was about to come. Now was the time to relish what we have.

Cyril circled around the Westin’s drive, and the valet quickly came over to help. Opening the doors, I jumped out and ran around to Athen.

“Checking in?” The Bell Captain asked.

“We sure are.” Athen smiled, hugging me bringing right back to the night we first met.

***

Matilda was right on our heels as we made our way on to the elevator. I was so excited to see it again. I had spent so many years curled up inside with Matilda, waiting for a life I thought was non-existent. I pressed our floor, and the door close button, as fast as I could.