Read What Following Brings Online
Authors: S. E. Campbell
What Following Brings (18 page)
“
No
!
”
Eden screamed, whipping out a bottle of holy water and hurling it at him. He screeched and fell to his knees.
“
Go away.
”
She
then
spun
around and
pu
lled
another bottle of holy water out and showered the mirrors with it. At the lightest sprinkle, t
he mirrors dissolved
as if they were butter in the microwave.
These mirrors are made from something evil. Thus, good disintegrates them.
Just as she had thro
wn the last of the
holy
water onto one of the mirrors, two strong hands wrapped around her waist and she realized she was in Asag
'
s grip.
Trapped by
his seven remaining arms, she was not able to get away, and the smell of rotting fish filled her nostrils.
He licked her face with his abnormally large tongue, making her shudder, as flying locusts landed on her and covered her soul.
Ahead, Eden saw Yuri stand up amongst the locusts and
rush at the necklace on the floor
.
He
ben
t
down and pick
ed
up the
piece of
jewelry
, grasping it in his fist. The locusts stuck to him more than they did her. They weigh
ed
him down, clinging to him, and the locusts in the air lessened
. The locusts caused Yuri to squat beneath the
ir
weight and hunch over
. She gasped when she realized what was going on.
“
I want you to watch,
”
Asag said.
“
They are going to eat him alive.
”
“
No
!
”
Eden screamed, trying to break his grip.
“
Too bad I couldn
'
t do the same to you, but Satan wants you untouched,
”
Asag said.
She saw Yuri bend over, the locusts feeding on him and devouring his ectoplasm, and she screamed again and flailed.
His entire soul was covered in scavenging black dots.
No, Yuri, no.
Her
mind
filled with images of him and she knew she had to get away from Asag so she could
save him
.
“
Yuri,
”
Eden said.
“
Yuri, please.
”
Then Yuri, surprisingly, got up again. He stumbled closer to Asag and Asag hissed and dropped back against the wall.
He fears the necklace still. I should have
known he
would fear the necklace.
Yuri took o
ne more step closer s
till
. When
he reached them,
he whipped out his sword so fast Eden had barely had time to blink.
Asag released Eden in surprise at Yuri
'
s actions. With a cry of triumph, she sprang away from Asag as Yuri desperately tried to wipe away the locusts which clun
g to his body.
The moment Eden touched the locusts, they began to bite her too. She groaned but kept on shoving them aside.
As
she
pushed
them
away, the necklace brightened and
Asag screeched and stepped away. Yuri, his energy as dim as a bad light bulb, stood with his eyes
wide. He didn
'
t have much time left if she didn
'
t help him
.
“
I can
'
t lose you
.
”
Eden
pulled out a vial of holy water and handed it to him.
Yuri drank it and his energy brightened. Just as he
grinned
at her in gratefulness, a hand seized her arm again, but this time it almost appeared human. Eden whipped around and expected to look straight into the face of a pale-eyed creature with no pupils, but instead she stared
at
an average looking man with brown hair. A man she recognized.
“
You,
”
Eden said.
“
How? What?
”
It was the man she had dreamed about when she had been back on
E
arth.
She had been tied to a chair of stone and he had hit her across the face again and again. Nadia, her guardian angel who
had
sacrificed her life energy in order to tell Eden her task, had appeared and saved her from being beaten again.
“
Do you like my human form?
”
Asag asked, his voice still deep and demonic.
He
smirked in such a way that his dark eyes appeared to glow red
as he
opened his mouth
. His
abnormally long tongue spilled out
, draping over his teeth
.
“
G
-
get away,
”
Eden said.
“
How about a kiss?
”
Asag leaned forward,
smirking
wickedly
.
Eden put her hand against his forehead and tried to push him away. Yuri cried out, swinging his sword again, and rushed at Asag. Asag grinned at Yuri and, seconds before impact, grabbed Yuri by the arm too and threw him to the ground with abnormal strength. Strength no human could have possessed.
“
You two
are getting
on my nerves,
”
Asag said.
“
Satan
could have played with you more himself, but he
'
s too busy
. He has warriors to unleash. Until
he wants you for real
, I think I
'
ll lock you two up in a place where you won
'
t be able to escape. I hope you enjoy your last few hours with your boyfriend.
”
“
What?
”
Eden asked.
Turning, Asag focused on one of the few remaining mirrors and the surface of the mirror bubbled and grew blacker and blacker. Soon, it revealed a world that was blacker than any she had seen before. It was the same blackness Eden had seen in the painting
when she had been in the Blood Stone cave
.
She
gasped as she
scrutinized it
.
Asag seized her and Yuri by their arms and dragged them both over to the mirror
. He
forced her to look through it. Inside of the mirror, Eden saw darkness and distant, flickering lights. Bright lights
which
appeared
also strangely familiar
.
What are those?
Eden thought, feeling horrified.
“
Welcome to the
â
other world
'
.
”
Then Asag pushed her through the mirror
and shoved her to the floor.
A moment later, Yuri was pushed through too and landed at her side. She gasped, clutching her chest, shocked how much the pane had felt like a pool of water.
When Eden
looked
up, she had no idea where she was.
****
As Eden sat on her haunches and
glanced
around, Yuri sat up
too
, rolled his eyes, and then ran his hand through his hair. The two of them exchanged looks, and Eden could not help but feel
grateful he was here
. Yuri had come to save her. There was hope, after all. She knew she
had to have him by her side if she wished to find the remaining two souls.
But first, she had to figure out where they were. And she had to figure out how to get out of where they were.
“
What is this place?
”
Eden asked, struggling to her feet and
glanced
around.
“
We
'
re in the other world,
”
Yuri said.
“
It
'
s just as Asag said.
”
“
Yeah,
I
'
ve heard my friend, Thema, mention this place
,
”
Eden said.
“
The funny thing is, I still have no idea what
she meant
by it. What is the other world? And why would he send us here?
Do you think he
'
ll come back for us right away?
”
“
Probably a demon version of a joke,
”
Yuri said.
“
This is where the souls go when there is not enough room for them on earth. It
'
s the waiting line between
purgatory
and earth. Ironic, isn
'
t it?
Asag
didn
'
t need to cut us apart to get us here. Instead he just sent us here through the mirror, and as long as we
'
re here, there is no way out.
”
“
What?
”
Eden asked.
“
There has to be.
”
“
Look around,
”
Yuri said.
“
Do you see any exits?
”
With a frown, Eden
whipped around
and
took in her surroundings
. Yuri was right. Everywhere she
searched
, there was darkness. Endless darkness. Eden
looked
down, took a step back, and stumbled right into Yuri. He grasped her
arm and steadied her
. She
straightened
herself. Below her, there was nothing. Literally. It was deep darkness that had somehow solidified. It
appeared
no different than the endless darkness ahead.
The ground was no different than the floor, just black, so it was hard to see whether she could move forward or not.
She bent down and felt the floor
;
it was cool beneath her hands, almost li
ke metal. Her eyes widened and she
gazed
ahead again.
I saw light
s
earlier, which means there has got to be something here besides this darkness.
Sure enough,
in the distance, if she concentrated hard, she could see twinkling white lights.
“
There,
”
Eden said.
“
Lights.
”
She stepped forward
.
Yuri grabbed her hand and dragged her back.
“
Do you honestly think it
'
s wise to just charge forward?
”
Yuri asked.
“
Demons are not stupid. Asag wouldn
'
t have put us here if he thought we
'
d have a good time.
”
“
And what do you recommend?
”
Eden asked.
“
Staying here and waiting for him to come and find us? Because he
'
s going to summon Satan to come get me, and heaven help me, I do not intend for us to be here when
Satan
comes out.
”
Yuri frowned.
“
Fine. But we have to be cautious. And if I say stop, I mean it.
”
Eden paused.
“
You
really
don
'
t trust anybody, do you?
”
“
As I
'
m sure you know, trusting people has gotten me nowhere in the past, Eden,
”
Yuri said.
“
Now just come on.
”
He
grasped her hand and began to pull her forward
.
Ede
n
wa
s so shocked she almost tripped
. Instead she continued to follow after Yuri,
trying to ignore
that
holding hands with him pleased her
. As she followed
him
she thought,
I wish things were different.
I wish I wasn
'
t he
re. I wish there were no demons
and Yuri was with me on
E
arth and we could go out together andâ¦
What am I thinking?
She bit her bottom lip as she realized th
e
obscurity of her thoughts.
Eden
had chastised Aaron for bad timing, but she was in a world of darkness and all she could think about was a stubborn guy holding her hand. She shook her
mind
to clear it and then
glanced
around
again
. Every step she took, she felt more and more uneasy. And guilty. The two of them were in this
other world
because of her. If she hadn
'
t charged into the prison without thinking about it, then Yuri wouldn
'
t be here. Yet she had not asked Yuri to rescue her, but he had.
“
Yuri,
”
Eden said.
“
Thank you.
”
“
For what?
”
he asked bitterly.
“
For coming after me in there,
”
Eden said.
“
Iâ¦
I made a mistake. How did you know I was in trouble, anyway?
”
Rolling his eyes, Yuri sighed.
“
Jared let me out of the prison while you were distracted and I escaped through a hidden back entrance of the prison. I was angry at you for thwarting me. Nobody has managed to get under my skin the way you have. I
'
m not sure why. I look at you and I feelâ¦
I feelâ¦
”
She gazed at him hopefully.
“
I feel confused. I get why Sergeant Dale and Aaron did what they did,
”
Yuri said.
“
I followed you because I was certain I could re-capture you and return you to Satan to regain my honor. But then I began to question whether it was something I really wanted to do. Then I saw you headed toward the abandoned prison and
knew you
'
d be in trouble
. I knew Asag lived there. He was the reason the prison was abandoned in the first place.
Only the higher-ups got told to avoid panic.
I heard you calling my name and I charged in. Heaven help me, I thought I had to save you.
”
Silence fell between them as they continued to walk.
Eden
gazed at Yuri again and saw he appeared troubled. His mouth was tense and his eyes were downcast. She squeezed his hand and he
gazed at her. When
their eyes met
,
she was surprised by the feelings of warmth that were created by a man that was unsure of whether he wanted to send her to her doom or not.
Eden
felt she had to say something, and she opened her mouth.
“
Yuri, Iâ
”
“
We aren
'
t going anywhere,
”
Yuri said, cutting her off.
“
What?
”
Eden blinked.
“
We aren
'
t going anywhere,
”
Yuri repeated, and Eden could tell by his hard expression he was deliberately keeping her from continuing their conversation. He released her hand and she felt disappointment.
As Eden
spun
around, she realized Yuri was right. They had not
gone
anywhere. They were in the same place they had begun. The white lights were no closer, and everything around them was
black,
bleak
,
and despairing. Yuri groaned and threw his head back.
“
Let
'
s just keep walking,
”
Eden said.
“
Maybe we
'
ll find something.
”
Yuri
frowned
.
“
And maybe a talking unicorn will come and lead us out of here.
”
Eden scowled at him.
“
I did a paper on theology in high school. Unicorns were mentioned in the
B
ible a whole bunch of times. It is highly possible.
”
“
I have never on
c
e, in my entire time here, seen a unicorn,
”
Yuri said.
“
Nor will I ever see a unicorn.
”
“
You are so stubborn,
”
Eden said, scowling.
“
And I have no idea why I decided to rescue you,
”
Yuri said.
Then Yuri
turned
on his heels and stormed through the darkness. As Eden paused for a moment and watched him, she thought,
What went wrong? Just a second ago, we were fine.
One thing
she
knew, though, was if they wanted to get out of the
“
other world
”
they were going to have to work together. Yuri was going to have to learn how to trust her.