Balance (The Divine, Book One) (5 page)

"Just
part, actually," I replied. I inched my way towards the door while I
spoke. She just stood there. Why should she be worried? I was pretty sure she
could close the gap in half a second or less. "Part angel, part demon,
part human. I just found out today."

"A
crossbreed?” she asked. “You?"

Okay,
maybe I wasn't much in a fight, but the way she said it was just insulting. I
glanced over and saw I had almost reached the door. As I had thought, she
noticed. She was on me in two strides, her long delicate fingers gripping my
throat and pulling me to my feet. She put her face right into mine, and then
leaned into my neck. I could feel the heat of her breath against my skin, and I
prepared to be food.

Instead,
she pulled her head back and looked into my eyes. It was the same look Dante
had given me, the one that I had felt deep within my soul.

"Indeed,"
she said. She let go of my throat and backed up a few steps. "How did you
get here?"

I was
shocked enough by the fact that she hadn't bitten me. Now she was engaging me
in conversation? "I was dropped off here," I said. "I haven't
been Awake for very long."

She
laughed. "That much is obvious. Today is your lucky day crossbreed. I only
hunt pures. Sometimes humans when I need the sustenance, but angel blood tides
me over longer, and to be honest it’s much more tasty." She looked me over
like she was trying to pick out a pastry. "I can't be sure if you'd be
more like a chocolate bar or a clove of garlic." She smiled, showing off
her fangs. She started to step around me to get out the door.

"Wait
a second," I said. That was one of the oddest and most stomach churning
things I'd ever heard anyone say, and she scared the heck out of me, but since
I had limited sources of information I had to see what I could get from her.
"I was told your kind would rip me apart without a second thought."

"Most
of my kind would," she replied. She gave me that condescending look again
that made me feel like I was less than dirt. "You're no good to feed on,
and you're no sport at all; maybe in a few months when you've had time to
adjust. My name is Rebecca. Perhaps we'll meet again."

I
started to form another question, but before I could get it out she was through
the door without a sound. I sat there motionless for a few minutes, trying to
absorb all of the signals being rushed to my brain. Vampires were real!

It
was a hopeless endeavor, and I stumbled over to the corner just in time to dry
heave. Once that was over, I started shivering, the adrenaline withdrawing and
leaving me to pick up the pieces. I sat down on the floor. I didn’t care
anymore if someone found me here, as long as they were human.

I
reached into my pocket to retrieve the phone, and then groaned in dismay. What
I pulled out of my pocket didn't resemble a cellphone at all. It was just a
mess of wires, circuit boards, and glass. As if things couldn't get any worse.
I leaned back against the door so I wouldn't be surprised again, and went to
sleep.

I woke
up to someone shoving at the door behind me. Still groggy, I was ready to let
whatever it was come right in and eat my soul. I groaned and rolled out of the
way, putting my hand on the floor so I could climb to my feet.

"What
the hell?" The janitor looked down at me, hands on his hips and a sour
expression on his face.

"Sorry,"
I said. "Drank a little too much yesterday, I must have passed out in
here."

He
glared at me, and then looked up at the rear of the room. I hadn't noticed, but
one of the shelves had been knocked askew during the fight.

"You
wait right here," he said. "I'm going to get the guard."

Like I was going to wait right here.
I jumped to my
feet and went out the door. It was still early, but the island was open for
business. There were some tourists wandering around, but more importantly, the
alarm was off and the doors were open. I looked across the area to where the
janitor stood with a guard, pointing in my direction. They both started walking
over.

I
hoped they didn't see me, but I couldn't imagine how they wouldn't. There
weren't enough other people here for me to blend in, and I wasn't exactly
inconspicuous at six feet tall, brown hair, leather blazer and blue jeans. I
was going to have to either accept getting caught, or somehow fight my way out.

I
tensed as they approached, still undecided on which play I should make. They
were still talking to each other, the janitor motioning like he was describing
the damage to the wall. They looked over at me.

"Good
morning sir," the guard said. Then they walked right by.

I
turned around to watch them. I saw them go into the closet. A second later the
guard came out, shouting into his radio and running for the door. I knew I
should leave, but I had to know for sure. I walked back over and peeked into
the closet. The janitor was standing by the damaged shelves, staring at what I
assumed was the chipped wall.

"Looks
like someone made a mess," I said to him.

"You
can say that again," the janitor replied. "Some drunk asshole busted
the door and barfed in that corner over there. Not to mention he knocked over
all this crap."

I was
curious about something. "Hey buddy," I said. "I just got my
hair dyed to cover up some grey. What color does it look like to you?"

He
gave me a funny look. "Black," he said. That was just what I wanted
to hear.

"Thanks
man," I said. I took one last look back at the closet and beat a path out
of there. I was on the ferry within the hour.

I sat
all the way in the back, not that it mattered. It was early enough that the majority
of people were still headed towards Liberty Island, not away from it. We were
pretty well spread out, and I appreciated the opportunity to relax a little
bit. Even if I couldn't consciously exert my will on anything, at least my
subconscious was helping me out. It seemed like as good a time as any to
practice the Rain exercise.

I
fixed my focus on a small spot below the seat in front of me, and tried to
force the rain. The first few efforts were as effective as my attempts in the
bathroom stall. Retrain my mind. That was what Dante had said. There is no
spoon.

For
some reason, my mind wandered back to my encounter with the vampire. Rebecca,
she had said her name was. It was strange to think of a blood-sucking creature
of the Devil and put a human name to it. It was stranger still to be thinking
about the way she looked in that outfit. According to Dante, this was the face
of my enemy. Well, one of them anyway. After all, she lived to feast on my
kind. In fact, she couldn't live without feasting on my kind. Or angels, I
remembered. She said she preferred to drink the blood of angels. That was
really creepy.

I
looked out at the water breaking off the back of the ferry. I had smashed the
phone, and in doing so lost any hope of getting more information about what
exactly I should be doing. Would Dante even be able to find me now? Maybe he
couldn't, but I had a feeling Mr. Ross could. I had a feeling Mr. Ross could
find anyone, anywhere.

Watching
the waves became hypnotic, and brought me to a state of mind that I hadn't
experienced before. Here I was, sitting on a ferry in the middle of New York
Harbor, I had one set of clothes and four grand in my pocket, the bloodlines of
angels and demons, both sides itching to put an end to me, and for the first
time I felt like I was actually coming to life, or maybe waking up.

I
turned my head back to my spot under the chair and willed it to rain. Not with
a huge push, an overexertion. I willed it gently, fitting the force of my will
to the strength of my desire. I felt the tug in my mind. I felt it grab on like
a hook and pull towards me. Water vapor condensed and began to fall in droplets
onto my boots. I had told the universe to make it rain, and it had acquiesced.
It wouldn't save me from hungry vampires, but it was a start.

By
the time I had arrived at Battery Park, I was able to reproduce the raindrops
on at least half of my attempts. It was becoming easier to recognize the mental
focus that signaled success, and more familiar to feel the pull on my energy.
Dante had been right about limits. The few successes I had made had left me
feeling a bit drowsy, and super hungry.

As I
walked, I kept a watchful eye on all of the people around me. I had no idea who
might be playing for one of the other teams, and who thought I was just another
average guy going about his business. It would have helped if I could have at
least known if they would react, or if they would run off to tell their
superiors that they had spotted a diuscrucis wandering around.

Catching
the delectable scent of coffee, I diverted myself across the street and into
"Gino's Diner" in search of something to stop the rumbling in my
stomach and the growing fatigue caused by bending the universe. The place was
pretty empty, but I paid close attention to its inhabitants as I entered.
Nobody even bothered to look up at me. I love New York!

Susan
led me to a table and handed me a menu. I waved it away. "Two western
omelets, a cup of coffee, and a slice of cherry pie if you have it. Whatever
pie you
do
have if not cherry."

She
looked down to check the size of my stomach. "You one of those competitive
eaters?" she asked me.

"Nah,
just hungry,” I said. “I feel like I haven't eaten in months."

She
didn't say anything, heading off to put in the order. She returned a minute
later with the coffee. As she put it down, she looked me in the eyes.

"Can
I help you?" I asked.

She
looked away. "You just have really pretty eyes," she said. "You
need anything else?"

"I'm
fine, thanks," I said.

It
was weird, but she hadn’t been lying, and I didn't get that feeling from her
that I'd gotten from Rebecca. I figured I needed to be cautious but not
paranoid, or I'd destroy myself without any intervention necessary from the
powers that be.

“Actually,"
I said. "Do you have a newspaper?"

The
date was November 19th. I had been in Purgatory for nearly five months. How
many had I spent curled into a ball 'suffering my Regrets', as Dante had called
it? I thought about my mother for the first time since I had been killed. I
wondered if there were any rules about going to see her. Would she recognize
me? Did she know our history? Which side of this war would she be on? I knew
the answer to that one; she was a devout Catholic. That raised a more important
question. If she could see me, would she see me as her son, or as an enemy?
Maybe I was being a coward, but I wasn't willing to risk knowing the answer to
that. Better to let dead sons stay dead.

Susan
dropped off my two omelets and a peach cobbler. I guess it was the closest
thing they had to pie. I downed the eggs in record time, polished off the
cobbler, and still felt hungry for more. I decided to satiate myself further
somewhere else, in order not to arouse any kind of suspicion. I left forty
dollars on the table and walked out while Susan was occupied with another
table.

 As
soon as I got outside, I found the nearest street corner and hailed a cab. I
had lost Dante's ‘Guide to Being Awake’, so I needed to start educating myself.

"5th
Avenue Apple Store" I said, climbing in.

I
would pick up an iPad so I could get online, then take it to a cheap hotel room
somewhere and hole up until I heard from Dante. Combing the dark corners of the
Internet was one of my specialties after all, and if there was any mortal
information about the workings of the Divine I was sure I would be able to find
it there. It might not amount
to
much compared to what
I had lost on the smartphone, but it was better than what I had right now.

"Sure
thing pal," he said.

He
had a strong accent. Polish maybe? He was definitely European, with
a black
peach fuzz and a chiseled face. I could see him look
me over through the rear-view mirror. I thought I saw his eye twinge as he
looked at me, but didn't make much of it.

I sat
back on the rear bench seat and took a deep breath. I was still hungry, but the
headache had gone away, and I was more eager to start learning than I was to
continue eating. I was going to start by finding out everything I could about
vampires, werewolves, and any other demonic creatures I could branch off to
from there. My feeling was that the evil team was bound to be more dangerous,
and there was also something in my gut telling me that they were winning this
war.

A war
I could never win. Everything had happened so
fast,
I
hadn't stopped to think about that simple truth. I was joining the fight for
the continued existence of mankind. My goal was to keep things from becoming
too evil, or too good. I couldn't snuff one out, or the other would triumph.
Would I be spending the rest of eternity like this, or was there a limit to my
Awakened life force? The thought was depressing.

When
I looked out the window and saw that the cabbie had pulled us off into an
abandoned housing project, I realized that I had broken rule number four. I had
lost track of my surroundings, and now I was in a place where nobody would hear
me scream. I looked up at the driver, who was turning his head back and forth,
looking for something himself.