Authors: Cheryl McIntyre
Keely nods,
trying to absorb everything he
is telling her, while also coming to the realization that though she has never seen him crack open a book or do homework, Bryon is a really smart guy.
“So, just like that, we are constantly finding out new things.
God is a complicated being, many, many layers and levels. There’s so much we couldn’t even begin to understand, but I’m sure He has a plan for even Demons. If God m
ade man so complex, I mean, think of all the things about ourselves we haven’t discovered, just try to imagine other beings and other places.
There is Heaven, Hell, all the planets in between, and then there are yet the different realms where Demons reside. I always think of it like
,
the U.S. is made up of fifty states or the world is made up of different countries. That’s how Hell is divided. I’m sure Heaven has realms as well, but I’ve never met anyone from there.
I’m guessing it’s
so
great,
nobody has the need to leave
. B
ut like I said, we don’t know everything there is to know
. Probably never will.”
“My father came from Heaven. He would know a
bout realms if there are any. But h
e also found a reason to leave.”
“Which should give you the first clue to his sanity,” Lila says quietly. After a moment’s thought, she adds, “No offense,” just in case.
Keely just nods, lost in her head. Bryon has given her so much to think about. Too much really.
“What do you t
hink happened to their souls?” s
he asks as they turn a corner carefully.
When Bryon knows it’s clear, he says, “I don’t know. Maybe they just never had on
e.
”
“But
I thought you had to have a soul to live. If God didn’t give them one, then how do they exist? Could he have taken it back? In which case, shouldn’t they be in Heaven?”
“Souls in Heaven, soulless in Hell,” Lila reminds her.
“O.k. I just can’t think about this right now.” Keely massages her forehead. “Does anyone else feel like we’re going in circles?”
“Or like we should have come across someone by now? Yeah, I’ve been getting that feeling too,” Lila agrees.
“This place is a labyrinth. Maybe we should start marking our turns,” Bryon suggests.
Using the cell bar, Lil
a scratches
an arrow on the wall
,
marking their direction
as they clear another corner.
“Where do you think everyone is?
I mean our people.”
“We don’t even know where we are. One task at a time, Keely,” Lila snaps.
“Sorry. I’m just worried.”
“Yeah, I know. I am too, but I don’t want to think about that
right now. If we’re stuck
here, we can’t help them.”
“You need to take a deep breath and concentrate. Y
ou can get us out of here, Lila
,”
Bryon says softly.
She looks at him, desperation clear in the crinkles around her eyes. He nods, reassuring her.
Lila closes her eyes, slowly inhales deeply. She is very still, very quiet. Her fingers trace the hem of her shirt. “Keep going. We’re on the right path,” she says as she opens her eyes.
Keely opens her mouth, but before she can utter a word, Lila silences her with
a raise of her hand. “I’m sure.”
“Is it still Friday?” Keely asks Lila as they start forward again.
“I think so. Or Saturday morning. Why?”
“Just checking.”
“It’s your birthday, isn’t it?” Bryon shakes his head. “I forgot. Happy birthday.”
Keely smiles at her him
. “You
kind of
had a
lot going on, Bryon. And thank
you.”
Bryon smiles
back, but it doesn’t reach his eyes
. Not that she can possibly blame him for that. He’s been through
so much already
and they’re not even out of danger yet. Who knows if they ever even will be? Ju
st the fact that he’s a Watcher
and she’s a Demon
Princess.
“Life is never going to be normal
, is it?” Her voice sounds sad
even to herself.
Bryon puts his arm around her shoulders. “I don’t think so.”
“If it helps, there comes a point when you get so used to abnormal, it just becomes,
normal
,” Lila offers
.
“Do you ever wish you could change it? Be someone else? Do something else?”
Lila laughs quietly. “You just say whatever you think, huh?”
“I know
.
My mom says I don’t have a filter. Ya know, to sift through what I think and what I say.
She’s always hated it.
Not my dad though. He thinks
it
’s
great, always being honest.”
Lila regards Keely for a mo
ment. “Sometimes I want to
quit. Be free to go where I want. Do what I want. Whenever I want to. I would never want to change who I am or where I came from
though
. I love my family, my heritage.” She stops and closes her eyes as they come to a fork, splitting the tunnels. “This way,” she says moving to the left. “In the end, we are special. We’ve
been given a gift. Even you. E
ven if you don’t feel like it. So, although I have moments
of weakness
and wish I could be a normal teenager, doing absolutely mundane things, I would not change i
t
.”
Keely ponders this. “Even now?” She holds her hands up and looks around them
.
Lila shrugs. “Even now.”
“What about you?” Keely eyes Bryon.
“Man, I’m awesome. I kick ass. How can you even ask me if I’d want to be someone else?” He winks at her and squeezes her arm.
“Even now?”
“If you had asked me yesterday, I may have said yes. But I wouldn’t have meant it. Lila’s right. Being who we are is a gift. We have a purpose. And we help a lot of people. We make the world a safer place.”
“But the danger…”
“If there wasn’t anyone like us, the danger would be much worse. Imagine asking a fire fighter or a police officer this question.”
“Yeah, but they have a choice.”
Lila and Bryon both look at Keely questioningly. Bryon says, “We have a choice. We don’t have to do what we do.”
“We can’t choose ou
r parents or
our upbringing. But we choose to do this as a career. There are some that travel the world doing this kind of thing. Some just stay local. Some relocate. But there are a lot that are just on call or that don’t do the job at all,” Lila adds.
“My parents worked for years,” Bryon says.
“
My mom stopped when she had me. They thought I should have one safe and stable parent. Then my dad retired last year. God gave
us free will, remember?” He
is quite the open book lately.
“I don’t feel very free right now.”
“I hear you. This place is claustrophobic and ridiculously huge at the same time,” Lila snorts. She makes an adjustment on the lantern as it begins flickering. “We don’t hav
e much time left,” she says as she
raises it so they can see.
“We can’t lose the l-light,”
Bryon stammers
. The panic on his face hurts
Keely’s heart. Again, she tries to imagine how scary it must have been for him. Held captive for days in total darkness. She takes his hand and squeezes it firmly.
“Can we run?”
“We better,” Lila says.
They move in unison, jogging at first, but picking up the pace every time the fire flickers lower.
“I have no idea how much farther we need to go,” Lila pants.
Keely’s mind whirls. She doesn’t want to be stuck going throug
h this maze with no light
. And she doesn’
t want Bryon to be scared again
. There has got to be something they can do. Just as she finishes her thought, the lamp burns out with one last flicker. Bryon’s hand tightens on hers, nails biting into
her skin. She can hear his
breathing accelerate rapidly.
“Shit,” Lila spits. “Take my hand, Keely. I’m going to have to feel my way through. Guess there’s no point in marking our turns anymore.”
Keely grips Lila’s
hand and pulls on Bryon who is refusing to move. “Come on Bry. We have to keep going.”
“Damn it.
I hate this,” he whispers.
“I know. I’m sure we’ll be out soon.” They had to be getting close
to some kind of exit
by now.
“I can take a room full
of Demons. I can take Witches
and Warlocks. I can even take your creeper brother, but this freaks me out. I need some kind of light.”
“I know,” Keely
says again. She understands how terror can take over. But she also knows you can overcome it. At least to a point.
She herself has come a long way
very recently. “I’m here with you
. You’re not alone, Bryon.” He grips her
hand so ti
ghtly it
begins to feel numb. “Wait,
did you say
there are Witches?”
“And Warlocks,”
Lila
says as she
tries to move forward again, but Bryon is holding firmly to his spot.
“Come on. You can do this. I just watched you kick a Demon’s ass in less than a minute. Remember, you’re awesome?”
“Keely, please. I just need a second.”
She releases Lila’s hand and wraps her arms around Bryon. His body is rigid. His clothes soaked in sweat. As she hugs him to h
er, his heart slams against her ear
as if it is pounding out of his chest. She wants to cry, she feels so bad for him. This Watcher who wouldn’t change what he does, even now as terrified as he is.
A
pale
bluish
light glows beyond Keely’s closed eyes. She opens them quickly looking for the source of the light.
Bryon holds
her at arm’s length, eyes large
and
full of wo
nder
, gazing
back at her.
Keely glances around
again before her eyes settle on Bryon’s. She sees hersel
f reflected there, light radiating warmly around her. Softly glimmering off of her skin everywhere.
“What the…?” Lila murmurs. “Well t
hat’s new.”
Twenty
:
“Kiem, this is either the coolest, or the most disturbing thing I have ever seen,” Bryon utters through barely moving lips. He tilts his head to look around Keely, unsure. “You’re luminescent.” His mouth spreads slowly into a smile. A real, Bryon smile.
His skin and teeth reflect her light
,
casting a blue hue.
Inhaling shakily, Keely looks down at her hands. She turns them over, examining her pal
ms. The hairs on her arms rise
and even they are glowing. It’s such
a pretty color, bright in shade
like Bryon’s eyes,
but pale in
illumination. She smiles back hesitantly. In her mind, she seconds Bryon’s earlier statement. She’s freaked out, but totally enthralled simultaneously. The only word she can manage is a nearly inaudible, “Why?”
Lila circles her like a vulture before coming to a halt beside Bryon. She places her hands on her hips and inspe
cts Keely from head to toe,
then back up again. “It’s pretty,” she finally decides aloud.
Bryon nods in wonder
. “I say we don’
t look a gift horse in her light conjuring face. Or however t
hat saying goes.” Bryon shrugs
and Keely squints at him.
“Did you just call me a horse?”
Once a
gain, Bryon shrugs. Lila is monumentally gid
dy. Turning
Bryon so they can continue on their way, she i
s almost skipping
. “You are just full of surprises, Keely.” Smiling, she adds, “Do you realize that you basically became a flashlight when we needed light the most? It’s amazing.” She shakes her head. Lila’s long pink-blond hair falls over her shoulders
as her tiny frame bounces with each step
, reminding Keely again of
a pixie.
“Do you know how you’re doing it?” Bryon hasn’t stopped smiling at her.