Wings of Sorrow (A horror fantasy novel) (7 page)

The thought of Sorrow having nothing made her sad. It wasn’t a surprise, considering he had come from some other dimension—or something—but it was still sad. He seemed so lost and confused all the time, yet always brave.

She thought of something. Reaching to her neck, she grabbed at her pendant. “I have something for you to have.”

“What is it? I would very much like to have it.”

She chuckled. “You don’t even know what it is yet.” She took off the pendant and split the dove in two. Gently, she pulled Sorrow’s head forward and fastened one half around his neck. Then she put the other half back around her own neck. It felt nice to only have one half. “There, now you have something. It’s a pendant. I have one half, and you have the other. It means we are friends.”

Sorrow smiled wide enough that his straight, white teeth almost lit up the darkness. “Thank you. Our talismans will bind us. It is a wonderful gift, of which I am not worthy.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she said, chuckling again. “Calm down, it’s just a necklace. Look after it, though, because I’m still making payments.”

“Payments?”

“Nevermind. It just me—” A yawn escaped her.

“You are tired, kind Scarlet. You should sleep.”

“I know, but I’m just going to stay here for a while. It’s too hot to go inside just yet.” She eased herself back into the bench and fought a losing battle against her drooping eyelids. The gentle swinging started lulling her to sleep within moments. She had not expected to fall asleep again so easily.

***

The birds invaded her dreams before they did her reality. For a while, she imagined she was sitting in a rowboat in the centre of the town’s lake. Chirping robins and foraging sparrows surrounded her in the sky, but when her eyes fluttered open, she realised that the chorus was from the trees in her garden. She was lying on the swinging bench, while the morning sun hurt her eyes.

Shoving herself upright, she glanced around, blinking. Sorrow sat on the grass against the fence and showed no expression on his face as he watched her. His voice, however, was full of concern when he spoke. “Scarlet, you are awake.”

“How long was I out?”

“From night until day.”

She rolled her eyes, and decided to get the answer from her watch instead. It was almost 8AM. “Have you just been sitting there for the last four hours?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Where else would I go?”

There was a noise from inside the house.

“Sorrow, you need to leave! My dad will be getting ready for work. He can’t see you.”

“Okay, I will meet you at Mr Chester’s trinket house.”

“What? I’m not going back there.”

“But we need answers, and he may have them.”

She didn’t like it, but it was true. “Okay, fine. I’ll meet you there in an hour.”

“Until then, kind Scarlet.”

“Yeah, okay, weird demon-man.”

Sorrow disappeared and Scarlet headed inside. She made it into the kitchen just as her dad entered wearing his suit and tie. “Oh!” he said, startled. “You’re up!”

“I, eh, didn’t sleep well, so I decided to get up. You want coffee?”

“No, thanks, hun I’m running late. I didn’t sleep well either. I’m sorry I shouted at you yesterday. If you’re not happy at your job, then of course you shouldn’t stay there. Things are just tough at the moment, and I want the best for you. I thought a job would keep you out of trouble.”

“I know. I shouldn’t have just walked out. I’m going back there this morning to talk to Mr Chester.”

He looked surprised. “You are?”

“Yeah, I’ve thought about things. I don’t want to get into trouble either. What happened back when we lived in Birmingham… It won’t happen again, okay? I want to be an adult.”

“That’s very mature, Scarlet, I’m proud of you. Hopefully Mr Chester will forgive you.”

Scarlet almost frowned at that, but forced a smile instead. “Yeah, hopefully. I’ll have to speak to him; see what he has to say today.”

“And if he doesn’t forgive you, we’ll find you someplace else—somewhere that will look good on your CV when you start applying to colleges.”

“Can we talk about college some other time? I have a lot going on right now.”

“Like what?” He looked uncomfortable. “Boys?”

She stiffened. “In a way.”

“Oh, Scarlet, please don’t end up getting pregnant, or something just as bad.”

“Dad, what have I ever done to make you think things like that about me? I might have taken a bit of dope at my last school, and yeah, I might have got expelled, but that doesn’t make me a slut. I’m not going to get pregnant, okay? I’m not even seeing anybody.” He looked relieved, but she was so angry right now that her mouth was acting on its own. “You know, maybe you should try judging yourself for once. You’re not exactly dad of the year. Mum left us ten years ago, and you still take it out on me. You think I’m going to turn into some kind of massive bitch and leave you, but the truth is that mum left because of
you
, not because of anything I did
.
”

He reeled backwards as if she had slapped him, and when he recovered, he was furious. His dark eyebrows formed an angry V. “What’s got into you? How dare you say those things to me, Scarlet. I work my fingers to the bone to feed you, clothe—”

“You work your fingers to the bone because you would rather be anywhere else than at home with me. Maybe I
should
get pregnant. Least then I would have some company.”

“Go to your room this instant.”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” She sneered. “I spent all of yesterday in my room, and now you want me to spend all of today in there too? I’ll tell you what: I’ll just go seal myself up and you can push food under the door. That way you won’t even have to look at me anymore.”

He might actually have gone to slap her then, but he stopped himself from doing whatever he had planned and just stood there. When he spoke again, he spoke very slowly. “You have a job to go and beg for. I suggest you get dressed and get out, but I want you home by six o’clock, because we’re going to have a talk.”

“Looking forward to it.”

Scarlet had to fight back the tears as she fled upstairs. What
had
got into her?

Scarlet did not walk from the bus stop in town, she marched. When she entered the Little Treasures Emporium, the door crashed into the wall so hard that the glass pane almost cracked. Mr Chester was nowhere to be seen, but Indy was kneeling down on the floor stocking a shelf.

“We’re not open yet—oh, hey, Scar, you’re back. I was worried about you. I tried to call…”

“I lost my phone. Where’s Mr Chester?”

“In the back, but wait…”

Scarlet didn’t wait. She went behind the counter and into the back, where she found her ex-boss standing in the middle of the room as if he’d been waiting for her. “Scarlet,” he said. “I’m glad you came. We need to try and solve this.”

She placed her hands on her hips and pulled a face she imagined was not pretty. “Understatement of the century. Saint Psychopath broke into my house yesterday. I don’t even want to think about what he would have done to me if I’d been home.”

“Did he take anything?”

“He took my mother’s necklace.”

“Hmm, okay. Let’s go into the office. Sorrow is already waiting for us.”

Scarlet looked to her right and saw that her ‘demon bodyguard’ was sitting on a chair next to the messy desk. She shoved past Mr Chester and went to join him.

“Scarlet, you are safe. That pleases me immensely.”

“Yeah, um, likewise.”

Mr Chester came into the office and sat down. He laced his fingers together on this polished desk and sighed. “This has been a very…
complicated
couple of days.” His eyes went to Scarlet. “For you, more than anybody.”

“I don’t want sympathy. I just want to know how to go back to my normal life. Blondie needs locking up—angel, or not.”

“He’s not an angel, strictly speaking. Demons, angels, Heaven, Hell, and all the other things we fill our movies and books with, are just manmade creations—fiction. The truth of the universe is far greater than good and bad. Like the species of Earth, there are a myriad of creatures beyond the limits of what is known. Heaven and Hell are just concepts, but they represent the idea that there are other existences besides this single one we inhabit. There are creatures and lifeforms we cannot even imagine. The White Order is dedicated to keeping the earth safe from these things that lie beyond our reality. Our existence is in constant danger, and while there are some forces that seek to protect humanity—like The Saint, for instance—there are many more which seek to gain dominion over it.”

Scarlet rolled her eyes. “You’re talking nonsense. I don’t want to hear that blondie is a good guy. He’s a maniac. You already knew that he stole my mother’s necklace, didn’t you? How?”

He reached down and pulled something up from beneath his desk. It was
The Prophecies of Noy.
“This text was written in Latin,” he explained, “but it has Florentine influences, too, which makes it rather complicated to translate. I was up most of last night going through it, trying to make some sense of it—and I did. The book describes everything, Scarlet, everything that is happening to you, The Saint, Sorrow. It’s all foretold.”

Scarlet leaned forward. “What do you mean? How could a book from hundreds of years ago know anything about me?”

“The book was sent to me by colleagues. The White Order already knew The Spark would rise in this location and sent me to bed in and be ready for its emergence. I had no idea I’d already found it. You are The Spark, Scarlet, and I should have realised it sooner. Your mother was a witch.”

“Screw you! You don’t know a thing about my mother, so don’t you dare insult her.”

He put his hands up. “No, Scarlet. I’m not seeking to demean your mother. I am being very literal. She was an Aldorian witch. Aldorians are devoted to the teachings of a 5
th
Century Ostrogophic priest named Aldorix.

“Aldor-what?”

“
Aldorix
. Aldorix was only a boy when he was visited by a creature named ‘The Oil’. It showed him how the world had been in times forgotten—the time before humanity oozed into existence, when great beings walked the earth. Aldorix saw how much power laid dormant and unreachable due to the meddling of a single being, known as The Father. You see, at the dawn of time, the being we might think of as God wove a great spell—a final spell. It banished all magical energy from our earth, and all of the creatures that thrived on magic were rendered impotent. Their weakness allowed humanity a chance to evolve and flourish, unthreatened by the monsters that would once have devoured them. By banishing all magic, The Father became our sole benefactor and protector. But the Old Ones never forgot his treachery.

“The Oil is one such creature who has never forgotten our green and pleasant land, and many hundreds of years ago, it promised Aldorix great power if he dedicated his life to the pursuit of bringing magic back to the world. So Aldorix became a priest of his own religion. His teachings spread all through Europe and reached many of the warriors during The Crusades. Many covens formed, and devoted themselves to his mission of bringing magic back. Eventually, Aldorix’s teachings reached all four corners of the globe. To this day, crones practise the black arts in his name, but they are nigh on powerless until The Great Turmoil arrives. That is why they have been waiting so long for The Spark to emerge.”

Scarlet folded her arms and frowned. “Witches are dumb. Are you saying they’re more than just a bunch of flowery weirdos with black dye in their hair?”

“Scarlet, witches are among the vilest beings on this planet, and your mother was one of them. Once I realised who you were, I was able to research your mother easily. Her name was Nesta, yes?”

Scarlet was shocked. “Yes! She was from Ireland. My dad met her when he was a student in Dublin.”

“She was a high priestess of Aldorix, and when she was your age, Scarlet, she bound herself to The Oil, the same spirit that visited Aldorix. The Oil lined her womb with traces of magic and allowed you to come into being as a creature of light. You are more than just a girl, Scarlet. You are the first magical being born in a millennium, and you have the power to change everything. Embodied in you is the end of humanity in its current form. Your mother’s necklace is key, because it is tied to you. If you die, your soul will migrate to the gemstone inside the amulet. Smashing it will free your disembodied soul and release The Spark. Think of it as a failsafe. Somebody kills you before you come of age, then the keeper of the amulet has a second chance to release The Spark. The Saint has taken it so that when he kills you, there will be no second chances. The amulet will forever remain in his possession, along with your soul.”

“You speak much,” said Sorrow finally. “But how much is truth, and how much is empty words from flapping gums?”

Mr Chester growled. He then slid the
Prophecies of Noy
across the table so that it fell open to the page with the sketch Scarlet thought looked like her. This time the page was covered in post-it notes and messy handwriting. The first memo her eyes fell upon read:
The motherless child will become mother to endless light
. Another read:
Bound is her soul, to a prison of glass, that wreak havoc upon the Earth should it break.
Another:
Born hastily upon a day of great suffering, to bring about unstoppable strife.

“9/11,” she muttered. “The day I was born. A great day of suffering. ”

Sorrow looked at her with concern, and reached out to touch her arm. “Our actions determine our fate, nothing else.”

Mr Chester was shaking his head. “No, things are already set in motion. Scarlet, The Saint will seek to kill you now that he has the necklace. You will not gain your full powers until your eighteenth birthday, and if you die before then, the world will be safe now that he has your mother’s keepsake. The Aldorian disciples will have failed, and The Oil will need another century, at least, to find a way to force magic back into our reality.”

Scarlet felt tears coming again, but this time they came from anger rather than sadness. “So I should just kill myself, huh? You want me dead?” She clenched her fists, shook her head, and swallowed a lump. She wanted to hold onto the anger because it kept her together, kept away the fear, but it was too much. “I’m just a girl,” she said in a voice broken with emotion. “I don’t want to die.”

Mr Chester didn’t look away from her, even when it appeared to be very difficult for him to maintain eye contact. “I’m sorry,” he said softly, “but you are not just a girl.”

“Nothing is going to hurt you,” Sorrow said forcefully. He seemed angry, and it was projected in his voice. “I am here to protect you”

Mr Chester grunted. “Yes, of course you are here to protect her. Your job is to keep The Spark intact until Scarlet comes of age, or obtain her mother’s necklace and break it, should she die. Your masters seek to dominate the earth and take back what they lost.”

“I serve no one,” he objected, his voice growing ever more forceful. “No one!”

Mr Chester sneered. “I did some research on you, Sorrow—although that’s not your name. Noy named you as
Manah
. You’re a despair demon, dedicated to torments of the mind.” He turned his focus to Scarlet. “This monster protecting you has spent eternity talking men into vile deeds: turning neighbour against neighbour, son against father. Manah was the fiend that convinced Herod to kill a thousand babes in their mother’s arms—
his
whispers of paranoia. Of all the wicked creatures to ever walk the earth, this creature before us is the worst. He is a champion of darkness, and he thrives on misery. He is no noble protector, just a confused abomination. Manah seeks to promote the extinction of mankind; he is
not
good. He is evil. Pure, unrelenting evil.”

Sorrow flinched back in his seat, and his eyes flicked left and right as if he were suddenly lost and afraid. It looked as if some great misery clutched at him, and he held his head in both hands and stooped forwards.

“You’re remembering, aren’t you?” said Mr Chester in a voice full of righteous satisfaction. “Your own mind is telling you that you are a monster. Why deny it further?”

Sorrow closed his eyes and gritted his teeth between words. “I… These are not my memories. You are placing them in my mind. It is you who is evil. Come on, Scarlet, we must leave. I will find those who seek to harm you, and vanquish them.”

Scarlet stood up to go with him, but before she left, she gave Mr Chester a glare. “I was hoping you would help me, but you’re just making things more confusing. I don’t know what’s going on, but you don’t want to help me.”

“Yes, I do.” He stood up from behind his desk and hurried over to the office’s door. “You can’t leave, Scarlet. My people will be arriving soon. We need to deal with this.”

Sorrow stood nose to nose with him. “What people?”

“Members of the White Order, of course. We have been preparing for the arrival of The Spark for centuries. I can’t just let Scarlet go. She’s dangerous.”

“We are leaving.” Sorrow placed his strong hand firmly around Scarlet’s arm and began pulling her.

Mr Chester grabbed Sorrow’s shirt to try and stop him. “You’re not going anywhere.”

Sorrow’s face changed, and he became a monster. He unleashed a feral snarl and swiped Mr Chester so violently that he was launched backwards onto his desk. Papers and pencil pots went scattering everywhere.

Scarlet tumbled aside, and then screamed.

It was all true. He really
was
a demon.

Sorrow reached for his own face and prodded at the bony protrusions that now jutted from his cheeks and forehead. His former human face now looked like it had merged with the bark of an oak tree—dark and mottled. Sunken eyes shone crimson while his wide open jaws bristled with spiny, catlike teeth.

He reached out his hand—each finger tipped with talons. “Scarlet.”

The word was a hiss.

Scarlet ran out of the office and didn’t stop running until she had dodged past a startled Indy and made it all the way to the shop’s exit. She yanked the door open so hard that it hurt her shoulder, but the pain didn’t matter. She had to get out of there.

Face first, she ran right into the chiselled chest of The Saint.

She bounced backwards, grabbing her crumpled nose and feeling a trickle of blood coming. She looked at the monster in the doorway and shook her head in horror. “Please, no.”

The Saint backhanded her so hard that she went head over heels and lost track of which way was up. She floundered on the floor, trying desperately to get up as he followed after her. Her skull felt like a dented saucepan, and her eyes wouldn’t uncross.

Indy screamed like a girl, but he also hurried right over to help her, grabbing one of her arms and yanking her away from danger just in time. “Somebody help!” he bellowed. “Blond Terminator is here!”

Scarlet managed to stagger to her feet, but couldn’t stop herself from collapsing against the counter.

The Saint strode towards her, an expressionless machine.

Sorrow got between them just in time. “Stay back, fiend! You will not hurt this girl.”

The Saint stood still, scanning the scene before him with, what might have been, subtle amusement. When he eventually spoke, his voice was deep and authoritative. “You will not obstruct me, Manah. Go back to toying with the weak-minded. I do the Father’s bidding.”