AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Tears blurred my vision. All around me, blood flowed across the lawn and black clouds of smoke coiled. I blinked back the tears and gazed at the carnage. Gabe still fought back at the tide of ferals, who seemed to be multiplying by the minute. Luke was somewhere in the mess and every once in a while I could catch a glimpse of his tall figure bobbing and weaving. Raquel stood next to me, sobbing. Her hand reached for mine and I took it, clutching it tightly.
Manuel was gone. Our friends were dying.
I’d watched war movies as a child on Granny’s tiny little box television. Something about them had kept me glued to the screen—the good guys overcoming the bad. But real life was different. It was chaotic and loud and overwhelming. And then there was the smell. The tangy scent of blood, sweat, and dirt. And fear. It was the strongest smell of all. Like sulfur in the nose, it filled my nasal cavities with a stench I would never forget.
As I stared at the devastation, a flutter of white in the forest caught my eye. I squinted and saw the shape of Elizabeth below a Ponderosa pine. On her face she wore a mask of glee. Her entire body reveled in the sight of war as she danced upon her tiptoes.
Something inside of me snapped, rage pouring into my head. She was orchestrating this whole thing. That demon spawn inside my mother had caused this. And worse: she was enjoying it. The thought made me want to place a dagger between her ribs myself.
“I’ll be back,” I said to Raquel, dropping her hand. She didn’t protest. The tears were falling too hard for her to ask me where I was going.
I dodged the rings of fights and made my way across the lawn, pausing here and there to avoid a feral rampage. My eyes never left their target. Elizabeth saw me headed in her direction and her expression changed from glee to one of curiosity. She beckoned for me to follow her and headed deeper into the forest.
I passed an outcropping of pine trees and slid down a small incline toward a gathering of boulders. Here, the sounds of battle began to fade. Elizabeth had perched herself on one of the smaller stones, her legs crossed. She smiled at me as I approached, delight evident in the joyful curve of her lips.
“You’re back. You survived Hell.”
“I did.” Stopping just short of her boulder, I lowered my head to hide the rage simmering in my gaze. “It really opened my eyes to the power of your prince.”
She clapped her hands. “He really is powerful, isn’t he? He has command of the armies of Hell. Just imagine what he could do on this Earth. No more crime, no more murder.”
I glanced over my shoulder toward the manor. “No more wars.”
“Exactly.” She hopped off the boulder and approached. “You understand now why we must set him free?”
I bowed my head even lower. “I do.”
She clapped her hands again in delight. I bit the inside of my cheek just to keep from lashing out. All the rage in the world couldn’t help me right now. I needed to be calm and collected. I had to keep the demon from taking over. Manuel had taught me that. All his lessons paid off. With deep breathing, I kept my heart rate low and the anger on simmer.
“Are you ready to join us?” Placing a warm hand on my shoulder, she laughed. “Oh, my daughter, I’ve waited for this day to come.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. I couldn’t look at her face any longer. My heart needed to separate the face of my mother from the evil of the beast inside her. She was a stranger to me. A demon who used me for her own devices. There was no love between us.
One kill was all I needed. If I could drive a dagger into her heart, she’d be finished. But if I did that, the battle would continue. My friends wouldn’t be safe. I needed to find a way to stop this.
Leaves rustled to the right of us. I looked over to see five ferals rising up out of the ground. Their bodily forms twisted and morphed into human figures. On my other side, two more appeared. They snarled and hissed as they flexed their new bodies.
I felt the ground give way below me. More ferals were popping up everywhere. The Nephilim didn’t stand a chance.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Elizabeth proudly appraised her soldiers. “Your little trip into Hell widened the gate even further. Soon, all the armies of Hell and my Prince will be through. Soon, we will own this world.”
At least the gate hadn’t been fully opened with my little unexpected field trip. Still, I had to do something to end this battle.
“Tell me about this Prince.” I said as I side-eyed the ferals surrounding us. They didn’t look too tough. I could probably take them out by myself, but my mother was a different story. She was a deceiver. Stronger than ten ferals alone.
“He’s the most powerful Prince of Hell.” She leaned down toward me, her blonde hair falling in her face. “His armies are legion. Prophecies have foretold his reign upon this earth since the beginning of time. My Prince is patient and has worked toward this day for many lifetimes.”
My eyes grew wide. “And he sent you?”
“Yes,” she replied with a triumphant laugh. “I was chosen especially for this trial. He will reward me handsomely for my part in his grand plan. You, too, shall be rewarded. Just imagine—the whole world at your fingertips.”
Something stirred in the back of my mind. A darkness, one that I had come to recognize as my demonic side, thanks to Manuel’s training sessions. It had always been there, I realized, playing on the sidelines for as long as I could remember. It thrilled at what Elizabeth was saying. Images flashed across my mind. Pictures of a future where the demon could take over our body once and for all. No more Nephilim conscious to hold it back. It was tired of sitting and watching. It wanted to be set free.
“Let’s go to the gate,” I said, jumping up to my feet, riding on my demon’s energy, a new plan springing to life in my head. “Show me how to open it once and for all. I want to meet this Prince of yours.”
Elizabeth’s eyes danced with excitement. She swayed side to side to an imaginary beat. “Yes, yes. We should go now.”
“The Nephilim will surrender soon.” My voice shook slightly, but I was sure I hid it well. I had to save my friends. “They can’t last for much longer. The Prince will want to meet the prisoners, I’m sure.”
