+++ toyal instrumntal
+1+
“Why do you have a sander in your bathroom ?”
I shut that particular drawer in the bathroom and give Isobel a slight shrug. Ever since she had moved in I had slowly began learning more things about her. One in particularly being that she was undoubtedly a morning person.
“You don’t want to know.”, I said with a smirk, very carefully arranging my hair in the mirror.
Isobel sits on the bathroom counter watching me shave. I know I look like hell. My jaw is still swollen but there are no scratches.
I'd been released from the infirmary that night-- or rather kicked out--only to find Jona playing poker in the common room while wrapped around Ashe. A few other were listening enthusiastically to Jona tell a high and exuberant tale of how I stood up to Helios even as he dragged me outside and tried to beat me into submission. Everyone had taken several celebratory shots in honor of their unmovable leader.
Isobel had tried to get me to ignore it and go to bed, but something about it plagued me. I'd pulled Jona's outside almost immediately after, his shot glass still full in his hands.
"What are you doing, Jona ? That isn't what happened."
"Paris ", he said his tone was all serious, "I'm trying to make you look like a hero."
"It just makes you look like a liar."
He hadn't said another word to me as he returned to the improptu party. I'd downed a few Tylenol 3s and passed out on my chair, not giving it another thought.
“You should go downstairs.”, I suggest.
“Why ? So I can eat in the pathetic mess you guys call breakfast.”, she said jokingly, "Let's go out for breakfast."
"I'm just saying maybe you should spend time with the other. . . daemons. I mean since you live here now.”
I still hated saying the word, the idea of it. The daemons had been Isaiah pet projects. They were strong and resilient like Demons, thier only weakness was for the substance that had created them. Blood. Demon blood.
7 had been captured during the raid on Isaiah’s laboratory. They were all young and confused kids. The kind of kids no one missed. The kind of kids who didn't really have homes. Let's just say we could relate to them.
The daemons reside in the basement quarters of St. Liliths. It was closer to the infirmary where Damien was looking for a cure. It was also where the blood was stored. We didn't like to think about it, bloodlust was made the daemons so very dangerous.
“I hate to say it but they seem like kids compared to me. I mean they are teenagers. I’d feel so old--”
“Well maybe you should have thought of that before you--”
“Before I what ?”, she challenged.
Isobel folds her arms. Everytime I want to be mad at her for doing this to herself, I remember that because she did it she is still here with me. Because of it we had a year to fall in love. Something I’d really needed.
“Nothing. I’m sorry. I love you, Isobel”
“I love you too. Yesterday was just so trying . . . .Helios is just. . .he thinks he's so entitled. The way he treats you. . .”
"I noticed you didn't correct Jona last night."
She ran her hands through my hair, preferring the a slight unkempt look.
"I'll see you as a hero no matter what', she said, "But for some reason the others need a little more convincing."
We walk downstairs together to the modest dining facility in the basement. It was probably supposed to be used a catacomb when the church was originally erected.
Callum is in the kitchen wearing his chef whites, carefully taking tally of our supplies and inventory. Deliveries were set to come in the morning. I usually avoid coming down here just to avoid him. He still holds his stomach a little from where Sera stabbed him. I noticed he has shaved his head making his expressions fierce. He glares at me wiping the sweat from his forehead with a kitchen towel. For that reason I decide to avoid eating anything other than an apple.
Damien slides in next to me with a cup of coffee, he doesn’t even greet Isobel or realize he’s interrupting our morning together. He spends too much time alone in the infirmary to follow social protocol.
“Brother Levit refused to donate blood this morning. Says he doesn’t want to contribute to the leeches. I didn’t force him. It is still voluntary, yes ?”, Damien asks
“ Until it’s not”, I say and glance at the 7 daemons whispering to one another. There was a very very thin line keeping them from exsanguinating all of us.
“One of these days. We are going to have to put them out of their misery. We can't keep giving them our blood.”
“Damien.”, I curse his name. Those weren't terms we used very freely.
“Right. Except you Isobel. You have your own private tap.”
He tugs a little on my scarf and heads back to the infirmary.
“You know”, Isobel said, “I can’t tell if he hates me or not.”
“Me neither. . . and I’ve known him for 1000 years.”
Isobel leans in closer to me. She’s doing her work from home today and I’m glad I’ll get to see more of her. At one point our hands are touching and I have the very silly notion that her fingers look a little bare.
“YOU DAMN BASTARD.”, Jona’s voice booms.
I turn to see Jona standing over the table of daemons. One of them with a shaved head, Paul I think, is his main target. Paul was a 17-year old street kid Isaiah had lured for a hot meal.
“Jona”, I scold him. As my brother and therefore the next viable leader I’m starting to expect more from him.
Ashe having heard the argument was also making his way over.
“This thing cheated me last night at poker.You cheated you little fucker. I fucking over heard you bragging. You owe me 80 dollars, kid.”
“Hey”, the daemon Paul says, “I don’t have any income, I get money how I can.”
“How about getting a fucking job or something”, Jona pushes him out the chair.
“Right”, The daemon Paul argues, “Maybe I can get a job as gay as yours.”
Jona raises his fist and I hold him back.
“That’s enough”, I push Jona back. Then turn to the kid, “Paul right ?”
“Not Paul. . .It’s Dante, now”, he says.
I try really hard not to roll my eyes. We'd had a Dante at one point, but he'd fell in with some humans who learned his secret and killed him out of fear. That Dante was a cautionary tale. I hoped this one wasn't the same.
“Dante. Fine. Whatever. Remember being here is a privilege. We are trying to help you. Cheating will get you nowhere.”
He brushes off the argument and pulls on his Down River Academy jacket.
“You know”, he says, “When Isaiah created us daemons he promised we’d have a purpose. We’re supposed to be tearing apart those Angels. Not going to school”
“Go ahead”, I said loud enough for everyone to hear, “Try that and see how far you get with Helios. Just ask Callum how he almost got killed last time he tried that.”
I heard a dish break in the kitchen and Callum charges out. There was a full out brawl about to start and after the beating I took yesterday, I’m more than ready to handle what Callum throws at me.
“PRINCE”, Damien yells and runs back in. Everything comes to a stop. Damien never yells. Damien never runs., “Come everyone.. . . look at the news.”
I run towards the infirmary, with Isobel, Jona and Ashe on my heels. There is a TV in the corner and Damien turns up the volume. The others soon filter in.
Damien is stone faced watching a graphic scene on the television. The images have already made my heart stop. Smoke. . . fire. . .
Explosions at 6 local tailoring chains, Wicked Alterations Unlimited have left 25 fatalities and 8 injuries. Fire marshals have confirmed faulty commercial steamers and failed fire safety procedures are to blame. Marshals are saying this may have been caused by shortcuts by a recent change in management . . . .
I start mentally counting the Brothers in the room. Who I saw at breakfast. Who left early. . Lysander. . . damn him. Some civilians may have been. . . I turn my attention back to the screen when they list the shops that had . . . that had exploded.
24, 29, 6 an 12
They were all in Brooklyn. I started to feel sick again.
“Paris”, Isobel says softly realizing what was happening.
Time seems to slow as more information comes in. Fire bellows out of broken windows, entire stores have been decimated. It all falls into place quickly.
“What the hell is happening ?”, Damien says calling a cab
“It wasn’t an accident, it was The Angels... It was Helios”
I told Helios I needed more convincing
I guess this was it.
+2+
youth
The damage is bad.
6 customers, dead
18 Brothers, dead
Lysander is very badly injured, the only one to make it out alive.
We lost
1.5 million dollars in garments.
47 angry brides
So many damn lawsuits.
Ashe, Jona and Damien now sit quietly in Father’s office. Each of us brushing off the funeral service we had held for the fallen that morning. For some reason I expected to find closure but found nothing. If I hadn't held on to Isobel I was certain I would have collapsed from grief and fear. This was just the beginning.
The funeral had been a subtle affair. Everyone was quiet but beneath it there was an anger rising. The kind of anger that fueled revenge. I just couldn't have that. I was steadfast in pacifism, steadfast in wanting to not turn into my real father. Not wanting a war to break apart the world again.
The four of us slipped away in the middle of the wake. When I glimpsed at Isobel her hand was on Levit's shoulder, his blood brother had been killed by the blast. She was holding a tray of drinks and whispering something to him. She was strong, solid, in control, sympathetic to men she just barley knew. Beautiful too, I selfishly thought.
I decided to hold a small sitrep meeting with Damien, Jona and Ashe. It was beyond time to get serious about Helios. I’d kept my voice low and monotone as I went over Helios' exit strategy for us Demons.
Their faces are highlighted by the glow of the projector. The image is a copy of Helios' maps. Detailing the phases at which the we are to draw out of the city.
.
“As you can see”, I said, “ The shops we. . . lost were located in Brooklyn and the lower east side. That’s Angel territory, now. Entering there is forbidden. Slowly we will be scaled back through Midtown, Upper East side following up through Harlem. . . then Riverdale."
The projector started flickering on and off between the images and a blue screen. Great. I kick the machine and it starts to hum. Frustrated I pulled off my black tie, wishing I had changed since the funeral.
“What are we going to do”, says Ashe cooly, “We can’t close down all the stores. It’s our fucking livelihood. Where do we go ? Where can we go ? Where we can stay toget-”
“I don’t know--”
“That wasn’t a question, Prince. What are we going to do to stop those bastards.”
“Let’s try and be civil about this.”, I say hasrhly to Ashe. Instead he stands up opening his cane, ready to make an exit.
“Civil? Are you mad. They killed our Brothers. . . ruined the reputation of Father’s company. What about Lysander ? How do you think he feels ?”
I paused at the thought. Lysander the prodigal lone survivor. It had been a task for Damien and I to sweet talk the hospital into letting him go. Now we just hoped he'd make it to the next day alive.
“What about the humans ? We can’t have an all out warfare in New York City. Unless you want more human casualties.”, I retort
That shuts Ashe right up. Jona has been distracting me this whole time. He sits cautiously in his chair and can’t seem to stay still. I also noticed his shaved his head this morning at the service. I missed his curls.
"Maybe we don't stay together. Maybe we scatter.", Ashe suggested.
They tensed at that. It was a thought, but it sounded like a very lonely one.
"We work better as a community. We are a community", I said, "Helios can't just come in and break that apart."
"Maybe you need to stop the diehard pacifist act", Ashe says. Damien nods in agreement.
“It's not an act---What’s going on with you, Jona”, I call him out in front of everyone without thinking about it. It’s just what older brothers do.
He seems to be debating on how to sit properly in the chair, his position switching and shifting every second. Like he is in pain.
“Oh, you don’t know”, Damien says lighting a joint. He’s to giddy for man who had spent the night doing cremations.
“What ?”, I say.
They all shift nervously while I turn off the projector.
“Show him”, Damien goads Jona.
Jona mumbles a curse to Damien and I watch as Jona pulls off his shirt and turns around.
At first I think he has a hand sized tattoo of the Lux Aeterna on his back, but upon closer inspection I realize the Lux Aeterna has been burned into his skin.
“The hell is that ?”, I ask, “ A brand ? What are you cattle”
He sneered at me.
“It was Callum’s idea. A mark of loyalty to the Brotherhood in this time of turmoil.”
Callum, of course. He’d been avoiding me since the explosions.
“Right, marks of loyalty. Like swastikas ? Where is Callum, anyway? I’m tired of his shit.”
“Basement, daemon’s quarters”, Damien says clearly entertained
I walk out the room, fully ready to shut this down. I walk out of the office through Isobel and I’s room and into the hall. I power walk down the corridor full of gruesome images and to the stairs that lead to the basement. I take another set to the sub-level and to the daemon’s quarters.
The space hadn't been updated since last century and still features original stone floors and copper tile ceilings. A fireplace and a few strategic light bulbs provide the only light. 30 maybe 40 people are crowded into the room.
The daemons are all sitting together wincing in pain from their fresh brands and taking vodka shots even though they are all underage.
Callum is standing above Dante with a raised red hot brand just pulled from the fireplace. It sears into Dante’s back and he screams and grits his teeth.
“What the fuck is this ?”, I realize I'm raising my voice and a few jump. Dante stands and someone puts a cold pack on his back.
“Times are changing, Brother”, Callum explains, “When it comes down to it we are seeing who is with us and who is against us.”
“It’s called loyalty.”, Dante says/
“Loyalty isn’t just given around here. No matter how many brands you take.” , I say back too quickly
I want to slap Dante in the mouth. He’s been here for a year and thinks getting a brand means he is loyal ? Not long ago he was living on the streets
“I--”
Wait
I stop when I realize who put the ice pack on Dante’s back.
“Isobel ?”
There she is giving Dante a pain killer and taking the vodka out of his hand. She has a very determined look about her and I’m afraid to look at her shoulder. She was here, she was supporting this ?
“Paris, we can talk about this later.”, she says.
“What are you doing ? Are you supporting this, Isobel ? Whatever this is ?”
“Look Paris, I didn’t want you to tell you like this. . . but I I quit my job at the bakery and I left school. I”m too afraid to go back after what Helios did. It’s not fair they get to come in and uproot our lives like this. I’m not against the Angels. I’m just not going to lie down and let Helios take anything else . I'm afraid Paris and we have to at least try to fight back.”
I realize with my relationship with Isobel being so public that she had become somewhat of an extension of me. The Brothers perhaps believed what she thought best was what I thought best.
“Do you have some type of plan, Callum ?”, I say skeptically
“I do”, he says, “I think Father might have saw this coming . I’m getting the old machinery out of storage. . . Lucian Ammunition & Sport is going back in business.”
“You’re going to make guns again ? That’s not even legal. . . where are you going to do it ?”
He bows his head and speaks in a low tone.
“There are a lot of empty warehouses by the docks. I know a guy.”
“You mean the docks in Brooklyn ? That’s Angel territory now. Helio’s fucking lives there You think he will hesitate to kill you ?.”
“He can’t spot the daemon’s well from humans, they can be our lookouts. We will manage. He can't know us all. ”
“Peaceful negotiation is still on the table.”, I say
“Really ? Even after Helio's curb stomped you ? It's over Paris. You tried and failed. . . we are fighting back."
I survey the room of eager faces. They are angry, scared and Callum is giving them a way out. Jona puts his hand on my shoulder.
“Every war needs a resistance, Brother and this is ours.”
+3+
It has always been hard to find time alone here, especially when you are in charge and especially now when everyone seems to want something. I look down from the roof and see no one has come out to look for me.
I was starting to lose the light outside but I couldn’t bear being inside. It felt so claustrophobic.
“Hey”
I don't even turn when I hear Isobel’s voice.she pulls herself though the skylight and settles on the roof next to me. She must know I'm a little angry at her but that doesn't stop her from sitting down next to me.
“Are you. . .”, she looks down at the shirt in my hands, “Sewing buttons ?”
“What ? It's for charity and it helps me think."
I pull the thread taut and snap it with my teeth, neatly folding in a pile with the others. Isobel takes a breath and starts to speak.
“When I decided to move in with you It’s not like I signed up for some West Side Story feud or whatever. . . but Helios and Seraphina really scared me at the bakery and after the explosions. . . who knows what they are capable of ? Why are you so against fighting back.”
I laughed inwardly at the West Side Story comparison, somehow Helios' and SGI were capable of a lot more than just snapping thier fingers.
“Maybe because we can’t ? Because I can’t, it's just not what I believe. Rampant violence ruined our home, violence isn't worth the price for peace. Who am I to lead anyone into anything this dangerous and possible lose a second home ?”
“You're kind of in charge Mr. Prince.”
“It’s a joke. I'm a joke. You must know that. They all know it. SGI and Helios ? They are ringers. Helio's has probably been paid to win more conflicts and start more wars than we know of.”
I sigh and gesture with the needle in my hand
“No one thinks you are a joke”
“But I am.Or have you missed the smiling prince song or the impotent jokes. Isobel you are still new around here.When I started coming of age Father began to sequester me a lot, preparing me to take over. All he did was fill my head with our viscous history with the Angels and my proud lineage. He always told me I was special and all I ever wanted to do was please him. Growing up I spent more time apart from my Brothers than with them.
I did everything Father wanted, everything he asked of me. You know what my reward was ? Being his secretary, being his constant personal assistant for decades. I don't think he ever had any intention of teaching me anything. I did every little archaic stupid thing he told me to do up to the very end and he gave me nothing. ”
“Hmmm, she said mischievously, “Is that why you are all anti-sex ?--”
“I’m not anti-sex.", I said too quickly, "Although I could have been after father flogged me after what he caught me doing with Lorena Schmel."
"Uh. . .What did you do ?", she raised an eyebrow
"Hmmm. . . maybe one day I'll show not tell.", I feel a pang of guilt for smirking on the same day I had just held a funeral service.
"How long will that be ?"
"Father always told me I should be proud of my radical purity and all. Um, Now I think I’ll just wait until marriage.”
She sighed and wrapped her arms around my neck.
“Are you serious ?”, she said kissing me. Her voice exasperated.
“Maybe”, I was caught in Isobel's sly gaze, pricking myself with the needle.
“Maybe ?”
Her arms tightened around me and I pulled her as close as I could.
“Yes. . . actually.”
“Yes ?”
“Yes, Isobel. I’m very very serious.”, I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks. Because more often than not I was more and more aware of how she touched me. How much I wanted to throw away my pointless scruples.
"Please just give Callum a chance. He has good ideas. I want to feel safe again, Paris. Don't you want that too ?"
"More than anything.", I sigh and lean on the roof, "I'll give Callum a chance . . but just for you ."
There is a flicker of uncertainty in her face, and if this goes wrong I know I can't blame it on her. This is a test, if I want Isobel by my side I have to learn to trust her.
The river is exactly as I remember it. I step on what look like carved wooden squares with glyphs engraved on them. They are children’s toys. I recognize them from my childhood. They look exactly like the ones from my childhood.
Perhaps I left them there thinking I would get to comeback and play with Jona under the trees and thick canopy of the woods until the sun set.
I hear the strange Angel moving behind me. I watch the forward bobbing motion of her structured skirt as it touches the ground. I imagine the inside frame a mess of wires and wood. Yet her movement seems far more delicate than that, maybe she isn't walking at all. . . could she be floating ?
I stop once I see the river ahead. The water is a crystal clear blue, brightly colored plants show underneath the surface. The image is so comforting it makes me smile, the familiar tug of my scarred tissue is a thing of the past.
The Angel looks in awe at the stream, closing its eyes to hear the sound of nymphs whispering and laughing in the grove. The Angel looks up trying to find the source of the sound. Her wise eyes finally resting on me..
It glides past me and towards the lake still fully dressed. The edges of her delicate skirts touch the water first. She continues, a small sound of surprise, I assume, when the water touches her legs. She goes out further into the current.
I watch as the water nips at her wing. I think they must be heavy, it seems burdensome. Following the smooth feathers I take better notice of the one blackened corner of the feathers. The Angel's been burned.
“Flown to close to the sun ?”, I ponder aloud
She walks out to where the water meets her chest then splays her long fingers and straight sharp gold painted nails across the waters surface. She plunges her hands deep in the water and then back out. She does it again quicker and her wise eyes turn childlike.
I laugh as she splashes in the stream again. Her white-blue eyes catch my gaze beckoning me to come forth with those long talons.
I take off my tunic, it’s leather and father would scold me if I ruined such a fine garment. He would slaughter me alone for spending so much time with a female Angel or all thing. Of course father was. . . on a raid. No he was dead. No he was away. No I’m dreaming--
When I reach her in the water it was goes up to my neck. She splashes water at me and I do the same. The Angel didn’t laugh so much as give sound of approval.
A spot of red drops n the water. I look up and feel my own face sting. I touched it and the familiar lines of my second smile have comeback. I look up at the Angel to see if she could see my scars and she lifts her delicate hand to her cheek.. The way children sometimes did when they saw my face.
Then she jerks back and nearly falls over. She starts to thrash violently her thin delicate arms flailing in the water. She tries to reach for me but the entire stream is suddenly churning with her effort pull her under. She screams a loud piercing scream and I grab her arms, pulling as hard as I could
She sinks down lower and lower. Something was pulling her under and I could not let it take her away. I didn’t want to be alone in this beautiful dream--
“No”, I shout
Now, whatever had her had me as well, and we were both going under.
The last thing I saw was the borealis as we fall beneath the lake.
Author's Note
That Royal Instrumental was the first song I ever added to my Lux playlist. I've had it forever. "Youth" was the second song I had. The Story Of The Angel and Demon has it's own page because It was written in order and then chopped into chapter ends.
LiLe Secret : If you want to know what music goes with each section in the A&D page you can higlit the line with the +++ on it. I put the music in there in white text. I do this for all my serials for note taking purposes.