04 Shadow Blood - Witch Fairy (5 page)

“If darkness is usually dropped in the middle, why are we on the outer edges?”

“Because your aunt ripped open a gateway near here.  It is fortunate that it was only open for a split second; otherwise these ancient Shadows would have been unleashed within your realm.”

Yeah, that probably would have been bad considering how these bits of darkness have apparently once again become sentient beings.  I wonder how long it takes for them to bond together and develop until they are cognizant of what’s going on.  And what about the different types of evil, like child abuse and murder?  Do they have to be the same type of evil to join together, or is evil just evil and it doesn’t matter which type?

It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask Adriel these questions when a new voice echoes down the hall.  “Help us,” it says in a voice that sounds like an innocent child.  “Please, let us go.  Adriel, we beg of you.  We have done no harm.”

“Seriously?  Evil darkness is trying to convince you that it’s done no harm?”  Before Adriel can answer, a light bounces ahead of us.  And it’s not coming from our wings.  This is like the opposite of a Shadow.  Its shape moves the same way, except it’s not skittering away from the light.  It almost seems like it welcomes it.  “What is that?”

Adriel stops and sighs.  But, it’s not an irritated sigh like I would have expected since she seems to hate my questions.  This sigh kind of seems remorseful.  “With the darkness, there are lingering pieces of light.  It is impossible to completely separate the two.”

My forehead crinkles as I ponder this new information.  “So, what you’re saying is that both good and evil exist here?”

I don’t think she’s going to answer me, but after a few heartbeats of silence, she finally says, “Very little light and goodness survives here, but yes, there is a trace amount.  Similar to the Shadows, it has joined with its own likeness.”

“Then why don’t you let it go?”  Wow, Angels are pretty mean sometimes.  Why would they force goodness to live amongst evil?

Her mouth is set in a grim line and I can tell this is a difficult topic for her.  I guess that’s a good thing.  Maybe she’s not quite the nasty person, Angel, I thought she was.  “What would you have me do with the lightness?  It has no form, no body to return to.  It is not an intact soul.  It is a remnant of several, possibly hundreds of souls, making it impossible for it to truly live in harmony with itself let alone others.”

I hate to admit it, but she does have a point.  Why does the universe create such conundrums?  Maybe it’ll be my head that explodes as I try to wrap my brain around the situation.

“Isn’t there anything you can do for them?”

Now she’s starting to look annoyed again.  “Do you think I have not puzzled over this since I was appointed to this position?”

She’s a bit touchy on this subject, I see.  “I didn’t mean to imply that you hadn’t.  I was just asking.”

“Perhaps you should stop asking questions about things that cannot be changed and worry more about the reason we are here.”

Okay, point taken.  Shadow realm class 101 has been cancelled.  And any warmth and fuzziness I was starting to feel for her a few minutes ago is long gone.

“I know who you seek,” the light Shadow up ahead says.  Hmm, light Shadow, a perfect example of an oxymoron.  “You seek the innocent souls, like us.” 

No fair using guilt.  I feel horrible that we’re not rescuing the lightness as, well.  Looking at Adriel, she seems unfazed by the whole thing.  Not a trace of sympathy or compassion on her beautiful face. 

“Where are they?” Adriel demands of the lightness in a voice that sounds as threatening as it probably is.

The light doesn’t seem to mind.  It seems eager to help; which I greatly appreciate even if Adriel doesn’t.  I really don’t get her.  One minute she looks remorseful, the next she looks like she couldn’t care less about the lightness floating ahead of us.  I wonder if she knows there are meds for both bipolar disorders and schitzophrenia – whichever one fits her condition the best.  Wow, who would have thought that Angels could benefit from the use of psychotropic drugs just like us lowly Witches and Humans.  And, considering Angels wield a lot more power than both Fairies and Witches, having some who are mentally disturbed is a scary, scary thought.  Maybe they better put the drugs in their water supply for all of them to drink, just to be on the safe side. 

I’m brought back to the present when the lightness says, “They are not far from here.  They seek each other, but have not overcome their separation as of yet.”

Overcome their separation?  That’s a pretty nice euphemism for ‘they can’t find each other and every second they are apart, it’s a second that could be used by the Shadows to find their bodies and/or do horrible things to their spirits.’  Does no one understand this urgency?

“I will show you to the larger of the two.”

“Thank you,” I say, which earns me a dirty look from Adriel.

“What, I can’t be appreciative when it tries to help us?”

“No.”

Okay, I’m back to wondering how much darkness I would gain on my soul if I punched her.  I’m positive it would be worth it.  “Look, you can be the ice queen all you want, but if I want to talk to the lightness, I will.”  Okay, that sounds like a cheesy line out of a Star Wars movie.  Turning away from Adriel, I ask, “Where do we go?”

“This way,” the voice sings.  It looks like a flashlight dancing down the wall and we start following it.

“Surrounded by darkness but filled with light, skitter scatter out of my sight.  Sent to hell for sins untold, my innocence you’ll never hold.  Go on your way and leave me be, for Angels are looking out for me,” it sings.  And miraculously, the Shadows do scatter, giving her a wide berth.

Looking at Adriel suspiciously, I note that she raises her chin just a tiny bit higher.  She’s not fooling me; she gave the lightness that song to sing.  She also must provide the magic to power it.  She’s not as awful as she wants me to believe.  “How amazing that little bits of different souls from different realms could produce a spell that’s so powerful – in a realm without magic.”

“You seem to forget that the souls of magical beings are brought here.”

“Uh huh.”  I leave it at that.  No sense in ribbing her for doing a good thing.

Changing the subject, she says evenly, “It is odd that your aunt was able to astral project to a different realm.  Do you know how she was able to do that?”

I shrug.  “I don’t know.  She’s been working on her theories for about three years now, and honestly, I haven’t really paid much attention to her research.  She has some pretty cool computers that take all kinds of measurements, but she’s never been able to astral project into another room, let alone another realm.  Until a few weeks ago, she didn’t even know other realms existed.”

“And she has no magical lineage that you know of?”  Adriel sounds suspicious but I have no idea why.  Maybe she thinks I helped her?

I shake my head.  “No, she doesn’t.  She’s my step-dad’s sister, so not the same bloodline as me.”  I hate referring to Dad as my stepdad.  How simpler my life would have been if he was my biological father.  On the other hand, I’d never have met Kallen.  It’s a give and take, I guess.

“And you were in the Fairy realm when this happened?”

I’m starting to feel like I’m getting the third degree.  “Yes, I was,” I say more shortly than I had intended.  I don’t want her to know she’s getting under my skin.

Keeping her eyes straight ahead, she says, “Yet, she was able to make contact with you.  Without having any idea of where you were.”

“She knew I was in the Fairy realm.”

“And she has accompanied you there?”

“No.”

“Then how did she know where it was?”

Oh.  Good question.  “I don’t know.”  I sound a lot less cocky than I did a few seconds ago.  It is strange she found me.

Adriel gives me a look that says she thinks there’s more to the story than I’m telling her.  Apparently, there’s more to the story than I know.  But how do I convince her of my ignorance?  I guess, considering her earlier statements, it shouldn’t be too hard.  “Maybe because my brother is half Witch?  Could his magic have helped?”

Now she’s looking at me with disdain.  Punching.  Darkness.  I’m so torn.  “Your mother allowed a Witch child to remain unbound?”

I scowl at her.  “No, she didn’t.”

“Then his magic is rendered useless.  He could not have helped in any way.”

I’m really getting annoyed now.  “You seem to have some theory brewing in your brain.  Why don’t you tell me what
you
think happened?”

She’s saved from answering me by a rush of air that comes from behind us, nearly knocking us over.  My wings encircle me, literally covering me from head to toe and I’m forced into a crouching position.  A feeling of dread washes over me as I feel the presence of unchecked evil surround me. 

Chapter 5

“Come out little Angel, we want to play.”  This isn’t the singsong voice from before.  This is the voice that you expect to hear coming from your closet when you’re five because your mom or dad forgot to close the door.  This is the voice that reverberates through your mind, looking for recesses to hide in, so it’s ready when you fall asleep.  Then it terrorizes you all night. 

My skin suddenly feels as if millions of leaches are sucking at it, draining my life energy from me, leaving me a cold, empty shell.  But the leaches aren’t on the outside.  They’re on the inside, trying to come out through my skin.  I brush at my arms and legs, but it doesn’t help.  Whatever is trying to eat me, or my soul, can’t be swept away that easily.  The sucking is painful now.  The glow from my wings has to be about four hundred watts, at least, but that doesn’t even faze whatever this is.

“You are not an Angel of Death,” the voice says and it echoes down the corridor.  I swear I hear hushed whispers and the licking of Shadow lips as they think about devouring me.  “You should not be here little Angel.  Did Rashnu send us a treat?  A Fallen Angel, perhaps?”

I try to pull magic, but I can’t.  There is no magic in this realm except for what’s coming from my wings.  Okay, I guess it’s time to see just how much control I have over them.  I can hear Adriel calling for me.  I believe she’s doing her best to drive the darkness away, but she’ll never get to me in time.  I can feel the evil seeping under my feet and the sucking feeling has brought me to my knees as my energy is slowing be pulled from me.  Trying to clear my mind from everything else, I imagine my wings in their full glory.  Their downy soft feathers a shield that will protect me from this evil.  I imagine the blinding light that pushed through me when I thought that Zac was being hurt by the Witches.  The light that gave those around me flash blindness.  And then I imagine it a thousand times brighter.  I imagine I’m the sun. 

Suddenly, I’m not on my knees anymore.  I’m standing erect and my feet are rising from the ground.  I feel the light coming from my pores, from my eyes, from my mouth.

I don’t dare open my eyes to look, but I feel my body shedding the darkness.  The feeling of leaches is gone.  The only thing I feel now is the reverberations of the screams bouncing around the corridor as the Shadows fall away.  I don’t know if my wings upped their ampage because I wanted them to, or if they escalated their defense on their own.  And, frankly, I don’t care.  I’m free of the Shadows.

Slowly, my body lowers and my feet touch the ground as the light fades.  I finally dare to open my eyes and I find a shocked Adriel standing in front of me.  I guess that’s better than disdain and hostility. 

She doesn’t say anything for so many heartbeats that I’m starting to get uncomfortable.  I can’t take it anymore.  “What?” I ask.

Shaking herself, she pulls it together.  “One of the reasons I was surprised that Rashnu wanted me to bring you here was because only Angels of Death are immune to the Shadows.  She must have known about you; known that you could fend them off as well.”

Well, glad everybody made sure that theory was correct before I entered the Shadow realm.  Not exactly something that could be covered by a ‘whoops, we were wrong’ kind of thing, since the end result would be me being devoured by evil in hell.  You know what I need?  I need an agent or a manager.  Someone who could iron out all the little details before I commit to things that are dangerous and stupid.  “So, you thought I was a goner just now when I was attacked?”

“Yes.”

I love the honesty of magical beings.  It’s so refreshing.  At least, when it doesn’t pertain to me, it is.  “Were you planning to save me?”

She looks indignant now.  “I was pulling back the Shadows as quickly as I could.  I would not leave you to die at their hands.”

They don’t have hands.  But, I’m going to assume I shouldn’t take that literally.  I may be just a touch sensitive at the moment.  “If only an Angel of Death can fend them off, how come I could?”

She looks stumped as she thinks about that.  Finally, she says, “I do not know.”

Where’s Urim when you need him? I could really use his take on my fate at the moment.  I sigh.  Even if he was here, he wouldn’t tell me anything useful.  He’d be in trouble with Tabbris if he did.  Stupid free will and all its trappings.

I sigh heavily.  “I’ll just add it to my list of ‘I don’t know why I can do that.’”

“It is a long list?”

I study her for a minute to determine if she’s making fun of me.  I don’t think she is.  “Yeah, it is.  There’s never been one of me before with Witch, Fairy and Angel blood all mixed together.  Nobody knows all the limits and abilities I have.  It’s really frustrating and sometimes discouraging.  I can do really cool things like I just did, but I have trouble doing the most simple magic.  It doesn’t help that my mom kept the fact that I was any of those things a big secret until my seventeenth birthday.  I wish there was a Witch/Fairy/Angel for Dummies book I could read.”  I know she won’t get the reference, but I don’t care.  I don’t even know why I’m spilling my guts to an Angel of Death who doesn’t even like me.  Maybe because she can only tell my secrets to dead people.  There’s safety in that.

“I had not looked at your situation from that point of view.  Perhaps I judged your ignorance too harshly before.”

I grin.  “Was that an apology?”

She gives me a sour look.  “I merely suggested that I should have listened more closely to the information floating around about you.  I now believe that you were not properly educated in regards to this realm.”

I grin wider.  “I’ll take that as an apology.”

Instead of responding, Adriel turns on her heel and starts walking again.  Up in the distance, I see the lightness dancing along the wall, waiting for us.  It doesn’t take long to catch up to it. 

“I wish I could have done more for you,” it says.  Her singsong voice has become considerately sadder.  “I can only make the Shadows leave me alone.”

It is so weird talking to a light on the wall.  “That’s okay.  I’m sure you would have helped me if you could.”

“Yes, I would have,” she confirms.  Her voice sounds a little more like before now.

“We should not delay any longer,” Adriel says pointedly.

She’s right.  “Do you still know where the big spirit is?” I ask the lightness.

“I do,” the voice says.  It bounces up and down with excitement. 

“Great, lead the way.”

It feels like we’ve been walking for hours in this giant labyrinth.  In reality, it’s probably only been about fifteen minutes.  The longest fifteen minutes of my life.  We’ve gone through so many twists and turns, I would never be able to find my way out on my own.  I really hope Adriel can get us out faster than this once we find Aunt Barb and Zac.  I don’t know if my wings would protect them if we’re attacked again.  I would like to believe they would, but I’m not willing to risk their lives on it.

I come to a sudden halt.  Is that crying?  It is!  It’s Zac. I start running in the direction of his sobs.  I round a corner, and then another, but I don’t seem to be getting any closer to him.  I want to scream in frustration.

“Xandra,” Adriel calls out to me.  “You cannot find them without knowing the way.”

I stop and now I want to cry.  “I can hear my brother crying.”

She’s finally caught up to me.  “I know, but the labyrinth knows that you do not know your way.  That is why it is changing.”

Changing?  Is that why I feel like I’m going in circles – because I am?  “Then how do I get to him.”

“Let the lightness guide us.  It knows the way.”

Have I ever mentioned that patience is not a virtue of mine?  At this point in my life, I could easily get a doctorate in impatience.  Whatever college I go to, I’m going to encourage them to offer it as a course study so I can get my PhD.  But for now, I nod my head and slow my pace to Adriel’s and the lightness.  Each slow, measured step breaks my heart a little bit more as Zac’s sobs get louder.

After another century, or five minutes, it finally sounds as if he is just on the other side of the wall.  “Zac!” I call out.

I hear him sniffle.  “Xandra, is that you?”  The fear in his voice breaks my heart.

“It’s me.  Just hold on for a couple minutes more, okay?  I’m going to get you out of here.”

“Hurry,” he begs.  “I’m so scared.  I don’t know where I am.”  Now I have tears running down my cheeks.  He doesn’t even know he’s in hell.  Though, I’m sure he feels like it.

“I’m coming,” I promise.

“He’s just around this corner,” the lightness tells me.  Thank god.

Sure enough, there he is.  He’s sitting against a wall with his arms wrapped tightly around his bent legs.  And he’s all alone.  I run to him and try to scoop him up in my arms, but they go right through him.  I forgot that it’s only his spirit I’m seeing.

Almost oblivious of his lack of solidity, he does his best to hug me.  “I knew you’d come,” he says gasping between his tears.

“Always.”  I wrap my arms around him, trying not to let my arms go through him this time.  At this moment, I never want to let him out of my sight again.  Turning to the lightness, I say quietly, “I thought you said the larger spirit was here.  Is she near?”  Don’t get me wrong, there aren’t words to describe how thankful I am to have found Zac.  I’m just a little confused.  Where’s Aunt Barb?

“Do you want to go to the other spirit now?” it asks me.

Okay, I don’t care if she gets big and little confused.  I want to get out of here as soon as possible.  “Yes.” I tell her.  Adriel has a strange expression on her face, but she starts walking next to me and Zac as we go in search of my aunt.  She looks deep in thought as we move farther into the labyrinth, but I’m too happy to ask her what she’s thinking about.

Another five minutes later, we round a corner and there she is.  Aunt Barb is safe and sound as well, just pacing back and forth.  When she sees us, she rushes over and encapsulates me and Zac in a spirit bear hug.  “Oh, Xandra, I’m so glad you came for us!  And you have Zac.  I tried so hard to find him, but I couldn’t figure out the maze.  It seemed like every turn I took led me in a giant circle.”

“It’s okay.  Apparently, the labyrinth does that if you don’t know the way out.”  I gently move myself out of her extremely cold grasp.  My body temperature has dropped about twenty degrees in the last minute.  “We have to get out of here, though.  We’re not safe yet.”

“How did you come to be in this realm?” Adriel asks Aunt Barb.

I roll my eyes.  “Can we please talk about that
after
we get out of here?”

She looks like she wants to say no.  What’s up with her all of a sudden?  After what seems like forever and a minute, she nods once.  Turning in a circle, which I assume she’s doing to make sure there’s no darkness that will follow us, she eventually stands still and opens a gateway.  That same white door from before looms in front of us.  But it doesn’t have words on this side, though ‘sucks to be you’ might be an appropriate addition to the solid white.  Adriel swings it open.  And there’s Kallen, pacing back and forth like a caged animal.  But, I don’t think he can see me yet.