An Eternity of Dead Sun (An Eternity of Eclipse Novel Book 2) (14 page)

“What are you looking for?”

His poignant expression told me that I had to understand the background of the story before I could recognize the value behind what he was looking for.

Outside, the storm grew worse, as if shielding the rest of the world from hearing our conversation.

“You are familiar with my father’s fall from grace. Everyone is,” he started as wind and rain continued to canvass over the shed. “But are you familiar with the story about the
second
Angel who waged a war against Heaven millenniums later?”

My heart raced upon hearing his question. The frenzied world outside became nothing but a maelstrom of blurs to me. I peered at him, my interest piqued beyond all limits. “Tell me.”

“After my father fell from Heaven, there was another Angel who came into power—another Angel who took the position as being God’s favorite Angel. It was said that this Angel was so powerful that his powers rivaled my father’s.”

“What was the Angel’s name?”

“Genesis.”

Intrigued, I tilted my head at him. “Genesis?”

He nodded.

“I’ve never heard of an Angel named Genesis.”

“He isn’t the Angel that humans are supposed to know about until the end.”

The way he said those words caused me to shift uneasily. “The end?”

Eclipse smiled lightly. “You’ve heard the popular saying, ‘Only God can judge me’?”

I nodded, wondering what that had to do with Genesis.

“Well, that is true. Only God can judge you, but the thing you should know about God is that he may judge you, but he doesn’t indict you.”

Chills struck the pit of my soul. Almost too quickly, I caught on to what he was insinuating. “You’re telling me that Genesis is the one who indicts us?”

He nodded solemnly and continued with the biblical story. “Genesis was the anointed Angel, God’s beloved Angel after my father fell from Heaven. The Angel was said to be so persuasive and amiable that even Ancient Evils respected him.”

“Why did he bring war upon Heaven?”

“What always happens to self-righteous and prideful entities?” Eclipse asked, clearly empathizing with why Genesis brought war upon Heaven. “He was tired of playing second fiddle to lesser creatures. He was the favorite Angel, but he wasn’t the favorite creation. As his powers grew, he became insatiable. He no longer viewed God as a fit ruler. How could God be a fit ruler when he saw perfection in such imperfect creatures? No one in their right mind would look so favorably upon humans. So with greed and arrogance as his catalysts, Genesis not only tried to overthrow God, but he also planned on ruling over Heaven himself and ridding the world of the parasites he detested so much.”

Above us, thunder became more prevalent as it detonated over the land.

“What happened?” I asked, even though in stories like these, it was clear what the ending was. Since we humans were still procreating and existing, I knew Genesis’ plan to overthrow God and exterminate humanity hadn’t worked out.

“He was defeated,” Eclipse answered in a matter-of-fact tone. “To successfully wage a war against Heaven, you must not only be a powerful Angel, but you also have to be able to defeat God’s most powerful weapons—his Archangels.” He smirked dryly. “So far, no Angel has been able to go to war against them and come out on top.”

“That means Genesis fell and became a Demon too?” I asked, already guessing Genesis’ fate.

Eclipse surprised me when he shook his head. “Unlike my father, Genesis was heavily wounded during the war. Though his Angels were cast down and imprisoned within the pits of the earth as their punishment, the Archangels did not grace Genesis with the same fate. Due to the fact that Genesis was so powerful and so influential, it was decided that he had to die in order to prevent another uprising.”

Plunk.

Plunk.

Plunk.

My attention became more focused as the storm continued to ravage the land. The excitement in my eyes was undeniable; I knew this was where the good part of the story was about to begin . . .

“It was rumored that in Genesis’ last dying breath, he poured his hatred, his vengeance, and his malice into several objects that he cast down to the human world.”

My eyes illumed even further with interest. “What objects did he cast down?”

“See, this is the part where the story gets murky,” shared Eclipse, his features becoming frustrated. “It is widely known that Genesis was the commander-in-chief who waged the second uprising in Heaven. However, the rest of the details after that are hearsay at best. After my father’s fall from grace, everything became heavily guarded in Heaven. No one knows what objects Genesis cast down. Having said that, since he was viewed as a powerful Angel who rivaled even Lucifer, anything he ‘supposedly’ cast down is a source of intrigue for every other powerful entity in existence. Demons and Angels alike have tried to find the mysterious objects, but to date no one has found anything that even remotely suggests that these objects exist.”

“Why are you looking for them if there’s a big chance that they could be an urban legend?”

His shoulders lifted in a careless shrug. “Because my brothers and the Elders of Hell want them. Since I was in no position to bargain, I simply took the assignment that was given to me.”

“What happens when one finds the objects?” I asked hypothetically.  

“Unknown, but anything that came down from Genesis himself is considered to be extremely powerful. Anyone who acquires these objects will no doubt become more powerful.”

“How will you even go about finding them?” I breathed out when the impossibility of this mission dawned on me. “Do you even know where to begin?”

“No idea whatsoever,” he replied honestly. He offered another indifferent shrug. “But I trust that once we get your soul dilemma in order, we can maneuver our attentions to Genesis’ objects of power. I’d like to consider myself a resourceful Demon. Once I put my mind to something, I’ll figure out a way to find what I need.”

“Why would your Elders want you to find them so much?”

“My Elders believe the objects would be of great use to them. If it is alleged that even Angels are looking for the objects, then it must mean they would be valuable and/or detrimental to Heaven. Anything with this type of importance, the Royal Family wants to get their hands on.”

“So after finding them,” I wrapped up, fully digesting everything, “you won’t be punished as a Fallen Demon anymore?”

He nodded. He took a moment to gaze at me, the pools of his coaxing brown eyes drowning mine.

Slowly, he parted his lips and asked, “If you could, would you help me find them, Teacup?”

I nodded hesitantly, uncertain of how useful I’d be. “I guess. If you help me find the missing part of my soul, then I will help if I can. I don’t know if I’ll be of much help though.” I snorted at him, finding mild humor in his situation. He appeared to always be heading for trouble. “You have a propensity for wanting troublesome things, don’t you?”

Eclipse smiled favorably at me, his expression conveying that he wouldn’t have it any other way. “The things I want are more than worth the trouble.”

I could feel my knees grow weak and I thanked the fates that I was sitting. My promise to myself to never fall for his charms churned in my mind. I swallowed tightly, quickly deciding not to acknowledge what he said or take flattery from it. If I wanted to maintain some semblance of sanity, then this relationship had to be as platonic as possible.

My decision set, I had planned on moving the conversation along. I froze when I looked up and noticed Eclipse’s discontent face. He looked pained, like he was upset about something.

“What?” I asked, growing concerned for him. My mind went straight to his wounded arm. Was he in pain? He wasn’t about to black out and die, was he? “What’s wrong?”

An anticipatory silence presided over us before he said something that warmed all the crevices of my typically cold heart.

“I miss OinkOink.”

With a scoff of disbelief, he smacked a palm to his forehead. He couldn’t believe someone of his malevolent caliber could say such a silly and blasphemous thing.

“Bloody hell,” he went on. “I can’t believe I’ve become this domesticated that I actually miss a goddamn puppy who sounds like a seal when he barks.”

Unable to control it, my shoulders shook and I burst out laughing. It was unbelievably hilarious that the Demon of Lust could be missing an oversized rat, especially when he was in some rundown shed recovering from an injury.

“Me too,” I shared, confessing my own feelings. The image of OinkOink nuzzling himself in my arms grazed my mind, and I was stunned to admit that I really missed petting him. “I never thought I’d say it, but I really miss that oversized ball of white fluff.”

“We’ll go back to him soon,” Eclipse promised me with a warm smile. “When this is all over, we’ll go home.”

I regarded Eclipse strangely. “Home?”

Since when did he call my apartment his home?

Eclipse also seemed taken aback by what he said. He appeared perplexed, like he couldn’t believe he called that insanely expensive apartment of mine his “home” too.

“I meant your apartment,” he amended easily, noticeably blaming his momentary lapse in judgment to his injury. “When this is all over, we’ll return to Seoul soon.”

I nodded, my face paling at the reference of Seoul. The mention of the city only further reminded me that we were still in Serenity and that our trip here was far from over. 

If all the trouble we encountered so far was any indication, then we still had a long way to go. 

“Forgive me for the misery I will bring upon your creation.”
10
: Serenity

When dawn cracked the next morning and we were given a break from the storm, Eclipse and I took advantage of the merciful weather and were out of the shed in record time.

Much to my relief, Eclipse was looking a hundred times better. He gave me a peek of his wound, and I was delighted to see that it had healed quite a bit overnight. It wasn’t completely healed, but at this pace, I had no doubt that he would be back to normal in no time.  

Pleased with his own swift recovery and no doubt relieved that he was no longer “dead weight” on the trip, Eclipse also wasted no time in being his normal self. Displaying the alpha male predisposition that I was sure pumped red hot in his veins, Eclipse returned to his role as my protective Guardian Demon as we journeyed through the countryside.

Every time it rained, he’d subtly pull me close to him as his way of guarding me from Mother Nature’s wrath. Though I had one half of my crème infinity scarf wrapped around my neck and the other half lifted over my head to shield me from the rain, I had to admit that it felt nicer to have him hold a leather jacket over me as a makeshift umbrella. It was also extremely nice that his big body was able to intercept all the rain and wind inundating us. It truly felt like I had a Guardian Angel perched on my shoulder, protecting me from harm. The only difference was that this Angel was actually a Demon.

After what felt like an eternity of trekking through the rain, Eclipse paused in his step.

I caught up with him at the incline on the road. A gasp left my lips when I spied the palatial neighborhood standing proudly across from us in the distance. Through my rain-strewn vision, I could see specks of white mansions spread out on the mountainous terrain. The sight looked majestic, like it was a home for the Greek Gods of Mount Olympus. In this breathtaking vista, I finally locked eyes on the estate that sat on the crest of the mountain. The biggest mansion of all—my family’s home.

I paused, utterly transfixed.

I’m finally here.

“You okay, Teacup?” Eclipse asked upon noticing my quiet demeanor.

“Yeah.” I snapped out of my daze and instinctively nodded. “Let’s keep moving.”

Afraid that my fear would trigger me to turn back—and determined to finish this journey—I said nothing more to Eclipse and hurried down the road. During the long walk towards the homes on the residential hill, we were given brief sights of all the towering mansions in the neighborhood. I could feel fatigue weaken my muscles. The exhaustion of all these physical exertions was beginning to take a toll on me. Fortunately, by the time this occurred, we had already covered enough ground.

“We’re here,” announced Eclipse, sending spikes of anxiety into my bloodstream.

I held my breath after I looked up at the end of the road and realized that we were finally at the apex of the hill. We were finally at my family’s home.

“We’re here,” I repeated after Eclipse, still not believing that all of this was reality.

We continued on the damp road and approached the iron gates that separated the outside world from the world within the estate. There was an electronic podium to the side that controlled the gate. I walked over to it, my heart drumming frantically.

Get a hold of yourself, Grace
, I coached myself, hating that I was behaving like a scared child.

Hands shaking, I began to input the code from memory onto the keypad. Akin to waking up from hibernation, the big black gates creaked open for us, permitting us passage into the sprawling estate.

Beautifully manicured gardens lined the pathway as we strode up the long cobblestoned road. There was a large fountain in the center of the circular driveway, standing eloquently in front of the mansion. The fountain was inactive, but it looked magnificent all the same. I gazed up at the towering building behind the fountain. It was two stories high and looked like a mansion fit for royalty. High windows hugged across the white exterior of the house while speckles of gold adorned various parts of the building. The mansion, along with its impeccably flawless land, looked magical under the gloom of the dark skies.     

After fifteen years, the estate was still frozen in its beauty.

“When was the last time you were here?” Eclipse asked, unknowingly rousing me out of another one of my dazes. His eyes were drinking in the sight of everything as well.

“When I was six,” I answered, hastily turning away from the scenery around me. Reminded that I had to get back to the task at hand, I climbed up the cobblestone steps leading to the entrance. I didn’t come here to gawk at the estate; I came here to inspect the world within these walls. “Before they hauled me away to the mental hospital.”

My nerves stiff, I extracted a gold key from my pocket and stuck it into the lock. One of the doors clicked open, and almost immediately, the pungent smell of mildew came flying towards us, causing us to cough and sneeze uncontrollably. We paused outside for a second, allowing the air to purify the house. Once it appeared that most of the dust and pungent smell had vacated the premises, we hesitantly walked in.

The soles of our shoes made imprints on the thick dust that carpeted the marble tiles of my home. It was shocking how different the world inside this mansion was compared to the world outside. The estate resembled the Garden of Eden from the outside and the caves of Hell from the inside.

“You never once considered putting this house up for sale?” Eclipse questioned, waving cobwebs and dust away from our faces.

“I considered it, but I figured no one would want to buy it anyway.” I shrugged flippantly, my eyes measuring the dark mansion. “I thought it was better to leave it as is and simply let it rot away.”

“So you never took care of this place?”

“Only through my lawyers,” I said distractedly, my vision gradually adjusting to the darkness. “I had people come in to throw out things that could rot in the house, but I told them to leave everything else as it was. This place hasn’t been touched since.”

Eclipse nodded absently, his gaze running over the expanse of the house.

We continued to roam through my family’s home, our eyes looking over every little nook and cranny. The house had an eerie feel to it. There were crosses and family pictures everywhere while various Christmas decorations lay frozen in their position, collecting years of dust. Apart from the splashes of gray light spearing through the dusty bay windows, it was almost completely dark inside the mansion. There was no electricity and I was willing to bet that there was also no running water. I paid closer attention and I couldn’t even hear signs of life within the mansion, not even from bugs or rats.

Everything, like its former residents, was dead here.

We stepped onto one of the double curved staircases and ascended. A thick veneer of dust crushed under our shoes as we climbed each step. The walls along the stairs were sprinkled with pictures of my family celebrating the best moments of their lives. We reached the crest of the stairs and strolled over to a brown mahogany table where various photo frames stood. I picked up the one where my father was holding me as a baby. Behind us in the background were my mother, my older brother, and older sister—all of whom were giving double peace signs with cheesy smiles on their faces. Without my father and I knowing, they had given us “bunny ears” with their fingers.

An unfamiliar emotion crashed over me as I stared at the picture.

My fingers traced the outline of my father’s face. He was a handsome man who had one of the most endearing smiles I had ever seen. Standing tall and strong with me in his arms, he was dressed in his golf attire while I slept in his arms in my pink baby outfit. He was holding a bottle of milk to my lips and he couldn’t have looked happier standing there, feeding me while posing for the camera.

“My dad was an orphan,” I shared with Eclipse, telling him something I discovered when I had a private investigator dig into my parents’ past—just so I could learn more about the people who were supposed to be my family members. I reasoned that if I knew who they were, I’d feel emotions for them. Although that didn’t happen, it was fascinating to learn about them nonetheless.

I didn’t know why I was sharing this with Eclipse, but I couldn’t control myself.

Eclipse glanced at me with a surprised gaze. There was a spark in his eyes that told me he felt privileged that I was opening up to him. His attentive silence encouraged me to go on.

“He grew up in a church his entire life, devoting his life to God.”

A sigh elicited from me as I placed the picture back in its rightful place. We walked by a picture on the wall that showed my mom giving me a kiss on my pink cheek as I slept in my baby stroller. She was wearing a flowery beige dress while her beautiful curls rolled over her shoulders. I had forgotten how beautiful she was. Alongside her were my older brother and sister. My sister was dressed in a flowery dress that was almost identical to my mother’s and my brother was wearing jeans and a hoodie while standing close to the stroller. My sister resembled my mother in beauty and my brother resembled my father in handsomeness. With big smiles on their faces, they all posed with me as I continued to sleep, unaware of the love and attention surrounding me.

“My mother was an heiress. She was the youngest of her three sisters. After her whole family died in a car accident, she fell into depression at the age of seventeen and went downhill from there. She ran with the wrong crowd, and with no one to watch over her, she turned to drugs and eventually got addicted to heroin. For weeks at a time, no one would know where she was. She was close to dying on the streets when one fateful night, my father came across her and helped her.” My eyes moved over their wedding picture. They were kissing one another while having their first dance as a married couple. “They became friends and slowly, he helped her overcome her addiction and basically saved her. By the grace of God, as many would say, they fell in love and got married.”

My fingers grazed over a photo of my five-year-old self giving my mother a kiss on the cheek. How ironic it felt to see myself display such endearment for my mother when right now, despite the gravity of being back in my own home, I couldn’t care less about her.

“‘Sleep with the Angels, baby,’” I whispered, remembering the words she would say to me before she tucked me in. “That was the only thing I remember clearly about my mother. Every night, she would say, ‘Sleep with the Angels. If you ever need them, they will always be there for you. Just like God.’”

I smirked sardonically, pinching the dust off my fingers once we reached the last picture on the wall. It was a “goofy” family portrait that brought an unexpected smile to my face. We were all wearing our nice church dresses and suits and were standing in front of a cathedral. One would expect us to perform the generic family pose. Instead, my family did a silly pose to showcase our joking side. My parents were covering their ears, my brother and sister were covering their mouths, and I was covering my eyes.

Hear no evil, speak no evil, and see no evil.

The irony in that carefree photo was too palpable.

“My family was so religious,” I continued absentmindedly, my eyes feathering over the vast array of religious paintings in the dark house. “I don’t remember much about my family, but I remember them always being so religious.”

I laughed dryly, finding irony in everything. My eyes landed on the hall that contained the rooms where my entire family died by my hands. To this day, I couldn’t fathom why I was unable to muster up an ounce of emotion for them. The magnitude of being in this house had its impact on my psyche, but it had little leverage over my heart. I felt as if I was speaking about distant ancestors as opposed to my immediate family.

“It is ironic that their baby girl would be the one to kill them.” I shook my head, my eyes catching Eclipse’s. “So much for God always being there for them, right?”

Eclipse shrugged, his expression not surprised at my discontent with God.

“There’s a reason why so many people no longer believe in him.” He smiled, yet the amusement didn’t reach his eyes. “I guess humans aren’t the only disappointing creatures in this world.”

I smirked back, but I had no idea why. With emotions I didn’t understand (or wanted to understand) plaguing me, we continued to walk down the hall and stepped into the room that I recognized as my own.

My room was the only one that appeared to have withstood the test of time. It was the only room that held onto all of its beauty and innocence. Unlit icicle lights adorned the ceilings while stuffed animals and white and pink furniture embellished my small room. It was a gorgeous room fit for an innocent princess.

“What can we do here?” I asked, turning to him as I made my way out of my old bedroom.

No more tangents.

I came here to figure out what happened and to find the missing part of my soul. There was no more reason to reminisce about the dead family—and dead past—that I had no attachment towards.

“Figure out how it all happened,” he replied once we returned to the hall.

Wind began to howl like a forlorn voice outside, warning us that another storm was about to hit.