Ethereal Underground (Ethereal Underground Trilogy) (10 page)

Chapter
Four

Ash

Ash slammed a handful of gems on the table and gave a short nod to his bookie. He needed to blow off some steam, and he couldn’t think of anything better
than gambling away his fight winnings. The blonde man smirked before taking the gems and put Ash’s name on the list.

“Bad day?” he asked as
he gave Ash his share of chips to play with. Ash took his gambling chips and grumbled. He couldn’t sit still. He hadn’t been able to sleep in two days, it was like energy and new life was constantly surging through his body. He couldn’t explain it, but something was off and it worried him.

“The craziest, Finlay. You have no idea.”

The man flipped his hat down lower over his eyes and leaned in close.

“Better snap out of it Ash or they will take advantage of you,” he nodded toward the table in the other room. “Zander is playing tonight; he’s just itching at the chance to win back all his money.” Ash ran his hands through his hair and sighed. It had been a rough couple of days, maybe playing cards was not the best thing to do right now. His emotions
were out for everyone to see. He put his chips back on the table.

“Count me out.”

Finlay nodded and put his gems back on the table. “Good call friend, let’s get a drink and relax tonight, stay away from the ring too. You look pretty awful; fighting won’t do you any better.”

Ash had known Finlay for years, since he started coming to the eighth layer. He had taken him under his wing, shown him the ropes. If it hadn’t been for Finlay, Ash would have probably been killed that first day. He had never traveled past the third layer before. Unless it was on assignment, the keepers were forbidden from going to the lowest layers.  He could still remember that first trip like it was yesterd
ay. After an unusually rough assignment, Ash had somehow found himself jumping in a ship and traveling down. He had never seen anything so exciting before. His first day, he had joined in on a ring fight. No one knew about his keeper training, and they were unprepared for how fast and strong he was. After walking away with a pocket full of gems; Finlay had offered to buy him a drink. Finlay was a local; he took the bets and called the shots. Ethereal Underground was one of the most popular bars, not only because below in the basement it hosted a fighting arena and a gambler’s fantasy, but also because above was the perfect place to blend in and forget about the hard knocks of life. Ash trusted Finlay more than he had trusted most of the keepers. The man had his back, and had proven it many times over the years. When Ash’s mouth got a little bit too cocky with the locals, Finlay was right there ready to fight. When Ash had drunk too much, and couldn’t get home in time before the lights went out, Finlay was right there ready to take him home. Ash had never told Finlay what he did during the day, but he believed that he had an idea. After a few years, Ash had started to spend more time in the eighth layer and less time at the keeper conservatory on the surface. He wasn’t sure how he had gotten away with it for so long, but no one seemed to ask questions when he snuck out at night. In recent months, he had begun to wonder why so many people were forced to live underground while the surface was vacant. Many people believed it was because of safety; after all, the entire planet was smack dab right in the middle of a war zone between dozens of planets. Ash had recently come to a different conclusion. The other day his suspicions were confirmed when he heard how the Officials talked. He now understood that the Officials kept the citizens oppressed because they were easier to control. Ash tried to push the rebellious thoughts from his mind. He didn’t want to become a radical.

“Ash, you in there?” Finlay snapped his fingers right in front of his face, knocking Ash out of his thoughts.

“Yeah Fin, sorry, let’s go get that drink.” They walked up the metal staircase that led to a doorway in the back of the Ethereal Underground.  Once again Ash inhaled that familiar smell of fruity smoke and sweat. This place felt like home. The two of them made their way towards their usual table in the corner. No one else sat there, it was always open and ready for them. Once they took their seats, Ash looked around for Arie. She normally came by in the evenings, and he had been trying his best to avoid her and her pestering questions. He watched as Finlay grabbed a waitress by the waist and whispered in her ear. Finlay was smoother than Ash would ever be. The waitress giggled in response before moving on slowly to the next table.

“She’s getting us some ale. “ Finlay grinned as he watched her walk away. Finely took off his cap and ran his fingers through his dirty blonde hair.

“This place is pretty dead tonight, huh?” Ash noticed, looking around. There were no more than a dozen or so people at the bar.

“No big games downstairs,” Finlay said without a pause. “Speaking of which, I never see you here on a working night….”

Ash knew where he was headed, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to talk about it quite yet. The fact that he had no job right now or the fact that he couldn’t get the image of a blonde girl out of his head. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t shake her lovely face, even though the image wasn’t clear.

“I’m taking a sabbatical.”

“From?” Finlay pushed for an answer.  Ash didn’t say anything, and frankly was relieved when the waitress interrupted with the ale.

“Thanks sweetheart.” Finlay winked at the girl, making her almost spill the drinks.
The girls here went crazy over Finlay’s good looks. They melted under his hazel gaze. She threw her fake blonde hair behind her shoulders and put her serving tray on the table. She let out a small giggle before throwing herself on Finlay’s lap. “Anytime for you, Fin.” She put her arms around the man’s neck and looked over at Ash waiting for the usual flirty banter, but this time nothing came.

Ash stared at the table, his hands on his drink. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t ignore any of the waitresses, but tonight he just wasn’t in the mood. He couldn’t take his mind off of the other night.

Noticing the awkward silence, the waitress shrugged before getting up and walking off. “Let me know if you need anything else.”

“That was awkward…” Finlay slowly spit out. “What is it with you tonight, man? I’ve never seen you so…unflirtable with a waitress before.” He paused to give a few females a wave before focusing back on his friend.

Ash took a sip from the silver colored mug and sighed, he needed to get it this off his chest, and he couldn’t talk about it with Arie. The keepers had all but cut him off; Finlay was all he had right now.

“I think I’m dead.”

Finlay almost spit out his drink before leaning in closer across the table.

“Come again, old friend?”

“I think I’m dead. I mean I got into a fight the other night and the guy put a sword through me. Straight through me.” Ash put his hands on that familiar spot where it had gone through his chest. It sounded crazy coming out of his mouth, and he waited for Finlay to start laughing at any moment.

“When I woke- the wound was gone.”

Finlay pursed his lips together. “Man, I think you are smoking that mutant stuff in the hookah again. I told you to stay away from that stuff.”

Ash shook his he
ad. He didn’t partake in drugs; he patrolled the trade ships so they couldn’t get in.

Ash had
even considered the possibility that it was all a dream, but Arie had seen him get hurt too.  “I don’t think so.”

He decided to change the subject before Finlay started
to spread rumors about his sanity. He didn’t want to tell him about how he had saw the water float or even seeing what was supposed to be a fallen mythical creature. He pulled out the small piece of parchment from his pocket, the one with the blonde girl’s face on it. He had sketched everything he could remember about her, scared her face would fade from his memory. Her bright blue eyes hovering above him, her smooth skin shining like the suns; it was all impressed in his memory.

“Have you seen this girl before?”

Finlay took the parchment and held in a small chuckle when he saw the face. He did a bad job of hiding his emotions, too.

“You know her!” Ash exclaimed. He was excited, maybe he could introduce them.
How well did Finlay know her? The jealous thought left as quickly as it entered. He didn’t even know the girl. He was going crazy over some girl from a dream.

“No, sorry friend
. Never seen her before. But she looks good. Who is she?” He gave back the parchment.

Ash, somewhat disappointed, folded it back up. “No one- just some girl I saw here.”

This statement caused another snicker from Finlay. It was obvious that he was trying to hold it all in. Was he making fun of him?  Finlay covered his mouth with his hand.

“What the moons
, man.”

Finlay held out his hands in surrender. “I am seriously sorry, just- listen, all will be explained in due time, just be patient.”

Ash raised his eye brow, “When have you ever known me to be patient.” He didn’t know what Finlay meant, but he decided to let it go.

“Hello
.”

Ash looked up just in time to see Arie slide into the seat next to him. Her red hair was pulled tightly into a bun on the top of her head and she wore a slim fitting black dress.

“What are you dressed up for?” he asked Arie.

Finlay let out a low whistle which caused a hateful glare from not only Arie, but Ash too.

“I was working. I had to go undercover,” she told them. She reached over to steal a sip from Ash’s drink. Finlay raised his hand to have the waitress bring Arie her own drink.

“Tell me Arie,” Finlay began “How is it a woman as beautiful as you has yet to get snatched up?”

Ash leaned back in his seat and grumbled.  Finlay could flirt as much as he liked, Arie was not into games. She was straightforward, honest and a true believer in love. From the way she always talked about her parents, they had been madly in love. A prime example of what Arie wanted out of life. When her mother died, Sasha didn’t take it very well. That was when the drinking became more frequent. Losing the love of his life had really taken its toll on him.

“Your mind games don’t work on me. I’m not like those illiterate, fake waitresses you normally hook up with,” Arie told Finlay.
Ash snickered quietly. She always spoke her mind.

Ash let his mind wander from the current conversation.
To his relief, Arie seemed too engaged with Finlay to bother bugging him about what had happened the other night. He just wanted to find the blonde girl from the other night, if he could find her; maybe she would be able to give him some answers on what had happened. His curiosity had been eating away at him, and the next time he had a chance he was thinking about sneaking back up to the keeper conservatory to speak with his old partner. Jedzia knew every legend about their world inside out. Maybe she would be able to figure out why he was still alive.  Ash took another swig of his drink in hopes that pretty soon all of his troubles would disappear.

All of a sudden, he felt a prickling sensation moving up the back of his neck. He had the strangest feeling that the mystery girl was nearby
. Maybe it was wishful thinking, but he stood up and started to look around just the same. He threw a few gems on the table for his drink.

“I’ve got to run, Fin, I’ll see you around. Later, Arie.”

Without taking his eyes off his surroundings, he made his way to Arie’s favorite spot in the bar, the metal staircase railing. If she was here, he would certainly be able to see her from up there.

Annalise

She watched him from her spot across the bar in the Ethereal Underground. This wasn’t a place Annalise had ever been before, and she had made sure her wings were hidden when she arrived. The moment she had laid eyes on him, however, she also made herself invisible. She wanted to watch this boy, the one who had flipped her whole world upside down, try to figure out what he was all about before she approached him. He had spent most of the night with Finlay which was surprising to her. She knew that her fellow seraph frequented the place, but he fit in so incredibly well one would have thought he was mortal. It was something she could only hope she could do herself. She had never been around the mortals, except for reaping and healing as needed, watching them in her globe when Leon wasn’t around and she had some free time. However, she just needed to blend in enough to get across the room to the mortal and figure out what was going on. A girl joined them as well, one that Finlay was flirting with, but Annalise could tell that the mortal was protective over her. The redhead was the same one that had been walking the streets with him, minutes before he had been stabbed by the fallen’s sword. She bit back her irritation at the girl and turned her attention back to Ash, who was walking away from them. The air here was thick and smoky, unnatural to her in the worst way, and it made it difficult for her to breathe.