Forfeit Souls (The Ennead Book 1) (5 page)

I felt a faint tugging at my skirt, but I ignored it, brushing down the fabric with my hand.  I felt as though something crawled up my arm and I slid my hand along the length of it pushing away the feeling. My skirt was tugged again and I looked down.

The sand was crawling with millions of black spiders. I could barely differentiate between them and the sand itself. I stood up quickly trying to brush the creatures off of me.

I hate spiders.

I smacked myself brutally wherever I saw one, violently beating at my skirt, arms and chest. And then they were gone.

And I was alone in the dark desert.

The day that I began to care again, Demetrius came to sit beside me and I assumed he had done so quite often without my notice. The few times I had noticed him, he just sat and watched me, he was perfectly still, just staring down at me as though I were the only thing in the room worth his attention. This day, as he sat there staring down at me, I moved my head, and I stared back at him. The blackness of his eyes seemed comforting in an odd way that they had not before, and as I stared into them, time held meaning again. It was as though the sadness that was in them held some sort of purpose for me.

I blinked for the first time in what could have been years and breathed in again.

“Welcome back to the world of the undead.” Demetrius said in a sad joke. “I didn’t think you were ever going to come out of that.”

“I didn’t think I would want to.” My voice came out oddly clearly; I had expected it to be rusty from its long period of disuse.

“It gets a little boring.” He said in a knowing way. “I only lasted two weeks.”

I laughed. Boring would never be an appropriate description of the delusions that I had experienced. Maybe I was alone in those. Maybe Demetrius’ self imposed solitude was very different from my own. The smile that came to my lips didn’t seem as foreign as I had expected.

“And how did I fare against your record?” Perhaps my depression was not as severe as I had expected.

“You’ve bested any record I have ever heard of. Father thought I had let you die for a time.” His face was still sad, though I knew he must be joking, I couldn’t die.

“How long?” I was curious now. I was upset that I had been the one to cause his sadness.

“You unsuccessfully tried to kill yourself six months and four days ago.”

“That’s very precise.” I said, feeling guiltier.

“The undead are the best time keepers in the world.” There was a faint smile at his lips now, as though it was a joke.

“Alright, I’ve come to accept the finality of my fate.” I took another breath; it seemed natural, even though I had just been told that I hadn’t breathed in over six months time. “What now?”

“I might start by getting out of bed.” Demetrius ran his hand over my hair as though I was a small child. “And perhaps you could begin by changing your clothes.”

I looked down at the same dress I had been wearing; surprised it hadn’t been eaten off of me by moths. I sat up and felt something slide off of my shoulders.

A black dinner jacket lay slightly crumpled where I had been lying. I looked at it quizzically and then turned back to Demetrius.

“I thought you’d come out of it when I had to chase you into London.” He shuddered slightly. “That was very scary for me.”

“That actually happened?” I looked between him and the coat incredulously.

“Yes. It’s definitely a first.” He laughed. “You didn’t know what was happening?”

“I thought it was just another hallucination. Things got pretty confusing; I didn’t know what was real and what wasn’t.”

“And how do you know this is real?” he asked, teasing me.

“The black sand would have come back by now.” I said it as though it was the most natural response in the world. And it was, to me. “Now, about those clothes.”

I looked up at him curiously and was met by a smile. “I was optimistic,” he said, taking my hand the same way he had, what seemed like hours ago, and leading me to a door along the back wall.

He opened the door and ushered me into a vast closet. Light was filtering in through a small window that was covered by a heavy white shade.  I stopped, looking apprehensively at the window.  Didn’t I want to die before? I should have just stepped outside.

“Don’t worry. Sunlight won’t kill you. It’s uncomfortable to be in, it’s like a burning sensation throughout your body, but it’s not lethal; just uncomfortable.” I looked at him skeptically.

“You’re not a vampire,” he smiled. He was amused by my assumptions. “Vampires don’t exist.” The skepticism grew on my face and he digressed. “Not in the way that human’s paint them anyway.”

“Am I like Martin then?” I laughed at the joke.

He thought for a moment before nodding his head. “Romero’s a-typical vampire may have come the closest yet, but only in the detachment from the mythical “givens” that every school child learns.”

He continued to look at me expectantly and I stepped forward, pushing my hand out toward the light. It was an irritating tingling sensation, like a rash, but it was not unbearable. The light didn’t hurt my eyes now, it seemed brighter than it had before I had died, but it was not the searing pain that it had been.

“What am I then?” I asked, looking at the thin strip of light that fell on my hand.

“I’m not the one to explain that.” His eyes dropped to the floor and his expression became apologetic.

I could see that I was not going to receive any more answers from my caretaker.

I turned back to the clothes that were hanging in front of me. “Wow,” I said as I looked at the assortment. “This is a definite change from the first closet.”

“Like I said, I was optimistic, and Lizzie helped out a lot.” He was walking toward the door. “I’ll wait outside so that you can change.” And with that, he left me to my own devices in the closet.

I pushed apart the dresses, sorting through them. They were all dark jewel tones. None of them were black like the dress I wore now. There was even one that was white, but it looked too much like a wedding gown for me to even consider. Even if it hadn’t resembled a wedding dress, I was a monster now – regardless of the fact I didn’t know what kind of a monster I was – I didn’t deserve to wear white. I idly wondered if I would find any jeans in the drawers in front of me. Opening them I quickly realized I would not.

Putting on the deep plum gown I sorted through the long rows of shoes. Once again, I heard the piano music from before. It was louder now, as though it were closer. I stood in the closet listening to the soft music for a moment. It was a beautiful sound.

When I emerged from the closet I found the source of the music was the enormous grand piano in the corner of the room. Demetrius sat at it with his eyes closed, unmoving except for his fingers which flew across the keys.

I sat on the bed that had served as my grave for the last six months and watched him. He opened his eyes as the tune changed, and stared directly at me. It saddened me to think that I had caused him pain because of my catatonia.

“What now?” I repeated, quieter now than I had before.

“I expect that Father will want to see you again.” His eyes narrowed at this, his sadness turned to the same worry I had seen when we had entered the hall. “He’ll be able to give you the answers you’ve been looking for. He’ll also want reassurance that you aren’t dead.”

“But I am.” I said, without humor, and quickly changed the subject, realizing what I had said. “You told me that you would let me know what your business was when I could take care of myself.” I desperately hoped that he would answer this question. “Is that now?”

“I guess so.” The music stopped and he was at my side in an instant. Taking my hand he led me to the high backed Victorian sofa. “Father and the others here are not like the others of our kind,” he said as we sat down. “Not like the monster that attacked you.”

I waited, not knowing what to say to this revelation. He didn’t think of himself or the others here as monsters. Weren’t we?

“Perhaps I should explain a few things.” Demetrius smiled at me with a certain understanding in his expression, “I know you have a lot of questions, but there are some myths I should dispel. First of all, you know about the sun and, as you will have noticed from your small hiatus from existence, the human needs you once had no longer apply. We don’t need to eat or sleep; we have no need of water.”

I had realized toward the end of my attempts to discontinue my existence, that I had no use for my lungs anymore, that months without food did not weaken me, and that sleep evaded me. Perhaps this was a type of Hell.

“There is not much that I can tell you other than that, Father has asked that I not speak about this until you get a chance to speak with Mother.” He said, his face darkening apologetically.

“Mother?” I asked. It was beginning to sound a bit cult like.

“Yes, let me get back to your question. I’m sorry that I went off on that tangent.”

“Don’t worry, I do that all the time.” My words seemed to comfort him at least slightly.

“Well, you wanted to know what our business is.” He sighed slightly. “We are trying to rid the world of Hephaestus and the others of his kind. If you want to know more, you will have to wait. Father was very specific that I not tell you certain things, and I am sorry for that.”

“Can I ask why you are on this crusade?” I asked the question without the slightest hope of having it answered.

He looked at me warily for a moment. “Because, like you, Hephaestus changed me. Father was only just in time to save me, as he was with you.” He sighed and the sadness returned, his brow knitting together. “Many others have not been so lucky.”

I wasn’t sure if I would call this existence luck. But I suppose that their quest to rid the world of one maniac was not such a bad purpose.

“Come along.” He held his hand out to me, “it’s time to see Father again.”

I took the hand he offered and followed him silently back through the hall that lead to the room where I had first met Father and his “family.”

Father met us just outside the door, as though he had known exactly when we would arrive. “Joellen! I am so pleased to see that you’ve chosen to join us again!”

I smiled, hoping that I would seem as pleased as he was hoping.

“Let me introduce you to my family.” Father led us back through the large doors and into the hall. “Nathaniel and Christine have been with us since the early eighteen fifties.”

The two he motioned to were standing to the side, talking quietly when they were introduced, and they seemed to glide across the floor toward us. They were both tall, and while Christine had a slim, athletic build, Nathaniel appeared as though his muscles would burst the seams on his coat.

“Please, call me Christi.” The red haired Amazon seemed to be in a more accepting mood as she gently took my hand.

“Yeah, call me Nate.” The giant of a man took my hand as it had barely left Christi’s. His hair was shorter than anyone else’s in the room.

“We’re Lizzie and Billy.” A small voice from behind me said.

I turned as Father spoke again, “Yes, these two are Elizabeth and William.”

“I’m glad you’re out and about.” Lizzie had her espresso colored hair pulled back in a braid that ran down the center of her back. The man next to her had hair that was slightly lighter and was similarly pulled back into a braid, though his stopped in the middle of his back and hers nearly reached the ground. They looked too alike to be anything but brother and sister.

These four were glad enough to know me, but I looked to the next one to be introduced, and knew that I would not receive the same welcome.

“This is Charlotte.” Father waived his had away toward the woman furthest from us.

She smiled at me coolly and corrected him, “I prefer Carla.”  She sounded as though she was bored, not like she held any animosity toward me. Just that she didn’t really care about anything at this moment.

Carla was just as angelically beautiful as the rest of those standing around me, her blond hair was pulled up into a twist along the back of her head, and her face was the same pallor as those I had been introduced before, but her eyes were not the same.

I had become used to the frightful eyes that stared back at me, but I was not prepared for their disappearance. Carla’s eyes were still the vacant black in the middle, but a light lavender seemed to be seeping in from the edges. I couldn’t help but stare at them – not that it was easy – there was a formidable height difference. I would guess that she was just over six feet.

“I’ll explain later.” I heard Demetrius whisper in my ear. His voice was all I needed to break the hold that those eyes had on me.

“And this,” Father continued, “Is Earl.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” The wide smile that spread across his face was as frightening as it was endearing. I shuddered away from it. “I have no other name that I prefer.”

Earl was tall, but not the hulking mass that Nate was. He still looked to be able to take care of himself, though. Perhaps he just dressed well enough to hide his muscles. He laughed at my fearful expression and his black pompadour shook slightly. His eyes, too, were not the same. Though they were not as striking as Carla’s, there was a deep blue ring forming around the black void that had once been his iris and pupil.