Rise of the Fallen (7 page)

I turned around and saw an arm extend out of the mirror, holding my mobile phone. I walked back to her and, hesitantly, held out my hand for my phone. She smiled and dropped it into my palm.

“How did you get it?” I blurted out before I could stop myself. I was so angry that she had taken my property that I forgot I should've been terrified of her.

She laughed. “I didn't take it. I came by it on the floor next to this very mirror an hour ago. I suspect Soul left it after looking through it.”

Soul took it, looked through it and left it here, with Lilith. For a moment I couldn't breathe. Again I turned and ran. The door swung open as I reached it and as I turned around to shut it once more, Lilith's voice called out after me.

“I will see you soon, elemental.”

I walked back to the spiral staircase, stunned. I made it at least halfway up the stairs before sighing and sitting down on the freezing cold steps. I put my face in my hands. I stood up. Soul was one of them, so of course he would keep in touch with his superiors … but the fact that she knew I would be there scared me. I should have trusted Cael's instincts about Soul. But Soul wouldn't hurt me. He wouldn't hurt anybody. He couldn't, well at least, I didn't
think
he could. I shuddered to think what Cael would say to me now if he knew. I walked back into my bedroom and took the sheet from my bed, placing it over the mirror. I returned to bed, and once again shut my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

CHAPTER 6

I awoke with a start to a loud knock on the door. I sat up slowly and looked at the clock. It was almost nine; the morning sun shone through the window.

“Emilie, are you awake?” Soul spoke from the other side of the door.

“I am now,” I called back.

He stopped knocking and laughed nervously. “Sorry. I just wanted to know if you wanted to go to the city today.” His voice sounded sweet and innocent.

Memories of last night's excursion came back to me.

“I don't have anything to wear,” I replied, getting up and pulling the sheet from the mirror. If Soul saw that I'd covered it he would know something was wrong.

I tossed the sheet on the bed before opening the door. He caught me by surprise with a swift kiss the instant I opened the door. Shocked, I pulled back and he laughed, pushing my hair behind my ears.

“I called a few friends and they brought over some clothes for you,” Soul smiled.

“Oh … okay, that's nice.” I wondered who he had called over and who else he had told about me.

He handed me a small, black suitcase and told me to go and
change into whatever I liked the best. He told me that while we were out he would get me some more clothes, of my own choosing. I walked back into my room and opened the suitcase. Inside there were several outfits. One was a simple white singlet top with dark denim shorts and a pair of dark blue sneakers. The second was a short, plain black dress with a pair of black ballet flats. I chose the shorts and singlet top and changed quickly, folding up my dress from the night before. I closed the suitcase and walked out the door.

Soul was standing across from the door, leaning on the wall with his hands in the pockets of his jeans. I stared at him for a moment. He smiled at me and grabbed my hand.

“Ready to go, Emilie?”

He was wearing dark denim jeans, faded in places, with a black shirt and black sneakers. I looked down at myself for a moment and wondered if I had chosen the right outfit.

“You look beautiful,” he said, holding my hand a little bit tighter. I blushed and shook my head. “It's true. Anyway, get up to anything interesting last night?” Soul asked offhandedly.

We reached the front door before I answered. “Um … nothing really interesting happened,” I lied, but decided to tell him some of the truth. “I couldn't find my phone so I looked for it in the hallway.”

He opened the car door for me. “Oh really … well, did you find your phone?”

He was playing along with me; he knew I had found it.

“Not exactly … I ran into a child, I think his name was Zacharia. He gave me my phone,” I studied Soul's face as I spoke.

Soul looked nervous, and the sight of that amused me. “You met Zacharia? Did he say where he found your phone?”

I smiled, watching the traffic fall in behind us.

“Nope, he just said he thought it was mine. Nice kid, though,” I added. Soul hated it when I didn't tell him things, but it felt good
giving him a taste of his own medicine.

He said nothing. Pulling into a parking lot, he took the first available spot. Silently, we got out of the car and I walked over and hugged him tightly. He reluctantly hugged me back but frowned when I broke away.

“What's wrong?” he asked.

“What makes you think something's wrong?”

He looked at me carefully before speaking. “I'm sorry for what I did, but stop playing.”

“Who said I'm playing? What did you do? Are you referring to you stealing my phone?” I said bitterly, “While we're on that topic, why don't you tell me why you did it?”

“I'd prefer if first you would tell me where you really found the phone and exactly what Zacharia said to you.” Soul replied.

I rolled my eyes. “I already told you.”

“You're a terrible liar, Em,” he said, rolling his eyes mockingly.

“No I'm not.”

He stared at me blankly for a moment before speaking. “Fine, be stubborn.”

Without speaking, we walked past a series of shops. Occasionally Soul looked at one of the dress shops we passed then looked at me. I got the feeling he was looking for someone in particular. My curiosity peaked. All of a sudden he stopped and kissed me.

“I'm sorry, don't be angry.”

“I'm not angry,” I retorted.

He smiled and mumbled “Okay.” We kept walking for a while until once more he stopped, this time staring at a tall, averagelooking brunette girl standing across the street. The girl froze in her place when she saw Soul watching her, then turned and ran down an alley. Soul led me across the busy road and let go of my hand at the entrance to the alley.

“Soul, what are you doing? Did we only come here so you could follow her?” I asked, anger rising in my voice. What was he going to do to her?

He ignored me and rushed down the alley. I could see the girl was shaking, standing in front of a wall at the end of the alley. She was trapped. Soul moved quickly, stopping a few metres from her.

“You honestly thought I would let you go, Sophie? You thought I would let you get away with what you did?” Soul asked, suddenly furious.

The girl shook her head and Soul smirked back at her, his stance predatory.

“I'm sorry!” Sophie's voice broke out into a dry sob.

Soul took a single step backwards. “That's not good enough.” With a flick of his wrist, he sent the girl's body flying backwards into the wall – a large crack appeared and small fragments of brick and rubble crumbled and fell to the dirty, concreted ground. She stumbled cautiously to her feet and stood up.

“Please …” she cried out in another dry sob.

“You're pathetic,” Soul growled.

I stood silently and watched as he pulled Sophie up by her hair and smashed her face against the wall. He did that several times, each time sending a spray of dark blood to the ground below them. The blood and the savage way Soul was hurting her made me sick. He stopped and dropped her to the ground. As she fell, she resembled a rag doll. She was sobbing, her tears mixing with the blood that covered her face. Soul glared down at her as if she was nothing, as if she were an insect that had merely had the misfortune to cross his path.

I had never seen him like this. He was merciless, violent and frightening. What disturbed me the most was that he seemed to take some sort of pleasure in hurting her. No sooner had I thought
that, than he pulled out a small, silver-handled dagger, leaned down towards her and slowly cut the left side of her neck. Sophie grimaced in pain but remained quiet, tears running down her face. I pitied her. I don't know what she did, but surely she didn't deserve to die like this, especially at the hands of a demon.

I watched in repugnance as he put the knife away and grabbed the girl by the throat. He choked her until she was barely conscious, and then his appearance changed. In his demonic form Soul was grotesque. His skin had changed to a dark grey colour that reminded me of a decomposed corpse. His eyes were pure black with no white visible. He opened his mouth, revealing a layer of sharp, slightly pointed, white teeth. In a swift move that made me physically sick, he ripped her jugular vein from her neck and left her dead and bleeding on the pavement. He turned back into his human form – it was over within seconds. I hadn't spoken a word since Soul pulled me into the alley, and even now, I couldn't speak. He wiped the blood from his mouth before turning back to me.

“We should go.”

As he reached his hand out for mine I pulled away. Behind us Sophie's body lay motionless in the middle of the alley, surrounded by an expanding pool of blood.

“She was a liar. Emilie, you have no idea what she did and the damage she caused.” He spoke quickly; I could tell he was trying to redeem himself in my eyes.

It shocked me that he would think that would be enough penance for what he did. I shook my head and stood back again.

“What did she do? What did she do that she deserved to die?” I asked, though my voice was shaky.

Soul frowned, “She betrayed Lilith. Sophie did nothing but lie since the moment we met her. Listen, Emilie – this girl was a traitor and a thief.”

“So is this how you justify what you did?” I asked.

“I don't think you understand. I don't have to explain myself. Not to you, anyway.” The venom in his voice made me take a few more steps back.

He sighed and drew me back to him. I tried to resist, pushing his chest with my free arm, but his grip was too strong.

“I'm sorry Emilie, I shouldn't have spoken to you that way,” he said in a calm and smooth voice.

“No, you shouldn't have. You don't own me, Soul, or have you forgotten that?”

He shook his head. “Of course not, I lost my temper. I'm so sorry Emilie.”

His eyes looked remorseful, but I had no way of knowing if that was genuine. I took a deep breath and moved slightly closer to him. A smile spread across his face.

“So you forgive me then? I hope you do, because that girl, Sophie, she had to die. She was the one who found out where you were and she was selling that information.”

I froze, unsure of how I should answer, so I decided to play along.

“I forgive you. If she did that, then of course you're right. She deserved it,” I lied through my teeth, obviously convincingly as Soul smiled. He seemed happy and serene. I guess killing a helpless human in a dark alley would make any demon happy.

We had gone only a few feet when I turned and saw them. There were about six, each only about eight centimetres long, with luminous red wings. They hovered at the entrance to the alley before darting inside faster than the human eye could see. I knew what they were, and what they did. They were spirit collectors: Emriahls. Cael and I had heard tales about the Emriahls ever since we first moved to Australia. They'd always been here, ever since the first Australians walked the land. They are shaped like the strangest looking faeries,
with wings – each one's wings are unique. Emriahls show up after a death occurs – or sometimes before – to lead the soul away. According to the myths that I'd heard, Emriahls appear in three different colours. The ones that glow red appear when someone is killed by demons; they lead the soul to the underworld. The ones that glow silver lead the soul to the angels, and they are viewed as pure light. The green Emriahls, however, collect souls destined to remain in the human realm in a reincarnated form.

There was one other myth – the one that concerned me the most. No one is supposed to see an Emriahl, for any being who sees one could be sure their death was imminent. I had seen six of them. I knew I should have been afraid, but somehow I wasn't.

“What is it?” Soul asked, turning back around and looking towards the alley.

I forced a small smile and said, “Nothing. Where are we going?”

He kissed my cheek, excitedly. “There's something I wanted to get you.”

He guided me towards an unmarked shop across the street. As we walked inside, a bell rang and then the lights came on. There were several counters with glass tops, and inside each were various items of jewellery on padded shelves that lined the counters. In the corner stood a tall, slender, dark-haired man in a cheap, black suit. According to his badge, his name was James.

“James, I'm here to pick up the purchase I made a few days ago.” Soul spoke cheerfully.

“Of course, sir.” James turned, unlocked a safe and pulled out a small, black velvet bag.

Soul took the bag with an appreciative smile and a polite “thank you”. He pulled a small box out of the bag. He walked behind me and I heard the box snap open. I jumped. He placed a simple gold necklace around my neck, kissed my neck and snapped the box shut and
handed it back to James. I looked down to see the gold key from the mirror room hanging from the chain.

I played with it in my hand before speaking. “Soul, why are you giving me this?”

“I told you I knew you were lying about last night,” he joked.

I laughed nervously. I had left the key in the door, so of course he would have known I had been in the mirror room.

“Relax, I'm not angry at you, or Zacharia. Why would I have given you the key just now, if I didn't want you near the mirrors?” he said, gesturing to the necklace.

“Okay …” I said uncertainly. He knew the dangers that lurked in that room, and he readily gave me the key. Either he trusted me implicitly or he simply didn't care what happened to me.