See How She Falls (11 page)

The
nearer I drew to the demon, the colder I grew. My soul writhed inside of my
body, longing to escape the oppressive fear the demon’s presence conjured. With
heavy feet I moved closer. I had to know. I had to see.

I
came as close as I dare to the scene as the demon turned its charred face
towards me. I was rooted in pain as the demons features came into full clarity.
His skin was a crackling blackened charcoal, split like the ground with no
water. A fire raged beneath his skin, turning the cracks into illuminated pools
of lava. My eyes scanned up the body of the demon. Every instinct within me shouted
for me to not look upon its face directly. I fought the urge to look away and
continued to look up and up the giant creature before me.

Four
arms chorded in dense muscle stretched out from its sides, culminating in razor
sharpened claws. Fighting against every bit of self-preservation, I looked upon
the demon’s face. His empty fathomless eyes locked with mine, causing me to cry
out.

“NOOOOOOOOO!” 
I fell to my knees as the hate ripped through my soul. Visions flashed before
my eyes. Chaos erupted around me, wars raged, and man fought against man. Every
image that flipped through my mind brought forth more hate and pain. The
emptiness of the eyes, the darkness that walked the earth. It was too much. It
was unbearable. “Make it stop. Make it stop,"  I pleaded, barely
above a whisper.

The
sounds of deep sickening laughter ripped through me, forcing me into myself.
The pain was unbearable.

“IZZY!”
Aberto’s shout pulled me from the vision.

I
found myself on the floor, curled into the fetal position. Tears trailing down
my face as the memories of what the earth would become flashed through my mind.

“What
does he want? What is it this demon is meant to do?” I choked out.

 “Perhaps
you should see this, Izzy.”  Eleanor moved towards me with the giant tome,
handing it to me opened to a picture of the horror I’d just seen.

On
the page was a great behemoth of a monster. It stood on two massive clawed feet
and rose broadly into the air on backwards hinged knees. Four thickly chorded
arms jutted out of its muscular sides, ending in talons. Its head looked to be
a combination of a lion and bird with two steer-like horns protruding
backwards. The skin was the deepest black I’d ever seen, with a bright fire
burning from the inside. The eyes were bottomless pools of fire.

On
paper it was nothing more than an image, a snapshot of the horrors that the
real thing contained. I quickly closed the book, unable to stomach the picture
and the memories it brought forth any longer.

 “What
will happen if that thing makes it through to this plane?”

“Read
this, it will explain everything.”  Eleanor thrust another manuscript
beneath my nose. The pages were yellowed and tearing from the years of use.

I
looked down at the pages and held my breath, hoping for the best.

When
the darkness falls it shall bring with it the scourge of hatred. It shall turn
brother against brother by perverting ideas and conjuring transgressions.
Hatred shall spread until the world runs red with the blood of the fallen. The
darkness shall fall, and the darkness has a name. That name is Sonneillon,
fourth in line for the throne of hell itself.

Weep
not for the brothers lost, weep not for the sisters gone, weep for the souls
that are left to suffer under the demon’s wrath, for none shall survive.

The
visions began anew. Neighbor fought neighbor, lover against lover, peace was no
more than a memory. Hate saturated the world as every fear was brought forth
and manifested tenfold. In that fear there was anger and resentment that could
not be pushed down. Emotions ran rampant and all good fled from the world.

I
gazed out upon Chicago, a city I’d seen a million times. The roads were covered
in bodies of those left for dead. Smoke rose from the skyscrapers that were set
ablaze. The city I loved so much was nothing more than a raging war zone. Only,
there was no invading country, no true enemy. The truth came rushing in. If I
didn’t stop this darkness, the world would be no more. Everything I loved,
everything I held dear, would be wiped away.

A
man ran past me, pure terror etched upon his face. He screamed as a knife flew
into his back from somewhere behind me. I turned to see another form moving
forward. The man, or he’d once been a man, moved towards his injured prey. A
look of delight filled his eyes as he walked more closely towards his prize. He
turned his head towards me, sniffing the air as if he could tell I were there.

His
eyes locked upon my position and I froze, unable to think. Where his eyes had once
been there were now gaping chasms. Black veins moved outward from the sockets
moving over his face to form a dark mask. His mouth dripped with black fluid
and his words came out a hiss.

“Seer,
you aren’t strong enough,"  He slurred before turning toward the man
before him. He jumped upon the soon to be corpse and ripped into him over and
over again with the knife, giggling maniacally as he worked. The laughter
turned my stomach and I sought my way back to the present. This couldn’t
happen. This had to end.

I
was once more curled into the fetal position on the floor. My stomach lurched
and I ran towards the closest trashcan, emptying the contents of my stomach.
The smell of the burning city still caked my nostrils as the sound of deranged
laughter rang in my ears.

“This
is the end of the world, isn’t it?”  I breathed out.

“What
did you see?”  Kennan moved towards me with a handkerchief.

“I
saw what will happen if we can’t stop this darkness from coming.”  I
looked up from the trashcan with tear filled eyes. “We have to stop
it,"  I pleaded.

“We
will, Izzy, we will.”  Kennan carefully rubbed my back, one of the few
places that was still safe to touch on me.

“Why
couldn’t it have been just a minor demon? Why does it have to be this one? Are
they insane? How am I supposed to fight this? I’m not enough.”

 “You
will not fight alone,"  Kennan swore. The conversation I’d overheard
between him and Conall played back in my head. I wasn’t sure what was about to
happen, but I knew something bigger than I ever imagined was coming. I also
knew I needed all of the help I could get.

Chapter
Thirteen

Centering
myself, I tried to think. I’d had a plan, I just couldn’t seem to remember what
it was. With the echoes of hatred ricocheting through my mind I could hardly
think. I needed help. That was a start.

“I
think that I need to consult the Council members and get their take on this.
Does someone have a phone that I can use?” I looked around the room hoping that
someone had brought one in with them.

“You
may use mine.” Aberto moved forward with a smartphone in his hand.

“Seriously?
You have a phone? Does it even work in the dreaming? Who’s your carrier?” I was
near full-on laughter by the time I was finished spouting off questions. Once
again, my sense of self-preservation had kicked in, causing me to find humor in
things that shouldn’t be funny.

Aberto
responded by handing me the phone and rolling his eyes. “Make the calls.”

I
stared at the phone momentarily, trying to remember the numbers. Pulling myself
back from near mania, the numbers finally came back to my mind. I entered them
in, hoping beyond hope that Damali would answer.

“Hello?”
Damali’s voice sounded unsure.

“Damali.
It’s Izzy. I wanted to let you know that we have uncovered what the darkness is
and to ask if you might be able to help with what’s coming.” The only sound on
the other end of the call was a sharp intake of breath that I would have easily
missed had I not been paying close attention.

“What
is it you think is coming, dear?” The condescension practically dripped from
her every word.

“Sonneillon.”
I wanted to see if she knew who or what it was before I said more.

“You
are obviously ill-equipped to be in the position that Isadora left you.
Sonneillon is a myth, a story, a demon. I will be no part of whatever this is.
I believe you seek to find approval and attention through these dramatic acts.
Once you have real evidence of what is coming, then you may call me again.”
With that, the call was ended.

“Well,
looks like she isn’t going to be much help. She didn’t even believe me.” I
stared at the phone in disbelief. That woman had promised me just a few days
before to help me in any way she could and now she just dismissed me.

“You
still have one more Seer to address.” Conall’s calm voice broke through my
thoughts and brought me back to reality.

“Yeah,
flighty Francesca is probably going to be a TON of help," Molly quipped.

“I
have to try. I promised to keep them informed. Maybe she will surprise
us," I supplied, hopefully. “Here goes nothing.”

I
picked up the phone to dial Francesca’s number, when the phone began ringing in
my hand. I held it out for Aberto to answer.

“She
needs to come NOW!” I heard a voice shout through the phone. “Oh, and in
person. No more soul travel!” 

“It
seems your presence is required by the Order. Are you willing to oblige them?”
Aberto asked.

I
looked over at Kennan who gave me the “It’s up to you” look.

“Only
if everyone in this room comes as well.” Ian had a lot of built up resentment
toward these people and I wanted to find out why. What better way to figure it
out than to have him there?

“Not
a chance, Izzy. There is a lot that I will do for you, but don’t ask this.” Ian
turned and walked from the room not waiting for a response. So much for that
theory. Looked like he wouldn’t be mending any emotional fences any time soon.
“What about you, you staying or going?”  I asked Molly.

“You
know he won’t let me go if he doesn’t, and I won’t push him on this. I want to
be there with you, but I can’t. Looks like the four of you will be handling
this on your own.” Molly wrapped her arms around me, pulling me close. “Promise
me you will be careful, don’t do anything reckless.”

“I
promise that I will try not to do anything reckless.” I squeezed her tightly,
not wanting to let her go. As I pulled away, she left the room, unable to look
back. I sighed, trying to pull my thoughts back to the present.

“I
still need to call Francesca, even if we are going to the nut house again. I
have to see what she says.”

Aberto
handed the phone back to me after ending his call with what I could only assume
was Sena. She seemed to be my aunt’s right hand woman. Or maybe she was her
personal assistant. I had no idea how their whole system worked. Looking down
at the phone in my hand, my hope was that this call went better than the last
had.

“Yes?” 
Francesca answered.

“Hi,
Francesca. This is Izzy.” She interrupted me before I was even able to utter the
rest of my greeting.

“Please
do not think that I will believe this nonsense any more than Damali did. We
shall not stand with you on this. Not until you are able to provide irrefutable
proof that such a thing could occur. Until then, let me assure you that I am
doing all that I can to look into the runes and prophecy to see how they are
tied together. Feel free to contact me when you have more substantive
evidence.” Then it was nothing but the dial tone.

“I
mean, I thought they were pissed about me being left in charge, but this is
just ridiculous. They said they would help.” I stared in disbelief at the phone
that had been hung up on me twice as it started to ring once more. I didn’t
think, I just answered. “Hello?”

“Why
aren’t you on your way? If you’d left after the last call you could have saved
a heck of a lot of time. For craps sake woman, hop to it. Mona is waiting for
you. Are you coming or not?” Sena’s voice blared in my ear.

“Yes,
on our way now. One question. Who is Mona?”

“Your
aunt. Now get here, and fast. Some of the Seers had a vision.”

“We
will get there as soon as we can," I promised.

“I’ll
make our travel arrangements," Kennan said from the shadows. I really
missed the days where he was my teammate and equal. Now it felt like I led a
dictatorship. I supposed I was being a bit hypocritical though. It was only two
months ago that I was begging the man to treat me like the new Council leader.

“I’ll
go up and pack our bags. Are you okay to come with us, Conall?”

“As
I have told you a thousand times, where you go, I will follow. I will not fail
my mother in this, nor will I allow what happened to Cait to happen to you.” A
haunted look lingered in his eyes. “Now go and pack, I will help Kennan make
the arrangements. Aberto, would you please accompany Izzy so that she is not
left alone?”

“I
will.” Aberto motioned for me to lead the way.