VERMON
I stared at her lifeless body lying on the floor.
I didn't want this. I didn't want to see her face free from any emotion. I only wanted to scream, I wanted to let her know that she got it all wrong. I had a plan of my own but all hell broke the moment she took her last breath. The heavy gate opened with a crack and the screams coming from everywhere were the only logical explanation that all creatures wanted to escape from hell.
I looked at Zach to see that Sage had already freed him from his bind. Sage was nowhere to be found which could only lead to one thing. The bastard was running for the earth. Zach looked murderous as he marched toward me.
"Look after Lana." I made him pause. "I can't answer any of your questions right now."
I tried to take a step forward but Zach grabbed my shoulder in warning. "And, where the hell do you think you are going right now! She needs help."
Dammit. Time was running out. "No, she needs your help. I have to finish what Sage started. We can't have the gate open for longer."
I didn't know if Zach understood or not but he didn't question my insanity anymore. Instead, with slight care, he tried to heal the blood that was coming from her. When I knew that she was in good hands, I left to kill Sage. After running around several hallways, I was near the gate but stopped short once I heard something strange.
"Vermon, wait!"
Turning around, I looked at Zedkiel in disbelief. Where the hell did he come from?
"What happened?" He searched my eyes for something. "What the fuck happened!"
"I-I had the dagger and she-" I paused when Zedkiel let out a bitter chuckle.
"You think you were the only one? I have seen the same fate happen to another Deshayes. But I need you to focus on Sage right now."
I didn't know what to think about that. "Thank you for coming here."
"No need. Besides, I brought some help from the Volkios. Tip for the future: don't kidnap a Volkios's beloved. Valentine is searching everywhere for Ivy. The others will retain as many hell creatures as they can."
Even Valentine was here?
"Ok, fine. Let's just find him."
And find him we did. Along with at least a hundred creatures crawling all over the gate, fighting with each other for a little taste of earth.
"Watch out!"
Zedkiel pulled me out of the way as several daggers went over our heads. I immediately threw up a shield so the daggers bounced off the shield and I shot them right back to their original throwers. Blind rage was making me see red. It took every ounce of my self-control to keep me from flinging them off after what they did to Lana. They even used Ivy to threaten me. My fucking sister.
"You see him?" I asked Zedkiel when I heard a low growl. We both looked around as the place looked like a madhouse with people running and tripping on their feet. Suddenly, the entire place shrewd in darkness as one of the creatures howled. The familiar sound made tingles down my back. There was no doubt that it was Sage. I couldn't see anything anymore.
"Vermon! Where the hell are you?" Zedkiel yelled out with panic but I ignored him. I only kept my attention to where the growling was coming from. I tried to scatter the darkness but it kept regenerating. I had almost reached Sage when something bit my leg. I didn't have time to scream but I did however gave a kick to whatever it was. I looked down, noticing Sage on all fours staring at me with an unreadable face.
"You're too late." Sage's grin was crazed and twisted with evil. "The gate is open and it's time I take earth back."
***
5132
I gasped when I felt an electric shock coursed through my entire body. I was supposed to feel pain or agony but I only stared at the beautiful sky above me with no pain in my body. Wait, what? Sky?
I jumped from the ground I was laying on immediately. Where in hell was I? I looked around to see a beautiful garden surround me. To my surprise, I could even hear the sound of waves somewhere near. I looked down at my dress to see that I was wearing a white sundress when the last time I was wearing a black top and jeans.
Was I in heaven?
"I'm not sure God will want me in heaven." Startled, I turned around to see Keisha smiling at me. I didn't know what to feel at that moment. Should I hug her or punch her in the face? Ugh, why was I always presented with tough choices?
"Lana?" Keisha asked softly.
"What happened? Am I dead?" I choked out.
"For now. But I'm afraid I'm actually dead. But you, my child...is not."
"What is this place?" It was so warm that it made me never want to leave from there.
"Between heaven and hell. I don't know why you were sent here but I think the Reaper thing needs to be cursed for that." I nodded in understanding. I didn't know how to feel right now when I was alone with Keisha. I had so many questions left to ask.
"Look, mo-" I breathed out, surprised at the slip of tongue. Oh, hell with it. I lived with one tainted one anyway. "Mom...Can I call you mom?"
Keisha looked genuinely surprised like it was the very first time anyone ever called her that. She stammered with her eyes solely on me. "Sure! I mean...yeah, I'll love it."
"Thank you. Now, are you happy...I mean in here?" I didn't know why I asked her that. Feelings were weird like that.
A smile formed on her face. "More than when I was alive."
"Then, is Emie here?" The happiness that was showing on her face dimmed down to a defeated sigh.
"No. I looked for her but didn't find her anywhere. Why don't you come with me? I need to show you something." My face fell when she dragged me out of the garden. I let her and noticed on the opposite side it had a beach. A golden-haired girl was dancing there. That shade of hair reminded me of Mikhail and Zach which I swallowed as quickly as the thought came.
"Do you remember her?" Keisha said, forcing me to take a long look at the girl. And the moment I did, I froze.
"Is that...Samara?" I choked out to stop the tears that were threatening to fall from my eyes. I had seen her many times in the worst moments of my life but to actually see her? My heart almost gave itself.
"Yes, that's Samara. When I came here she was already living here. She's a good child. She was your savior, you know?" Savior?
"What do you mean? I took her life. I was the one who didn't let her go so she could save herself."
Keisha's smile was sad as we both watched the girl in her own world. "The truck driver wasn't drunk or anything, Lana. Roth gave him money to get the job done. She thought killing you would make one less Reaper in this world. When Samara saved you, they found a loophole. My older child, Emeline. Now, think about it. Which house did I use to kill Hannah?"
I didn't have to think a lot as it all came crashing down. "Roth's cabin in the woods. The same place I was going to meet Zach that night."
Keisha nodded, ashamed to look at me. "They wanted to kill two birds with one stone. Emie needed a reason to kill me and start the fire. And what better than seeing her mentor die in my hands? For you? They had Zachery as a backup plan. They knew the souls come back with a vengeance so you would have died in his hands anyway. They didn't expect the Seeker to save you from Zachery."
Years, no, they had been plotting our life since before we were even born. How could they be so cruel? How could they take so much?
"Do you want to talk to Samara?" Keisha asked once she noticed I was watching her with intrigue. I knew it was a lifetime opportunity but what could I possibly tell her? In these years so much had changed.
I had changed.
"Can you tell her that I miss her? That she helped me when I was in hell, that even gone, she was the one who kept me sane." I hated how my voice broke at the end. I didn't want to leave the warmth of Keisha. But I was starting to feel something else. Like my body parts were firing back to life.
"Don't make the same mistake I did. I need to tell you something else-" Keisha whispered as everything around me faded away.
***
VERMON
"Not so fast, Sage." The deepest, most passionate type of anger anyone could ever imagine began to take over my soul. My eyes sparked a bright silver as the fury surged throughout my body. He would pay for what he did to her. I called for the bindings, my grip on Sage tightened as I thought about how I had let her down.
"Vermon! Take the dagger!" Zedkiel yelled out, throwing me the dagger. Thankfully I reached out to catch it before it could land on Sage's hands.
"You're not leaving alive from here." I grinned to let him see the dagger and confusion forced Sage to talk back.
"Wait! This dagger looks exactly like..."
"Yes, Sage. This is the dagger you wanted me to use so I can kill Lana but guess what? I didn't. Hide and seek, you know? The game we all learned when we were younger? It gave me an idea. A simple illusion spell was enough to switch the two daggers. I was saving this special one for someone more suitable...mmmm, like you." I finished as the realization came down to Sage.
"You betrayed me. You-" Without hearing his rambling, I forced the dagger to his heart. Then to my shock, someone else threw Sage against the wall grabbing his neck in a fit of rage.
I knew it wasn't my doing nor it was one of the blindings.
Was I dreaming? Or was my mind playing tricks? I saw Sage gulping as the poison from the dagger started to take action toward his body. My grip on the dagger tightened just like Lana's did. The fog started to clear and I saw someone in a black cloak run to the gate. Before I could stop the person, finally Sage took a forceful breath and slumped from the wall nearly managing to fall through the gate. Instantly, the other creatures turned into dust.
His siring, I suppose.
"Valentine got Ivy! We have to leave. The gate won't stay open the whole day." I heard Zedkiel yell at my back.
Together we returned to see that Zach was still there looking at Lana with a grim expression. Shit. Shouldn't Lana be awake by now? It was just a normal dagger, wasn't it? True fear started to crawl inside my skin the more step I took toward Lana's still body on Zach's lap.
"She didn't wake up?" I wondered aloud, making Zach scoff.
"She's dead, Mikhail. Here, feel it!" He mockingly showed Lana's throat. "No pulse, nothing, nada! You fucking Seeker, you have the nerve to show up after what you did..."
"I didn't!" I finally cracked. I didn't, right? "It was her. She was the one who-"
"Save it." Zach spat, picking her body up to his chest. "Now do your thing and send us to earth."
I couldn't look away from Lana's pale face. It felt like ages as I shook my head, trying to bring Lana closer to me. But Zach was there to stop me with a sneer.
"No, no, no. You don't get to act as if you care. You say you'll do anything for her and you end up driving a dagger through her heart. You fucking fool, you shit! So full of shit!" Before he could really jump on me, a sharp intake of breath made both of us turn our heads to look at Lana.
With a cracked voice, she called out. "I am alive...?"
***
Guys, the next chapter will be the end of book two. What do you guys think about this one? Let me know your opinions!