Kiera
I jumped in my mother's open arms. She clutched me just as tightly as I hugged her.
"I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you. I haven't stopped looking for you," she put her hands on my shoulders to hold me away so she could look me in the eyes, "I had no idea the Known Families had banished you to the Gray Sector all this time. I was kept in the dark like every other Nephilim about what was actually happening. When I saw you on the big screen, oh my gosh, I can't even explain what I felt."
"It's okay, mom. I understand," I said wiping tears from my eyes.
"You've grown to be such a strong young woman," my mom said.
I blushed and thanked her.
"Aw, I'm so happy for you, Kiera," Mei said.
Justine was sitting on the huge bed, smiling. She was like a completely different person.
Declan was leaning against the wall, silently watching our exchange.
"Mom, you can stay in this room with us if you want," I offered.
"Oh, no. It's okay. I'm sharing a room with my friends. Just come get me if you want to talk or need help with anything," my mom said, hugging me again.
~
Justine and I would be sharing the large bed for the night while the guys slept on the carpeted floor.
I fell asleep to Mei's quiet sobs.
~
"Wake up, it's mornin'!" Mei yelled as he yanked the curtains open.
Sunlight flooded the room and I groaned.
It was unusually silent in the building. With so many Neph, I would expect it to be bustling with energy.
"I'll be right back," I said and closed the bedroom door behind me.
I walked downstairs to the lower levels. No one was out in the halls or in the kitchen like I had expected. I made my way back to the upper levels.
I knocked on the first guest bedroom door. There was so answer so I figured they must still be sleeping. I continued to do the same to each door on the second floor. No one answered.
Something was wrong.
I opened a random door that was unlocked. The room was clean and well organized, but no one was in here. There should have at least been four or five Neph sleeping in here.
I checked every room on the second floor. Each room was completely empty of guests.
Without having to check the other floors, I knew they would all be empty also.
I sprinted back up to my room to alert the others. I threw open the door in a panic to see all three of them on the balcony.
My heart began to beat rapidly in my chest. Something felt so wrong.
I stepped onto the balcony and looked down. What I saw almost made me pass out. Declan gripped my shoulder tightly in his hand. Justine and Mei looked furious.
The flowers Mei and I had just planted around the fountain were trampled. But that wasn't what made us so frightened and angry.
It was every single Nephilim standing with blank faces and raised arms. It wasn't just the Neph who had been in the mansion with us. Somehow, it looked to be every last surviving Nephilim. They must have been captured from underground. The Known Families stood behind them.
"What naïve, young children you all are. It was moronic to think we would just leave forever. Now, because of you four, we have complete control over every Nephilim still alive. Or, shall we say, robots? Or does that seem to cruel?" The King said, disgusted.
"You will all give up on your little fantasy. Soon, you will be just like them. Their brains are slowly deteriorating as we speak. The longer they are in this state, the harder it is for them to get out of it. There's nothing you can do about it. You have ultimately failed," the Queen added.
All at once, the Nephilim surged forward as if they were given a command in their heads.
I shot a look at my friends. I froze on Mei's face. It was like he saw a ghost. His face was so pale I was afraid he was on the verge of passing out.
"Kristi," he whispered, not taking his eyes off one of the Nephilim.
There, in the front row, was Kristi.
And next to Kristi, was Trev.
"Ah, I see you've found your friends. You must be shocked to see them standing. Oh well, this isn't a very nice reunion now, is it?" The Queen taunted as the rest of the Known Families laughed.
I couldn't move. I didn't understand. How could Trev still be alive? He had died in my arms. I knew for sure he had died. There was no way he could have survived, was there?
Kristi, too. She had surely been dead when we left her behind. She had been impaled right through the chest. There was no way she could have survived.
Yet, here they both were. Defying the laws of death.
Then I saw my mother in the second row, right behind them. This was so bad, I couldn't even wrap my mind around it. I wouldn't.
"Dec-" I forced out before fading to the darkness that had been slowly eating up the light these past weeks.
~
Declan
I've always known which powers the Nephilim in the Known Families possessed. As far as I knew, none of them had the ability in inhabit and dominate control of the minds of the Neph.
Bending Kristi and Trev to their will was sick. So was the use of Kiera's mother.
They knew that by forcing the Neph we care about the most to do their bidding, we would be more willing to summit to their demands. We wouldn't put up as much of a fight.
Especially now that Kristi and Trev were alive.
Kiera had passed out a while ago in my arms. Mei was just on the verge of joining her. Justine tightly wrapped her arm around his waist in case he did pass out.
The Nephilim kept coming forward. In no time, they would reach us.
I clashed eyes with Justine's turquoise ones. She nodded, knowing what we had to do. Justine scooped Mei in her arms right as he passed out. I did the same with Kiera as we jumped on top of the balcony railing.
Snapping our wings open, we took off. There were far too many Nephilim for us to fight off. Not that we wanted to. We would be killing innocent Neph just to save ourselves if we did try to stop them.
The Known Families were just as evil as the demons. Nothing else could compare to how rotten they were.
Hell was not just a place for demons. The Known Families will go to Hell for all of this.
And I would see them there.