Death was late. For a creature that seemed precise, he was almost an hour overdue. During that hour I watched Izzy, waiting for a sign that she was alive rather than a bodily version of a ghost. Nothing had changed and I was beginning to think that Death was going to back out of our arrangement. My focus shifted to Ash. I thought about Death's threat to ensure Ash met his maker, and shivered.
Liam spoke from a shady area near the trees. "Maybe they're not coming."
"Maybe Willow got the time wrong," Ash shot back, but grimaced when he saw Savannah's irritation.
"Should we leave?" Izzy's voice was interrupted by the rustling of nearby vegetation and a redhead emerging from the bushes.
Kali walked into the open and stared at me with a single eyebrow raised. "They'll be here in a second. We were ... indisposed." She attempted a smile, but it withered into a scowl when she saw Liam. "What are you doing here?"
Liam lifted his lips into the sideways smile he’d perfected. "I'm supporting friends. Miss me, Vixen?"
Kali snorted and turned her attention towards the woods behind her. Her arms were crossed, giving the impression of intentionally ignoring Liam's presence. His laugh conveyed his amusement at her attempt, which only brought forth a snarl from her.
My friends and I instinctively gathered for protection, standing in the shape of a half moon, waiting for Death and his Hellhounds to fill the other half. Again, I was left to wait. Patience running thin, I was tempted to leave, but thought better of it, considering that Death would most likely retaliate.
A short while later, women began emerging from the same brush that Kali had come through. Five women transformed our group into a sphere, but I wasn't sure women was the right term. They were more like wild goddesses. Each had a unique look, their stances and eyes revealing various personalities. I wondered how I could possibly fit into their pack.
"Willow, everyone, these are my sisters." Kali waved her hand in their direction, but seemed to ignore them otherwise.
A tall, dark brunette took a step forward and smiled. "What Kali means to say is that we are your sisters." I recognized Aria from my meeting with Death and felt the same familiar pull, as I had in our last meeting.
"I'm sorry, but how am I supposed to consider you sisters when I barely know any of you?" I sounded bitter and angry, which made me feel guilty, but what did they expect? "I'm leaving my true sisters behind to go with a bunch of strangers."
"You don't need to accept us yet. We know that will come in time." Aria looked at the Hellhounds and they each nodded in turn. Obviously, she was the leader.
"As for knowing us, you already know my name is Aria. You have met Kali and Ivy – though I should warn you, Ivy has an attitude that could match a Venus Fly Trap." Ivy, the platinum blonde, snorted and examined her fingernails, before shooting me a look that could melt glaciers.
A voice of pure wind rushed through the crowd towards me. It came from a tall, dark beauty with the figure of a model. She said, "I'm Bay." She was striking, with almond eyes and high cheekbones. Her stare was a conflict of intensity and compassion. Her skin gleamed a soft, golden bronze in the moonlight, reminding me of an ancient Egyptian; her hair hung free like the mane of a wild horse.
Aria jabbed an elbow into the last Hellhound. She looked out of place in her surroundings. Her raven hair was long and unkempt, which strangely complimented her bizarre eyes. I felt bad for staring, but her eyeballs were pitch-black. I attempted to look over her shoulder before she could notice my unforgiving stare, but I was too late.
"It's okay. Everyone stares the first time they meet me. I'm told that my eyes are an acquired taste." She smiled, "My name is Calla, and I promise that I'm not an evil demon that's going to carry you down through the nine circles of Hell."
"That's good. I don't really have a desire to vacation in Hell. I like a warm climate, but not boiling."
Behind me, Savannah cleared her throat, but Izzy laughed. I directed an apologetic look towards Savannah and introduced my friends to the Hellhounds.
"Is Death coming?" The revulsion in my tone was unmistakable, but the Hellhounds didn't seem to take it personally.
Aria nodded, "He's just running late...."
"Um, could you be a little more specific?" Izzy voiced from my left side.
Savannah moved forward to take up my right flank. We waited silently while various expressions crossed each of the Hellhounds’ faces and they gazed at one another in a silent communion. I had a feeling that they weren't used to anyone demanding answers of them.
"Anyone?" Ash spoke from his corner of the clearing. "It's horrible enough that he is taking her away, but he can't even be on time? He better have a darn good excuse."
Ivy stopped inspecting her fingernails long enough to take in our group. She rolled her eyes and spoke, "There's a big mess in the Cavern. Apparently, the door was loose and some souls escaped. We had to track them down and now he is fixing the door."
"Huh?" Now I was confused. I thought souls went to Heaven or Hell, but what was this about a Cavern?
"The Cavern is where souls are stored until they are assigned an afterlife. Ordinarily it works fine, but the inscriptions are so old that some of them wilted and Death needs to recharge them." Bay's explanation made a lot more sense, but I couldn't help wondering how many souls were stored, and whether or not they were aware of being held prisoner until they could be judged. It made me shiver.
Moments passed in silence while we studied one another. I was caught in the middle, between my old life and my new one, and it was extremely uncomfortable. The uneasy peace between the two groups was grating on my nerves. I blamed Death, because I couldn't fully belong to either any longer. If souls needed to be stored like criminals, shouldn't he be certain that their prison is secure before it ages badly enough for them to escape? Did this mean that some souls remained unspoken for? I couldn't help but worry that the souls of serial killers might be running rampant, with the same sort of functionality that Izzy possessed.
A cool breeze swept through our group, bringing comfort with it, and the scent of poppies. My tension eased, carried away on the wind, until I looked across the clearing to see Death positioned a few feet behind Ash, sitting on a lower branch of a tree, his eyes gleaming in the moonlight. Somehow, I could feel him laughing on the inside. With the grace of Kit, he leaped from his perch and landed effortlessly with his knees bent and one arm held in front for balance.
In a matter of seconds, he had placed himself in the center of the group. The Hellhounds didn't seem surprised by his presence, but my friends did. They clustered around me, as if protecting a helpless lamb from the predatory lion. A half smile and a slight crinkling to his eyes were the only hints that Death had similar thoughts.
"Are you ready?" His voice was smoother than I remembered. Palm upwards, his right hand swayed to his side to indicate that I should follow him. The action was reminiscent of a gentleman, but I couldn't picture Death having the grace to behave that way. He seemed more like a rogue who took what he wanted, when he wanted it.
I took one look at Izzy and shook my head. I realized I probably looked like a ridiculous toddler who didn't want to leave the playground, but he hadn't kept up his end of the bargain. Izzy was as she had been all summer: dead. How could he expect me to leave with him, when he had broken our pact?
Death sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, the way I would when I felt a headache coming on, and nodded. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw an overwhelmingly large smile cross Kali's face.
Savannah's Journal
There are some things people are taught at a young age that others are forced to learn for themselves. Parents have an annoying way of spouting random quotes as their way to prove their points, but it never really seems to sink in. However, warnings that Maye had a habit of passing on were now running rampant through my brain: "Be careful what you wish for;” "Never trust a stranger;” "Death is deceitful,” and my favorite: "Always be wary."
Wil
low's choice had placed me in the exact kind of situation that Maye had attempted to keep me from. The worst part was that I knew it was a horrible idea. If I thought I could get away with it, I would take Willow far away and hide her from the decision she had already made. Unable to protect my best friend, I felt helpless, forced to watch her commit to something I was sure she would regret….
SAVANNAH
I was off balance. My mind nudged at memories from my vision and from my interaction with Ash the night before, but I forced them to focus on the event unfolding before me. Willow, the Hellhounds, and Death seemed to be silently communicating with one another via expressions and gestures.
Willow had been ready to leave, but was now standing still as a rock, directing an unflinching gaze at Death. While their group knew what was happening, mine was at a loss. We exchanged confused glances, but otherwise tried not to seem completely out of the loop. Instead, I forced my hardened gaze towards Death, mimicking Willow's. Izzy did the same and the guys followed suit.
"I take it this means you're still set on our agreement?"
Death's gaze lingered on Willow's before turning to seek Izzy. He circled her, as a scavenger would while waiting for the meat to die before swooping down to gather its prey. Izzy's brow was furrowed, but otherwise, she remained unaffected by Death's proximity.
"Yes," Willow nodded. "That was our deal. If you want me to join the pack, you need to make mine whole again."
Tension built amongst the Hellhounds, their faces alternating between serious, worried, and terrified. Why were they terrified? What had Willow agreed to?
Death turned back to look at Willow. "Do you know what life is?" She made no indication of answering. "Life is the beginning. It's the warmth of a fire, the first sign of spring. Life is fertility and femininity."
"I don't care what it is." Her words were filled with fury, her eyes narrowed in suspicion, and she stepped forward to press against his chest. "I only care that you keep your promise. I am giving up everything – my friends, my family, my life. Stop wasting what little time I have left!" Her right hand inched up to press against his chest once more in what was sure to be one hell of a push, but he stopped her. Instead, she found her wrist locked in his and he spun her around to whisper in her ear.
"When you are asking for a favor, you're supposed to say please.”
She tried to break away but his hold tightened. A sound between anguish and irritation ground out from between her lips and she turned her head to look him in the eyes.
"Please, do me a favor and go to Hell." The tone in which she said it, and the fact the Willow was the one speaking that way, brought a gasp from everyone in the clearing. Death, however, didn't seem surprised.
Death spun Willow back around to face him. Her wrist remained in his possession, but she didn't try to escape him. He sighed. "I can only hope that one day you will realize what a brat you're being right now."
He let Willow go and retreated a few feet before raising his right hand. It burst into flame, the fire bathing his hand, growing from a light yellow to a darkened crimson, before being absorbed into his body. I watched while the flames moved from his hand to his shoulder, then down his body until it disappeared into the ground below.
Death's eyes didn't leave Willow's for a second. Uneasy, I backed up until I felt Ash at my back and sank gratefully into his chest. He was shaking, his breath coming in hard gushes against my neck, and his hands tightened against my upper arms. Worried, I looked upwards to his face, but he wasn't looking at me. He was staring in the other direction; in his eyes, a fear I hadn't seen before.
I followed Ash's gaze to see the fire emerging from the Earth. It wasn't a miniature flame any longer, but was building into a raging inferno around Izzy's insubstantial feet. Suddenly, the Earth shook and the flames burst upwards to consume her whole frame. I wouldn't have been worried since Izzy was already dead, but her screams were not the screams of a dead woman. She could feel that fire.
Izzy's screams continued to block out all other sound. The fire transformed her ghostly apparition into a charred body with living eyes. In them, I could see knowledge and understanding, and the pain that came with it. She was being bathed in the flames of Hell, and Death had put her there.
I launched my body forwards and threw everything I had into challenging Death. I had to make it stop. Izzy was in agony and he had caused it. Before I could inflict pain on him, Willow launched her form against his and they flew across the clearing, slid along the ground, and slammed into a tree. She straddled his torso and began wailing her fists against him, screaming that he had to take it back.
I was surprised when the Hellhounds didn't come to his rescue, but they looked at the rest of the group uneasily, as if expecting us to attack them. Ash and Liam each grabbed hold of my arms to keep me from joining Willow's fight. It didn't take me long to realize that Death wasn't fighting back. He was simply lying, unmoving, while Willow continued her assault.
Everyone was so focused on Willow beating on Death that our focus had shifted away from Izzy. Sometime during the bizarre scene, Izzy's screams had turned from one of excruciating pain into a ghostly shriek straight out of a bad horror film.
Willow stopped mid-punch, still straddling Death, and turned to look at Izzy. The clearing went silent, as though we were caught in the eye of a storm. The charred remains of Izzy had yet to fall into a pile of ashes. Instead, they remained in the shape of a female form. She reminded me of a cracked statue that was covered in volcanic ash.
Steam rose from the ash that was once Izzy while everyone held their breath, afraid that any movement would worsen the situation and make it more real. I didn't cry. It wasn't that I didn't feel the need to, but that I was barren of feeling. I didn't have anything left to give and I think some aspect of me had to be in denial.
The soothing breeze that had swept through our group earlier was now whittling away at Izzy's mass. In sequence, everyone cried out, moving towards the remains, as if by protecting them from the wind we could somehow piece her back together. Our attempts were futile. The moment the wind brushed against her ashen form, it blew apart, and rained down to blaze against our skin.
I expected what was left of Izzy to fall into a chaotic pile. I didn't anticipate the explosion that spewed the debris in all directions. I didn't anticipate anything to be left beneath the mass of death, but when she stared into my eyes, I recognized Izzy. No longer was she her typical, teenage, gothic self, but a mature beauty that didn't resemble the Izzy I knew.
Izzy stared at us silently, seeing us, but not truly recognizing any of us. She reminded me of amnesia patients I had seen at the county hospital. There was no recognition or a sign that her personality remained.
Her graceful neck arched as she stared at each of us in turn, her crimson eyes taking in our group without processing more than the physical world. Her hair had grown to brush against her mid-thighs in a wild mass of curls. It wasn't a solid color, but an array of reds, golds, and browns. She was enveloped in a red and black silken gauze that twitched every few seconds. Her face was beautifully sculpted with a combination of intensity and perfection, her pupils transformed from the ordinary pupil of a human to a cat-like slit.
Death stood in the background. In shock, Willow had let him go. She sat at his feet with a baffled expression, as though incapable of stringing words together.
Liam was the first to voice the question that was running through all of our minds. "What did you do to her?"
"I didn't do anything. I merely sent out a message and that …" he pointed at Izzy, "is the answer I was given."
Willow finally jolted herself from her stilted repose and turned on Death. "You told me you would give her life, not do ... this!"
She waved towards Izzy and I wondered if she thought of Izzy as less than alive, because I was fairly sure she was living. I could see Izzy's chest moving with each breath, puffing the faintest mist of breath against the night air, though her lack of movement and
voice had me worried.
Death glanced away in a manner that reminded me of Maye when she was attempting to control her anger. When he looked back at Willow, he emphasized each individual word, "I ... said ... I am Death ... not Life." His hands reached up to grasp his hair and pulled, as though the pain from his scalp would help him regain control of the situation.
"I told you I couldn't give her back her life unless you wanted a zombie walking around town! I had limited choices." His eyes were wild. "I tried to explain before, but you wouldn't listen. Life is fire, earth ... all the things I am not."
Willow attempted to cut him off, but he silenced her, placing his palm against her lips. "She is still your Izzy, she is just ... different. She's not human anymore, and she will take some time to regain her memories." As Death neared the last of the sentence, his voice softened and he removed his hand.
Everyone watched Izzy, waiting for a sign that she knew who we were or what she was. The gauze-like substance she was wrapped in twitched again and I walked forward cautiously, afraid that I might spook her, but she barely registered my approach.
"Iz...?" Her eyes locked on mine and she looked down to notice the jacket I held in my hands. I wasn't sure that my coat would fit her, but I didn't have anything else to offer.
She studied me before reaching a hand out to take the jacket, allowing me to see that she wasn't wearing gauze; it was wearing her! She pulled the jacket to her chest and the gauze opened to reveal her human body, exposing her not-so-human wings.
The wings extended out to a twelve foot radius. Transfixed by their movement, dancing in the wind, they lured me inward, obscuring the world, until all I could see was their delicate beauty.
We were all vulnerable to the song of purity that was Izzy's wings. As they swayed, a strong sound rose with them, beginning as a murmur that I almost believed to be my imagination, and building towards a searing passionate song that spoke of life, death, and rebirth. The song painted a vision of souls entwined, as they strove towards the light or dark. A vision of pain, one of being torn from the beauty of the afterlife, slashed through my abdomen, leaving me breathless.