Chapter Two
“She’s jinxed,” a female voice said in the darkness. “There’s no way to save her…she’s human.” I didn’t understand, because what else would I be?
Then, flashes of the millipede monster standing over me, the battle that exploded in shattering glass, clashing metal, and harsh light, came to me in waves. What if they were monsters as well? I had to get away, but my body wouldn’t respond, and I was getting frustrated.
“No, she’ll be fine,” said a very familiar voice. “I know her very well.” It was Rosie’s voice that I heard. I felt an enormous wave of relief that she found me. “Take her upstairs.”
Upstairs? There wasn’t an upstairs to the Salvation Army building. I trusted Rosie always, and without question, but I had no idea where I was at or who the girl was.
“Really, you’re going to try to save it?” the girl’s voice asked as I wondered why she called me “it”.
“Yes, because she’s a fighter and…one of us now.” Rosie replied as I could feel movement and wished it would stop because it was making me sick.
“You know, you don’t have to save every lost and hurt animal we come across.” The girl’s voice protested.
“No, I don’t, but then where would you be?” The girl didn’t answer and I tried to cling to consciousness as everything around me faded to blackness.
The first thing I noticed was the constant and annoying tapping sound, like a loud clock. I breathed in a deep breath of warm air and was glad it wasn’t the cold air from outside. That means I’m inside—somewhere, with someone. Rosie—she’s here. I forced my eyes open to see the girl with black hair jump from her chair and stand defensively. She gazed steadily with bright blue eyes. I remembered her from the alley, where I was attacked by the monster.
She was tall, and dressed in jeans and a black T-shirt. I sat up looking at her.
“Don’t play any games with me jinxed girl.” She warned holding out a black dagger in front of her.
“I don’t want to play games with you,” I said shaking my head. “Where’s—”
“Don’t talk to me until you answer my questions.” She kept her eyes on me. “Where’d you come from?”
“Come from?” I was confused by her simple question. “From here…from Pleasantville.” She rolled her eyes. “Look—”
“No! I said no talking, and of course you’re from Pleasantville.” She flicked her dagger at me. “Now, tell me where you’re really from—what realm, what dimension. I’m only giving you one chance.”
“Oh, come on Bea, you usually give at least two, especially to small defenseless humans.” From out of nowhere, and leaning casually against the wall, was a boy about my age with light brown wavy hair. He crossed his arms smiling at the girl.
“She’s jinxed, and you know what that means.” Bea’s eyes flashed to him.
His dark eyes twinkled at her. “Yeah, and that’s what we thought of you when you first came here.” He stood next to her, touching her gently on the shoulder. “There’s no need to get all defensive, she’s been checked.” He shrugged his shoulders as I wondered what he meant by ‘checked’. “I think our little alley kitten here, is perfectly safe.” His eyes glided over to me. “Aren’t you darling?”
I gazed between Bea and the boy. He raised his eyebrows.
“Cat got your tongue, sweetie?” His tone was playful.
“No,” I finally answered.
He turned back to Bea with hands out to his sides. “There, see, perfectly reasonable.” He motioned to me.
“Loki…you’re just an idiot.” Bea shook her head and stepped closer to me still holding the dagger out.
“And you, Bea, have way too much demon in you. You should try a little human personality on—it would do you some good.”
Bea gave a huff as she started to say something to Loki, and then waved it off. He smiled with a nod of his head.
“Where am I?” I finally asked as they both looked at me. “And what was that thing in the alley?” I shivered as Loki smiled, pushed Bea out of the way, and sat next to me.
“Well, my little kitten, it seems you’ve come across and initiation coin, and been marked as a guardian of this realm.” He smiled. “Not sure how that happened, but it did, and here you are at our hideout right here in lovely Pleasantville.”
“Why don’t you just tell her all of our secrets?” Bea’s tone was sarcastic.
“Well, if you insist…” Loki looked over his shoulder, and I followed his gaze to see Rosie.
“Rosie,” I said with joy and relief to see a familiar face.
“Bea, I thought you were supposed to come and get me when Eliza woke up?”
Bea glanced at me with her striking blue eyes, and then back at Rosie.
“I think the demon in her overrode your instructions, Rosie, giving into her inner demon diva. Muwahahaha!” Loki fanned his hands shaking them at Bea, and pretended to be scared of her.
“Both of you stop it!” Rosie demanded with a stomp of her foot. “All I asked for was a little help with Eliza.”
“We don’t care about her.” Bea pointed her finger at me. “She wasn’t part of the contract. So, the way I see it, we don’t have any rules that cover incidences like this.” She folded her arms and smirked at Rosie.
Rosie stiffened her shoulders, glared at Bea with her eyes like laser beams, and with heavy footsteps, walked over to her. “You abide by my rules and my rules only. They are subject to change, and if you don’t like it, then you know where you can go.”
“That would be Hell, kitten,” Loki said leaning over by me. “And I don’t mean metaphorically, I mean the resort for demons, but only if you’re a high demon do you reap the benefits.”
Bea flipped her hair and sniffled as she fidgeted with her dagger.
“Do we understand?” Rosie’s voice was calm.
“Yes,” she replied in a low voice.
Rosie smiled and shook her head as she tapped Bea gently on the shoulder.
“Now, why don’t both of you leave because you’ve done enough damage here.” Rosie motioned for Loki to get up, and then pointed towards the door.
They left with a quiet click of the door, and then I could hear their hushed voices arguing as soon as it shut. Rosie glanced back and shook her head.
“I’m sorry Eliza that was an awful introduction into a world that you were never supposed to ever know about, but one that has secretly laced its way throughout the history of this world.” She sat next to me. “How are you feeling?”
“I don’t know—Rosie, what…what is going on? I mean who were they? The thing in the alley…the coin the lady dropped,” I said looking away. “She dropped it and I picked it up.” I looked back at Rosie. “That’s when everything started.”
“Nothing like going from the frying pan into the fire,” she held my hand, the one that still had a red spot on it from the coin burring it. “The lady that dropped the coin was a recruiter, and she was delivering an initiation coin to the sales clerk there.” She looked at me from under her eyebrows. “The one you stole the jeans from.” Her voice filled with disapproval.
“I can explain, Rosie—”
“She’s dead,” Rosie said bluntly.
I looked away as my head spun. “It was my fault.”
“No, it wasn’t your fault.” Rosie tugged at my chin until I met her eyes. “A lot has been dumped on you, and you’ve fallen into a world not many know of, but exist right under their feet, in their backyards, and in old buildings.” She waved her hands as she glanced around the room. “It’s been here as long as the human race has, and survives only in secrecy.” Her eyes filled with empathy. “Eliza, I’m sorry that this has happened and I know you are frightened, but can you recall anything that happened in the alley.”
I looked away and leaned back on the pillow not knowing what to believe as flashes of the millipede monster ran thr
ough my head.
“It talked to me, the monster, it had…legs, lots of legs and there were two other voices, but I couldn’t see them.” I rubbed my forehead. “What was it Rosie?”
“That was a demon. Bea, Will and Loki were chasing it, and lucky for you, they found you as well.” Rosie brushed the hair from my eyes as I wondered who Will was. “The world is much larger than anyone can imagine and filled with secret passages to other places. I think you, Eliza, stumbled into one of those doorways.” She continued to stroke my hair in a motherly way.
“What will happen to me?”
My questioned went unanswered as my eyes grew heavy, and everything turned to darkness for only a split second before a light shattered it to pieces. Silver and white ripped through the dark veil that curled around me. And just like a violent storm, it quickly passed into calmness.
I knew I was still in bed because I could feel the soft blanket surround me. I moved my sore legs and rolled to my side as I could hear the sound of music echoing in the distance. My eyes opened to the sound of a lonely violin.
I reluctantly sat up, realized the monster in the alley, Bea, Loki, and everything that has happened, was real. The music was non-stop, and for some reason, drew me out of bed and to the door. I paused and listened as I opened the door a little farther.
Soon, I was in a long hallway with many doors, all closed, except for one that was cracked open. The violin continued playing as I stood outside and peeked in. Pale light poured in through the window, and then I saw who was responsible for the sweet music—a CD player.
I stepped back just as the door whisked open, and standing stone faced in front of me, was the boy with the white and silver hair that I saw in the alley when I was attacked. He stared at me with his pale blue eyes. I stepped back with my gaze laced with his. I should’ve said something, but I couldn’t speak, only stare at his strange appearance.
Finally, I managed to turn myself around, and head back to my room.
“Does Rosie know you’re up and walking around?” His voice had a charm and sincerity to it that made you want to hear more.
I turned and stared at him, and then noticed he had a paintbrush in his hand covered with blue paint. He took notice, and then smiled at me.
“Well, I’m going to guess that Rosie doesn’t know you’re up and walking around, and since you are, I would love to have someone critique my painting.” He stepped aside, and like a stray cat, I walked into the room knowing he could be dangerous. I kept telling myself to run, but I couldn’t take my eyes from him.
The room had no furniture in it, but lots of paintings, mostly landscapes, and some covered with splotches of color. Tall windows were on the outside wall, and I could see Lake Moore in the distance, we were clear on the other side of town—in the abandoned district.
He went over to a tall easel and turned it around so I could see, and then looked at me waiting for a response. It had swirling designs of various shades of blue and tinges of green. I glanced back at him with slightly trembling lips.
“Well, what do you think?” He glanced at it then back at me.
“Well,” I started to say shrugging my shoulders feeling uncomfortable.
“Let me ask you this,” he said stepping beside me with his hand to his mouth. “What does it remind you of…just the first thing that comes to your thoughts.” He fixed his eyes on the painting.
I glanced back at it and really only saw colors, but then, as I gazed at it, something changed. “Water,” I replied without even thinking about it, “with moss starting to form on it.”
He slowly gazed down at me with his pale eyes. “Interesting, because I was going for morning light—sun and wind in color form.” He walked back over to it, and began painting. “It’s my first time with watercolor, and I’m not sure if I like the element or not.”
I stood still, and watched him gracefully paint. He let the purple colors bleed with the blue and orange, mixing into muddy shades that complemented the bright colors. It was really beautiful, though it still looked like splotches of colors to me.
“Oh, and by the way, thank you for your opinion. Especially since I’m painting from your world—one I’m not totally familiar with yet,” he said casually, and continued to paint with the violin music in the background.
I took a step back as flashes of the monster attack ran through my head. I remembered seeing Bea, and another, one with white hair streaked with silver. I wondered if he was the Will Rosie mentioned. Goosebumps ran up and down my arms as I took another step back.
He continued to paint, engrossed in his creation, as I made my way to the door.
“You know, you’re a lucky little human,” he said turning around with his blue eyes like darts on me. He cocked his head to the side, and gave me a curious gaze while holding his saturated brush dripping paint to the floor. “Do I make you nervous?”
I didn’t know how to answer the blunt question. He did make me feel nervous, but I didn’t want him to know that or even acknowledge it. I wrapped my arms around my waist tighter.
“Of course you are—that’s obvious.” He stood up.
He was tall and thin, like a vine with long arms and legs. He looked strong though, as I could see the roundness of his muscles through the long sleeved, grey shirt he had on. Paint was smeared on his faded jeans and his chin length hair curled around his square jawline.
“Don’t fear me little one,” he smiled. “I’m the one that saved you from those two imps.” He shook his head. “They hardly put up a fight. Either they’re getting easier for me to kill, or they’re becoming increasingly stupid.”
“What about the third?” I asked as his eyes darted back to me.
“Third?” he questioned. “There was no third imp.”
I bit my lip, looked away closing my eyes, and thinking of how the millipede’s hundreds of sharp legs felt on my bare skin.
“Are you alright, little one?” Suddenly he asked standing in front of me.
“I know I saw a third,” I said as the door opened.
“Look, human,” Bea said standing in the doorway in an agitated voice, “if you don’t get back to your bed, Rosie isn’t going to be happy with me, and then I won’t be happy with you. I’ve looked all over for you, and now Rosie just got home and…”
“There was a third monster there that night.” I ignored Bea. “It talked to me, and had legs—lots of legs,” I shivered, “like an insect, and he said his name was Angus.”
His eyes lifted from me to Bea standing behind me.
“He told you his name?” he asked.
“She was probably hallucinating,” Bea protested.
“He actually told you his name?” he repeated.
“No,” I said gazing into his now blue eyes that I remembered as white marbles that night. “The other two, what did you call them, imps? They’re the ones that said his name.”
“They know we have it, Bea.” He gazed over my shoulder at her. “I guess there isn’t anywhere you can go, and what was I thinking—there is no place too small or too big that demons won’t travel.” He paced the floor waving his hands in the air.
I could feel my head swim with everything that has happened. This was crazy, and I knew it. This place…the demons that were probably a figment of my imagination, and even Rosie, what was she? Of all people what was she doing being involved in something so ludicrous.
I turned to Bea, and walked towards her. She straightened, and blocked the doorway with her hands resting on the doorjamb with a smile.
“Going somewhere?” she snickered. “You can’t get past me, human.”
I stood gazing up at her, when suddenly, her blue eyes melted into flickering flames that burned the color away. Blackness filled them with two delicate slits, for pupils, revealed the flames underneath.
“I’m not one to be reckoned with.” She smiled, and then hissed expelling a long, black, forked tongue that
barely brushed my lips.
“Bea, honestly!” he said pulling me back. “Do you have to be so dramatic, especially since our little one here is already frightened?”
Bea sucked in her tongue like a piece of spaghetti, and shrugged her shoulders. “No, but I haven’t done it in a while, and I miss it,” she slightly pouted. “Rosie won’t let me do it anymore to the awful younger humans going to their educational facility that used to make faces at me through the bus windows when I got stuck in traffic. Or the male humans that try to engage in sex with me when I had to ride the city bus after I wrecked the car.”
Bea’s eyes turned back normal—at least normal to me. She smiled slightly as I wished I could leave the room.
“She’s jinxed you know,” she said in a matter-of-fact tone.
He glanced back at me and then at Bea. “Don’t believe me Will. I’ll show you.”
Bea grabbed me roughly by the arm, and pulled up my sleeve to reveal the circular tattoo with intricate lines. Will’s eyes widened as he brushed his fingers across it. Electricity sparked from under his touch, and I jerked my arm away.
“Look, I don’t care who you guys are or what you are.” I backed up slowly with my hands out in front of me. “I don’t want to be involved in any of this…this crazy thing…” I was just about outside the room, and I readied myself to make a run for it.
Bea gazed at me with a smile, then like a flash, her image disappeared. I turned around to see her behind me with crossed arms.
“You’re not going anywhere,” she chuckled. “Whether you like it or not, you’re one of us.”
I glared at her. “I don’t want to be one of you, and I don’t have to.”
Bea grabbed my arm, ripped the sleeve from my shirt exposing the black tattoo. “This says otherwise. And this mark means you’re a guardian of the earth realm.” She let go of my arm, and peered down at me with her blue eyes. “You don’t have a choice now, human.” Her voice was filled with disgust. “When you stole the coin that was meant for another who by the way was much more qualified than you, made you one of us—a guardian.” Bea looked away, her eyes had blackened with a fiery slit that flickered through her tear welling eyes.
She gazed at me with repulsion as her lips trembled trying to say something before she bolted down the hallway. Her quick footsteps echoed followed by a door slamming shut.
I jumped at the sound, and folded my arms around myself. My torn sleeve hung at my side as I stood there.
“She’s not always that way. Bea is actually a very nice demon, considering where she came from,” Will said standing behind me.
“I can’t believe any of this.” My voice was flat. “It’s crazy…it can’t be happening to me.” I didn’t know if I wanted to cry, scream or run. Instead, I turned to Will. “What are you, a demon too?” My voice was sarcastic.
Will raised an eyebrow. “No, I’m actually a prince.”
I let out a laugh that echoed to the downstairs. “Well, if you’ll excuse me, your highness, I’m leaving.” I looked at him for a moment as he leaned against the wall.
“Good day then and I wish you well.” He smiled.
I nodded my head, and slowly started walking down the hallway half expecting him to grab me.
“It would be a shame for you to go, though,” he said, and I stopped. “Initiation coins aren’t for everyone. They usually kill most humans without the proper rights performed and instruction. It would be a shame, yes, to not find out why you’re not dead from not only the coin, but from demon scratches.” My hand went immediately to my stomach.
I turned around and gazed at him in wonder. Strange things had happened, no doubt, and I did want answers, but wasn’t sure how badly. I could easily walk away, and forget everything I had seen, but it was so fantastical that it was unbelievable. I had to know what I had accidently fallen into, and it helped that Rosie was here or I would’ve run away a long time ago.
“Also, it’s cold outside and more snow is expected, and not to make judgment, but I don’t think you have anywhere to go.”