Fire
Kat was dead.
She had died, and it was all her fault.
Scarlett felt numb and motionless. She sat there like a mannequin on the bed.
“Scar, come on.”
“She’s dead, Dyston. She’s dead, and they didn’t tell me. I should’ve been there.”
“I know, but Jacob wanted to be alone.”
‘Jacob alone’ were the words that flew around her brain, banging into the sides again and again, hurting her, accompanied by the words all my fault.
“Come on, we have to go,” he told her, passing her a black lace dress. She didn’t know where it had come from, but she put it on anyway over her black underwear. Today was the day for black— black clothes, black soul. She might as well have black wings like Dyston, just to add to it. That was how guilty she felt.
Scarlett let Dyston drag her through the building down to the chapel, but no one was there. That’s weird, she thought. Wasn’t there supposed to be a funeral? She soon found out that the funeral was being held underground in the crypt. They stepped through a side door and made their way down dingy steps that smelt of mildew. Flickering candles were the only things that alerted Scarlett to the presence of others. They rounded a corner and entered a small sandstone room that was already crowded with Nephilim and one human priest. She saw her friends huddled together where some were crying while others were just standing sombrely. They formed a semi-circle around a stone table, and on it lay Kat wrapped in white silk. Scarlett felt the sudden urge to run to Kat and pull her off to swap places with her, but she stayed frozen. Jacob entered from a room opposite, and came to stand behind Kat’s head. Scarlett noticed that around his neck was a cord, and hanging from that cord, was a glass sphere. She glanced at Dyston.
“He’s going to collect her soul once everyone has gone,” he whispered. It made sense. Like everyone, an angel’s soul was precious and needed to be carried to its resting place. She always thought souls went to the Realm of Light, but she didn’t like that place anymore. To Scarlett, The Realm of Light was a place of torture, and she didn’t want Kat to go there. She wanted her soul to remain with Jacob where she’d be safe for eternity.
The room fell to silence. The only voice that could be heard was Father Luke’s.
“Katherine Cecilia James was named for her bravery at birth, and in death, she remained brave. May your passage to the final resting place be a safe one, our Heavenly sister.”
“Amen,” replied the congregation. Then Father Luke peeled back the white cloth and anointed Kat’s forehead with some type of oil before lowering the silk back over her face again. Kat looked peaceful as if she were sleeping. Scarlett wanted to think of it just like that… that she would be sleeping for a long time, like a princess in a fairy tale before her handsome prince came and woke her with a magical kiss. She hoped Jacob would be that prince.
After the ceremony, everyone filtered out and only Scarlett, Dyston, and Jacob remained with Kat. Two others also hovered just outside the doorway to the crypt, two guys, one that appeared to be in his late twenties to early thirties, and one that appeared to be in his teens. They must be Kat’s brothers, Scarlett thought. She wanted to say something to them.
“Jacob, I…” Scarlett didn’t know what to say to him she was at a loss for words. Should she apologise? She did feel guilty, but would Jacob accept it? Should she comfort him? Put her arms around him and embrace him? Or would he shrug her off? She felt helpless.
“It’s not your fault, Scarlett. Don’t blame yourself. Kat was too brave for her own good,” Jacob said with a sniffle. She realised he had been crying. He lifted back the white silk and began stroking her hair. That was when Scarlett noticed that Kat was wearing red lipstick, the same one she had worn to the Blackbell Masquerade Ball. But instead of a red dress, she wore a long white lacy gown that really did make her look like that fairy-tale princess. She figured either Emer or Delilah had dressed her like that and done her makeup, which was kind of them, she thought.
“I should’ve been there for her when she took her last breath,” Scarlett said, giving Dyston an accusing look.
“No, Dyston did the right thing by taking you away. You wouldn’t have wanted to see it. She suffered greatly.”
Jacob had just made her feel so much worse. It was as if a Tear Tip had punctured her heart, as well. Scarlett suddenly began to feel light-headed.
“Are you all right? Let’s get you some fresh air.” Dyston supported her arm and tried to lead her outside.
“No, I want to stay.”
“Go, I’ll be fine. Kat knew you were only trying to help her,” Jacob told her with a small smile. She felt better, but only a little. Dyston guided her back up the stairs, through the chapel, and into the setting sunlight.
The breeze was crisp coming off the Harbour, as Scarlett made her to way to the edge. Gabriel Academy had its own boat jetty, and Scarlett walked out onto it and stood at the end.
“Everything’s falling apart,” she said to no one in particular.
“We did everything we could.” Dyston came to stand behind her, placing a hand on her lower back.
“If I’m meant to be so special, can’t I do more to help? The world is falling down because of me.”
“The world is falling down because there are dark forces out there that are selfish and greedy.”
“I still feel as if I’m standing here doing nothing, while there are people out there that are dying. I should’ve just given myself up like Kat, and ended this war.”
“Martyrdom is not the answer to ending a war. Look at what just happened.”
“Exactly, Kat died for nothing. Lakyn is still out there spreading his evil tendrils.”
“What if I said that I know his kryptonite?” said Dyston. Scarlett turned to look him at him.
“I asked him, and he said he didn’t have one.”
“He was lying, or was in denial. There’s only one thing that can hurt him.”
“And what is that?”
“It’s not so much of a what, but rather who. And they are the reason for how he is today.”
Later that night Jacob couldn’t sleep. He tossed and turned. It was his first night without Kat, and he had never felt lonelier. He had tried with all his might to harvest her soul, but for some reason, it hadn’t worked. He had done it for his parents, and even his grandparents, but for Kat, it was different. Something wasn’t right. Her soul just couldn’t be removed.
He tried closing his eyes again, but as soon as he did, he saw a shadow leaning over Kat’s body. It was a dark hooded figure, and in its hand was a Soul Sphere. Jacob sat upright. Someone else was trying to take Kat’s soul. He jumped out of bed, and not bothering with a shirt or shoes, he ran to the crypt. Once he was inside the crypt, he saw him. The hooded figure was standing over Kat, poised to harvest a soul. Jacob unfurled his wings and stretched them out, and then he pulled a dagger from a sheath at his waist.
“Step away from her, and you won’t get hurt,” Jacob said as he held the silver dagger out in front of him. The figure growled, and it was then that Jacob noticed his eyes… they glowed red.
“You heard me, step back!” Jacob lunged, but the shadow lunged back, grabbing at his arms. Jacob twisted out of the way and lashed out with his dagger, slicing the demon’s back. Black smoke escaped from the wound and the demon hissed.
“He said you would be protecting it,” the demon said. “But what he didn’t say was how easy you would be to kill.” The demon pulled a contraption out of his cloak and unfolded it. Jacob recognised it as a collapsible bow. He kicked out and knocked the bow from the demon’s hands before he even had a chance to assemble it.
“Go back to hell,” he told the demon. Then there was an unnatural scream as a funnel of black smoke poured out of the demon’s mouth, and the smoke disappeared through the door. The body that the demon had been occupying now fell to the floor. Jacob ran over to check if the man was okay, but it was too late, the demon had already ta
ken its toll on this man’s life. He was dead. Jacob removed the man’s cloak and took his weapons. He had an arsenal of bows, daggers, and even Archangel blades hidden beneath his cloak.
Then Jacob noticed sadly that this had been a working class Nephilim, he was still wearing his business suit. He closed the man’s eyes and tried to harvest his soul, but couldn’t. He didn’t have one. It had been removed when the demon had taken its place. He stood up and made his way to Kat. She was still untouched. He placed two fingers over her eyes and slid them down to her lips, and then he leaned forward and placed a kiss there.
“Sleep soundly, my princess,” he whispered, before leaving with the dead Nephilim over his shoulder.
It was dawn by the time Jacob had finished the funeral pier and set it alight. Once possessed, Nephilim needed to burn to return to ash. That was where the phrase ashes to ashes had come from.
Scarlett awoke suddenly when she sensed the heat of the fire. Heading to the balcony to see, she slid open the glass doors, and stepped out into the cool pre-dawn air. She watched as embers floated up towards the sky. Then she looked down and noticed Jacob standing next to the body of flame. Was he burning Kat without telling them? Jacob sensed her and looked up, and then back to the wall of fire. Scarlett made her way downstairs to join him.
“It’s not Kat,” he said, as if reading her thoughts.
“Who is it?”
“A Nephilim I found in the crypt. He was possessed by a demon.”
“A demon? What was he doing in the crypt?”
“Trying to harvest Kat’s soul.”
“Did he take it?”
“No, I couldn’t even take it.”
“Why not?”
“I’m not sure. I guess it’s still very much attached to her body.”
Neither spoke after that. They stood still, watching the body burn until a fire appeared in the sky behind them.
Chapter Nineteen