Cataclysm (17 page)

“Do you think her parents are in this crowd?” Athen’s eyes were full of a tenderness I hadn’t seen before.

“I sure hope so. I’ll go get Arie to keep tabs on her. I don’t have a good feeling about this.” Athen squeezed my hand before letting go as I went to find Arie.

Looking back over my shoulder, I saw Athen making his way to the little girl who sat there spiritless. My heart ached knowing there might be nothing we could do for her or her parents.

Once outside, the smell of the burning logs led me to Arie, who was tending the fires to keep the overflow of our fellow white demons warm while they waited for further direction.

“Had no idea we’d get this type of turnout on such short notice!” I exclaimed to Arie.

“What else do any of us have to do?” she smirked. “Kind of what our mission has always been. We just never had to do anything of this magnitude before.”

“So true on so many levels… Hey, did you see the little girl come into the house? Any clue as to who she might belong to?” I asked.

Trying to keep my anger in check, I stared at the ground rather than any of the demons who were being marched to the buildings on the ground.

“Has she been turned?” Arie asked, punching me in the arm to look at her.

“I’m guessing so. Why else would she be here? I didn’t see her eyes, but I couldn’t feel her spirit. I didn’t know if I could handle it. I’m just hoping we can find her parents, and that we can turn them to our side. I can’t let her leave with them, if we can’t turn them.”

“I know.” She let out a big sigh. “They have no boundaries, do they? A child?” Anger crept into every word she spoke.

“I don’t know who to be more angry with, Azazel or her parents,” I said.

We were walking back towards the main house, where I last left Athen and the unknown child. The gravel pathway got more and more compact since we arrived here, with the hundreds of beings now roaming the compound. The wooden porch we approached was covered in our kind, chatting away. It reminded me of what a summer BBQ could be like, at another time, when we weren’t all faced with such harsh consequences.

“She’s in the media room,” I said, pointing and nodding in the direction of where I last left Athen and the little girl.

Turning into the room, the lights were all out, and this time, it was Athen sitting in the rocking chair. I scanned the room quickly, hoping she hadn’t disappeared. Catching Athen’s eyes, he looked over towards the couch. There she was under a white blanket, sleeping – looking almost angelic. Athen quietly moved out of the chair coming towards us.

Moving back out to the hall and closing the heavy, wooden pocket doors, we were all silent until we heard the tap of the door closing.

“Well?” Arie asked her brother.

“Yeah, she was turned,” Athen said grimly. “It seems like her parents are both here, but in typical fashion, they don’t recognize each other, let alone their daughter. I managed to grab this from her pocket,” he said, grabbing a torn and crumpled photograph.

“She remembers them even though she’s been turned?” I asked hopeful. “We can maybe reunite them if we can turn her parents.” My voice was as hushed as I could make it, but that softness only magnified the shakiness I felt with every breath.

Athen reached out and hugged me tightly, my face burying into his chest. Taking a deep breath in, I did my best to inhale his purity. I knew what I was hoping for was a fifty-fifty chance either way. Athen’s arms were wrapped around me, creating a much-needed reprieve from the realities we would soon be facing. This little girl was only the beginning.

“I’ll go in and stay with her, while you guys attend to everything,” Arie’s voice filled with the hope I desperately needed to hear.

Athen’s grasp released me, signaling it was time to focus on the tasks at hand and not get sucked into the emotion of everything. It was so difficult always shutting everything off and focusing on the larger picture that was looming. Arie spun around and went back into the media room, while Athen and I headed outside for the search. The chill in the air hit my cheeks, reminding me how close to fall we were and how very soon the battle would begin.

The large weathered barn was glowing, where many of the minions had been taken. It was hard to believe minions would fall for some story like that. I’d like to think I wouldn’t.

“Hey, Athen!” A man’s voice came hollering through the air.

Stopping and turning around, I saw one of our own running up to us in a sprint. His sweater sleeves were pushed up as if he was getting ready to get into the action. I didn’t recognize him, but that didn’t mean anything with all the visitors from around the world that were arriving.

“What’s up?” Athen spun around to greet the guy. Athen slid his hand into mine. It seemed like with every minute that went by, our need to be so close to one another was getting stronger. It was like our souls sensed this danger that was looming, and subconsciously we didn’t want to miss a second together.

“We’re getting ready to try to change some of the pretty hardcore ones. Thought you might want to come take a look?” His green eyes were radiating with excitement. As the sun almost drifted completely away, the green glow became more evident from everyone’s eyes.

“Sure, man. Thanks. We’re actually headed over that way looking for some individuals. What’s your name, by the way?” Athen asked, extending his hand.

“Aaron, Aaron Padgett. From Boston, most recently, anyway,” he said, with the familiar warmth in his eyes. Turning to me, he paused before he began again, “It’s really nice to get to meet you in person, Ana.”

A wave of embarrassment rushed through me. The self-consciousness that had managed to evaporate over the last several months suddenly surfaced. I enjoyed working behind the scenes and felt foolish for this recognition.

“Oh, thanks, you too,” I replied, trying to push the feelings down. “I really appreciate everything you’ve done for us - along with the others. I know it’s risky, but…”

“It’s a risk we’re all willing to take, Ana. We wouldn’t have had it any other way.” Sensing my uneasiness, he changed the subject. “Alright, let’s get going then before we miss it. So you said you were looking for someone?”

“Yeah, two people actually. Possibly spouses in the other life before they were destroyed,” Athen’s voice was filled with a coldness I had come to recognize when he was discussing the newly-turned.

It was tough to swallow that so many mortals would turn their back on humanity. He reached in his pocket and handed the wrinkled photo to Aaron.

“Recognize either of them?” Athen questioned.

“Honestly, it’s kind of hard to tell. Once their eyes get turned to that dark death stare, it’s hard to tell them apart. I’d tell you that they do look familiar, but I feel like there’s a whole barn full with that look,” he said shaking his head.

We kept walking towards the area of the land that had a large clearing and a makeshift wooden shelter. It had a definite lean, which made me want to stay on the outside of the building.

We had about reached the entrance when Aaron stopped abruptly, and I crashed into him, as I was staring out into the field.

“Sorry.” Aaron apologized. “I do recognize that woman. She’s one of the ones we have in here. I’m not sure you’re gonna want to see her. She doesn’t look much like that picture – cheeks sunken in, eyes bugging out. Not a real attractive look,” he said grinning, flinging the door open. “Like my women with some meat on them or at least a soul.”

“Your women?” A lady’s voice sang out from the barn. “I’d like to hear about this,” her voice teased, as she stepped outside, hugging Aaron.

“This is my wife Sammie,” he said, squeezing her back.

“Sounds like quite the interesting conversation,” she said, shaking my hand. “You’re Ana, aren’t you?” her voice was filled with excitement.

Nodding, I let Athen take over.

“We were talking about this individual,” he said smiling, flashing the picture at her. “Aaron was just letting us know this wasn’t his type of woman.”

“Oh, she’s a wretched one,” Sammie replied.

“How so?” I asked. “What makes one more wretched than another in this situation?”

Sammie looked a little uneasy as she started twisting the bottom of her shirt. Looking back up at me, her face kind of wrinkled in dread.

“She’s the most eager to destroy you,” Sammie spit out. “A lot of these creatures are only following the flow. It seems like they aren’t really thinking about anything one way or the other. This gal, though, she’s got some really bad energy flowing through her. She’s even tried to fight the other demons.”

“What about the guy? Have you seen him? It’s her spouse.” Athen showed her the picture again.

“I feel like I’ve seen him, but they haven’t been together. Truthfully, they all kind of look like that,” she sighed. “That vacancy in their eyes is so creepy.”

“Well, let’s get going on this.” Aaron signaled to some of the other white demons who went around the back of the structure. “Let’s go this way.”

We followed him to the back where there was another door. The area outside was set up with some fencing, presumably to lead the ones who we couldn’t turn out of the area.

“So, how’s it work for the ones we can’t turn to our side? Athen asked, touching the metal fencing.

“We plan on ending them, so they just pop up somewhere else on the planet. Theoretically, they won’t know what happened, and they’ll just start roaming like ghouls again,” Aaron replied.

“That’s the hope for sure!” I added. “Hopefully it will mess with Azazel’s final army count too.”

“I’m counting on it!” Sammie rounded the corner with a group of about fifteen other white demons.

Aaron positioned himself with the other white demons, opening the door to begin the process happening around the world. The change was beginning, and I was thrilled to be part of it.

Several of the white demons walked out the dark demons, lining them up to begin the transformation. The dark demon in the front of the line turned around and saw me.

“I’m okay,” I whispered and moved out from behind Athen. Standing side by side, we looked on as each of the white demons took one of the dark demons and began sucking out the evil spirit as best they could.

Black mist began escaping into the air from two of the dark demons. The white demons who, were handling them, gently laid them on the ground, helping them begin the transformation. The dark demons were squirming as the darkness left their body. Their chest collapsing as the air was pulled out of them.

A gasping from the first dark demon, who had been turned white demon, brought a crashing amount of relief onto me. It was hard to believe the process could be so simple. It was a lot less cruel than when the mortals were originally changed. The dark turn was like a ritualistic type of event. The event itself scared me more than anything I had ever seen. However, changing them to our side seemed far more ordinary. It just went to show that some mortals couldn’t be completely stripped of all goodness from their minds.

Turning my attention to the other newly-turned white demon, she began coughing, reaching her hand up for contact. The others were beginning to be turned as well, some slower than others. The more difficult ones seemed to be releasing and then quickly inhaling back the darkness. It was a struggle for the white demon also.

Sammie and the others began helping up the white demons. There were apparently places already set up for them to rest as well. This operation was thoroughly thought out. It had Noah written all over it.

“We’ve got a long night ahead of us,” Aaron turned towards us. “Gonna get started on the next batch. If you want, you can visit the other structures on the property. We’ve all got the same plan. We won’t stop until we’re finished.”

I hugged Aaron and took a step back purely absorbing the moment. The army, we needed to build, wouldn’t do any more damage to the mortal world than what was already being done by Azazel. We had a chance of winning this war by our standards, not his.

“Thank you again,” I told Aaron before heading back to the house. “Actually, can you come get me when you attempt to turn that woman?”