Just a Little Death (Children of the Apocalypse Book 1) (17 page)

My heart pounded as the five dogs leaned forward and their ears flattened. I widened my stance and tightened my grip on my scythe. They wouldn’t take me down. Ruthie came to my side and took a similar stance.

“Hellhounds. Don’t let them get ahold of you or they’ll drag you through hell and to Lucile.” She spun her staff. “Your mom and Death are keeping Camille busy. Let’s focus on these.”

I watched as the legs of the first one tensed and he pounced. I brought my blade down and caught the neck of it and cut cleanly through it. The head of the dog bounced off the floor with a crack. The body collapsed and a second one came at me.

It dodged to the side to avoid my scythe and I kicked it, shoving it away from my body. I snapped my leg back to me as its teeth tried to aim for my pant leg. I spun and brought my scythe down, cutting the hellhound in half. Black blood dripped off my blade and pooled onto the stone floor.

Ruthie snarled and flung a hellhound from her staff and against the wall. I brought my blade across its head before it could get back up. My scythe was yanked out of my hands. It disappeared and I called it back, but found a hellhound in mid-air. I wasn’t able to bring the blade around at the right time. My breath left me as my back hit the floor and my head bounced off the stone.

The paws dug into my shoulders as the hound’s teeth gnawed against the steel of my scythe. Drool left a slimy trail over my cheek as the creature snarled above me. Red eyes bore into me and my body tried to freeze in fear, but I couldn’t allow it. I wouldn’t let my mother’s nightmare come true.

A blade sliced through the hellhound and I saw Death staring down at me. I gave a nod of thanks and flipped back to my feet. Ruthie stood over the body of another one and we all turned to Camille. She smiled and twirled a sword in each hand and tilted her head to the side.

“Amazing, really, the hound didn’t drag one of you to Lucile.” She looked around at all the corpses. “But I can’t allow you to leave without you paying for what you’ve done to my babies.”

Her body split into four copies of herself. My eyes widened. “You’ve got to be kidding me. What kind of demon is she?”

“A trickster.” Dad answered. “Stand your ground, fight hard and don’t lose focus.”

This wasn’t a demon I wanted to face. I shifted my footing and waited for her to attack. Her legs tensed and she rushed towards me, I sidestepped and swept her feet from under her. She flipped and recovered from the trip and she spun, throwing one of her swords at me.

The weight of the scythe felt like nothing as I spun it and it reacted to my commands and wants without a thought. Running on instincts only, I blocked the sword and the force embedded it in the stone wall. I took a deep breath as she rushed me with the second one. I brought the scythe down, the weight of the blade carrying the strike.

The tip of the blade bounced off the floor as I missed and I turned too late as Camille’s blade cut me across the side. She skidded to a stop and twirled around to face me. My blood dripped down the blade and onto her hand as she held it up.

The wound stung my side as I took a deep breath, but I couldn’t let it faze me. I needed to stay focused. The sounds of the others fighting behind me echoed through the stone walls. I wanted to risk a glance back, but I didn’t dare. The wound would slow down my reactions and I needed to make sure it wouldn’t affect me.

Shadows appeared around me and they grew into hellhounds. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

I swung my scythe in a circle around me, taking out a couple of the hounds, their bodies collapsing at my feet. The two left both jumped at me at the same time. Dad’s scythe came flying towards them, taking both of them out. I jumped over the corpses and attacked my copy of Camille.

My mother’s scream echoed through the area, bouncing off the stones. I jolted to a stop and spun around. My gaze searched the area for her. Pinned against the wall, her wide eyes met mine as tears started flowing down her face, leaving a trail in the dirt and blood that had been caked on it.

My heart pounded and I realized what was happening. I rushed towards her copy of Camille as she raised a sword.

“No!” I raised my scythe, but a weight hit me. My face met the stone and the impact rattled my head. And I tried to fight the weight on me as my sight tried to focus on my mother. The only thing that mattered was taking out that copy of the demon to save her life.

The screams came again, this time a deeper agony and they ripped through me and stopped my heart and my breath. My gaze focused and her body slid down the wall, leaving a blood smear from the stab wounds from Camille’s swords. The weight on me disappeared and the copies of Camille flowed back into one figure swaying towards me.

“She’s gone, little Death.”

I jumped to my feet, the world spinning around me from the blow to my head. I stumbled as I tried to swipe my scythe at her. She raised a hand and tossed me back with an invisible power.

I fell at my father’s feet and Ruthie appeared at my side, blood dripping down her cheek from a slice by her left eye. I couldn’t breathe past the grief and pain from the battle. I gripped her shirt tightly as she helped get me to my feet and steady me.

I couldn’t pull my eyes away from my mother’s corpse, lying on the stone. Her wings spread out flat with no life to help lift them. The blood stained the stone, spreading slowly out from her.

Death stepped in front of me. “Open the gate. We’ll take leave of this place.”

“Uh uh,” Camille moved a slim finger from side to side. “You need a sacrifice to open the gate. You didn’t bring me anything.”

“We brought Hag two goats, and now you’ve claimed the life of a Fallen. Open the gateway.” He slammed the handle of his scythe down.

A pale light rose from my mother’s body and I knew it was her soul. Death held his hand out and it came right to him. He closed his eyes and hissed as the soul faded away. “Open it, Camille.”

She tossed her hair over her shoulder and the ground rumbled. A crack split below me and I couldn’t muster enough give-a-damn to make sure I landed in a crouch. Ruthie held onto me in the darkness. I could still hear my mother’s painful screams echoing in my head as we fell through the gateway.

Ruthie landed back in the human plane and I found my footing even though the ground still spun. The cries died down, but they would always be in my memories, right alongside the dead people. The death toll of one was my mother, not me like she feared.

I glanced at Death when he landed next to us. “Did you know?”

“I knew it could have been her time, but it was all her choices that led to her death.” He came to me and tried to take me from Ruthie’s support.

I shook my head and pushed away from them both. “I have a concussion and I can’t focus. She’s gone, my heart feels like it’s been ripped in half.” I cringed. “She shouldn’t have come with us.”  I touched my side and blood coated my fingers. I rubbed my thumb over the slick liquid. “I forgot that Camille managed to get me.”

“She was toying with us.” Death came to stand in front of me. “We all need to get back and tend to our wounds.”

Ruthie put a hand on my cheek. “The emotional and the physical.”

I closed my eyes and tried to focus on the feeling of her hand on my cheek, but nothing could pull me away from the grief that numbed me. “And we just move on?”

“You will always grieve, she was your mother, but we must press forward.” Death said. “She may not have wanted you in this battle, but now Lucile has made it personal.”

A strange smile crossed my face. “She wanted to make sure I’d come to her seeking revenge. Clever little devil.” I took a step and stumbled a little. “This is nothing.”  Took another step, one foot in front of the other worked for the pain and I needed to deal with the grief the same way. I had no choice.

Ruthie tucked me into the couch after she attended to the slice in my side. With the concussion I wasn’t allowed to sleep, so I leaned my head back on the couch. The pounding echoed in my skull and I pressed the heel of my hand to my forehead. “So now what? We got our ass kicked by a trickster. She’s not even a Sin, how are we supposed to face them?”

“Not alone and not in hell, they are stronger there.” Ruthie walked back into the living room with an ice pack. “Your head should feel better by the time we’re back home.”

I closed my eyes and tried to focus on her words. “Back home? Back to Mesa? What about my mom?”

“You don’t have a body for a funeral. If you want, I’ll take care of the other affairs, the house and such.” Death offered and sat down in the oversized chair. “I don’t know how to comfort you.”

At least he was honest. “I don’t know how either. She was all I had until I discovered what I was, but that doesn’t make it hurt any less. She was my mother, perfect or not.” Tears gathered in the corners of my closed eyes. “No more holidays here, no more late night television with her. I can’t call her from college to tell her about my first date or if I hate a teacher.” My voice cracked at the idea of never hearing her voice again. I curled against the back of the couch so I wouldn’t have to face Death or Ruthie.

Ruthie stroked my hair. “I’m right here if you need me. I know no words will take away the pain.”

I didn’t know if I wanted anyone with me right now. “Thanks.” I pulled the blanket over my head. “How long am I not allowed to sleep?”

“You’re a Child of the Apocalypse, so you should be okay to sleep once the pounding stops in your head.” Ruthie moved her hand. “Sleeping on the train tomorrow will probably be a good idea.”

I shook my head. “I’ll take my mom’s car. I might as well, since mine is still in the shop.”

“I’ll make sure to take care of everything. I have my ways and I don’t want your mother’s name dragged through the mud, so I’ll make sure they know she didn’t abandon her job or her clients.” Death’s voice came from my side.

I pulled the blanket off my head. “Thank you.”

“It’s the least I can do. I just wish I could do more.” He met my gaze. “You’re going to pull through this. You had no way of knowing the death toll number belonged to her.”

I nodded. “I thought it belonged to a demon. I never thought I’d lose her in a fight like that. In hell.”

“Demons have the advantage there.” He moved back to the chair. “We have the advantage in this realm. If you want, you can come stay with me during breaks so you don’t have to face the grief alone.”

I didn’t even want to think about other breaks. Thanksgiving was bad enough at this point. “Thank you.” I didn’t know what else to say at this point. I didn’t feel anything but physical pains, the emotions were all drained from me when we left hell. At one point I wondered if hell had literally sucked the emotions from me.

Ruthie sat down at the other end of the couch and clicked on the television. I zoned out to the pictures on the screen while we sat in silence. A night of reprieve and back to the world of demons tomorrow.

Party Like a Rock Star

“That drive is a lot shorter than the train ride.” Ruthie stretched as she got out of the car. “Wonder where the boys are.”

“I don’t know, Aeron said something about a party, so I’m assuming he’s preparing for that. We’re home a day early, so they aren’t just waiting around for us.” I pulled my suitcase out of the trunk of the cross-over vehicle. Part of me felt wrong for taking it, but it was mine now. There was no way she was coming back from death to yell at me for taking it.

Ruthie got her bag out and we started towards the dorms. Everyone we walked by had their faces covered with medical masks. “I feel like we missed a memo here.” I watched as a group of students stared at us over the white fabric.

“Me too.” Ruthie stepped closer to me.

“It’s mandatory now on campus.” Kaleb’s voice came behind us.

I turned around and forced a smile. “Hey.”

He handed both Ruthie and I a mask. I sighed and tucked the elastic behind my ears and adjusted them so that the mask was snug against my face. “But we can’t be infected.”

“They don’t know that. There were three hundred deaths this weekend. And a fight at the supermarket over the last turkey that resulted in two injured and one dead.” Kaleb came to my other side. “Pete’s been asking about you. He said he was worried.”

I nodded. “We had an eventful weekend, but I don’t feel like filling you in. So Ruthie can later. Preferably while I’m catching up on sleep.”

“That bad?” Kaleb looked over my head at Ruthie.

“It was long, and let’s just say, it was hell.” She chuckled at her own little joke.

“I can’t wait to hear about it.”

I could. I didn’t want to relive the weekend. But I’d be asleep on my bed after I drank some of the tea for nightmares. They could talk about it all they wanted. “Is the dining hall open yet?”

“No, but Aeron’s throwing a party, so I figured we’d all hit that up for dinner.” Kaleb nudged me. “You could use a little bit of fun and relaxation time.”

The idea of being surrounded by people caused the muscles in my neck and shoulders to tighten. “I guess that’ll work.” Ruthie would want to go and I didn’t want to hold her back by moping in my room the whole night, or for the rest of my life. I ran my hands over my eyes and through my hair. The moisture from my breath clung to the medical mask creating a humid breathing atmosphere, and I wanted to rip the thing off.

“Once you get some sleep, you’ll feel better.” Ruthie put an arm around me. “I promise some of the stress will fade.”

But not the grief, of course I was supposed to be focusing on what I could control and not what I couldn’t. With the stress under control, I would be able to handle the grief better and maybe, just maybe it wouldn’t be as crippling.

“I’m just glad my head doesn’t hurt anymore.” I pulled out my ID and swiped it when we reached the door.

Ruthie and Kaleb followed me in. We got in the elevator and waited for it to take us to our floor. The doors opened and the ding echoed in the hall. The hurling and choking sound of someone throwing up took the place of the happy ding. At the end of the hall a girl hunched over, one hand on the wall, one wrapped around her stomach as she threw up in the corner.

“Are you infected?” Kaleb called halfway down the hall. The woman looked up with red ringed and watery eyes.

“Naw man, just drank too much.” She wiped a hand over her mouth. “You know, it’s break, everyone parties.”

We moved around her and Ruthie patted the woman’s back. “Make sure you tell Gypsy that she needs to call someone to clean up the mess.”

I snorted at the idea of Envy dealing with a drunk college student. I unlocked our door and walked in. My clothes, bedding, and books sat where I left them. The undisturbed room helped relax the tension in my shoulders and I set my suitcase by the bed. “I’m going to make some tea and once I’m out you two can talk to your hearts’ content.”

I pulled out an electric kettle and a bottle of water. I put the water in and waited for it to boil. Ruthie handed me a mug and I dug the tea out of my bag. The steam rose up with the smell of chamomile and mint. I dipped the tea bag a few times and looked up to find Ruthie and Kaleb were watching me.

“I’m fine, Ruthie. I just want sleep.”

Her brow was creased and she crossed her arms as she watched me dip the tea bag again. “You look pale.”

“Maybe because I haven’t slept in twenty-four hours and I just drove eight hours on top of that.” I sipped my tea. “Like you said, sleep will help the stress. Once that’s lowered, the rest will be easier to handle. I promise, I’ll be back to functioning after a nap.”

“Maybe we should just order pizza and stay in tonight.” Kaleb offered. “If you’re not up to going out.”

I shook my head. “I’m not going to ruin your night. We go out, we party, and tomorrow we get back to the demons and the Sins.”

“Let’s see how you feel after napping, okay?” Ruthie motioned to my bed. “If you truly feel up to going then we will.” 

I nodded and downed the rest of the hot tea. “Deal.” I put the mug down and curled up in my bed. The soft, low voices of Kaleb and Ruthie lulled me to sleep. Once I started to fade there was no stopping sleep from claiming me. The darkness dragged me under.

I rolled over to see Pete staring down at me. I blinked up at his gray eyes. “Why are you watching me sleep?”

“I was debating on waking you up to let you know that your wound reopened, but it didn’t seem to be bothering you so I was just going to put a towel under you.” He held up a black towel.

I looked over at Ruthie and Kaleb still sitting on her side of the room. “Were you going to wake me and tell me I was bleeding?”

“Didn’t seem important, you were sleeping so deeply I didn’t want to risk waking you. Pete was worried about blood on the bed and the fact that it could cause a biohazard team to be called.”

I wrinkled my nose. “Let’s all not end up in quarantine, okay?” I sat up and rubbed my hands over my face, trying to clear the sleep away. “Did I miss anything important?”

“I just caught them up from this weekend, on everything.” Ruthie’s face fell a little bit and I knew it meant they now knew about my mother’s death.

I fell back on the bed. “Well, at least it’s done and over with. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, guys. I’m also sorry to have caused our second family death.”

“Sit up and I’ll patch up your side.” Pete tapped his foot against my bed. “Then we can head to the party and just…drink our cares away.”

I snorted. “I’m not of legal age.”

“Like that stops most of the college students here.” Kaleb laughed. “You’ll be with us, besides, it takes a lot to get us drunk. Perks of being a Child of the Apocalypse.”

I sat up and pulled my shirt over my head. I cringed as the stretching pulled on the wound. “Still want my super healing ability.”

“You said a trickster did this?” Pete traced the edge of the wound and I jerked at his cold fingers against my skin.

“Camille, is what Death called her. Apparently they have a past together.” Ruthie walked over. “We stitched it up, but I don’t have nearly your talent.”

“Kaleb, I need the first aid kit, and I need the thicker medical thread.” Pete shook his head. “Death should have been able to do a better job, where was he?”

I frowned, trying to remember. “I assumed he was right there with me.”

“He was, but he didn’t trust himself to stitch it up. He wanted to provide comfort instead.” Ruthie bit her lip. “It was just a rough situation, but my stitches held this long.”

“I must have just moved wrong while I was sleeping.” I looked down at the slice. Red angry skin rolled at the edges, the ripped thread sticking out from the small holes created by the needle Ruthie had used. Fresh blood gathered in the crater of my skin. “I don’t remember it being that big.”

“Just a figment of your imagination.” Pete turned and grabbed the first aid kit from Kaleb. “Lean back and take a deep breath, because this is going to hurt.”

“We’ve already been through this once. I think I’ll be okay.” I leaned so that he had better access to the wound.

He threaded the needle and went to work. I clenched my eyes closed and bit my lip the entire time he sewed it shut. “There,” he said as he tied it off. “You’re going to be fine, it’ll be healed in a couple of days.”

“Why did it matter if a trickster did it or not?” I opened my eyes and wiped the tears that had gathered.

Pete stepped away from me and reached for an alcohol wipe to clean the needle off from my blood. “I’ve seen a wound like that before. It’s a particular blade made just for tricksters, they wield two swords with serrated blades.”

“Why?”

“Camille likes them because she used them to cut the wings off of angels. She keeps them like trophies.” Pete met my gaze. “She’s a terrifying being and I hope we don’t have to cross paths with her again.”

If we did I was going to make sure to take her head off with my scythe. “What time is Aeron’s party?”

“About an hour. We have time to get ready and drive out there.” Ruthie cupped my cheeks in her hands. “Only if you’re feeling up to it.”

“I’m fine, besides, I guess I should at least create one normal college memory. So why not a party? Mom’s not here to tell me no.” My voice hitched a little. “And dad probably doesn’t care as long as I’m with you guys.”

Ruthie nodded. “We’ll make sure you have a good time and get you taken care of.” She winked. “One night drunk may be all you need.”

I chuckled and stood. “I’m going to go get myself cleaned up and ready.” I held my hand up before Pete could protest. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep the stitches dry.” I gathered up what I needed and headed down the hall. 

An hour later we pulled up to a huge Victorian house. The gray siding of the house complemented the black gutters and door. One large tower stuck up behind the house and the wrap around porch already supported fifteen people, all with a beer or a red cup in their hands. In some cases, both.

“I forgot Aeron doesn’t live on campus.” I looked up at the house. “So if he has a house, why are we all crammed in the dorms?”

Pete draped an arm over my shoulder. “Because this is Aeron’s party house. He can’t get away with parties like this on campus.”

“Ah, that explains everything.” I laughed.

Music blared from the house, the beat pulsing against me and raising my heartbeat and anxiety. “Someone get me a drink.” I was going to face this night head on, life was too short to not experience some of what college had to offer. Demons, Sins, the Devil, those weren’t on my list, but a college party? Why not?

Pete laughed and disappeared into the crowd. Ruthie stepped up to my side. “Have you ever drank before?”

“Nope, so this is going to be an adventure, isn’t it?” I walked towards the porch.

“I’ll make sure to stick close. Ground rules: don’t accept open drinks from people you don’t trust and don’t leave your drink unattended. Don’t mix beer and shots together.”

“Got it.”

Pete came out and handed me a red cup. “Enjoy.” He grinned and held his own cup up. “Cheers.”

“Cheers.” We knocked our plastic cups together and I took a big gulp and cringed as the alcohol laden fruit juice burned my throat. “What is this?”

“Jungle juice. So Everclear with juice.” He sipped his. “Nothing better to get drunk on.”

I took another sip and savored the burn. “I’ll trust you on that.”

Pete grabbed my arm and pulled me further into the crowd in the house. Ruthie went straight for the table where a big glass bowl sat. The red liquid sloshed around as she stirred it with the ladle before scooping some into an empty cup. Aeron stood behind the table with a beer in his hand. He met my gaze and raised his beer up and I nodded in greeting.

I took another big gulp and looked down at the now empty cup. “Another.” The burning in my throat eased up and I made my way to the table and put some more jungle juice in my cup. Aeron put a hand on mine.

“Slow down, Death, the night is still young.”

I met his gaze and raised a brow. “I’m not Death yet, and I’ve had a rough weekend, I’ll slow down after this cup.”

He shook his head. “It’s a good thing Ruthie is here to look after you.” He grinned. “Enjoy yourself.”

I raised my cup. “I’m trying.” I moved through the crowd, pushing against the people grinding up against each other. Ruthie and Pete moved from where they had been standing, leaving Jared standing in their spot. I frowned as I saw something flash behind him, much like I saw with demons. I shook my head, took a big drink and walked over to him.

The booze warmed my body and flushed my cheeks as I stalked over to the man I had been crushing on since I’d first met him. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing, I didn’t think you partied.” He yelled over the music.

“And I thought you held your own parties out in the desert.” I took another sip. “I can’t hear in here.” I cupped a hand over my ear in case he didn’t hear me.

He put an arm at the small of my back, his fingers brushing against my wound. I froze for a moment, taking a deep breath at the pain spreading from the small touch. He didn’t seem to notice and continued to lead me outside. We sat on the porch steps.