Road to Hell (6 page)

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Sophia entered the room some time later with more tea and a plate of cookies. I glanced up, thanked her and returned to the book. She didn’t linger and left me to read. I heard her bustling about inside the kitchen, but the sound faded as I became engrossed in the book again.

I knew very little about heaven and hell. My mother had been religious, but she’d never pushed her beliefs onto me. Given my stubborn nature, it had probably been wise of her. I believed in God, but figured he’d given up on us a long time ago. I couldn’t really blame him for washing his hands of us. Giving us free will seemed to have been a colossal mistake. Humans were the most selfish and destructive creatures that had ever been created.

Angels on the other hand, were pretty close to perfect, or so the book said. They’d also been given free will, but since they lived in heaven, they hadn’t been exposed to the same temptations that humans had. Lucifer had been the first to rebel. An overblown sense of self-importance had been his downfall. God had cast him out and Lucifer, or Satan as he was commonly called now, had taken a third of the angels with him. Their holy grace had changed after their expulsion and they’d become unholy demons.

Being sent to hell had twisted them from the beautiful and flawless spirits that they’d once been. Some had managed to escape from their prison and now lived among humans. Their task was to corrupt us and to try to bring about the downfall of mankind.

In order to do their master’s work, they had to possess vessels. Permission wasn’t necessary. They simply took whoever they wanted and used them as their meat puppets. Once they were done with a vessel, or upgraded to a new one, the poor human remembered every evil deed that they’d performed. Most committed suicide when they realized what they’d been forced to do. The rest went crazy. I couldn’t really blame them. Knowing that they’d killed, maimed or had tortured their fellow man would be enough to send anyone nuts.

Angels weren’t as invasive when they took possession of a human. Their hosts lost all memory of what happened while they were being possessed. With a pure spirit inside them, they stopped aging and became nearly immortal until they were released from their bondage. When they were freed, they resumed the normal aging process again. With their memories wiped clean, they had to start their lives over from scratch. If they’d been vessels for a long time, all of their friends and family would most likely be dead. It was probably a blessing that they didn’t remember anything.

I’d just finished reading the book when the front door opened and the twins entered. Brie saw the book in front of me and her eyebrows rose. “I see you have been learning about us. That is wise. You will need all the knowledge you can find if you are going to halt the demon uprising.”

“You do realize that I’m a sixteen year old high school student?” I said as I shut the book and pushed it away.

Sophia entered just in time to overhear us. “I am afraid that you will have to put that life behind you now. It is time for you to learn how to become a warrior.”

“How am I going to do that?” I didn’t try to hide my scowl. “I have no fighting skills. I only managed to stab the demons out of sheer dumb luck.”

“We will teach you,” Leo said. He carried a plastic bag that was presumably full of the ingredients they required for their mysterious spell.

I gave him an incredulous look. “No offense, but you two don’t exactly look all that dangerous.”

“Appearances can be deceiving,” Brie said and a sword appeared in her hand. Blue flames ran the length of the blade. It was almost bright enough to make we wince.

“Where did that come from?” I asked.

“That is something demons and angels have in common,” Leo explained. An identical sword appeared in his hand and glowed just as brightly. “We are able to call on our weapons at will.”

“How come you have swords and the demons only had daggers?”

“We are God’s warriors,” Brie explained and made her sword disappear. “Our mission is to hunt down demons and send them back to hell. The creatures you have seen so far are only lower level minions. The more powerful they are, the more impressive their weapons become.”

“Were you a warrior, too?” I asked Sophia.

She shook her head. “I was more of a knowledge seeker.”

“Sophia is very wise,” Leo said solemnly. “She was tasked with assisting the most intelligent humans to broaden their minds.”

“I’m sure that didn’t backfire at all,” I said dryly. “What with the invention of nuclear weapons and other fun things like that.”

“It was not our kind who whispered such evil possibilities to humans,” Sophia said in self-defense. “Demons can be blamed for that.”

Brie moved to one of the shelves and took down a large wooden bowl. Leo had made his sword disappear as well. He placed the plastic bag on the table and removed the contents one by one. Various plants, minerals, stones and liquids were in small jars. Brie crumbled up some of the leaves of each plant and sprinkled them over the other contents that Leo placed into the bowl. She chanted in a musical language that I’d never heard before and the mixture began to stir.

A small whirlwind started up, mashing the ingredients together. It moved faster and faster until my eyes could no longer track it. When she stopped chanting, the whirlwind wound down. A stone bracelet sat in the center of the bowl. The color of mud, it was far from pretty. It was blank and completely devoid of markings.

Brie picked it up and handed it to me. It was a tight squeeze, but I slid it over my right hand. Pain immediately radiated up my arm to my shoulder. It faded before I could do much more than gasp. The stone had changed to a dull shade of orange that matched the glow from my dagger exactly.

“That is strange,” Leo said as he stared at the bracelet. “I have never seen the stone turn that color before.”

“We have never cast the spell for a human before,” Brie pointed out and he shrugged off his misgivings.

“Is it supposed to hurt like that?” I asked. I still felt the residual effects of the pain in my tingling fingertips.

“Not usually,” Sophia said, “but you are not an angel. It is no surprise that the effect was different. I did not feel any pain when I first donned mine. Possibly because this vessel still contains residual traces of my grace.”

“If you remove the bracelet, the spell will be broken until you don it again,” Leo warned me. “It is impervious to water, so you can wear it in the shower.”

“That’s good to know,” I muttered. The bracelet fit me perfectly and I didn’t think it would take long to get used to it. “Are you sure it will work for me since I’m just a lowly human and I’ve never been possessed by an angel?”

Brie’s response wasn’t as reassuring as I’d hoped. “It should, but we will not know for certain until you come into contact with a demon.”

“That’s something I’d really rather avoid.” I’d already had enough brushes with them to last me a lifetime.

“You do not have the luxury of hiding from your enemies,” she told me almost harshly. “We are counting on you to prevent a disaster that will end in catastrophe for the entire world.”

I blew out a sigh and slumped back in the chair. I’d only known these people for a few hours and they already expected me to save humanity. “What exactly am I supposed to do? Hunt down every demon in the city and challenge them all to a duel with daggers?”

Sophia hesitated then sat down across from me. “We are not sure how you will stop the demons from unleashing the hordes that are trapped in hell.”

So, she basically had no idea what I’d be getting myself into. “When I first arrived, you recognized me and said you’ve been waiting for me for a long time. What did you mean by that?”

“I was sent a vision of you when you were first born,” she explained. “I did not know who you were at the time. I only knew that you would be important.”

“You had a vision of me when I was a baby? How could you possibly have recognized me from that?”

She smiled a little at my confusion. “I was shown a vision of you as you appear now. I believe it was a warning that the world would soon be facing great peril.”

“How did you get that from just seeing a vision of me?” She had a real knack for giving me explanations that just confused me even more.

“I also saw the world engulfed in fire.”

“Oh.” That brought to mind the dream I’d had of Fate. She’d shown me countless cities burning. Every human that I’d seen had been dead.

“You stood before the gates of hell, holding back a tide of demons,” she continued. “I knew that if the gates opened, that fire would sweep across the planet, wiping out humanity.”

“No pressure,” I said almost bitterly. Leo’s lips twitched in a smile that he hid from the others. For an angel, he was somehow more human than his friends.

“So,” I summed up, “you have no idea what I’m supposed to do to stop the gates from opening. I have no fighting skills whatsoever, but I’m supposed to take on an army of demons by myself.”

“That is not quite correct,” Brie corrected me. “You will not be alone. We three will aid you however we can.”

They’d already cast a spell that should help hide me from my enemies and Sophia was giving me a place to stay. If I really was trapped in the city, then I had no choice but to trust them. “Maybe you’d better start training me so I won’t be completely helpless when I come face to face with another demon.”

“First, we should test the spell,” the teen countered. “It would be wise to ensure that it is working properly. After all, we would not want you to lead the forces of evil directly to our door.”

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Moving to stand on either side of me, the twins put their hands on my shoulders. I shut my eyes and bright light flared behind my closed lids. When I opened my eyes, the store was gone. We stood in an open space with people streaming by in both directions. Buildings towered over us. Most sported electronic billboards that advertised movies, plays and various products. They shone down on us brightly and I could only imagine how pretty it would be at night.

I realized that we were standing in the heart of Times Square in full view of both humans and demons alike. “Why isn’t everyone running and screaming?” I asked. I didn’t feel quite as disoriented at being teleported this time. Keeping my eyes closed seemed to have helped.

“Why would they do that?” Leo asked in puzzlement.

“Didn’t we just appear out of thin air?”

Brie made a sound of amusement. “Our teleportation allows us to blend in seamlessly.”

“You mean not even demons can see you when you zap yourself around?”

“That is correct.” Her smugness faded a little when she added more. “Of course, our enemies have the same ability to appear and disappear at will.”

“But they do not have these,” Leo said and pointed at his golden bracelet. “Our spell does more than just make it difficult for them to see us. It also makes it easier for us to detect them.”

“Can’t you tell if a human is possessed just by looking at them?” I asked.

“Of course not,” Brie scoffed. She was back to being snotty again. If she was a few inches taller, she’d be able to look down her nose at me properly. “The reason why we inhabit these vessels is because they keep our true identities hidden.”

“Not always,” I said and caught sight of a woman standing about fifty yards away. “Her vessel isn’t doing such a great job of hiding her identity.” I could only see the side of her face, but her skin was unnaturally black and her eyes were glowing red. The image flickered and disappeared only to reappear again a couple of seconds later.

Leo squinted at the woman then his eyes widened in recognition. “How did you know she was a demon before we could see it?”

“Because she’s hideous,” I said with a hint of sarcasm.

Brie’s tone was almost cross when she spoke. “What are you talking about? Her vessel is completely ordinary.”

“I’m not talking about the human she’s possessing.” The woman was in her twenties and had nondescript features. She wore a dress that was a truly horrible shade of lime green. “I’m talking about her true face that comes and goes at random.”

Leo was studying me intently and Brie was frowning. “What do demons look like to you?” he asked.

“They have inky black skin, glowing crimson eyes, sharp jagged teeth and a forked tongue.” They shared a long look without speaking. “What do they look like to you?”

“They look like humans,” Brie said flatly. “Our spell enables us to see a faint red glow around them if we concentrate hard enough.”

“What do we look like to you?” Leo queried.

“You’re both kind of beautiful,” I said, feeling awkward. “So is Sophia, even though she’s apparently not an angel anymore. You two look about fourteen, but I can’t tell Sophia’s age at all.”

“We should inform Sophia of this,” Leo said to his pseudo-sister. “I have never heard of a human having the ability to see our true forms before.”

“We have to ensure that the spell is working first,” Brie said. She wasn’t going to be deterred from her mission. “Do you see any more demons?” she asked me.

Feeling far too exposed, I searched the throng. I spied more flickering faces standing near the girl, but none of the demons seemed to be aware of us. “I can see six demons in the immediate area,” I informed them. “None of them are paying any attention to us.”

“There are six demons?” Leo said in alarm. “Do they all look the same, or is one of them different?” He peered at them, trying to see what I could.

I cast my eye over the small group and did a double take when I saw what he meant. One was taller and larger than the other five. He had short, stubby horns growing from his forehead and was even uglier than his colleagues. I described him and Leo’s concern grew.

“It sounds like a Captain rather than a Demon Lord,” he said. “Now that we have verified that the spell is working, we should return to the store.”

Nodding in agreement, Brie put her hand on my shoulder again. Leo copied her and I shut my eyes a moment before brightness flared. This time, we appeared inside the store rather than on the sidewalk outside. They let me go before I was ready and I staggered over to the table and sat down. Even with my eyes shut, I was feeling dizzy. Maybe being teleported twice in a short space of time was too much for a puny mortal like me.

Sitting in her usual seat, Sophia pushed a cup of tea towards me. “I take it the spell worked?” she said to the twins. I was pretty sure they wouldn’t have brought me back here if it hadn’t.

Leo nodded and took a seat. Brie chose to remain standing. Her arms were crossed and she indicated for her brother to fill the clairvoyant in. “We were not spotted by our enemies,” he said. “But it appears that Violet has talents we have never seen before.” At Sophia’s inquiring look, he explained. “She can apparently see our true forms.”

Her head cocked to the side and she looked at me. “I do not understand.” All three of them spoke as if they came from another era. My mother had sounded a bit like them, as if she’d been raised in a posh home. For all I knew, maybe she had. She’d never spoken of her parents and I had no idea if she’d had any siblings.

“Angels look beautiful and demons look hideous to me,” I explained. “I guess this means I can tell good from evil.”

“Her talents appear to be flawed,” Brie said in a clipped tone. She almost seemed to be angry that I could see something that she couldn’t. “The demons do not always appear hideous to her.”

“It seems to come and go,” I admitted.

“Perhaps you only see their true natures when they are contemplating doing evil,” Sophia mused. “This could prove to be a very useful ability, even if you cannot see what they are all the time.”

“Being able to see them gives me an advantage,” I conceded, “but I doubt I’ll be able to sneak up and stab them all in the back. I need to be able to defend myself from their attacks.”

Brie’s lips turned upwards in a smile that wasn’t the least bit friendly. “Then we should begin your training immediately.”

Leo rubbed his hands together and grinned gleefully. “This is going to be fun!”

I tried to share his enthusiasm, but I was already dreading the training session. They might be smaller than me, but they were immortal beings who possessed God’s grace. I was just a lowly human who happened to be able to see holy and unholy spirits. That wasn’t going to be much of an advantage when fighting them. I had a feeling training with the twins was going to be a humbling and humiliating experience.

Sophia went in search of weapons that we could practice with that hopefully wouldn’t maim me. Meanwhile, Brie and Leo shifted the table and chairs aside to give us room to train. They picked up the table as if it weighed nothing, which meant they were far stronger than they looked.

The clairvoyant returned with smooth wooden sticks that had once been a broom handle. She was apparently strong enough to snap it with her bare hands. “Good luck,” she said and handed me a stick. I took it gingerly, already feeling like an idiot and we hadn’t even started yet. Too round and too narrow, the stick didn’t fit into my hand comfortably. The dagger had a much better grip, but I’d probably end up stabbing myself if I tried to use it.

Brie faced off against me, holding her stick as if it was a deadly sword. I copied her stance and was completely unprepared for it when she lunged at me. The dull point dug into my ribs hard enough to almost break the skin. “Ow!” I complained and glared at her.

“You didn’t even try to defend yourself,” she said in disbelief. “You just stood there and let me stab you.” Leo sniggered, but it changed to a pretend cough when I narrowed my eyes at him.

“I have news for you, Princess,” I said to her acidly. “I’m not trained in self-defense. That’s what this session is supposed to be for, remember?” She sucked in an affronted breath, but I wasn’t done yet. “If you’re just going to stab me without teaching me how to avoid your attacks, then there’s no point training me at all.”

“Violet is right,” Leo said before his twin could descend into a tirade. “She has absolutely no fighting abilities whatsoever. She may have escaped from three demons, but it was clearly only due to blind luck. We need to start from the beginning and show her the very basics.”

Brie rolled her eyes then conceded his point. It was obvious I was about as far from being a warrior as a person could get. “Come here,” she commanded me imperiously. My hackles immediately rose, but I fought to keep hold of my temper. Like it or not, she was my teacher. I had to at least try to be a good pupil. “Copy me while I defend myself against Leo,” she instructed.

Her brother obediently stood opposite her while I copied Brie’s stance and the way she held her stick. Leo stepped forward and stabbed his weapon towards her stomach. Brie simultaneously stepped to the left and swept her dagger to the right. Their wooden blades clashed and his attack was deflected, leaving him open for her to stab him in the neck. “See?” she said to me. “Nothing could be simpler. Now you try it.”

Leo shifted to stand in front of me and smiled supportively. “You can do this, Violet.”

“If you say so,” I muttered. Then his stick was coming at me and I panicked. My feet tangled as I tried to deflect his attack. Falling towards him, I almost impaled myself on his stick on the way down. Landing on my face, my weapon flew out of my hand and rolled out of reach.

Staring down at me in stunned silence at my display of extreme ineptitude, the twins exchanged a look. “This might be harder than I had expected,” Brie said with a sigh. She turned to Sophia, who was trying to hide her discouragement behind her teacup. “Are you absolutely certain that she is the right person?”

Sophia schooled her expression to neutrality and nodded. “I am positive,” she replied, yet she sounded uncertain.

Leo offered me his hand and helped me to my feet. He might be small in build, but he could probably throw me across the room with no effort at all.

“Try again,” Brie ordered. She watched with judgmental eyes, holding onto her stick like she wanted to smack me upside the head with it. I had a feeling it was going to take all of her patience, and mine, to forge me into becoming the warrior that everyone expected me to be.