Vilmo's Wrath: Deglon Blood (10 page)

Nora dials the number. The phone rings until an answering machine picks up. The voice startles her, it is deep yet so familiar. There is no way she knows him. She would remember a name like Hingi.

“You have reached Hingi, it is important you leave a message.”

Nora waits patiently for the beep so that she can leave her message. After the beep, Nora is so lost in thought, trying to remember every man her father has introduced her to. She just cannot place a face with that name. The machine beeps once more indicating she has run out of time to leave a message. She forgets to leave a message. She hangs up and starts to call back, but the phone rings. She holds it a moment, just staring at it, afraid to answer it, then she quickly presses the green talk button.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Nora.”

Her hands start to tremble at the sound of his voice. It is not like any voice she has ever heard, but yet it is so familiar that when he speaks he sends tingling down her spine.

“I’ve been waiting for your call. Don’t talk, just listen. Meet me at the address circled on your father's map in the seat of your car. 2112 Wesley Lane in two hours.”

“I can’t, I don’t know where I am. I need to meet you sooner than that—my home was attacked. I have nowhere to go. How did you know about the map?” she asks.

Nora is a little frustrated that this Mr. Hingi seems to already know everything.

“You are twenty minutes southwest of Orlando, Florida. A small town called Kissimmee. Keep straight and you will find your way. Do not teleport, drive. In fact, use none of your powers. You can be tracked by them. Go there now, you will be safe there. I will be there when I can.”

The line goes dead, and Nora does as she is told.

The address on the map leads her to an old abandoned church. Nora parks facing the church, so she can see anything that may be lurking in the shadows of the woods behind it. She sits in her car fidgeting with the phone debating if she should go inside or stay in the car until Mr. Hingi arrives. She decides she feels safer in her car.

Nora flips through the pages of the old family book again. She reads each page carefully, making sure she misses nothing. She found only a few things missed in her first reading. Nora finds that Light can take human form and can travel through electricity. She slams the book closed.

“That is no help. That just means that they can be anywhere.”

She again thinks of her family, mainly Robbie. She fights her tears and steps out of the car for some fresh air.  Nora sits on the hood admiring the old church. It stands strong even though time has taken its toll on the gray bricks. At one time, it must have been a beautiful building. The large windows held paintings of flying angels. Some of the paintings were still intact while the rest were faded or gone. The large wooden doors still seem sturdy even though they are now home to spiders and mites.

An hour has passed and Mr. Hingi has still not shown. Nora looks at the phone and the time shows 6:00 am. The morning heat is getting warmer by the minute. The sun shines brightly over the top of the church, directly in her face. The wind blows gently through the open cracks of the church sending a low whistle through the air. Almost as if the church is singing to her, it’s very relaxing.

Nora’s relaxation fades quickly as a Szion appears in the distance and starts to head her way. Nora slides from the hood of her car. She wonders how long he’d been there—watching her. Knots form in her gut, but she stays in complete control. Nora watches him walk toward her, although he walks at a normal pace—in her mind, he is walking extremely slow, but closing in on her incredibly fast. Every step closer makes her heart jump. Her eyes never leave his face yet the sun blinds her vision, so she cannot see into his eyes. Before long, he stops less than ten feet from her, and every feature is clear. Completely struck with fear, she is unable to move.  It seems her feet have glued themselves to the concrete.

“Oh, god. I’ve forgotten how to talk,” she says.

He grins. His smile only embarrasses her since she didn’t realize she’d spoken aloud. It’s the mysterious Mr. Hingi, in the flesh. He is six feet three inches tall, perfect round face, and hazel eyes that hold her in their gaze. His dark complexion and muscular body stand out even through the long, black leather coat he wears.

Nora didn’t know if she could control herself. For some unexplainable reason, all she wants to do is throw herself at him, she wants to feel his skin against hers, and she craved his touch.
How can I feel that way for someone other than Robbie? Why does a stranger call to me like this? Why do I feel Robbie when I look at this man?
She thinks. She breaks their gaze and gives a faint smile. He smiles back, almost dropping her to her knees.

“Oh god,” she mumbles.

I am losing my mind. Mr. Hingi’s dimples are the same as Robbie’s. It is all just a part of my imagination. I’m just struggling to deal with Robbie’s death,
she thinks to herself.

She tries to look away, but sees Robbie’s face within Mr. Hingi’s and finds herself staring. When his face becomes tense with worry, she quickly looks to the ground.

“I’m sorry. You just reminded me of someone for a moment,” she tells him.

He nods.

“Nora let’s go inside.”

Again, Nora is weakened by his voice, but she holds herself together and follows him inside, making a mental list of questions and distractions that will keep her sane around him.

Candles fill the church. Along the back wall are several marble stones, which once had writing on them, now they are covered in dust and cracks. The smell of old wood and candle wax makes Nora’s nose itch, and she has a hard time trying to keep from sneezing.

They sit in the first row of seats closest to the altar. Keeping her eyes in her lap, Nora waits for him to begin.

“I’m sorry this day has been so hard for you,” he says.

“You don’t know the half of it,” Nora snickers.

“I do.”

His words snap her attention back to his eyes. Like magic, he holds her with his stare. Just like Robbie.

Quickly turning from him, Nora starts shaking. His eyes are no longer hazel, they are as blue as the sea with gold trim.
I’m doing it again.
She thinks. It is only then that Nora realizes that her life without Robbie is going to be hell. It takes everything in her to sit still. Mr. Hingi places his hand on her knee. Nora jerks away and slides a few inches down.

“Please, don’t touch me.”

He sighs.

“Nora, I was … I am here to help. If you look at me, you will see that,” he says in a calming voice.

Nora keeps her eyes in her lap.

“I have to get out of here before you make me completely lose my mind,” she says.

“Our fathers were friends before they gave their lives.”

“My father was killed!” she snaps, never looking at him.

“Please Nora, look at me,” he says, sliding closer to her.

She again slides away.

“I just have some questions, and then I will be on my way,” she says sharply.

“It’s not safe to answer any questions here,” he replies. “If I’m going to help you, you have to trust me,” he says.

“If this is not a safe place, why are we here?” She asks, standing. “This was a bad idea. I’m sorry I wasted your time.”

She quickly walks toward the door.

“Nora, my name is Rob Hingi!” he calls.

“It was nice to meet you, Rob, but I have monsters to destroy, and if you can’t help me then, we have nothing to talk about. I just lost everyone that I’ve ever loved and you are no help to me. Why in the hell did you ask me to come here? You made me drive here for no reason,” she says, never slowing her pace to the door.

Nora freezes with one hand on the door when he grabs her hand.

“My name is Robbie Hingi. This is the place we first met. We were young, but I know you remember the place.”

Her knees shake and her eyes fill with tears.

“It’s all in my head, it’s all in my head,” she repeats several times, never turning toward him. “Please—just …”

Nora closes her eyes, hoping that when she opened them, Mr. Hingi will be standing back at the front of the church watching her walk out of the door. But, before she can open her eyes, he stops her heart.

“This is the second time you have treated me like a stranger, my love. Now sleep.”

Nora’s vision fades, her legs collapse from under her, and everything goes black.

“Nora’s pregnant and I want her dead before that baby is born. Too many times we failed at killing her. No more excuses! I want her dead, now! If she doesn’t die all is over for all of us!” Dumont says loudly as he pounds his fist on the table.

He, Aria, and a group of their most loyal soldiers sit around a table, contemplating how to destroy Nora and Robbie before it is too late for Dumont.

Dumont weakens daily, but it is only Aria that sees it. Each day she feels his strength decreasing slowly, but she says nothing.

“Kill Nora and Robbie, but leave me their souls. Am I clear?” Dumont orders.

Everyone nods except for Aria. She has plans of her own for Nora’s soul.

“We don’t have much time, and Robbie has her well-hidden. I want them found today!”

Dumont waves his hand and dismisses everyone. All but Aria leaves the room. Questions stir in her mind, but she hesitates to ask them.

“What is it, Aria? Do you have something you want to say to me?” Dumont asks, leaning back in his chair.

She looks up at him when her eyes meet his she quickly reverts them to the table.

“What will happen to you if we don’t find them before the child is born?” she asked.

Dumont growls and slams her head on the table. He holds her down and whispers in her ear.

“I die. They will kill me. Is that what you want?”

Aria struggles to shake her head as his fingers grip tighter around her skull.

“No! Of course not,” she mutters.

“Good. You and I are connected, if I die, you die. So, if you want to live, you will find her and you will kill her,” he says slowly pulling away.

Aria quickly stands and races toward the door.

“Aria!”

She freezes, but doesn’t turn.

“I’m sorry. I’m just a little on edge. You must understand that this is war. If we don’t kill them, they will kill us. Do you understand?” he asks in a soft tone.

Aria nods and leaves.

M
ia sits on a park bench and watches passersby as the sun goes down. A couple and their daughter play in the grass with their dog. The dog jumps up on its hind legs and knocks the small girl to the ground. The fall doesn’t hurt her, but still she whines, just enough that her mother rushes over, swoops the girl into her arms, and kisses her. The girl smiles and her big green eyes light up. Mia cringes, just a little at the thought of never having that feeling. She will carry heartache for the rest of her life, from being separated from her loved ones. She knows it’s the only way she can make sure that her little one’s eyes will glow as this young child’s have.

“My baby is no longer a baby. Not anymore,” she mumbles.

This month her little one turned 21 years old. It pains her to think that she's been away so long. She holds tightly to her last memory of her on her sixth birthday, and she replays it every time she gets sad.

On that day, Mia sat on a bench, just as she does now while Nora and Noah played and enjoyed their friends at her birthday party. Nora looked so beautiful in her pink jumper and white hair bows.
Noah really did a great job with the girly details, for a man,
she thinks. That was the last time Mia saw her little Nora. That memory keeps her strong.

A breeze chills her spine. She wraps herself in her arms and continues watching. Two teen boys laugh at an elderly man who falls down drunk next to a water fountain. That moment makes Mia wonder why her kind cares so much for these people. They care nothing about one another or themselves. More importantly, they don’t care about what tomorrow brings. It's days like this that she wishes she could be like them again. Not knowing the horror that surrounds them is so much better. She sits for a few moments longer before renting herself a hotel room.

Mia spent years battling Lights with Szion at her side, but for weeks now she’s hunted alone. Her husband Noah has sent no one to help her. Her body hurts with worry, and for many nights now, she frantically searches for answers as to why Noah has not made contact with her.

Mia’s heart breaks at the thought of the reasons Noah would stay away for so long. She knows that something horrible has happened.

Although she had been banned from her child for her safety, Noah and Mia tried keeping their love strong with monthly visits. Mia’s heart aches so fiercely, she worries why she cannot feel Noah as she used to.

Mia lies down on the bed of the low-grade hotel room. The room smells of old carpet and cigarette smoke that lingers in the curtains. The mud-green carpet brought out the blood-red walls and floral printed bedding. It wasn’t the palaces, her husband often had her stay in, but the convenience of being in downtown Jacksonville made the hunt easier.

The busy nightlife of the humans, keep the Light nearby. They seem to have more fun with the humans that are naturally destructive and no good. The strong, painful feeling a Vilmo gets when a Light is around, is sometimes nonexistent when the Light is in human form. Although some humans have a natural, uncontrollable eager to destroy, Light are much more aggressive and fear nothing. They will walk into a blade without hesitation. Life and death have no meaning to them. The only way to stop them is by killing them.

Mia was born into this world with her destiny already written. For the rest of her life, she was to have only one purpose, to protect humankind. For years now, humans have made it incredibly easy for Light and Shadows to complete their mission in the destruction of this world, by destroying it themselves. Some humans have even joined with the Shadows, to help the Light hunt the remaining of the Vilmo. They trick them, pretending to be hurt or in trouble, and like fools Vilmo go to their rescue, get overpowered, and are killed.

Vilmo have been aggressively hunted, and one by one they were eliminated due to Szion being destroyed by the Shadows. Three weeks ago when Mia stopped feeling Noah, she made it her life's mission to destroy as many Shadows as she could before she died. She is still unsure how she will do that, considering how strong they are, but she will continue to hunt them.

The thoughts in her spinning mind come to a halt as a stabbing pain strikes her stomach. The notice of a Light was never this painful before Noah’s death. Only a slight energy would rest on her stomach. Now, it feels like someone is attempting to rip out her guts with a hot blade.

“Damn Light!” she mumbles, leaping out of bed.

The pain settles slightly when she arrives in an alley a few blocks from the hotel. It is only one Light she feels, but her instincts have failed her before. Therefore, she approaches cautiously. A Light lingers around a dark-haired lifeless human, then it slowly drags the female body into a building.

Slowly walking down the dark alley, Mia patiently waits for the attack. She didn’t see the other Light, but she felt it. With her spike drawn and her guard up, she approaches the door.

Walking into the building feels wrong, but it is too late to change her mind, the door slams shut behind her. The undeniable presence of something cold brings her to a standstill. Mia can’t see, but she knows it’s there. She feels it all around her. There is something other than a Light that taunts her in the darkness.
This is it
, she thinks to herself.

“I refuse to go down without a fight. So, come on you son-of-a-bitch!” she yells, swiftly turning.

Mia rams her spike into the Light as it attempts to attack her from behind.

“I’d expect nothing less, Mia.”

“How do you know my name?”

The woman’s voice is piercing. It echoes as Mia imagined an angel’s voice would. As Mia waits for her eyes to adjust to the darkness, she takes three blind steps back toward the door. Then, she is swept off her feet and slammed into a brick wall.

“Shit!” she yells, crawling to her feet.

Mia braces herself against the wall behind her. She tries to prepare for the next blow, but just as before it catches her off guard and she is flying through the air. Her body smashes through the door and she lands hard on the alley concrete. Mia’s body aches, but she refuses to give up.

“Come on! Let's end this!” she yells, using her last bit of strength to climb to her feet.

Mia knew that one day it would be a Shadow that ended her life. However, she honestly thought that she would have a fighting chance.

Mia stands staring at the door, waiting for the Shadow to come out. She wants to look this thing right in the eyes as she dies. Mia feels her legs giving out, but she fights to keep standing. Her internal bleeding weakens her fast and her vision starts to fade, but she can’t take her eyes off the door.

The Shadow stops just outside the door. Smoke surrounds it then fades. The shape of a petite female begins to form, slowly. She lifts one of her hands and Mia feels her heart tighten, then the beating fades. Soon she feels her legs trying to collapse.

“I’m really dying,” Mia says.

Her chest is caving in, yet her only thoughts are quick flashes of her last memory of Nora. She stumbles as her knees buckle.

“Oh, come on, Mia. That wasn’t much of a fight. You promised me a fight.”

Mia smiles weakly, then finally she collapses. Before she hits the ground, she is caught.

“Noah!” she mumbles, unable to see.

“No,” he answers.

Although she is unsure of his answer, she is certain it is Noah. Mia feels too strongly for him for him to be anyone but her husband. Her life ending in the arms of her love is okay with her. Without a voice, the feeling of defeat grows until it eventually takes over. Mia’s vision is already gone, and now she can only hear the sound of her barely pumping heartbeat. Every thud feels heavy in her chest and every chill feels like ice upon her skin.

Mia wakes to the distant sounds of voices from another room. Upon opening her eyes, she is utterly disoriented.

“Noah!” She calls, sitting herself up in the bed. “I knew you would come for me. What kept you?”

She searches the room, but Noah is nowhere.  The plain white walls somehow make the one candle in the room look brighter. On the nightstand sits a glass of water. She’d never seen a glass of water that looked so good. She chugs the water until every drop is gone. Each drop is like tasting sweetness for the first time. She is surprised by her disappointment when she tilts the glass one last time for the final drop, which slowly trickles down the glass and into her mouth.

After her odd thirst is quenched, she is desperate to see Noah. Most of her body is completely healed, but her right forearm still throbs. Laughter from the next room catches her attention as she climbs out of the bed.

“You may want to stay in bed, at least until morning.”

Mia hesitates before turning toward the voice that comes from the corner of the room.

“How long have you been standing there?” she asks, walking closer to get a better look at the Szion. Unexplainably she recognizes his voice instantly. A rush of sadness covers her. The realization of Noah’s death makes her nauseous.

“A few days, off and on,” he replies softly, stepping into the candlelight.

His gentle gaze paralyzes her and his voice makes her shiver. His creamy complexion shines flawlessly in the flickering light.  His deep brown hair hangs just over his face, but not covering his sparkling emerald eyes.
I know what this means. My Noah is definitely gone. It is the only explanation for my body to call to this man.
Mia thinks. She quickly turns from him and sits a moment on the edge of the bed.

“Is Nora alive?”

“Noah gave his life for her,” he says softly.

His answer makes Mia anxious. She shuts down all emotions and willfully replaces them with anger, with that, came worry and fear.

“What is your name?”

“Zen Bently. I am sorry for your loss.”

Mia nods, thanking him, keeping her head low, so she doesn’t meet his eyes.

“Zen, thank you, for saving me. Look, I know why you did it, but I just can’t … Noah was the only love for me,” she tells him.

He smiles.

“Mia, I am not Noah’s replacement. The laws have changed. The gods have given this world to new gods.”

“Oh. Well—um … I’m sorry,” she says, suddenly feeling foolish. “New gods? How is that possible? Who are they?”

“As of now I don’t think anyone knows. For the time being we exist alone, without support from the gods. There will be no more Szion given to this world. Those who refused to return home last week will never be able to return again.

“So that’s it? We get no more help protecting our young Vilmo?”

Zen stands with his arms folded, leaning against the door listening to her ramble.

“Mia, we do what we have to do until there is help.”

Mia nods with embarrassment. His words shoot through her like lightning. Mia stops talking and momentarily gets lost in his intoxicating stare.
No! Stop it, Mia,
she silently tells herself.

Mia follows Zen out into the living room. The five Szion stop talking and greet Mia with a smile and a nod. She gives them all a quick look and a slight smile. Zen slowly walks to the middle of the room and starts the introduction. Two men sit next to a boarded up window on a small couch covered in a white sheet. The younger of the two that sits on the left, smiles. His smile brightens the small room. He is tall and slender with honey blond hair and brown eyes. Mia can't help wondering why he wasn’t with his Vilmo. The other man keeps a strong, serious face, but the softness in his deep blue eyes overpowers the frown, sending the perfect glow to his creamy complexion and coal black hair