Four
"I thought you'd be asleep." Gabriel's voice sounded eerie in the lonely rose garden. It was three in the morning and the rain had finally eased. Colt stood on the bottom step staring off into the garden.
"I tried," he answered in a tone that wasn't as strong as it usually was. "Every time I close my eyes I see her."
Gabriel was aware that he had destroyed his Grandson's one chance at salvation, the way he had Lucifer's and told himself it had needed to be done. Sophie had been a threat to everything he held dear.
Gabriel was about to open his mouth to speak when he caught a movement out the corner of his eye. A girl walked in garden, temporarily disappearing behind the hedges. Gabriel's heart raced and he willed her to leave him be. Holly Adams came out from the hedge looking like she had the day she had died. Her mass of dark curls snaked down her body and her Blue eyes bore into him accusingly.
"It gets easier." Gabriel found himself saying, unable to take his eyes off the apparition stalking him. She haunted his dreams and had recently stayed with him when he woke. Gabriel knew Holly wasn't really there, it was his guilt holding onto her and he wished he knew how to break free.
He was faintly aware of Colt saying something and when Gabriel finally managed to drag his eyes off the ghost he saw Colt climbing the steps. Michael appeared at the top and mussed Colt's hair, giving him a warm smile which Colt returned before disappearing inside.
"Its done. Griff did not die well."
"Its about time Lucifer did the same." Gabriel snapped before following Colt. Leaving Michael stunned at the bottom of the steps. No matter how hard he tried to please the Crown, he always found himself doing the opposite.
***
Colt Prince had rubbed his skin raw in the boiling hot shower he had had upon returning from hospital. He had dropped onto his bed and cried, eventually waking up to utter darkness. His restless slumber was disturbed with images of Sophie. Her face as they both glanced down at the blood seeping through her sweater... Colt knew sleep wouldn't come easy, and rather than face these images he had gone down to the garden.
Gabriel loved that garden. The smell of all those roses mixed in the air like perfume, somehow Colt associated the smell with his Mother. The rose garden always brought him peace but tonight it's charms had failed him.
Tugging on his leather jacket Colt left his room and stealthy made his way through the hollow but impressive hallways of the coliseum. When war had broke out between Immortals and mortals the White House had been the first casualty. Guess Immortals saw it as a sign of the humans strength and stuck at it with the intent to destroy. They had succeeded. Now all these years later the coliseum rose from the ashes of the White House like a Phoenix.
Re-forged and impressive as ever. Gabriel had chose this location to house the new Power. Colt had grown up within its walls, finding out all the buildings secrets, like his Grandfather's secret library which lay behind a trap door in his room. Colt had spent countless nights reading through all the books he found in there. All referred to the war but every single book or parchment had contradicting facts. It was like no one could really recall it. Even Colt who had only been three at the time, found his limited memories fading with every passing day.
He knew home like the back of his hand so didn't find it hard to sneak out, unseen. Colt had no idea where he was heading, he just needed to do something, anything that would take his mind off tonight's events. Tommy's on 44th always provided a great distraction. Colt zipped up his jacket as he emerged from the servant quarters and dashed for the big, black railings that he launched himself over.
Pleased that he had made it out undetected Colt allowed a slight grin to play on his lips, a grin that vanished when a bag was yanked over his head and darkness engulfed him.
***
When Colt Prince came to, darkness was still all he saw. His first thought was that he was dead and this was afterlife, but hushed voices began to shift the mind-numbing fog that clouded his head.
Colt tried to focus on what they were saying but the throbbing pain at the base of his neck made it impossible. He tried to move but rope cut into the skin around his wrists. "Whoever you are I'm going to hurt you badly," Colt warned trying to get himself free, "if you'll just give me a minute."
The bag was removed before Colt could use his power and his eyes settled on Andrea's face. The Founder of St.Heralds looked slightly dishevelled. Her normally immaculate appearance was marred by a rumpled Green blouse and her straight Blonde hair had broken free of its bonds and jutted out at funny angles. "Andrea?" He uttered totally mystified, "have you lost you're mind?"
Andrea gave him a tight smile, "maybe."
Colt took in his surroundings. Another man that felt strangely familiar hung back, half hidden in shadows, but with his enhanced Supernatural eyesight Colt could see clearly in the dim light that descended from the ceiling. He was in what looked to be some kind of room. Old Brick surrounded him while water dripped from broken pipes overhead, above came the rumblings of trains.
"Colt," Andrea started taking a deep breath, "I need you to hear me out, we don't have much time."
"What did you hit me with?" He interrupted as the throbbing got worse.
Andrea grimaced, "a steel pipe. I'm sorry it had to be done, I needed you to come with me, and it was quicker than arguing, as I've said time is of the essence here."
"I don't know how you managed to sneak up on me, but I'm impressed." Colt allowed.
"A cloaking spell. It only lasted a few seconds but it did the job."
Colt looked at the woman he used to trust sadly. "Why? And who's the mute?"
"A friend." Andrea said firmly interrupting the man who had began to laugh. "Don't you recognise him?"
Colt hated being on the back foot. He knew the man he just didn't know how he knew him, and the feeling unsettled him.
"Gabriel sure did a number on the little Prince." The man snorted, earning him a death glare from Colt.
"Mitch please," Andrea barked before turning back to Colt. "You've been lied to Colt. Gabriel is not what you think he is, and I have proof. I need you to see something."
"Gabriel will have you're head for this Andrea, what were you thinking, kidnapping me like that?"
"I'm all out of options Colt. For over ten years I've tried to keep you safe, tried to keep the promise I made, but... I have failed. I have failed you, Colt. And now I'm doing the only thing left to me." Tears ran down her sun kissed cheeks and Colt found his frostiness towards her dissolving. This woman had done everything for him but her constant accusations about Gabe had driven a wedge that Colt somehow couldn't fix. No matter how hard he tried. Andrea held his eyes, pleading with him. "Trust me Colt, like your Mother once did."
The mention of Holly made his throat dry up and he bit down the grief that rose in his chest. Colt was sick of people using his parents as leverage over him. "Fine." He eventually said, "I'll come with you Andrea, but this is it. After this we're done. And damn you for putting me in this position." He saw her heartbreak right in front of him, but Colt was far from upset. He was wary of being a pawn in Andrea's vendetta against his Grandfather. How he would explain this to Gabriel Colt didn't have a clue. By now his absence would have been noticed and when they couldn't find him at his usual haunts...
Andrea cut his binds and had composed herself, placing the small dagger she had used to free him in her boot. "I need you to blink us to New York."
Blinking was an ability blessed to his Father and demons. In the blink of an eye he could travel to anywhere he so wished, hence the name, but it was also forbidden. "New York is a wasteland Andrea."
"Trust me." Was all she said and Colt had to bite his lip to stop from growling his response. He took her offered hand roughly and the room seemed to glimmer as their feet left the ground. The wet bricks disappeared and was replaced with the haunting remnants of a damned City.
The man coughed and vomited violently onto the rumble. Blinking was rough on mortals and the sight brought a smile to Colt's face. New York had been ground-zero. War had made it into the biggest graveyard ever known. A thick layer of ash covered everything like snow.
"We must be quick." Andrea told them while the man rubbed his mouth on his sleeve. "Colt's blinking will have alerted the Crown, we have minutes if not seconds. Follow me." She took off at a run, darting between the remains of a once thriving civilization. The man gestured for Colt to follow and grudgingly he did.
As they danced around abandoned cars, fallen buildings and holes in the tarmac a sensitisation seized Colt. It compared to nothing he had ever felt before. It tugged at his very core, almost whispering to him like a lover. He stopped at an intersection that had now became a dense forest. Plants weaved up from the cracks in the road, reclaiming what had once been theirs. "What is it?" The man asked, stopping alongside him.
Colt didn't have an answer. Beyond the intersection, in-between spaces within the foliage lay what seemed to be your average abandoned street. Buildings lined the sides, yet this strange sensation was pulling him to it. For a moment the bright rays of the sun exploded from the heavens, poking holes into the thick smug that hung above New York like a death shroud.
In the light Colt thought he saw a girl. He glimpsed dark glossy hair, and a flash of Red. "Mother?" He called out despite himself and was about to step forward when a hand latched onto his arm, seemingly breaking the spell.
"We must not linger." Andrea said quietly, her eyes follow his own. "Come on." Gently but firmly Andrea pulled him past the intersection and continued running, releasing his arm.
The further Colt got from the intersection, the better he felt. He was about to ask just where the hell they were heading, it seemed like he had been running forever, when the strange sensitisation hit him like a hammer to the stomach, he stumbled and sank to his knees.
Water soaked through his jeans and Colt looked up about to ask when it had started raining again, only for the words to die in his throat. He wasn't in New York anymore, or rather he was just not his New York.
Somehow, in the time he had fallen to now, mere seconds, the Big Apple had changed around him. It was now the bustling City that it had once been. Cold rain pelleted the streets, and what few people there was, were cowering under parked cars, or hidden behind walls. "What the..."
He was in Times Square but the screens were filled with video's of carnage and fighting, not the bright happy adverts that had once lit the Square. Colt tried to move but his brain had trouble catching up. The change in time had serious messed with his mojo. Colt felt like a astronaut adrift in space, helpless over his own body.
"What's wrong with him?" The man's gruff voice cut through the time loop. Colt couldn't see him or Andrea but could still hear them, and the feeling felt like he was being torn in two.
"...How could I have been so stupid..." Andrea' whispered in response.
A scream filled Colt with dread and dulled out the voices of his companions. He barely had time to acknowledge it before something whizzed past him. A body whose clothes had been dyed with dampness and blood rolled across the road, feet away from where a captive Colt was knelt.
A figure came from behind like darkness itself. As it stopped beside Colt he could feel the power radiating from it. It was strong, way stronger than him or anything he had came into contact with. Blood ran down its steel tipped boots and they crunched against the tarmac as it started to move again.
The body that rolled across the floor in front of Colt came to and when it turned oxygen abandoned Colt. His chest tightened and his body came to a stop. It was Holly Adams, his Mother.
She looked just like he remembered and tears slipped down his already wet cheeks mixing with the rain water. He tried to call out to her but words wouldn't come. Colt was a spectator watching a movie, that was how it felt.
"It didn't have to be like this." The figure towering over his Mother said. He had his a hood over his face but Colt didn't recognise his voice. Holly propped herself up on her elbows and tired to scramble out of his way, but her body was spent.
Holly's raven hair was slick with water and blood. Crimson ran down her face and into her eyes, angry looking bruises had formed all over her face, and her top lip was busted. "Sure it did." She spat and hearing her voice again made joy spring in Colt for a minute.
"Why throw in your lot with them?" The figure asked in a exasperated tone. "A thing such as you could be limitless, yet you side with those who wish to chain you, keep you from who you truly are. This utopia we are about to make could have been heaven for you."
Holly's chest heaved like she was having trouble breathing and Colt gritted his teeth in attempt to move. His efforts proved unfruitful and he let out a howl of agony. To be this close yet unable to touch her was worse than losing her.
"Spare me," Holly uttered, her voice faint, "you're just another of his puppets. You're not building a new better world Lucas, you're building his world."
Lucas was silent for a few minutes and Colt realised what he was witnessing and fresh torment rippled through him. Is this what Andrea wanted to show him? His Mother' last minutes on earth, how could she be so heartless?
Colt was powerless to stop his Mother's murderer as he sat over her, removing a lethal looking blade from his boot, Lucas trailed the tip down Holly's body. "All that power going to waste," Colt saw his hood move as he shook his head, "you could have been magnificent."
"She already is."
Colt couldn't help the smile lightning up his face. That voice belonged to his Father and a sound of relief broke from Colt's throat. Dominic Prince oozed danger as he appeared like a Knight to a besieged King. The son of Satan moved with a grace and speed Colt had never seen. A 2x2 piece of wood collided with Lucas' head making it snap back and throwing him from Holly.
The Immortal rolled to his feet displaying his own prowess. "Dominic Prince," he sneered, "you are proving hard to kill."
"The same won't be said for you if you touch her again."
Colt couldn't help but be in awe of his Father. Even soaked and covered with what seemed to be dirt Dominic Prince' presence was a dominate one. He had a style that had never been mirrored since or before.
Lucas scoffed, "I'm kind of strong, don't you think? You know you can't take me."
Dom discarded the snapped wood and worked a kink out his neck, a mischievous glint entered his dark eyes. "Let's find out."
Colt saw the swagger leave Lucas' demeanour and silently egged his Father on. The two clashed like a wave and a breaker. Dominic rolled over Lucas' back landing a kick to the face as he landed. Lucas cursed and charged him. The two Immortals went at it with breath taking speed. Colt found it hard to follow Lucas' attacks and Dom' parries. His Father blocked every move perfectly.
To his right Holly was trying to get vertical but every movement looked like a knife to the gut. She dragged herself to a sitting position and had to bit down on her lip, while her fingertips clawed at the ground in silent agony.
Colt averted his eyes unable to witness his Mother' agony anymore. The fight still raged and hope abandoned Colt when Lucas seemed to melt into nothingness. It looked like Dom was fighting air. Lucas' Black robes whirling was all that Colt could see. There was no way anyone could hold that forever.
Holly knew it too. With a scream Colt watched with horror as Holly gripped the Sliver blade that had been buried in the flesh of her right side, it had been obscured until now. A grim determination set on her face and she pulled it out.
Dominic landed heavily on the tarmac and Lucas was on him like a hungry dog, pounding with fists, kicking with his powerful legs.
A whistle pierced the air and Lucas stopped. "You have serious anger management issues." Holly mused before Crimson filled her eyes and invisible hands swatted Lucas off Dominic like he was a pesky fly. He went back first into the screen located directly behind and hit the floor amid a shower of sparks.
"What are you doing?" Dominic demanded getting to his feet.
"Your welcome." Holly responded, "what does it look like I'm saving your ass."
"Thought I was saving yours." Dom mused.
A howl of anger drew their attention. "He's gonna be a handful."
Holly looked at him, "so are we."
Amongst certain death and all this carnage Colt's parents looked at each other and it was there in every small motion their bodies made, how much they adored each other. Dominic studied Holly with something close to desire. "God I love you." He said almost involuntary.
Another angry growl spoilt the moment and Lucas appeared out the debris. "How much juice you got left?" Dominic asked all business again. Colt saw the concerned crease of his brow as his anxious eyes took in Holly' ravaged body.
"Let's find out." She replied.