Ethan
Sometime later we were standing in front of the Rylan guys’ house. The house was dark, and I had a feeling that he was sleeping. We both walked up to the door, and Lyla produced a key and inserted it into the lock. She turned it slowly, and pushed the door open with a small creaking sound.
We went inside, and she turned on the big chandelier that hung overhead. The gems on it were making a rainbow pattern all over the ceiling and wall, and it was kind of mesmerizing. I still couldn’t get over the size of this house. How the hell does someone that young afford it?
“Rylan?” Lyla called out rather loudly.
A few seconds later, we heard someone coming down the stairs. When Rylan saw Lyla, he ran over and gave her a big hug, crushing her to him.
His voice was a bit choked when he spoke, and I knew he was on the verge of tears. “Oh my God, I thought something happened to you. Where have you been the last couple days? Did I do something wrong? If so, I am so, so sorry… Please forgive me.”
“Well, after I overheard the conversation that you had on the phone, I thought you were talking about locking me up because of some necklace or something. I got scared and ran away,” she said in a sad voice. “Because I let you read that book that I took from school.”
“No, no! You got it all wrong. Remember Ruby?” Lyla nodded. “Well, she stole a necklace from the jewelry store she was working at, and the owner called me to ask if he should press charges and stuff. I told him that I knew about the necklace that she took because she was wearing it the last time I saw her. I guess she was so sneaky that the security camera never caught her slipping it into her pocket or however she stole it.”
Lyla let out a small breath, and sank into the chair she was standing next too. She looked as if she had a huge weight lifted off of her shoulders. She looked beyond relieved.
I also noticed that Rylan had a British accent when he spoke. The fucker must be from England or something.
Rylan turned to me, and nodded. “So, you’re her boyfriend, huh?”
When I nodded, a strange look came over his face.
“You better take care of her.” he threatened. “If you hurt her, I will kill you.”
I stood up straighter, and squared my shoulders. “I would protect her with my life.” I replied defensively.
“Okay, you better, because I’ll kick your ass if anything happens to her.” he said with a sharp nod.
Then I saw what was hidden in Rylan’s eyes. He had feelings for Lyla, and not the brotherly type. He was smitten by her. That made me angry. Now I knew how Lyla felt when she saw me and Miranda together. I pushed it all aside, and got into detail of what Miranda told us tonight. My jealousy could wait; we had other things at hand that needed to be taken care of.
More important things than envy.
Rylan started off for the kitchen, and turned on the coffee pot. He pulled out a kitchen chair, and sank into it. “The Seven Horses do want to protect Lyla. They knew from the moment that she crossed over into our world. The
Seven Horses are kind of a gang in Hell. We don’t abide by Hell’s rules, we do our own thing. We turn into a horse once we accept our fate if anyone finds out we are rebels, which would get us killed. It’s weird, but I don’t have any other explanation for you.”
I waved him along so he could get back to the main story.
“The people that are after her are fallen angels and demons… mostly demons, though. They want her to bring on the end of the world. They would do anything. From what I’ve heard, I guess Lyla has something that would help them… I don’t know if they would be able to control her if they had it, or if they would turn into something… I’m not sure, but I know only a few, if not less, can do anything with it. From what I’ve heard is that only one or two people Down There can do anything, but that isn’t going to stop the others from trying to get whatever it is.”
“But if they knew, then why didn’t you know what I was from the moment you found me? Or were you just playing dumb?” Lyla asked in disbelief.
I don’t even think her mind sank in the information that Rylan just offered up, all Lyla seemed concerned with was the fact that Rylan might have lied about knowing what she was in the beginning. I didn’t even think Rylan really even knew about her necklace… that’s what it seems like anyway from the little speech he gave. He kept saying “whatever it is” and “something.”
“Well, I’m one of their new recruits. I don’t have the same senses they do, and I probably won’t for another decade or two. But, they are the ones that called me when I found you. They didn’t tell me what you were, they just said to go and get you.” Rylan said back. “I didn’t know anything about you until you caught that towel on fire.” he blushed and looked away, trying to hide it.
He was no doubt thinking about Lyla naked.
I wanted to punch him in the face. But, by the look of his build, he would beat my ass to the ground in two seconds. I mean, I have a lot of muscles from playing sports for years, but the muscles on him were otherworldly.
He wasn’t beefed up like he was on steroids or anything, but he was still well-built.
I clenched my fists tightly together, but ignored him. I knew Lyla didn’t feel the same way about him. She loved me. I had to keep telling myself that, because if I didn’t, I was going to do something to end up in jail, or be killed.
“Okay, but what are they really after? I mean besides my necklace, there has to be another motive.” Lyla said.
Rylan got up and got himself a cup of coffee before he answered. He offered us one but we politely declined.
“Your necklace? Huh, well… yeah there is. The fallen angels that are hunting you want the end of the world to happen so they can get back into the good graces of Heaven by fighting demons and so forth. They want to put on a show. They want to make it back to Heaven and fight God for the throne… I think. I’ll have to learn more about all of this. I don’t get told a lot because I’m not eons old like the others. But, since Lyla… and well, you,” he said turning to me. “Don’t have souls and is part of Hell itself, they think they can persuade you into working for them. They know who has your souls, and think that will make you want to do their bidding.”
“So the rumors are true, we really don’t have souls?” I asked.
Rylan shook his head. “Nope. The moment you were conceived the demons took it. So that means if you die, you’re automatically going to Hell unless you can get your souls back. If you have your souls, the fallen angels can’t touch you, and they won’t pursue you anymore. I think. That’s just stories that I have heard. I’m sorry I’m not more sure about any of this.”
Lyla piped up. “So there is a way to get them back, right?”
“Yes, there is, but it’s nearly impossible. Where they keep the souls are is in a place so nasty and forbidden, you wouldn’t even survive the journey there. I couldn’t even get down there by myself, and I know Hell, I’m a demon. You two? I don’t even wanna think about it. You guys would end up snacks for the demons, literally. Or, they would take you to one of the torture chambers… anyway; it’s something you wouldn’t want. Trust me—I’ve seen people down there. There is no braving anything out. You will be so terrified and wishing you never existed.”
“But I have to try—I don’t want to go to Hell. Maybe I can trade something for my soul?” Lyla asked hopefully, playing with her hair. I noticed she did that when she was nervous. She twirled a long strand around her finger over and over again.
“The only thing they would want would be servitude until the day you die. That means you will serve them by doing nasty things to people. And the nasty things include: killing, hurting, torturing, and almost anything you can think of that would harm a person both mentally and physically. Slaying newborn babies, stealing someone’s body from a morgue, beating up old people…”
Well, shit.
“Well, let’s look at the task at hand first. We need to get our souls back before we can even fight these fallen angels or demons… or whatever the hell they are. If we die, we’re going to Hell anyway.” I said.
“Correct, that would be the smartest thing to do.”
Rylan said, draining his cup in one long gulp. “But, I think once you have your souls they will leave you alone anyway. They usually do, but you guys are different, and they could always threaten you in one way or another.
“Can you take us there, Rylan? I mean, maybe not to where the souls are kept, but just get us there. Could you?” Lyla asked sweetly. “I know we could make it.”
“I can, but I won’t. There might be another way to get your souls back, but that means taking a trip down to New Orleans. There is a Voodoo queen there who is said to be able to retrieve souls back from the dead.”
Lyla lit up like a light bulb. “Okay, we’ll go there then.”
“You can’t do anything until you turn eighteen. She can’t get juveniles’ souls, only adults. And what makes it easier is the more you do good, the cleaner your spirit will be, making the trip back from Hell as safe as possible. If your soul dies before it reaches your body, you die. You will seize to exist. It would be as if you were never born. No one will remember you; anything you impacted in life will be no more… I’m pretty sure that’s how it works… I told you, I’m new at this.”
I shivered just thinking about it. It sounded horrible.
I don’t even know what it would be like to not exist. I mean, wouldn’t it kinda be weird? It just doesn’t seem right, how can one’s soul be destroyed? There is the Thermodynamic Theory from science class that says energy can’t die, but it can be transformed into something else…
I think I had that right, hopefully. If I got home and looked it up and found I was wrong, I’m going to feel like a loser. This is something that I’m supposed to know! We’ve only went over it a million times in class.
“So, we wait until I turn eighteen, and then I can make the trip down there?” Lyla asked.
Rylan nodded. “Okay, if that’s settled, I’d like to go back to sleep.” he said, clicking the coffee maker off.
“What do we do about the demons in the meantime?” I asked.
“Oh, and I think it might only be one or two fallen angels…” he said.
I nodded at him, and said thank you.
“Keep Lyla safe, but don’t worry, we will be watching out and fighting anything off that doesn’t seem normal, okay?”
Lyla and I agreed.
We both stood up to go, and left the house without another word.
“So when do you turn eighteen?” I asked, climbing into my truck.
“March 5th.” Lyla said.
“Okay, so we have like two and a half months of trying to keep these creatures away from you.”
She nodded solemnly.
I tapped my chin. “Okay, then I better start using my powers to get my strength back up.” I didn’t like it, but it was the only thing I had to keep her safe.