Rise of the Fallen Read online

  “So what have you been up to, Emilie? I haven’t seen you around in a while,” he spoke quietly, his eyes on the teacher.

  “Yeah, I’ve been uh … sick,” I replied, matching the tone of his voice.

  “Oh true. Well, I hope you’re better now. I’ve missed seeing you around,” he had a smirk on his face as he looked at me. Damn, was

  I really that bad a liar? I forced a smile and nodded twice. He smiled and once again his long fringe fell into his eyes, but this time he didn’t brush it away.

  The bell rang out. How had time moved so fast? A seventyminute lesson had passed in what seemed like five. Strange. Cael was the first out of the classroom. When I got out Soul was waiting for me. He took my books and we walked towards our next class. “Hey, do you want to sit with me at lunch?”

  I smiled but didn’t bother looking up, “Sure.”

  He hooked his arm in mine and we made our way along the twisting hallways. As we walked down the stairs I couldn’t help but look into his beautiful, entrancing eyes. He smiled back at me but said nothing.

  When we reached the courtyard, Soul led me in the direction of a stone bench under a big, old tree. We sat for a few moments before either of us spoke; it was Soul who spoke first.

  “Are you going to look at my note?”

  I felt every muscle in my body freeze. Truth be told I wasn’t so sure I wanted to read it.

  “Don’t freak out,” he laughed.

  I looked down, staying quiet. Soul touched my shoulder.

  “You don’t have to look at it right now; maybe you could read it tonight. Just be sure to call me after you do.”

  I forced a smile and nodded. We sat silently while Soul ate his lunch. I didn’t eat anything.

  “Why don’t you eat, Emilie?” Soul asked suddenly, his voice filled with curiosity.

  Stunned, I blinked a few times. He was more perceptive than any other human I knew. No one else had ever noticed it before.

  “I don’t know,” I replied quickly, pushing my initial answer I don’t need to out of my mind.

  “Oh, okay,” he said.

  I stared into his eyes and I could see he wanted to say something. He turned away quickly, breaking eye contact. Typical. People can’t hide their inner thoughts and feelings around me. The eyes say it all.

  I couldn’t understand what he was up to, hanging around me. I stared at him with curiosity.

  He took my hand in his and kept it there for a few moments before he spoke.

  “Trust me, Emilie.” The double meaning was clear to me.

  We sat there for a moment, my hand still in his until a familiar voice interrupted us.

  “What the hell, Emilie!” Cael yelled.

  I jumped up in shock. Soul sat up straight, dropping my hand. Cael stood before us, his face a combination of disbelief and anger. I felt my frustration grow. I couldn’t see what was so wrong with me hanging out with a human. After all, Cael does it all the time. He was even in a relationship with a human once. It didn’t end favourably … but my point was still valid.

  “Listen Cael, I think you need to calm down and back off,” Soul said.

  “You want me to calm down? Why don’t you just shut the hell up? Emilie, we were doing fine before he came into our lives. Now you’re risking everything, for him?”

  I was speechless.

  “Hey, if you wanted Emilie so bad maybe you should’ve asked her out or at least treated her right. Grow up and quit acting like a four year old,” Soul stood up. “I’ll see you later, Emilie.”

  “Is that true, Cael? Is that why you’re so angry? Do you like me or something?” I tried to keep my voice calm but my mind was screaming.

  “I think I …” he started talking, then hesitated. His expression was torn. As I looked into his eyes, it seemed like he wasn’t breathing. “I don’t think you should trust Soul, Emilie. He’s not like the other humans; he’s not someone you can trust,” Cael spoke deliberately, choosing his words carefully.

  “Well I think you’re wrong. Nice topic change by the way. Real smooth.”

  Cael stared at me in silence.

  “What?”

  “I don’t know …” Cael said, “ … You’re refusing to see the facts and I don’t know what to say anymore.”

  I started walking away. I couldn’t stand there doing nothing. What if what Soul said was true? That would certainly complicate matters. The school bell rang, echoing in my ears.

  In the distance I could hear Cael calling my name but I couldn’t bring myself to care.

  CHAPTER 2

  The second I was in the car I opened Soul’s note. The paper was torn and ragged but the writing very clear. There were two lines: one was a question and the other was a statement. The question was what I had expected. As I read over it, I couldn’t help but be suspicious about the way it was worded.

  Will you be mine? At first glance it seemed harmless, sweet even. But on further consideration of the word “mine”, matched with the last sentence, I was seriously considering the possibility that Cael was right. I know what you are and I can help you find your way back; if you’ll let me.

  I was nervous. Clearly Soul knew more than he should and I wanted to know how he knew. I was also unsure about what I should do about that question. If I said yes, he might take that as me wanting to go back. Cael didn’t want to, so I guessed I didn’t either. It wasn’t a safe place, which is why Cael convinced me to escape centuries ago. Why would we want to go back to the bottom of the food chain again? Of course, if I said no to Soul he could quite possibly sell us out to a higher power, so to speak. That is assuming that he really knew, of course.

  Maybe I was just getting paranoid. It wouldn’t be the first time that I had become suspicious of someone. That was the reason Cael and I left Perth and moved to Brisbane. We had been living in a small house on the waterfront – Cael loved that place but he left it behind for me. As it turns out I was being irrational but Cael stuck by me. He was always there for me; he never left me. All we had was each other.

  Well, I had two options. One: call Soul and ask him exactly what he meant. Two: call Cael and tell him everything. Although I knew option two was by far the more intelligent and logical, I couldn’t control myself as I dialled Soul’s number. He answered in a sharp, cold voice, “Yes.”

  I froze. Flashes of memories appeared in my mind. I was familiar with that tone from the underworld hierarchy of princes and dukes. But not from Soul. A human was incapable of that tone. Suddenly I realised this wasn’t a good idea. But I had to answer.

  “Uh … Soul, it’s Emilie,” I squeaked. Damn, so much for staying calm.

  “Oh! Emilie! I was expecting a call from Lil … never mind. How are you?” Soul’s tone instantly returned to a soft, calm voice.

  Strange. I’ve never met someone, let alone a human, who was capable of changing their voice completely in a matter of seconds. Soul was expecting a call from someone else and I wanted to know who it was, but I had enough questions to ask him already.

  “I’m fine. Sorry for calling unannounced.”

  He chuckled, “Don’t be sorry. Did you read my note yet? Have you got an answer?” His voice was enthusiastic, maybe a little too enthusiastic.

  “Uh … yeah I read it, but I don’t really have an answer just yet. I have a question though,” My voice was perfectly calm and unnaturally even. There was silence on the other end.

  “What’s the question?” I felt myself freeze once more. Soul had matched my tone perfectly.

  “What did you mean, ‘you know what I am and you can help me find my way back’?” I asked.

  “You’re a smart girl, Emilie. You figure it out.”

  I was taken aback. He had managed to avoid the question completely. He knew I wasn’t sure of myself and he used this to his advantage. I heard a small beeping noise on the line.

  “Oh, that’s my other line. It’s important … I’ll catch you later.”

  Just before the silence, I
heard Soul sigh. I snapped my phone shut. I should have called Cael, talking to him would have made more sense than talking to Soul. Too late now. I contemplated calling Cael, but I didn’t feel like angering him further. My thoughts returned to earlier that day: did Cael ‘like’ me? An attraction like that would destroy everything we’d worked for, especially our freedom and the life we’d built in Australia. Besides, it could ruin our friendship. He knew that. Or rather, he should know that.

  I sat, lost in my thoughts, until I jumped – I was still in the car! I hadn’t even left the school parking lot. Good thing I wasn’t driving – I’m not the best multi-tasker.

  My car was the only one left. Usually there were quite a few still around this time of the afternoon. I reversed quickly out of the car park and swung onto the main road, blending into the sea of cars that seemed to go on forever.

  I was not quick to become impatient though. That was something else that seemed to separate me from the human drivers. The traffic jam gave me time to think.

  I didn’t particularly want time to think, but when time is given to you, use it wisely. I was tempted to call someone – anyone. My mind flew back to our time in Europe. It was relatively short compared to our time in other countries. We lived in Britain for only three centuries. We saw villages grow into cities and we saw new laws passed. We were happy, content. Until Dorian showed up.

  Dorian was a duke who worked for the Angel of Death, Samael. Of course, it wasn’t the first time that an upper-level demon sent one of his minions after us, but I would never forget the night Dorian came for us.

  His eyes were pitch black and piercing, his long dark hair swept to one side of his face. As he advanced on me, I distinctly remember calling out for Cael who appeared instantly. Cael grabbed my arm, roughly pulling me behind him. I remembered instinctively taking a step away from Cael as a pale blue light appeared around him.

  His skin glowed brightly, and suddenly a wall of icy water appeared between him and Dorian. Dorian laughed loudly, mocking him, but when Dorian took a step forward everything changed. Cael forced the wall forward, locking Dorian in a cage of water. He thrashed around, but Cael held out his palm and the water turned to pure, hard ice, entrapping Dorian motionless inside. I had never seen Cael as a strong figure before that moment. I realised that he would do anything to protect me. We fled. Cael and I came to Australia, leaving our past life and everything we had behind.

  It was so long ago yet Cael never let me forget that he was the one who saved me. He still blames me for trusting Dorian and for leaving us wide open to attacks. But it was hard to distrust Dorian. You see, in human form, demons are quite charismatic. People trust them and even fellow demons fall for their charms. I should have been more suspicious, especially when he started asking increasingly private and personal questions. But I had fallen for him. I wanted to believe that he was good. I let my guard down just once and it nearly cost Cael and me our freedom. I promised myself I would never let that happen again.

  The traffic was still slow and even my patience was wearing thin. The continuous beeping of horns was beginning to get on my nerves. There’s so much anger in the human world, so much. All it would take was a small push and the whole world would come crashing down.

  As I looked around I saw there were absolutely no cars moving and there were hundreds more trying to enter the highway. I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply and slowly and turned off all the noise from outside. I breathed out in relief when I reached complete silence – until a knock on my car window wrenched me from my thoughts.

  Cael’s face was at my window. He came around and jumped into the passenger seat, running his hand through his sandy blond hair.

  “What’s up? Your eyes were closed. Do you have a headache or something?”

  I opened my mouth but no words came out. My hand trembled on the steering wheel.

  “Let me drive. You don’t look so good right now,” He said, unbuckling my seat belt and shifting me to the passenger side. In a matter of seconds we had switched places.

  The traffic began to move. Cael looked over and I stared back at him. I knew it was childish not speaking, but I didn’t think I could handle his I-told-you-so attitude. So I turned away and looked out the window.

  “What happened, Emilie?” His voice had a worried tone.

  I turned back to him, but didn’t dare look into his eyes.

  “Tell me, come on,” he said in a reassuring tone.

  He slowed as we reached the traffic lights in front of the bridge. I ran my fingers over the note and, with slow, trembling hands, passed it to Cael.

  “Soul,” I said simply.

  Cael opened it and read quickly. He looked over to me. “Please tell me you didn’t say yes.”

  “I can’t give him an answer yet.”

  He studied the note for a moment, before ripping it up and tossing the pieces on the floor. He accelerated and we were over the bridge in an instant. Cael was angry, I could tell. I stared out the window, glancing out at the shimmering blue water underneath us. Since we arrived here in the early 1900s I’d grown to love the ocean surrounding Australia.

  I raised my gaze to the deep blue sky and watched the clouds change into familiar shapes before dispersing into a grey mist.

  It’s amazing how much we take for granted. Centuries ago when we had been taken by a group of demons to the fifth layer of the demonic realm, we would have been lucky to see the sky maybe once or twice a year, and even then it was black. There was no freedom – just chaos. The demons of Legion Five tormented us for what felt like an eternity. It’s easy to lose track of time in the demonic realm. With no sky or natural light a day can stretch into years.

  We weren’t the only ones at the bottom of the food chain, as I like to call it; but the other elementals that we’d met never complained. They were apathetic for the most part, happy to do what they were told.

  It was Cael’s idea for us to escape the underworld; he convinced me it was the best thing to do, so I followed. I have to admit, I was shocked to find that we were actually wanted back. Of course, they only want us back to punish us or kill us.

  The car slowed down and eventually stopped.

  “We’re home.” Cael’s voice was still on edge.

  Without a word I pushed my door open and stepped out of the car. As my shoes made contact with the hard gravel of the driveway a loud crunching sound echoed along the silent street. I kept my eyes down, watching the ground as I walked to the front door. I heard a familiar step behind me. As I reached the front door, Cael placed his hand on my back and guided me aside so he could unlock the door. His arm lingered on my back for a brief moment. It dropped to his side when I walked ahead. The house was dark, but I didn’t mind as I was used to the darkness.

  I walked past the lounge room and dropped my bag near the closest chair before going to my bedroom.

  Cael’s voice called from the other room. “Wait, Emilie! I need to talk to you about today,” as he walked towards me.

  When he reached my door, I shut it in his face and locked it, turned, and pressed my back against it. Exhaustion struck me, and I slid to the floor.

  My room was the darkest room in the house, and I loved it. Everything in my room was deep burgundy. I find it calming. On the wall was a small photo of the ocean beneath the western cliffs of Ireland in a simple black frame. Cael bought me the photograph a few years ago when I was feeling nostalgic. It contrasted beautifully with the burgundy walls and reminded me of the brief decade we lived there after we escaped the demonic realm.

  I breathed a sigh of relief. I always felt safe in my room, even though I felt safer when Cael was home. I could always count on him to protect me. I sat in complete silence, listening to the sounds around me.

  I love silence; it is through silence that we learn the truth. When we were captives of the demons and they would leave to visit the human realm, I would be engulfed in the silence I so desperately wanted. I knew even then that Cael and I were de
stined for something greater.

  I have grown increasingly tired of Cael over the last few years. Something has changed in the way we live. There is something missing, something I had before but don’t have now. I think it’s purpose. I have nothing to do, nothing to keep me going. I need something to do with all my time, rather than hiding among the humans and sitting around thinking. All this laziness is pathetic. But Cael loves it. He loves nothing more than sitting down in a dark room endlessly watching sci-fi movies. Cael tried to get me to watch some with him, but movies were never my thing. I like to read. On the occasional warm summer’s day Cael and I would sit under a tall tree in the yard and read. I cherish those days.

  I heard a door close somewhere in the hallway. So he was alive out there … Knowing Cael, he was probably just sulking. I guessed I was being a little harsh. After all, he only wanted to talk to me. I closed my eyes once more. I liked the darkness … it made me feel safe.

  Even though I am immortal, sleep is still necessary. Every living creature has to sleep some time. As I sat in the silent darkness of my room, I felt the familiar sensation of rest overwhelm me.

  CHAPTER 3

  I woke with a start, a loud crash of thunder shook the entire house. I looked around, blinking a few times, attempting to focus on the room that was covered in darkness. I froze when I realised I was no longer on the floor.

  I couldn’t remember getting up and into my bed. I stood up slowly, my eyes adjusting to the darkness. Another crash of thunder shook the windows in their frames.

  I made my way to the bedroom door and ran my hand across the handle. The door was still shut tightly. It was still locked. I knew for a fact that I had been too exhausted to even get up off the floor. It had to be Cael; he has the keys to every room in the house. A flash of lightning lit up the room. Shadows danced across my walls. A strong gust of wind blew the curtains nearly to the ceiling.