Rise of the Fallen Page 4

  “Thought I’d left you?” he said playfully.

  I shook my head, “No, not at all.”

  He smirked and leaned down to me, stopping just before our lips touched. Soul looked me in the eyes for a moment before moving away.

  “You thought I was going to,” he chuckled quietly.

  I felt myself go red with embarrassment. I walked behind him, trying to stay out of view. He turned around and faced me, walking backwards for a while, looking me in the eyes. I was convinced he was going to run into a tree or something. That would be unfortunate because I wouldn’t be able to stop laughing if that happened.

  He looked me up and down for a moment before smiling and turning away.

  “What was that?” I asked.

  Soul turned back around and smiled. “Don’t worry.”

  “Okay then,” I said sarcastically. “Are you going to tell me who Lilith is?”

  His smile fell a little, “Not right now, no.”

  He was being impossible. I wasn’t going to let him get away with this, but I realised that any attempts I made to get information from him would be in vain. Then again, I didn’t want Cael around for the next few days. My phone vibrated softly in my pocket. I pulled it out and opened the text message.

  Crushed by a tree. Not quite the noblest of deaths now is it? How disappointing for me. Nevertheless, an interesting story to tell the others. Oh and Emilie, I am surprised to see you have replaced me already. What makes you so sure Soul is more trustworthy than I am? D.

  I looked up from the screen; Soul had turned to look back at me.

  “What’s wrong, Emilie?” he asked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

  “Don’t worry, Soul. You don’t need to know,” I replied with biting sarcasm.

  If Soul could mock me, I was certainly allowed to return the favour.

  I shut my phone and put it back in my pocket. He was there. Dorian saw me. I knew for a fact that he didn’t create that storm; he doesn’t have that sort of power. He was harmless for the most part. Unless, of course, you count the endless stalking and breaking into my house while I was sleeping. But I’m not one to judge, now, am I …?

  The rain cleared and I realised I was bone dry. The storm wasn’t natural.

  Up ahead I could see the school, we were only a few minutes away. I pushed in front of Soul and tried to make a run for it, but he grabbed my arm and stopped me.

  “I hope you know you are more like Cael than you think you are,” I teased.

  “Oh, really, maybe that’s why you love me so much,” he retorted.

  Now that was an answer that I truly didn’t expect. Amazing,

  I had no idea that he had such a wide array of sarcastic and witty comebacks. Contrary to popular belief, I didn’t think sarcasm was the lowest form of wit. It took a lot of thought to be sarcastic.

  “Sorry – that was out of line, as usual. I just needed to talk to you, ask you some questions,” Soul said tenderly.

  Oh, that was cute … he was actually pretending to care about his attitude – how pathetic. “What questions?” I asked, pulling my arm away.

  “What is it like being an elemental?” Soul asked, his voice and his eyes full of curiosity. For once he seemed relaxed, his posture had changed and his entire personality seemed cheerful. Oh yes, his question. It was actually a good question. What was it like being an elemental? Personally, I loved it and I lived for it; Cael thought otherwise. We were two opposites, Cael and I, in more ways than one. Cael holds the elemental power of water and I hold fire. I’m basically the original pyromaniac, in the flesh, so to speak.

  “Oh it’s great,” I replied lamely.

  Soul laughed loudly. “What element are you again, Emilie? What’s Cael? Do you two know who the other elementals are?”

  So many questions, so little time.

  “I’m fire and Cael’s water. No … Cael didn’t want to search for anyone else,” I replied instantly. I tried to smile but couldn’t.

  “Fire,” Soul muttered under his breath. “Powerful.”

  I nodded and he smiled. How on earth can he manage to smile so much?

  “Emilie, what’s wrong?” Soul asked, placing a hand on my shoulder. I pulled away and ran in the direction of the school. I ran fast, but I couldn’t lose Soul. He kept up easily, but he didn’t try to catch me. I stopped as I reached the car park and turned to Soul who was standing a metre away, an expression of confusion on his face.

  I took a deep breath before running back to him and kissing him. It only lasted a moment, but for that moment the world stood still. One kiss can say so much. I was falling in love with him. I didn’t want to admit it but it was the truth and nothing could stop that. I knew that this might just get me killed but it was a risk I was willing to take, for now at least.

  “Soul! I am going to pretend I didn’t just see that. Emilie! Class. Now.” The sharp voice of the principal made me laugh.

  “Sure thing, sir. Coming Soul?”

  He burst out laughing as we walked to class. I was a little concerned about what Cael would say when he found out. The whole school would hear about it at the next senior assembly. That was how the principal ran the school.

  Soul and I stood at the door of the classroom. Cael looked up from his book and shook his head in what seemed to be disgust, then went straight back to his book. I couldn’t help but smirk. Soul nodded, grabbed my hand and pulled me to a desk next to Cael. Soul sat between us, obviously looking for a reaction from Cael – and he got one.

  I heard a rip of paper then a small paper plane fell onto my desk. I opened it and laughed out loud. The teacher spun around and gave me a death glare, which only made me laugh louder. I looked back at the note before showing it to Soul who smirked.

  When will the price become too high?

  CHAPTER 5

  I left my phone in the car and walked past the large paperbark trees that surrounded the house. This was going to be fun. There was no point in locking the car, or even going inside the house. I walked quickly, avoiding loose branches, anything that might combust. I smiled as I felt my body temperature rising and looked around. I needed an open space, away from the dry trees. Wouldn’t want to hurt anyone now, would we?

  The soft wind ruffled the trees around me. The weather was perfect, not too humid. I would be able to use my powers easily. I stepped over a fallen tree trunk and into a large open space. The grass was dry. I wouldn’t have to worry about destroying anything here at least.

  I walked forward to the centre of the field and I closed my eyes. I let the heat overwhelm me and put my mind at ease. I couldn’t afford to think or be distracted if I was going to do this properly. I took a deep breath and held my fists out in front of me. My mind was blank and I was at peace. Slowly I unclenched my hand and opened my eyes.

  The skin from my hand all the way up to my forearm was deep red. I stared at it for a moment and waited patiently. Nothing was happening but that was to be expected, I hadn’t used my powers in over a century. Cael thought it would be safer if we pretended to be humans, which meant we couldn’t use our powers at all. I could have found a reason to do it, but I didn’t.

  My hand was now burning; heat waves rose then disappeared into the air above. It wouldn’t be long now.

  Finally, orange-red flames rose from my hand. They gently flickered across its surface, the heat prickling my skin. It felt right. I’d missed this feeling and I couldn’t believe I hadn’t done it sooner. I brought my hand to my face for closer inspection. The flames remained intact as I turned my hand over a few times. I had always found flames beautiful. So much power behind them. They’re amazing. I stared down at my palm before stretching my arm out in front of me again. I smiled once more as it turned blue-white with pure heat.

  With a flick of my wrist flames shot to one of the trees. They hit the dry leaves, turning them deep red and engulfing the entire tree in seconds. I watched in amusement as more trees caught fire. I turned around facing the untouched trees
and closed my hand into a fist, placing it by my side.

  I kept my hand down and stared ahead intently. It was a matter of seconds before anything happened, but it was magnificent. I only had to stare at the tree before it burst into flames. This time it was white flames that licked the dried bark from the tree. It disintegrated into nothing but a tiny pile of ashes, while the embers blew in the wind setting fire to the surrounding forest.

  I decided to stop – after all, I had made my point: my powers were just as strong as they used to be. Of course, I was using my powers against trees; I doubt they would be of any use in combat with demons.

  I looked up in shock, as I realised how the fire had spread. I was now standing in a ring of flames. A human stuck in the same predicament would have panicked – even a non-elemental demon would have freaked out. The loud crackling of burning leaves filled my ears, the heat pleasantly warming my entire body. I walked through the flames, back the way I had come.

  The further I walked, the more I began to realise how far the fire had spread. I saw how dangerously close it was to the house, any further and it would be right on the doorstep. As I reached the backyard I looked around and cried out. Everywhere I looked, there were flames … What had I done?

  I heard a loud creaking noise behind me. Slowly, I turned to see a large eucalyptus tree crack at the base and plummet directly towards the house, breaking through the roof with a terrifying smash. Flames danced across the roof, small embers floated down, inside the house. I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t move. I could only watch on as flames engulfed the house in mere seconds.

  I ran back to the car and grabbed my phone and keys from the seat. I ran back towards the road and, without thinking, dialled Soul’s number. The flames travelled alongside me, of their own free will. The extent of my actions became even more obvious as the flames travelled faster than me. Soul answered the phone just as I was about to hang up.

  “Soul! Help me. I didn’t … I don’t know what to do. I don’t know where to go!” I spoke quickly, my voice full of panic.

  I had burned down the house and put thousands of humans at risk. I was stupid and I couldn’t believe I had been so careless.

  “Hey, slow down, Emilie. What happened? Where are you?”

  “Soul, I set a fire, a big one. The house … it burnt down,” I replied, my breathing deepened. “I can’t even see the sky anymore.” Dark smoke covered the sky and made it impossible to see.

  “Shit. Look, I’ll come and get you. Don’t move, I know where you are.”

  Soul hung up. I stopped walking and looked around. I shook my head in disbelief as I saw the flames had destroyed everything. All the trees, bushes and plants were gone. All lost because of me.

  “Wow, your powers are stronger than we ever thought possible,” Soul stared in disbelief.

  His arms were around me and in reflex, I froze.

  “Ouch, rejection,” he laughed.

  I turned around to face him.

  “I can’t believe I destroyed everything. How could I have been so stupid?”

  He smiled, “You weren’t stupid. But why did you decide to use your powers?”

  I looked down for a moment before answering, “I wanted to make sure I was strong enough to … defend myself.”

  He held back a laugh. “From who? Me?”

  “No, not you actually. Someone else.”

  That seemed to make him even more curious. “Oh, really? Who is this mysterious person who you think you need to defend yourself from?”

  I contemplated telling him and, going against my better instincts that told me not to, I did. “Dorian.”

  “Dorian as in the upper-level-demon-who-works-for-the-Angelof-Death Dorian?” Soul said incredulously.

  How did Soul know about Dorian? “Yeah. Why?”

  Soul shook his head, “Well, you’re right to want to protect yourself from him. He’s a complete nutcase.”

  “How do you know him?”

  Soul shifted nervously. “Never you mind, Emilie. Now if you don’t mind, I think we should leave. I, unlike you, am not an elemental and I cannot bear this heat.”

  I nodded and went to move, but he stopped me.

  “Travel with me. It’s faster,” Soul said.

  We disappeared in a shimmer of dark grey smoke. Soul was right, of course. It only took a few seconds and we were in what I assumed to be his house. It was big and spacious. It looked like a mansion, with off-white walls, large windows with burgundy curtains, and a white marble floor. Somehow I had never pictured where Soul lived, but even if I had this would not be what I’d have expected. The ceiling was very high and seemed like something you would find in a museum of some sort, with engravings along the edges. Soul’s arm fell from around me. I spun around, but he wasn’t there.

  “Relax. I’m still here.”

  I turned again and saw him standing on the steps of a large marble staircase that seemed to take up the entire wall. He was leaning against the banister, looking down at me with a playful smirk on his face.

  “What?” I asked, blushing.

  “Oh nothing. Come on, follow me. I’ll show you around.” His voice was full of tease.

  When I didn’t move, he came over and pulled me by my wrist towards the stairs. We moved rather quickly as he showed me all the typical rooms: lounge, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. However, when we reached the end of the hallway there was a large black door with burgundy engravings around the frame. The golden doorknob and lock glimmered in the light from the crystal chandeliers.

  “What’s that room?” I asked as I stared in curiosity at the door.

  He followed my gaze. “Nothing,” he said, pulling at my arm. “I had a room set up for you, would you like to see it?”

  “So then you were certain that I would join you?” I said.

  He laughed and nodded, “I knew you would.”

  Soul held my hand as we walked in the direction of another flight of stairs. This staircase was different to the others; it spiralled upwards into darkness. It made sense that he wouldn’t keep the lights on when he wasn’t at home. The steps were black metal with a burgundy carpet that covered all but the edges. I held onto the railing tightly as Soul led me up.

  We climbed in silence. A few times he turned and looked back down the stairs before pulling me along faster. When we reached the top he paused and bent down to kiss me on my forehead. He dropped my hand and walked ahead, gesturing for me to follow. We passed a closed door. There was nothing exceptional, but something about the door intrigued me. We were only a few steps past it when Soul suddenly stopped.

  “That’s my room. If you need anything tonight, don’t hesitate to come and ask,” he smiled, pointing to his door.

  We didn’t move, he just kept staring down at me, smiling. I looked away from him for a moment, one word running through my mind. Lust.

  Every demon is in charge of bringing a certain “sin” into the human world. I’m not sure I should even call them sins; to me they seem more like temptations than sins. Pride, Greed, Gluttony, Sloth, Wrath, Envy and Lust – the Seven Deadly Sins, or at least that’s what they are described as. The few demons that I’ve met and had the displeasure of being around, never take the sins further than taunting and playing practical jokes on the humans. There were rumours of the upper-level demons using the sins to kill, but for the most part, these were only rumours. The killings gave demons something to talk about, and humans something to fear.

  “Well, good night then,” Soul pulled me towards him, hugging me tightly.

  “Good night,” I whispered back, slowly pulling away.

  He grinned as I backed towards my bedroom. I shut the door behind me and stood listening. After a while I heard his bedroom door close. I locked my door and turned to admire the room. The floorboards were darkly varnished and coordinated perfectly with the indigo walls. There was only one window, on the left side of the bed. It was dark outside and thousands of tiny, silver stars shone across the navy blue sky.r />
  The large four-poster bed had off-white, net curtains that were tied back by small, dark blue ribbons at the head of the bed. A simple cream bedspread covered the large bed and identical cushions sat against the willow headboard. There was a simple dresser and just above it was a rather old-looking, misty-surfaced mirror with an engraved wooden frame. I stood staring at the mirror entranced by the strange aura that seemed to surround it. You couldn’t see into it; but still it was beautiful. I took a few steps back to the bed, sat down on the edge and looked around. After a moment, I could hear a small ticking noise coming from a corner of the room. I looked around, searching for the source. In the corner closest to the bed, there it was.

  A large grandfather clock was placed out of sight, blocked from view by the bed curtains. The large, bronze pendulum swung side to side, producing a dull click with each second that passed. I watched as the long hand of the clock ticked over to half past eight. A loud, echoing bell rang out. I supposed at least I would be able to keep track of the time. I doubted I would be able to get to sleep tonight, regardless of the clock’s presence.

  I lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. I could see how the constant dull ticking of the old clock could irritate a person, even drive them mad. I, however, found the ticking comforting. I reached into my jacket pocket for my phone and was worried when I couldn’t find it. I knew I had it when Soul picked me up. I remembered putting it into my pocket before he brought me here. I got up and searched along the floor, but it was nowhere to be seen. I couldn’t have dropped it, I would have heard it hit the floor.

  Unless Soul took it … he had all the chances in the world.

  That hug before I came into the room would have been the perfect opportunity. But why would he want my phone? There was nothing interesting on my phone, no important contacts. I needed it though; I needed to tell Cael about the house, about my stupidity. It wasn’t a conversation that I wanted to have, but it was a necessary one. Luckily enough, that dreaded conversation could be postponed until I located my phone. I was concerned that I was in a strange house with no way of contacting Cael. I lay back on the bed, closing my eyes.