Evelyn Earth Part 53

“I’ve never seen something like that before” Grigori said. He spun around on his heel and pierced me with his deep brown eyes, “how did you do that?”

I looked from him to Ariel to Zadkiel and waited for one of them to make a move, but all three stood their ground. Ariel looked more frantic than before. Her hair had puffed up around her head, slipping out of the braid and resembling a frayed mop rather than a rope, which gave her an altogether mad scientist appearance.

“I asked you how you did that demon” Grigori growled at me.

“I did it because I could. There’s a lot more that I can do that I bet you’ve never seen before” I replied, my voice cold as ice. I was still holding onto the mass of darkness around Izzy and Travis and it was taking its toll. Anything I said from now on would have to be a perfect bluff because that force field was draining the last remains of my power.

“You said you wanted to talk” Sebastian interrupted mine and Grigori’s standoff, “so talk.” His clipped tone had finally seeped through and I could tell that losing all three of his friends in the space of one minute had really pissed him off and ground him down. We both knew that we could die, but if I knew Bas well enough, he’d rather die angry and fighting than desperate and fighting.

“What are you doing?” Ariel asked after a long stretch of silence that involved all five of us exchanging mixed glances.

“Yes, what is it that you are doing exactly?” Zadkiel chimed in. He had continued to smile despite the fact that the situation had escalated to preposterously tense proportions. Maybe that was his way of easing his stress? Or maybe he was just manic.

Evelyn Earth Part 52

I crawled laboriously over to the edge of the pillar and stuck my head over the edge. I felt Bas’s hands on my shoulders making sure that I wouldn’t tip forward. Below us Sloan was standing with his feet apart talking loudly to three people that were shimmering with unearthly light.

One of them was a woman, I could tell from this height because her hair was braided into a thick rope that rested over her shoulder. The person next to her was too small to be anything other than a child or a dwarf. I remembered what Audrey had said about some of the Sun Soldiers being children and I gasped. I hadn’t believed her at the time, but there was proof standing right below me that the Sun picked its army because of their simplicity of mind.

The third person was a man, but that was all I could tell from this point of view. Sloan raised his voice another octave and was waving his hands around as if describing something to the trio. I slid backwards and rested my head on the surface of the pillar.

“I can’t believe it, but I don’t think he’s told them that we’re up here” I breathed out.

“He’s covering for us” Bas said.

“Why?”

“There’s one thing about Sloan that you don’t know and that’s despite his vileness he’s as loyal as a dog. I’ve saved his life numerous times, and I have no doubt that he hates me for it, but he has never forgotten it.”

“I never knew that” I frowned, “I thought you said he had resented you from the moment the darkness entered you and not him.”

“He did, but he still wanted power even if it was association with it and not possession. I think if the chance presented itself and he could take the darkness from me he would, all loyalty forgotten.”

“But he wouldn’t give you up to the Sun Soldiers?”

Evelyn Earth Part 47

It coursed through us like electricity. Every capillary, every tendon absorbed the darkness. I shook my head back and looked upwards towards the blue sky. The power was overwhelming me the same way it had after I took in the vengeance from the railway line. The greed that was within me then still lurked inside my body, it didn’t want to stop the connection and spill a drop of darkness.

                I needed it all.

                I screamed up into the sky and shook my head harder. My mind had to be stronger than this. I was my own person. If I let us self-destruct now we would have accomplished only one part of our destinies. I wanted to live to see the new world. I wanted to be part of its reconstruction. Who would be there to stop people like Audrey? Who would be there to monitor mankind’s intentions?

                I felt Sebastian’s vice grip tighten. He had less power within him so logically he should be able to hold more. I forced my head to the side and looked at his profile. His jawline was clenching periodically, I could see the muscles spasm under his layer of ebony skin. He wasn’t doing any better than I was.

Evelyn Earth Part 37

The Earth shook, one thunderous boom after another sent seismic waves throughout the area. My eyes would focus on one falling building before losing sight only to regain the vision of crumbling walls. Sounds swam in and out of my consciousness, voices, screams and gentle whispers. I couldn’t feel the sun on my skin anymore. The darkness churned inside me, restless, but unable to break free.

                My throat felt dry. I tried to swallow, but my tonsils were so swollen that only a rasp of air made it through. I summoned up as much saliva as I could and gulped it down only to choke. A coughing fit took hold of me and I clutched at my neck in pain.

                I felt a hand on my back and instinctively shied away from it. Where was I? It was dark and the ground I was lying on was freezing. I barked out the last remnants of air left within my lungs and inhaled deeply through my nose. The hand returned to stroke my back and I shrugged it off before rolling over. I was expecting to see stars, or feel a breeze on my skin, but a decaying ceiling stared back at me sending wafts of mould to overwhelm my senses.