"I'm not sure, but we should save our breath. The air's not very good in here," she commented.
That meant all we could do was wait and see, and wait we did. The car bumped its way down the city streets and took so many turns I became dizzy. Our only visual evidence that the car moved was the flickering of streetlights as we passed them.
Eventually the road smoothed out and the streetlights became more common and brighter. The car turned and slowed as the tires crunched gravel. An incline indicated a short hill. Jenny and I couldn't stop ourselves as we rolled against the back of the car. I was on the bottom of the pile.
The car stopped and I heard the doors open. Feet crunched on the gravel and the trunk lid popped open. I blinked against the brightness of a porch light. The porch was attached to a large mansion with pane windows, wood siding, the whole works. It was three floors tall and nearly as long as my apartment building.
We were dragged by our wrist bindings out of the car and set feet-first onto the gravel driveway. A large wooden door was the entrance to the house. Our ankle ropes were cut and we were shoved forward. The door opened and revealed a large entrance hall, and beyond that was a carpeted hall that led to the rear of the house.
Our 'guides' pushed us down the hall to the first doors on the right. All around us were dark wood-paneled walls and electric lamps that cast shadows into the corners. Suits of armor and oil paintings lined the hall, and wood floors peeked out from either side of the wide red carpet.
The doors to our right were opened and we were taken into a large study. The space was lit by a lamp on the desk and a chandelier that hung from the ceiling. The walls to our left, right, and in front of us were covered by bookshelves that reached to the eighteen-foot tall ceiling. A desk stood at an angle in the far right corner with a chair turned away from us. In the far left corner against the opposite wall and behind the desk were large pane windows that stretched, like the bookcases, from the floor to the ceiling. They gave a great view of a large lawn that was filled with trees and bushes. A stone wall some hundred and fifty yards away showed the boundaries of this large estate.
Wherever we were, it wasn't Kansas.
CHAPTER 9
Jenny and I were shoved onto an expensive rug that lay five feet in front of desk. A woman rose from the seat and walked to around the desk where she leaned on the against front. My mouth dropped to the floor when I saw she was a dead-ringer for Jenny, minus the bad taste. The woman wore a simple white blouse and blue skirt that stopped just above the knees. She sported high heels that made me wince, and spectacles that glistened in the light of the chandelier above us.
"Good evening, my dear sister," she cooed.
"I wish I could say the same, Sylvia," Jenny shot back.
The woman's smirk faltered. "I don't go by that name anymore. Keres is all I answer to."
I blinked and whipped my head between the two. "Sister? Your sister works for the baddies?"
"You always did have horrible tastes," Jenny retorted.
Keres snorted and nodded at Jenny's attire. "Coming from the powder puff I'll take that-" She paused and closed her eyes. Her smile returned and she shook her head. "Enough. A chance at one of our quarrels wasn't why I brought you here."
"So what is?" Jenny questioned her.
Keres eyes opened and she stood. "My employer wants to know how much you told that werewolf."
"And if I said everything?" Jenny returned.
"Then I'd say you're as bad a liar as ever," Keres replied.
"You know, if you guys don't need me here I could stand outside. Preferably with my hands untied," I spoke up. Keres' eyes fell on me and she raised an eyebrow. She stalked over and knelt in front of me. Her dark eyes looked over her spectacles and studied me. "Take a picture. It'll last longer," I quipped.
Her hand flew out and the palm connected with the side of my face. I cried out as I felt a burning sensation sink into my cheek. Smoke rose from my flesh and tears sprang into my eyes.
"It will last longer than you with that mouth of yours," she hissed.
"That's no way to treat our guests, Keres," a voice scolded her.
A figure rose from the chair that was turned towards the tall window behind and to my left. My blood ran cold when I saw it was the man in white. He strode over to us, and my mystic abilities showed me he had Phantoms in his pants pocket. He stopped a few feet from where we knelt and bowed to us.
"Good evening, ladies. I know your names, so allow me to introduce myself. I am known by the name of Blake."
I felt Jenny stiffened by my side and the color drained from her face. My self-defense mechanism kicked in, and I looked at the man in white in disgust.
"Forgive us if we don't rise," I retorted.
He chuckled. "Those do look rather uncomfortable," he agreed.
Blake knelt beside us and cut our wrist ropes. He stepped back and let us stand. I rubbed my wrist and glared at him.
"I don't believe I deserve such a look. I did just free you," he pointed out.
"It's a special one just for people who've tried to kill me several times," I quipped.
"I was in no way trying to kill you," he reassured me. "You would have understood if the good detective hadn't interfered."
I wasn't reassured. "Yeah, because when you want to talk to someone you send a Phantom to bring them to you," I retorted.
"Several, but I was very impressed with your first Phantom kill, and you didn't fail to disappoint when we last met," he commented. He moved in front of me and studied my body from head to toe. "I would never have thought a simple mystic would be capable of such a devastating Blessing."
Jenny snorted. The man's eyes flickered to her.
"Does something amuse you?" he asked her.
"Yeah, you," she replied.
Blake stepped to the side so he stood in front of her. "Care to share with the group?
Jenny shook her head. "Nope."
A crooked grin slid on to Blake's lips. He raised a hand and snapped his fingers. A pair of Phantoms flew from his pants pocket and wrapped themselves around her like two serpents. Pinned arms to sides and squeezed her until the pressured pushed a scream from her lips.
"Stop it!" I yelled.
The Phantoms loosened their hold so she could breath. Blake stepped forward so they were nearly face-to-face. "Will you tell me what you know?" he questioned Jenny.
She sneered at him. "Dig a hole and bury yourself in it."
He chuckled. "Not before yours."
Blake snapped his fingers. The Phantoms resumed their squeezing, but with greater strength. Their lithe bodies cut into her sleeves and I heard the groan of her bones as they bent under the strain. Jenny twisted and thrashed, but nothing broke their terrible hold.
I couldn't take it anymore. I leapt forward and grabbed the closest coil of Phantom. A light burst from beneath my hands the moment my fingers touched the slick black body. Blake and Keres both stumbled back as smoke rose from beneath my fingers and I felt them sink into the black body. The Phantom screeched in agony and writhed in my clutches. It unraveled itself from Jenny and tried to free itself from me, but my fingers were a few inches deep into its body. I yanked my hands from the Phantom and a long, black, greasy ooze came with me. It stretched like taffy between the Phantom and my fingers.
Blake snapped his fingers. The other Phantom removed itself from Jenny, who collapsed to the ground and choked on air. The black creatures slipped back into Blake's pocket, or they tried to. The one I hurt floated over to him and slithered halfway into his pocket before it slumped over and hung there. The lower half of its body melted into a pile of ooze and dragged the rest of it outside the pocket and onto the floor.
Blake pulled the last of the ooze from his pocket and slopped it onto the floor. His expression was a mix of awe and admiration.
"Well done, Enid," he complimented me. He pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his greasy hand on the cloth. "Your execution of the Blessing was messy, but effecti
ve, and done without a sacrifice of tears or blood. In my two hundred yards I have seen such a Blessing performed only a handful of times."
I blinked at him. "Two hundred years?" I whispered.
He chuckled. "Surely you don't believe everyone in the paranormal world is the age they appear to be."
Blake took a step towards me. I stumbled back, but I didn't make it far. Keres came up behind me and grabbed my arms. She pinned them behind my back and planted her feet so I couldn't shove her back. Blake walked up to me and studied my face. When he spoke his voice was low and soft, but there was an undercurrent of danger in his words.
"And surely you don't believe everyone in our world is who they appear," he whispered. He reached up and brushed my cheek with the back of his hand. I winced when smoke rose from his burning flesh. He pulled back his hand and studied his singed flesh. His smile never faltered. "Very impressive, but I don't believe you quite have your powers under control. That's very dangerous."
"Let her go," Jenny choked out. She sat up and glared at Blake. "It's me you want for your plan, so let her go."
"I need you, but I want Enid," Blake corrected her. He moved over to Jenny and knelt in front of her. "And you knew why I wanted her, didn't you? Is it because you have seen her abilities before, or it is something more?"
"Go to hell," she spat at him.
He chuckled. "I may open that Gateway someday, but as you know my current plans are far less ambitious. You also haven't answered my question." He kept his eyes on Jenny, but jerked his head towards Keres. "Would you like for your sister to curse her? Perhaps she could blind her or take away her voice. Or perhaps it would be a slow, boiling poison inside her veins."
"You monster," Jenny hissed.
"Perhaps, but what will it be?" he returned. "Will you let her suffer, or will you tell me what I want to know?"
Jenny's eyes flickered up to me. I held my breath and tensed. Keres' grip on me tightened. Jenny closed her eyes and sighed.
"She's an angel," Jenny revealed.
I blinked at her. Blake leaned back and raised an eyebrow. "She hides it rather well."
Jenny snorted and opened her eyes. "She's not hiding it at all, you idiot."
Keres tightened her grip on me. I cringed. "Watch what you say," my captor growled at her sister.
Blake held up his hand. "There's no need for that, Keres." She grudgingly loosened her hold, and he turned his attention back to Jenny. "If she is not hiding her abilities then how can I not sense her?"
"Because she's a Nephilim."
A grin slowly spread across Blake's lip. He stood and turned to me. I cringed beneath his terrifying interest. "So her father was an angel and her mother was human. How very interesting."
I glared at him. "That's a load of bull," I spat out.
"Then we should check," Blake suggested.
Blake moved to stand in front of me. He grabbed one side of my face with his splayed fingers and stretched open my eye. Smoke sizzled from his burning fingers. I jerked out of his touch, but he grasped the other side of my face and pressed my eye open again. His eyes stared into mine. My pulse quickened. Tears welled up in my eyes. The warm water spilled over my cheek and down to my chin. Blake leaned forward and blew into my eye.
I cried out as a burning, itching sensation exploded in my eye. My sight in both eyes vanished behind a blinding light. Blake's hold fell away before the heat and I heard a muffled cry.
"Blake!" I heard Keres scream.
When he spoke his voice was labored. "I am fine. It was foolish of me not to expect such a burst."
My vision began to return, but only in my left eye. The blurry room came into focus and I saw that Blake stood beside the desk. His palm lay on its top and he clutched the left side of his face with his other hand. Black, curling smoke rose from between his fingers, and shallow streams of blood converged at his chin and dripped onto the expensive rug.
His good eye studied me with eager apprehension. "I would ask you the name of your father, but I believe we are already acquainted."
I tried to reach up to touch my blind eye, but Keres held my arms. "What'd you do to me?" I questioned him.
"Keres, show her," he commanded his minion.
"But Blake-"
"Do as I ask. She won't leave us," he assured her.
Keres tossed my arms free and marched to my side. She pressed her hands together and a shimmering pool of mist appeared in her open palms. The mist was as clear as glass. My reflection stared back at me, and I didn't recognize the right eye. The dull brown color had been replaced by a pale blue hue. The color was so light that I could hardly make out anything.
My mouth dropped open. I lifted my head to Blake. "What the hell did you do to me?" I demanded to know.
Blake chuckled. "Much less than what you did to me," he replied. He lowered his hand and showed off a hideous mess of burnt flesh. Pockets of open sores allowed the blood to flow. "It seems we are now reflections of one another. Two sides to a coin, if you will. Light and dark," he commented.
"That's what you get for staring into God's Eyes," Jenny mocked him.
Keres marched over to her sister and slapped her on the cheek. "Shut your mouth!" she hissed.
Jenny glared at her twin. "That's one slap too many, Sylvia!"
Jenny lunged at Keres and slammed her into the floor. They rolled and tussled in a frenzy of claws and hair-pulling. The women held nothing back as they bit, beat, and bashed each other into the floor
"Let go!" Keres snarled.
"You let go!" Jenny growled.
"I won't!" Keres refused.
Blake snapped his fingers. Four Phantoms flew from his pocket and twisted themselves around the entwined sisters. They pulled the women apart, but not before Jenny managed to give her sister a swift kick in the gut. Keres choked and doubled over as her Phantoms lifted her onto her feet. She ground her teeth together and glared at Jenny.
"Bitch!" Keres wheezed.
The Phantoms that held Jenny set her on her feet, but pulled her away from Keres. Jenny strained against their hold, but stuck her tongue out at her sister.
"You're just trying to get attention because Mom liked me best!" Jenny snapped.
"Ladies, if you would calm yourselves," Blake spoke up.
Keres bowed her head. "Forgive me, sir."
Blake smiled and shook his head. "There's nothing to-"
I didn't hear the rest of his sentence because my attention was caught by something to my left that lay outside the left-corner window. I looked, and my eyes, good and bad, widened. A tall wall of light flew across the lawn straight for the house. The wall was so long I couldn't see either end. The ground rumbled and shook beneath us, catching the attention of the others in the room. The light from the wall illuminated the shadowed room.
Blake spun around to face the window, and for the first time I saw real fear in his face. His Phantoms scurried from the women and slid back into his pocket a moment before the wall slammed into the house.
The brilliance shattered every piece of glass in the room. The windows exploded into tiny shards and rained down on us like glittering drops of sharp water. I stumbled and caught myself before I fell. Blake and Keres did the same. Jenny fell onto her knees, but looked up triumphantly at Blake.
"Now you've done it," she scolded him.
CHAPTER 10
Blake's eyes narrowed and he ground his teeth together. I heard the shouts of panicked voices both inside and outside the house. Footsteps raced up and down the hall. In the far distance down the lawn there was a battle of light and dark in the sky as Phantoms clashed with flickering beams of light. The Phantoms didn't look like they were winning.
The door flung open and a man rushed inside. "Sir, an intruder!" the minion yelled.
"How did you let them get this close?" Blake snapped at him.
The man shook his head. "The intruder isn't close, sir! The attacker is still at the perimeter, but our Phantoms are having no effect on him!"
Blake furrowed his brow for a moment before a sly, crooked grin slid onto his lips. "I see. Remove the men from their path."
The minion started back. "But sir-"
Blake whipped his head to him. "Order them to evacuate the area, or let them die. They can't stop what's coming."
The man nodded his head like a bobble doll and rushed from the room. Blake turned his eyes on Jenny and me. A low chuckle escaped his lips.
"It seems we have a guest who wants dearly to see you two," he commented. He seated himself on the front lip of the desk and lay his hands on one leg. "I suppose it would be rude not to wait for them before proceeding."
Keres moved to stand beside him. Her wide, unblinking eyes were zeroed in on the broken window. Jenny stood and brushed herself off before she smirked at the evil pair.
"I can see you shivering, sister," Jenny teased.
Keres whipped her head to her sibling and curled her lips back in a snarl. "I am not afraid."
"Quiet, both of you," Blake commanded them. He straightened and his eyes watched the window. "Our guest is coming."
The order to stand down must have been obeyed because the panicked voices died away. The Phantoms at the front of the estate fled, and the light show flickered to a single bright spot on the lawn. The brilliance floated towards the house. The clear, bright light illuminated the lawn and walls of the house to nearly the intensity of the noonday sun.
I shielded my face with my arm and squinted into the light. My good eye couldn't withstand the brightness and tears forced me to shut it. However, against the brilliant glare the vision in my blue eye returned, at least slightly. I could see the light focused around a silhouette of a person. The figure strode towards the house with sure, confident steps that never slowed nor quickened. They reached the edge of the house and the light around them dimmed. The vision in my blue eye dimmed with the light until I saw nothing but vague outlines of the walls and lawn. The figure stepped through the shattered window and the light around them vanished, though a faint glow remained around their person.
I had no idea who this man was.
The stranger had short blond hair that was slightly spiked. He was clothed all in white with simple dress pants, a white blouse, and a long white overcoat that billowed around his legs. His cold blue eyes flickered around the room and took in all our wide-eyed faces until they stopped on Blake. Blake slid off the desk and bowed to the stranger. It was surreal to see the man in white face a man of white.