The Triple Goddess

  I slumped down in the chair and brought my knees up to my chest to hug myself. It really was a hopeless situation to be in and if I didn’t trust that Draven would keep his word than I would have been tempted to just give up that last shred of hope I was clinging on to.

  “You look depressed.” I shot up and grabbed at my erratic heart!

  “Jesus!” I said making Pip laugh.

  “Nope, try again…someone less beardy this time.” She jumped in the opposite chair and she made me feel cold even looking at her. As usual Pip’s eclectic taste was astounding. She had a baseball style top that was white with black sleeves and it had a disturbing picture on the front of a devil killing a fashion model with flames on either side of the catwalk, the words underneath in gothic writing said ‘The Devil kills Prada’ . To this she added a pretty floral patch skirt that flared out around her bare legs and ankle length, bright green wellies with little black frogs. There were literally no words to describe Pip’s dress sense, which brought me to the next question I asked.

  “Pip, can I just ask?”

  “Umm?” She said looking at her pointy painted nails, each one having a different flag on them.

  “Why on earth did you fill my wardrobe with medieval fetish wear?” She stopped picking at Japan and looked me up and down.

  “Don’t you like it? That dress looks good on you and I managed to wash all the blood out of that one. Ok so I admit it, Master gave me a job to do and I got a little caught up with other things but Adam bought me this pink bouncy castle for my birthday and I always wanted to have sex on one and Adam does this thing where he lifts my leg and…”

  “LA, LA, LA, Not listening to that bit Pip, so you can put your leg back down!” She smiled from under her inner thigh. Boy was she flexible and Adam was one lucky boy. Ok, now all I had was pink bouncy castles and Pip and Adam working their way through the Karma Sutra on it popping around my head like pornographic cartoon bubbles. Then another thing she said made its way back and I hoped, I really, really hoped I had misheard her.

  “What do you mean by ‘washed the blood out’?” She laughed nervously.

  “Oh that… oh that was nothing, just a big misunderstanding really, I mean they thought I was a witch, stupid bastards didn’t even know what an Imp was. But the river washed most of the blood away when they tried to drown me in that dunking chair thing, well that was after they stabbed me first to see if my blood was black and to see if I would try to call the Devil to see if he would come and save me.” She turned very serious and pointed to her top before whispering,

  “He is a very busy man, even in Hell they have paperwork you know. So anyway, I patched up the bit at the side and now it’s like new, but I guess now you want a new dress don’t ya?” I automatically looked to my side and noticed a tiny little patch where the material didn’t match up with the other roses. Oh my… she wasn’t kidding!

  “This used to be your dress?” I had to ask just to be ultra clear.

  “Yep.”

  “And I’m wearing it because….?” I raised my eyebrows at her and motioned with my hand for an answer.

  “Pink bouncy castle…remember?” I shook my head and thought that even Dan Brown wouldn’t be able to crack Pip’s code!

  “Please explain.” I said feeling a headache coming on.

  “Lucius put me in charge of buying you clothes but I ran out of time because…”

  “The pink bouncy castle,” I finished for her.

  “Yes, see now you’re getting it.” She actually clapped her hands making her Japan nail to chip off completely. She grabbed the piece mid-air and simply gave it a lick and stuck it back down.

  “I thought I could kill two bears with one axe. Adam had been on at me for a couple of decades to sort through my growing wardrobe…I’m a bit of a pack chipmunk and hate throwing things away. They were the two eras that I didn’t want to keep.”

  “So I got them?” It was horribly starting to make sense.

  “You did, you lucky girl, you!” She leaned over and pinched my cheek and wiggled it like you would a child. I laughed because it was just too crazy to be anything but funny.

  “Couldn’t you just do what other people do when they want to get rid of all their crap and sell it on ebay?” I asked but she shook her head.

  “Adam won’t let me near a computer again since what happened to Lucy.” I was scared to ask but nope, curiosity won.

  “And who was Lucy?”

  “My computer and let’s just say…she didn’t make it. Drink?” She got up and skipped into the room but was back before I even got up. She held a bottle of clear liquid that had a picture of an apple and pear above the name ‘Obstwasser’ on the label. She had one shot glass in her hand and another hanging from around her neck on a thick silver chain. Where did that even come from?

  “Isn’t it still morning?”

  “I think so, at least that what Mickey Mouse told me it was on my clock. Don’t worry, Adam’s busy. So what will it be, ‘little britches’ or ‘big girl pants’?” It took me a minute to decipher yet another Pip code and realised she meant the size of the shot.

  “Big girl pants,” I said and she gave me a beaming smile as she handed over a shot glass filled to the brim. I waited for her to fill hers and we raised our glasses.

  “PROSIT!” Pip shouted and I gathered it meant ‘cheers’ in German. We knocked it back and I felt it burn before the flavour registered. Pip gave me a goofy grin before refilling my glass back up with Schnapps. We shot it back and this time it didn’t burn as much.

  “So does this mean I can convince you to get me some clothes I can actually wear?”

  “You’re wearing that one and besides, it looks good one you. You have bigger tiddly winkers than me so it’s a bit tight on the top half but still…Va,va, voom!” She then threw her head back and howled in a comical fashion.

  “But if you would feel more comfortable, I didn’t much like renaissance, now those bastards were heavy and don’t get me started on the bone breaking corsets!” She said creating a choking motion with her hands before refilling up our glasses.

  “Not selling it to me here, Pip!” I said sarcastically tapping my glass to hers that still hung from the chain, and slinging another one back. Of course she filled mine back up.

  “So tell me, was this room really Lucius’?” I asked after forcing down another shot. Pip raised her eyebrows and gave me an evil grin.

  “Diggin’ the Master, yeh?” She said waggling her eyebrows as she usually did.

  “No!” I said spilling some of the liquid to the tiled floor as she was refilling yet another glass.

  “Shame…mmm two Kings, one bed, sounded a bit fun to me but hey, whatever floats your cruise ship! Anyway, I think he was just pulling your boobies with that one. He doesn’t like the daylight and this room has too much of that going on. Me, well I sympathise, being a night Imp myself I don’t much like the daylight but here it’s not so sucky. It’s the mountains, they don’t let too much sun in this part but Lucius has a huge, huge, huge part of the caves as his quarters.” She said after showing me just how huge, huge, huge, with her hands. I couldn’t help but giggle and maybe it was a little down to the many shots that were still being poured my way.

  “Caves?” I asked.

  “Oh yeah…man there is oodles of caves in this place. It was built in to the mountain in such a way that most don’t even know it’s here. All but Lucius’ guests of course…well more like subjects, as all those faces in the great hall, Lucius turned. The only ones there that haven’t been turned is his council and you met all them. Liessa likes you by the way and she told me to tell you thanks.” She winked and I knew what the thanks was for, although I really couldn’t say I did anything.

  “So everyone in that room was…”

  “Sooo not human! Nope you’re the only one here with that title and everyone is so jealous that you’re my friend and Adam told me to make sure I keep you safe, so ‘ere I be me matey’, keepin
g you safe, although we need rum if we’re gonna be pirates. But I don’t have any so schnapps it is.” She said all this while giving me pirate’s themed salutes which again made me giggle until her words started to filter through my schnapps’ flooded mind.

  “So let me get this straight…all the people in the great hall are turned Angels and Demons that are now Vampires and the only ones not are you, Adam, Ruto, Hakan, Liessa and the big dude that hates me, that I can’t remember the name of…oh and me?”

  “Caspian, and don’t worry about him, he hates everyone when he first meets them and he is like so overly protective of my Lord it’s not even funny, although I do extract the mickey, but then get spanked by Adam and then we do this thing that makes my…”

  “LA,LA,LA Pip! Please spare me the ‘sex freak on’.” Another shot and I carried on.

  “So these caves, is that the way we came in here?” Again with another shot.

  “Yep, this place is full of them but don’t worry about getting lost ‘cause the doors that stay locked are the ones that go deep into the mountain and further into Lucius’ domain. I know I will have to give you a tour of the place soon but not today as I will have to get back to Adam soon before he gets out of his…oops nearly let that one out of the big bag.” She got this little sheepish look on her face like she was soon to be in big, big trouble and being Pip, I didn’t doubt it!

  “So tell me about the King, do you love him and want his baby love child, ‘cause I love babies…not to eat or anything!” Her question took me back and I instantly felt that pang in my chest that ached just being without him and talking about it made it more real. I think she saw my face contort in pain because she filled up my shot glass again.

  “I do…I love him so much it hurts and I feel I am going to go crazy if I don’t see him again soon. He’s…he’s not just someone I love, he’s someone I need…you know what I mean?” I asked feeling as if my words were getting stuck, choking on thick emotion. She simply nodded.

  “I know and I am sorry. I couldn’t be without my Adam and I would hate to see what would happen to the world if he was without me! Now that is a scary thought!” I didn’t fully understand what she meant and it made me wonder who the hell this Adam dude was in the supernatural world?

  “So you will feel better once you see the King more often?” I didn’t really under-stand the question but nodded yes making her start tapping her nail against her lips…I think it was Canada.

  “I think I can borrow some from the Moon but she will get pissy, so maybe Forester will help out, either one will do but I will see if I can do my best.” She smiled but I think my head must’ve been getting far too fuzzy thanks to the schnapps ‘cause I couldn’t understand a word that she just said…Moon, Forester?

  “Ooo…k!” I said but when she tried to fill my glass again I placed my hand over the top. I could drink a lot but with the bottle close to empty I think the slow buzz that was creeping across my brain was ringing the bell on that limit meter.

  A great roar echoed in the distance and Pip turned pale.

  “Wow, that was quicker this time. Men, eh?” She said picking up the bottle and finishing the lot.

  We both jumped at the sound of my door being torn open and Adam stormed in looking far less conservative than usual. His grey sweat pants had been put on back to front and his T-shirt looked ripped at the seams but was still holding it together in some places. There were big damp patches under his arms and along his chest. Had he been working out? There was one thing though, he looked utterly wild and Pip, well Pip just looked excited!

  He stormed through the room to the balcony and shot daggers at Pip.

  “Squeak, you have been bad!” He said in a deep rumbling voice that I didn’t recognise as belonging to him.

  “Please excuse me Keira, Pipper here is needed,” he said calmly and then bent his body and practically threw her over his shoulder making her giggle. He turned and nodded to me before he walked out of the door into the room.

  “See ya tonight Toots, oh and have a good sleep.” She said but stopped speaking when Adam smacked her on the bottom making her squeal. I heard the start of her reprimand as they walked away.

  “Think you could lock me up in that cage again little wifey? I think it’s time for a little pay back and I know my favourite kind!” I heard another smack and a cry out as they went down the hall way.

  I shook my head and tried to focus on what just happened. Did she really lock her husband up in a cage? Knowing what I knew about Pip then yeah, I could easily have believed it.

  I was quite glad to finally have the alone time as when Pip had suddenly asked me about Draven I had used all my power not to cry. I couldn’t even begin to explain to her how much I missed him but not just him, it was everything in my Afterlife. It was my sister and Frank. It was RJ and Jack. The thought of Sophia made me want to be as strong as she would be. The thought of Vincent made my chest hurt, and ache that had me closing my eyes to try and squash down the pain. And of course at the very top of the misery was Draven. Dominic Draven.

  I couldn’t stop the tears that started to stream down my cold cheeks. I lifted my knees up to my chest and repositioned all the flowing material around the chair I sat in feeling not only cold but frozen. It was like someone had emptied everything that filled my soul and drenched, soaked and saturated me in the icy water below. I don’t think I had ever felt so cold in all my life and it wasn’t down to the winter weather. I wanted Draven so badly I didn’t think it would ever stop hurting.

  I looked out to the harsh snowy terrain and found myself frowning at it, like it was mocking me somehow. I wanted to scream at its beauty for being part of my prison. It didn’t have the right to be beautiful! It didn’t have any right, damn it!

  “I HATE YOU!” I screamed until my lungs hurt and my hate echoed around the mountains for the unseen world to hear. I got up and went closer to the glass surround not caring about the height anymore. I was far too angry for fear. It felt like my veins were burning and being powered by fire and brimstone. I felt hot all of a sudden, like I could start shooting flames from my hands. God I was so angry!

  “DID YOU HEAR ME? I HATE YOU!” I screamed again and threw my shot glass over the edge, stupidly trying to hit the mountain side opposite me. Then something unbelievable happened that I could not explain. The little glass flew like it was shot out of a gun and amazingly hit the side of the mountain I had been aiming for. It exploded on impact but it didn’t just smash, it boomed and caused a rock slide that fell down into the icy lake below. It broke into the water and another piece the size of a car fell into the water causing an enormous splash. It was as though I had just gone at the mountain with a rocket launcher!

  What the hell was in that drink? And how did I just throw something that must be at least a thousand feet away across the lake? Did I just imagine that?

  My hands gripped at the metal railing that sat on top of the glass panels. I felt like I could crush it if I tried and when I heard the metal groan I let go and took a step back. What was happening to me? I looked down at my hands and noticed my veins looked more noticeable on my pale skin. Was that just because I was cold?

  “Aaah!” I shouted out as pain rushed to my head and chest simultaneously. I backed up holding my head and closing my eyes to the pain. I backed into the door and felt for the handle with my free hand.

  “Ahhhhhh!” I shouted again as another pain travelled down my arms and back up again. It felt as though my heart was on fire and pumping the flames to my arteries feeding my body with scorching pain. I fell on the floor and got twisted in the dress as I gripped at my body. I needed to do something, I needed to breathe and call somebody. I took a deep breath and another as my anger was soon snuffed out by fear.

  Then bang! The pain left my body like someone had flipped a switch and I was left as though it had never occurred. My muscles relaxed where they had been coiled in tension only seconds before and I fell flat on my back by the bed, left feeli
ng only exhaustion. I closed my eyes, took a breath.

  And that’s all it took for me to pass out. One breath.

  I opened my eyes to the faint feeling of being lifted and a gentle murmur of voices. I could then feel myself being lowered onto something soft which even in my fogged mind I could recognise it as being a bed. I tried to think back to what had happened but couldn’t find the memory. I couldn’t even manage to open my eyes fully, but the little slits under my lids showed bright light. It felt like my head was too heavy and was I drunk?

  “Wha ,.. di…yo..do…her…look at….Pip” I could make out more broken words than full ones but was that Adam’s voice?

  “Sh…seemed…fi…or….left her. Will…sh….ok?” That was Pip’s musical voice wasn’t it, well that made sense if Adam was here but why were they here, what had happened?

  “I hope s….or my Lor…not goi….happy.” What was wrong with my head, why couldn’t I focus properly?

  “Pip, let h…slee…needs th…rest.” I felt someone lean over me and then start to play with my hair. It felt like little fingers were unravelling the plait and brushing through the damp waves.

  “There sh…prett..fo…the Kin…” I felt a slight kiss bestowed on my cheek and a whispered word I couldn’t understand in my ear before something sprinkled across my skin making it tingle. I still couldn’t seem to move and just as I started to try I felt my body fall deeper into a dark place as though someone had removed the bed and opened up a chasm under me. I was falling faster and faster until my mind couldn’t keep up and so, it gave up. And I let the darkness take me to a place that swamped my senses as if I was coming up for air after being forced under the water for a small eternity. I gasped and bolted upright the second my lungs filled with cold air. I opened my eyes and looked around to see where the darkness had brought me and the shock caught in my throat as if I was trying to get the drowning water up and out of my system.

  I looked on in amazement trying to take in the scene and everything else around me. But it was when my eyes came across the figure looming close by that captured every ounce of my attention. I looked him up and down trying to judge if he was really here, if I was really here? How had this happened?