10. Chapter 10
W ith a freshly printed checklist in hand, Lennox and Remi made their way to Kappa Theta house right at eleven. They discussed how the vines would work, Lennox going over two theories on how to make it not so draining as they approached. Just before they turned the last corner, Lennox’s phone rang in her pocket. Looking at her watch her heart leapt into her throat as she saw who was calling.
“I have to take this, give me a few?”
“Of course.” Remi nodded and continued around the corner.
Quickly, she pulled her phone from her pocket. She had called the The Wardens of Wisdom, Xemos’s special research and defense unit, the day after she almost ran away. The death of Rue had pushed her far enough. To protect everyone else she had to make sure everyone was right. That the curse was still dormant. Her last resource, The Wardens. Each were a different supernatural species turned Phoenix. Ruana, Satori, Osian, and Nathaira. Across the screen was a photo of a woman with short ginger hair and bright lavender eyes in the middle of a large library. Satori’s large tan mouse ears perked up toward the camera. Lennox smiled as she imagined one of the other’s sneaking up on the Library Mouse. Answering and putting her phone to her ear, she heard the woman’s normally quieter voice berating someone beside her.
“No, that scroll belongs on the top- Well hey there Len!”
“Hey Satori, you got back to me quickly.” Lennox laughed lightly.
“Well it was pretty urgent. Can’t have curses runamuck. Now what’s up?”
She shook her head. “Little Mouse, you called me.”
“Right! Yes, well I went over some of the old journals from your family line. Nothing there still. However Ruana offered to go try and break into Steele’s old office.”
“She may be a demon, but that door has a blood lock. The moment they spell Wyatt’s blood, every demon within a mile radius will come sniffing around. They know he’s abandoned his position. Is it really worth the risk?”
“If it means finding a true cure for you and possibly Renas? Of course it is.” Satori’s voice hardened.
“You know they aren’t the same curses. It could be a dead end.”
“It’s worth the risk- What do you mean? You were onboard last night!” Her voice faded slightly. “Cade’s curse is the closest thing we’ve seen to Renas’s. If we can get our hands on the ingredients we could- Fine.”
Lennox spoke before Satori could. “It’s okay, I’m not looking for a curse. I’m looking for confirmation. Is it still in hibernation?”
“We talked to Xemos.” Osian spoke up. “He said the only way it can be reactivated is if you ingest Mournwood Powder on a full moon. So unless you have one of the rarest herbs in the world in your tea collection, it is dormant.”
With a long sigh of relief, she ran a hand through her hair. She let her gaze drift to the lights on in the student dorms in the main building. “I do not, thank you Osian.”
“We’ll keep you updated, Len. Keep your eyes out okay? Come visit us soon. Echelons Elysium needs a spot of color.” Satori’s voice came back.
“I’ll try to after the semester is over. If I make it that long.”
“You better or I’m coming over there and bringing your ass back myself.”
“I’m not a Phoenix, as much as you want me to be.” Lennox started to walk to where Remi disappeared.
“Not yet!”
“In your dreams, talk soon everyone.” She pocketed her phone after Satori hung up.
She rounded the corner to Remi who stood there on her phone. When she came into view, the wolf looked up with a smile and continued down the path without asking many questions. Finally the house came into view where Wyatt and Aron stood out front. The two were locked in some debate about a Taylor Swift record they were fighting over.
“It’s my turn with Taylor’s Debut!” Wyatt complained.
“If you can find it!” Aron laughed.
“My guess is under his pillow.” Lennox teased as the two approached.
Wyatt turned and smiled brightly before going down the few stairs. His arm wrapped around her in a side hug. “There you are! Are you sure this is going to work?”
“It has to,” she hugged him and looked over to Aron. “Did you lock all of the windows and doors and do a headcount?”
“Yes, everyone is all tucked in and ready for their bedtime stories. Would you two want to join?” He winked at her, running a hand through his hair over the red bandanna.
“I’ll have to pass this time, unfortunately.”
“If my brother catches out after curfew he’ll have us mopping the school all night. I don’t know about you but I value my sleep.” Remi added.
“Oh I’m sure big brother will understand if you’re a few minutes late.” Wyatt commented to the werewolf.
“I’d rather not test that.” She shook her head.
“I’ll see you two in the morning to lift the vines from the house,” Lennox told the group.“You should go inside now if you don’t want to be locked outside.”
With a nod, the two boys made their way back up their stairs to the door. Just before she turned to start to grow the vines around the house, Aron looked back and caught her eyes. To her surprise, his forest green irises were filled with concern. Lennox gave him a soft smile hoping to reassure him and in a way herself for such an intricate spell.
“Be safe, okay?” He seemed to be speaking to both of them, but it almost felt directed at her.
She nodded, holding up her phone. “I’ll call you if anything goes bump in the night.”
With a nervous laugh, they went inside and locked the door behind them. Lennox took a few steps closer to the building and closed her eyes. Internally she pulled at the green thread of magic and allowed it to flow freely from the source. She felt her arms heat. The glow of the chains and sigils illuminated the other side of her eyelids. All at once, her connection to the plant life around the house entangled itself with the flow of open magic. The bushes and trees beside the house shuddered as she created new vines from the few already climbing up the cobblestone.
In her mind’s eye, she saw the vines creeping to the windows and over every entrance. At the same time she felt the energy slowly drain. The heat on her arms started to sear. It was about five minutes until the last vine was over the back entrance. When she opened her eyes, Lennox was met by the very ivy vines she had pictured. They covered everything only leaving bald spots of stone peeking through every so often. Her success hummed within her. The illuminated chains and sigils had dimmed leaving only the sigils alight from the consistent flow of magic. A smile crossed her face as she could feel the alert that she and Remi were nearby.
“Good job, Poison Ivy!” Aron called from the window, making Lennox and Remi laugh.
Lennox opened her eyes as a sharp pain spread from her side. Her screams added to those that could be heard over the clanking of metal. As she peered above her and found the source. Her arms had been securely shackled with thick chains over her head. A familiar voice came from beside her which blocked out the iron clanking.
“Leave her alone,” it yelled at someone.
Her eyes shot over to her side, there was another demon with short choppy black and red hair chained up beside her. A combination of dried and fresh blood was mixed across the side of her face. She peered worriedly back at Lennox with a knife that stuck out of her right leg, her chest shaking with every painful breath. I’m in hell, the first day… When I met Rosalyn. She knew what would happen next. She looked down to the right to find a knife handle exactly where she knew it would be buried. At the realization, a wave of life-like pain burned through her torso and caused her to lose her sense of rationality. What the hell? I’ve never been able to feel in my dreams like this.
With her jaw locked and a grimace on her lips. A familiar charred black hand was holding it there. Her nerves caught fire as she felt the presence of her worst nightmare looming over her, just as he did that night. Lennox’s eyes followed the burned skin trailed its way up from his fingers beyond the rolled sleeve of his pitch-black suit. The pressure faded as he released the handle. A pained groan to escape her. She tried to lean forward but his fingers held her jaw up forcing her to meet his gaze. It took a second but her eyes focused on the man with shoulder-length black hair and eyes dark as midnight whose only color came from the glowing green irises set inside the center.
His face bore the marks of his story. Lighting scars stretching from his right forehead down to his left jaw, appearing again on the left side of his neck. A mark from being smited from heaven as she understood. Tattoo-like markings lined his face. An unholy trinity of reversed crucifixes on his forehead and each cheek. Stretching from each ear down his cheekbones were blackened lines, dark and thick blurring down his jaw. Identical lines lined each side of his neck almost connecting to curve out at his collar bones, with three dots between them at the base of his neck.
He leaned until his face came within inches of hers. Large tattered bat-like wings shifted behind him as he kneeled in front of her. Their gazes hadn’t broken, locked in a game of determination. She pulled down on the shackles making them clatter loudly as his hand suddenly clasped around her neck. He squeezed just enough to cut off most of her air. His free hand wrapped around her wrists, forcing them to stay still. A wicked smile plastered across his lips as he looked deep into her eyes like a lion eyeing up its next meal. A tingling sensation filled her now cherry red face as she gasped to get any air she could.
“There’s so much fight in you,” his deep voice echoed along the walls. “There must be something worth fighting for. I want to see.”
His hand drifted from her throat to her bright pink hair. The demon’s fingers winding their way through gently as if he was trying to move it out of her face. That was until he suddenly gripped it at the roots which left her nowhere to go. Mental fire had sparked to life under his palm. Lennox’s barriers were weaker, easy to invade. There was no mercy, no softness, just fire as memories of her daughter, Gemma, newly born wrapped in blankets burned across her vision. He laughed looking over to the woman.
“I see! You have a daughter- but you gave her away. Do you hear that my dear Rosalyn? She lived your dream and denied it!”
Her eyes followed his to a barely conscious Rosalyn who had a single tear running down her cheek. Her heart sank for her newfound friend as the woman passed out from her injuries. The world started to go blurry from the intense heat of the fallen angels’ continued search. At the same time she felt a tug at magic she didn’t think had followed her into this life. Instinctively, she pulled at the thread, the flow of magic started to rapidly heat the iron. A look of surprise crossed his face momentarily as he took his hand off hers. His grip on her hair vanished finally making the fire inside her mind sizzle out. She gasped finally able to breathe again and coughed as she peered back up at him. His lapse brief, soon replaced when his eyes lit up with excitement.
“Well well, would you look at this? A bitch has some magic in her. I must ask, where did you acquire it?” He demanded while Lennox caught her breath. When she refused to speak his eyebrows furrowed in frustration. “You may speak- Now.”
He seemed to be counting down in his head as he waited impatiently. With an irritated growl, he took his hands and placed both hands over hers completely encompassing them. A light orange glow illuminated his face as fire trailed its way over his exposed forearms to their joined hands. She screamed again feeling the fire seer her skin. Her throat was raw from the hours he had been there. The man seemed to enjoy her pain as his smile widened.
“You want to play it like this? You have fight in you but you’re weak and you know I am stronger.” The fire in his hands only heated more. “Where did you get your magic from?”
The pain felt like nothing she had ever felt before. Her arms shook as she looked at the demon. After what felt like ten minutes of refusal to give in to what he wanted. She motioned to the silver scar-like markings on her arms with the hope the information wouldn’t be used to get someone else hurt.
“The Cult of Xemos! I joined before my deal, and in exchange I received magic!”
“See that wasn’t that hard, was it?” The fire dulled as she answered his question. “Xemos, that’s some ancient power young lady… Serious stuff.”
He shifted even closer to her. His midnight tie brushed the side of her face as he examined her skin. His hands slowly slid down her arms before the demon wrapped his hand around her forearm and moved it in the dull light to see the chain and sigil scars. His fingertips traced their way between the scars and now fresh burns.
“I can hear your heart racing, Miss. Cade… Don’t tell me Xemos didn’t teach you how to deal with a big bad demonic fallen angel like me? You didn’t come across it in your studies?”
“What would you know of Xemos?” Lennox challenged letting her eyes go to his wings. The last few black feathers clinging to various parts to confirm his words.
“Well, after being alive almost as long as he has, I’ve come across my fair share of Gods and Goddesses in the world. I happen to know exactly what he has to offer his devotees… Which leads me to wonder, how much power do you have?” The demon grinned as his black eyes sparked to life once more. “I wanna see.”
His hands quickly moved up and gripped her shackles once again. FIre caused white-hot embers to melt down her arms. Her legs kicked out in an attempt to fight back but he shoved his knee on top of her leg and applied almost crushing force to make her remain still. “Stop moving,” he commanded in a low growl beside her ear. Don’t let him win. She fought for a second as she started to pass out from the pain. Suddenly she gripped the internal thread and the connection to her magic locked into place again. Long ivy vines started twisting their way from her back forming into the shape of wings until taking on their final, ten foot span. Various loose vines hung from the tips and edges as they forced their way between the two which sent the man backward.
He fell back a few feet from her, her whole body collapsed forward only held up by the solidified chains as the wings encircled her. Her heart pounded in her chest and ringing filled her ears as the dangling vines started creeping toward the demon. They wound their way around his wrists and up arms like snakes that constricted them to prevent his approach. In the moment of respite, Lennox tried to recover from the burns. She looked up just in time to see him bring his hand up to his face to examine the plant life. An irritated grimace crossed his face as angry red bumps formed into his skin. He pulled against them but they wouldn’t let go. The smallest smile found its way to her face as he seemed completely thrown off.
However, it didn’t last long. His hands erupted with flames once more. This time, fire trailed its way down the plant life and caused it to ignite like wildfire. In a matter of seconds, the flames made their way straight into her back. Permanently burning the skin from one shoulder blade to the other. At this moment, she wished he would just end her, the pain all-consuming.
The final scream wracked her already raw vocal cords. She arched her back and pulled down on the chains. With the barrier gone, he pushed a hand against her shoulder and slammed her against the wall. The feel his hand on her face wasn’t gentle as he forced her to look him in the eyes again as hers started to close from the drain of power and the overwhelming pain.
“I’ll be back to see more of that lovely baby of yours, maybe one day she’ll want a deal like a dear old mummy.” Lennox tried to muster the energy to speak but the world faded into darkness once more.
She shot up in her bed and flung off her covers. At the same time Lennox’s gaze shot around the room as her lungs reached for air. For a moment she could have sworn that she felt the cool cell floor under her. When she ran a hand through her hair, she found her hair was damp with sweat. It's not real, I’m not there. She wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to find comfort. For a second she looked beside her for Rue, only to be met with an empty bed once again. Momentarily, she had forgotten what had happened. Within seconds it crashed back and her face fell into her knees. Behind her lids, the face of the demon from her nightmares haunted her. That malicious smirk of enjoyment. Her eyes flew open and she looked out the window. It was completely covered with thick vines that blocked out the night. After what felt like an eternity, her heart slowly stopped racing, replaced with a heaviness deep inside her chest. It’s been fourteen years since I’ve dreamed of Hell… Why is it all coming back now?
Her hand searched the sheets for her phone until she felt it under her pillow. Three ten in the morning. Lennox dropped her phone back into the sheets and rolled onto her back she stared at the ceiling. Her nightmare repeated like a broken record as the weight in her chest slowly started to consume her thoughts. Armaros has nothing to do with the curse… This doesn’t make sense.
Lennox stood from her bed, her arms around her still as she made her way to the door. A sharp pain burned momentarily white hot between the top center of her shoulder blades to the back of each shoulder. With a grimace and a soft tug at the green thread, she brushed two fingers at the candles around her room. They sprang to life as she opened her closet and turned her back towards the mirror. Slowly she pulled down the shoulder of the school t-shirt she wore to bed and peered over her shoulder. Lennox cringed internally, her fingertips already wet with something as the fabric peeled off injured skin. Long, deep scratches decorated the top of her spine and shoulders. Fresh blood dripped over long healed burn scars. Scars from him .
Her brows stitched together as she reached back and touched it in disbelief. Another flash of pain went down her spine as her fingertips brushed the sensitive spot. Her gaze darted to her fingers where she saw the evidence, blood under her fingernails. Did… I do that? After another glance at herself she wrenched her eyes away and cleaned herself up before she turned back to the door.
Within seconds she made her way down the darkened hall on the other side of the house to Rosalyn’s room. Lennox hesitated when she stood in front of the door and debated turning back to attempt to sleep. However, every time she blinked the demon’s face remained there. Do it, she’d want to know. Rosalyn was the only other person in the school who knew exactly who he was. Knew the horrors of the nightmares. With a deep breath, she lifted a hand to the door and knocked on the door just loud enough to hopefully be heard by her friend.
After a moment of quiet, she knocked again, “Rosalyn?”
“Is the house on fire?” Her tired voice responded.
“Not quite, it’s not urgent but it is serious.”
“Lennox?” She asked before she could hear the sound of a bed creek and footsteps approaching the door.
“Yes, it’s me,” she called back as the door opened to reveal a very tired-looking demon.
Rosalyn’s garnet eyes fell on Lennox and her expression shifted to worry. “What’s going on, Nox?”
“Can I come in? It’s about our time in hell-” The weight of the words hung between them.
“I-” She blinked in surprise and moved aside for her to come inside. “Come in”
The two sat on her bed and Lennox told her about the nightmare memory that wouldn’t let go. As she recounted the whole thing from her point of view, she found herself picking at the skin next to her nails. Rosalyn had fallen deep into thought as Lennox recounted every detail. Toward the end, she placed a hand on top of hers gently to stop her from going too deep.
“There’s something else-” She started nervously and shifted to face her back towards Rosalyn. Lennox turned and pulled the back of her sweater down just enough to show the top of one of the deeper scratch marks that had finally stopped bleeding.
“What happened? Did you do this in your sleep?” She felt her friend move closer to see.
“Yes… When I was in the dream but it almost felt real. Like my back was on fire again.” She turned once more, adjusting her sweater back to its place.
“It was probably when you were scratching at it…” She thought for a moment. “Armaros vanished years ago, Len, he has no reason to come here. The day he let me go, it didn’t seem like he would ever try to find either of us again. He seemed so… Haunted. I think he went into hiding.”
She looked into her friend’s eyes and found that she also seemed a little worried as well. “That’s just it, no one knows where he is or has seen him. Why would I start dreaming about him after so many years?”
“It has to be a coincidence. I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t feel safe here. I know it’s hard to believe right now but between the security team and your vines, we are safe in here, at least for the night.”
“You’re right… I’m sorry to have woken you up, Ros.” She stood from the bed to make her way back to her dorm room.
“Wait, I know how hard it is to forget when it comes up again. Do you want to spend the rest of the night here?” She offered with a kind smile, sleepiness creeping back into her eyes.
She did her best to push aside the image behind her eyes. Rosalyn would know more of Armaros after having been his victim for just over eighty years. Lennox took a second to consider the offer and nodded knew she didn’t want to be alone. She moved the sheets aside for Lennox to join her in the bed as there was no couch or extra bed in her dorm. She pulled the sheets back and went under the blanket. As she had done many times before, she settled in and rolled to her side with her eyes on the door to the hall. It took a while for her to drift off, but the image of Armaros slowly faded into black as sleep took over.