Hell On Heels(40)

My dad liked Kentucky a lot. He said it reminded him of Hell, plus there were portals all over the place. Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio were apparently hotbeds of otherworldly activity. A triad, if you will, of immortal strength and power.
Kentucky in particular housed Mammoth Caves. Hundreds of miles of natural underground caves. The caves formed over ten million years ago during a time of great upheaval between Heaven and Hell. There had been a war for ownership rights. It was bloody and long. In the end it was a draw.
Because so many Angels and Demons died in the caves during Mammoth’s formation, great magic was trapped within the limestone floors and walls. The Earth’s natural magic combined with the trapped immortal power had opened many portals to both Heaven and Hell. It was like a Heaven and Hell-bound bus station. It was considered neutral territory for both Angels and Demons. Earth had certain areas of neutrality, places for my dad and Uncle God to negotiate treaties and threaten each other with obliteration without having to make good on the threats. Any given day you could find tons of immortals hanging out. Either absorbing the fallout of magic that constantly seeped from the caves or hopping a Portal back and forth to Heaven or Hell. Ironically the humans didn’t even notice.#p#分页标题#e#
I rolled over and stared at all my shiny new weapons still nestled in my suitcase. They mocked me. Why Grandpa decided my parting gift should be an arsenal made my stomach roil. I had no freakin’ idea how to wield a sword, much less how to strike a deathblow. Moreover, I had no desire to harm or kill anyone or anything.
I thought about Grandpa and Sloth and Stella and my dad. . .and Hayden. Hayden was my every waking and dreaming thought. And where in the Hell was Blanche? Had my invisible friend deserted me too? My old life was gone. My eyes welled up and fat salty tears slowly rolled down my cheeks.
“Are you okay, sweetie?” a child asked.
What the Hell? I didn’t know we had brought a kid with us. “Oh, hi Janet.” How come I kept forgetting she sounded like a third grader? I swiped at my tears and plastered a big fake smile on my face. No reason to bring everybody down just because I was miserable, horny and hated my life.
“Don’t pretend,” she said gently as she took my hand into her sweet little stubby one. “You should cry and get it out. Earth’s really not as bad as you think.”
“I want to go back to Hell,” I whispered as I tried unsuccessfully to suppress my tears. I watched Janet search for reassuring words and was amazed at what a delicate beauty my bearded therapy partner turned out to be.
“Oh baby,” Janet cooed. “It will be fine. You’re here for a reason. I wish to Satan we knew what that reason was, but it will reveal itself in good time.”
“What if I can’t live up to whatever it is I’m supposed to do?” I made myself into a tight ball and hugged my knees for comfort. I waited for her to tell me the secrets to life, make me feel better and suggest we forget about Earth and go find a portal back to Hell.
No. Such. Luck.
“You have no choice. It’s your destiny,” Janet replied logically, in the same manner she would say the Earth was round or the sky was blue or Hell was way better than Heaven.
I decided to ignore her and continue to whine. “Why hasn’t anyone called me?”
“They’re not allowed to.” She began to hang my clothes in my closet.
“What do you mean not allowed?” I demanded. I grabbed my phone and checked for voicemails. Nothing.
“Your father forbade any contact for a month so you could acclimate to Earth.”
“He can’t do that,” I yelled at her as I punched numbers into my phone.
“I think he already did.” She put her hands to her face worriedly and searched for her missing beard.
I dialed Hayden and held the phone to my ear. Lost connection. Shit. I dialed Stella. Lost connection. Double shit. One more time. . .Triple shit. I threw my phone on my bed. I wanted to smash it against the wall, but I wasn’t stupid. I was just pissed.
He was ruining my life. I hated him. He threw me out of the only home I’d ever known. Got rid of me like I was trash. Just like my mother did. He tore me away from my family and my friends and the boy I was madly in love with. Although boy might be pushing it. Hayden was clearly older than dirt. As hard as I'd tried, he'd managed to avoid all my age queries.
My father ruined my life and more than likely his actions would get me killed. He condemned me to Earth where I was on constant watch for Angels who want to off me. Furthermore, as if avenging Angels weren't enough, there were a buttload of uber rotten Demons wreaking havoc and I was slated to ice them and find the freakin’ Balance of Chaos. This sucked mostly because all my power hadn't arrived yet.