I sneer, “Keeping me and Wyatt apart?”
He nods.
I feel sick. I don’t even know how to respond. I knew I hated her for a good reason.
I turn and watch out the window, desperate to be off of the plane and back in London.
“I am sorry. I just love you so much.”
I nod, “I know.” And it’s true. I know he loves me. He is just such a monster, he has a hard time being normal with showing it.
He takes my hand in his and kisses it. It makes me feel worse. All this time. All this time, Wyatt and I knew each other from before.
I lay back and wish the dead would take me, but they don’t. We land in Northern Africa, and I walk off the plane to something I never expected to see, peace. There is no smoke, riots, fire, or death. There is silence, sand, and wind. We are the only people here. The sun is setting but the air is still warm.
I look around, feeling the history and the heartache instantly. Liana and Ezara know this place. I look back at Constantine, “This is the place.”
He knits his eyebrows together. I point at my heart, “Liana and Ezara.”
He nods, “Like a beacon?”
I nod. I go left but it fades so I turn right. I walk for a while until I come to a riverbank. It’s muddy and sandy. I fly across. Constantine jumps it. I smile, “I thought you couldn’t cross moving water?”
He rolls his eyes, “That’s witches and it’s not even true.” He takes my hand in his and pulls me along. I veer us right again. We don’t need a marker for where to go. The scariest thing I have ever seen is there on the horizon. I know then, we are in the right place.
The dust of the sand kicks up as the hooves beat against the soft ground, coming towards us. They almost shake the ground they are so large. A white horse, a black horse, a fiery-red horse, and a pale-grey horse all ride to us. The riders do look like the cast of Dementors from Harry Potter, evil and grim-reaper like.
They carry swords, axes, and hammers. I gulp, “What now?”
He squeezes tight, “Pull that sword and give me the dagger down your pants.”
I pull it out and pass it to him. I hold my sword steady, “Come on, Ellie.” I feel her fill me up, but even she is trembling at the dark skies behind the horsemen. They barrel down on us.
I am shaking when they finally get to us. They ride in a circle around us. It is so familiar, I swear I have dreamt of it. I drop to my knees, bowing my head to them.
I hear a scream in the air. It is a man’s, “Come to me horsemen, see that I do not fear you. I am worthy of the gifts you have to give. Not like her, I would face you in battle and earn rewards!”
I don’t lift my head but I can’t help but wonder why the man behind me is such an idiot, or am I a coward? No he’s a moron. He can’t win against them.
A horse stops and the rider drops to the ground. He walks to me in his huge metal boots.
“Rise!” His voice is like the nixie, but completely opposite and evil. I stand, not lifting my head to look upon him. I have a bad feeling.
“You would not look upon me?”
I shake my head, “You are death.”
“I am conquest. I am the first rider.”
“I would look upon you. I would look upon you and kill you.” I hear a man’s voice over the wind and the horses. I see Constantine’s feet near me. He isn’t moving. He must be doing the same as me. The man behind me has to be Lucifer.
“You would face me?”
The man screams in pain, and I feel like maybe for once, I have made the right choice.
The second horse stops and the rider dismounts. He walks to me in all his state, “Would you face me?”
I shake my head, “No, my lord.”
He walks past me. The man screams in agony again. He says words but they are muffled and make my skin crawl. I wish he would die. I hate that I wish that, but I cannot listen a second longer. The third horseman jumps down and stomps to me, “Will you face me?”
I shake my head again, tears rolling down my cheeks. The rider walks past me, making the man scream again. I don’t know what is happening around me, but I suspect I shouldn’t look.
I am too scared to look.
Finally, the fourth rider stops circling us. He dismounts. But he pauses. He walks, not like the others but softly, towards me. He stops in front of me and then takes a step closer. He leans in, I can smell rot and decay, and yet, it is appealing.
He whispers on my neck with his hot breath, “Would you look upon me and let me do my worst?”
I twitch, shaking my head. I don’t know why, but he bothers me the most. He gets too close and makes it too personal, like he knows me. He lingers, smelling me.
He pulls back, “Not even a slight glance?”
I shake my head again.
He walks past me and the man behind me begs. He pleads for his life. I don’t know what he says because he sounds weird, like his tongue is missing. But I can get the gist of it.
The sand starts up as if they are riding their horses again. The man screams and slowly the riders start to walk back to me. They drop to their knees in front of me, one at a time. I don’t look up. I don’t know what to do, but I know I need to be humble in front of them. Or cowardly, however you want to say it.
When the final horseman is kneeling in front of me, I look up. They are black knights kneeling in the desert against the fading light of the sun. I turn, gasping when I see the man. He is frozen and twisted. He is not my father, not in his regular body, but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t be my father; he very well could be.
He has sores, a gaping mouth, stab wounds that leak dark blood and broken bones. He kneels, as if frozen in that position.
Constantine looks at me, wide-eyed and confused. I shake my head. He looks at the horsemen, “What does she do now?”
“Free us, blood of Lillith.” They all say it in unison and it rumbles through the earth to me. I almost nod, finally the whole blood of Lillith thing makes sense. I am the blood of Lillith. I will draw the horsemen to me. I look up at the sky for second, “You knew all along didn’t you? You’ve always had this planned.”
I swallow hard, pulling my sword and looking at Constantine again. He shrugs, biting his lip. He does a motion, like he’s swinging the sword. I look back at the riders.
I lift the sword over my head, take a deep breath, and lower it like I’m friggin’ Ned Stark. The sword hits and the horseman’s cloak crumples to the ground. Something black like smoke rises from his body. I look at the next three and shudder. This is weird.
“Sorry about that.” I lift the sword again and again and again, until all four cloaks are lying in the sand, and I am surrounded by black smoke.
Constantine starts breathing again, “Oh my God, not even a little bit kidding. I thought we were dead.”
I drop the sword to the ground, “What happened?”
He shakes his head, “I have no idea.”
I point at the frozen man, “Who is that?”
He shrugs, “I have no idea.”
“Is that the antichrist?”
He gives me a look, “Rayne, we were at the same party. I have no idea.”
I sigh, “Where is my father?”
“Who cares? I feel like I’m having a stroke, and I don’t think that’s even possible.” Constantine offers me his hand, “Let’s go home.”
I nod, “Okay.”
We turn to go back to the plane, but Lucifer standing there, with the full moon rising behind him. He is beautiful, ominous, and awful all at once.
“I can’t believe that you did it.”
I scowl, “What?”
He nods, “You lived. I have to give that one to you. I assumed they wanted you to face them, and of course, God wanted you on your knees. How pious of you.”
My lip trembles but I start to laugh. He looks affronted by my laugh, but it makes me laugh harder. Constantine laughs with me, “What is it?”
I snort, “I thought about the whole Indiana Jones thing.” I drop to my knee, “When he gets the Nazis to open the Holy Grail and they shouldn’t look.”
Constantine laughs harder, “Indiana Jones saved your life.”
Lucifer looks confused, “Who is he?”
I snort again.
Lucifer shouts, “STOP LAUGHING!”
Of course, like I’m seven years old, I laugh harder.
He pulls a gun from his hip and shoots me in the arm. I stop laughing as the bullet stings and blood trails down my arm. Constantine stops too. He walks to me, cautiously.
Lucifer sighs, “Give me the power.”
I look at Constantine, “What power?”
“The horsemen, what did they give you?”
I shake my head, “Nausea.”
He leans forward and screams at me, “WHAT DID THEY GIVE YOU?”
I flinch, “I-I-I-I don’t know. Nothing.”
He storms across the sand to me, grabbing me by the arm he has just shot. He presses his thumb into the wound, “The prophecy is that you will gain power from their death and be able to kill the antichrist and save the world. Now tell me what you felt.”
I shake my head, “I swear, nothing. I swear I feel exactly the same. A little freer knowing they’re dead.”
He squeezes harder, making me scream. Constantine tackles him into the sand. His fangs are out and his eyes are black. He drags his nails across Lucifer’s neck. Black blood spills out. I grab one of my daggers from my pants and jump, stabbing it into his heart. He knocks Constantine off and pulls the dagger from his heart, snapping the blade. He tosses me back, I leap for the sword but he jumps up, stomping on my leg. He grabs my sword and swings around, stabbing Constantine in the chest with it. He gags. Lucifer turns and looks at me. Black blood drips from his face. “You know, when you were a baby, you used to sleep in my lap. I would twirl your hair and sing to you. You could sleep like I have never seen, for days. You have always been the most amazing child.”