Stella looks lost, "I don’t understand."
Constantine comes into the room, "That is because, dear sister, you never cared for scripture. But Uncle Vlad never let me get away with such complacency. I had to learn. The white horse is the first. As the seals in God's hand break, the riders come forth to bring about the end of days." He sips a glass of red wine before he continues, "The white horse is first. He brings with him a bow and wears a victor’s crown. He is war, conquest and war."
I swallow hard, "What does that mean?"
Constantine shakes his head but I don’t believe him. I don’t trust him. I look at Wyatt. He shakes his head, "I don’t know. You killing the devils and sending them to hell with the evil should stop the end of days." His phone rings as he speaks. He pulls it out and gets up, "Hello?" He leaves the room.
Constantine sighs, "I agree with young Wyatt, this shouldn’t be the sequence of events as long as the devils take their evil with them."
Stella looks at me, "Do we continue to allow her to kill the devils or does she die to save the world?" Her face tells me which she would prefer, and I agree.
I look down, wondering the same thing over and over.
When I look up, Constantine is in front of me. He drops to his knees and tilts my chin up, "The world will end and it will find a way to save itself that doesn’t involve your death. No matter what, I say we kill the last three devils, now. We leave now. Before the rest of the world falls apart; kill them before they come for you. Even if they are gone and the whole world dies, you and I will live on together."
I nod, it's selfish but I don’t care. I don’t want to die. I want to live. I want to feel again. I feel like I am renting my body, not fully experiencing it. The other versions of me are panicking inside of me too. I think it's why I can't feel everything I used to, we are spreading the emotions too thin amongst all five of us.
Stella wraps a slender arm around me, "We will help you, Ellie. No matter what, we want you to live. Let the world save itself.”
I nod, "Okay."
Mona gives me a smile too, but I can see the fear in her eyes. Michelle texts on her phone on the couch, not really paying much attention to it all. I smile when I see her pose, "What are you doing?"
She gives me a look, "Snapchatting."
I don’t know what that means but she poses again, duck lips this time. Mona rolls her eyes, "That is why the world is ending."
I laugh as Wyatt comes back in, "They want you to turn yourself in. The religious heads have teamed up and spoken to my parents, and they're blaming you." I wince and wait for him to switch sides. He looks at Constantine, "No doubt they were tracing the call—we should go."
Constantine nods, giving Mona a sad look, "Rain check?"
She smiles, "When the world ends and begins again, and no one cares who Rayne is, we will restart Christmas. Make new traditions. Or we will hide up here in the Alps and eat until the end comes for us too."
I feel sick. The other girls inside of me all agree, we feel sick.
Three
The plane lands in Ciudad Juarez. Again, we somehow get to land on some strip that looks like a dusty farm crop. The smell in the air is bad. I am hungry the minute we walk from the plane to the car that is waiting. Tom nods at me. I nod back. He shakes his head subtly. I realize he is nodding at the trunk. I pretend to fix my sock as everyone gets into the SUV. He pops the trunk and a man comes flying out. He looks like he might be Mexican and a little bigger than I am. He tries to run but I jump him, pinning him down. I see sore-like burns on his lips so I don’t kiss him. I hover over him and suck his soul from him. He cries out into my mouth as he dies. I moan my exhale, "Wow."
Michelle watches me for a second before scrunching her nose up, "What was he guilty of?"
I shudder as the feelings and images wash over me, "Tom's favorite." He hates pedophiles. This one was also a serial killer. The images of his horrific crimes will sit in my mind, torturing me for the rest of the day. Michelle leans over his dead body, "Look, hash sores."
I frown, "What?"
She points, "He smokes hash. He has sores from the hot knives."
I get up and look down on him, "Ew." We walk to the car. Wyatt looks back out at me, "Really?"
I nod, "I was hungry and he was bad."
He sighs and closes the door. Tom drives and Wyatt does his weird smelling thing.
Stella laughs uncontrollably at it. I frown, "Laugh later, otherwise he won't do it.”
Wyatt looks back, "There are a lot of bad people here. I can smell it everywhere. Witches and even a few vampires." He gives Constantine a look. I look at him but he avoids my eyes, "I thought you were the last."
He nods, "We are. Those are abominations."
I don’t know what that means, and honestly, I have too much on my plate to worry about them.
We drive for what feels like an eternity. I almost close my eyes but Stella shoves me, "Stay awake, you know what you’re like to wake up."
I smile, taking a deep breath and looking at the nasty surroundings. "This place is gross. I always thought Mexico was beautiful."
Mona nods, “This is not on the brochures. They keep this dirty little secret to themselves for sure.”
Stella scoffs, "Most of it is. This place is a rat hole."
"STOP!"
Mona moans, "Finally."
Wyatt sniffs the air, ignoring us and our moaning. He points back the way we came from, "That way."
Tom swings the SUV around and slams on the gas.
"STOP!"
I turn my head as the car slows to a halt. A warm breeze wafts through the window, carrying with it food, garbage, and pollution. Mixed in with it there is something else. I'm over Michelle's lap and crawling for the door to the car. The smell has me by the nostrils. It drags me out.
I run, skipping steps and screaming as the wings shoot from my back. A child watches me as the huge white wings take up all the room in her eyes. I can see the reflection of them in her pupils as I run past.
I float up to a second-floor apartment, kicking the door in. A growl tears from my lips.
I don’t even know who I am anymore. My eyes scan the place, like an animal's would. I move through the dirty carpet in the front room where the TV is still playing. I see a pot on the stove, boiling rice. The warm air hits me again just as a creak interrupts my thoughts. I look to see a door swinging back and forth as the breeze plays with it.
I'm out the door, leaping and floating through the laundry-filled alley to where I see him. He is running as hard as he can, but the ugly sweater is a beacon.
I get above him. He looks back, screaming as I land on him, taking him to the ground. My sword flies through the air at me from Constantine who is out of breath and standing across from me. I pull it as I catch it and spin. The devil's head rolls down the dirty concrete, still wide-mouthed and mid-scream when it combusts into the pile of black feathers.
It joins the debris and floats down the road, scattering with the warm wind.
I stand there, trying to get my breath too. Constantine gives me a look, "That was different."
I almost smile, but I'm scared of myself and the other girls inside of me are silent. All except the first me. She is excited.
The rest of us are silent.
Wyatt comes to me, pulling the blade from my trembling hand, "It's okay, Rayne. Take a breath."
I do it. I breathe and try to calm down. My heart beats in a way I don’t think it ever has and my body vibrates. I can't taste any evil in the air.
Wyatt sniffs the wind, "Third time's a charm, babe. I don’t even smell a little."
I nod, "I know. I can't taste any of it." I turn around to see Stella standing, watching me. She has a disturbed look on her face, "You move like them."
I frown, "Like what?"
"The angels."
I don’t have a response for it. I don’t know if it’s a bad thing or not. Her eyes dart to Constantine. He shakes his head in twitches, "She is not like them. Her heart is human."
I almost tell him that with every one of them I kill, I feel my heart close off more, but I don’t. It would be the honest thing to do, but I have a bad feeling about it. I feel like I should keep it to myself.
The car ride back is awkward again. I always make it awkward. Wyatt and Stella seem stunned and Constantine seems confused. Mona and Michelle ask about the kill, but I just shrug and say, "He's dead."
We get onto the plane, and when it takes off, I'm not afraid.
That makes me worried.
We land in Karachi, and for the first time, I feel like I’m invincible. There is almost no feeling at all except unwavering confidence.
"You’re being quiet."
I look over at Mona and smile, "I feel a little weird. I'm scared." It is the truth; I know I should be scared, even if I can't reach the feeling."
She nods, "Me too."
The small airport smells like Indian food and spices. I like it. It makes me want to eat real food. I like it when I feel normal. Willow always cooked with tons of Indian spices. She was a huge fan of spices and herbs… obviously. Her name feels funny in my mind. She isn’t important to the others. Only me. Willow. It's a name I haven’t thought of for days. I don’t know what to make of that. Am I forgetting her? Are they winning the battle for my mind and heart?