I think the others cry at the thought of me loving him and not Constantine.
I whisper into the shower, “I won’t choose, not yet.”
It doesn’t satisfy them. They weep inside of my mind and I swear I am crazy.
Two
The images are intense. The black rain is being called acid rain from the bombs. It burns and even kills those caught out in it for too long. It only burns organic matter. It has no effect on buildings or umbrellas. It makes no sense. The man speaking on the TV has no idea what it is, and he confesses scientists are equally baffled.
Gretel paces in front of the massive stone fireplace. She and Constantine have worn a path in front of it.
I sigh, “We need to go back to the States.”
Constantine shakes his head, “No. We need to find Lillith.”
Gretel shakes her head as well, “NO. We need to kill the horsemen.”
We are at an impasse, have been for three days. Wyatt’s eyes watch me from the corner of the room. They have done so for three days also.
He speaks softly but everyone listens, “Rayne and I will go back to the States. Mona and Michelle and Gill, you stay here with Tom and Maria. Stella and Constantine, you go and find the garden. Mom and Sarah will locate and attempt to kill the horsemen. Call the other Van Helsings. They will come and help.”
It sounds reasonable to me.
His mom’s eyes dart at Sarah who looks pained, “My parents are siding with the Catholic Church. There is no one but us.”
Gretel nods, “Maggie is with your father at the ocean front estate. She needs to be kept safe.”
Wyatt nods slowly, taking it in. “You go and find the horsemen; when you find them, Stella and Constantine will come to you after they’ve found the garden.” He smirks at Constantine, “Can you still fly, Basarab, or is becoming a bat a young man’s game?”
Constantine chuckles. Stella narrows her gaze, “We could never trust them to fight with them. Gretel is not known for her loyalties.”
Gretel looks savage, “I feel exactly the same about you, corpse.”
Stella stands from her chair, looking dramatic in the firelight with her red gown and long blonde hair, “I guess I could always ask Jonathan how loyal you are.”
Gretel snarls, leaping at her. She takes her to the ground. They get in hits, but it gets serious when Gretel bites into her own wrist and drips her blood onto Stella who screams. She kicks Gretel across the room, smashing her into the brick wall. She is up and gone, and then in a flash, right in front of Gretel. Her hand comes back but Wyatt and Constantine are up and grabbing their perspective family members. Stella’s face looks like she has met with the acid rain. It is blackened and burned. Her upper lip is missing.
Gretel is wheezing from whatever is broken in her back from the wall.
Mona looks at me, “That escalated quickly.”
Michelle snuggles in closer to me on the couch, “That was insane.”
They all look at us three on the couch. Wyatt and Gretel on one side of the fire and Constantine and Stella on the other. With the huge fire flickering behind them, they all look positively evil.
I get up, “I’m going to the States, alone.”
Constantine opens his mouth but I hold up a hand, “The nixie can get me there faster than anyone, and under the water, the black rain can’t hurt me.”
I look at Mona and Michelle, “Stay here, it’s the safest place you can be.”
Constantine puts his hands on his hips, “Why are you so desperate to be back there?”
There is something I can’t tell them. I shake my head, “It’s hard to explain, but I need to see someone.”
Constantine sighs, “Let’s sleep on it. We can decide tomorrow.”
I smile, “Fine. I’d rather not swim the Atlantic in the dark anyway.”
Gretel, Sarah, and Wyatt go to the wing they’re sleeping in. It was Constantine’s wing for human snacks the last time I was here. Stella’s face is healing but she still looks like a zombie Barbie. She puts a hand out for Michelle, “Come on.” Michelle wrinkles her nose, “Is that going to go away or are you going to be fugly all night?”
Mona laughs but Stella frowns, “What does fugly mean?”
It dawns on me at that moment that they are lovers. I don’t even know what that makes Michelle. Is she a lesbian now? Maybe she was always flexible.
I suppose love is love—can she love without her soul?
Mona loops her arm into mine, “Night guys.” We turn and walk the hallway to our room. She leans in, “If you leave, find my mom.”
I nod, “I will.”
Of course I lied. It’s dark and quite frightening in the castle when the torches and lights are all out. Luckily my eyes do their thing, and I slip through the dark hall silently, not making a single sound. I don’t want anyone to know I am leaving.
When I get to the cellar door, my heart is pounding, but I know I have to go. I wince as I pry the door open. It squeaks. I close it and run. I know he will have heard me.
The cellar has not seen an update. The stairs are long and winding down into the earth. It’s cold and dank and smells like things Ellie and the others remember quite well. At the bottom of the stairs, I recognize the old door I knew was there. I pull hard on the rusty handle and the door squeaks like it’s the friggin’ alarm system warning Constantine of my escape. I leave it open and run, trailing my finger along the cobweb-covered wall of bricks. I can see that the stairs have no railing and the fall is far. My eyes do their glowy thing making it light in the room, light enough to see how horrid it is.
A light at the top of the stairs announces his arrival, “Rayne, goddammit. Get back here.”
I look back at Constantine and jump. The torch he holds lights up the massive cavern he once turned into an amazing escape. My wings burst from my back, and I float past the dimly-lit staircase and pitted wall. He jumps too, but the moment I touch ground, I’m running and leaping. My huge white wings fold in when I reach the tunnel to the sea. I can smell the spray of the ocean.
“RAYNE!”
I push my legs harder until I reach the cold wind in my face. I see dawn’s light on the horizon and leap into it and the misty air of the bluffs. My wings tuck and I dive fast for the sea below.
I split the water with such force I cry out from the pain of it. But instantly they are there. They wrap around me, surrounding me in light. I can hear the nixie singing and moaning in the water, talking all at once.
Seven beautiful sea witches. I smile at the nixie. They look up and I see the frothing sea explode with more commotion. He has followed me into the ocean. The nixie will smell their dead on him and attack. I see jeans and scowl; it’s not Constantine. It’s Wyatt. He looks at the nixie pleadingly, “Please?”
He surfaces again. The nixie look at me. I sigh and nod.
We all surface. I see Constantine’s evil face from the cave opening high above. I wave, “I’ll be back in a couple days.”
He flips me the bird.
“Wow, that was rude.”
He turns and stalks back into the cave.
I look at Wyatt, “You can’t come. You have to be able to cross the Atlantic with them.”
Wyatt ignores me and looks at the blonde with the hateful look for him. “I am the archangel Jonathan’s son. Please let me come. I promise to do whatever you say.” He sounds sweet and obliging. They look like they won’t be fooled, “Fine.”
A redhead grabs him and pulls him under. I scream, “He can’t breathe.”
The blonde laughs, “He is nephilim. They can all breathe underwater.” She grabs my hand and pulls me under with her. I grab her shoulders, like I’m swimming with a dolphin and we start the trip. The sun rises above, lighting up the entire ocean.
It is beautiful and strange to be swimming across the ocean. I can’t see Wyatt. There is a pit in my stomach that they just dragged him down and murdered him. He has killed nixie before.
I feel an overwhelming exhaustion suddenly. Before I can stop them, the dead take me.
I wake to pain, knowing I never dreamt. I scream out and look down. I am in a room I don’t know, and the source of my agony and sickness is the man sleeping next to me. He has sprawled across me. I snarl and shove him off the bed. He lands with a thump and continues to sleep. It makes me laugh.
I look around but I don’t know this place. It’s a simple bedroom, nothing fancy at all. I get up, nervous of what I will find. I no longer think it’ll be Van Helsings who want to kill me. I trust him now. My belly rumbles, and I know it’s not the kind of hunger a sandwich will fix. I haven’t eaten in days.
I leave the room, recognizing where I am when I enter the next room. The picture with the star makes me smile instantly. It is the reason I have come back to the States.
“Did you push me out of bed?” I jump and turn to see Wyatt rubbing his eyes. “That was mean.”
I laugh, “You were touching me. I woke screaming in pain.”
He grimaces, “So I accidentally hurt you and you purposefully push me out of bed? I woke screaming in pain too.”
I roll my eyes, “You did not.”
He cracks a grin, “Okay, but I’m not a baby like you.”
I laugh, “Screw you, Wyatt.”
“That’s why we’re here, isn’t it?”