Everlong: (Book One of the Everlong Trilogy) (12 page)

I stretched my wings out, testing them; they felt light and ripe for flight, so I launched myself into the sky.

She would see me.

She would have to listen to me.

The earth rapidly disappeared as I ascended, the clouds, the sky, all blending into one as I climbed higher. Water droplets clung to my skin as I burst through the atmosphere and into the blanket of stars behind it. The darkness surged forward, snuffing out the stars one by one, caressing me with what felt like a thousand hands stroking my flesh, massaging my aching bones.

'Josh,' She called to me through the dark. 'Welcome home,' She said, as Her cold lips found mine.

I turned my face away. 'I have done as you asked. I have found Hyperion and reminded him of his obligations.'

'Oh, why so angry, Josh? What have I done to deserve this?' She asked me, through the darkness, her fingers tracing the arch of my back.

'He gave me this,' I said, holding up the single page.

Death dropped her cloak of invisibility and stepped out of the darkness, her naked flesh covered only by the faintest wisps of the universe. Her beauty was breath taking. I took a sharp intake of breath, but I hated myself for letting Her see, for letting Her think there could be anyone but Evie.

She smiled at me, pleased at my mistake. She bit her bottom lip, as she moved in closer, the thinnest tendril of universe between our bodies. 'And what is that?'

'A page from a book he gave me,' I said, pulling away from her.

Death pouted. 'Does this feel like cheating?'

'I would never-'

She smiled, a look of amusement playing across her face as She ran her hand down my chest, making me shiver. She leaned forward and whispered into my ear, 'We'll see.'

Suddenly the air turned to ice, the cold instantaneously penetrating through my skin to my bones.

'So,' said Death, 'what have we here?' She took the page from me, letting her fingers brush against mine for a moment longer than they should have.

She looked at the paper. I watched as anger flashed in her eyes. Her face snapped up, her eyes narrowing into slits as She studied me. 'Where did you get this? Are you playing some sort of game?'

'No. I told you, Hyperion gave it to me. I followed him to the Forbidden Library at the Vatican. I reminded him of his obligations and then he gave me a book-'

'What book?'

'I don't know, he'd ripped it apart, replaced the pages with blank sheets, except for that one,' I said, pointing at the paper.

'Did you happen to see what this book was called?'

'No, I-'

'Where's the rest of it?'

'In Rome, I dropped it-'

'And yet you have this page? Why?'

I shrugged. 'I told you, that was the only page with anything on.'

Death stared at me in silence, gathering more of the universe around her, obscuring her naked body. 'What did he want with Obadiah?'

'He wanted to know how he could cleave his Arkhe-'

'Cleave his Arkhe, his celestial music?'

I nodded. 'Yes, that's why Obadiah told you about him.'

'He didn't tell me about Hyperion's desire to cleave his music.' Death rubbed her chin with her hand. 'I suppose that's why you found him at the Forbidden Library,' she said to herself, 'He was after the Necrodemonicon?'

'Obadiah sent him there, then contacted you-'

'Did he find it?'

'What?'

'The Necrodemonicon?'

I shrugged. 'I don't know. If he did, I didn't see him with it-'

'But he still had his music?'

'Yes, but it sounded strange, like nothing I've ever heard before.'

'And how did he look?'

'His aura was black around the edges, like it had been in a fire-'

'Yes, yes. But how did he
look
?'

'His eyes were raging with madness and I noticed he had jagged cuts running across his stomach, other than that, I don't know.' I watched as Death's face contorted with frustration. 'What do you want me to say?' I said, holding my hands up, 'You told me to remind him of his obligations and I've done that.'

'Indeed,' She said. There was a subtle change of atmosphere and I noticed her face soften a little. 'It seems that Hyperion's tiresome God-like tendencies are becoming a bit of a problem,' She said, 'You've done well, Josh.' She stepped forward and put her hand on my shoulder, 'Go and visit Evie, put a smile back on your face, you'll need it.'

'What do you mean?' I asked, shaking her hand from my shoulder. There was something about her voice, her choice of words.

'I'm afraid the game's changed, Josh, and I'm going to need you fully refreshed if we have any chance of stopping him.'

'But you said, if I reminded him of his obligations-'

'I have said a lot of things, but things change. Now go back to Evie, spend some time with her, put a smile on that miserable face of yours,' She said, flicking me away like a fly. 'I need to work out my next move.'

'What are The Fallen?' I asked. 'Hyperion told me-'

'Nothing that you need to worry your pretty little head about,' She said, dismissing me with a patronising pat on my head.

'What are they? Can I become one? If I do this for you?'

Death smiled at me, a patronising look of disbelief. 'There is only so much of your insolence I will put up with,' She said. 'Do not think for one minute you're not expendable, and what will happen to poor Evie then?'

'So?'

'So?' asked Death, her eyes narrowing into slits, reminding me of a serpent.

'So, if I do this for you, will you consider making me a Fallen?'

Death threw her head back and cackled. 'Oh Josh, you are so naive. Of course you can't become one of The Fallen-'

'Why? Why can't I, if I do whatever you ask, it's the least-'

She raised her hand, 'Stop!'

'But the page, Hyperion has written it on the page, it has to mean something.'

Her eyes now blazed with a new fire, the destructive crone clearly visible underneath her pale white skin. 'It means nothing! Hyperion is playing with you.' She paused, composing Herself before continuing. 'You were never a pure angel. An Angel of Death is a made entity, made because you sinned in your human life. It is this sin which prevents you from becoming a Fallen. Only a true, pure angel has a place to fall from.'

At Her words, hope left my body with the air from my lungs.

Death put her arms around me, pulling me in close to her. I could smell her sickly sweetness and I wanted to vomit.

'Josh, you took your own human life,' She cooed into my ear, 'Not only that, you deprived me of Evie, of a new angel to serve me. Do you really think I could ever forgive your disregard, your complete lack of respect for me?' She pulled away. 'You will do as I ask,' She said, 'Or you will pay the price. Then again, you're going to pay the price anyway.'

Josh

Madness had possessed me, invading my body like a poison, preventing me from thinking clearly. Death was lying to me, She had to be. Did She really think that telling me I couldn't be a Fallen would make me do Her bidding? Did She think leaving a death sentence hanging over my head would be enough?

I wasn't going to be Her puppet anymore and I certainly wasn't going to help Her stop Hyperion. What was the point? There was nothing in it for me, nothing to make me do it.

She could destroy me, it didn't matter, I'd got nothing left to live for anyway.

The number three bus pulled into its stop and Evie climbed aboard. I followed after her, intoxicated by the sweet smell of her perfumed skin. I flashed a smile at the driver and walked straight past - without even a murmur of protest from him - and took up a seat at the back of the bus.

Evie was near the front, nursing her grey messenger bag on her lap, her face turned towards the window, looking out onto the grey morning. My wings raged under my skin, desiring release, agitated by the electrical pulses racing through my body, knowing that I was so close to her, and yet, as the cliche goes, so far away. A war was erupting in my soul, a fight between my reason and my desire, and the physical pain I felt when I was near her. The physical pain that made me feel alive.

I would make her notice me, despite what I'd promised myself. She would have to see me!

Evie turned around, her ebony hair falling over her face like a veil. She brushed it back and looked up at me and I watched as her face changed from shock to confusion. She quickly turned back to face the front.

Why wouldn't she see me? I looked down at my lap, watching my knuckles turn white as I gripped my legs.

I looked up, catching her emerald eyes staring back at me, and the breath caught in my throat. Her features softened and I think she recognised me, but she looked away again. Sliding down into her seat, she pulled her hood over her head.

The bus pulled into a stop and Evie suddenly darted for the door, taking me off-guard. The bus started pulling away from the stop as I stood up. Evie was peering at me through the grimy window, a look of horror (or was it anger?) on her face.

I rushed to the front of the bus. 'Sorry, can you let me off?' I asked, flashing another charming smile at the driver. He rolled his eyes, but applied his brake anyway. The bus grinded to halt, the doors opened and I stepped off.

'What's your problem?' said Evie, coming to a halt in front of me, her eyes blazing with a fire that I hadn't seen in such a long time that it almost didn't seem to fit her anymore. But something, a long lost memory, was picking at my mind, trying to break through the wall of ice. But I couldn't quite grasp it, it was too far away.

'What was that about?'

'I-'

'Why did you keep calling me on the bus?'

'I-'

'How do you even know my name?' she said, throwing back her hood. I caught her delicious scent on the breeze.

'I-' What could I say, what could I tell her? That I knew her in ways that no one else could, or ever would? That I'd watched her as she'd cried herself to sleep, seen her in her most darkest of moments? If only I could tell her that I'd saved her all those long nights ago. Would she even have believed me?

'Thank you for helping me out last night, but now you are, 'but she stopped as her eyes locked onto mine.

'I'm sorry...' I felt my heart rip apart. I stuffed my hands into my jeans pockets. 'I wasn't calling you-'

'So you're not following me?' she said, defiantly, like she wanted a fight.

'No. I'm going into town and got on the bus and saw you. I did recognise you from last night, but I wasn't going to speak. That's it.' I shrugged, my hands still deep in my pockets.

Evie stood there silent for a moment, her eyes staring into mine and slowly I saw the fight in them disappearing.

'Honestly,' I said, dying inside as I lied to her. 'I'm sorry if I've upset you.' I never want to upset you.

She sighed, her shoulders slackened, but her eyes, her eyes never left mine. And I didn't want them to.

'No,' she said, 'it's me...I'm the one who should be sorry...I just don't know what's happening to me anymore.' She looked at the floor, and shuffled her feet. 'I just don't know,' she said, looking up and off into the distance.

'It's ok,' I said, wanting to close the space between us, wanting to sweep her up in my arms.

'Look, I don't want to be rude but I've got to get to school.' She looked back up at me again, and I could see the pain etched in her eyes, dulling the green.

A storm ripped my soul apart.

'I'll walk with you,' I said, quickly adding, 'if you want?'

She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. 'It's okay.'

'Where do you go? Riverside?' I asked. When she nodded, I added, 'I'm going that way, anyway.' I shouldn't have lied, I should've been a better person. She made me want to be a better person.

'Okay.'

'So, I'm Josh,' I said, begging for her to take notice of me, 'And?'

'Oh, I'm Evelyn,' she said, looking up at me again, 'Evelyn Anderson.'

'Hi Evie,' I said, smiling weakly, feeling my heart beat quicken as her name slipped off my tongue. I was so close to her that I could hear her heart pumping the blood around her body, could feel the invisible line that anchored me to her. All around me was electric, and I could feel every nerve in my body tingling. I was on overload. It was taking me all my time to just breathe, to work through my pain and desire. My thoughts were tangling in my head, and I couldn't form them into words.

Was she feeling the same?

Finally I managed a weak, 'So what happened the other night?

I felt her shoulders tense, her arms clamp down at her side. 'Nothing...really.'

'Who was that crazy brunette?'

'Amber. Amber Staunton,' she replied, shrugging, 'I suppose that explains why you're talking to me-'