Netherworld, Soul Guardians Book 4 (8 page)

The group was suddenly
hurtled forward. The screeching of the brakes drowned all other
motor sounds around them. The SUV stopped moving. Kara heard doors
open and close and the murmur of voices. Then a
tack, tack, tack
, of some sort of
slow mechanical device, like the scraping of metal on
wheels.

With a pop, the lock on the trunk’s
door unlatched. Hands grabbed Kara, and she was pulled out of the
trunk and left to stand alone on her feet. She felt the presence of
the others around her, and then heard David voicing a few angry
curses. Once he was done, she concentrated on her hearing. She
recognized the dull humming of neon lights and the soft drone of
traffic. The sound was obscured as if it was coming from behind a
wall. The air was stale, with a hint of mildew and she knew they
must be inside a building. She strained her ears for more details,
but the sound of heavy feet and mumbled conversations buried
everything else. Where were they? So far, all their souls were
still intact. Since the seirs had death blades, things could have
been much worse. Why did the seirs kidnap them and bring them
here?

Kara’s head snapped back as her blind
fold was ripped off her eyes. Bright light struck her, and she
averted her eyes. She blinked several times and tried to mend the
stinging. After a moment, her vision cleared as her eyes grew
accustomed to their surroundings.

They stood in a large warehouse lined
with wooden crates and the large metal containers she’d seen before
on freight trains. Long oval light fixtures hung down from an
incredibly high ceiling. Tall glass windows ran the length of the
building, their brown and black blotches barely allowing any light
to filter through. Brown rust stained the metal walls like a flesh
eating disease.

The soft tread of shoes
reached her ears.
Kara looked up. A figure
approached them. It was small, almost childlike—

The hairs on Kara’s body stood on end
and her jaw fell open. A white dress swayed towards her.

Kara stared into the dark eyes of the
elemental girl.

Chapter 6

Lilith

“
W
hat the...?” said David, cutting the creepy
silence.

Kara examined the young girl as she
approached them. She looked like a normal twelve-year-old girl
except for the antique looking dress she wore. Her black hair
swayed like liquid shadows. She wore white knee-high socks tucked
into a pair of shiny black shoes. With her chin in the air, she
moved elegantly towards them, as though she were walking on a
pageant stage. For the first time, Kara noticed a tight smile on
the girl’s full lips. The unmistakable glee in her black eyes sent
an icy chill down Kara’s back. This was amusing to her, like some
sick game where the object was to torture angels. The horror of the
situation weighed her down. The legion had been right, and she had
been wrong. She had been selfish and foolish again thinking she
knew better than everyone. Kara curled her hands behind her back
and glared at the girl. She wouldn’t be fooled twice.

The seirs’ leader pushed Kara forward
roughly. “Mistress, where do you want them?”

Mistress?
Kara stumbled forward. Why were the seirs taking
orders from a little girl? Kara gave David a sidelong glance, and
noticed his face bore a deadly scowl.

“
Thank you, Ranab. Leave
them where they are,” the soft voice commanded. At once the seirs
backed away from Kara and the others. Only their leader remained
where he stood.

“
As you command, mistress.”
Ranab gave a nod of his head and straightened his back.

With a suspicious frown on her face,
Kara shared another look with David. “What’s going on? Why are they
listening to her?” she whispered.

David shrugged. “Maybe these clowns
like getting bossed around by little girls.”

Kara’s frown deepened. “Do you think
she’s paying them somehow to do this? Like a job? It doesn’t make
any sense.”

“
Maybe.” David laughed a
little. “She does look as if she’s cut from the upper-class
cloth.”

Kara watched the elemental make her
way slowly towards them. She lowered her voice some more. “Either
way—it makes no freakin’ sense. She should be on our side. What
does she want from us?”

“
Maybe the freaky little
girl wants to play dolls with real-life angels.” David glowered at
her.

“
I have a bad feeling about
this,” whispered Peter. His face had gone a sickly grey color, and
Kara could see his shining angel essence through his thinning skin.
She figured he had maybe another half an hour before his M-suit
evaporated completely. They had to get out of there quickly, there
wasn’t time to play with dolls. She met Jenny’s eyes—they were
round with fear. Her skin had also lost its pigment and dazzling
light seeped through her pores. They needed a plan. And they needed
to get out of there.

The elemental stopped a few feet in
front of the group. Her lifeless face stared back at them like a
ghostly doll—perfect and new, as if she had just stepped out of the
box. Her white dress was spotless. She had not been living on the
streets for months. Her freshly polished black shoes gleamed like
jewels, as if they’d never been worn. She was like a robot—no
facial muscles moved, and she never blinked. Her white skin
shimmered under the fluorescent lights, and her dark eyes shone
with intelligence beyond her years. The elemental clasped her hands
in front of her and regarded them with great interest. She leaned
forward, and her smile widened.

“
How can you do this?” Kara
scolded before she could control herself. “You’re an elemental!
You’re part angel! We came here to rescue you. Why would you do
such a thing to us? How can you go against your own
kind?”

The little girl giggled. It took a
moment for her to compose herself. She flattened the front of her
dress. “But that’s where you’re wrong, Kara. I’m nothing like
you.”

“
So you knew who I was…all
this time?” Kara’s anger flared. Her arms and legs twitched. She
forced herself to stay calm. If she couldn’t use her arms, maybe
she could head-butt the smile off the girl’s face.

“
Yes, of course I knew.”
The girl glanced at her fingernails as if she were bored by the
conversation. “I found you out at that pathetic bookstore, didn’t
I? To think you spent your summer holidays in that God awful,
smelly place. You were practically covered in filth when I first
saw you. Quite disgusting really.”

Kara bristled. “And so you tricked us!
You tricked me into believing you needed my help. You’ve been
planning this all along…but why—and how did you get into my
head?”

Kara took a step forward, but Ranab
pulled her back hastily. She squirmed in his grasp.

“
How was I supposed to grab
your attention otherwise?” the elemental laughed and clapped her
hands together dramatically. “Yes. I was very good at convincing
you. I knew you couldn’t resist helping a poor little girl.
Besides, it’s your job to help the inferior beings—save the weak
from the wicked—isn’t that what you angels do?”

Kara stopped struggling.
“And why do you need
my
attention? You better put a stop to this before
it gets really out of hand. This is very serious. This isn’t a
game, little girl. Angels are hurt. My friends are in pain because
of you. Look at what you’ve done! How could you?”

The elemental looked up at Kara and
smiled. “I wanted you to know who I was. To get to know me
better—so we can play. Do you like games, Kara?”

Kara’s body shook angrily. “You’re an
elemental who’s gone completely mad! You’re delusional—going
against your own—and you’ve commanded your dogs to hurt me and my
friends, knowing that we couldn’t fight back. You’re crazy. What
else is there to know?” Kara pulled desperately at her restraints.
The sharp burning wires sliced into her mortal flesh.

“
Here! Here!” said David,
and he stamped his foot. “A psychotic little girl—with murderous
intentions—haven’t I seen this movie before?”

The elemental raised her brows and
ignored David. She focused on Kara. “But you’re wrong, Kara. You
don’t know me at all. You see a pathetic little girl standing
before you, but your eyes deceive you. Look again. Look beyond the
veil this time, and you will see who I am. But I must warn you…you
might be surprised at what you find.” The girl giggled and folded
her arms on her chest.

Kara was growing impatient. She didn’t
have time for riddles. She needed to escape. She had been a fool to
think this kid needed her help. She was furious with herself at how
easily she had been deceived. Deep down she had wanted to find
someone different—someone she could identify with. She had wanted
to spare the girl from the scrutiny and persecution from the legion
to which she herself had been subjected. But the elemental was
obviously insane. Who knew what she was capable of?

“
Okay fine. Whatever you
say. Why don’t you call off your dogs so we can have a
normal
conversation and
get to know each other better.”

Kara looked over the elemental’s head.
Beyond the warehouse’s other end, stood two large metal doors.
Enough light spilled through a crack above a row of closed windows
to help them see their way through the piles of wooden crates and
metal containers.

“
Yeah, how about you free
our hands as a measure of good faith.” David turned around and
wiggled his shackled wrists. “What do you say? I promise to have
tea and play dolls with you later.”

The elemental ignored him.

“
You see, Kara. I brought
you here to tell you something. Something I’ve been waiting to
share with you for a very long time. This is a very exciting moment
for me…and for you. You’ll see.”

“
What?” Kara glanced
worriedly at Peter. His angel essence was only just contained by a
thin layer of mortal skin. He shook uncontrollably. He was getting
worse.

“
Look—I don’t have time for
your games. What is it you want to share?” Kara didn’t care to hide
the impatience in her voice.

“
This—”

The elemental raised her arms. Her
hair lifted in the air. Gusts of wind enveloped the girl in a
maelstrom of dust and debris. Kara made her eyes into slits. The
light bulbs exploded and rained down on them. The floor vibrated
and moaned. Containers spilled from above and landed with a
thundering crash. Peter groaned and Jenny comforted him. Rays of
green light exploded from where the girl had stood. The elemental
disappeared completely into a whirlpool of wind and green flashing
light. Another great blast of green light ignited around them.
Kara’s eyes burned. She closed them and turned her head
away.

Silence. After a moment, Kara slowly
opened her eyes. The warehouse was silent once again. A young woman
a little older than Kara stood where the girl had been moments
before. Her long white hair floated around her like a cape caught
in a breeze. A white suit was wrapped around her slender body and
tied together with a red belt. She was beautiful, with delicate
features and white colored skin with a slight greenish tint, but
her cold black eyes glared at Kara. The hate in them was
unmistakable.

Kara noticed the seirs didn’t seem at
all surprised at this transformation. What was going on?

“
So now you know. The veil
has lifted, and I stand now before you, as my true self,” said the
young woman, her voice taking on an older velvety tone.

Something was wrong. Kara knew
elementals couldn’t morph into other people. She had to be a demon,
or some other creature she hadn’t seen before. It was the only
explanation for the sudden transformation.

Kara shook her head. “I’m sorry to
disappoint you, but I don’t know anything. I don’t know why you had
us kidnapped and brought here. I don’t know who you are or what you
are. What do you want from us?”

“
Well, clearly I’m not an
elemental—as you can see.” She threw her hands in the air
theatrically. “I’m so glad that’s over with. I just hated walking
around it that disguise—a pathetic little girl in a white dress—and
it smelled just awful—so very mortal and lame. I’d much rather be
myself. Aren’t you pleased at what you see?”

The young woman strolled around the
angels. She inspected them one by one. Her icy black eyes taunted
them as she circled them playfully. Bit by bit, she scrutinized
every inch of each of them and picked at their clothes. She took a
great deal of time inspecting Peter and Jenny’s mortal skin. With a
long white finger she reached out and traced the side of Jenny’s
face. She laughed as Jenny recoiled. After she was satisfied with
her inspection, she settled near Kara.

“
What is the big deal about
angels? I never understood what all the hype was about with angels.
Why do mortals care about you so much? If they saw how pathetic you
look now, I’m sure they’d have doubts. And where are your wings? I
thought angels were supposed to have wings.” The young woman threw
back her head and laughed.

Kara gritted her teeth. “Stop your
games and tell us what you want.”