Prologue
Echoes
pulsed in my mind. Disembodied voices threatening the world’s demise pressed against me, but just as
they came, they began to fade. In their place a new demon appeared, threatening
my tenuous grasp on reality. Taunts of a life unlived filled my mind; a grave
remembrance of an unattainable future left to ruin. His voice calls out to me,
begging me to leave the void. Why would I go? He was here. If I left, I would lose him again. But then
the others appeared anew, washing him away with their promises of the horrors
yet to come. I stopped the darkness; the demon is gone. Why won’t they leave?
“Izzy!”
another voice—one I know, but don’t wish to hear—calls to me. The voice of betrayal. “Let me in!”
Aberto.
The one man that knew my world would be ripped from me. He’d done nothing to warn me. He could’ve stopped Kennan from being taken from
me. Now what was I? I wasn’t
human, not anymore. So what
remained? Like a video reel playing out
on a loop, the moment repeated itself. The
moment everything was ripped from my grasp.
Powerless to look away, I watched as Kennan was eviscerated.
The
horror of the moment shifted, becoming reality.
Agony lanced through me, igniting every nerve in its trajectory, culminating
in a fire that scorched everything daring to stand in its path.
My soul
still felt the echoes of that fire as it burned away all that was left of my
humanity. What was I?
“Izzy!” That voice shouldn’t be here. She should be safe with Ian. No, it was
another lie; the echoes trying to trick me.
They had to be pushed back. No
more! I couldn’t survive the torment. I wanted to be alone, to
rest in my isolation.
“You
are not REAL!” I shouted, throwing all of my energy
into the dense fog. A shockwave pulsed outward, pushing back all that would
threaten to harm me or take me away from him. He was my solace. At least in the void we could still be
together.
“You
know that can’t be,”
Kennan’s disembodied voice
whispered.
“Why?
You are here now. That is enough.”
“Would
you live the rest of eternity in this place while those you love suffer?” The determination and sorrow in his
voice pulled at me, begging me to act.
His words
were a lie. I’d taken the demon
with me, absorbed every ounce of darkness into myself. It writhed inside of me, seeking a way
out. If I stayed here, everyone was
safe.
“I won’t leave.” A
promise I intended to keep.
“Darkness
is on the rise.”
“The
world will burn.”
“Act
now, or all is lost.”
The
blackened figures pressed through my barrier, calling out to me. Blood trails
cascaded from every orifice. They were so familiar, the faces of those I’d left behind. But they were all safe; I’d taken the darkness. I’d
made them safe. Now I could rest.
“Think,
Izzy! REMEMBER!” Kennan’s voice shouted over the figures.
“All
I remember is you, and you are gone.” Again I pressed outward, shoving the
figures back for a time. They would come
again; they always did.
Chapter One
“IZZY!” Aberto’s strained voice pleaded through the fog,
sounding further away than ever before. “Please.
Allow. Me. To. Help.” Each
word was a clipped strain as he pressed against the barrier I’d created to protect myself. He would not reach me.
The part
of his soul that resided within me churned, begging to be reunited with its
other half. That would never happen. He’d
lied to me, betrayed my trust.
“LEAVE!”
my shout sent a rush of energy that reverberated against the
barrier. I could feel him slip further
away, and suddenly, I felt very alone.
“Darkness
is on the rise.”
“More
will come.”
“The
world will burn.”
Madness
had begun to sneak in; slowly at first, but it came all the same. What was real? Were these voices from now? Or were they just sent to torment me? Was I in hell? Had the demon drug me down with him?
“Izzy,
don’t stay here! You must leave before it is too late.” Kennan’s voice again.
I must be going mad; he was gone.
No more would we be together.
But if it
was only madness, wasn’t there a sense of
joy to be gained? No more would I feel
the weight of the world upon my shoulders.
I’d fulfilled the
prophecy; I’d fallen. What more could I do?
“Remember,
Izzy! You need to remember! Molly is going to die if you don’t!” Kennan’s anger rose around me, turning the fog a deep
crimson.
“Molly
is safe in Chicago.” Simple. I’d made sure of it.
“No,
she has been trying to reach you. Izzy, what must I do to make you understand?
If you stay, everything will be lost.”
“Why
can’t Uriel do it? Or one of the Old
Ones? I did what was asked! I fell, taking you with me in the process.”
“Izzy,
no more. I’m gone. You can’t remain here. How can I make you understand? I
was sent here to help you, but it seems I can’t.” Kennan’s frustration rubbed against my frayed nerves,
causing me to sink into myself.
As the
feelings began to fade, the tide of the void swept against me, sending me back
to the start. Why do I feel so lost? The void was supposed to be my sanctuary,
a respite from the world I’d
lost, but the voices leave me alone. Kennan won’t leave me alone. He wasn’t real. He died. Don’t forget, he’s gone. Forever.
“GO AWAY!”
I screamed to the fog, praying the voices would fade. I longed for
nothing more than to forget. I was alone; that was enough.
“Izzy,
you can’t remain here. They
need you. You must return. You promised me, Izzy. You promised you would live.”
Kennan’s voice bounced
through the fog, heading straight for my soul.
“You
promised we would have our forever!”
My throat felt tight as his voice brought forth all I was trying to
forget. My other half—my future—was gone.
“I
did what was necessary to protect you. Don’t let that be for nothing,”
Kennan’s voice admonished.
“Now live, damn it!”
“Why
would I ever leave when I have you here with me? If I go, I will lose you
forever,” I reasoned, my voice barely above a
whisper.
“The
world will burn,” a voice called from the fog. I knew they
were coming; it always started the same. I’d given all, and still it wasn’t enough.
“Darkness
will prevail.”
“Act
now or all is lost.”
“You aren’t real!”
Sparks ruptured from my center, sending a blinding light outward. I
could keep them at bay. Nothing would ever touch me again.
“Izzy?”
A strained voice pressed against my barriers, summoning something in my
soul. There was comfort in that voice. Familiarity. A home. No, my home was
gone. He’d died. This was the betrayer, the
one who’d let my home slip
from my fingers.
“Listen
to him, Izzy. Let him in,” Kennan pleaded.
“I won’t lose you, Kennan.”
“If
you stay, you will lose yourself. This is not where you are called to be. Why
can’t you see that?”
Kennan’s voice pleaded.
Whispers
echoed through the fog, another familiar voice. A message.
“Love
and sacrifice.” The voice of my home. No, not my home,
the other one. The one my soul called to. The stranger in the fog. The memory
from long ago.
“No.”
Kennan’s whisper cut
through me, more plea than denial. “She’s not ready.”
“It.
Must. Be.” The other one, the one who made me this
way, called.
“Izzy,
I must go, and so should you. I can’t
remain here. If I do, you will be lost
forever.” Kennan’s sadness ripped through me; pain seared a path
straight to my center.
“You aren’t real. You are a phantom, but a phantom is
better than nothing. I will stay.” No matter the other voices that
hounded me, I would stay for him.
“And
that is why I must go. My heart will be forever yours. Take it and
live, Red.” His voice faded and with it he was gone.
“NO!” I shouted, feeling the loss of him more powerfully
than I would if he were a phantom. “NO! He was real. He was here.” The
fire began to writhe inside of me, the darkness rolling in waves deep in the
pit of my stomach. “No,
he can’t
be gone. He can’t.
No. No. No.” Panic
raced through me as the darkness cascaded around me. The fog churned into
midnight as the figures promising death and destruction moved ever closer. “No.” A
whisper, a plea before all was black.
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