Blood Stains: Book Five of the Darkside Chronicles, page 3
“I’m glad that everything is back to normal for you here, I am,” I sighed, “but I really don’t think that I deserve to be thanked. I am grateful that everything is as normal as it can be. But I don’t agree with you when you say that everything worked out as well as it could or exactly how it was meant to. I think it all worked out far from that.” It was far from how anything was meant to go because Lola was dead, Stella was a part of me, and now I had joined the Darkside. There was no hope of me ever getting my land back to how it was or restoring the human race. Between grief and confusion, I now had to figure out where I sat within all this and fully come to terms with the half albet body that I had. I was cold, I bled black, I was faster and stronger than any other race, but there was a human part of me that still remained. Where I was still capable of feeling a deep love more than just desire. I was still capable of feeling hurt, uncertainty. I was still capable of feeling everything.
“No, Kiira, I’m being serious. I mean it when I say it all worked out perfectly.”
“How can you say that when your lightward is dead?” I cried out. How could he be so calm when the one person he was supposed to protect was dead.
“I knew that this was going to happen, Kiira, and Lola did, too. She knew the great sacrifice that she had to make in order to save many. You did save her. You gave her friendship, you shared her soul, but as far along in her journey as she was, she knew her time was up. I think we all really do when we know our time is coming,” he said. No, no, no. Angel Cameron was completely crazy. Where the hell was I? This had to be some kind of sick joke. This wasn’t right. How could her own angel say this. I thought that the Lightside would be the place that would be free of such cruel words. I couldn’t handle the deep churning of emotions in my stomach as I gulped down, I didn’t know how much longer I could keep it all buried. Fuck Cameron, the last thing that I agreed with was that people knew when their time was up. I highly doubted any of the humans that died on impact from the Earth moving through the black hole knew that their time was up. Did Lola? Did she really know that was going to happen? In the brief time I knew her, I guess it didn’t seem too far from left field. If there was anyone who was going to sacrifice themselves for a greater cause, it was most definitely her. Maybe it was something about the Lightside and the lightwards themselves. Maybe another one of their powers was that they could see as far forward as their light would take them.
“Wait what? You’re her angel, and you sent her into the pit of darkness? You knew what would happen to her? Why would you do such a thing?” I cried out, goosebumps rising on my arms.
“Because sometimes you need to make sacrifices to get closer to the thing that you really need,” he said. “Besides, you should know how perfectly orchestrated this all is. After all, you’re a huge part of all of this. And you are a part of her as well.”
“You’re talking in a different language, I’m so confused. What do you mean I’m a part of this? A part of what? Why do I constantly feel as though there is so much happening around me and no one is letting me in on exactly what that is?”
“You are really hilarious, Kiira, you make me laugh. You’re so much smarter than you think. You’re so much smarter than what anyone else sees or what anyone else gives you credit for, yet you still can’t wake up and see everything that’s happening around you.”
“What are you talking about?” I cried out.
Cameron shook his head. Meeting my eyes, he smiled wider. “Honestly, it doesn’t matter. It will come to you in the right timing. Just as planned.”
“What plan? Did you really pull me over here to thank me for being a part of something incredibly fucked up, or is there something more that you want to tell me? Cause you can’t drag me off into some bushes and speak to me in gibberish, expecting to know what I’m going to take from that. Why am I here? Why are you here?” I screamed louder this time, not caring who heard me. Hopefully Stella and Liam did hear me. Maybe they could help me surround this goddamn sexy angel and get everything that we needed to know out of him.
The angel sighed, squeezing my shoulder tighter as I tried to wiggle away from his hold. His touch was warm and relaxing, but I wasn’t here to play games. He locked his eyes on mine as he took a step towards me, biting the inside of his bottom lip. Looking down at me
“Just keep your eyes open, Kiira,” he whispered, his head only an inch from mine. “I know you better than you think, I may know parts of you even better than you know them yourself. After all, I have been the guide to another fragment of your soul. I know the little exhibition that you and the dark one are on. And I’m not the only one who knows about it. So, no, I didn’t just come here to thank you.” His light warmed me, his eyes piercing through me, and I don’t know why but with him standing so close to me I got the sudden urge to jump up and kiss him. I bit my lips together and pushed my weight against the tree behind me. As sexy as he was, I didn’t trust him, I couldn’t trust him, I didn’t even know him.
“I came here to warn you. As much as I know I shouldn’t, I want you to know whatever you’ve got yourself into, whatever you do with her, that there’s a lot more eyes on you than you think.”
Chapter five
Kiira
How could an angel be so cruel? He was from the Lightside, and this was the last thing that I had ever expected from it. And my beings? They were my guardians, too. I thought that they were on my side this whole time, but Lola thought that her angel was as well. Maybe they’re not guides for the good at all. They’re meant to be… for the things happening for a reason even though none of us really know what that reason is. They were the all-knowing ones, after all. Stella said that they didn’t know anything, but maybe they knew everything. Maybe there was no thing as free will. Maybe this was all completely orchestrated. Cameron certainly made me feel that way.
And what the hell was he talking about when it came to eyes on us? Was he someone I could trust? In the grand scheme of things, I knew I should have been able to trust an angel a hell of a lot more than Stella. At least, that’s what I would have believed before I found out that she was a part of me. But then again, could I even trust the darkest parts of myself?
I reached out to Cameron, placing my cold hand on his bare chest. It was like the motion was calling to me. Although he was touching me, I wanted to reach out and feel him, make sure that he was real, that everything he was telling me was real and not just some figment of my imagination. But he shivered from my touch, and grabbing hold of my hand, he pulled it away from him.
“It’s best that you don’t do that. Just remember to keep your eyes open, Kiira. You’ve been warned,” he said, his form disappearing once again into a blinding light. I caught my breath, patting down my body as soon as the light disappeared, making sure that I was still here; this was all real, this crazy universe that I was currently standing on, the crystal white sky, Cameron, all of this was real. I ran back through the forest, trying to find the main path, and headed back towards where Stella and Liam parked the ship. I didn’t know what had happened. I didn’t know who to trust. But I knew I passed on the information that I needed to. And I knew that I wasn’t going to speak a word of my little encounter with Stella or Liam.
“How did it go?” Liam asked as I entered the ship. He and Stella were sitting next to each other, staring at me wide-eyed as I took a seat on the long bench at the back of the ship.
“Fine, good. Whatever, it’s done and dusted, and we never have to come back here again,” I muttered. “Let’s go.” Stella looked me up and down, her face emotionless.
“Okay, suit yourself, glad that you got the closure that you needed. Did you run into her parents?” she asked.
I shook my head. “No just dropped off the letter. I struggled to find the house. Sorry, that’s why I took longer than expected. But we can get out of here now. C’mon let’s go,” I said. I suddenly felt like I was in a rush to get the hell out of here. Mostly because I didn’t know how long it was going to take for Lola’s parents to find the letter. And secondly, I didn’t know if Cameron would have the desire to show up around me again whilst we were still in this universe.
Stella started the engine. I clung onto the seat below me as we zoomed as fast as possible out into the greater atmosphere of the Lightside.
“So where too now?” I asked when the ship finally felt as though it had slowed down, that or I was either getting used to the speed we were travelling at.
“I need to give my father a quick call. I’ve lost complete track of time, and to the Darkside, I could have been gone for days. I’m not too sure, I’m having trouble keeping up. If anything, I’m surprised that he hasn’t tried to tune in to me by now. It’s actually quite weird.” Stella pressed down on a couple of buttons around her ship’s front screen, placing the large silver bubble on auto pilot as she unstrapped herself from the driver’s seat and took a seat on the back seat lounge next to me. Leaning back into the couch, she began to type away on her phone, holding her phone out in front of her face as the word “Daddy” lit up her screen. I glanced over, unsure if I was involving myself into a personal conversation, but either way, the ship was quiet, and she was sitting too close for me not to get involved.
Stella’s phone screen went blank and then instantly lit up with Preston’s face, his eyes wide, staring straight at Stella. His brows were furrowed, and his eyes were so intense it felt like he was about to jump out of the screen and pull Stella inside with him.
“Stella where the hell are you!” he screamed. Preston was hot, there was no doubt about that, but seeing him as another manifestation of Liam wasn’t something that I could clearly put two and two together. Then again, I hadn’t particularly spent too much time with him other than when he was nothing but an energy floating up in the universe, or during the brief moments of Stella and Liam’s wedding reception. He definitely oozed more sex appeal than Liam; he was confident and sure of who he was. I guess Liam had been like that before everything went wrong for him, before his scars. And Preston and I never shared a past, so I guess it was easier to feel the sex appeal through his energy when there weren’t any invisible scars from past hurts.
“Calm down, Preston, I’m on my way home now. Where’s Dad? I was calling to let him know I’m okay, we’re all okay, and we’re on our way back.”
“Stella.” Preston’s voice shook.
“What?” she said. Sitting up straighter, she pulled the phone closer to her face, blocking Preston from my view. But Liam and I could still hear everything that was said between them.
“I’m afraid that I can’t do that. In fact, I’ll never be able to do that again. Dad’s gone, Stella, he’s taken his last breath,” said Preston, his voice much too monotone for the information he shocked us all with. The darkest all-knowing one had taken his last breath.
“No, no, that doesn’t make sense, he’s too powerful. He isn’t old enough. Don’t play these games with me, Preston, it’s not funny. Put Dad on the phone right now!” she screamed, her voice echoing through the whole ship.
“I don’t know what he was trying to do, but the doctors believed that it happened whilst in a deep attunement. Has he tried to tune in to you?” Preston asked.
Stella shook her head. “No, I haven’t heard from him since I left, hence why I’m trying to call him now.” I didn’t know how or what to feel. For one moment, I was happy that he was gone. Any threat of anyone wanting to kill me back on the Darkside was ruled by his lead, and now he was gone. At the same time, sitting next to Stella, the darkest reincarnation of my soul, my heart panged for her. She had already lost her mother, and now she had lost her father, too. I guess I knew what that felt like. We had both said a lot of goodbyes today, but hers weren’t exactly by choice.
“I don’t know where he was, or what he was tuned in to, but wherever his life force energy went, it completely left his body, and it’s not coming back. I was the one who found him in the den, lifeless. The doctors officially pronounced him dead only a couple of minutes ago. You really need to get home, Stella. There’s a lot we need to organise, a lot we need to work through,” said Preston.
“Of course. I’ll be home as soon as possible. In the meantime, let’s just keep this information inside of the castle.”
I swore I saw her smile. No, no I didn’t, did I? She was dark as hell, it’s not exactly something that I would put past her or any albet for that fact, to smile in the face of death. I leaned back in my seat, taking a good look at Stella as I watched the same dimple on the left side of her face disappear. She hung up the phone, tucking it into her pocket, keeping her gaze out ahead of her and strutting back over to the driver’s seat. Strapping herself in, she didn’t send a single look in mine or Liam’s direction. She pressed down on the starting levers and picked up speed, heading towards the spinning crystal white circle that was up ahead of us in the atmosphere, creating colours of flickering silver through its spin. Surely, they didn’t call it a black hole in the light universe, it was anything but.
Liam eyed her, reaching his arm out towards her, and gently caressed her shoulder.
“Stella,” he said softly.
“What?” she snapped, keeping her gaze ahead of her.
“That’s some pretty big news.” He sighed, shaking his head as though he himself was still trying to come to terms with the truth of Victor. “We don’t need to go ahead with the rest of this right now. We can head back to the Darkside, be with Preston. You can give yourself time to grieve. We can go back and look after your own universe right now, rather than worrying about all the others.”
“No,” she said. “I don’t need time to grieve. Unlike you, I’m a real albet,” she said, sticking it right where it hurt Liam. “I’m not turning around now. I’m not going to let anything get in my way. If anything, we’ve never been more free. You lost the last of your family at the expense of mine. And now a part of mine is gone as well. And if there’s anything that needs to be done with this newfound information, it’s to storm straight ahead. This life in itself is confusing enough. I’m ready for the other side,” she said.
“For death?” Liam asked, looking confused.
Stella rolled her eyes and finally turned towards him. “No, silly, the other side of this whole multiversal design. You do remember what we’re trying to achieve right now, don’t you?” In the past couple of days, I thought her demeaner had softened, but her fierce exterior had taken over instantly once again. Did she really feel that cold towards her father’s death? Or was it just a cover? Even though technically I was an albet, I wasn’t pure like her. I didn’t think I could ever understand the complete darkness of that side of my soul.
Liam bit his lips and took his hand away from Stella. The truth was, neither of us understood the extent of what this plan of hers was trying to achieve. Bringing every single fragment of who we were throughout all the many universes together, I wasn’t sure she really understood the vastness of what all of this could possibly cause. It was all just a theory.
Cameron’s words ran through my mind again. Keep your eyes open. The brightest angel told me to keep my eyes open and now the darkest one of the whole multiverse was dead.
“Stella, I need you to be honest with me.” I said slowly, leaning forward on the edge of my seat, clasping my hands around the edge of the cushion tight.
“About what?”
Chapter six
Kiira
There were so many things that I wanted to question her on, but how I used my words was crucial. I couldn’t let the darkest side of me think that I was being too curious. I knew Stella was kind to me. Well, as kind as an albet could be, but that was only because we were connected. Without that information, I would have been long gone. But just because she was kind to me didn’t mean that I could let any of my defences down. I’m sure if I pushed her too hard or questioned her plan too much, she could flick her switch in a second.
“I just want to be talked through this plan a little more in depth,” I said. “I want to know where we’re headed right now? Who are we trying to find exactly and what’s the plan after that?” Maybe that was too many questions at once. But with the newfound knowledge of Victor, I didn’t know if the plan had changed. And Stella hadn’t really told us all the intricate details of the plan that she’d had anyway.
Stella sighed, sinking deeper in her seat as she leaned back and sped the ship towards the swirling silver white circle in the far depths of the Lightside galaxy.
“Right now, we’re headed to the tech universe, or you might like to see it more as the universe of fire. Of course, they don’t prescribe to either of those names but that’s what I like to call it anyway. And soon enough, you’ll see why.”
I gulped. Really? A whole universe of fire? That was the last place I wanted to head after our very recent circumstances. Surely the Darkside, with its glowing ball of fire, burning any planet in its way, should also be classified as the universe of fire I didn’t want to know what the hell we could be getting ourselves into flying right into a whole universe with its deadly flaming name.
“And the girl, boy, or animal?” I asked. I hadn’t really thought about all the different types of incarnations that my soul could have. Just because there was Stella and Lola and I, it didn’t mean that all versions of me were going to be a girl around the same age. Did it?
“Girl or woman, you could say. Her name is Raz, she has bright red hair, and she’s incredibly smart. I haven’t met all the fragments of my soul, but Raz is definitely the smartest of us that I have met so far. No offence, Kiira.”
