chapter 11
Darrton
The address took me to downtown Vancouver. It was rather late in the afternoon and the town reminded me of a ghost town. I parked my bike on the curb of a closed warehouse that had boards nailed up over its windows.
There was a creepy feeling washing over me. I could feel another fallen. Ian had to be here.
The alley to the left reeked of crime. It was the dark and gloomy nightlife that criminals looked for. A man down at the end of the alley was curled up in a box, singing an old western song. He was three sheets to the wind and didn’t even know I was only a few feet away from him. I stopped in front of the door. It had three bullet holes. I knocked three times.
It opened. A man poked his head out and gave me the once over. He then unlocked the door all the way, giving me just enough space to walk in. I slid in and was hit in the face with smoke, I could smell the alcohol. It burned my nose. The man who let me in sized me up then gestured for me to follow him. His arms were covered in markings and his head was almost shaved. We walked past a few people who were playing pool, with girls hanging on their right arms. They weren’t fallen but I had a gut feeling that they knew something about us.
The area was a tight fit but there were a number of rooms off to the side. We walked toward the back. He stopped at a door and knocked three times.
“Come in,” someone called.
The man gestured for me to go in. The room was completely different than what I had expected. It was light, modern, and had a huge desk in the middle. Ian was sitting behind it.
“My brother!” he said, rising up and coming to greet me. I noticed he hadn’t lost his deep southern twang. He’d had it ever since he died.
“It’s been a long time, Brother.”
He grabbed me in a hug and squeezed. “It’s been way too long, Darrton.” He studied me. “You look great. Besides being here on Earth and everything. But of course I would never point fingers.”
I took him in. He looked...so human. His hair had been cut. He was wearing khaki pants, a button-down shirt, and sandals. “As do you. You look rather human, but good.”
He winked. “Being down here for over eighty years, it starts to wear on you after a while.”
“Has that much time gone by?”
He nodded and gestured for me to sit down. “Have a seat, son. I guess we got some business to take care of?” He rummaged around in his cabinet, brought out two shot glasses, and poured bourbon into both. He threw his shot back and sighed. “I’m actually surprised to see ya’ here at all. I’m guessin’ something has happened. Am I correct?” He poured himself another drink.
“We were damned.”
He looked over his drink at me, placed his shot down, and sighed. He was rarely serious, always laughing, but now his eyebrows drew down in the middle. “Darrton, what in the hell did you do?”
“We tried to take over. We knew—”
He laughed but it was without humor. “Did you not learn from me? The punishment is so great. I will never see Emily ever again. I have to live every day without her. For what? Forty years with her and forever without her?” Ian looked me dead in the eye. “The Apocalypse is beginnin’ and it’s without His permission. You’ve sinned greatly ’gainst God.”
I nodded. “I did not come here to be patronized, Ian.”
He leaned back, his dark eyes unpalatable. “Why did you come here, Brother? Would you like me to help you kill? ’Cause I won’t. I refuse.”
“I’m not asking you to do that.”
“What exactly are you askin’ me? To help the others?”
I shook my head. “I’ve only seen Warren and Caden. I haven’t seen Ferdia.”
“Are you not with them now? I would have thought y’all would have been together? What is goin’ on Darrton? Are you even looking for them?”
I looked down, unable to face him. My actions were too shameful.
“Ah!” He threw his head back and laughed. “I know that look.” He tisked and shook his head. “You’re in love?” He smiled.
I jerked my head up. “I am not. I feel bad for involving Elizabeth—”
Ian stopped me. “Elizabeth?” He began shaking his head again. “Darrton, you have to get over her that was a long time ago.”
“It’s not her, it’s another. She is merely a child and I have involved her. They want to kill her. I’m supposed to be meeting them now. I just...can’t. I can’t let them kill her. They say she knows too much, but I don’t care. She wouldn’t tell. She hasn’t yet.”
“You have feelin’s for this mortal or you wouldn’t think twice ’bout killin’ her. That is what you were chosen to do. Kill.”
I slammed my hands down on the desk. “But not her. She has done nothing wrong. She is merely a child, Ian.”
“Let me remind you, Darrton, that when you were taken you were merely a child yourself. You were 22, if I recall.”
I looked the other way, out of the window. I felt my phone buzz in my pocket and tossed it out on the desk. “This imprudent thing buzzes and I have no idea why. It’s not ringing, no one seems to be calling, and I can’t stand it. I haven’t been back on Earth but for a couple of weeks, and already I want to rip my hair out. Why do we need cell phones, anyway?”
Ian laughed. “Oh, how the years have changed. You have a text, Darrton. It’s from Elizabeth.” He read it over. “Is she with you?”
I snatched the phone away from him. “I had to bring her along with me, Ian. I couldn’t leave her at her home to die. They were going to kill her if I didn’t. I had to.”
Ian crossed his arms. “Do you have a plan, Darrton? You can’t live your past through this girl. She is not your Elizabeth...”
“I know she’s not. She’s Elizabeth Lawrence and I have promised to take care of her. I won’t let her die in vain.” My head began to throb. I knew she wasn’t my Elizabeth. She wasn’t the one I’d left behind.
“You’re head over heels for this girl,” Ian said, smiling. He puckered his lips.
I shook my head and took a step toward him. “Unbelievable!”
He raised his hands in surrender, then his face turned serious. “What do you plan to do? We have to do somethin’.”
“We? Are you saying you will help me?”
Ian placed his hand on my shoulder. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. I can’t let this happen to the world when it’s not ready.”
I nodded. “I regret it now. Getting damned. If I had it to do all over again, I wouldn’t have.”
“Me, either.”
It was silent for a minute as we thought about what we left behind. It was stupid and selfish, but we couldn’t fix it now.
Ian broke the silence. “So, what’s the plan, friend?”
“They will come after me. Once they are sure I didn’t show tonight, they will come after Lizzie and me. They will try to kill us both.”
Ian nodded. “We need help. We can’t take on both of them alone. I’m not as strong as the four of you. I will have to find some friends of mine.”
“Did you find any more fallen?”
He nodded. “Yes, over the years. Some are here, others have lost touch, but I’m sure I can dig them up.”
I nodded. “I will have to try and find Ferdia. He hasn’t contacted any of us. Although, I’m not even sure if he will be willing to help us. He did make the same pact as the rest of us did.”
“We won’t know until we try?” Ian glanced at the bourbon. I knew he wanted another shot. Especially after this. “Any idea where he could be?”
I nodded. “Yes, actually I think I might know. He always talked about going to the Pacific Ocean. I think California.”
“Well, we are going to Cali then, right?”
I shook my head. “Not yet. I might be able to speak to him through my ring. And I can’t just leave the girl here by herself.”
Ian stroked his chin. “She can stay at my place. It’s heavily guarded. I’m a very wanted man these days.”
“Why is that?”
Ian cracked a smile. “I’ve been involved with some drag racing, fixing horse races, and the normal stuff.”
“Of course, the normal stuff. Where is your house, anyway?”
“Upper east side. A few miles from here. It won’t take use long to get there especially if we fly. So, she can spend the night there and she will be safe. We can leave tonight.”
I shook my head. “Tomorrow. We have plans tonight.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “A date?”
I looked back over my shoulder and shook my head. “An outing, she deserves it.”
Ian yelled after me, “She deserves the truth. You care ’bout her, partner.”
I was half way to my bike by the time he yelled. My ring had begun to burn and I was waiting for their words to hit me. They knew I had fled.
Warren’s laugh hummed in my head first. ‘You can’t run, Brother. We will find you.’ An ache ran through me. I’m fighting my own brothers. There is no other choice. I shook his words out of my head and got on my motorcycle. I had to get back to Elizabeth. My three brothers were coming for her. I had to stop them.