"So, she hasn't said a word since you got back huh?" Noah noted as he and I sat on the roof of the house together.
It was the middle of the night now, and things had quieted down since the traumatic events of that afternoon, although I didn't feel like they were much better. While Mia was able to get around okay and was healing, Seraphina remained silent. Lenore had stayed with her until Sara had gotten there, and both of them had sat there on the floor with her until Mia was able to attend to her. She was the one who coaxed Seraphina up, although she didn't do much more than cling to her.
It was hard to see Seraphina like that, but Mia was doing well with her. She offered her comfort and love, staying with her as much as possible. At that time, Seraphina was even sleeping beside her on her bed. Lenore was also sleeping in mine. As for me, it had been too hard for me to go to sleep, and when Noah had flown over to see me, I'd jumped at the chance to sit out there and talk.
The moonlight was reflecting off of Noah's pale hair, and the feathers of his blue wings were shining as he sat beside me. Like me, he wore a loose tank top and jeans, since the night was still pretty warm.
"No. Nothing." I confirmed. I looked up at the moon and let out a long breath, "I don't know what to do now Noah. I didn't know she was already having those problems, and it's like that stuff out in the woods literally broke her mind."
"Isn't that what demons try to do? We both know that's what's behind all of this now." Noah reminded me.
"Yeah, I get that. I just don't know what the hell else I can do. Dad's gone to talk to Musket, but that doesn't help us right now. Musket might not even know what the hell Flint did to keep her around anyway." I grumbled. I pulled my knees up, wrapping my arms around them and putting my head down.
I could feel Noah watching me, "I get where you're coming from, and not just for what's happened to Sera. Your girlfriend in there is pregnant too, and she's also been attacked. It's gotta stop now, or one of us is gonna end up dying." he continued.
"I know, but what can we do?" I wondered.
Silence fell over us again. I looked at the nearby woods, now silhouetted in darkness. The memories of earlier replayed through my mind. Even though I was so worried about my sister, I was grateful that my mom was doing okay now. I admit that I'd needed some private time with her too because of all of that. At least she let me sit with her in her room so that I could let out all my pent-up emotions without anybody else seeing or hearing. I don't think I'd cried like that since I was a little kid.
But she'd just held me and comforted me, promising that everything would end up being okay. She'd never leave me or Seraphina like that, and she loved us both so much.
Yeah, that made me feel worse about my thoughts of the world before all of this.
"I'm such an idiot." I muttered.
"I'd say that depends on what you're up to, but you've lost me this time." Noah responded.
"I mean about what I've always thought. I used to say all the time that I hated having this life, that it was just a waste of time. Now I'd give anything for it to go back to that." I explained.
Noah huffed, "That's what you're beating yourself up about? Come on. You think I haven't said the same dumb stuff at times too?"
"Yeah, I guess." I huffed back.
"Anyway," Noah continued, "I've been thinking about some of this stuff too, and I think I've got an idea of how to stop it now."
Now he had my attention, "What are you thinking?"
"Here's the deal. Obviously, that Fox killed Missy in that den, and he didn't get to leave it afterwards. That means that whatever anchor he's used on her must still be there. If we can get in there and find it, then we set Missy's spirit free. Doesn't it stand to reason that if we do that then there's nothing to really hold the curse that enveloped her too?" Noah reasoned.
I stared at him as I thought through what he'd just told me. He made valid points. If this curse had become rooted with Missy's spirit, then it might be lifted once she was set free. That meant that our family would be safe from it, and it would let go of Noah and Seraphina.
Maybe Seraphina would even start talking again.
"You really think that will work?" I verified.
"I'm sure of it." Noah responded. He turned completely towards me, "Listen Sevee, I've been thinking a lot about this, and I want it to end too. I'm sick of feeling like something's trying to control me, and I'm sick of it trying to drive everyone I love away from me. I know where that old den is now, so you and I should end this tonight."
Now I was shocked, "Are you serious? You want to go there now?"
"Why not? Like I said, I know where it is. I followed that Fox's trace earlier this evening, and I can pull it up if I need to. It's not crazy far from here either. We could go and take care of this in no time" Noah insisted.
"Hold up." I interrupted, "Do you even know how risky this is? Missy's spirit is extremely dangerous. Take it from the guy who's had to deal with her all his life; and with that curse around her, she's even worse. She tried to hack up Lenore, she stabbed my mother, her own daughter, and she tried to get Seraphina to kill herself. What makes you think she won't try to tear us apart down there, or worse, make us tear each other apart?"
Noah wasn't dissuaded, "We're still stronger than her. I'm a full Nephilim now, and you're a strong Fox. She ought to be scared of you for that, and if you unleash more of it, she probably will be. Come on Sevee. If we do this now, then we can end this nightmare."
There was a rational part of my mind that was screaming at me about how stupid this was. Noah had just gotten his wings about two weeks before, and even though I could call up the Fox part of me in different ways, I was nowhere near that strong with it yet.
But at the same time, I felt desperate too. I wanted to protect Lenore and our baby, and my mother. But even more, I wanted to help Seraphina get back to being herself. If setting Missy free would end this curse and do that, then I was more than willing to take this risk, no matter how incredibly stupid it might end up being.
"Fine." I agreed, "If you know where this den is, then I'll go with you, and we can find this damned anchor holding her here. If it'll keep everyone safe and help Sera, then I'm game."
Noah stood up, spreading his large wings.
"Great. I've got my dad's car parked out at by the road, so we'll use that to get there."
"Hold up. You drove your dad's car over here?" I said as I stood with him.
"Why not? It's not that hard to sneak the keys, and it's not like I don't know how to drive." Noah responded.
"And they call me a troublemaker." I scoffed, though there was a smile on my face.
"Whatever. Just come on."
I didn't miss the chuckle he was trying to hide as he spoke. He knew damn well that he did just as much sneaky shit as me. He just didn't get caught that often.
I went over to the lattice on the side of the house, using that to climb down instead of going back inside. I didn't want to wake anyone, and there was that chance with Lenore being in my room. Once I got to the ground, I headed down the driveway to the main road. As Noah had said, his dad's Mustang was out there. He turned on the engine as I got into the passenger's seat.
"You do realize that your dad's gonna kill you if you mess up his car." I stated as he pulled onto the main road.
"I won't mess it up. Besides, he says that I'm a natural with driving anyway." Noah boasted.
"How the hell do I get in more trouble than you?" I complained.
"Like I told you a long time ago, it's all in not getting caught." Noah reminded me.
We ended up driving away from Madison, heading down the backroad until we turned onto another long one. It took another five minutes of driving down there before we finally pulled into an opening to the woods there. I crinkled my nose at the smell of the marsh as we got out.
"Seriously? It's near the swamp?"
"Tell me about it. We're lucky it's far enough away from the water so that we could get in there. The whole thing could've been submerged by now if it was closer." Noah griped. He motioned to the left with his head, "Let's go. It's this way."
I followed him through the trees and high grasses, doing my best to ignore the smells of mud and swamp gas. Finally, we made it to a large, old tree. The base of it had a giant opening, which Noah slipped into. I looked around one more time before following him.
It was a drop of about five feet as I slipped inside, my shoes hitting a packed dirt floor. Even though it was really dark in there, I could see around me fairly well. Such was a perk of my Fox heritage.
A chill went through me as I recognize where I was. This was the tunnel I'd seen in my dream of Missy a few days before.
Yep, Noah had found the right place.
Even just standing there, everything about this place felt wrong to me, like stepping into an old nightmare that had been way too real at one time. This was the place where that Fox had brought my mother and Raziel after he'd tricked them, and where Missy Renaldi ultimately ended up dying. I glanced upwards at the opening we'd come through, incredibly tempted to just go back and never return.
I didn't want to be here. I didn't want to relive a memory I never should've had.
Noah turned to me, sensing my distressed thoughts.
"Hey, it'll be fine. It's just an old memory that you can't change, even if you shouldn't have known about it." he reminded me.
"Yeah, no kidding." I drew in a breath and looked around us at the dark earthen walls, hearing nothing but the far off sound of water dripping, "Any idea now of where we should be heading?"
"Give me a minute. Maybe I can find another Imprint." Noah offered.
I watched him hold up a hand, focusing as he slowly turned, analyzing what we left there. This was interesting to me. Noah had inherited one of Raphael and Raziel's abilities. They called it locating Imprints. From what I understood, it was like reading the energy left behind by different beings, whether human or not. If the energy was strong enough, then they could follow it to wherever they needed to get to. I'd heard Raziel tell my mom before that it was almost like seeing a residual haunting in a sense. They could see the source of the energy, what they were doing, and follow it to where they needed to. From what I understood, it came in very handy when Raphael needed to track what kind of creatures had crossed over and were trying to hide where they'd been.
Glad Mom doesn't have that one, I thought. I'd never get away with anything ever again.
"Ah, there it is." Noah finally said as he held his hand forward.
My eyes blinked, and I could see what looked like a grainy image moving forward through the tunnel. His back was to me, but I could see his Fox ears and tail, and that he was very tall with broad shoulders. He had what looked like two bodies with him, one over his shoulder and the other hoisted under his arm, carrying them with no real effort at all. I immediately recognize the long blonde hair hanging down from the body over his shoulder.
She was my mom.
In an instant, this vision was gone. I still felt shocked. That was definitely a vision of the past. It must've been when that Fox had brought Mia and Raziel here.
"Guess you could see it too. Must be the Imprint that she's left in your dreams." Noah noted.
"Must be." I agreed. I drew in another breath as I stepped forward, "Let's go. I want to do this and get out of this hellhole."
Noah walked with me as we headed down that tunnel. It felt like forever before we finally reached the archway to an open area. I stopped as we got in there, looking around and feeling déjà vu again. Yeah, we were definitely in the right place. This was the same room with the chains that I'd seen in my nightmare.
Noah walked over to the chains, picking one up from the ground and looking at where some of the links had been melted long ago. The chains were rusting now, looking brown instead of the silver I'd dreamed of them being. Of course, now that I thought about it, it had been nearly twenty years since all of this happened.
"Never thought I'd see this. Dad's told me the story before, but it's different when you're right here and know that he could've died in here back then." Noah commented.
I had moved over to the old rocking chair, my eyes locked on it as I stood in front of it. Another vision passed before me of Missy sitting in it, quietly knitting. Even though she'd been tormenting me and I felt like I should hate her, in that moment, I felt sorrow for her. She looked so beautiful sitting there with her mind partially cleared from that Fox. What would she have been if she'd lived and never had this curse affect her? Would she have stayed with Michael and raised Mia with him? Would that have also affected Mia meeting Sean?
"Hey," Noah came over to me and laid a hand on my shoulder, "you okay?"
"Yeah." I answered absently, the vision fading away, "Just thinking about what could've been if this curse had never happened."
"I get it, but we can't take back what's already happened. Hopefully now we'll end it and not have to worry about it anymore." Noah responded.
I watched him as he walked towards the archway leading out of the room, remembering what Seraphina had told me right before I'd had that long talk with my dad and Michael and Raphael.
"Hey, can I ask you something?" I spoke up.
Noah turned to look at me, "What?"
"Do you remember telling Seraphina that you're in love with her and wanted her to be your girlfriend?"
He hesitated, looking away from me before answering, "It's better not to talk about that right now."
"Don't give me that! Do you even realize how worried she's been about you?! She's scared about what's happening to you!" I argued.
"She should be!" Noah snapped. He turned back to me as I stood in front of him, "You've seen what this curse does to us. It messes with our heads. It makes us who we aren't so that it can destroy us. I know what'll happen if this keeps up, and I want to stop it now. If we don't, then I can't see her anymore. I'll be sure that I'm in love with her, and I'll end up dragging her to Hell with me."
"You think I don't know that?!" I snapped back. I caught myself before I got too angry, "Listen, you know what's already happened and how bad it's affected her. You can't just abandon her. She needs you to be around too."
"I know, and I want to be. I've just gotta figure this out first, to make sure we can protect her."
Noah's eyes looked conflicted as he turned away from me, heading through the archway. I stood there for a minute longer, my mind processing what was just said. I couldn't deny the strange feeling I had, like we were missing something else with this.
But I did my best to push it aside. Hopefully Noah was right, and we were about to end this curse.
The archway led into another tunnel, which we walked in silence. It felt darker in there, colder. I could almost sense it touching my soul. I was sure that this was from the effects of the curse. It was literally seeping into the dirt here as it grew in intensity with her spirit.
We finally made it to the entrance we were looking for. A large cavern was spread out in front of us. I stood still, my mind flashing back to that nightmare. It was all the same. In fact, as I stood there, I started seeing visions of the past; my father standing near where we were, looking around the corner at the Fox and Missy, and seeing the terrifying moment when she was ripped into.
I let out a yell as that vision abated, trying to catch my breath and slow down my heartrate. That had felt way too real, but it was also all in the past. The only thing that remained now was the dark stain in the middle of the dirt floor.
Noah was standing still, staring at it too. I had the distinct sense that he'd also seen what I had. But he quickly tried to shake it off, stepping forward.
"This is the place. Come on. Let's hurry up and find this thing so we can get out of this hellhole." he told me.
"Y-yeah." I managed.
The cavern was eerily quiet as we stepped into it, with only the sounds of our footsteps echoing around us. I walked over to the dark stain, taking it in with the knowledge I now had. No, I didn't believe that my father had intentionally allowed Missy to die that day. That curse had made him let it happen. He may have been a Fox too, but we weren't heartless like that.
Noah was slowly trying to locate another Imprint as he stood near me, but didn't seem to be having much luck. I halfway wondered if this Fox may have anticipated something like this, and tried to cover it up. But something else was on my mind too.
"Hey Noah, can I ask you something?" I spoke up.
"What is it?" he responded, not stopping what he was doing.
"How do you know what you're even looking for here? Dad went to talk to Musket today to find out what it might've been because none of us knew." I pointed out.
Noah stopped and face me.
"She showed me." he answered simply.
Now I was confused, "Huh? Who showed you?"
"That angel."
"Hold up. You've talked to the Angel who started our family?"
I couldn't believe it. Had Noah been able to somehow communicate with the one being we all couldn't?
Noah shook his head, "No, not him. He doesn't want to talk to us because she says he abandoned us. But she's been up front with me for a while now, so I know I can trust her on this one. She told me that this Fox stole Missy Renaldi's heart, and used that to hold her soul here. It's buried in a canvas bag somewhere in this room. We just need to find it and destroy it, and the curse will be lifted."
Something about this didn't sit right with me, like there was this sense in the back of my mind that Noah was being used by whatever this thing was. I watched as he knelt down at the dark stain near us, holding his hand over it and closing his eyes. As I did, my mind went back to when I'd seen Elvira Renaldi in that dream.
He's going to help you break this curse.
"You're wrong." I heard myself say.
Noah stopped what he was doing, looking up at me, "What are you talking about?"
"Whatever's been talking to you is lying. Our Angel didn't abandon us, and he's going to help us stop all of this."
"You do hear what you're saying, don't you? This curse has lasted for decades, and he hasn't done anything about it. Why would he decide to step in now?" Noah challenged.
"I don't know." I answered honestly, "But I know our great grandmother wasn't lying to me. I could feel it when I saw her in my dream. He let her talk to me because he wants us to know that he's going to come back soon and help us."
Noah stood up again. I stood my ground, but I admit that I was kind of shocked to see the anger in his eyes. But looking at them, I also realized that they looked darker.
"He's not coming back to us." he stated evenly, "He abandoned us a long time ago after he realized how powerless he ended up being against that Fallen that tried to take Annabelle and his kids. He never really wanted this family. He only did this because he was ordered to, and he didn't hesitate to go back when they decided to let him return."
I didn't feel like this was Noah talking now. The room had also become unnaturally cold. I could actually see my breath in the air. Was this the curse trying to override his mind? Was it also Missy's influence with it?
Somehow, I didn't feel that this part was her spirit. This one felt stronger, and much darker. Yet also, it felt familiar in a sense, like someone I should've known.
But before I could say anymore, a loud cracking sound echoed through the cavern. Noah and I both tensed up as the feeling in the air turned hostile.
Damn it. Missy was here. She'd found us.
The next thing I knew, I was being thrown back, hitting the side wall hard. The breath was knocked out of me, and I landed on the ground.
"Sevee!" I heard Noah yell.
I managed to look up, seeing the dark figure appearing behind him.
"Hey, behind you!" I shouted.
Noah spun around, taking a few steps back as he saw Missy's mutilated spirit standing there. He looked scared, but reacted quickly, forming a blue sword in his right hand to protect himself.
I pushed myself up to my feet, doing my best to be steady. I wasn't sure of what to do now. It was obvious to me that we'd been lured here. This curse wanted us to face her, and maybe even for her to kill one of us. Even if we tried to run away, this den was her domain, as well as the darkness that had enveloped her spirit.
"I know you're being held here, so tell me where your heart is. Let us set you free." Noah tried to reason with her.
"Now why would you think that I wanted to be set free?" Missy hissed. Noah took another step back as she stepped forward, holding up a bloodied hand towards him, "I loathe this family. That man who took my daughter and made her change like him. And I loathe that Fox for what he made me do!"
"Don't you get that you're being controlled?! That demon's wrapped around your soul!" Noah countered.
Missy didn't listen to him, instead grabbing the blade of his sword. It couldn't even cut into her, and she easily wrenched it to the side, throwing him off balance and to the ground. As she stood over him, I saw a meat cleaver appear in her hand, and she swung it down towards him.
My body reacted on its own, and I managed to grab her wrist before she could hit him. She was very strong, but I somehow was able to push her back from him. It was taking everything I had to do it, but at the same time, I think a lot of my own strength was coming from the anger welling up within me.
"You think you're the only one who suffered back then?!" I yelled, "You put my mother through hell because you'd lost your mind, and you did the same thing to Michael. He never did anything to hurt you and you ran away like a coward with my mom! You took her away from her own father!"
A deep growl came out of Missy, and I had to let go as her form became unbearably hot. She floated back, then sunk into the ground.
Noah scrambled to his feet with me as we both looked around frantically. We knew she was still there, but now we couldn't tell where she was hiding.
"You are no better than them. You are a Fox, and will be a killer too. Just wait and see." we heard her say.
I scowled, still feeling anger boiling inside of me. The memories of my mother's reaction about her, my sister's trying to cut her own throat, my father's remorse for not being strong enough to save Missy. It was all too much. I felt like I was going to lose it.
Noah place his free hand on my shoulder as he kept a tight grip on his sword.
"Calm down. Don't let her get to you. That's what she wants." he warned me.
I drew in a deep breath. He was right. If I lost my temper, then I would do something that either would get us both killed or that I'd regret for the rest of my life.
The darkness around us felt like it was alive now. I swore I could see deeper shadows moving within it. Was one of them her? I wasn't sure. It was almost like that dark mist I'd been seeing around her had taken on a life of its own here.
A life of its own...
"Noah," I spoke without looking at him, keeping my eyes and ears focused on the shadows around us, "It's not a physical anchor keeping her here."
"What?" Noah responded.
"It's not a physical anchor. It's this curse." I stated.
No sooner had I said those words then we both felt a coldness rise behind us. Both of us jumped in opposite directions as the sharp blade of the cleaver was brought down between us, barely missing us. Noah brought out his wings as he turned to face her, the feathers flashing an ethereal blue glow as he did. The sword in his hand glowed too, the blade gleaming blue.
Missy became enraged when she saw this, letting out a screech that filled the entire den. I had to hold my ears for how loud it was. It actually made them ring.
The next thing I knew, she was going after Noah. He was faster now that he'd brought his wings out, and dodging her, but still had to bring up the sword to stop the cleaver from striking him.
I thought quickly, looking around me for anything I could use to make a weapon. If she was so focused on him, then maybe I could get to her. No, I had no idea what I could do to really stop her. Maybe I could find a way to slow her down enough for us to escape.
A piece of root sticking out of the one of the nearby walls caught my attention as I thought this. It was thin, and looked like one that I could pull out. At least a piece of it. I raced over there, pulling hard on the root. I could feel it slowly giving way as I did.
But just as it was starting to give way, I heard a loud clanging sound. I looked over my shoulder to see Noah pushing Missy's spirit back with his sword. Then he drove it through her chest, shoving her back into the nearby dirt wall. The sword buried into it through her, and Missy's head slumped as the blade glowed.
"Tell me why!" Noah demanded as he shoved the sword in more, "Why did you attack your own family?! Was it all really because of this curse?!"
I managed to pull the root out, holding it tightly in my left hand as I stared at this scene. I'd never seen Noah show emotions like this. He was always the cool type. I liked to say that he'd inherited it from Raphael. For him to be this angry and showing it, all of this must've gotten to him like nothing else could.
Missy chuckled darkly, "You think you can stop this?" she whispered.
"I will stop this, all of it! I won't let you or some devil destroy our family!" Noah declared.
Dark laughter filled the air as he said this, and Missy began sinking back into the dirt wall. Within seconds, she was out of sight again. Noah pulled his sword out, taking a step back as he looked around the cavern. Again, she could've been anywhere in here. The entire place was now filled with her ominous presence.
I flicked my wrist, transforming the root into a whip so that I'd be ready to use it. My mind was racing with how to get us out of this. It was obvious to me that Noah had been tricked into bringing us here. Whatever the hell was communicating with him wanted to hand us over to this devil's power.
But at the same time, I couldn't deny the feeling that there was still a way to stop this here. I just didn't know what that way was.
"You both will fulfill my dying wishes." we suddenly heard Missy's voice whisper. Both of us stayed alert where we were, not able to focus on where it was coming from, "I wished for so much back then. I loved my daughter, and never wanted her to become like him. I cursed those angels for letting me lose my sanity and driving her away from me, and I wished for revenge. Then that Fox came, and he ended up betraying me too. Now he's given me the power I need to have revenge, and destroy both those angels that ruined me and the ones who came from that Fox's blood!"
Before either of us could move, a black shadow suddenly rose up in front of me. The next thing I knew, there was a searing pain in my right shoulder. I stumbled back, catching myself on the wall as the blade was pulled back from me. Missy's spirit flew at me again as my eyes focused, and I could see the blade stained with my blood as he held it.
But she didn't make it to me before Noah was in front of me, using a gust from his wings to repel her. I somehow managed to hold onto the whip I'd made as I tried to hold the wound in my shoulder. I'd never felt pain like this before. It was almost sickening. She'd really sunk that cleaver into me.
Noah quickly glanced back at me, "Get out of here Sevee! I'll hold her off!" he ordered.
"I'm not leaving you here!" I protested.
Noah hit Missy's cleaver back as she tried to swing it at him, "Just do it! I'll get out somehow, and Seraphina would never forgive me if you died in here! I'll never forgive myself!" he told me.
I winced again, trying hard to control my pain. I couldn't run away. Not knowing he could end up trapped and killed down here.
"I wouldn't forgive myself if I left you to die either, so I won't run away!" I retorted.
"Come on! Get..."
Noah's orders were cut off as the cavern suddenly became unbearably cold. That feeling of being frozen in place came over me again, fear racing through my veins. I could hear my own heartbeat pounding in my ears.
It was like everything moved in slow motion. The dark shadow rising up behind Noah, the glint of the blade coming down before he could react.
Then the sickening sound of bones cracking as the blade came down on his wing, slicing right through it. I stared in horror as it fell to the ground.
She'd completely cut off his wing.