Written in the Stars of Heaven

It couldn’t have been more than a few hours later when a horrifying nightmare of my mother’s decayed remains chasing me down pulled me from my slumber, breath coming out in shallow gasps. What really made me panic was the weight on my stomach, making said breathing somewhat more difficult. I had no idea what it was because the moonlight had vanished, leaving me in complete darkness, but somehow I was sure that I was going to die. Maybe a bit dramatic, but the dream left me on edge.

Doing my best to banish the images of my sweet mom from my head and thoughts of suffocation, I hesitantly lifted my hand to investigate the out-of-place pressure. It wasn’t too heavy, nor was it truly affecting my breathing much, so I shouldn’t have been as afraid.

My fingertips brushed across warm silk in the form of thin threads. I couldn’t figure out what it was until they moved a bit lower and I felt another, different smooth surface. The silk was hair and the other was skin. More accurately, Nikolai’s hair and skin.

At some point, he must have moved closer and rested his head of my rising and falling stomach. I hadn’t noticed before, but it felt like he’d slung his muscled arm around my body too, holding me unconsciously to him. The entire right side of my body was pressed against his, very much like a couple cuddling. I couldn’t believe it. Nikolai was cuddling with me!

Sure, he had no idea he was, but still. That didn’t take away the… sweetness… of the act. His vulnerability. I felt safe and comfortable in his embrace, like nothing could touch me. Suddenly, I wasn’t being led to whatever tortures the King had for me in a world of enemies. No, I was floating on the clouds under a multihued sunset. At peace, for once since arriving in Animus Terra.

That was when I came to an almost horrifying realization. I liked Nikolai. And not in a ‘Oh, it’s cool to be around you, we’re great pals’ kind of way. This was the real thing. I really, really liked Nikolai. Damn it, this was so not good.

How could I be crushing on the guy who was knowingly taking me to my possible death? True, it was all for his mother, but that didn’t erase the enormity of it. And I’d only known him for like, two days! What was I becoming? I always hated those girls who decided they were into a guy after hanging out for a few days. Of course, we’d been through a lot over that time, more than most people endure in a year. And that type of thing tends to make people form closer bonds to one another… Still, that was no excuse. Why couldn’t my heart listen to my mind?

Leaving my arms at my side, I tried to go back to sleep. I actually wanted to wrap them around Nikolai, but I was so not going to encroach into the creepy stalker territory. The guy was asleep, having not made a conscious decision to be this close to me. It meant nothing to him. ‘Just like it doesn’t mean anything to me’, I told myself. I would make my stupid heart see reason, if it was the last thing I did.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

“Melani, wake up,” a velvet voice pulled me from my peaceful sleep, gently shaking my covered shoulder.

“Ten more minutes…” I mumbled, rolling to my side so he was at my back.

“No, you need to wake up now.”

“An hour.”

After a brief pause, he asked, “If I said no you ten minutes, why would you go up to an hour?”

“I hoped maybe it would convince you that I am in dire need of rest,” I replied, words slurred a bit in my groggy haze.

“I’m sure you are, but you’re just prolonging this. The sooner we start, the sooner we reach the Jeep.”

“Carry me there?”

“No,” he said, incredulous. “Get up.”

With a loud sigh, I pulled my head from the warm pillow and moved into a sitting position. “Why do you love to torture me?”

I could see amusement in his bright eyes. At least one of us was ready for the day. “I don’t enjoy torture. Merely getting the job done.”

“So that’s all I am to you? A job?” I tried, but was unable to keep the sharpness from my voice.

“No. You’re more than that.”

My heart started pounding and I suddenly wasn’t quite so exhausted.

“You’re my mother’s freedom. Without you, I wouldn’t be able to save her.”

So he didn’t get it. I was just a job. Only, instead of money, his mom was the currency. He could have at least lied to me. That was I could still hold on to the illusion that he actually cared about me as a person.

“Wonderful,” I snapped, pulling the sleeping bag over my head and flopping back down onto the pillow. “Bring the troops to me. I’ll wait right here for you, then the King can free her. But I’m not walking ever again. Tell them to bring me a little Hoveround or something too.”

Nikolai was dense about feelings and emotions, true, but he wasn’t stupid. He noticed right away that he’d said something to upset me, only I don’t think he was really sure what it was.

“Melani, I can’t leave you here. You’d be in danger.”

“Like you care.” I admit it, I was being kind of petty. But no one in this realm seemed to regard me as anything more than an object being taken in for a reward. Not a soul bothered to consider how I felt about it all.

“Why do you say that?” he asked, gently pulling the heavy material away from my eyes.

“Whatever, I doesn’t even matter. Let’s just get on with it.”

“Mel? Mel, what’s going on?” a frantic voice demanded from inside my head. Great, could this get any worse?

Just as I thought that, the rain picked up again, beating loudly on the outside of the tent.

“Nothing Kend. What’s up?” I thought, not hearing Nikolai’s response to my outburst.

“I was pulled here. I figured something was wrong,” my twin said.

“Nope. Only annoying people. Any luck with my body?”

“Unfortunately not. But I’m helping with the search now,” he told me.

“Kendyll, no. I want you to be careful!”

“Since when have I ever listened to you? I want to find you so I can at least be at peace about one of your entities.”

“Just be careful. I have to go. This guy is looking at me like I’m insane.”

“You be careful too,” Kendyll commanded as he slipped to the back of my head again.

“Melani? You’re back.” Nikolai said hesitantly.

“Yeah. Are we going to get a move on? I’m officially awake.”

He was still confused by my behavior, obviously, but moved out of my way when I began rolling the sleeping bag up and moving on the other wet one.

I pretended not to notice when he stripped his shirt off to replace it with a dark blue long sleeve. Man, even though I was angry with him, I couldn’t help but appreciate Nikolai’s perfect six-pack, even in the very dim light of the dreary morning. I’d give anything to be able to run my hands along that hard muscle, feeling the defined contours under my fingers… Finally, I understood why Kendyll used to make such a huge deal out of going to the gym. If he could attain the rock hard abs Nikolai had, every girl in the city would be flocking around our house, hoping to catch a peek.

Prying my eyes away, I became conscious about my own appearance. Leona’s clothes certainly didn’t cling to anything at all and my hair was probably wild and tangled. I was momentarily thankful that it was so damn dark in our tent. No wonder Nikolai never gave me a second glace.

I brushed the thoughts off, telling myself that I didn’t care if the Russian ever even acknowledged me.

Five minutes later, everything inside was packed back into various bags and we stepped out into the cold, wet dawn. I still couldn’t hardly fathom how Blaze and Nikolai shouldered such huge duffel bags all day while I nearly died carrying only a backpack.

Just as I was pulling the hood of my black parka over my head, Nikolai told me to go to the cooler and get something to eat. He glanced back and a strange glint of something (concern?) crossed his features.

“Does that hurt?” he asked, taking a step closer, motioning to my cheekbone.

I lifted my own hand up without thinking, carefully touching the tender skin there. I hadn’t paid mind to it before, but it did. Hurt, I mean. It was where the Hunter from before had hit me and Leona kicked me not long after, right below my right eye on my high cheekbone. I could only imagine the ugly purple color it was stained.

“A little. But I’m fine.” The last part was barely a whisper as Nikolai moved even closer, placing warm fingers gently beside the wound. A small fire ignited on the skin under his touch.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly before turning to go wake the others up. I could tell he wasn’t only apologizing for the bruise.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

By the time we were ready to walk for endless, painful hours again, the sky had brightened only a small amount, rain still pouring from the pregnant clouds with fury. My worthless tennis shoes were soaked through, the cold water making squishing noises between my toes with every step I took. The skin was already so sore from the same treatment yesterday, I was practically limping along behind everyone. Save Blaze, unfortunately. He wasn’t aware of my deal with Nikolai, so he and Leona still feared I’d high tail it out of here. Meaning, I couldn’t get out of his sight when I wasn’t with their leader.

“You know, you’re abnormally hot. Has anyone ever told you that?”

“Only the last twenty times you said it,” I grumbled. Seriously, how could anyone’s luck as horrible as mine lately?

“It’s true. You should meet me in my tent tonight,” he said with what I’m sure he thought was a sly smile.

“As much as I’d love to, the prospect of gouging my eyes out doesn’t exactly thrill me at this point.”

“Is that a yes?”

“No, Blaze. That is a ‘no chance in hell, I’d rather die by millions of paper cuts’ no.”

“So tomorrow night?” he asked earnestly.

Sighing, I threw my head back, the rain pelting my face. “God, smite me now!”

“Is there a problem here, my friends?” Avan asked conversationally as he fell into step with us.

“Yes. A tall, muscular one who doesn’t know the meaning of the word ‘no’.”

“Blaze, are you bothering the pretty one again?” he teasingly chastised, shaking his finger at Blaze like an old lady would a child who knocked her ice cream on the floor.

“It’s not called bothering if she likes it,” he grinned back.

“Ok, that’s it!” I groaned, throwing all of my weight into a forceful shove. Much to my dismay, it did more to deter me than Blaze. Stupid genetics. My dad was tall. Why did I completely have to take after my mom? Kendyll didn’t, not even a little. He made me look like a dwarf in comparison.

“What’s your business here?” I heard Nikolai almost gently demand, not far up the path from us.

Curious, I forgot my internal questioning of the world’s fairness and annoyance at Blaze to hurry up to see what was going on.

Standing in front of Nikolai, was a small group of three people. One was a relatively handsome guy who looked to be not much older than me. His wet brown hair clung to his forehead, as he gasped for breath. He clearly wasn’t dressed for this type of weather, wearing only a drenched tshirt and jeans. His bare arms weren’t decorated with the ornate patterns of a Tattoo, so I had no clue what species he was. He could be a human, a Reaper, though I doubted he was wearing contacts to cover his red eyes like Blaze and Leona did, or a new Herllow. His Tattoos wouldn’t have come in yet if he’d just arrived.

Standing behind him, using him as a shield, was a skinny Hispanic woman, also dressed inappropriately. The look of pure fear in her eyes confirmed my suspicious as she heaved as if they‘d just run like crazy. They probably had. These were a group of brand new Herllow. Much like I had been only a few nights ago.

What broke my hear most though, was the small, blonde boy cradled in the woman’s arms, sobbing. He had a windbreaker wrapped securely around him, thankfully, that was much too large for him. It probably belonged to the man, who’d given it up for him. What traumatic even sent someone so young to this monstrous realm? The boy couldn’t be older than four… My stomach rolled at the possibilities.

“W-Where is th-this place?” the man asked, shivering in the cold.

Nikolai had obviously come to the same conclusion I had, definitely sooner of course, but that knowledge didn’t deter him from shrugging off his own parka and draping it over the freezing woman’s shoulders. Next, he turned to a massive duffel bag he was carrying and produced another, lighter one for the man.

“This is Animus Terra, and I believe you have a bit of a problem,” he replied.

“Nikolai, you’re not seriously going to capture them, are you?” I hissed, all eyes falling on me as if I’d just committed a felony or something.

“Hush,” he simply told me, facing the group again. “You’re souls now. Don’t question it, we have no time.”

“Will you help us?” the boy asked, glancing back to the woman and the child. They obviously weren’t related, but close connections form between people who face tragedy together.

“I’ll do what I can. Where you followed?” he asked, tone urgent.

“There was a woman further back, but I think we outran her.”

“You didn’t. I’ll guarantee she’s trailing you right now. A Hunter. Were you together the entire time?”

“No,” the guy said, Nikolai’s demeanor making him grasp the seriousness of the situation for the first time.

“Good. She saw you, right?”

“Yes. I had Selena and Trevor run ahead until I lost track of her.”

“Alright, then you’ll need to stay with us for awhile. Selena, you and the boy need to keep running East. There’s a Herllow town there. Ask for Leon. He’ll help you.”

Damn. When Nikolai meant business, he meant business! I was impressed, despite the fact I was still a little annoyed at him.

“We have to go alone?” the woman, Selena, whimpered. She was probably in her mid-forties, but it was clear she had a passive personality. Why else would a teenager be leading her?

“It’s the only way to get this Hunter off your trail and ensure your safety. The city is only a few miles. Can you make it?”

She nodded slowly, unsure of herself.

“There could be more Hunters, so you’ll need to hurry.”

The intense light in his eyes as he gazed at her astounded me. If I didn’t know better, I’d never believe that he was blind.

“I can do this,” she murmured more to herself than anyone else, stepping closer to Nikolai. She reached up to brush her hand softly along his cheek. “You are a good man.” And before he could tell her anything else, she took Trevor and ran East.

“Will they be ok?” the boy asked. I still hadn’t figured out his name.

“I can’t say for sure. But they have a hope now,” Nikolai said, whispering something in Russian when he’d finished.

“Why did I have to stay?”

“I’ll tell the woman when she catches up that I rightfully captured you first. She will be obligated to leave you alone, and I will point her in the opposite direction Selena and the boy went.”

“You’re a Hunter too…” he said under his breath, confusion evident. I had to say I could understand that. Why did Nikolai just help them escape when it was his job to bring them in?

“I hate it when you do that,” Leona groaned. Apparently this wasn’t new. Just how many Herllow had Nikolai aided over the years?

“I didn’t ask you,” he muttered, motioning us onward.

I followed, wide-eyed and awestruck. How could I stay pissed at someone who deliberately disobeyed orders from his father, the King, to help innocents?

“What’s going on here?” the boy asked, trudging along next to me. Apparently I seemed to least threatening out of the group. Shocker there.

“Hey, I’m pretty new here too. All I know is I’m some Chosen One and I will decide the fate of the realm.” Sure, I knew a little more than that, but I wasn’t in the mood to explain it all. I’d rather pass that task off to someone else.

“No pressure then. I’m Reyleigh Sihler.”

“Nice to meet you Riley. I’m Melani.”

“No, Reyleigh. Like Ray, plus Lee,” he corrected good-naturedly.

“Ah, got it. Avan, get your ass over here,” I called.

“At your service, Mademoiselle. What can I do for the fine lady on this lovely day?” he joked, matching his pace to mine and Reyleigh’s after he’d bounded over. Some people just had too much energy. I wasn’t one, for sure.

“Explain this God forsaken place to him please.”

“With pleasure. Well, the first step is a traumatic even that takes place, effecting you to your core. The soul goes through a transformation that brings it here, and that journey determines which species you’ll become. A human stays the same. A Herllow, like myself and the delightful Melani here, we are strengthened. After a few days, we develop Tattoos on our arms and down our sides. They’re quite beautiful, really. You should see Mel’s.”

“And the third species,” Reyleigh said. “That woman was the third one, wasn’t she. She was fast.”

“Yes. That brings me to the evil Reapers. Their souls die on the journey over and they become monsters in this realm. They have maroon eyes, unless they cover them with contact lenses, and need blood to sustain them. They have faster reflexes and are overall stronger than any other race,” Avan explained.

“That guy mentioned ‘Hunters’. What are they?” he asked, taking all of this in stride. I’d wager that he was one of those guys who read every vampire book written and dressed up as one every Halloween. I didn’t take this information quite so smoothly.

“That’s complex. You see, the three species’ live apart from one another. Everything was peaceful in the beginning, but the Reapers learned that they could use their superior physical abilities to their advantage and take over. Which is just what they did. Now the Reaper King has total dominion of Animus Terra.”

“Real great guy,” I muttered.

“Anyway,” Avan continued, eyeing me so I’d take the hint to stop interrupting, “the King formed these groups called Herllow Hunters to go out and round up any Herllow they can to bring before the Counsel. The dreaded Counsel decides the fate of that Herllow, whether it be slavery, prostitution, or death.”

“Sounds fun,” Reyleigh cut in as Avan paused to take a breath. No ‘shut up’ glance there. I love the special treatment I get around here. Not.

“The Herllow Queen had to retaliate somehow, so she formed these schools where they train Keepers. They are our first line of defense against the Reapers. They are stationed around cities and individually to the important Herllow. Lately, there have been a shortage, because the soul has to have arrived early enough to enroll and learn everything they need to. There’s talk that the Reapers are going to use this against us and start an all out war. That’s why Melani is so important.”

“You mentioned something about ‘Chose One’, right? What’s that?” Reyleigh asked, glancing over at me, probably wondering how someone could be so small and be so huge in the fate of the world. I wondered that myself everyday.

“There’s a Prophesy,” Avan continued. “It states that one plagued by painful visions of her past will come, and within these visions lie the key to ‘fixing everything’.”

“’Fixing everything’? Isn’t that a little vague?”

“That’s what I thought too,” I said. I hadn’t realized that the Herllow needed me so badly. And here I was, willingly waltzing to the Reapers for one person… What was I doing?

“Yeah, it is. But it’s the only hope we have. Unfortunately, we are prisoners to Hunters, taking her straight to the Reaper King. If he gets his hands on her, there’s no telling what will become of us. It’s assumed that the whole ‘fix everything’ part is undecided, and whoever unlocks the answer will be the sole benefactor of the rewards.”

“Sounds lovely,” the new boy said. He was nearly as sarcastic as me, and I had to admit that I kind of liked it.

I began to really consider what I was a part of. Could I risk all those lives for one handsome man and his mother? True, I was doing it more for my own mother in some weird, twisted way. But that was no excuse. Would I be able to keep my promise to Nikolai when it came right down to it? I wasn’t so sure anymore.

“So basically, the Herllow, we, are screwed?” Reyleigh said, forlorn.

“Unless Mel escapes,” Avan looked to me.

“And how do you expect me to do this? Huh? Have you not seen this crazy, attentive slave-runner we have here?” I replied, secretly hoping that maybe it was a possibility. As much as I didn’t want to part with my crush, I might have to eventually… I mean… that man. No crushes here. Nuh-uh.

“Yeah, I know how good Nikolai is at his job. He’s legendary. That’s why I don’t feel like such an ass for getting caught,” Avan replied. “But you’ll have to try. The Reaper King can’t have you.”

I didn’t know how to reply to this, so I stared at the muddy ground. I knew it was true, but if I could even pull it off, what about my promise? What about Nikolai’s innocent mom? What about my mom?

“So I willingly turned myself into the worst Hunter around? Wonderful. That’s for the warning guys,” Reyleigh said, shaking his head.

“No, I think you’re fine. He’s released several Herllow willingly already. He promised to let me go when we get to an area that I won’t get captured again. I think he has actually grown a little fond of me. He never even put a Tracker on my ankle. I trust him and his word. You should too,” Avan reassured him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“What’s a Tracker?”

“It’s a metal band that goes around your ankle, and these little spikes come out and stick into your skin. If you get too far away from the Hunters, or you piss them off, they’ll press a button and shock you.”

“Oh. Geez. Why won’t he let you go, Mel?”

“I’m the Chosen One. There’s a humongous bounty on my head for the Hunter that brings me in,” I told him. No need to divulge that Nikolai was only interested in his mom’s freedom. I didn’t want Reyleigh or Avan to favor him more than me, in case a time came that they’d need to choose. Not that I thought they’d let the King have me, no matter what. But still. Leaverage, you know?

“Sucks to be you for sure,” Reyleigh sympathized. “So, after this Nikolai dude lets you and I go, what happens then?”

“I have an allotment back in the capital in the Herllow Nation. You can stay with me, if you want, or go to the Officials and get another placement,” Avan told him.

“Wait, so how does that all work? Don’t new souls pop in all the time?” I asked. “What do they do with them?”

Reyleigh looked to Avan for the answer too, curious.

“It’s pretty simple, actually. If you’re lucky enough to find a Herllow city, then anyone will take you to the Official office, where they’ll get all of your legal documentaion set up as well as place you in an allotment. Basically, allotments are just your living quarters. You’re usually put in a house with roommates. If you family members here, you’ll get to decide how you want to handle that. The Officials always let you know if you have any and where they might be, so you can choose if you want to live with them, or start somewhere on your own. Kids are placed with adoptive families if their own aren’t here or don’t want them.”

“That’s interesting,” Reyleigh commented. “What about those who arrive in the woods? What if they can’t find a city, or stumble to Reaper one?”

“Unfortuantely, there’s not a lot that can be done for them. There are always a few Keepers who patrol the Herllow wilderness, but that’s the best it gets. Usually, those poor souls get caught by Hunters or hungry Reapers.”

“Wait, I have a few questions,” I announced, still trying to wrap my head around all of this. Some of it was very new, and all was far-fetched. “Can the souls die? What happens to the bodies back on Earth? If Reaper souls are already dead, what’s the deal with that? And, can Reapers keep Herllow to themselves, or do they have to turn them in too?”

“Inquisitive today, I see,” Avan smiled. “Yes, the souls can die. It happens all the time. We have normal lifespans, like our old bodies. Our souls continue on from where they were when they arrived here. As for what happens to the body, no one’s entirely sure. The two could be intertwined, but no one has a connection to that world after coming here, so there’s no way of knowing. And yes, Reapers can die. They’re kind of like, undead? I don’t understand it completely. All I know is, yes, they can be killed. But it’s not easy. And yeah, Reapers can hunt as much as they want, though they tend to only do it on their own territory. Only the Hunters are required to turn us over to the Counsel.”

I wasn’t sure if I should mention my link to Kendyll or not. If I had that connection, a lot of questions could be answered. But then again, I didn’t want to involve my twin more than I needed to. Besides, he was busy trying to find my body on Earth. He didn’t need anymore stress.

“The bodies are still alive back home?” Reyleigh asked, clearly struggling as I was. This was a lot to take in.

“Yeah,” Avan responded politely. “They go on as they would before, only the slightest difference noticeable to those who know what to look for.”

“But how do you know that? You said there was no connection back there,” I pointed out.

“True, but how else could it be explained. People come here all the time, leaving empty bodies on Earth. If they died when the soul came here, there’d be a lot of unexplained deaths. And one of the first souls to arrive here claimed that his wife on Earth was less passionate than before, after an attack on her village. He wrote it off as what we’d call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, but then he was sent to war and saw his first kill. That’s what brought his soul here, and he documented his observations. It’s widely a accepted theory,” Avan explained patiently. This guy could be the realm’s best school teacher with this lecturing ability!

“I see…” Reyleigh murmured, grabbing Avan’s arm to keep from falling over after he tripped on a stick.

“Yeah, it’s a bit much to grasp so quickly. You’re doing a lot better that I did,” Avan smiled at our newbie. How cute! The makings of a great friendship were already in place, I could see.