Chapter 4. The TruthA Chapter by keeanaaaa“What do you mean Stelacorp isn’t
real?” Ameelia demanded. “I’ve been there, seen it with my own eyes.” “Of course the building is real,” Jacob
interjected. “What Danica is trying to explain is that the corporation itself
is nothing but a cover up. They use Stelacorp so that they can collect money
and specimens without reprimands.
Stelacorp’s founder, Mauriel Van Camp, is some sort of Vampire-“ Ameelia scoffed in disbelief. “Vampire?
You’ve all lost your minds. If you don’t mind, I’d like to get out. I’ll find
my own way to James.” “It’s not a joke, Ameelia. I warned you
that this would be hard to understand. Stelacorp is full of vampires. And it
may not seem like it but contrary to our beliefs, these can walk in sunlight.
We call them Dayers. And it’s not only Dayers at Stelacorp. They’re working
with all sort of nasty creatures. Fairies, Imps, Cyclopes. You name it, they’re
probably there.” “I’m dreaming. This is all a stupid,
crazy dream.” Ameelia pulled on her hair and looked out the window. “Wake up!” “Listen, you’re not dreaming, this
isn’t a joke,” Gigi said in a soothing tone from the front. “All of us, we’re
joined in with some people. Well, not exactly people. They come from a very
long line of demon fighters and we think B is one of them.” “If B is one of them, why don’t you
know who she is or why she’s talking to you?” “We think possibly she’s undercover. No
one will tell us more than we need to know, we just started working for them so
they don’t trust us completely. I don’t think they know B is trying to
communicate with us,” Jacob answered. “I don’t think most of them even know
we’re on this case,” Cash added. “They only have us dealing with small things
like new vamps roaming the city because their creator left them for dead
without properly disposing of the body.” Ameelia gawked at the four friends in
front of her. Everything seemed so bizarre; she couldn’t help but to think she
was going insane. She looked down at the silver tracking bracelet on her wrist.
She could make a run for it. She could open the van door and just jump out.
They were too far from the dance by now but she could hail a cab somewhere.
Then again, they did have her cell phone. She’d have no way to track James. She
sighed before placing her head in her hands. “What in the hell is going on?” “We have one more thing to show you,
and please, don’t freak out.” Danica said tenderly, placing her hand on
Ameelia’s shoulder. Ameelia lifted her head and waited.
Danica removed a tiny syringe from the box on the floor that Ameelia hadn’t
noticed before. The syringe was filled with a bluish liquid that danced around
in the glass. Danica held it up and smiled. “This is called Angel’s Hands. The
people we work with use it on new members. If you have a certain strand of DNA,
Angel’s Hand takes it and unlocks a whole new world for you. If you don’t, you
could go insane for a few days before forgetting anything up to twenty-four
hours before you were injected with the liquid.” Danica pulled off her leather
jacket to reveal her bare arms. She held out her left arm and Ameelia saw a
shape that shone blue, just like the blue in the syringe. It danced happily on
her skin just above the inner side of her elbow, reaching up to her shoulder.
The shape, Ameelia had to admit, was beautiful. It was made up of delicate
lines, dots and swirls and looked like a sort of design you would see in a
Henna Tattoo. The design seemed to pulsate like the beating of a heart. It was
breath taking. “We’ve all been injected and we’re
fine. Now it’s your turn,” Gigi smiled reassuringly. Ameelia scooted back, away from the
needle. “There’s no way I’m letting you inject me with anything. Let me out
now!” “I’m sorry Ameelia, we can’t do that,”
Cash frowned. “We need you. Besides, B hand-picked all of us. She knew it would
work on us and we’re positive it’ll work on you.” “This won’t hurt a bit,” Danica stated
before Cash grabbed Ameelia’s arm. She tried to struggle away but there was
only so much room inside a van. Ameelia screamed as Cash pinned both her arms
down and positioned himself above her abdomen. Ameelia kicked wildly, but Cash
was too strong. Danica leaned forward and patted Ameelia’s arm with a cool damp
pad. “I’m sorry.” The injection really didn’t hurt.
Ameelia, whilst screaming, could feel her body awaken. As the liquid coursed
through her body, Ameelia felt a sense of floating on water, of euphoria. Her
vision became cloudy and the people surrounding her became unfocused. Ameelia
strained to keep her eyes open, anxious to stay awake. At last, blackness
overcame her.
***
Ameelia
was dreaming, that much she knew. The dream, although it seemed familiar, was
eerie. She was back at home in New York and her parents were sitting in front
of her. Stephen was on her left and they were holding hands. Ameelia remembered
this moment. It was the day the couple had told Ameelia’s parents that they
were going to move to Italy to further Stephen’s career. “It’ll only be a few months,” Ameelia felt
herself say as her heart beat quickly in her throat. “I promise to call and
write all the time.” “But-” It was Ameelia’s mother who spoke now,
concern splashed across her face. “You have everything here Millie. I hardly
think Italy is the place for you.” “I think your mother is right,” her
father agreed. Ameelia stared at her two parents. They
looked at her lovingly before, for just a split second, their faces seemed to
change. It wasn’t a drastic change. Something in their eyes perhaps. Ameelia
felt herself shaking slightly. “Are you alright, my love?” Stephen
asked as he gripped her hand a little more tightly. Ameelia nodded and returned her
attention to her parents. They watched as she said her piece and sighed before
agreeing to see them off to Italy. Ameelia watched her parents intently, hoping
to see another glimpse of the change she had seen before. With no avail,
Ameelia stood up, hugged her parents and proceeded to exit the room. Now she was at the airport. Stephen and
Ameelia hugged their parents before stating their goodbyes. Ameelia watched
them waving as they entered into the passenger’s terminal and smiled. Again
Ameelia caught the flicker of change. This time not in her parents, but to the
couple standing a few feet away. At first, Ameelia wasn’t sure what she was
looking at. A few moments later, a chill ran up her spine as realization began
to set in. The couple’s eyes had turned a bright yellow and hair began to
sprout out around their face and arms. “Earth to Ameelia,” Stephen said with a
grin as he waved his palm in front of her face. Ameelia snapped herself out of the
trance and looked at Stephen. “Babe, look over there. Do you see them?” She
asked, pointing behind her in the direction towards the odd couple. “See who? Your parents?” Stephen peered
over and waved at her parents yet again. Ameelia swirled around and searched in
the direction of the couple she had been staring at moments before. The couple
was gone and Ameelia bit her lip in confusion. “Come on Sweetheart, we’ve got to get
on the plane.” Stephen nudged Ameelia softly as she took a few steps towards
the door. “I’ll give you a sleeping pill, it should help with your
anxiousness.” “But-” Ameelia shook her head, still
staring off, trying to find the young couple again. When she couldn’t find
them, she shrugged and held out her hand as she waited for the pill. The brain
in her memory told her she just needed to sleep and that it was in fact
preflight anxiousness. Her brain now, however, told Ameelia that without a
doubt the couple she had seen had been real. Ameelia’s eyes fluttered open and she
sat up with a gasp. She tried to focus her eyes and get a feel of her
surroundings. She looked down and felt with her hands. She could feel the
roughness of the car’s interior, her head shot up. There in front of her were
the four people she had met at the dance. “Where am I? What did you do to me?” “We only gave you the power to see.”
Cash answered softly. “I was able to see just fine before!”
Ameelia shouted as she hugged herself. “Let me out! I promise I won’t tell
anyone, just please let me out!” “We aren’t your enemy Ameelia, we’re
only here to help you,” Gigi stated looking at her sadly from the front seat. “Do you think she’s one of the Nonners?”
Jacob asked, not taking his eyes off the road. “I think she would’ve tried to kill us
by now,” Danica shrugged. “Listen, I just want to go home, okay?
You guys can go talk about werewolves and zombies when I’m not around. Just let
me out,” Ameelia pleaded as her eyes darted around the vehicle, searching for
an alternative way out. “Well, you can get out in a minute,
we’re almost there.” Gigi stated before turning back to face the windshield.
“And zombies aren’t real.” “Almost where?” Ameelia asked before
glancing out of one of the rear windows. “To find James. His tracker stopped
moving up She remembered hearing on the news that
they were planning on closing down the hospital because they had just built a
new one not too far away. The new hospital had taken most of the employees with
the promise of better benefits and higher pay. The regular patients stopped
going to the old hospital because they were severely understaffed and their
original doctors had all left to work at the new place. There really was no
need to keep the old hospital up and running, therefore the original owners
sold it to a well-known investor before moving out of the city -finally able to
enjoy life in the country carelessly. Since then, the hospital had been taped
off and the man who had purchased the building was planning on turning it into
a luxury hotel. Ameelia groaned and leaned back against
the seat. She had the overwhelming sense to take a nap but refused to let the
feeling take ahold of her. “How long was I out?” Ameelia asked after a moment
of silence. “No more than five minutes,” Gigi
answered with a grin. “Not bad if I do say so myself. Little Cashy was out for
two days.” “We all thought he was sure to be a Nonner
when he woke,” Jacob added with a small chuckle. “Shut up,” Cash barked. He pushed Jacob
a little harshly before sitting back into his seat. “I’ll show you a Nonner if
you want.” “What’s a Nonner?” Ameelia asked
curiously. “It’s like schizophrenia, attention
deficit disorder and dementia combined into one. Add a severe urge to kill
anyone and everything with a little cannibalism and you have a Nonner. No one
is sure why Angel’s Hands have that effect on certain people, only the fact
that it’s in part due to a missing DNA strand.” Gigi responded. “They tell us
back at the Cove, our headquarters, that the Angel’s Hands came from Angel
Gabriel. The story goes back thousands of years. The Cove tells us that we used
to live in peace with all of these creatures. One day, some of them decided
they didn’t like us very much and rallied together to start a huge war against
the human race. They wanted Earth for themselves. The angels didn’t like that
very much so they decided to come down here and fight with us. They could see that we were so weak compared
to the creatures, as well as themselves. So, they brought us Angel’s Hands in
the Holy Cup. Angel Gabriel said it came from a stream in the high heavens, the
Holy Cup crafted from hardened angel tears. Men drank the liquid and fought
against the creatures before it wore off within a few years. The Keepers of the
Holy Cup began experimenting when they noticed that it was an impermanent
solution to their problems. They tried using it in food, taking baths with it;
nothing worked indefinitely. One day, one of the Originals burned her hand
while trying to add the Angel’s Hand to her soup. When it splashed up, the
liquid got into her cut and it healed itself. She could feel it coursing
through her body. The Original then got the idea to inject the stuff into her
bloodstream. Then, voila! It was magical. The Original told others and they all
injected themselves. The Keepers began to keep watch, while still experimenting
with other options. Years later, it showed no signs of wearing off and the
Keepers decided that they could stop their experiments and focus on hunting
down and killing all lawbreakers.” “When you inject it, it stays in your system
forever. It’s a good thing too because we’re nearly out. The Holy Cup used to
be filled to the brim, no matter how much Angel’s Hands was consumed. A few hundred
years ago, a few months after the Original discovered the secret, the Holy
Cup’s contents started to lessen. Now there’s only a few drops of Angel’s Hands
left,” Danica added solemnly. “Our Cove leaders tell us that Angel Gabriel
warned them about this. He said that once we figured out a way to keep the
Angel’s Hands, we would not need the Holy Cup anymore. We’re able to pass it
down to our children but too few of us make it out alive that there’s hardly
any of us anymore.” Danica sighed,
shaking off some distant memory. Her eyes had become saddened. “Angel Gabriel
warned us that a war would come not long after we found a way to keep the
Angel’s Hands in our bodies. I guess in the eyes of an immortal, hundreds of
years isn’t too long.” “I don’t understand,” Ameelia frowned.
“What does all of this have to do with me? I’m not special and I’m definitely
no angel.” “When the Originals found out we needed
to inject the Angel’s Hands in order to keep it, they started injecting it into
everyone and anyone. They thought that they could build a stronger human race.
When their plan didn’t work exactly as planned, because of the Nonners, they
decided that they would perform a series of tests on each individual to
determine if their bodies were strong enough to hold the Angel’s Hands. The
Originals separated, with their main headquarters here in Italy. The keepers
stayed here with the Holy Cup and groups of twenty or so Originals moved to
each continent. They built Covelets and began searching for people like us. Over
the years, the Originals found quite a few people who were able to hold the
Angel’s Hands in their bodies. Never the less, it was still hard to keep up the
numbers of our people. The amount of people who are able to hold the Angel’s
Hands in their bodies are dwindling, just like the liquid itself. Sometimes,
people like us seem to fall into a great depression, the weight of the world is
too much for them to handle. The new Makers sometimes take their own lives by
going out alone, fighting a master clan of rogue Dayers. Although we have much
more than the ordinary human being, we still bleed, we still die.” Gigi sat
quietly for a moment before continuing. “The Cove was watching you. Seeing if
you showed the signs of Sight. Signs of Strength. They were there when you saw
those werewolves in the airport. They were there months before that when you
saw the Cyclops. They were there when you were young and played with the Fairy
Clan in your mother’s garden.” “I don’t-” Ameelia stuttered. How did
these people know these things about her? How did they know her? “I know this is a lot for you,
especially right now,” Cash spoke softly. “But they chose you Ameelia. They
just sent us along to show you the ropes. When they saw that Stephen received a
letter from Stelacorp with a job offer, they knew something was wrong. Stephen
knew what he was. A Cove member injected him when he was very young and worked
with him to improve his strengths. They watched him most of his life until he
met you. They planned that, the meeting of the two of you. Told Stephen they
would inject you too when the time was right. The Cove became sidetracked when
they found out about Stelacorp though. They did not act then however, they
waited and watched, hoping to find out what exactly Stelacorp wanted with him.” “It’s your stupid Cove’s fault Stephen
is dead then!” Ameelia spat, anger rising in her veins. “You all were watching
me, watching him! You could’ve prevented all of this! It’s all your fault!” “They were trying to get him out,
Ameelia! The day he died was the day we were going to sneak you two away from
Stelacorp,” Cash tried to calm Ameelia down by grasping her arm. She yanked
free and scooted herself closer to the window. Cash exhaled a low breath. “He
was working with the Cove. Telling them things about Stelacorp. Someone there
must have found out because they killed him before we got a chance to get him
out of there. I’m sorry Ameelia but it’s happened before. That’s just the way
it is sometimes with people like us. We fight for our people or die trying.” Ameelia glanced down at her new glowing
mark. She had so many questions, she didn’t know where to start. The blue
design was very small, pulsing with every beat of her heart. She could see it
shifting, shaping itself as it slowly grew along her inner elbow. Ameelia
fought back tears. Not only for her old, naive self, but for the self she had
pictured growing old as. She could never have the life she imagined with Stephen
so many times before. She was somehow, chosen, whatever that meant. And now,
she had this permanent little patch on her arm, soon to be a full-fledged
sleeve. Ameelia groaned. She had always wanted a tattoo sleeve, but nothing
that was forced upon her, not even if it was as beautiful as the piece she had. “Don’t worry,” Jacob smiled. “Only
people with the Sight and creatures can see your Mapar.” “My what?” Ameelia looked up and caught
Jacob’s eyes in the rear view mirror. “Your mark. We call it Mapar. Short for
‘Manus Parvus’ which means ‘little hand’ in Latin.” Ameelia nodded before glancing back
down. Finally, after a few minutes, Ameelia began to speak. He voice was steady
and strong. “I don’t trust you guys. I don’t know what to make of the story you
all just told me, not to mention this damn Mapar you forced upon me.” Eyes looked up and Danica opened her
mouth to speak. “Wait,” Ameelia interrupted. “Just let me finish. I don’t trust
you, I don’t even know if I like you anymore. BUT, I’m stuck with you. And
until I find James, there’s really nothing I can do about it.” Ameelia looked up and Danica had a
slight smirk on her face, Cash a look of awe. Gigi smiled at her from the front
seat and she received a wink from Jacob. “Glad you came to your senses,” Cash
teased. Ameelia rolled her eyes. “I’m not sure
I have. Now, is anyone going to tell me how long until we get there? “We’re here,” Jacob answered, pulling
the van to a stop in front of the building. © 2015 keeanaaaaReviews
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