Chapter 4. The Truth

A 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
ahead. I think he’s in the old hospital they closed down a few weeks ago.” Cash smiled warmly, trying to comfort Ameelia.

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 keeanaaaa

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David Ung

OMG!!! This is awesome how you linked biblical characters into your story of the modern world, most stories include Greek mythos not biblical. I would love to see more of that. Will you mind if you will somehow include the legend of the knight templars. I would love to see how you would add that to your story, but that is entirely my opinion and suggestions.
Thank you for posting!