Courting Death | Book 3

N I N E T E E N

N I N E T E E N
Dark and Light

THE PLACE WAS an eerie darkness, displaying the nights of the world as we stepped into the freezing compound. Occasionally, there was the echo of dripping water that would resonate all around us, sending goosebumps to rise on the skin of my arms in an instant. I shivered, murmuring prayers under my breath as I walked alongside Calvin with Fabian walking behind the both of us.

"You seem anxious," Calvin observed. "Is there something wrong?"

"This place is just really creepy. It is making me worried and the worst part is that I don't even know what I am really afraid of."

The walls had a sort of dust and grime that clung onto the ancient stone, water flowing freely from the top of the walls and down onto the pavement as the seconds ticked past. With the air heavy from all the dreariness and the musky and unmistakable scent of death and destruction, it was no wonder why I felt so very unsafe even at a spot in which was supposed to be protected.

"Nothing is wrong with being afraid. Everyone tends to be at a certain point in their lives. Even angels and demons have such a fear and you are just a mere mortal. Fear is what makes you human."

Calvin shrugged almost nonchalantly, his long arms swinging by his sides as he walked. I struggled to keep up with his long strides, taking wider steps than usual just so that I would not lag behind.

"Furthermore, this place is ridden with bones of the dead. It is perfectly ordinary for you to be afraid in such a gloomy place."

"Yes, just because this place absolutely reeks of death," came Fabian's voice from behind us. I pivoted on the spot, turning to face him with an eyebrow raised in shock by his joking mannerism.

"Did you just make a pun?" I asked, completely flabbergasted as Fabian shrugged. Though it was unmistakable that what he said was meant for a laugh, his face was still ever the same, stoic and unfeeling.

"It is not as if I am unable to make a playful comment, Pilediah," he simply said.

"Don't mind Fabian, Addison. He had always been like this after Ida left us. It was a tough time for him, you know? After Ida's death, he became nothing more than the shell of what he used to be. Back then, life was much simpler." The spirit of conquest sighed once, his shoulders sagging to match his disappointment. I thought I saw a hint of longing in the bright blues of his irises, perhaps thinking back to the times in which was worth reminiscing about.

"You miss it, don't you? Life before the fall."

"Every single day. Don't get me wrong, I adore the era in which we are currently living in now. There are so many new advancements that the people from the olden days couldn't even begin to dream about. But back then, life was undeniably simpler. There was never a war for us and it was only after Lucifer had fallen had we started to descend into the chaos the world is now."

"You never did explain how you fell." I pointed it out, tilting my head to the side in slight curiosity. "Neither did any of the others, even Dimitri. Not explicitly, at least."

"There is nothing more to explain. Lucifer dragged us down when he fell and only Lucius escaped his hold."

Calvin's words held the unmistakable tone of finality, his eyebrows hard-set, and his jaw clenched tightly together. I knew for a fact then and there that he was hiding something. The severity of the incident was obviously enough to cause such a stir in him for his bright electric blue eyes now held the darkness of a disastrous storm.

I pursed my lips together, desperate to find out more about the backstory of the four mysterious brothers. However, I also knew that this was evidently not the time for it.