Requiem: Book One in The Apocalypse Trilogy

Chapter Nine

 Sweat glistened on Lorelei’s forehead, beads running down her temple and collecting at the back of her neck, close to her hairline. Lorelei stood with her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath. Her lungs burned and her muscles ached, but Lorelei enjoyed the sensation. Doing any kind of physical activity--running, fighting, climbing--it was one of the few ways she could get anger out of her system, other than punching someone’s lights out, but her father disapproved of violent behavior against another person.

    And yet, her father did not hesitate when Lorelei joined the soldiers. Perhaps it was because Samuel knew he could not make his daughter do what she did not wish to do. Lorelei, from the time that she was a child, was very headstrong and stubborn in her ways. She had always been told that she was a fighter; physically, emotionally, and mentally.

Her father had told her, since she was a small child, that she was a warrior of Heaven.

To this day, Lorelei still did not know what he meant by that, but she supposed it was because all she wanted to do, was end the Apocalypse. The idea had always been her lifelong dedication, and now that Archer was with them, who could possibly tell them where Lucifer was, they could finally end it all. It was all a matter of if or when Archer’s memory could come back.

“Lorelei,” Archer said softly behind her.

Although his tone was gentle, it caused Lorelei to jump, startled. She wiped at her forehead and turned to look at him. “Yes, Archer?”

“Can I walk with you?”

A smile curled at her lips. “Of course.”

They walked down the street, staying close to the sidewalk so they won’t disturb the flow of traffic in the middle of the street. As Lorelei walked, she fingered her necklace, turning the cross over and over. She mostly did this for comfort, and for when she was deep in thought.

It had been a week since Acher had been staying with them. He slept in the same room as Lorelei, which hadn’t bothered her, because there was a purpose for the spare bed in her room. In the week he had been there, Lorelei learned quite a bit about Archer.

First, Lorelei was the only person he would talk to.

At least, by choice. If someone spoke to Archer, he would politely nod and respond back, but he never made the conversations go farther than that. Lorelei assumed it was because he wasn’t comfortable with others, but he was so easily comfortable with her.

Second, he enjoyed being outside more than inside.

Lorelei couldn’t count the times she had come outside to find Archer sitting on the sidewalk, staring up at the rising sun. There were others times, where she would wake up in the middle of the night to find Archer’s bed empty. The first time he did this, he had frightened her to death, only to find out that he was sitting on the steps of the church, with his eyes closed, listening to the crickets.

The last thing she learned, the one that tore at her very being, was that Archer screamed in his sleep.

During the week he had been there, Lorelei had been awoken every night by his frightened screams; raw and full of panic. Being tortured and held captive by Lucifer would make her have horrible nightmares too, so Lorelei never judged him for it. The only thing Lorelei could do, was hold him and tell him it was okay, that Lucifer couldn’t get to him here. Lorelei wasn’t sure if she was saying that to comfort him, or to comfort herself.

Lorelei was terrified that Lucifer would come looking for Archer.

She wasn’t afraid because it would put the whole town of Haven at risk, which she should have been afraid of, but she was more afraid for Archer’s safety. Given that he was an Archangel, Archer should be able to protect himself perfectly fine, but he was broken.

Lorelei could tell in the way that he spoke, the way that he avoided all eye contact, even the way he walked, holding himself slouched over, that he was broken. Lorelei’s heart ached for him. What would it feel like, to be tortured, not only physically, but mentally, every single day for the past one hundred years? Lorelei couldn’t begin to understand, nor would she want to.

“I heard there was a Demon here,” Archer said after a few minutes of silence.

“Yes,” Lorelei replied slowly, unsure of how she should go about the subject of Demons with him. “He’s being held in our prison.”

“For what reasons?” Archer inquired, turning his shimmering blue pools onto Lorelei

“It’s...a complicated situation,” Lorelei hesitated.

Archer swung around in front of her, placing his hands onto her shoulders. He smiled down at her and Lorelei felt her stomach flitter. When Archer smiled, he seemed less broken, like every smile he made, helped piece himself together. One sliver at a time.

“Just tell me,” He said, a lightness in his tone.

“Well, he saved two little girls from other Demons, but it’s a law here, that if we find a Demon, we have to put them on trial,” Lorelei explained.

Archer’s sandy blonde eyebrows pulled together in a soft V, as if he didn’t quite understand what Lorelei was telling him. “If he’s done nothing wrong, why keep him captive?”

Lorelei opened her mouth to respond, but Kent was far quicker. “Because it’s the rules.”

Kent came striding up to them, wearing a bulletproof vest, and a gun resting on his shoulder. The vest didn’t protect them from Demons or Fallen Angels; it protected them from humans who decided to follow Lucifer.

Kent came to stop a few feet from them, followed by other’s dressed like him. His brown eyes fell onto Lorelei's shoulders, where Archer still had his hands. Archer, his face flushing with red, quickly dropped his hands and clutched them tightly at his side. His blue eyes fell to the ground in front of him and Kent’s mouth turned up into a triumphant smile..

“Do you want to come with us?” Kent asked Lorelei, shifting his hard gaze toward her.

“Where?” Lorelei caught the bulletproof vest that Kent tossed at her.

“When we made our rounds last night, we found out that there is a group of Demons camping out in the city,” Kent explained.

“You can count me in,” Lorelei said, thrilled to be leaving Haven as she finished putting on the bulletproof vest.

The truck turned the corner, its engine rumbling loudly as it came to stop in front of them. Soldiers were already piled into the back, all wearing bulletproof vests with guns slung across their shoulders and pistols in their hands. Jadis stood on the edge of the tailgate, dressed to match the soldiers. His mouth was sent into a tight line as his hazel gaze fell onto Archer.

“Lorelei,” Archer said, gripping onto her arm lightly. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go.”

Lorelei smiled at him. “Archer, I’ll be okay. I promise.”

Before Archer could say another word, Lorelei quickly gave him a peck on the cheek. She turned toward the truck and reached her hand up, grabbing onto Jadis’ and he pulled her aboard the truck. Kent gave Archer a glare over his shoulder before he jumped into the back, waving at the driver.

The truck started forward with a lurch, heading toward the tall, chain linked fence. Two soldiers jumped from the truck, running to open the doors for the truck. Lorelei gaze behind her as the chain linked fenced was slammed behind them. Archer stood by the chain linked fence, his fingers tangled in the metal as he watched her leave, sadness and fear in his wide, blue eyes.

Lorelei had promised him that she would return home safely, and that is what she planned to do.