Hallows: The Golden Viper

The Idea That You Have A Soul

Melrose Avenue- Enemy

B.B.

I've never heard Carson speak to Delilah the way he did just now. I also never expected her to do absolutely nothing about it. I glance over at Victor who I gave twenty-four-hour access to my Jeep so he can drive us around today. He seems a little nervous about Carson laying that on her before she got in the car with us as well.

"Don't," he mouths to keep me from bringing it up.

Stacy is talking to her about our ball gowns for next Saturday but it doesn't seem like she's paying attention.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I ask her as I turn around in my seat.

"Dammit," Victor complains.

"No," Delilah shakes her head. Vic lets out a sigh of relief. She looks over at him with a glare. "You know what? I do. Let me ask you a question,"

"Puta madre," he mumbles.

"Do I really not pull my weight?" she asks. I clear my throat as I think back to all the complaints Carson and Lucien bicker about when she's not around.

"You did at first," Victor blurts out when Stacy and I don't answer.

"But not now?" she asks looking between Stacy and me.

"Okay, dude. I'm not one to talk s**t," Stacy gives in. "But you have been slacking lately. Your drinking is a problem. Not just with Car, but you haven't been showing up at band practice either. Vicky and Nat have been covering for you after your little breakdown a couple of weeks ago but you're making Luc look really bad. You guys are partners. I know he gets a little crazy about the cursing but we're getting paid to do Fallen T.V. If Carl says to cut back on the cursing. You cut back on the cursing. You get me?"

Carl is their agent. He's a really sweet guy. Tough as s**t but we wouldn't like him if he wasn't. His dad was Dante's manager. Desmond and he was really close to our family. Dad was really sad when he overdosed. It was kind of the last straw for him. By the time my dad pulled that trigger, there was so much he had lost already.

"Ruth did tell me you've been going through Dad's stash crazy as of late," I say.

"You want to add anything?" she asks Victor.

"Yeah," he quips. "You've been putting Carson off for weeks now. B.B. has to cover you and she's not even part of the Fallen, Del. We talked about this in the last family meeting that you skipped because you were in New City with Victoria and Sabrina,"

"That was one time," she rolls her eyes. "Okay, yeah. I've been drinking a lot lately. It helps me numb the f*****g ice in my chest. Lucien's stupid ice blower bullshit is cold as s**t and I'm not used to the cold anymore. So if I can't be burning up all the time I rather be drunk,"

"Wear a f*****g jacket, Del. What the f**k," Stacy shakes her head.

"It's not a physical thing," I tell her. "It's withdrawal from her being in purgatory for so long,"

"Wait, that's a thing?" Victor asks.

"Yeah, Ash is experiencing the same thing. Lucien said he likes to stand in front of the oven at the cafe," I nod.

"What is Ash doing in the cafe?" Stacy asks. Victor laughs.

"He's helping Lucien with the scones," I answer.

"You f*****g assholes summoned an all-powerful archdemon and have him making scones with Lucien Daniels?" Stacy glares at me and then at Delilah. Victor laughs a little harder.

"f**k, we're here," he announces. "I take it back. This was a great topic and I think we should explore it a little more on our way back. Let's go see if Espinosa is the hunter Dante believes him to be,"

"Oh, he is," I shake the ugly burning feeling that washes through me. We all climb out and make our way up the driveway. His car is here. I take my spare key out of my back pocket and open the door.

"Why do you have a key to Espinosa's house?" Delilah asks.

"This isn't Espinosa's house. He lives in the condos on Charter. This is Dr. Van's place,"

"Why do you have a key to our doctor's house?"

"She gave it to me for emergencies,"

"You didn't give her a key to our house, did you?"

"Of course, not. Someone is always there to open the door. Before James, a lady named Margret took care of the house. Carson scared her before she left. She was really nice,"

"You mean mom got you a babysitter?" she laughs.

"Basically," I nod. We walk into the house. "Espinosa, don't shoot. It's just us," I call out. He steps out of Van's room with his gun at his side. "Hey,"

"You guys are loud as hell," he shakes his head.

"Did you sleep?" I ask.

"Did you?" he shoots back annoyed.

"Yeah, like a baby," I roll my eyes. "If a baby had nightmares of murdering a s**t ton of people,"

"Carson was right, you are good with crazy," he rolls his eyes.

"How do you feel?" I take my iPad out of my bag. "I'd like you to take a survey if you don't mind,"

He makes an annoyed expression and glances over at Delilah as if asking if I'm serious.

"You wanted her to show interest in you. This is what that looks like," she shrugs. I set up my iPad on the glass coffee table and slide it over to him. He sighs but picks it up anyway.

"Would it be too much if I ask for a blood sample?" I ask him. Victor snorts at Espinosa's expression.

"What do you need a sample for?" he asks.

"To compare it to the sample I have of you from before the spell was broken,"

"How do you have a sample of my blood from before the spell was broken?" he glares at me. "Wait, you're the f*****g reason why I had to get blood drawn a second time at my physical,"

"B.B., you didn't," Delilah laughs.

"Well, I had just told him to f**k off when Dad told me why he hates him. So, obviously, I wanted to see if there was anything supernatural about him. I couldn't exactly ask him after that. I would have had to apologize and Carson taught me to never show weakness to the enemy,"

"Mmm, s**t my girlfriend says," Stacy laughs.

"He said that?" he asks and then shakes his head. "How did you know I was having my physical done?"

"I had someone check your schedule at the station. You requested the day off. I was prepared to wait as long as it took," I answer ignoring his other question.

That's none of my business. He and my dad can fix their own damn problems. I did, however, use his relationship with my mother to get that schedule for an "anniversary". Simple yet brilliant and effective. I didn't think it was going to work.

"Un-f*****g-believeable," he shakes his head. "No boundaries,"

"Again, you wanted this," Delilah snickers.

"Do you have snacks?" Stacy asks him and moves over to the kitchen with a skip in her step.

"You don't find any of this weird?" Espinosa asks no one in particular.

"No, she has a detailed profile on all of us," Stacy shouts from the kitchen. "If you have favorite goons, she's got s**t on them too,"

"Why?" Delilah asks.

"What do you mean why?" Victor asks. "To make sure no one sketchy is going around her people,"

"B.B., sweetie," Delilah looks over at me. "We are the sketchy people. We're the people who others should be wry about. You worry way too much. Your head must be a f*****g nightmare to live in. You've got your own problems to deal with, Bells. Like whatever is happening with Ro and Asshat. The rest of us are good,"

"Do you want to talk about what is happening with Ro and Asshat?" Vic asks.

"Not in front of Espinosa," I shake my head.

"Thank you," he sighs. "How did you even come up with this? This is a detailed questionnaire of how the spell works,"

"Oh, we have access to all the Toad's research now. That spell was created by Blackstones. Second generation when Samantha Blackstone fell in love with a human and then he used the spell she cast to protect him against her as soon as he realized she wasn't like the other girls. She called them the Apostles. Ash, Ruth, Damian, and I had fun reading those scripts while he was teaching us about the language. We salvaged as much as we could after Dad dragged her to hell,"

"Is there an off switch?" Delilah asks.

"No, the spell was originally intended to help her human keep up with them. You know so he wouldn't be as breakable. He then took that and passed it on to his tribe or whatever. They're the Helsings. A lot of the lore comes from Hallow magic throughout history. Hallows just being absolutely emo harbingers of death,"

"I can listen to you talk all day," Stacy drops into the seat next to me with a bowl of cereal in her hands. "It makes sense. It's why so many curses are so alike but unique to the horrors of their own cultures. Ahsan has the scariest ancestry, but Jimenez comes in as a close second,"

"Really? I'd say Carson's was the first, then Ro, and then Ahsan's. Japanese Hallows makes Blackstone history sound like a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Halloween special," I shake my head.

"Yeah, their humans are pretty intense too," she nods. "Nah, I'm sticking with Ahsan's. Carson is def third. Irish Hallows fourth,"

"Hey, Irish is fourth for me too," I laugh. She holds up her fist and I bump mine into hers.

"Why do you know Irish Hallow history?" Victor ask.

"That guy Nat dated. Gotham or whatever. He's Irish," she answers.

"You're Irish," I remind her. "Nat still talks to him?"

"Oh, yeah," she laughs. "No, Dylan forbade her. But he runs for Halestorm. Hellbourne is way too small,"

"f**k, Shane," I sit back remembering how upset he was in the Courtyard at the academy. It was a good call for Delilah to send him away for a bit. I know when he comes back, things are going to change for him.

"Yeah," the three of them agree.

"Don't you four live together?" Espinosa asks and hands me my iPad back. Delilah is quick to take it from me. She must have forgotten hers.

"We're all more like roommates," Stacy shakes her head. "We schedule play dates,"

"That doesn't happen you know that, right? Stones don't just create a den of familiars and live happily ever after. It's hard for them to live in the same vicinity without wanting to kill each other. Especially Reapers and Devils," Espinosa shakes his head. "It's why Hellbourne Hallows are all over the world. They only get together for meetings or exchanges,"

"Yeah, when they have living parents. Most Hellbourne Hallows grow up in the system and don't come back here until they're eighteen once they find out why they don't fit in with mortal kids. Like Mr. Whitmore, Mrs., and Mr. Daniels. You know Lucien and Carson's parents you murdered," Delilah explains. "We grew up together. Our parents wanted us close,"

I glance up to see Espinosa look down at his hands with a little smile tugging at the edges of his lips. For a brief second, I consider slapping him across the room. I want to take my pen and stab him over and over again. I want to just forget that he's going to be useful to me from now on, but the feeling fades just as quickly as it comes and I relax.

"The Daniels were monsters. Just like Dante and his mother. Your father and Carson's mother murdered thousands between the two of them. All over the world. By the time there were twenty-one your father had earned himself the nickname Dante the Terrible and Kelly Hayashi was known as the Red Oni. I might have been spelled to complete orders but it doesn't change the fact that the world is better off without them," he sighs.

"The universe doesn't seem to think so," I shrug. "At least, where my father is concerned. Or he wouldn't have come back to haunt you,"

"b***h," Delilah laughs as she scoops a spoonful of Stacy's cereal into her mouth. The look on Espinosa's face speaks for itself. While the others find my comeback hilarious, he doesn't.

"Okay, David," I get up to go around and sit next to him. I take my examination kit from my bag and lift my flashlight. I have to thank Damian for putting this together for me. "I want to know more about your modifications. Let's start with your eyes. Demitria said she gave you the sight. What did she mean by that?"

"About twenty years ago, we found a reaper in Peru that was experimenting on humans. She'd take pieces of familiar vessels to put them into people with certain conditions. Heart transplants, eyes, kidneys that sort of thing. She discovered that whatever makes you what you are remains in those parts of the body after extraction,"

"So you people stole her research and started doing those things to your apostles?" I conclude.

"Basically. Demitria was their first familiar transfer success. She had a heart condition as a kid and because her body accepted the transplant. She has access to the reaper,"

"That would imply that our familiars are a genetic part of us and that her entire biology as a human changed because of the transplant. Not just that, a familiar and vessel are linked through the essence of their souls. Because familiars are dark souls created by chosen entities to bring balance to the way humans descend into their next life. You're playing god and have the audacity to come at us for being born what we are,"

"Maybe you're just a f*****g monster and the idea that you have a soul is laughable," he smirks. I smile at him.

"If I did have a soul. I'd probably sell it for something stupid like world peace," I tap his forehead with my mini flashlight. I check his vitals and then start to set up to take a blood sample.

"The church harvested the rest of the reaper's organs and when I faced off with Kelly she gauged my eyes out. The spell can heal if all the parts are intact, but if a piece is taken out it can't grow back. I didn't kill them. I was trying to get them the hell out of here, but when they figured out what I really was she was pissed. My partner Avery, at the time, went after them hard. By the time I was able to see again, they were gone and so was your father,"

"And Avery?" I ask.

"Her, I did kill," he sighs. "She asked me to. She was friends with Car and Ash,"

"So, this whole time you knew what I was?" I ask him.

"No, you're like your father. The mamba and the reaper have chaotic energy alone. Together, they mask each other's energy. What Fredrick Blackstone and Penelope Phantom accomplished is beyond the comprehension of our best Hallow Biologists, spell experts, or doctors. Other stones have been completely wiped out because they've tried to recreate what they did. You and Dante don't fit any Hallow profile. Not biologically and not spiritually.

"We can't detect you or your familiars. I was hoping that the entire thing had skipped you and then Delilah was gone. I had to call it in and they wanted Delioncourt to get close to you. Even if it was on bad terms. She was reporting back the same things I was. You were ordinary and you fit in so well with humans. We thought the Blackstone Reaper line died with Dante,"

"I've known Rose since I was nine,"

"Not Rose. Her mother,"

"Wait, isn't Rose Alexie's daughter?" I ask. "I met her this year,"

"She is. Declan and Rosalinda are Hallow vessels bred and raised for the church. Most of the Hallows they sent to detain you are hunters and you're not the only one they want. Delilah is a Golden Viper. Lucien can possess both Victor and Emmanuel to create the biggest murder in Crow history. Carson, Ahsan, and Decarious have full control of all of Hellbourne and they're moving into the surrounding cities.

"The way Stacy is accessing her butterflies has never been done. The union of Dylan, Marcos, and Natalie is terrifying. The three of them are specific kinds of predators alone but the three bound together the way they are makes them nearly unstoppable. The fringe and the church are in an uproar because they've never seen anything like this before. We thought Dante was bad but what you're doing can bring forth the end of humanity,"

"What does that have to do with Rose's mother?" I ask.

"She's Maggie, B.B. She was the woman that was taking care of you. She was brought in to get the Spear of Gabriel for us,"