Hallows: The Golden Viper

Mercy

Kings of Leon- The End

B.B.

Ashley secures the necklace from behind and the three of us stand in front of the full-length mirror. I take a moment to appreciate the attention to detail the boys put into this and I laugh because seeing it together now, it does feel like they're trying to cover up for something. And it's probably something big because they're all working together on this. It's probably going to hurt. Okay, don't freak out this time. We've got this.

"What?" Delilah asks. "Is there something you don't like?"

"No, everything is perfect," I say and I shake the feeling. "Was it ever weird for you, with Dad and David?" I ask Ashley. "I mean when it was just the three of you,"

"No, but that was just it. It was just the three of us. I think this is a better-suited conversation between you and your father,"

"Dad doesn't take my conversations about the guys seriously. Like ever. He's just Dad," I shrug.

"Well, you can always break into his room," she laughs.

"Dad's room-room?" I shake my head. Delilah laughs.

"His room-room. Dad wasn't into cars. I can't believe I thought he owned a Mustang," she grins. "That makes me sad,"

"Why?" I laugh.

"Well, the only car we inherited was Mom's and I accidentally flipped it," she shrugs.

"You flipped my car?" mom asks. "Lily got me that after your sister crashed the one Carter got me,"

"Yeah, when I first got back B.B. gave me some of her essence when Terra tried to kill us all and it's crazy strong. I had trouble controlling it without any outlets. Lucien and I were arguing and I lost control. It hit the car and it flipped over a couple of times and landed upside down outside the De Laughrey Ranch,"

"Wow," she nods. "I didn't know you guys could do that,"

"Carson's dad got you the Aston Martin? I thought he was a bad man," I whisper.

"He was. For the most part. But it was more Kelly's presence in him. After we got caught by hunters, she completely bound him to her out of fear and it made him a little crazier," she explains. "He was a really cool guy. He had had worse than the rest of us. He used to be really calm before he went mad. I love annoying him even more now that he's a demon,"

"Okay, we should stop talking about sad s**t. B is a f*****g sad sap and she's seconds away from crying," Delilah laughs.

She's not wrong. A tap on the door saves us all. I open the door to find Lucien standing there with a smile on his face. He looks me over and grins before holding his hand out.

"I am taking pictures," Mom squeaks excitedly. She pulls out a Polaroid camera from her coat. "Lily is going to love these,"

Lucien smiles at her and pulls me to him tucking me into his side so she can get a picture. She takes it and starts shaking it out. Lucien pulls me with him and we walk down the stairs together. I laugh at how amazing they all look.

"Okay," I clear my throat looking them all over. "What did you guys do?"

My dad bursts into laughter in the library. Delilah and my mom stifle a laugh. My eyes land on Carson and I smile. He rolls his eyes and motions me to the door. My dad doesn't stop laughing as I am escorted out to the Phantom. What's worse is that he's friends with Ash now and the two of them disappear for long periods of time along with some of the other demons. The seven of us pile into the car quietly as I contemplate the cons of having my father here with all these demon servants in human bodies. He's a higher rank than them. James asked me to be careful and what am I supposed to do. Watch him? I don't have time for that. I even had to put lab time on hold so we can all work on the threat together.

"It was my fault," Ahsan sighs. Right, put a pin on Dad's shenanigans. "I didn't give them proper instructions and they blew up a building with residents in it,"

"Dude," Lucien whispers quietly. But he's angry.

"So, if you're going to be mad. Be mad at me," he adds. I look over the six of them who are all watching San closely. Okay, don't freak out. Don't freak out. Ease yourself into it.

"I mean it should have been obvious to break the bricks in half," Dec speaks up before I do. "I should have been paying more attention. It's not the first time I handle explosives. I should have checked them first,"

"Me too," Carson agrees. "It's not the first time we overlook s**t and it was my op,"

"It was my idea to distract you with a fun night," Lucien looks up at me guilty. "I had to pull this one out of my special nights with B.B. prompts,"

"You have prompts for dates?" I ask needing that sweet little opening there. It kind of helped me breathe a little, motherfuckers. He nods. "Okay, what happened?"

"We were supposed to blow up this basement with a bunch of gangsters in it," Carson starts when the others stay quiet.

"I was in charge of the explosives but last minute, I ended up staying back with you," San adds. "And I forgot to tell them to break the bricks I gave them in half. To only use three and in half would have made six,"

"We used six whole ones," Dec continues. "And we blew the entire foundation,"

"There were fifty casualties," Vic finishes.

Oh s**t. This does hurt. It hurts a lot. Fifty casualties? Okay. Deep breath. This is probably going to be a mild s**t happens on the things that we're going to be experiencing together. I'm going to be that f*****g girl, aren't I? The oh, s**t happens girl that wishes s**t didn't happen. The one that wishes she would have made better choices at my age. But I'm not and she didn't. So, okay. s**t happens. Let's clean it up. There are fifty mortals souls out there probably wondering what the hell is happening to them. We need to get them home.

"Everyone died at the sight?" I ask.

"Yeah, the firefighters are still there. Trying to figure out how the place went down so smoothly," Lucien nods.

"We should go there," I sit back. They all look at me as if I'm the one who's lost my mind. They killed fifty people dicking around but sure, I'm the crazy one. "So that I can reap the souls. Give them peace. Accidents like that often create places like our house. I'd hate for those souls to be walking around all confused for all eternity. I'll show you guys how pretty Merciful Death can be,"

Carson knocks on the divider behind him and instructs James to head to Downtown. I can feel their guilt inside of me now that I'm focusing just on them. Now that they've let their guard down. It's interesting how they were able to hide the guilt behind the nerves of tonight's outing. It all kind of blends into one tight knot. I can't believe they tried to trick me. I can't believe Lucien was actually trying to help them. They usually send him in for negotiations. I'm not sure if they're getting better or if they're corrupting him.

I can't help but feel a little bit like an asshole. I do tend to overreact to certain things. A lot of things. It's all the emotions I take in on the daily. They all kind of just break me down. It's why I like to be alone in my room or in my lab. Alone is where I can best be myself without taking in anything around me. What's the handful of people I'm used to having around compared to the outside world? Nothing. It's blissful.

"I'm sorry," Lucien breaks the silence and the others all follow. I take his hand and Ro's since I'm sitting between them.

"This is my fault," I sigh.

"Oh, my god, no," Carson growls. "Why do you do that?"

"Shh," I give his knee a squeeze. "Guys, I know I tend to overreact to everything. It's kind of in my nature to be emotional about, well, everything. Trust me when I say that I know how shitty it feels to have something like this weigh over me.

"When things like this happen, we can't try to hide it. It was an accident. And I take my fair share of the blame because I was the one who insisted that San come with me today when I knew it was Lucien and Ro's turn. I get it. s**t happens. And when these things happen, I'd like for you to tell me so that I can help them," they all look at each other unsurely. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," the six of them nod.

"Okay," I smile feeling their relief flood through me.

"So," Lucien clears his throat. "How was your day?" the others laugh. "Genuine question,"

"It was fun," I admit. "I got to meet Don Castille,"

"Aww, before me?" Carson growls and just like that things seem to settle. Let it go. Deliah's advice isn't too bad.

"Yeah, I needed something," I nod.

"What did you need?" Lucien asks.

"I'm not saying," I shrug.

"We can ask him," Carson says.

"You can try," I laugh.

"Did you do something mean to him?" he smirks.

"Yes, the princess was mean to the old man," Ro laughs. Ahsan grins, shaking his head. The guys all turn to look at me. I can't help but laugh. In my defense, he started it. Yes, let's deflect. I'll hit the gym later. Maybe bang my head on the bathroom wall. It'll be fine.

"That was fun. I don't appreciate feeding Eve as much as I should," I admit. "I think I let my fear of the reaper get the best of me,"

"Yes," they all say at the same time.

"f**k you, guys. She shows me the scariest s**t in the world. Whispers dark promises in my ear. It's like having a really bossy evil twin with a gun fetish. She's basically San but sexier,"

"You-" he growls. "You think your reaper is sexier than me?"

"Yeah," they all say.

"It looks just like her," Lucien laughs.

"Okay, I'll give you that," he rolls his eyes. We all laugh.

I feel the shift in the air when we approach the scene of the crime. There are firefighters, cops, camera crews, and pedestrians all over the place. James parks as far as he can from the large crowd but close enough for me to do what I have to.

As soon as Carson opens the door for me, I hear them. My skin rises with goosebumps. My eyes fill with tears at the confused cries of the souls that were taken too soon. I take a deep breath and let it out slowly before climbing out. I stop them from getting out with me. They can watch but I don't want them to be out here. I don't want to look up at the tragedy. I don't even want to hear those who died, cry the way they are.

A boney finger tucks under my chin and she makes me look up at her. I can take murderers and savages, but this is the hardest thing about what I am. A sob escapes from me when she smiles. The other night, she took me to Mrs. Benson's house. The sweet old lady down the lane. Her front yard has the prettiest peonies along the picket fence that wraps around her yard. She slipped and cracked her head on her coffee table. She was sixty-two and lived alone. Her soul was warm and it felt a lot like Christmas morning before Dad died.

I can hear a woman calling out to someone. The desperation in her voice makes me tremble. This isn't like Mrs. Benson's house.

"They need you," she whispers and leans into me. "Remember. They'll stop hurting once you're done. No more pain. No more suffering. And it will be a very long time before you must feed this way again,"

I nod and she steps aside. I clear my throat trying to get a hold of myself. I rotate my shoulders and take a deep breath. She doesn't wrap her hands around my throat this time. She takes my hand. I glance back at the car to see they're giving me some privacy for this and I'm glad because I feel it would be disrespectful to the spirits. They are the reason why we're here. Dumb asses. I don't know how but they're going to pay for this. I'm making sure of it.

We make our way toward the disaster.

There's a little girl standing near the building. She cries as I make my way over to her. She's injured but I don't pay attention to her injuries. There's nothing I can really do to help it.

"My mommy," she points at what was left of the building. I crouch down and pull her up into my arms.

"Do you want to sing with me so she can find us?" I ask. She puts her hand on my face and nods. "What's your favorite song?"

"Ari," she answers without hesitation. "Moonlight,"

"I love that song," I smile and she giggles. It's not exactly a lie. Stacy is a huge Ariana Grande w***e. She's starting to dress like her and she's growing out her hair. I don't exactly hate it. It's just a big change from the goth princess attire.

I wipe away the tears staining her face and turn to the mess. I crouch down so that when she sees her mom, she can run over to her. She stays in my arms but her eyes are desperately searching the wreckage. She's so small and she trusted me so easily. I'm glad I chose to come here. She shouldn't have to wait to rest.

I close my eyes and sing for her. Her little bloodied hands are pressed against my face. I can feel them but once they're gone anything that belongs to them goes with them. The sound of my voice vibrates over the cries of the souls trapped under the mess and the cries begin to die down. I open my eyes to see them all gathering around us. Pulling away from the burning remains of their building.

"Mommy!" she screams as a woman weaves her way through the others worriedly.

"Abby," she falls to her knees and opens her arms for her. She was the one calling out when I got out of the car.

"What is happening?" a man asks.

"Why are we here?" someone else asks.

"My name is B.B.," I tell them. "You were all in an accident and that behind you is all that's left,"

"We're dead?" a woman asks. I nod. "Are we stuck here forever?"

"No," the little girl shakes her head. She comes back at me and wraps her arms around my legs. "We're not stuck,"

"Of course not. That's why I'm here. To help you all home," I place my hand on her head.

"Are you a angel?" she asks. I open my mouth to say no but the look in her pretty soft brown eyes won't let me, so I crouch down and give her a single nod. Her little arms wrap around me again. "Can you sing one more time?"

"Sure. What would you like me to sing next?" I ask praying that I know the song she picks. I should learn some in other languages.

"Do you know Kings of Leon?" she smiles. I laugh because how did she go from Ariana Grande to Kings of Leon? "It's my daddy's favorite,"

"I do," I nod and look around wondering if he died here with them or if he's out there grieving the loss. This is so f****d.

"Pick one," she pokes my cheek. I give her another nod and stand.

"Go stand with your mommy," I instruct her. I step closer to them and ignore the injuries. The gore of their pain and unforgiving end. Seeing it tends to overwhelm me. Remy appears behind me and they all gasp.

"Join hands," she demands. They all form a circle around us and hold onto each other.

"Running with the street lights. Laughing at the grave," I begin to sing. "He swears he gonna give it up. It's never going to be enough. I just want to be there when you're all alone. Thinkin' about the better days. When you had it in your bones. This could be the end,"

As I sing. Some of them start to disappear. They fade into pretty little sparks of white light that had once made up the souls of people who deserved so much more out of life. I feel each one of them as they cross over through me. Some of them weigh a little more than others. My eyes stay on Abby. The little girl stares back at me. There's a little smile on her face. The image of her battered body changes.

Abby is wearing a little pink dress with lilies on it. Her mom spins her around and she laughs. Her little pigtails swing as she looks back at me. There's no doubt in my mind that she would have grown up to look like the woman standing beside her holding her hand. The woman lifts her up and tucks her into her side. The two of them turn to look at me.

"Thank you, pretty angel," she says.

I give her a little wave and they're the last to fade into me. I gasp as the sweetness of her soul completely takes me by surprise. I've never had an innocent soul like that walk through me. Lucien is suddenly standing in front of me holding me up. I want to be angry, but I don't have it in me to keep fighting today.

"That was beautiful," he whispers, cupping my face gently. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I nod.

"Do you want to go home?" he asks. I shake my head.

"No, but I do need a minute to sit down,"

"Come on. You try to relax from here to the docks,"

He steadies me and leads me back to the car. James is standing next to the door. He offers me his hand and I take it. He rubs little circles on the top of my hand trying to comfort me. Lucien gets back inside first and looks back at me. He holds up his hand when James lets me go. I take it and let him pull me onto his lap.

"Did I get dirty?" I ask looking myself over. Right, why would I? They were just ghosts. Fresh ghosts.

"No," they all answer.

A shiver goes down my spine as a surge of power floods through me. The car vibrates with it and I fall back onto Lucien unable to help the way my body momentarily goes limp. It feels a little like my heart skipped a beat. It just stopped for a moment and then started up again going as fast as it can. The rest of my body is trying to catch up.

"What the hell was that?" Dec asks.

I reach out to them trying to catch my breath. Ro is the one that takes my hand and lifts me up, when I pull back my hand trembles and a light flashes at my fingertips. I turn my hand upward. Something starts to materialize. Little bursts of light flood the cabin of the Phantom and begin to form what looks like a spear. It's not like the Spear of Gabriel. It's bigger.

This one is longer. Sharper. The hilt has pretty gold, silver, and red designs. I hold up both hands as it starts to weigh more. I sit back and watch as it takes its full glorious form. I catch it when it's ready. The same pretty designs swirl down the staff. At the edge of the handle, Belladonna Blackstone is etched in a pretty black script.

"Helel," Victor is the one the breaks the silence. I look up at him.

"What?" I ask.

"It's a story or a legend. The Archangels of Heaven all wielded a divine weapon. There's the spear of Gabriel. The flame sword of Michael. The pike of Raphael. That's the lance of Samael. Ash showed it to me in a book. That's your scythe. That's the weapon your reaper is meant to wield. She can wield whatever she wants but that's the one that can harness her power properly. Damian's is a bow and arrow,"

"The lance of Samael as in Lucifer?" I ask. They all laugh.

"Wait, seriously?" Lucien asks.

"You do know that he wasn't banished right?" Vic asks. "He was named the King of Hell because he wasn't a soldier. He was a King. The other's scrutinized him out of jealousy and rewrote the laws of heaven to make him the object of hate and corruption,"

"And he just accepted that?" I ask.

"It made him one of the strongest beings in all existence. Can you imagine how strong you have to be to manage all of the dirty souls throughout time? He created his kingdom in his own image. One away from his father and the way he was raised. I mean sure, he's evil as s**t, but he does it's all on his terms,"

"I guess that means you're officially part of the dark side," Carson smirks.

"And all it took was for you assholes to kill a bunch of innocent people," Ro scoffs. The lance disappears and I sit back against Lucien.

"f*****g downer," Victor kicks him.

"I don't believe there are ever accidents in our line of work," James says from the front seat. "Things will always happen the way they are meant to. It is the way of the world. Whether we like it or not. There's a time and place for everything,"