Mortal Wounds

Chapter Eighteen

Davian's POV

Less than 24 hours ago, I talked to Candy, saw the curious sparkle in her eyes, and witnessed the way jokes slid off her tongue. Now she's dead for reasons I don't even know. It feels like I faced an illusion. That gruesome sight of the woman haunts me, chilling me to the core. I am horrified, but I also feel a vengeful urge stirring with me, one that demands justice.

"Whoever did this made a grave mistake," Invidian breaks the silence between us, shutting the bible in his hands.

I stop pacing Virgil's room where I freak out as loud as I want because everyone else is still gathered in front of the church. Everyone was told to go home without an explanation so naturally, they did not and demanded answers. Invidian snuck back here though, changing into black clothes with a beanie, reading some of Virgil's stuff here and there while packing his bag.

"What do you think happened?" I stammer.

"Someone could have seen us see her. I thought I made sure we weren't being followed and there weren't any cameras. It could have been your attacker, or the BBB's CEO could have blabbed to someone," he suggests.

"BBB who?"

"A man I stabbed the other day. Unfortunately, he lived."

That's comforting.

"Why display her corpse in the church?"

"Irony," he says in a flat tone and a blank face.

"Sick, twisted irony," I tack on, rubbing my temples as though it would soothe the tension away.

"Her death will be avenged."

"What are you going to do?" I ask, raising my brows at the murderous look in his eyes, "Please don't tell me you plan on killing someone."

"Her killers crossed a line they should not have crossed. That's their fault."

"Are you dead serious? You can't—" I don't even know how to end that sentence.

I shouldn't have to explain that murder is wrong, but I see the blood l**t in his eyes, wanting to rip off the head off the person who crossed her.

"Tell me to let this go and you're going to end up just like her," he snaps.

"You can't just threaten me."

"Oh? What are you going to do about it? Cry?"

I purse my lips and instead of hitting him, which he probably expects, ready to start a fight, I kiss him. He pulls back, wiping his mouth with a sour expression.

"I cannot be tamed with a kiss," he snarls.

"I know, but to see something else other than murderous rage soothes me. Anyway, what's with the bible?"

He draws in a deep breath, trying to collect himself.

"Virgil left notes. I wanted to know how he would react to this incident, so I act appropriately," he grunts in frustration as if the concept is going over his head.

"Shocked, fearful, sorrowful," I suggest.

"Why sorrow though? They didn't know her."

"Empathy. All her dreams, her future, it's taken from her in such a brutal way, it would make Charles Manson cry. Maybe. Ok, probably not. That guy is pretty f****d up."

"Who?"

"Never mind, I don't want you to get any ideas."

He frowns to himself, placing the bible down on Virgil's study desk.

"How am I meant to react?"

"How do you think you should react to a death?" I ask gently, "How do you feel you should cope with Henley's death?"

I know I shouldn't bring it up, but I want to know where he's at when it comes to her. Fire flashes in his eye and his expression hardens.

"Leave," he commands, picking up his bag.

I run a hand through my hair, trying to figure out how to approach this subject. He's too standoffish and it's clear he doesn't trust me.

"Do you think Cassiel had something to do with Henley's death?"

Ignoring me, he slides on a pair of latex gloves before sneaking out the door.

"I can't help you if I don't understand what is going on," I press, following him.

"I never said I needed your help. Stay out of the way." He slings a backpack over his shoulder and pushes past me.

I follow him as he manoeuvres through the forest, circling around its edges where a security guard paces the area, meters away from the church where people are still protesting for an answer. I step back, hiding behind a good set of trees. Invidian approaches the guard, tapping his arm.

"What is it, kid?" the guard asks without any emotion.

Invidian puts on this innocent, sheepish expression that shocks me half to death.

"Sorry. Can I get your help? I was walking in the forest before I heard everyone screaming and freaking out. I think I dropped my schoolbook there and I'm too scared to go back to look for it alone," he asks, fidgeting with his hands nervously.

The guard grunts but swiftly starts off towards the forest with heavy footfalls. Invidian follows behind him with a sneaky smile on his face before he shoots me a look as if to tell me to leave.

I stealthily follow them deep into the forest. And by stealthy, I mean whenever I step on a large branch or make any sort of noise, Invidian covers it up with irritated coughing. They make it to a frozen lake that is usually used for ice skating by the locals around here. I blink rapidly when I look at the ice. Goosebumps prickle my skin. I swear I saw something standing on the ice, but the visage disappears as quickly as it appears.

"Where did you drop it?" the guard asks.

"So, how long have you been in the police force for?" Invidian ignores his question.

He doesn't get a response.

"There sure is a lot of you."

The guard pauses, eyes sweeping the area.

"Why were you walking out this far?"

"I've been keeping an eye on the routes of you guards. You're all very mechanical, aren't you? Not even pausing to eat or go for a bathroom break," Invidian continues, digging his hand into his pocket.

The guard chooses to ignore him, looking for Invidian's homework. Before I know what's happening, Invidian gets close behind him. He swiftly grabs a fistful of his hair and slits his throat with a knife. I curse in shock and run out of my hiding spot, grabbing Invidian's arm.

"Motherfucking pumpkin soup, what the f**k is wrong with you? I told you, you can't murder people, you spastic—"

He front-kicks the guard's chest, sending him sprawling back against the ice.

"He's not human," he hisses.

I move to help the guard to keep him from dying. I kneel down to press on the wound with my sleeve. I recoil back in surprise when I feel a burning sensation. I lift my sleeve, realising something has eaten right through it.

Eyes wide, the guard gurgles out an unnatural black sludge. He tries to cry out only to find that his voice box isn't working. He turns around, spitting out the black substance. The black sludge begins to pour out of its throat, covering the creature. We cover our noses as it releases foul gases.

I gape at the guard, only for Invidian to pull me back away from him. He drives his knife into the guard's neck. White light protrudes from the guard, crawling up into the knife. Inscriptions on the knife light up as if it's absorbing the light. His face rapidly decays. Invidian pulls the knife out. The black substance sludge eats through him and burns into the ice underneath it. The ice gives out. The body falls beneath the surface and disappears into the lake.

"Do zombies exist now?" I question in pure confusion.

"I was getting an off feeling from them. I didn't expect that kind of blood though."

"You attacked that guy just because of an off feeling? What if it was human?"

"Its blood touched you and you're not having any seizures," he points out, ignoring my question.

Invidian watches for a moment to see if I'll break into a seizure. Nothing happens. He runs a hand through his hair.

"It must have been an undead creature."

"Undead?"

"Animated corpses. Their bodies are dead, but their souls are intact. Someone is using their magic to keep them from decomposing," he explains, wiping the blood on my sleeve before tucking his knife back in his pocket, "I wouldn't be surprised if all the guards are the same creature. Do you think the woman who attacked you in the aqueducts is one of them?"

"Probably. Is the threat so bad they needed to bring in a bunch of undead freaks like him?" I answer, wrinkling my nose.

"Why aren't you that traumatized?"

"What do you mean?"

"I thought today would be the first time you've seen a dead body yet you're not trembling and throwing up like the humans. You seem fine in comparison," he points out with furrowed brows, "Is this really the first time you've seen a dead body?"

Deciding not to go down that road I shrug, tucking my hands in my pockets.

"You've never answered any of my questions about you. While I have a bit of an understanding, I would like to hear your story from you."

He glares at me as if preparing to tell me to piss off when we hear footsteps. He grabs my arm and immediately gets us out of sight. We duck behind bushes, keeping out of sight as we hear footsteps growing louder.

"I need answers, Raguel. This is the second attack from her this week. What exactly does she want?" Cassiel's voice is smooth as ever as he walks up to the frozen lake with a phone to his ear.

He overlooks the lake with an irritated twitch in his eye. He walks towards the melted section of the frozen lake with curiosity. Anger flickers in Invidian's eyes, his fists clenching as though struggling not to attack Cassiel. Sensing his bloodlust, I clasp his hand, hoping to soothe him.

I give him an assuring look, mouthing for him to calm down. Puzzled by his gesture, he snatches his hand away. At least all his attention is not on bludgeoning the man. Cassiel pinches the bridge of his nose in annoyance and holds the phone away from his ear. Even from here we can hear yelling coming out of the phone. Cassiel seems fine after finding out a woman he's had an affair with chopped to pieces. Socio-f*****g-path alert.

"What am I meant to tell them?... What are you going to do with her son? I was sure she was a single parent... Disappeared? From Gomorrah's hospital? Somehow, I find that hard to believe... Well, just make sure you bury any connection between her and me."

If anyone killed her because they saw her with us, her blood is on our hands. Guilt begins to clench at my chest, and I grit my teeth. A protective wave comes over me. They better have not done anything to her child. We need to make sure the kid is safe. It's the least we could do.

Invidian glares at the floor before pulling on my sleeve. He puts a finger to his lips and begins to back away from the area. I follow him, careful to be as quiet as possible back to Virgil's room.

My heart feels like it's going to leap out of my chest from nerves. I shake my head and turn to Invidian, focusing on the issue on hand.

"She had a kid. We have to make sure he's ok," I blurt.

He runs a hand through his hair as if he's mentally weighing the pros and cons of doing so.

"Cassiel said the child was missing though. We probably won't be able to find him."

"That's not good enough," I protest, "We owe it to him to make sure he's safe."

"It's too risky at this point. We don't know who is human, who is inhuman and who is possessed by angels. I don't even know how to fight back against the latter, but I know it'll take more than a stab," he continues, plucking a tissue from Virgil's bedside table to wipe his knife. Surprisingly the acid blood didn't eat away some of the metal.

"Then we won't get caught. We should just check if the boy is safe. That's all," I insist, "There would be some footage of the kid in the hospital, right? That might have a clue."

"Why do you care so much about that kid? Is it because you feel guilty?"

"We probably got his mother killed!" I exclaim, not seeing doing nothing as an option.

He pauses when we hear the front door open. He glances out the window, cursing under his breath as he sees Morgana and Dwaine walking into the house. He pushes me towards the mirror.

"Fine. But you'll have to come back later but with good disguises and a plan that won't make me want to shoot myself in the head. Got it?" he whispers.

I smile in relief, glad he agreed to help.

I begin to leave but something urges me back. Before I realise what I'm doing I turn on my heel and wrap my arms around him. He becomes rigid under my touch, not knowing what to do. I hold him tight against my chest in silent thanks then immediately go through the mirror.

As soon as I make it back to Ascanius' house, I rub my chest that aches from how fast my heart beats. I snap around when I hear a caw. Poe sits on Invidian's bed with a knowing nod.

Same, bird, same.

*

"Knock him out," Invidian urges from within the Veil.

Currently, he leans against the security control panel in Gomorrah's hospital. The hands on the clock behind his hand points to two o'clock in the morning. A middle-aged male security guard slouches in his chair while picking his nose and eating Cheetos.

"I don't want to knock out someone who's just doing his job."

"You're a reaper. You should have the power to touch the physical world from the Veil. Knock him out before I get pissed off and fry his internals."

"Fine, fine," I mutter, lifting a fire extinguisher from the corner of the room.

I lift it up behind his head, giving Invidian a 'do I have to?' look. I finally bring the extinguisher down on the back of his head. He sprawls out of his chair immediately knocked out. I drop the extinguisher.

"Oh my god, did I kill him?!" I exclaim, nudging the man with my foot.

"That was a hard hit," he admits.

"You told me to hit him!"

"Enough to knock him out, not enough to score a home run with his head."

I bite my lip, leaning down to see if the man is breathing. I recoil black when I see black sludge dripping out of his mouth.

"Eughh, he's one of those corpse creatures," I groan in disgust.

Invidian scans the man and shrugs.

"You should have hit harder. That way I would be thinking about its blood instead of wondering why this corpse was eating Cheetos as if it has a personality."

"I don't know. I mean, don't vampires have personalities?"

He wrinkles his nose.

"Yeah, and it's filled to the brim with creepy. Are you going to look at the security footage or what?"

I learned Invidian is uneasy about death. He avoided touching every wandering soul like he could contract a life-threatening disease. The atmosphere is cold, and it chills me to know so many ghosts haunt this place. In the security footage, I see a few in front of my father. It's hard to forget the pain which is haunting me when I see him on his bed, staring ahead as a few ghosts converse with him. To anyone in the mortal realm, it appears he's talking to himself. Now I see he wasn't alone. I walk up to the security footage and rewind them back by a few hours.

"I see the resemblance," Invidian comments, following my gaze, "But he doesn't have your eyes."

"What's special about my eyes?"

He falls silent but his hands interlace with mine, playing hot and cold with me. I then think back to the last time he showed me affection and ask, "Are you nervous? Does this place scare you?"

He pulls away from me, folding his arms as he leans against the control panel.

"Just tell me when you find what you're looking for."

"My father has been here for five years now," I mutter, deciding that Invidian won't tell him more about himself if I didn't do the same.

"Why?"

"Last time I was here the doctors said he had chronic schizophrenia and paranoia which causes him to lash out."

"When was the last time you saw him?"

"Four years ago."

"Why is that?"

"I couldn't deal with him anymore. He didn't seem like he wanted to get better and would shout at me a lot. Eventually, I gave up."

"Did you ever shout back?"

"No. He's my father."

"So? Lilith's father was God and she rebelled."

"I don't have big enough balls like your mother does, that's for sure."

"She's one tough demoness," he admits.

"Are you going to tell your family you're alive? I'm not sure why most think you're dead in the first place."

"Hey, that must be the kid," he points at one of the screens, completely dodging the question.

I followed his eyes and let the recording play in real time now. A sobbing little boy with dark hair and bright green eyes like his mother is led in by some paramedics. He is taken to one of the doctor's rooms.

"It looks like he was examined for shock. I wonder what he saw," Invidian states, watching the video.

My chest clenches at the thought. The boy cries more until blood begins to dribble out of his nose. The doctor looking after him immediately holds a tissue to his nose, rubbing the boy's back to calm him down.

"I recognize that doctor. He was threatened into silence when Cassiel and the rest decided to lie about Henley's death," he mutters under his breath.

We watch as a few of Raguel's security guards walk into the room and escort the boy out of the building.

"s**t, they do have him," I curse.

I frown at one of the patient's rooms, noticing graffiti that no one has cleaned up. It says: 9/6/15. The piece of graffiti seems far too out of place. I know this hospital is a s**t box, but I've never once heard of there being graffiti incidents inside the facility. I rewind back to yesterday. The graffiti disappears. It doesn't show who spray painted the numbers. It appears out of thin air. I enter the date into the database.

"What are you doing?"

I rewind to that date, fast forwarding through that date to find anything interesting. Invidian grabs my hand, stopping me abruptly. I look up to see what caught his attention. In the same room of where the graffiti was there is a woman sitting in the corner of her bed. I recognise her as Henley. She seems to be in the middle of an emotional breakdown. The doctors are trying to calm her down but she continues to sob. Someone sits on the bed behind her and holds her to his chest. I can barely make out his figure as it seems to glitch in and out. Her words are difficult to make out.

"It's too hard... can't get this unsettling feeling out of my chest. Let it die. Let it die... Let me go."

I don't have to be a genius to work out what she's talking about. One look at her pale, malnourished figure and her words is enough to understand. Those are the words of someone who's done with the world. I rub my chest, as a phantom, empathetic feeling grows there. I glance at Invidian. He stares at the footage intensely as if trying to understand what he is seeing.

"Is that you in the video?" I ask quietly.

He blinks and gives me an odd look.

"Yeah, I'm totally the type of person to check myself into a mortal hospital when I lived in Hell."

"I don't mean the woman. I mean the one that's holding her."

"No one is holding her," he snorts, looking at me like I've grown a second head.

I frown, pointing to the guy hugging her tightly as she cries.

"It's hard to see but don't you see it? There is someone holding her."

He stiffens, staring long and hard at the video to search for what I am talking about. After a while, he clenches his fists in frustration.

"Is this some kind of sick joke?" He demands, glaring at me with a mix of unnerved confusion and anger, "There is no one there."

It's my turn to frown at him.

"You can't see him?"

"Is this a joke at my expense, huh?"

"I don't think you see it."

"See what?"

"Maybe it's some reaper sense thing. There is a man hugging her, but I think from the Veil. Maybe that's why you can't see it," I suggest, rubbing my arm uncomfortably, "Surely you would remember visiting her though when she was like this."

He purses his lips, staring at the footage for a moment longer.

"What made you type in that date?" He asks instead.

"The graffiti in that room."

"What graffiti?"

I give him a weird look before changing the date. I blink a few times and fast forward through the day.

"I—I don't understand. There was graffiti on the walls. I swear it was there!" I rewind through the day trying to find where it went.

It's gone as if it never existed. I pull back, running a hand through my hair. It had to have been there. I can't make that up. I wouldn't have known about that date otherwise.

"I swear it was there!" I finally protest, hoping he will believe me.

He trails his eyes back and forth between the footage and me before folding his arms.

"Whatever. Let's leave. This place is creeping me out."

"But what about that boy? They have him." When he opens his mouth to argue with me, I add, "He clearly knows something they don't want him to know. It'll probably be valuable to you if you find out what."

He shuts his mouth, considering it.

"There is a b****y tissue in the bin in that room. Maybe if you touch it to read his death it will point to where they took him," he suggests.

I try to figure out another way but I can't think of anything. I'm not exactly keen to have another seizure and I'm almost afraid to see this boy's death. I sigh and nod in agreement.

"Alright. Now tell me how to turn off all these cameras."

"The off button is there," I point out, pressing it.

He wrinkles his nose and mutters "whatever, stupid technology" under his breath. My lip twitches but I don't say anything because I value my life. I follow him out into the hall where he makes his way to the room, avoiding bumping into any of the wandering spirits.

They seem to be of past patients who died in this hospital. It is a gruesome sight since most of these souls look like the way they died; sick, b****y, and decrepit. Some wonder around like normal people wandering the halls. Some ask other ghosts where their loved ones went. Others are a sobbing mess, begging to be brought back to life again.

"Why does this place seem more hellish than Hell?" I murmur, trying not to disturb any of the spirits either.

"You've only seen the pretty parts of Hell."

I shudder, wondering what the dark parts are like.

"But there are so many souls here. Aren't Reapers meant to be transporting them to the other side?"

"Ask them that."

I press my lips together. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to try and transport these souls to the other side. They all look like they're in pain here but I'd need assistance. Perhaps I can ask Lilu to talk to my ancestor about it. It's still strange thinking the man is still alive.

We make it to the room. I try to grab the tissue in the bin, trying to forget how gross this is. Only when I pick it up, nothing happens.

"I think you need to be physically there to get a seizure. Or at least be in the same realm," he suggests after I spend a while trying to trigger a vision.

"Alright, how do I drag it into this one?"

"We need a mirror large enough to stick your hand through. Perhaps if you drag it into a bathroom—"

"There aren't any mirrors in the bathrooms," I explain, rubbing the back of my neck, "Patients tried to break the mirrors and cut themselves with the shards, so they banned them from the hospital."

He runs a hand through his hair in exasperation.

"This makes s**t difficult for us," he grumbles, racking his head for an easy solution.

I have a solution, but I don't like it. My heart thumps in my ears at the thought.

"My dad has one because he kept throwing fits over not having his possessions, and he didn't show any suicidal tendencies," I mutter.

He stares at me for a moment, his probing stare trying to figure out what I'm thinking. I pick up the tissue by a clean corner. When he realises I'm not going to back out, he sighs.

"Alright. Just make sure no one sees the tissue. To them, it would be magically floating around."

After a few minutes of avoiding anyone from seeing the tissue, we finally make it up to the floor that holds the people with mental illnesses for rehabilitation.

Once we get there I can't make myself walk inside. I stare at his door, unable to make my legs function for a straight ten minutes. I try to sike myself enough to walk inside but my body refuses to. This man isn't worth my anxiety, I keep trying to tell myself. Yet the thought of seeing him again makes me want to vomit. I don't want to walk inside. The air is suffocating.

I haven't spoken a single word in my father's presence for years. Words could easily be manipulated. They could be ignored so often you begin to realise how many hours you have wasted your breath. Silence gave me some sort of control. I'm not afraid of him though. I'm afraid of staring at who I can become. I blink when I see fingers snapping in front of my face.

"Yo, Davi, are you still with me?" Invidian catches my attention, "What did that man do to you to warrant this reaction?"

"Nothing."

"Cosmo told me the man beat you. Is that true?"

"He's sick."

"I knew tons of people with mental illnesses. They actively try not to harm anyone and if they do, they own up to their actions."

"You don't even know what happened between me and him."

"It's bad enough you look like you'd rather swan dive into a million needles than step foot in there," he snorts, "Besides, there is no point in believing in people who don't give you any reasons to keep fighting for them."

My eyes sting a little hearing that. Even though he's keeping a stoic expression I know he's trying to comfort me. His words are much kinder than he would ever know. I've always had mixed feelings about my father. I've always felt guilty for not visiting him anymore. I know he's sick. His mental illnesses cause him to act out in the way he wouldn't normally, but I got tired of trying to help him. I felt betrayed. He was meant to always be there for me like he was when I was a little kid. I wasn't strong enough to stick around.

But I've never had anyone tell me it was my father who was in the wrong. Most people assume I did something to provoke him. Especially my psychiatrist. He felt I was going to be as bad as my dad. I reach for Invidian's hand, squeezing it. I distract myself by examining the way his fingers intertwined with mine.

"Thanks. I needed to hear that," I whisper.

He seems distracted by my hand before he flicks his eyes up to me. His cheeks go pink and he averts his gaze to the door.

"Come on. I want to get out of this place already."

I nod, letting go of his hand. I crouch down and slip the tissue under the door. Swallowing, I walk through the door. I open the door to find my father, Caius, sitting at a study desk, playing a game of chess with an invisible opponent. The tall, strong and proud man I once admired has become a thin husk of his former self. Cheeks that were once full and coloured are now pale and hollow. Dark brown hair falls to his back. Clear cut emerald eyes land on me stare off into space. I wonder if he spends most of his days like this.

"Come on, I'm f*****g starving to death. I need some grub. All Virgil's dad has been feeding me is rabbit food and disappointed stares," Invidian groans, catching my attention again.

I pull the tissue through the gap in the door as quietly as possible. Holding it in my hand I edge towards his mirror. I carefully pull it through the mirror, sighing in relief when it becomes black and white. It's now in this realm.

"I know you're there, Davian." I stiffen when I hear the croaky voice of my father.