I Think I Miss Chaos…

So today was just one of those days. Nothing worked, everything was like a grueling churn. I put makeup on to try and make myself feel better, and even though I looked pretty, I still couldn’t get much done. *fail* haha.

I didn’t feel like writing the ‘White Clouds’ story today. I ground out 500 words, but my mind is just… not there?

See, I have another story that I wish I could write, I really want to write it, but I just can’t figure out *how * to do it. Like, I’m not getting something essential about the story. I can draw it, which usually means there’s a story there to be written. I know that it’s meant to be cheesy as that’s the only music that seems to suit it. But I’m still missing something!

Speaking of missing -> I miss Chaos! And Kuryo! Maybe I should get started on editing them, but I don’t think so. It’s all kind of too fresh right now… and I don’t like editing haha. But I miss them! I’m already wondering what happens next, though I feel like I can’t write that part yet.  But ahhhh… anyone else get author’s withdrawal?

We’re expecting an ice storm to hit tonight/tomorrow, so I might not be able to answer many comments or post much in the next few days!

Below is the picture of one of the main characters in this ‘as of yet unwritable but cheesy story’.

 

“My Name is Chaos”; Chapter Sixteen Part Two

When I came to, I was tied to a chair. FoxFace was before me, arms crossed and a very sour look on her face. I felt groggy and sluggish.

“Feeling better?” FoxFace asked sharply, marching over to my side.

I eyed her, unable to really move my head. I was exhausted. But still, she irritated me. “No,” I mumbled. “Can I have some painkillers?”

Crack! She punched me across the face. Hard! It stung! My head snapped to the side and pain split across the side of my head.

“Really?” she asked sharply. “Does that feel better?”

I spluttered, head hanging back down. I blinked but couldn’t shake the pain. “No,” my voice cracked. My lips were dry.

“Listen to me, you little shit,” she snapped, hauling my head up by my hair. It hurt! But I was too limp to do anything about it.

For a blissful moment I almost laughed, knowing that Bella wouldn’t like me being treated in such a way. She was possessive, she would react and punish.

But she didn’t. Instead of a surge of possessive anger I felt an emptiness within myself. No more Bella.

Like a whipcrack it struck me. Bella was gone. She’d left me.

FoxFace was saying something, but I wasn’t hearing her. “Where’s Bella?” I blurted, completely interrupting her.

“What do you mean?” she snapped. I managed to focus on her burning eyes.

“Bella,” I spluttered. “Where is she?” I felt near tears. She’d abandoned me?

No smile from FoxFace. “Not here,” she snapped. “What, did you expect to find her?”

I searched her face, hoping to see some clue, something that I was missing. What had happened? I’d found the bones. I’d let Bella use me, send her magic out. She should have returned. We should be together right now. Unless… no, she wouldn’t. She cared about me. She wouldn’t just leave me behind.

Not like this.

I was snapped to by FoxFace glaring at me – and talking. It was more the tone of her voice, honestly. It was somehow sympathetic. “You found Bella. Don’t you remember what you did?”

I felt like crying. Blinking rapidly, I cast my eyes around, not really noticing what I was looking at. Anywhere but at FoxFace.

“What happened?” asked FoxFace staunchly.

I gulped. Where was Bella? She mustn’t have just abandoned me without a reason. There must have been a reason.

Shaking my head, I tried to sort my thoughts out. Focus on the now. FoxFace was standing before me, hands on her hips.

I collected myself somewhat. “I don’t remember,” I fibbed. “I just sort of – something happened. When Leo was talking and -” something clicked in my mind. “Why are you still alive?”

“What makes you think I should be dead?” she asked wryly. “If you don’t remember anything, that is.”

I balked. Stupid, stupid, me.

FoxFace smiled wryly. “If you’d stop lying, don’t you think this could go easier?”

“Really?” I snapped. “You think life gets better with honesty?” It sure as hell didn’t! I’d heard enough life stories to-

“No,” FoxFace said calmly. “I think it gets easier if you know when to make friends and when to make enemies.”

I paused. “You’re not my friend.”

She stooped to look me square in the eye. “I’m not your enemy, either. Don’t make one of me.”

“You’re not?” I sneered. “I seem to remember things differently.”

FoxFace grinned slyly. “Really?” She smirked. “If I were you, I’d rethink that statement, Chaos. You don’t want to be my enemy. Now-”

I spat in her face. On second thought, not the smartest thing to do, considering I was cuffed to the chair and still in head-splitting pain from the last punch.

FoxFace wiped her face on her sleeve. There was a rabid look to her eyes now, and I expected another punch. Instead she was just grinning. “Alright,” she hummed. “That’s the way this is. Well, that leaves me a clear conscience.”

“For what?” I snapped, all bravado and secretly wondering what the hell she had up her sleeve.

But, grin still in place, she didn’t answer. “Sweet dreams, Chaos,” was all she said as she produced another syringe from a nearby table.

“Hey! What’s that?” I fairly yelled, trying to shimmy away from the thing. It was pointless, as she poked it in me without second thought. When she drew it out, empty, my arm was tingling.

FoxFace waved at me. “Bye, bye,” she said way too happily.

Then the world grew dark. But in this darkness was pain, incredible pain. I had the distinct feeling that I was dissolving, being torn apart, and that I was traveling. Returning to the astral plane – yet I didn’t want to go there. Desperately, I wanted Bella. I knew I had to find her, help her, and be by her side.

 

I woke in a field of snow, crashing into it and the icy cold on my hands and face like a harsh bite. I floundered, struggling to my feet, blinded by light and stinging all over in residual pain as I felt myself finish putting itself back together.

For a moment all I did was flail and try to stay standing in the knee- deep snow. Then, as the pain oozed away and my eyes adjusted – I saw that I was standing exactly where Bella and I had once stood together. The view here was beautiful. The rolling fields, the farmhouses – it was all still as it had once been.

A gaping ache opened up like a wound within me. I wanted Bella like an addict wanted their fix – and for a split second I wondered whether I really wanted her, or whether it was that strange sensation of being with her that I wanted. Was it the euphoria, or love?

I shook my head, dismissing that as stupid. At this point, I figured it was probably a bit of both. No – a lot of both. I really needed Bella, and I really –

“Chaos?” a sweet voice said from beside me. I whirled, and there she was, like a mirage.

“Bella?” I grabbed her with both hands, seizing her by the shoulders. She was real! She was solid! I flung my arms around her, squeezing her in the tightest hug I could manage. She was laughing.

“Chaos? How did you get here? What are you doing?” And she pushed back, forcing me a step away from her. I didn’t care, I was filling up with her presence, feelign a strange euphoria at her presence. I just wanted to sink to my knees in the snow, as if it was the only right thing I could do in her presence.

I found myself babbling as this went through my mind. I was pawing at her hands that held me at arms’ length. “I was looking for you – they captured me – you were gone – and now you’re here – ,”

Bella chuckled. “You’re my absolute best,” she murmured, and I felt like she meant it, meant every word and meaning of it. My heart felt like it was going to explode from joy.

She finally drew me in for a slow, purposeful kiss. I wanted to cry from relief. The feel of her was a balm to my wounds – and then she drew back.

“Come with me,” she said sternly. “We can’t stay here, the humans have control of this area.”

“They do?” I asked, mind flubbering around. Of course, they had invaded. Bella had no more land – or did she?

Bella dissolved away before my eyes, her grip still firmly on my arms. When her hands went to dissolve, I began to follow.

This traveling was painless, easy, and fluid. One minute we were in the bitter snow, the next we were slowly reappearing in Bella’s living room. The same one as before, with several vampires still in it.

“I went to investigate the portal,” Bella was drawling as I finished taking full form. “And look who I found.”

There was a murmur of approval from the vampires. A glimmer of jealousy? They didn’t seem fully pleased to see me.

But Bella either didn’t care or didn’t notice. Within moments I was seated in someone else’s spot and Bella had resumed her chair. Swiftly, I was given the summary of the situation. The vampires had retained power over the city, and only the city. The humans who lived within were the reason why – the rest of Canada wasn’t sure how to control a raving bunch of awe-inspired people who insisted Bella was their god and wanted to be left alone. For now, they were being starved out in the dead of winter. The humans, in their devotion to Bella, were simply staying put and starving.

“There are many who have been taken into captivity. Those who lived outside of the city,” said one vampire angrily. “We must rescue them.” And due to the emotion in her voice – did she actually care about these humans? “They are our brothers and sisters!” she said dramatically.

“Yes, yes, all in due time,” muttered Bella, eyes staring off into the distance beyond everyone.

The vampires did not seem pleased. “There are many more who have been made captives in the earth realm, taken away,” grumbled another vampire. “We must rescue them as well.”

A smile lit up Bella’s face. “I think I know what we’re going to do next,” she said with the cheer of someone on a bright new idea.

“But the rescue missions?” whimpered the vampire who was so emotional about it all.

Bella waved her hand in dismissal. “I’m going to challenge the sky god to a duel.”

My jaw fell. She said it so lightly, so easily – but did she know what she was doing?

“My Name is Chaos”; Chapter Thirteen, Part Two

“If you can tell us what they believe, we may have a chance to stop her,” said the angel sternly. “We need either a tactical defeat, or a public one to prove she isn’t all that powerful.”

Yet, I added silently. Not that powerful yet. But I shook my head. I couldn’t tell them. “I wasn’t awakened, they said. So they didn’t tell me. But they were all very devoted to her.”

“We know that,” said the angel dryly. “Even you seemed quite taken by her.”

I nodded miserably. “She has a charm to her.”

“Must be quite the charm. She had a gun to your head and you didn’t seem to care.”

I didn’t answer, chewing my bottom lip. Well, bugger. Bella had quite the ambition, it would seem.

“Can you tell us anything about them? Any detail about what drove them to her?” father asked gently.

I shook my head. But I spoke. “They were all really nice. I didn’t think they were holding me hostage. They just asked me to visit around, then to walk with them to the portal where she pulled the gun out – I,” wow, it sounded stupid when I said it like that. “They were all really nice,” I repeated, defeated by those questioning glares.

“And the vampires?” asked the angel. “Did you encounter them at all?”

“It was them, they were super nice. Docile. You’d think they were tame or something.”

“Drugged, more likely,” declared the angel. “and the werewolves?”

“They were actually around the vampires. Co existing. It was – weird,” But only now that I thought back on it. How come I hadn’t noticed this as weird before? Oh yeah, I knew why. “Why hadn’t you told me that there were werewolves involved?” I hated those things!

The angel shook his head. “We had no clue that they were involved, or even missing. This has taken us quite by surprise too, you must know that.”

I hummed and nodded, pretending to care. Truth was, I didn’t. No, I felt that somewhere in my heart, we’d become divided. I just felt I couldn’t trust them, so did it matter whether they’d known about the werewolves or not? It should have, but it didn’t matter to me anymore.

The angels waited, seeming to want to prod me with something else. I raised my eyebrows at them, challenging them to spit it out.

“So, you are maybe mortal now,” said the angel testily.

Father stiffened. Mother’s expression grew dark. And you know it’s bad when the angel of life looks dark.

I guess I was supposed to squirm and look all miserable. Truth was, I couldn’t care less. I had bigger fish to fry on my plate. “Okay,” I said quietly, refusing to mention that I may have been given an antidote. Or maybe not. Who knew with Bella, really?

The angels tapped their fingers together, exchanging glances. Their leader seemed uncertain. “There is no antidote without knowing th eoriginal recipe, having the blood and intentions of the caster-”

“I know,” I said dryly. But there was a pang in me. “What about Al?”

“Definitely mortal,” said the angel without hesitation. “I’m sorry.”

I looked back down at my hands, and found that I didn’t care. I was just angry. Angry with the angels, angry with the humans – and confused. I wanted them gone. I wanted – Bella. I wanted to speak with her. To commune with her in that strange way again. To feel her presence and be comforted, truly.

But as all that went through my mind, there was no way to say it. So I just nodded and held my silence.

The angels seemed to have been waiting for something, again. I scowled at them. “Now what?”

They took it differently than I had intended. “Now, we have to find a way to stop this. You, it would seem, are our biggest ally. None of the vampires are telling us how they feel, or what it was that caused their strange behavior. They’re even coexisting near werewolves, as you say. We need to stop this-”

“Why?” I blurted. All heads turned to me. I shrugged, pretending nonchalance. “What’s so bad? So the vampires aren’t hating on their lunches. Big deal.”

Now the smallest of the angels spoke. “You idiot. Bella hasn’t been caught yet.”

There were shushes all around the table, and the sullen angel scowled around.

“Oh?” I asked, trying to sound casual and not to squirm guiltily. Like, I knew right where she was and they were all clueless.

“She vanished as she died,” said Father gently. “She didn’t come to me, and no one saw where she went.”

Probably because I was causing such a scene, and there was all the humans around to cloud the vision and make things muddy for spirits. Like finding a person in a crowded room. But hey, all she had to do was hop right into me. It probably was easy because of the bond we shared. A special bond, I liked to think.

I fidgeted. “So?”

The head angel sighed. “Chaos, I can’t tell you how dangerous she is. It is very difficult to unite the hellions. Lucifer is always struggling to keep his armies together. To disrupt this careful balance, to try and destroy the sky realms and earth realms to invade nirvana-”

“I don’t think she wanted to destroy anything,” I snapped coldly.

The angel continued. “You don’t know what she wanted. And anyone who can turn a god mortal, and goes around doing it for the sake of fun, is a problem. Is that clear?”

I pressed my lips together, knowing full well I’d just been given a black-and-white lecture. It should have been easy to understand that Bella was ‘evil’ and ‘dangerous’. But I just couldn’t. I kept thinking of her standing beside me in the snow, our shoulders nestled together as we overlooked the gentle snowy landscape.

“Chaos?”

I shook myself, looking around the table. Had I drifted off?

“I think you need to rest,” said Father gently. “Lots of rest, and to change your mind.”

“Yes,” said the angel chief promptly. He rose from his chair. “Lots of rest. For you, the adventure is over. Let us know if you feel any changes or sudden impulses. It could be invaluable information.”

“Sure,” I said lamely.

“My Name is Chaos” Chapter Eight, Part One

“So are you feeling better now that you’re seen your friends?” Bella asked as we left the floor for the stairs. Our hands were entwined again and that was making my heart do somersaults.

“Yeah,” I said breathlessly, watching her from the corner of my eye. What was it Leo had been wanting to tell me? It couldn’t be that terribly important, could it?

Bella hummed, pleased, and we kept walking in silence. I wondered so many things right then. What had really happened with Mark? Why Leo was back in a lab coat, evidently helping them out when he’d been so adamant to speak against them… were they forcing him to work? And if so, why was I getting the royal treatment out of all of us? She couldn’t do this for all the visitors. Why me?

Why, why, why – We reached the bottom of the stairs, walking out into the entrance hall. There were vampires in tow, vampires hanging around, and the little secretary’s desk at the entrance. My head was swimming with thoughts and I nearly kept walking when Bella drew to a stop.

“Hmm?” I turned to face her. Her fingers tugged me closer. A wry smirk was on her lips. I glanced at the vamps behind her, who were dutifully watching, blank-faced. But Bella was pulling me to stand before her. Her blue eye twinkled, her smile viciously excited.

“There is an announcement to be made,” she said as I stood before her.

“Oh?” I felt like something was flying straight over my head.

She stepped forward. I didn’t move back, instead tightening my grip on her fingers. My hand rose up between us as she stepped into my metaphorical bubble. Somehow it landed on her shoulder limply instead of stopping her final step closer. Her hand rose up for the back of my head and my mind went blank. She pulled me forward.

We kissed, her hand holding the back of my head firmly.

Well, my heart did all the flip-flops it could. My stomach was filled with butterflies. That euphoria returned from within, rising up within me in a flicker. I was happy, truly happy.

When we seperated she had an eerie smile on. “I think you should stay,” she whispered, her blue eye nearly glowing it was so bright.

“Sure,” was the smartest thing I could think of saying. Because I couldn’t think. My head was all abuzz, my body felt like it was fluttering, and I was filled with excitement bordering on euphoria. I just wanted to kiss her again.

She grinned. “Good,” and she began to march past me, out the building. I kept tow, not daring to look behind because I was sure my face was on fire and I had the dumbest grin on.

I swear, I felt glares on my back. Outside, the cold was burning on my face compared to the heat I had boiling within. I was full of butterflies, moths, fireflies, bed bugs, you name it. I had the jitters, bad.

Bella drew to a stop before her skidoo. She maybe winked at me, or just blinked. It was hard to tell with the eyepatch. “You can ride with me,” she said.

Yay! It felt like an ice cream cone on a birthday. A bit silly, but meaningful and sweet. Sickeningly sweet.

Did I still have alarm bells going off in my head? Questions? No. My head was blank now and filled with her. She was all I could think about. How fabulous she was. How amazing. Sweet and kind.

The next thing I knew, there were no skidoos following us. We were alone, drifting out of the city. Fields upon fields of snow whizzed by, complete with cutesy little farm houses and the occasional horse or herd of brave cows.

We came to a stop at the crest of a hill. There, Bella dismounted. I followed suit, watching with hearts in my eyes as she pulled off her helmet and shook her hair free. Then, a grin was turned my way.

“I wanted to bring you here since I laid eyes on you,” she said.

I looked around. Snow drifts gave way to peaceful valleys and a river swirling through it all. There was no farmhouses, no humans, no nothing but snowy fields.

I put my hands in my jacket’s pockets. “It’s beautiful.”

She gestured with an arm. “There’s nothing like this in hell,” she declared. “Only here.”

I almost corrected her. Almost. Sure, there was icy plains of absolute pain and bla di bla in hell, if you looked hard enough. But it was not like this. This was… nice.

“I want you to join me,” she said, leanign back against the skidoo. Her hand lay over my arm. “I see beautiful things in you, Chaos. I want you to join with me.”

I found myself looking into that brilliant blue eye as it was turned towards me. “I believe in you,” she said.
My heart fluttered. When was the last time anyone had said that to me? “Really?”

But she nodded, smile pure and sincere. She plucked my hand from my pocket and lifted it to her lips. She kissed my knuckles. “We could do great things together. Tell me you’re going to stay. Tell me you’ll stay by my side.”

My heart twisted on itself, like it was trying to run in two directions at once. It was painful. “I,” I croaked.

“Please,” she whispered.

It hurt. I ducked my head. Tears rose to my eyes, and the whole situation felt unfair. Why didn’t I get to choose where I would be in this whole mess? Besides, what was she doing that was so wrong anyways? She just… wanted to save people?

I pulled myself up. “You have to be honest with me.”

A flicker of a smile came over her. But she was serious when she said “Yes.”

I nodded, gulping. Swallowing the fact that I really had promised to go home, to do just my mission, and to do nothing else. My head bowed and I knew how disappointed everyone would be with me.

A finger lifted my chin to look at her once more. “Promise me you’ll stay by my side.”

“I promise,” I whispered without thinking, following the tug in my heart. It hurt to hear myself say it, to know that I was breaking my word to my family for her. But they hadn’t treated me right either, sending me here without the full knowledge of what was going on – the full knowledge of her.

Bella leaned in, hand sliding to grip in my hair, and we kissed. “I really like you,” she whispered against my lips.

“I,” was all I could croak as she drew back, gazing into me. I hurt. I was happy. I was so confused. I wanted to cry.

She seemed to know this. Pityingly, she took my head in both her hands and pressed our foreheads together. Her eye closed and she began mouthing words.

I felt them in my heart, reverberating with meaning and wisdom. I held on to her shoulders, shuddering as that strange euphoria came over me again. A white light seemed to fill me. It was bliss, lighter and gentler than before. I craved more. I wanted the same intensity that she had created in the church. But the words grew quieter now that the light filled me. They faded within me, takign the bliss with them and leaving me wanting more.

“Feel better?”

I blinked and saw her smiling at me. “Yeah,” I whispered, wondering how she could do that. I was no longer upset. More… muffled? The white within seemed tohave quieted the storm but it wasn’t gone. Just tucked away.

I shook my head, trying to clear my mind and reorganize my thoughts. More like get them working again. “How do you do that? What is it?”

Now she really did wink. “Secret.”

I punched her lightly on the shoulder. “No, really. Tell me!”

She laughed. “No. You’re not awakened yet. It will mean nothing to you.”

“But,” I protested. She shook her head, facing the fields once more and shifting so our shoulders pressed together.

“No buts,” she said strictly. “You don’t have a choice in this.”

I scowled and leaned against her. She leaned as well, and now we were propped on each other. My fingers slid down her side in a silent plea. She gave me her hand, and we twined together in the cold.

“My Name is Chaos”: Chapter Seven, Part Two

I stood up gingerly, not really trusting my limbs to hold me. But they held. Bella guided me out of the aisle and led me outside of the chapel. I was not prepared for that gust of cold air. It was cold! So cold!

Chuckling, Bella pulled her hat on. I hugged Mark’s jacket around myself. I didn’t so much realize that we had let go of our hands as I felt it as an emptiness within myself. I told myself it was nothing. But still, those alarm bells within me were ringing.

“So,” I said as Bella began walking forward to the skidoos. “What just happened? Why did you show me that? Why?”

“Well aren’t you full of questions?” asked Bella with a smile as she drew to a stop by her skidoo. She pulled on a pair of gloves and pulled her turtleneck higher up on her throat. I couldn’t help but notice how soft her skin looked. But I refused to be distracted. My head was a bit more on my shoulders, that strange craving for her now only a tiny feeling in my gut. So I crossed my arms, told myself to digest that feeling, and scowled.

“What’s your plan? What – why even show me that?”

But Bella grinned at me. My heart flip-flopped stupidly. “Because I like sharing,” she said sweetly. “I like giving people answers to their questions. So,” she fiddled with her skidoo helmet. “What’s your next question?”

I took a breath. Really? Was this going to be that easy? A question about the portal almost slipped from me. But I stopped. If I really wanted to know – “Where’s Mark? What’d you do to him?”

She ducked her head, grinning widely. The vampires looked concerned. “What?” I asked. “You said you like giving answers.”

“Mark, ah, had an accident,” she said with the smile that said she was lying.

“Really?” I asked. “Well I still want to see him. And Leo.”

Bella’s eye twinkled. “Well then, let’s do that, shall we?”

I hesitated. “Really?” What, was she letting me dig my own grave?

“Really,” she nodded at the vampires. “Let’s go.”

And off we went.

I was expecting us to go to the hospital, or to suddenly transport into a medieval dungeon where bits of Mark would be hanging around. Instead we went to a mansion. It wasn’t quite quaint. It was modern (Ish?) with giant windows, peaked towers, and well, it was huge. I sort of wondered why Bella wasn’t living her instead of her small victorian-era home. Was she just into vintage?

“Here we are!” Bella announced as she drew off her helmet and I awkwardly got off the skidoo behind mcwhateverhisnamewas. She pulled her gloves off and gestured to the house with a large grin towards me. “The center!”

“The-?” I balked. Was she really showing me something important?

“Center,” she said, dropping her skidoo helmet into the seat. “Our intelligence center, where we keep people who are problematic, and where,” she shrugged “Our center is.”

I blinked. The center. There was going to be a portal at the center. Whoah. She just spelled it out for me.

She flashed her trademark smile at me. “What’s that face for?”

I shook myself. “N-nothing.”

The other vampires didn’t look so certain however. They were giving me the stink eye. I did my best to put on a casual smile. Wouldn’t want to give away that she’d just solved my biggest problem for me.

Well, up we walked to the door. Big, imposing, double doors. I was expecting some sort of high-tech fingerprint or eyeball-checking security system. No such thing. We just walked straight on in.

My alarm bells rang at that. Why was she so trusting? How come they could afford to just – no security? It made me frown as we walked in.

“Namastay!” cheered someone so happily that I jumped. Whoah. Right there, just a few steps in, a cluster of vampires were standing around and sipping out of water bottles.

“Namastay, namastay!” said Bella so happily as she strode on in through them. She hugged several members and patted others on the back. “How is everyone?”

My brain balked. What the hell? The vampires had the same adoring eyes for her that the humans had. They chirpily told her that oh, everything is good, grand mistress, all good.

“Excellent,” crooned Baella. She reached for me, gesturing me over. I slowly scraped over, letting my feet slide grudgingly over the floor.

Mcsomething or other shoved me forward so I stumbled next to Bella. Bella took me by the shoulder and righted me with a crick. “This is Chaos,” she said sweetly, her fingers digging into my shoulders one second and caressing me the next.

A general coo went up, like I was a baby. Adoring eyes went from Bella to me. Bella’s hand slid across my shoulders to hug me sideways. “She’s visiting!” said Bella excitedly. “So let’s all be on our best behavior, okay?”

I gingerly looked around, hoping I wasn’t blushing ridiculously. Bella was holding me so close. So tightly. It was… very nice to say the least. Something in my gut was twisting free, squealing in joy at the attention just as I found it strange, very strange.

After some aimless chatter, I was led away, my hand in Bella’s. “I’m sure you’re very worried about your friends,” she said happily as we walked down the entrance hall.

“Very,” I muttered, looking everywhere but at her while all my attention was on our hands together. I didn’t want to let go. It felt so nice.

Up a flight of stairs we went, vampire troupe still in tow. Into endless corridors we went. The place stunk of old money, old luxury, that had all been torn down. There were spots where paintings had been removed from walls. The bannister was pointedly not polished, full of grummy handprints. The corridor was making me sneeze.

“Too much fur?” teased Bella.

“Is there cats here?” I asked, sniffling.

Bella shook her head. “It’s the werewolves you’re smelling.”

“Uh- huh,” I grumbled. I knew no werewolves had escaped hell. That, they had been sure to tell me. Only vampires on the run.

And then a door opened and – yeah, those were werewolves. My jaw practically hit the floor. The werewolf in charge (some muscly dude with a mohawk) did the same. His eyes bulged and a look of sheer panick crossed his face, eyes flitting from me to Bella. Then to our joined hands.

He made a sound, pointing at me.

“This is Chaos,” said Bella as we walked up to them.

“I – know,” said Munch, as I liked to call him. Munch and I never got along. He was dumb. He ran a small gang that always got into trouble with ol’ Beelzebub and – wait a minute. They’d been really quiet lately, hadn’t they?

“Chaos is visiting,” said Bella, swinging sideways to bump her shoulder against mine like we were best buddies.

Munch chewed on that for a minute, jaw working. He ogled me, then again, our hands. “Okay,” he said finally. Bella flashed him a grin. Then, leading the way on, she gestured him to come along. “How have our guests been doing?” she asked as Munch tailed along sheepishly at her side. By his expression, I guessed that he wasn’t used to this much attention from her.

“Good,” he mumbled, making part of my brain explode. Munhc? Mumbling? Whoah. Usually this dude just up and yelled every word in people’s faces. For him to be so docile…

I eyeballed Bella. She just looked so sweet and docile, her evil red eye completely hidden by that eyepatch. Hmph.

Up another flight of stairs, we were suddenly swamped by the smell of chemicals. “This is the science flight,” she said happily, stating the obvious. There was a cluster of scientists here and there in the hallways, all whispering excitedly at our passage. One quickly stepped forward and opened door for Bella, who smiled so sweetly at them as we went through.

And there was Mark.

He was shirtless, his hair a grimy mess. Propped up in a hospital bed, he was restrained by cuffs and tubes coming out of his veins. He was utterly unconscious, looking almost peaceful.

“See?” Bella pulled me to his bedside, where she planted me beside a drip-bag-thing that was connected to Thor’s tubes. “He’s not all that bad, is he?”

I had to say that she was right, actually. I’d been expecting, well, much worse than him to be simply incapacitated.

“He tried to run away,” said Munch, crossing his arms across his chest and flexing. “We tried our best but,” he gestured to Mark’s arms and wrists, where there was some bruising. But that was minor, right?

“And Leo?” I asked, mouth dry.

“Right here!” cheered a vampire from behind us as Leo himself was pushed in.

Leo was in fresh clothes, wearing a lab coat and a very, very, unhappy expression.

“See?” said Bella. “All fine!”

Leo gave her a hateful look. Munch flexed again.

“Can we talk? Alone?” Leo said, glaring at me like I was to blame for the universes’ problems.

Bella looked at me. A frown crossed her face.

“Please?” I asked.

And that was all it took? Again, her smile returned. She left, and everyone else followed, looking quite puzzled. The door was shut.

“What are you thinking?” hissed Leo, walking to my side. “We’ve got to get out of here!”

I looked around, puzzled. “Really? I mean, this place is weird but-”

Leo rolled up his sleeves and showed me several pinpricks. “They keep injecting me with ‘vitamin B’,” he hissed. “Have you found the portal yet?”

I looked around to avoid looking at him. “No, but I know it’s going to be in this building.”

Leo snorted. “Good job, kid. You’re really on top of things.”

“They’re not being awful,” I argued back.

He squinted at me. “So you too are going to start singing praises about Her?”

I flushed. “No.”

“Yes. Do you know why Mark tried to run away last night?”

My mouth was dry. “No. Why?”

“I don’t know. But they used quite some technology and magic to heal him.” he gestured to Mark. “He didn’t look that good earlier on.”

I wanted to kick myself for being so gullible. But then again, what really was wrong here? Everyone seemed so happy… “You’re right,” I said flatly. “Something’s wrong.” People just aren’t this happy. Besides, if Lucifer wanted this place shut down, there had to be a good reason, right?

“They’ve got information that,” the door opened and Bella strode back in. Leo scowled.

“So? All caught up?” she asked sweetly.

I caught myself smiling back at her. She was so sweet. So pretty. “Yeah,” I said without thinking. Beyond Bella, Leo glared at me. Like, really glared. He wanted to murder me.

“My Name is Chaos”: Chapter Six, Part One

Ahhh, I love this section. I really get into characters like Bella. They’re what I feel I do best. To me, they’re both relatable in their passion and sympathy and their flawed nature, as well as slightly terrifying on the flip side.

And, to surprise myself, I did a pencil and paper drawing instead of on the computer, and I like it much better! Maybe I’ll just give up on computer drawings for a little while. I’m not sure why, but I’m so much more impatient on computer colouring.

Anyways, enjoy! For all those who are wondering whether I’ll ever get back to mental illness topics, yes I will!  I just love fiction writing, haha. Is there any topics you’d like me to discuss about mental illness? Let me know!

////

We entered a room that was large and somberly lit. Like the rest of the house it was all polished wood and paneling with a chandelier lighting it. Against one wall sat an upright piano. A fireplace crackled against the other wall. And there, in a deep comfy oldsie-styled chair, was a figure.

I wanted her clothes. There was buckles on the turtle neck collar, on the sides of a slightly corset-styled waist, down the sides of her jeans, and on the sides of her knee high boots.

When she turned her face to us, I forgot about her clothes though. First things first → she had the same haircut as Al. Really? Chin-length hair, minus the bangs. Except her hair was light reddish chestnut brown instead of jet black.

Second. I nearly jumped out of my skin, I was so shocked. She had one red eye (left) and one blue eye (right, obviously. What, did you think she had three eyes?). It was the mark of a Nephilim, one of both angelic and demonic descent.

“Hi,” I said, lifting a hand. Whack! The big beefcake smacked me on the back of the head with a hand and lowered my hand with another.

The madam/mistress/boss in charge of it all smirked. “Let her be,” she said condescendingly. She waved a hand at us. “Actually, you can all leave. The kid can stay.”

“But! Madam!”

She snapped her fingers in the air. “No buts! Go.”

The entire troupe of vampires bowed and crowed together “Namastay,” in varying varieties of pronounciations.

I blinked and turned to stare at them. Had I heard that right? But they were all filing out, glaring at me before shutting the door behind them.

I turned to her. The madam. She was still smirking while watching me. Elbows propped on the armrest, she flicked her fingers at me. “Come,” she said. “Draw up a chair. Namastay, by the way. Feel welcome.”

Nama-what? I blinked, wondering which pantheon she was from. From the skin tone, she should be something western. She was pretty pale, Irish maybe? But that namastay-

“I said,” she barked. I jumped out of my thoughts into a terrifying moment. Her red eye was gleaming and shivers crawled over my skin. “Pull up a fucking chair.”

I pulled up a fucking chair. Right to where she was pointing. Then I sat down in it. It was really comfy. Decadently so, but it didn’t help me relax one bit. No, really, she reminded me of my relatives. Or really, anyone of rank in Hell. Maybe a little archangel in her too? Who knew?

All bad mood vanished, she smiled sweetly at me again. “Namastay,” she crooned. “Good to meet you.”

“You know me?” I asked, ego inflating a little. Yeah! I was known! A smile crept over me.

“Not at all. Couldn’t place you in a crowd. But,” she flicked her fingers upwards. “I’m sure we’ll get to know each other well.”

I deflated somewhat. Oh, yeah. Well, not everyone knew the Grim Reaper had children, but uh… I tried to refocus myself. “So uh, who are you?”

“Direct,” she crooned. “I like that. Simplicity is a virtue.” And her eyes swept over to an immense painting that was draped in curtains. It was vintage- or not. It was a giant buddha, one hand in his lap and the other touching the earth. The gesture meant something, but I couldn’t guess what. It was serene, made to look like a vintage photograph.

Her fingers propped her chin, almost caressing herself. They were spindly thin, her fingers. In fact, beneath the cut of her clothing, she was bone thin. Almost unhealthily so. “I am a human,” she said softly. A direct lie if my eyes were telling me anything. “And that is how I interact with this world.”

“But you,” I pointed to my own eyes. “You’re nephilim.”

She smiled at that painting. “To the Buddha, we are all suffering, all in need of salvation.”

I glanced again at the painting. So serene. I looked back at her, who seemed wholly entranced by it. Our eyes connected and she smiled as if she pitied me.

“Buddhism is the ultimation of humans. All other things have been handed down from deities, spawning their will in this world. But Buddha,” she gestured to the painting. “Was human.” And her eyes lit up. “I love humans,” and her voice dropped to a whisper. “I’m going to save them.”

“Yeah okay, so you’re going to build a temple or what?”

“I’m going to save everyone,” she crooned, both eyes fairly glowing.

I fidgeted. Something about her seemed unhinged. Just a little. “Uhm, okay.”

She point-blank interrupted me with a clap of the hands. “We have a non-believer in the room!” And she smiled nastily at me. “You don’t care about the Buddha, do you?”

I smiled half-heartedly. “That’s not what I’m here for-”

“The Buddha would say that you,” and she pointed a finger between my eyes. “Are lost in the swamps of delusion.”

Yeahhhh, okay. I hadn’t met a preacher since visiting a lower level of hell, and hey, this sounded similar. “Uhm,”

“We’re all suffering,” she crooned at me. “We’re all in this together.” and she reached out and took one of my hands in both of hers. “Don’t you see that? Don’t you feel the pain, hear the screams of the world? It’s alive, we all are.”

And you, are a nutbag. I wiggled my fingers in her grasp. “Uhm,” I cleared my throat and ducked my eyes from her overly sympathetic glare. “What’s your name?”

She released me with one hand and snatched up a book from her handtable. “Bella,” she said with passion. “I am Bella.”

Twilight. That’s what she was holding. Twi-light.

She held the book out to me, voice riddled with passion. “This was my past life – I,” and she seemed lost for words. “You must understand past lives. Don’t you?” And then she laughed and looked at the book. “It is impressive, how easily humans write up the lives of others. Don’t you think?”

I think you’re off your rocker. But I smiled and nodded. That satisfied her. She set the book down. The hand that still held me caressed me with a thumb. She looked down at our joined hands. “And you, dear child, what is your name?”

“Chaos,” I said proudly.

“Chaos,” she nodded with a hum. “What a lovely name.” her eyes sparkled sincerely at me as she clasped my hand in both of hers. “I hope we can be good friends, Chaos.”

Yeah, no. But I nodded and forced a smile. “Yeah.” Alright, I wanted my hand back. I tugged, and she gave way. She held her hands to her chest, pressing against her heart while she beamed at me. “My heart is happy at your name,” she whispered. “I feel we shall be good friends.”

O-kay. Alright. “Yeah, uhm,”

“Are you tired? Hungry?”

“No, actually, I -” and I hesitated. How to approach this? Suddenly I felt the emptiness of my lack of a plan.

“Yes?” she asked sweetly.

I totally segwayed off to the side, so to speak. Let her keep talking while I figured out what I needed from her. “How did you get here? You’re not a vampire?” I gestured at the door. “And yet – you’re not their juicebox.”

She tossed her head back and laughed heartily. That took a minute. Then, brushing a tear from her red eye, she laughed at me once more. “Oh, you’re funny too! Oh, I like you.”

Uh. I almost yelped and jumped back, she took my hand in hers again so suddenly, snatching it from me to squeeze it passionately. “If only you could understand what we are trying to do,” she whispered. “But you -” and a finger waved at my third eye. “are not yet awakened.”

Okay, now I was curious. “Not yet what?”

But she shook her head, grinning. “You don’t need to know. You’re here for your lost minion, yes? Stay a while. Stay with us,” and she patted my hand and let go before kicking back in her chair and gesturing. “Maybe we’re not that strange to you. Maybe you’d like to join us.”

Excellent! “I’d love to stick around,” and snoop in all the corners and find your portal. Which she hadn’t yet mentioned, by the way, which was strange for a preacher-esque nut. Usually they went on and on about their evil plans. But she just cooed and clasped her hands beneath her chin and had hearts fairly bubbling from her eyes as she looked at me. “Our souls are attuning,” she said. “The desire to stay is just the beginning, my dear.”

Uh, yeah no.

“My Name is Chaos”: Chapter Four Part Two

“Hello, Chaos,” she whispered.

“Oh, shit,” I said as I stared at the spirit sitting in the back seat.

“Language, language,” whispered the being. “Children shouldn’t swear.”

“Fuck you!” I snapped without thinking. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, well, you know,” the blob took on a haphazard shape. Now it had eyes and a mouth and was somewhat of a humanoid shape. “Someone’s gotta babysit.”

“I do not need babysitting!” I yelled.

The scientist looked to her, looked to me, and frowned. “What are you looking at?” he asked. “Is there something-” and he poked at her, going right through her.

Oh crap. She wasn’t incarnated. They couldn’t see her.

She grinned fiendishly at me. “Are you having a mental breakdown?”

Without thinking, I yelled back. “I’m not having a-” I stopped myself just in time. Glaring at her, I turned to Thor.

“There’s a demon in the back seat,” I announced dryly.

“Really?” Thor looked in the rearview mirror and frowned. “I’m not feeling it.”

“Me neither,” said the scientist in awe as he kept passing his hand through her. She kept grinning at me.

“Who is it?” asked Mark grimly. “A vampire hunter? Horseman of the apocalypse? Tell us.”

I groaned and slunk down in my chair. “It’s no one. Just a dumb, lower-level, obnoxious, demon.”

“Yeah, there’s a real dumb spirit around here,” she said loudly from the back. I wanted to plug my ears. Maybe if I ignored her she’d leave? Soon? What was she even doing here?

I threw myself around, making the scientist jump. But my glare was not for him. “How’d you get permission to come here? Huh?”

She grinned and kicked back in her seat, stretching tendril-like arms above her head. “Who said I had permission? You’re not the only rule breaker around here.”

“I have special permission!” I burst. “And I will send you back if- ”I held up my cross pendant. “Or I’ll tell my dad! And he’ll come and get you!”

She leaned forward, putting on a shrill childish voice. “Oh, I’ll tell daddy. Oh, I’m a little snitch and my name is Chaos.”

I just about turned purple in the face. I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. Her grin turned nasty. “Go on, call daddy. Do it.”

I thumped back into my chair, deciding to ignore her again. Whatever. Like I needed her approval.

My fingers traced the cross pendant against my chest. Should I? She wasn’t allowed to be here. What if she interfered? Would it be … bad? Or could I use this to my advantage?

Frowning, I focused on the road ahead. The pine trees lined ever on and the wind blew in icily.

“Hey Chaos!” she yelled in my ear.

I yelled, jumping three feet in the air. “What?” I yelled, turning to see her leaning up between Mark and me.

“I want a body,” she declared. “Get me a body.”

“I’m not getting you a body!” I snapped. “If you’d wanted one, you should have incarnated!”

“Too much paperwork,” she grunted. “Hey, is this guy really attached to himself?” And she poked at the scientist.

“He lives in there so I’d say yeah, pretty attached. And if you try possession, I Will report you!” I was protective of my little mission pals.

“Uhm,” Thor cleared his throat.

“Oh hey, he’s hot,” she said, leering around at him. “Tell him to pull the car over. I can take him over, then we can make out. Neat, right?”

“Shut up!” I squawked.

“What is going on?” asked Thor.

“What’s their name?” asked the scientist, scribbling away at their notepad.

My nerves were beginning to fray. “I want to drive!” she announced, jumping at Thor.

“No!” I yelled, trying to stop her. No luck. If I’d had rolled my dice on it, it would have been a critical 1. A complete failure.

I tackled Mark/Thor, grasping for the immaterial that could not be touched. Thor yelled, shoving me off him. The car skidded, then we must have hit a patch of ice because it really skidded.

“AHH!” I yelled as the ditch came zooming up towards us.

Bwoof!

It was like landing on soft fluffy marshmallows. But at 100 kilometers an hour. So the ‘bwoof’ sent us all flying in all directions. The car keeled over to its side and I was now squished sideways with Thor half on me. There was a scientist’s leg in the air beside my head.

Great, bouncing, burgers.

“AL!” I shrieked, clawing my way up. I scrambled over Thor and pushed his door open. He shoved me and I made it out the door. “I’m going to kill you!” I yelled, stepping out into the crisp air.

A light drifting of snow was fluttering down. There was no noise now. Not a sound. I stood on the side of the car, breath misting before me as I glared out at the pine trees’ depths. Was she hiding in their branches? Or was she right beside me, invisible?

No warning. None at all! Just – CRA-KOOM! Lightning split the sky and struck the road where the car would have been, further down the road. Sparks flew. Smoke spiralled up.

Worse? There was now a dark figure there. The shape of a teen, wearing a long coat that framed their figure. Whisped in dark tendrils of smoke, it began striding forward down the road. Towards us.

“Who is that?” asked Thor, now by my side.

“It’s her,” I grumbled, gritting my teeth, hands balled into fists.

“The demon?” whispered the scientist, climbing up beside Thor.

A cloud drifted away from the moon, allowing light to beam down onto her in a most dramatic of ways.

She was as tall as me, but her hair was cut short around her chin with long bangs that fluttered about her face. Her hair was a deep blue with jet bright streaks in it. Her skin was dark, her face pretty nondescript, especially with those sporty sunglasses she had on. She was wearing a deep purple and pink trenchcoat with orange eagles on it. Oh, and she was had thick black leather boots.

“Hey Chaos,” she said as she stepped to the edge of the road before the car. There was a nasty grin on her face.

“Hey,” I seethed. “Do you have to ruin everything?”

“It’s my duty,” she drawled, running fingers through her hair dramatically.

“Who are you?” asked the scientist, sounding way too impressed for his own good.

She totally let it get to her head. As always. “My name is Al,” she drawled. “And I’m Chaos’ fiancee.”

“My Name is Chaos”: Chapter Four, Part One

“Now would be a good time for a plan,” said the scientist, chuckling nervously.

“I don’t need plans,” I balked, though I knew it was pointless. I really needed a plan. But you know what I needed more? A dice! I fished in my pockets but there was none to be found.

The car was slowing down.

“What are we doing?” roared Thor, looking around. “Do we try and bust through? We can’t, I see spikes on the road.”

“Uh, uh,” and I tried to come up with a plan. “Why don’t we just talk with them?”

And so, like a little weird family going to the drive-through, we pulled up to a stop at the vampire’s impromptu barricade. Thor and I rolled down our windows, playing it cool.

“Hey,” I said.

The vampires just stood and stared like they’d never seen the likes of this before. There were the spawns, spider-like with human heads, but there were also full-fledged vampires in human form. They were all bundled up in winter gear and one even had a hockey stick. They uh, looked significantly less impressive without all their leather gear on.

But what do you expect? Hell spawns to not need winter gear? Please, I was freezing and I was from a different level of hell than them.

One vampire stepped forward. She was wearing a puffy grey winter coat that hung to her thighs, a knit black hat, and had beady dark eyes and a pointed chin. “What?” she demanded.

I couldn’t resist. “Eh?” I asked, leaning out the window. After all, no hellspawn said ‘eh’. That was an obnoxious human thing, from this part of the world only. Did it work?

“I said! WHAT?” she yelled in my face. The baseball bat in her hand flew up menacingly.

Okay well, whatever. I blinked, wiping the spit from my cheeks. I played innocent. “Can we come through? Are you guys looking for someone or something?”

The vamp paused. “We are looking for someone. But that’s none of your business. What are you doing here?”

I turned to Thor. “This is my older brother. We got busted doing one of your deliveries, so we’re coming through on the way to recon with his boss or something.”

The vampire sucked on her teeth, looking around the car. “And the dude in the back?”

“A hostage,” I said cheerfully. “We’re bringing him in. Says he got some info or something.”

I could almost hear the scientist in the back sweating, that’s how nervous he looked in the rearview mirror as the vampire scowled at him. But she thumped a fist on the side of the car. “Okay. You can go.”

Thor looked ready to crap himself. I nodded. “Thanks.”

The vampire stepped away from the car and began ordering the barricade moved. Within minutes it was moved and we were sifting through.

“Wow,” muttered Thor as we began slowly driving on. “You did that.”

“Oh yeah,” I muttered like it was no big deal.

Thor gave me a look. “So you’re the Grim Reaper’s son?”

“Child,” I corrected him. “I’m non-binary.”

“Uh-huh,” grunted Thor. “That newfangled thing.”

“Actually, it’s not really new,” piped up the scientist.

“Yeah,” I snapped, kicking my boots up on the dashboard. “Besides, my genitals are none of anyone’s business.”

Thor shook his head, tapping a hand on the steering wheel. “So now what? We just keep driving until we find a sign saying ‘portal here’?”

I bit my lip. Yeah, true, but uh, I didn’t even know where we were. Like, I’d received some directions but ‘go straight past the blue house’ didn’t seem useful any more.

I picked up my pentacle and nibbled on it. After a moment of silence I spoke. “So,” and that’s as far as my thoughts got. I drew a blank. Ridiculous, really, but I didn’t know what to do or say next. We were just driving on this infernal road past zillions of pine trees that looked like the columns of hell.

But everyone was looking to me for directions.

“Gotta make sure we don’t run into werewolves,” I said nonchalantly, knowing full well there were no werewolves in this world. But did they know that? No. So I looked smart.

“How do we do that?” asked the scientist weakly.

Avoid looking sexily edible? Uh, well, “Stay out of the forest?” I suggested lamely. “We should hit a village or something soon so we can ask for directions-”

“Asking for directions? Really?” asked Thor. “That’s how lost you are?”

“What?” I bit back. “It can’t hurt?”

“Oi hey, dark denizens of doom, can ye tell me the way to hell?” asked Thor, putting on a terrible Irish accent. “Oi noes? You want to tell me to yoink myself? Oi really!”

“Oh shut up!” I snapped. “You don’t have a better idea!”

“That doesn’t mean your idea is good! One shit doesn’t downplay the fact the other shit is still shit!”

I was baffled. My idea wasn’t bad. I’d just talked to the vampires and see? It went well? “Don’t you trust me?” I demanded, deciding to pull the emotional card.

“No,” said everyone in the car. I heard an extra voice in here.

Paling, I turned around in my seat. There, next to the scientist, was a black shape with glowing green eyes.

“Hello, Chaos,” she whispered.

“My Name Is Chaos”: Chapter Three Part Two

I honestly don’t have much to say here except -> Thanks to everyone who reads and leaves comments! They totally make my day! Look forward to (possibly) some sketches of the (not so) fabulous trio coming soon!

///

Beyond the fire and flames, things calmed down ridiculously fast. No, there was no helicopters chasing after us. Not even cars. We were just zooming away through the hellish pine trees, skidding over the snow. The worst we encountered was a small snowdrift across the road.

“Are they not coming after us?” asked Thor, checking the rear view mirrors obsessively.

“Actually, I don’t think so,” said the scientist oh so calmly from the back seat. “We are in vampire territory, after all.”

I turned around in the seat and looked at him. “What do you mean by that?”

“It means that they can’t just send helicopters and armored vehicles into vampire land without it appearing as an invasion. So we’re technically safe,” he said with a cold smirk.

Thor gave me an ugly look. “You’re really dumb?”

I jabbed a finger at him. “Now lookit! I’m just not well versed in social affairs! I’m really good at – at -,” and there I floundered for a moment. I was far from the best fighter out there. I wasn’t the best magician. “I’m really good at art,” I mumbled dejectedly. The splattery kind.

Thor snorted. “That’s the kind of thing that won’t get you far in life.”

“So you wouldn’t classify yourself as a good fighter?” asked the scientist, drawing out a notepad from his pocket and scribbling at it.

“What are you doing, taking notes?” I gawked back at him. He nodded.

“Helps me remember. Now who would you classify as a good fighter?”

I snorted. “Ever gotten into a scrap with an archangel? Michael’s a good fighter.”

“Hmm, I see,” more scribbling ensued. “And should we be expecting to see those anytime soon?”

“Of course not!” I snapped before thinking. The Archangels stayed all stuffily in their holy world. The rest of us – well we just needed to fix this little problem. I folded my arms and sat back into my seat, refocusing. I had to get this done. And if we were heading into vampire territory, then things were going surprisingly well. “Hey, you two are going to help me out, right? I’ve got something I need to do.”

Scientist McNerdynerd took off his safety glasses and pocketed them. “And what would that be?”

I looked at Mark pleadingly. “You wanna help?” I fairly whined.

“What is it?” grumbled Mark.

I grinned and propped my feet up on te dashboard, feeling super proud and important. Becau-use… “I have been chosen to close the portal that the vampires are trying to open.”

“They’re trying to open a portal?” asked the scientist.

“To where?”

“To Hell, of course,” I said with a drawl. “They’re going to bring all their friends out here on earth. And maybe start Ragnarok by cracking open a seal that brings forth jesus’s ugly lamb-side.”

“Ragnarok?” asked Thor, eyeballing me. The scientist scribbled hastily away.

“Of course,” I drawled. “But we’re going to stop it. So no biggie.”

“Wait a minute, you’re just mixing hell, Ragnarok, and Archangel Michael together,” growled Thor. “You can’t just-”

“Oh yes I can,” I sniggered, lifting my pentacle pendant to nibble on it.

“Am I to assume all mythology to be accurate in some form?” asked the scientist as he scribbled away.

I shrugged, holding up my pentacle before myself. It glinted in the moonlight. There was no rule against divulging to humans what they already knew, was there? “Sure,” I said nonchalantly. Then, after a pause I said “Ancient mythology. There isn’t any great flying spaghetti monster.”

“And why,” the scientist started, but Thor cut him off.

“And who are you? Huh? Vampire spawn?”

Oh right, he didn’t know. Lazily I brushed my hair from my face. “I’m the grim reaper’s child.”

Another angry glare. “And so?”

That – was not the response I’d been looking for. Grovelling? Anyone?

“I’m the grim reaper’s child!” I fairly yelled. “A little respect here?”

“You’ll find that lineage bears little weight in contemporary Canadian culture,” said mister nerd in the back seat.

“Lineage is important!” I snapped, glaring from one scowling Thor to the nerd. “It gives you your powers!”

“And Lucifer went from angel to bad guy,” snapped Thor. “So go shove it!”

“Lucifer’s pretty cool,” I grumbled. “Or do you mean Satan? Both pretty cool.”

“Should we be worried about meeting them-”

“No!” I yelled, turning on him. What, didhe want the whole cavalry to show up? This was not some experiment! “Look, this is a relatively discreet thing – we don’t want everyone to show up. It’s just me, and now you two as well. Okay?”

“Closing a portal?” asked the scientist. “That sounds fairly simple.”

“Where is this portal?” growled Mark.
I gave him a cheesy grin. “Where else? In the middle of vamp-land.”

“The latitude and longitude middle, or the theoretical middle? Or the middle of their largest city?”

I turned around in the seat and glared at him. “Which do you think?” I asked saucily while my mind raced. Now that he mentioned it… I’d always just assumed ‘the middle’ meant the middle of their largest city.

“I’d assume theoretical middle,” he said.

“But which is it?” Thor asked, thumping a hand on the steering wheel. “And what’s the plan?”

“Well I think it’s in the middle of their city,” I huffed, crossing my arms across my chest and throwing myself back against my chair. “And do we need a plan?”

There was a dead silence in the car.

“You don’t have a plan?” the scientist whispered so quietly it was almost drowned out by the sound of snow crunching under the tires.

“You don’t have a plan,” cursed Thor.

I bit my lower lip. Was it really a problem?

“No wonder you got caught,” murmured the scientist in awe.

I slunk lower down in my seat, biting my pentacle pendant. These people just didn’t understand me. I would show them. This mission was easy. I was going to succeed, and easily at that. The beginning was just a hiccup. All I had to do was –

Thor cursed loudly. “Vamps,” he said, pointing ahead.

Indeed, vamps. As in, a full blockade of the things, complete with machine guns and baseball bats.

“Were they expecting us?” I asked, shocked.

“Now would be a good time for a plan,” said the scientist, chuckling nervously.

“My Name is Chaos”: Chapter Three Part One

Hey everyone! Here’s some more Chaos! I really hope you enjoy it as much as I do! It’s so much fun to write 🙂 Do let me know what you think!

///

We have a fifteen minute window. The words kept ringing in my head. I felt like I was on fire. I was ready to blow up and take the world with me. Yeah, let’s do this. Let me show FoxFace what I was made of – Chaos. Chaos here, ready to take everything down. Wasn’t that why I had been offered this mission? Because I rocked, that’s why!

For all the fuss in my head, we just walked out of the lab. Bam. The nerd/scientist slid his key card in the slot by the door, and we walked straight on out. A straight corridor that was dimly lit led us to another door – and that one was to the outside.

It was nighttime. A crisp air, no wait , a freezing air wafted over me. There was an inch of snow over everything. Military cars. Military buildings in low long rectangles everywhere. A few soldiers here and there marching. Above, a full moon.

“Werewolves are out,” I chuckled, pointing to the giant moon. The scientist was not impressed.

“Should we be expecting werewolves?” he asked in that disaffected tone, syringe still at the ready.

I groaned as we walked down the metal ramp and stairs to the ground. “I was joking!” I hissed. “Can’t you tell? Werewolves aren’t on earth yet, you know?”

“Yet?” he asked coolly.

“Well,” I squirmed and grumbled. “Forget it.” I stuffed my hands in the pockets of Thor’s fuzzy checkered jacket.

We crossed the distance between the buildings, snow crunching under our boots. This felt surprisingly boring. Soldiers nodded at the scientist, who nodded back and pushed me along.

“Does no one realize what we’re doing?” I hissed as we entered the second building.

“I told you. We have fifteen minutes. I did away with the guard, and that’s when we’ll be found out. Now hurry.”

Did away with? Well shit, the nerd wasn’t joking around. I scurried after him through a set of doors into this next building.

Here, the faces of the soldiers were dire. They began asking questions, sharp and dry.

“What’s your business here?”

The scientist calmly produced a lengthy paper. “Permission to have this subject meet with the prisoner, to jog their memory,” he said as if he believed it.

With a grunt the paper was handed back. We slipped forward to a series of cells with this soldier in tow. Several other soldiers lined the walls, all grim and scowling at us. We were let into one, and oh hey! There was Thor!

“Hey!” I said so cheerfully. But Thor gave me a death-glare, and another to the scientist.

“What do you want?” he asked the scientist. “And what’s the vampire doing here?” And I was given a nod, but no look.

“Hey, I’m not-” but the scientist spoke over me.

“We have seven minutes to get out of here,” he said sharply. “Get up and come along.” To me, he said “Stand still,” and that syringe jabbed into my shoulder.

“Hey!” I exclaimed, but it was too late. The stuff was in me and the needle drawn out. I rubbed a hand over the site. It was itchy. “What was that?”

“Consider it coffee,” he said dryly as he pulled a pair of safety glasses from his lab jacket’s pocket and put them on. “Now you do your part. Get us out of here. I’ll tell you where to go, but you have to do the people bashing.”

“I can’t kill-”

“Yeah yeah, just knock them out. We can’t just walk out of here with your buddy.”

I blanched, remembering all those beefy soldiers lining the wall. “We have to make it out past them? That we just passed?”

The scientist nodded. “You can do that, right?”

“Is this for real?” asked Thor, getting up off his cot and walking over. “You’re escaping?”

“Yes, if the kid can do it.”

“That’s your plan?” I hissed, angry of a sudden. “Get me to do it all?”

And then – whoosh. It was like hot soap in my veins because it burned. It made my eyes tear up and I knew they were turning red, Holy Immortal kind of red. Not pink-eye. It was maybe also like adrenaline. Soapy adrenaline?

“Oh wow,” I gasped, heart pumping a mile a minute. Even my fingernails felt like they were shaking. My claws were almost coming out of their own. The scientist grinned. “You’ve got this, don’t you?”

I nodded with a gulp. Oh yeah. Bring it on.

The scientist grinned and pulled the door open. “Aprez vous,” he said, guiding me out with a palm.

I didn’t even stop to correct his shitty french pronounciation. I just marched on out like I owned the world, because I did. I was on top of it all. I could feel success in my veins.

“Hey, the prisoner can’t-” Wham! I kicked the first guy in the face. Then, darting forward, I did pretty much the same for the next two. Gut-punched the next one.

Whirr! Whirr! Feathered thingies flew through the air. They missed me by a hair’s breadth, scittering across the floor.

We were half way there when I was surrounded. I didn’t even need to take my pentacle off and let it touch ground, I just made the magic happen. IT glowed across the floor, giant red lines that were pulsing with the magic of hell – and whoosh! I felt another surge of power. Ohhh YEAH! I ran forward, knowing I was invincible for the next few seconds. You could say my inner dice were set to a natural 20. The buddies fell down before me.

Just as I landed the last punch, the pentacle vanished, taking that extra surge of power with it. I paused, taking a breath.

“No! Keep moving!” The scientist hauled me forward by the collar. “Move!”

We busted out the door, out into the cold air. The air burned at my eyeballs, at my lungs. Blood and magic was roaring in my ears. My eyes couldn’t possibly be more open.

We turned and ran to a car. I skidded, then threw myself into the unlocked passenger door. The scientist threw Thor to the driver seat. “Your turn! Drive like a criminal!”

Thor didn’t need telling twice. Pedal to the floor! I fell backwards in the seat, then almost flew forward out the window when we hit a speed bump that certainly didn’t slow us down.

“That way! That way!” the scientist was directing from the back seat, pointing left then right then straight as we zoomed ahead, skidding across the snowy streets. The ‘check out’ loomed ahead. It’s gate was closed.

“Throw this!” the scientist said, drawing a potato launcher style thing out of the back seat and shoving it into my hands. “Just point it and shoot!”

“What?” was all I shrieked. But the gate was coming up! I aimed haphazardly and pulled what I thought was the trigger.

Crack! The recoil slammed me back into the seat. The windshield shattered outwards and the gate exploded just as we drove through it.

It was pretty epic. Fire and flames around us for a minute as we drove off.