Chapter 35: The Devils Within

Rachel’s ears twitched as thousands of voices—and even more sounds—filtered through her brain in an unintelligible mess before gradually filtering away to a more manageable level. A groan left her lips as her sore muscles punched her in the gut, reminding her that she’d pushed her body past the absolute limit the previous night.

Cracking open an eye, she was met by darkness, yet her Feats allowed her to penetrate the veil, and the first thing she saw was the missing bodies. Selvaria and Anthony were gone, leaving Scarlet and her alone; the vespertine reaper’s chest was practically still, heart barely beating in a rhythm that barely broke a beat a minute.

Tucking in a leg to lean against it on the cot, Rachel breathed a few times, closing her eyes while listening to what had changed since she’d been out; she heard talk amongst the soldiers and officers that a helicopter had landed not too long ago outside.

Anthony had been escorted to the hospital where his fiancé was staying with a few of their Green Beret guard detail while Selvaria went to find her mother; the leviathan had been separated from her shortly before The Oscillation due to some rather rude fellows she didn’t get into detail on.

Laying back on the stiff bed, Rachel tried to ignore the pain while maintaining her surveillance for the next several minutes; she had to know what she was walking into after her confession to the military.

Mateo appeared to be outside with the majority of his men, getting what little R&R they could near their room; from the conversation with his men, it was certain something had changed since she’d been asleep—the helicopter was there for her.

Her gaze shifted to Scarlet as she stirred, approximately fifteen minutes after she’d awoken. Her dream regarding the goddesses had been playing on repeat in her mind as she pondered her current position.

Rachel grinned, adding a soft, cheery tone as the girl groaned and forced herself up, rubbing her forehead. "Feeling better after some blood, I hope. You took quite the beating before passing out; to be honest, I would be dead three times over with the gashes you—Scarlet?"

The girl’s face blanched as she bent over and rasped, coughing and holding her throat as black blood sprayed across the carpet and a nearby chair.

"Scarlet, what’s happening?!"

Fighting past the pain, she got up to check on the girl as the men outside rushed in.

"What’s going on?" Mateo growled, his soldiers ready for action as they scanned for danger before spotting the black liquid the girl was choking up; one of his men made a cross sign on his chest. "Is that..."

"I—I’m fine... Ack! I’m just...give me a second," she cried, crimson streams leaking out of her eyes before returning to her body; her eyes were flickering between red and blue as she clutched at her chest, breathing heavily. "I’m just—I had a nightmare. Can...can you give me a minute w-with Rachel, guys? Please!"

Mateo worked around his jaw, uncertain gaze shifting to her, and Rachel nodded, telling him she’d be okay while dropping down with a grunt beside her to rub the girl’s back.

"Just take your time," she urged. "We’ll be fine, Lieutenant; I get that I’m supposed to leave as soon as I wake up, but can we have some time?"

"Leave?!" Scarlet’s shifting eyes settled on blue. "Why—what about me?!"

Rachel forced a smile at the officer for answers since she didn’t have any.

"Mmgm." He scratched his temple and jabbed his thumb for his men to leave. "So far as I’ve been told, we’ll be transporting Scarlet to the hospital Anthony is currently at, where a psychiatrist is being brought in to speak to all the mythickin and legendkin to further gauge your mental health...

"First, you’ll be going to Homestead Air Reserve Base, five miles south of here. The report Lt. Thompson sent in was flagged; I don’t know who you’ll be meeting, but he’s been in communication with him through a secure message board for about four hours.

"After whatever happens at the base, I’m assuming you’ll be returning to our custody; at least, those are our orders. I’m told your parents were found and will be brought to the location, as well, where there’s a mythickin unicorn that’s been making...waves, I’ll say."

Rachel’s mind came to a screeching halt. Unicorn... My vision of Cerridwen was real.

Scarlet’s frightened eyes went to her as Rachel’s tail stiffened and her ears rose. "What is it?"

"I...promise I won’t leave you, Scarlet. Umm, can you get permission for her to join me?"

The girl’s focus snapped to Mateo as he sighed and rubbed his nose. "I’ll...see what I can do; it might be a few minutes since it has to go up who knows how many levels."

"It gives us time to chat," Rachel chirped, happy and somewhat terrified that she’d be able to talk to her parents soon; just recalling her mother’s tone when telling her father they would be driving to Miami put shivers up her ears. "Thanks so much, Mateo."

"Yeah...well, I’m figuring it out as I go, too," he mumbled, closing the door on his way out and leaving them alone.

Settling in next to the vespertine reaper, Rachel’s smile fell. "What’s wrong, Scarlet? Why are you vomiting black blood—is it contagious?" repeating what some of the soldiers outside were questioning.

Scarlet shrugged, hugging herself and tucking in a bit. "Rachel... I-I didn’t kill those toad monsters."

"Huh?" Head tilting to the left, Rachel tried to relax her tail. "So...that was Scarlet who was talking to us about...understanding things?"

"Maybe," she mumbled, eyes shifting away as she shivered. "I think...part of it was actually a girl named Veronica—the girl that was sacrificed in my parents’ ritual—I know it’s messed up... I’m messed up. I don’t know what’s Veronica, Twilight, or me—it’s all so confusing," she whimpered, tight fingers rising to grip her head. "I’m so messed up inside!"

"Hey, hey," Rachel soothed, pulling away one of her hands to squeeze it and refocus her. "Talk to me; tell me about this Veronica girl and everything—okay? I’m here to help you get through this because we’re all in this together, right? Anthony, Sevlaria, Zoe, you, and me. We’re all trying to come to terms with everything. You’re not alone. Okay?"

"Mmgm... Okay... Where should I start? It’s so horrible—all of it is a total nightmare!"

"Wherever you want—I’m listening, and I won’t abandon you...okay?" she said, not wholly committed to the idea. She figured the girl could sense it, but also hoped Scarlet would know she was trying.

Rachel sucked in her lower lip as Scarlet began, telling her life story with her parents’ obsession with this Scarlet apostle called Revilla, the entity inside her named Twilight, and the sacrifice of a girl Scarlet had known her entire life, now possibly trapped inside her body, guarding Twilight’s slumber.

Although, to Rachel, it sounded more like the ritual had been more about sealing Twilight and limiting her power than setting her free. One thing was for certain: the Scarlet Hand was far more than some made-up cult; they had real power, and now she and her entire family were on their radar.

Getting to her feet as Mateo gave them the green light to head to the helicopter, Rachel breathed out a serious puff of air, rubbing Scarlet’s hand to tell her everything would be okay.

Well...isn’t this getting a little too complicated; goddesses, colorful rabbit guides, a world tree, dreams, aliens, game systems, dimensional worlds, nightmares, well-connected secret cults, and me losing my damn muscles and growing a tail out my ass because of, what...suppressed feelings? I need stronger friends in the government if I’m going to survive this. Let’s just hope my story hits the right people.