Mixed Worlds

Chapter Ten - Occupied

    The next morning, Ally wakes up at her usual time and makes her way to the gym to spar. She kicks off her slippers, and throws her hair up into a bun. Facing the punching bag, she gets into her stance. Feet spread out to hold her balance in a slight squat. Hands in front of her, between her chin and chest, and her eyes locked on the bag. She begins her workout with the bag, landing kicks and punches all around. After about an hour later, she wipes the sweat from her face and body with a towel and heads to the kitchen for a drink of water. It’s only eight thirty, but Lucas and Jack are usually up by now. The bunker is so quiet that she can hear a faint hum of music. After downing two glasses of water, she heads to the sitting room just down the hall. When she walks in, a man she has never seen before is sitting at the table, tuning the radio. Ally reaches for the knife harness on her leg, and pulls out her silver blade. She points it at the man, and with a quiet but firm voice, she says; 

            “What are you doing here, Malphas?” She scans the room, to make sure there’s no one else in the room, and notices that Lucas and Jack are still M.I.A. 

            “Good morning to you too. I don’t believe we’ve met. How is it that you know my name?” He stands with his hand out, waiting for Ally to introduce herself. Ignoring his hand, and takes a small step forward.

            “The guys have briefly explained your persona to me. I just put a few things together. A chubby man with dirty facial hair and a terrible accent. You’re the first person I’ve met that fits the picture. It’s not that hard to figure out.” She says with a wink. She takes a few steps closer, leaving a few feet in between them. “Now, why are you here?” She spoke a bit louder, as to let the King of Hell know that she means business. 

            “I was hoping to have met you under less hostile circumstances, but this will have to do. A proper introduction is always best before you work with someone.” He takes a step closer, and puts out his hand again. “So, as you know, I’m Malphas. And you are?”

            “Answer my question, asshole. Or you’ll be gone in an instant.” She takes a final step, and pushes him into the table with her arm placed firmly across his chest and places her blade an inch from his neck.

            “Alright, alright, calm down and lower your blade. It’s cute by the way, how you think that would hurt me. What is it, coated in silver?” He brings his hand up to push the blade away, and he burns himself. “Ouch! What is that?” Suddenly fear has come over his face, and his complexion turns white. 

            “Yes. It’s a silver blade. But first it was carved wth ancient runes discovered by my ancestors that severely injure demons, and all monsters alike. The only thing it can’t hurt, is a God. So like I’ve said, and will say for the last time, why are you here?” She presses the blade across his neck, and he starts to sizzle. 

            “Okay! Okay! Just put the blade down and we can chat. I’ll even put on those stupid handcuffs Lucas likes to use.” He points to the silver demon-cuffs on the table, and slowly leans over and picks them up. Ally watches him as he puts them on, and she sits him in a chair. “Alright. You’ve gotten my attention. I’m here to discuss an issue I have with a reaper. She is taking too many souls too quickly. She’s keeping the extra souls to herself, for a reason I do not know. I wanted to ask you all to take a look into that.” He clears his throat, and interlocks his fingers.

            “You do know that in order to see a reaper, someone has to be on the edge of death, right? None of us will put our lives at risk for a demon, especially not for you. Not again.” Still holding a defensive stance above him, she hears footsteps come up behind her. She turns around, and sees a black-eyed man standing behind her. He grabs her before she can strike, and she drops her blade to the ground. “I knew you weren’t alone. Why are you really here?!” She sees another man walk up to Malphas, and he unlocks the cuffs. 

        Malphas stands up, and rubs his wrists while walking over to her. “I believe you have special abilities that I would like to take a closer look at. You help me, and I help you.” Ally glares at him, and laughs. 

            “What are you talking about? I don’t have any abilities! Where are Jack and Lucas? What did you do to them?” She tries to struggle away, but the grip of the demon only gets tighter around her. 

            “Oh they’re... occupied. And will remain that way until you and I are finished here. No one can hear you, and no one can help you.” He smirks. He takes a few steps back, and waits for her to speak. 

            She struggles some more, and gets angrier by the second. “Let go of me! I will never help you! Let them go! They have nothing to do with what you need me for!” She drops to her knees, making the demon fall in front of her. She quickly picks up her blade, and stabs him in the chest. He yells out in pain, and he burns into ash. She stands up quickly as the other demon is now running at her, and she ducks to the side, causing him to run past her. She spins around and as he goes to grab her by the shoulders, she stabs him in the chest. He too, burns up in flames. She bolts for the door only to have it slammed in her face by Malphas’ demonic capabilities. 

            “Come on now, that was good but it is not what I wanted to see.” He snickers. “You might as well calm down because you and I have somewhere to be and you won’t enjoy the ride if you’re throwing a fit.” He walks over to her, and goes to grab her  arm. He stops mid-way, because something is wrong. He looks at her eyes, and sees they’ve turned bright yellow, like gold. She lets out a scream, and the bunker shakes, knocking books off of shelves and causing Malphas to stumble. All of a sudden he can hear Jack and Lucas banging on the door, yelling for Ally. 

            “I’ve had enough! You are to leave and stay away from me! You are unwelcome here!” It was Ally speaking, but her voice did not sound like her own. Her words echoed through the bunker and she was floating about a foot off of the ground. The demon tried to speak, but Ally held her hand up in front of her, and a wave of wind blew out around her causing him to fall over and the door to burst open. Jack and Lucas ran in and once they saw her, they stopped in their tracks. They’ve seen Ally get mad before, but never like this. She was almost unrecognizable. It was as if they were standing out in the open during high wind. Her hair was flowing, her shirt was ruffling and she was sill floating. Lucas went to go run to her, but Jack grabbed his arm.

            “Don’t. Don’t do it. You don’t know what could happen.” Lucas shrugs him off, and walks towards Ally from behind. “Hey come on, calm yourself and let’s talk about what’s going on. Quit throwing a tantrum over a demon.”  Ally spins around, and plants her feet firmly on the floor. 

            “Walk away, for you will be sorry if you interrupt me again.” Her words were cold, and if it were not for her standing in from of him, Lucas would have thought she was someone else. “Leave.” She places her hand in front of her, and the air around her pushes Lucas, making him fly into the wall behind him. 

            “I told you to leave her alone. Did you really think she was going to listen to you?” Jack yells. Lucas stands up and rubs his head. He grunts, and points to Ally telling Jack to go for it. After taking a moment to think, Jack slowly walks in front of her, and puts his hand out. “Hey Allycat. It’s me, Jack. You look like you haven’t had a coffee yet. Let’s go talk, okay?” Her eyes are locked on Malphas, who is still on the ground a few feet beside Lucas. Jack takes a small step forward, closing the distance between them. “Al, come on... I need you to listen to me right now.” Jack carefully takes hold of her hand, and Ally turns and stares. Jack takes her other hand, and her eyes return to normal. As the wind stops, she begins to come to her senses, and as her legs collapse beneath her as Jack catches her. He lifts her up, and she’s limp in his arms. Her head hanging back, with an arm in her lap and the other draped beneath her. He walks over to the cushioned chair in the corner, and sets her down carefully.

            “What did you do, Malphas?” Jack is still looking at Ally. “What did you do to her?” He turns and walks over to the demon, who has the cuffs back on again thanks to Jack. 

            “This girl, is not just a human. She was born of a human, and a supernatural being. Why her eyes turn gold, I’m not sure. But her powers? Unbelievable so far. I’ve never seen anyone like her. I came here to find out if she knew anything of her abilities, which she did not. The fact that I witnessed her use some of them, fascinates me.” 

            “How did you know what she was? You’ve never met her before, and she’s never seen you before.” Lucas steps forward. “And why would you pop up like this?”

            “There’s a strong energy that I have felt for about a week now. When a child of a God is injured, it disrupts the natural balance of the world. I simply followed where the energy got stronger, and ended up here. Very few on earth have this type of power. Something must have happened to her for me to notice it.”

            “Okay that doesn’t make sense. Didn’t Zeus have a kid? Hercules or whatever?” asked. 

            “That was centuries ago. Hercules completed his tests and fell in love. He was born of Zeus and the goddess Hera, not of a human. He still had access to Olympus but chose to live his life as a human with the woman he loved. He lived as a human, and died as a human.” Malphas walks over to Ally and Jack, who is taking a defensive stance in front of him. “Oh relax, I’m not dumb enough to touch her after what I just saw.”

            “No, but you were dumb enough to come here.” He takes off Malphas’ cuffs, and pushes him back. “Get out of here, Mal. I doubt she’s going to want to see you when she wakes up.”

            “Maybe not, but I do want to see her again. I want to know more about her. See you around boys.” And in a second, he’s gone.  Jack and Lucas look at each other, puzzled. Without saying anything, they begin to clean up the room. 

        An hour passes, and the last book is put back on the shelf and the last bit of glass is swept up.  “How do we handle what happened? How are we supposed to explain it to her if she asks about it?”Jack asks Lucas. “I don’t even know where to start researching about this, or how to find out when she’s going to wake up.” Jack sits in the chair next to her, and moves the hair out of her face. He leaves his hand on her head, and sighs. “What if she leaves?” He looks over to Lucas, who is leaning against the desk. 

            “I don’t know Jack. But we’ll figure it out. We always do. There’s a section on Greek Gods in the library. It’s small, but it’s a place to start. We have the internet too. And I’m sure Cas can help us somehow. It’s not the end of the world. And even if it was, we’d still figure it out. We always do.” The silence is heavy, as they are both waiting for Ally to wake up. “I’m sorry. I should have never done anything.” He clears his throat. “I see the way you look at her now. It’s the same way I used to look at Lauren.” He stands up, and walks towards the door. “She needs you, Jack. Just as much as you need her.”

            “Thanks.” Jack looks back to Ally, and starts to pick her up. “I’m gonna take her to her room. I don’t know how long she’ll be out for, but I’m going to stay with her until she wakes up. Could you bring me a few books to start on?” He puts one arm under her legs, and the other under her arm behind her back. Her head falls into his chest, and he stands up. Lucas nods his head, and walks down the hall with Jack and Ally following behind him.

        When they arrive at Ally’s room Lucas opens the door, walks in and pulls her blanket back. “I’ll be right back with the books. Did you want a drink?” Lucas asked.

        Jack lays Ally down on her bed, and pulls the blanket back up over her setting it just below her shoulders. “I’m alright with just water.” He doesn’t take his eyes off of Ally. “Can you try and get ahold of Cas? I find it weird that he didn’t even know about the whole ‘half human-half-something-else’ thing. Maybe that’s why she was allowed in heaven. Maybe that’s why she has the ability to see and feel things that we can’t.” Jack looks up at his brother, and walks over to him. “I’ll get the books and my laptop. I gotta run to the bathroom first. Can you stay with her until I get back?” Jack has both hope and sadness in his eyes. Lucas nods his head, and steps into the room allowing Jack to pass. 

        Lucas walks over to the chair in the corner of the room, and pulls it close to Ally’s bed. He sits down, and rests his elbows on her bed, and holds his head in his hands. “I’m sorry Ally. I’m sorry I’ve been such a d**k to you, and I’m sorry I hurt you. I never should have done what I did. It was a moment of weakness for me and I’m sorry I made things complicated. I promise you, we’re gonna figure out what’s going on and how to deal with it. I’m so, so sorry.” Lucas can feel tears welling up in his eyes. As he goes to wipe them, he hears her voice.

            “I forgive you.” She spoke softly, but as Ally sat up she winced in pain. “God my head is killing me... where’s Malphas? Where’s Jack?! Is he okay!?” She jolts up, and tries to stand when Lucas stops her.

            “Jack is fine, he’s just getting some books. He was going to sit here and read up on some things to see if we can figure out what happened and how. He should be back in a few minutes.” Ally collapses back into her bed, and lets out a heavy sigh. She rolls her head over to Lucas, and a confused look came across her face. 

            “Hold on, it sounded like you were saying your last words to me as if I was gonna die or something. What the hell happened? How did I get into my room?” Ally sits herself up and tries to hide how tired she is. “Please tell me the truth Lucas.” She looks at him with pleading eyes, and he can’t help but look away.

            “Do you not remember anything from the time you saw Malphas until you woke up? Nothing at all?” He looks back at Ally, and her facial expression drastically changes from concern to frustration.

            “Do you really think if I remembered I would be asking you?” She wasn’t yelling, but her voice was louder than it should be for normal conversation. “Just tell me everything that happened after you guys walked in... please?”

            “I think I should be the one to explain it to you.” Ally looks past Lucas and sees Jack standing next to a familiar stranger. She’s a beautiful, strong-looking woman with golden brown hair, piercing green eyes, and fair skin. The woman walks into the room, and stands at the foot of Ally’s bed. “Hello Ally. My name is Athena.”