The Chaos of Azazel

Chapter 7

Chapter 7 Lilura - 

Eva’s shower was much larger than mine at home and I stayed under the scalding water until my skin was pruny. 

Once out of the shower I dressed in some of Eva’s clothes she let me borrow. They were the plainest clothes she probably owned which worked for my personal style more than hers. I pulled on the navy blue long sleeve and black pants. 

Eva was in the kitchen when I was finally finished getting ready. My eyes were still puffy and red from all the crying from last night. Eva looked up from her newspaper when she heard me coming into the room. Her expression was worried.

“How are you today Lilu?” She asked me.

I sat on the stool at the kitchen island, “I’ll be better soon.” 

Eva passed a plate of eggs and toast toward me across the island, “I know. You’re strong Lilu. It will pass.” 

I stabbed at the eggs but my stomach turned and I didn’t take a bite. My appetite was completely gone. Eva gave me a disapproving look but said nothing. I know she had more faith in my strength than I did at this moment. I had confided in her about my new found immortality and she had been optimistic about the possibility of mending my relationship with Tyr. Even though time may no longer be our biggest challenge, that didn’t mean our relationship would ever work. With his new role as a faerie king, and my mysterious power I didn’t know what was in store for us. I didn’t want to dwell on that so I decided to change the subject.

“How is the trailing of Jimmie Howard going?” I asked.

Eva came to sit next to me, “so far so good. We’ve been using some compulsion to mislead him about supernatural sightings.” 

“Well if you are planning on following him today I’ll go with you. I need a thorough distraction.” I said.

“Of course. If you use a glamour spell on us then we will be able to tail him more closely.” Eva suggested.

We met with another vampire downtown that had been keeping eyes on Jimmie as he took notes in a cafe. 

Jimmie was surprisingly young. For someone who had garnered a notorious name for himself, I had expected him to be middle-aged. Instead, Jimmie was close to the age of 26. He had light brown hair that was curly and cropped short but still managed to tumble around his eyebrows and around his ears. He wore stylish black glasses that made his deep-set green eyes seem abnormally large on his face. He wasn’t unattractive albeit a bit nerdy. He was slender and wore a graphic t-shirt under an army green jacket. He scribbled furiously in his notebook oblivious to the world around him. For a man whose obsession was to catch sight of a supernatural creature, he had no sense of the world around him.

I had glamoured Eva and myself and we actually sat in the cafe in a booth two tables away from Jimmie. Eva watched him for twenty minutes quietly.

“Maybe I should go talk to him,” I suggested.

Eva looked at me surprised, “why?” She asked.

I shrugged, “I don’t know? I just have a feeling that I should.” It was more of a tingling in my toes and fingers. My witch’s sense occasionally had a peculiar intuition that pointed me in an unexpected but helpful direction. 

“If you act like a fan you’ll have no trouble getting information from him. He’s extremely gullible and the easiest person I’ve ever used compulsion on.” Eva drawled. She leaned back in the booth and waved over a server to order a drink while she waited for me.

As I walked over to Jimmie I carefully took down my disguise glamour. When I was standing before him he was completely focused on his notes that I had to clear my throat to get him to notice me. 

He looked up at me through his large glasses. At first, he looked startled then a large smile crept across his face. I noted that his eyes were his most prominent feature but his nose was a bit crooked as if it had been broken. I smiled sweetly back at him, feigning being star struck.

“You’re Jimmie Howard! I can’t believe I’m meeting you!” I said animatedly. 

Jimmie closed his book and focused his attention on me now, “yeah I am. You’ve seen my show?” He asked.

Uninvited I took a seat in the chair opposite him, “yes, and read all your books. Do you mind if we talk? I would love to pick your brain.”

“I’m yeah, sure, that would be great,” he stammered nervously fiddling with his papers on the table. He shoved them all into a worn-out green folder.

“I hope Knoxville is living up to your expectations. This place is crawling with ghosts.” I started.

Jimmie was radiating with excitement. Recently after training with Erika I had started to notice the slight variations of people’s frequencies and color auras. Jimmie’s was red and bright like fire. The color of passion. melancholic thoughts drifted in my mind. I couldn’t remember the last time I had felt this passionate about something.

“I’ve never been to a place so active! I was in New Orleans last year and that place has a constant surge of energy but Knoxville. It’s off the charts. All my meters have started to act up because they can’t register the amount of energy coming from this place.” Jimmie rattled on.

“Do you have any theories on where that source could be coming from?” I asked him. This sent Jimmie into a tirade of wild theories and questionable science. I focused on the energy exuding from Jimmie. I reached out with my mind trying to grasp onto a hidden thought or even a memory to help point us in a helpful direction. I focused my sight on Jimmie’s right ear to appear as if I was intently listening to him. At the same time, I dug around his mind trying to find something useful. 

A cold chill ran up my spine and I shivered. At the corners of my eyes, black shadows began to roll into the room like smoke. Jimmie froze mid-sentence his mouth open. I glanced around me and saw that everyone in the cafe had been stilled as if time had stopped. The smoky shadows were creeping through the crack under the front door and outside I noticed that there was only darkness. I got up and followed the shadows out of the cafe. Day had turned into night and the street was empty of cars. In the middle of the street stood a man. He was dressed sharply in a suit of all black. His skin was a smooth gray like marble and his eyes were a fathomless abyss with no whites. His hair was silver that hung long and loose down to his shoulders. Even though I had never seen him I knew who he was immediately. Azazel.

I slowly walked into the middle of the street. I kept my distance and stood at least eight feet away from him. 

“Daughter,” Azazel said. His voice was musical and light, not at all what I had expected from a demon. 

“Azazel,” I replied. His thin lips curved at the edges but his smile was anything but warm and inviting. 

“I have longed to see you.” He said cooly. 

“What do you want?” I shot back. Azazel looked at me with mock surprise.

“Is this how you treat your father?” He asked, astonished. 

“You May be my father but I will never treat you like anything more than a demon that has no place in this world.” I snapped. I heard a crackling of fire and looked down at my hands. The fingertips were sparking with blue electric currents.

“And what of you daughter of two worlds? You’re a demon too whether you admit it or not. Does that mean you do not belong here either?” Azazel said. 

“I am still human,” I said defiantly.

Azazel’s wicked smile widened, “No, Lilura, you are much more than human. You are of me. I have done what Erika could not. She longed for children of her own, but because of her nature, she could not carry them in her womb. So instead she went about creating them from nothing. Like the hands of god, she set out to create us in her image. But I have created life that was from my blood and my seed. Your mother was strong enough to carry my offspring. But you are so much more than human.” 

He was a demon and therefore could easily be lying. But his words still hit me hard and I didn’t feel that he was being dishonest. Sometimes the truth was more brutal than a lie. 

I squared my shoulder determined not to let him break me down with his story, “what do you want from me?” I asked.

“Well, it’s really rather simple. I want to be free. I want to be in this world with my daughter. Is that really so hard to understand?” Azazel gave me a pitiful look as if this would be enough to entreat me to his cause.

“Are you not here now?” I asked, waving my hand in his direction, indicating his figure.

Azazel laughed shortly, “this is a shade of myself. I am only able to appear to you and only you. I am in your blood. My magic runs through you. I was not the one who stopped time or brought the night,” he pointed to the cafe where everyone was still suspended in time, “I simply called and you answered.” Azazel finished. 

“You want something from me. Just spit it out.” I snapped at him. 

“Yes, I do want something from you. But you will not be privy to that information now. I only wanted to see you. Now that I have I will leave you with this, my time on this earth is coming Lilura. You can either join me willingly or be forced to. That choice will be yours.” Azazel said. The intensity of the electrical currents in my fingers grew bright and then Azazel vanished. The blackness surrounding us disappeared with a resounding pop and the street was again illuminated with daylight. I was still in the middle of the street and a car sped toward me. A strong hand gripped my shoulder and yanked me backward avoiding being hit by the car. The driver honked and flipped me off as he sped by. 

Eva still had her hand on my shoulder, she looked bewildered at me, “what the hell happened? One second you were talking to Jimmie, the next you were in the street almost getting hit by a car. It was like you teleported.” 

“s**t. Did Jimmie notice?” I asked her.

“Of course he did. I had to use my compulsion on all the humans in the restaurant. What happened?” She asked me again.

“It was Azazel. I saw him and spoke to him.” I said quietly. Eva’s eyes grew wide.

“We need to call Erika. We need her help.” Eva said. I nodded in agreement. Eva pulled her phone from her pocket and texted Eva, her fingers flying impossibly fast over the keyboard.

Erika replied almost immediately. She instructed us to meet her at the warehouse where we had been conducting my training sessions. Eva drove like a bat out of hell and if she hadn’t been a vampire with incredibly fast reflexes we would have crashed and died. 

Eva and I met Erika in the middle of the empty warehouse. Again she was dressed like a fashionably French high-class woman. This time in bold red pants and a matching blazer with no top underneath the jacket. 

“So you saw Azazel?” She asked me. Her expression was guarded and held no emotion.

“Yes. He told me that he had called out to me. That he could show himself to me because we share blood.” I explained. 

Erika sighed heavily, “yes, I was afraid that he would soon make the connection.” 

“So what do we do now?” Eva asked.

“We need to protect Lilura from that connection with Azazel as much as we can. I will train you to shield yourself.” Erika explained. 

“How do we do that?” I asked her.

“We will work your magic into a physical blockade that protects your mind from his prying as well as your body physically. It is beneficial that Eva is here as she will be able to help you manifest that shield.” Erika said. Eva and I looked at each questioningly. 

“Eva you will need to attack Lilura as if you truly mean to harm her. Liluras magic works best when it is instinctual and there is a threat of danger. As a vampire, Eva is one of the most dangerous creatures in the world.” Erika started. Both Eva and I were stunned.

“You want me to attack Lilura?” Eva asked slowly. Erika nodded and looked as if she didn’t understand the problem.

“If you want to help your friend you will attack her,” Erika said, annoyed. 

I gave Eva another look, nodded to let her know we should do this.

“Alright, now Lilura, you shall stand in the middle of the room and Eva you will stalk her as if she is your prey. And make it as real as possible. As I said before Lilura's magic is instinctual so she needs to feel that there is a real threat to her safety.” Erika explained.

I took my place in the middle of the room and Eva disappeared into the shadows. Erika went up a flight of stairs that led to the metal walkway that looked down on the warehouse ground floor. I was now standing alone in the warehouse. I was aware of my breathing and the pounding of my heart. I was sure the two vampires in the room were aware of the same. I tried to make out Eva’s figure in the black corners and edges of the room but was unable to find her. 

A gust of wind blew past me and my hair flew into my face I hastily brushed it away trying to see if I could catch a glimpse of Eva. Again I was alone in the room. I spun around when something moved past me again this time nicking me on the wrist where a small bead of blood welled. I grabbed my wrist and placed my finger over the small cut. 

“You are looking for her with your eyes Lilura. You need to reach out with your energy to find hers.” Erika called down from above. 

Eva flew past me again this time knocking me to the ground. Before I could get a look at her she was gone again. I scrambled to my feet. There was now a scrape on my elbow from where I had fallen on it. 

I closed my eyes now. I focused on my breathing for a moment before releasing my energy. I reached out again as I had done with Jimmie and searched for Eva’s frequency. 

I found her, in the darkness behind me. Her vampire aura around her like purple light with black smoke. Her body vibrated with a hungry energy. She was in predator mode. 

Even though my eyes were closed and my back was to her I felt her moving toward me with the speed of a bullet. I flung my hand out behind me and focused my energy into my hands until a transparent and blue shimmering filament burst from my palm and molded itself into a wall. Eva hit the wall hard and it sent her flying back on her bottom she skidded across the warehouse floor until she hit the wall on the far end. 

My focus now on Eva the wall disappeared. Eva was already on her feet and walking toward me. We both looked up when we heard the sound of clapping.

“Very good. Now that you know how to cast a physical shield, you will need to learn how to cast one in your mind.” Erika said. She left the walkway and sauntered toward us. 

“How do we practice protecting my mind?” I asked.

Without answering my question, Erika placed her hand on my forehead and I felt the pain of a thousand tiny needles digging into my skin. I cried out as the feeling embedded itself in my brain. Memories started to float past my sight before being dragged and ripped away. I fell to my knees and tried to move my head out from Erikas grasp but she was stronger. 

“Your magic, Lilura.” Erika reminded me. 

The pain was almost unbearable but I tried to force my magic into the pain. I focused on the needle-like pain until I found their energy digging through memories. Again I saw the bluish light around me. I called it toward me and forced it onto the digging pain in my brain. Erika's hand flew back and she took a step back.

“Now you know how to shield your mind. With more practice, it will get easier. This is the most important magic you will learn.” Erika said. I was still on my knees breathing heavily and sweat beading on my forehead. I should feel exhausted after using so much magic but I felt almost relieved. 

“Thank you, Erika,” I said a little breathlessly. Eva helped me to my feet.

“You did amazing.” She said. We smiled at each other before she pulled me into a hug.

“I’m glad I know how to shield myself, but Azazel said he was trying to enter this world,” I told them.

“Azazel has been attempting to do so for a millennia. If he has found a way now we will need to stop him before he crosses that threshold. He has accumulated quite the army in his world and he will bring them with him once he has crossed over.” Erika explained. 

“How is it that we have had two world-ending events in less than two months,” Eva said.

“Dark magic attracts dark magic. Joseph Clarke may have set in motion events that will continue to affect us. This may not be the end of our war with darkness.” Erika explained. We left soon after that both lost in Erika’s ominous telling. 

Once back at Eva’s apartment she invited me to stay the night again but I felt I needed to be home for a while. I was home within the hour. My house was dark and empty when I entered. I turned on a lamp but left the rest of the lights off. I curled into a ball on the couch and fell asleep.