1

THE alarm clock sang like a cannery.

The noise jolted Camila from her sleep. She rose from her bed like the undead, sitting up and staring daggers at the alarm clock ringing by her bed stand. She hated the little monster with every bone in her body. Almost like it was rehearsed, she reached under her bed for a feel of her brother’s baseball bat. Her hand clasped the handle and she smiled. With one swing she sent the alarm clock flying across the room.

The clock hit the wall and shattered into a million little pieces joining the carcass of its predecessors at the end of her room. This was the fifth clock she had smashed in five days. She didn’t care, as long as the ringing stopped. But her mother sure did.

“Camila Adella Argent!” her mother’s loud voice resonated throughout the house and she flinched. Her mother had the ears of an elephant. This was a morning routine that she never missed. “That was the fifth alarm clock I’ve bought this week and it better not be in pieces when I get up there.”

“Well it wouldn’t be in pieces if you don’t keep getting me new ones!” she screamed back.

“Is that any way to speak to your mother?” she heard her brother shout.

That dick she thought and smiled.

“If you don’t get your ass downstairs in the next ten minutes, lo juro you wouldn’t be getting any breakfast before school.” Her mother shouted again. Camila groaned and buried her head in her pillow releasing a muffled scream. She hated Mondays.

After a shower that lasted way more than ten minutes, Camila stood in front of her full-length mirror and sighed. Her five feet six body looked back at her in black pant and a bra. She admired her body. She was blessed and her reflection proved it. Her curly black hair fell like dark waterfalls from her head to the back of her shoulder, just stopping above her waistline. She had the curves that most adult women will only dream of but that wasn’t the only thing she was looking at.

The two L-shaped birthmarks on her wrists drew her attention and she sighed. These marks were the reason why she didn’t get any sleep. Why she hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep since she was nine years old. They also reminded her of her goal. Her ultimate mission in life.

“We’ll get there. I know we will.” she told her reflection as she picked the black sundress with a flowery pattern and put it on. After putting on her necklace with the crescent pattern she sighed and smiled. After picking up a black tote bag with a white crescent moon, she smiled at the picture of her aunt beside her bed.

“Here I go Aunty Gabby. It’s a new grade. Wish me luck” she said while a tear fell down her face. “Buena Caza Aunty.”

As she walked down the steps, she didn’t bother to look at the several pictures of her very large family hanging on the wall. A family that wasn’t so large anymore. It all happened in one night. Camila didn’t like remembering. She didn’t want to remember the scene of her aunt being rushed into the house with blood all over her body.

No, she wasn’t going to.

Instead, she tried to imagine what the new semester would be like. Maybe things will be different. New students, crappy subjects, the school might finally reconsider starting the male soccer team, and a lot of good things to come. So she smiled.

“Hey Adella.’’ her brother said as she entered the kitchen. He knew she didn’t like being called by her middle name. It was the name her aunt had given her. But Daniel didn’t care. He was her twin after all. Twins were traditionally annoying. That was how the world worked.

She threw him a scroll and sat at the table opposite him. She reached for an apple and all she got for it was a strike from her mother with a spatula. Good thing she was fast.

“Hey” she protested and looked at her mother.

“You didn’t even greet your mother and you already want my food in your flat stomach”. Classic Maria Argent. She always had something to say about her body. Not that she was too bad herself.

Maria was built like Jennifer Lopez. An apex Latinx that looked like she could take the world and hold it by its balls. The five-foot-seven woman looked at Camila and drew her into a hug, pushing Camila’s face against her breasts.

“Mum!” Camila whined. She could be a pain in the…everywhere actually. But Camila loved this woman a lot. She could kill for her. Well in a way, she already did.

“How was last night?” Maria whispered in her ear and drew her back to look at her face.

“It was…” Camila stopped and her mother nodded. She appreciated that her mother knew she didn’t like to talk about her nightly adventures.

“Uh what the fuck is going on?” Daniel asked with surprise at what was unfolding in front of him. “Y’all are weird”

“Hey! Language” Mum shot at him. “Now hurry up and eat your breakfast you two”.

It was a normal morning in the Argent house. She had gotten used to the routine. It was one of the only normal things in her life. As she ate with her small family, some memories flashed in her head of how big this table used to be. This family used to be a lot bigger. They were Mexicans after all.

“Mi Amor, are you good?” Her mother asked squeezing her hand “You went a little pale there.”

“I’m…” she sighed. Her mum was handling enough as it is. She forced a smile. “I’m fine mum, Mondays are just not my thing.”

“Well it’s the same for everyone on the planet Adella, so get a grip,” he said wolfing down his cereal. How he was sixteen and still ate cereal, Camilla had no idea.

“Ok Kids finish up, I gotta get you guys to school,” Her mum said standing up and dropping her plates in the sink.

“Hey, we’re sixteen mum, we don’t need you to drive us,” Daniel said proudly.

Her mum roughed his hair “Well till I can trust you like I trust your sister here, you’re stuck at the back of my van.” Daniel frowned and Camilla chuckled.

Daniel never really grew up. Not since their dad disappeared. Another thing Camilla didn’t want to think about. Its funny how she always found herself calling back some of those memories. He was a lot taller than her hitting a strong six foot three in height. They took their hair and eyes from their mum, the same curly black hair. According to her mum, Daniel was the spitting image of their Dad. She didn’t want to remember anything about him. He had abandoned them as far as she was concerned.

As she rinsed her bowl in the sink, she remembered her friendship bracelet. Diana was going to kill her if she forgot it again. She quickly dashed out of the kitchen, with Daniel throwing her a puzzled look. As she rushed passed her mum’s room she overheard something that made her stop in her tracks. She slowly tiptoed back, crouched, and peered through the space in the door that was left open.

“Still nothing...Oh” The phone was pressed to her ear and she was sitting at the foot of her bed. She tapped her feet fast on the ground, a habit she did when she was anxious. “Ok just keep checking. I’m sure he’ll come…no don’t say that I’m not giving up on him.”

She didn’t know who her mum was talking to, but she knew who she was talking about. Camilla didn’t care. She didn’t know why her mother did either. All she knew was a man that didn’t care about his family abandoned them.

“Yes, thank you, John.” Hmm, John. She knew Captain John well. She had known him since she started her training. After all, he used to affair her mum.

“Camilla? She’s… I don’t know John, I feel this is getting too much for her.” She said and buried her face in her palm and rubbed her eyes with it “I know I know, just...look out for her ok? Thank you so much”

It broke her to see her mum like that. She knew her mum was going through a lot but she had never seen this vulnerable side.

“I’m running late. I’ll come by the office later.” Her mum said standing up and Camilla saw that as her queue to take her leave.

“What are you doing?” Daniel said startling her.

“Jesus! You almost gave me a heart attack.” She said punching him. The punch sent him flying down the hall. Shit, she punched him too hard. She quickly ran to help him up.

“What’s in those energy bars you eat, damn” He exclaimed holding his arm.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Sorry sorry, guess I don’t know my own strength” Camilla chuckled nervously helping him up. Daniel just glared at her and walked back down the stairs muttering about energy bars and women.

She walked to her room and searched her table. Damn, Diana was going to murder her. She crouched under the bed and switched her phone light on. Cursing about how much junk was there, she waded through all of them.

She looked to her left and saw a pair of legs swinging at the foot of her bed. She froze because she was pretty sure that she didn’t feel anyone sitting on the bed and she definitely see anyone in the room when she walked in. The legs were wearing socks and a pair of flats. Judging from the size of the feet, they belonged to a child.

She quickly rose her head up but to her surprise, there was no one there. She turned around and looked around her room, but no one was in sight.

“Mi Amor,” Her mother entered her room “Are you ok, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Um…uh,” The image of her mum on the phone looking all worried popped into her head. She wasn’t going to add to it. “No mum, it’s nothing. Let’s go.”

As she entered the front seat of the car, Camilla thought she saw a little through the rare view mirror. She put her head out the window and looked again. But she saw nothing.

Huh, Weird.

*****************

THE world had gone to shit.

Everything anyone knew about the world was a lie. Conspiracy theorists came close but lizard men in the government would have been a better explanation than what was happening. Only a selected few could tell. But only she knew. Only she knew how bad it had gotten.

And it was all her fault.

But in the words of the famed Master Yoda, A fuck she did not give.

This morning was all about staying in and watching crappy horror movies. Vanessa stared at what was supposed to be the movie she had been anticipating for weeks and was filled with utter disappointment.

There was nothing scary about a demon Nun killing stupid white people that refused to leave a church. Well, she had seen demons. She had fought and killed a lot of them too. So she didn’t watch the movies to get scared. Nah, she watched to see the pathetic attempt of humans to paint a picture of the horrors that were actually out there.

It had been a long time since it happen. She, in a bid to save the world, had made things worse. And all she did was open a stupid book.

Since when did opening a book hurt anyone?

“Boring! Let’s see another one.”

Vanessa sighed and dropped her popcorn. It was back.

Whatever It was, it always manifested itself in form of another version of her that only Vanessa could see. It always made a habit of appearing wearing outfits Vanessa wouldn’t be caught wearing in a thousand years.

She would know, it had been that long.

Huh, it really had been that long.

This time, It was dressed in a long yellow jumpsuit with pictures different red pictures showing people being brutally murdered plastered all over it. What a wonderful sense of humor It had.

“What are you doing with that” It pointed to the popcorn “you know we don’t eat that stuff so who are you kidding?”

“What do you want?” Vanessa asked giving her a lazy look “Don’t you have something better to do like I don’t know…try to take over my body? And what in heaven’s name are you wearing?”

“First of all, this is my Monday best. Don’t you like it?” It spun around and gave Vanessa a model pose “look it’s got all the times I got the better of you and murdered everyone you loved or held dear” with that It shot Vanessa an evil smile. But Vanessa just gave her the same lazy expression.

It was a game they always played. It would always try to push Vanessa to a point that would mess with her emotions and take over her body. This was something Vanessa never bargained for, but It was part of her punishment. For opening a book. As long as she could keep her emotions in check, her body was safe.

“Better luck next time honey,” Vanessa said getting up and walking towards her fridge.

“Aww, you’re no fun. You were more exciting in the 80s. Remember that Geologist and his family? Yeah, that was a crazy ride. I think we could still find his eight-year-old daughter’s femur if we try hard enough” It said materializing beside Vanessa as she picked a blood pack. She looked at it and sighed. She was running out of options.

Vanessa wasn’t a vampire. She hated vampires. She had evolved so many times to defeat the worst of the worst that she didn’t know what she was anymore. She had killed so many. She lost count. It was part of her punishment.

There were a lot of punishments.

So she didn’t even know what she was meant to eat. She had experimented with so many things. But none of these things were working. They barely scratched her hunger, talk less of It. She sighed and drowned the blood. It tasted like sour cream mixed with rusted iron.

It will have to do now she thought.

“Oh, and they’ll be here any minute,” It said which actually caught Vanessa off guard.

“Who’s coming?” she asked surprised.

“The red coats,” It said with an amused smile on her face. “The red coats are coming, the red coats are coming.” She raised her hand signifying horror.

“Shit” Vanessa cursed and before she could say another word, a man and a woman materialized in her living room.

“Yes, we are in quite a pickle.” The woman said in a British accent. She had silk-black hair and was slim like a model. She was dressed in a sports bra and joggers with a pair of Nikes. There was a scar across her right eye. That one detail was enough to make Vanessa know who she was instantly and she cursed under her breath.

“Pickle can begin to cut it. We’re in deep shit” the man, who was a white male with grey hair, looked like he was in his 50s. He was dressed in a double-breasted white suit.

“Uh…” before she could finish, three more people materialized. They didn’t even bother to use the door. They never did, so Vanessa didn’t know why she even bothered.

“This has to be your fault Ra” a blonde teenage girl in a red skirt and white shirt that looked like a school uniform said.

“Me? What on earth will you say that for?” A dark-skinned woman with short hair materialized in front of her. She was dressed in a short, checkered off-shoulder gown with heels that looked like they cost a billion dollars. “I mean, I didn’t open the book of Zoreus”

“Yeah well since we have the culprit here, she can fix it.” The British Lady flipped her hair in place. “Like she always does” They all turned their attention to her.

Vanessa sighed. “I have a door you know?”

This was one of Vanessa’s punishments she hated the most. She was now a lap dog to these Fucks. They were called Patreons. They modelled themselves and look the names of gods from different earth mythologies. They had taken a vote and immediately send her to take the walk of eternity. They weren’t really gods, but they were powerful as shit, so she had learned not to mess with them.

Well sometimes.

“Not even a greeting? I see you’re as insolent as ever,” The British woman bra spat at her.

“How’s that eye holding up Ares?” Vanessa asked folding her arms and throwing her a smirk. Like she said sometimes. A few decades ago she was had a little disagreement with Ares, which led to confrontation. Which led to Vanessa making her like scar from the lion king.

“Why you...” Ares started towards her but Ra stopped an arm out and stopped her.

“It’s neither the time nor the place Ares so cool it.” She adjusted her suit. “We have more pressing matters”

“Precisely.” The man in the white suit agreed sitting down on her sofa. He examined what she was watching and rose his brow at her. “The Nun, Really?”

“Well it was either this or a rerun of Halloween,” Vanessa replied

“Touché,” He said.

“Don’t you guys ever find more suitable people to use as a medium? I mean Athena is in a child” Vanessa asked gesturing at her. These guys didn’t care about the human race. They had their own Planes to worry about. But to exist here, they had to walk in the bodies of humans. And they didn’t need permission.

“Children a quite easy as mediums,” The little girl defended. “They don’t have a lot to think about like adult humans. Or..” She shuddered “Adolescents”

“And Horus?” She pointed to the Man wearing the suit.

“Let’s call it a wardrobe malfunction. Someone was in a hurry,” He said looking at the dark-skinned woman who responded by rolling her eyes. The sound of a scream from the TV drew everyone’s attention.

“I don’t care much for your television choices,” Athena said snapping her figures and the TV went blank.

Vanessa snorted. “Who still calls it Television? What are you eight?”

She glared at Vanessa and her eyes glowed gold. “Do not test me when I am in a testy mood, Vanessa. You will find that I am more formidable than some second-rate patreon”

“I am literally right here!” Ares threw her hands up in the air.

“Enough,” Ra said stomping her heel on the ground and sending a gold wave of light across the room. “Vanessa where is Anubis?”

Vanessa shrugged “How am I supposed to know? You guys haven’t exactly needed me in over a decade and I’m fine with that really”

“So it’s happening again, they are all disappearing,” Athena said with a look of dread on her face. The mood swept through the room leaving Vanessa with a confused expression.

“Did I miss the memo? What’s wrong? What’s happening?” Vanessa asked.

The sound of footsteps broke the tension and all of their attention turned toward it. Vanessa cursed as D’lyra walked in. She was in her Pajamas and a silver rob was wrapped around her. She didn’t notice the crowd gathered in her living room as she walked towards the kitchen yawning. For some reason, everyone froze till D’lyra walked out of the kitchen towards the stairs. Before she took the first step she paused and slowly turned to look at all of them. She examined the weird bunch of adults and her eyes stayed on the little girl in the school uniform. Then she turned to face Vanessa with lazy eyes.

“Should I even ask?” She signed

“It’s best if you don’t,” Vanessa signed back. She gave Vanessa a thumbs-up and walked back up the stairs.

Vanessa just smiled and then turned to face them. “Sorry for the interruption”

“That was…weird,” Ra said.

“So weird” Ares agreed.

“So, what’s got all your nuts in a twist,” Vanessa asked “I haven’t seen you guys like this in a long time”

“Something is coming. It’s bigger than anything we’ve ever faced.” Athena said sitting down and tapping one leg on her rug. A habit, Vanessa suspected, her medium had.

“That’s because what is coming is much worse than we have ever faced,” said a man as he materialized right in their midst.

“Odin,” Ra greeted.

“He is coming.” The man said. “The supreme darkness is coming”