Enough liquid courage to not even feel that anymore, to feel nothing at all and he took the crowbar out from between his teeth and jammed it in between the door and the frame. It's a door that's been locked up tight for over thirty years and I don't know why we listened but we suddenly realized we don't have to listen, we never really did and so we don't even have to ask for a key.
Hold him back, I hiss over my shoulder.
We've got him, they tell me. I hear struggling and then a thump and then silence.
I look back into the dark. I can't see my hand in front of my face back there.
It's fine, Bridge. They whisper. Let's get this done.
He pushes forward on the bar and braces himself but then pauses and looks at me. You ready, Peanut?
Am I ever. I nod. Or maybe I'm just shaking. Hell if I know. I motion with my hands. Do it. Yes. Come on.
He pulls back with all of his weight. The door splits somewhere in the middle. The lock holds but the wood doesn't and the door comes apart at the joints. Inside it's blacker than the hallway behind me. A cold rush of air hits me full on. It weighs a ton.
He holds out his hand. Let's go.
I take his hand and follow him in.
His left hand is lit up in flames. He holds it out in front of us but we walk so quickly we overtake the edge too many times to count, tripping over the light, finding a hard darkness. It's slowing us down. He stops for a moment and takes my right hand, kissing the tips of my fingers.
Trust me? We need more light, Peanut.
I nod and he ignites the tips of my fingers too. I hold up my right hand and now we're a two-headed flaming monster coming to eat the dark. We're invincible.
The air gets colder and heavier still. Dead leaves begin to crunch beneath our feet and suddenly everything looks familiar.
The hallway.
It's just a different hallway leading down to the concrete room where it's always fall. It's always cold. The leaves are always dried and brown and the stones are always wet and slippery, treacherous and dark.
And everything always ends at the same door. Everything always seems to begin here too.
Only Jake doesn't live here anymore. I didn't have the heart to leave him down here when they stopped letting me come down here. It isn't a real place but it's dangerous all the same.
Oh my God.
He's left it with Cole-
Figures.
I turn the wheel but it's rusted shut from being closed so long. Lochlan throws his weight against it and finally it turns and the door swings open slowly, just enough for us to slip inside the room, one at a time. Lochlan starts to light up again and Cole lets out an unholy scream and then I do too.
Put them out! He doesn't like the light!
Lochlan won't look at me though, he's only looking at Cole. Cole's wings are out. Defensive positioning. Full black wings now grown to a full fifteen or seventeen-foot span. A little daunting. He's always been a little daunting. A lot intense. Frightening in a way I don't even recall being to this degree.
But he's not looking at us. He's looking behind us.
I turn and there's Jake.
White wings out to counter. Good versus bad. Light versus dark. Heaven versus Hell. I look into Jacob's blue eyes and he smiles so wearily at me.
Get what you came here for, Princess, but hurry.
I panic, because I don't even know what to look for.
But Lochlan's already halfway there, circling around Cole.
Bridget, come and look at this.
Cole is still raging at Jacob and isn't paying attention to us. Which is good. I can't stop shaking. I feel like Caleb sent us on some kind of wild goose chase for kicks. Go rile up the angels, he probably thought. Go let them tear you to pieces, he probably hoped.
Lochlan points to the wall. High up in a nook, carved into the jagged concrete surface sits a small wrought iron cage. It's only about a foot tall, maybe less, round with a tiny door on one side and a hook on the top.
There, he says.
There's nothing in there, I tell him, disappointed.
Watch it, he says, holding my shoulders, keeping me trained on it.
I watch.
Lochlan, I don't- And then I see it. The smallest displacement of air. Almost like there's an invisible bird in the cage and it just fluttered its wings.
He turns his face to stare at me. I've never seen a look like that.
I'll be back.
He'll kill you!
We have to get it.
I have to get it.
No way.
It's the only way. Just stay here.
He turns but there's Jake.
Jake smiles at me again and wraps me in his wings, walking directly behind me. Bulletproof. Cole-proof. At one point I felt like I was and now I am again. It makes me sad but I have a job to do. I reach the cage but I can't lift it. Jake can't touch it either and so I open the door of the cage, reaching both hands in. Instinctively I close them around the roiling fluttering bit of air I feel and a tiny soft feeling pushes against my hands as they close, like a bird. I press my hands against my chest and then the feeling goes right inside me and I feel warm. I feel like I'm going to cry. I feel like me again. I feel like I no longer have to make that odd distinction between twelve-year-old me and now-me ever since. I have her back. My soul. The one part of me Caleb has kept from me ever since that night up until now.
This is the reason I have this army. This is why I needed all this. Everything has been building up until this moment and now it is here.
I turn and look at them.
Did it work? PJ looks so tense he's a human land mine.
Of course it did, says Andrew. Look at her!
Duncan smiles.
Lochlan bursts into tears and Jake puts a hand on his shoulder. You all have to go now. He'll find out soon that his treasure his missing. He points at Cole, who has retreated to a high corner.
We hurry to get through the door again. Once in the hallway, we're met by Caleb, who is sombre and pale.
How is he?
Angry.
I just took the very last think he loved in this world.
He's not a part of this world, I tell Caleb, and you shouldn't be either for this.
That's why I returned your soul to you. It belongs to you so you should have it back.
You should have come to get it yourself.
He won't let me near it, Bridget, I've tried.
I just stare at it. He's probably right. And Jacob would never have helped anyone but me.
I hate to interrupt this, Sam says, but I need to get her baptized. The sooner, the better.
But he's not looking at us. He's looking behind us.
I turn and there's Jake.
White wings out to counter. Good versus bad. Light versus dark. Heaven versus Hell. I look into Jacob's blue eyes and he smiles so wearily at me.
Get what you came here for, Princess, but hurry.
I panic, because I don't even know what to look for.
But Lochlan's already halfway there, circling around Cole.
Bridget, come and look at this.
Cole is still raging at Jacob and isn't paying attention to us. Which is good. I can't stop shaking. I feel like Caleb sent us on some kind of wild goose chase for kicks. Go rile up the angels, he probably thought. Go let them tear you to pieces, he probably hoped.
Lochlan points to the wall. High up in a nook, carved into the jagged concrete surface sits a small wrought iron cage. It's only about a foot tall, maybe less, round with a tiny door on one side and a hook on the top.
There, he says.
There's nothing in there, I tell him, disappointed.
Watch it, he says, holding my shoulders, keeping me trained on it.
I watch.
Lochlan, I don't- And then I see it. The smallest displacement of air. Almost like there's an invisible bird in the cage and it just fluttered its wings.
He turns his face to stare at me. I've never seen a look like that.
I'll be back.
He'll kill you!
We have to get it.
I have to get it.
No way.
It's the only way. Just stay here.
He turns but there's Jake.
Jake smiles at me again and wraps me in his wings, walking directly behind me. Bulletproof. Cole-proof. At one point I felt like I was and now I am again. It makes me sad but I have a job to do. I reach the cage but I can't lift it. Jake can't touch it either and so I open the door of the cage, reaching both hands in. Instinctively I close them around the roiling fluttering bit of air I feel and a tiny soft feeling pushes against my hands as they close, like a bird. I press my hands against my chest and then the feeling goes right inside me and I feel warm. I feel like I'm going to cry. I feel like me again. I feel like I no longer have to make that odd distinction between twelve-year-old me and now-me ever since. I have her back. My soul. The one part of me Caleb has kept from me ever since that night up until now.
This is the reason I have this army. This is why I needed all this. Everything has been building up until this moment and now it is here.
I turn and look at them.
Did it work? PJ looks so tense he's a human land mine.
Of course it did, says Andrew. Look at her!
Duncan smiles.
Lochlan bursts into tears and Jake puts a hand on his shoulder. You all have to go now. He'll find out soon that his treasure his missing. He points at Cole, who has retreated to a high corner.
We hurry to get through the door again. Once in the hallway, we're met by Caleb, who is sombre and pale.
How is he?
Angry.
I just took the very last think he loved in this world.
He's not a part of this world, I tell Caleb, and you shouldn't be either for this.
That's why I returned your soul to you. It belongs to you so you should have it back.
You should have come to get it yourself.
He won't let me near it, Bridget, I've tried.
I just stare at it. He's probably right. And Jacob would never have helped anyone but me.
I hate to interrupt this, Sam says, but I need to get her baptized. The sooner, the better.