looked up at my friend. His expression had become oddly calm. His enormous chest was expanding and contracting very slowly.
Faru turned his back and began to press on the picture in various places. When he was done, he stood back and the picture began to shift, as it had done before. The staircase appeared and descended to his feet. “Faru, what are you doing?” said Sage Etorre. “I cannot allow anyone else to die,” he said in an apologetic tone. Midnight whispered down towards me. “Promise me you’ll look after her.”
My chest tightened. “Midnight, don’t do anything stupid,” I pleaded, but knew it was too late. Already the air in the room was thickening. “I promise,” I whispered to empty space.
He reappeared behind Dakin, reaching his arms around the Vampire in an attempt to grab him. But Dakin was too quick. He shoved Sophia forward and spun around, sinking the blade into Midnight’s sternum.
Sophia screamed. A soul wrenching sound, that I knew would stay with me forever. Midnight blinked and stared down at the wound. Purple smoke rolled up from around the handle.
“Coated blade,” hissed Dakin. “I told you not to try anything!” He yanked the blade back out and started for Sophia again.
Midnight sank to his knees. The thump echoed around the hall. We all charged forwards. Rachel used her remaining wing to aid her jump. She made it to the edge of the balcony, grabbed Dakin and before he could react, pulled him over the railings. He hit the ground hard, but her wing slowed her fall. As they thrashed about, I saw her pull out a wooden stake. The last look on Dakin’s face was one of surprise as she plunged it into his throat with a scream. She stood up as the fire burned. We crowded around Midnight. Purple ooze was dripping from his lips. Sophia was crying. “Help him please,” she begged, looking at me. “Gabriella, give me your hand!”
She linked her fingers with mine and I placed my free hand on his chest. The boom of energy rolled my arm and Midnight's body convulsed as if my hand were an electric pad. Delagio placed his fingers at his friend’s neck. “It’s not working!” he yelled, “try again!” I placed my hand on his chest again and once more the rolling boom of electricity surged into his body.
“No, no, no!” shouted Delagio. “Why isn’t this working?” He ripped open Midnight’s shirt and we all saw why. The knife had entered directly into his heart. Where it had continued to beat, the poison had spread through his arteries into other parts of his body. His chest was a map of grim purple lines. The fingers of the infection had started to creep up the side of his neck. I tried to place my hand on the wound again, but Midnight caught my wrist. He shook his head. “It’s not gonna work mate,” he croaked. “I have to try!” I said, tears forming in my eyes. “No ya don’t. Listen, do me a favour guys, give me moment with Sophia.” I looked over at Gabriella, tears were streaming down her face, but she nodded. Together we all stood up and walked away.
Sophia moved closer, trying to wrap her arms around her Midnight. They didn’t even reach the ends of his waist. Even though we’d moved to the other end of the balcony, I could still hear every word and it broke my heart. “Hey pint size,” he croaked. “Listen, I’ve got to go away now.” “No stay with me…please,” she wept, nestling her head into his neck. “I wish I could sweetie. I really do. But sometimes things don’t go that way.” “But what do I do?” she sobbed. “I don’t know what to do.” “I want you to go and live with the Coven. They’ll keep you safe.”
“But I don’t want to.” “I know, but you have to. Will you do that for me?” “Okay,” she sniffed.
“Good girl.” His voice cracked. “Listen, you see Alex over there? He’s a good guy. I trust him and I know he’s going to make sure you’re cared for. And you know that Ella loves you to bits too.”
Sophia nodded and looked up at me. Gabriella had pressed her head against my shoulder. Together we nodded back at her and I tried to smile, but couldn’t manage it. “I’ve got to go and see my other girls now,” he said with tears in his eyes. “But does that mean you’ll forget about me?” “Are you kiddin’, how could I forget about you? Tell you what, I’ll make you a deal. Are you listenin?” Sophia nodded and lay her head down on Midnight’s shoulder. He pressed his cheek against hers.
“Okay. Well I want you to live your life and be happy. And I promise that when it’s your time, we’ll be waiting for you. Me, you, Cass and Joy. We’ll all be one big family. How does that sound?” “You promise?” He raised three fingers. “Chosen’s honour.” Sophia closed her little hand around his. He wrapped his arms around her as his eyes closed. “I love you kid,” he whispered. “I love you Dad.” Midnight died with a smile on his face.
32
The harsh wind whipped at my face. We were sitting on little white chairs that had been set up in an expansive graveyard area behind the Mansion. A podium had been positioned at the front. As the day had progressed, people had come up to it, recounting fond memories of their friends and fellow Guardians who had died in battle. A sombre silence had drifted through the crowd, made more evident by the whistling of the cold wind. The Red Storm still hung overhead, a reminder that as long as the Hades and The Sorrow lived, there could never be peace.
Faru was leaning on his cane at the back. His face was drawn with a deep unhappiness that looked like it would never shift. He wasn’t the only one. There was an underscore of sniffles from around us and some were openly weeping. The sadness curled inside my stomach like a disease, threatening to eat its way through me. Beyond that, I had a bad feeling I just couldn’t shake. It had been with me the moment I’d woken in the morning and stayed with me right through the afternoon. The night before, I’d slept badly, once again dreaming of The Sorrow. This time however, it was a repeat of the first dream, moment for moment. I was confused as to what it could mean.
Next to me, Gabriella’s arms encircled Sophia, who was sitting on her lap. Midnight’s broach dangled from the girl’s neck. She was staring numbly forward, clutching a piece of paper in her hand. Sophia had been inconsolable since the moment Midnight died. No one had been able to coax a single word from her. She refused to eat. As much as it hurt us to see her that way, we knew that only time would heal her wounds. Gabriella looked over at me and offered a weak smile.
The part came that I’d been dreading the most. The lowering of Midnight’s casket.
Gabriella stood up along with Sophia and together they walked hand in hand over to the podium. Gabriella cleared her throat and leaned into the microphone.
“Midnight was a Chosen, Guardian and a teammate. But beyond that he was a friend. Most people would look at him and see a thug — someone to be feared. But those who knew him knew differently. We were fortunate enough to know the person inside. We knew Michael. The man who had been a wonderful husband and father until his family was cruelly taken away from him. The man who became a parent all over again, for Sophia. Midnight didn’t deserve to die. But as they say, the good ones always go first. All I can hope is that if there is a God, he knows that that man deserves an eternity of peace. Midnight, you will be missed.” Streaks of tears flowed down her face. She moved away from the microphone and placed a chair down, so that Sophia could stand on it. Then she took the piece of paper from the little girl and read it, whilst Sophia stared down at the locket in her hands.
“Sophia wanted me to read this for her,” said Gabriella in an unsteady voice. “I can barely remember my Mother. To be honest, I try not to. What I do remember is Midnight. To me, he was my Dad. And now he’s gone and it hurts so much.”
I had to swallow a lump in my throat. Next to me, Delagio had a hand covering his eyes. His body was shaking. Rachel’s face was one of stone. She looked broken — like her emotions had been sucked away by the previous night’s events.
“Midnight, I don’t know if you can hear me up there, but I wanted to play something for you. Hopefully you’ll be with the rest of your family and you can all listen together. I miss you.” From somewhere around us, speakers crackled and then Eva Cassidy’s Songbird began to play. The haunting melody and beautiful words filled the silence. I struggled against the tears. Sophia began to cry and Gabriella pulled her into her arms. I felt sick. This shouldn’t have happened. At that moment I despised Hades more than I could ever have described.
As I sat there, listening to the music fade away, it suddenly dawned on me what it was that was bothering me so much about my dream. I needed to speak to Faru as soon as possible.
By the time the ceremonies had finished, the afternoon was fading into twilight. Faru had finished with a moving speech about remembering those who had fallen, but also not forgetting what we had prevented from happening. How we needed to stand united and carry on. It was hard, but he was right. We’d lost so many — we’d
