Pisachas

AN/ Sorry this took awhile. I've been really busy, but don't worry. I have no intentions on giving up on Gilia and I've got some really good stuff coming up. ;)

Chapter Ten

Sibell was bent over in front of the fridge pulling out different vegetables from the bottom drawer, carrots, onions and celery. Her long red dress with a shiny golden vintage pattern was stretch taut across her large derrière that stuck up in the air.

"This is going to be so yummy!" she exclaimed.

Gilia shook her head and smirked as she pulled the green husks from the corn they had purchased earlier that day from the local market in town. Gran always had an urge to cook on special occasions, which felt like all the time. There was usually something special going on whether it is a holiday or even something as diminutive as Sibell managing to find the pair of shoes she'd been searching for to match another new flamboyant dress found on sale at the thrift store. A celebration was inevitable.

Today, however, was her father's forty-eighth birthday. Gran had snuck over to their house to whip up a birthday stew. An ice cream cake was hidden in the freezer for later; one of dad's favorites that he could only have on rare occasions such as this. His doctor had told him five years ago, he needed to cut back on the sweets or risk developing diabetes, not to mention he already had high blood pressure and other issues that come with getting older. Gilia's father began eating better and exercising often; so this was going to be a rare occasion to get to enjoy some of his favorite foods. They had decided though, to make dinner as healthy as possible so he wouldn't feel as guilty about dessert later.

"He's going to be surprised. This was a good idea, Gran," Gilia smiled at her grandmother as she unloaded the armful of vegetables into the sink to be rinsed.

"Yes it is. Now have we got all his presents together?"

Gilia nodded her head and pointed, "Yep, I put them all on the dining room table. Even the super smooth five-blade turbo electric razor you bought him a week ago. I wrapped it for you."

"Oh bless you child! Good. Do we need to set out the candles I brought with me? I'm sure a little celebration ritual wouldn't hurt when Frank gets here…"

"Gran," Gilia eyed the old woman and couldn't help breaking her serious facade to laugh at her. She never changed. One minute, Sibell was a normal sweet grandmother and then the next a mystic expert on rituals and ceremonies.

"Okay, okay. I'll leave the hokey stuff for after dinner."

"Fair enough," Gilia smiled. There really wasn't any getting around it when it came to Sibell. She knew her and her father would be coaxed into participating in some kind of nonsense, crazy babble hokum, but according to Frank—and Gilia agreed—the old woman was worth the trouble.

Gilia hopped down off the stool as soon as she heard the front door open and raced to see her father. "Dad! You're home finally."

"Hey darling, what smells so good?" Frank said kissing Gilia's cheek and setting his leather shoulder bag he kept all his work papers in down by the door.

"Oh…just you're birthday dinner is all. We haven't even gotten the veggies in yet."

He laughed and hugged his daughter. "I suppose you couldn't have orchestrated a birthday dinner alone. Is Sibell here?"

"What kind of a birthday would you have without Sibell?" Gilia laughed.

"I don't know…a normal one."

"I heard that!" Sibell yelled from the kitchen. They both reared their heads back and held their stomachs to keep from laughing too hard.

"Come open your presents, Dad, while Gran finishes cooking."

Gilia couldn't stop smiling as she lay in bed later that evening, thinking of how entertaining and completely insane Frank's birthday had been. He'd been thrilled about every one of his gifts, moaned over how delicious the stew and ice cream cake were and shocked at the elaborate set up Sibell had secretly planned for his forty-eighth birthday ritual. If there was even such a ritual. When Gilia had been busy setting up one end of the dining room table with dinnerware, his opened presents at the other, Sibell had snuck into the living room to set up her circle. Candles lit the hard wood floor like a sprinkling of fireflies, sheets with intricate designs of foliage were draped over the entertainment center and other modern soul-suckers, Gran called anything electronic; except for her record player, which played a drumming chant that Dad was forced to dance to in the center of the circle. At first he'd been reluctant, as anyone would be, but then as soon as Gila promised to do the 'happy dance' with him, he gave in.

In spite of her crazy grandmother's ways, they actually all had a really great time. Now, Gilia was exhausted, but too revved for sleep. As if her body was heavy, only her brain wouldn't shut off to let it rest. She hated times like those. Sometimes Gilia would lay there on her bed for hours with her eyes closed hoping to drift off into a dream world any minute, but that minute usually never came. Too much excitement, she mused. Well, if she wasn't going to sleep she might as well do something constructive like clean her room.

When Gilia went to sit up, she realized with a jolt of unease, she couldn't move. Literally, her body was bound to the bed; even her hands. What was going on?

She tried sitting up again, but couldn't. Gilia tried rolling off the side. Nope, that didn't work either. She began to panic. Was she paralyzed now from the neck down? That wasn't possible to just all of a sudden be paralyzed. Her heart was hammering beneath her ribs so hard she was afraid they'd break.

There was something familiar about this sensation, Gilia forced herself to remember. A warmth as though someone had their body pressed against hers, swarmed the nerves of her skin. Yes, it was on the tip of her brain. An invisible body.

It hit her just as the man's naked form started to appear on top of her. "Sach," Gilia breathed. "No!" she screamed and attempted to push him off.

Gilia was finally able to at least thrash underneath him. She kicked and shoved to the best of her ability. She shut her eyes tight, so his beautiful and mysterious face wouldn't distract her. She was back home and wanted to stay. She couldn't leave…wouldn't leave with him again.

Gilia bit his shoulder and heard him yelp in a high pitch as she slid off the bed hitting the floor with a thud. When she pushed herself up, the floor wasn't carpet like in her room, but stones. Hell.

Glancing around at the deserted dark room belonging to Sach, Gilia realized she'd been dreaming. She'd never been home in the first place. It was just an old memory tainted by the crap that was happening to her now. The burning in her eyes formed tears that she abruptly wiped away. Gilia missed her family terribly and wanted to go home. That's what her subconscious was telling her. A warm tickle down her chin made her realize, Gilia had bitten into her own lip instead of Sach's shoulder. It was probably herself she'd heard yelp. She wiped that off too and grabbed the sheet she'd been wrapped in earlier to cover her naked self again.

This was wrong. Everything here was wrong. Gilia couldn't stay here another minute. What had she been thinking, agreeing for Sach to become her lover just to keep him at peace? True other people wouldn't suffer, but she would if she let him take her. Hell, any other woman in her shoes would refuse. Why not she?

Gilia saw the green necklace Sach had left for her to use for whatever she needed beside the bowl of fruit left over. Well, right now she needed clothes. Simple clothes, like jeans and a t-shirt and maybe a jacket too, because the first thing she planned to do after getting dressed, was get the hell out of here.

oo

The green stone was cold against the skin at her collarbone. Even the warmth of her body never seemed to heat it up, but right then Gilia didn't care about some freaky stone. The only thing she cared about was getting the front door open. She let her head fall back as she stared at the massive wall looming over her. It had been a chore to find the front door in the first place, but with the stone to help guide her, she'd managed.

She could do this, she told herself. Taking a deep breath, Gilia squeezed the stone with her right hand, just as she had done earlier to conjure clothing. She couldn't recall what Sach had whispered to make the opening before so she just made up some stuff herself…in English that is.

To her amazement it worked. A grey light seeping through the hole that continually got bigger and bigger until Gilia could see the ominous sky and bland nature of whatever hellhole she was stuck in. There had to be some way out of this place and Gilia intended to find it.

The crunching under her black boots—that could pass as biker boots—was grinding her nerves. The longer she heard the sound, the more hopeless she felt of ever leaving this place. The wind was strong and freezing. She tucked her red, icy hands inside the pockets of her jacket and kept walking against the blustery weather as though warning her to turn back.

There were no birds in the sky or bugs on the ground, only the incessant sloshing of the black ocean to her left as she continued around Sach's place and the horrible crunching of gravel beneath her like stepping on peanuts shells only sharper. But she continued her search.

Before Gilia realized, she was far from the building that was shrinking by the minute; but she kept to the edge of the water hoping for some hidden turn off with a sign saying 'home this way' and an arrow pointing. Yeah right. The coldness of the wind was starting to get to her. Gilia could feel her cheeks beginning to chap. Puffs of her breath shot out as she stumbled further away. She watched the toes of her boots shuffle the rocks when another set of shoes appeared in front of her.

A knot formed in her throat when she knew she'd been caught again trying to escape. Sach wouldn't have it this time, she knew. But when she looked up, it was another man standing in front of her. This one was taller, not as buff in the shoulders with short blond hair more seen in her world than Sach's long dark locks. His features were hard and unfriendly.

He must have realized her unease because he quickly grinned allowing a much softer, easy going look about him. "Are you Gilia?"

Should she answer him? Or should she run back to Sach's? The last thing Gilia wanted was another creepy guy looking for a lover. Oh god, what if he wanted to rape her too?

"Calm down, Miss. I'm not going to hurt you, I promise." He'd seen her fear. Gilia would believe that in a million years.

"Who are you?" she managed to ask.

"A friend," he stated as if fact. She didn't argue, afraid of what he'd do if she provoked him.

"What do you want?" she questioned through chattering teeth. The sight of him in nothing more than a black t-shirt and slacks while his body had no reaction to the cold weather made her nervous beyond belief. His immunity disturbed her more so than Sach's invulnerability to cold. She was standing there almost shaking right out of her badass boots and not even the light hairs on his forearms were standing up. Weird.

He swung his slim arms behind him, grasping his hands together and smiled. "Why to meet you of course."

"Me? Why me?" Gilia had a feeling she knew already.

"You are Sach's true mate. I wanted to see if the rumors were true."

"There are rumors? How can that be when all Sach sees is me and the women on earth he rapes?" Who the heck could be talking about them? And who the heck has Sach been talking to? Gilia was not about to become a freak show for his Underworld buddies to gawk at.

"Let's just say he knows everything and sent me to find out in person if you existed."

"Who is he?" Her interest was piqued. This dude was acting really strange. He leaned forward to sniff her. Gilia leaned back and then took a step back.

"The boss. The head of the Underworld. Don't tell me you humans have forgotten about him? Oh my, will he be pissed at this discovery."

"Look, I don't know what or who you are talking about. I just want to go home. I'm sick of this place! I'm sick of the cold! I'm just plain sick!" Her breath was easier to see again from the exhaustion she felt deep in her aching bones. Even the expansion of her lungs was a struggle.

"Ah, so Nathaniel hasn't fulfilled the final juncture of the Reclaiming. The boss will be pleased, but of course he probably already knows." The man laughed at himself, staring off at some unseen object…or person, she shuddered and glanced around just in case. No one was around. Gilia hated to admit, but she wished Sach was there. This man was really starting to unsettle her.

"I really should be getting back," she said quickly and turned to get away.

Before she got three steps, he bellowed, "I can take you back, you know…to your family."

Damn. He knew how to get her attention. Gilia spun back around slower, "You can?"

"Of course. All you have to do is hold on to me and you'll be back in your own home before supper. Like that," he snapped his fingers.

Every nerve in her stomach was sparking and sputtering, telling her not to trust the guy, but what options did she really have. Live with Sach on this dreadful island forever or go home to her family. But if this guy was lying, she was going to be in big trouble.

"You don't trust me do you? That's okay, I wouldn't trust a guy I just met either. But I know how bad you've had it down here. Let me help you and return you to your grandmother and father. They are awfully worried."

"How do you know them?" Gilia watched him shrug one shoulder.

"I know lots of things. One being you can trust me. I said I wouldn't hurt you, didn't I?"

She nodded.

"And have I?"

"No, but…"

"Ah," he held up his hand to silence her. "I might be a stranger to you in a strange place, but I can help you. Join me and I will take you to Frank and Sibell. The old woman has cried every night since you disappeared, wrapping herself in one of the afghans she'd stitched for you. Such a sad sight." He shook his head in disappointment as Gilia tear-ed up thinking of Gran all upset over her. She couldn't bare it.

"Take me to them," Gilia said walking towards him. The blond man opened his arms wide for her.

"Gilia! Stop right there!" It was Sach. The panic in his voice had Gilia whipping her head around to see him. He wasn't running towards them or even walking. Sach wasn't even on the ground, but soaring towards them in the sky. His large expanded black wings looked like a small jet in the air. Sach was fast, but the blond guy had been faster getting to her. His lean arm wrapped around her neck from behind, squeezing what little air remained in her lungs out.

"Damn you, Balan! Let her go!" Sach landed in front of them with a hard crunch onto the gravel.

"I'm afraid not Nathaniel. The boss wants to meet you're little human and I'm under orders to take her to him."

Gilia paled knowing she'd been tricked. What a damn fool, she was. If Gilia could have fallen to her knees and cried for Sach to take her back she would have. The last thing she wanted to do was meet some ruler of the Underworld. Lord, her life kept getting more messed up by the second.

"You can't take her there! Her body is too weak to withstand the cold."

"Oh don't worry you're little head over her. I won't be taking her all the way down." Balan tossed his head back to laugh. "My, she's gotten straight to your head already…hasn't she?"

"If you hurt one little hair on the top of her head, I'll destroy you."

"Oh I don't think so. You know good and well a Prince of Hell cannot be destroyed."

"No? I can make your boss embarrassed to have a right hand man such as yourself and banish you from his ranks." Sach moved a step closer.

For a moment, Balan's grip around Gilia's throat loosened long enough for her to take a deep breath. He regained his composure shortly after, making it even harder to breath than before. "You can't do anything to me. Especially, when I've got something so precious to you in my arms."

He sniffed her again, this time lingering long enough to lick the side of her face as well. Gilia held the bile rising in her throat down. "Mmm, I wouldn't mind having a little human slave to abide my ever wish."

If a glare was fatal, the one Sach was shooting Balan would have knocked him dead by now. The redness in Sach's face was increasing to a point that frightened Gilia to death. She wondered why Balan wasn't afraid. Or he was and was just good at hiding it.

"We best be going. Don't want to keep the boss waiting. You know how he gets."

Instead of addressing Balan, Sach looked at her, keeping their eyes locked. "Don't be afraid, little one. I'll come for you. I promise."

She hadn't even had time to respond as the black fog whipped around them, distorting her vision of Sach. When he faded into the foreground of darkness, Gilia let the sensations overcome her and fell hard into an unconscious, safe nothingness.

AN/ hope you enjoyed!