The Hidden Secrets of Lost Gods

I heard his cell phone ping in his pocket as he responded. “I’ll answer your first question, but then I need you to hurry.”

I nodded, and he kept talking. “I had one of my men follow you home. They sent me your location when you arrived.”

His men. Who the hell is this guy?

“Why?” I asked. Still uncomfortable with his close proximity.

“That’s such a simple question,” He said, glancing at the clock on the stove, a tinge of sadness in his voice, “but it’s going to take a while to answer. Your past has clearly been hidden from you.”

“I think you’re a little unhinged, honestly. I know who I am, and nothing has been hidden from me. You must’ve made a mistake.” I said, readying myself for a fight. Or to run and try to hide in my bedroom. Neither of which I was confident was a solid plan, but it was the middle of the night and nothing was making sense.

“It’s possible I’ve made a mistake, but I doubt it. Have you at least heard of a Belphegor?” A crease formed between his thick eyebrows as he asked, and registered my look of confusion. “Jesus,” he muttered. “Clearly, this is going to be a lot harder than I thought.”

He stepped back, giving me space and taking with him the warmth that radiated from him only seconds ago. I shivered.

“You smell like wine,” He paused, scrunching his nose. “Unfortunately, we truly must go. I promise to return you safe and sound tomorrow, but right now, something very dangerous is on its way. I could leave you, but you won’t be able to protect yourself. The choice, however, is yours.”

Silence hung in the air as my mind whirled for the second time tonight. Goosebumps formed on my arms as I thought about the possibility that my life might actually have a little excitement for a change. The decision was past my lips before I had a chance to properly think it through.

“Ok. I’ll go,” I said.

As I whirled around though, in typical Myla fashion, I slipped on the puddle from my dripping hair and my legs slid out from underneath me, pitching me forward.

I quickly did a spin maneuver through the air, careful to clutch my towel the entire time. It didn’t quite work, as my second foot then slid, and I landed squarely on my butt.

Completely mortified, I glanced up at Damien. He had glanced away to look at my cat, barely containing his laughter.

At least he had the decency not to laugh in my face.

After quickly tossing on some clothes, wiping the old makeup from my face, and running a brush through my still sopping wet hair. I proclaimed I was ready to go.

Unfortunately, my stubbornness earlier was about to catch up with me.

For the second time tonight, someone was pounding on my door. I silently hoped my neighbors weren’t going to start submitting complaints.

Damien went to the peephole, and froze. He looked back at me, the look on his face a good indication that I needed to prepare myself for the worst.

Whatever it was.

The pounding sounded once more. In the time it took for me to snatch my black furball from his post on the counter, and toss him into the bedroom, my front door exploded open. A few pieces broke off completely. I reacted just in time to avoid a piece of the door flying across the kitchen, past my head, and into the living room.

I caught a glimpse of a tall creature right before it barreled into Damien. It looked like a human, but with a long face, patchy stubble, and long pointed nose. It’s eyes were black as night.

It bared his teeth as it lunged at Damien’s neck between blows. Rows of sharp, shark-like teeth glinted in the light.

I felt the blood drain from my face as I stood there, frozen in place. This wasn’t the exciting sort of danger I was hoping for. And I definitely wasn’t physically fit enough to hold my own, even for a second.

Despite all of the strength he had shown during our first encounter, Damien had clearly met his match with whatever this thing was.

He expertly ducked his head to avoid the beast’s thrashing teeth. Turning to the right, he was able to swing his arm up and use his elbow to strike a blow near his ear. He used the room to duck under an incoming fist, pivot, and land a blow to it’s back, dropping the creature to its knees.

The beast didn’t so much as pause. It jumped back up to its feet at a gravity defying speed, and spun a roundhouse kick into Damien’s torso faster than I could blink.

Damien stumbled backward until he hit the wall. Ducking another incoming kick, he dropped to all fours, rolled, and used the momentum to land a kick to the thigh, then regained a standing position.

With an otherworldly snarl, the beast grabbed Damien by the shirt, pulling him back. It landed punch after punch, Damien only moving fast enough to block half the blows. Definitely not fast enough to counter, his face a mask of pain.

I knew we were both screwed if I didn’t act, and soon.

Adrenaline finally kicking in, I bolted for the cupboard that held my big cast iron pan. I dragged it out by the handle, spilling other pans onto the floor in the process.

Fortunately for Damian, it reminded the beast that there was someone else here. Unfortunately for me, well, I was the someone else.

As if straight out of a 90’s sci-fi film, the beast turned and in a single jump, landed on my kitchen island.

I glanced at Damien. He was clutching his side taking shallow breaths. I almost decided that hiding in the bedroom would have been the better, safer, option.

Too late now.

I clutched the pan like the life-line it was and slowly tried to move around the island, to the side Damien was on.

No luck.

A scream ripped from my throat as the thing jumped again, landing right where I was about to step. I reacted on impulse, swinging the pan with all of the strength I could muster. I hit it square on the side of the head as a fist collided with my ribs. Pain exploded down my entire side.

The beast had a dazed look on it’s face for only a moment, before Damien tackled it from the side. He took its head in his large hands, lifted, and smashed it into the floor. I looked away, not able to watch him finish this fight.

After just two more quick thuds against my faux wood floor, everything went silent. Mustering every ounce of courage I possessed, I took a shuddering breath and turned to see the outcome.

Luckily, nothing yucky required clean-up. The beast was laying still, its chest still rising and falling. A pang of fear shot through me at the thought that it could jump back up at any moment.

“He’s knocked out.” Damien tried to reassure me by resting a gentle hand on my shoulder. No doubt, he could read the emotions all over my face.

My chest heaved as I tried to stop the trembling that had set in. I winced from the pain even a shallow breath caused. “Yep. Okay, I definitely need some answers.”

This is the end of part 1, of chapter 2. Part 2 will be up in a few days. Thank you for reading, comments and feedback is always appreciated!