The Others

It's been weeks since Amillia first arrived at her aunts, Cole, the new neighbor, didn’t seem too pleased with the discovery that yet another Black child would be living on the property. He despised the family although they are supposed to be “friends” and at peace with one another. Cole’s purpose was supposed to be to assist Gloria in helping to guard the world and its secrets, but he has a different agenda in mind. That’s something his son, Erik, the second eldest out of his five children, noticed.

It’s not as if it should matter how many people in the Black family move here, this is their home, their land, the Wyatt’s are the ones who are not supposed to be present. This is something that Eric learned on one of the various times he spied on his dad. Eric can’t stand secrets, and his father just happened to be the keeper of several, but in all fairness, Erik can’t stand his father either, blaming him for the reason that his mother is gone.

There was more to this, and Erik wanted to know what it is. He had heard his father talking on the phone to someone he assumed was higher up in the chain of command than his father is due the tone of voice his father used while on the call.

“Yes sir, I seen her myself, she’s here and she’s not harmed. Her aunt has expressed concern about her because she seems to be mute these days,” Cole said on the phone. His voice void of all emotions.

He couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation but from where Eric had been spying he can tell that his father isn’t happy with whatever is being said. But then again when is Cole ever satisfied?

“And how to you propose I do that?” Cole asks sounding irritated. There’s a moment pause. “She doesn’t even leave the house, no one’s seen her except for the day she came here, she doesn’t even socialize with her aunt and that kid of hers.”

That made Erik smile. If only Cole knew what was going between that kid of Gloria’s and his eldest son, bet he wouldn’t be so smitten then. Cole always acted as if he’s better than everyone else, especially Gloria and her family, and that’s something else that irritated Erik about his dad. They’re not better and his mother, Jasmine, had always made sure that they pulled their weight and done their part while living in this world.

The other thing is, Eric remembers his mother being here, he remembers the day she left. The same day that Malik, and his two sons, Zacharious and Omkar, left this world. Cole’s the reason they left, although Erik hadn’t known why, but he had a determination in him to find out. Erik is very big into the need to know.

“I’m sure we’ll figure it out eventually,” Cole said and hung up the phone. Eric didn’t wait around to be caught snooping on his father. Cole could be a cruel man and didn’t care to put anyone in their place if crossed, especially not his children.

After hearing the one-sided conversation Eric became intrigued with Amillia, wondering what would make her special enough to draw attention to whomever it is that his father works for. He doesn’t know much about “the family business” or who the head bosses are, but he does know that they are the only people that Cole yields too. So many questions are going through his young mind at this time.

For the next few weeks Eric studied Gloria’s house. His siblings and himself were forbidden by Cole to ever go over there and actually socialize with either Gloria or Taylor. The most they were allowed to do is help her with her huge garden and farm considering that’s how they all ate and survived in this world. But what Cole doesn’t know won’t hurt, it hasn’t yet anyway.

One thing about Eric though is that he loves to break his father’s rules, any rule, and every chance he gets. It must run in the family because Joseph, his older brother, sure didn’t have a problem with it either considering the fact he’s been chasing, and succeeding, with courting Taylor for at least the last two years. Eric wanted to know the secret of Amillia and why she seemed to be so important to the people that his father worked for.

If Cole and whomever is interested in this Amillia girl then she must be something special. That’s the only thing that he can figure out. Why else would they want anything to do with her when they sure don’t want anything to do with anyone else in the Black family?

Erik decides to put a plan into motion. He’s going to wait until the next time that his father leaves this world to go to “work”, and then he’s going to sneak over to Gloria’s house, and he’s going to meet Amillia and see what the big deal is about her. His mind is made up.

(3rd Person – Present)

The rain has been coming down for two days now. The weather is calling for a thunderstorm and flood warnings. This is not the weather to be setting out on an adventure in, at least not right now anyways. Besides, they don’t even really have a plan.

From what Amillia found out from Jayven and Daniel is that their mother and sister had been hunting something that had been committing random killings in some city that’s pretty far from where they currently are now. They had went in blindly, didn’t even know what they were hunting just that it was hurting and killing people who had no hope, people full of despair. It’s not much to go on and with all honestly Amillia doubts that they are going to find their family alive by this point in time. All of that had happened before Jayven even descended into hell.

Amillia is setting outside on her porch swing under cover of the overhead roof that wraps around the bottom of her house along with the porch. She’s been watching the storm come in and has just been thinking about everything.

Her thoughts are interrupted by Jayven who decided to join her setting on the porch swing.

“So, you’re a hunter huh?” Before she could answer he asks, “How did you get into this?”

Amillia can’t help the smile that comes across her face. ‘These guys are so totally clueless to everything’, she thinks to herself.

While chuckling with a big smile on her face, Amillia responds, “I’m not a hunter, but that’s a good one.”

‘Like for real, is this dude serious. The freaking princess of the underworld sent him for ‘help’ as he says and he’s really just gonna assume I’m a hunter… Maybe they’re not even as smart as I had assumed they were, and that’s not saying much.’ Amillia thought in her head while shaking it.

Never has Amillia met a bunch of mortals that are as ignorant as these two “hunters” that she’s met. If their mom and sister are as dim as they are then there’s no wonder they’re missing, and she still has little doubt that they will find them, and if they do, then the two of them won’t be alive. She doesn’t want to voice that to these though, she’s still very interested in the reasoning behind Leyla sending them to her. If anyone in the underworld found out that Leyla’s awake then she will be killed, so why would she risk that secret with two mortal souls?

Amillia couldn’t help but to burst out in laughter earning herself a questioning look from Jayven. Guess it’s time to actually come clean.

“Come one dude, the princess of the underworld sent you to me for help and you think I’m a hunter?” She asks the rhetorical question. The dumbfounded look on Jayven’s face leads Amillia to her next question. “You really don’t know much about what you’ve signed yourself up for do you?”

Jayven considers her question for a moment. His brother and his self don’t actually know a whole lot about anything going on with Amillia and Leyla, honestly. He knows he went to hell, met Leyla, and was sent back to this world, but other than that he’s completely lost. Daniel is the one who had told him about their mom and sister once he returned. Poor dude had been torn up thinking he lost everyone in his life and the last person he had ever expected to see again is Jayven.

Amillia sighs, as she has multiple times since meeting the two of them. “Okay, so let me tell you something. I’m going to give you just a tiny glimpse of what you have gotten yourself into. Leyla, she’s one of the princesses of darkness, and she’s my sister. She’s not where she’s supposed to be though, she was kidnapped when our parents were killed and I’m assuming taken to the underworld to be raised by Sotona’s own creation and number one minion. We are both the great-granddaughters of majka bozica, or as you all here would call her, mother goddess.”

That’s not what he had been expecting to hear, nope, nowhere near it. He isn’t sure what to think. Yeah, he had assumed that Leyla was some form of a demon, demons he can handle, wouldn’t be the first time, but this is a whole new level of the playing field that they’ve entered into. Amillia has done mentioned Satan.

After a moment of thinking, Jayven scrunches up his face and attempts to understand everything that he was just told. “So, you’re telling me that you’re a goddess, or a demi-goddess or something like that? Are you a princess of darkness too?” He asks not quite believing what he’s saying.

“No,” she simply states, “I’m the great granddaughter of a ‘goddess’ as she is called, but I am not one, nor a ‘demi-goddesses’. I do have powers, very, very powerful ones, but I’m nowhere near as those that are deemed ‘gods’. I’m also not a princess of darkness, although I do pertain quit a bit of the darkness in me. The only reason Leyla is considered a princess is because of who took over… raising? Her once she was taken.”. She attempts to explain.

Now Jayven just looks confused and as if he’s overthinking everything. He’s so going to end up giving himself a headache.

“So… If you are what you say you are, then why are you here?”

Amillia can’t help but to laugh. It’s been a while since she’s genially laugh, she’s almost forgot what it feels like. This dude just isn’t catching onto anything and so totally overthinking the whole situation. “My story is a long one,” she says smiling, “but I’m here, right now, because I have to be. I wasn’t exactly given a choice about the matter.”

“So, the gods, or whatever, sent you here?”

“No, not really,” Amillia responded. “More like the fates and our messed-up destinies. Mine and my families that is,” she scoffed with a light chuckle. She’s never been a fan of the fates, or of destiny, for that matter. They’ve done nothing but make her life a living hell and things don’t seem as if they will ever improve, even though she had been promised that they would.

There’s only been one uneventful time that Amillia was introduced to the fates. That mission had been futile and a waste of everyone’s time, but on the other hand she had learned a lot about how all of this works. Not that it meant that anything could be done, all the information did is give her more insight on the bigger picture. Which, in a way, is them getting what they want, for her to follow her destiny. At one point she had protested and rebuked the destiny but knowing and seeing more of the overall aspect of everything she has come to accept what’s going to happen, although that doesn’t necessarily mean that she likes it, or the way that they want things done.

Amillia contemplated on everything for a moment. Her sister, Leyla, is she really awake? That’s one of the major questions, and to what extent is she actually using Jayven and Daniel. There’s always that possibility that they could just be spies for her, keeping tabs on Amillia and reporting back. Maybe Leyla has been told something about the others, another lie no doubt, and she’s sent them to watch to see if she finds them. Also, are these two honestly ready for what’s to come? What they are going to have to go through in order to find the others and then reunite everyone. It’s almost an impossible task, but as she’s been told numerous times, it’s part of her destiny.