The Watchers Trilogy.

LEGIONS.

KARICE BOLTON.

To all of the people in my life who always tell me to go for it!

Love you my dude! Jon, you are the best husband a girl could ask for...

Mom, thank you for always giving me encouragement and to my dad who is watching down over us all!

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

I want to say a simple thank you to Amazon, Barnes & n.o.ble, and all of the other avenues available for the indie publishing world. It allows the art of storytelling to continue to flourish in unexpected ways!

Also to my wonderful and very patient editor you know who you are.

Chapter 1.

I closed my eyes as tight as they could possibly shut, not wanting to see any of the images that were shoving their way into my psyche. I was hoping that the images I saw dancing in the smoke of the flames were nothing more than hallucinations. Seeing Athen's body that close to another's was more than I could comprehend. I didn't know how this was supposed to be connected to the Awakening or getting him back to us. With my body squirming and trying to get away from the visions, Cyril and Arie had to tie me down so I didn't disrupt the process. My body was going against everything I was supposed to be doing. Both my body and my mind were in a battle against each other. Neither wanted to accept the vision of Athen and the demon together. With my legs kicking, and arms flailing in all directions, all I wanted to do was to flee - but my soul knew better. If I disrupted the Awakening now, all hope was pretty much lost on getting Athen back soon.

Next, my most intimate moments with Athen began being projected against the flames - the night a perfect backdrop to highlight our images together as one. I didn't know if it was only me who was seeing that, but the amount of pain I was suffering made me not care. Cyril and Arie kept the flames tended while I did my best confronting the physical and emotional pain that was running through my entire body. When I thought there were no more tears to be had, the wetness continued streaming down my cheek. I had no control over anything.

My lungs began to tickle. A cough began stirring in my abdomen. I wasn't in control of anything physical or mental. I tried to gesture towards the flame, turning my head the other direction thinking it was the smoke that was causing my lungs to twitch when Cyril shook his head.

"It's not the smoke, Ana. It's the..." Before he could get the last word out, I was gasping for air. I tried to take breaths in, but it was as if my lungs were already full. Every gulp of attempted air left brought on another coughing fit.

I turned back to the fire only to be accosted by the very images I had been doing my best to avoid and never make a reality. One image flashed right after the other of the two of them together holding hands, walking a beach, getting coffee. The serpent woman and Athen were partic.i.p.ating in all things that normal couples do, only they weren't a normal couple. I knew they weren't. They couldn't be. Couldn't Athen see that? She was a fraud. I didn't understand what I was witnessing but did my best to take in every image's detail, no matter how small seeming, in case it was needed to hunt him down.

The physical pain writhing through every part of my body was nowhere near the emotional distress I was feeling. If I didn't know better, I would think I was hallucinating. Unfortunately, it was nothing of the sort. I had lost Athen because I refused to believe the images that were coming to me in my dreams. I jeopardized his safety because I didn't want to utter aloud what I was seeing in my mind. With every beat of my heart, a shot ran through my veins slicing up along some extremity making way for the next iron-hot rush of blood behind it. I found myself getting lightheaded time and time again because I'd suck in all the breath I could. So fearful any movement would make the pain worse, I tried letting out air, little by little.

I didn't know how much more I could take of this, but when I thought I could handle no more, I reminded myself that Athen, too, went through this very same process for me decades earlier. I also pushed out the one tiny fact that I didn't want to dwell on, which was that there was no one chasing after me to get in the way of my reintroduction process. There wasn't someone fighting for my attention. It seemed like I was going to have to fight for Athen's affections. He wasn't faced with those challenges. Closing my eyes tightly to shield out the burning sensation that was becoming overwhelming, my lungs let out a scream that I couldn't bottle up any longer. I needed Athen. We weren't meant to be apart.

Chapter 2.

The Awakening had gone how it was supposed to, at least from what I was told. I don't remember that much of it, except for the excruciating pain. My arms still felt like they were on fire in every single one of my joints even the little ones. I thought what I had gone through during my reintroduction process was horrible, but it was nothing compared to the horrible pain that ripped through my veins during the Awakening. It took all of the strength that I had to endure the process that and the thought of Athen. His images carried me through it. He had done the same for me half a century ago. Everything I was doing now was for him. I was determined to get him back with all of us, his family.

I still blamed myself for the events that took him from us. It was hard not to. The guilt riddled my every thought. My visions told me exactly what was going to happen, and I did nothing. He didn't have a chance in the attack. That many demons against one of us was almost impossible. The worst part, that eats at me every second of every day, was that the events that unfolded matched my nightmares almost perfectly. If I had only told him about the dreams I was having maybe none of this would have occurred. I just didn't want to believe that my nightmares could be real. That was my gift, seeing these visions. At least, that was what my family told me. To me it felt more like a curse.

Once Athen was taken away, we immediately began the Awakening process. Thankfully, before the pain swept through my body, I was able to get a glimpse of him. He was doing okay - looked fine, but the beautiful, familiar green glow was missing from his eyes. His eyes looked like mine did before my family reintroduced me. He looked as if nothing ever happened, actually. I was thankful for that.

Not having him near me was the worst. It was hard even getting up and ready for the day no laughter to begin my day in a wonderful way, no hug, no kiss. I longed for him beyond anything I ever thought possible - to just be touched by him one more time. I promised myself that we would get him back soon, not 50 years like it took for me. I don't think I could last 50 years without him. A shudder ran up my spine only to be met with an overwhelming amount of guilt and grief.

There was a gentle and familiar mist seeping through the air as I looked out our bedroom window onto Puget Sound. The water was calm this morning, only slightly moving with the breeze. At least there was something consistent and familiar I could grab onto. Anxiety began building as I heard the voices from downstairs become louder. The murmurs of the other families provided little comfort as I longed to be held by Athen. I knew this was the path that would get me to my true love once again, but every step felt like an enormous step backwards not forward. I was grateful to be back at our Kingston home but knew we would be headed to Victoria, B.C. where Athen appeared to be located. Thank goodness for our little homing beacon, Matilda. I missed her almost as much as Athen but knew she was the key to bringing us all back together with him. We were able to keep tabs on him since Matilda was with him. Not hearing her snorts and pants was really disheartening.

I kept reminding myself that Athen had to go through this process with me, too, when I was attacked by the demons. If he could handle it, then I could. The more I let my mind wander off thinking of Athen I could feel tiny swells of excitement building at the prospect of being reunited. Being in the same city, that close in vicinity to Athen again, was something I needed and the sooner the better. I only hoped that I did everything correctly so that we could reunite quickly. I wasn't going to make the same mistakes he made, which made our reunion 50 years in the making.

I readied myself to greet everyone downstairs. I had come to know many of these fellow Fallen Angels and their descendants as the activity from the demons rose in frequency. Many of them had been through the same things as I; some had their loved ones returned to them already, and others were still waiting, like me. Our family knew where Athen was, but it wasn't time to get him back yet. Knowing that Athen had endured this very feeling for decades - one that I had only known for mere weeks - was almost crushing. I don't know how he stayed so strong. I was just going through the motions trying the best I could to be of use to my family; anything to bring Athen back in his true form.

I grabbed my grey wool sweater from the closet and shuffled down the hall to the gathering that was downstairs waiting for me. The chill wouldn't leave my bones no matter what I wrapped around myself. As I struggled to get my arms through the sweater, I realized how everything had become such an effort since Athen was taken from us. The grief had penetrated every fiber of my being.

All of the Christmas decorations had been put away by Cyril and Arie, for which I was eternally grateful. The New Year had begun and brought nothing except misery so far. Somehow I was sitting in the family room sipping a cup of coffee that Arie had brought me, just staring into oblivion. I don't even know how I got there. I noticed I did that quite a bit arriving places, never remembering how I got there. The fire was roaring, but the ice in the air was overwhelming. Part of our area rug was folded up on the corner, and I immediately thought about Matilda, our bulldog - our little homing beacon.

I pulled the sleeves of my sweater over my hands to warm up. There was far too much loss in the room to have the warmth of the flames penetrate the flesh of any of us. If I could only feel the warmth of Athen's touch. As I looked around the room, I could tell immediately which families were waiting for loved ones like I was, and which families had already experienced their return. A flash of envy appeared inside of me, which I squashed immediately. I'm sure that was all part of the demon's plan to have us turn against one another.

It had become apparent in the last few weeks as we reached out to others that we were under attack. This was our first opportunity to discuss our options as a group. We needed to find out as much information from around the area as possible. I only hoped I was up for it. I knew this was far too elaborate an undertaking for the dark demons to be concentrating on only us white demons. There was a more intricate plan laying in wait for us. We had to uncover it before it was too late.

I tried to focus on the task at hand, but my mind couldn't stop drifting to the images of Athen in the last weeks. His green eyes glimmering with hope as I remembered our past, the kindness in his touch as he would brush my cheek, the warmth of his body lying against mine. I tried to shake myself from going down that path. I needed to remain strong and focused. I glanced at one of the beautiful paintings near the sofa table. The vibrant reds splashed throughout made me focus on my fury that was beginning to build. Going down memory lane would only make it that much more difficult on me.

I heard Cyril's voice from the living room trying to gather everyone together. I felt the shift in movement as people began making their way towards me. Since I had been the last person to re-phase from such a long time away from my family, I knew everyone was counting on my memories from the other side. They were hopeful that I'd somehow hold the key to how they would get their loved ones back as quickly as possible. Obviously, they didn't put two and two together that if it was that easy, Athen would be by my side right now.

I pushed my snide thoughts aside and concentrated on the good intent of everyone here. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned around to see a stranger with tears in her eyes looking at me with the same level of desperation that I felt. I realized at that moment I had to get out of myself and look at the bigger picture. It wasn't just Athen I was going to be fighting for any longer. I held her hand briefly, and I stood up and went in front of the fireplace to speak to the group. I finally felt the warmth of the flames on the back of my legs soaking through the jeans that I was wearing. I looked around at everyone, all so welcoming and filled with antic.i.p.ation. I was ashamed of myself for envying any of them. They were here to help. We were all in this together.

"Hi, everyone. I know many of you from my previous existence. At least, that's what I'm told. You'll have to forgive me for not being as quick as I should be with my memories." I said trying to force a smile. Arie came up next to me to stand, grabbing my hand for support.

"As we all are coming to find out, there is change beginning to occur from the evil ones. We need to be vigilant in protecting the family members that remain while still attempting to get our loved ones back as soon possible. Don't be foolish and neglect the ones who are still with us. I have a feeling there will be evil creatures waiting for that very moment. We must not let our guard down. They're counting on us to be distracted, and since there are so many of us with those distractions we must ensure the safety of each other. We can't create any larger openings for them. I get the feeling they are lurking where we might least expect them."

I had no idea where this confidence was coming from, but I felt empowered. I had the knowledge of my staged life and the experience of the rephasing still a part of me all within a breath away from each other. I felt very in tune with the feelings that were washing over me from fellow Fallen Angels in this room. I also realized I was able to sense most of their thoughts. I was thankful for these newly-developed skills. Quickly pausing on individuals, I was able to see where and how their family members were taken and the thoughts and worries of the families as well as the darkness that was attempting to cloud over the room. It wasn't just me who had to squash the feelings of envy and jealousy. My heart began beating swiftly as I began to sense a change in the room. A sense of hope and unity began stirring in the room; the thick sense of loss and despair was beginning to dissipate. I wondered if it was the words I spoke.

"We've divided everyone here into groups so that we can obtain as much information as possible as quickly possible. We need to uncover where, and how you lost your family member. Explain any abnormalities that might have occurred prior to them being taken away and any human anomalies that you may have noticed prior to the event or even after. Obviously, after the hikers and s...o...b..arder incidents in Whistler, we know that the demons aren't afraid to pull from the human world to complete their tasks. That being said, the hikers are still on the loose, so to speak. Unfortunately, now they're on the demon's side. My guess is since they were willing partic.i.p.ants, they will be a crucial part of one of the Legions - so be on guard. I think we have about six groups carved out here, and Arie will give an iPad to each of your groups to start writing whatever you can outline for us. Write anything down no matter how small you think it may be. We are going to take all of the iPads and compile everything. We'll be looking for any patterns or similarities that we can find. They aren't as smart as they think they are. After this exercise, we'll be able compile some good information and send it out to everyone."

"We'll get our loved ones back. If there is one piece of advice I can give, it's to remember that it's harder on us than for them. They don't know that anything is out of the ordinary. As of now, they don't know we exist." The words that escaped my lips made me choke up. I paused to regain my composure.

"They don't know what they're missing, only we do. Their memories of us are gone. But remember the moment the process is ready to begin, the feelings will be rushing back to them like a wave crashing down on their soul. Make sure to be there for them the entire time and don't give up. The process is a long one. I'm still going through it." I was feeling stronger than I had in a long time. The thought that I could help the others gave me purpose.

"After tonight, we won't be able to meet here again," Cyril began, "We need to ensure that the demons can't detect our plans or any of our contact with each other. We must keep them thinking that we're all behaving as separate ent.i.ties. When we do meet up, it'll need to be in smaller groups, always at someone's home, never in public, and we'll then have to figure out a system to spread the findings."

Arie had handed out the iPads to everyone, and the groups began working hard deconstructing the last few weeks of their lives. I was thankful Arie, Cyril, and I had already performed this act. I was able to sit in front of the fire, listening in on others, hoping I'd hear something that would piece everything together immediately. I waited earnestly for some such outcome as the thoughts and words came pouring over me, but my mind continued to drift to Athen, and I was unable to piece anything together. I excused myself and went up to our bedroom. As of now, I was an empty sh.e.l.l of a being. I was no longer whole.

Chapter 3.

Everyone had left from the meeting. I had made sure of it before I made my way down to greet Arie and Cyril. I slowly puttered down the stairs hoping there was something that had miraculously changed from the day before. I was sure they were feeling the same as I was - exhausted. It was a long night, and I never really felt like I got much sleep, if any. We had a few families who stayed the night working on the project we had given them. I think they hoped that every second they stayed to help would bring them that much closer to finding their loved one. I hoped that was the case for us all.

The fire was reflecting off the gla.s.s coffee table in the family room as I made my way to the sectional in front of it. Grabbing the red chenille throw, I covered myself as Cyril brought me a cup of coffee. Arie jumped on the cushion next to me almost spilling the beautiful brown liquid all over the couch.

"Well since none of us can sleep, I say we get started. Does that work?" She asked already handing us the iPads from the previous day's activities.

"Absolutely. Anything to get the show on the road." Cyril muttered as he pulled up the ottoman.

"Alright, so I say we scan over all of the notes manually. Each of us can take a few, and then once we do that, we can compile them onto one iPad. I want to make sure that we all read enough to have things fresh in our memory." Arie instructed.

"Yeah, sounds good." Cyril and I spoke in unison.

I began scanning the first doc.u.ment. I noticed some similarities right off the bat between their situation and ours. I realized I needed to start taking notes on my findings immediately, so I opened up a new task list and began typing my observations. It looked like we were off to a good start.

The family who I was reviewing lived in Portland, Oregon. The Bullons started noticing suspicious activity among the locals who they knew. They had lived in Portland for about five years and had grown very fond of some of the humans in their little community, Arbor Lodge. There were quite a few independent boutiques, coffee shops, and bakeries where they got to know the locals very well. Because of this, they were able to quickly determine the changes that they were seeing as an unnatural progression.

Couples who had shown no outward signs of distress were suddenly dealing with infidelity. Drugs and alcohol had started entering conversations, and small thefts had been reported. The community was a tight knit one, but everyone started to become suspicious of one another creating a tense environment that never existed before. Carson, their loved one, had been taken at the park when he was walking a dog for a neighbor who was on vacation. In hindsight, the family was able to pinpoint oddities that had occurred at their home that they dismissed as nothing.

"Hey, guys," Arie said looking up at us with a very concerned look, "This one is pretty horrible."

"Where's the family from?" Cyril asked, moving over to look at Arie's iPad.

"The Romanos are from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho," She took a deep breath in, "There were 4 suicides in 3 weeks."

I could feel the color drain from my face. I knew demons meddled in all aspects of life, but I didn't fully grasp until this moment how they played with the lives of humans in such startling terms. It was as if humans were chess pieces being picked up and carelessly moved by either the good side or the bad side just that easy. It was actually a lot simpler when I was a naive girl who thought she was a mere mortal, dealing with average nineteen year old type problems.

"That's not all," She continued, disrupting my thoughts," There were two arsons, one murder, and a fight, which left the victim in a coma. This town hasn't seen even one of these events in years, let alone all of them in that short of a time frame. They think that these were all planned for quite some time, but the creatures must have gotten the go ahead to condense all of the events to create the distraction needed."

"Wow, how horrifying. I had no idea the havoc that could be created in an instance like this. Have you ever seen this before? I know my memory isn't up to par yet, but I don't recall anything like this, especially pocketed in so many areas. We haven't even gotten to all of the groups." I was in complete shock.

"Well, considering these are only the families who we have a relationship with makes me think that this is far bigger than we first realized. I only hope we can accomplish everything that we need to," Arie spoke softly, laying the iPad on the coffee table and walked over to Cyril, "This is building pretty fast, whatever it is."

"I know, but we'll figure it out." Cyril moved Arie's hair back from her face and a twinge of sadness entered me quickly as I yearned for such affection again.

We had spent a few hours compiling all of the data and were able to come up with some pretty significant findings. My nerves were about fried, and I really wanted to get to Athen even if that meant just living in the same city with him. I was told I couldn't contact him until the time was right. I was okay with that, but I needed to be near him. That I was certain of.

It turned out that Athen was the first one to be attacked. His attack seemed to set off a chain reaction. The demons had been stalking our family first, probably because I had barely been reintroduced. We were an easy target - plain and simple. After turning the s...o...b..arder into a demon and introducing the hikers into the underworld, the demons left our area humans alone. It was pure luck that they found such eager partic.i.p.ants with the hikers up in Whistler. There was the chance of infidelity with Karen, which was interrupted by me. Then there was an attempted kidnapping that was preempted by Cyril, unknowingly. Lastly, an arson was started at a boutique hotel. It was thwarted before it caused any real damage. It seemed that the demons got tired of failing and decided to take out Athen first to begin the process. The other families then began being picked off one at a time.

The timing of everything seemed to indicate that there were many factions being constructed. The Legions were dispersing and had no intent of stopping until they achieved their goal. We had to figure out what that was. That and, of course, get Athen back. From what we could gather, the demons had been traveling somewhat together as a group. The Masters had been teaching their followers and spinning off minions when needed to stir up a little trouble in between the events. We needed to figure out who was orchestrating it and why. Azazel was definitely involved, but to what degree, we didn't know. The events and human tampering seemed too large scale to only be him unless there was something I didn't know. I had to get out of myself. I could sit and stew all day.

"What do you say we finish this on the road?" I asked in as innocent of a tone as I could pull off.

"Are you all packed?" Arie raised her eyebrows at me suspiciously.

My cheeks flushed instantly.

"I've been packed since the eve of that first night we had our ritual. I had no idea what to expect so I thought I'd better be prepared rather than be the one to hold everyone up. I thought that first night when we would summon him that he would..."

"Appear?" Cyril chimed in.

"Yep, foolish on my part." I whispered, shaking my head.

"No, we should have explained more. That step was crucial in locating him and creating a shield around him. Hopefully, we even placed some of our memories in there too. That's the key. Time will tell," Arie said, hugging me, "I'll go grab our bags as well." She gently squeezed my shoulder.

"Ha! So you've been ready too! That makes me feel better, not so desperate maybe." I said, trying my best to force a laugh.

"We are all desperate, Ana." Cyril said, beginning to lock things up.

Off to Victoria - I only hoped I wouldn't come back home empty-handed. I had to follow the rules. I would not mess up over some silly emotions and repeat the mistakes of the past. It was as if the more I chanted it to myself, the better my odds of sticking to it.

Chapter 4.

We drove in silence to Anacortes, where we would catch the ferry to Victoria. A slight detection of Between Two Lungs hummed in the background, calming me to a certain degree. I loved Florence and the Machine, I only hoped I'd be able to share it again with Athen in this era and not another. The deep sadness began to crawl into everything. As I tried to take in the beauty of the car ride, it only made me wish Athen was with me to experience the beautiful Douglas firs towering over the road, or to witness the jagged boulders that were whipping alongside the freeway as we drove. I thought of his green eyes glowing with antic.i.p.ation, searching for my reactions. My soul ached. My life had been filled with so much happiness, and it had now been reduced to a loneliness that was indescribable.

A constant pursuit of someone who I was deeply in love with, who may not even remember me for centuries, created a gloom I couldn't shake. If my heart could shatter into a million little pieces, I knew this would be the moment. The dark green ferry signs, that fought with the moss that was attempting to hijack the wording, pointed to the lane we needed to be in, and our car began to downshift. Soon I'd be near Athen; even if I wasn't allowed to see him.

As soon as our car was situated on the car deck, I hopped out of the car, running up the stark metal stairs, leaving an echo of footsteps in my wake. I wanted to enjoy the ride from the pa.s.senger deck, possibly pretend that Athen was here with me. I was determined to take in the view as much as I could. I was thankful for the latte that I'd gotten on the way to the ferry. I needed some comfort in my life, and for now, Starbucks would have to do. Hopefully, Athen would see the humor in him being replaced by coffee. I wondered if Matilda was enjoying her life with Athen because I sure missed her. The ferry window was beginning to steam up, and I did my best to secure a spot to look out by wiping the window with my tissue that I always now carried in my pocket for one of those moments when I was about to spontaneously burst into tears. My mood certainly matched the dullness in the air.

Arie and Cyril made their way through the line of people who were waiting to get coffee and landed in our booth with a thud.

"You know some things just work out. This is the last ferry ride to Victoria until Spring." Cyril announced grinning, eyes sparkling, reminding me just enough of Athen and the smirk I missed so much.

"Is it a sign? Actually, I kind of hope not... I'd like to think that getting Athen back won't take until Spring." I noticed Cyril and Arie exchange glances.

"What faith you have." I said, trying to tease them a bit.

Arie reached across the table and grabbed my hand. The red vinyl seats squeaked as she moved forward. I began to chuckle. Athen wouldn't have missed the noise either, if only he were here. Our humor was so in tune.

"I know it's tough, but you should maybe try to prepare yourself for a little longer than a week up here, sweetie."

"I got it, really. I want to think positive as much as possible. You know take things in little steps, otherwise, I don't think I can handle it." My throat started to constrict. Realizing how many emotions I'd been holding in, I paced myself with every breath so I wouldn't start crying again. I looked down at my lap, trying to get myself together before anyone of the other ferry pa.s.sengers noticed.

Most of the ferry ride encompa.s.sed us staring gloomily out the gla.s.s window that now had glistening rain droplets rolling down in a steady stream, and Cyril walking to the cafeteria hoping that their food offerings had changed from the last time he was there, searching the sandwich cooler and coming back to our table empty-handed time and time again.