Kristie Cook - Genesis

“Every woman needs brooches for her peplos. And to tell you how great you can be, too.”

Cassandra blew out a breath of frustration. “Why can’t you ever come see me just to see me, Jordan? It’s been … I don’t know … before my daughter was born so thirteen years? You left me to become someone’s slave, after promising to protect me. And here you are, still saying the same thing you said way back then. You’re still stuck on that stupid argument that you won’t win because I want nothing to do with you and your friends. I don’t care how great you are, I don’t want to be like you! Why can’t you just come and have a normal conversation between a brother and his sister?”

Jordan blinked at her and then his face fell and his shoulders sagged. With a forlorn look, he tucked the jewels into the pouch at his hip. She’d gone too far with him once again. What was it about Jordan that made her snap every time she saw him? She opened her mouth to apologize, but he spoke first.

“Because we’re not a normal brother and sister,” he said.

Cassandra groaned.

“I am normal,” she said. “As normal as I can possibly be and that’s how I like it, so leave me alone if that’s all you’re here to harass me about.”

She spun on her heel and began running toward home. Jordan suddenly appeared in front of her, just far enough away that she could stop before colliding into him.

“I’m sorry, Cassandra. You’re right.”

She momentarily forgot what he should be apologizing for, overcome with surprise. “How … ? How did you do that?”

His mouth turned up in a slight grin. “It’s one of those things I wanted to show you. But not now. You’re right. Let’s talk.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “About what?”

He shrugged. “About life. How has yours been? It’s been a long time since we last saw each other.”

She stared at him for a long moment, again in shock. Was he really asking about her? Did he really care? She knew she shouldn’t trust him, not after what he did to her last time, but unlike him, she couldn’t turn her back on family. She began again for home, but this time walking slowly, Jordan by her side. She told him all about her life and about Andronika, her chest filling with pride for her daughter.

“What about you?” she asked when she finally finished, but then she felt the need to clarify. She didn’t want to hear anything about demons. “I mean, do you have a wife? Any children?”

“I have a son, not too much older than your Andronika. He was born the day I last saw you, actually.” Jordan told her about his life, including the demons and the Ancients and despite herself, she couldn’t help but listen with curiosity. Interest in his life, though, not about them specifically and certainly not about joining them. But when he did start talking about them, she still couldn’t bring herself to stop him. Vampyres? Were-animals? Mages?

“I’ve been gaining some of their powers,” Jordan said, startling her once again.

“What do you mean?”

“Like what I did earlier, when I appeared in front of you. We call it flashing. Other things … magickal things.”

“Oh, Jordan, why are you doing this?” she demanded, grabbing his wrist. Ice-cold pain shot into her hand, forcing her to let go. “You’ll lose yourself to them. You’ll lose your soul!”

He shook his hand, as if her touch had hurt him, too. “My soul is already theirs. And I’m doing it because I believe in them. I believe in Our Lord. He is a better god than your God.”

Cassandra gasped. “You mean … Satan?”

“Yes. He would—”

“How can you even say that? What are you thinking, Jordan? You need to get out now. I can help—”

“I don’t want to get out. It’s where I belong. I’m leading them all now, all but the Ancients. And you can’t do anything. It’s too late. It was too late the day we were born. We are demons.”

Cassandra shook her head. “Even if you believe you have bad blood, you could choose, Jordan. You could choose to live the rest of your life righteously. God would still forgive you.”

Jordan laughed. “Why would I do that? Look at all that I can do!”

He flicked his hand and fire exploded out of it, hitting a nearby log. Then he lifted his finger and the log rose into the air. He made it spin and then sent it flying into a large rock, where it smashed into splinters. He flicked his other hand and doused the fire with a stream of water that flowed from his palm.

“And there’s more, so much more. And you can have all this power, too, little sister.”

Cassandra stared at him wide-eyed, her heart pounding. Evil waves pulsed off of Jordan’s body and when he turned toward her, his eyes were red instead of their normal blue. Her breath caught. She shook her head.

“No,” she whispered. “Never. You’ve gone too far, Jordan.”

She broke into a run. Jordan appeared in front of her. She darted to the right. There he was again. She switched to the left but she couldn’t get away from him. He just laughed, a maniacal sound she’d never heard from him before. A frightening sound she didn’t ever want to hear again.

“Just leave me alone,” she yelled.

“Come with me, little sister. Join us and live the life you’re supposed to.”

“You’re mad. You are evil, but not because of Father. Because of your own doing!”

He took a step toward her, his eyes filled with malice. Her heart hammered painfully against her ribs. She’d never felt so scared of him before. But this wasn’t her brother. Not the Jordan she grew up with.

She lifted a large stone over her head and threw it toward him, not to hurt him but to distract him. He stopped it in mid-air. Not waiting to see if he threw it back at her, she ran again.

The shelter by the cliff came into view and she realized she couldn’t bring Jordan to her daughter. He couldn’t know where they stayed. So she veered right, ran another two-hundred paces and then stopped dead in her tracks. Jordan appeared right in front of her. They stood in a stand-off, but he didn’t move to hurt her.

“Please, Jordan,” she begged. “Please just leave me alone. You’ve done this to yourself, but don’t do it to me. Please.”

“But why? I don’t understand you. Why wouldn’t you want all this?” He sounded genuinely perplexed, as if the idea of rejecting all he had was absurd. But Cassandra couldn’t fathom having those powers, using them to hurt other people … being evil. She had always embraced the goodness and she always would.

“I’ve told you. I like my life. This is what I want. Not that,” she said flipping her hands toward him.

“But I can give you everything! The world!”

Cassandra pressed the palms of her hands against her temples. She inhaled deeply and blew it out slowly. “I’ve told you, Jordan. I don’t want it. You have it. You do what you want with your life and I will pray for you. But please just leave me alone.”

“You really want to live like this?” Jordan asked, throwing his arm out in a sweeping motion, indicating life in the wilderness. “You really do?”

“Yes. This is my life and I want it. I have a daughter I love … and a husband … ”

Something flickered in Jordan’s eyes. “When was the last time you saw your husband?”

“He’s been at war.”

“And you’ve heard nothing?”

Cassandra shook her head, studying her brother, hearing something new in his voice. His eyes softened and his whole face seemed to sag with an inexplicable sadness. He averted his eyes and bowed his head. Cassandra’s heart stopped.

“What is it?” she whispered.

Jordan didn’t answer her, just stared at the ground.

“What?” she yelled. “What is it? What do you know?”