Sanctuary: Chapter Two: Sobriety
Unbeknownst to those who roam the Surface, Hell has very good cell service. Towers were constructed decades before the first telephones were created on Earth. Saturn had no problem connecting to the palace’s WiFi on the laptop Beatrice delivered to her room, logging onto Skype. Hell’s timezone followed that of New York City, so she wasn’t surprised to see her brother’s icon green. It was 8:45 at night. She hoped she wouldn’t miss her chance when calling him.
The Skype jingle didn’t play for very long. Chase answered almost immediately, his bust taking up the frame. He was sitting down at a desk in what looked like a dormitory, sporting a John Hopkins sweatshirt.
“Saturn!” He exclaimed, beaming at his older sister. “It’s so good to see you! I didn’t know you brought your laptop Downstairs.”
Saturn sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck with a dry chuckle. “I didn’t. This one is mine for the meantime, I guess.”
“You guess?” His smile fell into a concerned frown. It was the little expressions he’d make, like those, that reminded Saturn how different Chase was from Samuel even though they were the spitting image of each other. “Sis, where are you right now?”
“I’m… um… it’s complicated.”
“Sis.”
“Ugh, fine. Just promise you won’t panic, okay?” Chase pursed his lips, but reluctantly nodded. “I’m at Tanner’s.”
“WHAT?!”
“Damnit, Chase, you promised!”
“What do you mean you’re at his place?! Like, in his house?! Are you being held hostage?! Oh my God, Saturn, please be okay! I don’t wanna see you die!”
“I’m fine, I’m fine. I promise.” She huffed through her nostrils, rubbing circles into her temples to calm her growing headache. “Please, just calm down for me.” Chase hyperventilated like a girl for an age, hands fisting his hair anxiously. It had been a long time since Chase had a panic attack. Saturn wished that she could be there with him to help him through it; she felt absolutely useless. But Chase was finally able to regulate his breathing until he sighed, relaxed.
“Okay… I’m okay… just tell me what’s going on.” Saturn explained the truce and Blood Oath to Chase, leaving out the unusual events that led to her arriving at the palace in the first place. She knew that he’d only freak out again if she told him that. The last thing Chase needed was stress. She made sure to specify the terms with the Oath and the consequences if either of them violated the contract. Chase listened to her in a firm quietude, nodding on occasion, but not saying a word until she was done.
“Wow,” he breathed, stunned. “I don’t know if you’re crazy, really patient, nice or stupid. But I definitely know that you’re neither of the good things, so it must be one of the other two.”
“Shut up.” Chase laughed at her, relieving Saturn that he understood. “But seriously, you’re okay with this?”
“I trust any decision that you make. You know what you’re doing. It’s not my place to deter you.” Saturn smiled fondly at that.
“Since when did you get so wise?”
“It’s not wisdom. I just know that you’ll bitch if I said anything different.”
“Hey,” the young woman complained half-hearted, laughing with her little brother for a couple moments.
“I still think you should call Julius and tell him what’s up, too. In case you need backup or something.”
“Yeah. Good idea. He doesn’t have a Skype, so I’ll call Ben. I just hope Annabelle isn’t home. She’ll freak out worse than you did…”
“It’s only because she loves you.”
“And she wants to kick the shit out of Tanner for 225 years of bad sex.”
“That, too,” he snickered. “I really miss you.”
“I miss you, too. How’s Venus and Keith?”
“Venus is filming in Colorado right now. Some movie about marijuana. She got a boyfriend by the way. He’s kinda a vampire.” Saturn was taken aback. It was about time that the pretty twin got some.
“Wait, what do you mean kinda?”
“He’s, like, genetically engineered.”
“You can do that now?”
“Science and money are a dangerous mix. He’s really cool, though. Super chill. Not Twilipse in any sense.”
“I wonder if Eran talked to him…”
“I don’t think so. This guy stays off the grid. His name’s Atticus by the way. But anyway, Keith is good. He’s about to finish up school. He and Cadence started going out.”
“Took long enough. Cael teach him the God of Death shit yet?”
“Cael kinda threw him to the wolves, so Cadence is helping him out the best she can.”
“She’s so sweet.” Saturn sighed. “I should be home by next week.”
“Call Julius soon, please.”
“I will. Right now. Okay?”
“Okay.” Chase frowned at the screen, blue eyes getting glassy. “Please stay safe. And make the bastard pay.”
“I’ll bring you his head. I promise.” Saturn felt herself tearing up. She hated feeling emotional. She hated crying. “I love you.” Chase choked out something between a giggle and a gasp, tears streaming down his cheeks that he quickly wiped away.
“I love you, too.” The last thing Saturn saw was his smile before he cut the video chat. She sat back against the throw pillows propped behind her on the bed, fighting off tears. She needed to focus. She had two more calls to make.
Clicking on Ben’s icon to the left of the screen, she video called him. He was on mobile. It took two tries before he finally picked up, the phone showing his forehead and messy blond hair before he adjusted the screed to fit the rest of his upper body.
“Saturn?” He asked, groggy. Saturn’s eyebrows rose some.
“Were you sleeping? This early? At all?”
“I haven’t been feeling well, ’s all. Hey.” She couldn’t help the smile on her face from his nonchalance, as if he forgot what Saturn left to go do. Out of everyone, Ben probably had the most faith that she’d kill Samuel, so he never worried about her.
“Hi. Where’s Julius?” Ben sniffed and rubbed the crust from the corners of his eyes.
“Probably downstairs watching basketball with Mom. Bi’s downstairs, too. You wanna talk to them?”
“Yeah, please.” Ben huffed and rolled out of bed, the phone making some cracking and popping noises while he did so. He made sure to keep the camera on himself as forced himself out of his room. The change in lighting made Saturn wince.
“Mom, Dad, Bi. I’ve got Saturn on Skype. She wants to talk,” Ben announced with a yawn.
“Seriously? Isn’t she still in Hell?” Saturn heard Bianca ask distantly, probably from the kitchen. The TV’s volume lowered some and the phone was handed off to Julius, the older demon sitting on the couch with an arm draped over his wife’s shoulders. Annabelle beamed at Saturn, who smiled and waved, while Julius’s eyes were set more so on the throw pillows and deep brown headboard behind Saturn. The girl resisted the wince forming; she know she was going to get hell for this.
“Saturn, where exactly are you?” The man asked, stern, a serious look on his face. At first, Saturn considered evading the question altogether, but that would just lead to chaos.
“I’m, uh, in a mansion…” Now Annabelle's smile fell. “Tanner’s mansion to be more accurate.”
“WHAT?!” Annabelle screeched, looking both terrified and enraged. Julius looked like he went partially deaf. “Are you okay?!”
“Yeah, Anna, I’m--”
“Do I need to come down there?!”
“No way! I swea--”
“Ooh! The things I’ll do to that son of a bitch when I get my hands on him!”
“Anna.” Julius this time, now recovered from the ear-ringing. “Relax. Breathe for me.” Annabelle glared at her husband, but stopped yelling, letting her blood pressure steady once more. “Good. That’s it. Now listen. Saturn says that she’s fine. And from the looks of it, she is. But what I’m waiting for is a damn good explanation as the what the fuck is going on.”
The more the English accent revealed itself, the more Saturn felt like pissing herself. For the second time, she explained how she happened to be in her circumstances, just more hastily than the last. The two older demons relaxed enough to not seem angry, but just flat-out irritated. Bianca was heard stifling laughter off screen, something that caught Saturn off guard considering how she never laughed.
“This is giving me a headache,” Annabelle moaned, holding her head.
“Sorry. Chase is the one who suggested I tell you guys what’s up. In case I need some extra hands on deck, ya know?” Julius nodded, sighing through his nose.
“That was good thinking on his part. Who knows the kind of shit you just got yourself into?” Saturn swallowed thickly, feeling less confident than how she did hours ago. “But the Blood Oath was quite clever. Good job. You’ve backed the bastard into a corner.”
“Just don’t let him manipulate you. He might try to use this to his advantage. Make you forget what you came there for. He’s good at doing things like that.” Obviously, Annabelle spoke from experience, knowing full-well the kind of snake Samuel could be. She was right. Saturn couldn’t risk letting her guard down.
There was some beeping on the other end, then Julius sucked in a breath. “Ben’s phone is about to die. We should hang up. I guess this is goodbye for the moment.”
“Yeah, I guess so. I’ll see you all really soon.”
“Take care,” Bianca called from the kitchen.
“Remember what I said,” Annabelle added, blowing a kiss at the screen. “Stay safe. Remember your guard.”
“Yes ma’am. Tell Ben I said get better.” Saturn hung up. She started up at the ceiling for a while, lost in thought. Forget what she came for? Sounded tempting.
The last call of the night took three rings. “Hi.”
“Hey.” Kevin was lying on his bed from the looks of it, room somewhat dark. The lights must’ve been dimmed. He was wearing a loose Thrasher t-shirt that showed the anti-possession charm tattooed on his chest. His rosary was strung loose around his neck. His eyes looked heavy, as if he hadn’t been sleeping well. Saturn smiled lightly at the sight; God, she missed him.
“I’m coming home soon,” she said, voice low.
“You kill him?”
“Not yet. Some stuff is going on with us. Had to make an Oath.”
“Like how Dad taught you?”
“Mhmm.” Samuel probably thought Dwayne or Julius showed her the Oath ritual. Terrance Adams will always be her first mentor and father figure. “It expires at the end of the week. Then it’s game time.”
“You’ll beat him. I know you will.” Kevin sounded like he was trying to convince himself that for the most part.
“You don’t need to be scared. I’ll be okay.”
“Are you scared though?” The question never crossed her mind until now.
“To be honest, yeah. After knowing all of the terrible evil he’s done, I am. But I can push through it. I have a plan.”
“That’s good,” he said. They sat in silence for a few minutes, just enjoying each other’s company.
“How’s Katie?”
“Training with Mom. It’s nice having the house to myself. I mean, Dad’s here, too, but it’s not a problem.”
“Yeah. Mr. Adams is cool.”
“Yeah.” Then, “I miss you.” Usually Saturn was the affectionate one, not the other way around. But it felt nice to heard him say that. It made her feel stronger.
“When I get home,” she declared, “we’re having tons of sex.”
“Tons?”
“Tons.”
“Whose house?”
“I like your bed better than mine. It has that vintage creak thing going on.”
“Dad’ll complain about you being loud again.”
“I’ll try not to disturb him.”
“That’s unfortunate. I like hearing you scream.”
“This conversation is making me horny.”
“Too bad you’re not here right now.”
“I’ll just have to come back real soon then.”
“I’m counting on it.” She was grinning from ear to ear when Kevin chuckled and smiled some. She missed him. She loved him. One day she was going to marry him. She knew it.
“You want any souvenirs while I’m here by the way?”
“Other than his head?”
“I promised Chase that?”
“Then his soul.”
“I…” She forced a snicker and a nod. “I’ll see what I can do.” Kevin looked unphased.
“You’re not thinking of doing what I’m thinking, right?”
“I might be.”
“Then be safe doing it, because only God knows the consequences.” He was never really her voice of reason, but what he said still filled her with confidence.
“Thank you.”
“What I want is you back in one piece. Come home you. Deal?”
“Deal.” The call ended.