Sleep is the enemy. Why must every time I close my eyes lead to some foreboding glimpse of the future or some messed up trip to the past. This time I think it was what could happen in the future. I saw a lot of things that only snapped by without giving me time to even process the information. I saw myself standing outside the motel looking worried, terrified even. It then switched to a kid with curly brown hair and olive brown skin holding up a sword that was too big for him, yet he held it confidently. It then shifted to a skylight shattering from above and as the glass descended from the sky like fractals of light, they slowly melted into rain. The rain poured in gallons, drenching everything around me until the space I stood in started to overflow. It wasn't long before I was submerged below the water, grasping for the surface. As I clawed for the sky, I felt myself get lifted out of the waters and even once we rose above the water, I continued to rise and rise. More and more until I was towering over the flooded area. Hesitantly, I looked beneath me to see what had raised me so high only to see that I was standing upon a hill of skeletons that floated upon the water in a boat that should not be able to hold the weight of it all. As the rain hit the bones, blood seemed to take its place, staining the beigey-white body parts.

Behind me, splashes hit the water, what lay in the water was three bodies floating in this flooded space. One had their right arm cut clean off, another looked to have had their spine crushed in several areas and one that was different from all the others as they had these multicoloured eyes that changed colour constantly, but only in one of their eyes. The other eye had completely been blanked out with no colour within them at all. Though the real cherry on the ice cream sundae nightmare was the island that emerged from the depths of the water. At first, I didn't realize why it was familiar but how many islands did I know? Veltrace island continued to rise from the water like a spaceship off to the moon. It didn't stop once the whole structure was out of this sea of chaos. A palm sat carefully below it, gently holding this precious island, lifting it out of the water. Followed by another hand that came from above to cradle this place, giving it the safety it provided for others. Then from the darkness that obscured the rest of the scene, the laughter of this light voice thundered in joy. A face followed from the darkness, an unfading face that resisted the flow of time, eyes made from a pool of mercury that danced to a ferocious tune. Her hair-like strands of the sun sailed down the sides of her face and down to her shoulders, bouncing as she laughed. The orbs silver looked down at me as her hands clasped down on the island.

"I'll see you soon Hellion." Her words curled through the air as she crushed the island to rubble.

The shockwave threw me awake back into the motel bed that I had crashed on. In the corner of the room, Megan sat there devouring a good old club sandwich just looking at me. It was slightly unnerving but safer than I had felt in a while.

"You sleep like the dead." She said as she took another bite from the sandwich.

"Har har," I replied coyly as I rolled over in bed to see these black and orange eyes staring into me with furious intensity. It was enough to have me jump out of the bed.

"That was definitely worth it, and you are so much more appealing when you are silent," Cory called to me from the bed.

"I'm glad everyone is getting their laughs in this morning because we have a busy day before tomorrow night." I sighed as I picked myself off the floor.

"Yup. We have to get outfits, find out where in Point Reese the Gala is and survive another night." Megan said as she handed me my own sandwich.

"Doesn't seem too bad," Cory added, hopping around in the bed. He did that for a bit before he noticed us staring at him. "Beds are nice. There is nothing comfortable in Hell. Fight me."

"You don't really have a concept of bad then," Meg said.

Cory almost looked offended by that comment. "Red, I am a demon who tortures the souls of the damned. Having your nails pulled out with tweezers is bad, shopping is not. Actually, there was that one guy whose torture was shopping but that's beside the point."

"Would you die if you stopped mentioning you were a demon every five seconds?" Meg sighed.

"Would you die if I crushed your head between my hands?" Cory walked over to Meg, chest puffed up with his fists clenched.

"Okay kids, once again we have a full day ahead of us and we will have time for interparty conflict later." I interrupted their now usual bouts.

He looked at her and then at me. "Whatever, I'm going to get the car started."

"You don't know how to drive, you ass," Meg shouted at him as he walked out the door. "Is there really no way to get rid of him."

"Sadly, no. At least not right now. He can smell me or something." I said between bites.

She laughed, "I should just leave you here and make it out."

"After you just got me back, you'd never."

She smiled, then took a glance out the window, "I wanted to wait till Cory was going to ask because he'd probably blow up on you but where did you go last night?"

"I went somewhere last night?" I asked, stopping mid-chew.

"That was me, I needed a bit of air and a drink of water." Rev's voice buzzed in my head. He sounded a bit exhausted by the statement, not like sleepy but mentally tired. Which is weird because how does mentally tired even work for him or me. It's just a headache and a half to even imagine.

"You've never had control of our body like that before," I said aloud. Meg gave me a look before shrugging it off.

"I don't know what to say, I could just do it."

"I'm guessing it was Rev then?" Meg inquired.

"Yeah, milk run."

"Well, Rev, it's not a very smart move to go on a milk run when you are legally dead." She said slowly with a lot of sass.

"Yes, ma'am," I said with Rev echoing the same thing in my head, giving a salute for reassurance.

"Some things do not change. Even when there are two in there. Pack up fireboy."

We hit the road soon after and spent the rest of the day shopping and searching for a motel in a place that wouldn't give us too many problems with being noticed. Meg used her powers as much as she could to make my face look not like my own but after too long it left a strain. By the end of the evening, we had two suits and a dress for the next evening as well get a decent enough motel for the night. Cory was a pain the whole day, making notes of how each thing we passed reminded him of one person he flayed or wrung out. I think Meg was just happy to not be doing something dangerous for once, just enjoying the crappy store music and all. Rev was quiet, I tried talking to him but he was distant, which is another thing because how can someone in my head be distant in my head? Just more cause for headache but that was beside the point. He seemed like he was processing, but who was I to force him? He told me he was fine and I'll just hold him to that.

The night came and so did the nightmares, nothing new to report from them. Same repeat as the last night only much quicker. Once the new day started that was when Cory took us all on a little flight trip. Saying he wasn't too thrilled about it was an understatement but he cooperated nonetheless. The plan was to do a flyover of Point Reese until we saw something that stood out in the forest, it shouldn't have taken long but I guess rich people don't want to be found in places they aren't meant to be.

While being held like a sleeping bag in Cory's arms, I spotted something under his shirt, there was a gash across the side of his ribs and some bruising that he was clearly trying to hide because he had used a mixture of scotch tape and tissue paper to keep the black liquid that was oozing out of him in. Eventually, Meg spotted a clearing of trees that felt out of place. The more I looked at it, the more I agreed. The light was shining on the wrong side of the trees, they were a different saturation and the closer we got, the flatter it looked. By the time we were over the tree, it was obvious that they were actually LED screen panels that were attached to a giant roof.

"For the rich, they are skimming on the good stuff." Meg pointed out as we started to descend. "Those are like two generations old. You can tell from how easily the sunlight is degrading the light cells of the screens."

"Nerd," Cory announced as he dropped into the tree line. With Meg's help, there wasn't much need to be too careful as we walked through the trees towards the clearing. Some guards were wandering around the perimeter of the grounds, lightly armed but not really paying attention because I'm sure they believed that no one would find them there. Eventually, we got close enough to see the house. By the looks of it, they were finishing off decorating the house for later this evening. The three-story Victorian-style house gloomed in front of us intimidatingly. Gardeners trimmed the vines that crept up the side of the structure to make it look more 'realistic', everything that everyone on site was doing added to the illusion that everything was just perfectly natural. At the front door, an imposingly jacked guard stood there in a fancy suit with latex gloves stretching over his sausage fingers. Towards the left of us was a paved road that lead to the house, a large area further to the side of that where cars would inevitably park. We took in the environment and trudged within the trees to where the pavement morphed into dirt and bramble. After we got the okay from Meg on our location, Cory lifted us back through the air and back to the motel to get the final preparations done.

The outfits we got were expensive but worth it to say the least. Cory just wanted to wear black, he refused to shift from that stance regardless of the nice suits that Meg had found. He settled for black pants, a satin black shirt and a matching black tie and blazer to match. He looked genuinely handsome when he wasn't covered in blood and guts. After a bit of playing with his tie, he furiously threw it away and unbuttoned the top three buttons, insisting that nooses were for hangmen. I wasn't too excited to be put back into a suit after the last day of walking around in a bloodied, chard and tattered funeral suit but Meg assured me that it would be fine. She picked out a coffee brown blazer and dress pants to go with a black button-up similar to Cory's only with light accents of esoteric weavings in them. Meg, clearly having too much fun while shopping, didn't show us her outfit until the moment before leaving. When she was finally ready, she strutted out of the bathroom of our motel room in an evening gown with a turquoise gradient starting from the bottom, shifting to a shimmering emerald bodice piece. Saying I was too stunned to speak was an understatement. The way her roguish orange curls played with the sultry dance of light given by the dress had my heart beating at double time. Cory, the man of many words, crinkled his mouth in an approving manner, which was the best compliment any of us were going to get. As soon as we had outfits ready, double-checked we had all our equipment and went over the information we knew, all that was left was to crash a party.

I took the wheel of the pickup with Meg in the passenger giving me directions. With the night sky as our cover, we roared down the streets of San Fransico, making our way to the opening into Point Reese. Having an off-road vehicle made it easier to navigate the rubble of the uneven road. We took it slow regardless, the darkness wasn't much of an aid in the cover of the trees, especially since we didn't know the exact path we were meant to take. Eventually, we felt the path underneath us ease and the familiar sound of tires on pavement. The path was set from there as we followed forward, from my peripherals I could see Meg start the first illusion of the night, transforming our dingey pickup into a luxury car. Lights sprouted to life at the edges of the path, growing forward to guide our attention to the manor that emerged from the darkness in all its lavish splendour. We took the car over to the area that now had enough supercars to make this place a dealership, it was almost funny that this pickup was about to join its ranks.

Next phase was to wait for other guests to arrive so that we could follow them in so that Meg could see their invitations and make our own. Within ten minutes, a Ferrari roared into the parking zone and we followed not too far behind the couple that exited the car. Meg gave me the signal once she got what she need and slowed down a bit to let them go through security, observing their actions. We watched the couple get a nearly inappropriate pat down before they continued into the festivities.

Third phase was finally a go and this was where it could all go wrong. We handed the invitation to the bouncer, the same one from earlier, and he inspected it. Like really inspected it. The look in his eyes told him not to trust it and it was sending knots to my stomach. He looked up at us three and handed the invitation back to us, motioning for a pat down. I swear I held my breath as he frisked me and Meg winced as he did the same. Cory stared daggers into this man's soul, a man that was relatively taller than him but that didn't seem to matter, he then whispered something to the man that imagine was so frightening that it forced his face to contort. Whatever he said was enough to get him out of being frisked as he marched proudly past us with a gaudy smirk, secretly carrying our equipment through the illusion.

Finally standing within the entrance of this enormous entryway, I wonder what it would be like living in a house the huge. Thinking of sliding down the railing of the grand staircase. Racing Stephy from one side of the room to the other for no other reason but to feel like we were using the space. Staring up at the dazzling chandelier in the early evening as the light from the sun coming in from the large fancy windows, refracting the light every which way. It was nice to think about, but it wasn't real nor was it a life I could ever really see myself enjoying.

"This... this is big." Astonishment lingered within Meg's words.

"Don't let the glitz distract you. I can smell the horrid deeds these people have committed and it's sickening." Cory grimaced as he grabbed a champagne glass from a passing waiter.

"You can smell their actions?"

"No, idiot. I can smell how tainted their souls are because of their actions. I can point out every single person in this room who isn't currently going to Hell because it's easier than pointing out which are."

"You could be more specific next time."

"Okay you two, it's work time." Meg snapped her fingers in front of our faces. "Oliver, you need to stay close to me at all times so that I can keep the illusion on you. We have to ask around-"

"While you do that, I will go find more alcohol," Cory said as he handed me the equipment and he walked away to the room where live music was playing. "I'll find you guys."

Meg pinched the bridge of her nose. "I swear, I will kill the demon."

"It'll be easier without him."

She sighed as she watched him disappear. "You're right. We need to focus. The others are probably here already so we avoid them and look for the archaeologist."

"This hopefully won't be too hard," I said as we made our way to the hall. Taking one look at the room and my hopes died a little seeing how crowded it was, but it wasn't going to deter us. So, started our little game of 'Do you know an archaeologist?' and man, do these people love to hear their own voice. As soon as either of us made conversation, they would waffle on about how they bought a dig site or owned an original set piece from Indiana Jones as a way to make themselves look richer. I don't know, but I was beginning to think putting a bunch of rich people together makes them feel insecure. Some of the people we talked to even tried to flirt with Meg and me, even though we were clearly four age categories younger than them. We weren't making much headway until we spotted Cory with a bottle of whiskey in his hands walking through the crowd of people.

"... you're definitely going to Hell. You're going to Hell. You're fine for now but that guy so going to Hell." I could hear him say as we approached him.

"Are you drunk?" Meg asked as she stopped him.

"Oh no. I can't even get drunk if I wanted to. Demon stuff and all. I just like the burn of it." He said as he took a swig from the bottle.

"I doubt you've made any progress on the mission. If you'd like to be useful, we could really-" She started until he lifted a finger up to her as he took another long swig that emptied the bottle.

"His name is Dr Ferran Abbas. An archaeologist that came in from a dig somewhere in Europe and can not seem to keep his mouth shut about what he found." Cory said confidently.

"How did you find this out?" I asked, genuinely baffled.

"Bartenders know and hear everything. That and he came up to me at the bar and started rambling about it. Decent dude."

"Just take us to him you ass." Meg sighed.

Our demon guide cut the crowd with ease, mostly because he just pushed people out of the way. He cleared the way around the corner of the room where someone had amassed a horde of pretentious white men that seemed to laugh obnoxiously at every odd comment that this person made. When we finally got close enough, we saw who was the main attraction that had got these men all riled up, it was a man with brown curly hair that he had slicked back for the evening. His neatly formed beard was a darker brown with three or four wisps of white hair only just mixing in with his bronzed complexion. He had these deep-roasted coffee eyes that warmed your heart at a glance. He had on a grey vest over a plain white shirt and tie, and in his arm a black blazer that went with the pants he had on.

"Farren, I found those enthusiast friends I told you about," Cory called out to him as if they were old friends.

"Ah, Cory, wonderful!" He called back; the sea of men seemed to part to make room for us. He had a middle eastern accent layered underneath an American one that only seemed to shine when he said certain words. "I was just finishing telling them about my recent dig in Sweden while I was trying to uncover old Nordic artefacts."

"Oh, please continue, we would love to hear about it." Meg's voice had gone up an octave to give a softer demeanour to the girl.

He blushed lightly. "Well, if you insist. I was at the part where had come across a particularly aged patch of earth, much older than any of the earth around it and much closer to the surface than it should have been. We believed it was a breakthrough in our search and I can't even begin to explain how right we were. Within days of digging, we found a box with a vast array of symbols, not just Nordic but Egyptian hieroglyphics, Indian Sanskrit and so much more. To say that there has never been anything like this is an understatement. What we found could mean that multiple different civilizations that we thought to not come into contact until the 17th to 18th century had a relationship. What intrigued me was what lay within this box and what we found were two tablets wrapped in fabric which mentioned places such as Valhalla, Elysium and the Field of Reeds."

"Forms of heaven within different mythology." I pieced together aloud.

"Exactly." He said as he pointed at me. "So, we've dubbed this artefact project heavenly as a way to pay homage to this."

"What are you going to do with the tablets?" Meg inquired.

"We plan to donate it to a museum back in Sweden once we are done analyzing it here and that's about as much as I can tell you without you seeing it in the exhibit." Dr Abbas said as he started to back out of the conversation. The other men in the conversation started to clamour about buying it off him instead or seeing the object but he just waved them off as he walked from them.

"I mean, that's definitely what we came here for," I said to my two companions beside me.

"Wonder what is so important about it that Vortex wants it." Meg looked over to Dr Abbas who just smiled at the people who walked by. "The guy seems like he's not trying to do anything nefarious."

"The dude's a total dork, you tell straight off the bat that his soul isn't tainted by how he carries himself." Cory pointed out.

"Then we get what we need without causing the dude too much trouble," I said to them and they both seemed to silently agree.

"I have a way of getting him alone. Just follow my lead," Meg said as she walked back to him with her hand rummaging through her purse. "Dr Abbas, I am so sorry to bother you again."

"Do not worry about it, Cory here told me that you were enthusiasts of archaeological works. How can I help you?" He asked with what such a genuine smile, the one you have when you are talking about your favourite topic.

"Well, I recently came into possession of something and I wanted to have it properly dated and if so taken back to its country of origin." She said as pulled a piece of cloth from her handbag. As she unfurled it, an aged golden cross with jewels on each point. Slight discolouration around the edges that added just enough to have the archaeologist slack-jawed.

He looked around wide-eyed at the people around him then came in for a whisper. "We should go speak privately." He said as he started to walk over to an archway further to the back of the room. The archway lead into a long, unilluminated hallway that was out of sight from the rest of the people. It helped that the hostess had taken the stage to make some speech, dragging all eyes to her. Once we were deep into the hallway, he literally started buzzing. "Ma'am, what you have there is an artefact that I have only imagined. It looks to be from around the time of the crusades by the way the cross is-"

"Okay, I'm going to stop you before you get too ahead of yourself. It's not real, we just want to talk." Meg said as she made the cross disappear. Dr Abbas stumbled back, his eyes filled with hurt to see that the object of his fixation disappear.

"What do you want that you are willing to trick like that to get me alone?"

"To keep it short, we need Project Heavenly," Cory said to him

Dr Abbas' face shifted to one of seriousness. One that I didn't think he possessed, but it was like he flipped a switch. His reply was nearly immediate, "Absolutely not."

"Listen, this is serious," I said to him.

"I understand that you are being serious and the answer stays." He said as he started to walk away only for Cory to walk in front of him.

"Your life will be endangered if you do not give it to us, there are people who are searching for you so they can get their hands on it and they are not good people. This is better for everyone. Please." Meg basically pleaded.

"And I should just believe you because?"

"Because we went through all this to just talk to you about it," Meg said.

"I've had some of my college students try harder to get my attention."

"Please don't make us have to do this the hard way," Cory said, a genuine sense of regret for what he might do.

"Is that a threat?" Dr Abbas' voice raised at the warning.

"It doesn't have to be. Just take us to it and we won't have any problems." Cory spoke with more conviction, the kindness that he had held in his voice slowly fading. That was when I heard something that I hadn't heard in years. That took me back to a time when wiry violin sounds echoed through the house only to be corrected to a much more refined delicate sound. It reminded me of my mum hovering over my sister, showing her wear she need to place her fingers as she played. It reminded me of me sitting on the dining table with my legs dangling off the chairs that were still too tall for me watching my mum play this exact song as a way to keep her skills in tune. I walked out towards the end of the archway to see Stephy on stage playing the violin. She looked so different yet so much like the last moments I spent with her, she was thinner and carried herself with a lot less pride but it was still her. To most, right now she would look confident but I could just tell by the tap in her foot that she was nervous. For a brief second, so brief that anyone who didn't know her wouldn't have noticed, but for a moment she was ready to run away. Then she looked towards me, our eyes meeting only briefly before shifting over, searching the crowd. Yet that moment was enough to have her continue, her foot stopped as she swayed to the sound of the music. Not letting it play her, but still letting it pass through her. It was beautiful and it was almost enough to bring me to tears.

"Runt, what are you doing?" Cory called out to me, he had Dr Abbas held with his arm behind his back.

I looked back over at Stephy and then back to them, refocusing. "Sorry, got distracted."

"Yeah, no shit. It doesn't matter, he told us where it is and he's taking us to it."

I looked at the archaeologist, he didn't have any real injuries but he just looked disheartened by what happening, a perpetual frown hung on his lips like we killed his puppy.

"Lead the way then Doc."