by Mary Ting
“Then I will wait for him. You kids run along now, and don’t be too late. Let’s do a double date next time. Only if you guys want to,” she giggled.
It was close to closing time, so I insisted that we stay until we counted the money and Patty was safely in her car, heading home.
After Patty left, I got into my car and Austin got into his. We met at my house and both walked inside. Soon as we got to my bedroom, I turned to punch him, but decided not to. I didn’t want my hands to be sore like last time. I decided to use my words instead, but he spoke first before I got the chance.
“Sorry. From the look you gave me, it looks like you would have preferred the alkins to watch over you.”
For some reason, my anger subsided. Maybe it was his apology, but still, I had to let him know. “Where’s Holly?”
“I told her she didn’t need to be here.”
“Oh,” I said. “By the way, next time, I’ll do my own texting…okay?”
He looked extremely confused.
“Let me refresh your memory. We had a date. I think you are a hottie. And your kisses drive me wild. Sound familiar?” I raised my brows.
“You’re finally admitting it? Good for you. Don’t forget…I’m toxic. I like the sound of that. Shall I refresh your memory of that night?” he asked, closing the gap between us.
Ahhhh! I screamed inside my head. My body exploded with anger, and I walked away toward the blinds, irritated with him. I looked outside my window, thinking about the last time Michael had appeared, when Austin spoke, breaking into my thoughts. “I’m sorry. I’ll never do that again.”
I turned to find him just a breath away. I jerked back and banged my head against the window. Austin’s reflexes were fast, pulling me toward him into a hug, preventing me from what could have been worse. He massaged the area on my head that was sore. I stood there silent and still, unexpectedly comforted by his embrace, and I lay my head against his chest. I took a deep breath, holding him tightly, and tears ran down. They were tears of missing Gamma, tears of not knowing where Michael was, tears of being afraid for the lives of myself, the alkins, and the venators, and now, tears of caring for Austin’s friendship, even though I didn’t want to. Strangely, I felt close to him, and somehow being around him made me feel close to Gamma. Then I felt his soft, velvety wings wrap around us.
“I’m sorry, Claudia. I’ll never text for you again,” he said sincerely. “I never meant to hurt you.”
I backed away, wiped my tears, and gave him a quick smile. He can be real sweet, sometimes, I thought. “I’m really exhausted. I’d like to get ready for bed.”
“Okay,” he said, and his wings closed to disappear.
After I brushed, washed, and changed, I walked out of my bathroom. Austin was sitting on my desk chair, hands behind his head and feet plopped on the desk. He looked like an ordinary good-looking guy, nothing like an angel. He sure didn’t act like one, but what did I know? Maybe it was because they lived on Earth. Patty was right; he was a hottie, but hottie or not, Michael was the one I loved.
“Cute pajamas,” Austin stared, cocking his eyebrows, breaking my thoughts.
I was wearing a long sleeved, pink cotton pajama set that I had gotten from Gamma last Christmas. Feeling embarrassed, I quickly got into bed. “Are you going to sit there all night?”
“That’s the plan.”
“You’re not going to watch me sleep are you?”
“If I could, I would watch you sleep every night,” he said, so seriously that it made me blush.
Regretting my question, I reached over to my night stand, turned out the lights and slid further under my blanket.
“Good night,” Austin said.
I lowered my blanket a bit to see what Austin was doing, then pulled out Michael’s T-shirt from under my pillow and hugged it like a teddy bear. “Good night,” I replied, knowing angels didn’t sleep.
The moonlight seeped through the half-closed blinds, and I could see stars glistening. It was so peaceful and quiet. Austin was holding a book, flipping through the pages. It was nice to have him here, only because I was in danger, but Michael occupied my mind. Where was he? What was he doing? Michael was my last thought, as he always was before I slept. My eyes felt heavy. Slowly, uncontrollably, they closed. Then I felt serene,
and I felt my body levitating off the ground.
Chapter Fifteen
I was walking aimlessly down a path, and I found myself surrounded by many different kinds of flowers everywhere I looked—full, vibrant, and colorful. The ones I recognized were roses, birds of paradise, daffodil, daisy, iris, and hydrangea. Being surrounded by these flowers gave me happy goose bumps and a sense of peace. I bent lower to touch the soft, delicate petals and to inhale the fragrances. Each of them was heaven sent. As I brushed them once more, countless butterflies appeared, and just like the flowers, they were unique and vibrant. As they continued to appear, I followed their spiral path and looked up to see the most perfect, cloudless, blue sky. The butterflies took a sudden turn, fluttering away toward someone. I got all choked up, and tears ran down my face when I recognized her.
“Gamma,” I whispered. My heart burst with happiness. She gave me the biggest smile.
I ran to her and jumped into her arms. “Claudia, my sweet Claudia,” she said, embracing me tightly.
“Gamma, Gamma, Gamma,” I repeated, unable to believe she was there. Her hair was still the purest white that I remembered it to be. She wore a long, white dress, and she smelled like the flowers surrounding us. Suddenly, I realized I was dreaming. “I’m dreaming, aren’t I?”
She pulled me back to face me. “You look beautiful. You’re wearing the pink pajamas I got for you,” she said, smiling proudly, ignoring my question. Then she held my hand and we both sat on a white bench that hadn’t been there before. I guess in dreams, you can make anything appear.
“Yes. I’m giving you this dream,” she answered finally.
“Why?”
“I’m giving you this dream for one purpose only. You need to let your heart heal. You need to let me go. I can feel your pain, and it’s preventing you from reaching your full potential.”
“I won’t ever let you go. I can’t,” I said, sounding like a stubborn child. “I miss you so much. Every day I think of you, and knowing that I can’t call or visit you hurts too much.” My lips trembled as the words came out of my mouth, and tears escaped me.
She rested her hand over mine. “I know, and I’m asking something of you too soon, but you must. I’m your past. You must embrace the present and the future. The world depends on it. Aliah needs your soul so he can leave the Betweens. He wants to enter Crossroads and regain his power to the fullest strength. What you must understand is that he must not take it. He is more fearsome than Aden. Aliah will open up the deepest abyss and make a legion of demon spirits. These spirits will enter through weakened souls. Your world will be a disaster, and apocalypse will begin. You and only you have the power to stop him, but you must believe. You must will it and want it.”
“What power do I have? You keep telling me I have this great power, but I can’t do anything. It’s too much. I feel hopeless. I don’t want this,” I squealed in irritation. I quickly calmed down, knowing this was not how I wanted my dream with Gamma to end. Then I remembered the incident in my bathroom with my T-shirt. I felt some kind of strangeness, something unfamiliar running through my veins. “Something happened and it only happened once. Why?”
“Your powers are not like mine or any other angels. Your father was one of the Royal Council. Only they have the power to destroy someone as powerful as Aliah. Since Aliah was one of God’s first angels, just like your father, you and only you can destroy him. Having the soul like a Royal Council and half human, your power will come forth when it is needed the most.
“There needs to be a balance in everything in life, as I have tried to teach you before. If you had all the powers that an angel has, yours would be ten times its strength,
so I hid your power, deep inside you. Powers emerge when one is at a mature age, but with you, you are different…special. Your powers could have emerged anytime. I had to make sure you could never show them. I knew there would be many fallen after you if they even suspected who you were. I could not take that chance. Now you must release it. Only you can do that. Since I was the one to suppress your power, you must let go of me.”
“No! I can’t. I won’t let you go,” I pouted, and tears swelled up in my eyes.
“Your pain doesn’t keep me alive. It will only harm you and make you weaker. You’ll still have memories of me. You will still remember our times together. What you must do is release your pain from your heart. It must be at peace.”
“But I miss you! I need you!” I cried, wrapping my arms around her and placing my head on her lap as I always did when I needed her comfort.
“I miss you too. How I loved you…like no other,” she said sadly, running her hand down my hair. “You must remember my words and never forget what I just told you. Your heart must be at peace when that time comes or else all will be lost. Whether you want it or not, you need to embrace your destiny. Remember, everyone is born with a purpose. Purpose unfolds itself when the time is right. You will know.”
I continued to hold her, comforted by her presence, even if it was just a dream. The soft breeze brushed my hair gently while the aroma of the flowers danced around us. It felt euphoric and my heart and soul was in a state of peace I had never felt before. Then I remembered this was somewhat like how I’d felt in my bathtub, the moment when something magic had happened. I set the thought in the back of my mind because all I wanted was to think of Gamma, hoping that my thoughts of her would keep her in my dreams longer. I knew my heart would break when she left, not knowing if and when she’d ever appear again. I wanted to stay here as long as I could.
“Gamma,” I called. “Where am I?”
“You’re in my Heaven.”
“Heaven? I’m in Heaven?”
“It’s different for everyone. It’s where you feel most at peace.”
“Will this be my Heaven?”
“You may appear here first, and then you can make your own.”
“What if I want to stay in this Heaven with you?”
Gamma let out a soft, short laugh. “Then of course, you may stay.”
“Will I see you again?”
“You’ll see me when you need me the most.”
“I’m scared, Gamma.”
“I know, dear, but it will be all right. You’ll see. Just believe. Remember what I told you. Believe in yourself, believe in others who want to help you, and believe in the forces you cannot see.”
“I’ll try. But I don’t know if I can.”
“You can. I believe in you as I always have. I loved you more than anything I’ve ever loved.”
“Okay, Gamma. I’ll try.” I meant it. I didn’t know what it meant for me to try or what exactly I had to do, but I had to do it for Gamma if not for anyone else.
“That’s my girl. I’ve taken too much of your time. It’s time to wake up,” she said softly, still stroking my hair.
Then tears escaped me again, and my lips trembled, making it difficult to speak, but I had to try. I needed to let her know. “I love you, Gamma. I always will. Though I’ll let you go, I’ll never forget you. I’ll never forget the way you loved me. I’ll never forget our time together on Earth. And when the time comes for me to be with you, I will meet you in your Heaven.”
Then all of sudden, I felt weightless, as if I could be carried away by the breeze. My heart felt warm, and Gamma started to become translucent. No, don’t leave just yet, I wanted to say, but I knew my words couldn’t make her stay. I knew she had to leave me and I needed to wake up. At first, a small beam of light surrounded her. Then the light intensified, covering all of her. She became so bright that I had to cover my eyes.
This was the same way she had left me when she passed away in the hospital. Then with a huge burst of light, she was gone. “I love you, Gamma,” I whispered as I sat there alone on the bench. My heart ripped into pieces, and it felt like I was burying her all over again. Tears poured down as I gasped for air. I covered my face with both of my hands, and I let it all out—tears of missing her
and letting her go.
Chapter Sixteen
I was crying so hard that I woke up, I think. I lay there with my eyes filled with tears, wondering if I was still dreaming. There was a tremendous ache in my heart because I had let Gamma go, but there was also a sense of relief. I felt as if a hole in my heart had been mended. As I continued to weep, I heard a voice.
“Claudia, I’m here. I’m sorry I was away.”
What a wonderful dream. It was Michael, and I could hear his voice.
His hand touched my face, and then wiped my tears. Immediately, I knew it wasn’t a dream. His physical touch confirmed he was really there. I tried to open my eyes, but it was extremely difficult from crying so hard, and the tears blurred my vision.
“Michael,” I called softly. I wrapped my arms around him and aimed for a kiss with one eye open.
Michael lay next to me and held me tightly. My heart exploded with joy, and I didn’t want to let go. He kissed me tenderly on my lips while I ran my hands all over him, embracing this moment that he was really here. “Where were you?”
“I was tracking a demon spirit who could’ve led us to Aliah.”
“And you didn’t bother to tell anyone?” I asked, trying not to sound accusatory or upset, but my tone was unpleasant.
“Trinity told me she told Holly.”
I broke away from his hold and sat up. “You went with Trinity? You were with her the whole time?”
“Yes,” he said calmly, looking confused as to why I was acting this way. “She was the one who told me about the demon spirit.”
“Do you know how much I worried about you? No…take that back. Do you know how much we worried about you while you were doing whatever with Trinity?” I huffed.
“Claudia, I was doing this for you. This has nothing to do with Trinity.”
“Do you know that we were attacked by some demon named Nicholas and his stretched out marshmallows?” I couldn’t believe I’d just used Austin’s description of those white spirits.
“I thought I knew all the names of the demons. What do these white marshmallows look like?”
Then it dawned on me that he didn’t know what marshmallows were and that he didn’t understand what I was describing. “Never mind,” I said as I walked toward the window. “How could you make us worry about you like that?”
Michael moved and sat on my bed. I wanted to jump in his arms, but I was fused with anger and jealousy. “And what do you mean by “could have”? I answered my question for him. “You mean that you had no luck finding Aliah’s hide out?”
“Trinity and I followed a lead. We followed a demon, and he almost led us to Aliah, but he realized he was being followed. Then we lost him. I’m sorry. I failed you.”
Why did he have to say he failed me? It always made me feel guilty for getting mad at him. “You didn’t fail me, Michael,” my tone was softer. “You failed us by not letting us know. I don’t think Trinity told Holly. And I’m not saying that because I’m sounding like a jealous…out of jealousy…” I wanted to say girlfriend, but I wasn’t even that; I didn’t know what we were. “That is what I think.”
“Why would Trinity not tell her? What would be her motive?”
Her motive is you, I wanted to say, but I didn’t. “I think you should ask Holly and Trinity yourself,” I suggested.
“I will, just to prove it to you.”
“Fine,” I said in harsh tone as I turned away from him. “Why couldn’t you just tell me what you were doing through my mind?”
“Any supernatural beings can tune in when angelic powers are being used. The demons can pick up on it, and they would’ve known they were being followed.”
“Oh.” It was all I
could say.
“Claudia,” Michael called sweetly.
“What?” I asked with an angry tone, still unable to look at him.
“I missed you. I thought of you every second I was away. You can get mad at me all you want. I’m not ever letting you go.”
Then I felt really bad. He was always risking his life for me, and I was not only sounding like a jealous, inconsiderate person, but I was starting a fight. Don’t ever let me go.
Then I felt something soft brushing underneath my hand, and I looked down. It was my pillow floating, ready for me to grab it. I laughed to myself and held it tightly with my right hand. I couldn’t help but curl my lips into a huge smile. Then I turned to look at him.
“Hit me,” he said playfully. “Let it all out. I can feel anger inside you.”
Instead of hitting him with my pillow, I dropped the pillow and ran to be locked in his embrace. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I know I should trust you and that you are doing what you think is best for me.”
“Always,” he said. “You come first. It’ll always be you.”
“I know, Michael.” Even though I said I knew, a part of me still felt insecure. Then we sat on the bed. “Where is Austin?” I asked out of the blue, forgetting he was watching me last.
“I asked him to leave.”
“Did he give you a hard time?”
“Did you want him to?”
“Of course not…I was just wondering. Sometimes he can be a pain.”
Michael raised his brows. “You got that right.”
“So, what happened to Ryan?”
Michael gave me a cunning smile. “I went inside his dream. I took him flying, tossed him around in the air, and let go, letting gravity do all the work. I guess you’d call it a free fall. Then I told him the next time, it won’t be a dream.”
“Then, does he know about you?”
“No…because to him, it was just a dream. A dream he’ll never forget.” He winked.