by C. A. Bleu
Zara looked to her right and with total clarity could see nothing but malice in the eyes of her best friend Lilith. In an instant, Lilith made a lunge for Zara’s throat with a knife, too fast for anyone else to intervene. Zara instinctively reached her arm up to block Lilith, but it was unnecessary. As soon as Zara thought to attack Lilith something else seemed to take over. The howling wind swirled so strong against Lilith that it forced her away from Zara as the ground rumbled. The swirling wind quickly spun around Lilith, creating a cyclone spinning so fast and tight around her that it appeared to suck the air from her lungs, leaving her nothing left to breathe.
Lilith looked at Zara with wide shocked eyes as she dropped the knife and clawed at her throat trying to breathe. The cyclone stayed wrapped tightly around her until she fell to the ground, not moving, not breathing. Zara didn’t know how, but she knew that she had just killed Lilith without so much as touching her.
Fear and panic gripped her heart as her knees began to buckle. “Oh, my God,” she said quietly to herself as her face paled against the glowing fire. She stared down at Lilith lying still on the ground, noticing subconsciously how the wind had died down and dissipated around her. Those around her gasped and from the corner of her eye, she saw some of them back away from her with frightened looks. Not Aaron, he stepped closer to Zara and stared down at Lilith. Zara became suddenly aware that Aaron did not seem to have any reaction to what just happened. She stared at him and noticed he wasn’t shocked or worried in any way, or even checking on her to see if she was okay. It almost seemed like he expected something like this.
Anger welled inside her, she knew there was more Aaron was not telling her, secrets that he had not shared. As the anger grew inside of her, she felt a hand touch her shoulder. Zara jumped at the contact, but also seemed to feel her anger ebb when she noticed the hand belonged to the older woman that was there. Zara looked briefly at the older woman before glaring back at Aaron.
“You expected this, didn’t you? What are you not telling me?”
Aaron closed his eyes unwilling to look at Zara, the regret of secrets kept all these years were eating him up inside. Zara was stronger than any of them realized and she had no idea what was happening.
“I’m sorry, Zara,” Aaron said on a sigh with slumped shoulders. He rubbed his face with his hands in defeat as he said, “Please, let me explain, there are things I couldn’t tell you.” He looked at her with pain etched in his blue eyes.
“Let you explain, you have had thirteen years to explain. You’ve been lying to me all along, haven’t you?” Zara took a step toward Aaron, not really meaning to hurt him, but she was led by anger and pain. Just as she stepped toward him, the older woman stepped between them. Zara looked at her and her breath caught. She felt somewhere deep inside that she should know who she was. At that very moment, a small ball of golden light began to glow beside Zara which she now realized was going to be her mother.
Her mother took shape quicker this time and appeared in more lifelike clarity standing before her. Zara’s mother reached out to hold Zara’s hand, her left hand with the Trinity Ring. Tears ran down Zara’s face as she looked down at her mother’s hand. As soon as Aaron saw Zara’s reaction and that she was crying, looking down at her hand, his eyes went wide. He could not believe that she was wearing the Trinity Ring. Noticing that she was looking as if someone was beside her, he realized that Zara’s mother, Isabella, must be there. His heart ached momentarily, longing to see her again as well.
Zara had been angry and scared, but the moment she felt her mother hold her hand everything stopped, time stood still. It felt like she and her mother were the only ones standing in the field, peaceful silence surrounding them. Her mother felt warm and real and it broke down the walls Zara had spent years building. Stepping toward her mother’s open arms she cried as she released her fears along with the shock and grief of what had just happened. Holding tight to her mother for what seemed like an eternity as her mother stroked her hair like she had done when Zara was a little girl.
When Zara finally stepped back wiping her tears with the back of her hand, she looked at her mother, really took her in. She looked as real as anyone else around them. Zara couldn’t understand it, how was this possible? From a distance, as if in an echo, she heard Aaron give an order to a couple of the guys to take Lilith’s body away. Zara held her mother’s hand as she looked at the older woman. They watched as she waved her arm toward the fire causing the flames to die down. Zara stared in awe.
“How did you do that?”
The woman looked at Zara with such compassion in her deep brown eyes. “You have much to learn, please, come with me, I need to show you something.” She turned and walked slowly toward the covered porch at the back of the cabin.
Zara watched as the others turned to head back inside as well. No one seemed to notice her mother was standing right beside her. Zara’s feet stayed planted, unable or unwilling to move. She had just killed her best friend and she wasn’t sure how. She was holding her mothers’ hand and talking to her mother who has been dead for the past thirteen years. An overwhelming sense that nothing about her life would ever be the same washed over her. Some kind of strength and power was swirling within her that she couldn’t explain.
Her mother squeezed her hand, offering comfort the best she could. The feel of her mother’s hand called to her on a deep forgotten level. She returned the reassuring squeeze as she stared at her mother in disbelief that she was actually standing before her.
“Zara, that is your grandmother over there,” Isabella said, nodding her head toward the older woman going into the back of the cabin. “I know there is a lot you don’t know and for that I’m sorry, but she will help teach you. Trust no one else.” Isabella laid her hand on the side of Zara’s face as she brought her into a warm motherly embrace.
As Zara hugged her mother back, the word grandmother swirled through her mind as if it was foreign and she could not figure out the meaning. With her eyes closed and her face buried in her mother’s soothing embrace, not wanting to let go, she asked, “What about Aaron?”
Leaning back to look Zara in the eyes, her mother said, “Aaron is the leader of the Trinity Protectors meant to keep us safe and though he likely can be trusted there is someone working with him who cannot. For now, trust no one except your grandmother, her name is Marie, Marie Trinity. I’m so sorry she has been kept from you, but it was the way it had to be in order to keep you safe. She will help teach you about your powers and the prophecy.”
Isabella paused, she could see the confusion and disbelief overtaking Zara. “Zara, our people have known about you for the past two hundred years and we have been waiting for this day. You are destined to help the people of the world. You, Zara, are destined to do great things. I am so sorry I had to leave you so early, but one day I hope you will understand that everything had to happen for a reason. I too had a role in the prophecy. Zara, you carry me with you, you always have. The Ring will not come off your finger, now it is a part of you. Let Marie teach you about your powers and our past. Zara, you mean everything to me. I have watched you over the years, please know that I will always be with you.” Isabella gave Zara another long hug then kissed her forehead the way she always did when Zara was little.
Zara’s heart ached as she watched her mom slowly dissolve and blow away with the breeze. Looking around the now empty field, she felt her fear change into something else. She felt overwhelming love and gratitude. It was as if the forest, or nature in general, was thanking her and welcoming her. Taking in a deep breath, she noticed every single scent the forest offered her, her heart and soul swelled. Turning toward the cabin, she began slowly walking back, trying to make sense of things.
Up ahead she could see Aaron just past the tree line waiting for her. Had he been there all this time? Seeing Aaron reminded her that her best friend was dead. No, Lilith was not her friend at all. Lilith had wanted to kill her, but why? As Zara neared Aaron, she could see tha
t he was still wary of her reaction.
“Hey,” she said before tentatively reaching out to hug him. His returning hug seemed to crush any fear or anxiety she had felt toward him and his secrets.
They turned together to walk toward the cabin as he kept his arm around her shoulder. The closer she came to the cabin, it felt like something was calling to her. She turned around to look back into the darkness. The faint glow past the tree line where the bonfire was still simmering was all the light she could see. Something stirred deep in her soul, something telling her that the forest was watching her, waiting, as if for a command. She could feel it in her veins, she was somehow connected to nature. She realized she had felt it all along in her life, but now it was with greater intensity. She was a part of something bigger.
Chapter 6
Zara and Aaron walked up the old wooden steps onto the covered back porch. Past the centuries-old rocking chairs that sat side by side, and Zara idly wondered who had enjoyed them in the past. She could hear voices inside as they stepped through the doorway, quiet conversations that stopped the moment they arrived. Some were looking at her with astonishment, some looked a little bit afraid. There were five men standing around the kitchen Island and four others sitting at the kitchen table with the older woman, her grandmother.
They were all built strong and lean, with similar short haircuts like Aaron’s and Zara wondered if they were all military, or Protectors, as her mother had called them. She knew some to be Aaron’s close friends and it tickled the back of her mind now wondering who they really might be. Noticing the questioning look on Zara’s face, Aaron made brief introductions around the room. He shared that everyone there was a part of the ‘Protectors of The Trinity’, everyone but Zara’s grandmother Marie, who was, in fact, a Trinity,
Zara still could not believe it. Aaron opened his mouth to share more, but Marie stood up from the table, cutting him off.
“Zara and I need to speak alone.” She said it with an air of authority that no one questioned, not even Aaron.
It was obvious to Zara that there was a certain power and respect granted to Marie, and though Aaron was not very comfortable letting Zara out of his sight at the moment, he nodded his head in agreement. Aaron walked over to the basement door, opening it for them as there was a large space down there that was comfortable and private. He watched until they disappeared down the stairs, fighting the urge to follow them.
Slowly following Marie down the stairs, Zara was not sure what to expect. She reminded herself that her mother said she could trust her. ‘Grandmother’, she tried to wrap her mind around the word, where had she been all her life? Why had she not come to get Zara and raise her after her mother died? Why had she never even heard of her?
As if hearing her unspoken questions, Marie turned to look at Zara when she reached the bottom of the stairs. Her deep brown eyes were gentle, and with a deep sigh and sagging shoulders, she said, “I know you must be wondering where I have been and why I have not come for you sooner. I have wanted to, my dear, but it would not have been safe for you, Zara.”
Zara noticed that the veil of power and authority Marie displayed in the kitchen seemed to vanish. Marie appeared more real with Zara at this moment, seemingly presenting her true feelings and true self, and not the façade she put on in front of the others upstairs. Turning toward a small living room area off to the left of the stairs Marie sighed.
The floors throughout the basement were made of old barnwood that were so beautiful it momentarily distracted Zara. Realizing she had only come down there a few times and had never really noticed how beautiful it was. She watched in silence as Marie walked to two separate lamps sitting on antique wooden tables switching them on with the ease of someone who had been there many times before.
Standing next to a dark brown corduroy couch, Marie turned back to Zara with pain in her eyes. “I have followed your progress over the years and longed for the day I could be with you. I had to stay away to ensure I would be able to be here for you now.” Marie held Zara’s eye with a pleading look that seemed to beg for forgiveness and understanding.
Zara, fueled with a new energy and questions, could not forgive so easily. “Why would it not have been safe?” she asked, her feet still rooted at the bottom of the stairs as she stared at her grandmother. She felt an energy building within her. “And why did my best friend try to kill me? How was I able to kill her? I know it was because of me, but I don’t know how.”
Zara could hardly get the words out that were flying through her head. Her grandmother motioned for her to sit down on the couch. Taking a deep breath, hoping her legs were listening, she moved toward the couch.
Surprised by how nervous she felt, her legs seemed to be made of warm jelly at the moment. Zara tentatively sat down on the soft cushion as she watched her grandmother turn and walk over to the wall opposite the couch. Zara’s mouth fell open as Marie slid a large painting of a beautiful field filled with wildflowers over to the side revealing a hidden safe in the wall.
Zara sat in shock as her grandmother held the painting aside with her left hand and proceeded to punch a series of numbers into a keypad with her right. With her heart racing, Zara gasped when she heard the safe door click and pop open. Her grandmother reached in and took out what appeared to be two very old books. Marie had obviously been here before. Zara felt a rush of heat through her body as anxiety threatened to take over, wondering what her grandmother was about to tell her.
Carrying the books over to the stone-tiled coffee table in front of the couch, Marie gently sat them down in front of Zara. “First, I need to tell you about our family and our past, then we can begin your training. Zara, from here on you need to only confide in me, trust only me,” Marie said with intensity as she sat down beside her on the couch.
“That’s what my mom just told me too,” Zara said in awe that this was all happening.
As she spoke, her mouth was so dry that her tongue was sticking to the roof of her mouth. She could feel that she was shaking, there was a part of her that was scared of what she may hear, but there was also a part of her waiting for fulfillment. She longed to find the piece that always seemed to be missing in her life.
Marie smiled, a genuine loving smile that seemed to reach her soul. “Ah, I miss my Isabella so much. I cannot wait to see her again,” she said as she reached forward, grabbing the larger of the two books.
Both books were thick, fragile and worn, the kind you might find tucked away in the back of an old historic library. Zara guessed they were easily hundreds of years old. They appeared so fragile Zara worried the pages would tear when Marie opened them. The book Marie pulled in front of them had the word Triquetra across the front with a large Trinity symbol in gold that seemed to shine and sparkle in spite of its age. Leaning forward, Zara ran her fingertips along the Trinity symbol and the circle that surrounded it, her heart raced in anticipation of this long-awaited information about her family.
“Zara, you are the Trinity we’ve been waiting for. Our people have been preparing for you for the past two hundred years,” Marie said as she gently opened the book. She pointed to a picture of the ring that now rested on Zara’s finger. “The Trinity Ring has been passed down from generation to generation and with each passing the ring has also been infused with additional powers from each of its owners, strengthening and building on itself, preparing for its next owner.”
Marie slowly, gently, turned the pages and Zara saw the faces of several women, most of which she had never seen before, though they seemed familiar to her somehow. “The Trinity women are born with certain ‘gifts’, Zara. We are born with the possibility of having power over three different areas: to control the elements of nature, to see and speak with those who have died, and to heal the injured. Zara, we the Trinity women, have been sent from God to work here on Earth to stop the evil that is pervading it. You are here to save humanity, to protect them from the evil that could eventually take over the world.” Marie paused to le
t her next words sink in. “Zara, you are an angel, ‘the’ angel meant to save the world from Erebus. He is the evil of the underworld whose powers have continued to grow. He has created hate, destruction, and chaos in the world over the years and continues to do so.”
Zara stared in wide-eyed disbelief as Marie continued on. “For generations, Erebus, the leader of this evil on Earth, has been aware of the prophecy and has been doing anything he can to try and stop the Trinity women and prevent you from coming into your full powers. I’m sure that is who sent Lilith to you. They want evil to rule the world and they mean to destroy it by replacing hope and love with hate and fear in the hearts of all humans, and they have been succeeding. Erebus has strong powers of his own and he gains strength from the chaos he creates; his power feeds off the fear and hate in humans.” Marie paused, allowing a moment for all of this to sink in, awaiting Zara’s response as she folded her hands on her lap.
“This cannot be possible,” she said on a whispered breath more to herself than Marie, shaking her head in disbelief. Although she felt in every fiber of her being that everything her grandmother just said was true. She still couldn’t fathom how it was all possible. “What do you mean by, I am ‘the’ Angel, what is so special about me?”