“A shift is coming.”
“What do you mean by shift?” I turned away from him with crossed arms as his conversation with Naamah came to the forefront of my mind.
“I slipped into a ritzy rendezvous while away.”
“How does the one percent have time for a rendezvous when the nation is falling apart?”
“The elitists are having one hell of a time while the terrorist they funded is killing the masses.”
“But why would they fund terrorist to harm a country they already control?”
“They don’t care about anyone outside their family bloodlines.”
“Isn’t that more collateral for them in the end?”
“No, because this is what they’ve always planned. An eagle never really represented America accurately. Its true symbol is and was a rattlesnake.”
“What?”
“They plan to rebuild America now that they’ve purged it.”
“Into what?”
“At the gathering, Lovell boasted Columbia’s rebirth into New Babylon rising as will the age of the serpent begin,” he said. I covered my mouth.
“I thought she is already new Babylon.”
“Colombia was and always was fated to be since her inception.”
“I saw another familiar face at the party.”
“Who?”
“Mason.”
“You’re making this up!” I backed away.
“Why would I lie to you?” He enclosed his hand around my wrist, stepping closer. I held my sentence as I peeled my eyes away from him.
“He told me he and the other guys were going up there to fight the terrorist!” I tore my wrist away.
“He lied!”
I looked up at him as he narrowed his eyes at me huffing.
“I had a vision of you also.”
“About what?” I gulped. He turned to walk away.
“Leo, wait!” I called after him.
“If you really want to know, what I saw,” he said with a deep sigh. I nodded. “I saw them coming down and among them was your ex-fiancé,” he said, his eyes filled with terror.
“And?”
“The Watchers destroyed everything.”
“That’s the sort of thing I dream all the time,” I said.
“But Azazel took you—” He frowned.
“Where?”
“I don’t know, I was unable to save you.” He lowered his head and turned to leave. I stood watching him disappear into the night.
PART II
CHAPTER 6
GOLDEN AGE
My mother shook me until my eyes squinted open to the soft artificial glow of my room. It was a quarter till eight. I sat up in bed. In her hands was a small cupcake with blue icing and a candle, and I raised my brows at the dessert.
“What is this for?”
“Happy twenty-fifth birthday.”
“Today’s my birthday?” I said. She nodded.
“You’re funny.”
“I can’t believe I forgot my own birthday!” I laughed. She smiled.
“Come on, you’ve already slept in, you don’t want to waste the day away,” she said. I ventured into the next room where everyone stood with streamers and birthday hats.
Mason ran out from amongst them and embraced me. My breath hitched in my throat, thinking back to what Leo had told me about him. I was relieved to see Kevin and Erich had made it back safely as well. I didn’t see Warren. Had he survived?
“Happy twenty-fifth,” a male voice said. My jaws dropped at the sight of the man among my friends.
“Zev!” I rushed to hug him.
“Happy birthday!” He embraced me back. Zev had grown out his thick black curly hair he inherited from my mother, which I’d envied.
“I haven’t seen you since I was fifteen. What brings you here?”
The last time I saw him, we had fought. The next morning he disappeared without bothering to contact my mother and me.
“About the hurtful things, I said back then to you and just up and leaving...”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said, cutting him off, “I didn’t care to hear an apology, just being here is enough for me.”
“Happy birthday, Maricel!” Leslie said, smiling. Caroline hugged me, and Erich and Kevin wished me it as well.
Mason handed me a gift and said to me, “I hope you like it.”
I embraced him, and he picked me up off the floor. My mother withdrew her phone from her pocket.
“It’s not good for much anymore, but at least I can still get a picture of all of you.” We all moved closer together while my mother snapped a photo.
“I want to take you somewhere special,” Mason said. My eyes widened at the offer.
“Okay.” I shrugged following him. He pushed open the doors, light poured in. My eyes adjusted to the sunlight. Mason took my hand, and everyone else followed. His palms were far smoother than Leo’s I remembered from when we walked together. The beach came into view as we drifted closer to what was left of the boardwalk.
My pulse lurch from the glimpse of a ship nearing the shoreline.
“Mason, we should go back!” I said, but he didn’t say a word as the ship came closer. I ran. Someone gripped my hand. Circling around, I now faced Mason. “What are you doing? That’s an enemy ship!”
He disregarded my plea and shoved me onto it. A man steered it. His familiar smirk eased my panic with the realization it was Warren.
“I hope you like it, I know it’s hard to get a cruise when chaos is erupting,” he said, I embraced him.
“Thank you, I don’t know how you did it, but I love it!” I chose a spot by Mason to sit. He handed me a glass of champagne—we toasted. From the back of the vessel, the rest of my friends, emerged taking a seat around me.
“Surprise!” they said. I laughed.
“This is brilliant!” Upon a balcony, Erich acted as a DJ. I laughed. “And music too, you guys spoiled me even in the middle of an apocalypse. I can’t believe you got away with this with all the chaos at here.”
“It was originally Caroline’s idea since she seemed to notice you liked to stray, she figured you were longing for outside air.”
“Thank you, Caroline.”
Caroline grinned and said, “I think someone wants to dance with you.”
I turned to see Erich and Leslie already dancing while Zev sat to the side drinking. Mason stood alone, and I could tell he wanted to. It was the least I could do after what he had done for me. I walked over. He placed one hand on my waist.
“Mason, show me what you got,” I said. Mason swayed with me. I buried my head into his chest while he held me close to him as we rocked to the music.
I spied Leo from a distance standing there watching us. Leo’s expression was unreadable. Mason hadn’t seen him yet. After dancing to two songs, I joined my brother where he sat.
“Hey, Zev how have you been?”
“The better question is, what have you been up to? I can see since I’ve been gone you’ve been on Broadway, starred in a movie, and traveled the world. Ma told me you were romantically involved with a fallen angel who crowned you queen.”
“When you sum it all up to me. It sounds like a fantasy but as crazy and embarrassing as it all is, it’s all true—my life has been pretty eventful.”
He shook his head and said, “I thought I’d never see the day when you grew up. It’s strange to imagine you in a relationship because the last time I saw you. You were this little girl with her nose always buried in a mythology book, a total geek, you still are, no offense.”
“I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.”
“So, what’s the deal with Mason?” he asked. I looked away.
“Things are complicated. I haven’t broken up with him yet, but truthfully I see him as just a friend, he took me under his wings when disaster struck.”
“So the poor guy has been friend-zoned but
doesn’t know it?”
“Yes, and I hate myself for giving him false hope. But enough about me, do you have anyone special in your life?” I asked. He shook his head.
“Nah, not really.”
“It’s good to see you two talking, I remember the last time you two couldn’t even stand to be in the same room,” my mother said.
“A lot has changed since,” I said.
“Maricel, come here,” a familiar male voice said.
Everyone turned to see Leo standing at a distance, with his hands tucked in his pockets. Every time Leo spoke, it was in the most awkward moments. People’s reactions to him were unfavorable, yet he made perfect sense to me. I got up and walked over to him. Mason glared at the unwelcome guest.
“I didn’t mean to scare you last night,” he said. “Anyways, happy birthday, your highness,” he said. I smiled at him.
“Thanks, and don’t worry, I’m not afraid,” I said. Leo's hand enclosed around mine. We walked further abroad the ship. He handed me a seashell and put it to my ear, I listened to the sound of the ocean within it.
“I picked it up last night and thought you should have it to always remember our crazy adventures.” Our gaze remained fixed on one another while the waves crashed, taking me back to when we skipped town together, driving cross country on those crazy summer evenings.
The sky lit up. Leo shook his head as if returning from a vivid daydream and glanced up at the sky his pupils constricting.
A sleek metallic aircraft in the shape of a magnet hovered over the land then more disks populated the sky, blocking the sun.
“What’s going on?” Caroline cried.
“They are here!” Mason shouted. One of the space crafts headed straight for the mainland and swerved sharply at a ninety-degree angle, changing course starting for the ship.
Everyone ducked down as it flew overhead, grazing the ship. The yacht tipped. Leslie let out a scream and Erich instructed her to go below the deck.
We ducked down as the first waved washed over our ship. The craft loomed directly overhead. Leo took my hand and dashed away with me toward the edge of the ship. Below the waves of the Atlantic wavered. Mason rushed after us.
“Let go of her!” Mason yelled at Leo, yanking me from him.
“She’s safer with me!”
“She’s not going with you!”
“If she stays up here Azazel will find her.”
“I can protect her from Azazel, if she jumps ship with you, Naamah will kill her!” Mason said. I was speechless as the two quarreled. High frequencies rang out from the ship, shattering my eardrums vibrating through my core. The boat pulled toward the coastline.
“You’ll get her killed!” Leo shouted, kicking Mason in the face and grabbing me back, leaping with me into the ocean. Mason hollered reaching for me as I descended into the sea.
The boom of the ship colliding with the aircraft was muffled by the descent into the water. Leo and I rose above the waves as he swam with me. From behind us, the fishtails of mermaids racing toward us came into view. Among them was Naamah.
“Thank you, Leonardo,” she said. I thrashed around to free myself. It was no use against Leo’s grip.
Leo lost hold of me as I sunk further into the ocean away from Naamah and the other sirens, as a vortex formed beneath the sea. Pressure filled my lungs while the waves whipped me around. Then I suspended with the vortex rising from the water.
From a distance suspended in midair, there was Azazel. His pale hair flowing hair was now a dark golden hue and trimmed short, emphasized his piercing cobalt eyes. Leo surfaced from the water, gasping. Like a magnet, I drifted closer to him against my will.
“Maricel—” A broad grin spread across Azazel’s face.
“Azazel—”
“It’s nice to see you again.”
I didn’t respond to him as he pulled me close to him to the point he could wrap his muscular arms around me.
“Now that I’ve returned, we can rule, together.”
“I want nothing to do with you.”
He smirked then glanced at Leo still in the water. His eyes moved back to me.
“You’re nothing without me, why do you think you lived as a pauper after you foolishly ran away.”
“I’m called by God as his servant.”
“Maricel, look around you. Out of all these people do you really think God gave you the gift of prophecy? With all the blood on your hands.”
“My sins are forgiven.”
“You’re just like me.” He lifted my chin as my head dipped, and I tried to push away. His lips swallowed mine. I slapped him, and he chuckled. “You made the wrong choice, Maricel,” he said, letting me go. I fell, landing on the sand by my friends and a crowd who had gathered. My glasses lay shattered.
Azazel glided to the shore with a host of other angels. Some appeared more human-like than others. His body was engulfed in a massive flame of fire.
The onlookers backed away as he moved closer to them. He stopped flaring despite his piercing gaze remaining
“Greeting, homo sapiens. I have returned from Niburu as your creator. The Garden of Eden, some of you, believe in was nothing more than an experiment that we performed thousands of years ago with the primates of earth. We left due to cataclysms and returned to our home planet. But after observing the way man destroys the planet through greed, violence, and war, we have returned to redeem you while there is still hope. Now bow to your gods.”
Some of the trembling members of the crowd knelt. I lay on the ground catching my breath. Caroline glanced at her husband—the two refused to move along with Leslie and Erich.
“You’re a fraud!” Erich shouted. One of the gray-skinned angels with Azazel struck him with a staff. Azazel’s eyes lit up an emerald shade from the lasers, shooting from his eyes, burning the ground.
“Bow! Or I’ll fry all of you!”
Leslie knelt, crying and Erich glared at him. A gray-skinned winged being grabbed him by the neck.
“I refuse,” Erich said. Azazel aimed the laser inches from Leslie’s face, and Erich glanced at her. She shook her head, encouraging him to stand his ground. Erich sank to his, knees shaking his fists. The rest of my friends got down on their faces, as I still lay there.
“Stop lying there and bow to your god peasant,” Azazel said, moving closer to me. I crawled away. When there was enough distance, I stood to run. He gripped me by the hair, yanking me, and I squealed in pain as he pulled me down onto my knees. “Tell everyone how much you love me, or I’ll blast all of your little friends to smithereens,” he whispered in my ear.
“You’re the same monster I left in Mu,” I said, turning around to see that Asmodeus and the Seirim’s claws wrapped around my mother and brother as they squirmed.
They shook their heads against it. I looked back at Azazel with a gulp closing my eyes.
Mason pushed forward, striking Azazel, in the head with clenched his fist.
“Stay out of this!” Azazel ordered him.
“Let her go!” Mason hollered. Azazel dropped me—the two were now standing toe to toe.
“Belial, you have a sense of humor, thinking you could be to her what I was.”
Mason turned to me as my eyes widened. He lifted his brows, turning and lowering his head as large black wings sprouted forth from his back.
“Mason!” I gasped. He pushed Azazel, and the two quarreled. Leo crawled onto the shore from the water.
“Come on, we have to get out of here!” he said to me, taking my hand. “Hurry, get in the car!” Leo said. We all tried to pack in.
“The rest of you in here!” Erich said as he took a car. I sat beside Leo, and he sped away. My mother and brother sat in the back silent.
“Where are we going to go?” I said. Leo didn’t answer; he just continued to drive. Peering back into the rearview mirror, I noted Azazel and Belial were both gone.
* * *
Ove
r fours later, we arrived at an abandoned bar in Donalsonville Georgia. I stepped over the splintered wood and broken glass. The liquor cabinets were wiped clean, and the tables overturned. Behind the counter, Leo opened a trap door. We followed him down a stairwell.
Along the right walls was a case filled with artillery. The area to the left was filled with computers and large television screens streaming news stations and maps of the world. A girl in a plaid blouse at a computer typed away at one of the computers. She glanced up at me from behind her large black glasses and stood.
“You must be Maricel. It’s a pleasure, I’m Crystal,” she said. Her blonde hair bobbed with her sleek ponytail. “Make yourself comfortable.” She grinned, slapping her hands against her baggy khakis.
“You must be Crystal Hays, the friend he contacted to help us stream live. Thanks again,” I said. Crystal stretched yawning.
“Yup, that’s me.”
“She’s a prodigy,” Leo said, throwing his arm around her. Crystal blushed.
“From what I gathered, our government had sent messages to other nations about the invasion today,” she said as we walked into another room.
A set of puke green vintage couches surrounded a wooden coffee table in the center with an ashtray. Beside the ashtray sat a heavy-set man with his feet outstretched on the table as he smoked, watching television.
“Hey Rain, we got guests,” Leo hollered at the man. He turned and waved and turned back to the television. Anyways, make yourselves at home,” Leo said to my friends and family as he leaned up against a raptor. I remained beside him and Crystal with my arms folded over my chest as my friends and family settled down in the living room.
“When Leo ran into Lovell at the party, he was wearing an eye patch,” Crystal said.
“What, why?”
“Oh, Maricel, remember stabbing him in the eye.” Her words brought me back to that moment, and I gasped. “If you only knew of how big of a threat, you are to them right now.”
“What do you mean?”
“You succeeded in warning the nation of the impending attack. And you have a history with Azazel. You know too much, so right now you’re worth more alive than you are dead to both sides.”
“Why?”
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