by T. E. Joshua
“You mean the demons?
“They’re demonic in nature, but the Reborns may know them as demons, fallen angels of your god.”
“Demons don’t listen to humans,” Natalie argued back with suspicion.
“Reborn or not, they listen to me. I am their master of the Covenant and the element of fire.”
“The Spirit of the Reborns protects me from evil. The two can’t coexist in a human being.”
“You possess the Spirit of the Reborns, and I possess the dark angels of the Covenant.”
Suddenly, it became chilly. The clouds covered the sun’s presence, but it was still humid. The trees had a mildly foggy mist, kind of like in a horror movie but without the suspense in the atmosphere. The mist moved as if it had a mind, covering the riverside and keeping low to the tree trunks. The area was deserted, and no one would be around to hear her scream for help if I decided to kill her. No! I shouldn’t think such repulsive thoughts. I had to keep my mind clear of hate and murder. I began to breathe slowly as I watched her deepen herself in the brush ahead. The green aura of colors lay on each leaf. The barks of the trees were rough; I took gradual steps to keep up with her. She seemed distant and tense.
As soon as had I gotten close enough, Natalie came to a complete stop before the riverbank. The vibrations of the smooth liquid floated from underneath the nearby bridge. It was tranquil. Crystal clear waters streamed toward us; it was like the river was all around us. Bubbling popping, the water was natural music to my ears. I called it the river of life.
Then I heard a deep whisper from Natalie, but I couldn’t understand what she was uttering. The Awakened Reborn held on to her silver cross necklace, a bloody crucifix, reciting a prayer of some sort. It was different, almost like she spoke in an abnormal kind of tongue that some of my previous victims had prayed in before I slaughtered them. My father had warned me about such nonsense. I believed she was praying in tongues. To be quite honest, I felt awkward hearing the rambles of her mouth.
“Father God, please protect me from this evil. I can’t do this. I know you want me to but I can’t.… I can’t.…” Natalie prayed as gibberish spilled out of her mouth.
I had to ask. “What are you doing?” I kept some distance from her with my guard up. Some Reborns gain power from praying in tongues, at least in my experience. But who knew what sort of abilities an Awakened Reborn could acquire?
“Praying that you won’t hurt me,” Natalie responded coldly.
“I am not going to hurt you. Trust me. If I wanted you dead, then I would have beheaded you last night or allowed James to kill you a few moments ago.”
Natalie paused and turned to me, her angelic, pale face saddened with horror. “You’re a murderer just like the rest of them.” She paused for a moment and continued, “After last night, I thought about your freak episode in the car and your drastic change whenever you got too close to me. You’re one of them, the group of tribal people that have the snake eyes. Aren’t you?”
“Yeah,” I confessed. I wouldn’t hide my true nature anymore. She knew who I was. She had seen my deformity when I had saved her life from James’s ruthless attack.
“The fire manipulation, the demon possession, the paranormal abilities and strange rays of light—it all makes sense now,” Natalie said as she wrapped her hands around the silver cross and then said, “I know who you are.”
“Who am I?” I questioned as I breathed down her pale, fragile neck. Goose bumps formed on her skin, and she shivered from the evil of my presence.
“Who am I?” I exclaimed. Natalie lightly jumped.
“Y-you …” she stuttered. “You are Bodaway, the fire maker … the one who kills. I saw you in my dreams. You came to kill me but never did. I always woke up before you tried to cut my neck.”
“What do we hate?” I asked demonically.
“Reborns,” Natalie answered coldly.
“Why do we kill them?”
Natalie Schultz paused, taking a deep breath. She started praying again in tongues. I waited as my chin touched her pale neck. She continued to shiver and answered, “Because … we are a threat to your people and way of life, and more importantly to the conversion of all mankind and the Covenant.”
“Your people took the lives of my ancestors. They forced assimilation on us and dared to Christianize and trample our religion. We—hate—you,” I explained in a harsh tone. “You couldn’t get that information from the Internet. How do you know about the Covenant?”
Natalie said nothing.
“Answer me!” I yelled.
“When I dreamed about you my God ordered me to befriend the boy from the dark tribal occult. He said you were redeemable and that he had been searching for you your entire life,” Natalie answered as her voice softened. Then she faced me.
The fog materialized around us and enshrouded us. The white mist crept up behind her, covering the creek of smooth water floating freely away from the stone-walled bridge.
“Maybe you shouldn’t have listened to your god,” I suggested.
“But then I wouldn’t have gotten to know you,” Natalie confessed and added, “Your eyes look demonic, like a snake’s. They are turning into a reddish, bloody color.” She released her hands from the silver cross necklace. My dema must have risen 10 percent without me knowing. Hopefully what had happened last night wouldn’t happen again.
“Follow me into the mist,” I ordered as I walked toward the middle to the old pond. If Natalie truly wanted to be my friend, then I had to show her what I could do with fire in the palms of my hands.
“Where are we going?” Natalie asked as she trailed behind me, deeper into the mist. I couldn’t sense her, but I smelt the irresistible fragrance of the Reborn spirit, the sweet and spicy scent. It began to surround me.
“I have to show you something,” I said as I walked toward the stone wall bridge.
It was the ugliest bridge I had laid my eyes upon. The stones were rocky and dull, a dark, grayish color in certain spots. Each block carried a strain of greenish leaves. Tiny beetles lived in the hidden caverns underneath the repulsive shadows of the bridge. I noticed a few beetles flying about the area.
“Watch,” I uttered and picked up a small branch. I held it in my right hand. I then took the lighter, the same one she had given me as a gift, and lit a spark of fire. The orange, consuming light waved violently as it moved from the Zippo and onto the branch. The two instantly connected, and the fire incinerated the small branch in an instant. Natalie immediately leapt backward in fear. “Oh my God, I was right. Oh my God, this isn’t real.”
“You were right about what?” I asked. The branch burned to ashes that fell onto the grass. Some even scattered into the pond, flowing out of our sight.
“This kind of power is witchcraft—demon idol worship.”
I snickered and walked toward Natalie. I had to defend my people’s honor. “Call it what you want. My people believe this kind of practice to be true. It is who I am. It is the Covenant.”
“The Covenant, the same covenant my God told me about?” Natalie asked, breathing heavily.
“Yes. The Covenant is a divine promise between Lucian and my people. He gifts us with supernatural dark energy to hunt and kill Reborns like you—and, in some cases, more powerful ones called Awakened Reborns. I am his Promised Child, his child of light.”
“You’re the Promised Child … of the devil?” Natalie questioned.
“No, he’s a dark angelic entity, a being that has been looking after our people since the dawn of time.”
“These dark spirits you speak of are demons, disguised to be angelic,” Natalie asserted—as if I cared.
“The dark spirits hate Reborns more than we do; they feed off of our innate lust to kill. They are the ones who grant us our paranormal powers.”
Next I moved away from Natalie, walking along the s
oggy creek and pressing my feet into the mud with my black sneakers. She slowly followed and said, “Just imagine all of the good you could do with that kind of power.”
Again I snickered and replied, “It wouldn’t work. The dark spirits only answer to us, not anyone who isn’t under the Covenant.”
“If I didn’t know any better, I would think of it as a beautiful, unique culture.”
“Beautiful? This is the power of a murder,” I corrected in anger.
“No, you’re a good person. I have seen it,” Natalie said firmly as I continued to walk along the riverbank. “You could have killed me but you didn’t.”
I had to correct her ignorance again. “You believe a lie about me. I can’t be good. I am what I am. I was born this way—born to kill you,” I said demonically.
“But you didn’t.”
“Look at me. I am damned to an eternal darkness with no escape. I have gone too far. I have killed more people than you will ever know,” I uttered sinisterly.
“No, there is still hope for you,” Natalie insisted. Her angelic demeanor lit up as I looked upon her.
“Hope?” Again I laughed in an ugly fashion. I sped around Natalie faster than she could have blinked; to her it would have seemed like I had disappeared into vapor. The Awakened Reborn leapt away in fear and asked, “How can you move that fast?” There was terror in her pretty eyes; my movement was flawless.
“The dark spirits allow us to use dark energy. It’s a basic form of energy that heightens physical strength, speed, durability, regeneration, limited shape-shifting, and the ability to detect other warriors by feeling out their dema.” I moved in closer; the horror in my eyes made her legs shake. I leaned against her chest. I felt my dema developing—my natural urge to kill feed off of Natalie’s phobia of me. The scent was very potent.
“No, you won’t hurt me,” Natalie said quietly. I stared into her eyes, hoping she would regard my warning. Part of me wanted to rip her head off and toss it in the old pond. I imagined that the horror of Natalie’s death would have satisfied my flesh. It would certainly have made things a lot easier, but my supposed good side held me back—the same feelings I had when I had dropped my sword in exchange for her life.
“I won’t, but understand that I am holding myself back from murdering you. Every particle of you drives me crazy for bloodshed. Your pale face, dirty blonde hair, Reborn presence, and even your innocent cheerfulness—I can’t help myself when I am around you. It is something that I haven’t ever experienced before. I don’t want to become overwhelmed with dema again like last night,” I hissed fervently.
“Please don’t,” Natalie responded.
“I was born to kill you.”
Then the desire to kill began to set in as I tried desperately to restrain it. I could feel my flesh craving to squeeze the life out of her. My skin burned lightly as sweat came to the surface. I imagined I was nearing 30 percent. I fought my natural tendency to harm her by holding my breath and moving away. I shielded my wrathful eyes and fell to the muddy ground. The white mist masked my physical presence. I fell to my knees, my fists balled, hoping that she would vanish from existence. My heartbeat began to pick up. She watched me struggle.
“You’re too sweet to hurt me,” Natalie voiced. She moved in closer to comfort me; I wished she would back away. I forcefully withdrew in fear of wanting to hurt her precious body.
“That is a part of the problem. When I am around you the desire rages out. But then again, your presence, touch, and selfless love opens up a new door to the unknown. Your scent triggers my demonic nature. It’s hard to explain,” I uttered solemnly. I continued to look downward, shutting my vision to her. Natalie’s fragrance traveled up my nose and only fueled my wrath. I squeezed my fists tighter. Tears of stress erupted as I gnashed my teeth, grinding my upper and lower jaw together.
I remained on the ground. The soggy dirt seeped through my blue jeans. I put pressure upon myself to think about the moment we shared, the common bond of fire.
Then I felt a dark spirit next to me, trying to use my body as a host. I heard it hissing at me, “Allow me, my lord. Allow me.” It was Ravinski, the red-eyed demon of fire.
“No! Go away!” I ordered, but Ravinski didn’t leave.
Suddenly, my teeth sharpened and my skin boiled even more. The skin on my face tightened. Involuntarily, my dema had risen above 50 percent. I couldn’t decrease the energy I was being fed.
The shadow manifested itself out of the white, smoky mist. The black figure laid its hand on my back and pressed inward. It forced itself inside as I laid my head down and groaned. The possession of the dark spirit had started; I could feel my body changing form. The pain increased. It felt as if Ravinski had opened the flesh on my back, cutting my skin outwardly and entering into my innermost being. That was when I released. I had hit a dangerous level of awakening—possibly 90 percent or over, nearing the fifth pillar of awakening. There was no turning back.
“Oh no, it’s happening,” I said gruesomely.
“I think I know what is wrong,” Natalie said.
“No—get away from me,” I urged hoarsely. She ignored my command. I felt like I was dying, slipping away into utter oblivion. Soon my human mind would cease and the demon would have total control over me.
“Remain calm,” she whispered and laid her hands on my burning forehead.
I tried to remain still while I resisted the transformation into a demonic entity. The moment her hands touched my skin, I began to calm down, and Ravinski stalled from entering me. Natalie prayed in tongues, the sounds of gibberish spitting from her mouth. Words in a language that was foreign to me echoed throughout the old pond. An unknown force from her body transferred over to me. The dark spirit exited my body before it could completely take me over. It seemed that her words had commanded the dark spirit to leave me. I was shocked; Ravinski obeyed and vanished from me.
I was calm. My dema was suppressed, down to 0 percent.
“You’re free now,” Natalie said with confidence.
“I am,” I gushed out in disbelief.
Natalie Schultz, the Awakened Reborn, possessed a power that far surpassed my understanding. Not only could she have destroyed me during our first encounter, but she also had the power to heal me and even to command the dark spirits to leave me alone. It was evident that the Spirit of the Reborns ruled and reigned inside of her. The question is to what measure? I had no idea. Regardless of her power with her god, I honored it. She was wonderful.
“The power you possess—I am becoming fatally attracted to it.” A long pause followed, and the next words flowed from my heart, as I thought I had found someone who could handle me—a worthy friend. “Natalie Grace Schultz, my friend.”
Natalie smiled a heavenly smile. The Reborn’s pale face blushed and said, “Tristan Bodaway Lakota, my friend.”
“I have killed before, and I will kill again,” I said predatorily.
“I don’t care. I can help you, and you won’t kill me.”
She rubbed her pale hands along the side of my warm face.
“Will you help me?” I questioned, backing away into one of the trees.
“Yes, I want to help you. The Reborn God wants you. You’re my friend.”
“If you’re smart … then you must flee from me,” I warned, believing that she wouldn’t.
Suddenly, I moved out of her line of vision and paced my steps.
“Wait—where are you going?” Natalie asked. I ignored her question as she chased me to the stone wall bridge.
The smell of rotten fish and an unusual odor of death rested within the black tunnel. The white mist covered the area, preventing me from seeing anything beyond fifteen feet. I took two steps along the rocky stones that rested above the surface of the river. It was slippery and wet; I managed to stand still as I faced the wall. Natalie stepped into the waters. The sp
lashing echoed as I stared aimlessly at the walls of discolored stones smeared with layers of mud.
“Look, I am afraid if you get too close to me then I will hurt you—not just emotionally, but physically,” I warned.
“I told you, I am willing to take that risk.”
“If I don’t kill you, then one of my family members will. They—hate—you,” I hissed.
The brave and stubborn Awakened Reborn responded, “So let them hate me.”
“They will kill us both and slaughter the rest of your family. Don’t you care about them?”
“I do, but they won’t harm us. My God protects me, and he will protect you if you trust Him.”
“Can he?”
“Trust me, Tristan. I have a hedge of protection—a shield of faith, the armor of light, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit. I am an Awakened One.”
“Your scent—it’s captivating and ancient.”
“It’s the sweet aroma of the Spirit of the Lord. I carry the scent. He blessed me with it. He told me that he would use the scent to lure you to me. It worked.” Natalie drew closer to me as I backed up against the stone wall.
“But I’m not part of his kingdom.”
“Don’t fear him. He will protect you. He has been yearning to be intimate with you,” she uttered.
“I—am—afraid—of—you.”
“It’s because I am an Awakened Reborn.”
13
The Explanation of the Five Elements
HOLY COMPASSION! I BELIEVED THAT was the first emotion I felt radiating from Natalie’s body. For someone to have holy compassion, that person would have to possess holy powers from a divine source. Natalie did.
“You talk to God?”
“Yes, he told me that the Spirit in me has awakened. The power of God lives inside of me,” she muttered and glared into my eyes. “He told me you, a killer of my faith, would come into my life. I had to prepare for your arrival.”
Me? I was predetermined to enter Natalie’s life? This was all too weird. What sort of path would come of this? I had betrayed my clan for the friendship of the enemy. No one would understand; I didn’t even necessarily understand my impulse decision to defend her against James. I risked her safety so that I may come to know her more. Regardless of what I thought, this was wrong in the eyes of my ancestors. The Awakened Reborn girl would surely find a dark and lonely death if we continued to hold onto one another. Maybe I should put an end to our immature emotions.