by Shuler, Tara
She thought about calling some of her old friends from school, but they were never all that close. The best friend she’d ever had moved away in eighth grade, and they hadn’t even spoken in two years. She was never particularly social, and had kept to herself most of the time.
Beth decided to go for a walk to clear her head. She wanted to avoid the clearing where she’d met Malachai. She couldn’t deal with him right now, nor could she deal with Sam disappearing on her yet again. She just wanted to be alone to think.
Beth took another route through the forest. This time, she decided to head west instead of the northerly route that had taken her to the clearing where she met Malachai.
The woods were dark and creepy. Owls hooted, and the thick canopy of trees allowed in very little light. She made her way further and further into the dark forest, hoping to find another lovely clearing in which to sit and reflect. Instead, the woods grew stranger, and more unfriendly.
Oddly enough, Beth was actually rather frightened. Although her mother was a witch, she was married to a demon, and she had been chatting with a fallen angel, all of that frankly seemed fairly normal to her. A dark, dank forest full of owls and bats and fiends of nature actually made her anxious.
Beth decided to turn around and go home, but she found herself lost and disoriented. The night was quickly creeping in, and it was so dark she could hardly see the ground.
She’d lost her bearings. She couldn’t remember which direction she’d come from, and she couldn’t see enough in the darkness to tell if she recognized any of her surroundings. She tripped and stumbled through the rough undergrowth, the briars and branches tearing at her clothing and scratching her skin like claws.
The night air grew colder, and the cold evening winds whipped through the trees, rustling the leaves and making the branches of the trees whistle and creak ominously.
Soon, it grew so dark Beth could scarcely see more than a few inches in front of her. She thought she could hear footsteps behind her, and her heart began to race. She started to walk faster, and then she burst into a run. Suddenly, she lost her footing, and she began to fall.
“Help!” she screamed, terror seizing her, though she knew no one would be around to save her.
She fell further and faster, and she knew she must have only moments to live. As far as she’d fallen already, she would never survive. Then, suddenly, warmth. She felt strong, warm arms close around her, and she felt her body slowly start to ascend into the air. She thought she heard the light flapping of wings.
It wasn’t long before they rose above the tops of the trees, and in the silvery moonlight, she could clearly see Malachai looking down at her with concern. Two huge, black wings carried the two of them higher and higher.
“Malachai?” she asked.
“Yes, Beth,” he answered gently. “I’ll have you home in a minute.”
She was breathless as they soared high above the treetops. She watched the trees turn into grass, and soon she saw her home far below. Their descent was rapid, but gentle, and Malachai landed deftly on his feet, his black wings folding behind him and then disappearing. Gently, he lowered Beth’s feet to the ground just outside the front door.
“Thank you,” Beth told him. “I don’t know what happened. It got so dark so quickly, I couldn’t see where I was going. I thought I heard someone behind me.”
“You probably did,” Malachai told her. “I wouldn’t go into these woods alone, especially not out west.”
“Why not?”
“Dark things lurk in the shadows there. Darker than anything you’ve seen, I’ll wager. Promise me you’ll never go there again.”
“Okay.”
“Promise it!” Malachai growled forcefully.
“Alright, I promise!”
Malachai’s eyes were serious, but gentle. His arms still held her steady where he’d lowered her feet to the ground, as if he were reluctant to let her go. He opened his mouth to say something more, but then paused.
“Malachai, I…”
In a flash, he disappeared.
“I wish you’d stop doing that!” Beth shouted into thin air, and then she sighed.
She walked back into the house, frustrated, and alone once more. It seemed as if the forces of nature were conspiring to ensure she had no company whatsoever. She couldn’t even keep the company of a dog without losing him.
Beth trudged into the kitchen and opened the freezer. She chose a pint of Double Chocolate Fudge Brownie Chunk ice cream, and then slammed the freezer door so forcefully a magnet clattered to the floor. She ignored it, and snatched a spoon from the drawer, leaving the drawer open absently.
Slowly, the dragged her feet as she made her way into the living room, plopping down on the sofa. She tossed the lid of the ice cream container onto the floor and shoved the spoon deep inside, scooping out a massive chunk of it and shoveling it into her mouth. She closed her eyes and relished the cool creaminess, and the rich chocolate flavor. She sighed contentedly. Somehow, chocolate could almost make her forget.
“Elizabeth, have you been injured?” she heard a concerned voice say behind her.
She turned to notice Aztos standing behind her, and she scoffed. With her mouth still full of ice cream, she mumbled, “What do you care?”
“Your clothes are shredded, you have bloody scratches on your arms, and you seem to be trembling,” Aztos commented, his voice becoming angry. “Were you attacked? Did someone hurt you?”
“No,” Beth answered. “I took a walk in the woods, and it got dark quicker than I thought. I fell down several times, and the briars scratched me.”
Aztos’ relief was almost tangible, but Beth didn’t notice. She’d already turned her attention back to her frozen comfort. She shoved another huge mouthful of ice cream into her mouth and sighed as the chocolate relaxed her.
“What were you doing in the forest alone at night?”
“I’m tired of being alone, Aztos,” she told him. “You keep disappearing, and when you are here you’re distant. I have no friends. I can’t even keep Sam here with me, and I wonder why that is!”
“If you are accusing me again of releasing the dog, I assure you I did no such thing.”
“How does a dog just disappear from a locked garage, Aztos? It doesn’t make any sense!”
“I do not know, Elizabeth. But you have my word that I had nothing to do with it.”
Beth wasn’t sure she could trust the word of a demon, but she wanted to. He was, after all, her husband, now. Still, it was beyond the realm of possibility that a dog could escape from a locked garage once, much less twice.
Aztos sat beside her on the couch and looked at her with eyes that Beth thought looked almost pleading – or at least concerned. She softened slightly.
“That looks good,” he remarked, eyeing her ice cream.
“It is,” she said, inhaling another spoonful mockingly.
“It smells good, too,” he hinted.
She glared at him, and then sighed. She took a spoonful and shoved it in his face, and he ate it.
“Happy, now?” Beth asked him.
“Not remotely,” he answered.
“Why not?”
“You are my wife, and I am concerned about you. Going into the forest alone at night was reckless. You could have been killed.”
“Supposedly Lucifer could resurrect me if he wanted to, right? So what’s the big deal?”
“You do not understand. Lucifer does not always grant such requests. He only does so if it suits him. If he does not believe you are useful, he would not be bothered.”
“What do you care, anyway?”
“Whether you choose to believe it, or not, I do not wish to lose my wife so soon after marriage.”
Beth softened a little more. She pushed another spoonful of ice cream at Aztos, and he accepted it.
“So are you maybe a little glad we got married?” Beth asked.
“I am happy that I am no longer alone,” he confessed.
“That’s enough,” Beth said. “For now.”
She placed the ice cream container on the coffee table and leaned back onto the couch, resting her head lightly on Aztos’ shoulder. Aztos was confused, but he said nothing.
Chapter Eight
For the next few days, their lives seemed almost normal. Perhaps there was no romance, or no loving relationship like the one Beth hoped would eventually bloom, but they managed to live civilly.
Aztos spent a lot of time reading, and he would still read aloud to Beth whenever she requested it. They often watched movies together, and Aztos had even found a few he enjoyed – though he still preferred to read.
Of course, Aztos was soon called away on a mission, and once again, Beth was left lonely and miserable. For the first day, she moped around the house. She even picked up one of Aztos’ books – an old copy of Wuthering Heights.
On the second day, boredom and loneliness took over. She remembered Malachai’s warning to avoid the western section of the forest, so she headed east – still attempting to avoid his clearing in the north.
The trees were sparse to the east, so there was plenty of light. Birds sang cheerfully, and the forest floor crunched pleasantly under her boots. Despite the nippy air, she was not particularly cold.
Soon, she thought she might be getting lost again. The trees grew closer together, and the underbrush was denser than before. Soon, things began to look more familiar, and she finally found herself in Malachai’s clearing.
“Malachai?” she called.
“What are you doing here?” she heard his voice ask.
“I was walking through the woods to the east of my house, and somehow I ended up here,” she explained.
“That is strange,” he said. “Are you certain of the direction in which you were headed?”
“Yes, I’m sure. I was heading the opposite way from the area you asked me to avoid.”
The spot on the rocks where he normally sat shimmered briefly, and he appeared before her. He still took her breath away, sitting, as he always did, shirtless and forlorn.
“Perhaps you got off course,” Malachai suggested.
“I suppose so,” he agreed, but she wasn’t so sure.
“How have you been?” Malachai asked.
“Fine. Just a little bored and lonely,” she admitted.
“Is that why you came here?”
“I didn’t come here!” she objected. “I told you, I went east. I really can’t understand how I ended up here.”
Malachai watched her intently for a moment.
“That has me concerned,” he commented. “If you headed east, and you somehow ended up here, something must have brought you here.”
“I thought you said I might have ended up off course.”
“I don’t think that’s possible. Not to that extent.”
“Well… what could have done it?”
“I’m not certain, but I don’t like it. Perhaps it’s best if you don’t enter the forest alone at all, anymore.”
“Then how can I come see you?”
Malachai raised one eyebrow quizzically.
“I thought you weren’t coming to see me.”
“I wasn’t this time, but I intended to at some point.”
“I see. Well, perhaps it is best if I meet you at the edge of the forest and escort you here when you wish to visit.”
“How will you know when I want to visit?”
“I’ll know.”
“Wait. Can you like… read minds or something?”
Malachai managed a chuckle, and then said, “No, nothing like that.”
“Then how will you know?”
“I can feel you. You don’t think I spend my entire life in this clearing, do you?”
Beth blushed, and said, “I honestly hadn’t thought about it. What do you mean you can feel me?”
“I have developed some sort of… connection… with you,” Malachai tried to explain. “Whenever you are in pain, I feel it. Whenever you are thinking of me, I feel it. So if you are thinking of me, I will know to come to you, just like I come to the clearing now when I feel you thinking of me.”
Beth’s face flushed a bright shade of crimson realizing how often Malachai must come to that clearing in anticipation of her visiting. She thought of him more often than she cared to admit.
“You don’t think I have some kind of weird connection to you, too, do you?” she asked.
“I doubt it. That is probably a residual effect of my days as an angel – when I needed to form that bond to protect people, and to find people for assignments. Why?”
“I was just wondering if that’s how I made it here, today, when I had no intention of doing so.”
“I don’t believe that’s the reason, Beth. I have a feeling there are other forces at work, here. And I don’t like it.”
Beth shivered.
“I’d better get home,” she said.
“Wait!” Malachai yelped. “Please don’t go.”
Beth took a step closer to him.
“Why not?” she asked.
“I… don’t want to be alone right now,” he answered truthfully.
“Okay, I’ll stay.”
Beth started to take a seat in the damp grass a few feet away from Malachai, but he beckoned her over.
“I hate to ask this of you,” Malachai said. “But do you think you could sit here beside me?”
“I… I don’t know if…” she stammered.
“Please,” he implored. “You don’t know how desperately I just need to feel someone nearby. I’m so alone. Please?”
“Alright,” Beth agreed, nodding slightly.
She cautiously made her way through the clearing and took a seat on one of the mossy rocks by the stream. She was just inches away from him, but he turned away to look at the stream.
“Why won’t you look at me?” Beth asked.
“I can’t,” he admitted.
“What do you mean you can’t?”
“Please don’t ask me that.”
“Alright.”
“I just want to enjoy sitting here with you and talking to you.”
“What do you want to talk about?”
“What is your life like, Beth? Are you happy?”
“Happy is a relative term,” Beth grumbled.
“So you are not happy.”
“Not exactly. But I’m not miserable, either. Not entirely.”
“You sound miserable.”
“I’m just lonely.”
“This demon husband of yours isn’t around much?”
“No. And when he is, he is distant… sometimes even cold.”
“Why do you stay with him?”
“For one thing, I don’t want my mother to lose her soul. I told you that before. And for another thing, I made a vow. I don’t take wedding vows lightly.”
“So, even though you were forced into this marriage with a demon, you still intend to honor your vows?”
“Yes, of course.”
Malachai sighed deeply. His shoulders slouched, and his head bowed.
“You are truly a good person,” he said, as though he was disappointed.
“So are you.”
“I am not. I am nothing like you probably think I am.”
“Of course you are, Malachai. You made one mistake. Surely, God would forgive you if you…”
“I have already tried. I was not even allowed to seek counsel with Him.”
“So He wouldn’t even see you?”
“He would not. I suppose He can see into my soul, and He doesn’t like what He sees.”
“I don’t understand how that is even possible, Malachai. I like what I see.”
Malachai closed his eyes.
“Please don’t,”
he implored.
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t say things… don’t…”
“Malachai, what is it?” Beth asked, reaching out and gently touching his bare shoulder.
“Beth…” he whispered, and then he was gone.
“I hate when they do that,” Beth muttered.
Beth was growing very frustrated with Malachai and Aztos vanishing into thin air whenever they wanted. Not only did it typically cut her off in the middle of a conversation – but it also left her feeling alone and depressed.
She went home to find Aztos waiting for her. He sat at the bar in the kitchen gnawing voraciously on a beef rib.
“So you’ve been out, again?” he asked, barbecue sauce tainting the corners of his lips.
“Yes, I went for a walk.”
“You are hardly ever home when I return,” he commented. “And you do not leave notes like I asked.”
“Do you actually care?” she snapped.
“You are my wife. I expect you to be home when I get back.”
“Oh, I see. You leave me home for days at a time, and I’m supposed to just sit around and wait for you?”
“I did not mean it that way.”
“Then how did you mean it, Aztos? I have no idea when you’re coming home. So if you expect me to be here when you get back, then I would have to do nothing but sit home and wait. I can’t just zap myself home like you can.”
“Of course I do not expect you to say home and wait, but I would like to know where you are, what you are doing, and when you will return.”
“Okay, fine. I’ll leave you a note when go out. I just forgot.”
“Thank you.”
Beth stood behind Aztos and wrapped her arms around him, placing her cheek on his back and listening to his heart thumping in his chest. She saw his annoyance at her not being home when he returned as a sign that he enjoyed her company, not as possessiveness or jealousy. After all, Aztos was supposedly unable to feel those types of emotions. Aztos ignored her gesture and continued to eat.
“When do you think you will be able to stay at home for a while, again?” she asked him.
“I am not expected to be called away for a few days, so I should be home for a while unless there is an emergency.”
“That’s great!” she squealed, squeezing him more tightly.