6
I wiped the blood away from my eye for clearer vision. The clearing was empty except for the night torches lit on the center stage where lashes and criminal sentencing took place. In the morning my mother would likely undergo public whipping right there for crying out in my favor. From what I could tell, the oil lamps were mostly turned out in the community cabins that were lined up in concentric circles in the woodsy terrain.
It seemed as if everyone was sleeping. But, they wouldn’t be for long when they detected the smoke rising from my cabin and the walls burning in rage. As cruel as it was, I hoped Jezebel died inside. I hoped to never see her again. I hoped my vengeance was complete—finally, once and for all.
I hoped the whole community went up in flames. Except for my mother. I wanted her to live even though I hated her. She betrayed me. But, a mixture of hate and love dueled within my heart.
Where was Shaul, my rock and my redeemer? I needed him. How could he leave me alone at a time like this? I worried that he was injured or trapped somewhere.
At once, I took off running. My feet were bare. But, I was great on my soles. Being a josephine gave me thick skin that was resistant to the harsh turf beneath. For the first time, I noticed I was dressed in a gauzy nightgown of sheer white fabric with a thin lining. At least I wasn’t naked for once.
The night air rushed over my face. I ran with the wind. I ran through trees, past boulders, little waterfalls, and gentle ponds. I heard the night sounds of crickets and small animals scurrying away. I was free and nobody could touch me.
I wanted to abandon this place. Desperately, I wanted to leave. I could start over anew. Maybe I could find a better community somewhere else. Maybe a different state? Possibly other parts of the country weren’t as bad off as California.
But, I had heard that after the U.S. Economy Crash and the Great Sun Scorch, the entire United States had been overtaken by the serpent people. Even other countries were overrun with the Devil’s descendants. If only I could find a place where I would be safe. A home where nobody wanted to hurt me.
I thought about running back to Aurora Springs where my fae mother lived. But, the community would surely find me there. They had trapped Shaul and me in their airspace. That would be one of the first places they would look.
It was just too strange finding out that I had another mother, a real mother and she wasn’t even human. And when I thought about it, it was unfathomable that I wasn’t even human. I was a josephine. I was the sole being who possessed the elements of air and water—the one and only combination that was needed to mate with the serpent traits of fire and earth. Together we were the key to bringing forth heaven on earth. The concept was unfathomable, but true.
How could such an intense responsibility be put on me? I wanted no part of it. I just wanted to have fun. I wanted to fall in love with a normal boy and have a normal family. Why couldn’t I just live an ordinary life?
But, life was not normal anymore. With all the great tragedies manifesting on Earth, nobody had it easy. Most people were dead and so many others were being tortured by the serpent people. And the humans, who weren’t being victimized by the serpents, were being abused by other humans. The world was a dark place no matter how you looked at it.
But, I didn’t care. Somehow, I was going to find a pleasurable life away from all this chaos. I didn’t want the world’s fate to be in my hands. I didn’t even like people anymore. Even my own mother tried to turn me into the community who wanted to do medical experiments on me. Why should I save a race of humans who are so evil?
My head began to swirl with horrible thoughts. I tried to find the humanity in me, but it wasn’t even there. I remembered how the serpents on Sunset Boulevard had torn those girls’ bodies apart. There was blood and guts everywhere. Their screams echoed in my mind. I remembered how afraid I was and how awful it felt knowing such horror was possible in a world created by God.
The more I thought about it all, the more my mind grew wild with despairing thoughts. I fell to the ground crying. I didn’t care if I died. I didn’t care who heard me. I wanted to die.
The earth began to shake and tremble as my cries escalated. The ground rolled in great waves. The trees cracked and fell all around. I didn’t care if they crushed me. Rolling onto my back, I looked up at the sky and wondered if it had a limit somewhere far off in the distance. Kill me, I thought as my voice became piercingly beautiful.
But I didn’t die. When my screams stilled, there I was nestled beneath a pile of trees in a nice little bed of dirt all my own. I closed my eyes and dreamed.
When I awoke, I was refreshed. The blood had dried around my eye and the wound felt a lot better.
It was still night. The music in my mind was peaceful and soulful. I enjoyed the rhythms very much. The leaves beneath me made for a comfortable bed and the fallen trees served as a hiding place which gave me serenity.
I thought about my times with Shaul. The replay filled me with warmth and hope.
I remembered the time that he saved me from the green, scaly serpent people who were trying to kill me and the girls I freed from the serpents’ pen on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. He was so fierce and confident. He didn’t even have to fight the serpent who tried to overpower me. The Devil’s descendant folded under his infallible strength.
After, he saved my mother from her kidnapers. He chopped off her aggressor’s neck and killed his evil wife.
Without explanation, he understood my mother’s ideological beliefs in natural medicine and foraged for her earthly healing remedies. His actions were altruistic and non-judgmental. He was a strong force—caring and nurturing.
In the dungeon, he lavished me with magical delights. We dined on exotic fruits. He painted the most alluring pictures of me. Our conversations were of the mystical and exalted. My time with him rang of splendor and mystery. He was a rapturous creature of great depth and supernatural appeal.
But, more than all that, he stood by me and clung to me with utter devotion. He saw me as I really was, but was too afraid to reveal. He painted me like a sexually charged being with strength and grandeur. I liked the way he saw me. He captured in his art a part of me that nobody else knew. My innocence was unveiled and only he perceived my inner truth. He saw what lay beneath my bland, awkward exterior.
I loved Shaul for that. I loved him for perceiving my essence beyond the physical. He saw who I was before I even became it. It was as if I transformed into a beautiful, powerful josephine because he revealed it in his thoughts. Because he saw me in a magical light, I became that manifestation in all its glory. Only because of him and his belief in the transcendent, did I bloom into the embodiment of the ethereal.
“If we are separated, we can communicate through the music.” I remembered Shaul’s last words to me before I was paralyzed in the butterfly net. At the time, in the panic of the moment, I didn’t know what he meant, but now that I was alone and somewhat hidden beneath the fallen trees in a peaceful setting, my mind relaxed enough to ponder.
I remembered that when we were locked away in the dungeon, before I even knew who the other inmate was in the cell beside mine, an enchanting voice joined me in song. To my recollection, I sang, incorporating the symphony in my mind with the mixed trills, squeals, and rapid clicks of my voice.
Then, to my amazement, another voice entered my mind joining in the song. It was a soft and velvety voice that was sensual to the ears. The melodic company was a mesmerizing surprise that soothed my tortured thoughts in the most unexpected, dynamic way. Only later did I learn that the other singer was the prisoner on the other side of the wall. And then, only after more time, did I discover that that dungeon mate was Shaul Hainsworth. So, it was possible to communicate, at least in some manner, in our minds.
I considered singing out loud right now in hope of luring Shaul’s consciousness to my mind. Maybe through the words of my song I could convey my location and then he could come and find me. But, what if somebody hears me? T
hat would create a horrible predicament considering the community as well as Aver were likely in pursuit of me.
As I lay there, the musty scent of the damp woods surrounded me. The stars twinkled in the dark sky. It was beautiful, causing me to marvel at its resplendence. Now, with my senses enlivened by my surroundings, I began to sing quietly, just a note above a whisper. The soulful tune in my mind blended with my song. It was the music of yearning. The background instrumentals grew louder, more passionate. My feelings expanded within.
My mother had taught me that the world was created with Hebrew letters, so it seemed logical to use the language to manifest my desires. I commanded my yedid nefesh (soul mate) to me.
To my utter shock, immediately I heard the erotic silky voice of my yedid nefesh singing in tune to my song. The vocals were poetic and enchanting. It felt as if I was being transported to a tantalizing hell. I was so moved that a tear fell from my eye. I hardly knew who was singing to me. The pleasure I felt was so intoxicating, I could hardly think straight. My body tingled all over.
I touched my sheer white gown. The fabric was so soft. The night looked like a velvet black with jewels of white and amber sparkling on high. The clouds that floated by were of translucent colors, wickedly beautiful and surreal like the steam of witches’ brew.
What had I done? Maybe it wasn’t right to use the holy language to call upon the Devil. I didn’t care. I was bad. Evil enchanted me.
I found myself involuntarily describing my setting in my song. The passions of the symphony took over and in rhythm I detailed my whereabouts with such accuracy that I even surprised myself. It was as if my soul lifted above me and could see the entire woods and thereby conveyed the landmarks like a DTI map.
I tried to stop singing. I did. But, the music wouldn’t cease and kept lifting higher and higher with the erotic pulsation that strummed my essence. It was like I was being played like an instrument. I was the harp, the lute, and the violin. I was the symphony of the universe.
The ground started to roll gently. Oh, what did I do?
Suddenly, there were external sounds. My body tensed. I heard my aggressors approaching fast. At once, I stood up from beneath the fallen trees. Lit torches moved through the woods in my direction. My singing was so loud that it permeated the physical in every direction.
Terror ripped through me at the recognition of my oncoming pursuers, but I couldn’t stop my song. The voice of the Devil brought me to such bliss, I could never let go of this feeling. I wanted more. I wanted to keep going. I wanted the sounds to take me out of this wretched world.
“There she is!” one man yelled out with a lit torch in his hand.
“It’s Cordellia Dressemme!” another man said, waving on the others behind him.
They started to run toward me, stumbling over the rolling ground. I was too consumed with the devilish pleasures in my mind to bring the music to violence. They were a crowd of many men. Once in capture, they would surely torture me for my defiance, for breaking their laws.
“Lock her down,” Mazen Tratzel called out in order. “I want her alive.”
I just stared at them moving toward me as I sang. I couldn’t care anymore. Life was hardly worth it. I wanted to die, to become transcendent, one with the collective consciousness as my mother called it, one with the music of eternity.
But, then I noticed that the crowd wasn’t coming any closer. They were just yards away, ready to pull me down in my vile thoughts, but they pounded their fists against the invisible. There seemed to be a transparent shield blocking them from me.
In rage, they tried to burn the see through barrier with the fire of their torches. They even shot at it, but the mercury streams streamed back at them killing some of their men. I cringed as I saw the injured bodies fall in the night, their innards spilling out before my eyes.
The devilish voice stopped singing in my mind. Everything became quiet for a moment. The silence was dramatic.
I felt a tap on my shoulder from behind. When I turned around, I saw that it was a wildly handsome boy with blue eyes like the sea that bored into my soul with the intensity that I had been feeling in our song.
His hair blew with the wind. His eyes sparkled in an otherworldly fashion. I felt as if I had known him my entire life. I knew who he was and I wanted it to be so. I wanted him as much as he wanted me.
It was Aver.
7
“Come, join me for breakfast,” Aver Hainsworth said with a mischievous expression on his unusually attractive face. He was holding a lit lantern that he set down on a boulder to the side of us.
“What?” I responded in an exasperated tone. His casualness put an ironic twist on the heated situation.
The community members were still trying to break through the invisible shield separating them from us. A fight broke out and one man was smashing another man’s head against the barrier. Blood smeared against it and oozed down toward the ground. Because the shield was invisible, it looked like the blood was suspended in midair.
“Don’t know how long this shield is going to last, so let’s flee for our tea and crumpets.” He gazed at me slyly.
Exasperated, I rolled my eyes, surprised at his curious personality. I was concerned he might suddenly turn into that ferocious black serpent and fold his horrifying body over mine.
“You’re my girl now,” he said confidently as he took my hand.
I tried to pull away, but immediately a huge swarm of butterflies flew out of my body. I had never seen so many beautiful little creatures all at once.
“I know you like me,” he said with a wry smile. “In fact, you love me.”
I drew back, appalled at his forwardness. But, his eyes were so blue and hypnotic that I couldn’t help staring into them.
He tilted his head to the side as he gazed back at me. It seemed as if I was under examination. “You look terrible.”
“Thanks.” My voice was sarcastic. Everything about him was perplexing to me.
“Here, let me…” He held his hand over my injured eye.
I drew back. “What the hell are you doing?”
A ray of light shined out of his hand and into my eye. The light was so intense it charged my senses. It was so pleasurable. I wanted the feeling to last forever. I felt as if he was filling me with bliss. The light exuded from my pores outward in every direction.
Then at once he stopped. The light vanished. I was disappointed.
“You’re better now.” He smiled lightly as he spoke, running his hand through his dark hair.
I touched my eye. It felt completely healed. “Where’s Shaul?” I managed to ask, the words getting caught in my throat.
He laughed. “That dear boy?” Dimples formed on his cheeks. To my surprise, in that way he was almost adorable. I supposed he took pleasure in transforming his serpent self into the ideal teen heartthrob and my heart was throbbing even though I didn’t want it to.
“Yes, that boy,” I said harshly. My voice was laced with irritation.
He looked almost hurt from my tone. That surprised me. “I’m not sure where he is.” His expression turned distant. I imagined he was thinking about his brother. “I’m concerned about him.”
I was surprised he cared about anyone at all—he was such a horror. He didn’t have feelings. It all must have been a ploy to seduce me. But, then, why would he bother with a seduction when he could easily take me by force?
Some of the community members were trying to lift the others over the barrier now, but it seemed endless in height. The lights of their torches flickered in the night illuminating their surroundings. Others were running their hands along its smooth surface presumably to see if they could find a break in the length. But, the shield appeared to continue on forever.
I was worried that the construction might collapse and then they could overtake me. As I surveyed the terrain of fallen trees and dead men on the ground, I began to wonder who I was more afraid of—Aver or the community members. But, as my thoughts we
nt in that direction, suddenly the shield disappeared completely. The men who were touching the shield fell right through and onto the ground. The others looked stunned for a moment before President Tratzel yelled out the order, “Get her!”
My body tensed so tight that I was surprised it didn’t go into spasms just from fear alone.
“Oops, the spell broke,” Aver said humorously as he put his hand on my shoulder lackadaisically. His gestures were so absurd, but there was no time to analyze his ways. Everything was happening too fast.
But, then his demeanor changed. He said, “Here’s our exit cue.” In a quick transition, Aver scooped me up at once into his arms and took off running through the dark woods. He was so much faster than the others. I was so stunned that I didn’t know what to do. It was just unfathomable how ill fated my predicament had become.
The community followed behind us, climbing over fallen trees and wreckage and weaving around debris as Aver leaped through the air gracefully, running full speed. Some of the faster men shot at us. I heard the loud sounds of mercury streaming past my head.
Aver was physically masterful. From his quick dodging of bullets, it seemed almost as if he had eyes in the back of his head. He didn’t, but he was certainly superhuman. It was like he detected the streams of mercury before they even reached us.
I wasn’t certain, but it sounded like Aver chanted a spell in Latin. At once, the liquid bullets reversed direction midair, moving back and away from us.
Suddenly, I heard screams of terror from behind. Aver stopped and turned to look. From his arms, I strained my eyes to get a sharp focus through the natural setting. To my astonishment, I saw the streams of mercury had flowed together into a river of silver liquid that gushed out and down to the ground away from us. The moon and stars overhead lit it in a bright shimmer.
Girl Enchanted (Book 2 of The Girl Trilogy) Page 5