by L. J. Amodeo
“Dad.” I knelt beside him, stroking his ruffled hair. “She’ll return. All you need to do is visit her here, in her garden. One day, we’ll be a family again, and your world will connect with hers,” I reassured him. He lifted himself to his feet, embraced me and wandered toward the lake for some solitude.
Several hours had gone by when my father returned to the mansion. “Beth, I’d like to see Freddie,” he informed me. My best friend had become an inky haze these last few days. I’d been so consumed by my rapid pregnancy and fretting over Michael’s whereabouts that I’d forgotten that Freddie was even at Lake Louise. I didn’t know what to say or how to respond, but my heart skipped a beat, thumping loudly inside my chest.
“Of course, Daddy. Do you think it’s a good idea, though? I . . . I had a vision that he’d transitioned and that Michael was in trouble with the council. Could this be possible, Dad? Is that what is going to happen to them?” I swallowed back a lump of fear.
“Elizabeth, you and Michael have defied all laws of existence. The Trinity is extremely upset with both of you, especially with Michael. He has been . . . stripped of his human embodiment.” My father struggled to inform me.
“Human embodiment?”
“Yes. He is never to return to earth as a human again. It is his punishment for defying the Akashic Records and—” He held back his words, staring down at my belly, instead.
“What—impregnated me? Would they have preferred Luca instead? Is that what they wanted, the devil’s child so that they’d be able to kill us both?” I growled at the thought.
“Elizabeth, enough! It is not what the Trinity wants, but to conceive the child of an archangel is equally disastrous for us!”
“How? If it has the bloodline of an archangel—how would it be disastrous, Dad?”
“Elizabeth, do you realize that the birth of your son; the son of Archangel Mikael and you, the descendant of a sacred lineage, can confound the balance of the universe, sending turmoil into the Shadow Realm? Once the portals open, there will be no stopping them. They’ll come after you and your child.” He suddenly clutched his chest, dropping onto a nearby chair.
“Dad, what’s wrong?” I held onto him, keeping him steady on the seat.
“I’ll be fine. Just give me a minute,” he muttered, waving me away with his hand.
“You go ahead. Go to Freddie. He’ll be happy to see you.” My father pointed me in the direction of Freddie’s room.
Standing outside Freddie’s door, I debated if it was a good idea to enter on my own. I had no idea what state I’d find my friend in. Perhaps he was cured, or maybe, as my premonitions proffered, Freddie had truly transitioned. Would I be so foolish as to enter a room that could possibly be hosting a sleeping demon, putting my child’s life in danger, only to see if he was okay?
Freddie was my friend. I loved him and deep in my heart, I knew he’d see me, his best friend, and not do anything to hurt me or my baby.
Freddie was sleeping when I rapped on the door to his room. He stirred momentarily but hadn’t opened his eyes. I dared not disturb him, so I sat in a rocker close by, counting his shallow breaths. With every dip of his chest, my eyes grew even heavier until my head hung slightly in exhaustion. The pregnancy was wearing me thin. Fatigue had taken the best of my youth along with my energy. I loved running. I was a runner, but these days, I barely walked. Sleep was my new best friend. I’d even tired of stroking the piano keys. Lazily, I wasted the days away.
“Bethy—” I faintly heard someone calling my name. “Beth, wake up.”
“Beth!” The voice grew angrier. I lifted my head to find Freddie sitting up in bed, watching me closely. Nervously, I sat upright in the rocking chair, gripping the armrest, readying myself to sprint out of there, if necessary.
“Freddie?” I stuttered with a risen panic deep in my throat.
“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you,” he said, with a dark hiss in his voice.
“I . . . that never crossed my mind, Freddie. I know you’d never do anything bad to me,” I replied falsely.
He snickered, continuing to watch me like a predator. There was something different about him. Something was wrong. I knew it was Freddie I was looking at physically, but internally my best friend seemed long gone, with something dark and sinister lurking beneath his flesh.
“It’s very brave of you to be here alone with me,” Freddie said. Trying not to show my fear, I stood up and took one step toward him, keeping enough distance between us to make a run for it if he tried anything.
“I’ve done it before. Why would this time be any different?” I replied brazenly.
“Why? Because I’m different, haven’t you noticed?” A wicked smiled crossed his lips.
“You are no different from before. You’re still my best friend. You’re a fighter, Freddie. You’ll pull through this. I know you won’t let them win!” My voice trembled as fear began to surface under my pretend calm.
“Mmm-hmm, keep telling yourself that I’m still the same Freddie you’ve grown up with.” He stared coldly at me. “Maybe you’ll start to believe it! So, how’s the kid?” His tone slithered tauntingly.
“The kid? You mean the baby?” I snapped at him. “My baby is healthy and strong. It’s a boy, you know.”
“I know what it is! The entire universe knows what it is. You defied the code, you know. You and your archangel broke all the sacred rules, disrupting the balance, and that is really pissing them off,” his chilling voice whispered.
My breath was raspy in my throat, suddenly feeling as if I couldn’t get enough air. “Stop it!” I barely incited a whisper, as pain in my abdomen began to escalate. My legs trembled as I staggered toward the door.
“Leaving so soon? Sit, stay a while! Uncle Freddie wants to be the first to welcome the boy,” he chided, making my body weak and my legs buckle, causing me to fall on the floor. My chest constricted with fear so quickly that I couldn’t scream for help. The pain in my belly stung fiercely that I could do nothing more than cradle myself into a fetal position, cupping my ears and begging Freddie to stop talking so ruthlessly as the baby started its descent. “Stop it! Please, Freddie, stop it!”
“Beg. Beg me to stop! I want to hear the chosen one begging for mercy,” he snarled.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing from my best friend’s lips. I kept reminding myself that it wasn’t him speaking so cruelly. In my heart, I knew he’d never hurt me or the baby. I still believed in him, and I wasn’t going to give up on him without a fight.
“Freddie, fight them! Don’t be compelled by them!” I yelled back, my voice trembling.
Before I could lift myself on to my knees, the angel let out a shrill cry that made me jerk abruptly to a halt. His body stretched and twisted in short, jarring movements. I kept my ears cupped, forcing out the sound of his garbled voices, voices I was all too familiar with. The unwanted voices I’d heard many times perusing through my mind on too many occasions. The dark voices that kept me awake at night and frightened me during the day.
Slowly, I lifted myself up and stared at the menace that had possessed my friend’s body. I stared directly into his stone cold eyes, feeling a chill run down my spine . . . the same chill I’d felt looking at Dante’s portrait. The angel crouched in a corner twitching his neck, watching me carefully through his thick lashes, releasing a wicked chuckle every so often. I couldn’t show fear, so again, I took a step closer to him. His eyes widened with enthusiasm.
“Ah! I’ve always known you to be daring, Bethy, but foolish, too? Come closer, let me touch your belly!” he snorted extending his trembling hand. Without hesitation, I placed my hands over my belly, protecting it from the beast that concealed itself inside my friend’s body.
“You’re right, I am daring, but I’m no fool! You will never touch my child, and you know if you do, it’ll burn like hell!” I sneered back.
Instantly, Freddie leapt to his feet, slowly making his way over to me with strange twitching and jolti
ng motions. Fear was all I felt as I listened to my labored breathing increase.
“Don’t you dare take another step closer!” I shouted, pointing my finger at him.
“Or what—you’ll call Michael? Ha! Like a fool in love, you allowed him to deceive you, Bethy! He can’t come back, ever! He’s finished.” He smiled, biting down on his lips as he cocked his neck to one shoulder.
“I’m warning you, Freddie, we are protected, so I’d advise you to stay back!” I shouted, but it was too late. Freddie’s hand grabbed my elbow and pulled me down onto one knee. I could feel an intense heat rising from my arm and onto his hand as his face contorted in agony. However, he could no longer resist the burning sensation that erupted beneath his palm. Angrily, Freddie released me, knowing that Armisael’s protection blanketed me and my child. I let out a deafening scream, alerting my protector Armisael, my father, Abigail and the Kerubic, who rushed into the room, tackling Freddie to the ground.
Once my father was certain that Abigail and the healers had Freddie restrained, he rushed to me as Armisael helped me to my feet.
“I shouldn’t have let you come in here alone. It was a terrible mistake,” my dad admitted to the archangel. Armisael only nodded politely.
My father turned to me, “Elizabeth, after seeing your mother, my mind felt so fogged. I wasn’t thinking clearly. Please accept my apology,” Dad said regrettably.
“Get me out of here. We’re not safe,” I replied heartbroken. I looked back at Freddie, who seemed to be convulsing under Abigail’s constraint and the Kerubic’s healing chant.
Dad and Armisael led me into the kitchen. My father handed me a glass of water and an icepack for my elbow. “Drink,” he insisted, placing the icepack on my tender skin. “Did he hurt the baby?”
“No, he didn’t. It’s only my elbow that feels sore,” I mumbled, staring dismally at my empty glass.
“Elizabeth, I know it must be difficult for you to see your friend like this. We won’t give up on him and neither will you. The Kerubic will help him through this. I promise you,” he said compassionately. Armisael stood behind my father, nodding silently in agreement.
“Freddie is a fighter, Elizabeth. He may have been marked, but he is undamaged.” Armisael’s silky voice floated through my ears.
“Undamaged? He nearly killed me, Armisael! I get it, I know he’s still in there, and they will help Freddie, but deep down his soul has turned dark and evil.”
“Have faith in him. If you give up on Freddie, then this fight is lost,” my dad said.
“I have faith in the Kerubic, but most importantly, I still have faith in my friend. It breaks my heart that I cannot do anything for him. I mean, I’m the reason he’s in this mess to begin with.” I closed my eyes, remembering Freddie’s warm smile.
“You didn’t ask for this. Don’t blame yourself. It’s what happens with angels. Freddie is not fighting the transition like he should be. His heart is broken and his mind has convinced him that he has nothing to live for now that you are carrying Mikael’s child.” The angel stroked my hair.
Precisely as he touched my head, my vision slowly wavered, shifting my posture slightly forward while the room began to sway. Armisael’s words began to warp and my father’s face blurred and refocused several times. I watched them, struggling to stay upright. I saw the archangel’s lips move, but couldn’t make out the words coming from them. It wasn’t until I settled my eyes on my father’s expression that I realized what was happening. A sudden pain pulled back my voice. “Aaaaaahhhhhh,” I cried as I crouched forward, feeling something dipping low beneath my abdomen. I compressed my knees, but the contractions weakened any attempt I made to stop the baby from falling out. Instead, a warm liquid trickled down my legs. I wasn’t sure why I couldn’t hold in the fluid, but I stared, horrified and fearful, at my father and Armisael.
“Daddy, oh my goodness, am I bleeding? I’m wet! Did Freddie do something to the baby?” I cringed again in agony.
“Abby!” my father roared loudly from the kitchen. Within seconds, Abigail ran into the room.
“What’s happened?” She panicked, staring shockingly at the pool of pinkish water beneath me.
“Phil. It’s time. Let’s get her to the Tablet of Union,” Armisael said calmly.
“Where? What is that? What will they do to me there?” I garbled, catching my breath in my throat.
My father looked at Abigail, who then turned to Armisael, waiting for the angel to explain. All three stood silent as Abigail stared back at them, nodding her head in obvious irritation. “We need to get her to Dr. Magus, now!” she demanded.
The pain plunged deeper, lower in my abdomen. I groaned with wrenching pain. I could feel the baby slipping down my womb, forcing his way into the world. I slumped forward again, taking deep, steady breaths. The pain crushed my chest as sweat beaded my temples. “Rrrrrrrrrr!” I growled through gritted teeth, grabbing Abby’s forearms for support. The agony edged tears to the rims of my eyes while my throat became scorched and burning. Unable to fight the pain, I gripped my belly with one hand, and with the other, I bit down on a dishtowel that was left on the kitchen table.
“What in the legion’s name are we waiting for? We need to go now, Phil!” Abigail warned my father. My dad seemed dazed, a lost look on his face, darting his wary eyes from me to Abby numerous times as if suspecting that something wan’t right.
I gripped his hand, squeezing it, reassuring him that I’d be fine and trying my hardest to stay strong for him. “Dad, look at me. Focus. I’m good,” I whispered to him, battling against the pain.
My dad didn’t utter a word at first. He removed a satchel from his pants pocket and stared at it numbly in his palm. He suddenly looked up at us. “I . . . I can’t do this,” he muttered staring back at the small velvet bag in his hand. “I can’t lose her, Abigail. What happens if we lose them both?” His voice quivered, on the brink of a meltdown. Abigail was about to respond when something loud shattered in the corridors.
“What the hell was that?” Abigail stood at attention, her eyes wide with concern.
“Abigail, something’s wrong. Elizabeth’s in danger,” my father warned her in a trance-like state. Abigail didn’t wait for my father or Armisael’s orders; she sprinted toward the corridor of the mansion when another explosive shatter broke the silence again. My body trembled in fear and in pain, as I attempted to keep the child inside me for a bit longer. Long enough to get to the Tablet of Union as Armisael had instructed.
Armisael waited patiently for my father to come to his senses, who seemed disoriented and confused, pacing and turning in a small space within the four kitchen walls. With the kindest gesture of support, the angel placed a hand on my father’s slumped shoulder, bringing him abruptly to a halt. My father lifted his eyes, searching the angel’s eyes and mine for answers. “Philip, this has been your life’s mission—to protect your daughter. Now is the time for you to claim your mission and keep her and the child safe. Be not afraid, my brother.” Armisael’s voice softly lapped through our minds as he faded away. Almost instantaneously, my father seemed to snap out of his trance.
“Elizabeth, can you walk to the storage room?” he whispered. I nodded and slowly, but steadily lifted myself from the seat taking small steps until I reached the large pantry. My father carried a chair inside the storage room, placing his finger over his lip to instruct me to stay quiet. I sat down while my dad slipped out of the pantry, closing the door behind him.
I sat in the dark for several minutes before I heard loud voices. Abigail’s voice was the most distinct, but there were several others. One I had never heard before with an Eastern European accent—perhaps Russian.
“Where’s the girl with child?” the hostile Russian yelled.
“You have no business being here. Go back to where you came from you scum of the Earth, or you will suffer the consequences, little boy!” I heard Abigail retaliate. In a moment’s notice, a huge commotion erupted as shards of glass explo
ded and echoed through the walls. Wails and screams clamored in bedlam. I couldn’t make out any other words or recognize voices, but pushed myself off the seat and slid into a corner of the pantry, covering my eyes with my hands in fear. I prayed that my father and Abigail would be safe; wondering if the intruders were Trackers or Watchers and how many of them had come for me.
The loud ruckus progressed, causing the structure to shift off its foundation, as windows shattered and walls cracked. Sounds of metal against metal thundered with electricity. The angry growls of men pierced my ears for some time. I dared not move, for fear numbed my limbs. Yet, through it all, the baby continued thrusting downward, and squeezing my knees together was proving to be a useless attempt to keep him inside. My inner thighs stung and trembled with weakness. I was too tired, perspired, hungry and terrified to fight the infant. Each salty tear on my lips was a reminder of the real danger I’d put myself and my loved ones in. I begged God to show mercy on us all.
It was Abigail’s voice that pulled me back from my silent prayers, but her words only heightened the fear that already consumed me. “Freddie, no!” The terrified pitch of her voice and the sound of Freddie’s name jolted me to my feet and toward the pantry door.
“Move away, Abigail! Don’t let me hurt you!” Freddie’s ragged voice resonated through the walls.
“Freddie, I beg you don’t!” Abigail pleaded with him. I gripped the doorknob and turned the handle, slightly opening the door. The rasping sounds of deathlike breathing beat loudly then faintly, repeatedly, as someone’s whimper frothed like a whiney child from somewhere inside the house.
“You cannot hide from me. For when I find you, you will wish you were never born! Begin praying to your Lord.” Freddie’s ominous voice warned his audience. I wasn’t sure who Freddie was directing his threats to, but the last time I heard my father’s voice was when I was in the pantry, and I haven’t heard him since.
With a sudden panic, I pulled the door wide open and ran up the hallway, holding my belly like a bowling ball, searching every room for signs of my father and Abigail. “Dad!” I called out fearing for his life, but my voice ruptured another attack.