“What happens if you find something and fix it, only to have them rush in here for emergency surgery? How will you explain that everything’s fine? Or better yet, are you going to let them cut into her for no reason?” Tori was trying to make him see reason, but didn’t want to listen.
“Why don’t you go over and help out that Donovan kid? You don’t have to heal him completely, just make it so he has a chance.” Gemariah jumped in.
Malachi just shook his head. “Can’t. He’s a champion…it wouldn’t work. I’m pretty sure tonight was the reason he was brought here.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes”
Terah looked down at Trinity in awe. “Wow, she must be pretty important for God to send one of those to her.” Looking back up at Malachi, she sounded almost excited. “I’ve never met one before. I might pop over and see him for myself, before we leave.”
“Too bad, too. He was a good kid.” Malachi spoke offhandedly as he placed his hands back over Trinity. Before he could do anything though, she let out a moan and the whole room went still.
“Trinity?”
“Whoa.” Terah swayed where she was standing. “Does anyone else feel that?”
Malachi took his attention away from Trinity to focus on his surroundings. Sure enough, he felt a fierce evil coming from somewhere. He couldn’t pinpoint the exact location, but knew it was really close by how strong it was. Everyone went on full alert.
Trinity let out a small whine and succeeded in getting Malachi’s attention back. He leaned near her to talk quietly. “It’s alright, Angel. I’m right here.” Just as his lips touched her forehead, her body arched off the bed as she let out a loud scream. The act startled Malachi so much; he jumped back, thinking he hurt her.
They all stared down at her, trying to assess what was going on.
“She has nightmares. Ever since the bridge incident, it’s been every night. When I’m with her, she’s usually fine.” Malachi took a step toward the bed and took a hold of her hand. Not shortly after, she twisted and screamed again. It was blood curdling and made his insides twist in knots, but all he could do was try to wake her up.
It didn’t take too long for the nurses and a doctor to burst into the room in a panic, wondering what was going on. Gemariah quickly went up to them and used his ability to lower their concern. “It’s a nightmare. Nothing to worry about, her husband’s with her.” They all nodded and left the room, after being assured they would be called if any help was needed.
Trinity started to scream again, but this time it was long and drawn out. Malachi had his arms wrapped around her when Tori started to pry him away. “Let her go, Mal.” She kept tugging, but he wasn’t about to let go. “I’m serious. I think I see something!”
Reluctantly he let go and stood up. “What?” He didn’t need her answer to see for himself. Down her face and onto her neck, were three ugly looking red lines that hadn’t been there a minute ago. A quick look under her gown showed him that they extended all the way to her belly. “What is that?”
Tori didn’t take her eyes off of Trinity. “It sort of reminds me of claw marks.”
“That’s insane. It has to be a reaction to something.”
“You’re right, she’s just dreaming. She wouldn’t have physical evidence show up from a dream.” Tori didn’t sound so sure and Gemariah was the one that pointed out the obvious.
“Yeah, because none of her dreams were real in the past.”
Everyone went silent, letting his words soak in, and watched as the lines slowly started to fade.
“Crap! I’ll get some water to splash on her face.” Tori quickly made it over to the sink.
Malachi no longer stood to watch, but grabbed Trinity again. “Wake up. You have to wake up…come on.” He was shaking her slightly to jar her out of it.
“What would do this to her?” Terah whispered in outrage as they all watch the red strips disappear the rest of the way.
They all stayed quiet, because no one knew the answer. How does a person fight something from a dream? Malachi didn’t know, but he vowed to find out.
Trinity’s whole body tensed again, and Malachi braced himself for another high pitched scream. “It’s okay. You’re o…”
“Azazel.” Malachi’s blood ran cold at what he thought she whispered. It couldn’t be. He told himself that it was just the events of the day that had him off.
“Azazel!” There was no mistaking her scream this time.
“Did she just say what I think she said?” Gemariah asked in disbelief after a few seconds of silence.
Malachi felt himself slipping. He could picture himself terrorizing through the hospital, but fought to stay in control. It had been him all along. He has been torturing her because of him! No more cat and mouse, Malachi thought. This was ending right now!
He gently laid Trinity back down and stormed out of the room. Gemariah was right behind him in a matter of seconds.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Ending this. It’ been too long and this has gone too far.” Malachi didn’t slow down.
“So you just plan on finding him and…what? Automatically succeeding in something you have been trying to do for almost three hundred years. Without some sort of a plan? You won’t make it out alive.” Gemariah grabbed Malachi’s arm to try and stop him.
“I’ll figure it out.” He tried to shake off the hand. “Let go!”
“Fine!” Gemariah let go and held up his hands in surrender. Clearly frustrated, he yelled out before Malachi could make it through the doors. “What should we tell Trinity?" This brought him to an instant stop. “We can tell her the truth, that you died stubbornly by acting stupid, or we can save her the heartache and cover for you once you’re gone…tell her that you never really cared for her and that you transferred jobs to somewhere far away.”
Malachi turned and stormed back to Gemariah. “That’s not true. I’m doing this for her!”
“I know, but come on man. Don’t make the same mistake twice. You left her last time, and look what happened.” Gemariah held up his hands when Malachi looked ready to charge. “He’s using her to get to you. Doesn’t it make more sense to stay close?”
Malachi shut his eyes and tried to compose himself. Gemariah was right. He needed to stay with Trinity. Not just to find Azazel, but to make sure she stayed safe.
This was all his fault. If he just would have kept his feelings to himself, Trinity wouldn’t be in the danger she is now. He had spent the last half of his life closed off and doing everything by the book. This is why he never got close to people. When you get attachments, you gain weaknesses. It stopped now. He would stay with her and make sure she stayed safe, but from a distance. When this is all over, they would go separate ways and she could live a normal life, without the chance of being used as a pawn.
Malachi and Gemariah made their way back to Trinity’s hospital room in silence. They both knew a storm was coming, and pretty soon either Malachi or Azazel would be in the ground.
Walking into the room, Malachi sat silently next to the bed. Tori and Gemariah left the room, while Terah and he stayed. She looked so broken, he thought. It wasn’t as bad as he thought when he first came in earlier, but it was still rough. The sight just strengthened his resolve to walk away. He knew it was the right thing to do.
Malachi sat, transfixed on her form, until she started to stir. He quickly stood up so he could look down on her. He put his business-like mask on, but held his breath as her eyelids fluttered open. Blinking a few times, she looked around before focusing in on him. A smile started to form but was quickly replaced by a look of panic, and he knew her memory of the previous events had come racing back.
“Hugh!” She quickly sat up, instantly putting a hand to her abdomen and sucked in air.
Malachi wanted to help, but stayed where he was. Thank goodness Terah was there to help ease her back down. “Shh…easy. It’s alright, just no more sudden movements.”
“He’s alive. Malachi’s voice was gruff. He didn’t want to have to be the one to tell her. “They don’t know for how much longer.”
Before she could say anything, the rest of his team came into the room. “We thought we heard Trinity.” Gemariah looked in and saw that she was awake. “Hey Cuteness. You gave us all a scare.”
She didn’t even acknowledge their entry, but tugged back on Malachi’s hands to get his attention again. “You have to help him!”
It took Malachi a second to understand that she meant Hugh. When he did, he was even more confused. How did she think he could help?
She must have seen his confused look because she forged on, talking at the quickest speed he had ever heard come from her. “Gideon said it had to be you! He tried, glowing hands and all, but I guess it wouldn’t work; something about the wound being too deep or something. Anyways, he said that you could do it, so that’s what I need you to do.”
Malachi was astonished. Gideon let her see! Why would he do that? Now what was he supposed to say? He could lie and blame it on her head injury. Calling out himself meant calling out the others as well, so he couldn’t say anything without their go-ahead.
Looking up, he noticed that they were all just as shocked as he was.
What now?
The question was directed to everyone, and their responses were unanimous. Everyone agreed that she could be trusted. The only opinion he didn’t get was Gideon’s, but Malachi figured that openly showing her was a decision on its own.
“I can’t. It won’t work.” He was brisk and to the point when all he wanted was to comfort her.
“What do you mean it won’t work? It has to work! He’s just a kid.” She was now in hysterics.
He needed to get her calm. This wasn’t good for her health. Carefully avoiding touching her, he sat back down in his chair to be at eye level. “It won’t, I’m sorry. I can’t get into it here, but you have to trust me.”
The tears were streaming down her face as she grasped at straws to help her student. “Can you just try?” She whispered in a low voice.
Malachi thought about it. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for this woman. “I’ll try, but can I make sure you’re okay first?”
She looked reluctant, but the look on his face must have shown that he wasn’t going to take “No” for an answer. She settled back onto the bed in acceptance.
“How are you feeling?”
She scrunched her face and gritted her teeth. “I hurt…everywhere.”
He stood up and stepped toward her with an entirely business manner. “Where does it hurt the worst?”
Trinity raised her hand to her head and winced when she touched the bandage. “My head is pounding, my wrist is throbbing, and…” She wiggled a little and grimaced. “My back is screaming at me.”
Her back? He knew nothing about that. “Lean forward a little. Let me check it out.” When she complied, Malachi parted her gown. No wonder her back was hurting so bad. The entire thing was discolored from the bruising. He peaked under the bandages there and saw large gashes that stretched across her back.
He wanted nothing more right now than to get her home. When they finally got her there, he was going to heal every last inch of her, so there would be no more pain. For now though, he had to think of a different solution.
“G, do you think you could help her out with the pain at all.”
Gemariah looked towards Trinity nervously, almost as if asking for permission. Malachi caught on and turned toward Trinity. “Gemariah has a knack for helping people relax when needed. If you let him, he might be able to help with the pain.”
She started to fiddle her fingers then looked hesitantly at Gemariah. “Would you mind?”
“Not at all, Cuteness.” He came over to her and sat on the edge of the bed, taking her hand in the process. “This will only take a sec.
Almost instantaneously, Trinity’s body relaxed a small amount, as if she had been tensed to avoid the hurt. “Ahh...” The smile she gave was refreshing. “That’s amazing, thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He gave her hand a small squeeze, before letting go and moving away from the bed.
Everything that she had been through was still fresh on Malachi’s mind. He berated himself for not figuring it out sooner. He got up to pace the room when he heard Terah ask if she was okay. Of course she wasn’t okay!
“I’ll be fine.” Malachi’s head snapped in her direction. She was looking over at him as if answering his thoughts, but quickly turned to glance at Terah. He shook his head at the stupid illusion.
“I have to know something.” Tori jumped in, successfully bringing the focus to her. “You seem awfully okay with all you’ve seen tonight. You know; the out of the ordinary stuff, glowing hands and whatnot.”
“Honestly, I don’t know exactly what I saw, but I understood that Gideon was trying to help. When it didn’t work on Hugh, he came over and tried the same thing on me. That’s when I blacked out though, so I don’t know what happened after that.” She started to look around the room, glancing from person to person. “Where is Gideon?”
Everyone became deathly silent and failed at trying tried to keep their gazes from him. Walking back to stand by the bed, he tried to explain. “He directly disobeyed orders tonight. This…” He motioned down her body. “…wouldn’t have happened if he would have stayed. He’s been let go.”
She looked genuinely upset, and that made Malachi even more frustrated. “No, no! You can’t do that. I made him mad on purpose. I goaded him until he couldn’t take it anymore. It’s my fault. He mentioned how you were at a dangerous assignment, and I hated the fact that you were down a man because of me. More than likely, that’s where he was going when he left. You see? Don’t take it out on him.”
Trinity was now out of breath from her confession. This was something the frustrating woman would have done. Gideon should have been thicker skinned though. “It doesn’t matter. He still left.” When she was about to say something else he held up a hand to silence her. “This is not negotiable. Let it be.”
She got a look on her face that told him the discussion was far from over. It was only confirmed by what she said next. “For now...”
Malachi had to bring up a topic of discussion that he knew she wouldn’t like, but it had to be done. “Trinity, we need to talk about your dreams.”
Her body stiffened and she shrunk back onto the bed. Forgetting her injuries, she winced at the movement before relaxing again. Nervously she looked around at everyone, obviously not wanting everyone to know.
“Why?”
“You yelled out a name here in the hospital when you were having another nightmare. It was Azazel.” She instinctively shut her eyes, but he continued. “I need to know about that dream and how often you have it. Was this the first time?”
She stared at her hands so long that Malachi feared she wasn’t going to answer. Just when he was about to ask again, she let out a small whisper.
“No”
“No, what? No, you’re not going to say anything?”
Sighing in resignation, she looked over at him. “No, this is not the first time I’ve dreamt of him.”
Malachi saw red. If there was a way to kill the monster, he would. She has had nightmares every night for months. The thought that he tortured her every night this way made him sick. He should have figured this out before.
“The first time was right after the bridge collapsed.” She continued, and he flashed back to the time she was screaming in the hospital and wouldn’t wake up. It took all his strength not to destroy the room around them, but he gritted his teeth and continued to listen.
“Whenever I slept at your place, I never had them. It was only while you we
re gone. The moment the dream would start, I knew it was him. I got a certain feeling in my gut every time; it felt cold and empty. Sometimes he would take me back to when my parents died, and other times I would be back in my old foster home, but it would always end the same way.” Trinity stopped talking and stared down at the sheets.
“It’s okay, you can tell us.” Terah was now holding her hand, helping her to continue.
“After I relived whatever he chose, I would find myself bound and would have to receive as many lashings as he saw fit. That happened with what I now know to be a tail.” She waved her hands in front of her as if trying to wipe the memory away. “Wow, this sounds so ridiculous.”
“I can’t believe you went through this every day.” Malachi couldn’t even look at her, feeling as if he had failed in protecting her all over again.”
“Oh, no. It wasn’t every night. That one only occurred a handful of times.”
Malachi stood up straighter, more than a little confused. “Wait a minute. But you’ve had many bad dreams. What else are you dreaming about?”
Trinity shook her head and let out a laugh that was more than forced. “This is silly. They’re nothing.”
“Try us anyway. Obviously, your dreams are not just dreams. Maybe we can help if we know.” Malachi had almost forgotten about everyone in the room, but Tori’s comment showed they were all paying close attention.
“They make no sense. Trust me; I’ve tried to decipher them.” She tried to get out of it again, but this had now gotten too important to let her keep them to herself.
“Just let us try. There’s no harm in that.”
Trinity sighed in surrender and started to explain. “I would always be someplace different from the time before. The first one I had, I was fighting on a battlefield. By the look of the clothes and type of weapons, I would say…early 1700’s? Anyways, I never knew where I was going to go next; around a campfire, chained in a dungeon, running in an open field. I once dreamt I was in bed with another woman, which was a little jarring.”
“This sounds interesting. Why don’t you tell us more about that one?” Gemariah spoke up with a smirk on his face.
Celestial Beginnings (Nephilim Series) Page 27