Eden (Eden Saga)

by Matthew Plourde

  They had only traveled for a few hours when Koneh stopped the group. The black and red velvet sky roiled above their heads and the wind cut through Alexandra’s borrowed leather jacket. She thought she saw a hawk earlier that morning, but Koneh assured her she was mistaken. Beyond the small group, no life stirred in the wasteland.

  “What’s the holdup?” Alexandra asked.

  Father Callahan stepped to her side and offered the canister of dry rice. Though not as tasty as the soup they shared in the church, the rice satisfied her hunger. She scooped a pile into her palm and pecked at the brown morsels.

  “She’s here,” Koneh said.

  The wind changed direction and gathered intensity. Alexandra heard the flapping of wings and saw a figure emerge from the murky sky.

  Erzulie.

  Before the angel touched the dirt, she dropped a large sack to the ground. Dust plumed and then was scattered as Erzulie’s dark wings scooped the air.

  She touched the earth with a slender gray foot and glided towards Alexandra. Erzulie’s exotic beauty held her captivated for several moments and she couldn’t muster the strength to glimse Father Callahan’s reaction.

  “I am elated to see you again, Lex,” Erzulie said. Her voice was full of melodious undercurrents and her pure white eyes fixed upon Alexandra.

  Tearing her eyes away from Erzulie’s unearthly face, Alexandra said, “Father Callahan, meet Erzulie. She’s a fallen angel… I guess.”

  Father Callahan’s mouth hung open as he stared at the six and a half foot tall ashen-skinned woman. Erzulie folded her wings flat against her back and turned towards Father Callahan.

  With a nod of her head, she said, “Pleased to meet you, Father.”

  Father Callahan fingered the golden cross at his neck, blinked, and then said, “Fallen angel, you say. I always knew your kind to be called demons, no?”

  Koneh interjected. “Different species altogether, though I can see where the Church confused its facts.”

  “As far as priests go,” Father Callahan said as he added some weight to his voice, “I am a tad more open to accepting the notion that not all of the Bible is meant to be taken literally. However, she looks much like the demons that carried off the women from my town a few days ago.”

  Erzulie opened her mouth to speak, but Koneh was faster. He said, “Subtle differences, Father. Think back to that day when the women were taken. Those demons had dark skin, yes?”

  Father Callahan nodded but kept his eyes upon Erzulie.

  “Now,” Koneh said, “was their skin tinted gray like Erzulie’s? Or, was their skin shaded red?”

  Father Callahan scratched his chin and squinted. “Red, I guess,” he said.

  Koneh stepped towards Father Callahan and said, “Look to Erzulie’s feet.”

  Both Alexandra and Father Callahan turned their eyes towards Erzulie’s bare, ashen feet. Once again, the silver anklet captivated Alexandra.

  Father Callahan huffed and said, “I guess she is a tad different. Those other demons had cloven feet – like a goat.”

  “Exactly,” Koneh said. “Erzulie was once an angel. Those demons who took the women from your town are… something else.”

  “Beyond a few physical differences, what’s the… well, difference?” Alexandra asked.

  Koneh said, “We could spend all day going over the two species history and physiology. However, I prefer the short version: angels were created in Heaven, and demons are created in Hell.”

  “Koneh speaks truth,” Erzulie said. “We should get moving. This area is not safe.”

  Without waiting for Erzulie to finish speaking, Koneh walked to the bag on the ground. “You did well,” he said.

  The angel turned to Alexandra and said, “I’m sorry, Lex. It would be more, but the army base was all but destroyed when I returned. Please forgive me for failing you.”

  “Forgive you?” Alexandra said. “It looks like you got a lot of stuff there.”

  “Open the top. I grabbed a pair of boots for Lex.”

  Koneh untied the rope around the mouth of the bag and produced a pair of black army boots. He tossed them to Alexandra.

  “You’re a life-saver, Erzulie.” Alexandra said as she pulled the boots over her feet. With some extra support for her ankle, perhaps she could finish healing.

  “The remainder is food – army rations,” Erzulie said. “The demons who hit the base before me seemed more interested in destroying vehicles, weapons and ammunition. Some of the food survived.”

  “This is good,” Koneh said as he tightened the rope. “We should have enough here for a few weeks.”

  “Great,” Father Callahan said as he rolled his eyes, “I thought I’d seen the last of MRE’s.”

  Koneh huffed. Alexandra guessed the noise was a laugh and asked, “MRE?”

  “Meals, Ready-to-Eat. MRE’s,” Father Callahan said. “Though most of us called them ‘Meals Rejected by Ethiopians.’ As kids, we weren’t really concerned with political correctness. Basically, they taste so terrible you’d almost rather starve than try to swallow them down. But they got everything a body needs.”

  “MRE’s. Can’t wait,” Alexandra said as she stood and tested her weight in her new boots. Then she stepped to Erzulie’s side. “Thank you. The boots, the food. You did well.”

  Erzulie’s white-in-white eyes softened and she said, “It is my pleasure to serve.”

  “Okay, okay. That’s enough, Erzul.” Koneh said. “I’ll carry the rations. They’re heavy.”

  “So,” Father Callahan said, “this fallen angel is with you, Alexandra?”

  Before she could answer, Erzulie said, “Yes, Lex and I are companions.”

  “We can move and talk,” Koneh said as he shouldered the bag of rations and walked away from the group.

  Erzulie frowned, “I should keep watch up high. We’ll talk tonight Lex.”

  After spreading her dark wings, Erzulie shot into the sky. Alexandra closed her eyes from the dust and wind generated by the breathtaking departure.

  “You keep some strange company, Alexandra Contreras.”

  She opened her eyes to Father Callahan’s smile. “You’re telling me,” she said.

  The pair kept pace behind their guide and munched on the dry rice. As they traveled the smell of sulfur receded along with the wind.

  “So, how do you know so much about army rations, Father?” she asked.

  “Well I wasn’t always the well-spoken, finely dressed, widely studied priest you see before you.”

  “Oh, really?” Alexandra said as she nudged the priest, desperate to lighten the mood after the events of the past few days. “Okay, you have my attention.”

  Father Callahan shifted his backpack and said, “Well, I grew up in New York City. Brooklyn to be precise. My neighborhood was pretty empty so my brothers and I had to kind of make our own fun.”

  “Sounds naughty.”

  “Nothing too bad. We played hide and seek in abandoned buildings, crawled around the underside of overpasses. Mostly a lot of trespassing and vandalism. Boy stuff.”

  “And this boy stuff got you into trouble?” Alexandra asked.

  Father Callahan grinned and looked towards the horizon, as if he was lost in memories. “Yeah, we vandalized the wrong place owned by the wrong person. Being the eldest, I took all the blame and my parents responded. They sent me to the army.”

  “No kidding. That’s tough.”

  “I’m glad they did. I learned plenty about the world beyond Brooklyn. It’s also where I rediscovered my faith through their Chaplain program. Once I was done with my four years, I completed seminary and was in line for a prestigious position in London.”

  “London. Wow. Your parents must have been very proud.”

  “They certainly were. However I never made it to London.”

  “Why not?”

  “Well,” Father Callahan said, “I met Bishop Palusa in Rome and my life course altered. He opened my eyes to a world of faith larger
than the Bible. Though he was not my superior, he assigned me to several research tasks in Rome. Then I bounced around from church to church in Italy. Finally, Bishop Palusa sent me here to Mexico. I’ve been here for the past twenty years.”

  Alexandra lowered her eyes as they walked. “Sounds like things didn’t turn out as you hoped.”

  “Actually,” Father Callahan said, “I’m happy things turned out the way they did. The people here are extraordinary. Though they may not have enough food for their family, they’ll take a stranger in and feed that person their last slice of bread. They taught me more about living a good life than any rigid book or dogma ever could.”

  “I used to think highly of my brothers and sisters here in Mexico as well, until a mob of them chased me through the streets.”

  “Really? When was that?”

  Alexandra’s bruised ankle throbbed in response to the memory of the event. “A few days ago. Well, almost a week now. Koneh saved me.”

  “No kidding,” Father Callahan said as he looked at their guide ten paces in front of them. Koneh seemed uninterested in their conversation.

  “Yup. That’s how we met. He salvaged a man’s travel bag and that’s how come I’m wearing these clothes.” Alexandra waved her hand down the length of her body. “Not exactly the latest fall fashion.”

  Father Callahan laughed. “I guess not. So you were born here in Mexico?”

  “Yup, in a little town outside of Torreon.”

  “Oh, do you prefer Alexandra or Lex? That angel-”

  “Yeah,” she said with a chuckle, “you can call me Alexandra or Alex. Nobody calls me Lex anymore. Except Erzulie, apparently. I’m still mystified by her. How could she know about that nickname from my childhood?”

  The two companions followed their guide for many hours. When they stopped to rest, the wind had quieted from painful surges to merely a constant annoyance. Amidst the squat cacti and low brush the travelers set up their camp.

  Father Callahan produced several blankets from his backpack and handed two of them to Alexandra. “Here, I noticed you don’t have much.”

  “Thank you, Father,” she said. “Koneh, how about we try some of those MRE’s? Toss a couple this way.”

  Koneh looked to the reddish-black swirling sky and then to Alexandra and the priest. “We should ration what we have. One a day. You’ve already had rice so you’ll be fine.”

  With a sigh Alexandra pulled a water bottle from her bag and joined the priest to setup their camp.

  As he unpacked, Father Callahan said, “It’ll take us a few more days to reach Tampico. What was the plan? Follow Route 70?”

  Koneh circled around one of the cacti and said, “Yes, we’ll see what’s left of Route 70 and follow it into the port of Tampico.”

  “We probably won’t have much traffic to fight,” Alexandra said wryly.

  Nobody laughed.

  “I’d like to get us there as fast as possible,” Koneh said. “So, few breaks, light sleep, and try to keep the complaints to a minimum.”

  Alexandra caught some movement out of the corner of her eye and looked to the air. Erzulie emerged from the darkness of the sky and landed a fair distance away from the camp.

  “You two - get some rest. We move again in four hours.” Koneh left Alexandra and Father Callahan alone as he moved towards Erzulie.

  Alexandra found a comfortable spot and laid one of the blankets on the packed dirt. Before settling down, she glanced to where she last saw Erzulie and Koneh. They appeared to be discussing something.

  Exhausted from the day’s walk, Alexandra slumped to the ground. She heard Father Callahan do the same. From her blanket, she asked, “You have any more of that rice, Father?”

  “We’re rationing, remember?” he said. “Tighten up that belt!”

  In response, her stomach grumbled. She hated going to sleep with an empty belly. Memories of her early-twenties fad diets shouldered their way into the foreground of her mind. Celery was a poor substitute for the comfort food she rediscovered shortly before leaving for Mexico.

  She pulled a second blanket over her body. The chill in the air forced her to wear her jacket. She longed for her real bed in San Antonio. Soft mattress, silk sheets and body pillows - she missed it all.

  As she closed her eyes to sleep, she heard the flutter of clothing and the jingle of jewelry. Alexandra rolled to her other side and saw Erzulie perched on a rock two feet away.

  The fallen angel smiled and locked her unearthly eyes upon Alexandra. “How are you feeling?” Erzulie asked.

  “Tired… hungry… uncomfortable… hungry… smelly.” Alexandra forced a smile to her lips.

  “Do you want me to get you some food? I’m sure I can find more. All you need to do is ask.”

  Alexandra rested on her elbow and propped her head in her hand. “Don’t be silly. I’ve dieted before. This won’t be too difficult.”

  “What else can I get for you? Another blanket?”

  “Really, Erzulie, I’m fine. Thank you, though.”

  If Koneh was right, and Erzulie could only imitate human emotion, then the angel was skilled in her imitation. She seemed sincere.

  “You should get some sleep, Lex. I’ll watch over you.”

  “I have so many questions.”

  “I know you do, dear. Save your strength. Our journey is just beginning.”

  Alexandra dropped her eyes to the ground. The angel didn’t seem to understand. The questions stirring in her head were ones of a divine nature. What was Heaven like? What was God like? How many passages in the Bible were legend and how many are fact? Her mind was a bee’s nest alive with activity.

  “I need to patrol the sky again. Get some sleep.” Erzulie stood and stretched her gray-skinned arms. Her feathered wings followed suit and Alexandra marveled at the sight of exotic splendor beyond any she had ever seen.

  “We’ll talk tomorrow then,” Alexandra said.

  “Sure, dear. Tomorrow.” Erzulie crouched. A moment later, she launched into the sky and disappeared into the roiling red and black.

  Tomorrow. Alexandra closed her eyes and rolled the questions around in her mind. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answers, but when would she have the chance to question an angel again?

  Alexandra was drifting near sleep when she heard a coyote’s dirge. Something wasn’t quite right, however. The sound was deeper and less drawn-out than any coyote she had ever heard – and her hometown was inundated with the little yappers. No, this howl seemed unnatural to her. It was out of place in the desert she knew.

  Her eyes shot open when she heard running. Koneh slid a sword from underneath his rags as he dashed past her sleeping area.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, her eyes frantically darting.

  Koneh halted and put his left hand against a tall cactus. With the usual rasp in his voice he said, “Hounds.”

  Chapter 9

  “Hounds?” Alexandra asked as she bolted upright in her makeshift bed.

  Koneh scanned the sky as another howl echoed through the wasteland.

  “What’s going on?” Father Callahan asked from the other side of a rock.

  Alexandra looked to Koneh to provide the answer. However, like usual, he ignored the question and moved from one side of the cactus to the other. He switched his sword from his right hand to his left and kneeled next to the tall plant. Only three feet away, Koneh’s enigmatic weapon choice was closer than it had ever been.

  When she was in law school, a younger Alexandra visited the Metropolitan Museum in New York City. She was fascinated by the Egyptian relics and artwork. History was not her favorite area of study, but after watching a few Discovery Channel specials on Egypt, she had become obsessed with all things Egyptian.

  Her plan was to spend the whole day in the Egyptian wing of the museum. However, her friend Max dragged her off “just for a sec” to see the medieval display. As she was explaining the significance of hieroglyphs and their mistranslation through the years,
the pair rounded a corner and she stopped mid-sentence. She held her mouth open in awe at the sight. Several mounted knights upon horseback dominated the center of the two-story room.

  Alexandra’s museum plan changed. She spent the rest of the day in the medieval wing with the armor, swords, and crossbows. Max explained the different types of medieval armors and the types of weapons invented to beat those defenses.

  “There’s just something so romantic and elegant about the sword,” he had said.

  Koneh’s sword was unlike any she had seen at the Museum that day. Only small pockets of silver shone through the layers of rust. The entire length of the three foot blade was pock marked with depressions and even a few holes. Instead of the fine edges running the lengths the swords in the museum, this sword’s edges were rough and uneven. As she studied the weapon and recalled how Koneh used it to end men’s lives, she felt nothing romantic about the sword. Max was wrong.

  “Stay down!” Koneh yelled as he leapt away from her.

  Of course, she jumped out of her blankets. If someone said “don’t look” to her, she would have looked. It was just the way she was built.

  Several fast-moving forms emerged from the darkness. Koneh sprinted towards the center of the pack. Before the animals scattered, he caught one in the swing of his sword and it tumbled to the ground. They were close enough for Alexandra to make them out – large dogs. Faster than Koneh, the dogs darted past him and bounded in her direction.

  “What is that?” Father Callahan asked as he stepped to Alexandra’s side.

  Her words died of fright in her throat and her heart beat against her chest like a convict against the walls of a burning prison.

  She couldn’t count them all, but she guessed there were at least five. The animals charged from several directions and Alexandra’s legs shook with fear. As the hounds closed, recognition snapped her from her stupor. These dogs were similar the one she encountered in the café.

  “I’ve seen them before!”

  Father Callahan nodded and stepped backwards.

  “No, the one I saw didn’t hurt me. Perhaps-”