by K. D. Peters
Chris shook his head. “No. They were the words that Jade told me back then.”
The uncomfortable silence fell between us again. I heard the scratching sounds near the door, but found myself actually ignoring them somewhat. Instead, my focus was on the truth that I’d just realized. “You mean… you really are that boy? Is that why you told me that I'd seen you before when we first met?” I finally made myself say.
"Well, I said that more than because I thought that Saffron may have shown me to you somehow, considering he's always known about me. I didn't realize until later that he'd erased your memories. But yeah, that was me back then." Chris admitted.
I nodded slightly. "So, that whole thing was real?" I said softly.
Chris took a deep breath, apparently allowing the painful memories return. “Yeah, that's what really happened back then.” he said. “Back when I was born, my mother’s family raised me for a while. They had an idea of what I was, but they didn’t look at me any differently. In fact, they tried to keep me protected. But humans can only do so much against angels too. And the ones like us have never been looked at too well. It was probably even worse back then. Anyways, one night, three angels stormed our home and ended up killing the ones who were there. My aunt tried to take me and hide me, but they cut her down before she had the chance. The only reason I survived then was because my power awakened prematurely, and I killed them with it. That was when Jade ended up stepping in to stop me and reseal it until it was supposed to awaken originally. That's why my eyes are different colors now too. The drastic change and the sealing of my premature power left its mark in my eyes. But Jade ended up taking me in and taking care of me until the time came for me to really wake up. It was how I ended up surviving until then.”
I listened to his words with a lot of surprise. Somehow, I had no doubt that Jade was somewhat protective of his son, even now. And even though Chris apparently didn’t get along with him anymore for whatever reason, he’d felt it to be his duty to step in once again. “So, out of curiosity, when did that happen? No offense, but that place looked pretty old.” I said.
Chris thought about it for a moment. “It’s been a really long time now. I’m not that sure anymore. Maybe two or three hundred years ago.” he admitted.
“Seriously? You’re three hundred years old?” I said in flat out disbelief.
“Like I said, we stop aging once we change. Technically, I’m more than three hundred. But who's counting anymore?” Chris replied.
I had to shake my head then. He had to be kidding me. “You know, you are definitely nothing I’ve taken you for so far.” I said.
“Yeah, I kind of figured that much. I’m sure you’d never guess most of our ages in the end. Most couldn’t. And eventually, they won’t be able to guess yours either.” Chris replied.
“So really,” I went on, “why come after me if I was just a rumor? I’m going to guess that Jade told you that I at least did exist.”
Chris nodded. “He did. But it was my choice to go looking for you. It’s actually taken me the better half of the last three years to find you too. I just got lucky when it came down to it.”
“Three years huh?” I said. “It sounds like you did get lucky. But I still don’t get why you would even bother. Unless it’s because I’m one of those that’s supposed to be under you or something.”
“No, it has nothing to do with that. Actually, it was more of a personal choice. I know a lot about my father and about Saffron. And it intrigued me from the moment I first heard that Saffron may have had a daughter. So I had to go and find her for myself. Then I realized that those bastards were deciding on moving against us again, so I decided to take matters into my own hands. And here we are.” Chris explained.
I yawned a little. “You know, that still really doesn’t make that much sense though. Any of you could’ve come looking for me. So, why did you?” I whispered.
Chris just shook his head, smiling slightly. “I guess you’ve got a point there, but I wouldn’t expect you to understand yet either. Let’s just get some rest. We’ve got a long day ahead of us tomorrow.” he said softly.
But I wasn’t quite ready for that yet. Instead, I looked back at him again. “There is something else I needed to ask you Chris.” I said softly.
“What’s that?” Chris replied, opening his eyes to look at me again.
“How will I know when I change? Is it because I’ll get those wings?” I asked him.
Chris quietly brushed some of my hair back out of my face. “That will be the biggest thing once you completely change. It’ll be painful too, but you’ll make it through it. And trust me, it’ll be well worth it in the end.” he told me.
“How soon do you think it will start?” I asked. I had to know the answer to that one. I didn’t like thinking that I was going to stay helpless for much longer against all of these nasty things that were out there. Chris couldn’t always protect me.
“Well, I guess it all depends. There are things that can kick start it sooner, but other than that, a lot of us have it happen in our late teens or early twenties. It’s typically around the age you are now.” Chris told me.
“So there are things I could do to make it happen sooner huh?” I said.
“Sounds like you’re giving it a lot of thought. Are you that worried about what might happen before then?” Chris asked me.
I shook my head. “Can you really blame me? I’ve almost been killed at least twice now. It’s not like you’ll always be there to save me.” I reasoned.
Chris smiled. “Your faith in me is amazing Ariana.” he joked.
“So seriously, just what kinds of things are you talking about that might jump start it? You do know, right?” I said. I was definitely wanting to push this now. It couldn’t have been that bad or degrading.
“You really want to know?” Chris asked.
“Yes, of course I do.” I replied.
Chris huffed. “Fine then. If you insist. Sometimes it’s awakened from our fathers because it needs to be done earlier. But the easiest way aside from that is to lose your virginity. Typically, it’ll happen within days of it.” he said.
I just stared at him for a moment. “You didn’t just say what I think you said, did you?” I managed.
“I did. But it’s not what most end up doing in the end. It’s just a little thing with our kind that can happen if we haven’t changed yet. I guess the best way to put it, you could say, is that it comes from what’s read as lust inside of us. Every living thing carries it, but when you’re the kid of fallen angels, it has just a little more effect on you. Personally, that’s not how it happened with myself or a lot of the others, but I have known Fallen Children in the past that have done it and gotten the result. It’s basically the quickest way to unlock the powers sleeping inside on your own.” Chris explained.
Okay, so now he definitely had me blushing. But what he said could make sense. Lust was supposed to be a powerful thing according to religious teachings. And given the darker side that we had come from, I could’ve imagined how it may affect us in the end. I couldn’t help but feel a little frustrated though. As much as I wanted to kick start this change, I couldn’t just make myself sleep with someone like that. “I guess I’ll just wait thank you very much.” I muttered.
“Don’t worry so much about it.” Chris said, pulling me close against him again. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“I said no.” I said, pushing him away.
He just laughed at me. “All right, all right. I know. But I just meant don’t worry so much about all of this. If the time needs to come sooner, we’ll figure out how to make it happen." he told me.
"I don't think so." I replied.
Chris didn't seem too worried about my reaction though. Instead, I just heard him chuckle a little bit. "All right. Let's try to again get some sleep." he said, still holding me close.
Regardless of all of that, I did feel some comfort being close to him. In fact, I think a part
of me was actually getting used to it. I was glad that I ended up falling asleep rather quickly after that conversation too. I really didn’t want to keep thinking about what he told me and allow my mind to wander on such a subject. As intriguing as that might actually be, it also felt a little dangerous too.
I ended up waking from a dreamless sleep to the soft light trying to filter in through the window blinds and blanket. I was still curled up next to Chris, and the clock read nine thirty. We’d ended up sleeping in. Gently, I shook him awake. “Hey, you know it’s after nine.” I said.
Chris slowly opened his eyes, stretching a little. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” he moaned.
“Maybe we should just stay a little while longer. It was a long night.” I told him softly. I’ll admit that I really was comfortable now. Getting up didn’t seem so great.
“Yeah, maybe. I didn’t want to waste this much time, but I don’t think I should drive yet.” Chris admitted, closing his eyes again.
“Then let’s just get some more sleep. I think we could use it.” I whispered, closing my eyes as well. I curled up against him again and felt myself drifting off. Yes, this was way too comfortable to get up right now.
We ended up sleeping for another two hours before we actually made ourselves get up and ready to leave. By then, the bright sun was out and everything about the world seemed normal again. Still, as I stood outside by the car, I couldn’t help but look up at the walls of the motel and search for any sign of that woman I’d seen the night before. But there was nothing. Not even marks left in the walls. It was like she’d never been there at all.
“All right. Let’s get moving.” Chris said as he came back out and unlocked the car.
“It doesn’t even look like she was ever even here.” I noted as we got in.
“It won’t. Ones like her always cover their tracks well.” Chris said, pushing the button to start the car.
I had to admit, this was an impressive little car. Everything in it was digital, and the dark seats were very comfortable. “This is really cool. Will gave us a nice car.” I admitted. I quickly skimmed through the radio stations. This thing even had an XM subscription in the radio. Note to self: Remember to thank Will for this later. At least it was definitely going to be a more comfortable ride now.
“I don’t think you can expect anything less from him. Will’s picky about things like this. He’ll probably tell me how much he hated driving that motorcycle when I see him again.” Chris replied.
I felt myself smile a little at those words. By then, I was kind of getting the picture of how those two acted around each other. “So how much longer do you think we’ll have until we make it to Baton Rouge?” I asked as we drove back out onto the highway.
“Probably another six or seven hours. But at least we have this now. We won’t have to stop anymore at those motels.” Chris said.
“Are you sure you’ll be able to drive straight through like that?” I asked him.
“Don’t worry about it. If I get too tired, we’ll just find a rest stop and I’ll get some sleep. But we need to pick up the pace now.” Chris replied.
I couldn’t say that I was that comfortable with that, but I was willing to accept it. After all, if we kept moving, maybe no more bad things would show up. Finally tuning in a station that sounded good, I sat back in the seat and tried to make myself to relax.
The ride itself was actually fairly quiet. Watching the passing scenery, I tried to take in the signs as well. A few times, we stopped for gas and at rest stops, which gave us the opportunity to get out and stretch our legs. I’ll admit that by then, I’d found myself feeling very comfortable with Chris. Even in knowing who his father was now, I felt like it really wasn’t that much of a reflection on him. Yes, he was a bit difficult and stubborn at times, and he certainly didn’t understand all the time about how to treat a girl, but he really seemed like a nice guy at heart.
As night fell though, I found myself shifting a little uncomfortably in my seat. Night brought out bad things. This I had definitely learned by now. Beside me, Chris glanced at the car’s clock. “Looks like we’re going to run late into the night after all.” he said quietly.
“Are you sure this is safe?” I had to ask.
“Don’t worry about it. Most things don’t like tangling with cars. And it’ll give us a little better time to get to Baton Rouge. I don’t like thinking that those spies might be following or figuring out where we’re headed.” Chris said.
“I guess.” I said, leaning back in my seat. As much as I didn’t really like this, I knew that he had a point. We had to get to Zane before whatever was looking for us found us. Taking a deep breath, I thought again about the conversation we’d had the night before. It really would’ve helped things if my power could just awaken. But making it do so forcefully just couldn’t be an option.
Right?
Yes, of course I was right!
Closing my eyes, I forced myself to relax again. Everything would be okay. Chris would make sure of that. But as I thought this, I suddenly heard a soft male voice speak.
“Open your eyes my darling.”
I opened my eyes, finding myself standing in a large cave like room. Looking around, I saw that it was lit by many candles. There was a beautiful bed with a crimson cover lined in gold on it near me, along with various other pieces of old, antique looking furniture. “Where…where am I?” I questioned. I couldn’t have been dreaming again, could I?
“You’ve finally come to me.” the male voice answered.
I turned around to find a man standing behind me. I stared in surprise at him. Tall and slender, with dark hair and the bluest eyes I’d ever seen. “Saffron?” I whispered.
Saffron smiled down at me, pulling me close to hug me. “It’s been so long since I’ve been able to see you. You certainly have grown up on me.” he said, sounding fairly happy.
I honestly wasn’t too sure of what to do then. On one hand, I was somehow seeing my father again. But on the other hand, I now understood who and what he was. And I knew the things he’d done before. He’d killed people, including the girl who had given birth to me. I gently pushed myself back from him to look at him completely. It was so strange as I did. He didn’t really look like anything more than just a very handsome man. And yet, I could also see that his eyes just seemed inhuman. They were far too powerful. “I’m glad that you apparently missed me, but how did I get here? Am I sleeping again?” I asked him.
“Not really. Think of it more as an out of body experience. But it was the best means for me to bring you here now that I’ve regained the ability. I‘ve been kept here for quite a while in this place. I suppose you can call it the Purgatory of Hell. It‘s where they send us when they isolate us for punishment. It's quite amusing to them to keep us here in solitude.” Saffron replied.
So he’d brought me there to him. I couldn’t say that I was that surprised, considering everything I'd seen up until now. Still, I wasn’t feeling that happy about our so called family reunion yet. Especially when I thought about the fact that he’d basically just dragged me into a section of Hell. “So why did you bring me back here now? You haven’t seen me since I was a baby. How would I even know anything about you until now?” I said. I was actually trying my best not to make him angry though. Who knew what might happen if I did. After all, it seemed like Saffron had a reputation for being unpredictable.
Saffron just smiled though. “Ah, I see. So your memories are still sealed. Good, the spell has held, even with him showing up.” He noted.
“So you really did try to erase my memories?" I asked in disbelief.
“Only of me, and I only sealed them temporarily. Think of it as more of a protective measure. But it doesn’t really matter that much now, does it? Your blood is getting ready to awaken, and you’ve come to the one who was meant to find you.” Saffron said, playing with a long strand of my hair. A slight smile was playing on his face as he looked at me. He seemed awful pleased with himself no
w. It made me feel really uncomfortable, although I tried hard to keep that in check. The last thing I needed to show him right now was fear.
“So you knew that Chris was going to find me then.” I said, standing very still then. Of course, I reasoned that he probably must have known about Chris looking for me. I had the feeling that he knew a lot about what went on with me.
Saffron let go of my hair, taking my hand and guiding me over to the old fashioned couch. I believed that it was what I'd heard someone once refer to as a Fainting Couch a long time ago. Possibly even Mama. “Come, sit with me. It seems we have much to speak of.” he said.
I couldn’t say that I was at all comfortable about doing this, but I didn’t see any other choice either. I was stuck there with him. And maybe he could give me some of the answers I was looking for. “You said you knew Chris was going to find me. Did you plan that with Jade?’ I asked him as we sat down.
Saffron gave me that same knowing smile. “No, not at all. It’s just something we both knew in the end would be inevitable. After all, two Dark Nephilims being born so powerful should be meant for one another. That’s just the way the karmic world works.” he explained.
“But I don’t even have my wings yet. I don’t have anything.” I told him.
“Trust me, you will soon enough. That’s why you're here now. I may not be able to get out of here yet, but I want the wheels in motion for when I do. Your current state will not be enough to withstand what he’s going to be sending after you, and I have no expectations of Christoff fighting it completely alone. For that, we’ll need to force a hand, and make you wake up.” Saffron told me.
With that, he reached up swiftly and placed a hand on my forehead. I felt a surge of warmth go through my body with that touch. It was like a red hot heat running through my blood. I quickly jumped back up off of the sofa, gasping at the strange sensations running through me. “What did you do to me?” I demanded.