The Sun Angel

by Ashley Martinez

  “What was that?” she asked standing. The pain was slowly ebbing.

  James glanced at Will, “Did it work?”

  He shrugged, “I think so. She isn’t as bright as before.”

  “You’re right,” he nodded in agreement.

  Jenna was almost completely back to normal now and she was mad, “What did you give me?”

  “A potion,” Will answered, watching her closely.

  “No kidding, Sherlock!” Jenna said sarcastically pulling her sword out, but it was too heavy for her. She dropped the tip and it fell from her hands. She brought them up and stared. She tried spreading her wings but was rocked with pain and fell to her knees.

  “What did you do?” she whispered.

  “Turned your mortal,” Will smirked.

  “And ripped out your wings,” James added.

  “What?” she glanced down at her body. “How? Why?”

  “You know why.”

  She shook her head, “No, I don’t.”

  “You’re too much for this world,” Will pulled out his sword, “good bye, Jenna.”

  Jenna stumbled back but couldn’t take it anymore. She crumpled, tears streaming down her face as she sobbed. She was broken.

  “Do it, Will,” James urged.

  “Go ahead,” Jenna mumbled, wiping her tears away. “I deserve it and anything is better than this.”

  Will paused then shook his head. “I’ve just decided you’re going to live. You’ll live forever as a human, broken and defeated until someone finds you and puts you out of your misery.”

  Jenna pleaded silently for him to just end it, but instead he and James disappeared, leaving her behind with her grief.

  Jenna gasped while trying to sit up but found herself restrained. She looked down and remembered she was still in Mae’s house tied to a table.

  Before she could even say a word she was thrown back into another memory.

  It was raining hard, and Jenna was gasping for breath. It’d taken her forever to get down from those rocks and travel this far. She knew she needed to go into hiding, and the only way to do that was to ask for help from a witch. Looking up at a small cabin, she made her way to the door, stumbling in the process and even falling once into the mud.

  “Dammit!” Jenna spat as she picked up the journal she’d stolen earlier.

  Finally making it to the door, she knocked weakly and leaned up against the wall.

  The door opened slowly and a Mae appeared before her.

  “Your highness!” Mae gave a small bow and helped her into the cabin.

  “Mae, I need your help,” Jenna gasped.

  “Anything!”

  “I need you to erase my memories.”

  Mae looked surprised, “I don’t know how, your majesty.”

  In anger Jenna slammed her fist down on the table causing it crack under the force, “Stop!”

  “Stop what, majesty?” Mae shook, terrified.

  “Stop calling me that!”

  “Why?”

  Jenna sighed in defeat, “I am no longer the queen.”

  “What do you mean?” Mae whispered sitting down next to her.

  “I’ve been turned mortal but don’t think you can kill me. I still have power and can defeat you if you try.”

  “I’d never, your highness!”

  “You want to,” Jenna mumbled, “I know you do. Everybody does. I’ve done terrible things, but now I need to make them right.”

  “Who turned you mortal?”

  “I can’t say,” she shook her head, then, pulling out the journal, she tossed it on the desk. “Do you know Latin?”

  Mae shook her head pulling the book toward her to ruffle through the pages.

  “Better start learning,” Jenna stood. “I need one night of rest and then I’ll be on my way. Can you spare some food?”

  Mae jumped up, “I’m afraid I don’t have much. Just some bread.”

  “That’s better than nothing,” Jenna smiled as Mae ran to get it.

  “Here, you can take my bed. I’ll sleep on the floor,” she ushered Jenna to the only bed in the one room.

  “That’s very generous of you, but I don’t deserve it,” Jenna shook her head and sat down on the floor to eat. “Fetch me a blanket, if you wouldn’t mind.”

  “Yes, ma’am!” Mae pulled a blanket from a basket and handed it to Jenna.

  “Now please, don’t bother me,” Jenna laid her head back hating the feeling of weakness. “Start learning Latin.”

  “What, now?” Mae asked surprised.

  “When I come back, I need your help with those spells, so, yes, now.”

  Mae nodded and sat at the table, leaving Jenna to her thoughts.

  Closing her eyes, Jenna mapped out her path to the headquarters of the Guardians. She needed them to protect her while she waited for him to find her.

  Jenna gasped again coming out of yet another memory.

  “Mae?” Jenna called out.

  “I’m here,” Mae answered.

  Pain coursed through Jenna as she was pulled into another memory.

  Jenna walked right into Mae’s cabin with a bag full of things she’d need for the spell.

  “Rise and shine, witch!” Jenna called out.

  Mae sat up sleepily, “Your majesty!”

  “I told you to stop calling me that!” Jenna snapped.

  “Sorry,” Mae yawned as she retrieved a glass of water for herself. “Where have you been?”

  “I was getting the supplies we needed,” Jenna began pulling the stuff out of her leather bag. “Did you get what I asked you to?”

  “It’s been over a month!” Mae grouched.

  “Some of this was harder to find now that I’m mortal! Now answer my question -- did you get it?”

  Mae pulled out the white flowers and laid them on the table next to Jenna’s supplies.

  “I’m surprised I had this,” Mae said. “When I planted them, I didn’t know they were that rare.”

  Jenna nodded and began filling three bowls with the stuff on the table.

  “Did you read the book?” Jenna asked.

  “It was very hard to understand,” Mae admitted.

  “I can help you along the way,” she said. “Removing my memories will be the last thing you do.”

  “What else am I doing?”

  “Sealing my powers, blocking a few memories, and then erasing the rest,” Jenna stepped back wiping her hands on her dress. “There, we’re ready!”

  “Are you sure this is going to work?”

  “Yes, now I’m going to give you the memories to hide.”

  “Will I know what they are?”

  “No.”

  “Can I ask what they are?”

  Jenna looked at her thoughtfully, “One is about what Silas is really after.”

  “What is it?”

  “I can’t tell you that,” she shook her head. “That’d put you in danger.”

  “What are the other ones?”

  “The night I was turned mortal, this one and a couple others. I’d rather you not know all of my secrets.”

  “Sorry, your highness- I mean! Oops, sorry!”

  Jenna ignored her and laid on the floor, “Put the bowls next to me, but out of reach so I can’t knock them over.”

  Mae obeyed, “What goes in this one? It’s empty.”

  “My blood.”

  “Oh,” Mae nodded.

  “Get the book and a knife.” Jenna waited for Mae to get back with the things before continuing, “Okay, now I want you to cut my palm and make sure the bowl is under my hand to catch all the blood.”

  “I’m not completely new at rituals,” Mae mumbled as she cut Jenna’s hand.

  “Sorry,” Jenna said surprising Mae. She knew she never apologized and here she was saying sorry to a witch.

  “What’s next?” Mae asked.

  “Open the book and start chanting, witch.” Jenna laid her head back, closing her eyes.

  Mae began the spel
l and immediately Jenna could feel her in her head. She guided Mae through her memories one by one handing her the few memories she wanted to keep.

  “Next,” Jenna grunted. She hadn’t expected the pain; it made it hard to concentrate.

  “What is?”

  “Sealing my powers! Hurry, I can’t hold on much longer.”

  Mae rifled through the pages until she found the next spell Jenna wanted her to perform. She quickly recited the words from the book.

  Jenna gasped as she grew weaker. She felt like she was being drained and knew now she was just an ordinary human with terrible memories of another world.

  “Next,” Jenna whispered, not strong enough to speak louder.

  “I don’t know how to do this one!” Mae panicked.

  “Calm down,” she continued to whisper. “What are you having trouble with?”

  “This word,” Mae said holding the journal out for Jenna to read.

  “That is death.”

  “What?” Mae shook. “I’m not killing you, am I?”

  Jenna chuckled, “No, the phrase means you’re killing my memories, not me.”

  “Are you sure you want to do this?”

  “Please, just do it,” Jenna begged as tears seeped out. “I’ll be killed if you don’t.”

  “By who?” Mae was close to crying as well.

  “Too many to count let alone name.” Jenna closed her eyes. She was exhausted and the pain was still coursing through her body. “Please, Mae, it hurts.”

  Mae looked down and began her final spell. She couldn’t make it through before stopping, “Are you sure? What about Will?”

  Jenna clenched her teeth, “That is none of your business!”

  “He still loves you.”

  “Not anymore.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I’ve betrayed him too many times for any forgiveness.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “Mae!” Jenna snapped. “Finish the damn spell! I feel like I’m being burned alive!”

  Mae nodded and continued, finishing quickly as she cried.

  Jenna was lifted off the ground then slammed down. Her body convulsed as one by one her memories flashed before her as they were wiped clean.

  “Quick, Mae!” she shouted through the pain. “Build me a life of a human of sixteen!”

  As soon as she said the words her mind went blank, nothing there to remember. The pain had stopped completely and Jenna sat up.

  “Where am I?” she said and turned to Mae. “Who are you?”

  “Lay back down,” Mae said soothingly.

  “Why are you crying?”

  “That doesn’t matter, Angel,” Mae closed her eyes and took hold of Jenna’s face. “When you wake, you’ll remember who you are and where you need to go.”

  Jenna’s eyes flew open a fifth and final time.

  “Jenna!” Mae said throwing down a magazine and coming over to undo her straps. “That was really fast!”

  “Will,” she said looking around for him as she rubbed her wrists. Her memory of him didn’t anger her; it completely broke her. How could he do that to her? She had something really important to tell him and he wouldn’t listen. Instead, he ruined her.

  “He said he had some things to take care of,” Mae looked worried.

  “I bet,” Jenna nodded feeling let down despite her memory of him.

  “What were your memories?” Mae asked.

  Jenna shook her head and hopped off the table, stumbling slightly, “Nothing.”

  “It’s not nothing, but if you don’t want to tell me, I understand,” Mae laid her hand on Jenna’s shoulder.

  As soon as her hand made contact with Jenna, she was shot with a rush of Jenna’s hurt. She choked and passed out.

  “Mae!” Jenna cried out reaching down for her.

  Mae regained consciousness quickly and moved away from Jenna.

  “Mae, what happened?” Jenna asked concerned.

  “You’re feelings are very strong,” Mae clutched her chest breathing heavily. “I can’t forget you’re an angel, and your feelings are magnified when they’re strong.”

  “You can tell what I’m feeling?” Jenna asked intrigued.

  “When I touch you,” Mae nodded, taking a deep breath and standing straight up again. “Now, tell me, why are you so hurt?”

  Jenna’s mouth opened then closed.

  “Don’t say it’s nothing, I know that wasn’t nothing.”

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” Jenna mumbled.

  “Fine, but holding emotions in is not healthy. It’ll eat you up.”

  Jenna drew in a deep breath and held it trying to decide if she should tell her or not.

  “Why don’t you just talk to Will about it?”

  “No!” Jenna said sharply causing Mae to look surprised.

  “It’s about him, isn’t it?”

  Jenna nodded, but kept her mouth closed.

  “What did he do?”

  “He tortured me,” she answered in a small voice.

  Mae laughed, “Of course he did! You two were always doing that to each other.”

  “What?” Jenna looked at Mae, shocked yet again.

  “You two had what I call a game of hatred. He’d torture you, then once you were healed you’d turn around and torture him. It’s been like that for years.”

  “What?”

  Mae looked up tapping her chin thoughtfully, “I remember hearing of one incident where you’d taken him and chained him up in the desert during the heat of the summer. He was stuck there for almost two months before he finally was able to reach a Night Creature.”

  “I did that?” Jenna felt a little sick at herself, but then she remembered her memory. “He probably deserved it.”

  “That’s the thing,” Mae looked at Jenna earnestly. “No one knows why it started, just that it did.”

  “Do you know when?”

  “It was during the whole War in Heaven. Only few Angels know what happened, and they won’t talk about it.”

  Jenna sat in a chair thinking it was impossible for her to have lived that long and not remember any of it. It was also stranger to think Will would do something so cruel to her. It felt real now that she’d relived it and suddenly she felt a ripple of fear toward Will. If he was capable of that, then he was capable of killing her. Maybe that was his whole plan to begin with, he had said he was going to earlier.

  Jenna jumped up, “I have to go.”

  “Shouldn’t you wait for Will?” Mae asked cleaning out the bowls and putting them away.

  “No,” Jenna started towards the door but Mae flung it shut with magic.

  “Sorry, but I can’t let you go,” she gave her a small smile. “Will warned me not to before he took off.”

  “I can’t stay here waiting for him to get back.”

  “Why?”

  “I just can’t!”

  “Sorry, Jenna, but that’s not good enough,” Mae shrugged and went back to working.

  “He’s the one who turned me mortal!” Jenna shouted.

  Mae dropped one of her bowls but didn’t bother to pick it up, “What did you say?” she whispered.

  “He turned me mortal and ripped my wings out.”

  “How?”

  “He didn’t say. Now can you please let me go; I think he’s going to kill me,” Jenna pleaded.

  “Over my dead body!” Mae snapped opening the door and dragging Jenna by the arm out with her.

  She pulled her up the stairs and through the hidden door and into a large study full of shelves of books with a desk sitting in the center and began searching for a book. “I debated on whether or not to give this to you, in fact I wasn’t going to, but, things have changed,” she glanced at Jenna then continued her search. “Where are you? Aha! Stupid book.” Mae pulled out a leather bound book and slammed it down on the table. Shuffling through the pages, she continued to mutter to herself.

  “Here it is!” She yelled triumphantly.
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  “What?” Jenna moved closer and looked down at the page. The book looked familiar, but she couldn’t make out a single word. “What language is this?”

  “Latin,” Mae answered skimming through a couple pages. “When you showed up on my doorstep sometime after you turned mortal, you gave me this book.”

  “I remember that.”

  “You threw the book on the desk and told me to learn Latin,” Mae chuckled. “You said you’d come back for the instructions.”

  “Instructions for what?” Jenna leaned in closer.

  “On how to release your powers,” Mae whispered dramatically.

  “How do I do that?” Jenna asked eagerly. She wanted her powers, so she could make Will pay for what he did and possibly find out what Eliana wanted her to do and why.

  “It says here you need four things,” she ran her finger over the writing. “Hair and blood from you, and hair and blood from- oh no!”

  “What?” Jenna looked frantically at the book trying to understand any of it.

  “You need blood and hair from… Will,” Mae paused and looked at Jenna.

  “No!” Jenna moaned. “I can’t do that!”

  “That’s not the worst part of it,” Mae read again. “It says the ritual needs be performed at the place where you fell. Do you remember where you fell?”

  “Fell?”

  “Turned mortal,” she elaborated.

  Jenna shook her head, “Uh, I noticed there was a bunch of orange rocks.”

  “Orange rocks,” Mae said to herself tapping her chin. “Orange rocks. No clue! Maybe in Arizona?”

  “I don’t know,” Jenna shrugged. “Is there anything else to this ritual?”

  Mae looked back to the book, “Let’s see.”

  Jenna could feel a headache coming, so she sat down at the desk in the plump office chair massaging her head.

  “From what I glean from this is Will needs to be there saying in Latin he releases you then you have to respond by releasing him.”

  “Releasing us from what?”

  Mae shrugged, “Hatred?”

  “You don’t know?” Jenna asked annoyed.

  “Excuse me?” Mae slammed the book shut and threw it at Jenna. “I’m not a freaking angel here; I don’t know everything that happened between the two of you! You’d have to ask Will. Now get out. You’re no longer welcome in my home.”

  “Sorry, Mae!” Jenna apologized.