by Lynn Landes
Rena did not handle the change well. She fought Samiel over everything and so he punished her. Rebecca begged him to let her speak to her daughter, but he ignored her. Rebecca was locked in the cell he called his room and Varena was taken by the Fallen. The chanting could be heard all throughout the caverns. After so long being trapped; they are more animal than angels now. With the help of his demons, they had rounded up all the villagers and brought them here to become slaves. Finding no use for the men and boys, they were beaten into submission while their families watched.
One by one, they were pushed to the edge of a chasm and shoved over. Varena was held by one of the Fallen tightly against his body, her head trapped back against his muscular chest. She was forced to watch and if she fought, by closing her eyes, a male child would be brought forth and tortured; his tiny screams imbedded in her soul forever. So, she watched as he shoved them all one by one to their deaths.
Lastly, Micah was dragged forth. Beaten, bloody and broken, he looks at his daughter. Before he is kicked to the depths below his last words ring out strong and true, "Shalom, Bat ha olehim" Peace, daughter of God. Varena screams until she is unable to scream any longer.
Samiel takes Varena’s face in his hand glaring at her, "You are no longer a daughter of God. You are mine, now and forever more and if you wish for your mother and brother to survive, you will cease fighting me, child!" Looking at the Fallen around him, he orders her thrown into a cell and leaves.
Years Later….
"He said you are to come immediately and wear only your crown, my queen," the teenage girl whispers. Rebecca knows what it means to refuse him, but she will not be the evening entertainment for the bored Fallen and their King again. Countless years have taken their toll. As she looks at the young girl before her, she feels pity. She is bruised, weak, scared and brutalized as they all have been since he brought them here to his private hell.
"I will not," she says simply. The girl’s blue eyes jump to hers in surprise.
"Wha…”she stutters, “What do I tell them?" Rebecca stares at the girl. She knows he will be furious and probably take it out on the child.
"Tell him I am working in the nursery tonight," she says sorry for the pain this will cause.
After the girl leaves, Rebecca hurries to the nursery. It was the one place she loved to be, here she feels close to her children. Some of the Fallen were gentle. They came to earth because they were enraptured with its women but after centuries of isolation and torture, most had come to hate humanity in all its forms. Starvation, isolation, torture, rape, and beatings were just a few of the tools used against the women. The children were kept isolated, left to grow until they reached a useful age.
Rebecca soon found that Samiel had no tolerance for defiance; his goal was to have more sons to build his army. The women were just a means to an end. As soon as they became pregnant, they were moved into the nursery to care for its young.
The creatures born to the women of the village were abominations and Rebecca could never look at them as anything other than evil. She did pity them. Some were semi human, some not, but all had a desire to be loved. It was a weakness the King would not tolerate. Her own son, Cole, was being raised as a son of Samiel. He was treated as such, and as he aged he showed signs of being truly evil. Varena was allowed to return when he deemed she had been punished long enough. Samiel promised to not harm her brother if she cooperated. She helped her mother with the children in the nursery, and with the abused women who came to the sick room for treatment.
Rebecca knew as she entered the nursery, she would not have much time. The child growing inside her was evil. Pregnancies did not take the normal forty weeks like human gestation. She knew what she had to do and had been planning it for some time. When Varena came with Cole for her visit, Rebecca would save her family.
Four
Once a week, Varena was allowed to take her ten year old brother to visit their mother. The visits had become shorter and fewer because Cole despised them both. His soul was black. He showed no signs of weakness, compassion, love, sympathy, empathy or any other human emotion. He was raised by a different father, the One. The old women called him the “Mocker,” but he was really the first fallen archangel Samiel. He preferred to be called King. More than once he showed them why he was called the Mocker and Cole idolized him.
Rebecca tried to instill the values of a loving, forgiving God but she was beaten as her son and daughter watched. The lessons were stopped except when she was alone with Varena.
“You’re late,” Cole says, meeting Varena halfway to the nursery.
Careful not to make eye contact with him, she says what he wants to hear, “I’m sorry.” She walks quickly behind him, hoping no one notices the bruises on her arms and legs. Seeing a group of five fallen angels approaching them, Varena moves closer to Cole and hopes to pass unseen.
When living with a den of lions, one learns quickly how to become a shadow. Sighing with relief as they pass untouched; Varena screams when she is grabbed from behind.
“Where’s the fire human?” a deep voice says from behind, pulling her against his large body.
At twenty four, Varena had grown into a beautiful young woman. Her long, curly brown hair had traces of red in it and her eyes were hazel green. She was tall, but next to the Fallen she was tiny. His companions laugh as they surround the duo.
“Release me!” she yells struggling in vain against his strength. Cole watches with no trace of emotion.
“Tristan?” she asks calling for help. All knew the penalty for defying the prince.
He looks at her with disgust. “I am Cole, son of the Mocker. Take your time with her. I know my way from here,” he says to them and walks away.
Tears silently trace down her cheeks. She knows it is futile to fight a group of Fallen. They may be fallen, but they are still powerful angels in every aspect. Dragging her to a corner, one flips her around to face him and screams in fury as she jams her thumbs into his eyes. He drops her to the ground as another moves forward laughing.
“Did the kitten scratch you? Let me show you how it’s done” and he punches her quickly in the jaw. Varena slams back into the wall; she is dazed and bleeding. Weeping inside she looks for any sign of her brother’s return, knowing it is futile. She turns her head away as they move in... She has long since given up hope because these kinds of attacks were usual for the women in the keep. She would be dropped on the steps of the nursery when they were through with her. No punishments would be made and life would continue, here in Hell.
Rebecca tells the four older women running the nursery to report to the laundry area. They obey the queen and leave silently. Rebecca looks at the sleeping baby girl in the first crib and feels nothing. Her own history of abuse predicts the future of this child; rape, beating, mental abuse and worse. It is not a life, but a punishment.
Pulling the knife hidden so long ago from its hiding spot, Rebecca begins to set her people free. There are twenty four children of varying ages sleeping tonight. She knows because she gave each one a night time sweet, laced with a sedative. They would not wake up. These children are not human; they are half angel, half human, demons. You cannot kill a demon the way you can a human. Death requires a special weapon, one that has been blessed by the Maker himself. The children are partially immortal beings, and Rebecca knows better than anyone what must be done. She had saved the knife just for this reason. Six of her children now sleep here; they are the first to be freed. Feeling a sense of peace, she hurries about her work, humming.
She quickly covers the last child as footsteps approach and wipes the knife off holding it behind her back. Cole enters the room, and stomps to the table.
“Let’s get this over with, Mother. I have things to do,” he tells her, not bothering to look at her. He picks up a cookie, one of his favorites, and eats it.
“Where is Rena?” she asks him.
“She got detained” he responds with a smirk. “I am sure they will d
rop her off when they tire of her.” Picking up another cookie, he eats it while she hands him a drink.
“Tristan, have I ever told you of your father. I loved him very much. We were soul mates he and I. He never raised a hand against me in anger, and he loved to sing the songs of our people.”
“My name is COLE!” he coldly says, jumping up from his chair. Suddenly feeling dizzy, he looks at his mother realizing the room is spinning.
“Mom?” he questions as his knees give out. Rebecca catches him in her arms before he hits the ground.
“It’s okay my angel. Everything’s going to be alright.” Cradling him in her arms, she says softly, “We are all going home today. You will meet your true father and we will be together again, as a family.” She places him gently on the floor. As the only human child left, he succumbs quickly to the poison. His slow breathing tells her his heart will stop soon. Rebecca cries because she feels a vibration coming and knows she will not be able to save Varena, too. Rocking him gently, she sings the song of their people as he takes his final breath. Pressing a kiss on his forehead, she lays him on the floor, and stands to greet the King.
Rebecca waits as the door crashes open and he enters.
“How dare you…” he stops as he sees her waiting for him with a knife in her hand. She stabs the knife into her stomach, screaming as the holy fire from the hunting knife impales the child growing inside. He rushes forward to stop her, but he is too late. Laughing she waits for the moment when he sees her child on the floor.
She screams as she falls to her knees, “He was never yours! My son is FREE from your evil!”
Samiel realizes the room is quiet, too quiet. “What have you done, Watcher?” Rebecca tears the knife from her stomach she throws it at him, falling over in pain.
“I did what I had to do; I liberated my people from you, Mocker.”
Roaring in rage, he races around the room realizing they are all dead. “You are a fool, human; you forgot the one who remains,” he says, laughing at the look on her face.
“She will take your place, and I will have a new family soon enough” he tells her with a smile.
Varena stumbles through the door beaten and bloody to a scene from her worst nightmares. She sees her mother bleeding on the floor, and her brother dead beside her. The Mocker stands above them both and rage sears her soul. She assumes he attacked them; she rushes at him only to be quickly smacked down beside them on the floor. Calling for the Fallen, he picks Rebecca up by her hair and drags her from the room.
“Bring her daughter,” he orders them.
Samiel, as a king in his own mind, liked to live in modern luxury, not despair. He saves that for those who deserve it. He created a keep where he lived with a harem of woman and a few select Fallen he was able to free. The humans were given food, water, clothing, and medicine when needed. In exchange for their lives, they were allowed the comforts of home; including visits with their children. There was no tolerance for disobedience. The fallen angels were entombed deep in the earth, and it is here he returns when one of the watchers needs to be taught a lesson.
Varena recognizes it at once. This hell on earth, it was here she watched her father and villagers die. “No, No, No, please I will do anything you ask, just don’t do this!” she begs him.
“Varena,” he mother reassures her, “It’s going to be okay. We are going to be together again soon. They are all free,” Rebecca says when he tosses her towards the edge of the cliff.
“Mom, what did you do?” Varena asks in horror. Rebecca looks up at her daughter and clutches her bleeding stomach.
“I will spare your Mother’s life if you give me your word that you will not fight me, but take her place as mother to a new nation.” Looking at her mother struggle to her feet, Varena tries to run forward but is jerked quickly back by Tieran, the fallen angel holding her.
“Forgive me, Rena,” her mother calls out and steps off the cliff into the chasm below. Her screams are cut short when she is caught midair by an angel.
“Your death won’t be that easy, Watcher” he tells her as she is thrown back on the rocky floor.
“Give him nothing, Varena!” Rebecca screams, “You are a child of the true King! Never forget that, daughter!”
Grabbing Rebecca by her throat Samiel, lifts her in the air screaming at her “Where is your King now, Watcher?!”
“My Brothers,” he calls out to those that have gathered to watch. “Here is a woman who still believes in her maker. Who is this Maker that he allows you to suffer so, where is he now?” he screams at her, shaking her.
“He lives in me, Mocker,” Rebecca says in a garbled voice.
“Well, by all means, let us set him free!” he rages at her and pulls the hunting knife she used on herself and the children. Placing the knife in her hand, he says, “Show me.”
Screaming, she tries not to let her hand move, but she can’t fight his power. Varena tries to cover her ears against the screams and wet cutting sounds as the knife bites deeply. Crying through her black eye and busted lip, Rena begins to pray for help. A part of her wants to die; to be freed like her mother, but there is a small part of her heart that still holds hope for freedom.
“I offer you a chance at redemption, daughter” he says while laughing, and jerks her hands away from her face.
“I see you for what you really are. You are Fear,” Varena screams, glaring into the eyes of death. “Do Not Call Me Daughter, Mocker! I am a daughter of the True King!”
Enraged at her continued defiance, he strikes her once more across her face. “We will see how long you have faith in your king; put her in the cell,” he tells the angel holding her.
Tieran tosses her into a special cell strong enough to hold an angel; he does not look back as he walks away. Varena sees that it is deep underground. Formed out of the volcanic rock that houses the Fallen, it is dark and hot. A special hell designed to torture. Beaten, bruised, broken and lost, Varena thinks she is at rock bottom. She does not know that her real hell is just beginning.
“How much does it take to break a daughter of the true king?” Samiel’s mocking voice asks. “We shall see, soon enough.” Leaving her to a new nightmare, he returns to the keep needing to clean up the mess left behind. Time to find some replacements for the ones lost today, he thinks.
Varena slides down the wall of the dark, boiling, tomb. She smells the sulfur from the volcanic mountain. Occasionally the rumble of thunder and lightning occurs. The stench increases as the mountain releases some of its pressure. Sweating, she wishes for a cool drink and begins pacing in her cell. “How to get out of here?” she wonders running her hands along the darkened wall. No windows, no doors can be found, just hot rock. Frustrated and scared, she wonders what her future holds.
Blind, she feels her way along the wall with her hands. She jumps back when she feels a vibration. A sudden glow illuminates the barrier, turning it a translucent amber color. Flinching from the sudden light; she freezes waiting for her eyes to focus. That’s when she hears it.
“VaReeeena, did you miss me, Rena?” The sound of her screaming reaches every corner of hell and Raphaim laughs.
Five
Tieran came to Varena in her dreams, drawn to her by the light in her soul. At first he merely wanted to be near her. He chose to visit her when he could safely offer her peace, dreams of beauty, of places she could never imagine, and dreams of freedom. He became hope; hope of more than the hell she was living. He strengthened her faith when she could not do it herself. Her mother had taught her the history of her people, and he brought the history to life in her dreams.
Guarding the prisoners was boring and tedious. When the Fallen became bored, they would torment the prisoners. What else does one do with eternity?
With his long blonde hair, beautiful body and snow white wings as soft as down, he seduced her from the first moment she looked into his eyes. He would look at her with his beautiful light blue eyes, tell her stories of heaven, and ask questio
ns about her world. He told her that there were some here who wanted to be exonerated for the choice they made. They knew it was a mistake, but discovered too late what Samiel’s plan was. Oddly enough, he was the one angel who never tried to use her body. She felt cherished when she was with him.
“Tell me more about the Watcher. You say she is a Keeper? Can it be true?” he whispers in awe when she told him of her village and how she came to be here. “She is the key, she can free us all, Rena!” That is when she told him about the hunting knife, how she prayed and the knife became infused with power. It saved her from the demon. He looked at her as if she was his savior, and that is when her training began.
Over the last few years, Tieran brought angels to train her, each in a different art. One taught her about the power of prayer and how to call upon God’s power when needed. Another taught her how to fight physically. Angels are larger and faster than humans are. From them she learned the weakest points of the body, and how to use this knowledge against the enemy. A third taught her about spells, how to call on the power of the elements to use against ones enemies or for protection. The fourth taught her how to heal, using the same power that runs through the universe.
Lastly, Tieran taught her how to be a Watcher without actually using a thread. That is where they met and how they trained on the astral plane. Varena would meet him when she rested. It was the only safe way to do it. Two would shield them while the others trained. He promised her he would do everything he could to free her. As her power grew, so too, did the pressure inside of her. A power like that cannot be contained forever. They all began to worry about the instability of it, the more she learned the worse pressure became.
Through it all Raphaim watched and waited. Pacing like an animal, he would torment her when they were not around. His senses were heightened; the scent of her blood drove him insane. He tried digging under the wall, flinging himself at it repeatedly, in an effort to taste her.