Descendant

by LJ Amodeo

  “If you’re an angel, an illusion of my mind, how is it possible you are standing here with me now? That I can touch you, see you?” I asked strangely mystified fearing that I still hadn’t awakened from this dream. As I remembered my diagnosis, I backed away from him. “Michael,

  are you still my part of my delusions? My schizophrenia? Because I just can’t handle anymore visions that are not real to anyone but me.” I fought back the tears that formed at the bottom of my eyes.

  “I tried hard to convince myself that your place is here and I have no right to interfere with your life. My duty is to the Holy Trinity to caste away Satan’s seed. Yet, it has become clear that you, Elizabeth, are my calling, my obligation. I have been sent to protect you first, and therefore, am forever your angelus custos—I’ll be with you forever.” He said, cupping my face in his hands and placing a gentle kiss on my forehead.

  The reality of what he was telling me unfolded. He had mentioned once before that he’d give it all up for me. I would not have it. I should be the one making the sacrifice for all humanity, not Michael for me.

  “Michael, what did you do? You can’t give up everything for me. It’s wrong! You must go back and beg them to forgive you.” I begged him, tormented by the idea of losing him again, but there was no other way.

  His fingers brushed away my tears as I continued to protest, “I won’t let you do this. You are bound to God, not me! You can’t change history, Michael, not for me. I’m nobody. I am not holy! I’m ordinary. But you are. Please, go back! Had I known, I would have pretended not to remember you!”

  The pain in his face stabbed deeply into my heart. He left me no choice but to deny him any emotional attachment.

  “I forgive you for saying such hurtful things. As I told you during our first encounter, I never settle for ordinary, on the extraordinary.” He whispered, pulling me into his embrace. “But I have not fallen, Elizabeth.” He inhaled, brushing his lips to my hair.

  An exhilarating chill swept through my body. He melted my heart. I would never chase him away, again. To be with him eternally was my one desire. I was complete. It’s been him, my missing link. It’s always been him, and I wouldn’t allow myself to lose him again. Even if it meant taking me with him.

  I thought about Freddie and how upset he was seeing me with Michael in the meadow by lake.

  “What about Freddie?” I questioned out loud.

  “Elizabeth, Freddie adores you. He is extremely protective of you. He has always been an exceptional friend to you. Never forget that.”

  “I understand that, but why was he be upset when he saw us talking by the hilltop?

  “Freddie will do whatever it takes to keep you safe, to shield you.” He replied still avoiding my question.

  “If I remember, I thought I was safe because Sam’s gone. Besides, how would Freddie protect me against something immortal and in my head? Iam the only human who could experience these phenomenon’s, right?” I staggered unsteadily suddenly realizing that threats toward me were not over. It took me a while to understand that Michael was not back solely because he was missing me. “Oh!” I touched my lips with a sudden epiphany.

  “Michael, why did you come back?” I feared I already knew the answer, but had to hear it for myself.

  “Because, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Elizabeth, I went against all rules to be here to protect you. Although, the missionary angels are stationed around you when danger lurks, I am summoned only when the threat is imminent.”

  “Are you saying I’m in danger again?” I muttered looking passed Michael toward the woods, wondering if the enemy watched us from the shadows of the trees.

  “We are doing our best to track them.” Michael replied. I wasn’t convinced.

  “Them. There are more ofthem? Are you fucking kidding me?” I shouted, disappointingly.

  “Your father , Erez and Elian met with the Order to convince the council of elders and high priests to grant me passage, until I am called for duty. I insisted the elders send me sooner—to protect you. It has never been granted before, for any angel, holy or fallen alike. Because you are the Key keeper, The Holy Trinity deliberated for many weeks, many of them voting against their better judgment to grant me this passage. I was crazed beyond reason thinking of you. I couldn’t bare being away from you for another second, and seconds in my world are a very, very long time." His eyes moved to graze at the wispy grasses stirring tenderly in the breeze.

  “They agreed to send you back, because I’m the key to both heaven and hell?” My meek voice trembled, as my eyes darted around the landscape, fearing I’d see more of Samantha.

  The smallest nod of his head jolted my body into tremors.

  My father’s voice clearly nattered in my mind.The Trinity beckoned Michael to protect you, like he has done for all the others in our ancestry when danger lurked in the crevices of the earth’s corners. You hold the key, my child.

  “I would never let anything happen to you. You have to believe that, Elizabeth.”

  “You showed me how Sam was cast back to . . . hell. What happened, did she get away?” A deep, terrifying thought enveloped my mind, knowing that she or others could still be out there, watching, and ready to strike again. The eerie image of Sam, as little girl smiling at me from behind the tree at Lake Sinclair flashed in my mind, as I again, looked passed the trees in the distance. That dreadful day in September replayed over and over again in my head.

  Michael turned his head in the direction of my stare, nodding from side to side, “Sam is not the problem, Elizabeth. Remove her from your thoughts,” he whispered.

  “If it isn’t Samantha, then who, Michael? Who’s the threat now?” I asked him.

  “Luca.”

  I swallowed hard at the sound of his name. The last memory of the beast’s voice vibrated in my skull, as he spewed out his final words before everything had turned black,Where is your angel now.

  Michael caressed my cheek. His gift to read my thoughts silently communicated words of reassurance through his deep eyes. He continued to tell me of my new nemesis, “Luca has been defeated over four millenniums, and like all the others who failed to triumph against us, he vanquished into his dark realm. Now he’s returned. I had him in my hands at the hospital, Elizabeth, but that slithering beast slipped away. I had no choice but to let him go, to turn back to save you. His attempt to possess you, left you in great peril. It was either chase him or lose you. This magnificent angel chose me. He risked everything to save me. Invisible me. My heart melted.

  “This time, Luca’s returned with a clear purpose to claim what is rightfully his. To take what has been written in his scriptures. But he’ll have to get through me first.” Michael said with determination.

  “I think I’m gonna be sick.” I pressed my hands to my stomach.

  “We have been tracking Luca closely. Last place he was seen was in Pucon. We continue to trace the markings of the others as well.” His words rushed past his unmoving lips, but they were still incapable of easing the sickened expression on my pale face and the nausea in my belly.

  To believe in God means to believe in the devil. But knowing the devil has spawned its seeds, seemed inconceivable.

  “What does this mean for me. For all of us?”

  “There are many out there, Elizabeth. Other hunters.” The trepidation in his expression was black and white.

  “I can’t believe this!” I fretted.

  “I’m sorry,” he stated apologetically.

  “How can you tell who they are? I mean, how is it possible to defeat them or recognize them?”

  “Elizabeth, you’ve seen them. They aren’t in your imagination although doctors will tell you they are. Schizophrenia is an doorway into another dimension. Why do you think people

  with it have multiple personalities or hallucinate. It is a way to communicate with beings that no human brain can comprehend. So medicine will just label it and medicate it to subdue the messages channeling through. Re
member the library? Buffalo? That’s when we knew you had the gift. That you were the key keeper.” Michael said, staring intently at me. I tried to shake the thought from my mind.

  “The face in the library and Buffalo, have these demons always walked with us on earth? I...I don’t remember seeing them before.”

  “You saw Samantha at the lake when you were nine.” He corrected me.

  “But she looked like a normal little girl.” I remembered.

  “Yes, but the storm that thundered across the skies that day at Lake Sinclair, was not your average storm. It was the battle that ensued between the beasts and my army. It was the day, Samantha found you. The day your father was warned to leave you, in order to protect you. The day my life changed.” He whispered stroking my face.

  My life spiraled in a frenzy of unnatural circumstances. If I were to tell my story, any sane person would find my lucid moments maddening and completely insane. I reached out to touch his arm, making sure he was of real flesh and not still a hallucination of my own fabricated world.

  “How will you fight them on your own?” I fretted for his safety against the beasts.

  “I am not alone Elizabeth. We are a strong army against them.”

  “Army? You speak of them like they are real, human. Are there really more like you on earth?”

  "Like there are demons, there shall be angels who walk with you." He stated in the most eloquent tone. I almost laughed at this outlandish idea, but fear consumed me, knowing his credibility was most definitely accurate. My body trembled, weakened by his explanations. I sat down on the grass, speechless, as my memories began to reveal the terrifying information about my bloodline. Michael knelt down in front of me---his soft hands holding mine.

  “Elizabeth, we have waited an eternity for you. We knew you would come and I’d be sent to protect you. But I never imaged how your love would inflict me. You have loved me differently than any other love I have ever known, and today I kneel before you, willing to sacrifice my immortality for you.” He bowed his head. My hands trembled as my lips parted, proclaiming my love for him without regret.

  “Michael, I never loved anyone so entirely, but I will not allow you to give up so much for me. If it is my soul the Trinity wants, then take it if it meant saving human souls. I am willing to give up my life for them. But I beg you, do not give up yours for mine.”

  The reality of what I was willing to do rumbled loudly in my core. “I am prepared to do whatever it takes to protect my mother. Even if it means to die. I will for her. For you.”

  “And you? Areyou ready to let go?” his gentle voice hummed harmoniously. I considered it for a small moment. I pondered on my imminent death, hoping for an answer or perhaps, {secretly}, a way out.

  “How will my life end?” I asked my angel.

  “It doesn’t have to. You don’t need to do this, Elizabeth. We can defeat the Watchers, the fallen angels and you can continue living your life with your mother and I. . .I will always be part of it, here.” He pointed to my heart.

  My mind was set. I had to stop the chaos that boiled between the two worlds, before it spilled to a violent end. If I was the keeper of the key to both realms, than neither could stop me. If it was my soul both worlds sought, then I would choose to let one have it. My life, my choice and I would do it alone, sparing the lives of the ones I loved most.

  Michael bent his head, caressing my neck with his soft lips, quieting my upsetting thoughts. My lips yearned for his, locking them in a passionate kiss. I could feel his powerful heartbeat against my breasts. My fingers curled through his velvet hair as an unfamiliar rupture settled in my stomach. The feeling was mystifying and eternally bonding. And for the first time, we connected spiritually. I pulled him onto the grass as his body rested against mine. His hands cupped my chin as he whispered in my ear, “Ti amo.”

  I stared into the mesmerizing eyes of my angel, desiring him, but knowing it was morally wrong. Again, I pulled his face forward until our lips touched, gently this time. He rolled me over, no longer kissing me, but admiring me instead. I rested my head against the curve of his neck. He brushed the straggling strands of hair away from my face, as he sweetly repeated the words, “I love you.”

  “I want to be with you, Michael. Always.” I smiled to myself as Michael’s hand traced the outline of my cheek. I held his hand against my face and kissed his palm. Being with him was not challenging or difficult. It was simple. Pure.

  “I’ve never felt anything like this for anyone. I want you and me to be forever. . . promise me.” I could feel the ache in my heart.

  “I promise,” he said kissing me, lovingly.

  “Before I do this, before I end my life, I need to know something. What key is it that I am keeping from them?” I choked on my words.

  Michael closed his eyes and I saw a legion of emotions brush across his face. “Your womb.” he whispered.

  A long time ago, I loved an angel and the angel loved me.

  Chapter 18: Aut Vincere Aut Mori (Conquer or Die)

  Satan never gives anything away. He will take off physical sickness and give you mental torment.

  I woke on my bed with the stroke of a hand against my skin, finding Michael resting beside me, relieved that he was still here.

  I placed my arms around Michael’s chest leaning into him while my stomach trembled, as I deliberated my fate. My calling in life. The reasons why like the Virgin Mary, I too was destined to become the immaculate conception for the dark lord. If I cease to exist, Luca could not hurt me, therefore, rewriting the scripture and taking away his right to father a child in this world. In my body. But fear...fear of being alone in the afterlife, fear of the pain and suffering I’d inflict on my mother when she hears of my death, fear of failing humanity, fear of those who walk at night and others who protect our souls, the fear of being afraid, and ultimately, the fear of dying . . . To take my place with the secret sect of the Holy Trinity and live an eternity with Michael at my side, was my own fairytale, but this true-life love story would end tragically like that of Juliet’s and her Romeo.

  “I must leave for a while,” he said caressing the exposed skin on my thigh. “I will return, I promise. You mustn’t worry for me while I’m gone.”

  “Where are you going?” I sat up reluctantly. Losing Michael once was hard. The idea of him leaving me again became unbearable.

  “They will call for you as well, to witness what no human can. Do not be frightened for they will come in pairs.” He chanted in a language that was foreign to my ears. Like a warrior ready for battle, his voice resonated strong and confident. His thoughts were distant, his eyes riveted.

  A crease of concern stretched across my forehead. “How long will you be gone?

  “Long enough to defeat Luca, once and for all.”

  “Michael, what if something happens to you?”

  “Nothing will happen. I have been battling these beasts for centuries and I’m still the defending champion.” He winked jokingly. I wasn’t humored. I was tormented.

  “What will I do if you don’t come back? How do I go on?”

  “Are you worried about Luca hurting me?” he chuckled. “He doesn’t have the strength to hurt me or take me from you. Never did, never will!”

  “Michael, you said it yourself, there’s something different about him this time.” I muttered nervously.

  He did not respond. Whatever it was that had empowered Luca’s revenge,was different and Michael knew it.

  “What about the rest of Luca’s army, the Watchers?”

  His eyes strained as he turned his head toward the window, ignoring my question. Something out there averted his attention. He rose, striding over to the window. His shoulders arched and pulled back, while his eyes remained locked on the trees outside.

  “Michael?” I walked over to stand behind him. “What is it? Who’s there?” I asked searching for movement or bodies outside the window.

  He faced me, embracing me closely. “I must go. They’r
e calling me, Elizabeth.” We watched the swaying trees outside my window. I wondered if his army of angels was patiently waiting for him in the darkness beyond the maples. I clutched him, trying to hold on, never wanting to let go. I couldn’t fathom the idea of being without him, again, knowing he was going into battle with a venomous incubus for the protection of my soul, my body. I was ready. Ready to spend eternity with him in another world, a place where everything sacred was vibrant and beautiful. A place where heaven rested on earth. I never wanted anything more than this. I was prepared to give it all up for the sake of his love. Even if it meant that I had to die.

  Michael held me a little longer, and then headed for the door. He paused before reaching for the doorknob, keeping his back toward me. In a subtle whisper he said, “Say a prayer for me.” And walked out.

  I remained motionless for what seemed like an eternity, frozen inside, making it impossible for me to chase after him. For hours, I lay helpless on my bed, sickened with horrific thoughts of Michael against Luca. My mouth was parched with a stale taste forming on my tongue. It had only hours since he left, yet I already missed the sweet savor of his mouth.

  The summer sun began to set, as depression and fear slowly settled into my bones as the days passed with no word from Michael.

  One beautiful afternoon, I sat pensively at my window, writing a letter to Michael. Someone tapped lightly at my bedroom door, I only prayed it was him returning with news that it was over. Yet, I hoped it wasn’t my mother with another one of her heart to hearts. I just wanted to be left alone.

  “Beth?” a deep voice called from the other side of the wooden barrier. “Can I come in?” Freddie asked.

  I breathed a sigh of relief. I missed my Freddie terribly. It had been several days since I last saw or spoke to him. His surprise visit today lifted all doubts about our friendship and bond. With feeble vigor, I leapt off the window seat, rushing to open the door for him. I sprung myself at him, hugging him as tightly as I had strength in my entire body.