by S.A. Tadej
Devin stood up. “I didn’t choose this!” he screamed. Then he let out a roar and lunged at Damien. Damien moved out of the way just as Devin pounced, causing him to hit the ground hard. Damien chuckled.
“Come on, brother, we’ve been damned. The very moment we were bitten, we became marked for damnation. We’re so far from the light that our eyes can only see at night. There’s your proof. I mean come on, when’s the last time you saw the light?” Damien asked.
“You’re wrong. It’s true I hadn’t seen the light in a long time. But since,” his voice drifted off. “Since I met her, I’ve started to see the light again.”
“Yeah, and how is that?” Damien asked.
“In her eyes. When I look into her pale blue eyes, I see nothing but light. Her whole being radiates light.”
Damien was silent for a few minutes as he thought over what Devin had said. “The girl must die. She must die or she must become part of his army. If you won’t do it, I’ll do it myself,” Damien warned, then spun around and angrily stormed off toward the house.
Devin ran and caught up with him. “Wait! I’ll do it. I just need more time.”
“More time for what?”
“To make her trust me. It’ll be easier if she trusts me.”
Damien thought it over for a minute. “You’ve got a week. If you still haven’t done it by then, the girl is mine.”
“They’ll fight for her,” Devin muttered under his breath.
“And we’ll be ready,” Damien responded.
Chapter 7
“Nicole, are you almost ready? We’re going to be late,” my mother yelled up to me.
“Give me a few more minutes, mom,” I called back.
I looked myself over in the full-length mirror, smoothing my hand over the long black sleeveless dress I wore. I can’t believe I’m getting ready to go to Jim’s funeral. Jim. I hadn’t wanted to be with him anymore after he showed me his abusive side, but I still loved him. He was my first love and I would always have a special place for him in my heart. And now he was dead. Memories of the happy times Jim and I had together overtook me and I began to cry again.
Luckily, I hadn’t bothered applying eye makeup, knowing I would be doing a lot of crying today. My mother was shouting for me again. I wiped my eyes, grabbed my black suede cowboy hat and opened my bedroom door. Nevaeh looked up at me.
“Not this time, sweetie. You gotta stay here,” I said soothingly as I patted her head.
We drove to the funeral home in silence. The weather seemed to fit my mood perfectly. It was dark and a light rain was beginning to fall. Everything we passed along the way seemed to remind me of Jim in some way or another. I didn’t want to feel what I was feeling; didn’t want to believe where I was going.
After the wake, we all headed over to the cemetery for Jim’s burial. As he was being lowered into the ground, the rain picked up. People started running to the safety of their vehicles as loud thunder shook the ground. I lingered, unable to peel my eyes off of the lowering casket. My mind felt strangely detached from my body as I watched; too weak to move, too upset to care about the rain that was drenching me.
I felt hands clasp around my arm and turned my head to meet my brother’s eyes. “Its lightning, come on!” he yelled as he dragged me to the car. I didn’t fight him; just let him pull me back to the car.
We drove home in sullen silence as angry rain pounded the windshield. I leaned my head back against the seat and closed my eyes. By the time we reached the house, the rain had slowed back down to a drizzle and everything was calm once again.
I silently walked up to my room and peeled off my rain soaked dress. I grabbed my white sleeveless nightgown and a dry pair of panties and walked into the bathroom. Nevaeh followed me. I sat at the edge of the tub and stroked the top of her head as I waited for the water to fill.
As I laid back in the hot water, there was a knock at the door. “Nicole, honey, hurry up. The news is giving out a tornado warning for our area,” my mother informed me.
“Okay,” I said as I quickly finished my bubble bath. I pulled my nightgown over my head and brushed my hair. Then I walked over to the window and looked out. The sky appeared to be a strange shade of green and was nearly cloudless. The approaching storm had moved close enough that I could hear a low rumble of thunder in the distance.
As I was walking down the stairs, the lights dimmed for an instant, followed by a shrill crack of thunder. I continued down the stairs and past my mother, whom called something out to me that I didn’t quite hear. I kept moving until I reached the front door, pulling it open, as I glared at the darkening sky, its image captivating me.
I stepped outside as sharp zigzag lines of lightning spiked in the distance. The air was so still that nothing moved; so heavy that it was hard to breathe. It seemed surreal. The sky, growing darker by the second, was a funny shade of green. Like baby food peas. I watched as dark clouds quickly formed into strange looking shapes. The clouds were moving so fast and low that I almost believed I could jump up and grab them. A bolt of lightning cracked close enough that I nearly jumped out of my skin. The ground shook.
The wind began to pick up, strong gusts lifting the lower branches of the old oak tree. Another loud crack of thunder shook the ground. The angels are bowling. That’s what my mama had always said when there was thunder. Another strike of lightning hit the oak tree a few feet away from me. A large branch cracked and came rushing toward me, missing me by mere inches, as I stood there unable to make my legs move.
My mother and brother frantically called out to me. I ignored them, mesmerized by what I was seeing. The warning siren started blaring. I watched as another large branch crashed to the ground a few feet away from me. Hail the size of golf balls began to fall. I shielded my head with my hands as I willed myself to move and jogged back to the house. The wind was picking up, making it hard for me to run against it. When I reached the front door, I turned back around and watched. Nevaeh barked and looked at me pleadingly as if trying to beg me to come inside.
The clouds began to spiral around in a quick circle, dipping down at the ground. The sky turned hot as it began to swirl faster and faster. The air filled with an angry roaring noise. Tommy grabbed my arm and pulled me inside just as the air began to rush out of the house, pulling items along with it and sucking it out into the strong spiraling winds.
As Tommy, my mother, Nevaeh and I ran for the basement, a tremendous crash from outside shook the house. I could hear glass shattering as the savage gusts of wind blew the windows out. I looked over at my mother, whom looked as if she would pass out. No matter how many big storms we got, she still would never get used to them. I reached over and lightly touched her hand as I smiled at her. She reached over and pulled me into a hug. Tommy joined us and we sat huddled together, Nevaeh’s head on my leg, until the storm passed.
When all was quiet, Tommy got up and held his hand out to my mother and then to me, helping me up. “Is everyone okay?” he asked.
My mother began to sob and I put my arm around her. Nevaeh followed us up the stairs. “Oh, look at this!” my mother cried.
All the living room and kitchen windows had blown out. There were bits of glass and many of the contents of the rooms were strewn about all over, some of it outside.
“At least the TV looks like it’s okay,” Tommy joked. He walked over to it and plugged it back in. My mother must have unplugged it when the storm got closer, like she always had. He turned the power on and it turned on, but there was no signal. “Well, lets get started cleaning this place up,” he said, his voice devoid of all enthusiasm.
“I’ll get the broom and dustpan,” I offered halfheartedly. After everything that had happened recently and having to go to my ex-boyfriend’s funeral earlier that day, cleaning was the last thing I wanted to do. But I couldn’t admit that to my mother as upset as she was.
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��I’ll go out to the barn. There’s some boards out there I can use to cover the windows until we can get them replaced,” Tommy said.
I went to work in the kitchen, sweeping up piles of glass as my mother held the trash bag open. Then we moved back into the living room and did the same thing in there. After all the glass had been cleaned up, we went about trying to put everything that wasn’t broken back in its proper place. I helped my mother for a while, and then left to help Tommy board up the windows. I didn’t even want to think about what kind of damage we would find upstairs.
I heard Nevaeh bark and glanced over my shoulder. I noticed that the front door was open and Nevaeh was standing in the middle of the yard. Oh shit! My dog! What if she ends up getting hurt out there, or runs into the road and gets hit? I let go of the board I was holding up and ran out the front door. The front yard was a mess as I had expected. There were broken tree branches down all over the yard and in the road. Pieces of siding from the house were mangled and strewn about. Ignoring Tommy’s calls, I walked over to where Nevaeh was standing, staring out at something. Nevaeh let out a moan. “What is it, girl? What do you see?”
I looked around me and saw that there were beautiful purple and black butterflies all over. What was it that butterflies symbolized again? It was something having to do with the soul, wasn’t it? I put my hand out to touch one and it flew away, only to return and perch on my shoulder. Another one landed on my finger. I pulled my finger toward me to get a closer look at the butterfly and I noticed that the weird scar on my finger appeared to be glowing. I turned my eyes back to Nevaeh.
My eyes followed her gaze out in the bean field across the street a distance, near the run down abandoned old barn Jim and me used to sneak over to. A few rays of sun had cleared through some clouds and formed a golden luminous arc. Coming out of the side of the one cloud was a beautiful rainbow. It was so big that I couldn’t see where it ended. I closed my eyes and opened them again, watching the marvelous colors of the rainbow as they deepened and then faded. There were bright flashes of lightning that appeared to be striking over and over again in the same spot under the arc, yet there was no thunder. I grabbed Nevaeh’s collar and began walking toward the golden arc, carefully stepping over broken branches and other rubble along the way.
As I got closer, Nevaeh got out of my grasp and began running, barking loudly. I ran after her, calling her name. I watched as she ran into the field right below the luminous arc, began howling, and then sat down and bowed her head.
Falling – it was the first thing he felt as he descended from the heavens. Bright white lightning masked his descent from the eyes of the human world as he closed his eyes and made the long, dizzying fall. His eyes were still closed as he hit the ground, landing on his feet in a squat with his palms on the ground.
His eyes burned too bright for this world, or so it seemed as he slowly opened them and tried to adjust to the darkness. He stood up slowly. In the distance he heard the barking of a dog. But not just any dog – it was a protector. The girl’s protector. The same girl he was now ordered to protect. Uriel – or Nicole, as I was now called. He knew everything about the beautiful fair-skinned blond. He had memorized every detail right down to my gleaming white smile.
Now as he squinted to see through the thick fog, he saw me. To him I was just as radiant as ever, my eyes full of innocent wonder. I was jogging toward him. He knew he couldn’t let me see him yet. The time wasn’t right. His orders had been clear. There were things he had to do first. He had to hide, but where? He looked around and spotted the old abandoned barn. He was quick on his feet, reaching the place in mere seconds.
I was out of breath by the time I reached Nevaeh. Night was quickly falling and the air felt muggy and still. As I reached down to grab her collar, I noticed that the air had a strong scent of roses. I raised my head up and looked out. At first I thought it was fog I was seeing, but then I realized it was smoke. Was something on fire?
I walked into the smoky blue fog and noticed the field was on fire. I shielded my eyes from the smoke, and then turned back toward it. It was then that I noticed that it wasn’t the whole field that was on fire. It was just a small section, maybe ten feet by ten feet. And it was only burning at the edges. I walked a little closer and saw that the edges formed a cross. What the! Are you kidding me? I must be losing my mind. I closed my eyes tightly shut for a few minutes. Then I reopened them and dared to look again. Yes, it was definitely shaped like a cross. Oh geeze! Probably some stupid teenage prank. I need to call the fire department before it spreads.
Just as I had that thought, a strong wind came and blew the flames out. I stood in disbelief watching the cross smoke.
He could see me standing in the same spot where he had stood only moments earlier, and he watched. He could see the confusion and awe on my face as I stood surrounded by perfect prismatic rays. Tension started curling up in his belly and he began to pace. He wanted so much to run to me and scoop me up in his arms and tell me that he was going to protect me from the evil I would soon be facing and the fight that lie ahead. We were old friends after all, but he couldn’t mess with my free will. I had a right to choose. Only when my free will was taken from me, which it would be, could he intervene.
I would first need to see for myself what we were up against. He cringed at the thought. One thing he was sure of – absolutely positive of – he would not fail. He would not fail me.
He was a warrior. Created to walk against the wind and stand up and fight. He would fight with blood; fight with steel. He’d strike down them all and they would know his calling. It was his name that bravery called in the sound of the wind. He would fight in the dawn of battle and demons would fall, for he was an angel of the light. But not just any angel, he was an Arc – and that stood for something.
It wasn’t often that an Arc came to Earth. He had legions of angels to handle most situations. But this time was different. The fallen had risen and were claiming new souls by the day. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the dark army was now after one of heaven’s own.
Still, this would be a challenge for him. He would become nearly human for this mission; seeing and feeling things that he wasn’t accustomed to.
I must have stood there for some time, for it was almost completely dark when I turned to walk back to the house. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw a man in the distance wearing a long black trench coat watching me. I spun around and he was gone. God, please don’t let me be seeing things. Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was being watched.
When I walked in the front door, my mother and brother stopped what they were doing and looked up at me. “Just where the hell were you?” Tommy yelled.
“I just saw the most amazing thing.”
“Well, while you were out exploring, mom and me have been stuck doing all the cleanup.”
I smiled at my brother and raised my eyebrows, an invitation to see the humor in my leaving, but he declined the offer. Seeing how upset they were, I decided to skip telling them what I had seen. I lowered my eyes and muttered “sorry” under my breath. “Did you check the upstairs yet?” I asked.
“Yeah, it’s a mess,” Tommy said as he climbed down the ladder. “Mom and I got all the windows boarded up there though. And I cleaned up all the glass in my and mom’s rooms. You just need to get your own.”
“Thanks,” I said almost silently as I picked up the broom and dustpan and headed into the kitchen to grab a trash bag. Finding one, I ran up the stairs with Nevaeh quick at my heels.
My phone was ringing when I reached my room. It was Devin wanting to see me. I explained about Jim’s funeral earlier that day and the tornado and told him I was too drained to come out. Then I hung up the phone and looked around. My room was a mess. I quickly cleaned up the glass, then kicked my shoes off and fell back on my bed. The rest of the mess could wait until tomorrow.
I climbed under the covers and closed my eyes. Sleep quickly overtook me.
I had a series of nightmares that night. The first one was of Jim. I was at his funeral and when I stood over his casket, I heard knocking. I opened the lid and Jim’s corpse sat up. His face was mostly skeletal, with pieces of bloody flesh hanging off in places. His eyeballs hung by a thread. He reached out for me and I shrank back as he pulled at me with inhuman strength. ‘I love you, Nicole. Come with me,’ he said as he pulled me on top of him in the casket. Maggots began crawling out of his eye sockets and I screamed as he pulled the lid closed and the casket was lowered into the ground. ‘Now we can be together forever,’ he said as dirt showered over the casket and I heard evil laughs.
I woke up gasping for air. It was just a nightmare, Nicole. The room was dark, but I could hear Nevaeh snoring next to me. I pet her head then got up and walked into the bathroom. I splashed cold water over my sweaty face then cupped some into my hands and began gulping it down. I backed up against the wall then let my body slide down it until I was sitting on the floor. I sat with my elbows on my knees, holding my hair in clumps at my temples. My head began to throb. I sat there a few more minutes, then got up and retrieved my prescription bottle from the medicine cabinet I had put it in earlier. I popped two pills with some water from the sink, splashed more cold water on my face and walked back to my room.
No sooner had my head hit the pillow and I was out again. I dreamt I was walking in the fields with Jim. We were smiling, laughing, and playing around. Then from out of nowhere, a huge coyote bounded forward and grabbed Jim. ‘Help me, Nic. Help me!’ he was screaming as the coyote dragged him away. I ran after him and the scenery changed. Suddenly I was at Jim’s funeral again and he was pulling me into the casket with him as he had in my earlier dream. I woke up screaming.
When I finally willed myself back to sleep yet again, I had another strange dream. This one was the same dream as the night before with Devin and Nevaeh. Only this time, there was a man standing there in the distance next to cross-shaped flames in the field. He was wearing a long black trench coat and was looking down. I walked closer and closer to him in the dream, trying to get a glimpse of his face. When I finally got close enough, he looked up at me and smiled. He had the most beautiful blue eyes I had ever seen. Only I had seen them before. They were bright yet dark and they seemed to glow. They were the same blue eyes I had seen when I had my accident. And the same blue eyes Nevaeh had had after chasing Devin.