by Kari Chaplin
“Har, har, har, look who’s talking.” I let out a sarcastic chuckle, as I replied, “It wasn’t an apple, and you know that Adam.”
“Someone’s in a bad mood.” Adam leaned in to kiss my cheek.
“Sorry, but these meetings are never a good sign,” I replied.
“I know. This is my forever.” He moved against the wall so I could get past him.
“I know. Mine too.”
The massive cabin was nestled in the middle of a forest. The kitchen was to the left of the front door. The main room was an entertainment room. It was set up for a band to play. In the middle of the room sat a pool table; the back wall supported a huge platinum TV with several gaming systems and a DVD player. I noticed a small bar area in one corner.
“I’m sure you know why I have called you here.” Demien started speaking as a way to gain control of the room.
I looked around at the others here. I had never met them, but I knew who they were. Tonight felt like déjà vu or some deeply forgotten memory a therapist would dig up so they have something to blame your problems on.
Adam stood to my right. I knew him all too well. Next to Adam was a husky, brown-eyed, blonde-haired man named Samson Green. Mark Newton was to my left, nervously fidgeting.
“It’s time to roll, and things are going to get rough. I’ll protect her with Eve’s help.” Demien looked at me.
“As if there is any doubt,” I said, nodding.
“I’m hoping to keep this thing contained so it doesn’t set off the war. We’ve been through this a million times. Just don’t aggravate the situation any more than you must. Remember, walk on glass. I am hoping to end this before it can begin. I really do not have any real hope for that to be the case.”
“Didn’t you start this?” Mark asked. His tone was serious and defiant.
Demien’s eyes burned with guilt. “This is true. I did start this situation. I tried to get the confirmation I needed early on when I first suspected, but I did not achieve it until now. I could not make a single move until I knew for sure. Now that I know, I’m afraid it is too late. I’ve been working to reconcile the situation by trying to make a deal, but I have not been able to work out a suitable agreement. I will not carry out my duty. I will not end her life. I will protect her until the very end. Honestly, he knew or, at least, had a hunch of Vanessa’s spiritual identity. I believe that is why he assigned her death to me.” Demien was serious, holding a strong front. I knew better. He was dying inside.
“Don’t you know when you run into her? I mean it’s been since the beginning of time. Can’t you just tell by now? Doesn’t she have any marking or something that is the same from body to body? I’m tired of going through these conflicts every time you find her. You are supposed to be cursed, not the rest of us.” Mark really handed it to Demien.
Life left Demien’s eyes. “I understand how you feel. Unfortunately, there are no signs of her existence or even if I’ve met her in any lifetime. There have been times when we have unknowingly found each other, but we go our separate ways and she enjoys a full life. It isn’t as if she comes around on a schedule, like every twenty years. She never looks the same from lifetime to lifetime. She takes on the physical features of her current family. Each family she is born into gives her a unique name, and she carries the family surname. She is born in different areas of the world. She does carry my mark, but I am only able to see it when she is ready to show the marking to me. It is not, let’s say, in an obvious place.” His face turned deep red. “I’m not even supposed to find her at all, but I do. All of you in this room are paying back a debt. You are all in this. You can leave at any point. No one is making you stay, but you do have a Holy contract. We are all being punished for our own choices.” Demien stayed calm, showing no emotion.
“Didn’t you say that you are trying to make a deal?” Mark asked.
“Yes, this is true,” Demien replied.
“Well, what’s the holdup? Wouldn’t you take anything that is offered as a deal since you are desperate?” Mark retorted.
“No, when you make a deal with the devil, you have to keep the upper hand.”
“Whatever, man,” Mark replied.
“Lay off, Mark,” I said.
“Oh, Ms. Suck Up is going to tell me to lay off. The only reason you’re mixed up in this mess is because you want to fall back in good graces with God.”
Mark’s words hurt. It was true that was the reason I joined this assignment. But after a few lifetimes, she grew on me.
“You shouldn’t have eaten that apple,” he threw out with a smug expression.
I lost control and started at him. Adam grabbed me and pulled me back. “It wasn’t an apple! Jerk!” It wasn’t that fact that people refer to the fruit as an apple. That was the common misconception. Everyone there knew the truth, which was beside the point. I just hated the reminder. I was tired of being blamed for the downfall of mankind. Let it go already. It happened.
“Back to business,” Demien demanded. “Mark, let me remind you that you pledged allegiance to Angel. You can walk anytime, but I don’t think you really want to do that. You all know what to do.” At that, Demien vanished.
I woke up to my alarm, confused and disoriented. What a strange dream. I sat on the edge of my bed obsessing over the dream and what to make of it. Finally, I decided it must have been an effect of all the strange occurrences that have been going on lately.
Twenty-Five
Vanessa
The gravel road led to a cabin in the middle of nowhere. The road had ended a few miles behind us, but he continued driving on the forest floor, dodging gigantic trees. A few of the trees had a huge hole in the trunk which Demien drove straight through. The forest was thick and lush. The forest floor was rugged and uneven. I saw the need for a Hummer.
The cabin was made of logs. It looked like a Lego log cabin. It was obviously made from the redwood trees, surrounding the place. We, obviously, were not in Oklahoma, anymore. From the outside, the cabin looked fairly decent in size. It was two stories and had an attached three-car garage. On each side of the entrance stood two men well over 6’5”, posed in a military stance, holding rifles.
“What are we doing here?” I asked soaking in my surroundings. Carved on the door was a list of at least a hundred names. I glanced over the list quickly. The last name was my name, Vanessa Scanlon, which I found strange.
“You will be safe here,” Demien said as he opened the door.
We entered the house without another word. It was bigger than I thought. The door opened to a beautiful entryway. The walkway was lined with azaleas to my left and to my right were my orchids. Each flower bloomed as my foot reached it. One at a time, bursts of deep purple to my left and sparkling, gorgeous white to my right. It was magic. It had to be. There couldn’t be any other explanation.
To the right of the walkway was a gourmet kitchen. It had granite countertops and a gorgeous backsplash to complement the countertop and floors. The granite was white with silver specks and tiny red hearts in the corners of each tile. The walls were a very pale yellow. A wooden plaque hung over the entry leading into the kitchen. It had the phrase “You are my reason” carved into it with the year 1457.
To my left was a game room. There was a stage for a band to play in the far-left corner. On the back wall in the center of the room hung a large, flat screen TV and a surround sound system above a wood-burning fireplace. In front of the TV sat a few recliners and a couch with a love seat. Across from the stage were a couple of pool tables, a ping pong table and a couple of arcade-style games.
“Is this your house?” I asked in amazement.
He didn’t say anything in return, which I had grown used to.
“Go ahead,” he said, guessing that I wanted to look around the game room.
The door suddenly busted open. A man with blonde hair that fell just past his shoulders and blue eyes stepped through the door. His lanky build was overloaded with bags… my bags.
> “Vanessa, this is Adam.” Demien introduced us. We nodded heads in greeting.
“I can’t get over how different she looks each time. I would think she would carry a visible identifying mark or something.” Adam shook his head as he squeezed past us.
“Upstairs, third door to the right,” Demien yelled after him.
“Yeah, I remember,” Adam replied, sarcastically.
“Why does he have my things?” I asked, confused.
“I had Adam pack everything after we left.”
“Oh.”
“Go, have a look around,” Demien encouraged.
I did as he instructed, heading into the game room. Everything was top of the line in mint condition, as if he just furnished the place. On the stage sat a 1954 Fender Stratocaster. I recognized that guitar. I had no idea why. I’d never seen it before. I didn’t know much about guitars to begin with, so to recognize this one was odd.
“Do you like that?” I heard Demien’s soft voice in my ear.
I jumped. “I didn’t hear you come in.”
“I didn’t mean to scare you. Would you like for me to play you something?” he asked, quietly.
“Sure.”
He hopped on stage and picked up the guitar. I watched as Demien strummed the strings, tuning it. He looked very natural and comfortable behind the guitar.
“May I ask you something before you start?”
“Anything,” he replied, tuning his guitar.
“What does Zanj mean?”
He stopped tuning the guitar and looked at me with his mouth curved into his famous half-smiling smirk. “Angel.” He immediately went back to his guitar.
“What language is it from?”
Demien did not respond. When I heard the strum of the first chord, my heart stopped. I recognized this song. This song ran deep in my soul. I had been humming that tune since I was a child. It was at the moment I truly felt complete. I had found something that I never realized was incomplete in my life. Everything began to connect. The melody was the most beautiful and passionate tune I had ever heard. It could be best described as a rock ballad. Whoever wrote this, wrote it from their heart, from their experiences. It was the perfect lullaby. It was my lullaby, written for me. I just knew this in my soul.
Images flashed before my eyes. Demien was standing in front of me. He extended his wings and then slowly lifted himself away.
“Demien, come back,” I heard myself call, my voice echoing, but it was too late; he was gone.
In the distance, a girl about 5’6” stood with her side to me. She had straight, black hair. Her skin was medium in color with a thin physique. She appeared to be arguing with another. This girl was about two inches shorter and plump but not what I would call overweight, just slightly big-boned. Her skin was a little paler than the first girl’s. Her hair was bleached blonde and large green eyes. The black-haired girl said, “Stay with me. This is not a fight with high school bullies. You can’t go.”
The other girl responded, “Christie, I have to go. Everything is at stake.”
I was spun into a different scene. Demien and a strange girl were kissing. It was hard to watch. As they broke, I noticed something familiar about her. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but it was someone from my distant past. She was breathtaking. Her hair was light brown with red shimmers. Her hair hung past her waist with tiny curls at the end. Her eyes were bright green. The combination made the girl appear innocent and naive. My eyes were glued to her face. Her face was pale with rosy cheeks. Her crimson lips were full. That wasn’t why I couldn’t take my eyes from her face. There was something about her.
As Demien began to speak, his lips were pointed downward into a frown, “I will be near every second. If you don’t think I’m near, just close your eyes. You will be with me again. I will be back to you as soon as I can.” Demien’s hand moved from her cheek and stopped right under her arms. Her arms were raised, enclosed around Demien’s shoulders. He kissed her again as his hands lead down to her much-engorged stomach. She must have been seven months pregnant or more. “I will save you both,” he promised. Demien bent over and kissed her stomach.
She said nothing. She couldn’t speak through her tears.
“Trista will take you across the seas. Go with her now.” Demien instructed.
“Vessi,” I heard in the distance. I looked around and saw my sister appear from the darkness. “Vanessa, are you here?”
“I’m here,” I replied. “I’m over here.” She didn’t seem to notice me in front of her. My body started shaking and rocking. I couldn’t keep my balance. I fell into darkness.
“Ves, wake up,” I heard my sister call.
I stopped descending, and the darkness began to fill with light. My eyes felt heavy as they opened. Taking a few minutes, I could see the game room and my sister staring at me. Then I asked, “Was I dreaming? Did I fall asleep?”
Shannon grabbed me up and wrapped her arms around me. “I couldn’t find you. I didn’t know what happened. The house was trashed. Blood was everywhere. I was so scared for you.” She was crying. “A man was in your room rummaging through your things.” She was crying hysterically now.
“It’s okay. I’m fine. How did you find me?”
“Myra showed up at the house. She brought me here. Where are we, anyways?” she asked, looking around.
“Um, Demien’s house, I think.” I realized I wasn’t sure where we were. He never answered my question. “Wait... You said Myra. She is okay?”
“Yes. Who is Demien?” she asked, confused.
“A guy from work,” I said. Glancing around the room, I didn’t see him anywhere. “Demien,” I called out.
“He and Myra had to leave,” Adam said as he rounded the corner into the game room.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
I began to have an understanding of what was going on. I had to see if I could talk to them. All of a sudden, I knew how to get to them. I realized what I was able to do. I had to sleep. I knew I couldn’t sleep, but I had to find a way. Medicine would do. I’m so sensitive to it that anything would do. I ran upstairs to go through my purse. I had to have something in there.
“Vanessa, where are you going?” I heard Adam and Shannon call after me.
After throwing my belongings all over the floor in a mad dash, I came up empty. I noticed a bathroom in the far corner of the room. I ran into the bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet. It was bare. I opened all the drawers and cabinets, and still found nothing.
You will find nothing in your search, Demien said, speaking to my thoughts.
“What? Where are you?” I answered back.
I heard his soft chuckle come back. I slid down the wall onto the floor and began crying.
“Come on, Vanessa. Relax and have some fun. Demien and Myra will be back soon. The kitchen is stocked. I’m sure you’re hungry.”
I felt defeated, so I followed Adam downstairs and into the kitchen.
I rummaged through the kitchen but found nothing that looked good. I just wasn’t in a mood to eat.
“I’m just going to go to my room and clean it up,” I announced.
Shannon had no idea what to think of this situation. “Want some company?” she offered.
“No, thank you. I just need some time to think.” I brushed past them and headed upstairs. I felt exhausted. Each step was like wading through quicksand.
When I finally reached my room, I just clasped on the wood-framed bed in the center of the room. It smelled of pine and fresh rain. My eyes felt heavy. The next thing I knew, I was swept away from the cabin. An invisible force, like the wind, was pushing me along the horizon, through the woods. I spun around, taking in my surroundings. I was home. I was in the woods surrounding my house to be exact. I could see my house in the distance. That was strange since redwood trees existed halfway across the country from where I live, several hundreds of miles away. I really was not educated on the possibilities for locations consisting of redwood trees o
utside of the United States. At this point, I still assumed to be in America. But the trip to the cabin and back home seemed only a few minutes of travel. Gravity was guiding me away from my house. I walked about half a mile through the trees until I could hear familiar voices. I heard Demien first.
“They will be here soon.”
“Are you sure?” Myra asked.
I reached the top of the hill where I could see Myra and Demien just below.
“Zanj, come down here,” Demien demanded.
My mouth fell open in shock. How did he know?
“Are you seriously wondering how I knew? Get down here,” I heard his whisper in my ear. I walked down the small hill.
“You have to stay away.”
“I came to stop you,” I said, holding my ground.
“You can’t stop this. Every time you try, you fail, but you still try. This is inevitable. Please let us do this without worrying about you for once,” Myra said.
“I’m not leaving without you,” I said, stubbornly.
“Go ahead, Myra,” Demien encouraged with a nod.
“Ouch!” I screamed. I was ripped out of sleep. “She pinched me,” I said aloud to the white walls. My arm still hurts from her pinch. I decided I was going to get back; I was on the bed willing myself back to sleep.
I awoke just outside of a battlefield. I was behind a tree, looking straight at a fight about ten yards ahead of me. Not just any fight, a fight between good and evil. I saw Demien, wings extended, floating a few feet above the ground. His body tensed. Damn it, Zanj. I told you to stay at the house. Stay out of sight. No matter what happens, do not show yourself.
I was frantically looking for Myra. “Where is she?” I asked in a whisper to myself.
Difference between the good side and evil was simple and clear from sight. Those on Demien’s side had beautiful wings. Their wings were unique to each angel, like snowflakes. Some had gold-colored wings. Others had off white or diamond-colored wings. Demien’s wings were a dark gray with black streaks as always. Some of the angels appeared as overwhelmingly beautiful humans. Others had a divine, not as solid, presence about them. Some were well built like Demien while others were medium or slender. It was hard to take my eyes off of them.
