Embers

by Daniela Elana

  “Oh, why not?”

  “I’m Jewish. I wasn’t ever really devout despite attending Hebrew School and going through the motions of feast days and synagogue services. In my twenties, I dabbled in Jewish Mysticism, the Kabbalah and occult hence how I learned of the book of Enoch. But after what happened with Claudius and all I decided to explore Christianity.”

  “Interesting, I will say that the Apocrypha does help when comparing it with the Bible, thank you again for giving it to me, it really helped me put the pieces together when I was with Azazel.”

  “You’re Welcome.”

  “When I was in Lemuria, I met a servant named Francis, who was illiterate. I taught him to read using the Book of Enoch,” I said. Erich smiled.

  “No way, that’s awesome! Where is he now?”

  “Dead,” I said. Erich’s smile faded.

  “At least he knew the truth,” he said. I nodded. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Anything,” I said, my stomach tightening.

  “Do you ever pine over what you and Azazel had?” he asked. It was a strange question coming from him.

  “Sometimes.”

  “Good.” His face stretched into a grin. Strange. Turning back to Leslie, I noticed she and everyone else was asleep, except for Leo who stared at me. “I’ve returned for you Maricel,” a familiar guttural voice spoke.

  I turned back to Erich. In his place was Azazel. His cobalt eyes and golden hair glowed like a flame as he winked at me. He wore the same cerulean trench coat he donned the April evening we had met at Griffith Park.

  A scream escaped my lips, and the trailer screeched to a halt. Leo ran around to my side, shaking me awake as I quivered.

  “Azazel wasn’t there. It was just a hallucination, I get them too,” he said. I embraced him with a sob. Erich shook his head as he watched.

  “Wait, what happened?” Erich asked.

  “I thought you morphed into Azazel,” I said. Erich frowned.

  “I was driving the entire time.”

  “Are you sure you don’t need any medication?” Kevin said, tapping me. He was now wide awake along with everyone else.

  “She had a nightmare,” Leo said.

  “She was losing her mind,” Mason answered, coming around the trailer to the passenger side, glaring at Leo. “Maricel didn’t have this problem until you arrived!” Mason gripped Leo’s shoulders and shoved him to the ground.

  Leo sprung up like a cheetah and balled up his fist, ready to jab him when Leslie jumped in between them.

  “Cut it out the both of you!” she said.

  Both huffed and got back in the trailer glaring at one another. Leslie traded seats with me.

  “If you ever need anything, I’m here for you,” Mason said. I nodded.

  * * *

  A day and a half later, we arrived at Madison campground at Yellow Stone National Park and set up our tents. I decided I needed to take a walk to clear my head. The smell of firewood from the bonfire our camp had started permeated the air. It helped warm the frigid air from the dropping September temperatures. The scent stuck to my red plaid flannel shirt.

  To keep warm, I hugged myself, balling up my fist into the cuff of my sleeves wandering further into the forest.

  “Why are you distancing yourself?” a male voice asked. I looked up to see Leo standing beside me. He also wore a plaid flannel shirt, but his shirt was navy and under a black leather bomber.

  “I’m still a little shaken after what happened,” I said, continuing to walk. Leo followed behind me.

  “I feel you.” Leo yawned, stretching his arms. “I have something for you,” he said, reaching into his back pocket.

  My eyes widened at the switchblade he held in his hands.

  “What’s this?”

  “I want you to keep this with you for your protection.”

  Backing away, I shook my head.

  “Leo, I can’t. I don’t like weapons.”

  “Maricel, you might need this someday.” He placed it in my palms. My hands shook as I felt the ridges of the grip under the cloth.

  “Fine, but I plan to keep a clean slate,” I muttered to myself, placing it in my back pocket and thinking back to Mu. His gaze shifted to the trees as if he had drifted too deep in thought to hear me mumbling to myself.

  “Do you smell that?” he said. I took a whiff of the air. Mixed within the scent of firewood was a hint of sulfur, and I pinched my nose.

  “It wreaks of sulfur,” I said. “It’s probably the result of the PH levels lowering.”

  “Or a demon.” A slight grin spread across his angular face.

  “I highly doubt it.”

  “Maybe Mason…”

  “That’s not funny.”

  “Speaking of Mason, he is possessive of you.”

  “Possessive is an overstatement, we were good friends before you came around,” I said. Leo shook his head.

  “Friends?” He smirked.

  “What are you trying to get at?”

  “He sees you a more than a friend.”

  “He’s very protective of his friends.”

  “I don’t see him worrying about his other friends or coworkers to the extent he does with you.”

  “I left him hanging when things were rough, and since nothing has been the same.”

  “He’s always been that way about you. I noticed this before I intervened and just watched the two of you.”

  “He took me in and mentored me,” I said. Leo moved closer to me, picking a piece of lint off my shoulder. “He’s like a father to me.”

  “So was Azazel...”

  “I don’t like where this conversation is going,” I said, looking away.

  “I’m just calling it how I see it. The touching, the way he watches you and the jealousy. Next, he’ll be down on one knee asking you to marry him,” he said.

  “None of this is comical, the last time I was engaged it was a huge disaster,” I said, running away from him.

  “Maricel, wait up!”

  I ran nearby the camps. Mason was returning from making a trip into town warning the locals and campers of the impending danger. He donned a brown suede jacket and boots. His tri-color aviators reflected the evening sunset.

  He plodded over to me and glanced back at Leo chasing after me. Mason pulled me aside.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, removing his shades and glaring at Leo.

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” I said. Mason put his arm around me.

  I walked with him over and took a seat on a log around the fire. The flames cast a soft glow on Mason’s face as Caroline handed him an acoustic guitar. He adjusted the strap around his shoulder, strummed it and begin to sing. His voice was more profound than I imagined. A chill whisked up my spine with the way his eyes glistened at me with every note he hit. Gulping, his words and voice dissipated as I looked to the embers within the flame.

  The thud of Leo’s boots as he joined us ten minutes later snapped me back into the moment I’d dissociated from. He settled down across from me. Every time our eyes would meet rather than holding our usual gaze, he would look away while he fidgeted with his hands.

  A roar of clapping came as Mason wrapped up his song.

  “What’d you think?” Mason asked.

  “It was beautiful,” I said. Mason grinned and set down the guitar and leaned in and whispered.

  “I wrote the song for you.”

  “Erich and I heard, there’s supposed to be an asteroid in Florida coinciding with a category 2 hurricane developing and headed for the golf in another week or so. We were thinking to check it out,” Leslie cut in, to my relief.

  “I think that sounds like a great idea,” I said.

  “We should try to track the activity occurring in the heavens and earth, each of them could be their own sign,” Caroline said. I thought about what Leslie said about the asteroid.

  I motioned to grab my
plate of food from Caroline as she handed it to me. Mason took my hand before it reached the plate. Everyone around the fire fell silent. Caroline gasped as Mason reached into his pocket to retrieve a white box. Leo crossed his arms.

  “Maricel, the past couple of months have been chaotic. But through it all, we formed a unique friendship. Although I’m just getting to know you....” he said. I gasped, covering my mouth. “I want to take the next step as your boyfriend.” He opened the box and in it was a pearl necklace. Tears gathered in my eyes as he came around behind me, fitting it around my neck.

  “Wait!” I said as he motioned to clasp it around my neck. He froze, and I gulped. “I...need to think about it, I’m still healing from Azazel. I’m so sorry, Mason.” I got up and pulled my feet forward to walk away. A lump formed in my throat and I turned to see Mason with his head down.

  It was the first time I’d seen him with his head hanging low. A great rift formed in my heart, but compromising our friendship for the sake of placating him was out of the question.

  I dashed deep into the forest. Each evergreen seemed as if it were spinning and narrowing the around me. Cupping my head, I did everything to block out the last several minutes. How could I have been so blind? His intentions had always been clear. Anyone else would’ve seen his intent from a mile away. My loneliness and desperation for another soul like myself kept me from seeing through our “friendship” Now Mason’s willingness to lend an ear, his ability to believe everything I said and is hatred of Leo all made sense.

  I slowed to a stop, catching my breath. Shrill screams echoed off the Engelmann spruce and Whitebark trees, stretching to the heavens.

  With the last slither of energy in me, I sprinted until I saw the back of Caroline and Leslie looking ahead.

  “What’s the matter?” I said.

  Caroline pointed—her hands shaking. Leslie covered her mouth, I came around to get a closer look.

  Outside a tent laid four charred bodies. My chest stung as if it had been pierced by a spear. “We have to get out of here!”

  From afar, the trees beyond us snapped from their roots as a large body of water swept towards us. A few deer in the current’s pathway boiled from their hooves up under the high acidic levels.

  From the other side, another current rushed in. We were surrounded.

  “Quick, climb the tree!” I hollered.

  I hugged the bark, pulling myself up to the branches and I extended a hand to Caroline, helping her up the tree branch. Leslie followed behind her. We climbed as high as we could get it while the tree shook from the acid eating at its roots.

  CHAPTER 5

  calamities

  The roar of a motorboat racing toward us, kicking up the water behind it snapped me back to reality. Caroline used her scarf to signal it. Just eight feet short of us, the boat whisked to a stop.

  “You’re all going to have to jump! There’s not much time!” Leo hollered. Leslie hopped first, landing inside.

  Caroline hurled through the air next. Her scarf slipped from her neck, dropping into the boiling water with a melt. She barely made it inside the boat and clutched the edge of it. Leslie pulled her further on. The tree I remained in sunk descending into the rising waters.

  “Maricel jump!” Leo hollered at me.

  My feet left the branches, my arms flailing. Leslie and Caroline gasped.

  I landed on the back of a jet ski that raced out of nowhere and clutched to a helmeted rider. We sped toward the mountain range away from the acidic waters. The dark silhouette of the trees flew past us as starlight lit our path.

  Several minutes later we reached a dry spot of the forest. The rider parked the jet ski on the newly formed shore. The bottom of the Jet Ski was melted. I turned as the rider removed his helmet and Mason shook his shaggy dark hair out of his eyes.

  Caroline and Leslie were already waiting for us and were reunited with their husbands. Leo watched with his mouth agape.

  “We don’t have much time to sleep, it’s already eleven. We need to be up by seven because the volcanic activity is expected by eleven, and we need enough time to evacuate the area. It could be sooner with the pH levels as low as they are,” Mason said.

  I lay flat on my back in the camper sweating growing too hot for the blankets. When I tossed them aside, I was too cold. My eyelids flickered until they shut.

  * * *

  I rose off the bed gliding through the ceiling into the dark starry heavens floating into every sphere of the atmosphere.

  Obsidian wings covered me while a sharp current of electricity shot through me when my body met his. His torso was still hard and warm as I remembered. I raised my head to the pale face gazing down at me with flaring cobalt eyes and golden spirals standing off his head like a halo.

  “We will meet again,” Azazel said as he held me. My face dampened with tears.

  Then as fast as I ascended, I fell through the camper into bed.

  * * *

  My eyes popped open with a gasp. I slipped out of the tent. Several feet away, Leo, staggered towards the water like a drunkard. Judging by his closed eyes, it was apparent he was sleepwalking. I ran after him. But he halted just as my hand was inches from his skin and I fell.

  Out of the shapeless volume of water formed a woman. I hid behind a tree as he spoke to Naamah.

  “How long will it take you to deliver her to me?”

  “I’m still working on it,” he said.

  “If you still want to be a prince, you will have to hurry or else I can find another,” she said.

  “Your highness I won’t fail you,” he said. I turned and ran back into my tent.

  * * *

  The next morning, Mason shook me. I stirred, smiling at him. He pushed my hair out of my face beaming.

  “I’m sorry about putting you on the spot last night.”

  “Mason you don’t have to apologize.”

  “No, I misread our interactions this past month and made a scene when I should’ve asked you in private that way you didn’t feel so overwhelmed and we weren’t both embarrassed.”

  “Mason....”

  “Maricel, when you left last night, I was hurt. After nearly losing you to the flood, I reflected on the thought of being separated from you forever even as a friend,” he said, brushing a tear from his eye. “If you don’t feel the same way, I can live with remaining friends. Having you in my life is good enough.”

  I sat up in bed.

  “About last night...I was afraid.”

  “Afraid?”

  “Afraid of what moving beyond friendship would do to our already strong bond.”

  “Maricel, you have nothing to fear. I will always protect you, whether or not we are romantically together or not”

  “Mason, the answer is yes, I want to take the next step.” I hugged him. He scooped me off the bed, set me down on the floor on my feet, and twirled me around.

  “What in the world is going on?” Caroline peeked into the camper, overhearing us.

  “She said, yes!” Mason danced. She smiled.

  “Congrats, you two make the cutest couple,” she said. Mason pushed my hair to the side and placed the necklace around my neck, as he did there was a lump in my throat. He took my hand, strolling to breakfast with me.

  Everyone but Leo sat outside on lawn chairs munching on eggs and toast. They all looked up grinning as they saw Mason and I held hands.

  “Congratulations.” Leslie smiled.

  Leo emerged from beyond the forest, his hair was unkempt. He rubbed his partially open eyes. When he noticed the necklace around my neck, his eyes popped wide open.

  “We better get a move on,” Mason said. He placed his hand on my back, moving me along while everyone shuffled to pack up their things, putting their tents inside the camper.

  * * *

  After breakfast, Leo disappeared again and three hours passed since the predicted eruption. I sat beside Leslie as she fanned
herself, listening to the men’s conversation. Erich started for the cooler to grab a coke.

  “Maybe it was a false alarm,” Kevin said as he folded his lawn chair standing to leave. The blades of a chopper roared overhead.

  “What’s going on?” I said to Mason.

  “I called in a chopper because we should leave,” Mason said.

  “What’s the rush?” Erich said, popping his can of soda open.

  “We have overstayed our visit,” Mason said.

  “And nothing has happened, so what’s a few more hours of this scenic view,” Kevin said.

  A slow-simmering rumble disrupted Kevin’s folding. Erich’s beverage splashed the terrain with the crackle of rocks hitting the earth. My gaze lifted to old faithful. Thick smoke curled, blackening the air. Down her slopes orange viscous molten lava shot out.

  “Run!” Mason shouted, sprinting for the rescue ladder.

  “Hurry!” the pilot shouted at us while extending the rope ladder. Everyone rushed up the ladder, gripping the wooden rungs to steady their climb. I clutched to each step, pulling myself up as it swayed. The horizon lit up with an array of slivers lightning gleaming through the ash cloud. My fingertips landed on the padded floor of the helicopter but slipped. Mason’s hand grasped my falling hand, pulling me into the chopper.

  “That was a close call,” I said.

  “Too close,” he said. The helicopter faltered with the molten rocks hurling for it. A deep boom like that of a voice rattled me as it followed a streak of lightning.

  “God is speaking,” I muttered to myself.

  “Is everyone on?” the pilot asked.

  “That should be everyone,” Mason said.

  “What about Leo?” I said.

  “We don’t have time to go back!” Mason said. I closed my eyes, praying under my breath when a knocking on the window interrupted my prayer, and I peeked out to see Leo holding onto the skids. Mason’s mouth moved to shout against it. Before he could utter a word, I opened the door. Leo slid inside. Mason jutted his chin as he watched us.

  “Where were you?” I asked Leo.