Embers

by Daniela Elana

  “Doesn’t matter,” Leo said with a scowl.

  “Does my mother know, we are bound for Florida?” I turned to Mason.

  “I informed her over the phone, and I sent for Hans take her there.”

  I held onto my chest as my heart pulsated with the quiver of my body. The woman piloting the chopper kept a straight face while she maneuvered through the thick blanket of ash.

  “Thank you for coming to our aid. It has to be tough piloting through this fiasco,” I said to the pilot.

  “Earthquakes are happening all over the country. Both the San Andres fault line and New Madrid erupted. Something that never should’ve been,” she said, brushing a tear from her eye.

  * * *

  Five hours later, the chopper touched down at the Mitchel air force base in New York City. Distraught people scrambled around the base as hysteria permeated the air. A large television screen displayed scenes from America’s Hot Seat of the eruption of Old Faithful at Yellowstone. The awakening of the Teton fault had set off several other fault lines cross country as far southwest and east as San Andres in Southern California to the New Madrid fault line in the boot hill of Missouri. With the massive volcano eruption and earthquakes, survivors were trying to locate eastward.

  Mason guided us through the sea of panicked faces. He spoke to an officer, exchanging something in a container. They shook hands, and the officer glanced back at us with a sigh. What sort of bargain had they made?

  “How many do you have with you?” the officer asked.

  “Seven,” Mason answered.

  The man eyed all of us and instructed us to follow him. The officer had an aircraft prepared, and he called over another officer.

  “Warren!” he hollered at the second officer. Warren sprinted over. “Can you escort these folks to Pensacola and guard them?” the officer asked Warren. Warren surveyed us all and nodded.

  “I’m Warren Cabrera. It’ll be my pleasure flying you all to Pensacola,” Warren said. He turned to Kevin and smiled. “Wait a minute, I know you!”

  “It’s been some time, Cabrera. How’s life treated you?” Kevin asked.

  “Pretty damn good, Walter.”

  “Did you marry Katherine?”

  “Nah, when I returned from serving, she had moved on to a friend.”

  “I always knew there was something off about her.”

  “You did warn me, didn’t you,” he said.

  “You’re 26. You got time to settle down,” Kevin said.

  “Ha, 27 in a couple of months. Hey, Caroline.” Warren waved to her

  “It’s been four years since we met,” Caroline said.

  “I see Kevin is just as crazy about you as he was when he served.” Warren nudged Kevin. “I say once we settle down in Pensacola the drink is on me,” Warren said. Kevin and Caroline smiled. “Who are the rest of these people?”

  “Friends. We just returned from Yellowstone.”

  “Damn! You came all the way from there? You guys must have barely made it out. I hear that place is demolished!” Warren’s eyebrows rose as he followed us to the craft.

  * * *

  After 9:00 pm, we arrived at the Elgin air force base. As I journeyed down the jet bridge, my knees buckled as my hair whipped my face obstructing my view. I had to push it back, almost missing the final step.

  A hand grasped mine. Looking up, I met Leo’s gaze. Our eyes locked. Heat traveled to my face with the departure of our skin.

  “Thank you,” I said in a soft tone. Leo didn’t seem to hear as he walked away without a response.

  A group of armed officers awaited us with convoys. Caroline, Kevin, and Warren entered a tank with the driver. Eric and Leslie got in with a second driver. They turned back to Leo, Mason and I as we stood there.

  “Are you riding with us, Mar?” I moved forward to come with them. To my surprise, Leo yanked me back.

  “What do you think you’re doing touching my girlfriend?” Mason said. Leo stepped forward, Mason moved closer to Leo, standing over him. He was a couple inches taller and glared down at him. Leo looked up, holding the stare.

  “We don’t have time for this,” I said.

  Mason took my hand and helped me into the third car. Leo climbed on the other side, and Mason shook his head at him.

  I sat beside Mason and across from Leo. Mason put his arm around me, and I cupped the side of my face to mask my growing discomfort. Leo crossed his arms as he watched us.

  Outside some people who had strayed from tent cities along the roads cleared the way while others got combative with the tanks. Molotov cocktails flew through the air, smoking the ground in front of us. The tanks swerved around them.

  The protestors shouted profanities about fascism giving me flashbacks of my coronation with Azazel. Others scurried around the streets, fighting cops. It was evident that some of them had managed to turn the tables fleeing the camps with the help of the revolutionaries. A man stood on top of a burning car reciting the constitution, ripping a replica of it to pieces.

  “Look at all of those criminals out there looting, rioting, and fighting. Those savages are tearing the nation apart!”

  “What the hell did you think was going to happen? This nation is modern-day Babylon build on bloodshed, thievery, and slavery,” Leo said.

  “America might have had a rocky start, but it’s still a Christian nation, and that doesn’t mean everyone today deserves to pay for the sins of their ancestors,” Mason said.

  “Like it or not. You reap what you sew, and everyone is paying today with the collapse of the economy, disease, empty bellies, natural disasters, and failed government protection,” Leo said.

  “Since their plight resonates so well with you, Leonardo, why don’t you join them on the street? You would fit in with the clowns. Then again, what could a brute offer them but more madness.”

  “You may have been able to dodge much of the internal disaster so far, but when it’s all said and done, no one will be safe, including the self-indulgent plutocrats.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Mason, that’s enough and Leo I see where you’re coming from but arguing isn’t going to solve anything at the moment,” I said. They both fell silent. Leo watched me as I sat across from him. Mason placed his hand on my hand rested on my knee. I jerked my knee away.

  * * *

  My mother stood on the limestone balcony, just above the vineyard. When she spotted us from below arriving in the row of tanks through the gates, she tore down the winding iron steps. When she reached me, I embraced her. Her eyes watered as she held me.

  “I’m so glad you’re safe!” she said. “All of the seismic activity from the Cascadia, Teton New Madrid and San Andres quakes affected the Dallas area as well. California and most of Oregon and Washington sunk beneath the sea.”

  “My God, what’s happening,” I said.

  * * *

  Kaboom! A loud blast shattered my eardrums, leaving a pile of rubble beneath my feet. There were remnants of shrapnel dispersed across the pavement.

  My tennis shoe got caught on a piece of metal as I sprang over debris. I fell face-first on the floor, twitching in pain as the clamor of large boots marching in single file surged throughout my eardrums.

  The smoke cleared, revealing a legion of masked men drawing closer. I planted my sore palms on the debris rising to stand, but the fray of my jacket hooked me to a splint of wood.

  The oversized shadow of the legion of figures alerted me of their presence overhead. Gazing upward, my pupils constricted in terror with the realization that the army was not comprised of mere men but giants.

  * * *

  I awoke in the middle of the night sweating with a dry, aching throat. The faint tune of alternative rock disrupted the silent night. Pushing aside the quilted comforter, I swung my legs over the bed onto the vinyl floor.

  From a distance in the long hall, under the archway, a light seeped from inside of an
other bedroom. The door was ajar. I pushed it open and leaned against the frame cross-armed.

  Leo stood shirtless in the center of the room, throwing knives at a dartboard. He never missed the target—His precision was perfect.

  * * *

  I gasped, and he whisked around, so fast that I lost my balance. He rolled back his shoulders, looking down at me.

  “I see you came to watch. Enjoy the show?” He offered his hand, but I stood on my own brushing the dust off my sleeves.

  “I couldn’t help it with the music playing. I could hear it from all the way down the hall.”

  “You’re having trouble sleeping again?”

  “Yes.” My eyes narrowed at him.

  “Same here.”

  “More nightmares?”

  “Yes.”

  “The kind that wakes you up to throw knives at a board at one in the morning?” I smirked. He held his sentence as his lips pressed into a thin line. I turned to leave.

  “Wait!” I pivoted around.

  “Be careful with your boyfriend.”

  “Okay, what’s with you?” I said.

  “Don’t you find it strange that he’s been so prepared for every disaster that’s happened?”

  “Not really. Mason did what any individual that understands end times eschatology would do who had the resources. He invested wisely.”

  “When the dollar crashed, how did he know the new currency they would switch to?”

  “By studying the global market.”

  “He’s one of them.”

  “One of who?”

  “The same elite that’s a part of the problem.”

  “No—“

  “He’s very modest about how he comes across with you and your friends. His capital is obvious with how he refers to everyone outside of his bubble as savages.”

  “Mason comes from a hardworking family who accumulated their wealth over several generations. He’s a hardworking man himself. His use of language for those protesting is problematic, but he doesn’t agree with their method of civil disobedience.”

  “Bullshit, Maricel. He’s a bigot.”

  “Why all the accusations? You act like he’s the devil.”

  “Wouldn’t be surprised,” he said. I frowned and walked off. Leo stood, taking a sip of water, watching me as I disappeared.

  * * *

  The next morning I awoke feeling as if the little sleep I had vanished with the peel of my eyelids.

  I showered and slipped into a polyester t-shirt and jeans and shuffled down the halls and l-shaped stairs passed the entryway scattered with baroque déco. When I crossed the living room, I noticed a King James Bible laying on the leather ottoman, and I scooped it up. I ventured to the dining room, taking a seat at the rustic wooden table, opening up the bible to the book of Mathew chapter 24. My eyes moved across the page, taking in all that Jesus spoke of concerning the time of the end.

  “Do you ever sleep?” I jumped at the sound of the deep voice, my gaze lifted to behold Leo. He wore a camo jacket and dark faded jeans opposed to his usual all black dress. His matching camo baseball cap emphasized the slanted shape of his eyes.

  “I’m an insomniac. You don’t seem to sleep much either,” I said, tucking my hand under my chin. He partially sat on the edge of the table. “This past month has been hell and to think we haven’t seen it all yet,” I said, looking up at him. He folded his arms over his chest.

  “I’m leaving the states in the spring.”

  “Where, would you possibly go?”

  “The Eastern Hemisphere,” he said while stretching.

  “That’s broad, you mean like to the Levant?”

  “Yes and further south like Africa. I was thinking maybe before I reach the Middle East, we can sail the world,” he said, placing his hand on mine.

  “What about the others?”

  “They can come if they want.”

  “And Mason?” I said. He rolled his eyes.

  “What about him?”

  “He’s my boyfriend.”

  “Is he really?” Silence filled the air as I sat there, swinging my foot under the table, gazing into his eyes.

  “I see you two are up early,” a male voice said from behind.

  I pivoted around to see Mason entering, He wore a white Guayabera shirt and navy trousers. I quickly moved my hand away from Leo’s. I smiled at Mason as he came around, massaging my shoulders. He kissed my cheek and narrowed his eyes at Leo. “I asked Hans to fix us some coffee,” he said, taking a seat on the other side of me.

  “Thanks, coffee sounds nice.”

  “I made sure to tell him to brew it the way you used to drink it at the café.” He caressed my hand, the lines around his eyes showed with his smile.

  “Thank you, I really appreciate it.”

  “Anything for you,” he said. I mustered a smile.

  Hans came around and handed me a mug, as well as Mason. Leo got up and left. I turned back to Mason whose smile had slipped from his face.

  “You two talk a lot,” he said, taking a sip of his warm coffee.

  “There’s a lot to talk about with all of the chaos occurring.”

  “You know what my opinion is of him.”

  “Of course.”

  “Then stay away from him,” he said. His eyes moved to my bible. “The devil places certain people in our lives to cause us to stray from our true purpose.”

  “And sometimes God places unlikely people in our lives to teach us things about ourselves we wouldn’t admit otherwise,” I said. Mason ran his fingers through his thick hair.

  “You’re too trusting.”

  “I’ve lived my share of life long enough to know not everyone, and everything is as it seems.”

  “I remember being in my mid-twenties, although it’s a long ways from adolescence, there’s still a lot of maturing that happens.”

  “It’s a quarter of a century. Besides, it’s not a matter of maturity; it’s intuition.” I scowled. He laughed.

  “Intuition you say? If that’s so, then your gut should be screaming at you to stay away from a criminal. I know he’s an assassin.”

  “People can change.”

  “You trust him not to kill you?” His words stirred memories of Leo speaking to Naamah. “Not only is he a murderer, but he tried to disrespect me in my own house by flirting with you.”

  I sighed to myself thinking about how compromised I had looked earlier with him holding hands as Mason walked in. There wasn’t much I could say to defend Leo. I crossed my arms and looked away from him.

  “Maricel, I love you, and I promise to protect you.” He grasped my hand. I turned to him. “Since the day my sights were set on you, I wanted you more than life itself.”

  “During the job interview, I seemed like another employee to you. And when we started talking in the café, I thought we were just forming a friendship based on theological interest.”

  “You’re right about my feelings initially during the interview, I wasn’t smitten yet. You were another pretty face who I hired. But that Tuesday afternoon when you dropped your sketch, and I handed it back, your eyes captivated me when you looked up.”

  “My eyes?”

  “Yes, they’re demure yet courageous. At that moment, I wanted to find out who you were,” Mason said. I looked down at my half-finished coffee. “That Wednesday, we started discussing scripture, I felt a connection unparalleled with anyone else.”

  “I never realized your feelings for me ran this deep for this long,” I said with a deep breath.

  “Having you as my girlfriend is the best thing that has happened to me. I wish I had met you sooner because you’re the highlight of my life even if the world is falling apart.”

  “Mason...I need some…..air!” I burst, leaping up from the table, rushing down the hall.

  I slid backward from the collision as I surged around the corner. Looking up, I realized I’d bum
ped into Leslie. She wore a floral sundress and a big brim hat. She knelt down, gripping my shoulder as I caught my breath.

  “Maricel, are you okay?”

  “Not really, I realized how big of a jerk I’m being.”

  “A jerk for what?”

  “My feelings for Mason aren’t mutual. I’ve been stringing the poor guy along with this “relationship.”

  “No surprise there.”

  “You knew?”

  “No offense Mar, but you strongly rejecting him then suddenly coming around the next day was too weird. I know, Caroline likes you two together, but as your best friend, I’ve noticed things have always seemed one-sided.”

  “Aw, Les. I should’ve confided in you sooner. I’m just scared of hurting him with a breakup. He’s done so much for me.”

  “It’ll hurt him for a while at first but getting his hopes up with a fake relationship is far worse, he’ll be devastated if he finds out you’re faking your feelings especially if he proposes, which I could totally see.”

  “You’re right. Mason is such a great guy but not as my life partner. What I feel for him is platonic, and I can’t get past that.”

  “Some people are better as friends. Just tell him how you truly feel. Unless you’re willing to sacrifice your happiness for his for the rest of your life.”

  “Thanks for your advice, I think I’ll invite him to take a walk with me later today along the vineyard and then drop the news.”

  “Anytime, girl. That sounds like a plan.” She helped me to my feet. “See you at breakfast!”

  I spun around and headed for the courtyard. To my relief, Mason was no longer at the dining room table. I passed the kitchen where my mother was busy helping out the cooks fry eggs and prepare toast.

  When I slid open the glass door entering the outdoor kitchen, I sauntered to the adjoining courtyard. I was met with the roar of the large fountain. The row of palm trees lining the cobblestone patio swayed with the warm breeze. Leo was under the archway facing the pool. He paced around with his hands folded behind his back. He froze when he saw me. I slid my glasses up my nose and adjusted my ponytail and walked closer to him.

  “We need to talk about the nightmare you had last night about the future of the nation,” he said.

  “How did you know what my nightmare was about?”