Darkness Betrayed (Torn)

by Christine Hughes

  “What’s wrong?” Branna stopped smiling and tried to follow my ever-changing gaze.

  “Sebastian.”

  “What?” Mara dropped her bags.

  “He’s here.”

  “Where?”

  “In the crowd. We can’t get to him without hurting anyone. I think he knows it.”

  Hide and seek anyone? His laugh echoed. No one but the three of us could hear it. The people on the street were oblivious.

  The snow began to fall harder and it was getting difficult to see him as he moved easily through the crowd. I felt a tap on my shoulder, turned around and was face to face with him. In a second, he was gone.

  Son of a bitch, Sebastian. Stop playing games. If you want to face me, then do it. I’m here.

  Tsk, tsk, tsk. But then we wouldn’t be having any fun.

  People on the street began talking about the snow and whether or not the lifts would be closed. Some had trouble navigating its sudden heaviness. I turned and turned, occasionally catching glimpses of Sebastian, his face alternating between twisted demon and beautiful angel. His green eyes glowed with intensity as they morphed continuously from colored brilliance to black. Images of people falling down on the sidewalks, dead and bloodied, passed through me. I fought to convince myself it was all an illusion, that Sebastian was putting thoughts in my head.

  A scream from across the street tugged me out. The heavy snow had caused an awning to collapse on a woman and her child. I ran across the street with Mara and Branna at my heels and helped a man, the woman’s husband, lift the awning off. Neither was injured, except for a few bruises, but scared nonetheless.

  I turned to Mara and saw her eyes grow large as manicured fingers curled around her neck. Sebastian smelled her hair and she shook in fear.

  “You smell nice, Mara.”

  I held my hand up. “Sebastian, stop. Leave her alone.” The warning was quiet and dangerous. He just laughed.

  “Oh, I have no intention of killing her. Yet.” He inhaled deeply once more as Mara froze in place. “I’d rather think you were more concerned with the hundreds of people on the slopes.” He motioned for me to look towards the people zipping down the trails.

  The ground began to shake. A loud noise cracked through the air and everyone froze, turning their attention to the mountain. A large jagged line spread across the snow. Slowly, it began to widen, freezing for a moment before it began to slip downward. Within moments, screams from the slopes could be heard and someone in the crowd yelled. “Avalanche!”

  My attention focused and I watched in horror as the snow picked up speed and began to bury everything and everyone in its path. Trees snapped and toppled like toothpicks. Skiers were swallowed up whole in a snowy white tomb.

  “What have you done?” Branna whispered.

  “Forced Samantha to choose.” In the blink of an eye, he was gone and all that was left were the panicked screams of skiers and tourists alike. People ran towards the mountain while others ran from it. Mara brought her hand to her neck attempting to rub his touch away.

  Alarm plagued me and I didn’t know what to do. I shook my head to remove the fog. Sonofabitch.

  “Get to the car!” I yelled to Mara and Branna.

  “What are you going to do?” Mara, still visibly shaken, grabbed my arm.

  “I don’t know yet. Just go! I’ll meet you there.”

  “No. We’re going to help you. Tell us what you need us to do.”

  “Fine.” I looked around at the chaos around us. “Find the injured and help them.”

  “Neither of us are healers.” Branna was matter of fact.

  “Make a call. Get Ethan here. It’s only a thirty-minute drive. He’s a healer. I’ll be back to help with the injured. For now, just get whomever you can to safety. Call Damien, if you can.”

  I ran towards the slopes, dodging panicked people racing in all directions. I was knocked on my ass a few times and returned the favor to a few belligerent tourists. I grabbed a crying child and pulled him out of the way of a falling storefront sign. Damn you, Sebastian. It wasn’t just the avalanche; he was wreaking havoc everywhere, trying to trip up my focus. The closer I got the base of the mountain, the more destruction fell into my path.

  There was zero visibility as the snow fell harder and the wind picked up. A loud creaking screamed above the terror and I concentrated on building a bubble around myself so I could see more than three feet in front of me. When my visibility cleared, I watched in horror as the lower foundation of the ski lift began to fall. Throwing out my palms, I eased it to the ground – the best I could do under the circumstances. At least the people didn’t crash downward. I was sure there were injuries, but I didn’t feel death swim around them. They could wait. Satisfied for the moment, I ran on.

  Snow raced down the mountain, covering everything in its path. I watched as skiers were swallowed up and hidden from view, buried under the white blanket. Darkness filled me and I began to separate from myself again but I held on, feeling that it wasn’t only shadows I’d have to rely on. As a war raged in my soul, dark and light intent on ripping the other to shreds, I held on. I felt pressure build until I was sure I was about to be ripped in two and lose all control then everything around me stopped - no screams, no movement, nothing. Time froze solid like someone had pressed the pause button on reality. For a moment, I stood there at the base of the mountain, awestruck, taking it all in. It wasn’t until I felt a presence that I composed myself again.

  “Who are you?” I asked a large, dark figure cloaked in black.

  The figure turned to me. I couldn’t see a face, only beady, red eyes that burned through me. Its breath fogged to ice crystals when it spoke. “I am Azrael.”

  He must’ve been over seven feet tall and broad, like a linebacker. Pulling his bony hand from beneath his cloak, he produced a large scythe. The fetid smell of death wafted toward me and I forced myself not to vomit.

  He turned his faceless eyes toward the mountain. “Come, walk with me.”

  I should have been afraid but I was not. A part of me was comforted by his arrival while the other part hid from view.

  He moved gracefully through the snow, past people whose screams were lost in the moment, past people caught mid-stride as they fled from the destruction. I had to double-time my stride to keep up. We treaded past a man who’d been suspended in the air, a scream lost in the moment, as he presumably attempted to jump out of the way of other skiers and I reached out to touch him and prove he was real.

  “You do not touch them.”

  “Why not?” I stuffed my hands into the pockets of my coat.

  “We are here for one.” He spoke without breaking his stride.

  I rolled my eyes. Here we go. “One what?” Can’t anybody talk in anything but circles?

  “One human.”

  “One human? What the…Wait a minute.” Azrael stopped and waited. “Who are you?”

  “Azrael.”

  “Azrael, right. You said that. But who are you? Are you an Exiled? A Faithful?” Even as I said it, I knew no Faithful would look like that. “Did Sebastian send you?”

  “In a manner of speaking.” He continued to walk up the mountain.

  “So you’re here for me.” I reached back for my sword before I realized I’d left it back at the house earlier.

  “No. I am here for one.” He motioned toward still bodies. “Of them.”

  I grabbed his coat and pulled him. “Stop! Why are you here? And don’t say ‘for one of them’. Why are you here?”

  Voice even, he answered me and the conversational tone of his voice frightened me more than his reason. “We must choose which I am to take with me. Then they will stand in judgment. He will decide where they are to spend eternity.”

  Judgment. Eternity. “You’re the Angel of Death.” He nodded and continued to walk. “But so many have died already. Look around you. Take one of them!” I waved my arms wildly, but he still he walked.

  “I have. But the
re is one more. And a choice must be made.”

  “You have to pick one more? Someone who hasn’t died yet? Hasn’t there been enough death and destruction today?” I grabbed at his cloak. Sebastian’s words floated through my mind, Force Samantha to choose.

  He didn’t answer. The only sound was the crunch of our feet across the snow. Yards later, he stopped and kneeled down to inspect two figures huddled from an imminent crush of snow just feet behind them. Once time continued, I knew they’d both be buried. One, a female, was using her body to cover that of a young boy. They had the same facial features and I assumed she was his mother and he could be no more than ten years old. Azrael laid his fingertips on them. After a moment, he stood. “These two will do.”

  Will do? “Wait! You said only one more! Let’s find someone who is alone. Don’t take them.” The Light inside me pulsed alive and all I could think of was saving them.

  “No. I’ve been instructed. Choose.” He turned his eyes on me.

  The gravity of his statement hit me like a load of bricks. “Choose?”

  “Yes. Choose.”

  “You want me to choose one of them? Me? No. I won’t. I won’t take a boy from his mother and I won’t take his mother from him. I can’t.” I stepped away from him and the impending doom of the two before me.

  Anger at his request reared up and I began to shake in fear. There was no way I could do it. How could I? Decide the fate, the life or death, of innocent people?

  “You must choose.” He motioned toward the mother. “She is a doctor. She saves the lives of many people through research and medicine.” He nodded toward the boy. “He will grow up to lead men into battle. He will be responsible for saving many lives as well. In ten-years-time, she will lose her husband, the boy his father, if they both remain here. If one of them comes with me, the man will live a long life with whoever stays. He will be both a positive influence in her life as well as the boy’s. Choose.” He spoke like I was supposed to pick out decor colors.

  Two good people. And I was supposed to decide which one to take. I shook my head. “No.”

  “You must.”

  “I can’t.” I stepped back, farther away from them.

  “If you do not, I will take them both.”

  Leaving a man with neither his wife nor his son. “This isn’t even a choice! Can’t you have me choose between a good guy and a bad guy? Not a mother and her child!”

  “This is what is meant by balance. There are times when a decision must be made, regardless of your feelings. You must choose. There isn’t much time. You are being tested. You must pass the test. It is His will.”

  “His will? God?”

  Azrael nodded.

  “I thought you said Sebastian sent you?”

  “In a manner of speaking.”

  I couldn’t keep contained any longer. I stepped outside myself, the hopeful part of me watching from the sidelines. The nonchalance the Darkness gave would make the decision easy.

  Do not.

  My father’s voice floated around me.

  This is about balance Samantha, not feelings. You must decide.

  I can’t. It’s easier to let shadows take over. For that part of me to decide.

  You must do this with courage. Light offers that courage.

  Why?

  It’s what you were created to do.

  Like Damien was created to absorb pain?

  Yes.

  And Azrael was created to accompany them on the journey to death?

  Yes.

  It isn’t fair.

  Your choices can’t always be about what’s fair to you. Your decisions must accommodate the balance of nature.

  I slowly returned to myself, once again whole. Tears fell and stained the snow. Azrael waited patiently, waiting for my answer. “Just one?”

  “Yes.”

  “Will they both go to Heaven?”

  “Yes. They will stand before Him but yes, it is certain. I need to know your choice.”

  I fell to my knees, in front of the two huddled figures unable to stop the pain that invaded my heart. Darkness and indifference fell away, leaving me with the Light to amplify the gravity of what I was about to do. I reached out and placed my hand on the knee of the mother, sealing her fate. Tears fell and stained the pure white snow with shadows.

  “It is done.” Azrael’s cloak fell away as he opened his magnificent wings. His face was mangled and grotesque. Thin, almost translucent skin stretched over his bones. Leaning down he carefully lifted the mother’s soul into his arms. She looked longingly at her son, still covered with her physical self. “Please,” she whispered to me. Azrael nodded and the two of them disappeared into the sky as a wall of snow struck me. I tossed and turned for what seemed like hours when, as quickly as it began, the snow stopped moving and falling from the sky.

  Lying atop of a mound of packed ice, the boy, unconscious with his arm bent at an odd angle, was inches from my hand. His mother was nowhere to be seen.

  Chapter 16

  Dazed and confused, people around me slowly began to move about, clawing their way out of the snow, reaching for the hands of others still trapped. Police, medics and firefighters rushed to the scene. Stretchers began to fill with broken bodies. The dead were left where they lay while the living were attended to. I stood, lifting the boy into my arms and walked toward an ambulance.

  “Gavin! Melissa!” A man was shouting, tearing through the crowd. “Gavin! Melissa!”

  I froze, immediately knowing who the man was and who he was looking for. When our eyes met, he began to cry and ran over to me. “I think his arm is broken, but he is still breathing.” I handed the boy to his father.

  “Oh my God! Thank you! Thank you! My little boy! Gavin, it’ll be okay. I promise.” He buried his head to his son’s chest and continued to sob. “Have you seen his mother? Melissa? They were together.”

  Was I going to tell him that I chose her death over that of his son’s? Was I going to tell him that his world would never be the same? That the love of his life would no longer greet him as he awoke each morning?

  “No. I didn’t see anyone with him.” I wiped my face with the back of my hand, and walked away. I turned to watch him fall to his knees with his son in his arms as a paramedic approached them.

  Having become newly educated on the laws of balance, I continued to walk, lost in my own head. I passed people on the street, crying, despondent or crazy with fear. I refused to look at any of them for fear that I might lose control. Is this what I have to look forward to? Deciding the fate of people like Gavin and his mother? Will I be doomed to look into the eyes of those left behind without being able to answer that one question – why?

  It wasn’t long before Mara and Ethan found me. I knew Ethan could feel my despair roll off me in waves. He grabbed my hand and I felt his concentration as he tried to fill me with Light. The trouble was, Light was already there. I knew it was the reason I felt like this. Had Darkness taken over I’d surely be indifferent. I’d be able to brush off what just happened.

  He looked at me, eyes filled with sadness. “I can’t help you with this.” But still he wouldn’t let go of my hand and I didn’t have the energy to untangle my fingers from his. “How are you feeling?”

  Loaded question. I didn’t answer, just continued walking in the direction of the car.

  “Talk to me! Tell me what happened.” He pleaded with me and I was terrified because he couldn’t help me. Terrified that I’d severed the bond we’d shared. I’m sorry. My wordless apology filled him and I knew that he knew his attempts were fruitless.

  “Let’s get you home. Damien can help you.” His voice cracked at the name he’d fought so hard against. But he was right. Damien was probably the only one who could.

  I stopped at turned to him. “Sebastian isn’t here.” I answered his silent question aloud so the others could here. “There’s no reason to stay. They have enough help here.”

  “How do you know?” Mara’s quest
ion floated around me.

  “I just know. He’s done, for now. We’ll see him soon enough, I am sure.”

  “What happened on that mountain?” Her voice was desperate as she pulled my shoulder.

  “Because of Sebastian’s destruction, I met Azrael.”

  Their collective breathless acknowledgement told me they knew who he was.

  “What did he want with you?” Ethan’s fear intensified.

  “I had to choose.”

  “No.” Branna squeaked from behind me. I hadn’t known she was there.

  “Yes.”

  “What? Why you?” Ethan blocked my path to the car forcing me to keep still.

  “Balance. Someone has to do it, right? Isn’t that what I’ve been training for?” I sidestepped him with my best attempt at nonchalance, opened the car door and settled in the backseat wanting nothing more than the security Damien’s arms afforded me.

  Why isn’t he here?

  Chapter 17

  Dusk faded to night. I sat on the front porch, bundled in a wool blanket, watching snowflakes flutter silently to the ground. Everyone had left me alone since we returned to the house and Damien, the one person who could really ease my pain, was nowhere to be found. When I inquired as to his whereabouts, Cal gave me his best “I told you so” glance. And I gave him the finger.

  Every once in a while Mara, Branna or Christian would come out and make sure I was okay, occasionally bringing me a steaming cup of hot chocolate or bowl of soup. I left both untouched on the small wooden table next to the rocking chair I wouldn’t leave.

  Images of the woman, Melissa, looped in my head. The sight of her son alive but broken threatened to overtake me. Pictures of the father crying relentlessly at the sorrow of his missing wife and the elation of finding his son flashed, unstoppable. Azrael’s hideous existence marred his purpose. Damien’s absence wilted my heart.

  “You okay?” Ethan stepped on to the porch and closed the door lightly behind him. I didn’t even bother to glance up.