Crossroads

by Mary Ting

  Slowly I turned my back toward him and tried to wrap myself inside his wings again. I wanted to be back in the arms of an angel, back to the feeling of peace that was so desired. As he fidgeted away from me, he mumbled, “This is too dangerous. I won’t be able to control myself.” His voice was worried and low.

  I didn’t heed his warning. As I pulled him closer, he ultimately gave in. He held me gently with both of his arms and wings this time. All I needed was his touch, for him to hold me that way; it made all the difference in the world. I was safe again. Without thought, I turned toward him. The look in his eyes was so tempting, telling me that he wanted me too. I knew it was impossible for him to want and need me the same way, but his eyes told me something else. The depth of my yearning and what I wanted to do at this very moment was undeniable.

  I leaned toward him and tenderly placed a kiss on his supple lips to thank him. It was an innocent kiss. What was the harm in just one small kiss? I was extremely surprised that he didn’t push me away. I was even more surprised at myself. I was never the type to make the first move.

  “Thank you for saving me,” I whispered, looking straight into his soulful eyes, as something came over me. Uncontrollable heat ran through my body. He was right. It was dangerous, but it was me who couldn’t control myself. His eyes gave me permission to continue, so I gave him another kiss, but slower and longer this time. He kissed me back, but with much hesitation. His lips were warm and sweet like honeysuckle, just how I imagined they would be. The warmth spread all over my body like a blazing fire.

  Still holding me, he pulled me away with a sudden jerk, his eyes piercing into mine with anger. His left hand was tightly wrung around my hair and the other gripping my shirt so I could feel the tightness from it. Panting, wanting more of him, I forgot how to breathe, and so did he. His eyes, still fierce with anger, gripped me even tighter as he slightly pushed and pulled me, fighting and uncertain of what he wanted to do. Feeling petrified, I had to prepare myself for the consequence of my actions, for I knew I had crossed the line.

  I was waiting for him to release me and push me away. I also anticipated the lecture he would preach about how humans and angels couldn’t have any physical contact. Remembering the last time, he suddenly stopped as we almost kissed. Then, he drew me even closer, and kissed me back hungrily. Passionate kisses that I never knew could be possible claimed both of us. My toes curled, feeling immense pleasure that tingled to the very depth of my being as my fingers tugged lightly on his muscular shoulders. Then his wings were totally wrapped around us. We were in the dark, just Michael and me inside the cocoon of his wings. I couldn’t believe what was happening. It was our first real kiss. He pressed his whole body against mine and I could feel his heart racing just as fast as mine was. We both lost control, and every part of me shivered with intense pleasure I had never felt before.

  “Hellooo,” someone said, clearing his throat.

  Michael immediately unfolded his wings and exposed us. We were both in shock to have been found. Nearly falling and out of breath, I was trying to gather myself together. What had I done? As I looked around, turning my head in every possible direction, I didn’t see anyone.

  “Hellooo,” the voice said again. I recognized the voice. It was Davin.

  Glancing past some of the trees, I saw some alkins, smiling and sitting on top of the branches.

  “Caleb? Vivian? What are you doing here?” I asked, surprised to see them. They glided down toward where Michael and I stood. They both smiled at us, but Caleb raised an eye upward at Michael.

  “Where’s Davin?” I asked casually.

  “Previously saving your butt, but I’m here,” Davin said from a distance that seemed to come from a tree above. He swung around a branch and landed right next to me. He then placed his arms around my shoulder. “Miss me already?” he mumbled, with a cigarette at the tip of his lips.

  I wasn’t surprised by their actions only because I had seen what they were capable of doing. Their strength and speed were incredible. Davin was still holding his sword. It was the length of an arm, with golden designs and beautiful indescribable markings on the handle. When he realized my eyes were focused on it, he placed it behind his back and said a few words in Latin, and it magically disappeared. Fully amazed by his little trick, I became distracted by the smell of cigarette smoke. Without hesitation, I immediately pulled the half-smoked cigarette out of his mouth and stomped on it.

  “You know how bad that is for you, and plus I can’t stand the smell of it,” I said with a disgusted look.

  He frowned first, then looked shameful. “I know, but I think I wanted to be a human again and do things I had forgotten about. I don’t know where this sudden urge came from. Maybe I smoked when I lived here once upon a time. It’s strange, like déjà vu.”

  I didn’t realize how much I missed his friendship and his sincerity. Davin having the urge to smoke might be the same connection to Michael’s experiencing glimpses of his past here on Earth that didn’t make sense to him. Perhaps the longer they stayed, the more they might remember here and there.

  “I thought you all had left,” Michael said. I could tell he was uncomfortable, clearly embarrassed at being caught.

  “We decided to stay since it was our first time being here,” Vivian said, smiling. Then she turned to me. “Do you remember what happened?” she asked tenderly.

  I dug deeper into my memory, trying to remember what they wanted me to. “I remember some now. Fallen pushed us. I fell. I mean, we fell! Michael and I fell…but Michael didn’t fall, did he? He has wings. He fell to catch me.” Now it was all coming together. “Then, I think that’s when I blacked out.”

  I looked at the cliff and got a glimpse of what could have been. I knew one thing for sure…I would have fallen to my end had Michael not intervened. Now I knew why this campsite was called “The Cliff.” It became clear why they were here. I looked at all four of them, one at a time. They were here to save me from the fallen.

  “Thank you,” I said, feeling embarrassed. I didn’t know why I felt that way. Perhaps it was the trouble I was causing.

  Davin placed his arms around my shoulders again. He was friendly and charming as usual. “Nothing to it. It was kind of exciting.” He was trying to make me feel better.

  “What happened to the fallen after I fell?” I asked.

  “After we got rid of all of them, Aden disappeared,” Davin replied, seeming quite proud.

  “Let’s hope we did enough damage so that it won’t happen again,” Caleb said.

  Hopefully, but in danger or not, I wouldn’t mind coming down to Earth once in a while just to pretend we still exist here,” Vivian said, looking straight ahead, deep in her thoughts.

  Curiously, our eyes followed the direction of her gaze, and we were all captivated by the exquisiteness of what we were witnessing. A small ray of light was stretching and yawning, making its way through the coat of darkness, little by little, peeling layer by layer to reveal the beauty of nature and its creatures. Night and day had met, but never touched or overlapped as the morning sun conquered the night once again. Motionless, our view looked like a giant frameless oil painting. The hills were vast, yet they all looked miniature; I could almost reach out and touch them. The curves of the lake wrapped around like a snake, seeming endless and smaller as I looked farther out into the distance.

  “Wow! This view is magnificent,” I said softy. But it was nothing compared to what I witnessed with Michael.

  “I’m loving my view too,” he whispered into my ear, as his eyes never left my face.

  I turned to stare into his eyes, and I could see how much he cared for me.

  “Well, we better get going,” Caleb broke the silence.

  Davin spoke with sadness, “The longer I stay here, the harder it is to go back. I just need one more puff.” He looked at me to see how I would react. I gave him a disapproving look.

  “Well, it doesn’t hurt to ask. Come on, Claudia, I’m half dea
d anyways.”

  I didn’t realize until he said those words that he was right. They were half humans and half angels. What did that mean? I felt for them. I could only imagine what they were feeling and wanted to reach out and comfort them—but how?

  Caleb got up from the rock he was sitting on. “Well, I’m glad we’re all safe, but he’ll be back. We’re going to have to discuss this with Phillip.”

  Michael didn’t say anything. He didn’t even look at him.

  “Michael, Caleb is right. We’re here to help, but the next time Aden comes back, he’ll be back with more fallen. We’re going to need more help. We’re talking about Aden!” Davin said.

  “No! Not yet! I need more time to figure this out!”

  “How long? And what is it that you need to figure out?” Caleb fired back. “You’re not thinking straight! Your human emotions are slowly taking you over! You need to follow the Divine Commandments!”

  Michael didn’t like his response. I could feel the tension, and everyone was silent. He found his calm voice again, “Please, just do as I ask. Phillip doesn’t need to know about this, and I won’t ask any of you to come with me next time.” He looked at Caleb and then at everyone else.

  “Michael, I didn’t mean it that way,” Caleb said. “I’m just worried for your safety, and Aden…”

  He never got to finish his words. Michael looked at him coldly as soon as he heard Aden’s name. “Don’t worry. He has no effect on me. I’m not going down that route again.” Michael reassured him.

  I wanted to hear more. I was curious to know how Michael and Aden were connected.

  “Like I said, we better get going,” Davin interrupted.

  Vivian spoke next, “I agree. We don’t even know how long we could survive here, so let’s get going.”

  They all stood up and got ready to be transported, their faces expressing mixed emotions.

  Vivian waved, “See you later, Claudia. Hopefully under better circumstances next time.”

  Davin looked at Michael. “Coming?”

  “You all go first. I need more time.”

  “Michael,” Caleb said. “Don’t forget, thou shall not…”

  Michael put his hand out to stop Caleb from finishing. “Whether I do or not is none of your concern,” he said calmly.

  “You want to be kicked out of Halo City because of her?” Caleb raised his voice; his eyes flickered at me for a second, before refocusing on Michael. “You need to release yourself from her.”

  “It’s too late. Don’t worry about it. They won’t know unless you tell, now will they?” Michael said calmly.

  There was dead silence. Caleb didn’t say a word, but he was right. Michael wasn’t supposed to kiss me the way he did. I’d caused him to stray. What was I thinking? But I couldn’t control myself, nor did I want to.

  Davin spoke with a concerned voice. “Don’t worry, we won’t tell Phillip about any of this, but Alexa Rose will be waiting for you. She worries for your safety.”

  “I know. Tell her I’ll be there soon.”

  They all stood close to Davin. I never had the chance to witness his magic until now. With his eyes closed, he mumbled a few words in Latin, turned to me with a wink and said, “See you when I see you.” Before I could say a word, puff! They were gone, leaving a trail of rainbow rays that lingered for a split second before disappearing at the speed of light towards the direction they were headed.

  I stood there feeling dumbfounded, looking into the empty space where they had stood. They had vanished right before my eyes. A part of me felt empty. I hadn’t realized I had grown attached to them, even though I had only seen them a couple of times. It was quiet and still for a few seconds, until Michael broke the silence. “Hello.”

  I looked at him. “Hello there.” I knew the inevitable would happen, and I had to prepare myself for the emptiness I would feel when he left me again.

  He cupped both of his hands around my face. “I’m sorry. Are you all right?”

  “When you leave, I won’t be.” I didn’t want to make him feel guilty, but I wanted to tell him the truth.

  “I’m sorry for all this. Sorry for doing things that make it harder for both of us.”

  “It’s not your fault,” I said.

  “If it would be easier for you, I could talk to Phillip and appoint you another guardian angel.”

  “No,” I pleaded. I couldn’t bear the thought of never seeing him again. Then I crossed my arms, looking quite upset. “You expect me to go on living as if I’ve never met you?” I spoke angrily.

  “Well, perhaps time will set you free. It looks like I have done too much damage already for you and me.”

  “You could forget about me that easily?” I was hurt by his words.

  “Of course not, but my pain doesn’t matter. Yours does. I don’t want to see you waste your life wanting something that cannot be.”

  “There must be a way, Michael.”

  “Impossible. You are a human, and you belong here. I am an alkin, forced to live elsewhere.”

  I could feel his pain and I didn’t want him to think that this was his fault. “I’ll be fine. I’m not as fragile as I look, and I promise I’ll be fine when you leave, so don’t send anyone else, please!” I demanded.

  He gave me a huge smile. “Then let us not waste a minute. What would you like to do?” he asked.

  “I think I should go back and explain my absence first,” I said as I realized I had left my cell phone inside the tent.

  “Don’t worry, already taken care of.”

  “How and when?”

  “Before you awakened.”

  “What did you tell them?”

  “I spoke with Andrew. I basically told him that I was in charge of the campgrounds, you had a slight accident, and you were to stay with me for medical observation.

  “And he believed you?” I asked, surprised. “He didn’t ask any questions?”

  “They actually had no choice. I used my angel power on them. They were instructed not to come and not to ask any questions. Something like “Just do as I say.”

  “How do you do that?” I asked, astonished by his power.

  “The best way to explain it is that it’s like being in a trance-like state, the way Aden lured you to this place. We are not allowed to use this power unless it is absolutely necessary, and I thought it was.”

  “Wow,” I said softly. Then I realized that I didn’t have to go hiking and felt delighted. Without a word, he grabbed my hand and led the way.

  “Where are we going?” I asked.

  “Hiking. That was on your agenda today, but we are going on a different trail.”

  “What?” I couldn’t believe what he had just said. I gave him a big frown. “I hate hiking.”

  “How do you know? Have you been hiking before?

  “No.”

  “You’ll love the places I’m going to take you,” he said, grinning.

  He knew I didn’t like hiking, but he was taking me anyway. As I slapped his arm lightly to let him know I wasn’t happy, he immediately fell to the ground. Surprised by his action, I reached for him. “Michael!” I shouted.

  Then next thing I knew, I was lying wrapped inside his wings as he floated slightly above me. We had locked eyes, and everything else ceased to exist. All my senses had shut down, and I couldn’t control the emotion that had taken me over. I was utterly and completely head over heels in love with him. He was right. It would cause me too much pain if I could never see him again. The damage was already done.

  “Hey, you tricked me,” I said, smiling, not minding at all what he had just done.

  “There, much better. You shouldn’t frown, even when you are upset, because you never know who is falling in love with your smile. And you…have a beautiful smile. It’s brighter and warmer than the sun. It lights up the sky. And your smile warms me up in many different ways,” he said, lifting his brows wickedly. “Let me show you one way,” he said, and lightly caressed his lips to m
ine.

  That sent shivers up my spine, and I melted deep into the Earth. He can show me more, I thought. Next thing I knew, I was standing upright still dazed by his tender kiss. It was one simple kiss, but that was all it took to make me feel as light as a feather.

  He started walking without me. “Don’t worry; like I said before, you will love the places I’m going to take you! Trust me!” he shouted with excitement from afar.

  I ran to catch up to him. “Great!” I mumbled, not feeling pleased at all, but at the same time, it didn’t matter what we did, as long as we were together.

  Chapter 14

  Walking along the edge of the cliff turned my stomach inside out. Why is it that some of us are afraid of heights and others not? I couldn’t recall any terrible incident; I only knew I was one of many who was terrified of heights. Every nerve in my body was telling me to back away to a place more in my comfort zone, but I had to do this for Michael. He wanted to take me somewhere that was special to him. Aside from my fear, I couldn’t wait to get there. I kept telling myself not to look down, so I tried to think of other things. The best distraction was the view.

  “Hurry up, slowpoke,” he said jokingly, walking right behind me.

  “Hey…just because you’re not afraid of heights. I could just pee in my pants right now.”

  “What are you afraid of? Falling? You know I’ll catch you if you fall.”

  “Don’t tempt me. I might purposely fall just so I don’t have to endure this,” I replied, feeling slightly queasy.

  “Hold my hand, I’ll help you up.”

  “No, thanks, I can do this,” I replied with a little attitude, wondering if I would regret the response I had given just to sound tougher. “Are we almost there yet?” I asked, feeling hopeful and out of breath.

  He laughed hard. “Almost; that’s like the tenth time you asked me.”