Why am I here? Why?
She sat up, shaken and confused. Then she struggled to her feet and stared at her surroundings. He was the same dark-haired man from her dream, but she was not in the same place. She was on earth. An earth filled with darkness, despair, dead corpses, and yes, Demons.
The dark-haired man spun and stared right into her eyes. She grabbed the sword from her sheath, but the Demon didn't appear fazed she held a weapon. Instead a sinister smile crossed his face as he approached her, and it took all of the bravery she had to hold her ground.
Inches away from her, the world froze, just like it had in her dream. The air filled with the scent of flowers, of sweet, heavenly things, and she blinked and fell to her knees. She had held her ground, but she hadn't been ready to fight him now. Why is all this happening to me? Why do I have to do this? It isn't fair. I wasn't that evil, was I?
Two feet appeared before her. Fair, pale woman's feet. She wore golden sandals. It was the same woman from before, the one from her dream. She extended her hand, and Eden did not take it. Eden just stared at the woman's kind face.
"You…" Eden shuddered. "I didn't put it together before now, but you were a part of this from the beginning. I saw you before my mom left. You knew I was going to end up here. You knew that I was going to… that I was going to…"
"That you were going to die," the woman finished. "And your thoughts are right. This situation is not fair. You were a decent person in life, so you did not deserve this."
Eden blinked and finally reached for the woman's hand. With surprising force, the woman grabbed her and hauled her to her feet.
"Why am I here?" Eden asked. "Who are you?"
"I suppose I owe you some answers," the woman said. "I am your guardian angel, Eden. My name is Natalia. This will be the last time I see you. Demons flock the land, and I am using every last bit of energy to appear before you."
She's my guardian angel. Eden inspected Natalia, eyes wide.
"How are you here?" Eden asked. "The Blood Stone closed the gates of heaven, didn't it?"
"Not every angel was in heaven," Natalia said. "We guardians stay with our bonded souls even in Zemiothstai. Just because you don't see us doesn't mean that we don't care. The Blood Stone uses its evil power to force us to return to heaven, or else we will perish. That is what I meant by using up my energy to see you."
That means that Natalia's dying because of me? Eden's eyes widened in horror. But she looks just fine.
In response to Eden's thoughts, Natalia rose up her hands and extended them to the heavens. At first a misty white haze appeared on her back, and then two wings appeared. They were not beautiful now, though Eden thought that they must have once been. Patches of her wings were missing where feathers had fallen, and at the joints where her wings bent, the flesh was red and raw. Eden gazed into Natalia's face and saw she no longer appeared powerful. She appeared weary. And every second Natalia stood before her, feathers fell like rain upon the ground.
"You can't do this for me," Eden said. "I don't know why you stayed, but you have to go to heaven. Now."
"It is too late." Natalia smiled sadly. "I missed the call to return and the gates are closed. We all must make sacrifices if we wish to return the state of order to purgatory and to earth. You will have to make sacrifices, too, Eden. But that is why you were chosen. You are special because you still can love even when people hurt you. You were not chosen because you were bad, but because you were so good."
Disbelief filled Eden. She was not good. When she was alive, she’d hated her parents so much she’d wanted to spit in their food. And this task was too much for her. That was why she had failed. She couldn't even pass a Biology test, so how could she be expected to stop the closing of the gates of heaven? And why would Natalia do something so foolish like stay behind?
Natalia shook her head, once again answering her thoughts. "Eden, you were never expected to stop the gates of heaven from closing. That is why I am here. Saint Peter did not deliver your tasks because you were not ready to hear them yet. You had to see the ceremony to understand why it was so important that you complete them."
"You mean, I can still get to heaven?" Eden said, gasping.
Placing a hand on her shoulder, Natalia nodded but watched as yet more feathers fell. Eden hated Natalia was doing this for her.
"There has to be a way to save you, Natalia," Eden said. "Let me help you. Please."
"You will help me," Natalia said, falling to her knees. "You need to… you need to…"
Eden bent down and kneeled next to her. Natalia leaned forward, wrapped her arms around Eden's shoulders, and Eden grasped her waist beneath her wings.
"Find the five people with great love," Natalia said. "You already have found two of them. Bring them back to where the worlds connect, the place where your journey began. Hatred shut the gates of heaven, but love can open them up again. That is your task to get to heaven, Eden."
But right now, Eden didn't focus on those words. Natalia was dying, but not like a human. Like an angel. She faded away in Eden's arms, and it was as if the parts of her that made her a physical addition to the world were disappearing. Eden tried to hold on as if that might stop her from leaving.
"Please. I am so sorry," Eden whispered. "This is my fault."
Natalia touched her face, and Eden smelled flowers. "None of this was your fault, Eden. It has been an honor being your guardian. God's speed."
Natalia disappeared, and Eden was left clutching broken feathers in a dark, empty world. Eden could no longer stop the anger or the sadness that filled her. She stood up, threw her head back, and screamed in rage.
She screamed because Natalia had died delivering her tasks.
She screamed because Satan had closed the gates of heaven.
She screamed because she missed her mom and dad.
And she screamed because she was angry at God for leaving this all up to her.
When she was done yelling, she glanced down at her feet and realized she was going to do whatever was in her power to stop Satan and to open the gates of heaven again. But she wasn't going to do it because God made her. She was going to do it because she owed Rebecca a chance to get into heaven after all of the awful things she had said.
Chapter Twenty
Eden came back to Zemiothstai a changed person. Because she felt as though part of her heart had been torn out, she would never be the same. That was why, when she laid eyes on a man in a black uniform when she first opened her eyes, her first reaction was to tackle him to the ground.
"Eden," the Demon begged beneath her, eyes wide.
Aaron. She straddled Aaron while holding his arms above his head. It took her a moment to put together where she was too. She was in the forest outside of the church, and the smell of fire and the sound of wailing filled the air.
"What are you doing here?" Eden asked, though she knew exactly what he was doing here. She got off of him and sat on her haunches. "Where am I?"
"I'm sorry." Aaron sat up. "You were lying on the ground, and everyone was yelling. I had to get you out of the way. There was also this."
He held up her necklace, the wooden cross, and with an angry hiss, Eden took it from him and examined it. Down the middle, there was a large crack in the wood. That was the reminder she needed of what had happened. No, what she had let happen.
Looking up, she discovered a wave of darkness shot straight into the sky. Night. It's permanently night, which means that Raiders are going to be everywhere. All the time. She leaned forward, clutching her chest in despair as she remembered what Natalia had said.
"Bring them back to where the worlds connect, the place where your journey began. Hatred shut the gates of heaven, but love can open them up again. That is your task to get to heaven, Eden."
It was all up to her, but the universe, or God, had delivered her Aaron. She reached over to grasp his shirt, but then she heard loud cries and the smell of fire increased. Then there was the sound of loud foot
steps crunching on the ground. Eden peered up and saw more flashes of black.
"Hide," Aaron said. "I didn't risk my behind to save you just to have you get caught."
"What do they want?" Eden asked.
"Angel soldiers are coming," Aaron said. "It's probably about that, but if they find out you were in the area during the ceremony…"
The sound of footsteps drew closer, so Eden scrambled underneath a large bush. Thick black boots paused right beside her, and she shook in fear and kept a hand on her sword, just in case. She could only pray the Angels got here soon, so she could look for Adanna and Thema without worrying.
Aaron hopped over the bushes and sat on a log next to her. Eden could see a Demon soldier through the leaves of the bushes, but she doubted he could see her.
"Captain, have you had any luck finding the girl?" the Demon soldier man asked.
"The girl, sir?" Aaron asked.
The Demon soldier drew back his hand and hit Aaron over the head. "Don't tell me you were out here slacking off. The girl. Donovan is going to kill us if we don't find her. A blonde-haired, mix matched eyed girl. Too thin and very tall."
"Donovan? Commander Donovan wants this girl?" Aaron groaned, and the log shook as he leaned backward. "Why?"
"That's privileged information," the Demon soldier said. "Now get back to the town and report to your commanding officer. Find the girl. Find her before Commander Donovan decides to kill every one of us for screwing up."
"Yes, sir."
Eden watched the man leave while her chest filled with tension. All of the Demons were now looking for her. How am I supposed to get out of this now? How could this have happened? Eden was not surprised when Aaron cruelly grabbed her arm, hauled her out from beneath the bushes, and then shook her until her teeth clacked together.
"You are lying to me," Aaron said. "My entire army is out to get you. Who are you? No, what are you? You appear completely innocent, but no innocent girl could get into this city during lockdown and survive long enough to talk about it."
"It's a long story," Eden said.
"Then you'd better start talking," Aaron said, glaring at her. "Don't make me bring back that man and turn you in."
Shuddering, Eden nodded. The real question was whether he was going to believe what he heard or not.
****
"I can't believe it. I just can't," Aaron said. "You are the one that's supposed to save us?"
Eden stared at him, frowning. "Technically, you are too, Aaron. You're one of my missing pieces. I know because I had a vision about you."
"No." Aaron grabbed his heart and leaned forward, head in hands. "This can't be happening. I signed up to be a Demon because I was angry. I was angry at God for letting me die. Now he chooses me for something like this? No, this can't be right."
"I thought that at first too," Eden said, "but it's real. Very real. That's why you have to help me. You don't want to be trapped in this hell forever, do you?"
Aaron stared at her with wide, sad eyes. "No, I guess I don't… I don't even know why I was involved with this to begin with. The Blood Stone ceremony. When it was first proposed, I was terrified. But nobody said anything. Maybe if I had been the first to stand up and protest, everybody else would have to."
"You can help me make it right," Eden said. "I can't do this alone, Aaron."
"Okay," Aaron said. "Tell me what to do."
"First off, I need to find my friends."
****
Eden lay on her stomach in the underbrush by the outskirts of the village, but she didn't see Thema or Adanna. Panic filled her. She knew after her incident in Moloch neither of them would leave her even if she disappeared, so something must have happened to them.
"What do they look like?" Aaron asked.
"Thema is small and thin with short hair," Eden said. "Adanna is tall and athletic looking. They're both African American, so it's not like the Demon soldiers could have confused them with me."
"I'll be back," Aaron said, scrambling out of the brush. "Do not move from here, Eden. Stay out of sight. If the Demons find you…"
"What?" Eden asked. "Aaron, no. Come back."
She made a wild grab for Aaron, but he had already disappeared out of the brush and into the village. Oh, no, she thought, watching him stride down the path toward a group of men dressed in all black. Aaron began to speak with them, and she saw his face fall as he nodded.
A moment later, he discretely slipped between two houses and then disappeared from her sight. How long is he going to be gone? And what happened to my friends because of me?
Chapter Twenty-One
Aaron didn't return for another hour, and when he did, his face was tense, and his eyes were narrow. He slid through the brush and quietly called her name. "Eden. Eden, are you back here still?"
"Of course I am," Eden said, sitting up and staring at him in worry. "What happened? Did you find them?"
With a sigh, Aaron cupped his head in his hands. "Eden, we may have a bit of a problem."
"I have recently been told that I am the only one who can find the key to open the gates of heaven," Eden said. "Trust me, I've heard worse. Tell me what's going on."
"Do you want the good news or the bad news first?" Aaron asked.
"Oh, goodness," Eden said. "Don't say that now. Please. Where are Thema and Adanna?"
"Okay, fine," Aaron said. "A few hours ago, Donovan and Satan left to head back to their continent. They want to release the gates of the Demon prison."
"That wasn't supposed to be the good news, was it?" Eden asked.
Aaron grimaced. "Yes, because it means that Donovan is gone. For now. He still wants you bad. Bad enough that he captured your friends and has a guard of a hundred men surrounding them. He wants you captured and brought to the Demon prison, Cantica. Donovan is so certain that he's going to capture you that he's even had one of his five main generals, General Yuri, brought over to guard you especially."
A hundred men? Her eyes widened. How am I supposed to save them from a hundred men?
"Do you want my advice, Eden?" Aaron asked, after Eden did not speak. "Just leave. I know that you want to help your friends, but you can't. This place is too dangerous for you now."
"I can't just run," Eden said. "They haven't abandoned me, even when they should have. I won't let them go."
"You are in much more danger than they are, even when you aren't captured," Aaron said, gripping her shoulder blades. "Trust me, Eden. I care about you. Just go."
"I can't," Eden said. "Adanna is one of the five, just like you. Whenever I get thrown into memories, I know that person is one of my pieces."
****
It took Eden two hours to get to the outskirts of the area where Adanna and Thema were held. She once again lay in the bushes, and the Blood Worms fed from her ectoplasma, a constant reminder that she was never safe. She peered out and saw Thema and Adanna tied together, hip to hip, and laying on the floor. Thema's eyes were narrowed, and she glared at all of the soldiers in turn. Adanna's face appeared sad, and she seemed resigned to her fate.
Eden tore her eyes away from them and examined the area. She was about a hundred yards from the nearest soldier. Probably the only reason he had not noticed her was because of the perpetual night. Satan's own devices are being used against him. His soldiers could have found me if the sky was still clear.
Then her eyes flickered toward Aaron, who talked to the head guard, serving as a distraction, and it hit her.
These souls are just as human as I am, and what do the people in Zemiothstai fear the most? Raiders. They feared the Raiders. She laid eyes on the glowing blue lights that kept the Raiders at bay and frowned. She knew just what to do.
Chapter Twenty-Two
"No, Eden," Aaron said. "You aren't going to do that. You can't control Raiders. They'll devour your spirit before you reach the camp. You can't."
"I can and will," Eden said. "You don't understand. This is the only way. There are a hundred soldiers."
"Then let me lure the Raiders down here," Aaron said.
"No," Eden said, "I need you to break all of the anti-Satan Spawn lamps in the area. I can't do that. The soldiers will find me if I run around right in front of them."
"Oh, Eden," Aaron said, looking at her sadly. "Do we have to do it this way?"
Eden nodded and squeezed his shoulder. "I'm going to do whatever it takes to save my friends, but I need your help. I'm sorry to ask you to do this."
"I wish that you would ask me to do more," Aaron complained.
"But you'll remove the lamps in this area?" Eden asked.
"I'll remove the lamps," Aaron said, "but I'm keeping the ones to the east. We've got to have at least someplace safe to stay, right?"
"Thanks, Aaron," Eden said. She tried to smile, but she couldn't get her cheeks to work.
****
The first time Eden realized just how much the darkness consumed everything was when she stepped out into the plains and glanced up into the black sky. No stars, no moon, no nothing. She shuffled around, casting a look at the city behind her that was aglow with orange, fiery flames.
It shouldn't be much longer now. Before, when night fell, the Raiders found me almost immediately. The thought caused her to grow mentally ill. She couldn't believe she had to go out looking for the monsters she feared almost as much as Satan.
As she waited, she heard the sound of shuffling some feet away, and she crouched close to the ground. What is that? She was trying to focus on the dark shape. She saw bright-red, glowing eyes and then a set of white teeth. The creature's face appeared to be half teeth, as if it was a naked crocodile man without the skin or scales to cover the face, and the eyes were also pure red with no pupils.
After meeting Eden's eyes, the creature's long tongue slipped from its mouth and between the cracks of its teeth.
Until We Meet Again Page 13
