Hellfire Saga
Page 15
“What’s the other choice?”
“You want to know the other choice?” The voice asked in surprise.
“Well, you said that it was an offer, so I assumed there would be more than one option. And,” I added, “I wouldn't be a creation worth bothering about if I didn't ask you what the choices were.”
“Your other choice is to accept that your time has finally come. You will be able to find peace and I will allow you into heaven. The fact that you were born a demon means nothing to me. Your soul has long since turned you human.”
“If I go to heaven rather than choosing to live another life, will there be a chance of me seeing Lucifer again?” I asked.
“There will be a chance, that perhaps you will,” the voice said mysteriously. “I would think that would depend on how the fight with his brother goes.”
“He’s still fighting with his brother?” I asked in despair.
“It’s almost over,” the voice said to me calmly. “So, Lucy, what do you chose?”
“Must it be a choice that I make right now?” I asked, because it seemed like I had a lot to think about and weigh up.
“I’m afraid you must,” the voice said gravely. “I do not know whether I will ever get the chance to meet with you again.”
I thought about everything that the voice had told me. I’d been living for thousands of years. I’d never lived a full life. I’d never been given the chance to be just a normal person. I opened my mouth. I was ready. I knew the choice that I had to make.
CHAPTER 8
Daniel
My brother was dead. It wasn’t the same kind of death that humans experience. It wasn’t the kind of death where you awoke into an afterlife. It was the kind of death that was final. It was the kind of death that wiped away your mark from the universe. He was gone. There was nothing and no one who could bring him back, because there was nothing left to bring back.
I walked away from the church. I knew I could go home now. I knew that I could leave the life that I’d been living behind. I’d fallen very low when I’d been expelled from heaven, but the last few years had shown me that the reason for me existing was not to cause pain. I was sure that, although my brothers felt love, it was I who felt it the strongest. I was sure with a set determination in my heart that it was up to me to teach them how to embrace it.
I stepped out the path that was laid out before the church. “My brothers,” I said openly into the space around me. “It’s time that we returned home.” No one answered me, but I hadn’t been expecting to hear any answers. I knew that I would see them all soon enough, when I returned to meet them.
I concentrated on the place that I hadn’t been to in years. I could see it in my mind. I could feel my body growing lighter, as the image in my mind became more real. I felt like I was a cloud. I felt like I was floating. The pain from my wounds became nothing.
I opened my eyes. The grey sidewalk and imposing church were gone. I was walking among the clouds. The images I’d displayed on the walls, back in my temporary home below, were all around me, but I knew that they were real.
I felt warm inside. A strange sense of homesickness came over me for the exile I had built below, that was instantly quelled with the feeling of being back at my true home.
I walked forward. I wasn’t sure whether my brothers were there yet. The space was endless. If they didn’t want to be found then I wouldn’t be able to find them. I knew that some of them might need time to adjust to what had happened. I knew that some of them would probably be scared to face me after casting their judgements so readily back on earth.
“Lucifer,” a voice called out in the distance. “I was hoping that I might find you.”
I looked over to where the sound was coming from. I could see Caleb’s body coming towards me in the distance. “Caleb,” I said with a small nod of my head. “It’s good of you to come.”
“I came, so that I could tell you that I’m sorry,” he said with a grave look on his face. “I truly believed that you and Lucy had every right to be together. My only wish is that I’d thought better of going back and allowing Gabriel to remove my soul.”
“Caleb, you were not to know what was going to happen. I want you to know that, as far as I am concerned, all is well. There is nothing to forgive.”
“That means a lot,” Caleb said. “Can I ask whether she made it?”
I could feel his question smack against my chest with enough force to knock the wind out of my lungs. The sting of tears started in my eyes and I took a deep breath to try and calm the stormy sadness that was weighing heavily down on me. “She didn’t,” I said as I shook my head.
“Didn’t I?” Lucy’s said from behind me.
At first I didn’t believe it. At first I wouldn’t even look around, because I was sure that some cruel trick was being played.
“Lucifer, I chose you,” Lucy’s voice said and this time it was closer. “I met with your father,” she tried to explain to me. “He gave me a choice between living another life and coming into heaven. He said that there was a possibility that if I accepted death that I might see you again and here you are,” she finished and I felt her warm arms wrap around my neck.
I looked at Caleb who was looking behind me with astonishment. I couldn’t stop myself from looking any longer. I turned and saw Lucy’s bright face smiling at me over me shoulder. “Is it really you?” I asked as I reached out and touched her face.
“It’s really me,” she said. “Completely me, after all this time.”
“My father allowed this?” I asked, because I dared not believe it without hearing it from her.
“He gave us his blessing. Apparently you are supposed to help spread love among your brothers. A job which you’ve been slacking at for a considerable number of years,” Lucy scolded me in a jokey kind of way.
“You really chose to come here on the chance that you might see me again?” I asked in disbelief as I turned around and wrapped my arms around her waist.
“It wasn’t the off chance,” she said with gentle smile. “I knew we’d meet again, because we’ve always been destined to meet. You left some pretty big gaps in the story, didn’t you? I knew you would have a chance to finish telling the tale.”
“My father explained to you about your reincarnations?”
“He told me everything. He said that it was the only way that he could be sure that I’d make the right choice.”
“I can’t believe you’re here,” I said. I’d almost accepted the fact that she’d gone. I’d moved on to the stage of grief where you feel helpless about your loss.
“Well, you’re going to have to start trying,” she said. She pushed herself up on her tiptoes and kissed me softly.
“I love you, Lucy,” I said. I realized that the last time I’d said it, she hadn’t had a chance to say it back to me.
“I love you too,” she said.
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ISBN: 9781683058397