by Anika Rahman
“That night in the hospital. Why?” I ask again, frowning slightly. Elliot eyes widen with fear and he mutters something under his breath which I couldn’t really understand with him and Adrian freaking out besides me.
“Elliot, what’s wrong?” Adrian queries and Elliot goes rigid all over. This is absolutely positively not good. “Elliot,” Adrian requests in a sinister way.
“Oh, it’s nothing, really. It’s just, Maddie’s missing and she can’t be found,” Elliot laughed lightly as edginess infused his voice. He scratches the back of his neck and that doesn’t really mean a good thing.
“WHAT?!” Adrian screamed and I froze where I was, panic beginning to kick in. Maddie, my intelligent, amazing, beautiful blonde friend is missing, as in, nowhere to be seen. I could see Adrian and Elliot look over at me as if I was their savior now, but I was the last person they should be turning to for help.
I did something out of instinct, my body moving while my mind stayed dormant. I ran upstairs to my room, Adrian and Elliot shadowing behind me. I threw open the door and ran over to my bed. I searched for a letter, any letter that my secret admirer probably put there, but there wasn’t any. I tried my best not to break down; I need to stay strong.
I will put you through even more agony than this. You think all of this is painful? Wait ‘til you see what I’m planning for you. I faintly remember those lines from the previous letter. Is this what he had in mind? I tried to ignore the pain I felt, the lump forming in my throat, my heart contracting with an emptiness I didn’t know I was feeling. My eyes couldn’t even cry anymore. Why is this happening to me?
“Shhh, shhh, it’ll all be better, Roza. We’ll get her back, I promise,” Adrian tried to tell me convincingly, but it felt more as if he was trying to convince himself more than me.
“Adrian, do you really believe that?” I asked in a small voice when he wrapped his arms around my waist.
“Seriously, I don’t know,” Adrian told me, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Why not? What could’ve happened to her? I want Maddie back. No, I want my old life back. I want to go back to normal again, Adrian. Can’t you do that for me? You told me you’d make everything better. Please, Adrian,” I begged, the tears falling carelessly from my eyes. Would you look at that? I can cry after all.
“Roza, we—,” Adrian started, but I cut him off again, not wanting to hear those encouraging words of his. He always tries to sugarcoat everything, but it doesn’t always work. Well, that was a lie; most of the times, it worked.
“No, Adrian. We can’t get through this together. I want my old life back. I want to be normal, Adrian,” I snap as he tries to pull me to him, but I refuse to give in. Look at what I have to go through every time I give in.
He pulled me to his chest while I pounded my tiny fists in his chest like a little child. He seemed unfazed by all of this so I kept going and going until I felt weak and tired.
“It’s okay, Roza. Go to sleep,” Adrian told me comfortingly and I felt my eyelids grow heavier. I tried to protest, but my objection perishes on my tongue. I obeyed him, as usual, and drifted off into the darkness, wanting relaxation. Wanting my best friend back. Wanting my old life back. Wanting to be normal.
* * * * *
The sound of voices in the background jarred me awake. One thing was for sure though, my best friend was still nowhere to be seen and it was up to me to find her. Oh, Maddie, please be alright, wherever you are, my heart silently entreated.
“It just doesn’t work that way, Elliot. If it were that easy, don’t you think I would’ve told her? It just doesn’t work that way,” Adrian groaned in frustration and Elliot looked equally exasperated.
“Why not? My sister has to go through all of this pain just for a stupid little curse, man. Make it better; you’re her soul mate,” Elliot spat, his voice filled with loathing when he said soul mate.
“I can’t make it better. I’m not the only one. Remember, there is supposed to be three? Do you remember what happened last time I told her fifty years ago?” Adrian asked.
“Yeah, she died, I know . . . but still, we can at least try,” Elliot suggested and Adrian shook his head.
“I don’t think I’m ready to lose her again. I can’t tell her,” Adrian says as his voice breaks in the end.
“Can’t tell me what? That you purposely kidnapped Maddie so you could get back together with me?” I asked incredulously, getting off the bed rapidly and going over to Adrian; my expression was absolute anger. He did all of this? Why do I keep going back to this devil?
“No, Roza, that’s not what we were talking about,” he spluttered, shaking his head again.
“Of course not,” I scoffed and ran out the door, out of my bedroom and all the way downstairs when I heard a loud noise. I went into the living room to inspect the noise, but nothing was there.
Absolutely nothing.
I frowned and kept searching, going deeper into the already dim-lighted house until I felt someone’s arm snake around my waist and pull me back. I tried to scream, but my captor was faster than me, turning me around to face him and he brought his mouth down to mine with a familiar placidness. I instantly melted into the kiss, but Adrian quickly pulled away.
“Roza, I didn’t mean it—,” Adrian started but he was cut off by the loud noise that came from . . . my room. I instantly got away from him, ignoring the hurt in his eyes, and dashed up to my room. I don’t have the time to worry about him or anything. He’s not my top priority; Maddie is. A smile spread across my face as I saw what was there. On my bed was a letter, the letter I was waiting for.
Next to it was a red rose, the flower separated from the stem. I gulped, trying to tell myself that the rose didn’t symbolize me in any way. I picked up the letter while Adrian stood in front of me, giving me privacy, making sure he didn’t see the letter.
Angel,
Love, I thought you were going to be harder than this, but I was clearly wrong. It was very easy to hit your weak spot, sweetheart. Those letters you were getting, those weren’t me, I swear. Those were from someone who really “loves” you. This is the first time I will be doing this, love. I see you’ve gotten the news about Maddie. She’s with me, safe and sound, but not for long. You see, she’s here for a reason: to be my bait for . . . you. I could’ve just gotten directly to you, but this is humorous this way. I need you to come to me. I will let her go if you promise to be mine. I’ll explain this more once I see you in Riverside Park soon. You’ll know when I’m there. You’ve built a strong connection with me. You know, for an indestructible angel, you’re very corruptible. You’re not as strong as you’re supposed to be. Angels are strong, bold and rave, but you are none of those. Instead, you are a disgrace to the angels. Anyways, can’t wait to see you.
P.S: If you don’t understand anything about the whole angel thing, feel free to ask you soul mate, Adrian.
Love,
James.
* * * * *
The letter dropped from my hand as I tried to control the tears that were falling sketchily from my face. James had her? Why? If he wanted me so desperately, he could’ve just come directly to me. The room felt as if it was spinning. I felt as if my whole world was spiraling. I couldn’t take it any longer, but the darkness came and swept me off my feet, saving me from all of this trouble.
CHAPTER 25
REVELATIONS
“Well . . . okay then. Let’s talk about our Christmas wishes. You first,” he said tensely, looking straight ahead, clearly not induced by my reply, but still unwavering to alter the topic of our conversation onto something else. If we were actually even having a conversation.
I smiled at his attempt at trying to make small talk. Due to the dim lighting of the glum, freezing night, I couldn’t really make out his features as we rocketed past numerous streetlights. If I examined his face closely, which I did, I can see the auburn curls carelessly falling onto his forehead. He smiled, clearly sensing how admiringly I was watching
him. My cheeks unexpectedly felt very warm, despite the subzero temperature outside, but I answered him at last, letting my gaze slip back to the road.
“All I want for Christmas is to be able to spend the whole day with you. What about you?” I countered. My wish was probably thoughtless and very common, but at the moment, I didn’t really mind much.
“Well, all I want for Christmas is you. Nothing else; just you,” he said, turning slightly to face me, smiling away. Even then, I couldn’t really see his face which frustrated me even more. I turned to face him and the last thing I remember seeing was his dimpled smile as a car zoomed past us and the pair of bright, unnervingly blue-green eyes staring straight into mine, trying to read me.
And that is when it all came crashing down at that precise second when a car, deliberately, collided into ours and both cars went skidding across the slippery road, hitting a nearby tree.
Both cars skidded to a halt and I fell out from my side because I was so stupid that I didn’t even buckle up. I guess it is true what they say. Avoid the worst, put safety first. I was unable to avoid the worst. My head came in contact with the rock solid pavement and all I could see for a few moments were dancing stars, all holding hands, probably playing Ring-Around-The-Rosie. Shuddering, I tried to move my hand, only to encounter even more pain as it coursed through my body and sent more than necessary amount of blood flow to my brain. I could even smell the coppery fluid and taste the metallic flavor. For some reason, the accident seemed very premeditated to me.
This isn’t happening again, not to me. I don’t want this to happen to me. I’ve been through this vision several times. I don’t want to have this as my nightmare. Desperate for a different vision, I willed myself to think of James, only to get another stupid, yet helpful, vision thrown my way. Again, I couldn’t do anything, but stay dormant.
James stood by his lockers, examining his fingernails and frowning at them as if he desperately needed a manicure. His frown deepens when he senses Adrian’s presence behind him, which kind of scares me.
I can sense both Adrian and James’ emotions and presence. To be honest, I was always able to tell how James and Adrian felt, but I thought I knew how Adrian felt because of our soul mate bond. How can this be happening again?
“Ah, you’re finally here,” James smiles broadly. Adrian looks pretty pissed, but he tries to control his anger.
“Why are you moving in on my girl?” Adrian demands, gripping James’ collar while James’ smile expanded.
“She’s not your anything. I have a say in this, too, remember? Should I remind you” James grinned again, raising an eyebrow suggestively. Adrian scowled once before pushing James onto the locker, hard. James didn’t flinch once, not even once. Instead, he went back to examining his fingernails.
“She’s mine,” Adrian growled before smacking James twice. This time, James winced, but I doubt it was from pain. He never gets hurt, ever.
“No, she’s OURS,” James said, stating the word ‘OURS’ pretty loud and clearly.
“NO, she chose me a long time ago,” Adrian scowled again.
“Actually, she didn’t choose yet. You see, she has three soul—,” James started, but something back in reality started waking me up. If I woke up now, there was no guarantee that I will be stuck in this vision again. I need to know what he was about to say.
I slowly opened my eyes, trying to get used to the light after I blacked out about two hours ago. I slowly, but carefully, sat up and blinked a few times to get used to my surroundings now. Great, I was still on my bed, in my bedroom with Adrian sitting in front of me while Elliot sat on a chair next to him.
“What the hell, Adrian?” I asked, wanting to know why he woke me up. “I was in the middle of a dream, you know.”
“No, you weren’t. You were having another one of those visions. I know for sure that wasn’t a dream,” Adrian tells me, giving me a look that said, really, that’s the best lie you could come up with?
“Well, why did you wake me up?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. He frowned a little, looking over at Elliot for help. Elliot did open his mouth to answer, but I held up my hand and shook my head at him. “I asked Adrian, not you, Elliot.” Elliot had about a second to look surprised before closing his mouth.
“You—I—I just—Roza,—I couldn’t really let you see that vision,” Adrian said in between sighs, running his hand through his already higgledy-piggledy hair. I frowned at the thought of Adrian going through my head to spy on me. Could he do that?
“You spied on me?” I asked, disbelieve lacing my voice.
“It’s not really called spying. I knew what you were seeing because of the soul mate bond,” Adrian mumbled, denying to meet my cantankerous eyes.
“Of course, it’s always the ‘soul mate’ thing that has to ruin everything,” I mutter incoherently under my breath and Adrian’s eyes snap up instantly, meeting mine. Mine were filled with sadness, longing and anger while his were filled with hurt, betrayal and well, sadness.
“Do you really mean that, Roza?” he asks me in a small voice, his eyes already tearing up because of my big mouth. I just had to state the truth in front of him. I roll my eyes and scoot closer to him so that I can hug him and I did. He hugs me back after a moment’s hesitation. After about a millisecond after Adrian begins to hug me, I pull away, trying not to look into his hurtful eyes. I completely forgot that Elliot was sitting there, next to us, awkwardly looking around the room, anywhere and everywhere. I also forgot about James’ letter. That is important.
If you don’t understand anything about the whole angel thing, feel free to ask you soul mate, Adrian.
“Adrian, what am I?” I ask unexpectedly, making his eyes go wide. I’m surprised that they didn’t just pop out.
“You-you’re human,” Adrian stutters and I smile a bitter smile. I can tell he’s lying because a) he stuttered. B) He looks away and his eyes go wide. C) I could feel it through our soul mate bond.
“You’re lying,” I smile again and Elliot sighs. I look over at him and he looks over at Adrian.
“Just tell her, man. It’s no use. She already knows too much,” Elliot sighs again and Adrian gives him a tight-lipped smile. I could practically feel the nervous waves rolling off him and I didn’t need the bond to know that.
“Let’s start with Elliot. You see, Rose, Elliot is a—,” Adrian starts, but I cut him off, trying to ignore the fact that now I’m Rose again, not Roza.
“He’s human, I get it,” I tell him, but he shakes his head and Elliot laughs. “What?”
“Sis, I’m not human. Just 50% human,” he states.
“I don’t understand,” I say nervously and Adrian senses that, scooting closer to me and placing a hand on my back, rubbing comforting patterns onto my back. I relax physically, but not mentally.
“You see, Rose, once upon a time, there used to be a time when Heavenly Angels could roam around freely on Earth with humans without getting in trouble. One angel decided to take advantage of that and ‘do the deed’ with a human, who later conceived a half angel half human baby,” Elliot enlightened, trying to keep a straight face throughout the whole ‘story time’. So angels and humans “mingling” create disasters?
“No, Roza, they create Nephilims,” Adrian smiles, looking down at me with an amusing expression.
“So . . . Elliot’s a Nepha-whatever you just said,” I tell them and they both burst out laughing.
“Yes, I’m a Nepha-whatever,” Elliot repeats, looking a bit offended.
“So . . . am I one too? Was my dad or mom an angel?” I ask, kind of frightened and enthusiastic at the same time.
“No, unfortunately, you’re not a Nephilim,” Adrian frowns and I can sense that he desperately wished that I was one.
“Okay. Before you continue, I need to know how I’m related to you, Adrian. Who are you?” I ask cautiously, slipping out of his hold and he gulps audibly.
“I-I’m Adrian, you soul mate,” he stutters aga
in and sighs, knowing he’s been caught red-handed. “I’m just—I’m your—,” Adrian starts, but Elliot helps him out by finishing for him.
“You see, Rose, before your accident, you were married to someone. He loved you, a lot. After the accident, you two were separated,” Elliot starts and I nod, completely oblivious to what he’s about to say. “That is why your last name is Ross, not Hathaway. Adrian’s last name is also Ross,” Elliot tells me, wanting me to be the one to figure it out. Realization dawned me haphazardly.
“You mean, Adrian’s my hu—,” I started, but I cut myself off. Oh my god, He’s the one I was married to. He’s the one who almost died with me on the night of the accident. Elliot told me that he wanted to leave me and Adrian alone and he left. I didn’t notice that Adrian went to stand by the balcony and I quickly ran over to him, standing next to him, facing him. He turned to look at me slowly and I instantly hugged him, not wanting to let go, ever.
This is why he never wanted to be away from me.
“Adrian, why didn’t you tell me?” I sobbed and he just ran a hand through my hair.
“I didn’t know how to. Plus, the right time never came,” he told me and kissed my tears away. I smiled and looked up at him.
“So since we’re married, if we ever have kids, are they going to be Nephilims, too?” I ask, my cheeks turning red.
“No, they won’t be Nephilims or human. They’ll be angels, like you and me,” Adrian smiles at me expectantly. I completely blank out.
“I don’t understand. I’m human, not an angel, like you,” I tell him, smiling slightly.
“Rose, you’re not human, you’re an Eart—,” Adrian starts, but is cut off by the sound of a text message on my phone. I run over to my phone and check who sent it. It was James.
