by Ching, G. P.
The first thing Abigail noticed was the green. Giant trees surrounded her. Pines, redwoods, sequoias. Thick trunks reached for the light above and crowded her shoulders. She was at the center of a dense forest, and by the slope of the terrain and the giant boulders poking out of the forest floor, she would guess on the side of a mountain.
“Abigail?”
She turned around to see redheaded, freckle-faced Bonnie staring at her, full lips slightly parted.
Abigail nodded her head and started to cry, her hello catching in her throat. Bonnie opened her arms, and Abigail ran into them, accepting the younger girl’s hug, the first human contact she’d had in months.
“Thank the Lord,” Abigail said.
“What’s happened? What has Lucifer done to you?”
“I’m a prisoner. No one can see me or hear me aside from him. I’ve been living like a ghost for months in that place. I can’t leave.”
“How do we get you out?”
“I don’t know.”
A tall man in hiking gear rustled from the dense forest. His hand shot up to adjust his Life is Good cap over his brown hair, blue eyes flashing to Abigail and then Bonnie. “Welcome, hikers. You three need a guide?”
“Three?” Abigail asked. She glanced behind her, to a petite young woman with long golden-brown hair, somewhat familiar. “Who are you?”
“Hope,” she said with a smile.
“Hello, Hope,” Abigail said softly. She opened her mouth to say more but the guide cleared his throat.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but my job is to get you three out of the woods.” He laughed heartily. “And I feel we should get started. My instincts tell me we don’t have a lot of time.”
“You are a part of the Healer?” Bonnie asked.
“Yes. An ancient part.” He pointed toward a footpath behind him. “I will lead you on the trail, and you will ask questions about the future. I will answer. Be thee warned, the future is a dangerous thing. Our fates are tangled and constantly changing. I can tell you the future as it stands today, but a single choice could change tomorrow.”
Abigail fell into step behind the guide. “Is this it? Is it time for me to be freed?”
“That’s a question about the present,” the guide said. “I can only answer about the future.”
“Oh, I get it,” Bonnie said. “It’s like Jeopardy. You have to phrase the question in terms of the future. How will I save Abigail?”
“Bonnie,” Abigail whispered. “You’re assuming you do save me. It’s an unsure future based on choices you haven’t made yet.”
“The question is valid,” the guide said. “Now let’s get you an answer.” He stopped, poking the underbrush with his walking stick. A family of fireflies rose from the underbelly of a fern and blinked their posteriors in the shade of the large trees.
“Lucifer’s spell is a lie. Bonnie, you will save Abigail by removing her from the space where the spell resides.”
Bonnie pressed a finger into her chin. “How will I remove her if I can’t see or hear her?”
“By removing her while you can see and hear her.”
“You mean, while she’s here, in the stone?”
The guide nodded. “Lucifer’s spell is an illusion. Abigail has both a body and a soul. You can’t see her because of the sorcery attached to the place she’s in, but if you remove the stone, while she is here, you will break the spell.”
“Thank God. How do I go back?”
“Wait,” Abigail protested. “Does Bonnie survive saving me?”
The fireflies circled each other. “Yes, although evil sees her for what she is.”
Abigail frowned.
Bonnie shook her head. “If evil hasn’t seen me for what I am yet, the revelation is overdue. I’m going to go back and get you out of there.” Bonnie sat down on the trail, crisscrossing her legs. “Send me back without Abigail,” she demanded of the guide.
“Don’t you want to know more about your future?” the guide asked.
“Not really. The future’s a scary place. I think I’ll rescue Abigail and take my chances.”
“Smart girl.” The guide placed one boot on her thigh and pushed. Red crystals formed around the twin, swallowing her body beneath the sole of his shoe. A black tear opened in the tree trunk behind her, receiving the falling crystal cocoon. Bonnie toppled into the darkness. The glass shattered. She was gone.
Abigail watched the bark stitch back together and thought of Oswald.
The guide continued down the trail. “What about you, Abigail? Do you have any last questions for me?”
Nervously, Abigail glanced over her shoulder, wondering if Hope had questions too, but the young woman had lagged behind. She cleared her throat, mind racing with questions about her future. Like Bonnie, there were things she didn’t care to know. One question popped into her head, one that could help the Soulkeepers more than any other. “What is the next temptation?”
The guide halted. “Good question, Abigail.” His walking stick slapped the ground and a swarm of flies tornadoed from the underbrush, black and buzzing. The guide stared at the mass of insects for a long time.
“It is difficult to know the future actions of the evil one. Great evil is a tentacled virus, stirring up trouble in every direction. Nevertheless, there is a pattern to Lucifer’s choices. His time on Earth has left a thread, and his future is tangled with the Soulkeepers.”
“What do you think it might be?”
“Lucifer began with pestilence, gaining from the resulting addiction to the cure. He followed with ignorance.” The guide tapped his chin. “There is only one thing that the devil loves more than keeping someone physically weak and mentally confused.”
Abigail thought about that. Hadn’t the temptations mirrored what he’d done to her? First he’d made her body not her own, then he’d tortured her psychologically by isolating her. Then he’d threatened her with starvation. “Terror,” Abigail said. “Lucifer’s next step will be to terrorize humans into allegiance with him.”
The guide nodded. “That is what I see. Many will die. No place is safe.”
“I’ll tell the Soulkeepers. We’ll have to rotate in and out of Eden.”
“No place is safe, Abigail. Not even Eden.”
She shook her head. “Not even Eden?”
The guide met her blue eyes with his. “Not even Eden. Warn them, Abigail. Change is coming. Malini must protect the remnant.”
“The remnant? Do we lose someone?”
The guide didn’t have a chance to answer. The red came for her like a swarm of bees, aggressive and painful. Tiny red shards of glass swirled in the air around her, flushing her from the forest and into black nothingness. The force swept Abigail out onto a carpeted floor, next to a round table. She gasped and coughed, feeling nauseated from the spinning and the movement.
Hands gripped her shoulders, strong, capable hands that smelled of sunlight and honey, and a brown face appeared in front of hers.
“There you are,” Cheveyo said.
Abigail turned her head to see Bonnie, still disguised as Cord, holding the red stone. “It worked, Abigail! You’re out.”
“Help her up,” Samantha said. “Jesse just texted me from out front. He heard security say Mr. Blake was on his way home. Apparently, Lucifer has quite a reputation. The staff is panicked.”
“We’d better get out of here,” Bonnie said, punching the elevator button with her elbow.
Abigail allowed Bonnie and Sam to help her to her feet. When Cheveyo looked at the whole of her, he gasped and his hand flew to his mouth. She suspected as much.
“What is it?” Bonnie asked, holding Abigail at arm’s length to get a better view. “She inhaled sharply, glancing from Cheveyo to Samantha who pressed a hand over her heart.
The elevator doors opened and Abigail stepped into the compartment. Lined with mirrors, she saw the first reflection of herself since coming to Lucifer’s condo. Cheeks gaunt, the dark circles under her eyes made
her look like a skeleton. Her hair was matted, dull, and dirty. But it was the change in her body she would have rather not thought about that stood out. Stretching the fabric of her T-shirt, draped on either side by the oversized sweater coat and poking out above her yoga pants, her abdomen rounded from her bottom rib to her hipbone.
The others stepped into the compartment behind her. Bonnie was the first to say it out loud. “Abigail, you’re pregnant.”
* * * * *
Bonnie turned the key and hit the button for the atrium. Everyone was staring. You couldn’t miss it. On her skeletal frame, the pregnancy looked like she was smuggling a basketball under her shirt.
Abigail ran her hand over the mound. “Yes. I’m pregnant.”
The elevator descended into silence.
“W-well, it’s not Lucifer’s, if that’s what you’re thinking!” Abigail stammered. “It’s Gideon’s. I suspected I was pregnant before I left Eden. Lucifer never touched me. No one ever touched me.”
Bonnie opened her mouth, closed it again. She glanced at Samantha and Cheveyo. The descending elevator took on the ambiance of a funeral parlor.
“You’re afraid he’s done something to the baby,” Abigail said.
“It’s just, you’re so thin,” Bonnie admitted.
“And malnourished,” Samantha added.
Cheveyo shot both of them a harsh look. “Don’t you worry, Mrs. Newman, you have a Healer back in Eden that will fix you and the baby up. A few days drinking the water, and you’ll be as good as new.”
Bonnie rubbed her toe along the shiny floor. How did any of them know for sure the baby, and therefore Abigail, would be allowed into Eden? At least Cheveyo was right about one thing, Malini would heal her. All of them would care for her, one way or another.
The doors opened and Bonnie scooped an arm under Abigail’s, joining Samantha in helping her into the atrium. Cheveyo guarded her back. They ushered her into the foyer, planning to exit the way they’d come in, but as Bonnie glanced up, she saw they were too late. Lucifer, Cord, and Auriel were entering through the front doors.
“Not that way,” Ghost appeared in front of them, arms blocking their advance. “Emergency exit.” He pointed in the opposite direction.
Bonnie turned on her heel, dragging Abigail along. Only, the older woman’s limbs wouldn’t obey. Weakness from the pregnancy and months of starvation had taken their toll. She tripped. Bonnie caught her. Still in Cord’s larger and stronger body, she decided to use it to their advantage. Sweeping Abigail up into her arms, she jogged toward the glowing red exit sign at the back of the building. Ghost blinked ahead and opened the door, setting off the alarm. Samantha and Cheveyo bolted through first, Bonnie moving slower with Abigail cradled in her arms.
On impulse, she glanced back. The real Cord glared at her, lips peeling back from extended fangs.
Bonnie kicked the door closed behind her, thinking about what the guide had said. Evil would know who she was. “He saw me. We’ve got to get out of here.”
“This way,” Ghost said. Racing for the street, he hailed a cab. They all climbed in, just as Cord and Auriel spilled into the alleyway.
“You got too many,” the cabbie griped, eyeing the four crammed into the backseat. “Only three seatbelts.”
Ghost handed him a hundred from the passenger’s side. “Get us out of here.”
The cabbie glanced at the advancing suits, shoved the bill into his pocket, and floored it.
Chapter 19
A New Beginning
Abigail repositioned herself on the bench of the boat to Eden. She didn’t believe for a moment the baby inside of her was anything but beautiful and innocent, but the cherubim that guarded the gates were a foreboding presence not to be taken lightly.
“Here we go,” Bonnie said, red hair still flying from the boat’s forward momentum. She stripped out of the coat she’d been wearing in the outside world. As the temperature warmed to a balmy seventy-eight degrees, the others did the same.
The familiar sifting started, cells pulled apart and put back together, and then the rubbery stretch of being forced through a membrane. Just as expected, she popped out on the other side without any permanent damage.
“That was interesting,” Samantha said, eyeing Abigail’s rounded belly. “I wondered if we’d be able to see the baby’s soul, like when Cheveyo was stripped from Dane and judged separately.”
“I’m sure my baby has a soul,” Abigail said. “Maybe, she’s just part of me for now when it comes to the judging. After all, the cherubim are meant to protect, and it’s not like she’s a threat.”
“She?” Ghost laughed. “You already know it’s a girl.”
“Just a feeling,” Abigail said with a knowing smile.
He blinked onto the dock and helped her out of the boat. Abigail appreciated his assistance considering her wasted body wasn’t cooperating with her the way it used to. The twins followed, helping her through the jungle and the welcoming doors of the Eden School for Soulkeepers.
Archibald, the head garden gnome, met her at the door, bowing deeply at the waist. “Ms. Abigail, it is my honor to see you again.” A fat green tear formed in the corner of his eye.
“Thank you, Archibald.”
“The others are gathered in the dining hall. We waited to take down the Christmas decorations, hoping this mission would be the one to find you.”
“Merry Christmas,” Abigail said, smiling. “And Happy New Year. I haven’t missed Valentine’s, have I?”
“No.” He grinned a mouthful of jagged teeth. “You have a few weeks for that.”
She limped toward the dining hall with Bonnie’s help, and through the door Ghost held open.
A magnificent fir tree rose at the center of the room, decorated with pinecones, candles, and strung dried fruit. The beauty of the tree was only matched by the people under it. Malini, Jacob, Dane, Ethan, Lillian, Master Lee, and Grace all looked her way when she entered, and a chorus of cheers met her at the door.
And then, Gideon. At first his green eyes locked onto her face as if she was a mirage that would disappear at any moment. His lips pressed together. His pupils dilated. Slowly, centimeter-by-centimeter, the corners of his mouth curled. The reality of her presence seemed to plow into him and knock him from his chair.
He dashed to her, engulfing her in his arms and burying his face in the side of her hair. “Oh thank God. Thank you, Lord,” he said.
The tears started then, hers and his. Suddenly, they weren’t alone in their hug. The others circled, wrapping arms around them both. Their love was a palpable thing, soaking through her clothes and skin.
After a long moment, one by one the Soulkeepers pulled back. “Welcome home,” Malini said.
Gideon’s hands rubbed her shoulders. “Malini, she’ll need healing. Your arms are so thin. And…” His voice trailed off as he noticed the mound of her belly. Gaping, he stared at the bump under her shirt.
“It’s yours,” she said. “I suspected I was pregnant before Lucifer took me. I think he was trying to starve the baby from me, but his plan didn’t work.”
Gideon placed his hands on either side of her belly. “How did you survive?”
“God visited me. She saved me.” Abigail looked around the group, eyes pausing on each of their faces. “I’m so sorry I opened myself up to this. I should have waited. I should have asked for help.”
Master Lee shook his head. “Any one of us might have done the same.”
Lillian nodded. “Now we know. We will be more careful with the stones.”
The rest of the Soulkeepers took turns nodding and whispering words of encouragement and forgiveness.
“I think I was captured for a reason,” she began. “I believe there were things I was meant to learn and bring back to you. I have news of horrible things to come. I’ve seen how Lucifer is playing this game.” Her voice cracked.
Malini smiled and placed her left hand near Gideon’s. “Forever the fighter, Abigail. You amaze me
.” She frowned slightly, and Abigail felt the healing warmth of her touch under her skin. “I want you to rest and eat. If what you say is true, you’ll need your strength.”
“But—”
“There’s time,” Malini said. The golden color of the Healer’s eyes held a certainty that transcended her short life, the wisdom of her ancient power surrounded her, an aura that gave everyone in her radius peace.
Abigail lowered her head. “I could use some rest.”
Within seconds, four chairs appeared behind her. She chose one and allowed a gnome to bring her a tray of the most scrumptious-looking roasted root vegetables she’d ever seen. She didn’t hesitate to dig in.
“Are you all going to watch me eat?” she said between bites. “It looks like you still have presents to open?” She pointed her chin toward the tree.
Jacob cleared his throat. “We opened ours on Christmas.”
Ethan smirked, shaking a box wrapped in brown paper. “These are yours, Abigail. I’ve been dying to know what this is.”
“Abigail can open her own gifts, Ethan.” Dane smiled and pulled the box from his hand. “I’ve caught him shaking the box like fifty times.”
“You saved presents, for me?” Abigail said, pressing a hand to her chest. A lump formed in her throat.
Gideon grinned, selecting a box from the stack of packages. “Yes, we did. I never gave up hope that we’d find you. Never.”
“None of us did,” Dane said.
She placed her tray on the floor and accepted the gift, ripping into the paper. She lifted the lid. Inside, a wooden hanger was surrounded by two dozen small bamboo cranes. She lifted the hanger and listened to the hollow cranes knock together musically. Wind chimes!
From behind her chair, Gideon wrapped his arms around her neck and kissed her on the cheek. “There’s a Japanese legend that if you fold one thousand origami cranes, you will be granted one wish. I’m not Japanese, and I don’t fold origami, but I have learned something about woodworking. I thought the symbolism was close enough. Must have been, because my wish came true.”
