The Savior Rises

by Christopher C. Payne

  As they approached Stonehenge, she even saw a few cows grazing off in a pasture. They looked as if they didn’t have a care in the world.

  Since she arrived a few hours before her designated time, she leisurely strolled around the grounds. Her heart beat at such a rapid pace. The view of the rocks as they came into sight took her breath away. When she’d walked close enough, she came to an abrupt halt and just stood there.

  Stefani stared. She just couldn’t stop staring. She knew that other people wondered what she saw, and most likely they would never understand. But she also knew she didn’t care.

  Stefani’s life didn’t begin until she was 21, and the words she’d spoken would always remain ingrained in her soul. She knew they were part of who she was, but they would in no way ever define her again.

  “My name is Stefani Hernandez, and I was abused as a child.”

  She knew the power of those words. You could let them beat you, or you could stand up and fight them. She might have to fight them every day for the rest of her life, but she knew she would do just that.

  Some days were better than others. Today was a mixture of both. She stood there and stared, wiping the tears from her eyes.

  As she paused on the path surrounding Stonehenge, she didn’t fully understand why it held such meaning for her. Sure, she understood she associated her posters with her abuse. She understood she had used it to escape what was happening at the time, but she also knew it was just a symbol. She had already begun to conquer the reality. She didn’t know why the symbol still held such meaning.

  It was really an amazing place when you thought about it. Tons and tons of rocks moved to the middle of a field long before anyone had any vehicles or cranes. It was billed as a miracle, a miracle that was unexplainable. Stefani knew to a certain extent this was true. It was a miracle. It was a symbol. Not for the bad things that happened to her, but for the good that could come from moving on with her life.

  Stefani decided it was time for the first step, and she reached inside her pocket and pulled something out. She’d somehow kept it all these years. Without realizing it, this object had managed to make it through all of the stages of her life.

  It was one of the little metal gargoyles. It was only about an inch tall. But as a child, she had seen it as being so much bigger. Everything in life seems different when you’re a child – both for better and for worse.

  She looked at Dennis, her little gargoyle. He wasn’t even that pretty, really. Actually, are any gargoyles pretty? As she looked at him, she smiled, realizing she didn’t have any need for him anymore. He had helped her through times she had faced in the past, but now she needed to put that behind her.

  She kissed the top of his head. Then, she leaned over the small chain and tossed him as far as she could amongst the stones. She wasn’t supposed to do that, she was sure. But, what the heck? How much trouble could she possible get in?

  The park was getting ready to close, and her instructions had been very specific. She was now to return to the car and open the envelope. She was to read the contents and wait for two hours. At exactly 9:30 p.m., she was to come back to the circle and enter it, sitting on the slab in the middle.

  Apparently, the guards had all been well paid to allow her free access to do anything she chose. She wondered to herself if she would be so influential in getting her way in the future. She was, after all, a millionaire. How would she spend that money when she returned home? She was giddy thinking about it sometimes.

  When she crawled into the back seat, her driver had already raised the partition, giving her complete privacy. She was now on her own to open the secret documents. She wondered what in the world it could possibly be.

  She cracked the seal and pulled out the first piece of paper. It was a birth certificate. The name on it was Stefani Sanders. Her name had originally been Stefani Sanders. She didn’t understand why somebody would have given her a copy of her birth certificate.

  As she glanced down she noticed the date, and the year caught her eye. 1989. That didn’t make any sense at all. Stefani was born in 1988. She was turning 22 today, and it was 2010. If she were born in 1989, she would now be turning 21. She felt her hands beginning to get clammy, and her breathing came more rapidly.

  She looked in the envelope, and at the bottom was a necklace. Attached to the necklace was a ring. It was the ring in her dreams. The same ring from her imagined nightmares. She didn’t understand what was happening.

  She pushed open the door just in time as she threw up alongside the car. A black vile liquid rushed out of her mouth. It was sticky and thick. She slammed the door closed when she was done, attempting to shut out the smell. It was worse than she had imagined or remembered.

  She banged on the partition, but the driver just sat there, staring straight ahead, not even acknowledging she existed. She did exist though; she was here. Was her nightmare coming true?

  The last piece of paper was a note which she ripped from the envelope. Her hands shook as she read the words out loud.

  My name is Maximillian, I am the leader of the Litwana clan of gargoyles which my son Dennis told you about. I sent him to protect you, but that plan failed. I am truly sorry for that. I wish your life could have been so different.

  At the time, I also set in motion a backup plan. That plan was to switch the year of your birth. Today you are turning 21. This was done for your protection. Without this deceit, you surely would have been killed long ago.

  You are now left with two choices, and the ability to choose is yours and yours alone.

  Choice one is to take the ring, place it on your finger and stand in the middle of the Circle of Power. The rocks will protect you, but the rest is speculation. My belief is you will turn into a gargoyle and, as such, will be like no other my race has seen before. You are our prophecy, our savior, the one we have been waiting for.

  My belief is strong on not inflicting my will on others. So with that in mind I have also given you a second choice. Hand the ring to your driver, and he will take you back to the airport. Awaiting you at home is your $10 million, and you can live out your life as you desire. Nobody will bother you again.

  The decision is yours, and I wish you luck no matter what path you decide to venture down. You have been through so much, my child, I can only hope that someday I can wrap my arms around you and give you the love you so deserve.

  Stefani knew she had no real choice – not for her sanity, anyway. She picked up the ring, jammed it on her finger, and walked out toward the stones. She ran through the tunnel this time, jumped the little chain fence, and strolled right up to the center slab.

  There she lay down, waiting for the time to come. Her thoughts passed back through her life, both imaginary and real, and she honestly had no idea how to ever detangle the two. Reality and fiction would forevermore be the same to her. She would just have to do her best to navigate both in whatever manner she could.

  Suddenly her body began to burn. It was as if her entire being were thrust into the charcoals of a raging flame. She cried out in pain as she tore her clothes, wanting desperately to douse this internal fire.

  Her face felt as though it were contorting, being pulled and pushed, as if her body were suddenly a piece of clay being molded into its new form.

  Her skin glowed white, and she threw her arms behind her, cracking the stone slab into two pieces as they tumbled to the ground by her feet.

  She involuntarily knelt down, and as she did so, giant white wings shot from her shoulders. They flapped in the wind while she fought to gain control.

  The force that only seconds before had knocked her to her knees relinquished its hold, and she felt herself stand. For the first time in her life, she felt complete.

  The strength rushed through her veins, her muscles flexed, and she felt reborn as she launched herself in the air. Flying was easier than she could have imagined, her wings carried her skyward faster than she ever thought possible.

  She knew she nev
er had a choice. She was the Chosen One, and she felt her heart racing with exhilaration beyond her wildest imagination.

  Her only hope was that somewhere, somehow, Greg would feel this moment, and his heart would twinge with fear. Her first order of business would be to find him and make him pay. Revenge and anger may not be the emotions brought forth in all the religious teachings, but they were the only emotions she cared to tolerate now.

  Life was as it should be. She found her destiny, and now the world would truly be introduced to a gargoyle. The prophecy had risen, for better or worse, her time had begun.

  Greg sat in his office, staring out at the San Francisco skyline. He had no idea what Stefani’s benefactor had done. He’d been so stupid. A birth date was such an easy thing to switch. It was so simple he’d never suspected it.

  The second he felt the surge of energy and saw the date on the calendar, he knew in his soul what had happened. He should’ve killed the child when he had the chance. Now he wasn’t sure she was even susceptible to death.

  She was as close to a god as this planet would ever see and, for the first time in his life, he felt fear.

  Epilogue

  “Stefani!

  “Stefani!

  “Stefani!”

  “It’s time to wake up, dear. Stefani, you have to take your medication. If you take your medication like a good girl, you can watch The Price Is Right. Drew Carey is on The Price Is Right, honey, and you love Drew Carey.”