Babylon (Eden Saga Book 2)

by Matthew C. Plourde

  Doubt was finally her ally.

  “Seriously,” she said, “is there a hotel? A bed somewhere I could use?”

  One of the women she helped said, “You stay with us?”

  Alexandra turned towards the padre. “Your move,” she said. “Are you going to try to arrest me tonight or can I go with these nice people?”

  Padre Hernon glowered at her and said, “I will consult Nebu in the morning on all of these things. You will be in the church so we can speak.”

  “Wait,” she said. “Your Child King can hold a conversation?”

  “The Child of God has many gifts,” he said.

  Alexandra grinned and failed to hold her tongue in check. “Has he been healing the sick?” she asked flippantly.

  The padre exhaled and appeared to contain his loathing towards her. “In the morning, we speak again,” he said.

  “I’ll be here,” she said as she pushed past the soldiers and shot a parting glance towards Zaph. “At some point.”

  Alexandra spent much of the night convincing the family that she was more comfortable in the attached tent. She didn’t feel right displacing the parents from the only bed they had inside the ramshackle wooden structure that passed for their house. In the end, her stubbornness won over the father and he agreed to let their guest sleep in the tent.

  As she unpacked her things she considered visiting Benjamin at the hill again to tell him she was working on freeing them. However, she wasn’t sure the padre’s soldiers wouldn’t just throw her into one of the pits out of convenience.

  No, her plan required her to move freely within Babylon. Benjamin trusted her. He would have to spend one more night in darkness.

  “Not long now,” she whispered as if her friend could hear.

  Talla panted and watched her.

  “I know,” she said. “It’s past dinner time for you.”

  They shared a meager meal and Alexandra’s body shutdown almost immediately afterwards. Her scarred-over gunshot wounds still twisted in pain from time to time and her bones shook from the strain she put them through over the past few weeks. Sleep was more than welcome, though it didn’t come easy. She realized Hernon could easily change his mind and arrest her. What was her vision of Erzulie all about? What was she thinking when she healed all those people? Could her reckless plan work?

  So many questions. Too many unknowns.

  Eventually, Talla’s snoring gave way to the watery sounds of a gentle river and a caressing summer sun. A breeze filtered through her hair and lungs – reinvigorating her.

  Eden.

  Alexandra didn’t need to look behind her. She knew Koneh was there.

  “This is nice,” she said, absorbing the sun’s warmth.

  He sat next to her and they shared a smile. His bronze skin almost matched her own. Not long ago, that skin was intertwined, one flesh. One soul. She moved to kiss him but he stopped her.

  “When I first arrived, it took me weeks to overcome the raw emotion here,” he said. “Then, another few days must have passed before our little encounter was enough of a memory to allow me to function. If you kiss me now, I may never recover.”

  She frowned. “Is that such a bad thing?”

  “No, indeed, it is not,” he said, shaking his head. “However, life is different here. I wish I had time to explain, but our time is likely short.”

  She nodded, anxious to hear his new stories but also bursting at her seams to ask him many things. Too many topics to cover, so she decided upon the most important one.

  “What did you mean when you said you had some things to figure out?” she asked.

  He paused. Then, “Eden is not what I expected. I told you I sought my mother.”

  She nodded.

  “Well, she is not here.”

  Struck speechless, Alexandra couldn’t respond.

  “Apparently, her questioning nature denied her entrance,” Koneh said. “At least, that is what I have been able to piece together from Seth.”

  “Seth?”

  “My brother.”

  “Oh.”

  Reunions. Alexandra experienced one with her mother when she was in Eden. How many more waited for her? Who else was in Eden? The possibilities excited her.

  Koneh gazed into the distance, clearly unsettled. “It is just… Eden is not what I dreamt it would be. That’s all.”

  She watched him for a few moments and wondered where his thoughts were. What had steady Koneh so uneasy? Unfortunately, they didn’t have time for endless talk like they had on the road.

  The dream would melt.

  “Lilev told me some unsettling things,” she said.

  That brought him back to her. “What kinds of things?” he asked.

  “Stuff about how Eden is a doorway, and things beyond our world can now enter Earth.”

  He huffed. “She has been down that road with me before,” he said. “I have heard all of her outlandish theories, but I am still not convinced. You forget – I have spoken with Elah twice now. I think he really wanted to build an eternal paradise for the souls here. I must believe that.”

  “Her words rang truthful to me,” she said.

  “Oh, I do not doubt that she believes her own twisted visions.”

  Alexandra hesitated as she wasn’t even sure why she trusted Lilev’s words. However, the trust was there – whole and intact. And the thought of Lilev’s doomed future shook her to her core.

  “It’s not just her visions,” she said. “Lilev can look into my thoughts and see the future as I have. We’ve shared visions, if that makes any sense.”

  Koneh nodded. “She claimed to have the ability to steal foresight from others. I never believed her, though.”

  “Believe it,” she said. “Add what she told me to my conversations with the Crone and it leads me in one direction.”

  Though the dream began to dissolve around them, they continued to speak.

  “What direction is that?”

  She looked into his eyes. “I must return to Eden to make sense of it all. Somehow, someway the answers lie there.”

  She stopped short of her full thought and Koneh sensed it.

  “What else?” he asked.

  “And to destroy Eden if it means saving our world.”

  When had she come to that conclusion? Wasn’t Eden her home? As she talked with Koneh, the lie and potential danger of Eden were all too apparent to her. Even if Lilev didn’t speak the whole truth, Alexandra found the Crone’s words impossible to ignore – the Earth will heal once Eden is gone.

  Koneh eyed her and asked, “Are you now allied with Lilev, of all creatures?”

  The dream continued to fade.

  “Allies?” she said, almost laughing. “Only in the loosest possible sense of the word. At least we’re not trying to rip each other apart anymore.”

  As they were torn from each other again, Koneh said, “How very interesting, my love.”

  Alexandra awoke to a coyote barking. Well, to be honest, a coyote’s bark was more akin to a petulant “please do something about this” yapping than a true dog’s trademark. And in Talla’s case, she knew it wouldn’t stop until Alexandra fixed whatever irked him.

  She groaned and peered from her tent.

  Standing tall in the morning’s orange light was Zaph. Was this the violence she was expecting? At least the angel obeyed some derelict sense of honor and he refrained from slaying her in her sleep.

  “What do you want?” she called as she scrambled to her feet and sought her sword.

  “The Child King, ruler of Earth and Eden, has requested your presence before him,” Zaph said. “Immediately.”

  Chapter 20

  Immediately meant immediately in an angel’s world. Zaph folded his muscled arms across his chest and frowned when she finally emerged from her little tent.

  “Your weapon is not allowed,” he said.

  As she fussed with her elongating ponytail, she joined him and said, “Well, that’s not an option. So-�
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  “Nebu will not allow-“

  She started walking towards the massive central tower. “You coming? I assume he’s in there somewhere.”

  Zaph came to her side and said, “What are your intentions? Do you mean to bring harm to Nebu?”

  “If that was my plan, do you think I’d share it with you?”

  His frowned deepened.

  “Relax,” she said. “I’m not here to pick a fight. But I’ll bring one if that’s what you and Hernon force on me. My goal is to see my friends free, that’s all.”

  “Padre Hernon tells me your words are poison. How can we trust you?”

  She shrugged. “I’m not asking for your trust.”

  Despite his outward distaste towards her, Zaph certainly seemed curious.

  “How did you come about your gift for healing?” he asked.

  “Don’t know. Just happened.”

  Alexandra’s curiosity got the better of her as well as they approached the looming tower. The ramshackle structure stretched upwards seemingly without thought to form or function. Likely, the people who built it were in a hurry or had no skill for the task at hand. As her eyes wandered to the slopes of canvas at the summit, she reasoned it was likely a measure of both unfortunate facts.

  “Why the sails?” she asked.

  Zaph followed her gaze to the top of the building. “They catch the rain,” he said. “The water is led to a cistern where it can be boiled and then used.”

  “Clever.”

  Zaph smiled for the first time. “You humans usually are.”

  Maybe the angel wasn’t so terrible. Was a personality hidden beneath his rigid exterior? Or, was he mimicking emotions like Erzulie had done for so long until Alexandra fractured her own soul for her friend?

  Talla whined as Zaph opened the heavy door to the tower. Alexandra tapped the side of her thigh as they entered and the coyote hesitantly followed. Beams of dark wood supported each floor. However, the design was indeed haphazard and hasty. Entire sections of wall were different in composition from other parts, and much of the structure was made from salvaged materials. Lanterns hissed and threw their long shadows into the angular corners of the entry chamber. A rotund Asian man scurried from behind his desk and greeted them as they entered.

  “Welcome to Babylon, Alexandra Contreras,” he said in perfect English. He was likely raised in America, she guessed. “I’m Walter.”

  She shook his outstretched hand and noticed his sunken eyes and flabby skin around his neck – he was probably much larger before the quake. His eyes strayed to the sword across her back and then to Zaph.

  “Is she ready to see Nebu?” Walter asked.

  “She is,” Zaph said.

  After one more glance at her weapon, Walter led them to a stairway at the back of the entry chamber. The stairs clung to the outside wall by a few nails and a prayer. They creaked and protested under everyone’s weight.

  “How long did it take to build this?” she asked as they passed the second floor and kept chugging upwards.

  A sweat-line was forming down the back of Walter’s shirt and he panted as they reached the third story landing.

  “About a month,” he said between gasps. “I should have designed an elevator, though.”

  “You designed this?”

  He nodded. “Before the quake, I worked for a contractor who built apartment buildings. The rain catchers were my idea too.”

  “Why a tower, though?” she asked. “Surely land isn’t in short supply here.”

  Walter paused near the top of the fourth floor and said, “It’s what our king wanted. Luckily, Shaun’s company was able to bring us some of the materials we needed.”

  The name almost passed her until her memory jarred. Shaun was the name of the man in her dream – the one possessed by Iblis. Could it be the same person here in Babylon? Was this the tower where her dreams foretold she was destined to confront Satan?

  “Shaun?” she said. “I don’t think I’ve met a Shaun.”

  “Shaun went back to America, to see what else is left,” Walter said. “We’re expecting him back any day now.”

  “And Shaun is-?”

  “Shaun Williams found the Child King in America and brought Him here,” Zaph said. “Whereby the Child King opened Eden for mankind.”

  Alexandra ground her teeth. Though she didn’t fancy herself a glory hound, didn’t she deserve some recognition for her sacrifice? Many of her friends gave their lives on her journey to Eden, surely they weren’t meant to be forgotten. The world needed to know of their bravery and selflessness.

  One thing at a time, she cautioned herself. She wasn’t even sure she’d survive to see the end of the day.

  “Whew,” Walter said as they reached the sixth floor landing. The stairs didn’t continue, so Alexandra guessed this was the top of the tower.

  “That’s quite a climb,” she said. Her midsection throbbed a bit but her legs were accustomed to the work.

  Zaph, who was unfazed by the exertion, moved towards a set of double-doors. The entryway resembled the gates of Eden and Alexandra guessed the effect was intentional.

  The angel held his palm towards her and said, “Your sword.”

  So there it was. He was just waiting to get her inside before pressing the matter. Alexandra glanced at his pristinely feathered wings, silver breastplate and angelic sword at his hip. Could she beat him if she needed to? All she had to her credit was a few months training. Angels were thousands of years old. Sure, she defeated Ael, but Koneh had already wounded him and she had the luxury of surprise.

  Without her sword she was defenseless. She wasn’t a martial arts master or pro wrestler. She knew quite well that one meter of ancient steel was all that separated her from an early grave in this world. Talla was no defense. In fact, her four-legged companion gave up on the third floor and was likely napping on a lower floor.

  “Weapons are never allowed,” the angel said after the long silence. “I cannot permit you to enter so armed. The Child King’s chamber is a place of peace.”

  Still not responding, she eyed Zaph and contemplated her options. She could leave, but that wouldn’t get Benjamin out of prison. Violence was another option but she wasn’t sure what else was behind those doors. Koneh taught her to analyze every possible battlefield for terrain and enemies. Fighting blind is a sure way to death. Her current stance seemed the most prudent.

  “I cannot allow you to disarm me,” she said. “Padre Hernon sentenced me to death because he thought I was in league with demons. One of your rangers tried to shoot and rob me outside of Babylon. My miracle at your chapel is the only thing that kept me from being arrested yesterday. No, angel of Heaven, I cannot surrender my only defense to you.”

  Zaph opened his mouth to speak but she interrupted him.

  “However, you have my word the weapon will remain sheathed as long as I am in no danger,” she said. “I’ve done nothing to warrant the abuse and mistrust I’ve been-“

  Her words were cut short when one of the silver doors opened. Medina, the girl Alexandra healed in Brasilia, looked around and beamed when she saw Alexandra. The girl rushed towards her and Alexandra blinked back her tears. Seeing the girl alive and well was almost too much for her as her heart swelled with joy. Inexplicably, she also felt a connection towards the girl. It was the same feeling she shared with Benjamin and General Ryan.

  Healing them changed her as well, she just wasn’t sure how.

  As she gathered Medina in her arms, Alexandra said, “I’m so glad to see you again. We met only briefly, but I’m Alexandra. I’m sorry for what happened to you.”

  Perhaps the connection was shared by Medina as well. At least, that was Alexandra’s only reasoning for why the girl would seek an embrace from the woman who caused her gunshot wound.

  Medina was dressed in a simple white gown which contrasted with her dark skin. She smiled at Alexandra but it seemed forced. Something behind the girl’s eyes tripped alarms in Alexandr
a’s gut. All was not well in the house of Hernon, she guessed.

  “Are you okay here?” Alexandra asked, confident any extra meaning in her words would be lost on the angel.

  Medina nodded and said, “Nebu wants to meet you. He hears you talk with Zaph and wants to make friends. You can bring sword. Nebu will make… extra-exap-“

  “An exception?” Alexandra offered. Medina was obviously a new student to English.

  “Sim, yes,” she said, smiling in earnest this time. “You come in now?”

  Taking the girl’s hand in hers, not sure she was willing to let it go, Alexandra glanced at Zaph with an “I win” smirk and pushed the door open the rest of the way. The other three sides of the massive top chamber were mostly exposed to the elements. Cloth swayed from the breeze in the large openings which served as glassless windows to the outside world. Candles and lanterns lit the chamber from all sides and a large golden throne dominated the center of the room on a raised dais. Upon the throne sat a child, but he was far too large and developed for a one-year-old. Instead, he appeared three or four years old. His mouth curled into a slight grin as she approached.

  In near-perfect English, he said, “I am pleased to finally meet you, Alexandra Contreras. I am Nebu of Heaven.”

  Of Heaven? At first glance, she wasn’t convinced. The intelligence between his eyes and Medina’s palpable fear painted a different picture. Like Koneh, the boy’s accent was untraceable, but it was there. Perhaps the patterns of his speech came from whatever accelerated his growth or from learning to speak from Brazilians, Americans and angels.

  Alexandra held Medina’s hand and nodded, uncertain what to say. Zaph followed them into the chamber and watched her like a gargoyle. From behind his spectacles, Padre Hernon also scrutinized her every move. He stood slightly behind the throne, cradling a large book under his arm. Alexandra’s thoughts wandered to Father Callahan’s altered Bible, now lost to the wasteland during one of Alexandra’s mad dashes no doubt.

  “Welcome to Babylon,” Nebu said. “Everybody is already talking about your miracles at our church yesterday. You must share with me. How did you come about your gift? Have you always had it? Did it manifest after the earthquake?”