by LJ Amodeo
“I . . . I still don’t understand. Why are you telling me this?” I whimpered.
“There has never been one with this ability, Elizabeth. Until now. Until you. You are the key. The passage to the realms of heaven and hell. You have the ability to see both dominions. The gift no other human willever possess. You, alone will experience this phenomenon. But you also are the key keeper.” He explained.
“And that’s supposed to be a good thing?” I snapped.
“Elizabeth, don’t you understand, the voices you hear and what you are able to see, no other human can ever have that. Those voices you hear are the voices of all lost souls, pleading to be liberated. You, my child, can liberate us from the beast. You can defeat Satan,” he rejoiced.
“Me?” I almost went into hysterics thinking that I could take on a force as monstrous as Lucifer. “Now I’ve heard it all.” I laughed at my father, attempting to lift myself off the seat without success, trembling uncontrollably at the knees.
“This is something to be taken seriously. It’s not a laughing matter, child,” he stated sternly.
“How do you expectme to fight the devil? The devil! Have you all lost your minds! You won’t be able to help because you’re . . . what are you? Alive? Dead? Am I even alive? This is insanity!” I rambled on in distress.
“We work as missionaries to the angels, to protect the souls of the living,” he explained softly as the confusion inside my head turned maddening. I didn’t say a word. Stared blankly at him.
“Elizabeth, tell me your thoughts.”
“Thoughts! Okay. Why amI the chosen one? Why did it have to be me!” I pleaded, pounding my chest and sobbing profoundly.
“It is your birthright. Your destiny. Like there has been one Blessed Virgin and her Son, there’s you and . . .” My father cleared his throat and sat down. His eyes grew weary, and consumed. The deep sags under his eyes made him seem as if he hadn’t slept in days.
“Elizabeth, do you remember the day at the lake?” He asked. I nodded, twisting wildly at my shirt. “How could I forget. I’ve been haunted by it ever since.” I murmured inaudibly.
Everything around me since then, reminded me of my father. The broken frame that Mom still kept on the mantle with our family picture in it. The coffee table that’s purposely covered with a lace runner to hide the chipped corner and the picture of the Blessed Mother that bares torn edges from my father’s punch.
“I received a phone call that evening. It was the one call I prayed I’d never receive.” He paused looking down at his desk. He could not look at me for something shamed him.What have I done? I thought wondering how a father found it difficult to look into his own daughter’s eyes after many years and so many tears. He didn’t have to say a word. I knew. I was doomed.
“I am so sorry it had to be you,” he whispered choking back tears. It was difficult to comprehend. I sat numb in my chair, while the room spun rapidly around me.
“I feel lost,” I muttered meekly slumping into the seat.
After some time and thought, my father sat up tall and cleared his throat, to break my trance.
“Elizabeth, I must ask and you may not want to talk about them, but I must know what the voices say to you.” He asked. Shaking my head, I remained in denial of what I had been born for. The reason for my existence. My purpose. So much for a clean slate. I wasn’t sure what the voices said to me. They’d speak in disarray, shouting words at me in muddle choruses. I’d often try to block them out, humming loudly in my head or shouting back at them to go away. The more I fought, the louder they shouted. I couldn’t imagine what my mother must have been going through all this time. Listening to my unhitched pleas and scowls throughout the night as I fought my invisible demons. Invisible. Like me.
“I want them to leave me alone. I didn’t ask for this. Why can’t I be normal like the other kids, Dad?” I muttered through trembling lips.
“It’s your calling, my dear girl. It’s your duty to listen. They come with messages from both realms. And it will be your obligation to write and decipher what they ask of you,” he said in a steely voice. I wondered if my journal, my Tabula Rasa, held the answers. The compulsion to write their messages may be my way out. If I can understand what they’ve compelled me to write, then I can finally be rid of them.
“I have been writing. I keep their messages in my journal. I don’t understand any of it, but they tell me and show me what to write. Who are they, Dad?”
“They are the lost souls, like I mentioned, waiting to be freed from their dark hell. The angels that Satan had promised worldly power to. He lied to them all. But you . . . you can set them free, and in order to do this, you must find the anecdote somewhere in your writings to the book ofDelomelanicon.”
“What writings? What book?” I asked baffled.
“It is the book of the Beast. The one that can resurrect him.”
“Resurrect, Satan?” I stuttered.
“Yes, Elizabeth. Before Luca had the chance to pull you into his inferno, Michael fought to save you. Had Luca succeeded, it would’ve ended badly for all of us.” I shook my head in disbelief.
“It is imperative, that you listen with your heart now. Do as they ask. Write! Stop pushing them away. You are their hope and the key to open the portal. The key that will save those on earth and spare those in hell so we can join our forces to fight and be rid of the devil. This privilege has never been brought upon any descendant. Under detrimental circumstances, we summoned the chosen one, you, to come so that we may enlighten you about your gift and obligations. It is up to you to decide where you go from here.”
“Obligations?” I asked trembling inside.
He pointed to a large manuscript placed on an ancient desk. The same book Michael skimmed through in Tremblant and the very book my father showed me in my dream.
“We all have an obligation, my princess,” he said, placing the large book in front of me. “The Trinity’s purpose and obligations began around the year 1118 AD. A covert society called the Knights Templar were the guardians of the lineage of the House of David. Those who came before Columbus and Champlain, men like Prince Henry Sinclair, were agents of the secret Order of the Knights of the Templar. By the 1300s, the order began their secret travels to the new world from France and parts of Portugal. King Dinis was a member of the order. He gave refuge to sect members within the thick stone walls of his fortress.” he explained. I now understood, why the Holy Trinity was housed in the king’s castle.
“On Friday, October 13th, many members of the Order were captured, arrested, and burned for heresy as per the request of the French king. Those who escaped brought back with them as many artifacts and sacred relics as they were able to carry throughout Europe. It was during their travels across the Atlantic, that the Order found the scroll that contained the bloodline of St. Anne. Your grandmother’s ancestors were sought out by the Knights and handed these relics. It was known as a rite of passage. The Knights Templar eventually moved on and my ancestors founded The Order of the Holy Trinity, to protect, serve and obey all sacred kinship to Christianity linked to St. Anne. It took the Church a very long time to sanction the Order of the Holy Trinity. Through rights and rebirth, the Trinity had to agree to the Vatican’s terms to work under their strict conditions, thus, taking a vow of silence, never disclosing any of its legions or agendas. We were granted a secret meeting place under a small 12th-century church of San Clemente, by Pope Paschal II. Many who served at this altar for the Great Mystery of Christianity were legionaries. If our sanction was never granted this right, Christianity as we know it, would have perished.” He said, enlightening me about my family history. The same family history I sought after for months on my laptop with no results. He paused and waited for my reaction.
“The Blessed Mother, the Immaculatus, is the holiest human being that ever walked the earth, after Our Lord. Her holiness exceeds that of all the angels, even the highest Seraphim and Archangels: Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel.”
My body jolted forward. I struggled with all he laid out before me. The upset of this new revelation pounded in my brain. Cupping my hands over my mouth, so not to alert the others who waited quietly outside the room, I began to cry inconsolably. I had nothing to say. I didn’t know what to say. Never in my wildest dreams would I have considered the likeliness of any of this to be true or factual, especially about me. Things finally took shape. It all started to make sense. My life suddenly became clear. The pale faces. The eyes that watched me––The Watchers; Samantha and Michael, the demon and the angel, both entered my life at the same time. Both fighting for my soul; one to protect it and the other to destroy it.
“Elizabeth, understand this: the suffering, the headaches, the voices, the faces, they were all the energies of good and evil, fighting for your soul. Without you, both will cease to exist. They’ll fight for you. Including Luca. He does not want to destroy you. He needs you. And he will fight all the angels in heaven to have you. But we will not retreat. Michael and all the White Knights will defeat Luca and his Watchers.” His fingers stroked my hair. I brushed away my tears with the back of my hand.
“You see, the letters I received were from the council, the elders, warned me that something evil was coming for me—in order to get to you. When Erez called, I had no choice but to leave in hopes of protecting you. I considered going back to Georgia, so she wouldn’t track you, she would instead come looking for me. But, it was too late. She had already found you. I was wrong for believing Sam would never find you. I am so sorry I underestimated her.” He wrapped his arms around me and held my head to his chest, like he had when I was a child. I felt safe again in his arms even though I was destined for damnation.
“Dad, I remember it so clearly. Her face at the lake in Georgia. She was there the whole time.” I whispered. “Does Mom know about this?” I whimpered.
He nodded. “Yes, I had to let her know that same day at the lake. I had to make her understand how serious this was for you. I had to protect both of you, and to do that, Grace needed to know the truth about everything. I and the Trinity sent her numerous letters over the years, informing her on the status of our pursuit against Samantha. It pained me to leave you, but it was decided, that it was for the best.” His words resonated like a jagged blade probing through my skull.
“I loved your mother, Elizabeth. I never stopped loving her, but there was so much she didn't know about me. I never meant to hurt her. I never got the opportunity to tell her the truth.” His voice slowed to a sigh when a trivial detail about my life quickly surfaced.
“What else didn’t you tell her, Dad?”
“It doesn’t matter now. We must focus on Samantha and your protection from the dark ones.”
“Samantha. Then she truly is Satan’s daughter?” I inquired feeling sickened by the idea.
“Michael tried to warn you numerous times, but you are as stubborn as I always remembered.”
“I thought she was my fr-friend.”
“She is Satan’s seed. Friends do not exist in their world. Only prey. She is the enemy. She followed you like a shadow hiding in dark corners.” My face retorted to immeasurable disappointment that I considered that girl to be my friend.
“Michael was called to duty when Samantha was caught lurking around our home and watching you at school. When she saw Michael around you she backed away for a bit until she found the perfect opportunity to make her move. However, Michael and the others were already waiting for her, ready to protect you. You see,” my father said, as he walked over to the flickering hearth. “Samantha’s father . . . ”
“Dante.” I whispered his name. All the pieces fell into place, as this unimaginable story unfolded. My mind searched for more clues that had shaped the nightmares I couldn’t escape from.
“Sam said he had clients in every part of the world, meaning people who sold their souls to him?” I asked as the idea unwrapped in my head. My father watched me patiently, as I sorted the pieces of this twisted enigma into place.
“She wasn’t able to possess you. Your heart is too pure, your resistance too strong, but she tried numerous times, and now so will Luca.”
“It can’t be true.” I muttered to myself.
“Elizabeth, had she succeeded, everything the Trinity spent centuries protecting, including all of humanity, would have been destroyed. The absolute existence of Christianity would perish. You, alone are the key to our existence. Our fate, the fate of all mortals and immortals, lieswithin you.”
I thought my chest would burst by now. If my breathing increased by a fraction of a second, my heart would rupture.
“I––I can’t handle this! It can’t be me? I’m only a regular girl, Dad!” I shouted my emotional vexation.
“No! How can I be responsible for what happens to humanity! I beg you to take it away from me! I don’t want this responsibility weighing on me alone. You have to take it from me!” I shrieked in hysteria.
“I’m afraid I cannot do that. This is a destiny you cannot run from. And you are far from regular, Beth.” He looked at me disappointed.
“Like I said, it is your birthright, be it good or bad.” he stated matter-of-factly, as he placed a thin silver chain with the sacred medallion in my hand. The chain I had seen suspended from Michael’s rearview mirror. “This belongs to you now. It will guide you.” He announced.
Sam crossed my mind. I thought about the defeat and destruction of Satan’s descendant. A descendant, who like me, carried the burden of her world on her shoulders.
“What happens to Sam now?”
“She is being dealt with in a very severe way.” He responded softly. I was overcome with sorrow, knowing that the girl I believed was my friend would be gone soon enough. Although, her plans were to take away my life, I never wanted to believe that she’d be the threat. I was completely fooled by all her lies. By her. I looked away, remembering Samantha’s twisted ways, and my shame.
“You no longer need to worry about that hideous creature. I promise you that. She searched desperately for the soul that held the key for centuries. That key, you, were her rite of passage. The right to dominate both heaven and hell, like her father intended to do with the Holy Virgin before he was caste into darkness by our Holy Prince, Michael the—”
I cut him short, “Archangel.”
“Yes, Michael, the archangel and great warrior.”
My father now sat beside me as he tried to comfort my wounded soul. “I never thought I’d ever get the chance to have this talk with you, but I am grateful to have had these moments together. I love you, Elizabeth,” my father whispered.
“And what about Michael? Does he . . . ” I halted thinking about the relationship I shared with the angel.
“Michael loves you, Elizabeth. It is very difficult for him to accept his fate and yours. He has come numerous times to seek my advice and that of the council’s. He’s fallen in love with a mortal but he knows it breaks all rules for archangels if he pursues his heart.” He said genuinely.
My heart blossomed like a new flower coming to life in spring and wilted just as quickly. I knew I felt the same for him. I loved him wholly, and he was entirely enamored of me. But that was where it ended for us.
“Dad,” The words he had spoken earlier swirled in my mind, “You said I’ve suffered because of Sam. Is she responsible for the headaches and nightmares I’ve had?” Although, in my heart I already knew the answer to my questions, I had hoped his response would not be the one I expected.
“Elizabeth, this may be too much to comprehend, but although the lost ones have given up their rights and their souls to Satan––it was their voices that confused you, weakened you. Their cries convince you that you are losing your mind. Making you believe that you suffer from schizophrenia. In reality, they possessed you. This is why your mother admitted you in the hospital. She doesn’t know what is happening to you, and she is afraid for you. It’s a vicious game they play. This masochistic game of theirs gave Sam the o
pportunity to set the competition for fair game with Michael. Waiting an eternity to bring him here, to a place where there are no rules, no restrictions; just she and Michael, face to face. Desperate to avenge her father’s annihilation, Sam was determined to continue his legacy. Luca promised his sister the same power and control that her father once held, but he’d grant her this control only if she delivered you to him. Luca doesn’t care to rule the realms. He only wants what belongs to him based on the scriptures. But Samantha was hungry for power. And the one place she was able to get it, to seek her revenge and gain supremacy was here, where the heavens rest upon the earth. Her intent was to destroy Michael, and since she wouldn’t have been welcome in paradise, she set the stage for his slaughter in Caneadea. It worked out perfectly for her––two birds with one stone––especially since you, the key holder, was born and live here, as well.” My father explained.
“For the first time in our very long line of history, the young incubus nearly succeeded in her quest, compromising your faith, your trust and your soul. Elizabeth, that is why The Order of the Holy Trinity brought you here, where you will remain safe for now until she's been vanished.” He watched me fidget in the oversized chair. His words pricked my soul. Every word he had spoken seemed a blur. Every detail a haze except for my hopes that have been completely crushed. Dazed, I looked at my father riveted over something he said.
“Hold on a sec, all this drama is about my faith, not Sam?” I yelped.
“It’s about Sam weakening your faith, Elizabeth. In all the ways I’ve tried to protect you, I was not able to protect you from yourself. You allowed her in, child.”
“How? Where?” I stuttered.
“Into your life. Your soul. You believed in her, Beth! You had faith in your friendship. And as your fate will have it, you share something with Sam,” he whispered.
