Redemption (Stand-Alone, Spin-Off to Reaper Series), page 35
“Eve!” both Elohim and Gabriel cried out as one.
The two of them hurried to Eve’s side and rolled her over onto her back. Her eyes were still closed, her skin still scorched and blistered. She wasn’t moving.
“Eve!” Gabriel roared in panic. “EVE!”
Suddenly, Eve’s eyelids began to flutter. Slowly, so slowly, her eyes began to open. She looked up at Gabriel and Elohim, who were both still staring at her with fear.
“Eve, are you all right?” Elohim asked. “Please, Eve, speak to me.”
“Did…” Eve began, struggling to speak, her voice weak as a death whisper. “Did I do it?”
“Yes,” Elohim nodded, trying to smile at her. “Yes, you did. You saved all the souls. And all of Earth. All of us.”
Eve began to try sitting up, but was clearly struggling, far too weak to support her own weight on her arms. Gabriel quickly moved his arms around her shoulders and helped her to an upright position.
“Gabriel, look!” Elohim exclaimed, pointing. He was looking at the scorches on Eve’s arms. They were beginning to fade, the burned flesh beginning to return to a healthy shade of pink, the blisters on her skin fading away to nothing until her arms and neck were smooth once more. Eve was healing.
“Eve, you’re going to be okay!” Gabriel cried, grinning wildly as he wrapped an arm around Eve’s shoulders. “Eve!”
Eve turned her head and looked at Gabriel with unfocused eyes.
“Eve?” Gabriel said, suddenly fearful again at the distant look in Eve’s eyes.
“That…” Eve began weakly. “Really… Sucked.”
Gabriel laughed and Elohim was grinning with tears rolling over his cheeks and vanishing into his beard. He threw both arms around Eve and hugged her close.
“I am so glad you survived,” Elohim whispered.
“Yeah,” Eve said weakly, hugging him back. “Me, too.”
Nearby movement suddenly caught their attention and all three of them looked up to see the human souls taking shape. They grew from orbs into the human appearances they had held in life. Hundreds of thousands of people were all milling around the Beacon, unsure of what to do. They all looked confused, like they had absolutely no idea what had happened.
“I better sort them out,” Eve croaked.
“You rest,” Elohim said. “I can take care of them. I will show them where to go.”
For once, Eve didn’t argue. She simply smiled weakly, nodded, then watched as her father approached the human souls who had come so close to annihilation at the hands of a Demon. Her thoughts momentarily turned to Belial, wondering what he was doing. She imagined he was likely still in his own world, screaming in rage and insanity, trying to reopen the vortex to return to Earth, but was unable to do so. She pictured him standing alone amidst the wreckage of Javan’s tower, the burning wind roaring all around him, though not so loud as his roars of fury and defeat.
Eve grinned at the thought and let herself finally rest.
31
NO REGRETS
L
exi opened the door to the apartment and dragged her feet in, shutting the door behind her. She sighed as she set her guitar against the wall. She had gone to play in the subway, hoping to take her mind off of everything, but she hadn’t been able to play a thing. Her mind was fried and she was still overwhelmed by the loss of her father. She had stood in the subway with her guitar in her hands, not playing a single chord for almost twenty minutes before she figured she wasn’t ready for the music. Not yet.
Sighing heavily, Lexi walked through the small hallway and into her living room, where she remembered having silent conversations with her father for hours at a time. Only now, the silence was deafening. Lexi felt for the light switch and turned on the lights.
As the bulb flared, Lexi jumped in fright as she saw a person standing in the middle of her living room. However, when the shock passed and Lexi recognized the person, she felt her heart lift for the first time in days.
“Eve!” Lexi cried.
Lexi rushed forward and threw her arms around Eve, hugging her tightly. Eve was grinning and returned the hug.
“What the Hell are you doing here?” Lexi asked as she pulled away. “And you’ve got your wings back! How? What happened? I saw on the news the portal thing in the sky! What was it? What’s been happening?”
“Which question do you want me to ask first?” Eve laughed.
Lexi shook her head. “Don’t worry about it, I’m just happy you’re okay! I thought Javan would have killed you.”
Thinking of the man named Javan, Lexi’s thoughts then turned back to her father and her grin faded away in an instant.
Eve understood what Lexi was thinking and nodded somberly. “I’m so sorry about your father.”
“What happened to them?” Lexi asked. “Javan and the other guy?”
“Javan’s dead,” Eve replied. “And the other one, Belial… He’s gone, too.”
Lexi nodded and sniffed. She had been crying so much the last few days, she wasn’t sure she had any tears left.
“I don’t…” Lexi began, but hesitated before she continued. “I don’t suppose you could… you know, bring my dad back?”
Eve felt her heart break for her friend. “I’m sorry. I can’t.”
“Can your dad?” Lexi asked hopefully. “Like, God?”
Eve sadly shook her head. “Your father died because of human decisions. Both Javan’s and his own. We have to respect free will. So my father can’t bring back your father.”
Lexi then discovered that she did have more tears after all. She felt them running down her face as her last hope was destroyed.
“But…” Eve said slowly. “Your father is kind of the reason I’m here.”
Lexi sniffed and looked at Eve in confusion. “What?”
Eve smiled. “I told my father everything you and Mitra did for me while I was mortal. How you helped me. And how horrible what happened was. So, my father is… bending the rules a little.”
“What’s a little?” Lexi asked, hardly daring to hope for anything anymore.
Eve simply smiled and gave no reply. Instead, she lifted her chin to gesture at something over Lexi’s shoulder. Lexi turned to see what Eve was getting at, and her jaw immediately dropped in shock and her eyes nearly bugged out of her head.
“Hi, Lexi,” Mitra said, grinning widely.
Lexi’s mouth was working up and down, like she was trying to speak, but couldn’t. Mitra was standing right in front of her, smiling happily, speaking aloud, as though he was alive and well. He had a strange look about him, though, like he was almost translucent, and a strange blue and white glow seemed to emanate from his edges.
Staring at her father in shock, Lexi raised her shaking hands and began to speak in sign language, but Mitra stepped forward and took Lexi’s hands in his own, smiling as he shook his head.
“You don’t need to do that, now,” Mitra said. “I can hear everything.”
“Wha… Bu… You…” Lexi was speechless as she stared at her father, tears rolling down her face in torrents. “You’re dead.”
Mitra nodded. “Yeah. Afraid so, kid. But it kept you alive. Lexi, I’m so, so, sorry that I had to do that. But if it kept you safe, then it was worth it. I could never let anything happen to you. I don’t regret a thing.”
Lexi nodded, unable to look away, and not wanting to. “Dad… I didn’t want you to die.”
“I know, sweetie,” Mitra soothed. “I know. But I’m here now, at least. For a little bit. He told me I could have a full day out of Heaven, so we got to say a proper goodbye.”
“Who told you?” Lexi asked.
Mitra’s smile widened as he replied. “God.”
Lexi stared at her father in amazement, then glanced over her shoulder at Eve, who was standing in the corner of the room to give them space. Eve nodded at Lexi to confirm what Mitra was saying was true, then Lexi turned back to her father.
“Do you have to go back?” Lexi asked. “To Heaven?”
Mitra nodded. “I’m afraid so. But think of what we can do with the time we have, now. We’ve got extra time, sweetie. Something so few people ever get. And there’s one thing I know for sure that I want to do.”
“What’s that?” Lexi asked, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.
Mitra grinned. “Well, I can hear, now. Where’s your guitar?”
Lexi simply stared at Mitra for a moment, as though she didn’t understand what he was saying. Then she also grinned, while tears still streamed from her eyes. Still grinning, Lexi ran to get her guitar, suddenly feeling an overwhelming urge to play.
Much later, after leaving Lexi and Mitra to have their time together in peace, Eve was standing at the edge of the Garden. Where the trees and green ended and gave way to a black, sandy, beach, which overlooked an ocean of dark, murky water. The water, of course, wasn’t really water. It was the ethereal entity known as Tartarus. The being that held the souls of those who had committed the greatest crimes of life and refused to accept responsibility or repent. It was in Tartarus’ depth that those souls would be tormented with visions of their cruel deeds, experiencing the pain, both physical and emotional, that they had inflicted on others in life. They would come to understand the consequences of their actions in life, and would remain there until they had truly learned from their mistakes and wanted to do things right.
Eve stood in silence and stared out at the endless black depths, a gentle breeze blowing through her hair. Her bright red hair had begun to grow back, but it would still take some time before it reached its former length. And her white dress was gone, possibly forever, likely torn apart and destroyed for study in some lab. Eve had loved that dress, and it was one of the few possessions she had that had once belonged to her mother. Eve was still wearing the clothes that Lexi had given her, but had returned the shoes. She enjoyed the sensation of grass between her toes too much. Even the dark sand beneath her feet now was oddly satisfying as she stared across the vast being, Tartarus.
Gabriel silently walked up beside Eve and stood with her as she looked into the distance at nothing. He didn’t speak. He just folded his arms over his chest and stared into the distance with Eve, looking thoughtful.
“Do you think he’s out there?” Gabriel finally asked. “Javan?”
Eve shrugged. “Maybe. Most likely. He did a lot of bad things, killed a lot of people. And he’s got a long life to learn from. A lot of evil things.”
“But you still feel bad for him?”
Eve didn’t answer right away. She thought on Gabriel’s question, unsure of how she felt.
“Maybe,” she eventually replied. “In the end, he basically sacrificed himself to save me. He gave up on everything he dreamed of. When it came down to him or me, he decided my life was more important than his own. How can someone who’s killed so many people without feeling guilty care so much about just one life?”
“I think you know the answer to that,” Gabriel said quietly.
Eve did. Javan had cared for Eve in a way that she had never cared for him. He had once been her friend, of course, but Javan had felt something more. He idolized her. He cared for her. Possibly even loved her. And, in the end, his love had been more important than his dreams of healing the world. Of undoing his mistakes.
Sighing, Eve turned away from Tartarus.
“Do you think the other Angels are still calling me Sa’Atana?” Eve asked, smirking at Gabriel.
Gabriel scowled. “If they are, they’ve got a beating coming their way. I’ll make sure of it.”
Eve laughed, but felt a wave of affection for her big brother. “You’d have to catch them first. And last time I checked, I could still leave you in the dust in a race.”
“Oh, is that so?” Gabriel grinned. “Well, it’s been a while since we raced, sister. I’m a fully trained soldier, now. I’m pretty sure I could take you.”
“Wanna bet?” Eve teased. “I’ll race you to the top of the Beacon. Last one there has to spank the Pope the next time he leads prayer at the Vatican.”
Gabriel looked genuinely horrified. “We can’t do that!”
“You better not lose, then.”
Rolling his eyes, but grinning, Gabriel spread his wings and planted his feet, ready to take off. Eve stood beside him and did the same.
“Ready?” she asked. “On three. One… THREE!”
Eve took off into the air and sped away, with Gabriel following close behind, shouting, “Hey, you cheated!”
Eve could only laugh hysterically, happy to finally be back in the Garden, caring for the human souls, and doing what she believed was good. As she raced her brother through the trees, she had only one thought, one that she now truly believed.
No regrets.
G.P. Burdon, Redemption (Stand-Alone, Spin-Off to Reaper Series)
