Crossroads (28 page)

“
Good-bye, Gamma. I love
you,” I said quietly and kissed her on the cheek. As I gave her a
last hug, I closed my eyes tightly to stop the tears from falling.
Unbelievably, I had none to shed. I rested my head on her chest,
but could hear no sound. All the monitors that kept her alive were
turned off, and the room was still and quiet. I thought my ears
were playing tricks on me when I suddenly heard Gamma’s voice
again. “Run, Claudia!”

Surprised to hear her voice, I looked
at her, but she was lifeless. Was I hallucinating? Just like in my
dream, she was telling me to run, but there was no sign of evidence
she was alive. Unexpectedly, a low beam of light glowed from her
body. My eyes widened both with astonishment and fear, and I backed
away. Her spirit was being lifted right out of her body. Her
radiating soul rose higher and higher. Her body was in perfect
form, burning like a star. “Run, Claudia. Now! They are coming!”
she said once more.

Frightened by Gamma’s warning, I ran
to the door. I looked to the left, then to the right, but I didn’t
see anyone, not even the nurse that was stationed at her desk. Then
the lights in the hospital went off, and the only lights visible
were the emergency lights, situated dimly on the floor. It was
dark, but there was just enough glow for me to get around. Strong
warning signals were shooting through my veins. The crystal on my
neck vibrated and turned black. I knew what that meant—the fallen
was near.

“
Go right!” Gamma was
directing me.

I didn’t listen. Curiously, I looked
left and what I saw paralyzed me with fear. It was Aden, with at
least twenty others. They stood at a distance making it difficult
to recognize their faces, but I knew who they were. I turned once
more to face Gamma, and that’s when her spirit vanished, her body
remaining still. I was petrified by what had happened. Her spirit
was gone, and I was left alone. There would be no more guiding
words from her, and fear overtook me.

I turned right just as Gamma had
instructed, and I ran for my life. Afterward, I didn’t know which
way to go. Gamma’s only instruction was to turn right. Do I turn
left or right again? Then I realized the sounds of their footsteps
stopped. It was silent, and the only sound was the beating from my
own heart. I could imagine them gliding after me. Periodically I
turned my head, only to see them closing in on me. As I turned
again, all of the fallen were gone except—for Aden.

Chapter 18

Frantically looking for a place to
hide, I turned the corner and saw the elevator. I pushed the up
button many times in panic. To my surprise, it opened immediately.
There were twelve floors. Unsure of which floor to exit on, I
pressed the twelvth floor. The twelvth floor was just as dark. Did
I make the right choice? Should I have gotten off at another floor?
It was too late.

Closing the gap between the wall and
me, I ran faster down the hallway, looking for a place to hide. As
I tried to enter a room, the door was locked. Then I tried another
one, it was locked too. This floor seemed different; there were no
patients on this floor. When I finally found a room that was
unlocked, I realized I had entered a storage room. It was filled
with various medications, shots, monitors, IVs, and things whose
purpose was a mystery to me. Regardless, I thought I could use them
if I needed to defend myself. At this point, I didn’t care where I
hid as long as they couldn’t find me. I knelt down behind a storage
container in an effort to be invisible. Where are you,
Michael?

All was quiet and still. I was sitting
here like a target duck. My heart could no longer take the anxiety
attack I was having. I couldn’t breathe. The room was spinning, and
I couldn’t focus. Then I heard footsteps, and I froze in absolute
silence.

“
I know you’re in here, my
little angel.” His voice was strong and sharp.

He made me shiver with just the sound
of his voice. Uncontrollably my body trembled from fear and my
hands felt clammy. I contemplated my next move, knowing this was
now a life-or-death moment. But I was unable to move. I didn’t know
what to do. I was scared out of my mind.

“
Don’t be scared. I sent
my friends away so you and I could have some alone time together.
We need to get better acquainted. This room isn’t big enough for
you to hide in forever.” He laughed slyly.

A large dimmed emergency light hung
overhead, and I could see his shadow cast on the walls around me,
getting larger and closer by the second.

“
Your friends have some
surprise visitors. I’m afraid you are on your own. Well, not quite
alone, you have me. So why don’t you come out and end this
cat-and-mouse game.” He paused and waited for me to show myself.
“I’m running out of patience. If you don’t come out now, I’m going
to have to hurt you, and that is not my intention.” He was getting
irritated, and his voice was getting louder. “Come out now,
Claudia!”

He sounded so forceful that I wanted
to dig myself further into the ground. Suddenly all the tables and
containers were lifted, and I was exposed. Stunned by the power
that I had witnessed, I curled myself into a ball. He stood,
smiling through narrowed eyes, focusing solely on me. “There you
are.”

The items, still hovering, were tossed
to one side of the room, leaving me wide open and vulnerable. I
cringed and covered my ears to block out the noise.

“
It doesn’t have to be
this way. I didn’t want to scare you. Come to me,” he said
gently.

“
Michael,” I whispered.
Not knowing what else to do, I stood slowly, sliding up against the
wall to balance myself, as my legs were still shaking. Even though
I knew he would win, I had to fight with everything I
had.

“
Come,
Claudia.”

My mind begged me not to move, but
slowly my body, against my will, led the way as I struggled to
resist every step. I was fighting inside my head, but he was too
strong. I surrendered, unable to fight any longer. I was certain
all hope was lost, and then he called my name.

“
Stop,
Claudia!”

Hearing Michael’s voice triggered a
sense of hope. I snapped out of the trance, but remained
motionless. Aden’s hold grew stronger and more intense. Unable to
turn even my head, I fought against his power. It felt like I was
dreaming with my eyes open. No matter what I did, I could not wake
up.

“
Michael!” Aden yelled,
sounding appalled. Aden spread his brilliant alabaster wings,
lifting him just above the ground. He was the worst form of evil; a
dark, soulless creature, undeserving of such beauty.

In an instant, Aden released his hold
on me. I swiftly ran toward Michael. In my peripheral vision, I
noticed Davin, Vivian, and Caleb. Although terrified, I was
overwhelmed with relief to see them all again.

“
Too bad your puppets were
cut from your strings. We enjoyed sending your friends back to
hell,” Davin said, as he crept closer to Aden.

Davin’s remarks infuriated Aden,
triggering a strange phenomenon. His hair and wings that were so
beautifully pure in their color turned jet-black. I was astonished
to witness such a quick transformation. How was such a thing
possible? It was surreal. He began elevating himself higher off the
ground. You could almost feel his temples pulsating as the blood
rushed through his veins, full of hatred and rage. He looked like
he was about to explode out of his body.

“
You’re outnumbered, Aden.
Turn yourself in, or I will have no choice but to kill you. This is
not my intention, but I will do what needs to be done,” Michael
attempted to reason with him.

“
You’re a fool to think
this is over,” Aden replied.

Sure enough, it was too good to be
true thinking it was over. Numerous fallen appeared out of thin
air, surrounding Aden. They, too, made their swords magically
appear in their hands. Immediately, I knew something was different
about them. One looked directly at me, and I was taken aback when I
noticed his eyes were completely black. From afar they looked like
fallen, but bigger. Close up, they looked like the worst possible
demons imaginable. Looking into their eyes sent chills through
every part of me. It was like looking into a black hole and feeling
like the more I looked, the further I would fall into their world.
I was petrified.

“
We have more company!”
Caleb shouted, with a look of fear.

“
Meet the newest members
of my family!” Aden declared.

Vivian, Caleb, and Davin held their
swords up and congregated in a circle with their backs facing each
other. I hid behind Michael. Slowly, the fallen started edging
toward them.

“
What are they?” Davin
asked, rocking back and forth, ready to defend himself.

“
They’re not fallen. They
are demons,” Michael answered, his voice betraying the alarm he was
feeling.

“
They look repulsive.
Their eyes are completely black,” Caleb stated,
grimacing.

“
There are too many of
them!” Davin shouted in panic.

“
Not a problem. Come to
mama, and I’ll show you what hell is really like,” Vivian
taunted.

“
Stay behind me,” Michael
instructed, as his wings extended. Though his wings were blocking
my view, they were also protecting me as I stood behind
them.

Suddenly, I heard the loud metallic
clangs from the swords, and I knew the demons had attacked. I
looked up, and I was surrounded by sparks. The clashing of the
blades was so powerful, it created a shower of fire. I froze from
fright. As I drew in deep breaths, I felt excruciating pain on the
palms of my hands. I hadn’t realized I had rolled my fingers into a
ball, clenching so tightly that my fingernails dug into my skin. I
released my fingers, knowing I would be safe as long as I was
behind Michael, but that wasn’t enough. I needed to know that
Michael and his friends, my friends, were safe too. Inching away
little by little from my safety zone, I backed away until I had a
clear vision of the room and knew exactly where everyone
stood.

Michael turned to his right, facing
several demons head-on. Raising his sword over his head, he placed
it in a horizontal position as he swung his weapon, cutting off the
demons’ heads. I gasped in horror at the sight of them being
decapitated. Demons or not, it was repulsive to witness. Michael
defended his own neck by swinging vertically. As the sword came
down, he thrust it into the demon’s chest. In that split second,
the demon burst into black ashes. Some of the ashes landed on my
shoulder, and I quickly brushed them off in disgust.

More demons leaped toward Michael. He
leaned to the right. One demon barely missed him on the shoulder as
he sliced through a monitor instead. Bright golden sparks were
shooting in all different directions, like fireworks. At that
moment, Michael’s wings blocked the sparks from flying toward me.
Swiftly Michael swirled his sword to his left and drove his weapon
into the second demon’s chest. With a snarl, a nearby demon lunged
toward him, and the tip of his sword barely nicked Michael in the
chest. Michael gave him a look that could kill, spun around,
blocked an incoming blow from his right, and jumped into the air.
As he landed, his sword swung around, eliminating the demons
surrounding him.

Vivian was now positioned adjacent to
Michael. As a demon charged toward her, with a flick of her wrist,
the swords were caught up in a circular motion. The demon’s sword
went flying; slicing anything along its path, until it finally
landed about twenty feet from them. His eyes wide with shock and
full of fear, Vivian took the opportunity to drive the sword into
his heart. Drawing the sword out, she pivoted to her right and
blocked an attack by driving it straight up. She recoiled backward,
barely missing a blow as her long hair fell across her face. She
gracefully ducked, dodging a swing that came from behind. She
flipped, positioned herself behind a demon, and thrust the sword
into his back. Screeches of pain and defeat echoed all
around.

Instantly, Davin was standing nearby,
surrounded by demons. His sword swung from left to right, blocking,
attacking, and slashing each of them. As more appeared, Davin
dodged all the blows except for one small, unexpected swipe that
cut him across his arm, knocking him down to land on top of a
demon’s feet. As the demon gave a menacing smile, he positioned his
sword to plunge directly into Davin’s chest, when Vivian knocked it
out from behind.