Seraphina: Initiation (20 page)

“I thought you were dead, I thought I lost
you…” the last of my words turn into a squeak when my memories rake
my emotions once more.

“I’m fine Love, you saved me,” he replies
pulling me close and resting my head on his chest. I feel his heart
beating at our proximity to each other.

Pulling away to look at him, “I have so many
questions, I don’t even know where to start!”

“Okay,” he smirks, “Give it your best shot!”
he takes a step back from me, spreading his hands showing his
point.

“No,” I desperately reach for him, “I don’t
want to be apart, not even for a second!” I link my fingers with
his. The smile that crosses his face is unexplainable, but it’s the
kind that tells me he feels the same way. His mind pulls the green
chair behind him and he takes a seat slowly pulling me into his
lap. Throwing my legs over the arm of the chair I settle in beside
him. As if on cue, a table appears in front of us with a pizza box,
I glance over at him to smile before lifting the lid to spy a
pepperoni pizza. Letting the lid close I finally read the logo
etched into the top. “Angelic Delivery” and their motto, “We’ll be
there in a snap!”

“You think you’re pretty clever, huh?” I get
out before a slight chuckle.

“I’ll have you know I’ve been told I’m
pretty charming!”

We are both in giggles now before the tone
switches back to an ominous one. “You know, I thought I lost you
too,” he softly tells my ear. I turn to look at him, “I’ve never
felt anything like it Sera, I woke up feeling like someone jump
started my heart. Then I look over and see you lying there on the
rocks, blood was dripping from your nose, and I thought my heart
stopped again.”

I open my mouth to say something, but stop
when he shakes his head at something, “Sera, you had wings!” I
suddenly remember and struggle to reach my shoulder blades. “They
are gone, retracted themselves once I laid you into bed,” he
answers my thoughts, “but seeing you against the cream colored
linens with your red hair and white wings behind you, was the most
beautiful sight I’ve ever seen, you are truly Angelic in every
sense of the word.”

I’m turning to shy away from the compliment
when his fingers grab my chin, “How did you know you’d have wings?”
he asks me in awe. As his eyes explore mine, I explore my own mind,
hmm.

“I guess it was just a reflex, the dream I
had about the cliff felt the same, I just know… it’s like it was
telling me… maybe my dreams weren’t all bad.”

“Well, Sera, I was thinking the same thing.
Maybe Lucifer was hijacking your dreams, but I think that God might
have been helping as well.”

“What do you mean?”

“After you almost traipsed your way off the
cliff—the first time, I installed cameras outside of the house just
in case.”

“What?!” I should have known, why didn’t I
think of that?!

“On nights you would sleep walk I’d play
them the next morning and it didn’t make sense then.”

“Why, what did you see?!” I can’t contain my
excitement at finally getting some answers.

“It just looked like you were playing in the
dirt, until you’d disappear off the camera like a ghost. I’d blink
and you’d be gone, believe me I tried replaying it, slow mo, you
name it, I tried it. You know I did!” he smirks at our knowledge of
his extensive overprotectiveness. “Sera, those bombs in the ground
were from you,” he whispers connecting his points for me.

“Me?!” I question, but it all makes sense.
The dirty hands, the waking up tired—I was using power.

“When the first one went off I my eyes flew
to you, you didn’t flinch—it’s almost like your body knew it was
coming. It was a pocket of power triggered by the proximity of
evil. It was genius! You weaponized your power! Totally caught them
off guard!”

“But we still don’t know what I was going
when I went off camera?!” I question knowing he’s avoiding the big
stuff.

“No, like I said you’d just disappear.”

If my dreams meant more than what they
appear, what about my dreams with Jack were they dreams… or
memories?

I shiver at the thought, but shove it under
before looking back to Nate, I’m not going to ruin this moment with
nonsense. “What was that dagger? When I pulled it out it left a
black substance in you!”

“Demon magic, I would have died if you
didn’t pull it out, it would have slowly eaten away at me.”

“Nate! I didn’t know what the hell to do!
You never taught me to heal, that’s first on our training
to-do-list!”

“Sera, I don’t know what you did, I’ve never
seen anything like it. You almost died giving me all your energy,
your aura!”

“I did what?” Almost unbelieving, how could
one possibly do something like that?

“I felt such a rush of adrenaline before, my
heart was pumping what felt like fire through my veins, even my
senses are so much
more
.” He looks at me in awe like he had
no idea one could possess such power, “Is this what you feel like?
Is this what you experience Sera?”

“I guess, but I thought that was just being
an Angel…”

“I think that you may be more than that…” he
lets the sentence drift off between us as we both process the
gravity of his words. “I guess it’s only fair, I gave you my blood
and now I have a piece of your aura in me.”

I giggle, “It was always yours to have,” I
whisper against his lips before kissing him softly. He grabs my
face and kisses me firmly before pulling away.

“You’ve gotten so powerful Sera, I don’t
know what to do with you.”

“What do you mean?” I ask curiously as my
hand finds it’s way to his chest.

“That blast of power, I’ve never experienced
anything like that. I was twitching in the grass, trying to get the
blade out, when I saw the surge of power coming towards me. It
looked so beautiful until I felt the power from it, it blew me
clean off the cliff. I struggled so hard to grab hold of
something,” he shakes his head as he remembers, “I don’t know what
you can be capable of anymore…”

I blink hard, I was the reason he fell off
the cliff.
Holy guilt trip
. I blink once more taking in the
remainder of his words, he doesn’t know what I’m capable of… who
the hell would? What does that make me?

“Sera, don’t freak out…”

“Nate… remember what I said about the
‘don’t-get-mad’ statement? The same thing applies for this
one!”

“Well, since you’ve been asleep, I’ve been
experimenting with my own powers.”

“And…” I take it back, I’m actually
curious.

“I think your energy has made them powerful
like yours. My fire is strong and my senses are even more advanced,
I even swear when you were asleep I could feel your dreams, sensing
way more than your emotional state.”

“Really?” I’m intrigued. Nate and I can be
on the same page now!

“I just had this gut feeling that you would
wake up today… I think that maybe your dreams are visions.”

“Have you had dreams?” I whisper
excitedly.

“No, but I can feel things, sense things
that haven’t happened yet,” he shakes his head like it doesn’t even
make sense to him. “Anyways, I’d like to change the subject to
something else…”

“Oh yea, like what?” I ask placing my head
on his shoulders.

“We were so busy training we missed
Christmas and New Years,” he softly tells me.

“Aww,” I moan in anger, “I really looked
forward to celebrating the holidays with him. Hopefully, next year
will be better.

“Well, we were so deep into training and
then after the fight, you were asleep for three days!” he informs
me.

“What! No way!” I exclaim maybe a little too
loud in his ear.

“You used so much power and energy, your
body needed to regenerate. But while you were asleep I thought of
the perfect gift.”

“But I didn’t get a chance to give you
anything!”

“You gave me so much already,” he whispers
linking our fingers in my lap. “So I got you this…” he snaps his
fingers and I glance down to see the necklace dangling from my neck
in the shape of an infinity symbol. “It represents my love for you…
it’s infinite.”

Tears well up in my eyes, “I love you too,”
I place a kiss against his lips before he pulls away.

“You know you took that from me too!” he
pretends to be seriously upset, but I see the joke behind his eyes.
“You said you loved me first in that voicemail, you keep taking the
firsts from me!”

“Well, you’re just going to have to step up
your game mister!” I joke leaning back into a stretch pretending to
be macho. He tickles his fingers across my stomach calling my bluff
and I burst into giggles retracting into a ball. His hands spread
out and pull me close to him before his face nuzzles into mine. Our
noses touch and his eyes flutter open to mine.

“I guess I’m going to have to,” he tells
against my lips once more.

“Mmm, I think… your doing a pretty good
job,” I tell him between our kisses.

*

It seems like forever sitting here in Nate’s
arms neither of us have touched the pizza we are just happy to be
together. My hands are wrapped around his neck and my face is on
his shoulder. I feel his hair mingle with mine above our heads with
our breathing in tune to each other. “Nate who stabbed you?”

“Gabriel,” his body tenses under me and I
know the thought alone infuriates him. Honestly, it infuriates me
too, Gabe putting his hands on my Nate.

“Did you kill him?” I somehow get out
through clenched teeth as my fists ball themselves up. There is a
pause before I lean back to look at him.

“No…” he mutters.

“No?” I sit up slightly. Wait a minute, did
Nate just call him Gabriel?

“He must have sensed you building power
because he skipped out before the blast.”

“What!?” I blurt out whipping my arms back
and sitting up from him, “Gabe is still alive?!”

The End

A few weeks earlier…

Walking back into the coffee shop after that
revolting display of affection played out like a corny black and
white movie. I collapse into Sera’s chair with my head in my hands.
Without dropping my hands I yell, “Get him!”

They know whom I mean, he’s only tried to
contact me a million times since Sera’s accident. I feel all the
spirits rush to leave with the good news, they all want to be the
one who delivers it. I sit there for only a few seconds when I feel
him.

“You called…” his deep voice makes me stand
at attention as my hands fall to my sides. Something in me answers
to him in a way I never thought possible. He glides out from the
shadows wearing a hooded black cloak. I can’t see him but I feel
his authority, his evil deep within me. I tried so hard to believe
that I could choose my own destiny. I tried so hard to be what Sera
wanted me to be, but I have a feeling it was always going to end
like this.

“I want her.” I tell him not able to look at
him and admit my submission.

“If I give her to you, will you be able to
get her to choose our cause?”

“I will sure as hell try!”

“Trying isn’t good enough!” he hollers at me
making all the hair on the back of my neck stand at attention. “She
is everything! We need her! She
is
the prophecy, Seraphina
will change the world as we know it!”

“I…” stammering trying to choose my words
carefully, I knew Sera was special. But the way he talks about
her…

“Will you or won’t you be able to do it?" he
snickers before I hear a deep laugh-like noise, "See, I don’t think
you can anymore. I don’t think you have it in you and I don’t think
she loves
you
…” he taunts me gliding across the floor to me
like he’s on roller skates.

“She does!” I fire back through clenched
teeth, “I will be able to do it, I will get her!” I scream slamming
my foot into the floor beneath me.

“Good,” his black skeletal fingers stretch
out from his cloak and waives his arm like he’s making it all come
to pass in a world only he can see. I find myself staring at his
witch-like fingers, don't get me wrong my gift has made me see some
impossible things. Never in my life have I seen something that
creeped me out more than this very moment right now. He wiggles his
fingers as if reading my thoughts before smoke begins to circle
around him and spiral up to the ceiling. "For your sake, I hope you
do succeed. I don’t do well with false promises." The threat echoes
in my ears with a voice deeper than what was spoken. The smoke
continues to billow before it vanishes like someone turned on a fan
and whisked it away. I stare into the empty darkness, I feel
nothing. Not a shadow or a spirit in sight. I collapse into the
chair behind me when my knees give way.
What have I
done?

A few amazing weeks later
…

I watch her stomp away from where I kneel,
her long scarlet hair swishing back and forth behind her in angered
succession. I let my hand fall from my throbbing cheek, I think she
broke my jaw. I know I deserved it, but I can’t believe she hit me.
Struggling to hold the tears back as I climb to my feet and
collapse into my desk chair, I feel as though my heart is breaking.
I can’t breathe, my heart is pounding in my chest with anxiety, and
fear is the only thing that consumes me. It’s the fear that she may
never speak to me again. They say all is fair in love and war, but
what she doesn’t understand is that my love for her is twice that
of any man. I would do anything for her, anything … and by any
means necessary.

How do I make her see that she chose wrong?
How can I ever make this up to her? My eyes shift to the corner
where the possessed had lay when she threw them without a touch
like they were nothing less than a feather. Sera is getting so
powerful, so beautiful as she comes into her own. I can’t wait to
see her reach her full potential, she’s going to be unmatchable.
She doesn’t even comprehend what she could be. She doesn’t
understand why she is so desirable! I can help her—I will show
her.