Seraphina: Initiation (3 page)

“You did the right thing, you know that,
right?” I echo his words of encouragement from earlier.

He finally snaps out of his thoughts and
looks over to me, “I know,” he finally smiles.

“You know Nate, I’ve been thinking a lot
about something Jack told me,” I catch him roll his eyes slightly
knowing full well he doesn’t care too much for my friend Jack.
Maybe it’s because we date. If one awkward date counts as ‘dating.’
He waits patiently for me to continue, “He said someone went
through a lot of trouble to create me. That Angels don’t love,
Angels don’t bleed, and the circumstances surrounding my accident
were kind of… impossible.” I see Nate’s teeth clench when my words
seem to echo his own thoughts, “I take it you already knew this!
You know, Nate, we are in this together! You kinda have to let me
in on these things. It involves me just as much as you now, if not
more!”

“I didn’t want to worry you, I wanted to
wait until I had more answers to give you.”

“No,” I shake my head, “That’s not how this
works! I thought we agreed no more secrets remember?!” glancing
over to him his eyes are looking at me as I lay into him and I
soften, “You bring up a problem and we discuss it and come to a
conclusion together. We are a team now. You aren’t protecting me by
keeping me in the dark.”

“I’m sorry, I’m used to more of a hierarchy,
if you didn’t have proof- you didn’t bring it up.”

My last shred of anger fades when I come to
the realization that this is all new to him. Earth, relationships,
democracy, and I have to be more patient. “Team?” I ask holding up
my pinky finger for a pinky promise, something me and Amanda do all
the time.

He flashes me his mind-boggling smile as he
extends his hand and links his finger with mine. “Team,” he repeats
as I feel the fire flickering within him warm my finger before we
let it fall between us.

“So, let’s start with why you didn’t tell me
about this, is it something to be concerned about?” I ask popping
open a can of soda and taking a swig.

Nate takes a deep breath before he begins,
“
Someone
did go through a lot of trouble to make sure you
came to fruition. But –
who
is still uncertain. Only high
ranking Angels can invade dreams, give Angel feelings, or blood for
that matter, but they don’t necessarily have to be good.”

The thought makes me shiver even with the
heat from the fire against my back. I can’t help the goose bumps
that sprout up along my arm at the thought of my creation being
some kind of evil plot. “So… I could be
evil
?” I swallow
hard finally saying the words out loud.

“You can be whoever you want to be, Sera.
The circumstances regarding your accident can be tainted, but you
and your powers care all mine—Good,” he incessantly points to his
chest, his heart.

My mind is going a mile a minute, I don’t
think for one second it’s some kind of accident that the ‘Fire
Angel’ was picked to give me his blood. What is the one thing a
person thinks of when they think of Hell—Fire. The fact that
Lucifer has gone above and beyond to get my attention at every
turn, but God hasn’t contacted me once gives me the feeling that I
am a product of evil. Nate’s eyes seem to be pleading with me for a
response and I melt under his gaze. If he has faith that I can
change my destiny, I must have faith in myself. I mean I’ve kept
the evil at bay for this long, I can choose my own fate. “Well,
ain’t that a kick in the pants.”

“What?!” he bursts into a roaring laughter
that makes me smile.

Between my own giggles, I respond, “It’s the
only thing that came to me.” I shrug.

“Maybe it’s exhaustion,” he offers his eyes
alive with laughter before climbing to his feet. “You’ve had a long
day today and tomorrow we begin training. You need some rest,” he
holds out his hands to help me to my feet. Taking them he pulls me
up fast and I don’t catch myself until I’m against his solid chest.
“You know Sera, just when I think I have you figured out you always
seem to surprise me.”

“What do you mean?” I ask breathlessly as my
heart feels like it’s bouncing around in my rib cage. His strong
hands are still clasping mine at both sides of our faces and I feel
the warmth of his rock hard body against the length of mine.

“I wanted to be the first one to kiss you,”
he tells me with his soft eyes smiling down on me.

I smirk, “Sorry, spur of the moment and all.
We can have a do-over if you want?”

“Nah, I wouldn’t change it for the world,”
glancing away as if remembering, “I’m just going to have to make up
for it with the second one…” he finishes and my stomach leaps into
my throat. Leaning down to meet my lips I feel is warm soft lips
against mine again. Only it doesn’t stop at a peck like mine had,
his fingers slip through mine and meet the sides of my face. He
pulls me deeper into the kiss as my hands lean against his chest
because I don’t want to move. I’m afraid if I move it will break
our moment and
this
moment I never want to end.

Eventually, he reluctantly pulls away from
my pouty lips as he places his forehead to mine. “How’d I do?” he
whispers.

“You win—blew mine out of the water,” we
pause looking into each others eyes for a second before he finally
blinks and lifts his forehead from mine.

“I think it’s time we get you to bed.”

“Fine,” I turn to climb into bed, but
instead Nate grabs my wrist and spins me back around to meet his
lips again. This time it was a sweet soft peck then a second before
he turns and walks towards the door.

“Over-achiever,” I mutter as he grabs hold
of the door handle and turns to smile mischievously back at me.
Leaning my back against the post of the bed, I tilt my head
slightly and softly state, “Goodnight Roomie.”

“Goodnight Sera,” he whispers shutting the
door behind him leaving me alone with my fading butterflies and I
throw myself backward onto the bed snuggling into the covers.

I
’
m running, dashing through a crowd of black
soldiers. I lost sight of Nate a while ago and I’ve been searching
for him ever since. I come face to face with a black soldier whose
face is skeletal and his eyes are all black he takes a swing at me
with his black dagger and I duck narrowly missing it before I bring
up my fist in an upper cut to his jaw. Twirling around, I grab hold
of a dagger from my belt and stab him in the back before pushing
him to the ground. Once he fades back into the ground, I turn to
face another creepy dark soldier that I kick with all my might and
he collapses onto a few other soldiers. When they regain their
balance, they all come to attack me at once. I stand my ground and
allow them to attack me first. The first reaches his hands out to
grab me and I jump over him onto another and twist his neck with my
feet. Collapsing to the ground when he disappears beneath me, I
look up and lock eyes (or at least I think I lock eyes,
it
’
s hard to tell when
they are all black) with the third soldier who I then round house
kick his head off. It rolls onto the ground, still looking at me
with his mouth open as it disappears into the soil. Glancing
around, my eyes are still looking for any sign of that chestnut
hair or blue eyes I’ve grown to love. After I stab another dark
figure in the chest he drops to the floor in front of me and my
eyes lock on the broad back and chestnut hair of Nate across the
field from me. Without thinking, I begin making my way to him,
punching, kicking, and stabbing enemies like I have some kind of
Special Ops training. It
’
s almost like a dance to me, as soon as I land
on my feet from a kick I twirl into a punch to another figure
before I whip out a knife and stab someone else. I
’
m surprised at how much grace and
poise I have, I never seem to lose my balance and I
’
m killing hundreds. Finally reaching
Nate, I scream his name for him to turn around. When I see a huge
figure rise from the dirt and stab him in the heart with a huge
sword. I let out an earth-shattering scream that makes everyone
around me disappear and I run up to Nate as he collapses on the
ground. I pull him into my arms and I
’
m screaming,
“Stay with me! Stay with me!” I almost believe that if I say it
enough it might happen. He looks up at me with his big blue eyes
and my heart wants to stab itself too so we can at least have a
chance of being together in the afterlife.

“
Sera, it
’
s up to you now… you have to defeat him,” he
stammers out as he chokes up blood.

“
Shhh
…don’
t talk like that, you
’
re going to be fine!” I try and hold back
tears.

“
I love you,” are the last words he
whispers as life fades from his eyes and I feel his body relax in
my arms. NO!

I awake gasping for air and twisted in my
new sheets. I put my hand on my chest and it’s beating
uncontrollably fast. I think that was by far the worst dream that
I’ve ever had. Watching Nate die right in front of me is the
hardest thing I’ve ever had to witness. Wiping my cheek I find that
I was crying in my sleep. Sighing to myself, I collapse back onto
my bed and take another deep breath. I roll over onto my side and
glance out my window, the sun is just beginning to rise above the
edge of the cliff. Finally, I come to the decision I might as well
start my day. I untangle myself from the covers and head for the
bathroom. Splashing my face with hot water to fully wake myself up,
I then twirl my hair into a bun before returning to my closet. Not
knowing what this training session will entail, I dig through the
piles of clothes lying about before deciding on black cargo pants,
a black tee shirt, and sneakers, before heading downstairs to grab
a bite to eat.

I’m halfway down the stairs when I realize
that all the boxes in my room weren’t there when I woke up, was
Nate in my room when I was sleeping? I shrug it off, continuing to
bop down the steps through the foyer toward the kitchen humming a
song I don’t recognize. I see Nate’s chestnut hair over the ledge
of his loft style kitchen above the dining room. He motions for me
to have a seat. That’s when I notice he has set up place settings
in the little breakfast nook of the kitchen instead of dining room
overlooking the cliff. I have to admit I prefer this better, it’s
more casual and intimate.

“How do you like your eggs?” he asks with
two white plates in his hands eyeing me walking up the steps into
the kitchen.

“Like you don’t already know,” I smirk
knowing he probably knows me better than I know myself being he was
my Guardian for so long.

He doesn’t respond he just places the two
empty plates on the table. I climb in and watch as he sits across
from me before closing his eyes. Thinking he may be praying, I
close my eyes as well. By the time I look down my plate is full
with scrambled eggs, bacon, and hash browns. I grab my fork, and
take a bite before feeling him eyeing me.

“Is everything okay?” he asks putting his
fork back on the table.
Wow, he really does know me.

“I just had a bad dream,” I state filling my
mouth with egg before I have to explain.

“About what?” he inquires leaning his elbows
on the table.

I swallow hard, “I dreamed you died,” we sit
in silence for what feels like an eternity before he finally
responds.

“Well, it was just a dream,” as he picks up
his fork and begins to eat. We both know he’s lying, my dreams mean
more than they appear. Lately, my dreams have felt more real than
usual. I feel the tears building up behind my eyes, I didn’t
realize how attached I have become to Nate until I was forced to
watch him die in my arms.

***

After breakfast, I told Nate I wanted to go
for a run. We walk out to the porch together. It
’
s a normal, cold December day in the suburbs of New
York, but I hardly feel the cold anymore. We stand there silently
for a few minutes as I take in the beauty of it all while waiting
for Nate
’
s direction. The frost beginning
to shine against the morning sun making the trees around us
shimmer.

“So, where to?” Nate finally turns to
me.

“I don
’
t exactly
know where I am!” I state indicating the vast forest before us with
my hands.

“Okay, Sera, Lesson Number One: You have
senses… Use them!” He tells me with all the sarcasm he can manage
before noticing one of my eyebrows raise and adding, “Just close
your eyes and open your mind the rest will follow.”

I take a deep breath before following his
instructions. I close my eyes and open my mind to the surroundings.
He
’
s right, I think as I growl to myself.
I can sense the woods all around me and even though I’ve never been
here before, I somehow know exactly where I am. It
’
s like I
’
m in tune to all
of nature, feeling every tree, sensing every hibernating squirrel,
every snoring bear wherever I open my mind to. It
’
s the strangest feeling I’ve ever felt. It makes me
feel like I
’
m plugged into Mother Nature
herself. I can feel life all around me. Without further
instruction, I jump off the porch steps in one bound and dash into
the forest. I just want to be a part of all this energy.

“Thanks for the heads up!” I hear Nate yell
when he finally catches up to me. I almost forgot he was here with
me. “Now push yourself faster!” he guides me.

I do as
I
’
m told, pushing myself faster
and faster, feeling the beating life of the forest around me. Nate
has a hard time keeping up with me as we dash in between trees
through the dense forest. I
’
m beginning
to get lost in the feeling of the forest again, the crunch of every
step, the wind on my face, the smell of pine in my nose.
I
’
m getting sucked into this
indescribable feeling of freedom when I hear “STOP!”