Uprising (Alternate Earth Series, Book 2) (17 page)

“
You’re just as brave, Jess
.”

“
But not nearly as pure as her. I’m sure she didn’t have anything to feel guilty about when she came down here.
”

“
Everyone has something in their past that they regret. No one is perfect
.”

“
Come on. You have to admit that she’s gotta be close to perfection
.”

“
Well, I’m her father. I don’t think I’m the best person to ask if you want an unbiased opinion
.”

A light suddenly appears at the other end of the long, dark passageway. Michael shines the flashlight down the corridor, illuminating a ghostly form that is floating in midair. The center of the spirit glows brightly. In my mind, I imagine it’s the creature’s soul.

The shapeless mist floats down towards us. Showing no fear, Michael walks straight up to meet the spirit in the middle of the corridor.

“
Do you know who this is?
” I ask Michael.

“
Yes,
” he answers. “
I know
.”

“Why are you here?”
the spirit asks, its voice similar to the sound of metal wind chimes.

“We’ve come for the trumpets and King Solomon’s ring, Sansanvi,” Michael tells the spirit.

“
Wait, I’ve heard that name somewhere before
,” I tell Michael.

“
This is one of the angels who were sent down to return Lilith to the Garden of Eden
,” Michael tells me.

I remembered Brand telling me that he didn’t know what became of Sansanvi. Apparently, we had just solved that mystery.

“I sense you are more than just this woman,” Sansanvi says. “Who are you?”

“I’m Michael, Sansanvi. This body belongs to my vessel. Now that you know who we are and what we’ve come for, are you going to get out of our way so we can begin our search?”

“Why do you seek the trumpets and King Solomon’s ring, Michael?”

“To stop the Apocalypse from happening on this Earth,” Michael tells her.

“The souls protecting this tomb will not like you disturbing things, no matter your reasons for coming. They will seek out your weaknesses and use them against you.”

“They can try,” Michael says defiantly.

“They may also decide to seek out the weakness of the soul yours is tethered to. Is she as brave as you are? Do you think she can survive such an encounter?”

“She is and she will, if she has to,” Michael says without hesitation, making me feel good about myself.

“Then proceed, Michael,” the spirit says as it begins to fade away. “And good luck.”

Michael continues to walk down the dark passageway. At the end of it is a room that’s about the size of a regular living room. Sitting in the middle of the otherwise empty space is a three-foot slab of plain grey stone, with a box made of the same rock resting on top of it.

As soon as Michael crosses over the threshold of the room, we feel the demons within it whirl around us like a hot, desert wind. Even though we can’t see them, their malevolent intent is made clear. One of the spirits passes through our body, but the act feels more like a search of our soul than something that’s meant to cause physical pain. A second, third, and fourth spirit penetrate our soul, seeking something to use against us, to weaken us.

Michael seems to be their first target. The room around us changes to a scene I know is from Michael’s past.

He and Lucifer are fighting fiercely in a duel that feels like it’s meant to be to the death. I’m not sure if it’s for my human benefit, or simply the way Michael remembers it, but I find us standing inside what looks like a Roman coliseum with an angelic host filling every available space in the stadium’s seating areas. One side of the assembly is cheering Lucifer on, while the other side remains stoic.

The expression on Lucifer’s face is one of pure madness. There’s no doubt in my mind that his soul is twisted with a dark rage in this moment. Michael’s soul aches to the point of breaking as he battles his best friend. He knows the Lucifer he knew and loved is lost. The only thing he can do is defeat Lucifer in this duel to save countless angelic souls from annihilation. He must kill someone he loves in order to end the war and save the lives of those under his command.

During the fight, Michael is finally able to knock Lucifer’s sword out of his hand and gain a critical advantage. Lucifer drops to his knees in a desperate attempt to regain his sword, but Michael doesn’t hesitate in piercing Lucifer’s body. As the tip of Michael’s sword approaches Lucifer’s soul, he suddenly stops, unable to finish what this duel started. Michael knows Lucifer wouldn’t have felt this moment of hesitation if the tables had been reversed. His best friend would have killed him the moment he gained the upper hand.

“Kill him!” someone shouts from the side of the coliseum that had remained quiet up until now. “Kill him, Michael!”

Michael recognizes the voice as belonging to Aiden, and he knows he should kill Lucifer to finally bring an end to the war in Heaven. However, he can’t bring himself to do it. His love for Lucifer overrides his duty in that moment.

“You should listen to him,” Lucifer says to Michael viciously. “If you don’t kill me now, this war will continue. I will never stop. I will never surrender, and, one day, when you have your back turned, I will kill you without a second thought, Michael. End me now and become a hero, or prove to everyone watching what a coward you truly are.”

“
Why didn’t you kill him?
” one of the spirits asks, sounding accusatory. “
You could have stopped him in this moment and saved millions of lives.
”

Michael shakes his head.

“How could I kill someone I loved like a brother?” Michael questions, his heart aching at having to relive this memory. “I didn’t want him dead. I wanted him back to the way he used to be. I still do.”

The scene changes to Lucifer lying in a pool of his own blood on a pristine white marble floor before God’s golden throne. The cries of fallen angels reverberate throughout the Hall of Angels, piercing Michael’s soul with guilt. He feels as though their punishment is his fault. He should have been a stronger leader so none of them could have been swayed by Lucifer’s promise of dominion over the human race.

“From this day forward,” God says to all those present, “Lucifer and those who followed him into battle are banished from Our presence. They will live on Earth with the humans, until such time as I see fit.”

God looks to Michael.

“Take them to the world below,” God orders. “Perhaps in time they will learn to accept My children there.”

As Michael stares at Lucifer, he fully realizes exactly what his father is asking him to do, and I feel his heart completely break into pieces. He knows that he and Lucifer will forever be separated from one another. The small flame of hope he had that Lucifer would change his ways is snuffed out by his father’s command.

Michael walks over to Lucifer, gathers him up in his arms, and phases to Earth. After he lays Lucifer down on a soft patch of grass in a nondescript field, Michael covers the wounds on Lucifer’s back with his hands, and heals the injuries left behind by God’s hand.

“In time, He may forgive you, Lucifer,” Michael says, knowing that his father would forgive Lucifer anything, if he came to Him truly repentant. “You should not have tested His patience like that.”

Lucifer remains stubbornly silent. After a while, he lifts himself up, but refuses to look at Michael.

“Leave me, Michael,” Lucifer says, sounding tired, but still angry. “I don’t want your pity. Go back to your God.”

Michael takes a step toward Lucifer, reaching out a hand to console his friend. He desperately wants to help Lucifer find his way back home, but doesn’t know how to make such a miracle happen.

“Go!” Lucifer orders before Michael has a chance to touch him.

The moment is frozen in time as one of the spirts asks, “
Why did you leave him at a time when he needed you the most? What would have happened if you had stayed by his side instead of abandoning him?
”

“Lucifer chose his own fate that day,” Michael answers, his heart and soul aching at the tragic sight of so much lost. “There wasn’t anything I could have done to save him without him wanting to save himself.”

As Michael gives voice to his thoughts, I realize they’re words that he needed to hear himself say out loud. For years, he’s been holding onto his guilt over leaving Lucifer on Earth. A multitude of ‘what ifs’ have run rampant in his mind since this moment. It’s only now that he realizes there was never anything he could have done to help Lucifer.

The scene fades away, and we’re back inside the burial chamber.

Both Michael and I assume we’ve passed the tests the spirits devised in order for us to prove that we are worthy to venture further into the room.

Michael takes a step forward, only to have the space around us change again.

I gasp when I see where we are.

My thirteen-year-old self is glaring at a smirking Uncle Dan. He stands in front of me, with his back to the brick steps leading up to the door of his house. I don’t feel sorry for the younger version of me. I feel proud of her for standing up to someone who haunted her dreams and made her into someone who became withdrawn, untrusting. I wasn’t completely unafraid while I faced my real-life monster that day, but I fought through my fear to confront him.

“Say you’re sorry for what you did to me,” I demanded, feeling anger take hold of my heart, and willing to do whatever it took to wipe the sneer from his face.

“Why should I?” Uncle Dan asked. “Quit trying to act like you didn’t enjoy me touching you, Jess. I know for a fact that you loved it. I felt your little body quiver from the pleasure I gave you. Is that why you came over here? Do you want to go inside and play some more?”

“You’re sick,” I said, shaking my head at him as tears flowed freely down my cheeks. “Stay away from me and stay away from Faison!”

“Aww, come on, princess,” Uncle Dan said, taking a step closer to me. “You know you want it just as much as I do.” Uncle Dan looked me up and down admiringly. “Now that you’re older, I bet we could have a lot of fun together.”

As Uncle Dan reached out a hand to grab my arm, I felt years of pent-up anger and pain swell to the surface. Without thinking, I kicked him in the groin, causing him to fall to his knees in agony, cursing my name. All I wanted was for him to keep his dirty mouth shut forever. I kicked him a second time, underneath his chin to do just that. I watched him fall backwards onto the brick steps leading up to his front door. As he lay there unconscious, a large pool of blood began to spread out from the wound. I simply stood there and watched.

“
Even though he hurt you
,” the spirit says, “
you still feel guilt over this moment.
Why?
”

“Because it proved I could be a monster, too,” I reply, staring at a scene I had tried my best to forget. “I could have done more to help him, but I didn’t. I just stood there and watched him bleed out.”

“
Yet, you asked God to transfer this man’s soul from Hell into the Void
,” the spirit says. “
Why do that for someone who caused you so much pain during your childhood?
”

“To prove to myself that I was nothing like him,” I say. “I needed to put my hatred for him behind me so I could move forward and have a future with Mason. He might have made my childhood a living hell, but I didn’t have to make him live in the real one forever. If I had, that would have damaged my soul more than anything he did to me while he was still alive.”

The air surrounding us becomes less oppressive as the spirits slowly fade back into whatever netherworld they originated from. The misty white spirit of Sansanvi reappears in front of us.

“The items you seek inside this tomb are very powerful,” it warns us. “Use them with the same wisdom you have shown looking back on these memories.”

When the spirit fades, Michael returns complete control of my body back to me. He appears in my imaginary physical form of him.

“Well,” he says, “that was certainly an encounter I never want to experience again. Are you all right, Jess?”

I nod. “Yeah; a little shaken up, but otherwise fine.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t stop them from making you relive that,” Michael says regretfully. “I’d hoped they would focus on me, not you.”

“It’s all right,” I say, deciding to push the experience behind me. “Let’s just get what we came for.”

“You should be able to find the ring inside the coffin with King Solomon’s remains,” Michael says.

I walk over to the stone coffin and begin to push the slab of rock acting as its top out of the way. When I shine my flashlight inside it, I see the skeletal remains of King Solomon lying within, just as Michael said. A small gold crown still encircles Solomon’s skull. As I look down at his tattered, once-kingly robe, I see one of the items we’re here to retrieve on the index finger of his right hand.