Chapter 2: Everleigh
2103 Words
I don't pass out. I'm a lot stronger than that. But there was no other explanation for the strange place I was suddenly in. One minute I had been turning away from Joan, and I now I was standing in a red desert, watching a large black storm boil above the horizon. Looking around, I saw that I was standing alone in a small graveyard, complete with white crosses and rough cut gray headstones.
“Must have gotten heatstroke.” I muttered.
“Hells bells girl, don't be daft.” a stern voice behind me made me jump forward, and I whacked my shin on a cross.
“Ow, dammit.” I swore, and hopped in a circle to face the rather rude speaker. She was a short, muscular black woman, with frizzy close-cropped hair, and probing dark eyes.
“Watch your language.” she admonished.
“You just said hells bells.” I pointed out.
“See? You just did it again.” she shook her head in mock disgust. I folded my arms,
“Look, for being part of my subconscious you aren't being very nice.”
“I'm not part of your subconscious!” the woman looked extremely offended, “Do you know who I am?”
“Part of my subconscious?” I ventured.
“No! We literally just covered that, did we not? I'm an angel, honey-buns.” she leveled a dark stare at me, “And not just any angel, so watch your tongue. I'm Gabriel, the archangel.”
“But..” I studied her curvy figure and wide, feminine eyes, “Aren't you a girl?”
“Yes. Obviously I've over-estimated your intelligence.” she folded her hands patiently, and leaned back on a headstone, “I'm an angel which means I need a vessel. And I was in a bit of a rush, so I didn't have time to find the sexy manimal you were probably expecting to see as the form of an archangel.”
“Wait, you just stole her body from her?” I asked incredulously.
“No. Weren't you listening? I'm an angel, not a demon, so I can't just take what I want. She volunteered.” she patted her leg.
“Well-wait a second.” I waved my hands up, “You aren't even real, so why am I having this conversation?”
“I am real.” she gritted, “And if you say I'm not one more time, then I'm going to whomp you upside the head with this tombstone.”
“Fine.” I glared at her, “Then if you really are an angel, then why are you acting like this? I'm pretty sure real angels don't say that stuff.”
“Well what were you expec-oh, I'll bet I can guess.” Rising to her feet, she threw her head back, and extended one hand like she was about to start proclaiming Shakespeare, “Tis I, Gabriel, the archangel here to speak to thou about thees and more thous, and I bid you to do this and that, and blah blah blah.” Lowering her arm, she sat back down again.
“You know, other than the sarcasm, yeah. That's about right.” I nodded.
“OK, give me your arm.” she held out her hand. I drew back,
“What, no. I'm not giving you my arm, you'll probably bite it.”
“Why would I bite it? You don't even look that yummy. Here-” she stepped forward and grabbed my right forearm.
“This might hurt a little.” she warned, then stabbed my wrist with her forefinger. Nothing happened for a second, then a little patch of skin burst into flame. I yelped and ripped my arm away and patted the flames out.
“What's wrong with you?” I demanded, squeezing my wrist.
“A lot. Now look at your wrist.”
“You look at your wrist.” I mumbled back, but did as she said. Branded onto my skin where the flames had been, was a small black symbol. It looked a bit like a star crossed with a heartbeat, but then it squiggled off.
“What the heck is that?” I demanded, staring at it.
“It's the mark of Gabriel, so my symbol. Not only will it provide protection in the future, but it will prove to you that this was all real when you wake up.”
“That's actually a good idea.” I said finally.
“I know. Now if you'll just shut your trap and listen, we can do this and be done.”
“OK.” I nodded and tried to avoid any more antagonistic comments. I figured that whether this was real or not, it wouldn't hurt to listen.
“Thank you. Now where to begin...how about the beginning?”
“No, try the end first.” I said before I could stop myself.
“Look girl, do you want to wake up or not? Because I can keep you here for as long as I want.” Gabriel threatened.
“Fine! Talk.”
“Well you ruined the ambiance, but we'll just have to make do. Now, tell me what you know about Lucifer.”
“Um, he's the devil?”
“Close. He's a fallen archangel. Extremely powerful, extremely clever, vendetta against humanity and heaven."
"OK. What does he have to do with anything."
"He has to do with everything. Do you know what the 66 Seals are?"
"A team of aquatic mammals?" I offered hesitantly.
"My hell you're hopeless. No. When Lucifer was cast out of Heaven, the archangels, i.e me, Michael and Raphael, locked him inside of a prison. The Seals are the locks that keep in there."
"This sounds suspiciously familiar." I said, squinting at her.
"Of course it does, because they've made countless movies and TV shows about it. But, plot twist, it's all real. And now someone's breaking the Seals."
"Really. And is this someone's name Winchester?"
"No, surprisingly enough it's an old matriarch called Diane Harvey."
"What? Who's she."
"Power hungry old bird. Real odd. Anyway, she and her henchmen are breaking the seals because, obviously, they want to release Lucifer."
"Why?"
"Who knows? But they've already broken over half the Seals, which means we're running out of time."
"How did they break them that fast? And if you're an angel, how come no one's doing anything about it?"
"We can't exactly do anything." Gabriel hedged, "Heaven itself is at a bit of a troubled time. I'm risking my neck just to get this to you."
"What's happening in Heaven?"
"None of your business. The point is this: my hands are tied, so I need you to work for me. I'm choosing you as the next prophetess."
"A what?" I responded. This was all happening rather fast.
"Prophetess. You'll be my correspondent because I have a plan, but I can't do it alone." A plan? Oh it was a dream anyway, what the heck.
"What's the plan?" I asked.
"Stop the Seals from opening." Gabriel told me. Stepping forward, she swung me around and stabbed a finger past my eyes. The dream had somehow changed to represent an Apocalyptic wasteland. Large fires were burning around in patches, next to crumbling buildings. People lay in heaps, either dead in a gruesome manner, or alive and sobbing.
"This is what happens if Lucifer escapes his prison and gets to humanity. This is also what happens if for some reason Heaven gets it together and fights Lucifer. It'll be a bloodbath all the way around. You have to stop the Seals from opening."
"OK! Point taken." I stepped away from the scene, but paused as I noticed four figures on the outskirts of the c*****e. Four men on horses.
"Who are they?" I pointed to them. Gabriel glanced at them,
"They, my ignorant friend, are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse." As if on cue, one of the horses, a big red one, stomped it's hoof impatiently and a small fire sprang from where it's hoof had hit.
"They don't look very nice." I remarked.
"Well, they just might be our last ditch resort if things go South." there was silence for several seconds as we both thought about that, then Gabriel added, "Don't let things go South."
"Right.”
“There's one more thing.” Gabriel added, “Do you know a girl named Joan Walker?”
“Yeah, a little. Why?”
“She's essential. In stopped the Apocalypse, that is. You need her.”
“What does she do?”
“You'll see. For now, this is all the time I have, so tell me that you believe me.”
“I still don't see how this is not a dream.” I hedged.
“Feel the air.” she wiggled her fingers, “Does this feel like a dream?”
“Not really.” I admitted. She nodded,
“Alright. And you'll know for sure when you wake up and that mark it still there. Oh, speaking of waking up: you need to go find Joan. And tell her about this. She needs to know about the Apocalypse.”
“Right away?”
“Yes.”
“OK.” I stood there for a second, “How do I wake up now?”
“Like this.” Gabriel reach forward and tapped my head.
My eyes flew open and stared up at the peaceful white ceiling above me.
“Leight? You're awake, thank goodness.” my mother's voice babbled in my ear. I sat up and looked at her, then out the window.
“What time is it?” I asked.
“Um, 5:15. You were out for almost ten minutes. Are you OK?”
“Yeah, I'm fine.” I replied and stood up, “I'm going to go to the bathroom real fast.”
“Alright. Are you sure you're good?”
“Yeah, thanks.” I walked off and stepped into the hall bathroom. Pausing for a breath, I stared down at my wrist. Sure enough, branded right onto my skin was Gabriel's symbol. I grabbed a washcloth and tried to scrub it away, but it didn't budge. Dumping alcohol didn't touch it either. I sat on the edge of the counter and frowned at it. Then I remembered what Gabriel had said in the dream s***h vision. “It will provide protection”.
“Fine.” I muttered and reached into my back pocket where I kept my small folding knife. Flipping the blade out, I poised it over my wrist and gently poked it with the tip of the knife. Nothing happened. Half shutting my eyes, I laid the edge of the blade right on the symbol and pressed down. A spot of blood appeared and I jerked the knife away. More blood oozed out of the tiny hole in my skin, but then it stopped. As I watched, the little cut disappeared, taking the blood with it and leaving the symbol whole again. Closing the knife I put it back in my pocket.
“Well I'm either really crazy or...that just happened.” I muttered.
“Everleigh, you doing alright in there?” my dad called, tapping on the door. I hastily turned the sink on,
“Yeah, thanks!” I answered, then shut the water off and opened the door.
“Can you come help get supper ready?” he asked.
“Yeah.” I hesitated for a second, before adding, “Do you mind if I run over to Joan's house really fast? It'll take five minutes, I forgot to give her the check.”
“OK, make it snappy though.”
“I will.” I grabbed my keys off the wall and hopped into the driver's seat of my battered old blue Ford pickup. It used to belong to my parents, but they handed it over to me as soon as I got my license.
I pulled out of the driveway, and cruised down the county road until I saw Joan's house. I parked in the driveway and sat inside for a moment. This was silly, I shouldn't have come. Why would she believe me? But I didn't have time to back out. As I sat there, I saw her open the door and step out onto the deck.
“Hi!” I hollered, hopping out onto the ground.
“What's up?” she responded.
“Um,” I paused, “I need to talk to you.”
- Writer
