Otherworld: Station One. - 10. Winter 10

“No!” I tried to shout but my voice was locked behind closed lips. I stared blankly ahead as Alex’s head turned and he looked at me, his mouth moving with no sound to back it up. I couldn’t look at him but I couldn’t turn away.

“Fuck, this is exactly what I needed right now.” Hamon grimaced. He wrenched the blade out of Alex who slumped, landing with a splash, blood droplets running down his face and smearing his chest.

Hamon sighed and came over to me, kneeling in front of me. “You shouldn’t have seen that, I’m sorry.” He murmured softly placing a hand on my shoulder. I jerked backwards and my eyes focused back in on him.

“DON’T TOUCH ME!” I screamed. I whipped out the knife in my belt and pressed it against his neck. “I will kill you!” but the knife shook and he smiled.

“Let’s not get irrational here Eli, trust me it was for the best. If you knew what they were going to do to him if they caught him-”

“We would have done nothing so bad as to kill him Gabriel.” Michael’s rough brogue echoed through the corridor and Hamon hissed standing up with the cleaver guarding his body. “What have you done Gabriel, why kill an innocent boy?”

“He’s the Aggressor Michael, he had to die. There is no way I’m letting these kids take my place.”

“I don’t care about any place; any position, any job that you want. You killed Alex!” I roared standing up straight. “And I’m going to rip every limb off your body.”

Hamon laughed, doubling over and holding his stomach, he laughed. “Let me handle this Eli.” I heard Michael behind me, he placed a hand on my shoulder and all my strength and rage evaporated like it was being sucked out of me. “Please look after him for a moment Melanie.”

“Okay.” She replied,. Another set of hands were laid upon me and steered me away from the two angels.

“You…you let him call you Melanie.” I said vaguely and turned to face her. She shrugged half smiling.

“I like him.” she said simply.

“How can you speak for them, they cast you out like yesterday’s trash? You have no allegiance; you are a fallen, just like me.” Hamon said. His voice made my blood boil again and Michael glanced over his shoulder at us.

“Please, keep yourself contained Eli.” He said. I sneered but did as he said and turned away from them both.

“I may have been cast down, but I am not so bitter as to fight back. What you are doing is ridiculously stupid Gabriel. He may have been the aggressor, but you have awoken that part of him. You are a fool Gabriel, and you will be re-assimilated by your own creations.”

I frowned and turned back. What did he mean, he awoke that of Alex? Michael removed his blade from his back holster and dragged it across the ground with a screech. Hamon stared back, his eyes wide. I could see sweat beading from his brow and his chest was heaving

“You can’t possibly be thinking of fighting me as you are brother. You will lose. Leave this place, your game is over.”

“It will happen Michael, and you will be lost too. Thanks to them!” Hamon spat. A frantic expression crossed his face and he pointed directly at Mel and me. “You should turn that sword on them, not me. We are the same!” He cried out. I stepped backwards as he advanced and pulled out my feather book.

“Michael” I began but he silenced me with a wave of his hand.

“I know Eli.”

Hamon glanced at Michael, his blade and down at Alex. “Fine.” He growled. Turning on his heel he went deeper into the darkness and was eventually gone. We were all still for a moment before Michael sheathed his sword.

I immediately unfroze as Mel’s hands released my body and I darted forwards to Alex who was lying on the floor his eyes glazed over and I dropped down to the ground. “Alex?” I whispered but he didn’t respond.

“Michael help me!” I yelled. He looked at me with pity in his eyes and slowly moved towards us. “Please…” I begged further. He nodded and knelt down beside us and removed Alex’s shirt. I watched as he then laid Alex down flat and shut his eyes with a flick of his hand.

He motioned to Mel and she came beside us. He nodded and she sighed placing her hands on the wound. “Will this work?” I asked. I’d seen her heal people almost dead, but raising the dead? Wasn’t that a completely new issue, not to mention somewhat taboo?

“It will work, the problem is, whether you want to go through with it.” He explained. I almost hit him.

“Why wouldn’t I go through with it? It’s my fault he’s involved. It’s my fault he’s dead!” I ran a hand through my hair, it was damp and I pulled away to see red smeared over my skin.

“I understand you feel that way but,” he sighed, “he will be in a better place, and it might be better for him, to be there rather than come back.”

I bit my lip and glanced back at Alex and Mel who had paused, watching us. “W-what about his parents, his family and friends? We all have a life outside of this”

“I can arrange it so they will never remember.”

“Mel… Tell me he’s wrong.” She didn’t meet my eyes and I shook my head.

“No, I don’t trust you angels. I trust Mel, and I trust Alex and I need Alex so bring him back!” I ordered. I half expected Michael to get angry with me but he sighed and turned to Mel.

“Very well.”

She nodded and her veins lit up again as her healing wove its way through her body and into his body, lighting it up in the process. His eye’s shone and his body arched as he gasped. Then he fell back silent his chest rising and falling softly.

His eyes fluttered open and he looked straight at me with a smile. I hadn’t realized I was crying until I felt the drops land on my hands and I laughed.

“You…you need me?” He asked softly. I glanced up at Michael who motioned for Mel to go with him as he stood. That was the last thing I wanted. I was crap at explaining things I knew to begin with, let alone something I had literally no understanding of.

“Did you hear that?” I asked foolishly. Of course he heard me, he repeated what I said. I sighed and resisted the urge to slap myself on the forehead.

“I…I think I did.” He said. I could tell he wanted to smile but was holding it back.

“Well, don’t get any wrong ideas. It’s not like I like you or anything” I tried to laugh but it came out distorted and didn’t sound like my voice. He tried to sit up and groaned.

“Little help.” He whispered. I placed an arm around his shoulders and helped him into a sitting position against the wall. “So, you don’t like me like that then?” He asked.

I tried to shrug it off but I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks betraying my nonchalant attitude. “Um, should we be talking about this now?” I whispered. Mel and Michael were a few feet away but I could tell by Mel’s expression that she was trying her hardest to listen in.

“It’s not like we have all the time in the world Eli.” Alex shot back, “I would never, ever have considered talking about this, trust me, not with the people I live with.” He muttered.

“Like you’re the only one who would never have thought about something like this. I’m…I’m not…I don’t know what I think anymore.” I failed at words and Alex just stared at me for a moment.

He placed a hand on mine and I liked it. I didn’t think I would but his hand was warm and rough, “Okay, so what do we do?”

“We make a deal; we finish this, get it all over and done with and see where we go from there.” I said. Alex smirked and squeezed my hand.

“Okay.” He agreed.

“Are you guys ready?” I heard Michael ask. He was peering at us with a strange look on his face. I nodded then stood with my hand outstretched to help Alex up.

He muttered a thanks and we both joined the other two. “What now?” I asked. Michael pointed down the hallway, away from Hamon’s retreat.

“I get you out of here.” He explained. He placed a hand on the sword on his back and patted it as if for reassurance. “When you’re out don’t come back here.”

“Wait, what? What are we supposed to do!” I argued.

“What do you mean? You aren’t supposed to do anything.”

“Hold up!” Alex exclaimed his hands outstretched. “Let me get this straight. We went through all of this for the last three days because we were led by an evil angel; we kept getting called things like, Aggressor or one of the four which, by the way, leads me to believe that we’re involved a lot more than I thought; and we risked our lives to rescue you, and you want us to leave?”

“I never asked you to get involved; that was his fault.” Michael argued.

“Yeah, but we’re involved now aren’t we.” Mel pointed out. “You called me the Soother, one of the four, you were happy that it was us. You didn’t even have to ask who we were.”

“Look, I was wrong; you’re too fresh to this. You needed to be told from your birth, but clearly your guardians saw fit to leave you.”

“That’s IT!” I roared. They stopped bickering and turned to me with shocked expressions. “You!” I pointed at Michael. “Get us out of here now and when we are out, you are explaining EVERYTHING!”

***

I waded out of the river and onto the bank, the mud slick underneath my feet and I dug my fingers into the dirt as I hauled myself up onto the damp grass.

Sitting in a circle amidst the mist covered fields Michael shifted uncomfortably. “Look, I didn’t want to be the one to tell you this, but since you so forcefully demanded.” He glanced at me.

“Just tell us, I don’t care how bad it is.” I said. Mel shot me a glare and I was about to ask her why she looked like she was about to kill me when something wet hit my nose. I looked up and felt drops on my face and I smiled briefly. It was raining in soft sheets.

“I can’t tell you.” He muttered. He dipped his hand into the earth beneath us, sinking into it like it was water and he pulled out a muddy brown feather. “But I can show you.” He placed it in the dirt and it started spinning for a few seconds and then stopped, pointing at Michael. It glowed a dull brown flickering on and off with a throb.

Michael sighed and closed his eyes. “I hate this part.” I felt my eyes widen.

“What part?” He grimaced but didn’t open his eyes. I suddenly realized what he meant as I felt the ground underneath my legs shake and move and the sky changed colours from milky white to lime greens and midnight blues.

“What’s going on?” I heard Alex ask, but his voice was distorted like when I was losing my hearing, as if he was talking over a radio. He looked frightened and I noticed now how his clothes were sticking to his body from the river water. I focused on his face and ignored the rest.

He smiled at me reassuringly and reached across to grab my hand. I shifted it back and tried to look apologetic to him but he shrugged.

The world stopped spinning at the same time as it darkened and I realized we were in a room, a large room like a study with a long table and high backed chairs carved with beautiful images of every animal I could think of.

Part room was lit with a gold stream filtering in through two large windows divided into fourths However the rest of the room was covered in tangible shadows. If I could reach out and grasp at the air I was sure I would feel something solid.

“Where are we?” I murmured in hushed tones. This place felt regal, like a king resided here. Or like the dead or near dead were here somewhere, hiding in the inky darkness.

The air was cold, crisp and fresh. It was something I hadn’t smelt before. Clean air. “This is God’s study.” Michael replied. He had stood and moved over to the tallest chair. It was padded with cushions the colour of red grapes; the same colour as the carpet beneath my feet. I stood with the help of Alex and moved around the room.

I ran my hand along the length of the wall, decorated with elegant wallpaper that spiraled upwards in colours of white, light blues and greens that stopped midway down the wall from where it became wooden slats.

I stopped in front of a bookcase that reeked of knowledge. That dusty smell of an infinitesimal amount of stories and facts that dated back to the days when books didn’t even exist. I reached out, gripped a large black leather book, and went to pull it out when Michael spoke.

“He was sitting here.” He said. I turned and saw him standing next to the chair at the head of the table. As the words left his mouth a shadow, in the form of a person appeared, completely featureless and dark. It sat motionless in the chair, and was of moderate height and build.

“And the other, was over there.” Michael pointed towards the darkness and I heard a soft whooshing noise, I knew another shadow had formed over there too but it was completely hidden.

I heard a shuffling behind me and got to my feet as a figure burst through an unseen door, spilling more of the golden light. The figure moved at a blinding pace in a rustle of creamy white robes that were overshadowed by a halo of fiery red hair.

“And, that is me.” I stared at the two very different Michaels before me. The younger more energized Michael exuded a youthful willingness to succeed and stood at the right of the seated figure. The Michael that I had met was standing a little ways behind, watching with a hunger in his sunken eyes.

“Can they see us?” I asked. Michael shook his head, a cloud of dust billowing from his matted hair.

“No, they can only see if you move something.” He replied. “But shush, you need to see this.”

“I threw you out for a reason Satan.” God spoke, his multilayered voice contained whispers of many people at once.

“But, you created me oh Lord. Don’t you love me?” I heard a snippy voice reply; taunting, and gleeful. “Look, you had a deal for me didn’t you? I don’t have much time for you if you don’t.”

“Yes, well let us not waste time then. Michael you have the document yes?” Young Michael nodded at his master and handed him a large piece of paper, with words of another language scrawled across it. I peered closer over young Michael’s shoulder, the words were written in a green ink and they shifted across the paper. “Thank you.”

“Wait, what am I signing?” the shadowed voice asked. It snatched the document as it was passed to him and was silent as it read. “Is this a joke? Where’s the real deal?” He asked. I heard scrunching and then the paper was lobbed back into the light.

“That is the real deal.”

“Then who’s bright idea was it to ask me to just leave you alone, seriously what the hell?”

“The deal states that you leave my world alone until such time as the world begins to disbelieve our existence, then you may come back. You have been tormenting them, and I need this to stop. I didn’t spend my time creating them for you to kill them.”

“And why would I agree to that?”

“Because you want to rule, and you can’t rule this world unless I give it to you.” God raised a shadowed arm and rested it on the table.

I could hear Satan mumbling to himself. “So, when this world starts going down the drain you’re going to ditch it for something new and pass it over to me?”

“Well, give it to you was a bit far. I’ll let you fight for it. It would go against everything I stood for if I just let you take it from unclenched hands.” God laughed derisively and then sighed.

“Fine, but I have one extra condition.”

“Tell me, I shall consider it.”

“If I win, you cannot create a new world. You must watch as I toy with your creation.” Satan sneered.

“Now it is my turn to ask why I would agree to that?”

“Because, if you’re all that, you should have no fear of my attempts.” Satan stepped out of the shadows but his body was still swathed in darkness. He was lithe and I thought that if I could see his face I’d see sharp angles and dark pitiless eyes.

The figure of God didn’t move and young Michael was shifting uncomfortably, like he wanted to say something. “Fine. I accept.”

“No!” Young Michael yelled. “Sire, you cannot do this. We can fix this another way.”

“Silence hatchling!” Satan barked. Michael turned to him in disgust.

“Oh go grow some wings you God forsaken creature.”

“Nice, play on my two defining characteristics bird shit. Get a life. Oh, that’s right, you already had one. Sorry.”

I saw a flash of red and in an instant Michael’s fiery sword appeared. “Enough Michael., go fetch me your brothers and sisters and wait outside the door.” Michael immediately un-tensed, bowed stiffly and exited the room.

The room swam for a moment and we couldn’t see a thing. “What’s going on?” I called over to Michael.

“I wasn’t here. I can’t see what happened.” He explained. As he finished speaking the room came back into focus and before us stood four people. Two I was able to identify but the other two were blacked out like God and Satan.

I felt bile rise in my throat. as I recognized the angel other than Michael. “Hamon…” I growled clenching and unclenching my fists.

“He was known as Gabriel to us, you should learn to call him that.” Michael corrected. “The one on my left,” He pointed at the feminine figure to his younger self’s left. I assumed it was a female from her hips and slim tall willowy figure. “That is Uriel. And the one next to Gabriel,” This body was strong and built “Is Raphael.”

In front of them, again sitting in his chair was God’s figure. “Thank you Michael.” He murmured softly. Young Michael bowed and stepped back into line.

“I have called you four here because I trust you all. I have a favor to ask. No doubt Michael has told you of what transpired here a few moments ago.”

“Yes my lord. What is it you wish to ask of us?” The woman asked. Her voice was soft and calming.

“I have given up my right to create a new world; however I want you four to create for me, four humans. They are each to have the combined ability to create a new world if Satan should win.”

“Oh about time.” Hamon growled. It didn’t matter how many times someone told me he was Gabriel, to me he would always be Hamon. “You haven’t given us one important task until now. I took this position because I thought maybe, just maybe I could do something that mattered.”

“Hold your tongue Gabriel!” The other male angel, Raphael barked. He turned to God and folded his arms. “Whatever you wish.”

“I leave it to you.”

The room swam again and this time faded completely and we were left standing on the bank of the river, silent and shivering in the mist.

“So…you were asked to create a human each?” I asked.

“Yes, that is why I said, one of four. We were tasked with creating one human that could help created the new world. But God didn’t know whom we created and what they could do. He’s searching for them now because he’s desperate.” Michael explained.

“What did you create?” Mel asked. I had almost forgotten her presence but she was pulling absently at the branches of the willow tree.

“I created the Conceiver. The one who will create the new world, and…I placed that gene, in your blood line Eli.”

I jerked my head upwards and stumbled backwards, my foot slipping on the edge of the muddy bank. I started to fall when Alex snatched my hand and wrenched me into his arms. I felt the breath rush out me and I braced my hands against his chest.

“Sorry.” He apologized blushing. He turned me around and let me go. I composed myself and returned to my previous shock.

“I’m the conceiver; you want me to create the new world?” Michael grimaced and nodded.

“Even if you don’t, it will continue in your bloodline, although the chance that you’ll have time to procreate before one or the other destroys this world are…slim.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I wasn’t allowed. If I knew I was going to be struck down, I would have found you sooner.” Michael replied.

“Well, then what do I do now?”

“You make a choice Eli, a choice no one else can make. You can create the world and choose god. You can create the world and choose Satan. Or you can create the world and choose yourself.”

“What about saving this one?”

“I’m afraid that’s not possible.”

“Well…well, what about the other three of the four?”

“The Soother and Aggressor do not share the skill you have.” He explained. Alex kicked at the dirt under his feet and glanced up.

“So what do they do?”

“I’m not sure, not entirely at least. We each made our own, and were not to ask the other what was made. I know that the Soother was to be the healer, and teach medicine and the magic of feathers to the new world, but the Aggressor and the last of the four, I do not know of what they can do.”

“And the Aggressor and Soother are us, right?” Alex asked.

“Yes, I know that Melanie is the Soother, for she has the glow of an angel. I am only sorry that she had to share her blood with Gabriel.”

“It was that or die.” She interjected roughly.

“And Gabriel called you the Aggressor yes?” Michael said, ignoring Mel and turning to Alex.

“Yeah, he said something about talents or abilities. I don’t really remember, it’s all a bit of a blur.” He replied.

“Hm, it depends on who had a hand in creating you, I think it’s safe for me to assume it was Uriel, she was the stronger of the four of us. It would make sense that she would create something called the Aggressor.”

A flicker of a smile passed his face and I almost saw his younger self but it was gone just as quick. He turned to me and crossed his arms.

“So Eli.” He paused and looked apologetic. “What will you choose?”

I turned to the other two, both with sympathetic expressions. I felt a boiling in my chest, a rage I didn’t know I was feeling. It rose within me and I sneered at Michael.

“Let the fucking world burn.” I spat. And stalked away towards my home leaving them behind.