Uriel (The Hallowed Chronicles Book 1) (7 page)

Chapter Twelve

No matter how hard I tried, my eyes wouldn't open and I found I had no control over my body. I just lay there silently, listening to the static around me and the voice of Nikita, soothing me even as I slept. From what I gathered, my body was storing up the life energy I had lost, not allowing me to do much of anything until it was finished. My mind was an ocean; it stilled and the world was muffled, but when waves crashed, memories haunted me of my past. Each memory played before me like a television show, giving me more insight on who I was and always will end up being. I was a strong warrior and the lives of those I've helped... the lives of those I stole only echoed the word 'judgment.'  I had no idea what this meant and I didn't care. I only cared of opening my eyes and living, but nothing would let me.

It felt like days had passed since I last heard a voice from anyone. I had been trapped in a white noise from the silence and it was tearing me apart. Only then, on the verge of ripping myself from the inside did I hear another voice; a man, talking to Nikita. "This is the girl?" the man asked with a stern tone. "She is young," he continued. I wanted to open my mouth, to tell them I was here, but I was paralyzed, held down to listen to the words being said about me. "She may look sixteen, sir, but she is powerful," Nikita said in my defense. I sent her a silent thank you to only hear more.

"She may be powerful, Nikita, but she has yet to show initiative in training, has she not?"

"Training may be important, but she definitely does not lack heart. She knows what she is doing."

"It does not matter that she knows what she is doing, it matters that she learns how to control the power inside."

"You don't understand, do you? No one else sees it, but I feel it. She may be young, but she has the power to burn a whole city to the ground."

"Only you see it because you have gotten in deeper than you were asked by Our Father. I am surprised he has not withdrawn you from the mission and replaced you with someone more capable of the task."

Another person was being aggressive toward Nikita, and it angered me. I fought my body from the inside, trying to gain control of it once more, but I was being pinned to myself. This was unfair; I wanted to fight for Nikita as she had fought for me. Feeling helpless, I lay there silently, dreading each moment that passed as she spoke to the stranger. "Excuse me to tell you that you are wrong. I may not actually be her mother, but the archangels are human, too. Don't forget that. They need someone to be their parent. Their human side makes them more vulnerable to corruption and I am making sure that doesn't happen to her," Nikita snapped. Though I wasn't fully conscious, I could feel the energy between them spark and ignite; fire against fire, the air cracked like lightening. "They are beings of Light. If they were to stray from their duty and break their deal with Our Father, He would strip them of their power," the man replied coldly.

"How would you know? Our Father has a lot more up His sleeve than you think you know. Can't you see it? There's no prophecy to go by this time. He's giving them enough freedom to be themselves and think freely. They have the best of both worlds."

"Best of both worlds? Then explain to me this state the girl goes into when angered? Her power increases tenfold but she loses herself. For all we know, she could already be corrupted and toying with us under Our Father's nose."

"She's better than that. Don't underestimate her. She will make you sorry you ever did."

There was no pause; as soon as the last word left Nikita's mouth, my ears hummed as the man's hand connected to her. The sound of flesh hitting flesh pulled me from the paralysis. My body was finally mine and I opened my eyes, grabbing a hold of the stranger. I could barely see, but rage pushed me through and my hand seized his throat. As if possessed, my voice was split into two when I spoke. Wind knocked things off shelves and blew through my hair. "You dare hurt her? You've made a grave mistake," I said, seething. Fire ignited in my chest as rage bubbled in the pit of my stomach, threatening to take over. This time, I wouldn't let it get the best of me. "T-this is what the council were talking about? How is she touching me with mortal hands?" the stranger struggled to say under the pressure of my hand. A cold hand touched my shoulder and a familiar presence tugged at my brain. "Uriel, let him go, it's okay," Nikita whispered in my ear.

"He hurt you. He deserves the pain tenfold."

"No, please. We need his help."

And I snapped back to my normal self, only to fall back into the darkness, drowning in its soothing arms.

I woke to someone's fingers running through my hair in a peaceful silence and I opened my eyes. My vision cleared and Jophiel was seated on my bed with his hands in my hair. When he noticed I was awake, he smiled and took his hand away. I tried not to whimper and plead for more, tried not to admit that I very much enjoyed his touch. Instead he leaned in, studying my face. "How are you feeling, Uriel?" he asked with a small smile. I opened my mouth to respond, only being caught off guard by a yawn that forced its way in. Rubbing my eyes, I forced my own smile. "I'm feeling like I got hit by a truck," I responded sleepily. Laughing, Jophiel took my hand in his and my face heated up.

"Nikita told me what you did yesterday. That was very... angelic of you.”

"Ha-ha..."

"What? I'm serious. How did you know what to do
?
”

"I didn't. I just... willed him to live."

Jophiel was silent then, mulling over my response. In that silence, I had time to ask myself whether or not what I had done was just a dream or if I had actually forced myself out of my coma-like sleep to protect Nikita from the stranger. Before I could ask about it, Jophiel pulled on my hand and I sat up. "You are waking a lot faster than I did," he said curiously. "I'm not jealous or anything so don't go teasing me about that. It's just strange." I nodded because I knew it was. Jophiel had been awake for more than a year and was still trying to fully wake, while I woke up only several days ago and had stepped over the line he was currently stuck at. I thought of the reason that it was my possession of a Guardian, but Nikita hadn't really done much to help me wake besides provide an education and a place to train. "Sometimes I feel them," Jophiel said, bringing me back to now.

"What do you mean?”

"If I focus hard enough, I can feel the others. Maybe that means they are awake, too."

"How long have you felt them?"

"To be honest, I felt them before you. Maybe that is why... Maybe you were the last to wake, but now that all of us are up and about, we've been learning things quicker. Hell, I can't wait to show you what I've learned.”

I was intrigued about this thing he spoke of, but what caught my full attention was his hypothesis of why I had been waking quickly. While we sat quietly, I focused on feeling my connection to Jophiel, grasping it quickly and then I focused on the others. Straining myself, I focused, feeling fire ignite inside me as the others’ energy wrapped around me. All five of them were awake. Gasping from the strain, I opened my eyes and looked at Jophiel incredulously. "You felt them, didn't you?" he asked with a smile. I could only nod, feeling completely relieved that all of us were awake and possibly trying to find each other. Though we were not related by blood, the connection we had was unmistakable... unbreakable. Smiling to myself, I took Jophiel's hand and hopped out of bed, making him stand with me and twirl me. It was an overwhelming feeling of finally knowing we were all okay. Then, I heard a familiar voice.

My dancing stopped and my ears opened, hearing the familiar voice talk quietly down the stairs and I shot Jophiel a questioning look. He made no effort to hide it from me and it told me Nikita hadn't said a word about what happened...if it actually happened. "There is another angel downstairs. He has come to aid us in waking to our full potential," he said shrugging. Looking toward my door, I tugged at him and he followed willingly down the stairs. Upon entering the kitchen, the conversation between the stranger and Nikita ceased and the stranger rose.

As he walked toward me, I took in his gray hair and green eyes, his old appearance and the cane he used to get to me. "Uriel, my name is Gazardiel. It is nice to meet the real you," he said with an awkward chuckle. Grinding my teeth, I bowed my head in greeting. "I'm not sorry for what I did," I said with my head still bowed.

"You do not have to be. It is who you are."

Ignoring him, I went over to the table and sat next to Nikita who pulled me close. Rubbing my temples, I sat looking down at the table even as Jophiel greeted Gazardiel, introducing himself. "You are the other archangel," Gazardiel stated. "It is nice to meet you as well." Jophiel was instantly next to me and the newly named stranger sat across from us. We sat in silence, knowing Gazardiel wanted to talk about something. "Go on," Nikita urged him. He cleared his throat and stood again, using his cane to move around and I couldn’t help but feel bad. Sure, he was an angel and could handle it, but he was still an elder and doing what I did could be considered unacceptable.

"Each time you wake, it is a new beginning... another journey for you to endure. But after studying the times you woke before, we have noticed that each time you begin another life, the tasks get harder. Darkness has spread across the world and portals to Oblivion have been opening. Corruption is spreading and we fear we are on the verge of Armageddon."

The word chimed like a bell and as if it was a memory, I knew what that meant. The world was ending, but not in the way the humans were thinking of. No, it was entirely different, and it would destroy all worlds... not just theirs. Looking up through the hair that shrouded my face, I dreaded his next words. "There will be no more attending school as you will not have to blend in with human society. You will up your training and we will help you find the others. Alone, you are stronger than ordinary angels. Together, you are an unbeatable force," he continued.

"The darkness is spreading along the coast, so be prepared to face the demons you may have heard or read about. Your nightmares are nothing compared to the real thing you will be facing. You cannot hesitate and you must work together to achieve your destinies. Though the darkness has done nothing to start Armageddon, we watch carefully. One step over the line and we will be on the brink of war. We cannot let it happen."

My body began to shudder. This wasn't just about Jophiel and me anymore. If Armageddon were to happen, the humans would be wiped out and the battle between Light and Dark could destroy our worlds, too. Jophiel took a hold of my hand and squeezed, attempting to reassure me, but I wasn't sure what would put me at ease anymore. Our eyes remained on Gazardiel, even as our hearts sank to the pits of our stomach hearing the words he spoke. "The archangels were completed and taken in, given powers not like ours. You are the only ones who can stop it all from happening. You must; our worlds depend on you."

Chapter Thirteen

According to Nikita, my energy coma had me asleep for the whole weekend and when I woke for Monday morning, I wished I had another day to sleep in. I found myself unable to focus as my body half dragged me into the school with Jophiel lagging behind. Since the news Gazardiel had set upon our shoulders, we barely spoke; trying to finally start believing how quickly things were happening. Today was supposed to be our last time attending school. It took me three times to get my locker open through bleary eyes that didn't want to stay open and I barely flinched when Jenna jumped up next to me. "Wow, you look awful," Jenna said examining my tired eyes. Staring at her blankly, I pushed my locker closed and sighed at her, shaking my head. As we walked side by side, she began talking about something that would be my first time hearing about. "So homecoming is coming up soon," she said excitedly, putting more bounce in her stride. I glanced at her sideways and shot her a questioning look. "You seriously don't know what the homecoming is?" she asked, almost stopping short.

"Nope. This is my first time in an actual school."
And maybe my last
.

"Oh, right. Well, the homecoming is one of the most important school events like, ever. There's dancing, food, drinks, dresses, suits and we get to go with guys!"

"Guys, huh?”

"Or we could go together... but I really want to ask Jophiel to the dance."

My heart plummeted to the pit of my stomach and I stared ahead at the classroom as we grew closer. I didn't want to see her ask Jophiel to dance, there was something wrong about it. "Why don't we all just go as a group? Just so I don't end up being the odd one out," I said swallowing a lump in my throat. I could hear as she tried to conceal a whine. "How about we do that if someone doesn't ask you beforehand, okay?" she asked hopefully. Sighing to myself, we entered the room and sat at our usual desks. I didn't want to continue talking about the homecoming; I had more important things on my mind.
Armageddon.
The word haunted me with Gazardiel's echo and every time I heard it, my stomach flipped. Jenna leaned in just as the teacher strode in with his cup of coffee. "By the way, I took your suggestion and started reading the bible," she whispered to me. "It's very inspiring, except for the horsemen," she continued, making my heart stop. "Horsemen?" I asked. Though I was supposed to be a divine being, I still hadn't read the bible.

"Yeah. You know, the bringers of the end of times?"

"What did it say about them?"

"Are you telling me that you told me to read it and you haven't even done it?"

"I just forgot."

The teacher began writing on the board, looking away from us even as he spoke, telling us to put our cellphones and electronics away so we could "enter the world of education." Running my hand through my hair, I leaned in closer, hoping Jenna would tell me more. "Uriel, I do hope you are just asking Miss Chandler for a pencil. Please no talking," the teacher said and it made me think that all human teachers had an extra pair of eyes and ears. As he droned on, Jenna scribbled something on a piece of paper and handed it to me quickly. Keeping it under the desk, I opened it and read what she had written. It was something from the bible that she had memorized and I got dizzy just reading it.

"And I looked, and behold, a pale horse, and his name that sate on him was Death, and Hell followed with him."

- Revelations 6:8

My hand began to shake while I held the paper. Something about this was familiar, and I could not put my mind to think of what it could possibly mean. Just as I was about to put the piece of paper in my pocket, someone stood up and pointed outside. "Holy crap, look at the sky!" they exclaimed, causing the rest of the class to get up and see for themselves. Hesitating, I slowly got out of my seat and went to the window, looking straight up at the sky that was now holding a threatening darkness above us. Lightning flashed in the distance, hitting the ground like a whip and causing a class-wide gasp that welcomed a hushed silence. Booming thunder rolled against the air, rocking the school's floor. The ground began to shake violently, knocking down chairs and books. The class began to scream over the teacher who ordered us to get under our desks for safety.

I was unsure of what was happening; it seemed like the world was falling apart from underneath us and as I was about to duck under my desk, I got a text from Jophiel.

Meet me outside bathrooms.

Nikita had given me my own cell phone, so we could keep in touch. I was still getting used to using the technology and instead of taking the time to try and text back to most likely fail, I rushed out of the class as the ground still threatened to crumble beneath me. As the door swung open and closed, I ignored my teacher's and Jenna's cries and ran to the bathrooms, dodging debris that fell from the ceiling. Parts of the school were giving away and falling, attempting to hit me as I tried to make my way to Jophiel.

When I arrived, there was no one outside the bathrooms and I stood there, looking around frantically. A support beam across the ceiling broke apart and flew towards me and my arm was seized. Someone pulled me into one of the bathrooms. "Jeez, Uriel," Jophiel's voice said from behind. I turned to him, still rattled at the moment of being more than knocked out by the beam. "You said
outside
the bathrooms, not in... are we in the men's bathroom?" I asked as my face became hot. He nodded and we scooted under the sinks. "This is protocol when there's an earthquake. Though, I'm not sure this is a natural earthquake," he said maneuvering himself under two sinks. He looked funny under the sink; a tall boy trying to take refuge under such a small place. When he spoke of this not being natural, I had to wonder how he could tell when something was natural or unnatural. Seeing my confusion, he tried something else. "You feel that, don't you? Try. Tell me what you feel when you focus," he said.

I closed my eyes and listened with my other senses. My energy reached out to touch everything around me, expanding into the air and hovering, only to retreat back to my body without exploring further. Though I didn't know what natural disasters felt like from its energy, something in me knew that it shouldn't have been radiating such a dark energy. It seemed that once I had opened my energy to the ones around me, I could feel everything; those radiating good energies and those radiating corrupted energies. It was a whole different world and when my eyes went to Jophiel,  a small smile formed at his lips. "I felt that. Good work," he said. "But I think we need to figure out what is going on. Hey, what's that?" He asked pointing to my jean pocket. Looking down, I noticed the piece of paper Jenna had written the bible verse on and pulled it out. "Jenna has been reading the bible. She showed me this quote about a horseman after we had talked about the end of days," I said. Jophiel was silent.

"The end of days is when the worlds fall apart. The same thing Gazardiel was telling us about. I don't remember everything but there were signs of the end of days. We need to get a hold of a bible. I know Nikita has one and my Guardian had one too. It's somewhere in his study.”

"Speaking of Nikita... I should call her. Maybe she knows something about this."

"Good idea."

Pulling out my phone, I dialed Nikita's number, not needing the address book the phone provided. The phone rang several times, keeping us in a suffocating suspense. My heart soared when she picked up on the final ring, only to drop three feet into the pit of my stomach when her voice was rattled and worried. "Uriel? Thank the Father! Listen to me, something is happening. You feel it don't you?" She asked in a rushed voice. I shot Jophiel a worried look and put her on speaker. "Yes, we both feel it. There's an earthquake in the school. It's tearing the place apart," I replied, speaking loud enough for her to hear.

"Listen to me. This isn't natural. Something dark is creating it, and I fear we are running out of time. This is a warning, I just know it. The corruption is finally spreading to this area and we need to work fast. Gazardiel will be training you guys. There will be no more attending school like he said, do you hear me?"

"Should we leave and go to you then?”

"Yes and Jophiel, I know you're listening. Be careful. If Uriel doesn't return to me in one piece and alive, I will fall to bring her justice to you."

Jophiel hesitated in front of me, swallowing a lump in his throat. He surprised me when he replied with a cool, even tone. "I will take care of her, Nikita. Don't worry. We're leaving now," he said nodding to me. We sat under the sinks for a few more moments, compiling our thoughts and emotions. I was glad we did as a large shake brought down the support beam in the bathroom. A few moments later, Jophiel motioned for me to follow and we hightailed out of the bathroom. No one was in the halls; only the shaking voice of Principal Meyers filled the empty halls with a warning to stay in the school under a desk. We ran for the door. Jophiel pushed it open, and we entered a completely different world, a shattered world that was falling apart tree by tree. Cars had been smashed by fallen trees that had been uprooted by the violent shaking of the earth beneath us and Jophiel sent a thank you to the sky when we found his was still in perfect condition. Hopping into the car, he turned the ignition and peeled out of the parking lot without asking me to put my seatbelt on.

My hands were in front of my eyes the whole ride while Jophiel dodged falling trees and streetlights, literally letting us escape from death. Under my shirt, my wings vibrated, demanding to be outstretched so we could take to the skies. Jophiel slammed on the brakes, forcing me forward. Without a seatbelt, my body wrenched toward the windshield, being pulled back by Jophiel's arm. Rubbing my head, I peered through the windshield. "Crap," he muttered under his breath. A tree had fallen in our path just as we were speeding toward it, causing us to crash into its massive trunk.

"You're okay, right?" Jophiel asked worriedly. I nodded slowly, trying to grasp the soaring world under me. My pocket began to vibrate and I pulled my phone out. It was Nikita's number and I instantly picked up, putting her on speaker once more. "Nikita?" I said breathlessly.

"Uriel! Thank the Father you answered. Are you alright?"             

"Yeah, but Jophiel's car isn't. We're both fine. We hit a tree that fell as we were coming to you."

"Listen to me, Uriel. This is one hundred percent serious."

Before she could continue, I heard glass shattering in the distance as Gazardiel's voice yelled at something. A snarl soon followed his voice and my heart stopped in my chest. "Nikita! What the hell was that?" I cried, looking to Jophiel with helpless eyes. Nikita's voice seemed to have died out and I screamed her name. There was motion on the other side of the conversation. "Uriel, whatever you do. Do not come home," Nikita's voice said painfully. I could have sworn I was dead; my heart hadn't taken a beat for what seemed like forever. "Please, don't come home. It's too dangerous. There are D--"
Click.
My heart had begun to beat again and my eyes filled with tears. "Nikita?!" I cried out, attempting to call her number. Jophiel put his hand on mine, taking the phone from me. "I know she said not to go, but we will. We can handle ourselves, can't we, Uriel?" he asked me softly, looking into my eyes. I nodded, trying to control my shaking body. "H-how are we going to get there?" I asked, somewhat already knowing the answer. Jophiel took a moment to get scissors he had been carrying in his car and cut slits into the back of my shirt. "We need to fly," he said. I stared at him incredulously but didn't argue. Whatever we had to do to get to Nikita. Taking off his shirt, he extended his wings and stretched them and I did the same, sighing in relief as the cramped feeling subsided. We knew everyone was too busy making sure they weren't at risk of dying in this earthquake to notice us and we took off, my heart crying out to Nikita, hoping I hadn't lost the one woman I could call mother.