Beyond Human: Queen's Shadow Series

23.) Miscommunication

~~~Apollos

I talked to the kids, it hadn't been long since I'd been around them. I felt a deep pain in me, a guilt that would never clean off of me no matter what God accepted me. I was hurting in a way that I didn't think I would hurt. It was never easy to have a conversation but they pulled me into the conversation. Claire smiled at me as she said, 'Thank you for telling me I was the prettiest girl,' I hear her say. I smile and say, "Thank you for being brave. I know it must have been hard for you," Her eyes had begun to cry as she said, 'Apollos, I want to be honest with you. I know how I look,'

I saw those pits of eyes focus on me as she says, 'I know what I look like and I've always known. When I first saw what happened to me, I was crying. I cried for days without end. Every day I was alive, I realized what I was. Every day I was alive, I was in pain. Every day I was alive, I knew this was how I looked, this was my new tomorrow. This was my new life yet everyone always said I was the prettiest girl but I knew I wasn't. I knew I was some fried-looking child,' Her saying the words really echoed something to me, 'But do you know what made me the prettiest girl in the world?' She said, echoing the tears on her face.

'Because I saw the beauty in everyone. I knew how ugly I was but I didn't want anyone else to suffer the way I suffered. I would not have survived long and my life would have been short. To be honest with you Apollos, I think you need to hear this truth so that your convictions can be hardened. The reason why we're all so happy isn't just because we're all naturally bright children,' She says, tears falling down her face even further. I wanted to comfort her but I knew she didn't want to do anything to her, she wanted to talk and she wanted me to listen.

'We're not just regular children, Apollos and we're not just offshoots of Lucifer. We're artificial, Apollos. Our souls are not real. Yes, we're offshoots of Lucifer but what is an offshoot of an angel?' "A soul, right?" I say, almost certain. She smiles and says, 'I wish. We're offshoots of Lucifer, we're artificial souls created from Lucifer's excess energy. When we were born into this world, we weren't born through the womb of a woman. We were born through the wombs of goats,' My eyes widen in shock, "What?" 'Apollos, all of Lucifer's children aren't born through the wombs of women. They're born through the wombs of a goat,' I heard what she said but I couldn't understand what she was saying.

I run my hands through my shortcut as I say, "Are you telling me that you were all born from Lucifer through a goat? There is a reason why it's his animal, there's a reason why he uses a goat as his symbol because, for the most part, that's who he is. He is the beast of God. He lost being the angel of God years ago," Hearing this truth, she says, 'We were never really human, we were just beasts and I need you to understand that,' I see those pits of eyes focused and they were staring deep into me, this was a stare only someone who experienced hell or soldiers could have, this was the thousand-yard stare.

I see it, those eyes of rage at the world, those eyes of rage at society. Claire then says, 'I had blue eyes before I was burnt and I was known for being the prettiest little girl in the city. Yes, some people did not like me but I was loved by everyone. Even my parents who knew how I was born didn't see me as a devil child. They saw me as the prettiest little girl who had ever been born and they said I was a miracle from God. Apollos, what we need you to do is to stop us, stop this terrible thing from happening. Mankind will die if you can't stop us,'

What was I supposed to say? What was I supposed to do? She was right. 'This may be too much to ask while you're in this state of mind but I want you to do your best to be the best man you can be. You'll be fighting challenges no man should fight and I also never said thank you for being a good man, Apollos.' I heard her voice and yet I was still surprised at what I was hearing, I've heard people say I was a good man but I found it hard to believe, I always have. Good men don't do the things I've done.