“It is you, is it not?” Beth inquired.
There was a prolonged, deafening silence. I couldn’t believe my eyes as I stared at my portrait that couldn’t have been more accurate.
“Yes, that is me.” I breathed. “How did you know?”
“How could the Shadow move a boulder without laying a finger on it? How could Melody Briar move the stars without lifting a finger?” Angel bragged, “She’s gifted."
Angel smiled down at Beth with love and pride in his black eyes. He was absolutely glowing with emotion. His glassy eyes melted into soft, flowing black lava.
What’s the matter with you, Jess? You’re jealous of an eight-year-old!
Someone entered the room. It was a woman with flaming red hair, natural, unlike mine, tied in a messy bun; sea blue eyes and freckles. She was a nurse, judging by her long white dress and apron.
“How’s our patient doing, Colonel Harper?” the woman asked with a rough Scottish accent.
“He’s doing great, Nevaeh!” Angel answered, putting his hands on my shoulders in a brotherly way, “Aren’t you, buddy?”
That was when I fainted. I hadn’t realized I hadn’t eaten in two days.
~
I could feel my heartbeat quicken as the soldiers of France stampeded toward a wall of broken furniture. The women and children hid inside their homes. Many male civilians with guns hid behind the large wall, while some stood guard and shot the soldiers dead, including...Angel.
He attacked a large soldier. Their guns had blades on the end of them. I didn’t know which one was winning. Suddenly, I could hear a thousand gunshots, one of them piercing Angel’s heart. I felt my heart sink as tears welled up in my eyes. I knelt beside his weakening body as I cried. A tear dropped onto his wound; it was almost instantly healed, to my surprise.
A woman, unaware of my presence, carried his body to a line of bodies wounded in the war. As I looked toward the line, they blurred, and the landscape changed.
~
All I could see was trees. They weren't the small, dead trees that I was so used to seeing but the huge ones with emerald needles that touch the sky. I looked behind me.
I saw a beautiful woman with hair as green as the emerald needles on the wooden giants. Black smoke was spilling from her white hands. Her pupils turned from black to white and back again.
"All who try to break the Sworn," the woman screamed, "must be shown no mercy!"
She laughed a booming, menacing, feminine, albeit evil, laugh as everything vanished.
~
When I woke up, I was sitting up in a bed with a tray in my lap. The tray consisted of foods I had never even seen before.
“Good, you’re up!” Angel said enthusiastically, “I figured you didn’t have enough calories on you, so I made you a little snack.”
This is a “little snack” here? This could feed an entire quadrant!
“All of this,” I asked in awe, “is for me?”
“Of course it is!” Angel said, “I need to ask you a few questions.”
“Ask away.”
“Are you allergic to nuts?”
“No.”
“Are you lactose intolerant?”
“No.”
“What’s your favorite color?”
“Green.”
“Dog-person or cat-person?”
“Cat-person.”
“Pastime?”
“Writing.”
“Tie or no tie?”
“What?!?!”
We started laughing like school children after that one. No one has ever made me laugh so much in my life! It made me wonder who I really was even more than I already do.
“Father?” Beth said from the doorway, “Is your friend up yet?”
“Yes he is, fille douce.” Angel sing-songed.
“I wish to speak to him alone, Daddy.”
“As you wish, fille chérie.”
Angel danced out of the room with choreographed precision. As the door hissed closed, Beth suddenly had on that sinister, albeit creepy, smile she had in the dream; it was pretty intimidating for an exceptionally adorable eight-year-old girl.
“Here’s the deal, squirt. I see the way you look at Father; I see the way Father looks at you. If you hurt him, you will make an undefeatable, powerful enemy, well, two undefeatable, powerful enemies. There’s something you should know about him. You see...”
Drrr, Drrr, Drrr, Drrr. Drrr, Drrr, Drrr, Drrr.
I heard an eardrum-bursting alarm that interrupted Beth’s little talk.
“It’s show time!” Beth exclaimed, “Why don’t I just show you what I was going to say?”
Suddenly, a large screen came from the ceiling. A live feed from the Border appeared on the screen. I was just in time to watch the Libby’s march toward the battlefield, Angel leading the charge. I watched all the Liberals and the Holy Men as they crashed and collided into a thrashing frenzy of anger, violence, and hatred. It was invigorating to watch.
“Now, watch.” Beth whispered.
Angel and a Holy Man were dueling in the middle of the battlefield. Angel seemed to be winning, while the Holy Man just looked tired.
Then, the worst thing that could ever happen happened.
Angel was shot in the heart.
YOU ARE READING
Unkillable (Monsters Series #1) (Wattys2014)
RomanceIn an alternate future in America, when his parents throw him over the Border River, Jesse Salvatier is rescued by Colonel Angel Harper of Liberal Ground, who can never die, and falls instantly in love with him. When his family comes knocking on the...
