My Immortal Series - Serendipity

My Immortal Series Part II Need - Chapter Six

I shot for the sky, I'm stuck on the ground

Why do I try I know I'm gonna fall down ...

Not ready to let go, Cause then I'll never know

What I could be missing ....

(Down by Jason Walker)

ZAC PONDERING

What a waste of time! Zac remained still, sulking, hunched on a branch of an old oak tree in the

cemetery. His eyelids heavy and his forehead creased as he remembered the way the Council hauled

him up to be lectured. It wasn't like he had a Plan A, B or even a C and they knew this. So, why the

lecture? There was no need to shove the impossibility of his predicament in his face.

The stillness of the night drummed in his ears as his anger continued to simmer under his skin. If there was one thing the spirit world knew, it was not to mess with an angry angel, especially one that was on the point of tipping over the edge. Nothing moved; not even the tiniest night creature. They too could sense his mood and knew better to leave this place for a safer one.

The place carried an atmosphere of acquiescence even from the dead, leaving him to contemplate on his eternity of loneliness. It suited him just fine. He felt like he had just been through a train wreck; he should know after 1918. The scars were not on the outside this time. The way he was feeling now, the darkness surrounding him gave him some kind of comfort.

Zac moved not an inch since he got back from the Council having perched himself on the skinniest branch of the tree, his outlines emitting a circle of light.

It was the same tree and from the same position where he first laid eyes on Aly; 12 months ago to be exact. And 12 months had passed since he became 'human'. The thought rolled in his head, the definition of time had begun to play a different meaning in his life now. He was used to having centuries and centuries pass by without so much as a blink of an eye but now seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months - the ticking of time seem to drag on and on for him now.

And his memory was fading. He could no longer remember every single detail of his past 12 months which he considered a very, very bad sign of more dreadful things to come. He could no longer read his memory like turning the pages of a book. The blood that ran thru his veins now was slowly changing him to an enemy under his skin. His shoulders heaved at that thought.

Dawn was arriving soon. Dew had begun to appear on the leaves. He watched with mere curiosity as more dew gathered on a leaf dangling across his eye level, and when the weight of the water was too much, the leaf bent and the water slid slowly to the ground below.

Without a thought left in his head, he reached out to the falling water and turned the flowing stream into an icicle. A smile escaped his lips. He stared at the hands before him. Long supple fingers now curled around a leaf. With a gentle flick, he broke the leaf from the stem. He twirled it around with his fingers. A few tiny drops of dew sprayed onto his face.

His fingers crossed the smoothness of his cheeks to disperse the water from his face. He didn't need a mirror to know he was without a single scar even after all the tumbling in the old church. He was pieced back to the perfect immortal and one with a very striking face. The admiring glances he got from the opposite sex and sometimes his own, told him he ranked very highly among the humans. At times it was really pathetic to watch some grovelling humans trying to catch his attention with their mindless antics; a show of white teeth, the flick of what seemed like a ton of hair over their shoulders and the worst violation of all - the flickering of eyes behind a set of falsies.

Humans that had no qualms staring at perfection. If he wasn't careful, it was so easy to fall into their brazenly open affections but he wasn't into this self-satisfaction, ego boosting trip. Even the throwing of phone numbers written on scrap of papers into the rubbish bin was beginning to look like a chore at his workplace.

Maybe that's why he was so attracted to Aly; she was none of that. She was imperfect in many ways and the best thing was she didn't care if the world knew about it. They saw her as a shallow rich girl. She wasn't looking for redemption; she was looking for acceptance from herself. He admired her for that, being able to express oneself without worrying about any consequences.

He ran his fingers through his tussled hair. He closed his eyes and remembered how it felt when it was Aly's hands in his hair. His body shivered at the memory.

'What have I done?' His heart twisted in torment.

It was foolish to think he could outwit his brothers with a plan to change his destiny. There were no gray areas in his line of duty. There was only good and bad and nothing in between.

He could feel the glee of the darkness surrounding him. He shut his eyes tightly, trying, somehow, to block out his growing empire of minions. But it was he that had thrown out the welcome mat and invited them in with his love for Aly. Transgression will be paid with his soul. Losing all energy to even keep his head up at this juncture, he let his head dip like a lifeless limb.

Zac remained in deep thought, fighting with the shadows in his head. He cannot win. There is no absolution for him. For a love to be his, is he pledging his allegiance to the other side? His brothers had made it very clear. He had to accept the consequences of his choice.

'Have I done so wrong, Father? Is damnation what I deserve for loving her?'

In reply, the voice in his mind grew. And it was getting to be like an echo bouncing off every branch of the tree he was in. Of course, there was no one around him. Not even a single angel. But it sounded like a thousand angels and demons have descended around him. The voice was getting stronger and toying with his mind. He had hoped it would remain silent but now it was practically screaming at the top of its non-existence lungs!

Nothing could shut his conscience up once it got going.

What a little damn fool you are? Did you really think you could escape from yourself? Be different than all your brothers that fell before you? What can you possible do to have a different outcome? Self- sacrifice is such a noble deed ... like they really need more of you in hell.

STOP!

His gray eyes gleamed like a marble orb. He had enough of this self-doubt.

He was walking on a very, very thin line here. His whole existence was dictated by the endless list of rules he must obey. Was that what he wanted? Disobedience was never on his list. And now? Be the bad angel?

NO, he checked himself. He wasn't bad. He just wasn't human.

And that was the most exasperating issue he had ever had to deal with.