Genesis 2.0 (Monster Apocalypse Survival) Sci-Fi/DarkFan/Horror

Chapter twenty-five

I still feel his lips pressed to mine; I taste his tongue as it sweeps into my mouth, and I hear his low moan as he’s finally surrendering to something he wants. I offered and he took. Now, I want it again. I never want him to stop.

His words still echo in my mind.

“I can’t afford to love you.” He’d said and my heart swells with longing and joy. A piercing squeak falls from my lips when my boot catches a aboveground root and I fall, face-first, onto the dry, cracked earth.

“You alright there, Princess?” Aeriel catches my arm when I swat at her and pulls me to my feet with one, sharp tug. “You’re tired, we need to stop.” She sounds disappointed. The puny, mortal girl can’t keep up with the big, bad angels.

“I’m fine.” I knock the dust from my sweaty skin and clothes; coughing when I’m enveloped in a cloud of unrelenting dirt.

“You don’t look fine.” Her face pinches in disbelief.

“It’s just a phrase,” I snap and feel the invisible weight tremble against my back. Ember isn’t happy with Aeriel’s presence. She doesn’t want the angel so close to us. I still don’t understand how I’m able to hear the blade speak or tune in to its emotions.

Hell, I’m still shocked the sword has emotions.

She’s been quiet for the most part and she didn’t react at all when Daniel kissed me. And I don’t know why my mind keeps circling back to that incident.  It’s all I can think about and that makes me feel like the sixteen-year-old child that I am. I know my social skills are extremely rusty, and I wasn’t a hermit before the End. I had friends – lots of friends – and I’d even had a boyfriend. But nothing prepared me for the way I feel now. It’s like I’ve known him all my life and yet, he’s still a stranger. I know nothing about him, just that he’s a warrior from Heaven.

“Can you tell me more about him?” I ask the question before I think better of it. I don’t even clarify who I’m talking about. But Aeriel’s astute and she knows. I see it in the slight widening of her eyes. I watch the indecisiveness as it dances across her face in a series of scowls, frowns, pinched eyebrows, and lip-biting. Finally, she takes my arm and tugs me along beside her, a gesture I take to mean ‘keep walking.’

“He’s my brother,” she blurts. “I mean, all angels are siblings but Daniel and I were formed together, at the same moment. He is, what you humans consider, my twin. We share abilities beyond what our other brethren have. We communicate with our minds - which isn’t that extraordinary - but we also share emotions. I feel what he does and vice-versa.”

We walk in silence for a few minutes before I understand what I want to ask. Daniel’s kiss has left my mind in complete chaos, and it’s suddenly hard to form a coherent thought.

“He’s able to read my mind,” I say. “Does that mean you can as well?”

Aeriel smiles down at me, and offers a small nod. Well, that’s just great. She’s fully aware of where my mind is, and has been for days now.

“Here’s something to think about,” she says and gently releases my arm so that we’re no longer touching. “He and I can also feel your emotions.” She lengthens her strides and those long, armor-clad legs carry her on ahead of me. She doesn’t look back, and that’s fine with me. I need some time alone to consider what she’s told me. I still have many, many more questions, but I need some order before I ask them.

Daniel choses that moment to glance back at me, and I quickly tuck my chin to avoid looking into his penetrating eyes. It’s bad enough that he’s able to read my mind, now he also feels my emotions too? It saddens me to think what a brat I’ve been during this entire quest. But it also helps to know that both angels knew why I’d been so difficult. They’ve felt my fear, confusion, anger, grief, and most of all, they’ve experienced the dark abyss of loss. I’ve lost everything: normality, safety, guidance, and knowledge.

I’m a survivor of a savage land, with no hope for order. I’m left to stagger through everything alone. I’d gone from formal education to learn-on-the-fly, and in this age of death and destruction, you get no do-overs.
And in the midst of the whirlwind of thoughts and feelings, I’m still left to wonder why the angels chose me for this all-important quest. I’m far too young, inexperienced, and human to saddle with such responsibility. What even makes them think I’m capable of finding this tree?

You’re the one, stop questioning everything and just BE. You’ve gotten us this far, don’t stop now. Daniel’s words wash through my mind, along with a warm gust of wind. Without touching me, he’s managed to both settle my nerves and comfort me at the same time. I’m falling in love with an angel; an angel I can never have.

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