Original Sin

Chapter 2

"I know you're standing there. If you have something to say, just come in, sit down, and say it. Stop staring at me." She could feel his eyes on her from across the room. Briefly, she wondered if looks could literally kill an individual. How convenient would that be? Though just thinking about it produced instantaneous regret.

Hailey wasn't ready for this. It was too soon. The time-span between calamities seemed to be getting shorter and shorter. Alex remained by the door, half in her classroom, half still in the hallway. When she finally looked up at him, she saw the hurt in his eyes. Were they graying, those deep, dark eyes? How burdened was he this time? She looked away, not wanting to feel the guilt that came with it, and tried to busy herself with the papers on her desk. Things between them weren't the same as in the beginning. Was it really almost 10,000 years ago this all started?

"I never meant for any of this to happen, Hailey. You have to understand that." His voice was calm, but quiet. She admired his patience and resilience despite her numerous rejections throughout the last few centuries.

Hailey's eyebrows raised in response. "So, you've started using my own name? How nice of you." She continued grading student essays, begging whatever supernatural force she could for five more minutes of peace, anything to avoid the imminent, gut-wrenching conversation.

Alex hung his head in dismay. "It's just a name, and it's not even real."

Her head spun in his direction, anger welling up inside. She hoped he could feel it from across the room. "It's as real as I can make it! God gave me my original name. I didn't get to choose it. I didn't choose anything!"

The weight of her words hung heavy in the air. Those words had a life- Those words were the truth, unquestionably. Love is not a force one can control any more than being born perfect. Because of this uncontrollable force, she and Alex had made the world suffer for a long time. Hailey had had enough of it all. She was done with this guilty feeling, done with the tears that welled up every time she thought about their devastating history.

She rose from her seat and strode to the door, standing inches away from Alex. Already the proximity between them had her heart swooning, like she was back in the Garden seeing him for the first time. Hailey tried her best to contain the blush that inadvertently crept across her cheeks.

"We did make one choice," Alex whispered. She felt his breath on her forehead, forgetting for a moment how angry she was. His fingers gently grazed her face, trailing down her chin and neck. She could get lost in that touch. "If you could go back, knowing what you know now, would you make the same decision again?"

Hailey tilted her head up just enough to meet his eyes. She loved his eyes.

However, his question would have to remain unanswered, for now, as Principal D.'s voice rose over the intercom and asked all teachers and faculty to report to the Library.

She broke away from his touch, stepping into the hot, humid, Florida air. Vaguely, Hailey wondered if, after everything passed and the dust from this upcoming tragedy settled, Principal D. would still be alive.

Probably not, she thought.

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Rome, 303 A.D.

Fear. Terror. Hate. This is the path human emotions take. The result is prejudice, mass executions, and war. It is an unfailing, destructive ideological chain. Prisca knew it well.

This chain of destruction led to Emperor Diocletian's decree to obliterate Christianity from the Roman empire. He feared it would overtake his kingdom and terrorize those, like himself, who still worshiped the ancient Roman Gods. But most of all, he hated the fact that it was completely out of his control.

People fear most that which they cannot control. 

Prisca was scared, not for herself but for the villagers in this small town she'd come to call home. They were simple farmers, blacksmiths, and carpenters. There was a priest and his family leading the church there. They'd welcomed Prisca, a total stranger, into their lives with open arms. She thought it disgraceful to let them die. Julius warned her this day was coming. Prisca just wished for more time. It was peaceful for the last twenty years.

And where was God in all of this? She knew He didn't care about her or Julius, but the rest of His people? Surely, He could not forsake them so easily.

But then again, He punished them all for the sins of just Prisca and Julius.

Prisca met Julius at the edge of town. His Roman uniform didn't do his muscular body any justice. It obscured his angelic form, made him look far too human. He carried the decree in his belt, sitting dangerously close to that sword. She stared at his face through the gold embellished helmet. They say the eyes are windows to the soul- The look in his eyes told Prisca all she needed to know. 

The entire village was sentenced to death for their faith.

"We can't save all of them, Dinah. There's too many." After all these years, he still called her Dinah. She didn't mind it, but preferred to use the names they chose instead, to blend-in with whatever the current world preferred. 

"We have to try, Julius. We have to." She rushed through the stables, saddling a horse and packing provisions for the journey ahead. It would be a long, slow one, over mountains and through deserts, mostly uncharted territory. 

Sometimes, she wondered if it was futile, rescuing people from the clutches of the afterlife. They were all going to die anyway. Would it be more merciful to spare them from persecution now? They would undoubtedly face similar hardships later on. Should she allow this punishment to run its intended course?

Prisca pondered this query for centuries, and she still didn't have an answer.

It was a blurred race against time, banging on wooden doors and gathering enough food and water for the entire village. Julius had managed to warn them, but that didn't mean the people had long. If she listened closely, Prisca could hear the galloping hoofbeats of Roman soldiers speeding towards them. 

Who knew how far she would have to travel this time or how long until it was peaceful enough for her and her husband to settle down again?

As Julius finished securing a small dagger to her saddle, Prisca couldn't stop looking at him. She admired his passion and his commitment to her. Lately though, his commitment to unfortunate duties, which kept them both alive, seemed to take up a greater part of his life.

"Won't you come with me this time?" she asked, gently touching his gold breastplate, trailing her fingers up his neck.

He collected her hands, holding them close to his heart. "You know that's not how this works. I have business to attend to here. But I'll always find you again. I promise."

Prisca's heart was pounding. His breath flew across her face, inching ever closer, until there wasn't a space between her lips and his. She felt herself lift off the ground, flying backwards at a speed that wasn't human. Her back touched the barn wall, showering them in loose hay. His lips found the soft, sensitive spot in the crook of her neck. Her hands responded by tugging his helmet off and burying her fingers in his luscious black hair.

It was passionate, and it was forbidden- A fallen arch angel and the daughter of Adam and Eve.

But Lucifer and Dinah could not deny one another.