Original Sin

Chapter 10

Hailey was tired of cold weather. She hoped it was warm inside the bank. "Switzerland, home of frozen toes," Hailey mumbled as she climbed the large staircase. Once the revolving doors spun open, they whisked her inside a grand lobby, heated to a substantially warmer temperature. Of course, last night's memory could always keep her body temperature up. Alas, such a moment was as fleeting as ever. By the time she awoke, Alex had already left. As much as she wanted him there with her right now, he was always needed elsewhere. So she boarded the next available flight to Geneva by herself.

Over the years she had taken the necessary steps to have a secure amount of money always available for emergencies and relocation needs. The stash also contained multiple passports, IDs, documents, and various currencies. This was just one of many bank accounts. Technology was king nowadays, and it was traceable. 

Soon there won't be anywhere left to hide, she thought. But for now, cash was safest. Hailey quickly emptied the safe deposit box and slung the courtesy bag over her shoulder before walking away. 

She wasn't staying in Geneva long. The next stop was the library. She could research using the internet, but Hailey found books to be more reliable sources of information. They also didn't rely on people as much. Hailey stepped into the Bibliothèque de Genève, Geneva's largest public library. What a wealth of information at her fingertips! Humans had a tendency to hoard anything they thought might be useful in the future. Most items and ideas turned out to be junk. Thank God information was a useful thing to accumulate! 

She grabbed anything related to Constantine, his crusade to turn the Empire into a hub for Christianity, the numerous Councils of Nicaea, the Nicaean Creed, etc. She also looked for passages containing literature on angels and their power. Hailey wouldn't trust Michael's information; she trusted her own research. 

One article stuck out to her, the works of Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha from roughly 200 B.C. to 100 A.D. The Jewish people put all their hopes into angels, essentially shoving God aside as the most powerful entity in the universe. Hailey remembered well the terror Romans inflicted on the Jews during that time. No wonder a portion believed God had forsaken them. However, Jewish Rabbis later recanted these writings, and to Hailey's knowledge they were never mentioned again. But as she looked at some excerpts of the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, there was an unmistakable similarity between them and the lines she had read from Michael's piece of the Nicaean Creed. It wasn't uncommon for Christian leaders to steal writings from the Jewish people and then use the information to their advantage.

Hailey was only two hours into her research and scouring through the seventh version of the Creed, when a chill suddenly blew through the library. The eerie darkness indicated this was not a natural phenomenon. The lights blew out, then relighted at a blinding brightness. Hailey squinted at a figure that was forming from the light, doing her best to maintain composure despite the fact she hadn't encountered an entrance like this before.

God? she thought, then shook her head and half chuckled at the obvious answer. No...Michael.

When the light dissipated, those in the library were asleep. When they magically awoke later, Hailey knew they would have no memory of what just happened. It would seem as if time had not stopped at all. The angel Michael stood in front of her desk, his sly smile beaming from ear to ear. Behind those icy eyes there was an evil. Hailey could feel it.

"How is the research coming along?" 

Was he just here to check-in with her? Or did he want something else?

"It's just starting. What do you want?" Hailey did not move from her seat. Her tone was even. She did her best to show Michael no interest, good or bad. She refused to meet his eyes and stared blankly at the page in front of her.

He leaned over the seventh version of the Creed, delicately held in Hailey's hands. "You're thinking about the key, right?" A tone of suspicion noted. "I hope we aren't starting off on the wrong foot already. We have only just begun. Perhaps we should put this down..." He took the document from Hailey's hands. She didn't move. Michael was only the second angel she knew; she couldn't tell what he was thinking, let alone predict his next move. Humans she could gauge. Angels were trickier.

"Try this instead." Michael handed her a genealogical record of Constantine's bloodline.

If he were any more condescending, Hailey would've punched him. Clearly, he had slightly negative thoughts toward women...or perhaps just Hailey. 

Hailey tried not to look too intensely at the record, but curiosity was getting the better of her. Constantine was written into history as the man who unified the Empire under Christianity, reigning hellfire upon anyone who dared practice otherwise. However, Hailey knew his morality was questionable. He actually had two wives, Minerva (his first) and Fausta (his second). Oddly enough, as Hailey examined the documents closely, she noted that Fausta and Crispus (his eldest legitimate son from Minerva) were executed in 326 A.D. for reasons stated "unknown".

"I don't suppose you know what that was about?" Hailey asked Michael pointing to that curious date and names in front of her.

Michael sat across from her. His coy smile played well against a soft, "angelic" face. He twirled a string of chocolate hair as he answered. "It was rumored they had an affair. Though, given Fausta's namesake, I highly doubt that was the truth."

"Fausta" was an unusual name for a woman at the time. It was typically "Faustus", a name given to early Roman men who considered themselves saints in the Empire. Why did she have such an auspicious name?

"Let's keep looking. You can dig up information on Fausta and Crispus. I'll stick with the rock and the powers it possibly possesses." Hailey was not going to let Michael take the lead. His smile faded as he realized Hailey was taking charge of the operation now. Still, he complied, keeping the library frozen as he swiftly searched through the stacks of books, his form a blur to human eyes.

With Michael at a safe distance, Hailey resumed reading a passage from the Apocrypha. She couldn't help looking from the passage, up to Michael, and back again. Something about him had her on edge, she just didn't know what it was...

Until she found it. 

A drawing. It depicted the Rock of Ages in the hands of angels and the hands of humans. With a human, it seemed to be procuring souls and manipulating them at the discretion of he who commanded it of course. A bright light seemed to emanate from within the person's body. There was no caption to detail what they light was or how to use the rock. However, that did not concern Hailey as much as the adjacent drawing, a scene from the book of Revelations. It bore the destruction of the universe, the "Apocalypse" as it was called now, at the hand of an angel who bore the rock. The Apocrypha listed a caption underneath this picture:

"An angel bearing the Rock of Ages corrupts the souls of humanity. The Rock of Ages will procure any soul but angels cannot govern their own desires. That desire feeds upon souls, thus destruction and chaos unfold."

This is Michael's endgame, Hailey thought with a shrill of terror. He wants to bring about the Apocalypse. He wants to overthrow God.

And Hailey realized that she was a necessary tool Michael would use to obtain the key and open the gate. 

She was a prisoner.

"Oh my God," Hailey whispered. "Michael wants to be the most powerful entity in the universe. 

"Miss Hailey?" Michael's presence shook Hailey from her thoughts. She looked up, staring at his flawless being. A lump formed and settled in the back of her throat, a physiological reaction to individuals she considered unstable, dangerous, lethal.

"I believe I found what we were looking for," he continued, "the resting place of that key."