The Falling (Book I)

Prologue

Melanie

My first summoning was an accident. I sat in front of Mama, half asleep as she brushed my hair. A headache, like someone took a pickaxe to my skull, came on as I heard an unfamiliar chant:

Rayi, I summon thee to do my bidding.

Uncertain about what to do, Rayi, the parasite in my head, whispered, [Say 'Open.']

Anything to alleviate the pain! I exclaimed, "Open!"

Mama screamed my name as inky blackness swirled around me for several moments. I scrambled to my feet, afraid I would fall. I remained suspended in this strange space. Then, green rushed up to meet me and I staggered as my feet slammed onto it. There I was, under an inverted pentacle burned into the grass. The Summoner was a thin, older man wearing a dark robe with the hood pushed back from his head. He could have been anything from a spurned lover to a squire long awaiting a promotion that would never come. At first, I thought he was a demon too but his scent was different. Stranger! my mind screamed. I wept as I cowered from him, calling for Mama.

I was a small child, and the Summoner was disappointed. I must not have been much older than three hundred, if memory serves, the equivalent of a six or seven year old. He had wanted to give his soul to an omnipotent Harbinger of Destruction to conquer his foes, and instead, he called forth a terrified child.

In his defense, my name in the ancient book he used was older than me. Or rather, Rayi's name.

This being my first time in the Human World, I was both amazed and frightened. I held my breath, fearing the air would poison me, despite having already taken a few breaths. All I could think about was when Mama read to my sister and me about a world where the air was toxic. My lungs burned, feeling like they had been trapped by metal bands that constricted every second I didn't breathe. Even though I knew I was the one preventing me from breathing, panic welled within me, and I struggled not to take a breath. I must have looked quite the sight to the Summoner; a little, blue-faced girl with her tear stained, round cheeks puffed out. No wonder he looked at me in disgust; I was supposed to be the higher being...so to speak. It almost reminded me of the time my twin, Mikayla, held her breath until she nearly passed out when Father refused to buy her the doll she wanted.

He tugged his ashen hair with one hand and flipped through the pages of a book with the other, muttering about everything being so "wrong."

When the dizziness grew too much, I inhaled sharply. The air was crisp and light, not like the thick smog of Hell. I took a huge breath of that cool air and then another. The vibrant azure sky and pure clouds, fluffy and inviting, called to me and for the first time, I almost wished I had wings. Fear melted away and was replaced by awe.

Everything was so alive! I squinted, unaccustomed to the brightness. From a small copse nearby, I heard birds chirping, a sound I never dreamed would be so sweet. I completely forgot about my Summoner when I noticed a patch of flowers and ran over to pluck one. It would be a perfect gift for Mama.

I was not there long. After realizing his mistake, the human sent me back to Hell in scorn. "Rayi, I send thee back to the depths of Hell."

Again, I was surrounded by black, the flower shriveled and died in my hand in that space between dimensions. It would not have survived long in Hell, anyway, something I did not know at the time.

Back in the nursery, I was irate to see light and life only to be forced back to the darkness. I teared up at the loss. My sister hugged me with a joyous cry of, "Melly!" Mama looked on the verge of tears herself and knelt in front of me, scanning me for injuries. She sighed with relief. "Oh, Melly-bean, thank Lucifer you were not harmed."