Original Sin

Chapter 27

The mountains were getting closer. Their rocky cliffs and snow-covered peaks became clear and concise as Hailey and Alex inched forward. He was flying far above the horizon, almost in the stratosphere, where the air was thin but the sky uninhabited by planes and birds. Everything was so crystalline, pure. There was beauty left in this world, enough that Hailey wanted to give those who deserved it a fighting chance. She was too preoccupied with the luscious landscape to look up at Alex's face, to gauge his reactions to spectacle that drew them in. Did he think the same?

Slowly, cautiously, they descended from the heavens. Hailey felt Alex's sharp intake of breath as his feet hit the ground in front of the cave. He gave off a very noticeable shudder. "This place is so heavily warded. It's like a thousand pins pricking the innermost parts of your body," he said closing his eyes, clearly trying his best to block-out the feeling of those pins.

Hailey stared into the blackness of the cave which held the Rock of Ages. The light from Alex's wings and sword only reached a few feet inward then disappeared as though it was swallowed up by an evil presence. She took a small step forward, feeling a pull from some strange force. It clawed its way into her soul and beckoned her forth into the cave, into the unknown.

"Where are you going?" Alex's hand was suddenly on her wrist. When did it get there? She'd been so lost in the darkness, she hadn't realized he was standing right in front of her now. She'd almost walked into him. Hailey paused to take stock of her surroundings- Nothing but blackness and a damp cold. No breeze. No bugs. No pitter-patter of water dripping down the stone walls. It was eerie. 

But scarier than the scenery surrounding them- Hailey could not recall the last few minutes of walking, not a single one.

"I don't like this," Alex said, the light from his wings illuminating his face. "You aren't yourself. You can't go on acting like a ghost." He braced his sword in one hand and stroked her cheek with the other. He shook so much! The warding was having a more profound effect on him inside the cave. 

She took yet another deep breath and place her hand on his arm, tracing the many angelic markings inked there. "I'll be fine," Hailey said, though she didn't mean it. She wasn't sure of her next steps, which made her wary of the next minutes, hours, days...however long she had to stay in this cave to complete the task at hand.

"Walk with me to the gate?" she pleaded, looking at his eyes, her voice slightly quivering with anxiety.

Alex nodded, brushing back strands of her blond hair. It was such an unruly mess from the flight! How do actresses do it in the movies? Hailey wondered, seeking a distraction, avoiding thoughts of what might happen as they neared the gate and what could possibly lie beyond.

She felt Alex's hand on her back, guiding her deeper into the darkness. Though she knew he was just as scared as her, and most likely in physical pain, Alex didn't show it. He always seemed to sense when she needed his strength and managed to bottle-up everything within his self. Hailey admired his resilience and leaned on him a bit more. His armed snaked around her hip and held her close.

The outside world had long faded away to the blackness. Hailey heard nothing in the cave, but felt an unnatural presence slowly closing in, one she hadn't felt the first time she entered this place with Michael. It grew more prominent as they neared her final destination.

And it was strongest at the gate.

Alex let a bit more light shine on the iron bars. Hailey scanned the various symbols the adorned the casting- Pagan, Christian, Egyptian, Judaism, Taoism, Ancient Greek, Roman, and more that she barely recognized. It strained her vast knowledge to fully take-in the symbology.