Chapter 8: 3-2 Bittersweet reunion
The next morning Eden was eager to find out what Father Gabriel had to tell her. She hoped that he would finally be able to shed some light on the situation and help guide her in the right direction. After her nightmare she had spent the rest of the night at the writing desk in her room. She had decided to keep a journal of her nightmares and the strange experiences that had been occurring, just in case she was not strong enough to defeat the demons that were haunting her. She wrote down everything that she had experienced since her childhood hoping that if she was unable to survive what was to come it would help the next victim.
As the first rays of sunlight poured through the window illuminating her room she gently closed the pages of her journal. She closed her eyes as she laid her hand on the smooth cardboard cover that contained all her secrets, her greatest fears, her doubts and insecurities, and all the horrors she had seen of this dark and strange world she was descending into. Setting her pen down she reverently picked up the journal and placed it safely in the desk drawer. She kneeled next to her bed and said a silent prayer asking for guidance before she left her room to meet with Father Gabriel.
She stood outside the door for a moment wondering if she really wanted to go in; if she really wanted to know what he had to tell her. If she just turned around and left the church, if she just went back home, maybe she could learn to ignore it. Maybe the visitations and nightmares would fade away. What if it was all Just in her head and she was suffering from some sort of mental illness? She reached up towards her face and as her fingertips traced the outline of the scratches on her face she knew that she couldn't ignore it. It wasn't going to go away and it wasn't just a figment of her imagination. She needed to go into that office. She needed to find out how to stop this.
As she reached up to knock on the door she was slightly startled when it opened just as her hand was descending. The door creaked open to reveal Father Gabriel standing behind it holding it open.
"Well, come in," he said. "We were beginning to think you weren't going to show."
"We…" Eden began to ask as she stepped into the office and noticed Abe sitting in one of the wooden chairs in front of the desk. "Abe!" she said surprised to see him there. She walked over and sat in the chair next to him. "What's going on? I didn't expect to see you again." She turned to face Father Gabriel as he sat in his chair on the opposite side of the desk. Father Gabriel cleared his throat, "Well you see Eden, Abe here has some things that he needs to tell you. He's been waiting a long time, hoping that this day would not have to happen. Not that he's not happy to finally see you again you understand; he's just sorry for what you've had to go through." He looked at Abe, "I guess…you can take over from here Abe."
Abe's expression was sad as he started to talk, "Well, I…uh…" he was fidgeting in his chair. "You see, I…I did all I could ya know. I…your mother she…"
"It's alright Abe. She needs to hear the truth," Father Gabriel said in a forgiving tone. Abe looked at Father Gabriel and nodded his head, then took a deep breath and turned back to face Eden, who had a confused look on her face.
"It was uh, a long time ago. I was younger; I met a woman at this bar. Her name was Lily. We were both there with friends, watching some horrible local band play. Worst band I've ever heard. Anyway, I spotted her over by the bar. I went over to her and we got to talking. We kept bumping into each other over the next few days. Eventually we started hanging out. I fell for her, fell hard. She…she was into some pretty crazy stuff though. I didn't care. I was young and dumb. She was all I could think about. She was all that mattered to me. I would've done anything for her.
We ended up moving in together. I asked her to marry me, but she didn't really like the idea of marriage. She always said we didn't need a piece of paper and some jewelry to prove that we loved each other. I was so blinded by my infatuation with her that I didn't question it. I just thought she was so amazing, so different. Turned out she was pretty different, not quite as amazing as I thought though.
It wasn't that long after we moved in together she ended up pregnant. I…I was scared. I wasn't ready for a kid. She seemed strangely calm about the whole thing. Like she had expected it, planned it even. We started fighting a lot for a while, but by the time the baby came things had finally calmed down. We were excited to have a family.
A few months later I started to notice little bruises here and there on the baby. I confronted Lily about it. She said that our little girl must have rolled over on some of her toys while rolling around on the floor and the pressure left a bruise on her frail little skin. I believed her. I was so stupid. The scratches started next. She always had some explanation and I always believed it.
One night I couldn't sleep. Lily wasn't in bed. I got up and went downstairs, but she wasn't there. I thought I heard something in the basement so I opened the door and just before I turned on the light I noticed some light flickering through a crack in the wall. I walked down the steps, started to hear voices coming from the same place as the light. Then I heard crying, it was a baby crying. I hurried over to the crack in the wall and peeked through. There was a red room back there. There were candles and strange symbols everywhere. Then I saw Lily, she was wearing a long black robe and there was someone else in there with her. I couldn't make out what they were saying. They were speaking in some strange language; the other person was wearing the same kind of robe, but had a hood covering their face. The baby, my little girl, she was on a table in front of them." Tears started to fill Abe's eyes as he told the rest of the story.
"The other person had something sharp in their hand. They reached out and started cutting my baby...my poor sweet baby girl. I started pounding on the wall, trying to open up the space. I tried reaching through the crack with my fingers to pull back the boards. Somehow, I don't even remember how, I broke through. That's when Lily and the other one turned to look at me. That's when…when I saw it…some…monster standing over my baby. That sharp thing that had cut my little girl…it was that thing's hand! It had claws! Its eyes were blood-red; its face was dark and hollow. Lily screamed at me, "You shouldn't be here!"
I ran to my baby girl, but that thing stopped me before I could reach her. It swung at me and sent me flying into the wall behind me. I was stunned, and my whole body ached from the impact. I was trying to get back up when the creature came flying over knocking me back down. It kneeled over me laughing.
Lily just stood there watching as that thing started to pick me up with one hand. It slammed me into the wall and raised me above its head. It started choking me. As I struggled to get free Lily came walking over. She didn't have a concerned expression. She wasn't afraid for my life or even the life of her child. She was angry. Just before I was about to pass out the creature let go and dropped me on the floor. Everything was blurry and I could barely move. The two of them stood over me talking. It looked like the creature was angry with her. That was when she finally looked scared. She looked like she might have been pleading with it, begging. They both looked at me. That…thing kneeled down next to me. Its voice was harsh and raspy. It told me, "You can't save her."
I pleaded with it to take me; to leave my little girl alone. It just laughed in my face. "You don't know what she is," it told me.
I said it didn't matter, just don't hurt her anymore. It just laughed. Then it reached down and grabbed my head with one hand, and with the other…it…dug its claw into my eye. I started screaming…blood was pouring down my face…into my mouth…then somehow…the creature was thrown across the room away from me. I heard my little girl laugh. Lily turned to run over to her. I wasn't gonna let that happen. I managed to push myself onto my feet and I grabbed Lily and shoved her to the ground. Then I ran for my baby. I picked her up and held her. Her little eyes were glowing and she was giggling. Then I saw the cut on her little leg. That thing got up. It was angry. It started walking over to us, but it stopped. It couldn't move. I looked at the creature, then at my little girl. Her eyes were glowing even more.
I felt something hard hit the back of my head. I stumbled. I grabbed onto the table to try to stay up, still holding my baby tightly with one arm, but my legs gave out and I fell to the floor. Lily had been right there to grab the baby. She must have snuck up behind me; whatever she hit me with did the trick. I blacked out.
When I woke up I was in the hospital. They said a woman had dropped me off. Said I got beat up by a bunch of thugs or something. When I was finally able to get out of there I got back to the house as fast as I could. They were gone. Lily had left a note. Something about how she didn't need me anymore. She had what she wanted. I didn't know what to do, I just started walking. I ended up here. Father Gabriel here, he came out and saw me. He came over and talked with me. He told me we needed to pray. So we both kneeled down and started to pray. A bright light came out of nowhere right in front of us. As the light dimmed the first thing I saw was huge glowing white wings. A person…an angel stood before us in shining armor with a sword at his side.
He asked what I was willing to do to save my little girl. I told him I would do anything, to which he responded with, "Would you bear her pain and fight her demons until she is strong enough to fight them on her own?"
I said yes. I told him I would take on all of her pain and fight all of her battles if she never had to face the demons that were after her. He bowed his head and raising it again told me, "Very well. Her demons will not be able to harm her. Instead they will hunt you. They will chase you wherever you go. They will torment you and try to break you. They will demand you give her to them, but you must endure. You must not give in. However, you will not bear this torment forever. She will see things while she sleeps and travel to places no human should ever go. This cannot be stopped, but they will not see her. Not until the time comes when she is called to battle. She will then have to carry a great burden. She will have to make a choice."
I asked him what he meant by that, what choice? I begged for him to place this burden on me and to leave her be, but he assured me that there was nothing that could be done. She was chosen for this purpose and none could take her place. He then raised his head toward the sky. A light began to glow around me and I felt a strong jolt knock me back. As I opened my eyes the church returned to normal. The angel was gone.
Father Gabriel allowed me to stay here for a while. He found me a decent job. I decided that I couldn't stay here. I was under constant attack at night. My screams were beginning to frighten the members of the church. I got my own apartment down the street where people were used to hearing screams and fighting late at night. It was hard at first, but I got used to it. I never gave in. Then one day I saw my little girl get on the bus. She was all grown up, but I knew it was her. I could see it in her eyes.
The more I saw her I started to notice the bruises and the scratches. My heart would sink a little each time I saw her. I…I didn't have the courage to talk to her. When I saw those deep scratches on her face a few days ago," Abe reached out to Eden's check as tears filled her eyes, "I knew that they found you. I just wanted to go to you and hold you and tell you everything would be ok. I wanted to tell you that I would protect you and I wouldn't let them harm you, but I was afraid. I just kept hoping that I was wrong, that the time had not come…that you were safe somewhere and I was just a crazy old man."
Eden began to cry and fell into Abe's arms where he squeezed her tightly as tears rolled down his face. She couldn't believe it. Her mother told her that her father had died a long time ago, but here he was. For the first time in her life she had a father, but more than that she had someone who knew about the nightmares, about the demons she saw, the terror she faced each time she closed her eyes as she laid her head down on her pillow at night. She had answers. "Wh---I…" Eden began to laugh through her tears, "I don't know what to say!"
Eden suddenly remembered something else that had been vexing her. She turned to face Father Gabriel who sat smiling in his chair, "Father…the man in the garden last night. I've seen him before. Who is he? What does he have to do with all of this?"
His smile quickly faded. "He's someone who can help" he said rising from his chair, "but for now let's just try to enjoy these great blessings we have received this day." He walked over to open the door, "Perhaps the two of you would enjoy getting some coffee and doing some catching up." Eden and Abe began to rise from their seats and headed towards the door, "But Father I…" "There will be time for that soon enough," he said as he guided the two out of his office. "I don't mean to rush, but I have a lot of work to do and this reunion has been long overdue." Though it was eating away at her and she still wanted answers, she agreed that there was much to catch up on and maybe she should take some time to get to know the father she never had growing up. They both thanked Father Gabriel for all his help as they left his office.
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