Rebirth - The Beautiful Fallen (5 page)

             
“You know, you’re just making yourself a big mystery now.” I told him as he sat down beside me.

             
“I know.  But it can’t be helped.” Chris replied.

             
I felt myself cringe a little bit as he cleaned off my wrist.  The burn was a little deeper then I’d originally thought, and it really hurt.  I could see where the outline of the fingers were too.  It made me wonder if I was going to have a nasty scar once it healed.  But I decided not to say anything about it.  Instead, I was more curious about just what had happened there, and how in the world he’d been able to find me so quick.  “So, can you tell me how you knew I was there?” I finally asked.

             
“It wasn’t hard.  I was following you.” Chris said, sounding very matter of fact as he concentrated on what he was doing.

             
“You were following me?” I said flatly.    I certainly hadn’t seen any sign of him while I was there until he actually showed up.  And, aside from that, he almost sounded like a stalker when he put it that way.

             
“Trust me, I’m good at being inconspicuous.  But I got worried when I realized where you were going.  That house isn’t the best place for you.  I’d imagine that mother of yours would probably have a heart attack if she knew how close she is to it now.” Chris said.

             
His words immediately caught my attention.  “You know my mother?” I asked him.

             
“Not personally.  But I know enough about her to know that she’s probably like that.  But then again, she might just be that afraid of him too.  Most of them would be afraid of him.” Chris replied, sounding a little absent with that last part.

             
“Okay now, seriously, you’re talking in riddles.  Tell me exactly what you know about me.  I get that you’re here because of something with me.  And what about this stone?  It was glowing in there.  Just what is supposed to be going on with my life that’s made all of this start happening to me?” I said, glancing down at the stone hanging from my neck.

             
Chris looked down at it for a moment, then lifted it up.  “I see.  He‘s a lot more clever than they give him credit for sometimes.” he said quietly.

             
“Chris.” I said, reminding him that I was still there and waiting for my answer.

             
Chris let out a long breath, apparently deciding on whether or not he was going to have to answer me.  “Fine.  I guess I’ll have to tell you a little bit now.  Like I said before, time’s getting short.  And now that you’ve managed to find that house, I’m sure they’ve noticed you too.” he said.

             
“They?” I repeated.  Suddenly, I wasn’t that sure if I really wanted to know the whole truth to all of this.  Something about it sounded very ominous all at once.

             
Chris finished wrapping my wrist up, then reached over beside us and picked up the small box I’d brought back from the house.  “Yes, they.  So, have you gotten to look in here yet?” he asked me.

             
“I did a little bit.  But I had to stop when I heard that thing coming.” I replied.  I decided not to mention at the time about the voice I’d heard coming from my pendant.  I figured that it was enough that he already knew about the stone glowing.  And he hadn’t seemed that surprised about it.  In fact, he spoke like he knew exactly how that had happened.  Without thinking about it, I reached up and held the pendant.  It still felt normal in my hand.  I just didn’t get it.  What in the world had happened to me in that house?

             
My attention was brought back by Chris speaking.  “I see.  Well, I guess this is the best place to start then.” he said, putting the box between us and opening it once again.  I watched as he pulled out the first envelope, then the picture of the woman with the name Faith Evans written on the back.  “So this is her.  I’m not sure I see much of a resemblance.  But you do favor him more." he continued.

             
“So what?  Am I related to them or something?” I asked him.

             
“Well, somewhat.  But it’s a bit more complicated than that.” Chris admitted.  As I watched, he pulled out the pictures from the other envelope and looked at them.  It looked as though he was studying the two men.

             
I looked at the picture of the woman again.  I really couldn’t say that I looked anything like her.  But with the way Chris was talking, I must have been related to her somewhere in my family history.  “So what exactly is complicated with all of this?” I finally asked him.

             
“Well, I’ve been trying to think of the best way to explain all of this without it sounding completely insane.  Though I'm not quite sure I can.” he admitted.

             
“Look, I just saw a burning ghost woman who probably has been dead for years.  Trust me, nothing else can sound anymore insane.” I told him.

             
He actually laughed a little at that one.  I couldn’t help but think that he looked extremely cute doing it too.  But I quickly shook it off.  This was definitely not the time to think about a guy being cute.  “Yeah, I could see that.  But like I said, this is a bit more complicated than just saying you’re related to them.  Although I guess I could start with telling you a little bit about this woman and the men in the pictures with her.  I just hope you’ll believe me when I do.” he said.

             
“Didn’t you hear what I just said?  I don’t think I have a choice.” I replied.

             
Chris quietly laid the picture of the woman down in between us, shaking his head with a small smile on his face.  Guess I was enough to really amuse him now.  “I’m sure you looked at the name on the back of this picture.  And yes, it’s the name of the woman.  This woman, Faith Evans, lived in that house back in the early 1930s.  She was the widow of a detective from Manhattan, and she moved into that house with these two men, who were supposed to be brothers.” he explained, adding the pictures of the men on opposite sides of the woman’s.

             
“I guess I could see that.  They do kind of look like they could be related.” I reasoned.

             
“Actually, they weren’t.  They’re just of the same kind, and happen to have a lot of the same features.  At least, enough to fool the casual onlooker.  It was really no coincidence that the Evans woman came to live with them either in that house.  It was set up that way after they did her the favor of getting rid of her husband for her.” Chris explained.

             
Well, that painted a pretty grim picture.  This woman had hired two men for murder.  “So what does this all have to do with me?  You said I was kind of related to them.” I said.

             
“Actually, it has everything to do with you at this point.” Chris admitted.  “These men were anything but normal.  And in the end, I doubt that even Faith Evans could’ve understood just what she’d called upon when she prayed for her revenge.  There was a good reason that she wanted her husband dead back then.  The Evans woman was a victim of severe abuse, and no one ever believed her about it.  And when she knew that she couldn’t kill him herself, she began praying for something, anything, that would do it for her.  And these two were the answer to those evil prayers.”

             
By then, I was beginning to follow what he was implying.  “Hold on just a minute.  Are you saying that these men were.... demons or something?” I had to ask.  I felt the chill run through my spine as I said the words out loud.  Again, the memory of that ghostly woman speaking went through my mind.  She’d been screaming about demons with human faces….

             
“Well, I guess that would be the easiest way to put it, considering that they were technically some of the damned.  Although they like to refer to themselves as Fallen Ones.  Either way, they were bad news from the start.  And once they had the Evans woman right where they wanted her, they began using her for their own gains.  And eventually, one would end up killing her a little over two years later in what looked to the world like a suicide.” Chris explained.

             
I looked down at the photos again.  So apparently this was all that remained of a very real demon pact.  Carefully, I reached in the box and took out the old, small book.  “So what’s this have to do with me now?  Is it because I’m related to Faith Evans?” I asked him as I flipped through it.  There was the same spidery looking handwriting in it that I’d seen on the back of Faith Evan’s picture.  I wondered if perhaps one of those creatures had been writing in it.  It almost made me consider putting it away and not touching it again.

             
“Well, it’s a bit more than that.” Chris said.  “How should I even begin explaining this to where it’s gonna make sense?  Well, I guess I’ll have to try.  Let’s start by saying that I’m sure you know the truth about your parents.”

             
I nodded.  “Yeah.  I know I’m adopted.”

             
“And you know you’re birth mother’s name, right?” Chris continued.

             
I just looked at him for a moment.  “Well, I saw it once.  Faith Kent.” I said.

             
“Faith Evans.  Faith Kent.” Chris said in a slight breath.  “It was always a pattern with the name Faith.  I guess he just found it ironic that the original woman had that name, and maybe he even kept it in there to be blasphemous or something.  Anyways, back to what I was saying, Faith Evans was killed two years after these two came into her life.  But only one killed her.  The reasons behind it aren’t really that clear.  But as it turns out, he also changed something in the deal between her and the two of them when he killed her.  He set some kind of cycle in motion, to put it in the most layman’s terms possible.  He ended up having the Evans woman's soul reincarnated over and over again.  Every time she died, he’d take her soul and put it into the next life he wanted it to reincarnate into.”

             
“Hold on.  So you’re saying that my birth mother, Faith Kent, was a reincarnation of this Faith Evans woman?” I asked him.  I couldn’t believe it.  So that was supposed to be the whole connection here?  If so, then he was right.  This was about to get complicated.

             
Chris nodded.  “Exactly.  She was the second to last.    Apparently, this became a twisted game of cat and mouse between the two Fallen Angels involved.  The one kept the soul away from the other, always killing her again just before the other one would get too close.  The pattern itself went on for over eighty years.  Basically, your birth mother wasn’t really killed by her father like everyone, including you, thinks she was.  The one who originally started the cycle killed her.” he explained.

             
Well, that answered a whole lot right there as I thought of my mother at home.  Her reactions when we talked before about my birth mother were very telling now if she was aware that there was all of this involved with my birth and Faith Kent’s death.  “Does Mama know about any of this?” I dared ask.

             
“I’d imagine she does.  From what I know, you were brought to her right after you were born.” Chris said.

             
“No I wasn’t.  I was left in the nearby church by my grandfather.  That’s where she found me.” I argued.

             
“No you weren’t.  She just told you that story to throw you off about all of it.  She was probably even ordered to if things are like I’m beginning to think they are.” Chris told me.

             
By then, I was starting to feel the frustration rising in me again.  If Mama had been lying to me all along, then why?  Who would’ve made her do that?  I felt another shiver go up my spine as I suddenly realized what the answer may have been.  “So hold on.  Are you saying that my grandfather had nothing to do with that, and this other monster brought me to Mama?” I finally asked him.

             
“That’s right.” Chris replied.  “The other monster, as you want to call him right now, did it all himself.  He killed her, took you out of her womb, then directly to Mabel Benson for safekeeping.”

             
Well, nothing like feeling sick to your stomach.  That was exactly how I felt after hearing him say that.  But somehow, I managed to keep my composure.  If what he was saying was true, like I suspected it very well was, then I needed more answers to go with it.  “So why bring me to her?  And what does this all have to do with me anyway?  Am I supposed to be marked because she was one of those reincarnations or something?” I asked. 

             
“You don’t get it?” Chris asked, looking a little puzzled now.

             
“Get what?” I asked.

             
Chris looked down at the picture of one of the men, who apparently wasn’t really a man at all.  “Take a good look at this picture.  You do see the resemblance, don’t you?” he said quietly as he handed it to me again.

             
I looked closely at the picture, letting myself study it again.  Yes, there was a good resemblance there between us.  But as I thought of this, a sudden realization came to me.  He killed my mother, and took me to a home afterwards to be taken care of.  “Wait a minute.  You’re not saying what I think you are, right?” I asked cautiously.