Savior Part 2: Son of Eden (The Savior Series) (24 page)

“Hell yeah it was,” I admitted, smiling as my thoughts momentarily lingered in the old days.

WE ENDED UP WATCHING A HORROR MOVIE THAT I HAD picked out, however we didn’t really pay much attention to it because Audrey seemed much more interested in asking me questions about my past and my abilities. I couldn’t help but be amused at how amazed she was by it all.

The movie played on in the background as I laid my head on a small pillow in her lap and told her about the time Howie and I discovered my abilities. She was shocked when I told her that the source of my abilities was the fact that my father was technically an alien but after I explained that Anokians look nearly exactly like humans she seemed to be more accepting of the idea of me being half alien. I didn’t tell her about my dysfunctional family or my adoptive mother’s suicide but I did tell her what I knew about my real mother—the woman who had given me away when I was just an infant; the woman who Director Wells had called a traitor.

“Do you ever wonder what she was like?” Audrey asked as she ran her soft fingers through my hair.

“Sure I do. All the time, actually. It’s too bad I’ll never get a chance to meet her though,” I said, as I clenched my jaw and fought back the tears that were forming in the corners of my eyes. Talking about my birth mother always brought on thoughts of my adoptive mother as well. I still hated her for standing by and allowing my adoptive father to torment my older brother P.J. so relentlessly that he was ultimately driven to becoming The Suspect. It had been over two years since she took her own life but I could still remember the pain that I felt as I watched her gently swinging from the rope she used to hang herself as if it were yesterday. I still hated her for not protecting us from our father but for some reason I still missed her more than almost anything.

I closed my eyes as Audrey softly wiped my tears away then pulled my head upward and planted a gentle kiss onto my lips. My heart pounded ferociously as our kiss continued, and became more passionate by the second. The movie continued to play in the background as Audrey paused to take a deep breath then instantly yanked my head towards her again. A surging tide of warmth overwhelmed my entire body as her insistent lips pressed against mine as she practically tore my shirt from my chest. Her aggression and passion were exhilarating but as my heart rate climbed I soon began to realize that even though I didn’t want to, I had no choice but to stop before things got too out of hand. The excitement brought on by the thought of getting intimate with Audrey had unleashed a load of adrenaline that was flooding my system and exponentially driving my already superhuman strength to astronomical proportions. I knew that if I didn’t stop, my strength could increase to a level where I may not be able to stop myself from inadvertently hurting her—or perhaps even worse. I barely clenched my right hand as I fought to overcome the temptation but my strength had increased so drastically that my hand completely crushed the piece of the sofa’s frame that I had been holding onto.

“What’s wrong?!” Audrey asked, between gasps as I pulled my face away from hers.

“I just—I can’t do this Audrey. I don’t want to hurt you,” I said as I stood and backed away from her.

“It’s okay, Reaper,” she coaxed as she stood and pressed her body against me while placing her arms onto my shoulders. “This is what you wanted, isn’t it?” she asked while tenderly brushing her lips against mine as she spoke.

“It is,” I admitted as my resolve began to crumble, but as my eyes lingered on the crumpled steel frame that my hand had barely gripped I knew that my skyrocketing strength would put her in much more danger than I was comfortable with.

“But it’s just too dangerous, Audrey. I don’t know what could happen if we don’t stop. When my adrenaline starts flowing even I don’t know how powerful I’ll become. Just look at what I did to the couch—and I was barely touching it. What if that had been you? What if I had been holding you when that happened?”

“I’ll be fine, Reaper,” Audrey purred as she placed her soft hands on my cheeks. “I’m a lot stronger than you think.”

“I just can’t take that risk,” I insisted as I placed my hands over hers. “You mean far too much to me for me to put this over your safety.”

I could see within her eyes that she desperately wanted to continue and I think we both knew that she could certainly have her way if she pushed the issue but fortunately for both our sakes she ultimately decided to respect my wishes.

“Are you sure?” she asked as her hands fell from my face.

“Not really,” I admitted. “But I think it’s for the best—for now at least. Maybe I’ll talk to Howie about using that big brain of his to come up with a way to keep my heart rate in check, you know?—Something to make it safer.”

“Alright, Sir, well let me know if you change your mind in the meantime,” she grinned, winking at me as she exhaled and flopped back down onto the couch.

“Will do,” I said, as I tried my best to force back the childish grin that was fighting to make its way onto my face.

“So… have you changed your mind?” Audrey jokingly asked as I sat down beside her.

“No. I haven’t,” I chuckled as I looked at her silly grin.

“Not
yet,”
she muttered under her breath, as she wiped her mouth with her right hand, just as I had done earlier that night.

“You think you’re funny, don’t you?” I grinned as I pulled her closer and threw my left arm over her shoulders.

What are you doing, Reaper?
my conscious suddenly screamed at me as I thought of Monica for a fraction of a second. Luckily, Audrey had not seen the guilty expression that had flashed onto my face, and I kissed the top of her head and leaned back on the couch as I tried to take my mind off Monica.

“So what should I call you in public?” Audrey suddenly asked as she rested her head on my chest.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well, I can’t exactly call you Reaper, can I?” she replied.

“Yeah, I guess you have a point there.”

“How about… Maximilian?” she jokingly suggested.

“Absolutely not! Anything but that!”

“What’s wrong with Maximilian?” she asked. I could tell she wasn’t serious but I played along anyway.

“Well… number one: it makes me sound like a Holy Roman Emperor and number two: I don’t look anything like a Maximilian,” I said, laughing as I watched her struggle to keep a straight face.

“Okay, okay! I’ve got another one. What about Max?” she suggested, still grinning from ear to ear.

“No dice babe,” I said before pulling her closer and planting another kiss onto her forehead. “What do you say we table this discussion for now before I end up with a name like
Bartholomew
or something?” I continued.

“Fine,” she sighed, as she crossed her arms and pretended to be disappointed. “But don’t think I’ll forget. I’m giving you a new name whether you like it or not,
Mister
.”

The way she said the word
Mister
once again made me think about Monica because she used to do the exact same thing whenever she pretended to pout. With that, the warnings of my subconscious mind slowly started to return—but even as they became louder I continued to ignore them as I held Audrey in my arms and finally tried to focus on the movie that was nearly finished by that point. I had told Audrey a lot about my abilities and my past that night but I had purposely failed to mention Monica. In my mind, I knew that at some point I would have to choose between them but in my heart I wasn’t sure if I would ever be able to do so. Audrey made me feel more alive than I had ever felt but Monica’s very existence is what gave me purpose in life. How could I ever choose between that?

I grabbed a small pillow and laid my head in Audrey’s lap once again as I fought hard to ignore the growing sense of dread that was festering in the back of my mind. It saddened me that I had allowed my situation to become so impossibly complicated and I was extremely frustrated by the fact that it was threatening to ruin my time with Audrey.

What are you doing, Reaper?
my conscious repeated once again as Audrey ran her fingers through my hair as I stared up at the ceiling.

“So, this may be a weird question, but… how much do you weigh?” she suddenly asked.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” I replied with a chuckle.

“Really? How much are we talking?”

“Close to 1000 pounds last time I checked,” I said.

“Holy crap?!” she exclaimed. “That’s crazy! You look like you only weigh around 200.”

“I know. My body’s a lot denser than a regular human body.”

“Well, now that I think about it, that actually explains a lot,” Audrey giggled.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well that explains why your head is as heavy as a bowling ball,” Audrey teased as she shifted her legs under me.

“Oh crap! Do you want me to get up?” I asked, suddenly feeling guilty and inconsiderate.

“It’s fine, Reaper,” she coaxed, placing her hands on my shoulders just as I was about to sit up. “I was just kidding,” she continued.

And just like that I was relaxed once again. Audrey always had that sort of effect on me. Whenever I’d find myself worrying about anything I could always rely on her to put my mind at ease. She was never able to make me completely forget about my issues, but she could always make me feel as though they didn’t matter as much. As I continued to lie there, I became so relaxed that my eyes began to grow heavier by the second. Our conversation went on for almost another hour and Audrey gently ran her soft fingers through my hair as we talked until I eventually drifted off to sleep.

22. SOMETHING MAKE BELIEVE

http://goo.gl/0Rnskw
- ♫

MONICA:

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, MOTHER?” I ASKED, HORRIFIED as I stared into the lucid brown eyes of my mother who now stood a few feet away from me in the same otherworldly plane that the Goddess of Eden had drawn me to. I had not yet determined if this were merely a dream or not but whatever the case, the last person I wanted to get sucked up into this insanity was my mom.

“It’s okay, Monica,” she finally replied, staring warmly into the Goddess’ spectral eye form as if the two of them were old friends.

“But what are you doing here? How can you even be here?” I asked.

“She has summoned me here to help you accept your fate, Monica,” my mother replied as she turned to me and placed her warm hands on my shoulders. I opened my mouth to speak but my mind was racing so fast that I couldn’t think of anything to say. I didn’t know if this was actually my mother or if it was just something make believe. I wanted to believe that the Goddess was simply playing a trick on me but in the back of my mind I already knew the truth. There was no way that she was merely an apparition. How could a phantom duplicate everything about her so perfectly—right down to the warmth of her skin as her hands brushed against my cheeks?

“You are right, my dear. This is not a dream,” my mother replied, as if she had just read my mind. “This place is one of the many astral planes that exist between the physical world that we live in and the spiritual world where the Goddess was created. With Her help our psychic abilities allow us to transcend time and space and journey to places like this in order to speak with Her.”

“Psychic? What do you mean psychic?” I asked, backing away from her.

“It’s true, Monica. Your father was not like us, but you and I have always shared a strong connection to the spiritual realm,” she continued.

“I don’t believe you,” I protested, narrowing my eyes as I studied her. “Why would you send me to therapy once my dreams started if you thought I was psychic?”

“That was your father’s idea. He didn’t know about your abilities,” she replied.

“Well, why didn’t you tell him?” I asked angrily.

“I didn’t want to involve him. It only would have made it harder for him when the time came for you to accept your fate,” she admitted.

“So instead of telling him the truth you thought it would be better to just let him walk around thinking I was crazy? What kind of mother are you?” I snapped as tears trickled down my cheeks as I thought about the death of my father.

“Monica, there are things at stake here that you do not yet understand. I love your father just as much as you do but you have to understand that he is not what’s important right now! The fates of several worlds hang in the balance and you are the only person in the universe that has the power to save them. You have to accept your fate or else everything you know will be lost.”

“You didn’t even love him, did you?” I hissed, shaking my head in disgust as I ignored her babble about fate.

“What did you say?!” my mother snapped as a mixture of sadness and anger washed across her face.

“You heard me. You never loved him, did you? Not the same way he loved you, because I don’t care how many worlds were in danger, Dad would never say that
anything
was more important than you!”

“You know I loved your father! How can you even say that?!” she demanded.

“You didn’t even cry at his funeral!” I shouted, clenching my jaw after the outburst in order to keep from bursting into tears.

“That’s because I already knew he would die!” my mother snapped, as her resolve crumbled away and it became abundantly clear that she too was fighting as hard as she could to keep from crying. “I saw him die in my dreams every night for an entire month before it actually happened. And there was nothing I could do to save him. I tried
everything!
I wrecked his car on purpose because I knew that was how he was supposed to die… but the vision simply changed and instead of his car I saw him dying in a rental. I even tried telling him about my vision, but of course he didn’t believe me. I had cried myself to sleep every night leading up to that accident—so I guess when it finally happened… when I finally got the news… I just… I just didn’t have anything left.”

I opened my mouth to reply but I was completely speechless. Suddenly it all made sense. I remembered being so angry at her for not showing any emotion after he died but at the time there was no way I could have known that she already knew it was coming. She clenched her jaw and turned away from me as a single tear trickled down her left cheek.

“I’m so sorry, Mom,” I finally said as I walked over and wrapped my arms tightly around her. “I didn’t know.”

“No… you didn’t,” she said as she squeezed tightly as if she were hugging me for the last time. “There’s a lot that I have kept from you but I promise you that I thought I was doing what was best for you.”

“I still don’t know what’s so special about me, Mom. Why am I supposed to be Her vessel?” I asked as our embrace finally ended and we stood a few feet apart with the Goddess’ giant blue eyes silently watching on.

“Before you were born we were told that we would never be able to have children. It wasn’t Nate… I was
barren
, as they say. We tried everything—second and third opinions, and even in vitro fertilization… but in the end nothing worked. Lost in my despair, I used my powers to reach across the veil of our reality and called out for any entity that could help me. It didn’t matter if it was a god, a devil or a demon, I was so desperate that I couldn’t care less at the time—I just knew I wanted a child. Fortunately it was Eden who heard my call and she summoned me into this place. She was in need of a perfect vessel and I was in need of a child. So I agreed to give birth to Her vessel and with a touch She granted me the ability to have you, a single child whose psychic powers would ultimately dwarf even mine. And just like that Nate and I had our miracle baby but I never told him what I had done. I never told him of your true purpose.”

“You—you made a
deal
for me? And now you’re just going to hand me over to Her, just like that?” I asked.

“You wouldn’t
exist
if it wasn’t for Her, Monica. Don’t you understand that? You will
always
be my daughter but your destiny is so much bigger than just this world. Ultimately the decision is yours alone to make but I want to make sure you realize what will happen if you choose the wrong path.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“The Goddess must return to the physical world, Monica. She is the only thing that can stop what’s coming. Without Her influence the war in Andromeda will spill over into our galaxy and our entire world will likely be destroyed. It truly breaks my heart to have put you in this position but you have to know that I was only doing what I thought was right.”

“What will happen to me?” I asked.

“Even I do not know the answer to that question,”
The Goddess interjected.
“When I bonded with my first physical vessel her consciousness ceased to exist once my essence merged with her soul but I am not sure if the same would happen with you. You already carry within you a small portion of the spiritual energy that makes up my true form. Perhaps that prolonged exposure will allow you to maintain some level of consciousness once the ritual is completed.”

“But you don’t know that for sure?” I questioned, already knowing the answer to the question.

“That is correct,”
the Goddess said.

“Then I’m sorry, but I can’t agree to what you’re asking. I need to speak to Adam. There’s no way I can risk never seeing him again.”

The look on my mother’s face as I completed my sentence nearly stopped my heart. Something about her expression let me know that something was terribly wrong.

“What’s going on here?” I demanded.

“Monica, I didn’t want to have to reveal this to you, because I wanted you to make the decision on your own. But if you don’t accept your destiny, it is likely that Reaper will die,” she replied.

“You’re saying… you’re saying I’m the reason he dies,” I gasped.

“
No, child. His fate has always been to die but you can be the reason he lives. Though the path The Reaper currently travels will soon end in his demise the influence of an entity which transcends the confines of your realm can likely change the fate that your universe has seen fit for him. You will not cause his death but, through me, it is possible for you to prevent it,”
The Goddess offered.

“So you’re saying I can save him? If I agree to become the vessel you can stop him from dying?” I asked.

“Yes child. Join me and I will give you the power to conquer inevitability.”

“Then I’ll do it,” I said as I stared up into the fiery presence before me. “I will become your vessel.”