Angel Incarnate: Second Sight (6 page)

“Who is Alannah, and where
is Aeden?”

“Alannah is my twin
sister,” Alorrah said.
 
“We are called
Eternal Children because we never grow any older than thirty three months.”

“You don’t talk like
babies.”

“We don’t grow in size,
but our mind is very .mature.”

Alorrah told her the
story of how Bree and Tercia died protecting Alannah, and how they were
reincarnated too.
 

“Time is different
here, but you won’t have to stay a long time. Mommy is coming for us soon.”

Hope’s body
tensed.
 
“You can’t let your mother come
here. Mortriel will hurt her.”

“She won’t really come
here, but she will find a way to bring us home.”

“You shouldn’t give the
child false hope.” The man named Fionn spoke in a thick Irish accent as he
crawled off of the mattress.

“It isn’t false hope;
I’ve seen it,” Alorrah insisted. “Don’t you want to go home?”

Fionn tried to stand,
and collapsed on the floor.

The angels ran over and
helped him to his feet. With their help, he walked over to the sideboard and
opened a bottle of water, quickly emptying the contents before taking a seat in
the only chair in the room.

“I have been here so
long; I don’t even remember what home looks like.”

“Mommy’s friend will
heal you. You’ll see; my visions never lie.”

Hope started to sob. “You
said Gracie is alive. Do you know where she is?”

The angels left their
uncle, and clasped the little girl’s hands. Even though they were filthy, Hope
didn’t pull away; the children made her feel safe.

“Mortriel has taken her
to Purgatory. He kills their parents, and then takes all the angel-blood girls
there. Our friends are going to rescue her. She’ll be taken to Aeden, and then
Mommy will go back and free the others. Mommy will take good care of Gracie;
she takes care of all the little ones,” Alorrah said.

“Yes – she’s a good
Mommy. She loves all of us the same,” Alexis chimed in.

“What if Lucifer comes
back for me?” Hope asked.

“You’re in our room
now; he can’t touch you,” Alorrah insisted.

“He can’t touch Fionn
again either,” Alexis said. “Once you’re beyond the glass, we can use our
powers to protect you. Lucifer will be angry, and he’ll stop bringing food, but
I can sneak out and bring you something from the kitchen.”

“If you can get out,
why don’t you leave?”

“We have to wait for
Mommy. Besides, we can’t leave our uncle.”

Hope looked at the man
who stumbled back to his bed.

“Mortriel enjoys
causing pain. That’s why he separated you from your sister. Your mother didn’t
have an accident; Mortriel planned everything. He doesn’t know you are Josiah’s
children. That’s why we have to keep you and Gracie safe,” Alexis said.

“How do you know my
father?”

“Josiah is an angel – a
member of the Elite Guard. They hunt don angels who violate the laws of
Heaven.
 
Your father couldn’t tell anyone
about you, or your sister, because some of the guardians hate the
angel-bloods.”

“Does he know about my
mother?”

“Not yet – she’s in
Heaven, so he’ll see her again.”

Hope managed a weak
smile. “If I have to be here; I’m glad I’m with you. Do you want me to help you
wash up and change?”

“No – we want Mommy to
see us as we are. Would you like a glimpse of our mother?”

Alorrah waved her hand,
and then an image of a young woman and two little girls appeared on one of the
walls. They were all wearing blue jeans and white button-up shirts. One of the
girls had curly blonde hair; her friend’s hair was dark brown. Both shared blue
eyes. “That’s our friends Bree and Tercia.”

“They call themselves
Bren and Tracy now,” Alexis said.

The young woman’s
blonde hair hung over her left shoulder in a single braid, and fell almost to
her knees, but it was her eyes that mesmerized the young angel-blood; they were
violet too. “She’s so beautiful,” Hope gasped.

“She looks like her
grandmother,” Fionn said. “Except the hair; Esra’s hair was never that long.”

“Esra is Mommy’s
sister, and Fionn’s wife. She’s a seer too,” Alorrah said.

Hope walked over to the
man whose cheeks were wet with tears.
 
She reached down and dipped one of the towels in the basin. After taking
a seat beside him; she began to clean his face.

“You must miss her.
Would you like some more water?”

She ran to the table
and grabbed another bottle, which she handed to him. Unable to answer her, he
nodded before opening the drink, and again emptying the bottle.

“You should get some
sleep. Tomorrow will be a busy day,” Alorrah said. “By the way, remember what I
told you about time here?
 
A few hours,
is like months where you come from.”

She and Alexis moved onto the bed,
and after giving Fionn a gentle hug, Hope joined them.

Before placing her shoes next to the
table, she threw the porcelain doll out the open door, listening to it shatter
against the stone floor.

She climbed beside the two little
girls, and within seconds, she was fast asleep.

Chapter 6

While Eve was informing
her best friend, Angie, about Lucifer’s visit to Aeden, and the arrival of the
archangels, Bren led Tracy into one of the spare bedrooms. This one was on the
top floor, away from where the family slept.

When the Guild met with
out of town guests, they stayed at Aura’s house, so the rooms were always
prepared.

The room was designed
in a beach theme with white Adirondack chairs and wicker furniture. Seashells
and flip-flop borders were painted all over the sand-colored walls.

After closing the door,
Bren pulled Tracy to the large bay window that overlooked the backyard.
 

“Don’t you want to stay
and listen to what your father has to say?” Tracy asked.

“I have something
important to show you.”

Bren pulled the
curtains closed to block out the fading sunlight so her projection would be
easily visible.

She turned around and
raised her hands. An image appeared on the far wall above the queen-sized
rattan bed.
 

A maroon colored car
was driving down a dirt road in the middle of a rainstorm. Thunder and lightning
could be heard in the distance.

The car skidded out of
control, throwing a woman through the windshield, killing her instantly. At the
same time, a small child was ejected from the backseat, unconscious, but alive.
An older child, after realizing her mother was dead, climbed out of the car in
search of her little sister. A few seconds later, two males appeared – dark
wings.

Bren and Tracy listened
to the conversation, and watched in horror, as each of the girls was taken in
different directions. Seeing her sister being abducted, the eldest child began
to scream while trying to escape the clutches of the fallen angel who held her
arms in a firm grip. Ignoring the girl’s tears, he started laughing before
disappearing in a cloud of black smoke.

“How did you do that?”
Tracy asked.

Bren told her about the
meeting with Esra that morning. She made her sit on the bed, and then handed
her the pendant.

“Wear this and you will
understand everything.”

It took all of thirty
minutes for Tracy’s memory to come back. She ran to Bren and threw her arms
around her. “I knew there was something special about you,” she whined.

“Did you see
everything?” Bren asked.

“I know we were
guardian angels and Lucifer’s son killed us while we were protecting Alannah.”

Bren went back to the
image on the wall. “The one with the silvery-blonde hair is Lucifer’s son,
Mortriel. His friend is Samhael, another fallen angel. Mortriel has taken the
seven-year-old to Hell; her name is Hope. I can’t get past the gates, but
Alorrah says she is with her and Alexis, and she’s safe.”

“What about the other
sister?”
 

Bren pointed to the
wall, and they both continued to watch as the child was taken to what appeared
to be an island.

The little girl,
Gracie, opened her eyes soon after she arrived, and being disoriented and
afraid, she began to cry for her mother.

A group of young girls
were standing outside a dilapidated building. There must have been at least a
dozen of them ranging in age from three to twenty three.

They were angel-bloods too,
and judging from the scars on their bodies, they were not there by choice.
Keeping watch was a group of fallen angels – Mortriel’s guards.

The angel-bloods
gathered around the new child, and one of the eldest, Verah, picked Gracie up
and began to walk towards the entrance of the wooden house. The others girls
followed.

 
“This one is not to be touched,” Samhael
warned. “Mortriel will deal with her when he returns.”

Verah’s back stiffened,
and she tightened her grip on the child. She knew firsthand how Mortriel liked
to torture the youngest whose only crime was being loyal to Heaven. She
wondered what pain awaited this poor child.
 

The projection
disappeared, and Bren turned to her best friend. “Alorrah says we have to go
after her.”
 

“There are guards
everywhere, and we don’t even know where that place is?” Tracy insisted.

“It’s Purgatory – I
know where to find it.”

“Did you see the marks
on their bodies? Aura will never allow us to go. What if we can’t get out?”

Bren wondered if giving
Tracy’s memory back had been a mistake. She seemed even more apprehensive about
rescuing the girls, but Bren was determined.

She wanted to free all
of them, but Alorrah warned her to only take the youngest because Aura would
eventually bring the others home.

Since she was a year
old, Bren had been listening to Alorrah. At first, she didn’t know how to
respond to a little girl’s voice interrupting her thoughts. It soon dawned on
her that she was a seer too, powerful enough to communicate with the angel
children imprisoned in Hell.

Besides Esra, her
mother, and Tracy, no one else knew about Bren’s gifts.
 

“Look, I’ll understand
if you don’t want to come with me, but I have to go,” Bren said. “Most of those
kids don’t even know they are angel-bloods. I’m sure some of them have powers
they aren’t aware of. Isn’t it better for us to find out about their powers,
rather than put them in Mortriel’s possession? We’ll never have another
opportunity like this. We can’t bring back our friends, but we can make sure
their deaths weren’t in vain.”

“I wish Irizah was here
with us,” Tracy sighed. “When do you want to go?”

“Our dads are leaving
for their meeting with the Council now. We’ll wait a few minutes, and then
we’ll leave. We aren’t going to tell Aura, but don’t worry – we’ll be fine. My
grandfather’s shield will protect us. We’ll be back in Aeden before dinner is
on the table.”

“What are we going to
do with Gracie once we rescue her?”

“She’ll stay with us.
Alorrah says Gracie’s father, Josiah, is one of the Elite Guardians. Gracie
isn’t aware of her powers; her parents have kept them hidden. We’ll keep her
here until we can get a message to her father. She’ll be safer with us than
with anywhere else. Especially once Mortriel finds out we’ve taken her.”

Tracy had made up her
mind to go, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t afraid. Mortriel was Lucifer’s son.
She wanted to avenge her friends too, but worried about the punishment Mortriel
would inflict on the other angel-bloods who were left behind.

“Do you think we can
use Gideon’s shield to protect the rest of them?”

Bren put her arm around
Tracy’s shoulder. Most of the time the girls were fearless, but going off
without the protection of their fathers was a big step for two angel-bloods
who, despite being angels in a past life, were only five-years-old by mortal
standards.
 

“We can try. If my
mother can protect Aeden, we should be able to safeguard that small house.”

After hearing the front
door open and close, Bren clasped Tracy’s hand. A portal would take them to
Purgatory. “Are you ready?”

Tracy reluctantly
nodded.

Bren smiled, and then
lifted her head to Heaven. “Please show us the way, Father, and keep us within
your holy light.” A second later, the girls were gone, leaving behind a shadowy
silhouette of their small frames.

Chapter 7

There were three other
members of the Guild, also sons of the archangels, who lived in Savannah.
Joseph and Jack were Raphael’s twin sons; Martin, was the son of Metatron.

By the time they assembled
with Paul and Adam, Esra had returned. She rarely took part in their business,
but had permission from her Father to inform them about Bren and Tracy’s rescue
mission.

After taking a seat
next to Paul, she waited for Michael to address the group.

“Most of us are aware
Lucifer made a trip to Aeden earlier today. We suspect he is still searching
for the bow of Bodhi, but unfortunately, he knows about Bren and Tracy, and may
return to confirm Aura is alive too. I have discussed this matter with the council,
and we are convinced there is no danger to them at this time. We will be
monitoring the situation, but cannot be directly involved.”

“Ha – my husband’s bow
will never touch that traitor’s hands,” Ariel spat.

The rest of the Guild
turned to look at Gabriel, who had a scowl on his face. It was hard to believe
he would agree to keep his distance, knowing how much he cared for Bren and
Tracy. They had never known him to break the laws of Heaven, but he wouldn’t
sit idly by if they were in trouble.

“My daughter may not
remember her past life, but I’m certain Aura’s powers are no longer dormant,”
Paul insisted. “We have been training her since birth. She is more than
prepared for Lucifer’s minions.”

“If Lucifer becomes
aware of her presence, it will only be a matter of time before Mortriel knows
Avriel is alive,” Uriel said.

Paul smiled at his
father. “Aura’s visions may not have matured, but Eve will not let any harm
come to our children.”

“Eve is bound by an
oath. She will not break it, not even to save her daughters lives. Perhaps it
would be better to keep the girls in Aeden until this is sorted out.”

“Aura will never agree
to that. She may be thoughtful and soft-spoken, but she will not allow the
fallen to dictate how she lives her life.”

“I agree – you try
placing restrictions on Bren and Tracy,” Adam said. “They may be small, but
they are forceful.”

More forceful than you know
,” Esra thought.
I
hope we can restrain Gabriel when he learns what they have done. They will need
their powers to rescue the children. I was hoping to keep them hidden, but the
other fallen will recognize them as Bree and Tercia. Mortriel will inform his
father, but Lucifer already knows they live.

Esra started chuckling,
and when the others stared at her, she cleared her throat, and then apologized.
Yes – I look forward to seeing that
conversation again, especially when Mortriel realizes Lucifer confided in
Samhael instead of him.

“Should we plan to go
to Aeden?” Joseph asked.

“No – you may be needed
in Savannah,” Esra said.
 
“I have spoken
to Father, and want to inform you about a new development.”

Before she could
continue, Josiah walked into the room.

Normally composed, his
blonde hair was disheveled, and his clothes were caked with mud. The angels
were concerned about his appearance, but more worried about the urgency in his
voice.

 
“Forgive me for interrupting, but something
has happened to my wife and daughters. I spoke to Violet earlier and she told
me she was taking the children to visit her parents. I found her car in a ditch
on one of the Georgian back roads; there was blood on the cracked windshield.”

Esra walked over to him
and spoke quietly.

 
“Sit down, Brother; I was just about to tell
everyone what happened to Violet and the girls.”

Josiah took an open
seat next to Raphael, who cast a pitiful gaze upon the guardian.

The seer then addressed
the group. “I have been aware for some time that Mortriel and Samhael have been
killing angel-bloods and capturing their children.”

Esra turned her focus
to Josiah.
 
“I’m afraid Violet is their
latest victim. She has already ascended, and you will be able to speak with her
soon.”

The color left Josiah’s
face. “What about my daughters?”

“They are both safe,
for now. Mortriel took Hope to Hell, but Lucifer has insisted she not be
touched. Apparently, she reminds him of Laelah as a young angel. The child has
been sent to the glass cell where Lucifer imprisons Alorrah and Alexis.
 
They can now use their powers to protect
her.”

“Why would he send her
to them?” Michael asked.

Esra smiled. “Lucifer
planned to use Hope to gather information by allowing her to befriend our
little ones. He didn’t realize once she was with them, he could not get her
back. As far as the other child – Samhael took Gracie to a hidden island for
the fallen called Purgatory. It’s where they take all of the angel-blood girls.
To my knowledge, they have captured at least a dozen as young as three years of
age.”

“My Gracie is only four
earth years; what value could someone so young be to them?”

“They threaten harm to
the little ones in order to make the others obedient. A rescue mission is
underway as we speak.”

“I mean no disrespect
to you, Sister, but who would be foolish enough to venture into an encampment
full of fallen angels? Surely, they will be outnumbered,” Gabriel said.

Esra hesitated before
telling him Bren and Tracy had gone after the child.

“I want you to know
they are completely safe,” she said. “For reasons which I am forbidden to
discuss, they can’t free all of the girls yet, but they will bring Gracie to
Aeden.”

“Aeden – why would they
bring her there? Considering that Lucifer can avoid the shield, wouldn’t the
child be safer somewhere else?” Paul asked.

“Most of the Elite
Guardians are not aware of Josiah’s family. For obvious reasons, he has had to
keep them hidden from Malakiel and Caeus.
 
The girls think it will be better if the child stays with them and I am
inclined to agree.”

“What are you saying,
Esra? Has Aura gone after the child?”

“No – Aura knows
nothing about the kidnapping. Bren and Tracy will explain everything when they
return.”

Gabriel stood so fast,
his chair over-turned, breaking one of the legs. Raphael placed his hand on his
brother’s shoulder in an attempt to calm him.

“How could you allow
them to go without help? They are brave, but have not had dealings with
Lucifer’s disciples. Have you considered what will happen to my little ones if
the fallen realize who they are?”

“Bren and Tracy were
willing to risk capture in order to bring the children home. Do not condemn
them. Father has given you permission to return to Aeden with Paul and Adam.
You will see firsthand the children are safe.”

“We should leave now,”
Gabriel said.

“Bren and Tracy haven’t
returned yet, but they will arrive within the hour. I suggest you calm yourself
before you speak to them.”

Esra quieted her tone.

“Bren and Tracy were
born under your veil. Their powers mimic those of your own. Trust them; they
are stronger than you realize. Bren is a seer; she will show you everything
that happened. My only regret is that she will be disappointed because she will
have to leave some of the others behind. She will take as many of the little
ones as she can, but the older girls will have to remain. I promise they will
all be rescued in good time.”

“Bren is a seer?” Paul
asked.

“She has my blood, so
yes – she is a very powerful seer. Bren has been communicating with Alorrah for
some time now. Aura doesn’t know, and I’m asking you not to speak to anyone
else of this. Bren wants to keep her gift hidden, and I agree – there is no
reason to make the others aware of her powers,” Esra warned.
 

No one dared argue with
her. News of Bren’s gift would not leave the room until Bren told them.

Esra’s visions never
lied, and if she insisted the two young angel-bloods were fine – then they
were. At least Gabriel would be able to see the children again, which would
ease his mind. This was another way of showing their Father’s love for the
warrior’s loyalty to Heaven.

There was pity in
Esra’s voice when she spoke to Josiah.

“Your daughter barely
remembers you. I know you want to see her, but you can’t risk being followed by
Malakiel, or Caeus. I will try to arrange a meeting soon. Know that she will be
well cared for in Aeden, and Samhael will not take her a second time. For now,
Father wants you to remain with the guard. It’s imperative no one knows about
your family, especially Malakiel.”

Esra then turned to
Joseph. “You, Jack and Martin will remain in Savannah. We suspect Mortriel may
attempt to see if the child has returned to her home. He may also try to
contact someone in the Elite Guard.”

The three angels
nodded.

Josiah’s family lived
in the house in Savannah owned by Paul’s wife, Eve. Since Eve’s mother, Alice,
was buried there; it was rumored the ground was hallowed. Mortriel must have
somehow tricked Violet into leaving.

Joseph felt terrible
that something had happened to Violet when they lived so close, but he agreed
-- it wouldn’t be safe to bring the child back to Savannah. She would be out of
harm’s way under the protection of Eve’s shield.

“We’ll keep an eye out
for Mortriel,” Joseph promised. “If anyone from the guard meets with him, we’ll
inform the council.”

Esra thanked him and
returned to the others.

“You do not need to
tell Caeus and his brother why you were gone, but make them aware of Lucifer’s
presence in Aeden. I am curious to see how they will respond,” Michael said to
Josiah.
 

One of Michael’s sons
was an Elite Guardian. Never one to question the Almighty Father, Michael allowed
Dahnael to be taken shortly after he was born.

Dahnael was raised by
Caeus, while his twin brother, Aidan, remained with the archangel and his wife.
It wasn’t until a few years ago the twins were told the truth. While they
respected each other, they weren’t close like brothers should be.

Aidan had lost most of
his family in the war.

It was rumored Caeus
once considered following Lucifer, but when he remained in Heaven instead; his
reward was to become one of the first Elite Guardians -- those sworn to protect
the laws.

When the group became
so powerful they no longer regarded those same laws, Michael began to question
his Father’s decision.

Soon, Heaven would know
if Caeus and his brother were still faithful.

The meeting ended, and Gabriel hurried
out the door, with Paul and Adam following. A few seconds later, the three
angels were in front of Aura’s home.