Crossroads (12 page)

“
I know one thing for
sure; the alkins’ ages vary, up to the late twenties.”

“
You are all so young,” I
said, thinking that was a dumb thing to say.

He gave me a look that said he wanted
more explanation.

I had to think fast since I didn’t
know what I was talking about. “I meant…well… I thought the angels
might look ancient or something.”

He laughed. “You have a funny
imagination, but you have to remember that we are not angels. We
are alkins. There is a huge difference.

“
I’ll keep that in mind,”
I said, thinking I should just keep my mouth shut for a
bit.

He began to chuckle, and I found
myself staring at him. I studied his features and wondered to
myself how it could be possible that someone of such perfection was
in my presence. “Let’s get going,” I said, breaking my
gaze.

We started heading the opposite way.
Having been so caught up in my observations of Michael, it appeared
I had lost my sense of direction. “Where are you going?” I asked,
looking confused.

“
I thought we’d take a
shortcut.” He tilted his head back toward a different
direction.

“
I never knew there was a
shortcut,” I said, taking several steps closer to him.

“
That’s because you
probably never looked for one, and it is right through that park.”
He pointed this time toward a dark path.

I’d seen it before, but I never knew
it was a shortcut. It was frightening, nowhere I would go alone,
but I had my guardian angel to protect me, so I had nothing to
fear. Unexpectedly, he linked my left arm through his right arm and
pulled my bike along by gripping at the handlebar. I tensed up a
bit and my hands felt tingly when I realized I was touching his
bare skin. We headed toward the park, and I was amazed to find that
it wasn’t as dark as it seemed. Instead, it was magnificent. The
reflection of the moonlight bounced on the lake.

“
Look!” he said, pointing
toward the lake. “Do you see the two swans gliding toward each
other?”

I squinted to see where he pointed,
but I couldn’t see what he was seeing. “Where?” I asked. “I don’t
see them.”

He pulled the kick stand down from the
bike, moved closely behind me, and bent down to my level. I could
feel his breath against the side of my face. Chills ran down my
back, making me breathless. As his right hand intertwined with
mine, he slowly guided my hand, then my index finger, to the
location of the swans. “Right…there. Can you see them now?” he
asked, turning his head slightly to face me.

Overwhelmed by his closeness and still
breathless, I turned to speak to him. Our lips almost brushed
together. I looked up, and our eyes locked for just a second before
he dropped my hand and turned away. I could tell from his body
language that he felt uncomfortable. Feeling embarrassed by what
could have happened; I turned to look at the swans. They met beak
to beak, creating a heart shape in the space between
them.

“
Look, Michael, that’s so
romantic. I’ve never seen such a sight,” I said excitedly, hoping
to make him feel comfortable again.

“
Yes,” he agreed, as his
eyes gazed into mine so intently that it made me speechless. It was
moments like these when I couldn’t believe he was real, standing
right in front of me.

“
Even animals are allowed
to feel love and give love,” he said sadly.

In that moment, I felt his pain, but
what did he mean by his words? I wanted to reach out to him, to
comfort him, but could I? Although I knew that he couldn’t show
human emotions toward me, instinctively I showed mine. Unsure of
what his reaction would be, I reached out and placed my hand on his
shoulder. Slowly our eyes connected and there was no need for
words. In an effort to lighten the mood, I did what I did best and
started asking a bunch of questions. We continued to move forward,
but this time we didn’t link arms. Instead, I walked beside him as
he continued to pull the bike along.

“
The snake or the fog
thingy, or whatever it was, spoke to me, didn’t it?”

“
Yes. She had the ability
to turn into whatever you fear the most.”

“
Well, she was right on
target,” I said, still confused about what had happened to me. “I
thought I was delusional.” Then I suddenly remembered she had a
name. “Why did you call her Julia?”

“
You remember her name?”
He sounded surprised. He paused and looked like he was searching
for words. “Julia was a friend, a long time ago. She was one of the
alkin officers. She turned her back on us and became a
fallen.”

“
Oh,” I said in surprise.
“What did she mean by blocking your passage?”

“
She had the power to
confuse the location of where someone is. I couldn’t find you.
Luckily, Vivian is a locator, and she has the power to pinpoint the
exact location. It took her a while, but she finally managed to
bypass Julia’s block.”

“
Wow,” I said. “I’m
grateful that you made it in time. I thought I was…dead,” I said,
trying to choose my words carefully so I wouldn’t make him feel
guilty.

“
Claudia, you don’t need
to worry about her anymore,” he said tenderly. “Her life was taken
by me.”

“
How did you kill her? I
mean, I tried to hurt her with my flashlight, but it went right
through.”

“
When she struck or
defended herself, she needed to take on a solid form. That was when
she was most vulnerable. I had to wait for that precise moment to
quickly drive the sword into her heart.”

I vaguely remembered the sound of her
cry, a painful screeching noise that I heard before I fainted. I
felt so bad, but I was glad that he made sure she would never hurt
me again. I didn’t know what to say to console him or if he even
cared that he had lost someone who was once an old
friend.

Suddenly, my mind focused on what
Margaret had said about Isaiah’s descendants. She said we didn’t
need to worry about the one because it was slim chance to none that
the one existed, since they were sure they had taken all the
forbidden children. Although I was not even in a position to
question her, I couldn’t help myself as the thought of “what if”
crossed my mind. “Hypothetically, what will happen if the fallen
find Isaiah’s descendant?”

“
The fallen cannot kill
the one. The one must give one’s soul freely. When the soul is
released by the hands of fallen, this will allow the gates of the
Halo City to be opened. There will be war, and humanity will be in
danger.”

“
Ohhh,” I said quietly.
“How will you know that the one is Isaiah’s descendant?”

“
It is said that the one
would possess a special birthmark. However, any descendant of Royal
Council members would possess this special birthmark. Only the
Royal Council, Margaret, Agnes, and Phillip know what it
is.”

“
Why only
them?”

“
It is to protect the one.
If an alkin decides to become a fallen, this information would fall
into the wrong hands. Knowing what the birthmark is for sure would
trigger the fallen to search every single human being on earth.
Imagine what that would be like. Remember, they need the one in
order to enter the Crossroads to Halo City.”

“
I see your point,” I
said, feeling goose bumps. “Why can’t the angels come down here and
find the one, if the one does exist?”

“
Angels are not allowed to
intervene with lives on Earth anymore; however, the Earth angels
that already exist in your world can, but they are limited. Their
primary roles are to help humans, guide them, and protect them.
We’re not allowed to be down here. It is one of the Ten Divine
Commandments. The angels lost that privilege when they—” he was
hesitant to say the last couple of words—“created us.” His tone was
soft, almost shameful. “Anyway, Margaret said they were sure they
had taken all of them, so we need not worry.”

Satisfied with his answer, I asked
another question that needed further explanation. “Why was Halo
City created?” I wanted to hear his side of the story.

He took a deep breath. “We didn’t want
to leave your world, nor did we want to exist in what you call
Heaven. They didn’t know what to do with us, so we made an
agreement with the Royal Council. We would be allowed to stay at
the Crossroads in Halo City. Phillip, Margaret, and Agnes were
assigned to guide us and mentor us to be more like angels rather
than humans.”

“
Do you age in your
world?”

“
Alkins remain the age we
were when we entered Halo City, but the Twelve can be whatever age
they want to be.”

“
What you are telling me
is that you’ll be young forever, and forever you will stay at Halo
City?” I asked, amazed that such a thing could be true.

“
Forever young,” he said.
“Some may think it is a curse, and some may think it is a
blessing.”

“
Which do you
think?”

“
I thought it was a curse
at first, but now I don’t know anymore. It doesn’t matter anyway.
It’s not like I can do anything about it,” he said.

“
How did you get to Halo
City? Did they come down to Earth and just do their magic thing,
and you’re gone? Or, did they kidnap you? There are so many of you.
How?” Trying to be sensitive and choose the right words, I stumbled
on my questions.

“
When the Royal Council
knew of our existence and realized there were so many of us, they
thought about cleansing the Earth and starting over again. Since
flooding was used once, they contemplated earthquake or
fire.”

“
Apocalypse,” I whispered
and gasped at the thought of what could have been.

“
Yes,” he nodded. “The end
of the world.”

“
But why? Why couldn’t we
exist together? Isn’t the Earth big enough?” I asked.

“
It isn’t about space. The
alkins would overpower humans. Eventually humanity would be
lost.”

I soaked in his words, speechless, but
Michael continued. “The Royal Council couldn’t come to terms with
what they thought was in the best interest for all, so they sent
the Twelve Angels to search for us. They appeared in our dreams and
took us. They stopped searching when they thought they had taken
all of the forbidden children.”

“
Does the Royal Council
know you are down here with me?” I asked.

“
Phillip has contacts with
the Royal Council. I don’t know what he tells them, so I don’t know
if they know I’m down here or not. I don’t ask too many questions
because I don’t particularly care for them. Don’t get me wrong. I
respect them, but it doesn’t mean I have to agree with everything
they did.”

“
You don’t like them?” I
asked.

“
They took our memories of
our life on Earth and made sure that we would not be able to stay
in your world for a long duration of time.”

My eyes widened in shock. “What do you
mean? You don’t remember your life on Earth?

“
No,” he said softly. “But
ever since I entered your world, I’ve had a couple of glimpses of
what I believe to be flashbacks of my time on Earth. They don’t
make any sense. It’s a lot like déjà vu. It doesn’t matter. It was
many lifetimes ago. I think it’s just that I want to remember, but
I can’t.”

I didn’t know what to say. What words
could I say to make it better? There were no words that seemed to
fit a situation like this. I felt so bad for him. I couldn’t
imagine not being able to remember my family and
friends.

He continued talking. “If I stay here
too long, and I don’t know what too long is…hours...days…surely not
months…I will die. I will be banished from Halo City.” He was
hesitant to say the last sentence.

I guess I wouldn’t be too fond of them
if they had erased my memory either. That would also explain why
Alexa Rose was upset when Michael had to come to our world. She
obviously knew that he couldn’t stay down here that long and was
worried for his safety. “Is Alexa Rose your sister?”

“
We are all brothers and
sisters in Halo City. We have no recollection of having any
siblings on Earth.”

“
Sorry, I forgot,” I said,
thinking I should choose my words better. “I was just wondering
because she seems very protective of you, and if I didn’t know any
better, I would think that she was your sister. She seems attached
to you.” I knew the reason why. How could anyone resist
him?

“
Yes, I’m afraid she is. I
don’t mind it at all. During the time of war, the fallen captured
many alkins, including children. I rescued her from them so I take
responsibility for taking care of her—not that anyone else
wouldn’t—but yes, she is attached to me.”

“
Since you can’t stay long
in my world, is that why I can’t stay in your world?”

“
Yes. Crossroads is like a
second Heaven, or a place between Heaven and Earth. When humans are
in a state of coma, or have near death experiences, their souls may
wander, and sometimes they drift there, but they never cross over
to Halo City.”

“
Unlike me,” I
murmured.