Destiny's Wrath (Destiny Series - Book 3) (21 page)

Max’s house sat on over two hundred acres of land, mostly wooded. We followed a path into the thick of the trees until there was scarcely more than a deer trail. We weaved in and out of trees, stumbled more than a few times on camouflaged rocks and stumps, while the silvery light from the moon made it look other worldly and inviting. The forest was thick and the trees high, but enough light shown through the tree branches to give the place a romantic aura.

Max and I walked casually through the trees, chatting a little about everything that had happened in Greenville. It felt like we had both closed that chapter of our lives and neither one of us felt the need to talk about it in any great detail. Just days ago I had hoped to use my power to bend destinies to try to fix a situation that I couldn’t. As I walked through the night-washed terrain, all felt right with the world. I felt Max’s strong hand holding mine, gently guiding me along. Not in a rush to get anywhere particular, he seemed to be leading me to an obscure area of the property. The woods were so thick that I knew I’d never been in this far, not by horse or golf cart for sure, but the area held an odd familiarity to me.

We walked into a clearing, the night-washed sky revealing a cabin that looked to be long forgotten. I stared at the lonely cabin for a while, and I looked at Max standing in the silvery light of the moon. The lonely cabin’s mortar had long since crumbled away revealing the thick logs resting on top of one another. The roof, in places, was gone, in others was caved in. Something about this cabin was enchanting, begging me to come closer.

I only wanted Max, to be held by him, and for him to tell me how much he loved me. His eyes were heavy as they looked down into mine. He cupped my face in both his hands. I felt his lips press firmly onto mine as his body pressed against me.

“
I love you, Lauren. For the first time since we met, I feel like I get to keep you, like nothing in the universe could rip you away from me.”

I felt the same, “It’s finally just us, the way you told me we would be together.”

Max shook his head and grinned, “You always say that. You’ve told me lots of times that I came to you in a dream, but you have never really told me about the dream.”

I had shared so much of my life with Max that it never occurred to me that I hadn’t told him about the dream, where he came to me and told me he was my destiny, years before I ever met him. We both sat down on a fallen tree outside the cabin, and I shared the dream that had transformed my life.

“
The first time I had the dream, it was one of those nights where the night’s illumination was so bright that the moon actually cast shadows – like tonight. I was having trouble getting to sleep, so I just kept staring out the window to see why everything was so quiet. There were no cars, no people, no barking dogs: it was as if the entire town were sleeping.

Eventually, I went to my bed and lay down. When I did, I glanced back near the window I had just looked out and saw a person sitting in my chair in the corner of my room. I was startled at first; I didn’t dare turn on the light because I thought the person in the chair was a stalker who had broken into the house or something.

After a minute or two, I heard the guy say, ‘Lauren, why are you getting all worked up?’ I didn’t say anything. He repeated himself, ‘Lau-ar-ren,’ dragging out the sound of my name, and I started to really get scared. ‘Come on, settle down. You’re going to give yourself an aneurism.’ I could see his face clearly. The stranger was you. I asked, ‘How do you know me?’ You didn’t answer me at first, so I asked, ‘What do you want?’

Then you told me, ‘Lauren, relax, I’m not here to hurt you. I just want to talk. Hear me out and I’ll leave.’

I was still thinking you were some sort of a stalker, so I tried to barter with you. I’m sure I said something lame like, ‘If you leave now, I won’t call the police. Just go, and we’ll pretend this never happened.’

Your voice got a little more stern when you told me to just calm down. By then I was still scared, but I didn’t feel like I was in any real danger, so I said, ‘Okay, I’m calm. What’s so important for you to tell me, that you are only able to share it with me in the middle of the night? I’m listening.’

I was still a little preoccupied, not sure why I was talking to a stranger in the middle of the night in my bedroom. I made eye contact; that was when I saw your eyes for the first time. Realistically you were all the way on the other side of the room, but your green eyes with brown flecks in them were just as clear that night as they are to me sitting by you tonight. You asked, ‘Lauren, do you remember what we were talking about last time? . . . Courage. Have you been working on that one?’

I didn’t even understand your question, so I asked, ‘What? Courage. What do you mean have I been working on that one?’ That’s when I got the bright idea that the conversation wasn’t really taking place, that I was asleep and having a dream, so I stepped into smart-aleck mode. ‘Courage, hmmm…Nope, can’t think of anything courageous I’ve done recently, other than hanging out with a stranger in my room in the middle of the night. I am, however, open to suggestions if you think I should bum rush you or something?’”

Max laughed out loud, “Really? You offered to tackle me? How did I take that?”

“
Pretty well. You gave me an odd look, and said, ‘A stranger?’ You looked baffled, which again made me think that this was a dream. The look you gave me made my hair stand on end, which is never a good sign. I finally answered, ‘Yes, a stranger. You act like I should recognize you. Should I?’

You laughed at me, not like a little chuckle, but a real belly-laugh, and said, ‘Well, Lauren, it’s nice to meet you. I’m your destiny.’”

Max squeezed my hand and smiled, “No way, I really just came right out and told you I was your destiny?”

“
Yep. You seemed to be enjoying yourself. Then you went into a really long speech. I had the dream so many times I know the whole speech by heart, ‘We’ve been meeting this way for years; it always amuses me how quickly you forget. I should have realized we would have to play twenty questions before we could continue. So, do you want me to start over with all the answers, or would you prefer to start with the questions?’

I didn’t say anything, so you offered, ‘Would it be okay if I got us rolling? I’m your destiny. I’m not a figment of your imagination; our physical paths have not yet crossed. They will soon, but when they do I want for you to be prepared. Before you began this life, you chose the difficulties you would be faced with throughout your natural life. Several of these
obstacles
you chose will be difficult to overcome. Many souls are not strong enough to continue on after an obstacle presents itself. They retreat into themselves or avoid it. Doing so only delays the inevitable. Each soul must learn certain things before it can
retire,
so to speak, and go to the eternal. These things you must learn are so important that choosing the wrong path will result in essentially starting over with the same obstacle a decade or so later when you are stronger or better prepared. The challenges you face in your everyday life are challenges that you chose before you were born. If you don’t learn from the obstacle the first time it presents itself, it will continue to present itself to you for as long as you live. We chose our obstacles for this life together.’

You waited for me to say something, and it was all a little hard to swallow, so I made fun of you a little and asked, ‘Alright, Destiny, is it? How are you going to help me if our, how did you put it? Our paths have never crossed?” Past lives, previous lifetimes, it all seemed like a poorly written greeting card and not anything I had ever considered possible.

‘
There are many things you must do during life. The obstacles you chose will make you better from the inside out. To grow spiritually you must have learned much as a human. These lessons come in the form of exercising good judgment, the act of being just with others and ensuring that justice is dealt out equally, being decisive when required, having unequivocal integrity, being someone whom others can wholeheartedly depend upon for support, utilizing tact to spare others unnecessary pain, taking the initiative and not letting life pass you by, enthusiastically embracing the gifts that have been levied on you.’ By the way, that was one of my favorite parts.”

“
You knew you had gifts, even back then?” Max asked, sitting here in the moonlight.

“
I knew I could read people better than most, but I’d never thought of it as a superpower or anything.

You continued with, ‘There are many things you must master. Your mastery must be more than theoretically understood. They must become a part of you through your experiences as a human. There are no short cuts. The only way one truly learns is through experience. You experience an obstacle such as a situation with no clear correct paths: maybe as a firefighter who must choose to risk his own life to save another when the likelihood of his safety is miniscule. This obstacle would help him on the path to unselfishness and decisiveness.’

I argued with you a little, ‘I understand your example, but the firefighter’s carelessness with his life may be selfless or unselfish to a stranger, but his family might look at it as foolhardiness. And that list you just rattled off, how do I know when I’ve mastered the list?’

Your smile warmed the entire room. You told me, ‘Lauren, you are an old soul. You selected five obstacles for this lifetime, four we will meet together. I come to you in your dreams so that you might lead the way to our future. When we meet, my conscious mind will not know our impending fate. Only you will be able to put us on the right path. It is imperative that we meet and join in this life. It is important for your conscious mind to know the truth so that it may guide you. You will be the only one capable of unlocking the truth in my human mind.’

I had a hard time saying it with a straight face, but I asked you, ‘Destiny, is that really your name?’

You smiled at me, which is when I saw you were just as much of a smart-ass as I am. ‘Would you prefer
fate, future, providence, divine intervention,
maybe
soul mate
? The latter tends to be overused, but if you prefer to choose another title, I am not opposed.’

‘
Well, if those are my only choices, I guess I’ll call you Destiny. I’ve got to tell you, I’ve never really been courageous in my whole life.’

Always Mr. Helpful, you told me, ‘I’m not able to provide you insight regarding the
how,
merely that you will be presented a series of challenges that will require courage. This won’t be like the courage to give a report in front of the class that you are ill-prepared for, or confessing to your mother that you just wrecked the car. This is real courage, the rip-out-your-heart-in-the-face-of-your-enemies kind of courage.’”

Max smiled, “Nice visual.”

“
I can’t take credit for it. You were the one doing all the talking. I think this was where you finally had my attention, or maybe the part where you told me I could call you Providence. I asked you, ‘Wait, you said five, what are the other four?’ I realized that I was no longer playing along, but I was hanging on your every word.

‘
Lauren, it’s vitally important, you must find me. You will not be able to find me until you are on the path to attaining courage. Once you find me, all this information that I share with you now is locked away from me, hidden in my human unconscious mind. You will have to follow your instincts, choose your paths wisely. I know you will recognize me. In all our previous lifetimes you have found me. You will have to bring me on your journey. Once you have conquered courage and we are on our journey together, other obstacles will present themselves. I will tell you what they are, but you will need my help to achieve: Empathy, Trust, Virtue and Passion.’

I could feel your presence diminishing. It was as if I were watching you disappear and blend into the darkness. When there was nothing left of you sitting there, and darkness was all that remained in the chair, I heard one final whisper, ‘Lauren, don’t forget me. You must seek me:
our
destiny depends on it.’”

“
Wow. And you said you had this dream a lot?”

“
That first night really freaked me out. I woke up the next morning, and I couldn’t shake it. It was so weird that I didn’t tell Rachael, Seth, Melissa or anyone. I just kept it to myself; it was my own little secret. But then I had the same dream, night after night. I think in four years, there were maybe thirty nights that I didn’t have it.”

“
So, when we met, there was no doubt that I was the one in your dream?”

“
In the ambulance? Ah, no, I was sure it was you. But when you didn’t recognize me, I was worried that maybe I had a chemical imbalance or something. In fact, I even asked my mom if mental illness ran in our family.”

Max was still holding my hand. I couldn’t believe all this time together I’d never shared the dream with him. Obviously, I’d told him about it, but never shared it. As I watched him, he seemed to be mulling it all over.

“
Empathy, huh?”

“
Yeah, although I’m less frightened of what that might entail, now. Maybe we’ll just have to help out a homeless guy or something.”

Max, My Destiny, still holding both my hands, caressed my knuckles with his thumbs and stared deep into my eyes, “Lauren, you don’t ever have to be frightened of anything again. There’s a lot that I don’t know, but I do know there is never going to be anything like Samael that we’ll have to stand up to. I think it’s finally just you and me.”