Destine (The Watcher's Trilogy) (12 page)

             
When I finally reached my front door I resigned mys
elf to not think about this any
more tonight
.
I was exhausted
. I
t had been a terrible week at school with the whole Cami problem, and the excitement I had felt about me
eting Gabriel was replaced by
mental exhaustion now that I knew he was a nut
.
I slipped in the back door
,
expecting Dad to already be asleep, and hopefully Mom would be
,
too
.
I threw my jacket over a chair in the kitchen and was going to slip through the living room to my bedroom when I noticed the television was still on
.
I went into the living room to turn it off
, and that’s when I noticed my m
other was still up
.
She was usually in bed by now
.
I walked over and switched off the
TV
and was about to help
her to bed when she shot off
the couch
.

“He told you!” she shouted
.
“
It’s
starting.
The trumpet is sounding, truth is upon us,
and the
Judgment
Day nears!
”
She caught me so off guard that I stumbled backwards and almost landed square on my butt
.
The racket must have w
o
ke
n
Dad up
because I saw a light come on do
wn the hall
.
“The first seal is broken, the white horse is here
.
Protect yourself!
”

“Mom, Mom! Calm down
,
it’s just me, Michelle
.
I was going to help you to bed,” I attempted to calm her down
.

Just then Dad
appeared at the end of the hall. “What are you still doing up,
h
on
?” he asked
.
He put his arm around her shoulders and began to steer her towards the bedroom
.

She jerked out of
his grasp and turned back to me.
“Wear your necklace, it
’
s protection
.
Don’t remove it!
”
And just like that she turned back around and let my father le
a
d her to bed without another word
.
Dad glanced behind her and gave me an apologetic, sad smile
.
I
took several deep breaths to calm my racing heart and turned to head to bed myself
.
Something told me I wasn’t going to be able to forget about Gabriel
or
my mother, and I probably wouldn’t be getting much sleep tonight either
.

             
I finally fel
l into a restless sleep around four
a
.
m
.
The dream started well enough
.
I was standing alone on the school football field
, t
he stadium lights were on the field, but the bleachers and surrounding areas were black with night
.
I was standing on the fifty-yard line alone, as if I was waiting for someone
.
I turned towards the sideline and out of the darkness stepped Gabriel
.
He was dressed entirely in white, and his clear ice colored eyes seemed to pierce my skin
.
He
slowly
began w
alking towards me with that
lop-sided smirk of his
.
As he stepped onto the field the stadium lights cast a shadow behind him; attached to the shadow of his body was a dark shadow of wings
,
huge and outstretched
.
The shadow was clear and unmistakable and the wings spanned several feet on either side of him
.
He continued to walk towards me as if he didn’t notice the shadow and he began to speak.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” he whispered in a voice that didn’t quite sound like the voice I knew as Gabriel’s
.
He was still at least fifteen
feet away, but I co
u
ld hear his whisper as if
it
directly in my ear
.
C
hills ran up my spine
.
“I was told to guide you and convince you of your destiny, but I was not told where to find you,” he continued
.
“I searched
the great cities of the past, the religious
Mecca’s
, and then I came to this new world
.
I knew not where to go, but with the breaking of the first seal and the release of the white horse I knew that this is where you would be.
”

I stood and stared at him
.
I was in awe of both his physical appearance and the words he was speaking
.
He had been
looking for me
?
Why
?

“I appeared to your m
other while she was pregnant with you, and told her that you would be special
.
I told her that you had a very important destiny, but I did not know truly where on earth you lived
.
I assumed a being of such importance would live in a great city of the past, but as with everything my father does I was surprised
.
Almost as surprised as I was when I discovered the boy named Michael I searched for was a girl named Michelle
.
Just because we reside in heaven does not mean we see all.
”

“What are you talking about?” I
finally managed to blurt out
.
“What destiny
?
”

“The destiny that your m
other has known about since the day of your birth
,
t
he destiny that she has been attempting to save you from
. Y
ou will have to sacrifice yourself to save humanity
.
If you fail and all seven seals are broken it means the end of humanity and this world.
”

“This is just a dream. I can wake up from this insanity anytime I want
.
I don’t believe you!”

“Yes, this is just
a dream, but you can
not wake up under your own will
.
I
am not myself in person
.
I thought I would better explain things this way; you cannot wake up until I allow it
.
My brother and I have been forbidden to
interfere
in your
Judgment
Day by our Father, but our Father also demanded we love your kind
above all else
and protect you
.
So we did, we loved you and protected your kind as our
Father
asked and now he
asks
us to watch
idly
as your kind is
destroyed
.
We could not!
I had
to act, I had to interfere, but the conse
quence of disobeying my Father wa
s severe, especially for our kind
.
He cast me from heaven after he fo
und out that I had warned your m
other of your futur
e, but he could not send me to h
ell as he did Lucifer because my disobedience was done out of love
,
not envy or hatred
.
I was sent to Earth to live in human form
, permanently stuck; not ag
ing, not changing, and always remembering the glories of heaven I relinquished to help your kind
.
The tattoo on my back a constant reminder of the splendor I left behind
.
One thing I gained is
what my Father valued most about your kind, free will
.
I
cannot
be controlled
, I am no
longer a
pawn in my Father’s games, but
you have free will as well
.
I
cannot
force
you to meet your destiny
.
I can only present your path.
”
He bowed slightly and began walking backwards
towards
the darkness
.

“Wait! I still don’t know what I’m suppose to do!” I yelled to him
.
As Gabriel
dissipated
into the darkness, a
white light blazed in my
peripheral
vision
.
I turne
d to see Alex C
hase
standing on the opposite sideline, lit as if he glowed from the inside out
.
I was about to
ask him what he was doing here
when he sneered at me
,
baring his teeth
.
The light seemed to intensify all around me and then burn out all at o
nce;
I was suddenly in complete darkness
.

I sat up breat
hing hard, and staring into the pitch black
that surrounded me.
I was home, in bed, alone
.
My heart was racing and I was sweating, but it was only a dream
.
I glanc
ed at the clock and it read four
a
.
m
.
How could that be
?
I was only asleep for five
minutes
, but i
t felt like hours I was in the dream
.
I pee
ked out the blinds on my window and saw the morning was already gray with the promise of
t
he
soon
to rise
sun
.
I swung my feet of
f
the side of my bed
and sat up
.
I was definitely not getting anymore sleep tonight
.
I was going to shower, get dress
ed, and then
I was going to see Cami
. I had had enough
.

As I showered and dressed I couldn’t help but wonder if I was on the same mental downward spiral my mother had already plummeted down
.
After all, crazy people don’t think they’re crazy
.
They think the rest of us are fools for not seeing what they see
.
Maybe instead of having to worry about homecoming and
the potential end of the world
I could finish my high school career in a nice padded room, complete with a stylish straight jacket
.
This was all just too insane, and clearly I had been reading too many science fiction and fantasy novels
.
My imagi
nation was running away with me;
proof and point
,
the weird dream I had just had
.
I kept going round and round in my own head, telling myself I was just stressed and overly imaginative, but deep down I had a strange feeling
.
It was the same feeling you get on a roller coaster right before it tips over the edge and starts plunging towards the ground
.
That feeling of total helplessness where all you can do is brace yourself
.

I had to kill several hours before I could go to Cami’s house
.
She probably
wouldn’t be up much before ten
a
.
m
.
I took my time dressing and drying my hair
before
I went downstairs and made coffee
.
I drank three cups
o
f gloriously caffeinated coffee, and ate a bowl of frosted flakes
.
At eight
I couldn’t take it anymore
,
I was restless and I had to move
.
I
grabbed a light jacket and headed for the door
.
The weather was starting to cool, and the morning air had a slight crispness to it
.
I turned and automatically began heading towards Spruce Street
.
I
walked
at a slow stroll
,
I was in no
hurry and it felt good to get out of my claustrophobic house
.
I needed some air to clear my head
.
U
nconsciously
,
m
y hand went up
to the necklace that hung
around my neck
.
I didn’t believe what my m
other ha
d said, but I couldn’t help
putting the necklace on when I got dressed this morning
.
It was suppose
d
to be protection, and true or not
,
what could it really hurt
?