Enigma of the Soul - Book 1 - Pieces (7 page)

“You will not leave this room. This room will be your prison, and I will never give up on keeping you here. You are the one that shall die here, not me,” A child's voice echoes throughout the room, making Dark Dimitri angrier.

“Why do you play these games with me? Come and face me! Face your destruction as I rip you apart to join the last pieces of my soul together,” Dark Dimitri puts both hands on the jade mirror. His voice lowers to a whisper, “Come out, come out, where ever you are.”

A child slowly appears in the jade stone mirror looking deep into Dark Dimitri's eyes, “You shall never pass. I will never let you out of this room. You are something that has been created by a lost soul. I wished I never created you. I will die before I ever let you out.”

Two hands stretch out from the jade mirror and grab Dark Dimitri to pull him into the jade mirror.

“It’s not going to be that easy child,” Dark Dimitri grabs the arms and pulls him out of the mirror into the room.

Belial sees a child lying on the floor face down with his back to him. The child turns his head to look at Belial, and he sees a young Dimitri who cannot be more than six years old. Dark Dimitri grabs the child by the hair and pulls him to his feet. As psychotic laughter fills the cold room, Belial watches the child-created demonic soul torture its innocent child's soul. Belial stands there debating
whether to interfere. Nothing like this ever happened when he led someone to see inside their own soul. Dark Dimitri throws young Dimitri across the room, making his body slam into the obsidian mirror. A whimper comes out of the child’s mouth as he hits the floor. Dark Dimitri races over to kick and stomp him, and he laughs. Young Dimitri cries for help as his little body becomes weaker and weaker with each hit.

'I am not going to let this happen,' Belial thinks to himself.

As he charges Dark Dimitri, Belial transforms into his demonic form pulling out his claws to dig them into dark Dimitri's back. Dark Dimitri continues to laugh as he stomps not noticing what is coming up behind him. Belial is a foot away from dark Dimitri's back when he moves out of the way, letting Belial's claws smash into the black obsidian mirror. Cracking sounds and demonic screams echo throughout the room, as Belial slams into the obsidian mirror. Dark Dimitri puts his knee in Belial's back and grips his wings, trying to rip them off. Screams and tearing sounds come from Belial. Young Dimitri crawls out from under Belial standing up to face the other two. Chanting fills the room as young Dimitri moves his hands around in circles creating a white glowing ball in front of him. Dark Dimitri glances at young Dimitri in time to see a white burst hit him knocking him off Belial.

“Get off of him! I will not let you hurt Belial!” young Dimitri stands, panting, trying to regain his strength as his right arm is glowing gold along the outlines of the different puzzle pieces that make up his body. The soul blast took a lot out of him, but he knows that this will not be the last.

Belial falls over a couple of times as he tries to stand up. Young Dimitri rushes to help Belial, keeping a close eye on Dark Dimitri. Dark Dimitri brushes himself off and stands up as he begins to laugh again. Blood leaks from the tears in Belial’s skin around his wings. Belial knows what he must do to win this battle. Young Dimitri glances at Belial and nods his head to confirm that he is ready. Dark Dimitri waves his hand to taunt them. Belial and young Dimitri charge Dark Dimitri knowing this could be the end.

Dark Dimitri slips between the two, grabbing their hands to twist their arms together and make them collide together. Belial falls back as he watches Dark Dimitri flip young Dimitri around like a rag doll. Young Dimitri gains his balance for a split second and punches Dark Dimitri in the gut, cracking his outer shell. Flowing throughout the inside Dark Dimitri’s body is different colored puzzle pieces that are the lifeblood to Dark Dimitri’s soul. Dark Dimitri screams in pain as young Dimitri puts his hand inside the hole and Dark Dimitri’s lifeblood flows out. Belial shakes off the blow to his head to see what young Dimitri is doing. Young Dimitri looks over at his jade mirror and commands the door to open.

“Thank you for all that you have done, Belial. Now you must leave, but remember me. Remember what has happened here and who I was in the end. Go now before it is too late,” Young Dimitri smiles at Belial.

Belial stumbles out of the mirrored room into the picture room. The pictures hanging on the walls are torn or empty. The room is a shell of its former glory. Only twenty-three feet separate Belial from freedom. Belial begins to feel faint with every step that he takes. A weak hand grabs his shoulder seven feet away from the exit door causing Belial to turn. Dark Dimitri stands in front of Belial with tears all over his skin showing the puzzle pieces within him.

“You will not…” Dark Dimitri mumbles.

Young Dimitri appears from nowhere and pushes Belial out of the room into the emptiness that brought the both of them there. Belial turns and looks to see young Dimitri tearing into Dark Dimitri’s chest with his fingers. Thousands of puzzle pieces burst everywhere as Dark Dimitri crumbles. Small pieces speckle young Dimitri.

The child stands at the door facing Belial.

“Remember what happened here and what you saw. Good-bye, my friend, for my time is up,” Young Dimitri falls apart. The doorway becomes black and fades away.

Belial sits with his head in his hands as his blood seeps from around his wing sockets. He cries because an innocent child just gave up his soul to save his damned, demon soul.

“There are different planes of existence just as there are different souls. Each soul is unique in its own way. Some are strong while others are frayed and ready to fall apart at any time. Nevertheless, each soul has a purpose, a goal it must achieve before it gets to go onto the next level. A soul can be strengthened over time or can be shattered into millions of pieces, drifting in the void of existence. Sometimes these pieces of souls can bump into each other and combine to make larger pieces of a new soul. If enough pieces combine, a new soul is born, NOT by man and women, or by an Angel or demon or Djinn, or even Me. This soul is a lost soul that must find its place on its own or be destroyed by a higher power. Sometimes I step in to undo what occurred accidentally, and sometimes I sit back to see what will happen.”

God

On David's twentieth birthday, he decides to go fishing by himself. He remembers when he and his family would go to the river to have a picnic and before everything happened,. His father would help him and his brothers set up their fishing poles. Sometimes, the worm jumped off the hook and scared one of his older brothers. David knew that they were always playing around. In the past, he and his older brothers would take a couple of worms and scare their sisters. David's mother would spread out the picnic blanket then set up lunch for everyone. His father built a campfire to cook the day's catch. If he and his brothers were tried of fishing, they played games along the side of the river's grassy bank.

David sat on the same grassy bank he use to as a child wishing that he was back with his family. He stares into the great void of his past imagining his father and mother playing with him, his sister, and brothers.

A swirling white light, shaped as a cube with a figure hidden within it, appears across the river. The cube slowly disappears. Snow starts falling, covering the ground around it. A hooded figure shakes off the snow covering his cloak. Two hands pull back the hood to reveal a face hard to make out from across the river. The figure looks down at the snow-covered ground and shakes its head. David watches the figure walk around, as it looks puzzled to its situation. The figure does not notice David sitting on the bank of the river across from where it is standing.

David wonders if he should speak up or not. Then David notices that he has a bite and might have a fish. He slowly pulls back on the pole trying not to disturb the figure’s concentration. He slowly reels in the fish but it fights back and makes a splash in the water, alerting the figure to David’s present. The figure turns its head looking straight at David, and the fish then disappears before David's eyes.

“Where did that person go?” David looks around while pulling the fish closer.

“I think that you mean: Where did who go?”

David turns around to see Merlin standing right behind him. They both smile at each other. The fish flops around some more then tries to get away from David's fishing pole.

“Do you need some help with that fish?” Merlin points at the fish flopping around on the fishing pole.

“Only if you can get it to the campfire over there,” David nods his head backwards.

“Sure, no problem,” Merlin says with a smile. He holds out one of his hands and creates a force field around the fish. The fish stops moving and becomes calm. Merlin walks over to the campfire and sets the fish down beside it. David stands next to Merlin in awe.

“Would you care to stay for lunch? I have two fish now, and I would be more than happy for the company,” David points at the other fish hidden in the basket.

“Sure, I would love too. I just got back from a long trip, and I am famished,” Merlin rubs his stomach.

Over the next hour David and Merlin talk about everything and nothing at the sametime. One question that David is dying to ask Merlin again. The two become quite as the conversation dies down and both stare deeply into the fire.

David breaks the silence, “Can I come live with you? I really do not have anywhere else to go. I promise that I will not be any bother to you. I will keep your home clean. Please let me stay with you!”

“I am sorry, but I cannot take you in. No one has been to my island or my house. I am very sorry, but the answer is no.” Merlin says with a heavy heart at not being able to tell him why.

“Then let me be your apprentice,” David tries a different angle.

“I cannot do that either. Like I told you before, there is only one of me, and there is a very good reason for that,” Merlin knows that he must leave now. He bids David farewell and disappears. David is left a campfire to look up at the clouds, guessing which one looks like what shape.

A couple of hours later, the fire dies down and night sets in. David gathers his belongings and heads back to the neighbor’s home where he is staying.

Thinking about the conversation with Merlin, David wonders, ‘What is he hiding? So he is a grand wizard. So what? Something is not right.’

A thunderous crash in front of David shakes the trees around him. Excitement and fear race throughout his body. David stops in his tracks as he looks ahead to see anything unusual. A faint, fiery glow appears through the dark forest where the crashing noise came from. David rushes to the spot thinking that someone is in trouble. He finds something he was not ready for. It is a fallen phoenix. David freezes at the sight of it. The phoenix lies dying looking back at David with its helpless eyes. David carefully walks over to the phoenix and kneels next to it.

David rambles as he glazes into the phoenix’s eyes as it becomes hard to look away.

“You lie here dying in front of me as I sit here slowly dying on the inside in front of you. I wish you could talk. I wish that you could tell me about what it is like to fly, to soar above all the suffering. I wish that you could regenerate me and heal all of the scars that plague me now. Yes, I have heard that phoenix's tears and blood could heal. You are lucky to be reborn from the fire. I died a little bit in a fire, only to wake up in a nightmare. It would be so fun to go places that you have gone. Your life is so much better than mine because you are free.”

David reaches down not caring about the flames coming from the phoenix's wings. He holds that phoenix close to him as he starts to cry remembering everything that has happened to him in his own life up to now.

“I would love to join with you so we can be one.”

With that last word, the phoenix looks up at David and winks.

David and the phoenix rise into the air. A whirling wind begins to create a funnel underneath them and lifts them up higher. The funnel becomes a class five twister that has lighting shooting out from it. As David watches the twister, he and the phoenix unite into a new dimension. Their actions do not distress any of the countryside around them. The phoenix becomes ashes that disappear in the twister. David looks at his hand and arm as they begin to glow. Tiny puzzle pieces form all over his body. Some are black; some are white; some are red, but all have golden lines separating the pieces from each other. David sees a golden phoenix with silver outlined puzzle-like pieces forming all over its body in front of him. David hears a voice say.

“We shall become one.”

Then he feels his soul tearing into puzzle pieces. David looks down and sees himself still holding the phoenix in his arms. He notices that there are pieces arranged from largest to smallest and some in between. Each piece of David's soul is joining with a piece from the phoenix's soul to create a new multi-colored piece. Then the new pieces begin to reassemble themselves to create a new David and phoenix soul. The last thing that David sees before blacking out is a knight with phoenix wings.

“Water get me hot water! And lots of it now!” Nicklaus Turner screams at the top of his lungs. His wife, Halie, is lying in their elaborate bed breathing heavily with her doctor holding her wrist as he checks her pulse.

The bedroom is filled with over-sized cabinets and dressers, overflow with warm clothing from local shops, gifts from their first wedding anniversary. Their home is filled with presents from their many friends and some of the businesses they help every day.

Bijou, the maid, has been with the Turner family since their first child was born. Paddington, the butler, came into their family two months after the second child was born. Both would do anything for the Tuner family.

Bijou and Paddington rush out into the hallway and race towards the kitchen. Turning the corner, Paddington barely misses the midwife, Engla. She is carrying a pot of hot water and heading back to the bedroom.

“There is more heating on the stove,” Engla yells back at the two as she rushes into the bedroom.

Upon entering, she asks the doctor and Nicklaus, “How is she doing?”

“She is holding up pretty good,” Nicklaus Turner replies.

“It is almost time,” Doctor Markram says.

Halie lets out a sigh and starts to shed tears of joy for the birth of another Turner.

Contractions start again followed by a shriek loud enough to startle their kids playing in the backyard.

“This will be your fifth child?” Doctor Markram asks Nicklaus.

“Yes, it will be! It doesn't look very good now because she has been bedridden for almost the entire pregnancy. It has been an up and down ride this time. But I am not worried because God is on our side,” He puts a warm, damp towel on his wife's head and kisses her cheek.

The housekeeper and butler enter with towels draped over each of their shoulders. They race into the room with a couple of pots of hot water. The housekeeper nods at the butler in confirmation that they have not forgotten anything.

Standing and watching, invisible to the human eye, the Archangel Elijah waits for the birth of this new baby.

Engla announces, “Doctor, it is time. I can see the baby's head starting to poke through.”

“Good! Let's have another safe delivery,” The doctor turns his head at Halie. “Are you ready?”

Halie nods her head as a tear runs down her cheek. 'This is just like my first-born child. God this hurts.’

Engla looks up at Halie, “Now, dear, every time that you feel one of those contractions coming on I want you to push with all of your might. Take all that pain and concentrate on pushing this baby out.”

Halie nods her head at Engla as she starts to breathe faster. Revving herself up for the part of being pregnant she hates. Nicklaus bends over and kisses his wife's forehead.

“I love you and always will,” whispers in her ear. Her breathing gets heavier than she lets out a scream.

“Good, now push with all of your might,” Doctor Markram says.

Halie screams.

“Good. Now another,” Engla yells.

‘God give me the strength and please let this be a healthy baby,’ Halie prays in her head.

“Here we go,” the words fall out of Halie’s mouth.

“You are doing great. The head is almost out. One more good push and we will have a healthy baby,” Engla replies.

'This hurts like hell!' Halie thinks.

“You’re doing great; I love you, just a bit more...” Nicklaus squeezes her hand. Halie is exhausted and on the verge of passing out. With one final push, Halie and Nicklaus hear the sweet sound of a baby’s cries.

“Congratulations! You have a new baby boy!” Engla tells the proud new parents. “What is his name?”

“David,” Nicklaus replies as he reaches down to pick up his new baby boy. Halie’s legs collapse on to the bed like Jell-O. Nicklaus brings David over to meet his mother for the first time.

“See that lovely young woman laying right there. That is your mother. She is very happy to see you as so your bothers and sisters. You are the fifth child that we have, and I think that you are the cutest one yet.”

“Nicklaus, please don’t give him a complex just yet. He hasn’t been in the world for more than a couple of minutes,” She reaches for David to hold him for the first time. “Come to Mommy.”

“Baby boy, David Turner, born at 08:08 p.m., on the night of the sixth, a Saturday, in the year 1500. You got that Engla?” Doctor Markram says.

Engla writes the information down, “Yes.”

Archangel Elijah looks David over, ‘Maybe, we will just have to wait and see.’

Then she vanishes with no one knowing that she was even there.