Godforsaken: Book 1 (Shade of Light) (14 page)

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The narrow pathway stretched out into a
dense white fog, and the end laid ahead, unseen. Samael, wearing
only the jeans he had put on in Lily’s home, walked into the fog
with a meditative air. The trees were waving in unison, and a gust
of wind that came out from the fog to meet Samael. It flung white
leaves into the air and brought them to him, and the leaves circled
around him like a tornado.

Quietly, Samael continued on his way, and
entered the white cloud. As he moved farther into it the scenery
changed; the trees swayed to one side and an opening unfurled in
front of him. The sky was filled with golden sunlight, blazing
above Samael and making him shine like a walking diamond. The grass
under his feet receded, forcing the pathway to extend, and it led
to an abyss beyond the opening.

With white leaves soaring around him, Samael
continued walking to the edge. The sky was perfect, but the ground
was hazy, the wind grew stronger and stronger with his every
step.

Samael’s eyes were narrowed and gleaming.
Regardless of his calmness, his insides were waving like an angry
ocean in dark weather. But Samael didn’t rush ahead, didn’t cry out
to free the bile out of his chest, he restrained it within him. He
was like a bomb on the edge of going off.

“My angel,” spoke a soft but clear voice.
The sound made Samael stop. He didn’t flinch, didn’t turn his head
to look at the creature who had dared to stand in his way.

A tall creature, wearing a long, gray
cassock and a hook on his head, was approaching Samael from behind.
It was unclear if the creature was walking or gliding over the
ground. When it was two steps away from Samael, the gray winged man
squinted back over his shoulder. He could see the creature’s thin
face, and its huge, scary eyes.

Lifting its hands, the creature’s long thin
fingers slid out from under the cassock. It laced them together
before bowing to Samael, and spoke tonelessly, “They already have
her, and are going to the country as you boded.”

Samael didn’t reply or give any sign that
he'd heard its words. He tore his eyes off the creature, growled
softly in a show of anger, and started forward toward the edge.

Looking down into the abyss, it wasn’t clear
whether Samael was standing on the top of a mountain or on the very
edge of the world. As soon as he reached the edge, his surroundings
made themselves apparent: the sky was full of bright golden clouds
that soared beneath him. It was beautiful in an unearthly way; the
golden fog was moving slowly under Samael’s feet. He could have
bent forward, stretched out his hand and reached out for the
miracle streaming before him, but his wicked eyes showed only his
indifference. His eyes were seeking the mystery going on beneath
that miracle.

Samael lifted his right hand above the
clouds, and in no time at all, the calmness beneath changed into
disorder. The golden color changed to gray, the wind increased in
strength, the clouds began to twist, and lightning pierced through
the air to strike the ground under his feet. Samael’s eyes twitched
then, staring down at the new hole in the clouds. Through the hole,
Samael inspected Earth in search of Lily. Only his eyes were sharp
enough to make out something in that far distance. It was like
looking down at Earth from a spaceship – beautiful Earth, the home
of mankind, and the border between Heaven and Hell.

His hand lowered slowly. Samael proceeded to
gaze down unblinkingly, but the air around his bare chest began
gathering itself together. In some seconds his back was engulfed by
gray smoke, which increasingly expanded to form two angelic
wings.

Samael opened them wide. They were very
long, each one two times greater than his height. He beat them and
the ground quaked. He waved them and the grass rustled. Dust rose
into the air, and the wind took it down into the whirl of clouds
beneath.

Samael bent forward completely, hanging in
mid-air like some immovable object, then folded the wings on his
back and fell down into the clouds.

It was light outside, but the sun was still
hiding behind the horizon. The new day was emerging slowly, and
Lily's life wouldn’t be the same anymore.

Lily stared ahead into the blueness of the
sky. Her mind was farther away than the endless space above.
Why
was she so important? She was the key? What for? Why her?
There
were so many questions that needed answers, but Beelzebub, who was
sitting next to her, seemed unwilling to tell her anything anymore.
If he had come to rescue her, then why was he keeping these secrets
from her?

“Where are we going now?” Lily tore her eyes
away from the sky.

“To a safe place,” Beelzebub replied with a
mutter.

“Yeah, I see, but where is that place?” She
demanded.

“Why are you nervous?” Beelzebub grinned at
her, but it was a forced smile. “I’m taking you to the place you’ve
belonged since you were born.”

“I see we’re out of the city now,” she
noticed, glancing out the window. “You didn’t tell me it was going
to be so far away.”

“I didn’t tell you anything about that,
Lily. I just told you to trust me. What’s happened to make you so
curious now?”

“If you've come here to help me, then why do
you keep secrets from me?” she grumbled.

“Secrets?” Beelzebub laughed. “I don’t have
secrets. What do you want to know?”

“I’ve already told you,” Lily sniffed. “I
want to know where are we going?”

“I believe you know the answer yourself.” He
looked on as Lily's expression shifted. Why did she suddenly
remember her dreams about the prince wearing white clothes taking
her to a garden? “Yes, I’m talking about him,” Beelzebub attested,
as though he had read her mind. Lily peered at him, wondering if
she had thought aloud. “You know he’s waiting for you. You saw him
in your dreams, you knew he would find you.”

“Who is he?” Lily asked with a low voice. If
Beelzebub was telling her the truth, then she was going to see the
prince who had been dogging her in her dreams for all her life. But
she had longed for Samael even before meeting him. That green-eyed
man had changed everything in her world. That man was the man whom
she was running away from now.

“He’s your past and future,” Beelzebub said.
“You belong to each other. You always did, but the man sitting up
there,” he pointed up, “thought differently. And do you know
why?”

He bent close to her and whispered, “Because
he doesn’t know what real love is. He doesn’t know the passion, the
moment when two bodies become as one.”

Beelzebub smiled with a supercilious look,
letting Lily take her time. She tilted her eyes down, diving deep
into her thoughts and considering his words. Then the answer popped
into her head briefly, and it dawned on her that somebody had
planted the idea in her head.

Lily’s eyes got wide involuntarily when she
raised them to glance at Beelzebub. “You’re not an angel, are you?”
she said, her voice barely a whisper.

“I told you I was
some kind
of
angel,” he corrected her. “We’re the same creatures, but we have
different goals. Before jumping to conclusions, let me show you the
world, the future you will have. You deserve to at least see what
belongs to you, something the guys up there won’t give you, no
way.”

“You’re taking me to hell, aren’t you?” Lily
asked desperately.

“Hell?” Beelzebub laughed loudly. “You’ve
got a false impression about that place. You think it’s a scary
place in fire and full of tortured souls?”

“Isn’t it?” Lily cut him off.

Beelzebub glared at her, taking some time to
gather his thoughts. “Listen, Lily,” he began. “It’s about
politics; the place you call Hell, or the residents of it. Look at
me, do I look like the devil you used to see on TV, or in fantasy
films? Tell me, when you look at me, do you see a scary face, or
red eyes, or black skin and ugly wings on my back? Do I blow fire
out through my nose?”

Lily kept silent. For some seconds she
couldn’t believe she wasn’t dreaming. Soon Nancy’s voice would wake
her up, and Beelzebub, Samael, and even the car she was in now
would vanish into the depths of her dream. But nothing was
happening, Nancy’s voice was silent, and she was left alone with
this eerie creature, the devil or whoever.

“Lily, you really have nothing to worry
about. You’ll be a princess, you’ll see I’m right. You’ve always
been waiting for him, you just didn’t know it yet.”

Lily peeked up at his black and gleaming
eyes. She knew that half of her believed Beelzebub, and that half
helped her not to panic and sit tight. She had accepted this trip
to find out who the man from her dreams was. But the other part
ordered her to wake herself from this nightmare. Just the other
morning she hadn’t had any clue about angels and devils or any
other world except the typical life people live.

She tucked her hair behind her ear and
glanced out the window. Who knew, maybe it was her last dawn she
was seeing along the blue horizon. The sun seemed very lazy to her
today, like it wasn’t going to show its beautiful body as soon as
Lily hoped.

In contrast to it, she saw a blaze swooping
out of the depths of dark space and down into the atmosphere. It
was too fast to be followed by human eyes, but Beelzebub’s eyes
caught it. Before Lily could let out any noise, Beelzebub turned to
the driver and howled:

“Stop the car! Now!”

The driver slammed on the brakes. Lily was
thrown against the seat in front of her. She hadn’t much time to
wonder what was going on and why the falling object had made
Beelzebub stagger and change the plans.

“Stay in the car!” he ordered her, and
leaped out.

As the door of the car swung open, Lily felt
a strong wind breaking in and ruffling her hair. She turned to look
out again and saw the falling object changing its trajectory,
bending toward the cars. It wasn’t a meteorite, someone was
controlling its movements. A missile?
I live in a different
world,
Lily thought to herself, and an abrupt thought washed
over her–
an ANGEL
.

Holding her breath, she reached for the
handle and opened the door. In a second, she leaped out the car.
The strong wind found her quickly. The dust blowing up from the
ground possessed her, and she closed her eyes.

“You two,” she heard Beelzebub’s yell while
she cupped her face with her hands, “stay with her. Protect
her.”

In no time Lily felt two hands catching her
arms. She opened her eyes and two bouncers leaped into her view,
standing on both her sides, but she didn’t care about them now.

The fiery thing rushed down, coloring the
sky above them fire-orange. Lily peeked up to follow the
unbelievable phenomenon. It fell far from them, but the moment
before it hit the ground, its momentum slowed considerably and it
landed much more softly than she expected it would.

The ground quaked as the feet of the
creature within the fire hit the asphalt. A shockwave of air
exploded out around the impact, almost knocking Lily down, but the
guards kept her on her feet. The asphalt shattered, spreading
toward the cars before stopping just in front Lily. Puffs of dust
arose. The creature’s landing sounded like thunder.

Lily peered around in astonishment. It was
really unbelievable how much was going on around her. Dust filled
the air, building a wall between her, Beelzebub and the others.
Lily’s heart fluttered as she recognized the creature being
released from the clouds. It was barefoot and bare chested, with
malice-filled green eyes darting around at the people close to it.
It was Samael, the devil who had once been banished out hell. Lily
didn’t care who Samael had used to be, devil or angel or just an
average man. When he appeared, she felt hope and protection.

Seeing Samael, Lily seemed to forget
everything Beelzebub had told her about him. Her heart began
beating, and life came back into her soul. Samael’s presence
possessed her with its magical charm. He was the one who could make
her legs tremble, make time would stop for her, make her unable to
control herself every time they met.

For the first time, Lily didn’t think she
was crazy about the surreal happenings going on before her eyes.
Like an eagle, Samael opened his large, gray wings. He knelt down
on one knee, leaning against the asphalt, his hair scattered around
his face, but she could see his eyes clearly despite it. The pupils
were blown wide against the greenness of his irises, and Lily had
never seen such gloriousness before. Should she be scared? No, she
knew for sure that behind those eyes hid the man who would rescue,
protect and love her.
Wouldn’t he?

Beelzebub stood motionless, statue-like, his
savage eyes locked on the fallen creature. The others gathered
around him, like bodyguards ready to defend him with their lives.
Kali came forward and stood a step ahead of him, balling his hands
into fists.

“You have no right to use your power upon
Earth, Samael,” Beelzebub growled.

Lily peered uncomprehendingly at him, then
at Samael, then again at Beelzebub.

“Release the girl,” Samael announced, but
not in the way one normally speaks. His mouth remained shut, and
his voice didn’t come out of his throat. Instead, it sounded in
Lily’s head, like Samael was inside her. She studied the others,
wondering whether they had heard him, too.

“Why should I?” Beelzebub said. Clearly she
wasn't the only one who had heard Samael's proclamation. “You have
no right to demand that. And even if you had, I haven’t kidnapped
her by any means. She joined me willingly.” Lily knew he was right,
but now she regretted that choice, and was ready to get away from
him as soon as possible.