Finding Maggie

Chapter Fifty - Atonement of the Flesh

Chapter Fifty - Atonement of the Flesh 

 “Maggie, are you in there?” Mikhail called through the door after several unanswered attempts at knocking.

“Just a moment, please.” Maggie answered back as she scrambled to hide the maids and several Lessers into her large, walk-in closet. Dressed in one of the most luxurious, gold plated dresses she could ever have imagined to exist, it took a large amount of effort to simply move let alone rush around silly-nilly the way she was. The dress dragged across the floor several feet behind her, giving off a rather loud rustling noise of which she was sure that Mikhail could hear. “I'm not proper!” She shouted as the last of the Lessers disappeared and she was finally able to close the closet door tight.

Finally, Maggie opened the door to the hall, letting her eyes rove over Mikhail for a moment too long before finding her senses and inviting him in. “Please, sit.” She stated. “Wherever you like.”

“Considering this is my castle, I find it a little condescending that you think it necessary to offer such a thing. But, thank you.” Mikhail smirked back as he took a seat at the small writing desk situated in the nearest corner. Maggie blushed but decided not to feed his pompousness with an answer.

“Is there something you needed? It's rather late in the evening.” While it was true that the evening was setting in, they both knew that night and day had little effect on the world of Hell. Still, she couldn't help but think back to their last conversation, well argument really, well over a week prior. Needless to say, they hadn't ended on the best of terms.

“Time is of little concern to me, but I'll be brief, I came to apologize.”

“Oh? Another Mikhail apology where you say it because you know that's what I want to hear. I'll pass.”

Mikhail ignored her snide remark and continued on. “Once more, you have proven yourself true and again I find myself in the wrong.” Maggie was listening but decided to let him speak. If he was truly apologizing, then she wanted to hear it without interruptions. “When you collapsed in the Fields I thought I had lost you again. Just like Purgatory but far, far worse. And when I stood over your bed for days, watching you turn blue . . .” He paused to steady his breath for fear of letting Maggie see just how hard it was for him to keep his composure. “I didn't know you were in Heaven when I went there. I didn't know where you were at all. I thought maybe the souls of the Fields had swept you away. It wasn't my intent to chase you back here, Maggie. Not at all.”

“You are not separating my children.” She answered sternly, crossing her arms against her chest as best as she could in such a ridiculous dress.

Mikhail shook his head slowly. “That wasn't my intent either.” The more he spoke the more silly he thought he sounded. No wonder Maggie was livid with him. “Yes, I told Israfil he would share the twins. But I swear, Maggie, I swear on everything I've ever held dear that I didn't write that letter.”

“And I want to believe you. But, there's not a single thing you've done to prove it since we first got here. Even if you didn't write it, you've been bringing to it life.”

“I know.” That dejected, lost look was creeping back over Mikhail like a forgotten disease and it brought back the memory for Maggie of the first time she had seen it. Mikhail stood defenseless by her door, begging her to not ask questions she couldn't possibly understand the answers to. If I stay, you'll break me. His words echoed around in her head. Was that what this was? Was she breaking him? This whole time she had been placing the blame upon him. Maybe it was her fault he was losing his spirit. “You concern me, Maggie.” His voice pulled her back to reality.