Seraphina's Awakening

Chapter Twenty: Fess Up Sera

Sera's washing her face in the river. She needs to get this dirt off her hands and cheeks. From what, she can't recall. She dries her dripping face with her shirt before getting up and turning to face the forest once more. Once she's inside the canopy of the treetops, she can't seem to see the sun anymore. It's growing dimmer as she continues deeper inside its depths. Her fingers graze the trunks of the trees, she's checking them for some kind of marking, but she can't seem to find it. So she trudges along, checking another tree, and then another before she changes direction and starts heading left. It isn't until she sees the purple flutter of wings that she stops in her tracks.

Sitting on a flower in a bush is that purple butterfly again. It takes flight, circling around her a few times before heading off and directing her path. She giggles and then follows the frisky insect. She follows over trees and under branches holding onto the thought that she will see Nate soon. It's the only thing keeping her going. It's getting even darker and becoming harder to see, but it isn't until she starts to hear weird noises that she really starts to get scared. All she can seem to think about is that Nate is out here alone, too. She's so lost in her daydreaming about Nate that she barely notices when the butterfly lands on a branch in front of her. Cautiously, she approaches the branch. The butterfly takes flight, soaring up, up, and away from her before disappearing in the night sky.

She releases a sigh, slowly turning to the branch. Pushing it aside, she wanders through to the clearing in the other side, only to find, Nate isn't here.

Instead, she finds an army of statue like warriors standing at attention. Some are carrying torches, others ornate knives and swords, and they are all dressed in weird body armor. She gasps aloud as they all turn in unison—their all-black eyes gleaming in the moonlight. They all take a step forward as a unit. Her eyes scan the strange faces until she recognizes one. Gabe. He seems to be leading the pack. His strong arms and tan skin glisten under the firelight from the torches. It appears as though all the soldiers are built in a similar manner. Big arms and broad shoulders, look like they lift cars for breakfast, and she begins to wonder what they could possibly do to a small girl like her.

Gabe yells something loudly, in a strange language. The soldiers respond in unison before beginning to approach her. She turns and runs back into the forest. She zips past trees and hurtles over rocks, but she can still hear them behind her. They are taunting her now.

"Come here, Angel."

"I like a woman that plays hard to get."

Those are just the few phrases she can catch. Their catcalls and excited screams echo around her in the dense forest. All is dark. She can't seem to find her way. The moon itself is hiding. They are catching up. Her nerves begin to get the better of her. She doesn't seem to notice the low hanging branch until it clotheslines her. She's falling, falling to the floor as footsteps are becoming louder and louder in her ear...

On her now daily run, Sera finds herself contemplating her future. She doesn't need to run; her body is becoming more defined by the day. She seems to have a ton of pent up energy and running helps her release it. Mainly, she does it because she actually likes it. It gives her such a freeing feeling. In a world in which she can't control, her breathing and pumping of her arms is something she can. The sun on her face and the wind in her hair is just a great way to start her insane days.

Above all else, this is the only time she has to herself to think. Once again, she begins to wonder where her life is going. For once, it's different from her usual thoughts. She has something she didn't have before... hope. Even though her world is crazy, to her it somehow finally makes sense. She has always had a sense of waiting she could never explain. It feels as though everyone in her life was moving on and she was stuck standing still.

Now that she's started this next chapter in her life, she finds herself worrying what will happen to her old life. What would she do if anything were to happen to her friends or family? How could she even begin to explain things to them? Amanda would understand. She always seems to know Sera better than she knows herself. She would have to answer a slew of questions—most of which she probably didn't have the answers to herself, but deep down she knows she needs to tell someone she can trust. Somehow, she understands she's going to need someone she can lean on in the coming weeks.

Sera arrives at work early to stop by Amanda's desk only to find that she's not there, once again. She immediately heads back down the elevator to check the break room. The elevator clangs to the first floor, and she releases a breath as she exits. Briskly, she walks out and to the left hand side. Keying in her password for the break room, it beeps and she opens it to find Amanda shoveling a bacon, egg, and cheese in her mouth, gossiping alongside a few nurses. Catching sight of Sera, as she no doubt dramatically opened the door, she mouths something to the effect of 'what's wrong' through a mouth full of breakfast sandwich.

"I need to talk to you." Sera says.

Amanda rises to her feet, tosses the rest of her sandwich in the garbage, and follows Sera outside. The automatic double doors take them out to the front and the fresh scent of pine from the trees hits the two girls.

Her best friend starts right in, "So, are you finally ready to tell me what's been going on?"

Sera can hear her attitude, but she only responds, "Yes. I need to talk to someone before I go absolutely insane." She feels as though she has been holding this secret for months and not days. Keeping things from her best friend isn't possible despite what Anna warns. Now, the secret has become a poison eating away at her insides.

They come to sit on the picnic benches out in the courtyard. Sera takes a deep breath. "I just want you to know beforehand, it's kind of hard to process. It took me a while to truly swallow it myself."

"Okay." She pauses, "Give it to me straight." Amanda sits down on the bench beside her, bracing her hands on her knees.

Sera looks out at the pine trees ahead of them and starts from the beginning. She told her about her dreams and Nate, the accident, and by the time she ended with I'm part Angel now and I've developed... gifts. Amanda's mouth starts to gape open slightly. She allows Sera to finish without rebuttal and stays staring at her for a few more minutes than actually necessary before finally breaking the silence.

"Wow," Amanda sighs. "I knew you were a goody-two-shoes, but an Angel. God damn Sera, can you give a girl a shot?" she jokes and Sera finally laughs.

Laughing feels good, for some reason, she was surprisingly nervous to tell her closest friend about the events of the past few days. Honestly, she was scared Amanda would think she was a freak, but she should have known better. Sera pulls Amanda into a big hug as her eyes begin to tear. It's in this moment, on the picnic table, outside of their office, that makes her realize Amanda will always be there for her, no matter what happens.

"So, tell me more about this Angel-hunk. Is he hot? I want to meet him. Can we get some of his sexy Angel fellas to double date?"

Sera wipes a stray tear from her cheek, "I don't think that's going to work, but yeah he's totally gorgeous."

"Dish. I want all the steamy details!" Amanda commands playfully smacking her knee.

As Sera tells her friend all about the angelically handsome man that has been haunting her dreams and mysteriously popping up in her life, she can't help the huge smile plastered all over her face.

They are still talking about Nate as they walk into the office to get their workday started. They stopped off at Amanda's cubicle first, but before Sera continues toward her own, she spins back to her.

"Don't freak out, but I may be in a little danger. So if I'm MIA for a little bit, it's just because I'm trying to figure things out. I don't want to put anyone in harm's way, okay?"

"Danger?" she leans closer, "Danger from what exactly?"

"I don't really know." Amanda's thoughts bring up Sera's own questions. "You know what, never mind, it's probably nothing to worry about." Sera shakes her head dismissively, waving her hand as she wanders back toward her desk.