Jennifer jolted to her feet after hearing Josh's voice call out to her and she was shocked that he was there. She wasn't expecting him to be back in L.A till tomorrow and even if she knew that he was coming back early, she never expected him to drop by her place.
Jennifer tiptoed over to her door and looked in her peephole. She could see him standing right outside, knocking on the door and calling out to her.
"Jennifer, it's your boss, Josh Clinton. Are you in there?" Josh called out again.
Jennifer put her hand around the doorknob and was about to open it to let him in but, she stopped and looked behind her to see that her house was in complete chaos. The living room looked crazier than a lunatic asylum and her gun was just lying on the floor. She couldn't let him see this mess but she also didn't want him to leave without speaking to him first so she was torn and unsure of what to do.
"Jennifer?" He called out again and was starting to sound less enthusiastic with his calls, slowly beginning to accept that maybe she wasn't home.
Jennifer could sense his impending resignation so she decided to answer.
"I'll be right out," she shouted so he could hear.
"Jennifer, is that you? Are you okay?" Josh asked.
"Yes, it's me and I'm fine. I was just about to get in the shower so I'm putting my clothes back on," she lied, "I'll be right there."
And with that, Jennifer scurried through her messed-up house, clearing the mess as quickly as she could but at some point, she realized that she didn't have enough time to make it look neat enough.
She grabbed the gun and bullets from the floor, took them into her bedroom and dropped them on her bed. She grabbed a clean top with a very revealing neckline from her closet and put it on quickly before running into the bathroom to fix her hair and put on some light makeup.
She opened the tap on her hands and ran them through her hair to straighten it out. She poured some water on her face and dried herself with a towel before putting on some lipgloss.
She looked at herself in the mirror and was satisfied so she ran back to the door and opened it. She went outside to meet Josh and had no intention of inviting him inside.
"Good afternoon, Mr Clinton. I'm sorry for taking so long. I wasn't expecting anybody so my house is a bit of a mess," she said a bit nervously.
"I'm sorry for just popping in on you. I did call but you didn't answer," he said.
"Yeah, I was out but I just got back in a few minutes ago," she lied.
"Alright! I, um, heard you were sick and that no one was able to reach you. I got worried and I decided to..."
"You were worried about me?" Jennifer cut him off and had this look in her eyes when she asked the question.
It was almost as if hearing him say he was worried about her renewed her hope that he could one day love her and they could be together.
"Of course, I was worried. You're my most important employee and the company would be lost without you," Josh said lightheartedly, trying to make her feel good about herself by emphasizing her importance to the company.
This didn't make her feel good as he had intended. It made her feel the direct opposite because it meant he was here as just her boss and not someone who loved her. She was back to being angry but she made sure her expression didn't show it.
"That's flattering to hear," she said and feigned shyness at his statement.
"So, what's wrong with you? What are you sick with?" He asked.
"Right now, nothing! I had a really bad flu but I've been to the doctor's and I'm all better now. I was going to resume work tomorrow and I didn't tell you about it because I didn't want to disturb your trip to Connecticut..," she began to trail off.
"It's okay! You wouldn't have disturbed me. The trip didn't pan out the way I had intended," Josh said and Jennifer sensed his disappointment.
"I'm sorry! Did something happen?" She asked, hoping that something bad did happen.
"Let's just say that it wasn't as romantic as I had wanted it to be," Josh said dismissively.
"I'm sorry to hear that," Jennifer said, although she was feeling the opposite.
"Well, I'm glad to see you doing good. I uh, I guess I should be going now. See you tomorrow?"
"Of course, Sir. And thank you for coming over. I really appreciate it."
"Anytime, Jennifer," he said and walked over to his car.
He got in and drove away with Jennifer watching him with a smile on her face as he left. She was happy to see him again and even happier to hear that he didn't enjoy his weekend with the bitch. Was this a sign that she could still have a chance to make him hers? She surely thought that it was and was more than willing to take it.
Jennifer went back inside and walked into her bedroom. She looked over at her bed and picked the gun off of it. She took out the last bullet in the cylinder and put the gun in a little box and closed it.
"I guess there's still a chance after all. One way or another, with a demon's help or without, I will make you mine, Joshua Clinton; and if I cannot have you, then no one can," Jennifer said to herself.
Suicide was no longer in the cards for her. It was time to get back to her mission to rid Josh of Isabelle and get him to fall in love with her...and if that wasn't possible, then she'd have no reason to keep living but she would surely take Josh down with her.
******
Isabelle was still very busy at work and was typing quickly on the computer in her office. She needed to settle a few things before leaving but it didn't seem like she'd be able to in the few minutes she had left before she would have to leave so she could move her things to her boyfriend's house.
Finishing her work would mean staying late at the office and she didn't want to put off moving till tomorrow so she typed even faster.
As she worked, her sixth sense began to tingle and she raised her head and looked away from her screen. She listened for a sound but the entire workplace was completely silent and she didn't understand why.
Isabelle got out of her chair and walked out of her office. She stood by the hallway but there was no one in sight.
"Hello? Is anyone here?" Isabelle called out but no one answered.
She arrived at the main office area and all the desks in different cubicles were empty. She was all alone in the office and she was getting scared because something bad was surely about to happen.
Suddenly, Isabelle could hear some wailing sounds coming from a few doors away. She started walking toward the sound and the closer she got, the more she could hear it and could tell that it was a crying baby. She moved closer to the sound until she arrived at the door of the women's restroom. She could hear the wails of the baby even clearer now and although she was frightened, she still went in.
She got inside the restroom and right in the middle of the room was an old-fashioned bassinet. Isabelle could hear the baby but she couldn't see it yet. She slowly approached the bassinet and when she was standing right next to it, she reached out a hand to pull up the sun cover so she could see the baby.
Just as she lifted the cover, a small but incredibly strong shadowy hand reached out of the bassinet and grabbed Isabelle's wrist, causing her to scream as she felt the stinging pain from its tight grip.
"Isabelle?" Gerald called out to her.
Isabelle jolted awake from her desk and looked over at Gerald in confusion.
"I never thought I'd ever catch you sleeping on the job," Gerald said.
"Sorry about that, Gerald. I, I didn't get enough sleep last night," Isabelle said as she wiped her face with her hands.
"At least, tell me you're done with the proposal I asked you to prepare..."
"Yes," Isabelle said and took a printed file off her desk and handed it to Gerald, "I finished a few minutes ago. I wrote down everything as you asked and I'm certain they'll like the offer."
"Great," Gerald replied as he took the file, "I'll review it just to make sure it's perfect," he said and checked his watch.
"Didn't you say you were going to leave by six today?" He asked her.
Isabelle checked her watch and saw that it was already past six which meant she had to leave now so she could move her things to Josh's place and spend her first night living in the same house as him.
******
“Garin!” Hannah yelled out as she landed just outside the igloo.
She put her wings away and could hear Garin roaring inside the igloo and just as she was about to go in, one of the women of the tribe that had been taking care of him ran out of the igloo in terror.
“The demon has been unleashed. He has been unleash…” She screamed out but before she could get out completely, she felt an invisible force hold onto her and it dragged her back in.
Hannah entered the igloo and she saw Garin as she had never seen him before. He was in full-on demon mode and he held the woman by the back of her neck with her facing Hannah all the while struggling to breathe.
Garin’s eyes were glowing a dark red and his horns were elongated further than they’d ever been before. His wings were spread out and he was flapping them aggressively, causing the snow inside the igloo to spin around in the air. His skin was hard and dark, his fangs were showing and he was growling like an animal. Hannah could tell just by looking into his eyes that the man standing in front of her was not her husband. Something was wrong with him and it had transformed him into this primal chaos-seeking demon that was raging out of control.
“Garin, My Love,” Hannah said softly and slowly approached him with her hands spread out so he would know that she wasn’t trying to harm him, “This isn’t you, okay? I don’t know what’s wrong with you but I’m going to figure it out and I’m going to fix it. I just need you to calm down and let go of the woman.”
“Her life means nothing and neither does yours, Angel,” Garin said to her with a voice that was not his own, at least not to Hannah.
“Garin, please let her go and we can figure this out together, My Love,” Hannah begged him, sensing his hostility swelling and about to explode.
“My purpose is disorder and her blood shall be the first to spill. And after her, you are next,” Garin said.
He tightened his grip on the woman’s neck and was about to rip her head off but Hannah wasn’t going to allow it.
“No..,” she screamed and dashed at him.
Hannah grabbed Garin and blasted him out of the igloo and when they reached outside, she threw him over her shoulder but he landed on his feet while she crashed into the ground.
“Everyone, get away,” Hannah screamed at the people so they could move away from the vicinity of the fight.
“Garin, please snap out of it. It’s me. It’s your wife,” Hannah said to him as she got up, trying to remind him of who he was.
“You are nothing but my enemy,” Garin said and his claws became longer and sharper.
“Please, don’t make me do this,” Hannah begged.
Garin flew at her quickly, causing Hannah to release her wings and raise her hands, ready to fight him. He reached her and clawed at her but she dodged his strike and punched him so hard that flew through the settlement and crashed into several igloos before coming to a stop. He was back on his feet almost immediately and flew at her again. This time, he grabbed her by the neck and took her up in the sky. Hannah pulled his hand away from her throat, spun around him and pinned his arm behind his back, all in mid-air.
“Garin, get a hold of yourself,” she said to him.
He swung his head backwards and struck her in the face, forcing her to let go of his arm. Garin faced her and speared himself into her stomach, driving her toward a mountain that was just ahead of them. Hannah hit him several times on his back, trying to release herself from his grip but he didn’t let go until they crashed into the side of the mountain.
The snow that had settled at the top of the mountain came rolling down and it covered both of them underneath its mass. A few seconds after the snow settled, Hannah burst out from underneath some of it. She wiped her hands through her hair and looked around for Garin but she couldn’t spot him.
“Garin,” she called out to him.
From out of nowhere, he charged at her and punched her into a frozen tree, splitting it apart as she crashed through it. Garin jumped into the air and landed on Hannah who was still on the ground. He threw punch after punch, hammering away at her angrily, pummeling her into the ground mercilessly. He kept hitting her until she caught one of his fists in her hand and her eyes glowed brightly as her power surged through her.
“Enough!”
Hannah yelled and punched out with her other hand, sending a powerful blast of angelic light toward Garin which blasted him away from her and sent him almost half a mile away from her. The angel got on her feet and crawled out of the hole that her body had made when Garin was pummeling her. Her body was glowing brightly and there was a halo made of light hovering above her head. She was at the peak of her powers and was ready to do whatever it took to get Garin back to his senses. Hannah blasted into the air and flew toward Garin. She flew through Eden until she reached the demon and after she got to him, she grabbed him by the horn and threw him to the side of the foot of a smaller hill.
Hannah dashed at him with a folded fist and just as she was about to connect with his face, he rolled out of the way and she punched a hole into the hill. Dark energy surged through Garin’s hands and his eyes became an even darker shade of red. He ran at Hannah and the two of them engaged in hand-to-hand close-range combat. Garin moved very fast but he wasn’t fast enough to hit Hannah who was faster and more powerful than he was at that moment. He threw several punches at her but she dodged them easily and spun a kick at his head. He crashed into the ground and scraped through it before coming to a stop.
The demon roared angrily, steaming with rage as he punched the ground and got back on his feet.
“Garin, enough of this. Remember who you are! You’re not this vile creature. You’ve never been. Don’t you remember our life together? Don't you remember everything we’ve been through, everything we’ve suffered? Don’t you remember our daughter; our little Jasmine?” Hannah said to him softly.
Hearing Jasmine’s name triggered something within Garin and his eyes began to flicker as he heard Hannah’s words. The angel could tell that what she was doing was working and that he was starting to snap out of his rage so she kept talking.
“Remember our home in Amania? You built us a beautiful home with your bare hands and we lived some of the best years of our lives within those walls. And after we lost Amania and it seemed like we were never going to find a place again, you never gave up hope and you saw us through so much until we found a new home,” Hannah said as she moved closer to him.
“Don’t you remember, Garin?” She asked.
He was shaking his head rapidly. His memories were trying to resurface but the rage within him was also fighting back, trying to keep him the way he was.
“Don’t you remember what you said to me after we fell in love? You said you would find your way back to me and that we would be together again, no matter what,”
Hannah got even closer until she was standing right in front of him with her hands out, inviting him into her embrace.
“I’m right here, My Love. Please, find your way back to me,” she begged him.
Garin’s eyes got dimmer until they returned to their normal dark colour. He was breaking out of his rage but unfortunately, his rage wasn’t ready to let go. His eyes went back to being red and his horns ignited and burst into flames. He roared at Hannah and fire shot out of his mouth and blasted her away from him onto the ground. Garin jumped into the air and landed on her. He raised his claws into the air and was about to bring them down on Hannah’s face.
The angel’s eyes stop glowing and the halo around her head disappeared. She powered down and closed her weeping eyes, convinced that Garin would fight against his rage and if her life had to be put at stake, she was more than willing to lay it down.
Garin saw her tears roll down her cheek and just like that, his memories started to flash through his mind. His eyes changed their colour and they remained that way this time.
“Hannah?” He whispered her name as passionately as possible.
Her eyes flickered open and when she looked upon the face of the man in front of her, she knew for a fact that her husband was back and she was so glad to see him again.