LUCIFER'S DARLING
paranormal
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< OPEN | IGNORE >
[00:00:01]
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"Please! No!"
Beep...Beep...Beep...
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It was the bitterness of the icy, cold wind that awoke me. Frosty air nipped at my skin with the ruthlessness of a wild animal, its teeth gnawing against my weakened flesh. My mind blurred at the numbing feeling. Everything in front of me was wobbling; frequently switching from clear to fuzzy frames.
Above me, the sky was a sheath of foggy film. It looked bloated and swollen, almost like an abused punching bag, and as I pulled my crumpled self up from the cobbled streets, my core muscles withering, a large crack of thunder rained above me - sending me flat to the uneven ground as pain washed over me.
My ears buzzed from the brutality of the sudden sound and my vision clouded over once more. It was overcast, blurry white and not a single familiar shape blinked back at me. Nothing resembled familiarity. Not the coffee-tinged cobbled streets, nor the grand white gleaming dome situated a few twenty yards away from me. Nothing.
Where was I?
"Um, excuse me?" a gentle voice spoke out from nearby, the strong note rode effortlessly over the crashes of waves that thumped in my ears. I tried to move towards the sound; it was soothing like fresh-running water found by a parched man, comforting almost.
The knowledge of not being alone in an unknown place softened the wounds in my head. I wasn't alone. I tried to move, only a wood-chipping crack of pain in my back prevented me. My tender muscles shrivelled beneath my bruised skin as they contracted in aiding my failed movements.
Shortly after the surge of nerve-splitting pain, a merciful hand came down and swooped underneath the bone of my elbow, pulling me up into a seated position. Pain seared through me, singeing my throbbing muscles to an over-fried crisp. My skin cracked, followed by the charred prod of my bones trembling inside of me. I had never felt this level of burning pain, ever.
"Hello?" the slosh of the tranquil voice tried again, this time close to the shell of my ear. A fuzzy outline of a hand waved before me, "Are you okay?"
I blinked, my eyelids begging for closure as the aches and pains slowly but unavoidably became a part of me. "Where? -" I tried, my voice small and weak. I tried again only I couldn't produce any sound -I couldn't speak anymore.
The strangers confused facial expression pressed into the side of my skull like stamp imprint as image doubles appeared before me, the pain rising to an all-time-high before flatlining and everything faded to black.
***
"And, she's awake," the same soothing voice from before brought me back to reality. This new environment was warmer, welcoming and saturated with the scent of summer citrus. I opened my eyes, my eyebrows pulling down as I did so. Clouded with confusion, my vision fading, focusing in and out at the light space before me, What? I thought. How did I-? I was just outside and then-?
The glassy cloud cleared from my vision and sitting before me at the end of the single bed was a young man, possibly in his early thirties - a small olive-toned notebook in hand.
"Hello," he greeted simply with a friendly smile, "I'm Raphael."
"Hi," I murmured back, I wanted to save my voice. Raphael's name took a second to enter my mind and it didn't trigger any memories.
Leaving his name to sit in the growing pile of the unknown, I took a few quiet moments to take in my surroundings.
The room I was in was large, a pentagon in shape and open-plan. White paint glistened against the walls, its crispness not baring a single scratch or scuff mark. It was clean, sterilized, and untouched. Dotted around the corners of the five-sided shape, were compass points of leafy plants. They sat in small crystal bulbs.
I was lying flat on a foam mattress atop a single bed, white sheets pinning me down.
"Excuse my ignorance, but who exactly are you?" Raphael asked, leaning closer with his fingers intertwined. eyebrows plagued with a dozen questions.
"Um, I'm ..."
I paused. And with a shallow, dry swallow. Panic surged up my throat as my mind bore no answer.
Who am I?
Who. Am. I?
WHO AM I?
A faint doorbell sounded nearby. Its high note snapped me from my wide-eyed panic of -what-the-fuck-was-going-on; I watched without blinking as Raphael sucked in a nervous sigh and disappeared through the archway, leaving me in the silence.
He came back a few moments later with a sheet of pewter cardstock clipped tightly by his thumb and forefinger.
"Oh, silly me," he reluctantly said. His voice was strained and weak, deprived of the joyful juices it held before. "It's Charmeine, isn't it?"
I don't know. I wanted to say, you tell me.
It might be. Possibly? So that is my name?
"Uh, yes?" I nodded, feigning knowledge that this name belonged to me.
I tried not to let slip that the name hadn't brought me any recollection whatsoever. If anything, it added more confusion to the perplexing mix of bubbling panic and fright.
"It's lucky I found you in time then. Otherwise, you would have to add a bad cold onto your list of injuries." Raphael said, tucking the sheet of cardstock into the back pocket of his cream slacks.
"Where am I?" The most basic yet burning question slipped past my dry lips before I had even the time to process it.
Raphael paled, and I could see fear in his eyes. "Um," he began before laughing awkwardly. The curves of his pink lips twitched stiffly. "You must have taken quite the fall to suffer sufficient memory loss, Charmeine. You're in the Light Paradox; a realm just before Heaven where the Angels reside."
His words, I overlooked. Instead, I replayed his words, momentarily forgetting their meanings.
"Angels?" I repeated. My voice was faint yet audible and my eyebrows furrowed where a concerned crease formed.
I nodded, not wanting to seem impolite. I still didn't know where I was. And it looked like Raphael was the only one available to shed some light on the matter at hand. Light. That's what this place was called
And I was expected to believe I lived here? Also, Angels? What was up with that?
Raphael came back into the room after around five minutes, a white ceramic mug in his hands. Everything was white. "Careful," he warned, "it's hot."
I took the mug from him, the handle burning my fingers. He was right about one thing.
"I don't remember anything!" I blurted, my voice shattering with an overwhelming current of emotion I had kept locked up. The mug began to shake violently in my hands. "I'm sorry. I-I don't know..."
"Hey, It's okay!" Raphael assured, leaning forward. His face blank and neutral like the walls. "It's normal to not remember everything after taking such a fall."
"Fall?"
Raphael nodded and pulled the sheet of cardstock out from his back pocket once more. "Yes," he said, referencing the paper, " . It was my fault. I hadn't realised the portal was faulty. I was sending Afriel, another Angel down to Earth – it was how you fell too." He read the words off like a checklist. He didn't miss anything.
"Portal?" I echoed. "What portal?"
There is such a thing as portals?
"Yes." Raphael chuckled. "Wow, you really must have hit your head quite hard. Don't worry though. Answers will come with time. All you need to know is that you are an Angel, you work for the Fates, you are eighteen and you live here in the Light Paradox." He still sounded like a robot, reading off the checklist in his mind.
"The Fates?" I embraced my inner parrot, unable to prevent myself from repeating. This was all new information.
"Yeah, the Fates, an all-powerful elite of Angels who control the universe. Their identity is still unknown, but you don't need to worry about that. What you need to focus your attention on is your destiny. It should arrive within the next few weeks."
"My destiny, what's that?" I asked, not following at all what Raphael was saying.
Everything he said was only , reminding me ever so carefully that I still had no idea where I was.
"It's essentially your one task that is set by the Fates for you to complete. It's like a job."
I nodded. At least pretend to understand, I thought.
"Are you an Angel too Raphael?"
Raphael smiled: a clear-cut, designer smile, "I'm an Archangel. Essentially, yes, I am."
I just nodded not knowing what else to say. It was becoming a common trait of mine. Nodding showed you were open to suggestion but not completely convinced of the words fired at you. It was a neutral reaction.
"I should let you rest now. You will need a lot of energy to match whatever the Fates have in store for you." Raphael said, his choice of words sounding like a warning, a preface of what was awaiting me.
"Oh, Raphael?" I asked, placing the mug back by the side of the bed.
He turns to face me, a friendly smile on display.
"Yes, Charmeine?"
"What is the date?"
"It's November seventeenth."
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I do have other stories up on my page if you wish to check them out.
Enjoy this one and let me know your thoughts.
until next time my angels,
-V
Edited: 16/06/18