chapter 16
It was dark and Trinity couldn’t move. She had been here before, recently even, and knew exactly where she was.
She turned her head to the side and pulled at her arm to no avail. Every time she pulled, pain radiated through her wrist from the restraints. She tested the other arm as well, but the result was the same.
Squinting through the darkness, she tried to find a speck of light. She knew what was coming and her stomach churned with the thought of it.
Trinity heard the crack before she felt the pain. Something gray slashed across her midsection, causing a bright red mark to appear on her skin. She had tried to prepare herself for this moment, but nothing could have stopped the scream that ripped from her throat.
She screamed again when the whip went over her belly, and then she sobbed. “What do you want?”
The answer to her question was just a laugh, and Trinity felt anger start to overshadow her fear.
“Why can’t you let me be? Who are you?”
The next thing she knew, there was a face inches from hers. The man looked quite remarkable; completely polished and every feature in the perfect place. His eyes were as black as the night, and she trembled with the amount of evil she felt coming from him.
He smiled at her and ran a hand down her face. “Like what you see? If not, how would you like me to look? How about…” The man in front of her transformed into Malachi, but the eyes stayed the same. “...this? Or this…” Her father, as she remembered him, was now standing before her. Letting out a sob at the image, she noticed the black eyes and knew it wasn’t real. “Oh wait! How about this one?” Nicci was in front of her now, but she had already hardened her resolve against his trick.
“What do you want?” No longer sobbing, no longer scared. Trinity just wanted to wake up.
“That’s easy.” The man morphed once more into something only her nightmares could conjure up. Her eyes went wide as she stared at what looked like a man, but obviously wasn’t. The skin had a gray hue and looked distorted because of the bones pushing against it. The creature was bald with sharp teeth, yellow eyes and a long speared…tail?
Before she could comprehend what she was seeing, he reached up and slashed his claws across her face and down her torso. Trinity was screaming before the descent had ended, and tried to arch as far away from him as possible.
“I need you to say my name.” He sounded as calm as ever.
She shook her head and whined in frustration. “I don’t know who you are.”
He smiled and took a mock bow. “The name’s Azazel, love.” As he stood up, his face turned to stone. “Now say it!”
“Azazel.” It was nothing more than a whisper that came out.
“Louder!”
“Azazel!” She clinched her eyes shut and screamed out the name.
The pain suddenly stopped; everything stopped and Trinity was once again by herself. Her wrists were free and she dropped down onto the ground to curl into herself. After a spell, she started to feel a familiar weightlessness and knew she was about to wake up.
Malachi was about to tear this hospital apart piece by piece if someone didn’t tell him where to find Trinity. She had once been in the Emergency Room, but had been moved. The problem was, no one had a straight answer as to where. The only thing he did know was that she was here somewhere.
Gideon wasn’t answering him, telepathically or by phone, and Malachi could only imagine why. I would be scared of me right now too, Malachi thought.
He was supposed to do a job, and he failed. Stay with Trinity; it was that simple. Protect her, watch over her, be with her! Malachi growled out loud because he knew that it should have been him that was with her.
No! Gideon was supposed to be there tonight, but he wasn’t. He left and Malachi swore he would find out why, if he had to torture it out of him.
Now Malachi found himself marching down the halls and hoping to find her on his own. The nurses told him to wait, but they could suck it for all he cared. He was never a patient man. Terah and Tori offered to stay behind while Gemariah scoured the halls with him.
He was trying to take in all the sounds around him in the hopes that it would drown out the sound of Trinity screaming into the phone. Dammit! He had heard everything, and it killed him to know that he was too far away to do anything about it.
The moment he heard Trinity’s voice, he knew something was wrong, and her first scream had him leaping into the truck to head back. When he heard Masters talking about the warehouse they were at, he knew it had all been a set-up. Shortly after projecting his team with the new information, they had caught up with him on the highway and convinced him to let Gemariah take the wheel. The few minutes wasted were hell on him, as he listened to Masters using Trinity as a punching bag.
From then on, it was unbelievable torture to hear what was going on, but he couldn’t break the connection. When he heard the boy, Hugh, was there, he had a sinking suspicion that this was his destined moment and was only confirmed after the stabbing. Malachi felt like throttling Trinity when she put herself in between the two, but her fierce need to protect was one of the reasons he loved her so much.
Yes, he loved her, every stubborn beautiful inch of her. After this, he didn’t care what she would or would not tell him or that their time together would be cut too short for him. He just wanted to be with her whenever and however long he could.
The last thing he heard on the phone was that Masters was planning to take her from him, and he was still half an hour away, travelling at full speed. Just the thought of her being in his grasp once more made a roar come from him loud enough that he knew God and his mighty angels could hear.
He shook off the memory and brought himself back to the moment at hand. Turning the corner, he saw a large man hunched over in a chair with his head in his hands.
“You son of a bitch!” Malachi yelled, and in a matter of seconds, had Gideon up against a wall with his hand around his throat. “You left her dammit! I should kill you!”
He tightened his grip so much that he knew Gideon’s windpipe was starting to crush. He probably would have succeeded in snapping off his head, if it wasn’t for the force pulling him in the opposite direction. Gemariah was behind him and trying to dislodge his grip.
“Malachi…man…stop. You’re causing a scene.”
“I don’t care.” To emphasize his point, Malachi slammed him against the wall a second time. Turning his head to look at Gemariah, he spoke through clenched teeth. “He left her.”
“I know. Look at him though; he’s not fighting back.” Gemariah was talking calmly, when all Malachi heard was ringing in his ears.
Eventually, Malachi focused in on Gideon. It was true, he wasn’t fighting, he was taking everything Malachi dished out. At a closer look, he saw how miserable Gideon looked and decided to hone in on him. What he felt was pain coming from him; not just the surface physical pain either.
Glancing around, Malachi noticed Tori and Terah warding off nurses that were trying to make their way over. Doctors and other people were watching them as well. This was not being inconspicuous, as he was always taught to be.
Letting go of Gideon, he watched him slide to the floor, coughing the whole way down. “I could kill you.” He growled down at Gideon.
“I know.” Gideon shook his head as it hung low. His voice was hoarse, but was still understandable. “I’m sorry.”
“Not as sorry as I am for giving you an ounce of trust. You’re fired.” Malachi turned to go into Trinity’s room.
There were protests in all directions, but he was not going to budge. It was Gideon that quickly stood up to block Malachi’s path. “Wait a minute. Let’s talk about this. I feel horrible…she’s a good person and I shouldn’t of left. No one feels worse than I do right now, but let’s not get out of hand here. I’m a strong asset…you’ve said so yourself.”
“I used to think you were; now I don’t. I can’t work next to someone that, every time I look at them, I want to rip out their throat.” Malachi looked at him expectantly. “Now move out of my way.”
Gideon stood his ground. “Come on… I screwed up. Let me make this right.”
“Leave…now!” In Malachi’s mind, there was no second chance for something like this.
Gideon huffed before turning to leave, but quickly spun back around, showing his frustration. “This is bullshit! Don’t take your guilt out on me. For weeks you pawned her off on all of us.” He gestured to the rest of the team that was watching as things unfolded. “In truth, you should have been the one there, not us. This is your f*ck-up!”
Malachi had heard enough. He took a step in Gideon’s direction, but was quickly held back. Terah jumped in front of him to get his attention.
“This isn’t going to help her.” She tried to calm him down while the other two held him back. “Let it go.”
Malachi could feel himself starting to calm. It didn’t take much effort to know that Gemariah was altering his emotions. Shaking the others off, he got into Gemariah’s face and snapped. “Don’t you ever do that to me again without my permission!” He was none too happy about being controlled.
Gemariah stood there and took the berating, which made Malachi lose some of the fire inside. Closing his eyes, he composed himself before turning back to Gideon. “You just proved to me that, in people like you, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, now does it?”
Malachi didn’t even wait for an answer before entering the hospital room. He knew it was a low blow to compare Gideon to his father, but what Gideon said brought forth emotions that he was trying to bury. It should have been him. He was so caught up in the paperwork and actual searching, that he forgot exactly why he was doing it. No one would have gotten close enough to touch her if he was there.
Looking up, he saw Trinity in bed, and the sight almost brought him to his knees. There were machines beeping and IVs dripping into her body that was covered in major cuts and bruises. What concerned Malachi the most, was that she was unconscious. How long had she been out?
They all piled into the small room and surrounded her bed. Malachi and Terah each held a hand, and Gemariah grabbed her chart to start thumbing through it.
“Suspected concussion, visibly broken left wrist (severity pending x-rays), unconscious upon arrival, severe abrasions to the…”
“Excuse me.” That was as far as he got before a nurse walked in. Walking up to Gemariah, she took the chart from his hands. “Only immediate family can be in here.”
Gemariah pointed toward Malachi, “Husband.” Then he checked off the girls and himself, “sister, sister, brother.”
The nurse looked skeptical but nodded anyways. “I’m still going to have to ask at least two of you to step outside. This is too many.”
When no one moved, the nurse huffed and turned to leave.
“Why isn’t she awake?” Malachi hadn’t taken his eyes off her for a moment, but had to know what they had found out so far. He couldn’t fix what they already knew; it would raise too many red flags.
“Umm” The nurse turned around and flipped open the chart to read. “We’re monitoring her, but in cases where head trauma is evident, it’s not uncommon. Tests were run and we’re just waiting on the results.” When no one said anything else, she shut the chart and put it back where it belonged. “If you have any other questions, come find me. The doctor should be in shortly.”
Before she made it out the door, Malachi stopped her again. “There was a boy brought in with her; Hugh Donovan. How is he doing?”
The nurse thought for a minute, but eventually realized who he was talking about. “I can’t go into detail, but I can tell you that he’s in critical condition…not expected to make it through the night.”
All Malachi could do was nod.
After she left, Malachi put his hands over her chest to take a look, but was stopped when Tori grabbed his wrist. “Mal, you can’t fix her. Everyone has seen her and their tests wouldn’t match up with the patient. She can’t just walk out of here after appearing like this.”
He sneered up at her. “Don’t you think I know this? I just want to check for any immediate damage; something that if they take too long, it could hurt her.”
“What happens if you find something and fix it, only to have them rush in here for emergency surgery? How will you explain that everything’s fine? Or better yet, are you going to let them cut into her for no reason?” Tori was trying to make him see reason, but didn’t want to listen.
“Why don’t you go over and help out that Donovan kid? You don’t have to heal him completely, just make it so he has a chance.” Gemariah jumped in.
Malachi just shook his head. “Can’t. He’s a champion…it wouldn’t work. I’m pretty sure tonight was the reason he was brought here.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes”
Terah looked down at Trinity in awe. “Wow, she must be pretty important for God to send one of those to her.” Looking back up at Malachi, she sounded almost excited. “I’ve never met one before. I might pop over and see him for myself, before we leave.”
“Too bad, too. He was a good kid.” Malachi spoke offhandedly as he placed his hands back over Trinity. Before he could do anything though, she let out a moan and the whole room went still.
“Trinity?”
“Whoa.” Terah swayed where she was standing. “Does anyone else feel that?”
Malachi took his attention away from Trinity to focus on his surroundings. Sure enough, he felt a fierce evil coming from somewhere. He couldn’t pinpoint the exact location, but knew it was really close by how strong it was. Everyone went on full alert.
Trinity let out a small whine and succeeded in getting Malachi’s attention back. He leaned near her to talk quietly. “It’s alright, Angel. I’m right here.” Just as his lips touched her forehead, her body arched off the bed as she let out a loud scream. The act startled Malachi so much; he jumped back, thinking he hurt her.
They all stared down at her, trying to assess what was going on.
“She has nightmares. Ever since the bridge incident, it’s been every night. When I’m with her, she’s usually fine.” Malachi took a step toward the bed and took a hold of her hand. Not shortly after, she twisted and screamed again. It was blood curdling and made his insides twist in knots, but all he could do was try to wake her up.
It didn’t take too long for the nurses and a doctor to burst into the room in a panic, wondering what was going on. Gemariah quickly went up to them and used his ability to lower their concern. “It’s a nightmare. Nothing to worry about, her husband’s with her.” They all nodded and left the room, after being assured they would be called if any help was needed.
Trinity started to scream again, but this time it was long and drawn out. Malachi had his arms wrapped around her when Tori started to pry him away. “Let her go, Mal.” She kept tugging, but he wasn’t about to let go. “I’m serious. I think I see something!”
Reluctantly he let go and stood up. “What?” He didn’t need her answer to see for himself. Down her face and onto her neck, were three ugly looking red lines that hadn’t been there a minute ago. A quick look under her gown showed him that they extended all the way to her belly. “What is that?”
Tori didn’t take her eyes off of Trinity. “It sort of reminds me of claw marks.”
“That’s insane. It has to be a reaction to something.”
“You’re right, she’s just dreaming. She wouldn’t have physical evidence show up from a dream.” Tori didn’t sound so sure and Gemariah was the one that pointed out the obvious.
“Yeah, because none of her dreams were real in the past.”
Everyone went silent, letting his words soak in, and watched as the lines slowly started to fade.
“Crap! I’ll get some water to splash on her face.” Tori quickly made it over to the sink.
Malachi no longer stood to watch, but grabbed Trinity again. “Wake up. You have to wake up…come on.” He was shaking her slightly to jar her out of it.
“What would do this to her?” Terah whispered in outrage as they all watch the red strips disappear the rest of the way.
They all stayed quiet, because no one knew the answer. How does a person fight something from a dream? Malachi didn’t know, but he vowed to find out.
Trinity’s whole body tensed again, and Malachi braced himself for another high pitched scream. “It’s okay. You’re o…”
“Azazel.” Malachi’s blood ran cold at what he thought she whispered. It couldn’t be. He told himself that it was just the events of the day that had him off.
“Azazel!” There was no mistaking her scream this time.
“Did she just say what I think she said?” Gemariah asked in disbelief after a few seconds of silence.
Malachi felt himself slipping. He could picture himself terrorizing through the hospital, but fought to stay in control. It had been him all along. He has been torturing her because of him! No more cat and mouse, Malachi thought. This was ending right now!
He gently laid Trinity back down and stormed out of the room. Gemariah was right behind him in a matter of seconds.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Ending this. It’ been too long and this has gone too far.” Malachi didn’t slow down.
“So you just plan on finding him and…what? Automatically succeeding in something you have been trying to do for almost three hundred years. Without some sort of a plan? You won’t make it out alive.” Gemariah grabbed Malachi’s arm to try and stop him.
“I’ll figure it out.” He tried to shake off the hand. “Let go!”
“Fine!” Gemariah let go and held up his hands in surrender. Clearly frustrated, he yelled out before Malachi could make it through the doors. “What should we tell Trinity?" This brought him to an instant stop. “We can tell her the truth, that you died stubbornly by acting stupid, or we can save her the heartache and cover for you once you’re gone…tell her that you never really cared for her and that you transferred jobs to somewhere far away.”
Malachi turned and stormed back to Gemariah. “That’s not true. I’m doing this for her!”
“I know, but come on man. Don’t make the same mistake twice. You left her last time, and look what happened.” Gemariah held up his hands when Malachi looked ready to charge. “He’s using her to get to you. Doesn’t it make more sense to stay close?”
Malachi shut his eyes and tried to compose himself. Gemariah was right. He needed to stay with Trinity. Not just to find Azazel, but to make sure she stayed safe.
This was all his fault. If he just would have kept his feelings to himself, Trinity wouldn’t be in the danger she is now. He had spent the last half of his life closed off and doing everything by the book. This is why he never got close to people. When you get attachments, you gain weaknesses. It stopped now. He would stay with her and make sure she stayed safe, but from a distance. When this is all over, they would go separate ways and she could live a normal life, without the chance of being used as a pawn.
Malachi and Gemariah made their way back to Trinity’s hospital room in silence. They both knew a storm was coming, and pretty soon either Malachi or Azazel would be in the ground.
Walking into the room, Malachi sat silently next to the bed. Tori and Gemariah left the room, while Terah and he stayed. She looked so broken, he thought. It wasn’t as bad as he thought when he first came in earlier, but it was still rough. The sight just strengthened his resolve to walk away. He knew it was the right thing to do.
Malachi sat, transfixed on her form, until she started to stir. He quickly stood up so he could look down on her. He put his business-like mask on, but held his breath as her eyelids fluttered open. Blinking a few times, she looked around before focusing in on him. A smile started to form but was quickly replaced by a look of panic, and he knew her memory of the previous events had come racing back.
“Hugh!” She quickly sat up, instantly putting a hand to her abdomen and sucked in air.
Malachi wanted to help, but stayed where he was. Thank goodness Terah was there to help ease her back down. “Shh…easy. It’s alright, just no more sudden movements.”
Obviously she wasn’t listening, because she turned and tried to sit up again. When that failed, she grabbed his wrists to get his attention. “You don’t understand. Hugh…he’s hurt. He tried to help me. Oh God! Please tell me he’s okay.”
“He’s alive. Malachi’s voice was gruff. He didn’t want to have to be the one to tell her. “They don’t know for how much longer.”
Before she could say anything, the rest of his team came into the room. “We thought we heard Trinity.” Gemariah looked in and saw that she was awake. “Hey Cuteness. You gave us all a scare.”
She didn’t even acknowledge their entry, but tugged back on Malachi’s hands to get his attention again. “You have to help him!”
It took Malachi a second to understand that she meant Hugh. When he did, he was even more confused. How did she think he could help?
She must have seen his confused look because she forged on, talking at the quickest speed he had ever heard come from her. “Gideon said it had to be you! He tried, glowing hands and all, but I guess it wouldn’t work; something about the wound being too deep or something. Anyways, he said that you could do it, so that’s what I need you to do.”
Malachi was astonished. Gideon let her see! Why would he do that? Now what was he supposed to say? He could lie and blame it on her head injury. Calling out himself meant calling out the others as well, so he couldn’t say anything without their go-ahead.
Looking up, he noticed that they were all just as shocked as he was.
What now?
The question was directed to everyone, and their responses were unanimous. Everyone agreed that she could be trusted. The only opinion he didn’t get was Gideon’s, but Malachi figured that openly showing her was a decision on its own.
“I can’t. It won’t work.” He was brisk and to the point when all he wanted was to comfort her.
“What do you mean it won’t work? It has to work! He’s just a kid.” She was now in hysterics.
He needed to get her calm. This wasn’t good for her health. Carefully avoiding touching her, he sat back down in his chair to be at eye level. “It won’t, I’m sorry. I can’t get into it here, but you have to trust me.”
The tears were streaming down her face as she grasped at straws to help her student. “Can you just try?” She whispered in a low voice.
Malachi thought about it. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for this woman. “I’ll try, but can I make sure you’re okay first?”
She looked reluctant, but the look on his face must have shown that he wasn’t going to take “No” for an answer. She settled back onto the bed in acceptance.
“How are you feeling?”
She scrunched her face and gritted her teeth. “I hurt…everywhere.”
He stood up and stepped toward her with an entirely business manner. “Where does it hurt the worst?”
Trinity raised her hand to her head and winced when she touched the bandage. “My head is pounding, my wrist is throbbing, and…” She wiggled a little and grimaced. “My back is screaming at me.”
Her back? He knew nothing about that. “Lean forward a little. Let me check it out.” When she complied, Malachi parted her gown. No wonder her back was hurting so bad. The entire thing was discolored from the bruising. He peaked under the bandages there and saw large gashes that stretched across her back.
He wanted nothing more right now than to get her home. When they finally got her there, he was going to heal every last inch of her, so there would be no more pain. For now though, he had to think of a different solution.
“G, do you think you could help her out with the pain at all.”
Gemariah looked towards Trinity nervously, almost as if asking for permission. Malachi caught on and turned toward Trinity. “Gemariah has a knack for helping people relax when needed. If you let him, he might be able to help with the pain.”
She started to fiddle her fingers then looked hesitantly at Gemariah. “Would you mind?”
“Not at all, Cuteness.” He came over to her and sat on the edge of the bed, taking her hand in the process. “This will only take a sec.
Almost instantaneously, Trinity’s body relaxed a small amount, as if she had been tensed to avoid the hurt. “Ahh...” The smile she gave was refreshing. “That’s amazing, thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He gave her hand a small squeeze, before letting go and moving away from the bed.
Everything that she had been through was still fresh on Malachi’s mind. He berated himself for not figuring it out sooner. He got up to pace the room when he heard Terah ask if she was okay. Of course she wasn’t okay!
“I’ll be fine.” Malachi’s head snapped in her direction. She was looking over at him as if answering his thoughts, but quickly turned to glance at Terah. He shook his head at the stupid illusion.
“I have to know something.” Tori jumped in, successfully bringing the focus to her. “You seem awfully okay with all you’ve seen tonight. You know; the out of the ordinary stuff, glowing hands and whatnot.”
“Honestly, I don’t know exactly what I saw, but I understood that Gideon was trying to help. When it didn’t work on Hugh, he came over and tried the same thing on me. That’s when I blacked out though, so I don’t know what happened after that.” She started to look around the room, glancing from person to person. “Where is Gideon?”
Everyone became deathly silent and failed at trying tried to keep their gazes from him. Walking back to stand by the bed, he tried to explain. “He directly disobeyed orders tonight. This…” He motioned down her body. “…wouldn’t have happened if he would have stayed. He’s been let go.”
She looked genuinely upset, and that made Malachi even more frustrated. “No, no! You can’t do that. I made him mad on purpose. I goaded him until he couldn’t take it anymore. It’s my fault. He mentioned how you were at a dangerous assignment, and I hated the fact that you were down a man because of me. More than likely, that’s where he was going when he left. You see? Don’t take it out on him.”
Trinity was now out of breath from her confession. This was something the frustrating woman would have done. Gideon should have been thicker skinned though. “It doesn’t matter. He still left.” When she was about to say something else he held up a hand to silence her. “This is not negotiable. Let it be.”
She got a look on her face that told him the discussion was far from over. It was only confirmed by what she said next. “For now...”
Malachi had to bring up a topic of discussion that he knew she wouldn’t like, but it had to be done. “Trinity, we need to talk about your dreams.”
Her body stiffened and she shrunk back onto the bed. Forgetting her injuries, she winced at the movement before relaxing again. Nervously she looked around at everyone, obviously not wanting everyone to know.
“Why?”
“You yelled out a name here in the hospital when you were having another nightmare. It was Azazel.” She instinctively shut her eyes, but he continued. “I need to know about that dream and how often you have it. Was this the first time?”
She stared at her hands so long that Malachi feared she wasn’t going to answer. Just when he was about to ask again, she let out a small whisper.
“No”
“No, what? No, you’re not going to say anything?”
Sighing in resignation, she looked over at him. “No, this is not the first time I’ve dreamt of him.”
Malachi saw red. If there was a way to kill the monster, he would. She has had nightmares every night for months. The thought that he tortured her every night this way made him sick. He should have figured this out before.
“The first time was right after the bridge collapsed.” She continued, and he flashed back to the time she was screaming in the hospital and wouldn’t wake up. It took all his strength not to destroy the room around them, but he gritted his teeth and continued to listen.
“Whenever I slept at your place, I never had them. It was only while you were gone. The moment the dream would start, I knew it was him. I got a certain feeling in my gut every time; it felt cold and empty. Sometimes he would take me back to when my parents died, and other times I would be back in my old foster home, but it would always end the same way.” Trinity stopped talking and stared down at the sheets.
“It’s okay, you can tell us.” Terah was now holding her hand, helping her to continue.
“After I relived whatever he chose, I would find myself bound and would have to receive as many lashings as he saw fit. That happened with what I now know to be a tail.” She waved her hands in front of her as if trying to wipe the memory away. “Wow, this sounds so ridiculous.”
“I can’t believe you went through this every day.” Malachi couldn’t even look at her, feeling as if he had failed in protecting her all over again.”
“Oh, no. It wasn’t every night. That one only occurred a handful of times.”
Malachi stood up straighter, more than a little confused. “Wait a minute. But you’ve had many bad dreams. What else are you dreaming about?”
Trinity shook her head and let out a laugh that was more than forced. “This is silly. They’re nothing.”
“Try us anyway. Obviously, your dreams are not just dreams. Maybe we can help if we know.” Malachi had almost forgotten about everyone in the room, but Tori’s comment showed they were all paying close attention.
“They make no sense. Trust me; I’ve tried to decipher them.” She tried to get out of it again, but this had now gotten too important to let her keep them to herself.
“Just let us try. There’s no harm in that.”
Trinity sighed in surrender and started to explain. “I would always be someplace different from the time before. The first one I had, I was fighting on a battlefield. By the look of the clothes and type of weapons, I would say…early 1700’s? Anyways, I never knew where I was going to go next; around a campfire, chained in a dungeon, running in an open field. I once dreamt I was in bed with another woman, which was a little jarring.”
“This sounds interesting. Why don’t you tell us more about that one?” Gemariah spoke up with a smirk on his face.
Malachi watched as she let out a short giggle and rolled her eyes. It was good to see her laugh, but this wasn’t helping. “Go on.”
She sobered back up and started again. “Some of the dreams were good…others, not so much.” She looked over toward him and bit her lip nervously. “For some reason, they were always more peaceful when I was with you. I pray I will eventually forget the ones I had when you weren’t around; torture, killings, weird creatures, and so on.”
“Okay. Did you notice anything strange about the dreams?” He was not going to let her comments soften him. Find his man…cut her loose. That’s the plan.
This was where she looked nervous, and she became defensive. “The mind works in weird ways. I had no control over what I dreamt!”
At his confused look, she groaned but did continue. “At times, you all…” She gestured around the room. “…would be there.”
“Wow. Was the dream where you were in bed with another chick one of them?” Gemariah gestured between Tori and Terah. “If so, that would be awesome.”
“Get your head out of the gutter.” Tori tried to smack him upside the head, but he dodged the blow. Everyone started talking at once, except for Malachi and Trinity.
Trinity looked over at him and said, “Everyone except you. You weren’t in any of them.”
This made the room quiet. Malachi didn’t know how to feel about that, but he did know that more information was still needed.
“Is there anything else? Even the smallest thing could be significant.”
He watched as she concentrated and saw the moment something came to mind. “It could be nothing.”
“It doesn’t matter. Try us.”
“In all the dreams, there was always the same sword. It was different than what I thought a normal sword would look like. It was shorter and had a curve on one side at the tip. It was weird. I could always find it because there was a large emerald on the handle part.”
“The hilt. The handle is called a hilt.” Malachi whispered and let his eyes fall shut. How could this be?
What the f*ck?
Did she ever see it at your house?
What does this mean?
The questions were coming at him from all directions. He just needed a minute to think.
“There’s something else.” Trinity’s voice brought him back. “I wasn’t going to tell you, but I’ve already divulged everything else. Last night you asked about my dream, but I didn’t want to tell you.” Trinity once again looked away from him. This was something he clearly remembered. “I just didn’t want you to get mad.”
“It’s alright.” His voice had turned hoarse for the shock he just received.
“I was back at the bridge, but this time…I wasn’t me. I watched myself save me. That was when I figured out that I was you.” She then started talking at a rapid pace. “I didn’t want you to think it was an invasion of your privacy. I’ve recently discovered that dreams are not always something your mind makes up. When I figured out what it was, I was scared to tell you. Then I started to think that maybe I was seeing the world through your eyes in all my other dreams, but then quickly discarded that theory, since that would put you over three hundred years old.” She laughed at her own thoughts, and didn’t notice the knowing look everyone gave each other.
“It’s okay. I’m glad you said something.”
Gemariah, we all need to talk. She needs a quiet sleep to relax, no dreams. Can you manage that?
Yeah, no problem.
Gemariah reached down and touched her leg through the blanket before whispering to her. “We’re all glad you’re safe Cuteness.”
She let out a big yawn and murmured “Thank you” before closing her eyes and drifting off.
The moment she was out, everyone started talking at once. They all wanted to know the same thing. How was this possible?
“Is there someone we can contact?” Tori jumped in. “Maybe we can ask…”
“No!” Malachi cut her off. “I don’t want anything to happen to her. Anyone might be inclined to lock her up to study. That would kill her.”
“We need to figure something out. What do you think she’s all seen?” Gemariah looked at her with a look of horror. Knowing Malachi the longest, he had the best idea of everything he had been through.
Malachi started thinking of the different scenes she had already mentioned, but his thoughts were interrupted by Terah, who had been unusually quiet.
“I have a theory.” She spoke quietly. “I’ve actually been thinking about it since we were all at your house. This kind of confirms what I came up with.”
When she had everyone’s attention, she continued. “At the party, her hand started to hurt for no reason. She described it as a sharp pain, but it went away quickly. Later, I found out that you cut your hand chopping the steaks around the same time. On top of her not being in my visions anymore, I got curious.” Taking a deep breath, she looked towards Malachi. “What I came up with, was that she did die that day at the river. It had to be precise, but if you gave her air at the exact moment she died, you possibly could have given her some of your essence. That would explain why she is connected with you.”
They all looked at her skeptically, and she got somewhat defensive. “Think about it. Her dreams are obviously her reliving your memories. Their peaceful when you two are close, so it might be her body reveling at being with yours. Oh for crying out loud…when you get hurt, she freakin’ feels it!”
Malachi stared at Trinity. Was that the only reason they had such a strong connection? Disappointment rang true inside of him. Was it just another part of himself he loved all this time? Talk about being conceited.
“She can project to me.” It was something he had kept to himself all this time, but now saw it as more proof.
“See! Wow, that’s unheard of.” Terah seemed excited.
“Man, why didn’t you say anything?”
Malachi just shrugged as an answer to Gemariah’s question. Needing to think this through, he stood up and started toward the door. “I’m going to go check on Hugh.”
“It won’t work. You said so yourself.” Tori, always first to state the obvious.
“Maybe I just wanted to see him…”
The look Tori gave him, before he walked out, showed how confused she was over his response. If he couldn’t help him, why bother? It was how they had lived for so long. Humans always came and went, so they never became close with any of them. Now he had with two, and they were both in the hospital because of him, he thought bitterly.
Malachi was halfway down the hallway when Gemariah caught up with him again.
“Malachi, I know what you’re thinking and you need to stop. That is still Trinity in that room; nothing has changed. She’s gonna wake up and still be the stubborn woman you can’t stop thinking about.”
“You heard Terah. Everything makes sense and things are finally pieced together. The connection we had…” He just shook his head. “…it wasn’t really there.”
“That’s bullshit and you know it! Don’t you remember what you were like the day at the river, when you found out who you were holding? I do, and I don’t remember seeing that much panic on your face in years.” Gemariah gave him a knowing look. “Why was that?”
It was then that it hit Malachi. “The dreams. They were before.”
“Exactly, Terah very well might be right, but you two somehow found each other before that day.”
Malachi let out a breath; relief flooding in. “Thanks man.”
“Hey, who do you think you’re talking to? Anything for love.”
Gemariah walked away and Malachi’s relief quickly turned to resentfulness. This still didn’t change anything. Even after Azazel was gone, he had plenty more enemies that would love to use his weakness against him. Therefore, he still had to walk away.
As he made his way to Hugh’s room, he remembered what had been revealed tonight. Obviously, Azazel has been using Masters to hurt Trinity, otherwise he would not have known so much about them. He knew someone had been pumping information to Masters, but he didn’t know who; until now.
He entered Hugh’s room. It was empty except for the boy in the bed. Looking down at him, he looked so much smaller than he remembered. With all his bravado, it was difficult to picture him as this young of a boy.
Just to check, Malachi placed his hand above Hugh and tried to concentrate. Almost immediately, the power was blocked out. He couldn’t even get in to see the extent of the damage. That was the thing about champions. The only way to make sure they weren’t influenced by evil, was to leave out the aspect in them that makes them susceptible to powers. To block out the evil, good also had to be shut out.
He then did the only other thing he could think of. Placing his thumb on Hugh’s forehead, he made the sign of the cross and repeated the prayer all nephilims in the path of good are taught. “May God be with you, look over you, and protect you in all things.”
After one last glance at the kid, Malachi exited the room and almost ran into a petite woman holding a coffee. Looking down at her, he saw her bloodshot eyes and watched the way the coffee cup shook in her hand.
“Excuse me.”
“No, I wasn’t watching where I was going.” She looked toward the room then back at Malachi. “Do you know Hugh?”
“Yeah, um…Trinity Bradshaw, the teacher also involved in the attack, wanted me to check on him. I’ve met him a couple times, he’s a great kid.”
“He is, isn’t he?” She looked forlorn when her gaze went back to the entrance of Hugh’s room. Visibly shaking herself, her attention was back on Malachi. “How is Ms. Bradshaw? I’m sorry I haven’t been over to see her, it’s just…”
“Don’t worry about it.” He waved off her concern. “She’s going to be okay…thanks to Hugh. Are you his mother?”
“Yeah. It’s just the two of us. He’s all I have.” The last part was choked out, and she put a hand over her eyes. Quickly taking it away, she once again tried to compose herself. “I’m sorry. I have to get back in there.”
“Of course, don’t let me keep you.” Malachi turned and whispered a special prayer of his own for the boy to make it. The world was a better place with him in it, and wasn’t that the whole point behind champions?
Gemariah had Trinity waking up by the time he got back. He stood back…distancing himself, and Tori came to stand next to him.
“The doc came in while you were gone. He mentioned sending her for a MRI in case the CT missed something, not liking that she still hadn’t woken up. Hence, the reason she’s now awake.”
He just nodded and looked on. Watching as Trinity scanned the room until she caught sight of him, he didn’t budge. Standing with his hands behind his back, he gripped them tightly together, as if holding himself back from going to her. He tried his best to appear impassive when he finally glanced away.
Terah sat on the bed beside Trinity. “How ya feeling, Rin?”
“A little better. I’d just like to go home.” She sighed. “I would love just to soak in a hot bath for a while.”
“I’m sorry sweetie. You have a severe concussion. I don’t think they’ll let you go home quite yet. Plus, they still have to splint your arm until the swelling goes down.”
She closed her eyes and laid back onto the bed, obviously not too keen on staying any longer.
“Yea, it’s a real bummer. If only someone were here that could help with that little predicament.” Gemariah looked pointedly at him.
Malachi pinched his lips together before addressing the room. “I can’t, too many questions on how she recovered so quickly. It’s all documented.” He answered curtly and looked at everyone besides her. “Plus, this is new to her. It might be too much for her to take in right now.”
“Can I be the judge of that?” Trinity snapped, obviously not liking being talked about.
Malachi looked stone faced toward her. “Isn’t it? Come on. As you can tell…we’re different. This doesn’t freak you out a little…the knowledge that someone can heal with only their hands, or alter how people feel? What if one of us can see the future? How would you feel then?”
Gemariah jumped up. “Shit Malachi! Why don’t you announce it to the world? Lower the f*cking volume a little.”
Trinity adjusted herself and winced at the pain. “Ok, yeah. This is all a little out of the ordinary.”
Malachi visibly scoffed at the term “little”.
“But… I also know that Tori can fix almost anything with an engine and can drive them even better when someone needs her. I know Terah has a heart of gold and feels she has to help as many people as she can.” She was going through his team one by one, and using her fingers to tick them off. “Gideon puts up a hard exterior, but really cares underneath it all. Gemariah is an excellent chef with a good heart, but is a womanizer to the core.”
“Hey!”
Trinity didn’t acknowledge Gemariah’s objection but kept on speaking to him. “You…You think it is your job to take care of everything and everyone, and you never ask for help. That shows how incredibly stubborn you are, as well as being the most selfless person I know.”
“I consider all of you my friends. So – my friends have a few extra qualities that I’m finding out about. They are irregular and I would love to know how it’s all possible, but right now I just want to go home.”
He watched as Trinity choked out the last word, and sagged farther onto the bed before looking directly at him.
Malachi was lost in the same violet eyes that have drawn him in for the past months. “Maybe I can take a look. I won’t change anything too significant now; just enough so you can go home. Understand?”
She nodded and watched as he made his way over to her.
“Lay back.” He was brusque and quickly turned his attention away. “Someone got the door?”
When he turned back toward her, he held his hands over, only for her to grab one. The contact took him off guard and he quickly pulled his hand away in self-preservation. Even though there was only a second worth of contact, he could still feel the warmth spreading from her touch. Any longer, and he knew it would of been his undoing.
She put her hands back at her sides, and he tried to ignore the way her eyes started to water.
“Will it hurt?”
Her question was choked, and her hurt caused Malachi not to trust his voice in return, so he gave a quick shake of his head.
Shutting his eyes, he focused on her injuries. Looking in depth, he was surprised to see freshly healed areas, as if it had been in the last few hours. She was healing herself? Granted, not nearly as fast as him, but quicker than any normal human. Good God, what had he done to her?
He left her body without fixing anything. There had been no need, because her major injuries were already in the healing process.
“You should be fine.” Malachi didn’t want to discuss what he had seen just yet. “I can’t do anything for the arm right now since the x-rays have already been taken, but nothing should keep you here much longer.”
“That was quick.” Trinity sounded astounded.
When she looked at him expectantly, he just shrugged. “I’ll go get the doctor.” He turned to leave the room, but was stopped when Trinity spoke up to get his attention.
“Wait!” She reached out to grab his arm, but quickly brought it back in to herself. “What about Hugh?”
“That’s in God’s hands now.” With that last remark, he turned and walked out of the room.