His hope that the chaos hadn’t reached beyond the square was dashed when he opened the back door. The dim lights in the alleyway revealed a woman lying in the alley in a pool of blood with half her throat missing, a small blue box with a gold sticker on ground next to her. He heard Bella gasp, and a small cry escaped her lips. How he longed to comfort her and shield her from this horror, but first, he needed to get her to relative safety.
They ran along the side of the building, staying in the shadows. The screams of terror had died down a bit. Angel warriors in flowing white gowns flew above them, carrying holy swords and knives—long, shiny steel blades with jeweled handles. Their thick, white wings caused heavy downdrafts.
As they continued down the back alley, they also came across a friendly werewolf, and a couple of translucent ghosts walking about, calling out for others. Bella’s grip on his hand tightened, her fear almost palpable.
The farther they moved from the main town square, the more relaxed he became. He knew Ulric would seek out Bella, but with him being a demon, Jayden also knew he couldn’t resist taking part in chaos.
“What’s happened here?” Bella whispered from his side, her hand still encased in his, her skin even smoother and softer than he’d remembered. His whole body and soul ached at how good it felt to touch her again after all this time. “And who are you?”
He smiled. The happenings of tonight would be a long story, and as far as who he was to her, he would tell her the truth, hoping that something from her previous life rang true for her.
“My name’s Jayden. I’m an Angel of Death from Heaven.”
She gasped and tried to pull her hand away, but he held fast.
“I’m not here to deliver your soul to Heaven, Bella. I’m here to help you. I was sent to fight in this war, and to protect you from that demon in your shop, Ulric.”
“W-what does a demon want with me?”
“He wants to kill you.”
“Why?”
He stopped, gazing around to make sure they were still alone. He didn’t sense any other paranormal beings in the vicinity, either, but that could change at any time.
Grabbing her other hand, he turned to her. “Because he’s done it before.”
Confusion crossed her face. “What?”
“Please. Let me get you inside. We’re not safe out here.”
They continued their walk in silence, and he unsheathed his sword, keeping it at his side.
The neighborhood consisted of small red-brick houses, each with a nice patch of grass out front. Most had many flowering shrubs, large oak trees, and rose bushes. The fall weather had caused the leaves to turn, and Mother Nature had decorated the neighborhood in bright gold, deep reds, and rustic browns.
The empty streets glowed softly from the streetlights above. Some of the houses had been decorated for Halloween with ghosts, skeletons, and jack-o-lanterns hanging from porches. One house had made a graveyard out of their small patch of grass, while another had a large, blown-up pumpkin. Fake witches and ghosts had been hung from the trees, and he wondered what the townspeople thought of all of these scary creatures actually existing and materializing to now roam their streets. Jayden imagined Halloween would never be the same again until the generations had passed on, and this Event became nothing more than a legend, like the one before.
Saint’s Grove, nestled up in the Blue Ridge Mountains, seemed to be a sort of utopian place to live. How things had changed within such a short period of time.
After a few moments, Bella stopped. “This is it.”
He glanced up at the house to make sure Ulric, or any other supernatural entity, didn’t hide on the roof or in the shadows of the small porch. When he felt certain the house still remained safe, he led her up the concrete path sandwiched between two small patches of faded-green grass. In the midst of fall, the color was slowly turning to brown.
Bella moved a geranium pot by the door and grabbed a key from beneath it, quickly unlocking the door. It didn’t seem very safe to him to hide the key in such an obvious place, but he bit his lip to keep the words from spilling off his tongue. He remembered well that she didn’t like being told what to do.
She opened the door and moved inside, and Jayden followed her into the darkness. After she turned on the lights, it took a moment for his eyes to adjust. The small living room had a white Victorian couch with a blue blanket thrown over the back. Magazines lay neatly stacked on the coffee table, and a small television set sat in the corner. A few pictures of her, with people he assumed to be her parents and friends, adorned the fireplace mantle.
As he moved through the living room, his boots echoed on the hardwood flooring. He passed into the dining area into the small, tidy kitchen. Overall, the house seemed quite homey, and he smirked thinking of the cold, drafty castle she’d inhabited in her previous life.
Bella brushed by him into the kitchen. They connected for only a moment, yet, her touch sent a shiver down his spine. Now that they were alone and safe, he longed to take her into his arms and feel her willowy body against him. As he studied her, she looked exactly the same as she had when they’d been lovers centuries ago. Dark hair hung to her shoulders in soft waves, her skin still unmarred and smooth. Her breasts seemed the same, yet, her hips looked slimmer. Perhaps she had become an avid exerciser.
Her hands trembled as she put a water-filled teapot onto the stove, and retrieved two mugs and bags from the cabinet above her. She stared at the pot for a moment as it heated, then turned to him.
“I know you said you’re an Angel of Death, and if you were going to hurt me, you would have already done so. But, how do you know me? Who are you? What’s happening out there?”
He nodded. The time had come for all her questions to be answered. The information would be a lot for her to take in, but she had always been strong. He had no doubt she would be able to handle his strange tale.
“Get your tea, then let’s sit down. I’ll try to explain as much as I can."
A few minutes later, Bella sat at her dining room table waiting for her guest to explain everything to her. As she stared at him, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she knew this man … or angel … whatever he was. But how?
She couldn’t even believe the things she’d witnessed tonight, and once questioned her own sanity. She reached underneath the table and pinched her thigh to make sure she wasn’t in some strange dream. It hurt, so this was definitely reality. Yet, it all seemed so surreal, so outlandish.
“This evening, the planets Earth, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, and Mercury all aligned,” Jayden began. “That in itself is an odd occurrence, but there was also a lunar eclipse. These two astrological events have caused the seals of the universe to open, allowing everything inhabiting other spiritual planes and alternate universes to come to Earth.”
She stared at him in disbelief.
“As I said, I am an Angel of Death from Heaven,” he continued. “On my way here, I saw other Heavenly warriors. You saw them as well in the back of your shop. They’ve been sent here to fight the evil that has risen from Hell.”
She cleared her throat and stared down at her tea. Wrapping her hands around the warm mug gave her some comfort. Biting her lip, she longed to tell him what she’d seen, but hesitated at the risk of sounding like a lunatic. Then again, he’d just told her he was an Angel of Death, and spoke of Heavenly warriors. If he could let his crazy fly, so could she. Maybe, just maybe, they weren’t completely nuts.
“I … I, uh, think I saw a vampire, and a woman change into a wolf.”
He nodded, as if she’d announced the weather would be nice tomorrow.
“Your eyes didn’t deceive you, Bella. Like I said, all the seals have been broken. Did you notice the ghosts on our way here? Some have returned to complete unfinished business, or to right any wrongs they may have committed while alive. Others are here for revenge. You’ve already borne witness to vampires, a demon, angels, and werewolves. Thankfully, the seals will close in seven days—at midnight on Halloween.”
“What happens then?” Bella asked, anxiously.
“Whatever beings are still here on Earth will stay. If humans have gone to another plane, they will be trapped there. Last time this happened, almost everyone ended up where they should have been. A few stragglers got caught in the wrong universe, but not many.”
She recalled the legend of a pack of werewolves living in the forest outside of town. “This happened before?”
He nodded. “Yes, before this area had been settled. The Native Americans who once lived here suffered terribly as they fought against the supernatural entities.”
Taking a sip of her tea, the burning sensation in her mouth and throat also let her know she was situated in reality. “How do you know that?”
“I was here.”
Surprise shot through her. “You were here?”
His smile conveyed warmth and understanding, as if he could comprehend how amazing and unreal everything he said seemed.
“Yes. But more on that later, okay?”
At this point, the details didn’t matter. She felt her head might soon explode, and apparently, she had some evil monster after her. “What about that … demon? What was his name?”
Jayden’s nostrils flared, and hate flashed in his dark eyes. “Ulric.”
“You said that he’d killed me before?”
He nodded and placed his forearms on the table.
“This is your second life, Bella. In your first life, you lived in medieval times as Arabella Wissant of House Garin, Princess of Porthaethwidge, daughter of Prince Alistair Wissant. Your father, the heir to the throne, married you off to Ulric Bayton of House Cromer, Prince of Praegan.”
Since her mother had taught medieval history before retiring, Bella knew arranged marriages had been common all those centuries ago, but she still found it hard to believe it actually happened when she really considered it. Her stomach turned at the thought.
“Married me off?”
“Yes. He hoped to accomplish two things. First, he wanted to solidify the peace between House Garin and House Cromer, who had been known to feud. The marriage would secure the treaty, ensuring that the peace would not only hold, but last. Second, he hoped that being married would calm, what he considered, your uncultivated ways, and turn you into a proper lady.”
As she stared at him, her head began to swim, almost as if her mind tried to find a distant memory.
“And as my husband … Ulric … he killed me?”
Anger flashed in his eyes again, and his hands curled into fists. “With his bare hands. The man was a monster.”
Taking another sip of tea, she tried to process his story thus far, and found it difficult to do so.
“What did he mean when he said you failed to protect me before?”
Jayden hung his head. Standing, he paced the length of the table. “I think that part of the story would be better told tomorrow, after you’ve rested.”
At his words, she realized how exhausted she had become, and yawned. Apparently, her adrenaline had ebbed. She felt like she had taken in too much information already, so maybe tomorrow would be a better day to hear the rest of the tale.
She stood and put her cup into the sink, glancing at him still standing by the table. “Are you sure Ulric won’t be back tonight?”
Saying his name stirred something within her. Goosebumps traveled over her skin, and her stomach lurched. She suddenly felt very uncomfortable, and looked around the house fully expecting the demon to show himself at any moment.
Jayden shook his head and came into the kitchen. As he crossed his arms over his big barrel chest, she had the oddest need to go to him and have him embrace her; to feel those strong arms hold her, and have him tell her everything would be fine. In fact, it was almost a fight to keep herself right where she stood.
“Honestly, no. He will come back—of that I have no doubt. But, I will watch over you while you sleep. I’ll fight him to the death if I must to keep you safe.”
How chivalrous. He almost sounded like some type of prince himself. “I’m having a hard time believing all of this.”
“I don’t blame you.”
They stared at each other for a beat, and as she looked into his ebony gaze, heat rose in her cheeks, washing through her limbs.
He moved away from her, stepping aside so she could pass him. “Go now, Bella. Go to sleep. I’ll answer the rest of your questions in the morning. Rest assured, you will see the sun rise on another day. I’ll be watching over you all night from outside.”
She nodded, and walked down the short hallway to her bedroom. Closing the door, she leaned her back against it.
Logically, as a single woman she should be very uncomfortable going to bed with a strange man in her house, but emotionally, she felt very reassured by Jayden’s presence. That feeling of recognition only seemed to grow stronger with each passing minute, and her whole being told her that she could trust him, that she would be safe with him. Therefore, she’d throw logic to the side and go with her gut.
As she undressed, she went over the night’s events. Vampires. Angels. Werewolves. A previous life. It all seemed so surreal, so fantastic, but the reality of the situation was she had either lost her mind and resided in some alternate universe, or everything she’d seen tonight had been real.
Both options terrified her.
Furthermore, some of what Jayden had said about her so-called first life rang true. It was as if her mind scrambled to remember a movie she’d seen long ago, but the memories lay just outside of her grasp. It scared her almost as much as possibly losing her sanity did.
As she pulled the comforter up to her chin, her whole body shook. A lone tear slipped down her cheek. She’d never felt more afraid, confused, or alone in her whole life.