I stood at the edge of the chasm, one step away from the crumbling jagged edges.The smoke rising from its depths wasn’t hot like I’d always suspected, but then again, I also didn’t know what was really down there.I had no idea what the darkness held, but I also wasn’t scared.Whatever was down there, it couldn’t get to me unless I jumped, and I wasn’t about to do that.
“Baby, what are you doing?”I turned to see Lazarus standing a few feet behind me, his wary gaze glancing at the huge crater before me.“Step away from the edge.”
“It’s okay,” I assured him.“I’m fine.”
Lazarus began shaking his head.“No, Elisa.You’re not.”
“Elisssssheva...”came the voice again, making me turn from Lazarus to see where it was coming from.“Elisssssheva...come to me.You will be safe, child...”
That was a lie.
I wasn’t sure how I knew it, but that was a lie.
“Elisa, do not go to them,” Lazarus ordered.“I mean it.”
Turning back towards Lazarus, I said, “There’s only one.There’s only one of him.”
“I don’t care,” Lazarus snapped.“Do not go to the other side.”
Then I heard Ramiel’s voice as if he were standing next to me.“Free will, Elisheva.”
However, before I could look for him, the white smoke turned black, and instead of red eyes greeting me this time, a pair of white ones stared back at me over the chasm, and I was hit with the sensation of evil dancing over my grave, but all I could think about was Lazarus standing too close behind me.
“Elisheva,” the voice said, no longer a hissing echo in my ears.“Elisheva, you have disappointed us, I must tell you.”
“Elisa, get back here,” Lazarus ordered again, and I faintly wondered why he didn’t just come get me if he was so upset about me being this close to the edge.
“How?”I asked, my eyes focused on the entity before me.“How have I disappointed you?”
“You’ve chosen to believe only one side, and that simply will not do,” he answered.
“Why does it matter what or who I believe?”I challenged.“I’m just one woman.”
“Do you still believe that?”he asked, his eyes turning into a smoky white that seemed to keep disappearing.“Do you honestly believe that you are nothing more than a common woman?”
Before I could answer, Ramiel’s voice was back.“Free will, Elisheva.”
“What do you want?”I finally asked.“What do you want from me?”
“We want what it is inside you that made Him choose you,” he answered candidly.
“Elisa, no,” Lazarus called out.“Quit listening to him.C’mon, let’s get out of here, baby.”
“He is still trying to save you,” the voice said.“After all these years, he is still trying to save you.”
Ignoring both Ramiel and Lazarus, I asked, “And what makes you think that I’d ever go with you?What makes you think that I’d ever hand over such a gift?”
Those white eyes looked past me to Lazarus, and I felt pain unlike anything that I’d ever experienced before hit my chest before he even said the words.“Because we will spare him if you do.”
“Don’t listen to him,” Lazarus practically growled.“It’s a trap.This is all a trap.”
“No, you won’t,” I said, my chest still feeling tight.“You’ll spare no one.”
“Because you think that he’ll fare better if we go to war?”he questioned.“Do you think that he can save you, Elisheva?Better yet, do you think that you can save him?”
“Elisa!”Lazarus roared.“Get us out of here now!”
“See?He knows,” the voice taunted.“He knows the truth, and he is trying to keep you from hearing it.His doubt in you will be your downfall if you do not come to us willingly, Elisheva.”
