I blink. All the while, my eyes never waver from the woman. Searching her face, I find no signs of deceitfulness. She believes what she says.
I huff. “Y-you’re wrong. There’s always a way. Your sight is broken.”
“It’s not. I see it all clearly, Victoria. Your future is here.”
I stagger backward. The world tilts and the sensation of falling sweeps over me. I shake my head, trying to clear out the fog that’s settled over me. A pair of surprisingly strong hands grab my shoulders to help stop my swaying.
“Victoria, listen,” Almada commands. “There is no way back to Heaven for you. It’s not meant to be. When you fell, God made other plans. Heaven hasn’t just closed the gates behind you; they’ve been slammed shut, and all of the repenting you do will never be enough.”
My head shakes back and forth violently. This woman can’t be right. She has to have her information wrong. God is gracious. God knows what’s in my heart. He’d never turn his back on me. Never.
“You’re wrong,” I spit. Anger claws its way up my spine, and I allow it to burn.
“Know when the fight is over, child, because your time in Heaven has ended. There is much for you to do here.”
“Here? Why would I stay here and help a bunch of pathetic humans who sin daily for no other reason but to satisfy their own selfish desires? I won’t.”
She takes two giant steps back, putting distance between us. “You can run from your destiny, but it will always find you. There is no way out, Victoria. God won’t allow it.”
“God can’t stop me,” I yell. “If he won’t let me in, then I’ll end this miserable life and go on to wherever I’m damned to go.”
“Go home,” she orders. “Death won’t find you.”
“Everyone can die.” The words are whispered as the fight drains out of me.
“Only if God wills it.” She begins walking, leaving me alone on the sidewalk and taking the little hope I had left with her.
REDEMPTION
My feet shuffle through the square, with no real plan of where to go next. People mill about, chatting and enjoying their time, if their laughter is any indication. All I feel is hollow.
Every shred of hope I’ve held on to was vanquished in an instant. Two words sealed my fate.You don’t.
My mind screams at me not to believe a word the heretic said, but my heart knows better. The woman wasn’t lying. She’s seen my future and it’s here on Earth. A place I don’t want to be. But I don’t have a choice. Free will isn’t something the fallen are given.
I did this.
A tear drips from my eye, but I don’t wipe it away. My feet continue their monotonous pounding of the pavement, with no real direction. My shoulder bumps into someone, but I don’t react as they yell, “Hey, watch where you’re going!” I’m on autopilot, just barely hanging on by a thread.
Someone walks by, leaning toward my ear. “I know who you are.” My head jerks up, but I only see the man’s retreating back. Another person bumps into my right shoulder and I turn to see a woman glaring down at me. Her face is distorted as my eyes blink. My vision is going in and out as though I’m looking through a kaleidoscope. “You’re not getting out of here,” the woman cackles.
“What?” I whisper, dazed and utterly confused by the warped imagery in front of me.
“Wh-who are you?”
The woman throws her head back and cackles louder. My hands fly to shield my ears from the piercing sound, just as someone else runs into my back, shouting for me to move the hell out of their way.
My body begins to shake as I rock back and forth on my heels. My head pivots from one side to the other, watching the crazed woman laughing while a man leers at me. My vision tunnels and I feel the world sway. I’m going down, being pulled under by a current that can’t truly exist on solid ground.
Before I hit, a strong pair of arms sweep me up and cradle me into a firm chest. I don’t care who this savior is, only that they deemed me worthy of being rescued in this moment. Tears run like a river down my face and into the shirt of that solid chest I cling to. The familiar scent of sandalwood should’ve tipped me off to the person I cling to.
Zeke.
“Shhh. I’ve got you, Tori.”
Of course it’s him. He’s always there when I need to be picked up off the ground. It’s been that way since day one. My instincts say it’s due to the ethereal pull we share, but something deep within questions that theory. I’m too fragile in this moment to examine any other possible reasons.
His strong legs carry us quickly to some unknown location. I don’t ask, because I don’t care. There isn’t a thing in this world I care about. Getting out has been the one sliver of hope I’ve held on to, and in a matter of moments, that hope’s been dashed to shreds.
