Entangled (Entangled Trilogy #1) (7 page)

“
Will you be my
girlfriend, Rosemarie? I know how much you hate it when a guy isn’t
straightforward so I just went out and said it. Will you be my
girlfriend?” James asked in that beautiful compelling voice of his.
I thought for sure that I would say yes then and there. Instead, I
just stared at him as if he just transformed into a mermaid. Just
imagine!

“Please don’t look at me
like that. I need to know what your decision is. Will you be my
girlfriend? If no, then I will have a follow-up question for you.
If yes, then I will have a different follow-up question. Please
answer me. If you don’t want me anywhere near you ever again, then
say the word and I’ll leave. I won’t even touch you anymore,” James
entreated. He was really at the end of your tether.

I looked down at his arms
that were enclosed around my waist and then up into those beautiful
eyes of his as if saying, you’re holding me now so . . . where did
your promise go?

“Right after you answer my
questions, Rosemarie,” James said, taking the insinuation. What
about Adrian? If I said yes to James right now, what about Adrian?
I need to find out more about my past.

“Please, say something.
Anything. You can yell at me all you want just say something. I
don’t like it when you’re quiet,” James pleaded once
more.

“James, I need to think
about it all. You said it all at once and I just need to . . .,” I
sighed. I looked up to meet his gaze. His eyes were the only thing
that I could see and they were pretty. James’ eyes were pale
baby-blue with shadowy black around the irises. His eyes seemed to
beckon me closer to him.

“Okay then, Rosemarie.
I’ll give you until Friday. Until then, my love,” James said,
taking my smaller hand in his and pecking each and every single one
of the knuckles. So now he was going to call me love instead of
Rosemarie.

With that, I turned around
and left. James had been watching me go but I really didn’t
care.

Once I went into the
house, I had about two seconds to look up and see my older brother
run up to me and cuddle me securely. He kept murmuring “Oh my god,
oh my god, oh my god” under his breath while I hugged him back,
smiling slightly.

“I thought that something
had happened to you, Rose. You have a phone for a reason. Where
were you? I was so scared and didn’t even know what to do. I called
Maddie but she said that you were out with James. What did that
little scum do to you? You have no idea what I’m going to do to
that idiot, lil’ sis. Are you okay?” Elliot asked while I smiled
the whole time. He was so overprotective, it was
frustrating.

“You think this is
amusing? Rose, you don’t understand how hurt I’ll be if I lose you.
I love you too much to lose you, Rose,” Elliot said and I
immediately stopped smiling.

I love you too much to
lose you, Rose. You’re my everything and I can’t bear to be apart
from you. I love you, Roza. I love you
,
said that deep, husky voice in my mind.

Where did I hear that
before? The dude had a hint of British in his voice. Abruptly,
those blue-green eyes flashed across my mind. My whole world went
spinning and I couldn’t concentrate on Elliot anymore. Just as I
was about to fall, Elliot caught me.

“Rose!” he exclaimed, his
eyes filled with concern.

You’re mine, Roza and
nothing will ever change that. He can never take you away from me.
No one can. You’re mine.

Who is that? Every time I
hear that voice, those blue-green eyes would flash across my mind.
Only Adrian ever called me Roza and had those Blue-green eyes. I’m
certain that it wasn’t him.

“
What’s wrong, sis?”
Elliot asked. His eyes kept searching mine for some clue but my
expression was impassive.

“
Nothing, Elliot. I just .
. . need to rest. I’ve had a stressful day, that’s all,” I said
upliftingly. However, he didn’t look anywhere near
influenced.

“
You sure?” He asked,
biting his lower lip, a gesture both of us inherited from our
mother that showed how tense we were.

“
Yes, I’m sure,” I said,
heading upstairs. Before leaving, I hugged him back again. “Hey,
don’t worry about me. I’m perfectly fine and James didn’t do
anything to me,” I whispered which instantly made him relax a
little.

No! You’re mine, Angel. He
thinks he can have you but he’s wrong. I’ll be the one to win you
over. There is no way, on Earth, Heaven or Hell, that he’ll get to
you before me. Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo, Angel.
Sweet dreams
, said an awfully familiar
voice.

His voice sounded very
familiar but I couldn’t determine where I’ve heard that before. It
clearly wasn’t the other voice calling me Roza. What did
Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta
movebo
mean? I’m pretty sure that it’s in
Latin but I am not very good at Latin . . . or other foreign
language.

Once I entered my room, I
instantaneously went to my bookshelf. Once I blithely touched one
of the books, the bookshelf instantly opened up like a set of
double doors, surrendering me entrée to the pearly gates beyond my
room. This was the only memory I had left of the previous eight
months of my life. Only Elliot, Maddie and I knew about this place,
no one else. I don’t want anyone to come wayfaring around this
place.

Once I infiltrated that
place, the bookshelf quickly closed up behind me, leaving me
unaided in the darkness. I turned on the lights and took a look
around. The place was vast with plenty of space left over. The
whole room was a mahogany color with other bookshelves and tables,
almost like a library. The ceiling was really high up and had a
golden chandelier hanging from it. The room didn’t have any windows
to let the light in so you had to opt for the chandelier and the
light bulbs. All the way to the far end of the left side of the
room was an elevator. You can take the elevator to the backyard, a
place where the other entrance to the wonderland was located. The
walls had several photos hanging on it, some of them were very . .
. memorable. This place could only open with my permission; it was
almost like a secret hideout.

The room was very
uncontaminated and spacious. There was another set of doors beyond
the library. Once you went through that, with my permission, you
would have two corridors. One of them led to the kitchen, bathroom
and the dining room while the other led to the set of bedrooms.
Past the two corridors was a whole meadow-like place. The ground
was filled with freshly cut grass and had a glass ceiling so you
could look at the stars at night. There was even a set of staircase
leading up to the indoor pool and the greenhouse. The whole place
was like another house. I loved to come up here whenever I was
upset, mad or just . . . troubled by anything.

I hastily ran over to the
table with the picture of the boy and the girl. The picture was
taken in my background, last summer. It was a picture of me, gazing
into his eyes while he leaned his forehead against mine,
scrutinizing intensely into my eyes. We looked like two people in
love, but that’s not what frustrated me the most.

I could only see the side
of his face and his hair. He had curly auburn hair that fell onto
my face since he was leaning his head against my forehead. I could
still see one of his eyes which was an unwonted saturation of
blue-green. It was so beautiful and compelling, that I felt myself
craving to just nosedive into the picture. I wish that there was
some way, just some way, to remember him.

I felt my eyes burn with
clandestine tears. Then, I felt someone’s breath fanning the back
of my neck. Once I turned around, there was no one
there.

Don’t worry, Angel. Soon,
you’ll be MINE and no one else will be able to take you away from
me. NO ONE!

Who is that? The voice
didn’t sound very pleasant but instead, it gave me goose bumps; not
the pleasant kind and not the unpleasant kind. His voice was so . .
. entrancing. I quickly ran out of the place and back into my own
room where I fell asleep, crying. That night, I didn’t have a warm
dream. Just a heartbreaking nightmare, full of voices and strange
things.

* * * * *

“
Please, have some mercy,
Lord! You surely don’t want this. I know you don’t,” begged my
mother while I lay still in her arms. This was probably when I was
a baby because I’ve never even been in my mom’s arms.
Ever.

Darleen Anne Fray
Hathaway, better known as Darla, was my mother who died in a tragic
accident. Only Elliot got to see her for the first five years or so
of his life. She was about 5’10 and had strawberry red hair. She
was very slim and definitely very beautiful. She had those
signature pale gray eyes that all the ladies in her family had. My
grandmother had them; my great-grandmother had them and so on.
Elliot had even showed me a picture of her. I wish I could just see
her in person. I had gotten her eyes and her figure, but Elliot had
gotten the striking features and a hint of strawberry color from
her hair. I just . . . wonder who this Lord is that she is talking
to.

“
I am very sorry, Angel
Darla, but there is no such force in the universe or in Heaven that
can stop this. Your times are over for now. Either one of you has
to die, either you or your daughter. Remember, no two of you can
ever live at the same time. You do have the choice to choose who
lives,” Lord said. I couldn’t really see her, only her
profile.

“Isn’t there anything you
can do about it? From the beginning of time, all my ancestors died
because of this stupid curse. All of us chose love over fate. This
time, there has to be another way,” Darla pleaded. Lord looked a
bit dismayed by her words, but showed no more emotions
whatsoever.

“
Only one of you will be
able to live. Hopefully, I will try to make sure that your daughter
chooses the right person to marry and hopefully then, both of your
future descendants can live. Who knows, maybe she can have more
than one child with her future husband,” Lord said.

“
If she lives,” added
another Angel whose voice seemed really familiar.

“Do you wish to say
something, Archangel Azrael?” Lord questioned.

At last, Archangel Azrael
took a step forward. Surprisingly, he looked just like James. The
same pale blue eyes and the same blond hair. From my knowledge of
Angels, Archangel Azrael is the Angel of Death.

“
If she dies, then the
whole species of Earthly Angels will become extinct. How do you
wish to achieve your goals then, My Lord?” Archangel Azrael
asked.

“
Then I shall create some
kind of power within her to help her survive. Remember, her soul is
immortal and she has three mates. Don’t forget that. Step forward
Archangels, this is your chance to help save a sister,” Lord
ordered.

“Well, why don’t you give
her the power to reincarnate every 10 years or so. That way, the
scale wouldn’t stay unbalanced, My Lord,” said another familiar
looking Archangel. He looked exactly like Adrian.

He was Adonael, Archangel
of illnesses, healing and this is an angel of great compassion,
bearing the power of Judgment upon unclean and evil spirits, but
Mercy to souls that are plagued by them; hence, a great deliverer
of souls bound up in shades and shadows, and great
suffering.

“
Why not 50 years?”
Lucifer said. He was beautiful, just as everyone described. He had
beautiful blue eyes and amber brown hair. I’ve never seen him
before so he doesn’t seem very familiar. Any Angel would fall hard
for him.

“
How about 50 years for
every time her actions kill herself and 100 years whenever someone
or something else’s actions kill her?” Archangel Azrael asked,
clearly enjoying this moment.

“
Alright! What do you
think of it Darla? Do you accept? You are giving up your life for
your daughter while your daughter is being gifted significantly. Do
you accept? She will have three to choose from,” Lord asked
Darla.

“
I-I accept. Take my life
instead of hers, Lord,” Darla begged, tears furiously streaming
down her face. “But promise me that my daughter will be immortal.
She won’t die after my grandchild is born. Promise me that,
Lord.”

“
Shouldn’t she be able to
be immortal? For at least this moment again?” asked Angel Anael,
the Angel of love and passion. She looked just like Maddie. Why am
I dreaming of my friends being Angels?

“
Of course. I promise that
she will have a guardian angel with her. Perhaps Angel Anael can be
her guardian,” Lord said as Lord moved towards me, limp in my
mother’s arms. Lord placed her right hand on my forehead while the
whole meadow filled with a brilliant light so bright; the angels
had to cover their eyes.

FLASH.

Lord took her hand away
from my forehead, leaving my mother lying on the ground. She wasn’t
breathing so that means that the transformation was done. Our lives
have been switched. Before everything went dark, I thought I saw
both Azrael, Lucifer and Adrian trying to move forward to get to
me, but I wasn’t there to see who got to me first.

* * * * *

The following morning, I
woke up from that horrible nightmare where my own friends were
angels and I got to live through my mother’s death, in angel form.
My whole head hurt and the weird thing was that the nightmare
looked so vivid. I felt as if somehow I was there, but not exactly
. . . there. Azrael, Archangel of Death, looked so much like James
and Archangel Adonael looked so much like Adrian. Yet neither of
them was completely like the Angels. Why that random nightmare? I
never asked for it. My mother died in a car accident, or so I‘ve
been told. The weird thing is, I only remember the part where my
mom told Lord to make me immortal and everything after that seems .
. . blurred.