Eternal (Eternal series)

Text Copyright © 2013 Chantelle Nay

All Rights Reserved

To my family, especially my daughter Kylie who spent

hours and hours proof-reading and editing.

And to my husband Todd who taught me how to fish

and took me on my first four-wheeler ride

and made me believe in true love.

Just as Eve was created from one of Adam’s ribs,

there are souls out there who are two pieces

of one heart–split apart at the beginning of time.

Destined to find each other here on earth and put the pieces

back together, making them whole once more.

Never to be separated from one another again

throughout the rest of eternity.

Preface

“
I don’t want to leave you,” the words flooded out swiftly past the strangled sobs threatening to burst forth. The sheer agony of the moment was apparent on her tear streaked face.  She couldn’t stand causing him any more pain, but there was no way she could endure this alone. 

The pain was rearing up in huge waves before her, crushing her, pummeling her, breaking her.  He was her strength, her core, he always had been.  He was her true other half.  How could she survive without him?

The battle was raging all around them.  “You have to go now, my love,” he said in a calm, reassuring voice.  “Everything will be okay.  You have to trust me. Can you do that?”  His finger tilted her chin upwards until she could see into his clear blue eyes, there was no doubt in their depths.

She tried to believe it would all be okay like he promised, but she was being ripped in half. She was trembling uncontrollably with fear and her heart ached and burned as if it were being pulled slowly from her chest.  Her whole soul felt like it was being wrenched in two by the eminent separation before them.  She had suddenly become weak in her previous resolve.

Why had she ever wanted this?

It was not supposed to be like this.  This had never been part of the plan.  It was supposed to be a joyful time, full of hope and faith and expectation. 

This was the opposite, a stark contrast of the vision she'd once held onto.  Everything had changed in what seemed like an instant, a mere moment. 

Would she ever see him again?  Would they ever be together like they were right now in this precious moment?  He was her everything.  He made her complete and now she was being pulled away from him. 

She didn’t want to go.  

Not without him. 

Not like this.

“
What if I never see you again?  What if you can’t find me?”  The sobs were building in her chest, threatening to explode.  She refused to let them out. 

She could see the staggering pain etched across his perfect face.  It was a pain she knew was, in some ways, far greater than her own.  He felt responsible for what was happening to them now.  It wasn't his fault. They both knew there was no other choice for him.

He was a soldier, a servant to the greater good.  He couldn’t just turn away from that.  He had a duty to fulfill, a mission to complete.

It was bigger than saving the world, he would be a protector of every soul that had ever, or would ever exist throughout the great expanse of time. 

So many had already been lost. 

He couldn’t turn his back when the call came for a select few to stay behind for the sake of protecting the others.  This mission must be completed.  There was no other way.  Otherwise they were all damned, never to progress, never to reach their potential.

But why did it have to be him?  And why did she have to go now?

She was so afraid.  She had never been afraid like this before.  A feeling of panic choked her.  She knew what she had to do. 

She had wanted nothing more for as long as she could remember.  But now the moment was here and everything had changed, because now he wouldn’t be going with her as they had always planned.

“
I will find you somehow," his voice was thick with the promise.  "If there’s any chance that I can come then I will, you know I will.”  He stared fiercely into her eyes, willing her to know the truthfulness of what he spoke.  “And if I...can't come," his eyes were soft and infinitely sad but still bored into her soul, "know that I will always be with you.  I will never let anything happen to you, my love.  I promise you that.  We are eternal souls; two pieces of one heart.  There is nothing in heaven or on earth that will keep us apart.” 

He placed his hand over her chest, connecting his heart and spirit with hers.  A warm wave of calmness and security washed over her as a few stray tears broke free and began to fall.

“Do you promise....promise to always love me, no matter what happens now?”

He grabbed her up in his arms and squeezed her tightly, kissing her beautiful tear streaked face.  He gathered his courage and forced himself to be strong.  He would not let her see his fear, his weakness.  He had to be strong for her. 

“I promise to love you even longer than that, my love," he said with a steady voice.  "I will love you forever and a day,” he promised, pure love filling his eyes.

There was no more time left for them.  He would stay behind and fight, for her and for everyone they loved. 

She ached with the knowledge that she would soon forget him. Her only comfort was knowing that he would always remember her. 

If this had been a mortal battle, taking place on earth, there would still be some hope— hope of them being together, of them finding each other. 

But it wasn't. 

This was heaven and he was an angel and she would soon be mortal.

Chapter 1:  EXISTENCE

Hot tears stung her cheeks as they lost their fight with gravity and fell from her clenched and hardened jawline.  Emma sat miserably alone on a darkened patio, no light finding her teary, swollen eyes.  Even the moon seemed to hide its bright and comforting face.  This only added to the heavy feeling of despair.  She felt so alone.  As a thirteen year old girl, the separation of her parents seemed cataclysmic. Emma's home had been taken away and her world shattered all in one day.

What would happen to her broken little family now?  What about her friends and school?   She couldn’t stand the thought of having to start over.  Making new friends and trying to fit in somewhere else wouldn't be easy.  The weight of it all crashed down on her with immense pressure.  Life as she knew it was over.  She saw no hope, no reason for even existing. 

She began to plead with the darkness.  She didn’t know what else to do.  She needed a release from the pain. She needed to know that there was some bigger purpose.

That’s when it happened.

The sudden warmth that came was overpowering in the cool evening air.  The relief was like being wrapped in a familiar and comforting blanket.  It was an overpowering feeling of loving arms being stretched around her and then pulling her in tight.

Emma felt cradled in pure love.  It felt so safe, so easy to breathe in the pure warmth. 

She would be okay.  She
was
loved by someone.   

As the feeling began to lessen its hold and retreat back into the darkness, Emma was changed in the blink of an eye.  All of her questions and fears were gone.  The truth was emerging with unbelievable grace.  That was the exact, precious moment that Emma believed—no, she knew—that God and angels exist.  And whether we realize it or not, none of us are ever alone.



Four years later…

It was Friday, and Emma was more than happy to be leaving school behind as she urged her old clunker car down the familiar dirt road toward home.  It was nearly spring in Eden.  The cold clutches of winter were retreating from the mountain valleys into the higher peaks at last.  This was usually Emma's favorite time of year.  But lately she’d felt restless.  She couldn't explain it.  There was something in the air—an unfamiliar electricity.

She was plagued by the feeling that something essential was missing from her life.  She had no idea what it was.  Things just didn’t feel quite right. It was nothing she could put her finger on, just a deep nagging from somewhere inside.  Maybe that’s why she’d never quite fit in at this school—never thought like other kids her age.

She didn’t like being different, but she couldn’t escape it.  It wasn’t something you could see on the outside, but it was there, beneath the surface.  Somehow other people seemed to be able to sense it, the glitch in her, that’s why they treated her differently.  There was nothing she could do to change it because she didn’t know what
it
was. 

High school graduation was just a few months away.  She should be thinking about college but it wasn't really an option.  It was too far to commute to any of the local colleges and Emma couldn't afford to get an apartment, let alone pay the tuition for any of the ones further away.  It was too bad.  She'd been looking forward to getting out of this podunk town.  The guy selection probably would have been better at college too.  After all, anything's got to be better than nothing at all.