Uprising (Alternate Earth Series, Book 2) (25 page)

“I asked him for the ability to transfer my soul, seal and all, to each new generation.”

“Each new generation?” I ask, slightly confused.

From what Josh was able to find out, each generation in Ravan’s lineage died because of some sort of freak accident, always leaving behind a daughter.

“Oh, my God…” I say, staring at Ravan in horror as realization sets in. “You’re transferring your soul into the bodies of your own daughters?”

Ravan shrugs her shoulders like it’s no big deal. “They feel no pain from having their souls displaced. Some of them are even able to make their way to Heaven.”

“You’re sick,” I say, feeling my stomach churn at the thought of what Ravan has been doing to her own flesh and blood.

“I’ve done what’s necessary for me to survive,” she says irritably. “You would do the same if you were in my shoes.”

“No, I wouldn’t,” I say with absolute certainty. “I’m not that desperate to stay alive.”

“It must be nice to be so perfect,” Ravan says snidely.

“I’m not perfect,” I reply, “but I embrace my imperfections. I don’t find a way to work around them at any cost.”

Ravan doesn’t reply right away. Her attention is diverted from me as she seems to spot something in the sky above my head.

I feel the dock we’re standing on begin to tremble beneath my feet.

“Look, Lucian!” Ravan says triumphantly, pointing to something in the sky excitedly. “It’s happening!”

I look up and see the white streaks of a couple of shooting stars as they fall from the sky. Suddenly, a multitude of stars begins to rain down on the city, striking various buildings with so much force that they manage to pierce their way through, from one side of the structures to the other as they plummet to earth. Some of the buildings shudder on their foundations, before crumbling to the ground.

“Ahh,” Lucian says in satisfaction as he watches the destructive force of the meteorites. “That’s more satisfying, and even more beautiful than I could have ever imagined.”

“I guess it’s my turn,” Ravan says, placing one hand over her heart where the seal is branded into her skin.

I know it’s now or never. Lucifer warned me that Ravan was more powerful than I knew. I can only assume he was told that she had the seventh seal. I’m not sure what kind of powers it gives her, but it really doesn’t matter. I have to stop her from unleashing it, by any means necessary.

I run towards Ravan, with the point of my sword aimed directly at her heart and the seal. Just as I reach her, Lucian calls his glowing black sword to his hand, and easily parries my strike. He slams his body so hard against mine that I lose my grip on my sword, and end up lying flat on my back. Before I have a chance to clear my head and regain my feet, Ravan kneels down beside me and clamps a hand against my throat, with more strength than someone with her slight frame should have.

“Do you want to know another reason I’ve always had to take my daughters’ bodies?” Ravan asks me, lowering her head until our faces are a mere inch apart. She was so close I could feel her breath flit across my skin. “I had to make sure I retained the power to phase into Heaven. Otherwise, the next step of our plan wouldn’t work.”

I start to say some choice words to her, but Ravan tightens her hold around my neck, making it difficult to breathe, much less speak.

“You see,” Ravan says, like she’s talking to an errant child who was about to interrupt her. “The reason I needed to make sure I kept the ability to phase into Heaven is because that’s where I need to open the seventh seal.”

Ravan loosens her grasp on my throat and says, “Go ahead…ask…”

“Why?” I croak out, not understanding the implications of her opening the seal in in Heaven.

Ravan retightens her hold on my throat. I’m sure it’s so I don’t interrupt her answer.

“Because, theoretically, at least, opening the seal in Heaven should do something quite extraordinary,” Ravan says, sounding excited about the consequences of doing such a thing. “It should completely cut this universe off from Heaven. Why would we want to do that, you ask? Because, by denying all those lovely little souls access to Heaven, they’ll either wander around here lost, or find their way straight to Hell, though it doesn’t really matter if they go there on their own or not. We have a way to make sure they all end up there eventually.”

Ravan lowers her face until the tips of our noses are touching. She stares into my eyes, and then does something completely unexpected. She kisses me.

“How would you like to come to Heaven with me, Jess?” she murmurs against my lips, as though we’re lovers. “I’ve always wondered what would happen to a human who tried to phase into Heaven. Why don’t we solve that little mystery together?”

Ravan tightens her grip on me and phases herself to Heaven, attempting to take me along for the ride.

All I see is a bright white light that seeps into my skull, making me feel like my brain has been lit on fire. The pain is excruciating, and comparable to having a thousand tiny needles pierce my head all at once. I feel Ravan’s hand vanish from my throat, allowing me to finally scream. Darkness covers my world, obliterating me from myself.

“Jessica?” I hear a distant voice say, drawing my mind out of the mire it’s stuck in, and urging me to awaken.

Slowly, I open my eyes to a spectacle beyond imagination: hundreds, if not thousands, of comet-like objects streak against the black sky. It’s a beautiful, yet scary, sight.

“Jessica?”

I turn my head to my left, wondering why the blond man kneeling down beside me keeps calling me ‘Jessica’. It’s only then that I realize I don’t actually know what my real name should be.

“Who are you?” I ask, feeling my heartbeat faster as panic sets in.

The man looks at me with worry. “Don’t you know who I am?”

I shake my head quickly, instantly realizing I shouldn’t have done that. My head starts to feel like it’s spinning out of control like a child’s top.

“Should I?” I ask.

The man remains quiet for a few seconds before saying, “I’m Lucian, Jessica, and I’m a very good friend of yours.”

I open my eyes and look at him again. “Why can’t I remember who I am or who you are to me?” I ask in dismay. “What happened to me?”

“You slipped and hit your head,” he explains. “I’m sure you just need some rest to recover. Do you think you can stand up?”

“I think so,” I say, not completely confident that I can perform such a small task, “but I might need a little help.”

“Of course,” Lucian says understandingly. “Let me assist you.”

Lucian places his hands underneath my arms and easily helps me to my feet.

“What’s happening here?” I ask, my voice quavering with fear as I watch the destruction around me, and feel the earth quake beneath my feet. “Why are there so many shooting stars in the sky?”

“Why don’t we go somewhere safe first?” Lucian suggests, seemingly concerned over my well-being. “Then I’ll answer any questions you might have.”

“Ok.” I say, holding my head with one hand because I still feel dizzy.

Lucian places an arm around my waist to help keep me steady on my feet. “I know this will be hard for you to believe, since you have no memory of me, but I’m an angel, Jessica.”

“It’s not nice to tease people,” I say.

“I promise I’m telling you the truth, and I’m about to prove to you that what I say is true. Angels travel by something we call phasing. I’m going to take you somewhere safe. I’m going to take very good care of you, Jessica.”

Something shiny on the ground catches my eye.

“Is that your sword?” I ask, staring at it. It seems familiar to me for some reason.

“No,” Lucian says in disdain. “It belonged to someone else. We have no need for it.”

“Ok,” I say, even though I feel like the sword is important in some way.

Lucian tightens his hold around my waist before saying, “I’m about to phase us, Jessica. Don’t be frightened.”

“I’m not,” I say, even though something deep down inside me is yelling at me. It seems to be trying to tell me Lucian is someone who isn’t all who he appears to be.

“I’ll keep you safe,” Lucian promises. “You have my word on that.”

Out of nowhere, I hear a loud bass sound reverberate through the air around us, like a horn of some sort. It soon changes to a high treble that strikes fear in my heart, like a siren announcing impending doom.

“What is that?” I yell, unable to keep myself from sounding frightened.

“The sound of triumph,” Lucian tells me, a pleased smile spreading his lips. “It’s nothing you’ll have to deal with now. Your work is done.”

I feel something wet land on my right cheek, like a drop of rain. With one hand, I reach up to clear it away. When I look down at my hand, I see that it was a drop of blood, but it’s not my own.

Just before Lucian phases us, the sword we’re leaving behind catches my eye again. There’s something so familiar about it, but I can’t seem to remember why. Maybe I knew its owner. I hope they come back to get it. It seems too valuable just to be abandoned like this.

Oh, well, it’s really none of my business. I just feel lucky to have a friend like Lucian here to protect me. I hope he’s right about my memory loss just being temporary. A voice deep down inside me is screaming that I’m supposed to be doing something important. I’m sure whatever it is will come back to me. I just hope it happens soon.

And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth…

Revelation 8:6-7

Author’s Note

I hope you all enjoyed the second installment of the Alternate Earth Series! The third, and final, book in the series will be titled
Judgment
and should be available in summer/fall 2015. As always, you can keep track of my progress on the book each Sunday, on either my FB page or website (links below) with the
Judgment
Meter Update.

Thanks for reading!

Sincerely,

S.J. West

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