Retaliation

Chapter 17: Visions

Chapter 17

Music Choice: Dreaming of You (Dub Mix) - The Thrillseekers

Asher had snapped up in bed, breathing heavily. He pushed his sheets off of himself, and headed up the stairs. He had dreamed of Dani struggling, squirming, in her sleep. As if she was hurt. As if she was in pain. He looked at the old mahogany grandfather clock in the den. It was 2 in the morning. And Dani was in trouble.

Asher ran up the glass stairs, and reached her door. He pounded his fist against the door so hard; he could feel the door vibrating against his fist.

The door swung open, only to see Dani up, her hair a bit messy, and her clothes clearly slept in. She looked surprised to see Asher.

“Is everything OK?” She was leaning up against the door pane, wondering why Asher had come up to see her.

“I’m fine, are you?” Asher looked her over for some sign that she was hurt.

“Yeah, why?”

“I had a vision. You were rolling around your bed, writhing in pain, and it looked like you were hurt. I-I wanted to make sure nothing happened to you.” Ash had come into her room by then, observing the room around him. The chestnut wood drawers and a pale blush pink bed suited Dani. Somewhat.

“It was a present vision.” Dani sighed, looking at floor. “I was having a really terrible nightmare.”

“Do you want to tell me about it?” Asher had taken a seat on the edge of her bed, leaving plenty of space for her. Dani sat down; legs crisscrossed, and told him the whole thing. How she died, how she freed Patrick, her killer, and how she feared he would come back and finish the job. She then explained to him the concept of Holy Fire, and how it can be used as a weapon against Angels of all kinds.

“I’m sorry to be throwing all this information at you. You shouldn’t need to worry about me. I don’t even know why I’m telling you this.” Dani mumbled, her fingers streaming through her brown hair. Why was she telling him this?

“Would it make you feel better if I explained myself to you?” Asher had pulled himself up onto the backboard of the bed, leaning his head against it, and Dani sat right next to him. She slowly nodded.

“Well it all started when I was 18. Both my parents had passed away and I was living with my brother. My brother, Jacob, was brutal, abusing me verbally and physically. I didn’t want to live with him anymore, so I joined the military. I had little to no education, but I knew how to work a gun and fight off others. I ended up fighting for the Union Army in the States during the Civil War. It was 1865 when I died, as the rest of the team took down the Confederate capital. I was shot in the back of the head, and died instantaneously.”

“How did you get that scar on your arm?” Dani pointed to his arm, the darkened red scar clearly noticeable against his slightly tan skin. Angels do not get scars, due to their exceptional healing. The scar had to have been from Asher’s life on Earth. Even Dani had a line-shaped scar on her abdomen from where Patrick’s knife had buried itself.

“That’s from my brother. He asked me for money to fuel his gambling problem. He would play cards and more often than not, lose. He was in debt to some bad people and I didn’t have money I could give him. He told me to get married and give him the dowry. I refused. He was so angry he pulled out his switchblade from his pocket and cut me with it. I ripped the switchblade out of his hand and threw it out the window. Then, he tried to win over my sympathy, telling me that getting married would be what my parents would have wanted. I knew he was lying desperately, and left. The next day, I enlisted.” Ash sighed, his head hung low, tracing the scar on his forearm with his fingers. Not many people knew what he had just divulged to Dani. At least, not many living people did. Even though Angels are basically dead humans, Angels are still living beings. Their heart still beats, and their brain still works. As humans, they are considered dead, but as Angels, they are very much alive.

“Wow.” Dani breathed. “Where is he now?”

“Probably somewhere rotting in Hell. Literally.” Ash snickered, as if he could care less. In reality, he knew his brother Jacob was in Purgatory trying to redeem himself to Ash. He would never be redeemed. Not in Asher’s eyes.

“Same with Patrick, until I… freed him.” She was amazed at how easy she was able to give up so much information about her. Her walls failed her. For once in her life, Dani was vulnerable. And she wasn’t the only one. Dani looked up, his eyes inches away, and could see the sadness in the sapphire eyes. “Hey, listen, that part of our lives is done. Over. Finished. We are where we are for a reason. We are Angels. We are protectors. ”

“No offense, but you haven’t protected anyone. You’ve spent your entire Angel life in the Angelic Realm. So have I.” Suddenly, Dani realized why Ash was so upset.

“Just because you couldn’t save Keith, doesn’t mean you can’t save anyone else.”

“Who said anything about Keith?”

“I could tell.”

“You could tell?” Ash said incredulously. “Do you really get me so well?”

“No, but I do know what it’s like to lose your best friend.” Dani whispered. Yes, I do, I do get you that well.

“Oh, right. James. Sorry, Dani. ”

“No, it’s OK. Save the sympathy for another night.” Dani said, hearing the grandfather clock ring 5 times. “Err… morning. I need some sleep or I’ll be a mess tomorrow. You should head back down.”

“What if you have another nightmare? I can stay up here if you want.”

“No… Go downstairs. I’ll survive.” She said, getting off her bed to show Asher the door. Although Dani wouldn’t have minded if he had stayed. He walked out, and turned down the stairs. Dani closed the door behind, leaning against it, and breathed heavily. I wish he didn’t have this effect on me. She rested her head against the door and she sat, holding her knees up to her chest, looking up at the ceiling. The white ceiling with lightly painted gold stars was the only thing her eyes could focus on.

At the same time, Asher was lying down on the couch, sheets barely covering his feet, as he stared up into the dark abyss of the arched ceiling. One hand behind his head, the other on his chest. I’m so dumb. I should have stayed with her. She trusted me with her whole human life story.

Looks like neither of them would be sleeping easily tonight.