Torches floated between stalls in the Souk. Light played upon the folds of tunics, dresses and robes weaving to the side path that entered Eden. The forest swallowed the flickering lights, as figures sounded in spirited conversations. Voices ranged from whispers to boisterous, as all shared the path to Samael's Grotto.
Trees surrounded a large limestone pit, made into a deep oval depression of stepped benches. Thus, the Grotto provided a natural amphitheater. Sound reverberated off the pale limestone steps the attendees used as seats. Small trees grew between the stone benches, providing a wind break on chilly evenings. Each ring circled the entire depression. 5 rings lowered into the grotto with the final row even to the performance floor. Enough seats for all 212 Angels and future generations.
Samael carved the entire area to the wishes of his thespian friend Leon, and the musician Gabriel. It had become a favorite respite for the Angels. Plays and musical performances, were as essential as food to the Angels. Satiating their thirst to create, as well as initiating it.
The gathering crowds separated into groups and divisions. Couples sat near each other as did the first-born children. First Created and Second Created generations tended to keep fairly apart. The Archangels were completely void of loyalty, the only group sitting with whomever the desire struck.
In the middle of one group sat Naomi. She pulled a silver hairpin from the bun on her head, unfurling long black hair. The tresses fell upon ivory skin and trailed down the 'off the shoulder' green silk gown. Her frame was muscular but lean, like a great coiled spring, ready for anything. The brown eyes were sharp, focused alert with boundless possibilities. With a thought, the 8" titanium pin in her open palm, leapt into the air to dart away quicker than the eye could follow. Quicker than most eyes that is.
Beelzebub never looked at Naomi, or the metal sliver speeding towards his arm. He had seen the entire thing in his mind, through her eyes. His long black hair twisted into two braids on either side of his head, ending on his chest. White paint adorned the reddish bronze skin. Tattooed images of dragonflies and hummingbirds adorning his arms were a tempting bullseye.
His mind arced the bioelectric field inside his body. Forming a synapsis with the electric pulse visuals he received from other Angels. Using this as a circuit he harnessed it, grabbing the light waves, causing him to move as fast as the speed of thought. He reached up in his time, which remained constant, and took the hair pin from the sky and walked over to Naomi. Beelzebub coiled her hair upon her head, repined the locks to their original place, and returned to his seat.
Naomi did not need to feel her hair back in a bun to know what had happened. She has been close friends with Beelzebub for some time, and she knew what to look for. His entire body had shifted to the right, juuuuuuust enough in his 'tell'. Everybody thought he could teleport himself through space as God does, but they were wrong. She had noticed that he would move himself ever so slightly, as something wondrous occurred elsewhere. Like the day Gabriel's then 10-year-old daughter, Amaliel, fell from the roof of their home while fetching a toy. Everyone heard her sonic scream of fear as she fell, it stopped as she vanished mere inches from the ground. She reappeared in an instant upon the front porch, her arms and hands still extended to break her fall.
There was unfortunately a deep, quiet mistrust for Beelzebub. Angels did not understand his ability because he never described it in detail. Most thought if he was tapping into the visual images in their heads, then he must be spying on them. Seeing what they saw even in their most intimate and personal moments. They did not realize, he could not see the exact things other angels really did. He saw colored block images, rather than photographic renderings. When he was viewing the current's, he was limited to one Angel, or a bio electric location at a time. Lucifer heard the complaints in the marketplace about Beelzebub the spy. He quelled most of their concerns with assurances of character, explaining away the fear with facts. He stood up for Beelzebub every time he heard negative gossip. Beelzebub one of his most trusted friends, and Lucifer had no patience with Angel's berating another.
YOU ARE READING
12 Seconds Short of Eternity
General Fiction'The humidity hung in the dark like a shroud. It silenced the streets with only the rattling hum of the air conditioners piercing its veil. Nights like these can bring no good. Best to turn out the lights and wait for tomorrow...' A spatula slapping...
