Chapter 44

I must have slept because the next thing I know light is streaming through a large open window and the white voile curtains sway gently in a warm breeze. Groggily, I sit up as fear grips me. For a second, I wonder where I am.
A light knock on the door causes me to jump. The door slowly opens.
"Good, you are awake.” Chris’s long legs stride across the room. I place my hand over my heart, which is beating a mile a minute.
"Where am I?" I ask, pleading with my eyes for answers. Answering questions is not one of Chris’s strong points.
"The Land of Harmony."
I sit up straighter. “What’s the Land of Harmony?"
He takes a seat next to me. "The land of the angels."
"What did that little girl mean when she said I belong to another and that my soul has already been tied?" Thinking of that strange little girl sends shivers down my spine. Her eyes look older, like she has seen many things.
"You ask too many questions." His voice sounds strained like he is trying to rein in his anger. Why is he angry? It’s just a question. How am I to find any answers if I don’t ask questions? I don’t belong in this world. I have no knowledge of what is going on. No one will answer my questions. I feel so lost and alone.
“If you answered my questions, I wouldn’t have to keep asking,” I snap. Every day is a constant struggle to keep my new-found anger in place. I was never an angry person before but not understanding anything is frustrating. "None of you ever give me a straight answer. I’m like a walking target for the demons and monsters and God knows what else?" I take in a deep breath to calm myself.
He stands, clenching his hands into fists.
"You all lied to me. I mean, why did my mother keep all this a secret? Why did she take away my memories? Who is my father? And what do these creatures want with me? Why does the king want me to marry his son?” I shoot all my questions out at once. They befuddle my already daunted mind as I try to make sense of the inscrutable mystery that’s my life.
"How can I be tied to someone else? Lillian told me that once I married Cole, I would be bound to him forever. Only a marriage can bind one to another. Please, just answer my questions."
Chris shrugs his shoulders. “Maybe I cannot answer because I don't have the answers.” The guilt in his eyes tells me he his hiding something. He disappears in tiny blue orbs leaving me more confused. He knows something. I could see it in his eyes.
Minutes later James pops his head around the door.
"Hey, sleeping beauty, how about we get rid of them burns," he says cheerfully. I nod.
He walks closer to the bed and takes my hand. I look into his crystal-clear blue eyes and sigh. Concern reflects back at me. His once neatly cut hair is longer now and drifts into his eyes. He blows the hair away and gives me a smile.
"What is wrong, princess?" Concern laces his words and matches the look in his eyes.
"Urg, please don't call me that." He lets out a slight chuckle.
"How can I be bound to someone and not be married to them? Please, do you know?” I ask. James is the more simple-minded out of the Michaels and if anyone were willing to give me the answers I crave, it would be him.
He looks me straight in the eyes. "We don't know, but we are going to find out." The question now is when they do find out, will I be lucky enough to be given the answer?
"Who’s my father?" I let another one of my questions slip. There is still so much about my life that I don’t know.
"No one knows. The rumor is that your mother just disappeared one day. No one knew she was seeing anyone, and no one can recall her being alone or taking any interest in a male. Your father is a mystery to all of us."
I look away. Maybe Chris was right, maybe he doesn’t have the answers.
"So, why do the demons and monsters want me, and why did my grandmother erase my memories and so did my mother?" The fact that my memories had been erased and not lost in the car accident that killed my mother was what infuriated me the most.
"All we know is that you are a Grace Witch. A direct descendent of Meredith, the first witch to be created. You see Meredith was immensely powerful. She is the one that trapped the Lord of Darkness, also known as Lucifer in his own realm."
"Why?" I ask, sounding like a two-year-old who’s hit the stage of forever asking “why?”
"Lucifer and the Archangel Michael had a falling out. Michael was appointed God’s second in command, much to Lucifer's dismay. Lucifer was jealous of his brother's new position, and so his fall from grace began. He built an army of dark ones to take out Michael and claim his brother's position as the second in command. Little did he know that God sees all. He was exiled out of the Land of Harmony. Humiliated and alone, Lucifer continued to build his army, along with other demonic creatures he created.
“Are you saying that Lucifer created all the demons?” I asked, and James gave me a smirk.
“Many of them yes, he used the ones that were already around to evolve them and make new and more powerful demons,”
“Oh, so that he could destroy Michael?”
“Yes, first his army began to take over the land we call Earth. A battle amongst light and dark began. Lots of angels were slaughtered.
“First God created a witch, Meredith. He gave her the strength of five men. Not as much as an angel, but enough to fight and survive. Then he gave her power over earth, water, fire, and air. She could manipulate the elements to her own needs. Meredith took out a lot of Lucifer's armies. However, God feared she did not have enough power alone.
“He created two more witches, Aura and Philip. He gave Aura the power over air and Philip the power over fire. Together they defeated the army. Little remained and the rest scattered across the Earth in hiding. Aura and Philip settled down together.
“Meredith, although welcomed by the other two witches felt lost and alone. One day, Aura had a vision—what is known today as a prophecy—she predicted a child from light and earth would be born. This child would be powerful. God decided he had to put rules in place so not to create powerful being’s he could not control. No witch was to mate with an angel. Meredith ignored this and seduced the messenger, Gabriel. Soon Meredith became pregnant.”
I gasp. The story sounds a lot like Mary and Joseph. Only it is a lot different
“Aura arranged a marriage for her with a carpenter called Joseph. They courted for a while. But as Meredith’s stomach began to grow, she could not hide it from her betrothed. She told him the baby was a gift from God and would lead their people.
“Joseph felt betrayed. He had all intentions of calling off the wedding. So, the next time Gabriel went to see Meredith, she extorted him. She said if he did not go to Joseph and back up her story then she would go to God and cry rape. Gabriel was scared of falling so he convinced Joseph the child was the Holy Spirit.
“The villagers soon heard about the miracle baby. Some believed, others did not. The word spread everywhere. Lucifer found out and sent one of his men, Herod, to dispose of the child before he was born. Herod failed, but the King of Darkness succeeded in ridding the world of Jesus when he was a man. Meredith became bitter and twisted and started doing dark magic in order to live longer. She swore she would avenge the death of her son.