Chapter 4

Ava was in her room, reading up on her laptop of loads of information on Spirit Walkers.  There was nothing new from what she had learned from the night before.  She was growing frustrated with the lack of knowledge that she felt that she should know.  It was not the only thing that was bothering her, but also her friend, Dustin.  She felt lost when it came to him.

She pushed herself out of her desk, “I think, I should take a walk.”

“No, you should stay here.”

Ava turned to where she heard the voice.  “Sorry Grandmother Willow, but I need fresh air to think.”

Without hearing anything else from the spirit, she went downstairs and out the back door.  Ava had enough of the indoors to last for a few moments.  She had a need to get away from the house, but she did not understand the meaning behind it.  

  Ava Miller did not realize that the world around her was getting dark.  She was not seeing what she should be seeing.  Nor she was hearing what she should have been hearing.  

  SNAP!  The sound of something being broken had wrung out.  But Ava kept on moving her feet, without a sense of direction.  She allowed her feet to wander as they pleased.  

Without any other sense of warning, something grabbed her shoulder, dragging her backward.  A gasped left her lips, as she felt herself being pulled back even more.  Until she was face to face with a moonlight glowing figure of what looked like a man.

  “Where is a blood walker like you going, love?”  Ava’s eyes moved towards his face, where she saw two sharp teeth growing out of his lips.

  “You’re a vampire?”

“Yes, love.  I am a vampire.”  He leaned into her neck, his nose rubbing into her skin.  “Your blood calls to me, like nothing I have never known before.”  He pulled himself back to look into her eyes.  “What are you, sweet mortal?”

  Ava’s eyes grew dark in anger, as she glared at him.  “No more than an average girl.”

  “Liar,” he hissed before bringing her towards him.  “You will the tastiest meal that I had ever had.”  He leaned his head close and embedded his teeth into her flesh.  

The teeth caused a sharp pain in her neck.  But a moment later, she started to feel sensations that she had never felt in her whole life.  She felt a tightness in her gut.  Wetness between her legs.  Ava knew then that the vampires in books and movies were right about one then. They make their victims feel sexual from the ordeal.  

  ‘God,’ Ava reached out with her heart and soul.  Feeling everything as she tried to reach out.  ‘Help... me...’

  The vampire pulled back to allow her to look at him.  “Your blood is addicting.”  He licked her neck.  Causing her to quiver.  “If only I knew how to drink you without killing you."  His eyes flashed in a hungry need.  "It would make living this dreadful world more appealing.”

  A sound cut through the air, hitting the side of the vampire’s head.  Causing Ava and the night sucker to fall onto the forest floor.  Allowing her to feel every being of her life, slipping away from her fingertips.

  Clunk . . . clunk . . .

  ‘A... horse... rider?’

  From another time in her life, she had grown up around horses and knew what they sounded on any type of ground they were on.  As she laid upon the ground, she felt the thumps of the footsteps of the horse getting louder.  Until it stopped next to her.

Death rode up on his skeleton horse.  He noticed a figure down on the ground.  A woman, who looked too weak to even move.  He stopped his steed next to her.

  “It’s not your time.  You will live.”

  He reached down.  Grabbed hold of her before placing her before him, where he wrapped his bone arms around her.  Making her feel the cold bones against her skin, making her shiver.

  “You still have work to do," he spoke in his baritone voice.

  “What work,” the young woman gasped out in wonder.

  “To bring the world to its knees.”  His plan was to bring her back to health.  Make her into something that the world has never seen.  A warrior, who will fight for the weak.  “I’m getting tired of seeing the death tolls climbing up these past years.”  

  “What about... the vampire?”

  Death glanced down towards the worthless body on the ground.  “He’s dead, girl."  Bringing her body closer to him.  "He will never trouble you again.”

With his arms around her, they rode on towards a place that he knew would be safe enough for him to heal her.  He leads his horse to a cave that Ava knew should have never been there before.

“I know I’m weak... but that wasn’t... there before.”

The boned man chuckled, “No it wasn’t.”  He swung his leg over his horse and dismounted.  He reached up and brought Ava down from his horse.  “It’s time to heal you, lass.”  He carried her into the cave and laid her down on a pile of fur that he had.  “Stay with me.”

“I’m... trying.”  She took a couple of small breaths. “Az-ra-el,” she gasped out without a thought.

“What did you call me?”

  “Az-ra-el,” she gasped out.  “It’s... your name.”

  “Yes,” he turned away from her, as he picked out some herbs that he had around him.  “It’s just none has called me that, not for a long time.”  He started grinding things together when he turned back to her.  “How did you find my name?”

  “I didn’t.” She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to find her strength again.  “... it just came... to me.”

  Azrael had finished his grinding and poured everything into a cup of hot water.  “Now drink this.”  Just as he sat down next to her, wrapping an arm around her to help her sit up.  Placing the cup to her lips and allowing her to drink.  “It’ll be a few hours before you feel your normal self.”

“Why do I... feel so weak?”

  Azrael pulled away from her, allowing her to rest between her drinking.  “The vampires are humans with snake fangs, to drink your blood.  But few give a toxic poison to kill the victim.  A slow and painful death.”  His voice sounded more far off than he had before.  

  “Why didn’t I die,” she asked a little stronger but still weak.

  “Because,” Azrael glanced at her.  “It isn’t your time to die, you’re not on my list.”

  “The vampire?”

“Was on the list,” he said with a hint of humor in his voice.  He walked around the little cave.  “Ava Miller, you have a long way to go before you take your last breath from this world.”

  She coughed, trying to prevent herself from laughing.  “I don’t believe you.”  Ava closed her eyes, feeling herself become warmer.  “What is the real reason that you want to keep me alive.”

  “Other than you’re not on my list,” he glanced at her for a moment.  “I need you to be a warrior for this world.  You being a Spirit Walker is only part of your gifts.”  A wind sound came out of his mouth.  “The Heavenly King has bestowed many gifts upon you, and you must Spirit Walk through dreams to find them.”

Ava sat up, glaring at the bony figure before her.  “What else is there?”

  “Drink the rest of that and I will try to remember what I’ve heard.”

  She found herself sitting behind her back against the earthen wall.  Supporting her while she drank.  Once she was done, she placed the cup down beside her.  “Please, tell me.”

  Azrael groaned, “I guess you have the right to know.”  He sat down across from her, setting a small pile of wood next to him ablaze.  “But before I go on, I do have a question to ask.  Have you had a dream about a unicorn as white as moonlight with a golden horn and hooves to match?”

“Yes,” she said simply.

  “Along with a black dragon?”

  Ava glared at him harder than before.  “How you would know about that?”

  “Because child,” he glanced down at his ivory structured hands.  “That was one of your past lives.”

  “No, no, no, no.”  She shook her head.  “I don’t believe that.  I can’t believe that.”

Azrael moaned, he glanced upward.  “See, you made her into a human and she doesn’t believe what she hears.”  He shook her head.  “You’re the one that brought her to this world.  Taking her out of her own.  What was she supposed to learn, anyway?”

  Ava huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.  “You know I’m here, right?”

  “That depends on what realm we’re talking about.”  He glanced towards her.  “You are a unicorn, sent here to learn the ways of the humans to save your people from another war.  Your grand plan was to marry the very monster that wanted to wage war in the first place.  Hoping with the marriage, it would bring peace throughout the world.”

She closed her eyes, “Sounds like something I would do.”  With sad looking eyes, she looked at him.  Seeing the reflection of the flames kissing his ivory figure.  “So, who was the dragon that I would have married?”

  “Blackie the black dragon.  The only one of his kind.  Larger and more fighting force than the rest.”  Azrael tilted his head, “My belief is that he was tricking you to marry him.  Then he was going to send in an army to kill the rest of your people out.”

  Tears leaked out of her eyes without her permission.  Ava did not know if he was telling the truth.  But something within her soul told her that he was.  

“The thing I don’t understand,” he went on.  “Is why you would be willing to marry the very being that killed your parents?”

  Ava with tears running down her cheeks but managed to hold his stare.  “Like you said, to protect my people.”

  “Do you also have a birthmark, near your right knee.  Something that may look like a flaming sword?”

  “Yes, what about it?”

Azrael stood up, raising his robe to cover him from head to toe.  A moment later, he moved it aside to show his skin covered face with blue eyes.  “Because you are a guardian, Ava.  You are here to protect all the people of this world.  From a being that you have known as Blackie.  He has followed you to this world and the good Lord has asked that you to not make the same mistake.  The same one that you were about to make in your own world.”

  Ava shook her head, “I won’t.”

  “Good,” he looked towards the opening of the cave.  “Time for me to take you home.  But I must request something of you.”

  “What,” Ava sighed out.  Hoping she would be done with all the talking for one night.

  “That you come back to learn the ways of a warrior.”

She smiled, “I guess I can do that.”

  “Come,” he stretched his hand to her.  “We must go.”

  Azrael helped her up onto her feet, leading her out of the cave, where his horse was waiting for them.  He climbed up onto his horse before he leaned down and brought her up in front of him.  Feeling his bones covering her waist before leading his horse towards her house.

  “Sleep child, you’ll wake in the morning.”

  Without much of a warning, Ava fell asleep in Azrael’s arms.  Allowing the rocking movement to bring her into a deep sleep.  Death glanced towards the star covered sky.  “Why did you bring me to her?”  The reason that he had asked was because he was starting to feel something within his chest.  Something that he had not felt in ages.

‘It may be more than her life that you save.’

  After a few minutes of riding, he found the house that he was looking for.  It was lit up with all the lights on.  He pulled his horse to a stop near the front door, where Ava’s mother had exited from.  Looking at the two of them with worry in her eyes.

  “Angel of Death,” June gasped out.  “Please tell me that you didn’t just bring back my daughter, just so you can take her away again.”

  Azrael groaned, “I didn’t.” He climbed off his horse and brought Ava into his arms.  “Lead me to her room.”

June turned towards the house and led him through the door and up the stairs.  Where she opened Ava’s door wide enough to allow them into the bedroom.  Once the young woman was on the bed, Azrael walked out of the room.  Allowing June to follow him out of the house.

  “Please tell me what happened?”

  “I can’t,” he grumbled towards her.  Once they had reached the outdoors again, he turned to face the mother.  “I know that you’re worried madam, but please know that she is being well looked after.”

  “I didn’t see that tonight.”

“Because I didn’t know that she was in the woods until it was almost too late.”

  “Angel, please tell me what happened to my daughter.”  The aging woman had demanded him.

  “She was faced with a vampire, which I took care of.”  He shook his head before mounting his horse again.  “I will train her, starting tomorrow.”

  “In what?”

  “Weapons.”

June looked towards the house for a moment before facing the figure before her.  “Would you have taught me, if I was able to listen to you before?”

  Azrael shook his head, “No.  I was only to teach you the ways of knowing who you could help and which to avoid.  It wasn’t my fault that you didn’t want to listen.”

  “I wasn’t strong before,” she stated with a faraway voice.  “I don’t think Ava is either.”

  The figure had a flash of fire in his eye sockets.  “Ava is special, June.  She will protect this world!”

She smiled, “But who is going to protect her from falling for you?”  This caused the fire to leave Death’s face.  “Don’t be surprised, I know my daughter.  She would fall for an angel to protect her heart than fall, then a human boy, to allow it to get shattered.”

  “It’s against the rules.  Ever since the time of Enoch, no angel shall fall for a human.”  He turned his horse towards the forest.  “I hope for your daughter’s sake that she shouldn’t.”  He kicked the flanks of his horse, and he took off into the night.

  Leaving a woman with a knowing sad smile.  She glanced towards the stars, “Protect my daughter for whatever you have planned.  But I do hope for a bit of happiness to head her way.”  A far-off star shined as if the heavens had winked at her.  “Thank you.”