Sophie's Wish
Angelic Hosts Series, Book 3, Episode 4, Part 1
A forbidden love, and a deepening mystery…
The Robillard house reeked of burnt wood. Nearly the entire structure was depleted, but a few walls still stood. Those were the old interior brick walls and the basement. Once a three-story structure with fine architecture, cornices, shuttered windows, and a white picket fence, it now stood starkly naked, stripped to the bone of its finery, a lonely echo of what once was. Camael and Gabriel cloaked themselves from view and walked the remains of the home. Passing the yellow police tape, they entered what used to be the front door.
“Do you smell that?” asked Gabe, his nose in the air.
“Yes.” Cam walked toward the hole in the side brick wall, all that was left of the window. He leaned closer and sniffed. Sulfur.
“It starts here.”
Gabe grunted and wrinkled his nose. “Evil always leaves a trail, and it stinks to high heaven.”
Like bloodhounds, they followed the scent trail to the skeletal remains of the staircase. They climbed as high as they could before the floor gave way to emptiness. From there, they hovered seeking out the destination evil had traveled.
“This way.” Gabe moved off to a room near the back. Inside, smoke still smoldered from what was left of the fireplace. Beside it lay a figure curled in on itself, weeping. It was a woman, and as they watched, she shifted from old and gray to burning alive to young and beautiful, and back again to burning alive. A soul in torment.
Cam moved around Gabriel and approached.
“Genevieve Robillard.” He knelt and touched her shoulder. His touch was soothing, like cool water over a burn. His voice compelled her attention, and the soft glow he emitted embraced her, lifting her out of her death state. The woman slowly stood, shaking off her age, her injuries, and all that caused her pain. Within moments, she was young and healed an whole again.
“Who are you?” she asked, reaching out to touch his face.
“Your escort. My name is Camael.” He smiled gently.
She stared at him, and then understanding dawned. “You’re an angel. You’ve come for me.”
“Yes.”
Confusion marred her brow. “I was just stoking the fire before bed.” She turned to look at the fireplace. “I don’t know what happened.” She looked up and noticed Gabriel. “Who’s that?”
Cam answered her questions because he knew he had a few of his own. “That is the angel, Gabriel.”
“Two angels?”
Gabriel offered her a rare gentle smile. “You’re very special, Genevieve.”
She looked at them both, then turned her attention back to the floor where a chalk outline of her body stood out against the soot. “It was painful.”
“Do you recall anything at all before the fire?” Cam asked.
“No. I was on my way to bed.” She struggled to remember. “I know I stopped to put another log on for the night. There was a terrible draft.” She looked around the room and her eyes settled on the burned-out window. “I checked to make sure it was closed, and it was, but there was an awful, bone-chilling cold. And then…” She stood biting her lip.
“Then what?” Gabe prompted.
“Then…” She cringed. “Then pain. Lots of pain. I was on fire.” She turned back to the fireplace. “I must have forgotten to put the grate back up.”
Cam and Gabe exchanged glances. The chill appearing from nowhere, and the woman catching fire for no clear reason indicated the presence of evil, one they already knew had been inside the home. One that left behind its own particular stench.
Camael took her hand in his. “It’s over now. Pain is behind you. Tell me, is there someone you’d like to say goodbye to? A loved one? A child?”
Genevieve took comfort in the angel’s touch. She nodded her head. “My son.”
Cam and Gabe waited, knowing this was vital information.
“But I don’t know where he is. I haven’t seen him for almost nine years.” The woman shook her head sadly.
Frustration nagged at Camael. “What is your son’s name?”
“Erik. Erik Robillard.” She looked up at the angel, hope filling her eyes. “Do you know where he is?”
Gabriel sighed, turning away to hide the disappointment on his face.
“No,” said Cam. “I’m sorry. I don’t have that information.” There was only one other question he could ask at this point, and with all the let-downs this day, he didn’t hold out much hope that the answer would shed any more light on the mystery. “What about his father? Perhaps he knows?”
Genevieve shook her head; sadness tinged her blue eyes. “I haven’t seen Erik’s father since right after I gave birth to our son.”
Gabriel punched the brick wall.
Camael patted her hand and opened his mouth to speak when she continued.
“I doubt Rafe would have any clue as to where Eric might be. I don’t even know where he went all those years ago. All I know is that he said I could never reveal our love affair as long as I lived.” She smiled, remembering stolen moments from time past. “Well, I’m no longer living so I guess it doesn’t matter.”
Gabriel looked at Cam. Cam raised an eyebrow but remained silent. He turned his attention back to Genevieve. “No, I suppose it doesn’t. Tell me about him.” He began to lead her out of the house.
Her face lit up. “He was very handsome, and charming. I remember that day so clearly. I was feeling down. My parents had been fighting, and I had just graduated, and was planning to go off to college in the fall. Well, I couldn’t take all the yelling anymore, so I went to the park. It was there that I met Rafe. I was just coming off the bridge over the Seine when I heard the most beautiful voice singing. There he was, playing a guitar while sitting under a tree. He looked right at me and smiled.” She paused, clearly lost in the memory. “I fell in love with that smile.”
The trio walked out of the house and past the police tape. Genevieve didn’t seem to notice. “Ours was a passionate love. Those three months were the most romantic, most amazing of my entire life. By the time I left for college, I knew…”
Gabriel stood to her left while Camael held her right hand. They began to ascend, up, up over the city.
“You knew what?” Cam asked.
She bent her head in embarrassment, her voice softer. “I knew I was pregnant.” She looked up at the angels, unaware of her flight. “I’m sorry. I know that getting pregnant out of wedlock is a sin. My own father never forgave me.”
Gabriel spoke up. “You’ve no need to worry. A child born of love is not a sin. But you’ll soon discover many truths that may contradict what you’ve been taught to believe.”
Cam looked over her head at Gabe and gave a quick negative nod. “She goes to the Hall of Souls.
Gabe blinked. He knew that this was unusual. He opened his mouth, and then closed it again. It seemed to be a day for shocking information.
Genevieve glanced at Cam. “The Hall of Souls? What does that mean?”
Camael knew it would be explained to her once she arrived by one of the attending angels, but he couldn’t lie to her. “You’ll be reborn.”
“Reincarnated? So, people really are reincarnated?”
“Yes, many times over. You’ll be allowed to choose your next life based on the lessons from this one. It will all be explained once we get there.”
“But that’s wonderful!” She seemed pleased.
Gabriel looked away. He didn’t want to be the one to point out that sometimes, it wasn’t wonderful at all. Sometimes, if lessons weren’t learned, a soul had to go through it all again in another form. The choice of a next life wasn’t always a real choice, but rather the illusion of choice as all the forms offered were slated for suffering. Still, if she had lived an exemplary life, her next might be quite pleasant. It wasn’t his place to make that call. That plan was formulated by the Almighty, and Gabe never had any clue how He made his decisions.
“You said Rafe stayed with you until after the baby was born, but just now, you said the affair lasted only three months.” Camael pointed out the disparity.
Genevieve continued her tale. “It’s true. Once we knew I was pregnant, Rafe wouldn’t touch me again beyond a kiss on the cheek. I never understood that, but he did follow me off to college, and he kept up with me throughout the pregnancy. He made sure I had everything I needed.” She stopped and looked at Camael. “He was the one who helped deliver Erik. I couldn’t tell my parents that I’d skipped the second semester, that I was pregnant, not until many months after. I had no funds to pay for a doctor, but somehow, I wasn’t worried because Rafe seemed so confident and competent. Once Erik was born, he stayed around a few more months, and then one day, he came and gave me two envelopes. One was for me. It had the information to a bank account he set up to take care of us. I never had to worry about how I would take care of my son.”
“And the other?” Gabe inquired, curiosity nagging him.
“The other was addressed to Erik, and I was to hold on to it until he turned eighteen. I have no idea what was in it, but I honored Rafe’s request. I kept it until Erik’s eighteenth birthday, and then I told him all I knew of his father. The rest, I assume, was in the letter from father to son.”
“And how did he seem after he read it? Did he not have questions?” Cam landed on the steps of the Hall of Souls and set Genevieve down gently. Gabriel hovered just beyond.
“He never asked me anything about his father after that. In fact, he became quite troubled for a time, lashing out, dabbling in drugs. I couldn’t seem to reach him no matter what I said or did. It wasn’t until he met a girl that he began to try harder, to ‘fly right’ so to speak.”
Camael knew this had to be Catherine. “Did you meet her, this girl?”
“Only once. She was a sweet thing. She seemed very kind, and I suspect she may have been pregnant, but Erik never came back after that. I don’t know what became of them all.”
The doors to the hall swung wide. They stood over twenty feet high, covered in gold and mother of pearl inlay.
Cam knew his time for questioning had come to an end.
“They are waiting for you.” He swept his hand toward the light spilling out from inside the hall.
She stared in awe at the light, then turned to Cam. “Thank you. Thank you for coming for me.” She then turned a smile on Gabriel. “And I thank you, too.”
Gabriel bowed. “It has been my honor.”
Genevieve climbed the steps until the light enveloped her, and she could be seen no more. The doors closed echoing across the sky like thunder as they shut tight, cutting off the brilliant light.
Gabriel joined Cam on the landing. “So, Rafael has some ‘splaining to do.”
Dear Readers, welcome to Book 3 in the Angelic Hosts series, Sophie’s Wish.
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