Serpents's Heart

“A gust kicked up and took the bloom from my hand, and it tumbled in the air up to the top of a building.”

Three years. It was this day three years ago I witnessed her death, a vision that has yet to leave my nightmares. It’s amazing when you realize how fast time passes. Minutes turn into hours, hours into days, days into weeks…

I’ve attempted to renew my normal life as it was before, but it has been difficult. I’m not the travelling master scholar I was, nor am I a full time professor anymore. No one seemed to question the change, though. I suppose a kidnapping and torture would do that to a person. It seemed that several nights Erik vanished at our camp sites he returned to our homes and posed as an Interpol agent, running our disappearance as a kidnapping. I’m not sure how he did it, but it made things easier to explain about my absence. Barely a moment goes by when I don’t think back to that entire mess. I’m plagued with nightmares. Nights where I sleep peacefully are rare at best.

Since Lucifer’s resealing, the unrest in Russia finally dissipated. The Russian leaders resigned amid the disaster and the way it was handled, and the current leaders have accepted international aide and the Russian Civil War has subsided before it could become any worse. The rest of the world’s troubles seemed to quiet down. Peace had regained its control.

Today, Ms. Gladwin and I are taking a cab ride up to the University Grounds to visit a memorial for Virginia. It was her idea. After I had returned, she rallied the University to plant a garden in her honor, one filled to the brim with as many different violet colored blooms as we could possibly find. Violet… her favorite color. It is a beautiful memorial, one I often visit.

Ms. Gladwin truly loved Virginia as a daughter. News of her death must have been incredibly difficult. She’s tried her best to never cry in front of me, saying I’ve seen enough sadness to last a lifetime. However, there are times when she can longer contain it, and she gives in to her emotions.

She holds in her hand a small, potted orchid. She tries her best to add to the garden every year. I also made sure to wear a silver cross necklace Ms. Gladwin had given me. She said it was to remind me of the guardian Angel who brought me home to her. After all, Virginia and I shared the same guardian Angel… one who gave his life for me, and though reluctant at first, would have done the same for her I’m sure.

We pulled up to the university just as the sun was setting and the air was a little brisk. I hooked my arm with hers as we walked the short distance to the enclosed area which marked the garden. Every flower there was in full bloom, just as if they knew what the day was. Neither she nor I spoke as we gazed at the brilliant violet flora.

She took a deep breath, and wiped away a few tears, as she knelt down to a spot of her liking to plant the orchid. Gingerly and lovingly she placed the plant into the soil, and gave it a small drink of water. I helped her to her feet, her eyes never glancing away from the garden’s newest resident.

“Do you think she likes it?” A question she asks every year, her voice trembling, fighting back her emotions.

My eyes welled up. “She would adore it. Every single one.”

“Maybe… Maybe she can see it… Up in Heaven…” she said, her voice cracking as tears streamed down her cheek.

“Every day she looks at it, and she knows how much we love her… and how much we miss her…” I replied.

She turned to me, and embraced me, her head on my shoulder, finally giving into her grief. “Oh God, Robert… I miss her so much…”

We stood there a few minutes in an embrace, before she looked up to me, wiping away my tears. She smiled, and patted my shoulder before exiting the garden. I knelt down and picked a bloom off a flower, and held it to my nose and took in its sweet scent. A gust kicked up and took the bloom from my hand, and it tumbled in the air up to the top of a building.

I watched it blow in the wind, and up to where a man stood upon the roof, dressed in a trench coat. I blinked my eyes in astonishment to make sure I wasn’t imagining things. The man caught the bloom in his hand, and did as I did, taking in the flowers sweet scent.

We remained, watching one another for what seemed like an eternity. He held out the flower to his side, and a woman, dressed in a white blouse stepped from behind him. Her shoulder-length red hair tussling in the wind, she wore a smile more beautiful than I have ever seen. She took the flower from his hands, and she giggled as she held it to her nose, before, placing the stem in the collar of her blouse. A single tear rolled down my cheek as I just stood in awe of what was before me.

The man slowly nodded, and the woman waved before turning around, unfurling a pair of wings on their backs. The woman’s soft and white as a dove’s, and the man’s majestic and shimmering silver. The two took a step in tandem, and leapt into the air and soon faded into the orange, sunset sky.

“Robert, dear…” Ms. Gladwin said rejoining me. “What are you looking at?”

I wiped away my tears, and I smiled. “Nothing… Just saying goodbye to some friends.”