Chapter 8: Azazel

Ugh, I was so upset. So upset. Sending Vassago on top of not acquiescing to my invitation! Meresin was pissing me off. I decided to go somewhere he likely couldn't go. Somewhere I could get his attention. I didn't care about consequences. I was going to mess with his experiment. I wasn't going to mess with Noah, not yet. I needed to deep dive into the past to try to understand. I decided to fuck with Wendy.

I didn't quite have Wendy's unique vibrational pattern memorized. I would have to go back and get it if I were to travel on her personal timeline. I remembered seeing her at the baseball field, seeing the shattered fractals of her personality on display before me. I didn't quite.... get her.

She was clearly part of something Meresin was interested in. I pulled myself away from the Garden of Eden and opened a portal to Wendy. I found her location in Michigan in present time. I don't much care for Michigan, a state in America. The skies are always gray and the air damp and cool. However, it was home to the largest freshwater lakes in the world, which made it a thin place. There are many components to the Veil, the wall between our worlds. One of those components is water and since the universe is made of so much hydrogen, water makes a natural conduit for traveling. This makes Michigan is easy place to pop in and out of and a target place for shenanigans. It is seen as the spiritual Las Vegas, and what goes on there stays there. Sometimes.

Thus, I wasn't surprised that this was my brother's stomping grounds for his human laboratory rats. I knew enough of her to locate her house, a crappy one story dwelling with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. She was in a suburban residential neighborhood surrounded by concrete, cars, and boring individuals. There was so much that was unspectacular that I was in awe that my brother found something of value here.

We were outside of Detroit, (a far more interesting place.) I could feel the moisture in the air as I collected myself in the present day, present time. I kept myself invisible to the human eye, though I was aware that dogs and cats could often detect me. Wendy wasn't at her house, I could feel her energy nearby but not at home. She had an older son and a younger daughter, I could feel, from the outside of her house. None were home, either. Now would be a good time to snoop and absorb Wendy's energy and information-- to better understand her and travel on her personal timeline. Time travel was not a skill Meresin perfected. It is something mostly unique to me, and I admit I exploit it every chance I get.

The only thing inside the home I could detect were two elderly cats. I let myself inside, violating her home's personal protections and boundaries. Since Wendy seemed to be a witch (a feeling I immediately detected upon entering her home) she had personal charms and talismans protecting her dwelling. Being an angel, I can cross most of these.

Witches rarely protect themselves from angels. Come to think of it, no one really does. This is why it is easy for my brothers and I to pass through human protections. We aren't demons. I can't stress this enough. Demons can't travel back in time. Demons can't invent plagues. Demons can't heal sicknesses miraculously. Demons do one thing-- gorge themselves on negative energy until the host dies. Like parasites. Demons are also invented, either by angel by humans. Gods and Goddesses are a classification of demon, too, though no one likes to admit it. Angels are either already existing or transitioned human souls. We are different species. My brothers and I are angels, just slightly mutated by the dimensions we are forced to be in. Forced to eat negative energy, and we have adapted, like fish in the deep sea. We are weird now. We became what we ate.

Her house was an interesting place, warm and inviting. Small. I sensed the two old cats were laying on each other in a square of sunshine in the window. Their ears turned and detected me when I passed through the doorway. They didn't care. Being a witch's house, spirits seemed to use this place as a supernatural highway. I sensed other spirits in the house (though I kept myself invisible from them, too. A trick demons can't do) fairies, and even a hint of Wendy's dead family members and spirit guides-- keeping a loose eye on her. Their vibrations were all present.

I wandered into the kitchen. It was a telling place. Wendy had rows and rows of spices and hanging garlic. It was a kitchen of someone who cooked instead of eating out. There were dishes in the sink and colorful vegetables in the refrigerator. I snooped around a bit more, taking in all the energy and all of the vibrations of the interactions that occurred in this room. The water, too, from the kitchen sink made the information more clear for my consciousness to absorb. Kitchens and bathrooms where the water run make everything easier. Dark spaces, too, like basements and attics. Energy collects in those places and that's where spirits like to nest.

I felt like I had just about all I needed to time travel and poke around Wendy's timeline. I felt like I knew her vibrations a little better, like a road map of her life. I wanted to go somewhere far away, somewhere where it would be hard for Meresin to find me. The last thing I wanted was for him to know I was still snooping, especially after the whole fuck-you-fiasco song and dance. I was pissed at him. The best way to get back at someone is to know your enemy, first.

On Wendy's ugly counter top was a bowl of oranges. I picked one up, in a manner of speaking. I didn't transubstantiate a body so I only picked up the information behind the orange, the spirit of the orange. Focus. An object always helps focus on one's energy. That's the point of using something in a spell, like a crystal or a knife. I focused on the orange as I set my pocket watch to an earlier date and time in Wendy's life. The astronomical dial on my watch twirled and spun. The mechanisms clicked into place as the stars, planets, and metallic symbols floated towards the ceiling of Wendy's house. A bright blue light flashed as I jettisoned myself through space and time.

I was very vague in my setting since I still didn't know Wendy very well. I was definitely on Wendy's path, but I wasn't at her house anymore. I was disorientated, unsure exactly where I was. I knew everything was fine as I still had my orange in hand-- that way I could find my way back. Like breadcrumbs. I was poolside. Often when I time travel far into the past I will be near water, a doorway. A pool, a river, the sea, or at a lake. We all use water for travel, even in birth.

There she was, I detected her energy only a few feet away. A little girl on a plastic floating raft in a pool. We were at a country club, or something similar. It was a pleasant day in a suburban setting. Children can often see spirits, too. She was a young witch and I could feel that she was able to see more things than an average child. I could feel her detecting things in the bushes, fairies and other small sprites that like to surround children for fun.

Wendy was alone for the most part. He parents, as far as I could tell, were somewhere else on the property. She was somewhere around six or seven years old. I remained in the background behind her in the bushes. She babbled to herself or to the little fairy spirits around her. I wasn't sure exactly what she was seeing through her personal eyes-- but I could feel she wasn't alone entirely. The humans weren't nearby, but she was obviously a soul with some fairy ancestry and thus it wasn't a surprise they were around her.

She was distracted, she wasn't paying attention. I knew that if I really wanted to fuck with my brother that I'd have to be proactive. I stepped forward, out of the bushes. I decided to gather my energy and become somewhat flesh. No one would see, I could truly feel that her parents and the other pigs in trousers were distracted. Playing golf, or something equally pointless. Since she liked fairies, I kept my appearance fae-like, which is easy to manifest. I kept the orange in my hand and tossed it in the air to catch it. I could feel the bumpy texture of the orange, I could smell it. I could feel how solid it was in my hand, how real it was.

Some things in reality came into clearer focus for me. I could sense the plastic lawn chairs and the gentle touch of the breeze. I could smell the chlorine in the pool. I could hear the radio playing some 80's rock, a song by Duran Duran. I could feel the cool shade from the green privacy hedges. It took a lot of power to appear in the flesh, it wasn't something I can sustain for long periods of time. It took a large magnitude of my concentration. I set my eyes on the back of her head as she glided through the water.

I stepped forward onto the concrete and tossed the orange into the water to get her attention. It thunked with a splash. Then it bobbed in the pool, a bright orange ball against the artificial blue waves.

Wendy didn't notice at first. Then, as the orange ball brushed up against her fluorescent pink flotation device, she picked it up out of the water to examine it. Then, she looked around.

The child looked up at me. She noticed me. Her noticing me, seeing me, made me feel more solid. It was like I was really there in physical reality. I was no longer a stage-hand, but a real actor. It was her observation that finally made me solid, at least for a moment. Children were strong on their ability to see spirits and fairies. However, I knew I was unlike anything else. Because I was so powerful, that I was the Devil, I became very very real in her world for just a moment.

Wendy seemed too surprised to speak, so she didn't say anything. I could only feel her energy. I could feel the potential of who she could be-- or would be. Like any child, she was a bright shining possibility. I could feel that she was going to be an artist, or a writer, or perhaps a playwright. She was oozing with endless timelines of possibilities. Because she was so talented, there were even more probabilities than an average human. I could see why Meresin liked her. She was so much like the Creator Herself.

It was that which annoyed me more than anything. Meresin liked her because she was like the Creator. She was good. She was pure. In a fit of rage and immaturity, I reached out and kicked the flotation device out from under her. She made a small gasp and tumbled into the water. I could tell that no human was around but I still felt watched. I felt like someone or something was observing me.

So, I didn't hesitate. I knew that there wasn't much time for some reason. Even though I had access to most timelines, and thus technically, I had all the given time in the universe, I still felt like I had to act fast before I was found out. I still felt someone was watching me.

I reached over and put my hand upon her head. Then, I pushed down. I was drowning her without thought, without remorse. Even as the bubbles boiled up to the surface of the water, I knew it wasn't going to do anything. Life was cheap and quick, especially for children. All that would happen was she gets moved to the next timeline. It was just a bump in the same basic direction. I did it to get back at Meresin. I doubted he would even notice.

I still didn't detect anyone around me, but I still couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. I let go and pulled my hand out of the pool. I didn't escort her to the other side, I didn't need to. I knew she would just get 'moved-over' to the next timeline, because I could see it wasn't her time to get reabsorbed into the Creator yet-- if she ever does.

I just began to suspect it was Meresin stalking around, somehow cloaking himself from me. One could only assume he was becoming a better and better rogue with his ability to zip in and out of the Void. I felt annoyed that he had such a talent. The Creator would have done better with granting me that gift instead.

I opened a portal and vanished. The portal blasted open and gurgled like a open pool of water. I didn't look back. After the portal closed behind me, I realized I left the orange behind. I could imagine the fruit floating in the pool, completely out of place from an entirely different time and dimension.