Chapter Fourteen: "Memory"

Alex Mendoza.

(The year 1404)

I feel every muscle in my body complaining of exhaustion but I keep moving my body. Adam gets up from the ground and attacks me again with all his strength. His face is impregnated with sweat, sand, and hatred towards me, towards the game of strength that he cannot win. A cynical smile is drawn on my lips when I see how hard he tries to throw me to the ground.

"Little brother," I gasp, "do you need help?"

He lets out a small grunt of anger and lunges back at me to no good effect on his behalf. I feel his fury growing inside of him and his movements become more unruly and predictable. I take advantage of one of his many oversights to hit him back and throw him to the ground again. I bring my face close to his and spit on him. I start to laugh and Adam snaps out of my grip. He gets up off the ground and I lie on my back on the ground laughing out loud. I watch him wipe his face and swear an oath.

"You couldn't be dirtier."

"You couldn't be worse at hand-to-hand fighting," I counter.

"I'm better at using the magic that mother taught us." He walks over to the makeshift bench and wipes the sweat from his face with his forearm. "It is more effective."

I follow him and sit next to him.

"You know that in these times, hand-to-hand is more useful than magic. If it weren't for the fact that we can't die, you would have died at the hands of Valentino a couple of years ago."

"It was not my fault. How was I going to fight him when he drew that saber from me?"

"If you had used what I taught you, I shouldn't have intervened."

"You'll never stop reminding me that you saved my ass that time, right?"

"Never." I grin from ear to ear.

He lets out a sigh and buries his face in his palms. I hear his head spin at something but it is only an intelligible and distant murmur.

"You have to stop." I take a drink of water.

"What?" He says trying to appear innocent.

"You already know."

"Alex, you always get into my head without permission." He shrugs and a small sideways smile spreads across his face. "Now magic is not so useless, isn't it?"

"I hate that you get along so well with her."

"Are you saying it because you're incapable of doing these little tricks?"

His smile does not stop growing and I want to be on top of him again so that he can see that he is not superior to me but I hold back. We have recently resumed our relationship after decades of fighting and I don't want to screw it up again. Although I will never say it out loud, in these times I need my brother on my side, not against me.

***

After a long walk, we got home and a very angry Bethany waits for us with her arms crossed.

"How's it going, Beth?" I ask in a vague attempt to dissipate her anger, all in vain.

"How I am going!? ”she begins to shout.

"Well, not very well, apparently." My words seem to make her even more enraged.

"What has he done this time?" Adam says when he gets to our side.

I frowned.

"Why do I always have to be the one causing Beth's anger?" "I let out indignant.

"Well, because normally it's your fault." He shrugs and walks into the house.

"May I know what you've been up to for the last decade, Alex?"

I look at her in confusion.

"Smith has escaped again," she finally says after a long silence.

Adam directs his gaze at me and in a second I have two people glaring at me.

"Fuck." It's the only thing I end up saying.

I rest my hands on the wooden table and let out a long sigh. I can't tell them what I've been doing behind their backs, that would create even more tension between us and it's the last thing I want.

Twenty years ago Henry and Arael met in a filthy bar frequented by all kinds of spiteful beings. It is true that seeing an archangel there is quite rare and what happened after that encounter is even stranger. To sum up, the result of that day was Karla, a girl half-angel, half-demon. We have witnessed unions between humans and demons and angels and humans, but never between a demon and an angel. It is the first time in the creation of humanity that an event like this is happening.

To tell the truth, none of us thought that the fruit of a night of passion would come to this world alive, for that reason we did not prevent it either. The Nephilim, the union between an angel and a human, are either born dead or we kill them within hours of being born, as long as we are aware of their existence. And I have never seen the result of the union between a demon and a human survive.

A decade ago I was given the mission to end Karla's life and to tell the truth it was practically impossible. Not because I wasn't strong enough, but when I was with a knife in hand about to pierce her heart, I froze. Until the knife hit the ground, I couldn't even blink. Adam is the only one who knows the truth, he is the only one who knows that I couldn't do anything. And thanks to him I was able to make her disappear from the map for others.

"Then what do we do?" I say with their watchful eyes on me.

"I want to know why he ran away when you were in command of the operation."

I look at Adam not knowing what to answer. She crosses her arms again, without giving up and waiting for an explanation that none of us has valid to give at that moment.

"If you let me explain what happened without you getting angry..."

"You let him get away with it, Alex!” she interrupts.

"It wasn't like that." I try to keep my voice calm even though the anxiety is running through my veins. "I left Dan in charge while I took care of something else."

Her gaze intensifies and she approaches me until she is only inches from my body.

"Your mission was for YOU to take care of Henry, not Dan." She takes another step forward forcing me to take one behind. "I'm sick of you giving a fuck about the missions we give you, Alex, ”she says through clenched teeth. "You said you wanted to make up for all the evil you've done to heaven, but you don't seem to want to make amends for your mistakes. You cause more problems than you solve."

I clench my teeth in fury.

"We agreed that we would put the past behind us, Bethany."

"We also agreed that you would take care of Henry and his daughter. And have you done it? "She bows her head, the fury never leaving her words. "You think we don't know that Karla is still breathing our same air?" I open my eyes in surprise. "Do you think we don't know that you've tried to hide it where we can't find it?"

Adam tries to get closer to us and Beth raises a hand that instantly paralyzes him.

"Alex, we are not idiots," she continues. "We have never stopped watching you. We thought you had learned from your past mistakes and that's why we told you to end her life."

"It was a test," I whispered.

"Exactly. And take a guess; you are not even capable of doing a simple task like that. Are you telling me that you didn't learn anything during the time you were locked up?"

I look down.

"I could not do it."

"Your job is to follow our orders, not question them." She places her free hand on my chin and forces me to look her directly in the eye. "That day you thought about it too much. Did we tell you to talk to her?"

"No ma'am."

"And what did you do?" My silence is her response. "She must have seemed defenseless to you, that she didn't have to die when it wasn't her fault that she was born. And it's understandable, at that time she was only ten human years old. She hadn't had time to hurt anyone. But you know what? "she brings her lips to my ear and she whispers to me, emphasizing each syllable, "she has already killed."

When she walks away from me, my eyes search her face trying to find a lie that I can't find. I try by all means not to believe that she has already done it, she promised me that she would not hurt anyone.

"And best of all, Mendoza?" She raised her eyes again to join mine. "She liked it. And it was your fault for not killing her when we ordered it. If it weren't for your incompetence, it wouldn't have happened so you're going to be responsible for making up for your umpteenth mistake by doing what you should have done ten years ago. We'll watch you. ”Shee looks at Adam. "And you too."

Her presence vanishes in the blink of an eye, Adam being able to move again and I freeze at Beth's harsh words. My back touches the wall and I slide down it until I touch the floor. My hands go to my head, messing up my hair even more.

And to think that because of me Beth has become this kind of person...

It hurts me, all the evil I have caused weighs on me, not only to humanity but to my kind and the people around me. Beth has changed, she has become more cynical and more terrifying for my actions, if I had not been an asshole in the past possibly she would still be the same as she once was. I miss her smile, the one that never disappeared from her face no matter how much it was happening to her.

Adam cautiously walks over me and puts his hand on my shoulder.

"Everything will work out." He tries to relax me without success.

"Everything will be fixed when she stops breathing. And that's the last thing I want to do."