You may want to read the first two parts of this story, otherwise this post won`t make much sense to you.
The Nightmare 1
The NIghtmare 2
Margaret was seated at her kitchen table, writing an article, when she got an email in her inbox. She saw his name appearing on the notification, on the top right side of her screen. She rushed to open the email. She always got excited when he wrote to her. Especially now that her birthday was coming up.
She was expecting the traditional happy birthday and her eyes hungrily zigzagged the lines, looking for that additional drop of emotional confession that he would always place at the end of his letters. She was surprised to see there was no such thing. She wondered why? She found it strange.
Given that they were continents apart and calling was not an option, she shrugged her shoulders and hoped he was not into much trouble. She had no energy to spare, so diving into the Balance just because she had a hunch was not on her list for the moment. She replied to his email and waited a few days for a response that never came.
Throughout the days and later on during the week she found herself thinking of him. Making that long distance call, from soul to soul, it always helped them connect. More than once, with her eyes closed, she called out his name, sending her call into the horizon, waiting for a sign. Usually, she would have a reply within minutes or sometimes hours. Only once her call was answered the following day.
Five days had passed without a sign from the archangel. She tried reaching him daily without any luck. For some unknown reason she could not connect to his mind. Her worries grew bigger and she decided to dive into the Balance early in the morning. She had to ensure he was alright. She needed him to be fine because he was her rock. Her soulmate.
The previous month she had a bad dream. The first one after a long period of dreamless nights. In her dream, somehow she was not able to reach him and it felt as if he had passed away. It was a sort of premonition, a warning sign.
When she woke up, she understood that bad news were brewing. What she hated the most was the waiting part. Patience was not her strong suit. Though she had no choice but to let things unfold.
A week later when she finally decided to call his number, no one picked up the phone. Four short rings and then the voicemail greeting message.
Having no common friends made it even harder to find out what had happened to her archangel. It was one thing going to his house and checking on him, but given that she was across the ocean, on a different continent, that idea seemed fruitless. She had no one to ask for a favour, to check on him.
During their past weekly phone conversations, Margaret had briefly mentioned her dream to him, but did not have the time, nor the will to go over the details. He had mentioned to her that it would be interesting to learn more about it, but she never touched that topic again. She hid that dream somewhere deep in her mind and forgot about it until recently.
The sorrow feeling she had experienced in her dream was dreadful. The emptiness she felt that morning was terrible. It felt like half of her was gone. She wept in bed for close to ten minutes before she realised it was just a dream.
Two week passed without knowing what had happened to him. After couple of emails and a dozen of non answered phone calls, she finally got a sign. He was alive. He was not sick. He was still in one piece. Though everything else around him had collapsed. Within the past two weeks, he witnessed powerless how his whole world had crumbled into pieces. Misfortunes never come singly.
First, he had a car crash in the middle of nowhere and had been stranded for days. When he finally made it home, he discovered that he had been robbed. The thieves had taken everything he had, leaving the place empty, as if it was a property ready to move in.
Towards the end of the same day, he learnt that his bank accounts had been emptied. He assumed it must have been the thieves who got a hold of his black book. The bad news never stopped.
A few days later, his sister fractured her whole leg and was bed bound in the hospital without visitation rights. While doctors were doing some routine tests they discovered she had a few tumours that needed to be removed as soon as possible. It was all strange because she had never accused any symptoms nor felt sick.
On top of all that, he had just lost his best friend. He had passed away two days ago. Due to the whole pandemic situation, he had to be cremated. The morgues were full and so were the cemeteries, courtesy of virus who was decimating the world.
Although his email was more telegraphic than usual, she was able to read through the lines, to feel his pain. She knew that this was only the beginning of a long series of events that were about to knock on her door.
Thinking of his situation, she recognised the work of her old master.”Send first the bad news messengers, and take the queen out of her hive!”
All these unfortunate events that hit him and his loved ones, were only a decoy meant to make her come out of her hideout. The old wizard wanted her to surface again. For the past fifteen years she had been untraceable.
Margaret wondered what would take this time to have the old master stripped of his powers. Would the world be a better place without his Machiavellian plans? Would that help her free herself from the Balance`s power? Would his defeat bring her closer to her happy-ending?
She could not answer any of these questions. Though she knew someone who could help her have a clearer view of the entire puzzle. That someone was Amie, her Peruvian soul sister.
To Be Continued
Image by Glauco Gianoglio from Pixabay
@2020 Lavi Picu aka Lyme Poet. All rights reserved.
