That night I had one of the strangest dreams. Strange because it seemed so real, everything seemed so real. I was in a very bright room, or it seemed to be a room, with six other men of about my age. Usually in my dreams the faces of people are hazy, unless it’s someone I know. But I had never seen these men before, and their faces were so detailed, as if I was actually looking at them. All of a sudden there was a voice: “The time is almost upon us.” The voice gave me goose bumps. The voice seemed to surround me, surround us, almost as if it had a living presence. I could feel it next to me, and it filled me with such an incredible feeling indescribable in words. I felt some sort of power awaken inside of me. All of a sudden we all flew out of our seats and down towards the earth.
I woke up with that same feeling churning inside of me. I looked over to my clock, and it was eleven-thirty-- man I overslept. I instantly called Harmony, knowing she’d be eager to know exactly what happened yesterday. She answered after only one ring. We spent at least an hour discussing yesterday and aimlessly talking, it was so easy. She invited me to dinner, so of course I said yes.
“Great! I’ll see you then!” I heard a voice in the background.
“Hurry up and get off the freakin’ phone!”
I asked, “Was that…?”
“Yeah, I’ll see you tonight.” That was Jeff, Harmony’s boyfriend. He’s such a jerk, especially to Harmony. I just wish someone would set him in his place.
That night I dressed casually, jeans and a black t-shirt. I arrived at the restaurant and Harmony looked great, as she always does, but something was different about her. She didn’t have the same twinkle in her eye that’s always there. We got a table and sat down. We were having a great time until she shut down. She didn’t even seem like the same person, it was as if someone had sucked all of the life out of her.
I asked, “Are you alright? You’re not acting like yourself.”
“Yeah I’m just tired.”
“You sure? How’s Jeff?”
A tear ran down her cheek and she bolted out the back door to the alley. I waited a minute or two to see if she would come back, but she didn’t. I went out the door to hear Jeff, “listen you made a mistake. We were meant to be together.” Jeff had one of his friends with him.
“Jeff I think she’s staying with her decision,” I said in Harmony’s defense.
“Stay out of this you little b****.”
“No, now leave her alone.” Nothing gets me angrier than when a man tries to hurt a girl, and it reaches a new level whenever that girl is Harmony. Jeff’s friend approached me. He punched me right on the cheek, under my right eye. I tasted the blood. He then tackled me into the dark corner of the alley and slammed me up against the wall. I collapsed in the darkness. All I could hear was Harmony telling Jeff to let go. I became filled with such rage, such hatred, the pain washed away. I stood up, and my eyes felt as if they were on fire.
Jeff glanced at my face, “what the hell are those two red circles?”
I could feel the same power I felt in my dream. I felt an excruciating pain in my shoulder-blades, and then I felt the softness of feathers as they stroked my back. I turned my head over my shoulder to see a pair of jet black wings. I felt a strange sensation in my muscles, and then heard a ripping. I ripped through my shirt. I spoke, “Let her go, Jeff.” But it wasn’t my voice. It was a deep, threatening voice.
“Okay, Michael, I don’t know where you got the fancy costume from, but Alex can still beat the s*** out of you.”
Jeff’s friend, Alex, approached me a second time. A single punch sent him flying into the wall, crumbling bricks everywhere. I thought about picking Jeff off the ground, and he started to float. I moved him left and right just by thinking. I threw him in a dumpster and locked it. “Harmony are you okay?” The voice said.
“I just have a bruise on my arm.” She said, as she was trembling in fear.
I put my hand over it, and watched as the bruise disappeared into nothing. “Let’s go home,” The voice said. I picked her up, and with one thrust of my wings we were soaring through the dark sky.
The wind rushing by my face felt great. I felt free, free from the world and all of my problems. The burning I felt in my eyes was gone, now they felt soothing in a strange way. The soothing from my eyes radiated throughout my entire body and I was filled with a new feeling. It was truly phenomenal. I felt at that moment like everything was good and right. It’s amazing how being up among the stars makes the world melt away. Right now there was nothing except Harmony, me, and the beating of my wings. I looked down at her in my arms, and the look on her face was completely dumbfounded. I spotted her house and started gradually descending until my feet touched the ground. I set Harmony down gently. “Goodnight, go to bed now.” The voice said. She was still out of it. She walked inside, and I heard the door lock. I turned to fly home, but I caught a glimpse of myself in the reflection of a window. My eyes were a deep blue, the deepest I had ever seen, and they were shining. My hair matched my wings, jet black. My figure had completely changed. I had gained about forty pounds of muscle in ten seconds. I turned and shot up into the star-filled sky.
I woke up in my bed, with no wings, no black hair, and no sensations in my eyes. However my figure seemed to be the same as it was the night before. I had to have gained some sort of controllable power. I walked into my backyard and began trying everything in the book, “Wings!” Nothing. I tried jumping off boxes. I tried saying ridiculous things. After trying for an hour I saw down and put my face in my hands. I felt the scar under my right eye where Alex had punched me. I re-lived the night in the alley and I became filled with the same rage. I could feel my eyes burning, and I felt the searing pain in my shoulder-blades. I stood up and looked over my shoulder, and the wings were there. “Yes!” The voice said. I thought to myself, “I can really help some people using this.”
That night I was back in my favorite place, the cool, crisp, Black Mountain night sky. I didn’t really know what I was supposed to be doing, superheroes weren’t supposed to be real. I took a nosedive and landed on top of a building. I looked around and saw a woman walk out the back door of Finnegan’s. I saw the man waiting in the alley. I swooped down and landed in the darkness just as the man grabbed the woman. I opened my eyes.
“What the hell is that? Who are you?”
I was completely engulfed in darkness. All he could see was my burning eyes. I spoke, or, the voice spoke, “I…” and I paused for a minute, because I didn’t even know who I was. “…am your worst nightmare.” The man floated into the air. I looked to the woman who was clutching her cell phone. “Miss, get out of here,” The voice said. She ran, half crying, out of the alley. As I moved the man closer I realized he was wanted for rape and murder. I flew for the police station and dropped him on the front step. This was the beginning of a new era, the era of me.

The next morning I got the Sunday paper to see the front page headline “I am Your Worst Nightmare” with a picture of two red glowing circles in the darkness. I mumbled, “God dammit.” I looked to the caption of the picture “photo taken from the cell phone Julia Hewitt.” She was the journalist who wrote the article. The article called me a demon, and a disgrace. But it did say I did some good, considering the criminal is in jail now. My phone rang, “Hello?”
“Michael! Is that you in the paper?!” Harmony, of course.
“Yeah it is, some lady who happens to be a journalist took a picture of me last night.”
“That is so cool! You’re like, a superhero now!”
“Yeah that’s just what I need, the whole town knowing about me.”
“It’s not so bad, in fact, it’s great! I wish I could fly.”
“Yeah the flying is pretty cool.” I walked into my room and sat on the bed. I looked to the bedside table and saw a crumbled piece of paper. I opened it and saw seven numbers. “Oh my God! Harmony I have to go, sorry. I forgot to call Sapphire!”
“It’s fine! Just ask her out! See you later.”
With every number I pushed my heart rate increased. By the time I pushed the seventh one I thought my heart was going to beat through my chest. One ring. Two rings. Three rings.
“Hello?” I missed that voice so much.
“Hey! It’s Michael, how are you?”
“Hey! I’m great, how are you?’
“Good. So uh, Sapphire, was wondering…”
“Yeah?”
“Do you want to get some dinner tonight?” There was a pause. In reality it probably wasn’t longer than a second, but to me it seemed a lifetime.
“Yes! Yes I’d love to!”
“Great! I’ll pick you up at seven?”
“Yeah sounds good! I’ll see you then.”
“Okay bye.” I couldn’t even handle it, I walked outside, bust out my wings and shot straight up into the sky. I kept going up, faster and faster. “Woohoo!” For the first time in my life I felt alive. I shot back down and lightly landed in my backyard. Before I changed back I caught a glimpse of myself, and my eyes were a mysterious looking purple.
At seven I pulled in front of Sapphire’s building. I walked to the door and buzzed her room.
“I’m on my way down.”
I could see through the glass door and down the hall to the elevator. The doors opened and she walked out toward the front door of the building. This seemed to happen in slow motion, she looked stunning. She wore a light blue dress, and she ironically looked like a sapphire. She looked up at me and smiled. I took a mental picture of that. At this moment I could tell I wouldn’t want this night to end.
She opened the door, “Hey!”
“Hey.”
“How are you?”
“Doing a lot better now.” I said, hoping she would catch the subtle and corny hint.
“Yeah I’m doing better too.”
I walked her to the car, and opened the door for her. I walked around the front of the car and got in.
“So where are we going Michael?”
“I’ve got a place in mind.” I took her to the Huckleberry Café. It was a locally owned place which had been around for my whole life. “Have you ever been to the Huckleberry?”
“No I haven’t! My parents refused to take me there for some reason when I was younger. After I came back home I haven’t had much time.”
“What?! That’s insane! Well you’re going to love it, I guarantee it.” I looked over and the smile on her face was priceless. The look of pure excitement was like seeing a little kid seeing their presents under the tree on Christmas morning. It warmed my heart to know she was truly excited. If someone told me we were going to a locally owned café, I would be far from excited. That’s one of the things I love about Sapphire, she isn’t afraid to try new things, to adventure. She takes new things head-on with a huge smile on her face. “And here it is” I said as I pulled into the parking lot of the Huckleberry.
“Aw, it’s so cute! I’m so excited!” Sapphire giggled in her excitement.
We had dinner and caught up with what we had missed in the past five years. She went to North Carolina State University to study education. She now teaches at a preschool here in town. I knew she would get a job with kids, she’s always loved kids. That’s another thing I love about Sapphire. I used to love watching her work with kids at our old church when we were teenagers. The waiter came to our table after dinner.
“Would you like any dessert tonight?”
I answered, “Yes, we’d like one slice of apple pie.”
“Coming right up, sir.” He went to go fetch the pie.
“Their apple pie is absolutely amazing.”
The waiter brought the pie and sat it in between us. “Enjoy.”
I took a piece with my fork and moved it towards Sapphire. I smiled, “open up.”
She took a bite, “Oh my gosh that is great!”
I laughed, “I told you!”
As we walked out I said, “I have something to show you.” I’m taking her to my favorite place in the whole town. There’s a hill on the Montreat College campus which I used to lay on and look at the stars when I was seventeen. “We’re going to my favorite place in town.” We got there and stepped out of the car and we began climbing the small hill. I reached the top and lay down on the cool grass. She sat down next to me with my arm around her. I couldn’t believe this was happening, I used to only dream about this kind of stuff. As we lay under the stars I broke the silence, “I used to come here all the time when we were teenagers. The stars would melt away the sadness”
“Sadness?”
“Yeah. I’ve liked you ever since then, and it used to kill me that I was barely even noticed by you. You were the only thing I wanted, but you were also the only thing I couldn’t have. I turned my head to look at her. She looked right back, her green eyes glistening. She closed her eyes and began moving her head closer. I did the same. Our lips met, and I realized I was living my dreams. A black SUV pulled up behind my car and ten men got out, including Jeff.
“You ruined my chances, so now I will ruin you.” Jeff and his goons dragged me from the star I’ve been chasing for five years, one of the only things which makes me happy. Alex, the same guy from the alley, punched me in the same spot, right under my right eye, bursting the scar open. Jeff came out of nowhere and kicked me in the groin. I collapsed to my knees for a minute. I stood up to see myself surrounded. I saw Sapphire, crying. I turned back to see Jeff charge me with a knife. The piercing pain in my stomach was unbearable. I heard Sapphire scream and continue crying. “You’re next, b****.” Jeff and his crew approached Sapphire, who was too petrified to move. I could feel the hatred growing. I felt the pain in my shoulder-blades and my eyes were burning with rage.
“Jeff! Don’t lay a finger on her!” The voice said. I ripped the knife out of my gut. There were too many of them for me to fight alone. Jeff turned around with a look of surprise and fear. I felt a strange sensation inside of me, then it felt as if I lost a part of me.
“What the hell are you Michael?”
I looked to my left and right to see two exact clones on both sides. “I… am the Redeemer.” With that the five of us charged the group of ten, disarming them, and causing them as much pain before knocking them unconscious. The clones re-entered me and I turned my back from Sapphire.
“Michael. Michael, you’re the thing from the paper aren’t you?”
“Yes,” The voice said. “I’m sorry for placing you in danger.” My eyes were no longer burning, but had the same feeling as they did after I called her. I felt her stroke the wings as she made her way in front of me.
She lifted my chin up, “None of this changes us. I’ll still love you, Michael.” I felt the wings go away and I knew I was back to normal. I sat down and began to cry. “What’s wrong?” She sat down next to me. She started to cry too. “Michael, I love you.”
“I’ve loved you since we were only seventeen. Hearing you say these things is literally making my dreams come true. All of the pain I’ve been through these years felt worse than that knife Jeff stabbed me with.” All I could hear were her sobs. I transformed with the same feeling in my eyes. “Take my hand; I want to show you something,” The voice said. She grabbed my hand, and we cut through the air, higher and higher through the crisp night air. We landed on top of Lookout Mountain, high above our small town. The only thing there was the girl of my dreams in my arms, the stars, and me. At this moment, life was genuinely good.

That night I had another strange dream. I was flying over a seemingly endless sea, as fast as I possibly could. I was flying over these waters for what seemed like a lifetime. I finally reached land, and I saw a large patch of green in the middle of a desert. I descended to where the green began and landed. There were gates being guarded by two men who looked just like me holding flaming swords. I proceeded to walk through and in this garden I found the other six men from my previous dream, except they had wings, dark hair, and strikingly blue eyes just like me. Just as I sat down that amazing feeling overcame me once again. The same voice from my other dream spoke, “Simiel, Zarachiel, Phanuel, Uriel, Raphael, Gabriel, and Michael. The time is coming, prepare yourself. You each know what you must do. The Serpent is getting closer each day.” All of this only further confused me. “Michael, I’m sorry. You must always remember the harmony of your life.”
December 20, 2012: I woke from this strange and perplexing dream to the phone ringing. “Hello?”
“Hey Michael, its Harmony. I—I’m scared.”
“Why? Is it Jeff again?”
“No, no, it’s nothing like that. I’ve just been having these, these dreams for weeks. In every single one of these I end up dying in the end, and it always feels so real.”
“Oh Harmony, they're only dreams, you have nothing to worry about.”
“Thanks, it’s just--”
“No, they're only dreams, okay? Trust me nothing is going to happen. I've gotta go, maybe I’ll see you later.”
“Okay, bye.”
I felt so horrible for lying, especially when she was that scared. I had to figure out my dream though, why did It tell me it was sorry? Why couldn’t it have just told me what it meant instead of giving me a riddle?
That night I was doing my sky patrol, as usual. Everything was looking pretty normal until about two blocks from Harmony’s house I saw some sort of creature, half running, and half hopping towards the woods. I quickly descended and landed behind it, “Hey!” The voice said. The creature turned around, slowly. “What the hell?” The voice said. The thing looked like a life-size vampire bat with black eyes.
“He has a riddle for you.” The creature said, almost in a hiss. “What is an agreement of feeling, musical tones in a chord, and lying face down all at the same time?”
More freaking riddles. “I don’t have time for this s***,” The voice said.
The creature answered, “He insists you answer.”
I thought about it for a minute. “Go to hell you bastard.” I tackled it to the ground. The creature laughed in a horrific way, before my fist went straight through its head and hit the concrete under it. I flew with all my strength to Harmony’s house. An agreement of feeling is a harmony in a relationship. I entered her house. A musical tone in a chord is a harmony. I went to her backyard. And there, in the grass, was Harmony lying face down. It started to rain. I ran and flipped her limp body over. Her skin was ice cold. “No… no… NO!!” I could feel the hatred growing, the want for vengeance, the want for spilled blood. The tears burned as they spilled down my cheeks. My best friend, the one person who understood me as much as I understood her, the one person I could really talk to, the one person who taught me what it feels like to love someone outside of your family, is now gone. All of a sudden the voice from my dreams overcame me.
“Michael, demons just like the one you slain are appearing around the world, burning cities and killing people. The others are fighting them as we speak, but this all means the Serpent’s arrival is eminent.”
“I don’t give a s***!”
“Oh you don’t? It was his plan which cost Harmony her life, his plan which could soon destroy the earth. I know you miss Harmony, but she’s here with me now.”
“Where is ‘here’?”
“Heaven. And if you don’t stop the Serpent, every human on earth will be here.”
“Fine. Can you tell Harmony--?”
“Yes, she knows. I know, I’ve always known. Now go, I am right here with you.”

December 21, 2012: I didn’t give a s*** anymore, I had nothing to lose. This Serpent is going back to Hell where it came from, one way or another. I waited for it, atop Lookout Mountain. At dawn the moon covered the sun in an eclipse, turning the sky an eerie blood red. A giant portal appeared on the mountain next to mine, and at least a dozen demons marched out, followed by a giant snake, which must’ve been two hundred yards long. “You son of a b****.” The voice said. I could feel my eyes burning with the same intensity as when Harmony died, and I felt a piece of me go away. I knew I was no longer alone in this battle. I flew straight for the demons, memories of Harmony flowing through me. More portals opened. I saw six people come flying in. They came to help me. Each angel was ten times stronger than each demon, they didn’t stand a chance. I felt a horrible pain inside of me, and Simiel went down. More and more portals were appearing. More pain, and Phanuel and Zarachiel went down. The Serpent breathed fire and Raphael became engulfed in flames. Me and Gabriel were back to back, fending off the demons. I tuned my head to look at him; he wasn’t any older than sixteen years old. I forced as many clones of myself as possible. “Gabriel” the voice said.
“Yeah” he had a deep voice just like me.
“I want you to get out of here, I’ll deal with this. Go live your life and tell every person you meet about this day, about what we did.”
“I’m not leaving you alone out here.”
“Gabriel, yes you are. Now go, and live a good life, protect the ones you love, find the girl of your dreams, and be… happy. We’ll meet again someday. But until then, goodbye Gabriel.” I watched him soar off into the sky and I began to push back the demons.
“Michael” it was Harmony’s voice. A tear streamed down my cheek, and my eyes were soothing. “Do you remember when we used to come to this mountain when we were kids?”
More tears flowed. “Yeah, those were the best days of my life.”
“Hold onto those memories, Michael.”
I looked to my right and Harmony was floating next to me. I felt something in my left hand, and there was a flaming sword. I looked to the Serpent. “Go to Hell” the voice said. I flew straight at it, clutching the sword, memories flashing through my head.

Sapphire was in town, watching everything with the citizens. She saw me fly into the Serpent’s mouth. Her eyes began to water, and she opened a letter:
My love Sapphire,
If you’re reading this, then I’m sorry. Sorry for leaving you alone in the world like this, but I had to. Never forget how much I love you, I always have. The pain I went through as a teenager all became worth it these past few months we were together. But now I’m in a different world, with Harmony. We’re waiting for you.
Yours forever,
Michael
At the bottom of the letter was a ring with an engraving on the inside “I am with you always.” She bawled and looked back up to the Serpent in the sky.

Everything was dark, I couldn’t see a thing. I was only following the sound of a steady beating. From the light of the sword I could now see the heart of the hellish beast. I cut it out and it let out a god-awful cry. I sliced through the skin till I broke free into the air. The Serpent disintegrated before my eyes, and I thrust the heart up in triumph towards the town. I felt a piercing pain in my stomach and looked down to see a fang going straight through me. I fell. The last thing an angel does is fall. I watched the red sky get farther and farther away.

All of a sudden I wasn’t falling anymore; I was in a different place. A place which seemed unearthly. I felt filled with some sort of energy, an energy which made me feel like I could accomplish anything, and I knew the Voice was with me. It was directing me ways to go, and I realized I was walking the streets of Black Mountain. I came upon the crowd with the news reporters as one was speaking, “it appears our unknown hero has…. Fallen.” I looked to the crowd and saw every crying face. I saw the face of the woman I saved in the alley, Julia Hewitt. I looked at one little boy, no older than five years old who was crying his eyes out. A tear ran down my cheek and I wiped it away. The boy looked up to the sky and between the sobs I heard him mumble “Please come back.” These people need a hero, a protector, someone to answer their cries. I continued through the crowd and found Sapphire. I reached my hand out to touch her but it went right through her. Before I could comprehend this I was in another place, one I’d never seen before, except for my dream. I was in some sort of garden. I saw a man walking towards me in the distance with long brown hair and a beard to match it. His head was shining like the sun, and he smelled of the various fruits of the garden. He spoke and his voice matched the Voice.
“Hello, Michael.”
I was stunned and didn’t know what to say or think except “Hello.”
He continued, “I know what you're thinking and you're correct in your thinking. I am the one who has been communicating with you this whole time. And yes, I am exactly who you think I am. I am the God of Israel, of Moses, of Elijah, of Jesus. I am your God, and you are my best general. You see, Michael, you were chosen. A part of you is actually you, and another part is Michael the General of the legions of angels. That’s who you are when you ‘change.’ Now you're wondering why you had to lose Harmony. I did not plan on this happening; I was not the only one controlling here. There are evil forces Below which took Harmony’s life. I know it wasn’t fair for her to leave so early, but she is happy here.”
“Where is ‘here’? Where are we?”
“This is my Kingdom. This has been here before time itself. You were one of my first creations, I’m sorry you don’t remember it.”
“Can I see her?”
“Yes.”
All of a sudden I was standing on a small hidden beach next to a creek. Harmony spoke, “Do you remember this place?”
“Yeah of course I do, we used to come down here all the time when we were younger.”
“This used to be one of my favorite things to do. Just come down here…”
“With you.” We embraced each other and I caught myself thinking “this is how it should be.”

I was lying on my back looking up to see Gabriel’s face. “I guess I came back a little too late, huh?” He cracked a smile which I returned as soon as I stood up with a grunt. I felt where the tooth had entered but there was nothing there. Gabriel said, “Oh yeah, I took care of that too. Let’s go.” We flew to the town together, which was now infested with news crews. I approached Sapphire. I embraced her, and bent down on one knee. “Will you marry me?”

“If you had asked me ten years ago what my life would be like, I wouldn’t have said this. The Serpent and his hellish demons are gone. My brothers, they died for this cause, and we prevailed. I am no longer the only angel, Gabriel stands by my side. My name is Michael McCarthy, and I am the Redeemer. This is my story.”

Have you ever felt as if you've made a huge mistake? One so drastic, that if you had chosen differently your life would be completely different at this very moment? I've made one too many of these mistakes, whether they be through awful temptations, or through love. These mistakes fuel us, they keep us mindful of every decision we make because we're always fearful we'll choose the wrong thing. I realized an awful mistake I made on the day I destroyed the Serpent, and I will regret the choice I made until I finally leave this earth and I breathe my last breath. It is forever my curse.


It is 2016, four years after the Serpent was slain. I am twenty-six years old, happily married to the woman of my dreams, and have become best friends with Gabriel, the only one of my kind. Gabriel and I have become superheroes of some sort, but what nobody knows is that we are actually angels sent by God Himself. We are one hundred percent human, but we will be anyone’s hero if they need us to. Life has been pretty great in general, but I have this feeling like something terrible is going to happen, sometime soon. Lately I've been having these dreams… they're actually more of nightmares. In each one, Harmony is standing in front of me, but then she falls into a pit of nothing. When that happens, some sort of fire begins consuming me, very slowly. After that I see Gabriel in front of me, pointing a flaming sword at me, and then I wake up. Every time I wake up I feel awful, because it’s like re-living the day Harmony died every single day. I have never missed someone or something more than I miss her. She was my best friend, the one person I could always count on… but now she’s gone, forever. I would give anything to change that.

I woke up on the anniversary of Harmony’s death to Sapphire’s voice, “Michael, wake up honey.” I slowly sat up and looked at the clock. It was nine-thirty on Sunday morning. I got out of bed, put my nicest coat and tie on, and kissed Sapphire goodbye. I drove to the cemetery and sat in front of a tombstone. “Harmony Wise. Beloved Daughter and friend. ‘Love never fails.’” Sad to think how awesome of a life can leave such a small mark. Nobody would know the Harmony who loved to dance no matter where she was. The Harmony who lived only to love and laugh. The Harmony who would never leave a friend’s side, no matter the circumstances. A tear ran down my face, gosh I missed her. I heard leaves crunch behind me and I quickly turned to see Mr. Wise walking towards me.


“Hello Michael.”

“Good to see you Mr. Wise.” I stuck my hand out and he shook it. We both stood in silence looking at the grave.

He said, “how often do you come?”

“Every Sunday since it happened. I miss her every day. Sometimes it’s hard to take.”

“Michael don’t worry, it isn’t your fault.” I paused for a moment, then decided to go through with it.

“Yes it is.”

“Michael, don’t place the blame on yours--”

I changed right in front of him. I stood in front of him in the silence, my eyes a bright blue, and I felt the tears burn down my cheeks. I heard them sizzle as they hit the soft layer of snow beneath my feet. The voice spoke, “It’s always been my fault.” I felt the wings recede into my back. I turned away from him with my head down, looking at the holes in the snow where my tears had fallen. “Each day I wake up, the pain from the day she died is still fresh. I will never be able to forgive myself, and I don’t expect you to forgive me either. I re-live that day almost every night, trying to find a way to go back and in time and somehow save her, or take her place.” The tears began to flow again. I sat down on the bench in front of the tombstone and sobbed with my head in my hands. Mr. Wise sat down next to me and put his hand on my shoulder. “That will always be the biggest mistake of my life.” As we sat a light snow began to fall.

“Michael look at me.” I slowly picked my head up and looked Mr. Wise straight in the eyes. He had tears in his eyes. It broke my heart to know how much of his pain was my fault. Seeing the man I look up to the most in this state was almost unbearable. “Michael, I love you like the son I never had, and I do forgive you. You did the best you could, and you saved the world doing it. You aren’t Superman.”

I was stunned he didn’t hate me, “But I'm the closest thing to it.” I had always imagined this conversation to be different, and that I would be taking his daughter to live with me, not taking her from everyone, including myself. “Mr. Wise… I loved your daughter. I always have.”

“I know, Michael. I think I've known since the first time I saw you two way back when you were little. I got this feeling, and a father just knows. In my eyes you have always been my son-in-law. You would have been the only man I would trust to leave my daughter with.” I stared down into the snow, absorbing everything he said. I couldn’t help thinking of what my life would be like if none of this had happened. But a life that happy and perfect only exists in imaginations and dreams. Looking back, I have wanted the same thing since I was only eight years old: to spend the rest of my life with Harmony Wise, my best friend. Through the darkest of our days, or through the days when things couldn’t be more perfect. Every time I was having a dark day, she would always be a little light shining through that darkness. That’s what I miss the most. It didn’t matter how bad my day was going, if I saw her for only ten minutes, that day and the mood I was in could be completely reversed. She was my biggest strength, and sometimes my biggest weakness. She was the other half of my personality which made me balance to a happy medium. When I was down, she would pick me up. When I was moving too fast, she’d be right at my side making sure I stop to smell the flowers. I would have never left her side. She’s still at mine today, I can feel her sometimes, but that still isn’t enough. Nothing will ever be enough. “Michael I have to be going. It was good to see you again.”

I stood up, “Good to see you too, Mr. Wise.” I stuck my hand out, but he ignored it, and he hugged me. I didn’t even know how to react, I was touched. He let me go and walked away.

“Bye” he said. A tear ran from the corner of my eye. I changed and shot up into the sky.


It was the first day of third grade. I remember walking down the hallway with my mom by my side holding my hand. We got to the door of my new classroom and I looked up to her, “I’m scared.”

She smiled, “Michael don’t worry, this is going to be a good year.”

With that, she hugged me, gave me a kiss, and sent me into the room. Little did I know at that time that this would be a good year. I walked into the room and found the cubby which had my name written on it. I tossed in my backpack and my lunchbox and turned to find my desk. I walked around the entire room once before I found it. I sat down and waited for the horrible day to start. Seconds ticked by. I put my head in my arms on my desk and closed my eyes. Before long I could feel the presence of someone. I picked my head up to see a smiling girl. Why was she so happy? At that time she was the prettiest girl I had ever seen. She had blonde hair, and it was down, with one little section on the right side curled behind her ear, and she had mesmerizing blue eyes. I was simply in shock. Our teacher spoke, “Welcome! It’s time to take role.” She began calling names, and I couldn’t stop staring in front of me. She looked at me, confused, and smiled awkwardly. “Michael McCarthy…” I wasn’t listening. “Michael McCarthy?”

“Oh… here!” I said, embarrassed beyond belief. She laughed, and I couldn’t tell if I was blushing from embarrassment, or because I made her laugh.

The teacher called many other names, “Harmony Wise?”

The girl across from me sat up a little straighter and said, “Here!” she looked at me and smiled, which I returned with an even bigger one. I couldn’t wait to spend the next year staring into those eyes. Valentine’s Day came rolling along. During my elementary school years on Valentine’s Day, every kid would give a card to each member of the class. I received a valentine which at first glance seemed like a simple card, with a personal message on the inside. It read the simple words, “Happy Valentine’s Day Michael!” And it was signed by Harmony. I was extremely disappointed. For some reason I was expecting so much more, because I thought Harmony knew I liked her. I looked back down at the card, and written in the bottom left corner was the word “love” written as small as possible. I didn’t know what I was feeling, but all I knew was that it was awesome. First day of fourth grade I walked into my class and saw Harmony. Thank God. I instantly knew this was going to be another good school year. At lunchtime I found a table with one of the friends I made last year. Harmony came into the cafeteria with two of her friends and sat across from us. My heart skipped a beat. The smile on her face was at the same time confident, and also scared, almost as if she was asking for my approval, which I gave with a smile once I regained my senses. Flash forward it’s fifth grade, one of the best years of my life. Harmony and I were dating… or as close to dating as you can get in elementary school. We were the king and queen of that school. We did everything a high school couple would do, but on a fifth grade scale. We went to the dance together, and even sang in the talent show. I was so young, and yet I was having the time of my life. During middle school we drifted apart. Surprisingly I moved on without many setbacks, although the memories of Harmony still burned bright in my mind like a never ending flame. When high school started that flame was no longer through memories, but it burned right before my eyes. I came back to my church one summer to help teach kids during the week long Bible school. I saw Harmony for the first time in close to four years. Good Lord… her beauty had escalated to a whole new level, and yet she was the same Harmony I had come to know and love years before. It was truly amazing. Not too many minutes after this reuniting, I became infatuated with Sapphire Jennings. This constantly got under my skin, which allowed for Harmony and I to become best friends and closer than ever. The friendship which began was one of the best things which has ever happened to me. We were there for each other no matter the circumstances. I had never been so close to someone in my entire life. I was closer to her than anyone from my family and at most times I loved her more than I loved my family. Whenever I needed someone to talk to, she was there when nobody else was. As I reached the age of seventeen I had one of the scariest realizations I've had in my entire life, even to this day. First of all, that was when I realized my ‘love’ for Sapphire was only infatuation. Secondly, I realized that this entire time I've loved Harmony, and it’s actually real. I didn’t fall in love with what I saw, but from the person I've come to know. I fell in love with what nobody else could see. Knowing this absolutely killed me. I couldn’t risk ruining the friendship which we had built throughout our entire lives. People told me she would never let something like that change what we already have, but the thought of losing her was too scary. Our friendship meant the world to me, as did Harmony, so if that meant loving her for the rest of my life with nothing in return, I would do it. Falling in love with your best friend is the most bittersweet feeling. The greatness being you already love your best friend. The worseness being the feelings eating away at your insides, along with the endless fear and misery. I went through the rest of high school with these feelings churning inside of me like an out of control storm. If there was one thing in my life I could go back and change, I would go back and tell her, tell her everything.

As I neared my house, the temperature went haywire. I couldn’t tell whether it was burning hot, or if it was so cold it felt hot. I heard a voice speak, in a hiss, “The time has come.” Everything went black. There was cheering. Cheering of thousands and thousands of people. Footsteps came closer to me, and the cheering grew louder with each step. The footsteps stopped right next to me. I opened my eyes and saw a demonic figure which looked like the one I saw the night Harmony died. The sky above was a scarlet red. The demon raised an ax, and the crowd reached a new decibel level. I closed my eyes and prepared to see Harmony. I took in what I thought would be my last breath.
Then I heard her voice, “Not now, Michael. Not yet.” I sprung up and hit the demon with a uppercut, causing it to soar into the air and drop the ax. I quickly picked up the ax, and threw it as hard as I could at the demon. It impaled the demon’s head before it even hit the ground. Even more cheering. I looked around. I was standing in the center of a giant arena. Five levels of cheering demonic beings. I was filled with rage.
I yelled, “Enough!” But it was still the voice of the angel. The arena instantly became silent. “Where the hell am I?!”
Silence for a few moments, before the same voice which brought me here spoke, “The answer lies in the question.” I was mortified. How did I get here? Am I dead? The voice read my mind, “No, you aren’t dead. This is a… tournament, as you might call it. The prize will be revealed in time. But for now, follow the guard.” A demon about ten feet tall appeared next to me outfitted in some sort of armor and a sword to match. He led me out of the center into a door which led under the arena. He led me down seemingly endless hallways until we reached an area containing multiple rooms which resembled prison cells. There must’ve been twenty cells, each containing one prisoner, except for two empty ones. I was placed in one, and I assumed the other was where the demon I fought earlier was once placed. The guard closed the gate and locked me in my cell. This was too hostile of an environment to change into myself… my true self. I looked around the small room I was cooped in. There was nothing except a cot for sleeping. I hit the cot and instantly fell asleep.
As I was sleeping I felt a hand grab mine. The warmness of the hand was strange. I hadn’t felt this warmness for four years, it was a feeling I had come to know and cherish throughout the entire course of my life. It was as if the warmness was being channeled through my hand and was being pumped throughout my entire body, as blood is pumped through the veins. Only one word crossed my mind as this was happening. One single word, a single word such as this could bring a man to his knees, and give him unbelievable strength at the same time. No man would have ever thought something so seemingly simple as this single word could become the biggest and most important thing in his life, and eventually become the one thing in this world which he is living for. This word soon becomes the only thing in the world which truly seems real, and this word then becomes his world. I woke up with a jolt as the word escaped my lips, “Harmony.” A cold sweat was on my forehead and I was breathing heavily. I looked to my right in hopes to see her there but I saw nothing except the cold and unforgiving walls of my cell. It was so strange; it felt like she was in the room and actually touching me. Nothing could've hurt more than the feeling of false hope. I punched the wall on my left again and again. The jolts running up my arms and the pain in my knuckles brought me back to reality. I heard a creature across the hall laughing. It wasn’t a normal laugh; it was a laugh which was familiar. The laugh brought back a rush of memories from four years ago. Then it hit me. I walked to the bars of my cell to see two black eyes. The same black eyes that took the life from my best friend.
The demon spoke, “you told me to go to Hell… well here I am.” I despised that hiss. “Too bad about your friend.” I could feel the rage burning inside of me, but there was nothing I could do here, my cell had placed limitations on my powers. The thing I didn’t realize was how hard my grip was on the bars. When I let go the metal was molded to the shape of my grip.
All of a sudden the voice from the arena spoke, as if it were being played from an intercom, “welcome, to all fighters. This tournament is to determine my next harbingers. Unfortunately our last plan was thwarted by one who is among you. But compared to what I have planned now, that old plan is worthless. We will conquer the earth and Heaven after that!” Everyone cheered in their cells. Everyone except me. “You were all chosen because you each have exceptional qualities, in one way or another. If you are defeated in the arena, your soul, is mine. The only way out, is to win.” This was horrifying. There was no easy way out. The only thing standing between me and freedom was about fifteen demons; but I will do whatever it takes. “Let the games begin!” At the final word a guard appeared in front of each cell, and each cell opened. We were each escorted to some sort of holding room. They would then bring two of us out, to have only one return. I found a corner to sit in, where I was alone with my thoughts. I sat there and stared into the red sand, trying to prepare myself for what I was about to face out in the arena. The head guard approached me and nudged my foot with the hilt of his sword. I looked up at him, and he motioned to follow him with a nod of his head. I picked myself up and followed the guard out the door and into the arena.
They had an announcer, as we do for sporting events. “And our combatant chosen to fight our beloved champion, Allocer, is…” he paused to laugh. “The Redeemer! Say, what is it you’re redeeming?” I slowly turned to where he was sitting and stared, eyes burning. “Alright then. Please, go to your side.” I obeyed his request. I walked to my respective side and waited for Allocer. After a few moments the crowd became silent. A man walked into the arena outfitted in a full suit of armor. He went to the opposite side and removed his helmet. He had the head of a lion. He looked up and roared, and unsheathed his sword from his hip. “And we begin!” The announcer said. I didn’t know what to do, I was unarmed and panicking. As Allocer charged my heart was pounding in my ears as I scanned for some sort of weapon. There were guards at the door. It was the only option. I ran as fast as I could to the guard and grabbed his sword before he had time to stop me. Allocer’s first blow was a powerful one, but I was still able to block it. We were in a stalemate, constantly swinging and parrying. After what seemed an endless cycle of this, Allocer pulled away.
The demon then spoke, “I'm impressed.” His voice was deeper than mine. “But your soul won’t leave here.” After he said this, Allocer disappeared. He was invisible. I clutched the sword with both hands, constantly turning around in hopes to see him. All of a sudden my right arm was cut. This only caused me to panic even more.
In my frustration I shouted, “Show yourself!” but it was still the voice. My right arm was cut again. In pain, I went down to one knee. When I was down I scooped a handful of sand and waited for the sound of footsteps. I heard them from behind me. I sprung up and threw the sand, which stuck to him. “Big mistake” the voice said. I slashed my sword right across his torso. He became visible again. He went down to his knees. I picked up his sword in my left hand, and thrust them both through his shoulders. I lifted him all the way to the wall, and hung the swords, and the dying Allocer there.
The heathen spoke, “Shax said when he killed her, he did it slowly, and sat back to watch her die.” A tear sizzled as it hit the hot sand.
“What did you say?” the voice said.
“Shax said--” I grabbed the handles of both swords and pulled down as hard as I could, cutting Allocer’s arms off. He fell down from the wall to his knees. “Please… mercy…”
I stepped forward, and crossed the swords around his neck. “There is no mercy. You’re in Hell” the voice said. And with that Allocer was decapitated. The cheering was unbearably loud.
The announcer spoke, “Our champion has been defeated!”
As the crowd cheered even more I healed the wounds on my right arm. The voice which brought me here spoke, “Bring out the others.” Three other demons were brought out into the arena. The voice continued, “Belphegor, Legion, Orias, and Michael, you have been victorious in this arena, and you have been rewarded. You are my new harbingers, you are the four horsemen. Belphegor, you ride the white horse, and you will be known as Conquest. You will carry this crown and you will wield this bow. Legion, you ride the red horse, and you will be known as War. You will wield this sword to spill blood in my name. Orias, you ride the black horse, and you will be known as Famine. You will carry this scale and ride across the land destroying all crops.” As he said this they appeared on their horses holding their respective items. “Michael. You will ride the pale horse, and you are now known as Death. You will carry this scythe, and Hell itself will follow behind you.” As soon as he finished the temperature became unbearably hot. I was screaming in pain. I looked down and my hands were on fire. The fire started inching its way up my body, burning everything. I fell down to my knees, burning, and screaming. Then it all stopped. I stood up and looked down to my hands. There was nothing but bones. The fire burned everything off. He spoke, “Good. Now go!”

I woke up on a sidewalk in the middle of town, no longer a walking Halloween costume. Did all of that really happen? Or was it some sort of weird hallucination? Then I saw the two scars on my right arm and I knew it was all too real. I stood up and looked down at my watch. I had been gone a day and a half, it was the night after I visited Harmony’s grave. I changed and flew home, trying to think of a way to explain where I've been. There was an unfamiliar car parked in front of my house. I landed and pushed open the front door to see Sapphire in the arms of another man, standing next to three suitcases. “What the… who the… where…” So many questions came out of my mouth all at once.
“Michael, I'm sorry, I really am, this just wasn’t working. Goodbye, Michael.” I watched her and the unknown man take the suitcases and walk out the door. Sapphire came back in and stood in the doorway, just looking at me. I stared back into those green eyes which I once thought I loved. She slipped the ring off her finger and set it on the floor. She then walked out the door for the last time. I walked over and picked up the ring. I didn’t know how to feel, or what to feel. All I knew was I had nothing left. I have lost everything, and now all I want is some sort of end to it all, to everything. An end to the unbearable pain I've had ever since Harmony died. An end to the seemingly endless suffering. I walked into the bedroom and lied down.
I could smell the scent of fall: the leaves upon the ground and of fresh hay. I could feel the cool air on my face. I was walking down an old dirt road, with wide open plains of green grass on both sides of me. I could see a house in the distance sitting on top of a little hill. I continued walking towards the house. I looked down and saw two sets of footprints from horses. I continued walking. I reached the farm fence which surrounded the house’s property. It was a quant, yellow house, with a wrap-around porch, complete with a porch swing. Off to the right there was a small barn which had four horses in it. Two chestnut, one white, and one black. I looked back to the house, and Harmony had stepped out of the front door. She walked to the porch swing and sat down. I walked up the few steps of the porch and sat down next to her. All I wanted to do was tell her, tell her everything I've been holding inside for all of these years, but I was still too afraid to, even now. I'm scared to lose her, even after she’s already gone. But if I don’t tell her now how else would she ever know? Now may be the perfect time and place. “Harmony I need to tell you something.”

My voice awakened me. I knew it had to be a dream; everything was too good to be true. Back when Harmony and I were seventeen, we made a deal that if we were both single at the age of thirty, we’d get married and go live on a horse farm in Nashville. We had planned our entire hypothetical future, down to the design of the house and the color of the horses. It was a perfect life that I sometimes would look forward to, and hope that it would happen one day. I heard a horse breathe out of its nostrils. “No, not now.” The burning began, but it was quicker this time, less painful. I walked out to the pale horse, scythe in hand, and started riding. I came to a clearing, far from civilization, where the other three were waiting for me.
The voice from below spoke, “We begin here.” I was horrified. The first place we have to destroy is Black Mountain. I didn’t want to do this, but I didn’t have a choice, I was being forced to. We started riding just as the sun began peeking over the horizon. No thanks to me, everything behind us became decimated. It was horrible. Conquest and War swept through, killing everyone in their way. Famine rode through behind them, destroying all signs of plant life. I just sat back and watched; it was either that or add to the destruction. I looked up and saw something in the sky. Gabriel. He landed next to me.
“Gabriel” he turned, surprised. “It’s me, Michael. Gabriel, you're going to have to kill me, it’s the only hope of ending all of this.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Gabriel, you have to. Do it!” A flaming sword appeared in his hand. He pointed it at me, closed his eyes, and swung.

I was free, free from the world and all of its burdens. I was back in an all too familiar garden, waiting for Him. “Michael, you have to go back. Gabriel can’t do it alone.”
And just like that I was back on earth, standing in a beam of light. I was a true angel now, my wings were white, and I was shining like the sun. I looked to Gabriel, who was astonished beyond belief. This moment was brief, because Famine was coming right at us. I channeled some of the Heavenly light I was radiating and shot it at him, frying him into ash. One down, two to go. Conquest and War came at the same time. Gabriel flew in and decapitated Conquest, ending him. War dismounted and spoke, “Do you forget I am Legion?” with that we were surrounded by hundreds of clones of Legion.
I spoke, “Now is the time.” Hundreds of beams of light shot down from the sky, and angels appeared on the ground under them. The battle began, and soon enough, Legion himself was the only one left. Gabriel finished him. I was back in the garden walking towards Harmony, then everything went black.

All I could hear was a machine beating. Beating. Beating. Beating. In a steady manner. It was cold, so cold I felt a shiver run through my body. I heard a voice, “He’s waking up! He’s waking up!” Then I couldn’t hold my eyes open any longer. A minute passed like an hour as I heard multiple sets of quick paced footsteps getting closer to me. I struggled to open my eyes again, and I felt a hand grab mine. It was a familiar warmness I knew all too well. It gave me strength, and I opened my eyes. As I scanned the room before me, nobody in it spoke a word. On my left stood two doctors and a nurse, all with the same wide-eyed expression on their face. Directly in front of me stood Mr. Wise, and on my right sat Harmony, with her hand on mine, as a tear ran down her cheek. Too stunned and happy to speak, she mouthed “hi” and smiled.
The doctor on my left spoke, “Welcome back, Mr. McCarthy. You’ve been in a coma for four years. On your way to church on your birthday, you and Miss Wise were t-boned on your side of the vehicle. You saw it coming, so you leaned over the console of the car to protect her from being injured. You were successful in protecting her, but it sent you into the coma you just awakened from. Needless to say, it is a miracle you woke up.”
So it was all one big, giant, crazy dream. The doctors left the room, and Mr. Wise moved to the left side of my bed. He leaned down and whispered, “I know, don’t be afraid.” He stood up and left the room. I turned my head and looked into the deep blue eyes of Harmony Wise, who looked right back into mine. I loved that look.
“Harmony I need to tell you something.”