170: THE PAST

THE PAST

I am standing in the ashes of who I used to be.

-Angel on fire. By: Halsey-

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Raine shifted her eyes from Torak and stared back at the stone. The stone was still glowing in golden colored light. But then, the rich golden colored light slowly lost its glimmer, and turned gloomy.

That dimmed, gloomy light affected Raine's surroundings. She found herself behind a different environment. It was no longer the soft white mist from which she was looking out their presence. Instead of the soft white mist, it was now becoming something that seemed to be a surface of murky water.

Raine doubted her vision when it suddenly turned dark, just like when someone was shutting down the lamp inside the spacious room, then closed all its windows. She was confused, whether it was because she was closing her eyes, or the darkness was in the middle of engulfing her body wholly.

She stared at Torak, and was about to reach him when suddenly the darkness consumed her. She was left with nothing. It happened in less than a second. It felt as if she was just blinking her eyes, because the moment her vision returned, she was somewhere else, outside of a building. In fact, she was in the middle of a completely different environment. She was in a somewhat vast land, another deserted place. 

Raine gasped because she thought she was traveling back to a different era. Not only that, there was something worse, something that was way more terrifying than travelling back in time. 

The moment when Raine looked up at the sky, it wasn't the bright blue sky that she would normally see. It was entirely a different sky. The sky was red, as though someone painted it with the color of blood. Even the sun was glaring with a deep crimson color, making it look burning in anger.

Raine's heartbeat quickened, and her body trembled violently. She averted her gaze, and looked down to her feet, just to avoid the angry looking sky.

But, instead of escaping the dreadful scene, she was facing an even more frightening sight. She screamed on the top of her lungs upon seeing the real-life nightmare. There was something unspeakable about what was beneath her. This scene was the worst thing that she had ever seen in her entire life. In fact, this was worse than her worst nightmare.

Raine screamed, and screamed until she felt her voice hurt her throat. But she didn't stop, she kept on screaming no matter how much it hurt. Because this was too much for her to see. She couldn't handle the scene in front of her.

She even barely noticed when someone touched her, and rubbed her back anxiously.

"Raine… Raine… what is it? What's the matter? Tell me, it's me…"

That was Torak's voice, but Raine was too scared to open her eyes. Torak had to keep on repeating the same words again, and again. Beside Torak's voice, she could hear there was another voice following. The voice was screaming in agony, just like a wounded animal. 

It took Raine a long while to realize that the sound was coming from her. But she couldn't stop. The thing that she had seen was simply too gruesome. And the worst part of it, the fact that would engrave in her mind forever. It would haunt her in her sleep, on each of her nights.

"Raine… please, stop it… you're scaring me…" Torak pleaded when he just failed to make her stop screaming. He was getting anxious, and calling out her name in his panic state. Raine's voice had started to turn rough. If this had to continue, she would end up hurting herself. Then if ever that happened, she wouldn't be able to talk for days.

Torak tightened his arms around Raine's body, and buried her head on his chest.

Not long after that, Raine's scream ceased down into a messy sobbing. She was crying wholeheartedly. Torak didn't have any idea what kind of answer that she found, nor the question that she asked. Because it was not even two seconds since Raine put her palms on the surface of the rough stone. The next thing that happened was she screamed hysterically. 

What kind of terrifying image did she see? Wasn't she going to ask about the prophecy, and herself? There shouldn't be anything that could make her be in such a mental breakdown like this, right? Torak didn't have the answer for that. But, one thing that he was sure of. Raine was absolutely seeing something that she shouldn't see. But then again, what was it?

When Raine's cry had ceased down a little bit, he carried her to the sofa nearby. He poured a glass of water to moisten her dry throat. 

"It's over now…" Torak put her in his lap, and cradled her in his arms. Although her cry had ceased down, she still looked in an extreme distress. As a matter of fact, she was trembling in fear.

She saw something that was a lot scarier than that last time Torak crushed a lycan's head, right before her eyes. Because her reaction at that time wasn't like this, it wasn't as bad as her state now.

She might've been shocked at that time, but not to this extent. This time, what was it that she was seeing when she touched the stone? What kind of gruesome scene that could possibly pass through into one's vision, in less than two seconds? 

They stayed in that position for a long while. Thinking that it would be too soon to ask, Torak decided to keep the question for himself. 

The time had passed, and the bright sunlight now turned into a soft golden ray that illuminated the room. And only then, Raine was willing to open her eyes. Tears still fell on her cheeks, as she wiped them harshly with shaking hands. Torak caressed her back, and brushed the strands of hair from her face. 

"Are you feeling better now?" Torak looked at her right in the eyes. He was worried, because Raine's eyes were visibly swollen, they had gotten so red from crying. 

"I don't want…" Raine sniffled, and wiped the tears from her eyes before it could fall again.

"Yes?" Torak prodded softly.

"I don't want… I don't want to see that… stone again…" Raine bit her lips, and shut her eyes tightly. "That stone frightened me… it showed me…" She stuttered again when she tried to relive the memory back inside her head.

"What did it show you?" Torak tried to ask. He was so desperate to know whatever it was that she had seen.

"It showed me…" Raine gulped down the fear that came back to her, creeping on her throat as she tried to gather up her strength to speak again. "It showed me a red sky… it was so red that I thought it was blood…" She shivered involuntarily. "And then…"

"And then…?" Torak held her tightly, reassuring her that everything was going to be all right now.

"And when I looked down… when I looked down…" Raine buried her face on Torak's chest, as she talked in a muffled voice. "I saw thousands of dead bodies beneath me, dismembered, and blood. I was standing right on top of these dead bodies." She tried to make her explanation short, and said it in one breath. 

The images of the gruesome scene were so livid. She wouldn't be mistaken, even though it only lasted for a few seconds, Raine knew what she saw. 

"What did you ask about?" Torak asked again after giving her another glass of water to drink. 

Red sky and dead bodies? Somehow he felt familiar with the description. To think about it again, shouldn't Raine get an answer, instead of seeing things from the past? Or could it be images of the future? And could the future be the answer to her question?

"The prophecy…" Raine answered between her soft sobs. She grabbed onto Torak's front sweater tightly, out of fear. "What did that mean?"

If it was the prophecy that Raine asked for an answer to, then, those scenes were most likely from the future.

"Will that be the war that… Serefina had been saying about…?" Raine remembered that time when Serefina mentioned something about a war during one of her outburst. Raine hugged Torak, she had an urge to hold him tightly. She was afraid if ever there was an unknown power that would force her back to that ill-omened scene.

The images of the dead people beneath her feet, the lifeless eyes that stared right back at her, and the voice. There was this voice… and it called for help… What were those people might be? Humans? Lycans? Witches?

Raine wished none from above, but then, what were they actually? And there was a more important question to it: What were they fighting against? Devils? Monsters?—the question came into her mind out of nowhere.

How strange it was, as if someone reminded her that there was the most important question for her to know… "If anything, what does this war have to do with me?" Raine gulped, and wiped her eyes from her tears to have a better view of Torak's face. "What must I do with this war? Serefina said…" She stopped and took a deep breath. "… She said that this is my purpose for being resurrected… what is it?"

Torak gritted his teeth as he clenched his jaw, suppressing the emotion that ran through his veins. "You don't have to worry about this. This will not happen anytime soon." He tried to reassure her, but the look in Raine's eyes told him that he failed. "If ever the war happens..." He corrected himself. "When the war happens, I will make sure of your safety."

Torak would do anything in his power, to ensure her safety. Whatever happened, he would never involve her in any of this war. But, how could he prevent all that, when the purpose of the guardian angels' resurrection were actually meant for this?

When the war was happening, the most important thing wouldn't be to ensure her safety…

"Who are we fighting?" Raine asked Torak. She felt every follicle of her skin was tingling with anticipation. 

"The devils." Torak replied. "There are seven of them. In fact you have met one of them already."

Raine's eyebrows creased as she tried to remember. "Was it the man… inside the hotel room?" She remembered his golden eyes, and how he hurt himself by touching her blood.

"Yes, he's addressed as the Sloth. Belphegor, is his name." Torak let her know. "Jenedieth has now become part of them now." He added this information for Raine, so that she'll be more cautious in the future, if ever she had to cross paths with her. 

"Did you fight against the devil too, back then… centuries ago, I mean that time when you took all the guardian angels from the village?" Raine asked, she didn't mean to remind Torak about all that. She just wanted to know.

Torak grimaced every time when he heard that topic being brought up. But since he knew Raine didn't mean any harm by bringing it up, he focused his concern on her question instead. "Yes, that was a few weeks before the Great War happened between the lycanthropes and the devils."

"All the guardian angels went to the war? That is why they're extinct now…" Raine's voice trailed off. "None of them could survive the war."

"Yes." Torak admitted curtly. "They don't have the ability to go to the war."

The truth was that guardian angels' nature wasn't even made for a small violence, let alone going to a battlefield! Raine had seen that first hand when she accidentally jumped back in time, and had to live in the Village of Angels. "But, why did you bring them to the war in the first place, when you knew all that?" 

This question just came out of her mouth without a second thought, but now when she heard her own question, her question absolutely made perfect sense. Violence didn't run in the blood of the guardian angels, they simply weren't made for it. But why did the lycanthropes bring them? 

Raine could understand if the Moon Goddess wanted the lycanthropes to take the guardian angels away from the shadow warriors, because she might not be pleased with the rule that was set for the guardian angels, by the shadow warriors. To think about it again, who in their right mind, would accept such abusive rules—of course except for guardian angels themselves?

The fight between the two creatures couldn't be avoided. And in the process, it cost the life of the entire shadow warriors. But, since the lycanthropes had managed to separate the guardian angels from their so-called protectors, there should be no use to bring them to the battlefield. Especially knowing that they didn't have the ability to help with anything.

"Why did you bring them to the battlefield?" Raine repeated her question because Torak kept silent. 

At this point, Raine felt there was something not right. Torak wouldn't lie to her. But at the same time, he didn't want to let her learn about the truth.

Torak sighed deeply before he said. "It was a mistake. We didn't protect them properly…" Because they were not worthy of their protection. And, whether it was caused by the war, or not, they would've been dead anyway. But, he didn't say any of these things out loud.  2

It was indeed the truth, that except for shadow warriors, there were no other creatures willing to look after guardian angels. The only reason for shadow hunters to come to guardian angels in the name of rescue, was because they needed guardian angels in order to make themselves stronger by consuming their pure energy.

"What was the war about?" Raine rested her head on Torak's shoulder.

"The war was about…" Torak halted, and after giving some thought, he continued. "The reason was so simple, you would have guessed it yourself…"

Raine bit down her lower lips, and mumbled her reply. "Power, and authority?"

"Yes." Torak nodded to emphasize his answer. But, in reality, the reason wasn't that simple. There was more to explain.

"Will the world turn like the images that I just saw?" Raine gulped down in fear. She felt her stomach did a somersault. 

"Maybe." Torak replied. "It could be."

In the ensuing silence, both of them were busy with their own thoughts. It was Raine who broke the ice between them with a question. "You said, you will let me know about you." She reminded Torak about his words this early morning.

Through the window Raine could see the sun had long been set, and the lights from the street had been turned on. But from where she was sitting now, she couldn't see whether the moon was shining, or not. 

"Do you still have another question?" Torak hinted to the stone. He could feel Raine's body tense when he said that. Then, she shook her head vigorously in response. 

Raine would rather ask Serefina, and endure that witch's worst temper, than to see such images again. Although what she saw might be true, the vivid images weren't something pleasant to witness. She didn't know what she might see next, if she was going to ask another question to that stone. 

She knew about it enough. And for the rest, Raine would ask Serefina when the right time came, once the witch was calm enough, and ready. She would come to look for her. Because for some reason that she couldn't explain, Raine knew that the witch would come to look for her again.

"In that case, shall we go now?" Torak asked in an understanding tone. 

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The trip to the Rieka ended up with Torak telling her a long story that was worth thousands of years of his lifetime. 

What he did, which place that he had visited. A few stories about his older brother, and his younger brother. Not only that, she had got the chance to know why Rieka—even though the meaning behind its name was; the power of the wolf—didn't have a single shifter living there.

That country was the place where the war between the lycanthropes, and the devils occurred in the past. Many creatures died, and half of them were lycanthropes and werewolves. Since the werewolves, and lycanthropes had a long span of lifetime, staying in that country would only remind them about the gruesome battle, and the agony that came after that.

Because many of them lost their mate. And for them, it was the worst thing compared to death itself. Torak, and his brothers, brought them out from that country. They split the lycanthropes, and werewolves to live in a different realm. One thing that Torak told her was the fact that there was more than one realm in this world.

The world where they lived now, was the humans' realm. The place where they put Torak as the supreme Alpha. Meanwhile, the astral realm was ruled by his brothers; his older brother, Jedrek, and his younger brother, Kace—who currently went missing. Torak said that it had been around five decades, since the last times he had contact with his brothers. 

And then the story about the lycanthropes that defeated the devils became a myth. Thus, in order to respect the spirits of the fallen warriors, the statue of the wolves was built in Rieka's busiest street.

As for the statues that were in front of the citizens' houses, they believed that a bad spirit wouldn't come into their houses by putting a wolf statue as a guardian of the house.

Of course that was only a hereditary belief.

It was another night, and they were flying back home. Raine was so tired, that the moment when the plane landed, and she got in the car, she fell asleep immediately. She didn't even notice when Torak carried her into their bedroom. She was too tired physically, and mentally. 

Torak's story helped her to distract the gruesome images that she saw. But it was still, and always engraved deeply in her memory. 

The first night, Raine was having a nightmare about those dead bodies beneath her feet. They were asking for help, and accusing her for being miserably inadequate, and also for being not strong enough to protect them. All because she was a guardian angel.

Raine couldn't sleep after that, and only fell asleep when the sun had risen in the sky. Because of this, Torak had to tell her half of the story of his life again, to help her forget. Probably because at the time, she was too tired, and didn't have enough energy for the nightmare. She slept so soundly without any interruption from the nightmare about dead bodies.

Time passed uneventfully, except for her occasional nightmare, everything seemed alright. Although Serefina had not yet appeared ever since their quarrel. And today was the day when Raine must go to take her exam entrance. She woke up early in the morning, and reviewed everything that she had learnt with Mrs. Martha. She felt a little nervous, but at the same time also excited to be part of her new environment. 

"I am so nervous…" Raine said when she entered the car with Torak. He said he would go with her just until the entrance gate. Inside the car, there was Calleb, who was driving. And as usual, right next to him there was also Raphael, who was busy with his laptop.

"You don't need to worry. Even if you fail the exam, the Alpha will make sure that you can enroll in that university, if you really want to." Calleb said carelessly like usual.

That comment was regarded with a slap from Raphael on the back of his head. Raine joined in by hitting his shoulder with the book in her hand. Now she had grown closer to both Beta, and Gamma. They were like older brothers that she had never had.

"So, what is the meaning of my effort to study? And the big sum of money that Torak had paid for Mrs. Martha's service to teach me?" Raine chuckled when Calleb rubbed the place where Raphael slapped him. 

"Don't worry, you could make one of his companies go bankrupt, and he still will not get angry, not even a bit to you." Calleb grinned through his rearview mirror to Raine. 

The Gamma hinted at the thing about the collaboration with the de Medicci family. Torak lost a huge sum of money for that project, but he still insisted to go just like what they had planned in the beginning. The Alpha didn't come to this city to make money after all, he came because his mate was there. At that time, Torak's name once again made a headline in the business news.

While for the de Medicci, they had pointed to someone to be the family's representative. After a long fight within the family, finally they came up with someone. And who that person would be, Torak would meet that person today.

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