Seasons Unending Ch. 01

Angela closed her eyes and, just for a brief moment, she was home. Not in her current home, the large condominium located in the downtown area. Nor was she at her home in the spiritual realm.

No, for just the briefest of moments, she was in her family's cabin again, with the fire going strong and the smell of cooked bacon. The sun was setting in the west, and her father, mother, and brothers had all gathered round for story time.

Her father, Branwyn was an immigrant from the land now known as Ireland. He spoke with a deep accent and smiled easily, despite his weathered face. He had black hair, but only on the sides of his head. Her mother, Lidia, was a woman of some means who had funded the cattle drives her father had put together. Her brothers, Stephen and Adam, were not much older than she.

Then she opened her eyes again and looked around her. There lay another man, his body drained of its soul, untethered during their coupling. He was a man of great wealth but was what could only be described as evil- a being whose only pleasure it was to harm the innocent by any means necessary. She had removed him from this world.

She quietly clothed herself, all the while trying to decide whether to simply leave his body here or eliminate it by removing it from existence. It was a simple enough spell to do, and with his soul itself so recently used to recharge her own powers, the use of magic wasn't a concern for her. What was holding her back was intention- this man had done evil to innocents. Removing his body would result in nothing more than him being listed as missing, and she wanted the truth of what he did to come out. A monster had been put down, and while she was certainly not desiring of being found as the killer, it consoled her to know that what he was had been finally brought to light.

Now fully clothed, she looked at her smartwatch and saw the time. Just after 9 am. His managers would be calling on him soon. In her mind, she made her decision, and then opened her arms.

"Let the light of day pierce through this man's veils. Let his deeds be known to the world, so that none may think him a good man."

Her eyes changed from the deep green color they normally were to an electric blue, a telltale indication that she was using a soul to empower her spell. By using his specifically, it created a tether within the spell itself to his secret things. Then her smartwatch shone the same color and from his home office, the man's computer turned on.

Looking down at him one last time before she walked off, she said "It was better than you deserved."

She came to his PC and a spark shot out from her watch to it. All of his encrypted files were hers to view and do with as she pleased. But what she saw sickened her. To make sure that everyone saw these things, and to ensure that no one could doubt it was him, she sent copies to every close friend of his at his work, and then proceeded to post all of it to every single one of his social media platforms. Once this was done, she smiled bitterly and simply vanished.

When next she appeared in the mortal world, it was at her condo in the river city known as Grand Rapids, in the state of Michigan. The city was experiencing an unusual cold spell during the month of June, and as such she had kept her heat on so when she arrived home, it was warm. Her condo was on the 33rd floor of a condominium complex located in the downtown Grand Rapids area. Traffic was difficult, but since she could teleport herself wherever she chose with relative ease, she only ever drove if it suited her needs at the time.

As she walked in, she smiled when she saw that her fireplace was going, and had another brief flashback to her true home. Angela closed her eyes and steeled herself once more before heading into her open concept kitchen. She grabbed some juice and a banana from the fridge, set them on the table, and then proceeded into her bedroom, where a large orb sat on a mantle piece.

Placing her hands on the orb, she closed her eyes and forced out the man's soul. It tried in vain to stay inside her, as all the others had, but she was the master of her own, and eventually his spirit joined all the others. She then lifted her watch up to the orb, and it shone brightly as a portion of his energy was transferred to it, and then back into her.

During transfer from her watch to her body, she took off her clothes and relaxed her back muscles, before allowing her wings to become visible. They were white, with soft, white feathers. She noticed the electric blue bounce to and fro on her wings, a sign that they were taking the energy into themselves. She yawned and stretched, looking out at the skyline, and closed her eyes.

Then she sensed something near her.

Later that evening, a man named Daniel walked into his favorite burger place. There, everyone greeted him with a smile, with many warm hugs and firm handshakes and 'I'm so sorry' again and again and again. He appreciated it, of course, these things were said out of a genuine desire to console him, and by no means was he unaware of it. He was here for her, for her memory. And despite the fact that every fiber of his body wanted to be literally anywhere else, he knew he needed to be here.

He smiled faintly to everyone he met, and after taking off his trench coat and grabbing a seat, the waitress he knew as Dawn brought him his favorite- a tall glass of root beer with chopped ice. He gave her a knowing smile, whispered 'Thank you,' and she gave him a sideways hug, saying "I miss her too."

Rebecca, his sister-in-law, eventually took to the small stage. With a bright smile she picked up the mic that was waiting there and said, "I just want to thank you all for making it out here, in honor of Ashley." To this, many nodded, some lifting their glasses out of respect.

"I want to especially thank Daniel for making it out tonight." At this she looked at him, as did seemingly every eye in the place, except two sets that were very intentionally not looking at him.

"Ashley was a one of a kind woman, she was smart, and funny, and just loved everyone and everything." She continued, "There wasn't a day in my life that my little sister didn't bring me joy or go out of her way to spend time with her nephews. She had a smile that could melt ice and a hug that did!"

To this, many laughed. The ice melting incident was known to pretty much everyone there, and by those involved, it was fondly remembered. Many more things were said, and smiles were found on every face often, for Ashley brought joy to everyone she knew, and so it was easy to remember that feeling. Eventually, Rebecca stepped off the stage and dinner was at hand. She walked over to her brother-in-law, still sitting at his table.

"Daniel, thank you for giving me this opportunity to put together this event on the one year anniversary of her passing. I know you could have done it, but I really appreciate you letting me do this." She said.

"Ah, think nothing of it. Your words were incredible, by the way. I'm sure she would have loved them." He said in response, looking up at her for the first time.

She smiled. His brown hair was messy, but that wasn't unusual. In fact, she remembered Ashley saying that she had tried everything she could to tame his hair, and it simply wouldn't work. His soft blue eyes looked into her own, and she could sense that he was struggling to maintain himself right now. She sat down across from him.

"You know, we haven't really heard from you in the year since her passing. You're closed off. Why won't you reach out to anybody?"

He took a sip to give himself a moment to compose his thoughts. "I tried to once, remember? Now please...I don't want to tarnish this memorial for you sister. Let's just have fun tonight, ok?"

His eyes quickly glanced over at the table of the people who hadn't looked at him earlier. It's a strange sensation, he thought to himself, to feel not every eye on you, but the eyes of those not on you.

He smiled a bit again and, placing his hand on Rebecca's, said, "I promise you next week I'll come out and see you and Geoff and the boys. Ok?"

She seemed to weigh his words in her mind before nodding. "Ok. Don't forget, you don't spend anything tonight. It's all paid for."

He gave her a Cheshire grin, "You're going to regret that!"

They both laughed.