The Erogenous Zone S01 E06 - The Little Death

Twilight Zone-like music plays...

Narrator :

It is mankind's nature to be more willing to believe in the Devil than in God. Is it because we want to take credit for our own good deeds but attribute our evils to another? However, man does not know how insidious the Devil can be. How truth and lies are interchangeable and how the course of a life can be changed completely by the smallest thing.

Grace Harris, her parents named her in hopefulness, will finally come to understand the true nature of our world, but to do that, she must pass through...the Erogenous Zone.

Twilight Zone-like music plays...

Part I

"No...that's not what we agreed...I don't care...she just..." A pause. "Fine."

Grace's stride through Central Park grew more purposeful as she hung up her phone and slammed it into her pocket. Her Ex could always push her buttons and he seemed willing to do so with almost malevolent glee. It shouldn't be so hard to see her own daughter!

She willed her determination to dam up the building wave of emotions...mostly past slights...that threatened to overwhelm her. She had a job and a life...well a job at least...that needed attention and as usual that focus was enough to shore up her mental defenses.

A woman was walking directly toward her, making eye contact and smiling as if she were meeting an old friend. Grace tried to step to the side but the woman intercepted her.

"Excuse me...art thou Grace Harris?" The woman asked. Her voice was a hearty contralto and the words were spoken with a warm familiarity, but what caused Grace to stop was the cadence of the question. Completely unhurried. Most beggars rushed their words to get their pitch in quickly.

"Um, Yes. Have we met?"

"Nay." The woman smiled slightly and her eyes never left Grace's. It felt as if this person's entire being was focused on Grace in that moment. "I am Adathan. I am Seraphim to Azreal, the Angel of Death. I have come for thee and ere sunrise tomorrow comes thou shalt feel my power."

"I don't believe..." Grace started to reply, but remarkably...impossibly...she DID believe this woman was an angel.

"I mean, are you threatening..." she started again. Yet the statement was Truth, spoken as a fact with no implication, intonation or any bit of unclarity.

"I...what are you saying?"

"All thy life thou hast been accosted by a devil, though 'tis doubtful thou was aware...and all thy life thy hast suffered for it. Ere sunrise, thy suffering shall end."

Grace shivered and as is natural, she tried to flee. "I'm sorry miss...I have to get to work." As she stepped past.

"Thou hast misspoke...I am not a "miss"."

This was almost too much. Grace turned "Fine...are you a They/Them/Theirs? Lovely. 'I'm sorry They...I have to go to work!'"

The woman(?) smiled "In thy frustration, thou strikes closer to the mark than thou intended. I am, in fact, the synthesis of male and female...thou may say I am the best parts of both, or perhaps better said that male and female are like those aspects of me."

Grace shook her head in bewilderment...not quite sure how she'd gotten her. "That doesn't even make sense. I don't know what you've got...down there...but you clearly look like a woman so I can hardly be blamed for an honest mistake.".

Adathan appeared dismayed. "Pardon, please! I am meant to succor thee in the final hours of thy curse and it seems that I hath only succeeded in upsetting. Canst thou forgive me?"

Her plea was so completely heartfelt, so completely earnest, that Grace could only sigh.

"Fine. Yes."

"Excellent! After thy labors, then shall we meet agin?'

"Sure...Whatever...4:00 at Bakers Coffee Shop on 5th and Park Avenue...and please, drop the shakespearean accent, would you?"

"I shall see thee at 4:30."

"I said 4:00!"

"E'en as you say."

Part II

Of course, Grace's 3:00 meeting ran over, and even as she hurried to the coffee shop she saw the woman slowly walking toward the door. The two arrived at exact same moment. 4:30.

"Hi Grace. I hope your day wrapped up well."

"You're talking normal."

"It is what you asked." Adathan replied with a smile. "I'd be a poor solace if I couldn't perform so simple a task."

"And now it's even weirder. It was more 'angelic' before."

Adathan laughed. It was a laugh that warmed Grace and somehow melted the tension of the day away. "Can we walk? I've a desire to see the river and you must have many questions."

Together they started walking. Adathan set a pace that was maddeningly slow to Grace, who was use to moving with a New Yorker's purpose. She felt like she needed to drag the angel forward.

"You should know that there are many things I cannot tell you, but ask what you like and I'll say what I can."

Grace took several more steps before speaking. She'd been thinking off and on about the angel...even now it was difficult to admit...the Angel she had met and what she represented. She felt a remarkable comfort in Adathan's presence, a sense of well being almost like stepping into a bubble of peace. The silence in her mind allowed her to perceive other things. The breeze on her cheek, the solidity of the ground beneath her. The sounds of the city seemed distant, not muted, but softened.

"Devils...that's a real thing?"

"Could I possibly exist if they did not? We are two sides of the same...paradox."

"And the war in heaven? The Casting Out?"

Adathan's gaze grew distant and her face was heavy with sorrow. She took several more steps before she began her answer.

"Were I to strike the ground, I could destroy this entire city. Eight and a half million souls destroyed in a moment. Not freed to their doom. Destroyed. Obliterated. And I am not the greatest of us. Were Michael or Gabriel to do the same they would literally cleve this planet in two. Can you imagine? Thousands of us on either side. Each able to wield might, unimaginable. Each a Master of strategy and tactics. Each seemingly invulnerable."

Her steps slowed even more and in a word deep with regret said simply; "Seemingly."

Grace could feel her sorrow as a palpable thing. It affected her deeply. Deep in her core she felt Adathan's loss and wondered how any could bear something so...emptying. Compelled by something primal, Grace took Adathan's hand in her own as they walked many steps more. It was warmer than she expected, with an energy that swam lazily up Grace's arm and spilled waterfall-like in to her. Grace felt yet another layer of her world's senseless sensation fall away.

"Yes, war raged in Heaven. Yes, the Rebel Thrones and Dominions were powerful. So much so that when the Third Great Battle arose, both sides were determined to make an end regardless of what was required. When it came to the decisive moment, when we would either win everything or lose everything, Messiah made a third choice. She unleashed a power greater than any ever known...and in so doing sacrificed herself. And because she was One with the Father and the Holy Spirit, Heaven was destroyed."

There were tears now in Adathan's eyes and Grace's heart ached for her.

"It left a...void, if a void can be said to exist within The Void. Yet, Messiah is the ultimate creator, and while that release of energy did destroy Heaven and did leave a void, it also Created and filled that void as well.

"The Big Bang...you're talking about the Big Bang!"

"Even so. The Rebels were not cast out...we were ALL cast out...and this universe was created."

Grace abruptly halted and turned to the woman beside her. In Adathan's eyes she could see the echos of that ancient, ancient pain. "For us, pain passes with time...but you still feel it, don't you? You can't forget...you can't heal." Grace said sorrowfully.

"We were meant to be invulnerable. What need had we for healing? Healing and forgetfulness are gifts reserved for mortals."

In that moment, Grace felt a keen sense of sympathy for the angel. For a moment her brain locked as she tried to think of something to say...some way to sooth Adathan's hurt. How does one ease pain that deep? In a moment of insight, she stopped thinking and just felt.

She pulled the woman close and held her close, putting all the peace, love and solace she could into her embrace, hoping that it held even the smallest measure of comfort for the eternal being. She believed that it did.

After long moments, the angel broke the embrace and her gentle smile conveyed her gratitude more surely than any words. "It's almost dark. It will be safe to go indoors now."

"What do you mean?" Asked Grace.

"The devils grow weak at night. We can relax our vigilance."

"Wait...no. Doesn't evil prefer the darkness?"

"The Enemy deceives you. Think for yourself. Satan is called 'The Morning Star'. Would you name yourself after your moment of weakness? Also, you were made to be most alert during the day...when the devils are strongest...that makes you able to defend yourself. It is Satan himself who's sowing lies to hide his weakness."

"Plus, evenings are blessed...

'Comes the sweet wind, in the still hours attended,

Bringing ineffable peace, and the gladsome return with the night of all things that morning ruthlessly parted, the child to its mother, Lover to lover.'

'The greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing the world that he did not exist.' Grace quoted.

"Yes. He makes you think you're weak when you are strong and hides your strength from you."

"Is everything a lie then?"

"What does your heart tell you?"

"I think we know truth when we see it." Grace unlocked her apartment door. "You said I was cursed...Why don't I know that I am?"

"Is your life so carefree?"

"Sure, I've got problems...but so does everyone else."

"Grace, 'Everyone else' was never meant to be your measuring stick. 'Compare yourself to what you were yesterday, not to what someone else is today'. Are you happier than you were, say, 10 years ago?"

Grace reflected. She saw the rightness of the angel's observation. "I am not".

Adathan sat her on the end of the bed. She took Grace's hands and looked deeply into her eyes. "Can you, with honesty, trace back the major reasons why?"

Grace gazed back. She gazed long. Adathan's eyes invited her to look deeply. There was serenity there. Her breathing slowed. Her mind unclenched itself.

She felt suddenly the roughness of the cuffs of her blouse. The bite of her bra strap. Faintly she smelled incense and realized it came from Adathan.

"I'm unhappy because my family is ruined."

She felt her blood flowing through her fingers. External sensations yielded to internal focus. Her heart quickened.

"It's ruined because I let my husband down." A glimmer of challenge arose in Adathan's eyes. "It's ruined because my husbands expectations were...not sensible."

She kept gazing at Adathan...at angel eyes full of limitless understanding...infinite support. Her emotions unclenched. Her eyes wetted with tears. "He could never handle that I didn't enjoy...our physical relationship."

Her pulse beat hard and fast as the feelings welled up. Adathan placed her hand over Grace's heart...and placed Grace's own hand upon Adathan's breast. Together, their breathing drew even, steady...strong.

"I've never...gotten There." Grace said meaningfully.

Adathan leaned in, eyes full of love. "You should say it. You need to say it."

"I...I never had a real orgasm."

Sadness was written on Adathan's face. Not pity, not mourning. Just sadness. She placed her palm on Grace's cheek...lowered it across her neck, returning it to her heart, but under Graces blouse. Her hand was warm and the trail of sensation left by her movement was acutely pleasing.

"Here is the curse. This most-natural thing was forbidden to you by a devil. He needed do nothing more than that to ruin your life."

"Your time is growing near, Grace. My heart's-friend. My soul's-sister." Adathan gently undid the buttons of Grace's blouse and she did so without ever taking her eyes from Grace's.

"Is there no way to stop it?"

Adathan's face for once was unreadable. "No." Was all she said as she slipped Grace's blouse off her shoulders, letting fingers and palms explore soft skin. The round shoulders, the smooth-strong arm muscles, the delicate creases in the crook of the elbow. Everywhere the tracing fingers went, Grace's awareness followed, yet her eyes also stayed engaged with the angel's. The known feeling of a nail on skin magnified by the the focus-yet-unfocus. The common touch of palm to palm made new.

The angel's hand guided Grace's fingers to Grace's own belly. In times past Grace would waver...grow uncertain. Yet her connection with Adathan's gaze...still exploring...still curious!...held her surely. The actions of her hand...of both their hands seemed distant.

There was something building around them. A rapport so complete that it seemed it would transport them to another place...no, it is not transporting...it's Creating a space around them. Creating a little universe where just the two of them existed as one. Their hands moved more freely now over each other, exploring, discovering, delighting and then exploring over again because no spot was ever the same.

"No man ever crosses the same river twice..." Grace started.

"Because it is not the same river, and he is not the same man." Adathan completed.

In time, when their universe was fully wrought, Adathan drew Grace to herself. Grace's thighs wrapped around the angels hips even as she settled onto Adathan's crossed legs. Adathan kissed Grace's brow. Her lips. Her neck. Grace felt the tips of her breasts, taut, sensitive and teased by the angels silken top. She felt the soles of her feet, now laid flat against each other completing a circuit of pulsing energy. Felt her hips press down against a hardness that could only be a cock.

They found each others gaze and in the power of that simple union Grace let go of her surprise, her expectation...

...of her fear.

Gentle movements. Peace fullness. Awareness of each other but also unawareness of anything that wasn't them. A sense of expansiveness that was not moving toward something, but just sitting in one place growing more and more encompassing.

As it grew it...heightened. It wasn't intensity, it was a rising. It was her spirit rising. It was her mind rising. It was her body rising. Powerful and sure, the energy didn't explode but FLOWED from her innermost self out through her limbs. Her arms tightened, her legs shuddered and her hips grounded down into Adathan's lap.

She breathed deeply in...and deeply out.

For the first time in over an hour, she saw Adathan as a separate being. The angel looked sad.

"Has the time come?" Grace said with peaceful acceptance.

"The time has passed."

"Am I dead?"

"No. Thy old self, is dead. The curse is broken."

"Yet you said I would feel your power ere sunrise came."

Adathan smiled. "You have. Azriel has dominion over the little death too. Thy orgasm was my power put upon thee." Then she added playfully "Did you truly think I would slay thee?".

"But you're sad."

"Our time..."

"Of course. Thank you doesn't seem enough."

"You, are enough."