Abel

1890 - Snowshoe - America

“Sarah you can’t ride out there, It’s too dangerous you will be riding right into a storm.” Alfred tried pleading.

Sarah pseporsly circled the small single room home she shared with her husband gathering everything she could stuff into a small pack. Stopping only slightly to to slip on a heavy gray wolf pelt coat onto her thin frame.“I have no choice, you read the letter they arrived at the New York port a week ago. They could already be there looking for Abel.”

Alfred was quiet for a moment watching Sarah frantically pack. He was deeply in love with her but knew her devotion to not only her faith but to Abel was more important to her then he was. A sad truth he had tried to accept when he married her. He knew their marriage was more out of convenience and necessity and that she would sacrifice not only their marriage but her life for this other man. She had told him why Abel was so important, some sort of gatekeeper that held hell at bay. He didn’t truly believe it himself but he knew she did. But while he knew all this he still had to try and stop her, it was suicide. If everything she had told him was true she was no match for these demons that hunt Abel and if everything was a lie she would still die in the storm. “There is no way they could have found him this quickly. He’s been here 10 years and this is the first time we have ever heard of them crossing into the new world.”

Sarah wasn’t listening. She stopped and kneeled down in front of a large maplewood chest near the door, a gift from Abel on their wedding day. Opening the chest, to reveal a single Colt Pocket Pistol laying on top of a folded blacked. When Abel had given it to her on her wedding day he had joked about the guns nickname Colt Baby Dragoon, he said “Just think of this as a new born baby that can breath fire. So handle it like you hand your cross.” Of course Albert had approved a his women owning a firearm but had promised to teach her how to use it if she promised to go hunting with him.

Hoping she would never actually need to use she had buried it at the bottom of the chest. Of course Alfred had taken her hunting and showed her how to load it and shoot it. But she still wasn’t comfortable carrying weapons. She was a woman of the cloth after all. Her demeanor changed to a more rough determination as she stood up. Her hands shook slightly as she reached out and pulled a gold cross from the wall. Abel had told her they had no real effect on demons but she felt that a weapon of God must hold power. Especially if it’s wielded by such a devout woman as herself, as stated in Rom. 8:38 “They cannot separate believers in Christ from the love of God”. So if his love runs through me then in the face of true evil so does his power. She silently prayed and as she did her hands continue to shake trying desperately to handle the little straps on her belt to strap cross. Carefully wrapping the pistol in small handkerchief and a grabbing Alberts pouch of bullets laying them on top of everything in her bag. She hoped that the bag would keep the gunpowder dry while she rode. Sarah turned and headed for the door.

Alfred reached out and spun her by elbow to face him. “I love you, you know that? If they have come and they have found him there’s nothing you can do to save him, stay….live.” She looked down. Alfred could tell he had touched her deeply but that it still wasn’t going to stop her from her duty.

“Alfred I can’t love anyone in the way you need.” She didn’t even look up, just turned and walked out into the storm.

The storm was only getting worse. Alfred was right she was riding not only into a storm between good and evil but a literal blizzard. Riding on Leap, her simple yet strong stallion was normally like second nature to her. But the roads were getting worse and she had to stay on the edge where the snow hadn’t been packed into ice. One slip and not only would Leap break his leg but Sarah could just as easily get trapped under him and with the blizzard she would surely die before anyone found her. Abel’s cabin was only a hour ride from town but with the storm it took her nearly 3. By the time they made it to the edge of Abel’s land Leap was exhausted and most likely developing pneumonia. She knew he would surely die in this weather, But she was going to most likely die anyways and they could at least be together in the next life. She tried to shake the thought from her head. She needed to stay focused or she wouldn’t be of any use to Abel.

They finally approached Abel’s cabin, but surprisingly advanced for the area. For one it had a second story and it had what Abel called electricity which he said he generated from the nearby stream. She had no idea where he had learned to build such fantastical inventions and he had just said he was borrowing from other genius. She had heard of electricity of course because she had read about Thomas Edison’s electric light bulb.

The only lights she could see seemed to be coming from the second floor. She didn’t see any other tracks or another horse but to be fair the storm was so strong now the only reason she could see anything was because the trees helped take the brunt of the winds.

She tied Leap in the small barn to the side of cabin. Leaving him was harder then Alfred, a sad fact that hurt her even more. She liked Alfred and he was a good husband but he just wasn’t what her heart wanted, her heart didn’t want a lover it wanted a purpose. Abel had given her a small glimpse at the bigger picture of the world and all she wanted was more. She didn’t love Abel either, a fact even Alfred didn’t believe but it was true, Sarah Abel was just the promise of more to life and that’s why she had vowed to protect him. He hadn’t asked for her to be his guard but she was devoted to God and if Abel’s death meant that the world was one step closer to hell than heaven, then she had to protect him. She scratched Leap behind the ear like he always liked and kissed him goodbye.

The front door was open but it looked like it was left open not like it was kicked in. The snow was slowly invading the room Abel called his living room. This was a sign that something wasn’t right, Abel hated the cold and refused to do anything outside when winter came around. The living room was untouched besides the snow. Looking into the kitchen she could see the small barn were she had to leave Leap to die. She bit the inside of her cheek and cursed herself. She couldn’t let thoughts like that creep in.

She ripped her gaze from the window and to the stairs where she knew Abel must be and where she hoped it was just Abel. The cabin was newly constructed less then a year old so it hadn’t developed a personality of creaks or sounds of its own yet, each step had to be taken as slowly as possible just in case something settled. She started to hear voices as she reached the stairs. Someone was definitely with Abel the voices from up stairs were starting to rise.

“Did you honestly think I wouldn’t find you in this new world?” the voice was oddly young and kind of reminded her of Thomas the bread maker. A 20 something year old who had left his parents bakery up north to start his own bakery and family.

Sarah was almost to the point where she would be able to see though the bannister onto the second floor but she paused, unsure if she could actually do anything.

“Quiet, always so quiet. Don’t look so defeated Abel, you are helping to bring peace to all of mankind.” The man said with what Sarah thought was humor. She willed herself to look over the stairwells edge onto the second floor. There was a tall lanky man in a dark patchy red trench coat. He was standing over Abel who was hunched over his desk. Oddly it seemed like Abel was struggling to sit up and yet the man wasn’t even touching Abel and she couldn’t see any restraints or injuries on Abel.

“Peace! You plan to condemn all of mankind to hell!” That was Abel she was sure of it. He was wearing a basic pure white linen shirt with black corduroy pants that were held up with simple bracers. His voice was weak even as he yelled. He seemed to be out of breath. The trench coat man actually stepped back from Abel. The stranger seemed to be have freed Abel from whatever force was holding him down. Abel sat up and turned to look his assailant in the face. The tall man just laughed.

“Condemn them, they are already condemned. The Balance is just prolonging the inevitable. Humanity isn’t strong enough to survive the war that is coming.” he paused to gestured to everything by sweeping his arm as he stepped away from Abel. “This might as well be hell anyway, humanity is the only divinity that kill one another. What makes them worth saving?” Sarah wasn’t really able to process what she was hearing and still wasn’t sure what she should do. The man just continued “So what’s more peaceful then death?”

Abel seemed to come free of whatever was holding him. He sat up straight and faced the other man. “You’re still just a boy Samuel! You’re human like me and that means you can still be sav….” Abel’s words were cut off by the sudden thud of the blade as it passed through him and embeded itself in the chair. Sarah’s heart stopped and she just froze in place.

“Don’t talk to me about being human and redemption. The Balance didn’t give me a chance for redemption when I was killed. It just threw me aside, as if I was nothing. Hadn’t I serveded enough? Instead it was my master that came and saved me.” Samuel leaned in coming eye to eye with Abel “There’s only one of you left and when I find him I will finally get not only my masters revenge, but I will get my own on Gabriel.” Sarah was finally able to move, pulling her gun from the bag and started running up the stairs. As she reached the top, she turned towards Samuel and one full motion she aimed, and shot him in the back. The smoke from the pistol filled her vision for a whole second. When the smoked cleared she froze because Samuel wasn’t just still standing but he showed no indication he had been shot at all. His right arm shot up. Sarah flew back and she dropped her gun as her back slammed into the wall. Samuel still holding his arm out walked over and kicking the pistol down the stairs. As he approached Sarah could see his coat was not only covered in mud but dried blood, It smelled of sea air and decay. Samuel started to talk and even though her nose was already being assaulted by the smell of his jacket the smell of his breath slithered its way in to her nose, literally smelling of a bouquet of tortured death.

“What do we have here? Has Abel found himself a play thing?” It was hard for Sarah to think with invisible force holding her to the wall and the cacophony of smell attacking her senses. “Unlikely my dear, I’m afraid in the more than a century I’ve known Abel, he hasn’t taken a single women. Why do you think that is?” She could tell he wasn’t really looking for answer and even if she had one all the information he was throwing at her was just confusing her more. He said Abel was more to a century old. That was impossible nothing lived for a century let alone more than one. Besides how was that even possible he was in his late 30’s if that, wasn’t he? “Don’t worry I’m not here to kill you. I’ve gotten my kill for the night.” Those words finally snapped her out of this fog of pressure, smells and confusion. She started to move her left arm down the wall towards her belt. It was excruciating because the force holding her was literally pushing back on her arm with what seemed like 3 times her strength. But she had to try, for if there was any hope that Abel was still alive she had to try.

The cold metal soothed the pain in her fingers as she wrapped them around the cross. As she did she felt the pressure on her arm slowly lift up. She was right, God’s strength was flowing thought her and the cross would let her fight back. She shot the cross up in between her and Samuel .

He just bent his head in both excitement and slight confusion. “Ah not a want to be lover, but a fighter. Abel isn’t usually one to preach for he’s not exactly a righteous man. He’s just a key.” Sarah started paying. “That won’t help you god doesn’t exist.” Samuel stepped forward “Let me show you.”

Before Sarah could act Samuel screamed out and seemed to explode in a cloud of darkness. Sarah fell to the floor dropping her cross. She looked up to see Abel holding a strange looking gun at the place where Samuel was standing.

“Abel!?!” Sarah scrambled to her feel as Abel dropped his arm and the gun. He was still sitting in the chair pin by the sword. She stumbled over to him laying her hand gently on his shoulders. “Abel how do I save you?”

He coughed and laughed at the same time. A small trickle of blood rolled down his cheek from the corner of his mouth. “I can’t be saved my dear. But you can still save us all.”

Sarah still lost in the a mix of shock and confusion. “What!?! How do I save you?”

Abels eye’s focused on Sarah’s. “Listen Sarah there is only one more Seal left if Samuel kills her everything is lost.”

Shocked by the intensity of his words Sarah finally focused on what was happening. “She? That man….Samuel said when he found him?”

Abel kind of relaxed for a moment as if a weight was lifted off of him. “The Balance was clever when it made her.” Hiding her birth as male was a simple yet cruel blessing for her.”

Sarah wasn’t understanding any of this. “What is the Balance?”

He leaned forward and opened and drawer pulling out a large book. Sarah could tell this was taking literally all of Abel’s energy. She reaches out and grabs the book. Abel drops his hand. “This will explain everything….well almost everything. I have only one more gift for you my dear but I’m afraid it’s more of a curse then a blessing. Abel reaches up with both arms and lays them on Sarah’s shoulders and then with his right hand pushing her coat and shirt aside at the collar touching the skin above her heart. For the first time in Sarah’s life she felt a odd longing for his touch and the shocking lie she had told herself that she didn’t love him faded. She loved him with every fiber of her faith. He looked her in the eye and started to speak in a old language that sounds like what she would imagine angels to sound like. A light arose from her skin where his hand touched and then it was gone. She didn’t feel anything. “I’m sorry Sarah but you will live for a very long time and you will see everyone around you die. You will also have to live a simple life because no one will understand why you don’t age. You must also leave his small town tonight and never return. Samuel will come looking for you hoping I told you something of importance or just to sooth his broken ego.” He dropped both of his arms and his head started to drop. Sarah instinctively reached out to hold his head up. Touching his face for the first time.

“You can’t die! Your like a father to me….I need you.” She started crying slightly.

“Sarah, you have to be strong and I’m not leaving you. Everything that I am and know is in that book.” Abel coughs but since he’s having trouble taking in air it was more of a wheeze with a slight spatter of blood. He looks up deeper into Sarah’s eyes. “You have to find her.” His eyes closed and his whole body went limp.

Sarah dropped to her knees just staring at Abel. Suddenly Abel just disappear in a soft light leaving just the sword embedded in the chair. The book made a loud cracking sound. Sarah looked down and saw on the front of the book 7 circles with 6 of them cracked. The 7th one was still whole. Then she head a crackling sound coming from downstairs. She grabbed the books and placed it into her bag.

At the bottom of the stairs she found her gun and to her surprise a fire in the kitchen. Without even thinking she ran out to the barn where she was glad to see Leap still alive but clearly dying. She reached out and touched Leap’s face. Suddenly a soft light spread from her hand and Leap instantly stood up as if he was 10 years younger. She climbed onto her saddle and guided Leap back out into the storm. By this time Abel’s house was completely engulfed in fire.

Sarah had her duty, find the last Seal and keep her alive. Without looking back at either the cabin or town she road north into the wilderness.