Ella opened her eyes with a start and coughed. A soft, tender hand patted her back.

"Take it easy dear," Deborah's soothing voice said.

Ella used her hands to prop herself up from the bed, coughing still.

This place was sickening, with the dripping sound from some machines by her side, the strong smell of disinfectant, and the blinding white and cream paint used to colour the walls.

"Where am I?" she asked after calming down well enough to stare into Deborah's peaceful brown eyes with her lilac-coloured ones.

The last she recalled, before she went unconscious, was that she had been sinking, drowning deep to her death.
A deeper dive into her brain's CPU made her remember how it had all happened. It came so fast, with the speed of lightning. The memories. Harsh.

Her duty as the feeding warden at the aquarium where she worked part time-Mkesea Tanks, a quaint tourist attraction situated here in the focal region of Ivory Town, Coasta Hera.

The sudden pressing she had felt to go under the water was something she couldn't fathom. It was the wrong time for her water spirit guide-Mergirlina-to summon her.
Normally, it came during her sleep. She would sleep walk into the bathroom, turn on the water into the plugged bathtub and then slip in a trance-like state underneath the water.

This time around, she tried with all the will power she could muster to resist. But she couldn't. She had an inkling this would be bad. Hard as she tried, she just couldn't stop herself from slipping into the giant tank that housed Tilapia fishes. It was like she was a puppet being controlled by strings in the hands of a wicked puppeteer.

Looking back in retrospect, she was extra grateful to the Redeemer that she hadn't been pulled into water when she was feeding the Sharks or Piranhas or any other bloodthirsty specie of fish for that matter.

Her splattering had caused every other warden, as well as visitor, to be aware of what was happening to her. An alarm was raised.
Deborah, who just happened to be a college nursing student, had come sight-seeing on that fateful Thursday morning.
After some bold workers had brought out Ella's limp form out of the water, Deborah was the one who administered CPR on her to keep her alive. The ambulance came to carry her few moments later.

Even though Ella was breathing, albeit erratically, she remained unconscious. That was when the unfolding in the spiritual realm began.

The darkness was tangible and choking. She found herself in the usual convergence place. The three thrones curving radially around an empty massive one to form a crescent shape.

Right in front of this semicircular sitting array was a bloodied altar. She had never seen it in this grotesque state before.

The spirits were chanting and each syllable of their chant made chills flow up and down her backbone.
What frightened her more was that she had no control on her movement and she couldn't voice out her protest.

"Why didn't I suspect? Now I am doomed. This is my end. Is there anybody out there who can rescue me? Please help me!" her mind screamed.

She knew what this meant. She had seen this kind of ritual being carried out on other preys aforetime. It usually meant either the coronation of a more powerful water spirit, or the promotion of a demon who had done well. They usually chose this best kinds, the ones who had much glory to be the sacrifice.

But why? Why was she evidently the new sacrifice? Had she done anything wrong? Now she believed that betrayal was a norm in this kingdom. It was a dog-eat-dog war.

The altar was magnetizing her. She was laid in the most uncanny fashion on the altar. The kind of pain that coursed through her body was indescribable. A thousand pricks of icicles in every atom of her body. And the worst part was that she couldn't scream. It could best be compared to a freezing sensation, but a billion times worse.

"Help me, somebody... anybody... please," she managed to croak out one last time in her mind as she felt the hands of death begin to lay itself on her.

Then suddenly, like a flash when one blinks an eye, she found that she was translated to another plain.

She sighed in relief as she landed on soft grass instead of the cold ice marble that had decorated the underwater world.

Was she free?
Was this real or another trick? What exactly just transpired?

She looked up and saw light. She had to squint her eyes because of the intensity.

Light, so bright, formed the shape of a man.

He stretched out his hand. She noticed a queer hole she could see through on his hand. What kind of a injury was that? It seemed odd that this epitome of perfection could harbour any flaw whatsoever.

She was afraid. Her darkness all the more apparent. She felt so ashamed.

"Come to me, beloved. I am your Redeemer."
His voice was like strawberries dipped in honey. She felt this warmth wrap itself around her as he spoke. The fear left, and in its stead a feeling of homeliness settled on her.

With all hesitation gone, she grabbed his hand and felt as the light chased out all the darkness in her.

She knew there and then that this was what she had been seeking for all her life. And he came just before her destruction. How timely!

"Thank you, Redeemer."

"You're safe now," Deborah said softly, almost whispering as she kept stroking Ella's back.
Her voice brought Ella back from her reverie.

Ella gazed at the pretty brown-eyed lady. She had to admit that the Black-American lady standing before he had the voice of a nightingale. Deborah had a smile that was like the rays of a thousand luminaries.

"I saw it all. They're gone. Just like that? How can that be?" Ella quipped.

Deborah's face lit up as her eyes twinkled in understanding. "We serve a God who is greater than all gods."

Ella nodded. She remembered the one who had called himself her Redeemer "I think I understand."
"If I might ask, who is the one called The Redeemer?"

"That is Jesus Christ." Deborah said with such a bright smile that would have made the summer sun ashamed.

"Jesus," Ella repeated, testing the words on her lips. The peace that flooded her heart confirmed that indeed it was he.

She stood up from her half-sitting, half-lying position and went to a bowl of water that sat on a table in the deathly-white hospital's recuperation ward.

She tested her power, raising her right palm over the bowl. With her eyes closed and her heart pounding, she whispered the code given to her by her guardian spirit. "Aquadaglevbehioo."

Nothing happened. The expected response-water going in the direction and order she willed it to-was gone. Her nightmare really was gone. She wanted to laugh and skip and jump at the same time.

Before, just a simple waving of her palm coupled with concentration, and maybe muttering a few chants under the influence of Mergirlina-dependent on the intensity of the situation, she could control water. Until it began to control her. And torture her.

Her eyes glazed with tears of appreciation, her heart filled with thanksgiving, she slowly knelt and said, "Jesus is Lord!"

Unable to restrain herself any longer, she fell to her face and began to weep. Her body rocked as the tears poured and the weights offloaded.

How on earth had she obtained mercy to be rescued from her bondage?
She was nothing but a wretched sinner. She had used her code to destroy many lives. She knew of her powers and had rejected every form of God's love.
She had despised God ad hated his followers.
Yet, oh yet he had saved her from her self-destruction. Just what did he see in her?

Deborah sat in the hinder corner of the room, praising God under her breath. She could feel the presence of the Holy Spirit brooding upon this daughter. She smiled in joy.
It payed to obey God. What if she had disobeyed when Holy Spirit told her to go into the Aquarium? Would she have been guilty of blood?

When Ella lifted up from the floor, her face was blotched with smudges of tears. She wiped them off with a kleenex Deborah gave her.

"So..." Deborah drawled out in a musical note, trying to lighten the mood. "What would you want to eat now?"

"Definitely not fish or anything in that range," Ella quietly said.

Deborah burst out laughing, hearty and ringing. The sight of it made Ella let out a chuckle.

"Oh Ella, he who the Son of man has made free is free indeed. There's no need to fear your past because it's gone for good."

Ella thought about that.
Definitely it couldn't be that simple.

Yes, she believed in her procured freedom. She could feel the lightness in her spirit. She knew the chains were broken.

But she knew those vile demons. They didn't give up so easily. She knew they would be back for her for sure. She just couldn't tell how. And that alone was enough reason for her to take precaution with fear and trembling.

"Go have your shower darling. I will turn on the electric heater for you. It's chilly out there."
As if on cue, an autumn breeze fluttered into the room through the louvered window blind.

"Okay," she said. Then stretching her lacy gown and tugging at the edges, she said, "But what will I wear. I don't have a change of clothes. And this blue overall is getting on my nerves."

Deborah chuckled. "I've got you covered. You're just a bit slimmer than me. Once you are discharged by the doctor, I'll have you come to my home. You can manage my clothes till you decide you're fit to return to your home."

The thought of going back to her apartment made her scared but she kept her reservations to her self.

Instead she smiled and said, "Thank you. I'll just go ahead and shower."

Ella had by then stepped out of her sweat soaked garments, dumping it in a heap onto the floor.

She picked the white bed spread to cover body.

"Ehmm..." Ella said, suddenly realizing she had forgotten something really important. Finally picking up the courage, Ella shyly faced Deborah and asked, "What is your name?"

With a smile, she said, "It's Deborah Vashmore, but people called me Deb."

"Oh! Uhmm... Thank you, Deb, for saving my life."

"You and I know that I did nothing."

A moment of silence passed between them as they processed that powerful statement. Then Ella spoke again.
"My name is-"

"Ella Juliet Macmillior, alias Aquifer. I know."

Ella was speechless. No one knew her middle name, talk less of her spiritual name. "How, how di-did you-"

"He told me. Our Redeemer. And I have been praying for you for a long time now."

"Wow! That's, that is..." Ella was clearly confused and fidgety now.

Deborah sighed as she ran an hand through her mass of brown curly hair. "We have much to talk about dear. For now, just have your bath, eat your food, and then you can ask all the questions you want."

As Deborah left the room, Ella could not still shake off the forebrooding she felt bubbling in her.

She could almost hear Mergirlina whispering, 'I'll be back,' from somewhere distant. Ella could sense it was the sound of someone who had been defeated, but it was a threat nonetheless.

"I am free now. I will not fear." Ella chose to confess. She chose to see her Redeemer once again.

Ella entered into the shower. She was amazed because the element did not do weird stuff as she entered in.
Controlling water used to be fun. Until it suddenly went haywire.

"I don't know what is ahead. But what I feel right now is real and I don't want it to ever end," she muttered.

She was ready to walk this path till she found the One who had rescued her.

***********
Author's note: Hey guys! How are we all doing. 😃😍

So, just so y'all know, I'm preparing for tests and exams coming up next month in my university. I will update, by only at a slow and steady pace, so please bear with me.🤓💘

That aside, who else thinks Ella is favoured?😌

Don't forget to vote, comment and share. It makes me happy. And if I'm happy, ooohh... I'm a hundred times more motivated to write. 😇

Love y'all.
The Redeemer loves ya more. 💖❤️🌟