Griel's face was grave. He stared intently at the parcel that hovered before him.

His countenance mirrored that of the other two winged pairs that flanked his sides.

A quick 3D examination of the delivery revealed that it was an highly important pre-warning of the enemy's comeback plan. The fire and water insignia engraved on the top of the wrapped package where the seal was meant to be indicated that very fact.

When he finally spoke, it came as a statement of fact. An unwelcome one.
"It's the resurfacing. Too early. Too dangerous to venture in."

Ammiel tapped his hammer's tip with a pulsating finger. "This is not good."

"The problem isn't them. They would be easy to finish off. Besides, I'm itching for some good ol' combat. The problem is the girl..." Haliel was pensive.

"We have to hasten things up then. There is no time to lose. We proceed as the Lord commands," Griel said.

"For our King and His chosen one," they all chorused, flapping their wings slowly in simultaneous unison.

~~~

Ella opened the door to her apartment and grimaced as it creaked painfully.

A wave of nostalgia hit her. And along with it, a deep feeling of dread.

Why did it feel so suffocating in here?
As if it had been abandoned for a decade? She thought.

Deborah had dropped her off in the morning but wasn't able to enter in for a cup of tea and maybe some little bit of time of lounging around because she was almost late for her 9:00am Anatomy 121 class. She promised to be back in the afternoon.

Ella could smell something in the air. Was that rotten fish? She traced the odour to the kitchen.
Eewww... The three-day-old fish sauce she had made was spoilt and stinking, all beyond remedy.

She gingerly took the pot and opened the back door. The neighborhood was quiet as it usually was in the mornings, and oddly, every other hour of the day.

The trash was an eyesore. Huge and energetic houseflies were buzzing loudly and dancing about. Ella scrunched up her nose at the horrid stink and resisted the urge to gag when she sighted some wiggling maggots as well on the edges of the bin.

Sighing, she dumped the whole pot into the trash can. So much for the trash pick-up service. See this mess... And all because she was away for a few days.
What would have been the state of things had she died? She shivered at the thought of that. 

This place sure needed a renovation; a makeover, if one could term it that. At least, if indeed she would start afresh, she needed to start from this.

Rolling up her sleeves, entered her house with a renewed determination. She moved a few things here and there. Off with those glass bowls of water that decorated her window sill and the center table. She stacked up some random magazines and strewn paper that littered her table space and threw them out. Her dirty sweaters and socks went into the laundry. She swept and dusted and mopped till she was sure her mother-figure would be so proud of her achievement.

By the time she was halfway done, the sun was already at its peak in the mid-June sky.  She decided to take a nap and then resume her arrangement afterwards.

But just before then, she connected her electric kettle, thanking her stars that her landlord was yet to disconnect her supply of electricity even though she hadn't paid her quota of the bill for this month. She intended to make tea after her five minutes snooze.

Choosing not to go to her small bedroom, she laid on the rug in the middle of her sitting room which doubled for a bed at the moment.

"Oh! What a day!" she said exhaling.
From nowhere, exhaustion washed over her as she plonked unto her little bed. She fell into a drifting slumber.

Born.
A baby girl.
A female child.
A rebellious teen girl.
A young lady.
A middle-aged woman.
A shrivelled-up old woman.
Dead and buried.

Nothing could shift the balance. The images were sliding fast as if one was making time pass by in a faster-than-normal pace.

The stars were dancing as a silhouette in the form of a woman emerged. A closer look revealed a woman beside a stream, waist deep in.

"She is yours, O great gods," the woman said emphatically. Her voice was hoarse, like she had been shouting all her life.

"I give her to you just as promised. You gave me what I wanted. So, she is yours."

The blurred image of what the woman held in her hand came to focus. It was a small cloth. A cloth belonging to a baby.

In a swift motion of her hand, she rumpled the cute, little cloth into one mould and dipped it three times into the water before she released it and allowed the current to carry it away.

Then some disembodied voices could be heard echoing, "Now, she is ours!"

The woman slowly emerged from the water, smirking in satisfaction.

~~~
Deborah sat in class, disconnected, far away in thought.

All she could do was stare out the window, at nothing in particular, even though one would assume she was gazing at the bright, fluttering butterflies amidst the flowers just outside her lecture room's window.

She was thinking of none other than the mysterious Ella Macmillior. The timing of Ella's entrance into her life was nothing short of unexpected.
Yesterday, she noticed the sizzling tension that arose when Jeremiah came in.

Sigh... She could tell, by a woman's instinct, that Ella had a thing for her fiance. Or was she just imagining things? Was she being a skeptical, jealous woman?

She wondered what she should do. If anything went wrong, if she made the slightest mistake, she didn't know what she would do. She couldn't think of losing Jeremiah all because she was saddled with the responsibility of helping a girl she knew so little about.

Jeremiah had been her fiance for close to a year. He was everything she could ask for in a man, and much more.
If anyone had told her that she would be in love with any man, she would have yawned in boredom at the ludicrousness of that prediction.

They met in the same place of worship—Burning Light Revival Ministry. It was their plan that immediately Deborah acquired her BSc in Nursing, they would have a quiet wedding and settle down.

Now that Ella was in the scope of her life, it was like a blotch of ink had come to smear her picture-perfect future.

'Wait... Am I not supposed to love and groom Ella unconditionally? Why am I even thinking this way?' Deborah quizzed in her mind, struggling.

I am with you to guide you. Just trust in me.

Deborah smiled, feeling the unease slip slowly away. It was the voice of the One who dispels all her worries.

'You know when I'm worried over nothing. I'm sorry for allowing my thoughts to go bad. I couldn't help thinking that way. Jesus, what would you have me do?'

You know it already, the still small voice said.

But, Lord...

"Miss Deborah," the voice of her anatomy lecturer, Mrs Krimn said, jolting her out of her internal conversation.

"Do you mind telling the class what the name of the nerve in the brain that causes distraction is?" Mrs Krimn, with her hands akimbo and a small spectacle around her now-squinted eyes.

Deborah's face grew hot with embarrassment as murmurs of laughter rose from the class.

She stood, nevertheless, and said softly, "I apologise for not paying attention ma'am. It won't repeat itself."

Mrs Krimn nodded, motioning for her to sit and continued with the class.

Deborah could hear the voice of the Lord ministering to her — You've got to pay closer attention. To me.

'I will, Lord. I will.'

~~~
There was a thick smell in the air. Ella flickered from her dreamy state to the real world like the bob of a pendulum. A slight headache greeted her welcome to the world of reality.

Suddenly the smell became so intense that it dragged her out of sleep, causing her to cough.

Alarmed, a spluttering mess, Ella rose up from the rug and stumbled closer to area where the choking smell emanated—the kitchen.
Alas! The electric kettle was ablaze. Blue and green flames danced about the scorched kettle.
Ella could only panic.
How come? Had she slept so long? What time was it presently?
How in the world had she slept so deeply?

Something in her stirred, longing for the time when she could control water. It was a mini tug-of-war between desiring to have her former powers and knowing she had to do something fast if the fire wouldn't escalate.

As she ran to go outside and get help, her hands brushed the metal part of the door knob.
Unknown to poor Ella, every metallic particle in the kitchen was charged by the electrons that escaped the electric fire. Every metal substance had the potential of electrocution.

As her hand hit the metal, the force reacted automatically, repelling her, throwing her a few meters deeper into the heart of the kitchen, nearer to the fire. It was so sudden that the yelp came out of her mouth was short-lived.

She hit her head on the marble wall and fell unconscious.

**********

Author's note: Can I hear some gasps, people? 😳😳🎤🎤

As in, how much more can a girl like Ella take?😔

Thanks for reading this chapter again💖. You guys are my second motivators after the Holy Spirit😇.
Seriously if not because of school, I wish you be dropping two chappies per day... 😪😪😪

I don't know about y'all, but seriously school is draining... 😩Sigh... How do you guys find balance to keep doing something amidst other myriads of commitments.

Nah, don't worry and fear not... 😂
I'll stick to writing and completing this book by God's grace. 🏆

I just feel kinda unfair to all you guys, keeping you waiting for so long. 🥺🥺🥺 Cos I totally know that feeling.

Anyway, back to more cheerful things😁, don't forget to vote⭐, leave some major and minor thoughts in the comments💬 below, and don't forget to share➡️ this book to others too.

While I go back to face my book. Exams start fully next week. Please pray for me. 🙏

Till next time, bye! God bless y'all. 😘😘😘