12 The Cleansing Game

Micca

“Where am I?” I asked.

Barachiel was standing in the middle with the angels behind him. Soon after, Gabriel joined them.

“What is this place?” I asked once more, but no one responded. “Hey, why do you all have the same faces?” I continued.

“There is no time for your games, Micca,” Barachiel said.

“And who are you? Why are you calling me Micca?” I asked curiously. “My name is Amber, though it’s not—”

“I know it’s not your real name because you are the archangel Micca. How many times do you have to cross between heaven and earth for you to get used to it, when it only takes one crossover for your memories to sync?” Barachiel said furiously. “We are in danger, and this is serious. You have to take your mission seriously!”

“Sorry I’m late. Having an animal as a vessel seems more difficult than humans,” Gideon said, approaching us. “Hey Micca. We have a lot of talking to do,” he said, shooting daggers at me.

“And who are you?” I asked Gideon, obviously forgetting things happening between heaven and earth. “Why is everybody calling me Micca?”

“Stop it!” Barachiel said before shooting a ball of light at me with his forefinger, temporarily blinding my sight. The unexpected force caused me to fall down backwards. Shaking my head and opening my eyes, my memories slowly returned to place.”

“Oh, that hurts. You don’t have to do that, Barachiel,” I complained, slowly getting back on my feet. “I’ve been through a lot, and you don’t know how it feels like being contained in a human’s body.”

“That’s why I separated you from your vessel. She is dangerous,” Barachiel answered.

I looked at my body and touched my hair, wondering why my once long and curly hair became short.

“Oh, my boobs are gone! And my hanging torch is back! Am I back to being a man?” I sniffed at my garment. “And I smelled like heaven again! Hallelujah!”

“Do not celebrate . . . yet, Micca,” Barachiel said. “There is something you should know about your vessel.”

“You should have separated me from my vessel a long, long time ago Barachiel. I thought you said there’s no way I could change it,” I said laughing.

“What I have done is not as easy as you thought. Everything has a consequence, and separating you from your vessel is like cleansing a dirty soul.”

“What do you mean?”

“We have to contain you until your soul is cleansed. Take him!”

Following Barachiel’s order, two angels moved forward and took me to a prison cell made of lightning and roaring thunder.

“Hey, what are you doing?” I said.

The angels did not answer and locked me in the cell.

“Let me out! Barachiel! What are you doing?” I shouted.

Barachiel and the angels walked towards me.

“We have to do this until you’re cleansed from the consequence of possessing a tainted vessel. I need you to cooperate,” Barachiel said with authority.

“Ugh! Why did you all agree to my idea when you knew this was going to happen? Besides, I didn’t know why I accidentally possessed the wrong vessel. I don’t know anything about it. You can’t just blame me!” I said, screaming while shaking and kicking the prison bars. “Let me out! Let me out!”

Gideon looked at me with mercy in his eyes before they left. I could feel he wanted to help me but refused to disobey the head of the army.

“Ugh!” I uttered in frustration. “Barachiel, it’s hurting me! Let me out of here!”

The force inside the cell was incredibly strong, and the intensity was killing me. The struggle was unexplainable, and it felt like its energy was piercing through me. One minute it would stop, and another moment it would resume torturing me to my innermost being.

“Let me out, you motherf****s!”

I screamed for one more instance before something knocked me down unconscious.

***

Amber

I woke up with a throbbing pain on my head as I looked around.

“Where am I?”I said to myself.

I stood up slowly and almost tripped over an empty can of soda.

“Idiot!” I kicked the can and huffed.

I couldn’t recall why I was in an unfamiliar room. Walking towards the window, I tried to recollect the events in my life and connect them but where I was didn’t really make any sense at all. I looked down the window and confirmed I wasn’t at my own apartment. The last thing I remember was running away from those ex-comrades with a bag of money and drugs in it.

“Oh sh—the bag! Where’s the bag?” I gasped.

I searched for the bag inside the room. I looked for it under the table and inside the cabinet but found nothing but feline fur.

“How could a cat live in this apartment? Is this a pet shop?”

I searched under the bed. Nothing was there but a small can of unopened cat food.

“Seriously?” I threw the can behind me.

I grabbed a stool and stepped on it to reach the ceiling. Figuring out how to uncover the surface, I finally detached it only to be disgusted when I touched something slimy and soft.

“Oh! Smells awful! What in the world is this?” I grumbled.

“Yuck! Is this poop?” I moved it closer to my nose. “It is poop! Why is cat poop fucking everywhere?”

Losing balance while standing up, I fell on the floor with a loud thud.

“Ouch!”

I was groaning in pain holding my leg when a feather caught my attention. Grabbing the slipcover, I cleaned my hands before slowly picking it up and studied it with curiosity.

“Okay. So a cat lives here . . . with a rooster or a chicken? This is unbelievable.”

I rolled my eyes and threw the feather into the air. I was stunned when I heard something heavy fall on the floor. When I turned to look at it, I was relieved to see my pistol.

“Oh, there you are. I’ve been looking for you too.”

I picked up the gun and put it under the waistband of my leather jeans. As if the cloth did not serve its purpose, I looked for the bathroom and took a shower. As I was ready to open the door and leave, I felt an electric sensation in my gut that made me crouch down in a tormenting kind of pain.

Soon after, a powerful force threw and slammed my body against the walls, on the floor, back to the walls, on the ceiling, and on the floor again. My head was bleeding, and I was groaning in pain as my vision faded.

Suddenly, my eyes turned white before a tornado of swirling dark smoke came rushing into my mouth. Losing control, I passed out.