Chapter Twenty-Five

Torment

The following morning, Angela awoke to the sound of her alarm on her phone, and she lifted her head sleepily before reaching out to hit it to snooze.

No sooner had she shaken herself awake than she remembered the night before and tears came to her eyes.

"Solomon…" she whispered to herself "Oh Solomon…I…I'm so sorry!" she pulled herself up and she realised that she was still in her clothes from the night before!

She then remembered that after she ran home from Diablo's hideout after the way Solomon had spoken to her, she must have cried herself to sleep with her clothes on.

Angela then dragged herself to the mirror and she almost recoiled at the sight.

There were dirty tear marks around her eyes, and she had bags under them due to the fact she must have only slept for a couple of hours, her skin was pale, and her hair was a mess.

There was no way she was going to work in that state.

And in her state of mind, she thought it was impossible for her to even think of going to work.

With Solomon on her mind and the way he had spoken to her, after she had agreed to save his life through mutation, she wasn't sure if she could go into work and concentrate on her shift.

Turning back to her bed, she reached for her phone and sent a quick text to Penny saying she was ill and wouldn't be able to work today.

She then started to undress and get into her nightclothes, she was worried that if her parents came in and saw her, they would get suspicious about her behaviour and she wasn't sure how she could explain to them why she was still in her clothes, and they hadn't known she had snuck out of the house last night, nor did they know of Solomon's plight.

She knew sooner or later the house fire would be in the news and the whole of Spencer, if not the world would know of what happened to Solomon's house and the casualties within. Angela also wondered if the police would be able to find out who the perpetrators were. Evidence was a lot easier to collect and they could tell if a fire was started on purpose.

As she thought these thoughts, Angela heard her phone bleep and she looked to see the text from Penny.

'Aww, I'm sorry you're not well babe, get better soon, I'll find some cover for you! Xxx'

Angela gave a weak smile as she read the message and she climbed back into bed and snuggled down, feeling relieved that work knew she couldn't come in, but she still felt sore about last night.

"Oh Solomon." She wept softly "I didn't mean for this to happen, I only wanted your company, so I felt safe when meeting Diablo, but all that happened was you being led to your demise, and your mutation! I never wanted this to happen! If I could turn the clock back, I would never have asked you, I would have gone alone! Maybe it never would have happened! I'm so sorry Solomon! I'm so sorry!"

Several hours later, back at the hideout, Solomon too awoke from his sleep as the late afternoon sun shone through the small window above from outside.

Sitting up from the sleeping bag he slept on, he saw the other Disciples were sleeping soundly, he wasn't surprised, even they were nocturnal and wouldn't be awake for a while.

The night before, he had decided to go outside to think about his predicament and as he did, he had seen Diablo returning from seeing Angela home.

Flashback

Solomon sat outside the hideout, watching the night sky, and counting the many stars since where they were was away from Spencer and there was barely any light pollution, it reminded him of nights when he was a boy and he and his parents, or his grandparents would drive away from the town and look up at the stars above.

Tears came to the mutant Oryx's eyes as he thought of his parents in the burning house earlier and how he had been unable to save them.

He hugged his knees and continued to look up at the sky until he heard the flap of wings and he looked to the side to see a large black shape against the starry sky, he almost jumped in fright until he realised who it was, and Diablo landed beside him.

"Hello Solomon." The Raven spoke "Why are you out here? The dawn will rise soon, and we must hide below."

"Not yet." Solomon said quietly "I just wanted to see the skies and reflect on my situation."

"I see." Said Diablo as he walked over and sat next to him.

Solomon looked at the stars and sighed.

"Why did this happen to me?" he asked, "I only came back for a funeral, then I was to return to San Francisco, but then due to the cruel actions of others…I am this!" he held up his hands "This…. this…. this…." he stuttered.

"Mutant?" Diablo said.

"Mutant…" Solomon snarled "Yes….no longer human…." He pulled at his ears again and lowered his head, but he soon felt Diablo's hand on his back.

"I remember feeling your emotions, Solomon." The Raven spoke "I felt anger and fury when I awoke and found myself like this…. this mutant animal."

Solomon looked up and turned to Diablo.

"I remember like yesterday I felt anger and fear seeing my new body, I blamed my brother and sister for giving me this form rather than just letting me die."

Solomon blinked as he listened.

"What happened to you?" he asked.

Diablo glared and looked to the sky.

"I will explain another time." He said, "It still tears at me when I think of it." He took a few breaths, his wings rising up and down as he spoke.

Solomon wanted to ask again but seeing the Raven's emotions he decided to leave it, if he didn't want to speak about it, he best left it at that.

"The point is…" Diablo said "I felt the very emotions you felt, and often many times, I regret what I said, as after a while I realised I could use my new form to my best abilities, like when I attacked the Hate Preacher and his family, I could do things I could get away with, making sinners pay for their bad deeds and make those who speak stupid bullshit shut up."

Solomon again didn't speak but he listened to the raven.

"I realised my purpose, and I decided to follow my own road, my own path to do good in this world." Diablo said, "And that was to punish those who deserved it, those who escaped punishment and that the law couldn't touch because the red tape."

"And your brother and sister?" Solomon asked.

"They did not agree with me." Diablo said, "Thus I left them, though it hurt my soul, I felt them and followed my heart, I have no regrets following my own path, my only regret is leaving them behind, but it was a sacrifice I was willing to make…." He sighed.

"How could you?" Solomon asked.

"I did what I had to!" Diablo retorted "Just as Angela did when she agreed to let Chastity give you the water so you could live, I wanted to put the world to rights and show those who think such vile things and commit vile acts to pay for their sins!"

As Diablo mentioned Angela, Solomon stopped and held his breath as he thought of how he spoke to Angela.

How he had told her to go away, how he had refused to let her speak to him, to explain why she had let them mutate him then she had fled in tears.

"Tell me… how is she?" he asked the Raven.

"She is, if I may be so bold to say, distraught…." Diablo said in an honest tone "After the words you said to her, I am not surprised…"

Solomon opened his mouth, yet he shut it again as he remembered.

"Oh Moses." He said, "How could I forget?"

He lowered his head to his knees and sighed.

"How could I have been so cruel?" he lamented "I blamed her for what happened, and now I may not see her again!"

"Hey!"

The Oryx looked up and over to Diablo.

"Don't be too sure about that." The Raven said, "I have plans to see her again before we skip town, after all, we do have some murderers to hunt for, and if all goes well, you two can make amends again?"

Solomon sighed again but a flicker of hope welled in him as he heard Diablo's words.

"Do you think she'll forgive me?" he asked.

"If she's your friend, she will, I'm sure she'll understand." Diablo gave a small smile to which Solomon gave a weak smile back.

End Flashback

Thinking back, Solomon sighed.

"I hope we do meet again before I leave this place with Diablo and the others…" he thought to himself "I want to make peace with her and apologise for what I said to her…" he sighed and looked down.

As he did, he also thought about his family and the fire that caused their deaths and his mutation.

"If anyone is to blame, it's those that attacked my home and my family!" he glared "Diablo has promised me we will find them, and they will be punished…" he looked at his hands and at his feet which instead of feet and toes, he had hooves.

He clenched his fists.

"Mum…dad…" he said "I'm sorry I couldn't save you, but I promise you, by Moses I promise you! I will make those who killed you pay!"

He looked at the other Disciples who still slept soundly and remembered how they said he had to think of a new name.

He hadn't thought of it before but then he remembered what they said, about him choosing a new name to go with his new body.

He thought for a moment then thought of his middle names, David, and Seth, both were a good choice, and they were the names of his grandfathers on both sides, David was his father's father and Seth was his mother's Father's name.

Contemplating the two names he finally settled on one and that was Seth as it began with the same letter as his previous name.

"Seth…." He whispered to himself "That is my name now…. I go by Seth, Seth the Oryx…." he then started to pray quietly in Hebrew.

He prayed for strength and for courage, as well as hope to see Angela again and make peace with her, and apologise to her for blaming her wrongly.

So, both Angela and Solomon are feeling tormented, Angela because she believes she's lost a friend, and Solomon is regretting his words.

But the new Disciple has chosen his new name, Seth, and he hopes to both make amends with Angela as well as find those responsible for killing his parents!

Stay tuned for more coming soon!