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Authors: Michelle Zink
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is
raised, just as mine is, as if it is an old scar.
But that is not all. That is not the only difference.
The circle is there, and the winding snake, but that is the end of Sonia’s mark. The
C
does not appear on her wrist, though it is otherwise an exact replica of mine and the one on the medallion.
I return her hand carefully, as a gift. “What is it?”
She chews her lip, before tipping her head toward my hand. “First let me see.”
I thrust my wrist toward her. She takes it, tracing with her finger the outline of the C in the middle of my circle. “Yours
is different.”
My face burns with shame, though I’ve no idea why. “Yes, a little, though we might just as well say
yours
is different. How long have you had it?”
“Forever. Since I was born, I’ve been told.”
“But what does it mean?”
She breathes deeply, fixing her gaze into the trees. “I don’t know. Not really. The only mention of the mark, the only one
I know of, comes from a little-known legend told in the circles of spiritualists and others interested in the Watchers. And
in the lesser known pieces of their story.”
“The Watchers?”
“Yes, from the Bible?” She says this as if I should know, as if I should have an intimate understanding of the Bible when
our religious upbringing has been haphazard at best. “They were angels, you see, before they fell.”
A tale about angels or… demons,
I think.
Cast from the heavens…
She continues, unaware of the recognition firing through my mind. “The most accepted version is that they were cast from heaven
when they married and had children with the women of Earth. But that isn’t the only version.” She hesitates, bending to pick
up a stone and rubbing it clean with the hem of her skirt before returning her eyes to me. “There is another. One far less
told.”
I fold my hands in my lap, trying to calm the rising unease thrumming through my mind. “Go on.”
“It is said the Watchers were tricked into their defiance by Maari.”
I shake my head. “Who?”
“One of the sisters. One of the twins.”
The sisters. The twins.
“I have never heard of a twin by that name in the Bible. Of course, I’m no scholar, but even so…”
Sonia worries the stone, round and flat, between her fingers. “That is because it isn’t found in the Bible. It’s a legend,
a myth, told and passed down through the generations. I am not saying it’s true. I’m only telling the story as you asked.”
“All right, then. Tell me the rest. Tell me about the sisters.”
She settles farther back on the rock. “It is said that Maari began the betrayal by seducing Samael, God’s most trusted angel.
Samael promised Maari that if she gave birth to an angel-human, she would receive all the knowledge denied to her as a human.
And he was right.
“Once the fallen angels, or Watchers, took the humans as wives, they imparted all manner of sorcery to their new partners.
In fact, some of the more… enthusiastic members of our society believe that is where the gifts of the spiritualists originate.”
“So then what? What happened after the Watchers took their human wives and shared their knowledge?”
Sonia shrugs. “They were banished, forced to wander the eight Otherworlds for all eternity until the Doom of Gods, or as Christians
call it, the Apocalypse. Oh yes, and after that they were not called the Watchers.”
“What were they called?”
“The Lost Souls.” Her voice drops, as if she is afraid to be heard uttering the words aloud. “It is said there is a way for
them to return to the physical world. Through the sisters, one the Guardian and one the Gate.”
My head snaps up. “What did you say?”
She shakes her head. “Just that there is a way —”
“No. After that. About the sisters.”
But I know. Of course I do.
A small line forms on the bridge of her nose as she remembers. “Well, the way I’ve heard it told, sisters of a certain line
raised, just as mine is, as if it is an old scar.
But that is not all. That is not the only difference.
The circle is there, and the winding snake, but that is the end of Sonia’s mark. The
C
does not appear on her wrist, though it is otherwise an exact replica of mine and the one on the medallion.
I return her hand carefully, as a gift. “What is it?”
She chews her lip, before tipping her head toward my hand. “First let me see.”
I thrust my wrist toward her. She takes it, tracing with her finger the outline of the C in the middle of my circle. “Yours
is different.”
My face burns with shame, though I’ve no idea why. “Yes, a little, though we might just as well say
yours
is different. How long have you had it?”
“Forever. Since I was born, I’ve been told.”
“But what does it mean?”
She breathes deeply, fixing her gaze into the trees. “I don’t know. Not really. The only mention of the mark, the only one
I know of, comes from a little-known legend told in the circles of spiritualists and others interested in the Watchers. And
in the lesser known pieces of their story.”
“The Watchers?”
“Yes, from the Bible?” She says this as if I should know, as if I should have an intimate understanding of the Bible when
our religious upbringing has been haphazard at best. “They were angels, you see, before they fell.”
A tale about angels or… demons,
I think.
Cast from the heavens…
She continues, unaware of the recognition firing through my mind. “The most accepted version is that they were cast from heaven
when they married and had children with the women of Earth. But that isn’t the only version.” She hesitates, bending to pick
up a stone and rubbing it clean with the hem of her skirt before returning her eyes to me. “There is another. One far less
told.”
I fold my hands in my lap, trying to calm the rising unease thrumming through my mind. “Go on.”
“It is said the Watchers were tricked into their defiance by Maari.”
I shake my head. “Who?”
“One of the sisters. One of the twins.”
The sisters. The twins.
“I have never heard of a twin by that name in the Bible. Of course, I’m no scholar, but even so…”
Sonia worries the stone, round and flat, between her fingers. “That is because it isn’t found in the Bible. It’s a legend,
a myth, told and passed down through the generations. I am not saying it’s true. I’m only telling the story as you asked.”
“All right, then. Tell me the rest. Tell me about the sisters.”
She settles farther back on the rock. “It is said that Maari began the betrayal by seducing Samael, God’s most trusted angel.
Samael promised Maari that if she gave birth to an angel-human, she would receive all the knowledge denied to her as a human.
And he was right.
“Once the fallen angels, or Watchers, took the humans as wives, they imparted all manner of sorcery to their new partners.
In fact, some of the more… enthusiastic members of our society believe that is where the gifts of the spiritualists originate.”
“So then what? What happened after the Watchers took their human wives and shared their knowledge?”
Sonia shrugs. “They were banished, forced to wander the eight Otherworlds for all eternity until the Doom of Gods, or as Christians
call it, the Apocalypse. Oh yes, and after that they were not called the Watchers.”
“What were they called?”
“The Lost Souls.” Her voice drops, as if she is afraid to be heard uttering the words aloud. “It is said there is a way for
them to return to the physical world. Through the sisters, one the Guardian and one the Gate.”
My head snaps up. “What did you say?”
She shakes her head. “Just that there is a way —”
“No. After that. About the sisters.”
But I know. Of course I do.
A small line forms on the bridge of her nose as she remembers. “Well, the way I’ve heard it told, sisters of a certain line
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