Chapter 7
Elisabeth~
When I walked into the observation room, the first thing that I noticed was how big and beautiful Bodhi Salmen was.
He was easily six-foot-a few inches, and his dark brown hair had a shine to it that you only saw in shampoo commercials.
His face was also perfectly symmetrical, and though his eyes weren’t swirling like Lazarus had claimed, they were a shade of brown that I hadn’t ever seen before.
As for the rest of him, while he was wearing basic patient scrubs, the drab clothing didn’t take away from how magnificently built he was.
Even dressed from head to toe, you could tell that he was perfectly honed, and he was seriously too beautiful to be real, and so I could see how Lazarus found him interesting enough to drag me into this.
“Mr. Salmen, I’m Dr. Batya, and I was told that you would like to speak with me,” I said as I took a seat across from him at the metal table.
“Elisheva, you are here,” he stated simply, and my back immediately straightened with the familiar moniker.
During my early years, I used to have these dreams that most people would view as nightmares, though I couldn’t ever remember feeling scared in any of them.
While I couldn’t recall the exact age that they’d started, I could remember being only four or five when I kept getting.
..for a lack of a better word, called to this darkness that had always greeted me with open arms.
As I’d gotten older, they hadn’t come as frequently, but whenever they’d had, it’d always been the same scenario; me being beckoned by red-eyed, dark, wispy demons.
In the dreams, they’d felt like friends, but I knew better now.
As an adult, I could clearly identify that they hadn’t been my friends, and that I’d only had one friend with me during the dreams.
As Bodhi Salmen eyed me knowingly, I was hit with a familiarity that I didn’t want to acknowledge.
During those dreams, I’d had a friend with me, a little boy that wouldn’t ever let me go play with the demons, and he’d been a scrawny thing with dark brown hair and deep brown eyes, and I had called him Russ because that’s the only name that I’d known him by.
This couldn’t be happening.
Pulling my mind back from traveling down that dark rabbit hole, I said, “My name is Elisabeth Batya, Mr. Salmen. It is not Elisheva.”
“Oh, but it is,” he replied smoothly. “Elisheva is the Hebrew version of Elizabeth, and Elisabeth is just a preferred spelling of Elizabeth.”
Just then, his eyes began to swirl like a wave of warmth, but I refused to acknowledge it.
It could be simple parlor tricks, and with the internet at everyone’s fingertips today, he could have done a deep dive on me to make it seem like he knew things that he couldn’t possibly know.
After all, that’s how people got scammed out of thousands when they really should know better.
Ignoring his response, I said, “Tell me why I’m here, Mr. Salmen. Why did you ask for me?”
“Perhaps we should invite Dr. Copeland to join us,” he suggested. “While he is no doubt listening and observing in the other room, I feel as if he should be here for this.”
Before I could agree or disagree, Lazarus opened the door, then took a seat in the extra chair that was positioned in the corner of the room, directly behind my left shoulder. For whatever reason, this made Bodhi smile, but it wasn’t a warm smile; it was a calculating one.
“What do you know about Archangels, Elisheva?” he asked, his gaze returning to my face.
“I know that there are more than the popular seven that most people know of,” I answered. “I know that there are actually sixteen Archangels, with Michael and Gabriel being the most popular.”
“What else?” he asked, his eyes alive with a swirling mist that Lazarus had warned me about.
“Archangels are superior to regular angels, and while angels have their own roles and responsibilities, Archangels are the protectors of mankind, and they are also the gateways between humans and the divine,” I answered.
“And because they possess more power than regular angels, they are capable of providing protection, healing, and guidance on a larger scale. It’s the reason why people pray to Archangels during their most troubled times of need, they feel that they need something more than just mere praying can provide. ”
“Very good,” he replied condescendingly. “Most people know of only Gabriel and Michael, but that is to be expected when you consider their positions in the hierarchy.”
“Well, when you consider that most people are seeking either strength or protection to get them through their time of need, it’d make sense,” I countered.
He leaned back in his chair, clearly satisfied with my answers so far. “And what can you tell me of Archangel Ramiel?”
“The Archangel that you profess to be, correct?” I asked, setting my notepad aside, feeling like I needed to focus to win whatever this was.
Bodhi nodded simply. “I do not profess to be him, Elisheva. I am him.”
“Archangel Ramiel serves as the patron of divine knowledge, and he was first mentioned in the book of Enoch,” I answered, refusing to let him intimidate me.
“He is known as The Keeper of Secrets, and according to Jewish mysticism, he’s written down every sin that God has ever forgiven since the beginning of time.
It is also said in Judaism that he, Metatron, and Sandalphon were the three angels who visited Abraham.
” I leaned back in my seat, doing my best to ignore his swirling eyes.
“In Christianity, he is associated with alchemy, magic, and astrology.”
With a knowing grin on his face, he asked, “What else?”
“In Kabbalah, he is associated with the divine mysteries of humanity, and he is said to be able to help you understand your past lives and the purpose of your life now.”
Leaning forward, then placing his arms on the table, he asked, “What else?”
“He and Archangel Raziel are one in the same, and he is also known as the Angel of Hope. His most prominent role is to care and restore harmony where it has been disturbed. He is also so powerful that he is referred to as the Thunder of God, and he is credited with instructing other Archangels.”
“What else, Elisheva?”
“He is also known as a fallen watcher, as having been a fallen angel during the war between God and Lucifer. However, he begged for forgiveness, restoring his rightful place back in Heaven, and having been a part of both Heaven and Hell, his knowledge is invaluable.”
He smirked as he leaned back in his chair again. “Ah, but you are leaving out one very important detail that I believe Dr. Copeland would love to learn, being as how he’s not as religiously devout as you appear to be.”
“If he chooses, he can also communicate with us in our dreams,” I said, and I didn’t have to look back at Lazarus to know that this little piece of information had hit him hard.
“So, let me finally tell you what it is that I know,” he said, and I had to ignore how much it bothered me that Lazarus wasn’t sitting next to me. For whatever reason, I felt like he needed to be with me for this, but I’d bite off my own tongue before showing any kind of weakness in this room.
“That’d be nice,” I replied coolly.
“As you know, the war between good and evil is a constant thing; something that has been around since the dawn of time,” he said, finally beginning his explanation for why he was here.
“Now, as The Bible has shown us, there is always a poignant moment in time when something pivotal is going to take place, and God selects someone to rise up and fight for the greater good.”
“Which is why The Bible is riddled with many names, but only a few are remembered,” I surmised. “Such as Moses, Abraham, Daniel, and so forth.”
Bodhi nodded. “Well, Elisheva, you are God’s chosen soldier for what we are about to face next, and it is something that you’ve known since birth.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I automatically replied.
“It does not behoove you to lie to an Archangel, child,” he scolded.
“I’m not lying,” I semi-lied. “I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I’m talking about the dreams that you had as a child,” he replied sternly. “They were not dreams, Elisheva. Your mind and soul were opened in a way that both good and evil were able to get through, and the only reason that you are still here with us today is because of Dr. Copeland.”
“What?” I choked out, my mind misfiring with denial.
“In every dream that you had, a little boy refused to let the others pull you into the darkness, always watching out for you, always protecting you,” he went on, and I immediately began shaking my head.
“He always had his eyes on you, and when the demon’s touch dared to caress you, he was there to protect you.
He has always been there to protect you. ”
Even though there was no explanation as to how he could possibly know about the dreams, I still wasn’t going to give him a pass so easily. “That’s not true,” I told him. “I’ve only known Dr. Copeland for a few years, so if he was always protecting me, where was he most of my life?”
“You didn’t need protecting most of your life, Elisheva,” he pointed out. “He only showed up recently because you’re going to finally need his protection again.”