Crossroads (13 page)

“
Yes, unlike you. And
because you are the first, we are taking precautions; that’s why we
make you leave as quickly as possible, for your sake.”

As I realized we were halfway home, I
became anxious, wondering how long he would stay with me, so I
changed the subject. “Will I see you again?”

“
As your guardian angel, I
can come to you if you are in danger. I don’t want to scare you,
but you need to know the truth. They are after you for some reason,
and we suspect the only reason is that you had contact with us.
They can sense you easily now since you’ve been touched by an
angel, thanks to Davin.”

I turned slightly to smell myself. I
wondered how I smelled to him. He chuckled loudly as he noticed
what I was doing. “No, not like smelling you,” he said laughing.
“Let me try to explain. Humans have five senses, some maybe six.
Angels have a lot more, and some more than others. Just like
humans, we were not created to have the same talents.”

“
Wow,” I said, as I
recalled the miracles I had witnessed. Julia putting me under her
spell, turning herself from a fog-like creature into a snake,
Michael knowing the combination to my lock, Caleb putting the
storage room back the way it was, and their overall speed and
strength. I was sure I had only seen a glimpse of what they were
capable of doing.

Then “touched by an angel” came to
mind. When Davin held me at the Crossroads to make me feel better,
he whispered in my ear that he would be in a whole lot of trouble
for what he was doing. And I remembered that there was a light
glowing, surrounding us, which instantly calmed my nerves. Now I
knew what Michael meant by being touched by an angel.

I had already asked him so many
questions and began to wonder if he was getting tired of answering
them. He didn’t give me any hint that he wanted me to stop, so I
continued. “Can I ask you another question?” I asked
politely.

“
Sure. Ask away. I’ve got
all night, I think.” His brow was angled, his eyes uncertain, not
really knowing how long he could safely stay on Earth.

“
I was wondering if the
fallen has a leader or someone they report to.”

He held a steady gaze into my eyes and
whispered, “The devil.”

In sheer panic, my heart started
racing, and I couldn’t keep up. Either Michael realized how fast my
heart was beating, or fear was clearly written all over my face. He
placed one hand on my cheek and gave me a serious look. “I’m so
sorry. I was just joking,” he said seriously, trying to hold back a
grin.

Initially, I was in shock that he
could joke around like this; then I couldn’t believe he was
touching my face so tenderly the way he did. Afterward, I gave him
a hard stare.

“
Sorry,” he said again,
smiling innocently.

At times like this, it was easy to
forget that he was not human. Regardless, I couldn’t resist his
smile. I let out a nervous laugh because anyone would be better
than the devil. He put his hand down, and we started walking
again.

“
His name is Aden,”
Michael said gravely.

“
Aden,” I repeated. It
wasn’t the name itself that frightened me; just knowing that
someone that evil had a name gave me the creeps.

“
Have you ever seen him
before?”

“
Yes. He was one of the
Twelve Angels. Aden was reassigned to Halo City just like Phillip,
Margaret, and Agnes. But he rebelled. He believed we should be
allowed to live freely among humans. So he started a war with the
other angels. Because of this, his soul was stripped by the Royal
Council. He may as well be the devil himself. But this happened
ages ago. You don’t need to worry about him. When angels lose their
souls, their powers weaken.”

As he said his last words, we
approached the front of my house. I couldn’t believe we were there
already, and I had no recollection of how we had gotten
there.

“
Here we are,” he said and
set my bike adjacent to the door. Then he reached for the
doorknob.

My eyes followed his hand and I
wondered how he was going to open the front door. He turned the
knob and pushed it open. I knew my mom would never leave the door
unlocked, and he didn’t use a key. I continued to stare at the
door, wondering how it was possible, and looked up at him when he
spoke.

“
How are you feeling? I
know it is too much to take.”

“
No.” I nodded, looking
down. I didn’t want him to perceive me as a helpless human, but the
truth was that it was a lot for me to take in. Even in my wildest
dreams, I couldn’t have imagined that I had a real guardian angel
who was keeping me safe from the fallen. It was a
nightmare.

“
Then why are you
shaking?” he asked, concerned.

“
It’s a bit chilly,” I
replied, not realizing I was shivering. It was partly from the cold
and partly from my body reacting to how I was really
feeling—terrified.

“
I’m so sorry,” he said,
while holding me tightly with both arms. Then he rubbed my back and
my arms. I couldn’t believe I was in his arms again. I didn’t know
if he was going to leave me, so I had to think fast. The only
reason he would stay is if I were afraid.

I looked up at him helplessly and
said, “Yes, I’m afraid.” Feeling ashamed for premeditating, I glued
my eyes to the floor. I wasn’t totally lying because I should be
deathly afraid, although his presence gave me peace and
comfort.

“
Let’s go inside and get
you out of the cold. I’ll wait until your mother comes home. Would
that help?”

I nodded happily, suppressing a big
grin as we walked in. It was a bit uncomfortable leading him toward
my bedroom, but at the same time, I was feeling electrified. It
didn’t take me long to get ready for bed, and he was staring out
the window the whole time. He didn’t utter a word, and I didn’t ask
him a single question. His back was still toward me as I got into
bed. I wondered what he was thinking about.

“
Penny for your thoughts,”
I said cheerfully, trying to get his attention.

He turned to face me, still deep in
thought. “I don’t need any of your pennies, but you would go
broke.”

“
That many?” I asked. I
was hoping he would open up and tell me what he was thinking about,
but he just stood there staring at me. Feeling uncomfortable, I
asked, “Can I ask you a question?”

“
No more questions. Lie
down and go to sleep,” he ordered.

He didn’t sound friendly, and I was
beginning to think that he didn’t want to be here. I didn’t move; I
sat on my bed and glanced at him. He just stood by the window, with
arms crossed, and stared back at me. He appeared to be looking
straight through me, perhaps, searching for words.

He sighed heavily and finally said,
“Life is so unfair, even for us. Sometimes the unfairness hits
hard, like a ton of bricks. Sometimes, I wish I could be human and
experience life again. I feel like we are being punished for who we
are.”

I felt horrible. His words struck
right through my heart. He took a deep breath again and gave me a
look as if he was about to confess. “All of this, it’s my fault,”
he said, then looked away.

I was confused. What could this
beautiful angel possibly have done to look so distraught that he
felt like he had to confess to a human?

He continued. “I, alone, have put you
in danger. If I had the will to just let you be, then you would not
be in this position.”

I gave him a puzzled look.

“
You don’t remember all
the times you visited the Crossroads before, do you?

“
No,” I said, shaking my
head. I felt confused and frustrated as I tried to remember how
many times I dreamt about being there.

“
Let me explain. You were
just a child when I first saw you at the Crossroads. You only
stayed there for a very short time, and you would disappear without
warning. Periodically, you would reappear. And no matter how many
times you visited, you always looked lost and confused. As I
watched you grow up, I wanted to reach out to you, but I couldn’t.
I didn’t tell anyone about you. I watched you from the other side,
protecting you so you wouldn’t be found. Somehow you entered the
realms of our world while following Margaret.

“
The first time you tried
to enter by yourself, I should have let you be, and you would have
just disappeared, but I let you in. It was me. I was being selfish.
You made me feel things I didn’t know I could feel. I didn’t want
you to leave, and when I knew you were about to give up, I stopped
you from leaving. Now these evil beings won’t leave you alone.” He
turned his back to me again.

I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t
believe what I was hearing. Although I had feelings for him, I was
overcome by the thought that he could have those same feelings for
me. He was an alkin. We would be impossible, but something inside
me didn’t care. Even if it meant that we could only be together for
a short time, it was better than never being with him.

He continued. “Phillip asked me to be
your guardian angel to look after you, not to complicate things. He
trusted me to not let my human emotions get in the way. I told him
I wasn’t ready, but I don’t blame him. He didn’t know that I had
seen you before. He didn’t know that I had feelings…I mean…these
human emotions are too powerful, and I don’t know if I can control
myself,” he said, looking down ashamedly. “The Royal Council took
away my memories of life on Earth. They should have erased my
emotions as well. Then I would just feel nothing. Training to be
more like an angel than a human is nearly impossible when you
already have these feelings. How do they expect us to…? These
temptations…we’re half human.”

I knew what he meant because I felt
them too. In the midst of knowing that he actually cared about me
more than a guardian angel should, I lost all sense of reasoning
and blurted, “I’m glad you stopped me, and I don’t care about the
fallen!”

His response was not what I had
expected. “You don’t know what you are talking about. You almost
got killed.”

I was overwhelmed by all this. My head
was spinning out of control. Feeling frustrated and struggling for
the right words, I started to cry. As he saw the first drop of
tears, he dashed toward me, wiped the tears off my face, and
struggled to find a way to comfort me.

“
I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,”
he said over and over again.

It should have made me stop, and I
should have tried harder to control myself, but I couldn’t, nor did
I try. I cried even harder; I cried for his pain, I cried for my
pain, I cried for the frustration and the unfairness of life. All
of these thoughts circulated through my head. Suddenly I was lifted
from my bed. He held me tenderly while my head lay contentedly on
his shoulder. My sobbing softened as I tried to control the
lingering, small gasps of air when I realized I was in his
arms.

As he held me tighter, we stood there,
our bodies melting perfectly into one. I could see a low beam of
light projecting around us. It felt so warm and pleasant. I felt a
sense of belonging I had never felt before. I had known him for
such a short time, yet I felt like I had known him all my life.
Both of us held on, not wanting to let go. Now we were cheek to
cheek, my face rubbing against his affectionately, as one teardrop
found its way to the ground.

The relentless thumping of my heart
made me breathless. Butterflies in my stomach were fluttering a
hundred times faster. I was panting with thirst—thirst for his
love, and thirst for his kiss. As his lips started to inch toward
mine, a sensational feeling shot through my veins from head to toe;
I wanted so much to kiss him.

I couldn’t believe what was about to
happen. We both knew it was wrong, yet it was undeniably what we
wanted. I could feel his breath on my lips. I could almost taste
his sweetness. Then he stopped. He leaned his forehead onto mine
and let out a frustrated heavy sigh.

“
Thou shall not touch,” he
muttered. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s gotten into me. Please
forgive me. It won’t happen again.” He was serious and
sorrowful.

Realizing what could have just
happened; he sat at the head of the bed and lay me down next to
him, both of us silent and still catching our breaths. Forgive him?
There was nothing to forgive. I wanted him just as much, if not
more. The tone of his voice made my heart ache, and I realized I
needed to be cautious of my own actions and lead him not into
temptation. But I didn’t know if that was possible. Every time I
was around him, I was overflowing with happiness, and it was hard
to control my desire for him.

He started caressing my hair gently,
producing a different kind of pleasure. I wanted to hold on to him
as long as I could, so I turned to my side and hugged his leg.
Being able to physically hold him made this all so real. But it
tortured me that I would only see him when danger arose. Gradually,
my heart found its rhythm again, and at the same time, I was
falling asleep. I didn’t have the stamina to fight sleep even
though I knew he would disappear into the clouds. Drained from all
that I had endured that day, I eventually succumbed to
sleep.