Falling (The Soul Collectors Series Book 1) (3 page)

“He’s the baby the four Blues helped Aniston deliver two weeks ago.” Hadraniel broke my train of thought with that statement, leaving me in complete shock. Mainly because the time differences between here and Earth had slipped my mind, but also because I’m pretty sure there was only ever one other baby that had been delivered by an angel with the protection of Blue Angels. I couldn’t believe that this human was anywhere close to the same importance as the other baby, the one we call Jesus.

“Where’d you hear that?” I asked, still skeptical that this human, or any human, could be that important. I looked at the picture of him in the file. He looked like a normal human teenaged boy, buzzed dark blonde hair, blue eyes with green speckles, freckles across his nose, athletic body and tall even for angel standards. I wasn’t impressed…but then it was hard to be impressed when you’re surrounded by angels on a regular basis. I must have snickered at this thought because when I looked up, Had had his head tilted to the side looking at me like I might have something wrong with me. I didn’t think he would understand why my thoughts were funny, so I just winked like it was a secret.  “Spill it,  Haddy.” He grimaced at this new nickname I’d given him, but he didn’t correct me.

“I accidentally overheard one of the Elder Blues discussing the boy with Father Paul in the meeting room earlier.”

“Hmmm, I wonder why this ‘boy’,” I used air quotes, “is so important. Care to speculate?”

“I don’t really have an opinion. I just want to complete the mission so that your record stays perfect, and maybe I’ll get promoted.” He stopped when he realized he had spoken out loud what I would guess to be very secret internal thoughts normally. When he noticed, I just smiled, and the wrinkles and concern on his face dissipated.

“That alone is an opinion.” I was collecting my files to pack up and head home when I heard my name across the park. I looked up to find Aniston making her way towards our table. If I wasn’t mistaken, I also heard Had make a groaning noise, but to his credit, he turned and smiled as she approached.

“Bayla, I thought you might be here when I didn’t find you at home. Hadraniel, what are you doing here?” She kept looking between us, half expecting us to reveal some sordid secret love affair.

“I was assigned to help Bayla with her new mission. Unfortunately that is all either of us are allowed to say. Elder Michael commanded total silence on the matter.” He spoke kindly.

At the mention of Elder Michael, Aniston’s eyebrows shot up, and she seemed to step backwards in shock. She looked to me for confirmation, and I simply nodded. She stood in silence for a while before speaking again.

“Wow. Wow! You met the Elder Michael today, and he assigned you to a special mission? My Grace, Bayla, I hope you’ll be okay.” She truly looked concerned for me, which made me feel bad for all the things I’d been thinking about her all day. Maybe she wasn’t really all that awful to have around.

“Thank you Aniston. I’m sure everything will be okay. And yes, we have to leave very soon. We will be gone for four Earth weeks. So we really shouldn’t be gone but a few hours for you.” I was trying to make it all sound very professional so she knew that I had no interest in being near Had for that long.

“Is this your first mission, Had?” Her attention and interest were no longer on me, now that she knew I wouldn’t really get much time alone with him. I needed to get back to our living space, so while they chatted, I seized the opportunity to leave. I gave a quick wave and excused myself. Even though we had planned out as much as we feasibly could, I still wanted to read through all the files again to make sure that I hadn’t missed something that would be important later.

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” ~Lao-Tsu    
 

“Bayla, try to put in a good word for me. Please.” Aniston had been following me around all morning as I was preparing to leave. I had to meet Hadraniel in an hour and wasn’t close to being done because every time I turned around she was in my way. She had mentioned all of her positive attributes in case I didn’t already know them, just so that I would have them handy for when I spent so much time with Had enduring the Earth hours. I was fairly certain I would not have time to talk about her, but I didn’t say that, so I just nodded and threw in the occasional “Okay” when needed.

I was just finishing up putting the last of my things in a bag when there was a knock at the door. I quickly stood, looking at Aniston, who seemed just as surprised as I was that someone was here. She went to answer the door while I finished. I heard a gasp causing me to rush towards the door. Hadraniel stood at the door, looking somewhat sheepish dressed in human clothing. I had to admit he was kind of hot in human clothes, but I didn’t understand why he was here.

“Hey! One of the Elders sent me to tell you we needed to leave now. I was given permission to come to your door only.” He made a point to stand just right outside of the doorframe. He had a playful grin and was almost bouncing with excitement waiting for me.

“I was just finishing up. Let me grab my files, and we can be on our way.” Traveling to Earth was not at all complicated for us. We went to our mission gate, typed in our destination, and we appeared. It wasn’t fun and exciting like the humans assumed. While we could fly and could present ourselves with wings when necessary, usually we just transported to our destinations. It was rare to show our wings, even in Heaven. Not because of modesty or anything…more so because it would take a lot of space to have them out and spread while walking around. I gave Aniston a hug, more for her sake in front of Had than because I was sad to leave her. She took a second to react before she hugged me goodbye and sent me away with good wishes.

“I’m pumped! Aren’t you?” Had seemed to be extra excited today, and it was kind of cute. He was doing circles around me, while carrying both of our bags, at his insistence. I could barely keep up with him as we made our way to the gates. I had to remind him continuously that I had to lead the way since I was the only one who knew where my transport gate was located.

“I’m having fun watching you have fun, but this is a normal day for me, Haddy.”

“Must you call me that?” He didn’t really sound upset, more amused.

“Well, since you’re my brother now, I must have a nickname for you, right?” Apparently from the face he made, the thought of being my brother was repulsive to him. I wasn’t sure if I should be offended or find it funny.

“Okay, yeah that makes sense. I’ll call you Bay then.” He stuck his tongue out at me as I made an equally repulsed face in response. I detested the shortened version of my name, but his point was made.

“This way.” I pointed behind the meeting house. “My transport room is behind the main chapel. Father Paul will meet us there to help us on our way.”

“I’ve never transported.”

“It’s not bad. There’s no pain, it’s just a little disorienting. You recover pretty quickly though.”

“Sounds like an adventure.”

“My children, are you ready?” Father Paul walked out like he knew ahead of time that we would be there at that exact moment. He was grinning like always, which was contagious. Even more so now with Hadraniel around.

“Yes,” we answered at the same time, making Had smile and me smirk.

“Glad to see you adjusted to having Hadraniel along you with so quickly Bayla.”

“Ah, he’s not so bad. Especially when he carries my bag for me.” I winked at Father Paul who let out a hearty laugh. “So do you have the coordinates, Father, or do I need to give them to you?”

“I have them ready. All you two need to do is step through the gate, and you’ll be in Kentucky. Once there, another file will appear inside your bag with information on where you will be staying, and on an additional task that needs to be completed.”

Father Paul didn’t leave any time for me to ask questions. I had never been given additional tasks once through the portal. I know he saw my confusion, but he just gave a quick shrug, and pushed us towards the gate. Hadraniel didn’t seem to notice my confusion or Father Paul’s insistence. I opened the door, still pondering that exchange, and was getting ready to step through the gate when I felt a hand pull me backwards. I thought maybe Father Paul was going to answer me after all, but when I turned around, Had was standing at the portal looking slightly ill. Without saying anything to him, I smiled, took his hand, and we walked through the gate at the same time.

As I remembered how different Earth was to home, I looked around to reacquaint myself. After making my normal, quick surveillance of the area, I turned and noticed that Hadraniel was just standing there, mouth open and in awe. It had slipped my mind that he’d never seen the wonders of Earth before. As beautiful as our home was, Earth had its own beauty as well. Especially this place called Kentucky. In every direction I looked, there were trees, hills, grass, flowers and wildlife. Listening carefully, I heard the rushing of water as well.

“Wow, I never thought Earth would be pretty from all the stories you hear.” Had was still taking in the sights while I pulled out the file to look up the new tasks and where we were to go.

“Yeah, it has its good points. I must say this is one of the prettier places I’ve been to lately. Too bad it’s about to be destroyed. According this new information, we are currently standing at the epicenter of the earthquake, and all of this will be gone afterwards. It’s really a shame. The new tasks haven’t arrived yet, but I do have where we need to head next. There is a cottage in the woods, to which we have the coordinates, so we had better be on our way before it gets dark.” I turned to make sure that Hadraniel was prepared to follow when I noticed his frown.

“I’d read that there was more gravitational pull here on Earth compared to home, but it’s not the same as feeling it. Man, these bags are heavy, particularly yours! What in all of the Heavens could you have packed and needed that makes your bag this heavy?” The look on his face was so funny, I couldn’t help myself. I started laughing.

“Oh Haddy, you’ll adjust quickly, I promise. Here, let me take my bag and carry it.” We walked in comfortable silence for a good distance, but then I decided to start pointing out things about our surroundings that I was familiar with that Hadraniel had probably never heard of or only had read about in books. We passed several deer, rabbits, squirrels, but also some snakes and skunks were in the path as well. I educated him on how the humans used the trees and plants for medicine sometimes, and how people would come stay out in the woods for fun sometimes, calling it camping. He was very interested, and would ask questions about things that caught his attention. We made it to the cottage in good time. Once inside, we took a quick tour and started putting our things away, trying to make it look believable that two teenage twins would be living there without their parents.

“Hey, Bayla.” I heard Hadraniel calling for me from his bedroom as I was putting away my clothing for the trip. “I have the new tasks in my file.”

I quickly made my way to his room to check out the new tasks. There were only two. One was to ensure that Gray’s family did not know he was special, and that if a demon were to come around, we were to allow him some access to Gray but not enough to hurt Gray. That was a very confusing task. I’d never had to interact with a demon before. Usually there was just one who came around the same time I did. His name was Mephistopheles, and his job was the equivalent of mine, just for Hell. He came to collect the souls that I wasn’t, but we never intermingled or even came in contact with each other.  I was unsure, now that I was being commanded to not only interact with one, but to allow him access to my target for the mission.

“Why do we have to mess with a demon? Do you know which demon will be coming?” Had seemed more curious than scared, but there was some shaking to his voice.

“I would assume Meph is coming but who knows. He’s the one who has worked opposite of me on each of my missions. Meph is the only one I know personally. However, with the way this mission is going, who knows who will be sent. I’m sure whoever comes will be clever. They’ll want someone who is charming enough to weasel his way into Gray’s good side.”

“That's true. So, what’s the plan for tomorrow?” Haddy mumbled, looking close to needing sleep.

“I think we should keep a low profile for the next day or so. Explore the town, allow those living here to see us some, because even dressed in human attire, you’re going to draw a lot of attention.”

He blushed, but recovered quickly. “I’m fairly sure I won’t be the only one garnering the attention of the locals.” He yawned and excused himself to his room. As he was shutting the door, I could hear a faint “good night.”

“Good night.”