Taking Angels (The Angel Crusades) (9 page)

“I’m telling you the truth. You have to believe
me.”
I thought for a minute. “How old are you?”
“Eighteen,” Allister answered.
“Ah ha,” I exclaimed in triumph.
“What?”
“I thought you said you lived an eternity. How can
you only be eighteen if you’re immortal?” I said nodding
with vindication.
“Eternals age ten times slower than normal
people,” Allister explained.
I did the math in my head. “No way.” I stared at
him with shock.
He nodded that it was true.
“A hundred and eighty? You’ve got to be kidding
me.”
“I’m not lying.” He stared hard at me, his eyes
pleading me to accept what he said.
I sat down heavily, adding to the orange marks the
ore tailings left on my jeans. How could this be? How
could I not have a soul and be oblivious to that fact?
Allister sat down next to me, waiting patiently for me to
look over at him, which I tried my hardest not to do. I
stared back at the pit as birds dove below the edge,
disappearing from sight, their calls echoing around us.
When I finally turned to him, Allister looked calmly back,
resignation on his face.
“How did I lose my soul?” I asked finding the
strength to utter the words momentous.
“Angelina and I weren’t the only Eternals on the
riverbank that day.” My eyebrow rose at what he implied.
“A rogue Eternal has been tearing guardian angels from
people and we followed him to that waterfall. He killed
you before we got there. Your soul was gone before I
touched you, except I didn’t discover that until I touched
you.” Allister’s words were hard to hear. He spoke them
with such empathy, I almost felt sorry for him.
“Eternals don’t usually take guardian angels from
people?” I asked, still trying to digest the information.
“Not at all,” he said vehemently. “We live quietly,
trying to avoid unwanted attention from the angels.
Taking guardians will bring the angels’ wrath down upon
us.”
“Guardian angels’ wrath?”
“No, these angels are more like the enforcers of
the angel world. They ensure nothing happens to the
guardian angel-human balance. Protectors seeing to it
nothing interferes with the flow of nature.”
I got to my feet, the idea of being an Eternal
seeping into my reality, making me feel sick.
Allister looked up at me, questioning.
“Can you take me home? I don’t feel too good.”
“Sure,” he said getting to his feet. He stepped
closer, moving to take my arm again.
“No.” I stopped him with a raised hand. “I’m not
ready to do that again. Can we walk back to the car?”
“Sure.” He nodded and stepped next to me as I
walked along the path.
It was dark by the time we got back to the car. We
didn’t talk as I remained deep in thought. The silent car
ride was nearly unbearable, though I didn’t want any
more information to digest, yet. My new reality loomed
before me with no certainty I could deal with it. We
pulled up in front of my house and he hopped out,
running around to open my door. Allister leaned on the
open door when I stopped to look at him.
“Can I die?” I asked, not knowing where the
question came from.
“Not naturally, at least, none of us have yet,” he
clarified.
I nodded at his answer, more out of numbness
than really registering it.
“Is it alright if I stop by later and check on you?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
With a nod, he got back into his car and drove off
as I watched the red taillights disappear around the corner
over my shoulder. I turned to climb the porch steps and
nearly ran over Angelina, standing in my way.
“We need to talk,” she said, her expression hard.
I staggered back falling on my butt, stunned by
her appearance out of nowhere.
“You need to stay away from my brother.” She put
her hands on her hips.
“What?” I gaped, getting to my feet and brushing
the grass off my jeans before remembering they were
already ruined by the iron ore stains.
“Are you hard of hearing as well as dumb? You
need to stay away from Allister.”
“Why?” I stammered, confused.
“You being around him isn’t good for him.”
“Why don’t you tell your brother to stay away
from me?” I frowned.
“I did, but he’s too stubborn for his own good and
I need you to stay away from him, no matter what he
says.”
“Why would I do that if he doesn’t want me to
stay away?”
“It’s complicated and I’m not sure your small
brain could comprehend it.” She pointed to her head to
emphasize her point.
“Hey, I’m getting a little tired of you referring to
me as dumb and stupid.” I took a step towards her and
glared down at her standing a good head taller.
“If you care at all for Allister you need to stay as
far away from him as possible.” She crossed her arms in
front of her and glared back.
I stared at this small, obstinate girl. She didn’t
look the least bit intimidated. I didn’t know if I cared
about Allister or not, but the way Angelina referred to his
feelings about me, he seemed to care for me to the point
he would ignore his sister’s warnings.
“I don’t know if I can do that,” I admitted,
surprising myself with my boldness.
“Ahh!” she spun away from me, throwing her
arms up in disgust. “I knew I couldn’t count on you to
just do as I asked. Fine.” She turned back and moved
right up in front of me, pointing a finger in my face.
“Allister did something that could get him killed. If you
and he are seen together by the wrong people, both of you
are in danger. Just stay away from him.”
“You mean changing me into an Eternal can get
Allister killed?”
She gave me an infuriated look, locking her eyes
on mine for the longest moment. “So he went and told
you everything. I might have guessed. The fool. Now
we’re all in danger and it’s because he couldn’t resist
you.” She considered me for a moment, and then put a
finger in my chest. “If the Eternal Council finds out
Allister touched someone when they were already gone,
they can sentence him to death.”
“What about the Eternal who took my guardian
angel in the first place?” I argued and pushed her finger
away. “Wouldn’t they blame him for causing Allister to
break their law first?”
“You don’t get it, do you?” Angelina frowned.
“What Allister did is strictly forbidden by the council. His
crime is much more grievous and punishable by death. If
another Eternal sees you, they will know instantly that
you were created, not born.”
I stood, staring at her, unable to fathom Allister
being killed for saving my life.
“If you don’t care about Allister’s life, then maybe
you’ll save your own skinny neck. The council will kill
you too, not to mention the Eternal who took your
guardian will want you dead as well to cover up his
crimes. Maybe you had better think about that.” Angelina
looked me up and down, and then vanished before my
eyes.
I spun in place, looking around, but Angelina was
gone.

Flopping down on my bed I looked at my
nightstand and reality turned bitter. I reached over, taking
the picture of me with the amigos in my hand, wondering
what to tell them.

After that whole fiasco at Allister’s house, they
would never believe anything like that again unless...
Unless Allister told them. Why couldn’t they know the
truth? I would press the issue if given the chance.

Thinking about living forever it all became crystal
clear. Everyone I loved would die and move on. I would
watch loved one after loved one die and leave me, never
to be with them again. No afterlife, no eternal happiness,
the promise of reuniting with them someday taken from
me, forever. Trish, Elisa, and Cassie would die and leave
me. Mom and Dad, I expected to deal with someday, but
anyone I cared about would eventually be gone and
beyond me seeing ever again.

Except Allister. My family consisted of Allister
now, and Angelina, I added with a grimace. You know
what they say, you can’t pick your family, but in this case,
Allister had.

I didn’t know how comfortable I felt with his
ultimate decision. Time would tell. Time, the only thing I
couldn’t run out of anymore.

Lying in bed, thinking of the day’s events, I
couldn’t get Allister out of my head. I still had so many
unanswered questions, but like he said, there was no
hurry.

I crawled out of bed and headed downstairs. I
walked into the living room where Mom and Dad were
watching the news. They looked up curiously as I
entered.

“Not much,” I lied. “Can’t sleep. Thought I would
head out to the shed for a while.”
Dad nodded with a smile.
“We hoped you’d feel like going out there again,”
Mom grinned knowingly.
“Yeah, guess I’m going to check it out and see if I
feel it again.” I shrugged and walked out the back door,
following the lighted path to the shed adjacent to the
fence that ran along the alley. I paused in front of the
door, peering into the blackness inside through the
window then reached for the door knob and gave it a turn.
The door swung inward with a light creak. Searching the
wall around the corner I flicked on the light and the shed
lit up brightly.
White sheets covered nearly everything in the
room except the shelves holding pots of different shapes,
sizes, and colors. I walked over and pulled the sheet off
the potter’s wheel and chair, grinning with familiarity. I
turned and pulled the remaining sheets into my arms and
dropped them in a corner, turning back to look at the kiln,
boxes of clay, and the large recliner set in the corner.
I sat down in the chair in front of the wheel and flipped
the power on, placing my foot on the pedal and
tentatively pressed down. The wheel jumped to life. I
grinned.
This was where I used to escape all the pain and
harsh realities of my life. Creating something that would
outlast me and maybe share some happiness with others
when I was gone.
I lifted my foot from the pedal and the wheel
ground to a stop while I spun in my chair to look up at the
shelves holding my work. Each bore a label to the person
it was meant for. Funny, I never thought I would outlast
the people whose names claimed the pots, but if Allister
was telling me the truth, that’s exactly what was going to
happen…unless Angelina was right and Allister and I
were in mortal danger because of what he did.
I stood and walked to the recliner, flopping down
in the comforting chair. How did all this happen? I stared
at the wheel, trying to put the puzzle pieces in my head
together to make sense of it all. Sliding down further in
the chair, I pulled the blanket hanging over the back
down and draped it over me. How could my life have
become this?

I fell asleep, a whisper in my mind reminding me
of the terrors waiting, just before drifting off. I recognized
the setting; walking down the street to the school. A lone
light shone in the gray cement building as I moved to a
window and peered in. Mr. Kinsley worked at a desk,
paging through papers, stopping every so often to take a
drink of soda. I felt a strange tingling through my body
and then stood in the classroom, facing my teacher.

He looked up with shock at my appearance. “Who
are you?”
“Someone who needs something from you?” I
said, my voice once again, not my own.
“You’ll have to come back during school hours on
Monday. I’m finishing up some grading and heading out
in a second. How did you get in here at this hour?” He
glanced at his papers and then looked back with a frown.
“I can’t wait until Monday. What I need from you
I will take now,” the voice said.
I moved beside Mr. Kinsley in an instant, placing
a hand on the man before he could respond. His eyes
went wide and his mouth opened to scream, but nothing
came out. A familiar vapor rose from Mr. Kinsley, taking
a vague shape as the hand grasped it before it could fully
finish forming. The cries emitted by the vapor pierced my
ears as it shrieked. It went silent and slipped into the
extended arm, not my arm, a strangers arm, one I
recognized from nights past.
I walked to the door, taking one last look at the
lifeless body of Mr. Kinsley slumped back in his chair,
eyes staring blankly at the ceiling, mouth open in one
futile, final cry for help. I switched the lights off and the
tingling feeling returned.

I jerked awake with Allister holding me, my sobs
quieted into his chest, grabbing at him hysterically,
wanting to hold something real, substantial, instead of the
dream world tormenting me. I began to calm and think
clearly again as the smell of lilac filled my senses. Then, I
pushed him away as my anger built up in me. This was
his fault. He did this to me and now no one was safe,
even the amigos could be in danger.

“You can’t just pop in anytime you want,” I
scolded.
“I’m sorry, but I didn’t know you had dreams,” he
said.
“Nightmares, visions,” I corrected, wiping the
tears from my cheeks with the backs of my hands.
“What about?”
“Tonight Mr. Kinsley died. I went to his room at
school and took something vapory out of his body and he
died.”
Allister looked at me, doubt and horror competing
for control of his features.
“I’m sure it’s real. I saw other people killed and
then read about it in the newspaper.” I stopped short,
afraid of what Allister might think of my confession.
“I need to check something. Are you alright for a
minute?” he asked.
I shrugged and he shimmered into nothingness.
It felt longer than a minute as apprehension grew for what
might come next. Then he reappeared and knelt down
next to me. He looked at me, terror alone filling his eyes.
“What?” I whispered.
“Mr. Kinsley
is
dead.”
“How is this possible? How am I killing all these
people in my dreams?”
“You said you went to his classroom and took
something from him?”
“I went to his classroom and killed him.”
He shook his head, staring down at the floor. He
looked at me, his eyes filled with compassion. “Britt, you
aren’t killing people. You’re witnessing someone else
killing them.”
“But, I’m right there when they’re killed. I’m as
good as killing them myself.”
“You’re seeing through the eyes of the Eternal
who took your guardian angel.”
“What? How could this be happening? How am I
seeing through the eyes of that monster?”
“I don’t know, but I know someone who might,”
he said.
“Who?” I asked.
“My sister, Angelina.”
“How would she know?”
“Angelina has the ability to sense a person who
has been in a room before her or touched an object she
touches. She may be able to touch you and see who this
Eternal is.”
“I thought you knew who he was?”
“We never identified him, though with Angelina’s
help, we might be able to sense where he plans to go
next.”
“You think the Eternal who killed Mr. Kinsley is
connected to me after taking my guardian angel?” I
couldn’t wrap my head around this.
“Let’s go find out,” he said extending a hand to
me.
I hesitated, not looking forward to the feeling of
shimmering again, then placed my hand in his and had
the same tingling feeling I felt in my dream. We now
stood in a bedroom; a large four post bed with a silky,
blue canopy took up a large portion of the generous
space. Other ornate and luxurious furniture filled the
space while the light smell of potpourri filled the room,
nothing like the lilac I smell after witnessing the murders.
Angelina sat looking at us from the edge of her
bed, no sign of surprise on her face. “Brother, we are now
bringing the secret into our very house?” she said with
disapproval.
“She dreamt of the Eternal we seek,” Allister told
her, causing Angelina’s eyebrow to rise.
“She keeps surprising you, Allister. Soon you will
need to test her for all her possible skills,” she said,
standing and moving over next to me.
She stopped before me and placed a hand on my
head, a rush of energy dropping me to my knees and a
flash of white across my vision. Seconds later, I knelt on
the floor, blinking rapidly, trying to get my vision back.
Allister knelt beside me, his arm around my shoulders,
comforting me.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
“Yeah, fine, I enjoy being blinded,” I said.
“You whine a lot,” Angelina quipped.
“I’m still getting used to this Eternal stuff,” I shot
back. “So what did you find out? Or did you blind me just
for fun?”
“I believe I would have done it just for fun
anyway, but I discovered who the Eternal is. His name is
Kendal Stratford. He has been in Europe prior to now, but
decided to do his dirty deeds here so his family would
avoid further scrutiny.”
“You got all that from touching my head?” I
gawked at her, her face still fuzzy in my vision.
“Indeed,” she smiled.
“Wow,” I gasped. “How do we stop him?”
“It is too early to speak in ‘we,’” Angelina pointed
out.
“But I’m in this up to my eyeballs. I need to stop
him as much, maybe more, than you do.” I let Allister
help me to my feet. He stood next to me, still supporting
most of my weight.
“We need to get you out of here first,” Angelina
said. “Before Mother or Father sense you. I’m surprised
they haven’t yet; you give off a strange, different vibe
than I’m accustomed to.”
“You feel it too, the pureness, the pull deep
inside?” Allister asked eagerly.
She nodded, much more sedate than her brother.
“Come with us,” Allister suggested. “We can
discuss this at Britt’s house,” he said pulling me closer as
the tingles swept through me and we stood in the pottery
shed once more.
Angelina sparkled into existence off to one side
and looked around.
“Can Kendal sense you and your family are here
in Grand Rapids?” I asked.
“I believe it’s the reason he chose this location for
his behavior,” Allister said.
“But, if you just moved here, how could he know
already?” I pressed.
“He may have some foretelling ability similar to
Angelina,” Allister surmised.
“Not likely,” Angelina snorted. “More likely he
followed us here from New York.”
“How many guardian angels has he destroyed?” I
asked, now making the connection that was the true
nature of the vapor in my visions.
“Six, including Mr. Kinsley tonight,” Angelina
said.
“Is that enough to alert the angels to you?”
“Plenty,” Allister sighed. “They may not detect us,
but they will come to investigate and, seeing how they
can’t sense us, it will identify what we are.”
“Why aren’t your parents involved in this?” I
asked.
“They are,” Allister answered quickly.
“But with you among us, Allister fears the
repercussions of his actions. We must pursue Kendal
alone, else make our parents aware of Allister’s
indiscretion,” Angelina pointed out.
“Why is saving me so bad?”
“It isn’t about you,” Allister comforted. “We
aren’t allowed to touch people already gone with our
powers. If we bring someone back who is already gone,
we can create soulless monsters we will need to destroy;
else they go on a rampage ravaging every guardian angel
around.”
“I could be one of those?” I asked.
“We’re not sure, yet,” Angelina said.
“How do you mean?”
“It can take up to a year before a soulless can turn
destructive, until then, they can function like any other
person with a soul,” Allister explained.
“Then one day, snap.” Angelina snapped her
fingers. “The person turns into a crazed maniac.”
“What?” I turned to Allister, fear and anger
gripping me all at once. “I might be a monster?”
“No, you aren’t.” Allister glared at Angelina.
“How can you be so sure, Brother?”
“Feel her essence,” he urged. “She is as pure as
any Eternal I have sensed.”
“It’s true, I feel an attraction pulling me to her,”
Angelina agreed reluctantly, “Although one can never tell
for certain.”
Allister rolled his eyes and gave his sister a dirty
look.
“We should go,” Angelina pointed out again. “If
Mother and Father discover us gone, they will question
our whereabouts.”
“I’ll see you later,” Allister told me, then
vanished.
Angelina stood in the corner, still looking at me.
“Don’t hurt my brother,” she warned. “He cares about
you, but sometimes people want something bad for them.
You won’t like me if you hurt him.”
I stared, mouth open, as she shimmered into thin
air.
Not only did I not have a soul, now I had a
protective sister warning me not to hurt her brother,
another Eternal going around destroying angels, and
possibly more angels on their way to kill Allister, his
family, and me. How could my life go from horrible, to
wonderful, back to horrible so quickly?