The Angel Side (10 page)

“Are you ready for a night full of adrenaline, danger
,
and questionable sanity?” Uriel shouted over the rumble of our salutations as he tossed rolled pieces of cloth to each of us.

“What do you have planned?” Gabriel asked excitedly as he unrolled the cloth. Uriel had given us all matching black t-shirts.
Gabriel’s shirt had
‘Doomed Groom’ written in large bold print
. In identical lettering, mine and the
others said “Groom’s
Funeral
Crew”.

“Well, my dear brother, you’ll just have to wait and find out. Get your shirt on. Limo’s outside. Let’s go.” Uriel replied with a
mischievous
grin. Doing as
we’d
been instructed, the eight of us changed into our new shirts and made our way to the limousine.

Our first destination had been a night club in D.C.
,
full of scantily clad women and sweaty guys smothered in cheap cologne. For an hour we sat at a table in the V.I.P. section ignoring the women on the dance floor who desperately attempted to get our attention. Two girls seemed especially interested in Saraqael and his man-skirt. Another group of girls tried enticing Michael to the dance floor by tonguing and fondling each other while never taking their eyes off of him. The
deafening
thump-bump-da-da-thwap and sirens of the music made
any
conversation impossible. Not that we’d be able to talk about anything in particular since our waitress kept buzzing around trying to up-sale our water
s
to magnum bottles of Grey Goose
v
odka.

“Is this all we’re doing tonight?” Gabriel leaned over
the table
and hollered.

“I hope not. I’m bored out of my mind.” I replied.

“Hey, can we get out of here
?
” Gabriel yelled to Uriel.

“What?” Uriel shouted back.

“I said I’m ready to leave!” Gabriel screamed at the top of his lungs just as the music had come to a stop before the next song. In unison
,
the group let out a sigh of relief and made our way out of the club.

“So now what?”
I asked as we stood in the parking lot.

“Anyone around?”
Uriel scanned the parking lot
,
causing each of us to take notice of the surroundings.

“No one I can see.” Remiel answered.

“Then let’s kick this pig!” Uriel howled seconds before he flashed. Upon hearing Uriel’s decree, I needed no explanation of what the
rest of the
night would hold in store. Sharing a precarious grin with Gabriel
,
we took off to follow Uriel and the others.

Our next destination reeked of sulfur, swine feces, and decomposing flesh.
Sucking in the putrid air, I knew
some
good times were
ahead
. T
he
Wastelands
had been
a place for the ones Lucifer had no use for but didn’t deem necessary to damn to Purgatory. Condemned to live on the outskirts of Hell in their own filth, the half man, half swine creatures
,
dubbed Susmen
,
r
oamed the
lands eating everything in their path
,
awaiting the day Lucifer would find a use for them. Having depleted most of their resources with their insatiable appetites, the Susmen turned to cannibalism.

We first stumbled across the sounder of these pig-men while reconnoitering the area for another entrance into Lucifer’s
territory
. If the sight of bi-pedal boars hadn’t been enough to shock us, their cardinal red eyes, serrated tusk and jagged teeth were definite cause for alarm. Having never encountered such creatures we decided to test their abilities in battle
in case it had been some new army Lucifer
was
creating
. Despite their gross deformities, they proved to have brute strength, impressive agility, and sprinted at alarming speeds. However, they held two weaknesses; they slept deep through the night and what
ever
they touched, they consumed whether it be friend or foe.

The rush we experienced running through the droves, making them collide and gnaw at one another
,
proved addictive
,
and thus the Pig Bowl
was
invented.

“Al
l
right, you remember the rules. No weapons, no wings, no pushing
,
and no tripping the other players. First team to get their ball to the other side of the canyon wins
,
and I mean every member of your team. We’re not going to have a repeat of last
time…Raphael.” Saraqael whispered, giving Raphael a stern glance.

“It’s not my fault Remiel can’t keep up.”
Raphael rebuffed
.

“Groom
and best man are
team captains. Pick your men.” Saraqael ignored Raphael’s defensive comment and handed Gabriel and
me
each an American football.

“I’ll take Michael, Remiel
,
and Uriel.” Gabriel answered.

“Prepare to lose, Brother.” I taunted.

“Yeah
,
we’ll see about that.” Gabriel shot back.

Saraqael, Raphael, Raguel
,
and I took our position on the southern peak looming over the canyon below. The others took theirs on the northern peak.

“Raguel, you take the ball. The rest of us will clear a path. Stay on us. If you start falling behind or one is coming up on you, whistle.” I dictated. Raguel tucked the football under his arm and nodded. Once we were ready I flashed a golden light across the night sky. Seconds later Gabriel flashed his golden beam. With both teams ready, we counted to ten. Then with a cry appropriate for any battle we charged off the peak, free falling to the valley of sleeping Susmen below.

The ground beneath us fissured and shook as we landed in the middle of the drove
,
startling them awake. It took a few short moments for the swine to realize food had arrived.

“Run!” I shouted as the Susmen gave chase. In a ‘V’ formation, I took the lead with Raphael and Saraqael at the flanks
,
and
Raguel close behind, we rushed through a horde of Susmen. As we broke through they’d collide with one another and commence ripping each other apart. Dodging left, right and even jumping over a few
,
we made our way through the mass of clawed hooves, barbed tusks and saw teeth when we saw Gabriel’s team not far off in the distance.

Remiel led the opposing pack with a hefty lead as his teammates fought to keep up. I chuckled at the sight. Remiel
wasn’t
the fastest of the Arches. As a matter of fact, he’d been the slowest. Why they would choose him to take point had been beyond me. As I approached, it appeared as if he had been
shouting something
,
but I had been unable to make it out over the snarling beasts surrounding us. With each team pushing forward, Remiel’s desperate cries became clearer and clearer.

“Oh
,
dear
L
ord
,
help me! I’m gonna die! I’m gonna die!” Running on his heels had been the biggest, ugliest, rabid Susmen I’d ever seen.

“Serpentine!
Remiel!
Serpentine!”
I wailed
,
but it had been too late. With a swipe of his
gnarled tusk
the Susmen had Remiel pinned on the ground.

“Get ‘em off! Get ‘em off me!” Remiel held the beast up with all his strength as the Susmen snapped his teeth mere inches from his face. Ignoring the rules of the game I flashed into the creature knocking him off only to find us surrounded by his kin.

“Go! Go! Go!” A voice hollered as I saw streaks from my brothers flashing to safety. Following their lead I grabbed Remiel’s wrist and took off to the northern mountain peak.

“That was too close. Thank you so much, Rahovart.” Remiel said
,
shaking my hand.

“Oh man
,
you
should have seen your face. ‘
Ahh
, he’s
gonna
eat me.” Raphael mocked
,
causing the group to burst out in laughter.

“I’ve never seen you run so fast.” Gabriel added.

“Hey
,
Remiel, I think you left your balls somewhere on the field.
Might want to go get ‘em.”
Uriel joked.

“Ah, go ahead and make jokes. You didn’t have to outrun
it
.”

“Well, you didn’t quite outrun it either.” I added to the banter.

“Best game ever. One I’ll never
—
Saraqael
had been cut off a
s a
silent siren only an Arch
had the power to
hear
wailed
.

In an instant we all took off for home. When we arrive
d
it seemed every soldier we had stood at the gates in the ready position staring at something beyond our golden bars.

Shoving our way through to the front of the formation, the eight of us froze in our tracks. Only a few yards away stood Lilith and her enormous pack of rats. Before I
had the chance to ready
my sword, the hord
e charged the gates, knocking them
off
the
hinges.

I had show
n
up to the bachelorette party out of obligation to my friendship with Amy, but I had d
one
everything
possible
in order
to avoid any participation in the inane games. After being badgered by twenty five different women for being a party pooper
,
I gave in when it came time to make toilet paper wedding dresses.

Of course to ensure her team won the
t.p
. fashion show, Amy gave my team the tallest “bride” in the whole house. I tried my best to create a long flowing veil on Amy’s sister
,
Meggan
,
but her long slender build had me stretching up to the very tip of my toes causing my calves to burn from the strain. Once I got a strand of paper tucked into her golden blonde hair, my legs would beg for solace. I’d plop down on my heels, ripping the delicate paper. Frustration building to
the
boiling point, I regretted my decision to participate in such a ridiculous ritual. Relief came as the
ding dong
of the doorbell chimed over the
rambunctious
chattering of toilet paper divas.

Before anyone had a chance to contest, I rushed to the door and flung it open. My dad leaned against the door frame
,
barely holding himself up. He looked as though he
’d
gone
through a blender o
nly to
be spat out into
an
inferno
.

“Mosh!” I called for Amy
as my dad collapsed in my arms.

It had been a nick
name I’d given her after attending a Gog
o
l Bordello concert. Sweet, petite Amy wearing
C
apri pants, a t-shirt
,
and flip-flops rushed into the testoste
rone dominated mosh pit and
bashed into the crowd fearlessly. I’d step out of the pit to catch my breath and watch as Amy’s golden ringlets would wave over the crowd as she sent her body flying into another fellow
mosher
to the beat of the music. Up until Amy had been given healing powers by Father a few months ago, only I had ever called her Mosh
. Needing to keep her safe
during our living room
battle with Vetis and Pyro, we hid her upstairs
telling her
only to come out if she heard her nickname.

I had been grateful Amy had been given the ability to heal. She had used it on many occasions
for
everything from small shaving
nicks to restoring Ra and my dad’s wings after they had been cut from them.
Seeing Amy’s great power
firsthand,
I hadn’
t been too scared about my dad’s condition.

“I’m sorry, baby girl. I tried to protect him.” My dad sputtered out as I lowered him to the porch.

“Who dad?
Who did you try to protect?
Dad?”
I panicked as he lost consciousness.

“What happened?” Amy rushed to my side, pulling my dad’s head from my lap to hers.

“I don’t know. Heal him, Amy. You got to heal him.” I sobbed.

“
Shh
.”
Amy held her ear to my dad’s chest, when out of the blue
René
stepped over us
, barking orders
.

“
We need to get him out of here. Etta, go get the wheelbarrow
and tarp from the shed
. Amy, go back to the party.
Tell everyone I had a fellow addict in need
,
and Etta has to drive me to meet them as a sobriety precaution.
We’ll meet you at our house
when it’s over.”

Dumbfounded
,
Amy and I sat there staring at each other, mouths agape.

“Hop to.” René demanded, snapping her fingers.

I clumsily took off for the shed.
I ran back to the bottom of the porch with the wheelbarrow and tarp as instructed. I watched amazed as René deadlifted my dad and threw him over her shoulder as if she were a seasoned
m
arine on the battlefield.

“Don’t just stand there gawking, move the tarp.”
René
grunted as she made her way down the stairs.

Leaning over the wheelbarrow, René dropped my dad inside, tossing the tarp over him. Clenching the handles,
René
took off in a sprint towards home. I found it surprising
ly
difficult to keep up with her in her beige stilettos, though I had been wearing a pair of hand-me-down combat boots.

“Get the door. Hurry.” with a surge of strength, René pulled the wheelbarrow up the stairs of our house effortlessly.

S
linging the door open, I walked ahead making sure the floor to the living
room
had been clear of any obstructions.
René
positioned the wheelbarrow next to couch, tilting it until my dad finally rolled onto the dull pink floral cushions.

“Get some warm water and some rags out of the kitchen.”
René
commanded, removing her bright yellow blazer.

As I came back into the living room with every rag I
had been able to
find and a pitcher of hot water
from the faucet
,
the
realization
that
René must have known about my dad dawned on me.

The my
stery had been how? After my dad became a High Knight Templar two years ago, he planned every exit and arrival to a T. Any celestial being
that
might possibly stop
by our home in Quantico
had been given instruction to go straight to the attic as quietly as possible. When Ra and Gabriel came into the picture, we always took every precaution needed to ensure
René
never found out about the strange coming
s
and goings in the house. I had even gone as far as drugging her right before our house had been sacked by Vetis three months ago.
Had we
missed something
?
Did we accidently let the truth slip out during conversation? Or had she overheard us? How long has she known?
If we had, René never let on she knew.

“How did you find out?” I ask
ed
as René ripped the towels from my hands.
Dipping a rag in the warm water,
René
shot me a contemplative glance.

“Since it
all
started
,
really. But I thought with vodka and your pills, it would go away
,
and it did for a while.
Then we moved here
,
and it all came crashing back.”
René
sighed as she wiped blood from my dad’s forehead.

“You know Alastor and Ra weren’t the only Demons here. Your mother was nice enough to keep bugging me to sober up and take care of you
as
I
had
promised. I would try to ignore her with another bottle
,
but she always found a way to get my attention. She’d move your picture around, write ‘
René
tta’ with a slash between Ren and Etta on the bathroom mirror with my
favorite lipstick, reminding me that she named you after me. But I would just drink more
. Every time I looked at you, it was
as if I were
looking at your mom and seeing her write her little reminders of what a failure I
was
. You have to understand I never meant to hurt you
,
but I wanted it to stop
,
and you seemed to be the source of it all. I
assumed
if I could get rid of you, you’d take it with you.
”
René
wrung out the rag in the pitcher as she released a heavy sigh.

I had known in North Carolina Alastor had messed with
René
and fueled her alcoholis
m
,
but I never imagined in an attempt to help me
,
my mother only made it worse. Persephone’s little reminders had been what drove
René
to hate me to the point of abuse
,
furthering my descent int
o madness.
I
had
never put much thought into
René
’s side but hearing it now, I understood why she had done the things she did.

“When I left, I thought
it
would end
.
But your mother followed me
.
She told me your father had been hurt and
lay
dying. I got to the house just as a Demon and
an
Angel were leaving. When I rushed into the house
to check on your father
,
there were these three people standing over him, watching
as your father
lie there screaming in
pain.
I thought they were killing him. I loved your father so much. If they were going to kill him, they would have to go through me. So I pulled the vodka bottle from my purse and rushed toward them,
but
the man in the middle stopped me. Without a word he told me what I needed to do. I needed to sober up and stand back
,
because you and your father were going to need me. So I did.”
A tear rolled down
René
’s
cheek as she gently stroked a rag against my father’s bloody, unfurled wing.

Squeezing her shoulder, I hoped the contact would comfort her.
René
placed
a hand on top of mine, giving it
a soft peck
, then nuzzled her cheek against our hands. It had been a rare glimpse of the woman I had known before our world had been invaded by Angels and Demons. I had missed the old
René
and not knowing if I
’d
ever see her again, I took advantage of the moment.
Flinging my arms around
René
, I sucked her into a hug I’d been dying for her to give me for years. Whether she had
the same
feeling
or simply
sensed
my desperation, René tightly wrapped her arms
around
me in return.

“Sorry it took so long. My sister Cathy wouldn’t stop talking.” Amy announced, breaking up
René
and I
.

Stepping back from the couch to give Amy room,
René
put her arm around me
.
A
blue flash ignited between my dad and Amy’s hands.

“Come on.” Amy gritted through clench teeth as she gave my father another jolt.

The air had been thick with fear and anticipation, f
ollowed by relief when my dad finally opened his eyes.

“That bastard.
I have to go,” Dad said
,
gripping his head as he slowly sat up, swinging his legs over the edge of the couch. Relieved, René and I rushed to his side as he attempted to stand.

“You’re in no condition to go anywhere. What happened?”
René
asked
.

Seeing my father hesitate at the realization René had been in the room while his wings were out, I chimed in.
“She knows
,
D
ad. What happened?”

“The gates were attacked. We were overwhelmed
,
and that stupid husband of yours got in my way. I have to go back.”