Marigold Flowers: A Little Blue

by Garnet D Toritto & Garnet F Vaccaro

  I had just finished eating and thinking what a happy belly I have when my phone started buzzing. Mom just blew up my phone. Apparently, my dad and Ivy were at the house and Daisy was going crazy. I needed to get home quick so that Dad and Ivy would leave. It was my day with Dad, but he was really early. He usually arrives closer to 4:00, and it was only 1:30.

  I yelled bye to my cousins and kissed Aunt Poppie and then decided to run home. I made it home in about three minutes because, well, I am fast and now with my demon powers I am really super fast. I just better be careful no one sees me, or there will be lots of questions.

  Mom was not happy when I arrived home. She was trying to shush Daisy while arguing with my dad and Ivy. Actually, it was more than arguing. I have never seen my mom so mad. I wondered how she was keeping her demon under control as I could feel her power in the air; it was barely contained. I actually wondered what Mom’s power was … could she incinerate Ivy? A deep dark part of me hoped so. Then I wondered if I could.

  Before I could explore that thought more, I needed to get Daisy out of the room. She was growling and carrying on at my dad and Ivy like she wanted to rip them apart. Mom had a vise grip on her, but she would not calm down. Daisy’s feelings were contradictory. She was terrified and protective. The way she was acting was like she was trying to protect herself and Mom from Dad and Ivy. She did not want to leave the room with me, but once I had a grip on her, Mom rested her hand on her head and in the softest, calmest voice she told Daisy it was ok and she needed to go with me to my room. Daisy let out a whine but followed me.

  Mom says I am Daisy’s puppy, even though I am older than Daisy. In that moment, I totally understood what Mom meant. It was like Daisy was glued to my leg. Once we got to my room and I shut the door, I let my demon out, hoping I would be able to hear what the grown-ups were arguing over.

  Apparently, Dad found out that at my annual physical they did not do bloodwork and Ivy was worried for my health. She wanted to take me to her office to have the blood drawn and tested so that my dad knew it was done. Mom was adamant in her refusal. WOW, that was a good sentence, but I digress….

  I think Mom was worried what they might find in my blood, although I’ve had blood drawn and tested before. I didn’t have it done at my last visit because I got four separate shots needed for sixth grade and the doctor said we could hold off on the bloodwork until next year, which worked for me. Usually Dad let Mom take care of all my doctor visits and such, so it was odd that he was so concerned about the lack of bloodwork.

  It sounded like Mom won the argument. I wasn’t surprised since she does periodically reminds me that she is the boss. She then tapped on my door and told me to get my things together as I was going with my dad now. I opened the door just a smidge since I didn’t want Daisy to escape, and I peered out to see Mom standing there. She told me that my dad and Ivy were outside waiting for me so I should get my things together quickly and that she needed to speak with me before I left.

  I had never seen my mom look so nervous before or so angry. She turned to me with worry in her eyes and said, “Marigold, something is off. There is something not right about Ivy. Do not let her draw any of your blood. Do you understand?” I told her I did and hugged her tight. She hugged me back and said she would see me later when my dad dropped me back home.

  The day with Dad and Ivy was strange. Mom was right, something was off about Ivy, and there seemed to be something off about my dad, too. I could not put my finger on it, but it was strange, and it made my stomach feel all knotted up. But nothing out of the ordinary happened. We headed to the store, and Dad bought me a new pair of sneakers, and then we went to the movies before going out for dinner. It was all perfectly normal, except that it was not.

  Mom was engrossed in her writing when I let myself in. Usually Dad walks me in and then makes small talk with Mom, but tonight he and Ivy just dropped me off. At least they waited until I got into the house before speeding away. Well, you can’t actually speed away where Mom and I live but drive away sounds so boring so I took a little poetic license there. Poetic license, according to Mom, is the freedom to depart from the facts for dramatic effect. She also sometimes refers to it as exaggerating the truth. Either way, it makes for good story telling but once again … I am off topic.

  So, anyway, I let myself in and was hoping to sneak past Mom as she wrote so that I would not have to play 50 questions (again, poetic license) with her on how the evening went with my dad and Ivy. But no such luck. Daisy was extremely excited to see me and kept sniffing and checking me over and over. I could feel the worry coming off her little puppy body. I stood perfectly still as she inspected me, and when she calmed down and appeared satisfied nothing was wrong with me, I looked at Mom and said, “Surprise! I’m home.”

  Mom smiled as she said, “Yes, I can see that. I take it the day with your dad and Ivy was uneventful?” I filled her in on the totally normal evening as quickly as I could as I wanted to head to my room and write down all my thoughts on the evening for my research. Tomorrow I was heading back to the library, and I hoped Tessa was there so I could get into the restricted section. I had two days to do my research before I went to my dad’s house for the weekend, and my gut told me I needed to be prepared. Just so you know, I always trust my gut and so should you. If something doesn’t feel right in your belly, listen to the warning. It is better to be safe than sorry.

  So, as I was saying, something wasn’t right and I had two days to research and prepare. I hoped it was enough time.

  Chapter 9

  I spent the next two days at the library doing research in the restricted section. I have to say, it was almost like Tessa was expecting me since I saw her the moment I walked in. In fact, I arrived so early on both days that I had to wait for a non-ghost librarian to unlock the door. For me, during summer, that is saying a lot.

  I said good morning to the non-ghost librarian and quickly followed Tessa as I knew I had a lot of work ahead of me. I made sure I brought some provisions with me so that I would not have to worry about leaving to go get food. Mom was a bit surprised when she saw me packing my lunch box, but she didn’t say anything as I kissed her good-bye and told her I would be at the library working on my summer reading. My fingers were crossed, and I hoped she didn’t ask me what I was reading as I would have been busted. Under her Mom scrutiny I would have cracked and told the truth. Which of course would have meant telling her about the restricted room, which would then disappear, and I would not be able to research, and I am getting myself worked up over things that didn’t happen. Breathe….

  Ok, where were we? Yes, I followed Tessa to the restricted room, and once we were safely behind its closed door I filled her in. She was a flurry of activity as she pulled book after book from the shelves. I watched in fascination until she seemed satisfied she had all that she was looking for. She then turned to me and said, “I want you to look through this pile. Specifically look for anything that mentions blood. If Ivy was trying to get your blood, that must be the key.”

  We spent the next couple of hours in silence as we both looked for references to blood with almost no luck. In fact, it seemed like information on blood was intentionally missing from the books. Tessa was extremely frustrated, but we kept looking. Just before lunchtime I came across a passage in one of the books that caught my eye. I almost missed looking at this book and when I tell you why you are going to think I am out of my mind, which I very well could be, especially being a demon/angel/human hybrid.

  So, this book seemed to be camouflaging itself, just like a chameleon. Its cover changed to blend into what it was laying on, or if it was laid on top of another book it reflected that book’s cover. It was quite a peculiar thing to see. But the sunlight hit it just right, and it caught my eye.

  Now the passage I found had nothing to do with blood. It talked about healing a broken angel. This is what it said:

  Angels are powerful creatures of light. They fight on the side of good but are by
no means not without fault. They do sometimes make grave mistakes and lose sight of their purpose. And sometimes forces beyond their control can shift the very essence of their being, leaving them wounded and broken. A broken angel can be healed but at great sacrifice to the healer. Only an act of pure unselfishness can link the angelic heartstrings and heal the broken.

  There was more, but I couldn’t read it, as it was in a language I could not begin to understand. Which made me wonder why I could read the passage I did. And just as that thought crossed my mind, I looked back at the page and everything was written in another language. I interrupted Tessa to see if she could read it, but when she looked at the book she told me it was blank. “Marigold,” she said, “this is just a blank journal. I don’t know how it got mixed in with our books.”

  When I shared with her what I read, her eyes grew large with astonishment and she told me to write down as much as I remembered immediately as it was important. So I did.

  We didn’t find anything else over the next day and a half of research. I felt woefully unprepared for my weekend with Dad and Ivy.

  Chapter 10

  I had the hardest time trying to fall asleep, knowing that in the morning my dad was picking me up. Normally, I am very excited about my weekends with my dad, but this time I only felt trepidation. My demon side would not settle down. In fact, I could not morph back into my human form no matter how hard I tried. Mom said I was agitated and talking about it would help. But I didn’t want to talk about it. Something bad was going to happen, and I had no solution.

  It was after midnight when my mom came into my room. She said that tossing and turning all night long was not going to help matters. In fact, it was making things worse because both she and Daisy were being affected by whatever was bugging me. Basically, since I couldn’t sleep neither could they; so Mom told me to get up and follow her.

  So I followed my mom into the woods behind our apartment in the middle of the night. There the two of us stood in our demon form with the moonlight shining down and kissing our wings. Mom stretched her wings and gave them a flap, which created a gentle breeze across my face. It made me laugh, so I did it back to her and as I did she took off! I looked up, and she was near the top of the trees looking down at me. I saw her wave her arms and beckon me to join her. So I copied what she did, and to my amazement my body floated to the top of the trees.

  Mom beamed with joy and said, “The best remedy for a restless night is a flight in the moonlight.” And with that I flew with my mom for the very first time. I can’t even begin to describe how it felt. We were hidden in the cloak of darkness, and owing to the hour most everyone in our town was sleeping. We took an aerial tour of our neighborhood. It looked so beautiful from the sky.

  Our complex glowed in the moonlight; the gardens and pool seemed to sparkle. I had never realized just how beautiful my home really is. I was blown away as I followed Mom over the various buildings before she gently landed on the roof of the local church. I landed next to her, more clumsily than gently, but elated by the flight.

  “Well, what do you think? It’s pretty cool to be able to fly, isn’t it?” asked Mom.

  I was speechless. Taking flight and soaring through the night sky was like a dream come true. Just as I was about to answer, the church bell tolled and I tumbled off the roof. Mom had me before I even thought about opening my wings. She laughed at the shock on my face and told me it would take some time before relying on my wings became instinct. With that she told me it was time for us to head back home and get some sleep.

  I did not think I would be able to fall asleep after what was possibly the most amazing night of my life. My adrenaline was pumping, and I felt like I could fly forever. But I followed Mom, and we landed in the woods before walking back to our apartment.

  Mom kissed me good night and headed to her room. I climbed into my bed after making sure Daisy was settled on her bed, wondering if I would ever fall asleep as I was still so worried about the morning. But as soon as I snuggled in I realized just how tired I felt. I was asleep before I could think another thought.

  Chapter 11

  Mom let me sleep in the next morning, and when I awoke she was working away on her story. However, on the counter she had set out for me a rainbow bagel and a bottle of Starbucks iced vanilla coffee with a note that read, “Call your Dad. Please don’t tell him I gave you coffee. I love you. xoxoxox.” Mom knows me so well. A rainbow bagel and Starbucks iced vanilla coffee is one of my favorite combinations. When my dad first found out that I like coffee, he was not happy. He kept going on about how it would stunt my growth and how irresponsible it was of my mom to give it to me. Mom just laughed and told him to get over it. It was definitely not a civil exchange.

  I slowly ate my bagel and wondered how long I could wait before calling my dad to let him know I was awake. I was totally procrastinating when my tablet pinged, showing a message from my dad. “Hey sleepyhead are you up yet?” Well, I really didn’t have much of a choice anymore, so I answered. I just prayed Ivy was scheduled to work the whole weekend as I wasn’t sure how I could avoid her from getting my blood.

  I hate interrupting my mom when she is writing because it always feels like I’m disrupting her flow, although she has never once told me I was bothering her. But today, I was interrupting. I needed a game plan or something. Just as I was about to call to her, the phone rang and sang in its computerized voice, “call from Grandma and Grandpa.” Mom looked up from her work and nodded for me to pick it up.

  “Good morning, my lovey,” said Grandma, as the line connected.

  I responded back with an extremely happy and relieved “Grandma!” If anyone had an answer to my conundrum (this is another word Mom has been using recently, and I love how it rolls off the tongue :-)), it was Grandma.

  Grandma did not waste any time, she got right to why she was calling. She let me know that Mom had told her about the argument with my dad and how something seemed to be off with Ivy. Grandma said she has a theory on what might be going on. She told me that there are some humans who are aware of angels and demons. They are very rare, but they can sense the power we hold. Most of them are allies to the angels, and they rarely cross the demons or even let on that they know about them. However, she remembers a story from very early in angel history where one of these special humans tried to capture demon power for himself. He did it by stealing demon blood. It was a time in angel history known as the Great War. Angels and demons were locked in battles such as the world had never seen. This human knew this and used it to his advantage. He watched the battles and waited until a demon was injured and close to death and then stole his blood. He used the blood to imbibe (I think Grandma was channeling Mom with that word) demon power. It corrupted his soul to a point of such evil that for the first time in history angels and demons had to work together to destroy the dark thing he had become.

  Grandma said she believes that Ivy might be one of these special humans and she may be trying to capture my power. I listened, slightly stunned by Grandma’s revelation. How did this fit with the passage I read yesterday? Do I risk losing access to the restricted room and tell Grandma about it? And then almost as if the universe had heard my question, a feeling of relief washed over me and I knew it was ok to share what I had learned with Grandma.

  “Grandma, I need to tell you something.” With that I told her all about Tessa and the magical room and the weird book in the unknown language. Grandma was silent on the other end of the phone. So quiet, in fact, that I thought we got disconnected.

  Then she said, “Could it be that Ivy was an angel?” It actually sounded like she was asking herself a question out loud since I was totally stumped. She then went on to say, “I do not know what is going on, and I need to see if I can access this room you found in the library, but something is very, very wrong.” Grandma had me tell her exactly how I found the room and what Tessa looked like. I gave her as many details as I could remember, hoping that it would give her a way to conn
ect with Tessa.

  “Marigold, listen to me closely,” Grandma said urgently. I waited for her to tell me what to do when through the phone I heard Grandma singing in the most beautiful voice. It stunned me, and I stood there with the phone in my hand mesmerized by the melody. I felt my whole body tingle as if it were being engulfed in a bubble. As quickly as Grandma’s song began, it ended, but the tingles remained. I told Grandma I did not know what she just did but I was tingly.

  Grandma told me it was an angel protection shield. Guardian angels use it to protect their human charges in times of grave danger. And while I was not officially her charge she thought it might help.

  I hoped Grandma was right as my dad was picking me up in about 15 minutes so I was out of time on a solution. I quickly filled Mom in, and she hugged me tight before telling me to go get dressed unless I wanted my dad to pick me up in my pajamas. Hey, it would not be the first time.

  Chapter 12

  My dad was late picking me up, but that is not unusual for him although it does annoy me. I mean, I know I was the one who overslept but … when I texted I was up he had said he would be there in an hour and now it was two hours later. As always he apologized profusely when he arrived, saying he needed to drop Ivy off at the hospital as some emergency had come up that was the cause for his delay.

  My annoyance turned to joy at that statement. No Ivy this weekend … WOO HOO! Even with Grandma’s shield in place, I was still concerned, but if Ivy was not going to be around then I could relax. Plus it meant Grandma had some time to see if she could connect with Tessa and get the answer to her question of whether Ivy was an angel.