Marked, Soul Guardians Book 1

by Kim Richardson

  It seemed like days had passed when Kara finally opened her eyes.

  Her body was enveloped in something soft. It followed her every move like the waterbed she had once tried at her Aunt Tracy’s house. Kara turned her head in every which way and saw only orange. As she moved, a semi-liquid substance pressed against her like jell-o. She reached out. Her hands stopped at a harder subsurface. She felt up and down and around. She was inside a globule. She opened her mouth to scream, and liquid poured in. She closed her mouth again.

  Kara strained to see past the semi-translucent shell. Shadows of bubbles floated all around her. She looked down at herself; her clothes were gone. She was completely naked. She whirled around inside her bubble, kicking with her legs and flailing her arms.

  There was a sudden loud pop…Kara felt the bubble break below her, and she slipped and fell into a pool of water. She struggled to the surface, where buckets of the jell-o substance came drooling down on her.

  “Gross!” she yelled, as she wiped her eyes. She was inside a massive warehouse-like building made of shimmering brass metal. A great metal contraption of interwoven pipes and wires stood at her left, reaching all the way to the top…like her uncle’s car garage, but without the oily cigarette smell. The pool ran the length of the building and sparkled in the sun light, which spilled from the skylights above.

  Thousands of soft orange spheres the size of a person hovered in the air, like giant soap bubbles. They bounced off of each other in the crowded space.

  Kara heard a shuffle of feet and turned to see a cherub with a glass jar full of souls stop at an operational panel on the left. With some effort, the cherub stood on the top of its toes and dumped the souls into an opening. They flowed up through a pipe, where she couldn’t see them, to a giant translucent tube extruded from the top of the machine. The souls rolled inside the machine for a moment and then popped out, one by one, enveloped by orange bubbles. She could make out the silhouettes of GAs wiggling inside these bubbles, as they grew slowly into their human forms.

  Something moved in Kara’s peripheral vision. A group of guardian angels stood below one of the globules, looking up. Suddenly the bag broke, and with a splash, a naked GA plopped into the pool. She heard buzzing as she read a huge flashing neon sign, Healing-Xpress.

  Kara made a face. “Whoa…I think I swallowed too much of that orange stuff.”

  Kara brought her hands to her face. Her body gave off a strong citrus smell, as though the orange substance was some sort of fruit punch. She heard the faint patter of some walking behind her. She turned and looked up into sparkling blue eyes.

  “Here…” David threw her a towel and turned his back. “You can cover yourself with that until we get you some clothes.”

  Kara’s mouth seemed sewn shut. She struggled to open it.

  “Thanks,” she croaked. She pulled herself up and over the ledge into a sitting position. She wiped her body down. “And you’ve been here for how long…staring at my naked body, if that’s what this is?” She wiped her face with the towel and then carefully wrapped herself in it.

  “I just got here.”

  Kara studied David’s back. He had come to see her. Maybe he believed her now?

  She brushed a sticky strand of hair behind her ear. She felt prickling all the way down her back as she tried to come up with something to say. She was never good in these kinds of awkward situations. But then again, she was dead, and she had been naked and covered in sticky orange slime; what could be more awkward than that?

  “You can turn around now.” Kara watched as his body shifted and turned.

  “Hm.” David thinned his lips, a scowl materializing on his brow.

  She studied his face for a moment. She had never seen David look so troubled. It was as though he was fighting something from the inside. When she couldn’t bear it anymore, she asked the one question she’d been dying to ask since he arrived.

  “So…do you believe me now? About the demon’s mark on my leg?”

  David stared at the floor, his face expressionless. “It doesn’t matter what I think. The Legion is divided about what happened. They haven’t come to a decision. Not everyone believes you’re innocent.”

  Kara looked into his face. She wanted David to believe her. It was the truth, after all.

  “You still don’t believe me…and you think I’m some spy?” she said angrily.

  “It doesn’t matter what I think.” His quiet tone was worse than if he’d been yelling.

  “Right…you said that. So then, why are you here?”

  David met her eyes, an unreadable expression on his face. “I’m still your Petty Officer…it’s my job to make sure you’re okay.”

  “Right.” Kara narrowed her eyes and shook her head. “You said the Legion was divided—the Legion—does everybody know about this? And angels have taken sides?”

  A loud splash cut the uncomfortable silence between them. More GAs plopped into the pool, their naked bodies struggling to a sitting position as they wiped the orange liquid from their supernatural skin.

  After a long pause, Kara turned her attention back to David. “So, how did I get here—in these bag things?” She pointed to the floating orange bubbles. “The last thing I remember was being attacked by higher demons and reaching the bucket of water. Then everything went black.”

  David looked up as more GAs plopped into the pool.

  “Your soul was in a bad shape…you needed to be healed. This is where all angels come to get fixed.”

  “Oh.” Kara felt like a car that needed an oil change. She cleared her throat.

  “Um, David? Something…something strange happened to me when…when I thought I was going to die … when my soul was dying.”

  “What do mean, strange?”

  Kara blinked. She wasn’t sure whether hearing voices in your head up in Horizon could mean the same thing as hearing them back on Earth.

  “What is it?” said David. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  “Kinda.” Kara sighed and closed her eyes. “You’re going to think I’m crazy, but I…I heard voices.”

  She opened her left eye and peeked at David.

  “What?” David cocked an eyebrow. “Maybe you just bumped your head or something.”

  “I don’t think that’s it. I really heard voices inside my head…they…they helped me escape. You think I’m crazy, don’t you?”

  David’s expression was distant.

  “I’ve never heard of guardians hearing voices. I’m pretty sure it was your own voice, Kara. Remember…you were weak, and you thought you were dying. Our minds do strange things when we’re about to die.”

  He threw out his hand. “Come,” he said as he gestured for her to take it. “The Archangel Raphael wants to meet you.”

  Kara took David’s hand and pulled herself to her feet. She realized she should be more cautious about what she said from now on. Hearing voices was not common among the angels. She feared it might make her look more like a traitor. So she dropped the subject.

  “Who’s Raphael?” she asked instead. She pulled her towel tighter around her.

  “An Archangel,” David squeezed her hand.

  “I know…but who is he? What does he do?”

  “You’ll see.”

  They left the Healing-Xpress building through giant metal doors, and Kara stared up into a scarlet and orange sky. Like a rainbow, the colors chased one another, twisting and swirling as they spread above and beyond. In the forest before them, tall green trees rippled in a light breeze.

  Surprisingly, Kara felt great. She kept the towel wrapped tightly around her body and followed David through the forest. The dirt path led up to a clearing where they looked out across a valley to a mountain that rose high above and was lost into a sea of red clouds. As they neared the base of the mountain, Kara realized that a city was carved from the mountain’s core. Groups of oracles and guardian angels poured out from the many stone edifices, going a
bout their business.

  “What is this place?” asked Kara.

  David seemed to relax a little. “Miracles Division…where the magic happens.”

  “Huh?”

  “Just a handful of GAs get to work here,” explained David. “Sometimes—but it’s very rare—we get to perform miracles. Usually by healing the sick. What the mortals can’t explain with their science…how a person is suddenly cured of cancer…that’s us.”

  Kara thought of all the sick people she had seen in the hospital last year when she had cut herself and needed a few stitches…back when she was alive. She remembered a lot of sick people. “But…there are still so many sick people in the world? Why aren’t they cured?”

  “I’m not sure,” answered David. He passed a hand through his hair. “All I know is there are only a few special cases . . . and that the orders come from The Chief himself.”

  “Oh.” Kara followed David down a small slope. Her bare feet pressed against a smooth stone path. “I feel kinda awkward in just a towel… everyone else is dressed.” She tugged the top of her towel and held it in place with her right hand.

  “You’re not the only one…look.” David pointed to another group of GAs waddling down a path in white towels.

  “Thank God. I don’t feel like such a moron now.”

  When they reached the opening of the city, two giant man-like rock sculptures stood on either side of the entrance, like soldiers guarding the entrance to the palace. Their rough faces were carved into downward grins.

  Kara stared at the jungle of winding and turning walkways that wound between buildings carved from huge walls of rock, as though chiseled by gigantic hands. Other buildings were wood and stone, molded into perfectly balanced designs.

  Kara followed David inside a massive stone structure, down a hallway, then finally into a large chamber. Red rays of sunlight poured through square openings at the top, like stained glass windows. Five guardian angels in blue lab coats worked on wooden tables cluttered with plants and pots, mixing and measuring elements in glass containers. The liquids morphed into green and orange colors.

  A beautiful Asian-looking woman, draped in white linen, examined the contents of a square glass container, which looked to Kara like a small trapped rainbow. Red highlights reflected off the jet black hair that spilled all the way down her back. She towered over David and Kara.

  “So, this is Raphael?” whispered Kara. “She’s a woman.”

  David had a huge grin plastered across his face, his eyes fixed on the beautiful lady.

  Kara rolled her eyes. “You’re so predictable.”

  They walked towards the impressive woman. She looked up, and her perfect face melted into a brilliant smile.

  “Ah, David.” She put the glass container on a table and walked towards them. “I’m so glad to see you again.” She reached out and hugged him.

  Kara noticed a golden shield crisscrossed with two silver swords marked on her forehead.

  “I’m very happy to see you too, Raphael,” David was smothered in Raphael’s bosom as he spoke. She let him go, and Kara thought she could see the blush on his cheeks.

  Raphael’s brown eyes locked onto Kara. “So, this must be Kara…let’s have a look.”

  She took Kara’s hands in hers as she examined her closely. Kara felt a strange ripple pass through her body, as though she had just gone through an internal x-ray.

  “Well, then…I’m going to put my hands on your face, okay? I need to make sure there aren’t any traces of the death blade inside you.”

  “A what kind of blade?” Kara wrinkled her face.

  “A death blade…a demon blade. It’s poisonous to any angel,” answered Raphael, “it can kill you.”

  “Right . . . I remember those.”

  The Archangel studied Kara’s face closely. “Are you ready, Kara?”

  Kara blinked and looked over at David. He gave her a reassuring nod and then his eyes darted back to Raphael. Kara bit her lip and turned back to face the Archangel.

  “I feel a little weird with you staring at me like that,” she said.

  Raphael smiled. “Don’t worry. It won’t take long,” she laughed, “I promise I’ll stop staring at you in just a minute.”

  Raphael’s almond eyes hypnotized Kara, and she could only nod.

  Raphael pressed her hands around Kara’s face and then closed her eyes. Immediately, Kara felt a soothing warmth spread from her head to the rest of her body, as though someone had just poured a bucket of warm water over her head. The sensation turned to little pricks inside her, like tiny lightning bolts bouncing on the inside walls of her core.

  And then it stopped.

  Raphael took a step back and her face broke into a smile. “Wonderful. You show no signs of the poison. And the demon’s Mark is gone. That, is very good news, Kara.” She turned around gracefully and walked over to the large wooden table.

  Kara bent over and stuck out her right leg. She twisted it inwards so that she had a clear view of the bottom part. She smiled. It was olive colored, smooth and clean. The mark was gone. She danced around on the spot, flashing her clean leg. She locked eyes with David and smiled. But he didn’t return her smile. Instead, he focused on Raphael.

  Raphael rummaged through piles of clothes neatly placed on long wooden shelves. Kara studied her angelic face, wondering if she thought her a spy or not. Raphael didn’t act as though she thought Kara was a traitor. Raphael was kind to her and wasn’t giving her the cold shoulder like David was.

  “Raphael, is there a way you can sense…I’m not a traitor somehow? That I’m telling the truth when I say I’m not a spy?”

  The Archangel turned to stare at Kara. Her eyes switched to David’s momentarily, then back to Kara. “I’m afraid I cannot help you with that. I’m a healer. I don’t get involved with Horizon politics.” She smiled. “I cannot read your mind.”

  Kara sighed. “Oh. Well…thanks anyway.” She stared at the floor.

  Raphael stacked a pile of clothes and handed them to Kara. “Here, these are your new clothes. You can get changed in the back.” Her voice was so soothing and motherly; just having Raphael close to her made her feel as though she was with her own mother.

  “Thank you. I can’t wait to be out of this towel.”

  Kara took the clothes and went to change in a small room with a round door and no ceiling. Red light flooded from above, and a smell of moist soil filled the air. She pulled on some undergarments, a cami, blue jeans and a gray hooded sweater and walked back to join the others. She smiled as she watched David with the Archangel Raphael, putting on his best moves: the winks, the famous smile, the cocking of the eyebrow. Kara felt a little jealous.

  “I’m back,” announced Kara, “but I’ll need some shoes.” She wiggled her toes.

  “Here…” David handed her a pair of running shoes.

  Raphael clasped her hands in front of her and cleared her throat. “The Archangel Gabriel is expecting you both back at Operations shortly. There are lots of jobs for the two of you.”

  Her eyes shifted to David and didn’t move again. “And please, try to be nice, David.”

  David pursed his lips. “I will, if he will.”

  The Archangel sighed loudly and shook her beautiful black hair. She looked at Kara. “Please try and talk some sense into this one? It’s not helping his case to be insubordinate to the Legion commander.”

  “He’s a putz,” said David.

  “But he’s also three times your size,” said Kara. She pushed her feet into her new shoes.

  Raphael placed her hands on her hips. “Gabriel is a bit intense at times, but he is your superior. Come now. He is waiting. I will accompany you back to the elevators.”

  Her long, white linen dress swished behind her. “Oh, I almost forgot,” said Raphael as she turned around. “He has also informed me that the two of you will be summoned to the Council of Ministers.”

  David jogged to catch up to her. “The Coun
cil of Ministers? Are you sure?”

  “Yes,” answered Raphael and kept walking.

  Kara ran next to David. “Why do you look so worried?” She studied his face. “And angry? What’s going on, David? You’re making me nervous! What’s this council?”

  David turned to look at her. “It’s where all the big decisions are made in Horizon.”

  “And this is bad?”

  David’s face was grim. “It is when you’re summoned.”

  Chapter 12

  The Council of Ministers