Simon was a lot more chipper today and smiled as the students filed into the classroom. The class was making too many noises to be able to single out his voice. I understood what was happening, though, as he turned off the light and the Smart Board became a TV.
All of the students seemed to be happy about the DVD choice and settled into relaxation. I had a clear view of Simon. He wasn’t doing too much—only standing up in the back of the classroom. Glancing over to Indy, then looking away, I directed my vision back to her. She sat there peacefully watching the DVD. From where I was standing, the sun projected a halo over her head with the reflection of the windows. She looked totally mesmerizing. The image before my eyes was capturing a true angel. I could not peel my eyes away for at least a half an hour. Something broke her concentration, and she glanced behind her at Simon. The beautiful image in front of me shattered. Something was irritating Indy badly. I followed her eyes to Simon, and he was standing behind a female student doing nothing out of the ordinary.
Indy turned back around, and a look of total shock appeared on her face. Mark had packed up his belongings and stormed out of the classroom. I looked back at Indy to gauge her response. Was she going to follow him or not? Thankfully, she decided not to.
“What the hell, man, we all thought you had left,” said Mark.
My cover had just been blown. Mark seemed very happy, but confused to see me. He looked at me, then looked at the classroom, and realized I could see the room with a perfect view. If it had been anyone else, I may have fooled him or her with a silly story, but not Mark. My only two options were to lie or tell him the truth. Whatever I did, I would still seem like a freak. I would try the lie first—maybe it would work.
“I left a few things behind when I moved and thought I would stop by to see the gang, but by the time I got over here, class had already started,” I lied, trying not to make eye contact with him.
Mark studied me. He put his hands in his pockets and shook his head. He was no fool.
“We have been in class for over half an hour. Why are you still around? You have a perfect view of Indy from here.”
I changed the subject quickly, trying to draw the conversation to another topic.
“What did you leave class for?” I said.
“Because I can’t stand that subject, especially the teacher,” said Mark.
I thought that I might be able to draw out the information from Mark as to why he hated Simon so much. He was every teenage boy’s best mate. He coached the football team, pushed for our own cheerleaders, and occasionally had a few beers with the seniors who were old enough. I knew there was more to Mark’s lack of respect for Simon, and I was going to try and find out.
“He’s a great teacher. Why would you dislike him so much?” I pried.
“The word dislike is not strong enough to describe how I feel for that teacher,” said Mark.
“What has he ever done to you?” I asked, trying to push out a truthful remark from frustration.
“Nothing. He has done nothing to me, okay? I’m off. Are you coming or staying?”
I really should stay at the school and continue to watch Simon, but I have watched him for a full week now, and he has done nothing to make me think he is anything but the great teacher I had always expected. I may as well go with Mark and have some company because this would be the last day that I am here. I doubt I would be experiencing any fun for the remainder of my life. I would be sent to all of the crappy destinations for cases from now on due to this incomplete mission. At least Indy would be safe, and hopefully she would change and quit tormenting innocent men.
Mark had already walked off in the direction of his house. I caught up fast, matching his strides.
“So how is the gang these days?” I asked.
“Same old,” puffed Mark. He was walking very quickly and struggled to speak at the same time.
We arrived at Mark’s house. It was lovely. His parents made a lot of money and loved to show off what they had. They seemed to have good intentions for Mark. I was baffled as to why he didn’t have the same determination and drive that they did. He never talked about university like all the others did and was happy to have no dreams or desires. I even wondered if he cared about Corrina.
Mark unlocked the double dead bolt and went inside his house asking me to wait in the lounge room. He then knocked on a bedroom door and spoke in a sweet, caring tone. I had never seen or heard Mark act so nice before. It was surprising.
His house was very nice and everything was color coordinated in beige and silver tones. It seemed to have been professionally decorated. A theme of modern elegance ran through the entire house. Mark came to sit on the three-seater lounge and asked me to sit in the recliner on the opposite side of the room. I was scared to sit anywhere in this house. I didn’t want to get anything dirty because I would not be able to afford the cleaning bill.
The bedroom door that Mark knocked on opened slowly and out stepped a girl with unkempt, dirty hair, wearing a long, thin-sleeved shirt that covered down to her wrists. She saw me on the recliner and started to go back to her room.
“Cindy, please come and sit down. I need you to talk to Nate,” Mark gently spoke.
“I’m sick of talking about my problems when no one believes me,” Cindy responded in a depressing manner.
“I believe you, Cindy,” reassured Mark.
Cindy hung her head low, not wanting to look at me. Her body was as close to Mark as possible. She took comfort in his presence, and he seemed protective of her. She was shaking uncontrollably. Mark placed an arm around her and spoke words that I was not meant to hear.
Cindy took four large breaths in her nose and exhaled them out of her mouth. This calmed her nerves slightly—enough for her to raise her head to look at me for a brief second. Then she lowered her head again.
After a long silence, Cindy took a few more deep breaths and was ready to talk.
“I was abused by one of the teachers at school a few years ago,” cried Cindy.
The tears poured from her eyes and her nose ran everywhere. She became very fragile and slumped against Mark. I was going to give her as much time as she needed to gain her strength to continue with her story. The hands went around the clock face many times before she had calmed enough to speak again.
“It started out innocently. He tutored me in English and Math, and I started to excel in those subjects. When it came around to the subject he taught, he thought it was best to examine the body properly to learn. That was when he showed me his body parts and wanted me to show him mine. I said no, and he said he would fail me in this subject and refuse to help me in the other subjects.”
Cindy fled from the room and locked her door, refusing Mark’s pleas to be let in. Mark finished her story, which got a lot worse and far more disgusting. I felt for Cindy’s deep pain and her horror as the situation went from bad to worse. Mark had explained how Cindy had stopped brushing her hair and showering. Nightmares started to plague her at night, and she basically became scared of her own shadow. Their parents took Cindy to a psychiatrist who suggested the onset of schizophrenia. The doctors explained her symptoms as typical behavior.
I sat thinking about this. I felt stupid and thought I was missing something big. Mark interrupted my thinking.
“Man, and the worst thing is that once Cindy received some counseling, and opened up about her experience, no one believed her. Instead, that confession sent her straight into the loony bin. I could kill Hopwood!” threatened Mark.
That was when my anger peaked. How stupid I had been? I had been protecting this rapist for weeks. I had basically been his bodyguard against Indy. I didn’t need to be because she never struck again, unless that person didn’t learn their lesson the first time. Then I pretty much gave him permission to go and do that again. He was scared now that he thought I had left, but if Indy left, I wanted to know if he would return to his normal ways. What happened to Cindy had been two whole years ago! Why did it take
Indy so long to come and do her work?
I had been pacing the room, and my anger was growing the more I thought about it. Indy truly wasn’t this evil demon I had believed her to be. My breathing was getting faster, but deeper, and my nostrils were flaring. I wanted to go and punch something very hard. This temptation was growing inside me.
“Man, this was my sister, not yours. Why are you so angry? I am afraid you might explode and break something,” said Mark.
“Mate, I’m so angry that I thought he was a decent teacher. No wonder why Indy hated him so much!” I replied.
“Yes. She does hate him. The thought crossed my mind that maybe she hurt him a few weeks ago, but I doubt it. Look at how small she is compared to him. I know she thinks that she is tough, but not that tough,” said Mark.
I looked at Mark and burst out laughing. He had cracked open my anger. Indy did have this great disguise. No one would imagine the things she was capable of. Beautiful, sweet little Indy was all of these things in her own way.
I didn’t stay for too long. I felt like I was going to lose it. As I left, I told Mark that I would not be coming back because of personal reasons, but to look after Indy for me. I threw the last bit in there only to protect her identity. In reality, I was one hundred percent sure now that she was safe. I would make sure the records were amended to show that she was an angel and not a demon. This mistake would never happen again. Obviously with this specific case there was not enough information gathered on Indy to determine what she was until it was nearly too late.
I had to wait two more hours ‘til I could ring the boss and explain all of the info I had gathered and what was really going on. I texted Connor to send me an email with all of the information he had as evidence, which would prove to my boss who she really was. A text came through to my phone:
Is it over?
Yes it is.
I got no reply back.
I sat in the hotel room looking at my watch and then my phone. I roamed the social media sites ‘til the statuses all rolled into one. I was getting restless waiting for the time to call my boss. I wasn’t sure what his response would be, but I had to back up the evidence just in case. I was still very annoyed at being deceived by Hopwood and wanted to pay him a little visit. I would not hurt him. That was not my style, but I wanted him to know that I now knew the truth about who he was as a human and how he disgusted me.
I strolled across town, not caring who saw me. It would not matter anyway. I would be given a new mission in a little over an hour and would be out of here. I hope my new destination wasn’t as full on as this one had been, and there were no unexpected surprises. I may not even have a mission straight away or may be given time to go home and prep if it was a particularly difficult subject.
I didn’t recognize anyone as I walked through the main part of town. School was now out, but all the people I knew must have been at home or off doing other things. Reaching Simon's house, I sat on the front steps waiting for him to come home. He didn’t have any training tonight. He didn’t come straight home either, which wasn’t his normal routine. The last time I had seen him, which was really only a few hours ago, he was petrified of Indy and locked himself in his house straight away. I climbed the large tree out front and noticed his car still at school. He must of have had some teachers' meeting. These meetings could go for a very long time. I decided to wait for him at school. My deadline was nearly up, and I needed to report back soon.
I cut across the park and took a shortcut behind some back alleys. I reached the school and was glad to see his car still there. The rest of the teaching staff had left. The lights to Simon's classroom were still on, and his head was visible from where I stood. I moved closer to the room and could see him seated at a student’s desk. Next to him was a female junior. His hand was on her thigh and moving to an area that was off limits to any man, especially a teacher. My legs were moving from under me toward this new threat. I had to help this young girl. She was quivering in her seat and tears fell free from her eyes.
Throwing open the front door of the school, I marched down the corridor toward his classroom. With one fierce kick to his classroom door, I broke it into pieces with some splinters still attached to the hinges. His hand flew away to his face as he gasped.
“Nate! You scared me! I thought you were someone else. I’m so glad to see you,” said Simon. His small smile that I had come to think was a friendly gesture played at his lips. It was a smug, conceited grin that spoke loudly, ‘I have you fooled, you idiot.’ He had been laughing at my expense for weeks now, hiding behind me, thinking he was safe from Indy ‘cause he had a big idiot to believe his stupid sob story.
I looked at the girl he sat next to.
“You need to go home and ask for a female tutor, and if he bothers you again, tell the senior named Indiana,” I said.
Simon realized that this little game he was playing with me was now over. I had finally caught on and was going to hurt him. He used the student as a shield to exit the room, and I followed closely behind. This was kind of becoming a hostage situation. I wasn’t going to stuff around with this, and I charged forward pushing the girl out of the way and grabbed Simon.
I threw him up against the row of lockers, hard. I stood a few millimeters away from his face.
“You lied to me. Indy is not a bad person. You are disgusting, and what you did to Cindy was horrible! How many girls have you abused over the years?” I screamed at him.
No one else was here, and it made me wonder what he was doing between the finish of school and the commencement of training. Had he even been going to training? My brain didn’t have to work too hard. The truth had been in front of me the whole time. His paranoia at home was now explained clearly to me.
I didn’t want any responses from Simon. I had been lied to enough. My fist connected with his face and a loud crunch followed. I had broken his nose in a few places. He moaned in agony. I left him to his own bodily fluids as they pooled on the floor.
“Don’t even think of packing up and running, Simon; I will be watching you all night.”
I was going to report him to the police. I was convinced that he would not change even if Indy paid him another visit. Some people were just evil inside, and there was no rehabilitation that anyone could do to change their way of life. There was a part of me that wished he was a demon, so then I could destroy the evil within him. I half understood why Indy did the things she did. I just thought she dealt with them the wrong way. Instead of beating them so badly, she should gather the info properly, make a rock solid case, and go to the police through the right channels to have them put into jail. Then they would serve time for their acts, instead of being free to do what they want. I’m sure not all of her cases are as extreme as this case I totally stuffed up, but it also would not be a one off.
The time had arrived to check in and deliver my news. I was a little worried, but if I killed an angel, I would never receive my angel wings. The phone rang three times, and on the start of the fourth ring, he answered his line.
“Has it been done?” asked the boss.
“Evidence has come to light to show that she was in-fact an angel and not a demon. I do not think it is a wise course of action for us to complete this mission,” I said.
The anxiety inside of me was building up. I didn’t want to be forced into this kill. The silence on the other end twisted my stomach into knots.
“I see ...”
There was another long pause. This could either be good news or bad news. I could feel the heavy breaths as my boss inhaled in and exhaled. I had been holding my breath waiting for an answer. I didn’t know what I would do if I heard the wrong one.
“Pack up your belongings—you’re heading to Sydney next.”
“Yes, I will wait for additional details.”
The line went silent. He had disconnected with no thanks. I should have known better than to expect anything else than the hard, cold demeanor I had received since I was a kid. He w
as providing me with another case and a means to support myself. I could ask for no more and was grateful that at least I had spared a beautiful, caring fallen angel.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Indiana
“Connor, are we one hundred percent sure that Nate has left? I swear I was being followed again last night,” I said.
I knew Connor had been lying to me for a few days now. I was not stupid. But in his defense, I also knew he would only lie if he had a good reason. So I was giving him the benefit of the doubt. I looked at him sternly and would not let up—Connor was clearly avoiding eye contact.
“Give it up. I know you have been keeping something from me. This is the only explanation,” I persisted.
I was not going to give in, and I could guard the doorway all morning if I had to. I didn’t care if we were late.
“Okay. Gosh, Indy. Nate was here. He had a few things to do, but I swear he is gone now,” said Connor.
Heavenly Hell (Heavenly Hell Book 1) Page 15