by Ciara Knight
“Where did you get this?” Sammy stared at the picture.
“I drew it. I drew all of these. I know this might sound insane, but I saw a picture come true the other night.”
“What? What picture?”
Gaby held her breath. Her belly knotted as she remembered her father in his drunken stupor.
“You see the angel wings? It’s Alex.”
“How do you know they are his wings when you can’t see the face?” Sammy ran her finger along the outline of the feathers with a perplexed look on her face.
“Who else could it be? I don’t know how to explain it exactly, but I feel what I draw. When I look at the wings, I feel warmth and comfort. A sort of blanket of loving protection. I know it sounds insane.”
“I don’t know Gaby. This hardly proves that this happened or will happen. It could be a coincident. Maybe you caught a glimpse of Alex without realizing it and dreamed about him.” Gaby frowned at the hesitant look on her face.
“There’s more. I saw another image of someone else with the face shadowed. I couldn’t tell who it was until I saw it in real life.” Gaby pulled a few more pictures out careful not to expose the one of her father. She showed Sammy what looked like several animals combined.
“I know what these are.” Sammy appeared sad and distraught. “Do you have any pictures that show faces or anything that can reveal where or when they take place?”
“No. Not so far. Do you think they really show the future? I mean two for two so far.”
“I don’t know. It seems unlikely, but I guess anything’s possible.”
“Sammy, there has to be a reason I dreamed those… those monsters out there. How could I draw something I had never seen? It has to mean something.”
“If you really believe that than maybe we should study the pictures and see if we can figure anything else out.”
Gaby took in a deep breath and started looking through some others, but there were so many of them.
“Gaby, can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Why did you freak out so bad if you weren’t that surprised by Alex’s appearance?”
“I was completely shocked by his appearance. But that wasn’t the problem. It was, um, the—”
“Go ahead, Gaby. What was it?”
“This is going to sound insane but I wasn’t scared of him. I was scared of what he could do.”
“His strength, speed…what?”
“His flying.” Gaby could feel the heat rise in her cheeks.
“His what?” A look of confusion flashed across Sammy’s face.
“I’m scared of heights okay? Not really heights, but plummeting to my death from a high place. Yes, I was scared and horrified by Forras attacking me. But one minute I’m safely on the ground and the next I’m flying through clouds.”
Sammy laughed and fell back on the bed.
“It’s not funny.”
“Yes it is. You’re scared of heights and dating an angel.”
****
Alexander sat at the breakfast table hunched over his oatmeal and toast. The smell of cinnamon and sugar for once wasn’t appetizing. He could sense Grace watching every move he made and tried to appear less miserable than he felt.
“Good morning, everyone,” Sammy bounced into the room full of enthusiasm as always.
Alexander felt his face contort in disgust. “Good morning, Sam.” He attempted to sound chipper but he knew he failed miserably.
“Alex, guess what?” She didn’t even pause for his response. “I’m going to help Gaby overcome her fear of heights. You want to help?”
“Fear of heights?” Grace sounded amused.
“It’s not funny.” He growled.
“I didn’t say it was, son.”
“So, will you come help?”
“Did Gaby ask for me?” Hope rose with the idea of Gaby asking about him.
“Well, no, but I’m sure—”
“No.” Alexander pushed back from the table and cleared his plate of half-eaten food. He was crazy to think she ever wanted to see him again.
“Oh come on Alex, it’ll be fun.”
“I said no.” He didn’t mean to snap at Sammy; he knew she just tried to help. But he couldn’t face Gaby, not after she saw him looking like a possessed monster. No, she would never look at him the same way again. Why couldn’t he appear more like Sammy’s angel form, more angelic and bright with glowing pale pink eyes?
Curiosity got the better of him and an hour later he lingered in the distance watching Sammy trying to help Gaby. Patronus raced around them barking and chasing seagulls that would occasionally land on the beach. At first Gaby stood on Sammy’s back like a cheerleading move, after that she had her climb a tree.
Alexander moved in closer as Sammy spread her wings and floated a few feet off the ground holding Gaby in her arms. Tears streamed down Gaby’s face. Why was she doing this to herself? Did cheerleading mean that much to her?
After they reached eight feet off the ground, Gaby grasped her chest as if she were having a heart attack. He wanted to scream out that she had enough and cheerleading wasn’t worth torturing herself, but he couldn’t face her. He paced around while Gaby collapsed on the ground and stroked Patronus for apparent comfort.
Images flashed into his head from the day before from when she sat shaking with her eyes wide and horrified. He cringed and sunk into the shadow of a tree.
A few minutes passed and it appeared they were going to try again. He held his breath and dug his fingers into the tree sending bits of bark floating to the ground while he was forced to watch them rise higher into the air. It was obvious Gaby couldn’t handle it.
They reached twenty feet high and she screamed and cried out. He took a step out and started to fly, but held himself back. How much was Sammy going to torture her?
It must have been fifty feet up in the air when he saw Sammy look straight at him, smile and release Gaby. Her body flailed around as she plummeted toward the ground. His wings burst out and he took flight, catching her only inches before her body slammed against rocks and tree limbs.
She clung to him whimpering as he flew across the beach. The scent of her made him float without a flap of his wings. He touched down a few hundred yards away and cradled her for a moment.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I’ll leave and won’t bother you again. I promise.”
“No, don’t.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close.
He wanted to hold her, wrap wings around her and never let her go. But he couldn’t bear the thought of her rejecting him again. How could she ever want to be with such a freak?
She let go of his neck, and his wings fluttered as he tried to fly away.
“Look at me.” Gaby’s voice sounded tender and loving, but he couldn’t bring himself to look into her eyes and see the disgust, or worse, pity for him.
Her hands caressed his face. “I said look at me.”
He glanced down.
“Thank you.” Gaby leaned in and kissed his cheek. A spark of fire flickered inside him.
“For what?” Alexander didn’t give her an opportunity to answer. He spotted Sammy walking toward them and jumped up dumping Gaby onto the sand.
“What were you thinking? She could have died!” He marched up to her ready for an argument, but she stood there with a devious grin on her face. “What are you grinning at? You could have killed her.”
“Because you, dear brother, would never have talked to Gaby again on your own.”
Blast his meddling sister struck again. “It doesn’t matter what I want. I disgust her.” He looked away in shame. “She couldn’t possibly want me.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. You’re all she’s talked about since I met her. Alex this, Alex that. Frankly, I’m sick of hearing your name.” She rolled her eyes in mock nuisance.
“She talked about me because I’m some sort of side show freak.”
Gaby
came up behind him clearing her throat.
“I’ll let you get back to torturing yourself in the name of cheerleading.” Alexander turned to leave but Gaby grabbed his arm.
“You think I’m doing this for cheerleading?” She turned to Sammy. “You’re right. Your brother is dense.”
Sammy giggled.
“I’m doing this out of the slim chance you might actually decide you want to spend more than five minutes with me again.”
Confused, Alexander’s gaze flew between the two of them.
“You idiot. I can’t date a person who can fly if I’m scared of heights now can I?”
“I’m not a person.” Alex wanted to hold on to the hope but knew it was useless.
“You are a person. You may not have been born on Earth, but you feel, and think and love just like any person I know.”
“You deserve better. A human and an angel won’t work.” Guardian angels were forbidden from falling in love with their humans. The accusation against Sammy in Heaven had almost caused them to fall. In a way it had.
“Who says?”
“It has always been forbidden for a guardian angel to become involved with his human.”
“Newsflash, you aren’t guarding me. I wouldn’t want you to be either.”
“You wouldn’t?”
“No, I want you to be my boyfriend. I don’t need protection, I just need you.”
Alexander noticed Sammy slinking off with a look of accomplishment on her face. “By the way he isn’t even a guardian angel. He’s a healer.”
“There is just one thing.” Gaby stared him down. Alexander held his breath. This was what he was waiting for. She couldn’t possibly want him now.
“You have to tell me everything. No more secrets. I want to be with you, but not if it’s based on lies.”
His teeth clenched so tight his jaw popped. No way she could handle the entire ugly truth. “I don’t know that you would want to hear all of it. There are things that no human should know.”
“Trust me, I can take it.”
He would have to tell her about the demons and how he fell from Heaven. All of it, even the fact he killed her mother. A wave of nervous energy swept through his body.
After he was done she would never want to be with him. Maybe this would be best for them both. He knew he wouldn’t be strong enough to stay away from her on his own. This way she would hate him and keep her distance. Sorrow threatened to consume his human form but he’d learned how to suppress the response enough to function.
“You sure you want to know?”
“Yes.”
They sat down on the beach listening to the waves crash and the birds sing as he told her everything about demons and fallen angels.
“So you fell from Heaven because you were protecting Sammy? That doesn’t seem fair.” Gaby looked shocked and disgusted by the news.
“You have to understand. Sammy was accused of becoming involved with a human she guarded. This is strictly forbidden. When I found out Appius filed formal charges I became angry. Angels do not have anger. Anger is a human trait. Appius informed the council presiding over Sammy’s case. I became outraged and threatened him.”
“But you were trying to protect Sammy.”
“I was found guilty of acting in a manner unbecoming an angel and sentenced to live earthbound. Appius informed me that Sammy was found innocent of all charges but due to my behavior we were both sentenced. You see she fell because of me.” He could feel the moisture well up in his eyes. It was the first time he ever told the story out loud.
“I’m sorry.” Gaby embraced him, but he pushed her away.
“There’s more.” He took a deep breath and continued. “There are things in this world that a human shouldn’t experience. Demons live among humans. They prey on the weak and isolated. You were targeted by a local demon.”
“The ocean. I wasn’t trapped in weeds was I?”
“No.” His shoulder’s tensed at the memory of Forras torturing her.
“You saved me from a demon?”
“Yes.” Alexander waited for a hysterical outburst but it didn’t come.
“I don’t understand. You should be freaking out. I just told you there are evil creatures hunting you, and you seem fine with it.”
“I don’t know about fine, but I think I already knew.”
“How? How could you possibly know that demons are hunting you?” Gaby’s bravery amazed him. Never had he witnessed a human so calm especially in the face of evil.
Gaby paused for a moment. “You’re going to think I’m crazy.”
“Me? I just told you about fallen angels and demons. I don’t think I can think of anything more insane.”
“You know how I love art?”
He’d seen her draw and knew it was connection with her mother. Her mother, he still had to tell her about his part in her death. The ocean breeze blew as if in warning to tread lightly. “Yes.”
“You also know that I have some crazy dreams.”
“Yes, but the demons cause those. That’s why I tried to watch over you at night.”
“That was you? I mean the nights I slept without having nightmares. You were there?”
“Yes.” He clasped his hands together, cracking several knuckles.
“Anyway, the dreams I have leave me tired but inspired to draw.”
“Why is that crazy?”
“Because, I draw the future.”
They both sat there staring at each other for a moment.
“Why do you think that?” Alexander’s mind hummed with questions.
“Twice I have drawn things before they’ve happened.”
Could she honestly have some sort of ability to see the future? If so, was it a gift from Heaven or a curse from hell? Maybe when Forras marked her he somehow gave her the ability. An electric current of panic shot through him at the thought of her connection with him. “When?”
“It’s personal.”
“More personal than me talking to you about being a fallen angel? I thought we were going to be honest with each other.” He had to know. If she had some sort of connection with Forras it could be too late to save her. Oh, dear God, no.
She took a deep breath. “I came down stairs the other night and found my dad drunk, hunched over his chair, with a bloody shirt.”
“I’m sorry.” Alexander’s heart tightened at the thought. “But what—”
“It was the exact scene I created in a picture eight months earlier.”
Eight months ago, it couldn’t be Forras. His blood started to pump again and oxygen entered his lungs with ease. “You said there were two.” Alexander saw her eyes start to fill with tears. How could she face demons and not shed a tear yet when speaking about this weep silently. Was it too painful? He clasped her hands in his for encouragement.
“It was a picture of my mother lying next to a car.” She shuddered “I drew my mother’s death a year before it happened.”
Alexander took her in his arms and held her for a moment. His heart broke as her body trembled in his embrace. I caused your mother’s death. He repeated it over and over in his head, but couldn’t say it aloud. He gulped back tears. How could he know the truth and not confess it? But if he did, she’d never forgive him.
Holding her head against his shoulder, he sniffed her apple scented hair, kissed the top of her head and whispered, “I’m sorry.”
Patronus jumped up and ran over, barking at him.
“Patronus, stop. It’s just Alex.” Gaby tried to calm him.
“No, this is good.” Alexander closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.
“What?”
“Patronus is protecting you. I started to get, well—”
“Oh.” Gaby looked down as her face flushed.
“Well I guess we worked out our issue of being alone. Anytime I get too worked up, Patronus will set me straight.”
“Is that why you got him for me?”
“He’s your protector. If a demon
is anywhere near you he’ll bark.”
“Forras. He went nuts when Forras came near me. Is he the only demon?”
“No. Half the football players are demons. That’s why I didn’t want you anywhere near them. And that’s why I didn’t want you walking through the woods alone. You have to be careful. Take Patronus with you everywhere you go.”
“What about Sammy and cheerleading? It doesn’t seem safe for either of us to be at cheerleading practice.”
“You’ll be safe. They won’t try anything in public and they wouldn’t challenge Sammy. They are too cowardly. She joined cheerleading to try to protect people.”
Alexander stroked her cheek and kissed her forehead. “You’re amazing. I can’t believe you are taking this so well.”
“I know it sounds strange but I’m just happy to have a reason to get up. I feel like I have a purpose or something. I think I can handle just about anything. Anything but you lying to me. Please, now that I know everything you can be honest with me. I don’t care how bad or evil it is, just tell me. I’m sick of secrets in my life.”
“I promise.” Alexander felt a knot rise in his throat. He had to tell her the truth somehow, eventually.
****
Gaby’s head swarmed with thoughts of angels and Heaven, and Alexander. How he appeared different in his angel form when he saved her opposed to the afternoon he grabbed her and took off from the woods. There were so many new questions haunting her. Why did he take off that day? How did his wings feel? Is there a chance that he’ll have to leave her and return to Heaven? There were too many questions to sleep.
Gaby sat on the floor petting Patronus’s belly and waiting for her father to return. She flipped through her pictures. She couldn’t believe she shared her secret about her father with Alexander. And the anxiety that had nearly killed her six months ago had settled. No haunting sadness, dark all-consuming grief, or sting of fear took over. She was in control and with no medicine. For the first time in over a year life gave her a purpose and hope.
She continued to skim the pictures but they all looked the same, showing abstract views of things yet to come. There was something she was missing though. She could feel it. The dark swirls with strange animal-like features were obviously demons. Large puffy white wings were from angels, but all the pictures looked the same. No faces, no marks to identify them.