by Mary May
It was a beautiful picture of Charlie wearing her new white birthday dress and the necklace that Devon had given her for her thirteenth birthday, and, of course, she insisted on Stormy being in the picture with her. Sabrina walked to the next table that held a baby picture of her with a white bow on her headband. This one was taken when she still lived in the house she and Luke shared. The next snapshot was taken right after they had moved into the estate with Sherrilyn and showed Charlie standing in the backyard wearing a blue print dress and pink cowboy boots that Sherrilyn had bought her. Walking to another table she picked up a picture of Charlie smelling one of Edgar’s prize roses; she had actually found this one while cleaning out Edgar’s room after he had passed. She wanted to use it because it clearly meant something to him.
The next picture made her chuckle because Charlie didn’t look very happy; that’s because she wasn’t! Sabrina had to cut her hair because she had gone to bed with gum and it wadded up in her hair so badly that she had no choice but to cut it out. Miss Cleo had snapped the picture to remind her not to go to sleep with chewing gum! The last picture was probably one of her favorites. Devon had snapped it one afternoon when she was about fourteen and they were goofing around with his new cell phone.
“Model for me, Charlie girl; let me test out the camera on this thing.”
So Charlie had pranced around and acted silly while he took numerous pictures testing this function and that function. He waited until she wasn’t acting silly when she was just watching him and he took the most beautiful picture of her. It captured everything that was Charlie, her honesty, openness and sweetness; and in that brief moment he caught where she was crossing the thresh-hold between being a little girl and becoming a young woman. Sabrina smiled and looked around once more to make sure everything was ready; then she went inside to get changed.
The angels gathered on the roof to watch the night’s events. They were all in attendance except for Zareck, who was gone most of the time now. Gideon was at a loss over what to do about his constant dereliction of duty. They all tried to watch over Devon as well as their own humans when he pulled his disappearing acts. The yard was full of family and friends that had come to wish Charlie a happy sweet sixteen. Sabrina had gone all out and it was a beautiful party. Raphael came up to Gideon asking if he had seen Skye. Gideon looked around the roof and then scanned the yard looking for the angel in question. As big as he was, he would be easy to spot, but after a few seconds he knew he wasn’t in the yard.
“Did you check the house?”
“Yes, I have looked everywhere! He wouldn’t get too far from DJ, so I don’t know where he could be.”
Gideon patted his shoulder reassuringly. “I’m sure he is here somewhere; like you said, he wouldn’t leave DJ unguarded. He’ll turn up.” Raphael nodded but he still looked concerned.
Sabrina clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. “Ok! I need everyone to come gather around. It’s time for the birthday girl to receive her gifts.”
Charlie sat in a chair up front by her cake that had been nearly completely eaten. One after another she opened up beautifully-wrapped gifts that were so pretty she hated to tear the paper.
“Oh, come on, Charlie. Do you want us to help?” DJ offered, reaching for the gift in her lap.
“No! I’ll do it! Just give me time!” Carefully she started to peel away the tape, making her twin brothers groan in unison. Finally she did work her way through her pile of gifts, thanking everyone.
“Ok, Charlie, you’re going to have to get up to get the present from your mama and me.” Eyeing her parents curiously she got up and followed them out of the tent to the driveway where they turned and looked at her with big smiles on their faces. Charlie looked for her gift but she didn’t see anything new.
“I don’t see anything out here except Devon’s truck,” she said, still looking around. Devon laughed then tossed her his keys tied with a pink ribbon.
“That’s because that is the gift, Charlie girl! Why do you think we worked so hard to teach you to drive a stick? That thing is as big as a tank and your mom and I will feel a lot better if you are driving that than some soda can on wheels.”
Charlie looked at the keys in her hand then at the truck and finally back at Devon.
“You’re seriously giving me your truck? But you love that truck!” she protested. He just smiled and shrugged.
“I love you more.”
Charlie squealed then ran and hugged them both, jumping up and down.
“I did make a few modifications for you, if you want to go check it out.”
Gideon smiled as Charlie ran to her new truck, letting Devon show her some of the changes he had made such as installing running boards along the sides so she didn’t have to jump to climb inside. He felt someone grab his arm and it was Evie, looking worried.
“Gideon! Skye is still missing and now I can’t find Leia! Something is going on!”
Gideon felt a sinking in the pit of his stomach. “Ok, let’s go gather everyone up. I think you’re right…the attack has begun!”
Ten minutes later he had the remaining angels gathered in the barn.
“We can’t possibly fight without Skye, and now Leia is gone, too?” Baylor paced the floor clutching his sword looking out of the barn door every few seconds.
“All right, the first thing we need to do is split up into groups and search the property. I have a feeling they are still here and they are holding Skye and Leia to lure us into coming to them.”
Anthony looked at Gideon with skepticism. “It sounds like you are planning on giving them exactly what they want; care to explain why?”
“Because if we stand any chance at all, it’s when we are all together. I guarantee they will capture all of us and then put us all in the same room.”
“What if they don’t, Gideon? What if you’re wrong? We are risking our humans’ lives on what you think may happen. That’s a big risk you are willing to take based on what? A hunch?” Raphael looked at Gideon intently.
“You’re right, but unless you have a better way of finding Skye and Leia, then that’s all we got.” Gideon divided them up and they headed off to search.
Gideon and Charlotte took the west side of the property and Evie and Baylor took the east side, leaving Raphael and Anthony to sweep the north and south sides. Kavik stayed at the house to guard the family, being he couldn’t fly. They agreed to return to the barn in twenty minutes. Gideon and Charlotte arrived back first, followed shortly by Raphael, but after forty-five minutes there was no sign of the others.
“Did you see anything?” Gideon asked Raphael.
“No, nothing. It was all quiet…too quiet. They are picking us off as they want us.” Gideon took off his sword belt and threw his daggers onto a bale of hay.
“Gideon, what are doing? Are you crazy?” Charlotte asked, running to pick up his daggers and sword belt, but he was already walking outside.
Zareck circled the home place. The stench of demons was overpowering and burning his nose. Everything was dark and it looked like the family had gone to bed. He dropped down through the roof and checked each room. Every human was accounted for and safe, but not a single guardian. Shooting back up, he scanned the property once more. Closing his eyes, he sensed something in the barn. Carefully slipping inside, he saw a bloody and torn Kavik crawling to reach Charlotte, who had been beaten and bruised, left on the floor with her wings shredded, making her unable to fly until she regenerated. He turned her over carefully, wincing at the damage done to her beautiful face. Her eyelids fluttered opened. Recognition, accusation and pain all came blasting out of her light green eyes.
“Where were you?” she gritted out through her pain. Zareck knew he deserved that and worse, but he didn’t have time for apologies right now.
“Where are the others? Where is Gideon?”
“Captured,” she whispered. He gathered her up in his arms and flew her into the house. After he returned with Kavik, he asked the
m which direction they took them. Kavik pointed south.
He got up to leave when Charlotte grabbed his wrist with surprising strength.
“Find them, Zareck. Be the warrior you once were and find them!”
Zareck flew south and then southwest and then southeast before he caught the scent of demon again. He knew he had found them when he saw two demons flying just ahead of him dive down and enter what looked to be an old feed mill. Not wanting to be caught in the same trap the others were, he stayed back and waited until he knew more of what he was dealing with. What he saw made his blood run cold. Scores of demons filed in and out of the old mill, more than he had seen gathered together in one place in centuries. They never stood a chance against an army this size! Realizing any attempt he made for rescue would be futile, he flew back the way he came and never looked back.
Gideon hung suspended by his wrists high over a smelting vat of iron ore. The heat rising up off the melting iron blistered the bottom of his feet and singed the feathers from his wings. He had lost track of just how long he had been hanging up there. Every so often some demon would come get his kicks by beating and biting at his legs. He hadn’t seen any of the other angels since they had all been captured. Actually, they weren’t all captured. They had left Charlotte and Kavik behind. The only reason he could think of for that was so they could tell Zareck the direction they took them. Gideon would have laughed if it didn’t hurt just to breathe. They clearly didn’t know the Zareck he knew. He doubted he would show up at all; even if he did, he wouldn’t look for them. Hearing voices below him, he opened his eyes and looked down. The demons had crowded around below him. That probably meant something bad was about to happen.
A large door to his left was raised and the other angels were led out. They were all shackled and had their wings stripped to prevent them from flying. They had all put up a good fight and Gideon was proud of them, but against an army this size they didn’t have a chance. Still they stood tall and looked at the vermin that held them like they were beneath them, which they were. The leader, or what Gideon assumed was the leader, stepped forward. His appearance was very different from the others because he looked almost human. Only his slightly-distorted mouth and large eyes gave him away.
“Is this your army, Mighty Gideon? Is this what we have been hearing all the rumors about?” The room filled with the cackle of demon laughter. “Oh, Gideon is raising up a mighty army ten thousand strong of elite warriors! Really, Gideon, I thought it was against the rules for angels to tell an untruth.”
Gideon frowned but made no reply. He didn’t have any idea what this fiend was talking about. He never boasted about raising up any army large or small.
“Let me tell you about something that we have discovered. I’m sure you have noticed the lovely pot of boiling metal that’s below you. Did you know that when anything is tossed into that, it doesn’t come back…ever?” Gideon felt a smidgen of concern start to penetrate his heart.
“That’s impossible…we are immortal,” he called out. He really didn’t want to have to prove that because being lowered into that boiling vat would be a death he really, really didn’t want to experience. The head demon merely blinked up at him then tossed the demon standing nearest to him into the vat where it screamed once then melted into a puddle of black goo that sat on top of the ore and bubbled.
“You will let me know the moment he regenerates, won’t you? Come, let’s leave Gideon to watch my new favorite toy.”
Charlotte shifted her wings and examined her feathers that were now nearly grown back in, but not quite. She couldn’t really fly yet, just short distances. She hadn’t seen Zareck or anyone else since the day of the attack and she really didn’t know what to do. It had been two days and she had flip-flopped back and forth between going to find them and staying here to try and protect the family because she and Kavik were the only guardians left. Kavik was still healing from his wounds. His were much more substantial than hers because he had tried so hard to protect her, but even so, he would soon mend. Restless and uneasy, she went up to the roof to watch for any that might return.
When hours went by without a sign of anyone returning, she pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her shins, put her head down and prayed desperately for the Creator to please help her. Within minutes she heard the unmistakable sound of wings beating in unison, lots and lots of wings! Jerking her head up, she saw the sky grow dark with hundreds of angels headed her way and not just any angels, but WARRIORS! Beautiful black wings caught the last rays of the setting sun and glistened like black diamonds. Charlotte jumped to her feet, screaming and waving her hands for them to see her.
One by one they landed, some on the roof and the rest in the yard. They were all huge and fierce-looking with their swords, shields and armor. They were the most beautiful things Charlotte had ever seen.
One that was dressed just a little differently from the others approached her. Removing his helmet, he brought his arm across his chest and bowed his head.
“I am Zekial. We have received word that Gideon requires our assistance.”
Charlotte looked up at the towering warrior, feeling just a tad overwhelmed by all of them surrounding her. It was like Gideon and Zareck times one thousand!
“Yes! Yes, he does!” As quickly as possible she told Zekial what had happened and the direction they had taken them. He then turned and shouted out orders to some warriors who were standing nearby. Zekial turned back to Charlotte, assuring her they would find them. As he turned to take off and lift into the sky, she ran after him asking who had told him Gideon needed help. His reply though distant and faint was unmistakable. “Zareck!”
Charlotte stopped just short of falling off the roof in her shock and surprise.
“Well, I’ll be! There is still something warm and angelic inside that old block of ice after all!” Feeling better about the entire situation than she had in a very long time, she raised her arms and stretched her healing wings up toward the heavens and with the glow of the setting sun as her spotlight, Charlotte danced in praise to her Creator.
Gideon’s wrists were being sliced by the thin wire they had bound him with. Eventually the weight of his body was going to sever his hands, sending him into the boiling vat. That less than pleasant realization came not too long after the other less than pleasant realization that the demon that had been tossed into the vat had yet to regenerate. The black goo had simply been incorporated into the boiling metal, so even if it did manage to regenerate, Gideon doubted it would be…normal.
Was that the plan all along, to leave him hanging here knowing his fate? As torture methods went, it was pretty effective. To take away the one thing that all angels had the knowledge of, that no matter what, it wasn’t the end for them. Gritting his teeth, he strained his wings trying to break the bonds that held them together. He wasn’t going out like this! Being turned into hell’s version of Chunky Demon-Angel soup! Again and again he pulled at the bonds holding his wings, but they held strong. He could feel the wire cutting into the bones in his wrists, so he considered his options. He knew unless someone cut him down real soon his hands were gone and he would fall into the vat.
Now the only option left to him was the timing. Could he swing his body and try to time it to where when his hands were severed he wasn’t over the boiling vat? Praying for strength, he started to pump his legs. As his body started to swing, it put even more pressure on his wrists, increasing the pain to the point he was seeing black spots. Trying to block it out, he swung his legs even harder, his body now swinging in a wide arc that actually had him clearing the vat for a few feet. Blood ran down his arms like rain and he knew any second his wrists would snap.
Suddenly he heard a loud pop and felt searing blistering heat followed by a crushing blow. When he closed his eyes, it wasn’t his life that flashed before them…it was Charlie’s.
Chapter 13
Baylor twisted his arms slowly behind his back. His bindings were a
ctually working loose. He eyed Anthony meaningfully, who in turn looked at Donovan and Raphael, who looked at Skye. Gideon was right about one thing -- the demons had put them all in one room except for him. They had left Gideon swinging from his wrists over a boiling pot of melted iron. Baylor knew that they had to get him down before his wrists gave way.
Leia stared up at the ceiling of the room they had tied them up in. It had some kind of old skylights that were broken out. Too bad their wings were tied because they could just fly right out of here. As she was dreaming of that, a face suddenly popped up in the broken skylight. It was one of their guys, a warrior angel who smiled and put a finger to his lips, warning her to be quiet. Nodding slightly to let him know she understood, Leia brought her gaze slowly back down into the room. She leaned her head on Evie’s shoulder as if she was tired and whispered quietly what she had just seen. The guys were across the room, so she really had no way of telling them what she had seen without the guards hearing her. All she could do was keep her eyes open and wait.
Zekial motioned with his hand for his warriors to move forward on his count. He lifted his right hand and counted down 3…2…1! With a loud battle roar they stormed inside, coming in from every entrance. Demons scurried in every direction like cockroaches when you turned on a light. Realizing they had no way out, they turned to fight. Zekial swung his sword and slashed through demon after demon, his eyes constantly searching for Gideon.
When he had received word that he needed help, he had gathered the troops and gotten to the place that Zareck directed as quickly as possible. To say he was shocked to see his former commander was an understatement; to find out that Zareck was actually working with Gideon was even harder to believe. He pushed through a wall of demons and saw a large room with vat of hot boiling metal. Above it hung an empty bloody set of wires.