18 Truths

by Jamie Ayres

  “One quick kiss then.” I pulled him toward me and pressed my lips to his, just for a moment, thinking what an idiot I’d been to let him go, then rolled off him. “Now talk.”

  He took a ragged breath. “I had seen you meeting with Sam at The Morning Glory Café and at the park.”

  “You saw me?”

  His lips parted, but he said nothing for a few seconds. “I always see you.”

  Always. The word sat in the air between us for a heartbeat or two or ten. His word echoed in my mind, resonated like a fact, and I didn’t know how to respond.

  “I knew he’d given you a folder. When I searched your room, I found the file and read the information there about the wormhole. But I didn’t feel like that was enough, just having the details. So I injected a tracking device into your arm.”

  Gah! What? I bolted upright. “You did what?”

  “Yeah, I wasn’t sure what your reaction would be when I told you about that.”

  I could feel my eye twitching like it always did when I flew right past mad and became irate. “So, you seriously injected me with a tracking device against my will?”

  Nate’s face turned ashen. “It wasn’t exactly against your will if you didn’t know about the device.”

  Now I was way past irate. I was pissed! “Oh, okay then… you implanted a tracking device without my knowledge. Yup, that sounds so much better.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “What the hell were you thinking?”

  Eyes widening, his brows remained furrowed. “I’m sure you mean that in the nicest way.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t, actually. What if the security scanners in the storage facility or in Juvie picked up on my tracker? I was on a rogue mission where I broke at least twenty spirit guide laws. You could’ve gotten me killed!”

  Nate bit his lip. “Olga, you’re already dead.”

  “Fine! You could’ve landed me in a nice cell in Hell.”

  He sat up and retracted his arms from behind his head as he did, bringing them to his torso, and I tried not to get distracted by the hardness of his stomach. “Look, you said it yourself. You were going rogue! It wasn’t as if you were off to see a parade of fluffy unicorns and peppermint puppies.”

  Surprising even myself, I let out a gasp of laughter despite my anger. “Fine, you made your point. But know this, I will send you straight to Hell in a hand basket if you ever pull a stunt like that again.”

  He squinted at me, his eyes quizzical. “Are you planning more dangerous missions in the near future? Maybe to infiltrate the enemy’s headquarters next?”

  “Shut up. I should still be mad at you.” I studied my arm, but didn’t notice anything different. “Where would you get a tracking device anyway?”

  His mouth quirked up slightly. “Have you explored headquarters at all? We have an entire room of gadgets at our disposal. That book bag Riel and Ash issued us was just for starters. All that stuff is child’s play.”

  “Wow, I had no idea. That would’ve been helpful to know before I went all rogue. Where did you inject me exactly?”

  He bent his head and kissed my right arm, just below my shoulder. “Right there.”

  I wound my fingers into his hair. “Okay, you have to stop kissing me, or we’ll never finish this conversation. And I really want to know how this tracker works.” I tilted my head to the side, a terrifying thought seizing me. “Could you hear everything going on, or just track my whereabouts?”

  He gently brushed my arm with his index finger. “I wish I could’ve heard everything. Definitely would’ve put my heart at ease.”

  Probably not.

  “I could follow the tracker through the GPS app on my phone. It showed me coordinates, although I had no idea what those points on the grid meant since you were in another dimension. I just figured they’d come in handy if I needed to get you help, knowing Riel would know what they meant. Although traveling across dimensions must’ve delayed the signal a bit. It took a full hour after you left for the signal to pop up. Those sixty minutes took about ten years off my life, or after-life.”

  I grabbed his finger and held his hand to my heart. “How did you know I was alive? I mean, couldn’t you have just been tracking my dead body being transported around the Underworld?”

  He poked me in the side. “Geez, you’re a morbid little thing, aren’t you?”

  Nodding, I said, “I just want to understand how these gadgets work. My mission isn’t over yet, and now that I think about it, something like a tracker could come in handy. Can I track the file somehow?”

  He grinned. “So, best worst idea ever? All is forgiven?”

  I shrugged. “Maybe.”

  “Oh, come on. I’m gonna have a Star Wars marathon by myself and cry my eyes out if we don’t kiss and make up soon.”

  “I will beat the crap out of you if you dare to watch Star Wars without me. But first things first, focus please.”

  “Sorry, what was the question again?”

  I pushed a piece of hair out of my face and sighed. “Can I track the file?”

  “Um, no. The tracker interacts with your bloodstream. Oh, and I think you’re forgetting you’re already dead, so that’s how I knew you were okay.”

  I stiffened and drew back a little. “You’re right. I keep forgetting that little detail. I can’t believe I’m such a doofus.”

  A slow smile spread across his face. “Hey, even freaky genius girls have their gifted moments sometimes. Makes the rest of us not feel so dumb.” He cupped my face gently in his hand and brushed his lips across mine. “I wasn’t worried you’d end up in a ditch somewhere or anything, but if you weren’t back within twenty-four hours, I was finding out where that tracker led to. Even giving you that much time killed me. After I spent the day with Grace…”

  His voice trailed off when my body tensed. Of course, he felt it; his hands had barely left my body since the second we reunited.

  “I was only doing my job, Olga, nothing more.”

  I winced, wishing he had done something more, a little kiss even. Then maybe the thought of kissing Conner behind his back wouldn’t sting so much. But deep down I knew that wasn’t true. Secretly, I craved some time alone to think through everything that happened.

  “We had dinner together and saw a movie, and the whole time I was chomping at the bit to explore the portal. I would’ve been here all night, trying to find a way to break in, if I hadn’t been summoned by Riel to report on my progress with Grace. I rushed back here as soon as I could, and then you showed up. I’m so glad you came back early.”

  “Me too.”

  “So why did you come back early? I thought you’d want the full twenty-four hour excursion with Conner. Is everything okay?”

  The brilliance of the sun peeked above the horizon, brightness touching my face. Usually, I loved the early sunrise of five-thirty at headquarters, but not this morning, when all I wanted to do in this moment was hide.

  Shutting my eyes, I said, “Yes, and no. I mean, Conner’s okay, physically speaking. But not emotionally, and it’s all my fault. He didn’t take the news of my suicide very well, especially since I let him believe I died in the accident with him for most of our day together.”

  Nate swallowed, and I watched his Adam’s apple bob up and down. “That jerk-hole. You spend a year of your life grieving over his death, you give up Heaven, and you risk your entire status as a spirit guide just to check on him, and he has the nerve to hold your one moment of weakness against you?” He slammed the ground with his fist so hard I thought a long crack might appear in the dirt. “He better hope I never have the pleasure of meeting him face-to-face, because if he does, I’m going to—”

  I pulled him toward me and kissed him. I didn’t know what else to do. A million thoughts raced through my mind, and maybe Nate could sense my anxiety because he remained tense. Was it okay for me to go back to Nate, the only love I’d ever truly known, as soon as Conner gave up on me? Should I tell Nate about Conner now or wait? With t
he file needing delivery, it seemed we still had more pressing matters to take care of. And Nate did say he loved me and wanted me no matter what, and of course, I never stopped loving him either. I decided telling him about me and Conner kissing could wait. Wanting to enjoy every moment with Nate and put this whole mess behind us, my body melted like butter into his and he relaxed too. It was the sort of kiss that turned my limbs to spaghetti and made me forget about all the wrong things I’d done. With my whole heart, I thanked God for His faithfulness and His love. I knew I’d never find another love to match what the Lord freely gives, but I also felt like Nate’s love for me came in at a close second. All these thoughts made me stop our little love fest though.

  “Nate,” I said, getting up. “We seriously have work to do. I want to drop the file off at the dead drop. I have a feeling if I’m even a millisecond late, there’ll be literal hell to pay.”

  Nate stood, brushing the dirt off his jeans. He bent down to grab his shirt and yanked it back on. “You can’t actually give them the file they wanted.”

  I slipped my own shirt over my head, and then slid my phone out of my pocket. “That’s why I wanted Conner’s friend in Juvie to make me an encrypted file, hoping they’d never be able to decode it. But the file was read only, and he couldn’t mess with the contents at all. We weren’t even able to read what the Alpha File 120 says. The whole thing is written in language and symbols Earth has never seen before, so I don’t think handing over the file will do any harm.”

  He brushed a hand through his hair. “What if the demons have a way to read the file though? We can’t take that chance. Let me take a look. We’ve still got time, right?”

  I glanced at my watch. “Yeah, about six hours. But we need a computer.”

  Nate pulled my bag from beside the tree and grabbed my hand. “It just so happens I have one of those.”

  “Yeah, but still. What makes you think you can succeed where Bo failed?”

  He cupped my face in his hands and smiled. “Faith.”

  “If you look for truth,

  you may find comfort in the end.”

  —C.S. Lewiss

  ate sauntered over to his desk and opened his laptop. “I’m just not sure if we have enough time for me to hack this file and translate the code for you. I mean, we’ll want that knowledge to use for leverage with Riel and Ash if needed, but I think you’ll agree it’s more important for the demons not to get this file.”

  I watched Nate sitting in his desk chair perfectly while staring at his computer screen. I was worried for sure, but I couldn’t help smiling at him, wishing I could touch him every moment.

  “I can probably scramble the code and make a false file for your dead drop. The trick is making the code complicated enough to buy us some more time to hack the real file. Go ahead and hand me the power cord for your phone. I’ll download this stuff to the laptop and get to work.”

  He took my phone from me while I rummaged through my bag to find the USB cable he needed. After he connected my phone and moved the file onto his computer, he gave my cell back to me. “You went shopping while you were away or something?” He pointed inside the opened front pocket of my backpack.

  My gaze followed his finger and discovered the pair of sunglasses I picked up at the storage facility. I’d forgotten all about them until now. “Those are something I stole at the storage facility along with the file.”

  He gave a little gasp. “Be careful. You know what they say. First, the kids are stealing a pair of sunglasses. The next day they’re stealing cars.”

  My lips curved. “I don’t even know why I took the glasses. When I saw them lying on the counter, an impulse took over.”

  “Maybe women’s intuition told you to take them. They could be important.” Nate reached in and grabbed the glasses, then slipped them on.

  “How do I look?” He made a duck face and flashed the peace sign.

  I laughed. “Like a friendless thirteen-year-old girl taking a selfie for an online profile pic. Here, let’s see what these do.” I pressed one of the silver buttons on the side of the glasses, but nothing.

  Then I saw the Alpha File 120 scrolling on its own on the screen.

  “What’s happening?” Nate asked, suddenly a wiry bundle of energy.

  “The computer is indicating another transfer in progress. Crap! Is someone already hacking your laptop for the information?”

  “No, I mean the glasses are sending a pulse through my body, like the code is transmitting to my brain through these glasses.”

  “What?”

  A loud beep followed my question, and the computer monitor illuminated with wild, fluctuating images. Airplane crashes, young lovers on the beach, coal mining explosions, apple orchards, boats sinking, a sunrise, church fires, a royal wedding, bombs exploding, a baby being born, dolphins playing in the ocean, towers collapsing, a dog greeting its owner at the door, dams breaking, a parent hugging their child, a twister ripping through a city, moviegoers laughing at the screen, cars colliding, someone reading a book at the library, a tsunami flooding a city, a gathering of friends eating dinner, a drug addict overdosing, cookies baking in the oven, a lightning strike, children playing, a funeral.

  After a minute of these flashing images, Nate’s whole body began convulsing.

  “Nate!”

  He didn’t answer me. I tried to rip the glasses off, but they were suctioned to his face. After another minute, he stopped shaking but remained unconscious. I wheeled his desk chair to his bed, laid him down on the comforter, and checked his pulse. It seemed stable, as though he merely slept. I checked his pulse every ten minutes for the next five hours. I didn’t want to blow our mission or anything, so I just stayed with him in his room, and since his pulse remained steady, I trusted that he didn’t need medical attention. Then I realized he was dead anyway and felt pretty foolish.

  Nate’s unconscious state aside, the good news was that putting on those glasses unlocked the file somehow, enabling me to scramble the contents. Even though I had no idea what the Alpha File 120 said, I felt certain the real code would be unreadable to Sam and his demon friends. Still, now I only had one hour left before the dead drop, and Nate still wouldn’t wake up. What if he never does? Tears clouded my vision. I took out my pencil pouch and retrieved the glue stick Riel created.

  Just as I was about to press the toggle switch that would signal for immediate help, Nate came to, sliding the glasses to his forehead and opening his eyes at last.

  I crouched beside the bed. “Nate! Nate, are you all right?” I felt frozen with fear, but managed to lift his head and place my arm underneath, feeling his forehead for fever with my other hand.

  He blinked rapidly and looked around. “Where am I? What happened? It feels like I’ve been electrocuted.”

  “You’re still in your room. You’ve been out a long time. Five hours.”

  “Five hours! What time is it?”

  “It’s 10:43 a.m.” I caressed his forehead, brushing his hair back from his pale face. “But I was seconds away from getting Riel.”

  “Riel?”

  I nodded through my tears. “You know, the grumpy angel in charge of us?”

  “Oh, right. I remember. I just feel so dizzy. Why didn’t you wake me?”

  Walking over to his computer, I slid the glue stick into the back pocket of my jeans and made a few clicks on the screen, closing down the file, then ejected the CD I’d burned the file onto. “I tried, but once you put those glasses on, you were out cold. I couldn’t even pry the darn things off your face. I was worried sick. If I lost you again, it’d kill me a second time.”

  I darted back to Nate’s bed, sat down, and pulled his head into my lap.

  He grabbed my hand and held my fingers tight. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to leave you all alone. As soon as you pressed that button on the glasses, a bunch of images flooded my mind. I was actually awake for the first few minutes, but paralyzed. All I could do was just sit there while the Alpha File 12
0 became comprehensible, a bunch of data overloading my brain. I got this massive headache and felt all light-headed and stuff. Then, a blinding yellow light flashed through my mind, the images came to an abrupt stop, and I guess I passed out.”

  I handed him a bottle of water from his nearby mini fridge. “Well, whatever those glasses did, the file changed from read only to something I could manipulate. I made an encrypted file, even though I still have no clue what the real file says.” I held up my hand. “Wait, did you just say the Alpha File became comprehensible to you? Because you said something similar to that before passing out.”

  He glanced at the CD in my hand, then at me, and gave me a half smile. “I think these glasses are used to read the code, as in I know what the Alpha File 120 is now. It was like I became Eve, eating the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. I saw every good and evil thing God sees.”

  I grabbed for his sleeve, felt him wince. “Holy crap! You’re saying the entire Alpha File 120, the one all of Hell is after, is now encrypted into your memory somehow? You’re saying you know every secret there ever was?”

  Nate nodded. “Almost. This particular file only showed me things from the years 1950 until 2000.” He rubbed his free hand over his face, scratching his palm over the stubble covering his chin.

  My fingers curled tightly around Nate’s left hand while sliding the CD into my book bag.

  “Whatever the years, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that you may have just become exactly as God, even if you don’t have all of his attributes, making you your own god in essence.” I eased Nate’s head out of my lap with one hand, then stood and tucked my shirt into my jeans before pacing back and forth. “Maybe that’s what the demons wanted. Logic says that the result of cracking the Alpha File 120 is how someone could somehow become independent from God. In theory, you would no longer have the need for God once you understood good and evil as He understood those concepts.” I shook my head. “Holy crap! This is far worse than I ever could’ve imagined. What would happen if the demons found out you have the file in your head? It could mean the end of you!”