by Laurie Lyons
Chapter Sixteen
Research
"What you don't know would make a great book."
~Sydney Smith
The next morning they left for class early. Lucy had three classes, then a two-hour lunch and two more classes after. Each day would be the same for the summer semester. Roman was sitting in the quad again. He said nothing and they said nothing but Lucy trembled at his icy glare. He wasn't there at lunch when Lucy and Nathaniel made their way to Dr. Hannon's office. He was finally back at work after the attack.
"This must be boring for you," Lucy whispered to Nathaniel in the stairwell. "Following me around like this."
"Not at all," he replied earnestly, "I love spending time with you." She smiled and knocked on Dr. Hannon's door.
"Come in Lucy!" he called from within.
"I have sushi!" Lucy said pushing the door open and leaving it open for Nathaniel to sneak in behind her. Dr. Hannon looked casual in a pair of kakis and a golf shirt. His face had healed very well and his handsome features were starting to come back.
"How are you Lucy?" he said cocking his head to one side and looking at her like she was a lost puppy.
Lucy laughed. "I'm fine doc," she said hugging him, it was so like him to worry about HER when he was the one who was actually injured.
"Let me make something clear," he replied, "I feel fine, I look gorgeous and I DON'T want to talk about the violent incident unless you want to talk about it. Ok?" He raised his eyebrows looking for acknowledgement and Lucy nodded with a grin. Relief washed over his face. "Are you angry with me? About the whole drowning thing?" he asked warily. "For not telling you?"
"Not at all," Lucy replied. "It wasn't your place to tell me."
"Well," he shrugged, "I should have been more stern with your Mother. I could have convinced her to tell you."
Lucy put the plastic sushi boxes on the coffee table and sat down shrugging out of her coat.
"Have you met my mother? Do you honestly think you could have changed her mind?"
Dr. Hannon laughed. "Good point." He sat at the other end of the couch. "But I still feel like I could have done more. You must have been so shocked." Lucy nodded while popping a California roll in her mouth. Nathaniel sat on the floor against the wall eating from his own box. Lucy glanced over at him and he winked at her. She smiled. "Your mom didn't go into details," Dr. Hannon said. "How did you find out?"
So Lucy gave the same version of the story she had given Anastasia. Dr. Hannon listened with interest.
"Do you really think it's wrong that we tell people about the source of my photographic memory?" Lucy asked him when she was done with the story.
"Lucy, I've looked into this," he said. "People who have near death experiences have the same brain function as before the incident. Some claim of course that they can now see the future or see the dead but none of that has ever been proven or validated scientifically. None of them have ever claimed heightened brain function. In fact, most have decreased function as a result of whatever trauma caused their deaths in the first place. I know the physicality of your brain better than anyone and if your memory is the result of a drowning, I can see no evidence of that."
"Hmm," said Lucy. "So I could have been born with this."
"Absolutely," he confirmed, "in fact that is far more likely. All I have ever studied is your brain function. I have never discussed or examined where it came from because frankly, that isn't relevant."
"Makes sense," Lucy and Nathaniel said in unison. She flashed him a quick smile.
"Your mind is extraordinary in its performance but there is nothing all that different physically from me or anyone else. Therefore as a scientist I am limited to focusing on its abilities not its origins."
"True," Lucy said. "But did my father think that my memory had something to do with the accident? Is that why he wanted me to know so badly?"
"No," Dr. Hannon shook his head. "Your father didn't question your abilities. He was sure you were born with them. He wanted you to know because he felt you had a right to know."
"He was right," Lucy said bluntly.
"And I agree," Dr. Hannon conceded. "But your mother was adamant and we both knew she was only doing what she thought was best."
"When I had my little well, freak out in March." Lucy started. "You asked me if I had come up with any new memories. Is the drowning what you were thinking of?"
"Yes," Dr. Hannon nodded. "I forgot I asked you that. I was wondering if your brain had spat out a memory of the accident and you were reacting to it."
"That explains it. Thanks Doc. I feel even better about it now," Lucy said smiling.
"Good," he smiled back. He got up and poured them some coffees. "Can we talk about our Polish visitors?"
"Yes," Lucy said and rewound her mind to their last conversation, "the sleep guy right. Is that still a go? You feel up to it?"
"I told you I don't want to talk about it. I wouldn't suggest it if I didn't think I was ready." Dr. Hannon sat back down. "This scientist is bringing half his faculty with him – at his own expense I might add. It's turning into a big thing. Are you ok with that?"
"How many people are going to watch me sleep?" Lucy asked nervously.
"Just a select few. I made sure of that. All of them are coming to the conference on the 21st of June," Dr. Hannon explained. "Dr. Gorski will be sending a team of four on the 19th. We'll do the tests that night and the rest of the group shows up on the 20th." Lucy stored all the information. Dr. Hannon looked directly at her while giving her the instructions knowing that she needed the visual clues for it to lock.
"Sounds good to me but I can't do anything on the 20th," she replied.
"That's fine," Dr. Hannon said. "We will be doing boring scholar wine and cheese stuff in the afternoon, Brian is going to hate me for it." Lucy grinned. "But just out of curiosity, what's on the 20th?"
"The summer solstice party," Lucy said with a smile. "It's supposed to be a good one."
Dr. Hannon laughed, "Well, we can't have you miss the party now can we?"
"No way Doc, not for all the polish sausage in the world."
"Well, be sure to get some sleep after the party because you are going to have to be on for the next day."
"Deal," Lucy said saluting to make her point.
They chatted for a bit longer about her classes and plans for the summer. Lucy looked at her watch and got up to leave. Dr. Hannon hugged her and told her he'd be in touch with final details for the conference. She hugged him back tightly grateful for his friendship and left the room slowly allowing Nathaniel to slip out before her.
They reached the English building where Lucy's next two classes were. Nathaniel walked her in the first classroom and sat beside her.
"Your next class is right next door," he said. "I'm going to run an errand but I'll be back before the end of Dramatic Literature." Lucy was nervous. Other students surrounded her so she couldn't even whisper. Frustrated that they couldn't have a proper conversation in public, she opened her notebook and wrote.
Are you sure?
Nathaniel glanced at the paper. "Yes," he assured her. "He won't come near you with so many people around you."
Where are you going?
"I need to do some research and I hate to say it but your library is woefully lacking in the kind of information I need."
I love you – come back to me
"I love you too, I will always come for you." He slipped out of the row and disappeared. Lucy was immediately anxious without Nathaniel beside her. The class passed slowly. Every time a student came in late, coughed or dropped something, Lucy jumped. When 2:00 rolled around she quickly collected her things and stayed in the crowd. As it turned out, most people from her Middle English class were in her Dramatic Literature class so she moved in the middle of a throng of students to the next classroom.
Lucy felt calmer now. Nathaniel would be back in less than an hour. She focused on the class and kept notes. 3:00 crept up on her and
before she knew it the professor was casually dismissing them and the students started to pack up and leave. Nathaniel still wasn't back. Lucy started to worry. What had happened to him? There wasn't a class after hers so within moments the classroom was empty and Lucy was totally alone. Panic flooded through her. Would Roman or Bael be able to tell if Nathaniel wasn't with her? She had a feeling they could.
She stood up, collected her things and headed for the door. Lucy would have to find another crowded area. She decided to head to the Students Union Building where the largest population of students would be. She might even find Anastasia there, which would certainly curb any violence from Roman. Lucy hurried out of the empty classroom into an even emptier hall. She and Nathaniel hadn't been able to have a private conversation all day. Why now did she find herself totally isolated? She paused in the hallway not sure which door to go out. The door to the right was a faster route to the Student's Union Building but it was less used than the path that let out the left doors.
Indecision gripped her. This could be a life or death choice. She whimpered a little at the severity of this moment. Nathaniel was not coming for her – that could mean that they had somehow incapacitated him, which Lucy had to admit, sounded impossible. She was on her own, possibly forever and a Demon was most likely coming to kill her.
"Nathaniel," she pleaded to the empty hallway. "Where are you?"
The lights went out.
Lucy stood frozen in fear. The only light was from each of the glass doors at either end of the hallway.
A figure appeared silhouetted in the far end of the hall. Lucy braced herself to bolt left but then a familiar voice cut through the air.
"Hey is everyone ok in here?" Lucy paused and wished her memory included auditory cues. Either way, the voice fostered a feeling of comfort for Lucy. Her instincts told her that there was no danger here. The figure approached and finally Lucy recognized the shape and vague facial features of Cliff, the maintenance man who had come to her rescue in the laundry room. Lucy's tension eased further.
"It's me," she called out in the dark, "Lucy Bower from 4B in the dorms. The lights have gone out." She laughed lightly, "It appears that I am afraid of the dark."
Cliff came closer, "Ah Lucy," he said in a fatherly voice, "we are all a little afraid of the dark." He approached in the casual gait of a man who has little worries. Lucy smiled as he came closer. "We should be afraid." Lucy paused, something wasn't right. Cliff came closer and even in the dark Lucy could see his features coming into focus. "You especially Lucy, should be very very afraid." His eyes were totally black inside.
"Let me introduce myself," he said with a smile.
"Bael," Lucy whispered.
"Clever girl."
She turned and sprinted for the far door. She made it ten feet when a wall of fire alighted in front of her. Lucy spun quickly into the stairwell, dropped her book bag and flew as fast as she could up the stairs. She knew that it couldn't be fast enough. She knew how fast Nathaniel could move, Bael must move at least that quick. She sobbed a little in panic as she reached the landing and paused. He wasn't coming after her. Lucy took a sharp breath and swallowed her terror. No one else was here. If she was going to live, she was going to have to save herself and she couldn't do that when she was petrified. She forced her breathing to slow and calmed her mind.
If Lucy could make it to the roof, she could certainly garner some attention from the quad. She had no idea if she could make it to the roof. She thought of the animal that had sniffed her in Dr. Hannons office but supressed it. If he was in human form than that is what she was dealing with.
"He's just human," Lucy whispered to herself and she started creeping up the stairs whether it was right or not was irrelevant. It made her feel calmer, and that's what she needed right now. "He is a human being and can be beat," she breathed. She made it to the second floor landing but aimed for the service door to the right. This opened to a smaller stairway and Lucy climbed it up to another door. Gently, quietly, she reached up and turned the heavy silver handle on the metal door. She winced as it made the faintest creak. Lucy opened the door only far enough to squeeze her body out. She exhaled as the sun shone down on her face, she had made it out onto the roof.
Bael stood directly in front of her with his arms crossed against his chest. He was no longer wearing the uniform of a maintenance man but a very expensive suit. His hair was slicked back and Lucy realized that he was much younger than she had originally thought. Gone was the dowdy maintenance man and in front of her was a dashingly handsome blond but black eyed Demon.
"Tsk tsk tsk little child," he cooed while picking a piece of lint off his jacket, "do you honestly think you could get away from me?" Lucy stopped but forced herself to not become hysterical. "Roman has done a piss poor job around here." The Guild Prime drawled, "you and that Angel have been running amok and I simply won't have it. I have no interest in offering you any deals. You will now die and then so will your Angel and I will be on the golf course within a half an hour. Roman has handled this whole thing horribly but I am here to rectify the situation." His temper flared and his black eyes darkened further. Lucy stayed calm even though her heart was pounding in terror and while Bael talked on, she glanced at the structure of the roof.
She was in the middle of the flat graveled surface, and it was a good 20 feet to the edge. They would have to get closer if Lucy wanted to be seen. Between the door and the edge of the roof and scattered all about her were huge metal boxes of varying sizes. Some were roof top air conditioning units, others were for things like the elevator shafts. Lucy decided that if she was going to die, than this guy was going to come with her. If she could get to the other side of one of those boxes and scream loud enough, her murder would be seen from the quad. Therefore, her death would not be in vain. "I have no idea how they do things where your boyfriend comes from, but in my Guild, we don't tolerate this kind of complete disrespect!" He was yelling now. "Roman will suffer for this kind of epic failure and you and the winged cherub will die!"
While Bael was mid-sentence, Lucy bolted for the farthest box. She heard Bael lunge after her. She started to scream but realized that he had frozen her voice in her throat. It was like a horror film, Lucy was running for her life and could not scream for help. But she could still run. She quickly changed course and dashed right, diving behind another air unit. By luck, this one had a fire safety box next to it. Without thinking, Lucy smashed the glass and grabbed the crash axe inside. She heard the smallest crunch of gravel to her right and on instinct, she swung.
She heard a light choking sound and looking right, she saw the axe imbedded into the throat of Bael. Lucy screamed and let go of the handle but it stayed at its mark. Bael stood stunned as blood poured rapidly out of his neck in a wave. His black eyes cleared to a bright human blue and they trained themselves on Lucy. She stepped back, having no idea what he was still capable of even being so incapacitated. The Demon didn't go for her though; he just stood there as blood poured out of his body over the suit and down to his once shiny shoes. He grinned and looked down at himself. He shook his head at Lucy and his expression turned dark.
"You will pay for this," he growled. Lucy jumped as the Demon burst into flames and vanished.
Lucy collapsed to the roof and leaned back against the air return breathing heavily. Tears poured from her eyes. Relief and fear and regret coursed through her. Another crunch of gravel brought her focus forward again. Nathaniel's face surfaced in front of her. He didn't speak but simply gathered her in his arms. She leaned into him and sobbed.
"What have you done?" an all too familiar voice floated over them. Lucy's shoulders tensed again, Roman had come, presumably to finish what Bael had started. Lucy didn't have any energy left to fight; she didn't even raise her head to look at him. Nathaniel however, did have some fight left in him, quite a lot of it actually. He leapt up to face Roman, fists and jaw clenched.
Roman just stood regarding both of them and the empty spot w
here Bael had been. "What have you done?" he said again and then he smiled. Lucy stared at him incredulously. How evil could something be? He looked at both of them like they were missing the punch line of a joke. "Do you not know?" he said to Nathaniel who shook his head. Roman rolled his eyes, "When the Guild Prime dies, the Demon who witnesses it becomes the new Guild Prime."
Lucy swallowed the bile that had risen in her throat, "You are happy," she forced out, "that you got a promotion?"
Before he could answer, a crow suddenly landed on the air unit beside them. It was huge and regarded them all with a cold eye.
"I have to go," Roman said while not taking his eye off the crow. Then he rounded on Nathaniel, "But make no mistake Angel. You might have managed to kill Bael but you will not get so lucky with me. Your clock is still ticking." He leaned in and pointed at Nathaniel's chest, but he looked at Lucy. "Send him back or you both die."
Nathaniel moved himself into his line of vision, "Stay away from her or you will die too Roman!" he raged.
"I will destroy her," Roman spat out pointing at Lucy. "I will annihilate her soul! I will make her a shell of a creature! She will beg me for mercy! She will pray for a death from your God!" The crow squawked at him as if to hurry him along. "Last chance Angel, go or her soul pays the price."
With that, he and the crow vanished.
"Come Lucy," Nathaniel said while gently guiding her away. She was shaking as they walked quickly and quietly back to the dorm. When she got into her room, Lucy trudged over to the window. She sighed and let her shoulders slump as she rested her forehead against the cool glass. Nathaniel wrapped his arms around her, always comforting, always calming.
"I'm so sorry I wasn't there," he said, his voice choking in his throat. "I lost track of time, please forgive me."
"It's fine," Lucy said. "You should be able to be three minutes late without a Demon trying to kill me." She looked out the window to the quad. Students walked around happily living their lives. They threw Frisbees and laughed and gossiped. She was one of them not a few short months ago. Lucy had been completely oblivious to the delicate balance of good and evil in the universe. She had never even considered that there were Angels or Demons in the world because it didn't really matter to her at the time. Now though, that was all she dealt with. "I killed a man Nathaniel," she started to sob, "two months ago I was worried about what shoes I could wear with my new bag and today, I KILLED A MAN!" She screamed.