Angel's Uprising

by Campbell, Jamie

  Alexander stood from the lounge and joined them, sensing the visit wasn’t as friendly as Benecio made out. “What are you implying?”

  “Nothing, of course. I’m just saying that if anyone is planning anything, they will not succeed. You have my word that it will fail and anyone involved will be permanently banished.” Benecio licked his lips, refusing to blink. It was unnerving.

  “I think you’ve confused us for someone else,” Jerome said, standing tall. He wasn’t going to be intimated by a council member, he was done with all that. “However, you have made your point so I think you should be on your way.”

  Benecio eyed them both in turn, as if he could see into their soul where their lies were burning bright. “I don’t think I have made my point. So let me make this clear, Jerome, I know you have recently read the rule books. I know someone let you in there and I know you will fail. If you try something, I will personally attend to your banishment order.”

  “Like I said,” Jerome resolutely replied. “I think you have mistaken me for someone else. I have a human to protect, I’m too busy to get involved in council business.”

  The council member leaned in close, his threat unveiled. “I will destroy you and I don’t make mistakes.”

  With his words lingering in the air, Benecio let himself out of the hostel. He didn’t look back, the door closed behind him with a flick of the wrist.

  Jerome breathed a sigh of relief when they were alone again. He could still feel the hot breath on his face, as if Benecio still lingered in spirit. It was unpleasant to say the least.

  Alexander was the first to break the silence. “What was that about?”

  “Do you really want to know?”

  He nodded. “We’ve been friends since we were babies, I want to know.”

  “I’m planning on overthrowing the council,” Jerome replied simply. “Are you in?”

  He held out his hand, palm open and waiting. Alexander took only a moment to slap it. “I’m in. What are we doing?”

  Jerome spent the next two hours going through the complex rules for overthrowing the council. He explained his intentions to get support from the other angels and how Alexander would play a part in his plans.

  By the end of it, Alexander’s head was swimming with information. “Do you really think we can pull this off?”

  “I think we need to.”

  “What about Benecio’s threats? We could get banished.”

  Jerome wasn’t going to be dissuaded so easily. “And if we let the council go on for much longer, they will lead us into the ground. Our survival depends on our victory, as does the human’s.”

  “This could make us vulnerable to another demon attack,” Alexander pointed out, knowing full well what another war would do to their numbers. The demons would win in no time and with very little effort.

  “This is about strengthening the village against demon attacks. If we act swiftly, we can ensure our safety. The current council will do nothing for our security. I’ve got something to show you.” Jerome retrieved the memo from his room and returned, handing it to Alexander to read.

  As he digested the words, Alexander could understand the anger that was boiling away in his friend. He too was mad now, ready to follow Jerome wherever he led. “I understand. I find it so difficult to comprehend how our own council could do this to us. So many lives were lost, our families, our friends, our mentors. They are all gone.”

  “And they didn’t have to be killed. The council could have saved them before another life was lost.”

  “Tell me what I am to do,” Alexander ordered, ready for action.

  Jerome gave him instructions, he was to rally support in secret. Just like Ambrosia had done, he would do the same. Except they weren’t going to go door to door. They were going to be smarter about it. They weren’t going to get caught.

  Alexander hurried away, his anger turning into something more useful. Jerome waited until he had left and flashed down to Earth. He needed to check in with Leila and see if the damage he had done to her the previous day was still festering.

  He found her in the Aron Public Library amongst the books. She was alone, there were no volunteers helping her that day. She cut a lonely figure standing in the rows of empty bookshelves.

  Leila liked the library even more than the museum. She hadn’t called for any volunteers to help her, she needed the sanctuary of the quiet place. She felt safe there with the books, they couldn’t hurt her. Their weight was reassuring in her hands, like perhaps the world hadn’t changed as much as she thought. While there were still books, she could still feel normal.

  It was a slow process returning all the books to their shelves. There had to be tens of thousands of them scattered on the floor. A lot were missing, she knew that without being an expert librarian. Books made good fire kindling when it was cold, they would have been easy to steal and use. She figured she probably couldn’t blame the people who took them. At times, she was probably desperate enough for that warmth too.

  Finishing a whole shelf and double checking they were in alphabetical order, Leila felt a sense of accomplishment. With just that one shelf, it was like it was possible to restore things to the way they should be. Shelf by shelf, perhaps she could restore her life too.

  A book suddenly jumped off the shelf and fell to the floor across the room. Leila looked around, making sure she was still alone in the space. As far as she could see, she was.

  She slowly sidled up to the book, careful not to take her eyes off it. She wondered what could have made it tumble. There was no breeze in the library and, even if there was, it had been firmly wedged between other books. There was no way she could explain the book on the floor.

  Reaching down, she picked it up, half-expecting it to jump out of her reach and glad when it didn’t. She read the title: Angel’s Eyes by Julie Gee. Flipping it over, she saw that it was a self-help book about using the spirit of angels to strengthen your life.

  “Very funny,” Leila mumbled to herself before standing again. She looked around, holding the book up. “Is this some kind of joke? You think I need a self-help book?” Nothing but silence replied to her.

  It wasn’t the response Jerome had been expecting. He had knocked the book off to try and tell her that he was there, that angels can help. He thought it would be comforting for her.

  “I know you’re there.”

  Jerome approached her slowly, wondering if perhaps she could see him. He knew it was impossible but he couldn’t help but have the thought. They had shared a special bond, perhaps if she tried hard enough to remember, she might just do it.

  “I can feel you,” Leila continued, speaking into the emptiness. “You’ve been following me for weeks. I know you’re here with me. Show yourself.”

  Jerome wished he could. It wouldn’t be difficult to prove he was there. All he had to do was concentrate and he would be visible to her and every other human on Earth. The problem wasn’t in doing it, it would be dealing with the council afterwards. They would find out, and when they did, he would be banished. They were just waiting for a reason to do it. Especially Benecio now.

  “Are you too chicken? You can scare me but you’re too afraid to show yourself to me?” Leila challenged. She was certain something was haunting her, she just wished she could do something about it. If it was her family, she wanted to make a connection to them. She didn’t want the communication to be so one sided.

  Jerome just stood there, his shoulders sunken as he wished things were different. It was furthering his resolve to rise up against the council. When he was in charge, he would fix her. He would restore her memory so she could recall their time together and her part in ending the war. She wouldn’t be sad then, she would be happier than ever.

  Leila sighed, she obviously wasn’t going to get a response. She wondered if she was going mad instead. Perhaps all those noises she heard was just wishful thinking. Perhaps there was nothing with her except the wind.

  “Are you o
kay?” Reece’s voice startled her. She dropped the book with the fright.

  “You scared me.”

  “Sorry, I heard you talking. Was someone here?” He looked around, trying to find evidence of whoever she was talking to.

  “No, I was just talking to myself,” she replied, trying to recover from the surprise. Her heart was beating much faster than it needed to. She took a few deep breaths, hoping to calm herself.

  Reece approached cautiously, speeding up when he saw her reaction. He took her in his arms, pulling her close. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I really didn’t.”

  “It’s okay, I’m a bit on edge.” She let herself sink into him, snaking her arms around his neck. “It’s creepy here alone.”

  He pulled back to look into her eyes. “You’re not alone, I’m here with you. I’m not going anywhere.”

  Leila smiled and pulled him back into a hug. “I’m glad.”

  Jerome continued to stand watching, resisting the urge to pull the human off of her. He was giving her the kind of comfort that he wanted to. It should have been him holding her, not the human. It was his job to protect her, the human was just overstepping boundaries. He needed to let Leila go and take a large step backwards.

  Leila relinquished her grip on Reece and let him go. Still with their arms around one another, they stared into the other’s eyes. Ever so slowly, they leaned inwards, their lips gently brushing before they kissed.

  For that moment while their bodies intertwined and their lips locked, Leila didn’t think. She forgot about the recovery effort, her missing parents, and the uncertain future. All she could think about was the warmth spreading through her body and the strong arms around her. Those few moments were absolutely blissful.

  Leila didn’t want it to end. The kisses were growing deeper, more desperate and hungry. Reece tasted sweet, like sugar. She wanted his lips on hers and never wanted to let him go.

  Suddenly, a whole shelf load of books jumped from their place and tumbled onto the floor in a loud rumble. Leila and Reece looked around quickly, their minds going into survival mode first. She pulled from his embrace to inspect the shelves.

  “What happened?” Reece asked, joining her on the floor with the books. “Did the shelf break?”

  Leila looked up, the shelf looked absolutely fine to her. She took another few breaths, the idea of the books leaping to their death made her hair stand on end.

  “I guess it must have,” she lied. She didn’t want to tell him what she thought, he would think she was crazy. She couldn’t have him looking at her like that, she just couldn’t handle it.

  Reece tested the shelf and made sure it wasn’t broken. He pressed down on it, testing the stability. Satisfied it would hold the books again, he helped her pick them up and replace them on the shelf.

  Jerome’s frustration had escalated, resulting in his urge to take action. The books had taken the brunt of that frustration. Better them than the human, he figured.

  The last time he had been in the library, it had been with Leila as they were trying to find a book about baby names. They had been only a day away from solving Tiresias’s prophecy. That book had been the one thing to bring together all the clues. Now, Jerome had to stand by and watch his Leila being touched and kissed and loved by another man. He could barely breathe with the injustice of it all.

  He didn’t want to stay any longer. He was only there checking in on Leila anyway. Clearly, she didn’t need him. She had the human now and he only scared her. If he could have walked away and never come back, he thought he might have taken that option. Unfortunately, the council wouldn’t allow it. Guarding Leila was his punishment, he was destined to be her angel for the rest of her life. And if he did his job well, her life would be very long.

  Jerome knew he had to find a way to deal with the pain of seeing Leila and being unable to interact with her. He had to be able to deal with her meeting other people, people that weren’t him, and not want to die when she did so. He had to find a way to be okay with it but he didn’t know how. Overthrowing the council looked to be his best option. If nothing else came of it, at least it would give him something else to think of.

  He left them there in library and returned to the village. Alexander was waiting for him when he arrived.

  “Hey, slow down, buddy. Is everything okay?” He asked when Jerome stormed in through the front door.

  “We need to hurry up. How did you go today?” Jerome took a seat, calming himself down. He needed to be a leader now, others would be watching him for his reaction to things. He needed to learn to master his emotions. It was never a problem before he met Leila. It was like she had unleashed him, taught him to be more human than angel.

  Alexander knew there was much more going on with Jerome but let it go, he would tell him in his own time. He tried to speak calmly, hoping it would rub off. “Things went well. I asked around like you told me to and there aren’t that many angels who actually like Ambrosia. They’re all a bit like us, they support the theory but not the person.”

  Jerome nodded, that was a good thing. He had hoped he and Alexander wouldn’t stand alone in their cause.

  Alexander went on. “Ambrosia is having a meeting tonight, his first one to rally support. I think we should go and see how many people show up.”

  “I’ve got a better idea.” Jerome grinned. “What time is the meeting?”

  “Six o’clock.”

  “We don’t have much time then. I need you to get to the meeting and make sure everyone is there before it starts.”

  “And what about you? What are you going to do?” Alexander asked, ready to get going.

  “I’m going to talk to Ambrosia.” Jerome didn’t linger to discuss their plans any longer. They only had forty minutes before the meeting in order to act. It was going to be a tight squeeze.

  He headed up to the council, using his wings to fly instead of walk. It took only a fraction of the time it normally would. The receptionist led him through to Ambrosia’s office. Just like every other time Jerome had unexpectedly dropped in, the councilor was staring out the window – anything to avoid doing any real work.

  “Jerome, this is surprising,” he said, taking a seat at his desk. “What can I do for you?”

  “I thought I should let you know that your meeting tonight needs to be pushed back for half an hour,” Jerome started, guilt creeping in for lying. No matter how much he did it or for what reason, he couldn’t be comfortable telling a lie – or several. “The school is running late, Alexander called to let me know. He knows your time is precious and didn’t want you waiting for everyone to arrive.”

  Ambrosia nodded, clasping his hands together on the desk as he thought it through. “No worries then, six-thirty it is. Thank you for coming all this way to tell me, and please pass on my thanks to Alexander too. I can’t tell you how much your support means to me.”

  The sincerity in Ambrosia’s voice did nothing to appease Jerome’s unease. “I’ll see you at the meeting.”

  “Looking forward to it. Tonight, we start a revolution.”

  Jerome left the councilor, hoping he was doing the right thing. After the meeting, he wouldn’t be able to turn back. He was all in or not at all. Ambrosia was right about one thing – a revolution was just starting.

  CHAPTER 6

  “Should this feel more… right?” Jerome asked as he paced. People were gathering only a few feet away behind the door. Yet he still wasn’t sure if he had enough courage to go out there and face them. “If it’s the right thing to do, it should feel more right, right?”

  Alexander stopped him moving by placing his hands on his friend’s shoulders. He looked him directly in the eyes. “You know you are doing the right thing. Just because you’re scared, doesn’t mean it’s wrong. It just means you’re scared.”

  Jerome tried to believe the words but he couldn’t stop fear gripping him. Deep down, he did know he was doing the right thing. Their village needed to change otherwise i
t would have dangerous consequences for not only the angels but the humans too. If someone was going to lead them into a new era, then it needed to be someone pure of heart and doing it for all the right reasons – not for their own importance. Jerome fit the bill, it may as well be him.

  “Let’s do it,” he said resolutely. A grin spread across Alexander’s face. Jerome opened the door, took a deep breath and stepped out into the point of no return.

  The turnout was even greater than he had expected. Ambrosia had managed to talk at least three dozen angels into attending his meeting. As Jerome scanned their faces, he recognized each and every one of them. Most of the angels were his age, ready and chomping at the bit for change.

  He stood at the centre of the makeshift podium in the small room. He tried not to let the walls feel like they were going to cave in on him. He had to remember to breathe.

  “Thank you all for coming, I know you were expecting to hear from Ambrosia. He’ll be here soon but I wanted to speak with you first.” Jerome paused to see the reaction, there was none yet. He reminded himself he only had half an hour, he needed to get straight to the point. “We are all here because we want change in the village. But more to the point, we want change in the council. We want new leadership, someone who will implement action to protect us so we in turn can protect the humans.”

  A few of the angels started to nod. It was all he needed to continue. “Ambrosia has started the ball rolling but I don’t know if he is the best person to lead us. We need someone who is impartial, believes in change because it is the right thing to do, someone who cares more than anything about our role in the world.”

  “We do!” One of the young male angels yelled out suddenly. Those immediately around him nodded in agreement. A few mumbles started filtering through the crowd.

  Jerome stole a glance at Alexander, trying to get some unspoken confirmation that he should continue. It was only slight, but Alexander blinked and grinned.