The Girl On Victoria Road: A Tim Reaper Novel

by Sean Cummings

  Sparks blinked. “What does that mean?”

  “I am that I am is the response Moses got when he asked for God’s name. Charlotte told me the same thing back at the bunker when I pressed her to find out what the hell was living inside her.”

  “Charlotte is God?” Sparks said, her voice lilting up an octave.

  “More like a human flash drive for the bearded one’s power,” I replied as I turned my attention back to Him. “You know, I’ve been saying something is wrong in the Halls of the Holy ever since I found that bloody angel’s feather in my old flat. Heavenly politics is one thing but all along there has been talk of reuniting with The Fallen. Of wiping out God’s great mistake that is humanity. You helped me stop the mad angel Jael at that beach in Lawrencetown. It cost Amy her life and now she’s my guardian angel. But just because we stopped Jael doesn’t mean that all is well up there in heaven, right?”

  The sky was painted in pinkish-blue hues, yet a few flecks of snow danced around amid the early morning breeze. Charlotte was still flashing me a knowing look and me being the idiot that I am, well, I didn’t have a clue what she was on about.

  Ignoring me, The Supreme Being turned to face Charlotte and he brushed a finger along her left cheek. “You are a precious little lamb, child,” He said calmly. “Your heart is the purest element in all creation. I made sure of it when I made you because only the purest vessel is fit to contain a fragment of my elemental nature. The knowledge of creation itself … I could not let that fall into the hands of usurpers because if they attacked and weakened me, all creation would be their’s for the taking. I had to hide it to protect myself until the threat had been eliminated. I believe the death-dealer has eliminated the threat by destroying Jael, and my enemies are now leaderless. It is time for you to give the power back. Your job is done, child.”

  Charlotte’s whole body tensed and she shut her eyes tight. Her fists were drawn so tightly I could see the whites of her knuckles.

  And then, unexpectedly, Carol Sparks happened. She gazed upon the face of God in human form. She opened her mouth and said, “What happens to Charlotte when you take back what is yours?”

  The Almighty pointed to Ambriel and said, “Stand before me, servant.”

  Ambriel stood up and stepped forward until she was standing next to me. “Here I am,” she said in a near whisper.

  He gazed down at the little girl and his lips arched up to form a warm smile. A loving smile. A forgiving smile.

  Or was it?

  I had seen any number of human predators smile like He was smiling just before they killed someone.

  “This child will become another servant,” He said, pointing to Ambriel. “She will live in eternal peace and she will be honoured for her sacrifice to me. And now I will take back what is mine. I will then return to my realm and I shall deal with the treacherous usurpers who wish to replace me.”

  He raised his power and the wind stopped dead. The waves stopped crashing against the shoreline and no sound could be heard save for the sound of Sparks teeth grating together. He placed both hands on Charlotte’s head and closed His eyes tightly. A vortex of energy immediately shot up out of Charlotte’s body and the little girl cried out.

  “Mommy!” she screamed, her voice echoing as if it had been projected through a stack of Marshall amplifiers at a rock concert. She writhed in pain; her face twisted and contorted as she struggled against His power. She dropped to her knees and opened her eyes. She looked at me pleadingly and mouthed the words help me.

  “Fuck this!” I roared as I drew on the ancient power from within.

  “What are you doing, Reaper?” Sparks whispered.

  “Harry, Sparks … get on the boat now!” I thundered as I raced to the shoreline. I glanced behind me to see the pair dashing toward the old cape island boat with every ounce of energy they had left in their bodies. They quickly climbed aboard as I stepped into the icy waters of the Atlantic and reached out with my power.

  The living energy within the ocean itself fuelled my essence with a measure of power I had never encountered. I could feel the death throes of every living thing that dwelled in the sea as I pushed my essence further and further. I reached out with everything I had, collecting even the tiniest fragments of life force from every sea creature for miles into a ball of energy. I compressed it with my mind. Forging it into a shape that I could use as a weapon against Him. I knew that I would likely die in the process, but it didn’t matter. I’d sworn I would protect Charlotte and I’d let her down once when she was taken at the bible camp. God was using her as a disposable storage unit for the knowledge of creation itself and by taking His power back, the girl would die. There was just no way I was going to let that happen.

  I lashed out with all my power and He didn’t see it coming. The compressed ball of death energy struck Him square in the chest and He staggered for a moment. I pressed on, reaching out with my power further into the deepest, darkest parts of the ocean. Dead fish and mammals as far as the eye could see drifted up to the ocean’s surface. Every one of them was dead. I’d tapped them all out.

  Charlotte fought against His power the best that she could, but I see that He was wearing her down. She fell to the ground and tried to lift her body up but it was no use. The vortex of energy glowed with a brightness that would blind a normal man but I paid it little attention. My focus was The Man with the Big White Beard. I lashed out a final time sending an enormous mass of death energy that sparked and hissed as it collided with the creator, knocking Him flat on His Holy ass.

  He slowly got back to His feet and then He whispered a Word of Power. I dropped to my knees, exhausted. I studied His face for a moment when I spotted what I could have sworn was a bead of sweat roll down His right cheek. My attack had weakened Him, but it was not enough to destroy Him.

  I chuckled at the insanity of it all. There I was, a defrocked Reaper. I had no business trying to destroy God. I was just a superficial fart in the breeze. A mere annoyance to someone as powerful as Him. I gazed up at His face and said, “Do it.”

  He struck a blow that lifted my body high into the air. My host started to smoulder and I looked down on Charlotte for what I was certain would be the last time. “Sorry, kid,” I croaked.

  “No!” Ambriel bellowed as she manifested her golden spear. She raised it high over her head and thrust it into His back, lifting Him off the ground and over her head. The Creator screamed in a voice that must have shaken the earth right down to its core because the Devil’s Island lighthouse collapsed like it was made of matchsticks. His form exploded into a thousand tiny shards of Holy power which immediately fell into Charlotte’s body. The vortex above her spun wildly in all directions before funnelling itself back into Charlotte, and me? I fell about twenty feet onto the rocky shoreline. There was loud crack and I knew that my back had shattered, but it didn’t matter. I was still breathing. Charlotte was somehow, miraculously alive.

  Ambriel dropped the spear at her feet. It landed with a loud clang. “What have I done?” she gasped.

  Gabriel grasped the spear and was just about to drive it into Ambriel when a tiny voice rang out.

  “Do not destroy her, servant,” said Charlotte as she got back to her feet.

  The archangel turned around quickly and gazed down at the little girl. “L-Lord?”

  Charlotte nodded once and proceeded to walk calmly down to the shoreline. She waded into the ice-cold water and dunked her arms right down to her shoulders.

  “Everything that died because of Him will now live again because if Me,” she said with a measure of authority in her voice that absolutely demanded obedience. A wave of emerald energy surged across the surface of the ocean and once more I could feel the living energy of the sea.

  “Charlotte,” I said, wincing in pain. “Y-You are God? Is that what just happened here?”

  She nodded and placed her tiny hand, a hand without a glove on my head. She closed her eyes and said, “Be healed, death-dealer, and stand
beside me for today you sacrificed yourself to save my life.”

  A surge of force swept through my body with the strength of a hurricane. The pain ended immediately as my broken bones knitted back together. Within seconds I was back on my feet as Sparks and Harry climbed out of the boat. Gabriel and Ambriel unfurled their wings and darted up high in the sky until their forms disappeared.

  Sparks was the first one to say something. “What in the actual f—”

  “Carol,” I snapped. “Language!”

  Harry dropped to his knees in front of Charlotte and took out his crucifix. He kissed it once and then crossed himself. “You are Him,” the old man said.

  Charlotte shook her head and smiled warmly as she placed her small hand against his cheek. “You are also a faithful servant and I will never forget what you did for me today.”

  She shut her eyes and whispered quietly. Her hand glowed with golden light as Harry’s white hair began to darken. The wrinkles on his face disappeared before our very eyes until the face of a young Harry Bogdan smiled up at Charlotte.

  The little girl turned her attention to Sparks and me. She took us both by our hands and led us to Harry’s fishing boat and we climbed in. Harry quickly got back to his feet and dashed away from the rubble that was once the lighthouse with the legs of a man in his early twenties. He went into the wheelhouse and started the motor. I untied the rope from the broken jetty and soon we were pushing back toward Eastern Passage.

  “I won’t be going back, Mister R,” said Charlotte. “I will live here with you.”

  “Wait … what?” I said, almost spitting out the words.

  “They can have heaven if they want it,” she said with a measure of resolve in her voice that you just don’t ever hear coming from a kid who should be in elementary school instead of on a rickety old boat in the middle of the ocean. “I will stay here with you now. And Miss Sparks, of course.”

  Sparks sat down on the floor of the boat and took Charlotte’s hand in hers. “You’re God now? Is that what just happened here? And you want to stay here with Reaper? He doesn’t even shower regularly.”

  “He will,” she said calmly. “Won’t you, Mister R?”

  I reached for my package of now crushed cigarettes and fished out the only one that wasn’t broken. I slipped it between my teeth and Charlotte touched the tip with her index finger, lighting it. I took in a deep drag and said, “I shower. I just haven’t had much time over the last couple of days, so sue me if I have man stink. I have a question, though.”

  “What’s that, Mister R?” asked Charlotte.

  “What happens next?” I asked. “If you’re here with me.”

  Charlotte threw her arms around me and squeezed. “Anything can happen. You taught me that. I want to stay with you, okay?”

  I glanced at Sparks and she mouthed the words hug her back, idiot.

  And so, I did.

  “Yeah, kid,” I said pulling Charlotte close. “You can stay with me.”

  24

  Ambriel killed God. Only she didn’t.

  But she did.

  Anything resembling The Man with the Big White Beard’s true nature simply no longer existed inside Charlotte. In its place was all the power of The Supreme Being only it resided now inside an eight-year-old girl with a penchant for Chef Boyardee Ravioli.

  Just let that sink in for a moment.

  What’s more, I was to be the girl’s guardian. Her protector. Her father-figure. Me.

  And Sparks? Well, she’d be the mom. I was reasonably certain this fact would not allow for any conjugal activities with the good detective. We would be platonic foster parents to the creator of everything in the entire universe.

  Again, let that sink in for a moment.

  I have mentioned before that I am a shit storm of bad juju on a good day. That I am largely irresponsible not to mention the world’s worst detective. I drink too much. I smoke too much. I eat way too much fast food for anyone’s good. I swear. I have a soft spot for working girls and I’m in love with an angel.

  Ambriel returned a few days after the events on Devil’s Island. (The local news blamed a rogue wave for smashing the old lighthouse into kindling.) We sat together on a large boulder overlooking Lawrencetown Beach, the place where Amy died and Ambriel was born.

  “Everything is in turmoil up there,” Ambriel said, pointing heavenward. “Gabriel is taking charge the best way he can. He is still the most powerful angel in existence, but forces are marshalling to take him down and it would be nice if Charlotte could help him.”

  I took a drag off my cigarette. “I’ll ask her again. She’s not really that interested. She has, on occasion, suggested that she should wipe the slate clean in the Halls of the Holy and start over, but she can’t. She is bound by what her predecessor did and that’s why she wants nothing to do with the place. Can’t say I blame her, frankly.”

  “So now what?” Ambriel said, taking my hand in hers. I felt a flicker of power, like a tiny spark from a battery that could power the entire planet if someone could figure out a way to tap into it.

  I shrugged. “Beats me. Charlotte still talks with two different voices, but I realize now the older voice that had been talking through the girl was God-Charlotte from the future. Except time is a construct and the kid sees the past, present and future all at once. She couldn’t tell me that she was the new Him because of POTGP.”

  “What’s that?” asked Ambriel as she gave my hand a squeeze.

  “Part of The Great Plan,” I replied. “It’s all too much for me to take in right now. I’m still processing how I’m going to manage to give this kid a sense of right and wrong. I mean, I shoot soulless serial killing sons-of-bitches and I like to think I’m doing humanity a solid. I haven’t whacked one of those guys since the kitten abusing prick I whacked earlier this year. That was the night I found the bloody angel’s feather in an envelope slipped in my mailbox. That’s when I got sucked into the wonderful world of heavenly strife. Seriously, it’s like Game of Thrones with you people.”

  “Don’t drag me into it, Reaper,” said Ambriel as she raised a hand. “I’m a newbie.”

  I lit a cigarette and took a deep haul on it. I gazed into Ambriel’s eyes and said, “What if I screw this up? What if the fact that I don’t even know what it means to be human rubs off on the greatest power in the universe who now lives in a shitty little flat? I don’t understand what makes people tick. I have serious anger management issues and I’m not widely known for my sense of empathy.”

  Ambriel put an arm around me and squeezed. “I do love you, Reaper. And when I said you were a good man the night I died, I meant it. You say you lack empathy yet you saved me from Emil Vachon. You took me in and you didn’t have to. You put yourself in harm’s way for me … because of me. Because you cared. You did the same thing for Charlotte. You saw that forces wanted her dead and you immediately sprung into action. You fought God on a tiny island at the mouth of the harbour. Nobody ever … ever … has fought the creator one-on-one in all of history.”

  “You skewered God,” I said jokingly. “That’s seriously badass.”

  Ambriel kissed my cheek. “Because He was going to kill you. It’s only because you channelled all the living energy in the ocean and forged it into a weapon. That weakened Him enough or distracted Him enough … I’m still trying to get my head around it all.”

  “Well thanks for that,” I replied. “Maybe by acting in the place of a parent I’ll figure out this whole humanity thing once and for all.”

  “Maybe,” Ambriel said. “I do know one thing, Reaper.”

  “What’s that?”

  The angel smiled. A warm, gentle smile that immediately wiped out my misgivings about becoming Charlotte’s guardian.

  “That little girl is the most powerful being in existence and she loves you very much. I think there is nothing she won’t do for you so use that knowledge wisely. She can grant you any wish. She can create star systems with little more than a flick
of the wrist. You can influence her and because of this you must understand that while she is all-powerful, you too are powerful because of what she will do if you just ask.”

  I hadn’t considered that I was in such an influential position. Ambriel was right, of course. I could probably ask Charlotte for a Bentley and one would magically appear on the street in front of Mrs. Gillings’ house. I could ask for the best pizza on the planet and it will be in the oven, piping hot and ready to eat. I could do a lot of things by influencing Charlotte, but deep inside I knew that I wouldn’t. That would be using her for personal gain and all I wanted was for the kid to grow up in peace. To play with Barbie dolls or do small engine repair or whatever little girls need to do to feel like they fit in.

  I’d grown fond of Charlotte in the weeks since the events on Devil’s Island. We’d been through a string of life and death battles and she never once stopped believing in me. I promised I would protect her and I meant it. Now more than ever. And for her part, Charlotte took steps to protect us. She made the events on Victoria Road disappear. Her mother’s murder. The murder of the city police officers at the hands of the batshit crazy social worker. POOF! Gone. They never happened. Lori Simms never had a baby girl and never wound up being murdered by her boyfriend who made the mistake of skin-on-skin contact with Charlotte. That got Sparks off the hook with the cop shop because there was nothing to investigate.

  Gods can do anything. Very handy when your back is against the wall or you owe money to the tax department.

  “You’re right, Ambriel,” I said, standing up. I tossed my cigarette butt on the ground and stubbed it beneath my boot heel. “I think I really do care about that little kid.”

  The angel threw both arms around me and unfurled her wings. Together we lifted off the ground and she kissed me softly. “Then you are becoming human, Reaper. More human than you know. Love is powerful enough to give people hope when it seems all hope is lost. I think you are going to be the best thing that ever happened to that little girl.”