Dark Angel (Anak Trilogy)

by Sherry Fortner

  “Coach couldn’t get even if I gave him the instructions,” Kate growled. Then with an exasperated sigh, she turned. Kate looked at me her big blue eyes glistening with tears. “He already got even. I’m in detention tomorrow . . . and at lunch,” she whined. “My social life is going to suffer terribly. I needed to network at lunch and see if someone hotter than Austin will ask me out to Lauren’s party.”

  “You’re so shallow Kate,” I giggled.

  “Extremely,” she chirped. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning in biology.” Kate’s mood instantly became somber as she pulled up next to my car. “Be careful, Annie,” she warned.

  I, too, had an older model SUV, a Tahoe, with only a small dent in the front right fender compliments of someone at a party last summer. It was the closest thing to a tank that my dad could afford. It still made him nervous for me to drive. If it was in his power, I would have a military escort every time I drove. If he was wealthy, I am sure I would drive a Hummer rather than a Tahoe. I pulled my keys out of my gym bag putting the panic button right under my thumb. I crawled out of the passenger side.

  “Kate, make sure to lock this door back.”

  “K, I will. See ya Annie.” With that, Kate just drove off leaving me in a cloud of dust in the darkness of the unpaved back parking lot.

  I groaned. This parking lot ran alongside the baseball field and was not lighted. It was an overflow lot for the additional parking needed for home games and students, like me, who were so late for school that all the spaces were taken in the paved lots. I’ll definitely have something to harass Kate about for the next few days. What was she thinking driving off leaving her best friend in the dark in a deserted parking lot?

  As I turned toward my car, the uneasiness returned and began to seep into my bones. I felt the hair on my neck stand up. I pushed the button on my key to unlock my doors. Accidentally, I pushed the panic button instead in my haste to get the door open. The horn started blasting, and I jumped in fright dropping my keys on the dark gravel. I was still shaking, and I could not see my keys. I squatted down and swept my right hand back and forth trying to feel my keys.

  A deep, throaty growl came from the darkness in front of my vehicle. My hand stopped, and my head lifted. Frozen, I remained still trying to figure out if I had indeed heard a low, threatening growl amid the blasts from my horn. I pushed my hair back from my face, and then I heard it again. It sounded only 15 or 20 feet in front of me. Even though it was a balmy, spring evening in Dacula, Georgia, a sprawling upscale suburb about twenty miles east of Atlanta, I shivered uncontrollably. I could hear the pounding thump of my heart accelerating, echoing in my ears. My throat tightened and constricted, so screaming didn’t seem like an option. I doubted there was anyone around close enough to hear if I did get a scream out.

  I could hear something moving in the darkness scraping and dragging along emitting a deep, rumbling growl that made my knees weak. I didn’t know whether to stand up and see what it was or keep looking for my keys. I decided that I had to have my keys. I needed the protection of my car and to stop the blasting horn set off by the panic button. I was too vulnerable in the open lot. Dropping from a squat to my knees, I felt all around for my keys. I could hear the growling grow even deeper and coming closer. Finally, my hands hit the keys, but they made a loud scraping sound against the gravel in the parking lot. I panicked. Did that thing hear the noise of the keys? The growling and movement stopped for a moment. I knew then, that it did. I closed my fingers slowly, carefully around my keys and pushed the panic button again to stop the horn. I took that moment to collect my thoughts. What do I need to do? Racking my brain for a plan, I decided to push the button to unlock my doors, jump up while I pushing the button, yank open the door, and throw myself inside. Hopefully, I would surprise whatever was out there, and it would not react fast enough to get to me.

  “At the count of three, Annie.” Almost silently, I counted. “One . . . two . . . three.”

  I hit the unlock button and jumped up. However, instead of yanking the door open when I saw what was making the growling noise, I gasped and stumbled backward. I drew my fist up toward my mouth stifling the scream that was growing within me. Tears sprang to my eyes.

  In front of me was a huge animal. It was as big as a small vehicle. The creature crouched yet stood on its hind legs upright. Its elongated, hairy, muscular arms were curled, yet at such a great length that they rested on the ground. The claws were broken and torn. Each thick nail curved crookedly for at least six to seven inches. Its mouth was open exposing several rows of teeth like a shark. Four to five inch jagged, pointed, yellowed teeth dripping with salvia crowded the creature’s mouth, so that it gave the appearance of a demonic smile. The middle of its eyes was red encircled by a wide yellow band, and its eyes were fixated on me. The deep growl that emanated from its throat was horrific. It felt as though the ground under my feet trembled from sound of it. I had never seen anything so menacing. Its thick, shaggy, hairy coat looked black, though it was hard to tell as it blended in with the darkness of the night. Pulling its lips even farther back exposing more of its deadly teeth, it snarled. Salvia poured from its mouth in a stringy stream. I was about to die. This was it—the end. All I could think of was my father. If I am torn apart by a vicious animal and he loses me, it would surely put him over the edge. Tears ran from the corners of my eyes.

  “Daddy,” I whispered closing my eyes tight. I wanted my last thoughts in this life to be of my father.

  The animal moved stealthily around the front of the car into a leaping position. It moved its body to face me head on, so the vehicle was no longer between us.

  “Get in the car,” I told myself, but I was frozen in fear, unable to move. I tried to make my limbs move, but it was as if they weren’t getting the message from my brain. They felt as if they were bloated and weighed ten times their actual weight. Since the creature was less than fifteen feet in front of me, I didn’t see how I could accomplish getting in my car before the animal got to me, but it was my only chance.

  “Please,” I whispered, “my Dad will die if I die.”

  Since my mother’s death, I’ve had a crisis of faith, yet standing here faced with certain death, I pled to any unseen entity that might be in hearing distance to spare me. Then, if the situation wasn’t desperate enough, something moved in back of me. I was still paralyzed with fear. Was there another creature? I strained to hear any further sounds coming from behind me, but my head stubbornly would not turn to look at what lurked there.

  “Need some help?” a silky, deep voice materialized from the darkness. As if a switch was released, my limbs became my own again. I turned, seeing a creature behind me that was as frightening as the one before me. My mouth dropped open. I’m sure I looked deranged as I gazed at the sight standing behind me. Hovering above me in the darkness, his face shining with an alabaster glow, was an immense creature. He was gigantic, and he was absolutely, frighteningly beautiful. His large hand pushed me gently backward.

  “Stay behind me.” He ordered in a lovely, soothing voice.

  This was unbelievable. This creature, I’m not sure I could call him a man, that stood between me and the animal was incredible. He towered over me. His long hair was the color of corn silk, and his shoulders were broad and muscular. He wore no shirt, only a tunic-like garment covered him from waist to knee. There was a wide silver girdle that bound his waist. Silver pieces of cloth that looked metallic hung at varying lengths from the waistband. Huge muscular legs peeked through the garment. He wore shoes like I had never seen before. They were more moccasin-like than shoes. They resembled boots in the respect that they covered his calves; however, not like boots in that they seemed soft and pliable. They were studded in silver, and fine silver strands fell gracefully from the studs. The tops ended right below the knee. Silver rose from the top of his shoes covering his knees and crawling up his muscled leg to leaf like points several inches above his knees. The rest of him was bare, and his garment
swayed around him as though alive. Three beautiful, delicately carved, silver sheaths hung around his chest and back. The carvings looked to be in some sort of language, but the only one I had a good look at was the one hanging between his massive shoulder blades. Two of them crisscrossed in the front, and the third one, the one I could see the best, hung from his back. I could not see his face as I stood behind him, but I remembered it as lovely. His size was definitely impressive too. For the first time in long minutes, I felt as though I may live through the night.

  He crossed his arms, grabbed the hilt of a sword in each hand and drew them slowly out. They made a metallic swooshing sound as they parted from the sheaths. The broad swords looked to be of the same silver that the sheaths were fashioned from and gleamed menacingly in the moonlight. The great monster’s crimson eyes narrowed at the sound, and he crouched lower in response. At that moment, the giant animal leaped for us. This massive angel who had come to my rescue dodged the animal slashing its chest and back as it missed us but not the point of his swords.

  “Swords,” I mumbled. “Where is a bazooka when you need it?”

  This being that stood between me and the horrific beast tensed, but he did not speak. I moved with my gigantic savior being careful to stay behind him, but I watched the creature from under his outstretched arms. This being which stood between me and the monster was so incredibly large that I could stand under his arms and still have a foot of clearance. Light emanated from his skin giving it a stone-like appearance. I almost forgot the creature that was about to eat me, as I gazed at the one in front of me.

  The animal screamed the most evil, hideous scream I could ever imagine and turned attacking again. The scream reverberated in my head until I realized that I was screaming too. The monster jumped for us again. This time my hero did not side-step the attack but took it head-on kneeling on one knee. I hung onto to his silver waistband like it was a lifeline kneeling behind him. He thrust both swords up to their hilts into the soft underbelly of the creature. The monster screeched hideously again and fell to the ground narrowly missing us. The creature twisted and tried to snatch the hilts of the swords with its massive mouth. My defender grabbed the hilts and jerked upward laying open the beast’s belly which spat intestines squirming as if alive on to the ground. The creature lay at his feet snarling and growling sending streams of yellowed, bloody salvia pooling around its massive head.

  My beautiful savior stood and pulled me up with him. He put his foot on the huge creature’s side, and once again grabbed the hilts of his swords. The creature’s head snapped around as its powerful jaws attempted to capture him between them. Deftly, he sidestepped its jaws. Then, he pulled his swords from the creature’s body. They gave a great sucking sound as they slid from enormous wounds. Bloods spurted in deep, ruby fountains from them. He wiped the blood from his swords on the long fur of the creature and returned the two swords to their sheaths. Then, he reached behind him and pulled out the third sword. This sword was not metallic, and as he withdrew it, a flame flickered to life instead of a blade. It was unlike anything I had ever seen. It reminded me of a verse that my father read to me as a child. I’m sure he said that the Garden of Eden was guarded by a flaming sword. Being a PK, preacher’s kid, I had heard the story many times, but I never took it literally or seriously. I still didn’t. I had turned away from my faith after my mother’s death. My dad went in the extreme opposite direction leaving his research position at a mega pharmaceutical corporation for the ministry. I think he wants to believe that he will see my mother again. That belief is what keeps him going and keeps him sane, but I know she is gone.

  I was dazed. I was trying to wrap my mind around the events of the last few minutes. This could not be happening. Animals did not grow this big or strange. I have never seen an animal such as the one that lay before me now. It was the size of an elephant but looked to be a cross between a grizzly and a giant wolf with the deadly mouth of a shark. Killing an animal of this size with only a sword or two swords to be exact, I thought should be impossible. Even so, it had happened and happened before my very eyes. The light from the flame of his sword allowed me to get a better view of the monster. On closer inspection of the hideous creature, I gasped and shrank back behind my rescuer’s enormous body. That animal was the scariest thing that I had ever seen.

  This young giant used the flaming sword to separate the creature’s head from the rest of its body. The monster’s great mouth moved in response trying one last time to cause considerable damage, and then its eyes fixed into a stony glare. The strange being held the gigantic head by the shaggy hair on its top, and with his free hand, he flipped the flaming sword end over end. He caught it by the hilt as it came down and thrust the blazing sword into the heart of the great beast. The flame spread quickly across the creature’s body cremating it where it lay. I was in a nightmare. I was sure of it. The flaming sword, the monster, this giant being, which came to my defense out of nowhere—it was surreal. I just wished I would wake-up; however, like Kate, I was shallow enough to want a better look at the creature left standing who had saved my life before I woke up. He was so incredibly hot, in a gargantuan sort of way, that I could only stare at him with my mouth hanging open. I must look like a lunatic to him. He turned and walked back to me carrying the head in one hand and returned the flaming sword to its sheath lying against his back with the other.

  “Who are you?” I managed to get the words out even though I was hyperventilating.

  “I am Zazel, son of The Watcher, Azâzêl. I am the last of the Anak.”

  “The Watchers? Who are the Watchers?”

  “They are the Fallen Ones.”

  “Who are the Fallen Ones?“

  “They are the hosts that were cast down from the presence of God.”

  “And the Anak?”

  “I am they. I am the last.”

  “What was that?” I asked motioning toward the burning corpse.

  “One of the Dark Ones.”

  “What is a Dark One?” I yelled out my voice becoming a screech in the eerie darkness.

  “They are the Fallen Ones. They go by many names: Fallen Angels, Watchers, Grigori, demons, devils, and dark angels. Should I go on?” This magnificent creature waited for an answer as he loomed before me casually holding the dripping, bloody head of the creature.

  I shook uncontrollably, but I managed to grind out between chattering teeth, “And who are the Watchers? This Grigori?”

  “My father Azâzêl was one. Lucifer was their leader.”

  “I don’t understand. Monsters are not real. The Dark Ones are not real. Fallen Angels can’t be real,” I reasoned since I didn’t believe in them. “Leprechauns and little gray aliens are not real, and you are certainly cannot be real. Somebody wake me up!” I shouted into the black night. Even as I screeched this denial out, the evidence of the Dark One lay in a charred bloody mess at my feet.

  I reached out to touch Zazel curious if he was really flesh and blood or another of my twisted dreams. As I touched him, he began to shrink slowly. I would guess he was over nine feet tall as he fought the monster. But now, slowly, but surely, he became a more normal size. He appeared more human, and he was easier to talk to now that he was more of a normal height. However, he must have still been six and a half feet or more.

  “But I am very real, Annie.” With that, Zazel took my trembling hand and placed in upon his chest. I could feel his heart pounding underneath my fingertips. Gently, I explored his massive chest with my fingers trying to determine if he was tangible—flesh and blood.

  “You were scared too, huh?” I grunted nervously.

  “No, not of the Dark One, He did not scare me for a second. You are the only creature that frightens me.”

  “Me?” I asked incredulously cocking my eyebrows to their fullest height. “You just killed a demon from hell, but I frighten you?” I used one hand to point at the creature and the other to point to myself puzzled.

  “Yes,” he answered sol
emnly and looked deep into my eyes. “I am accustomed to dealing with the Dark Ones. You, on the other hand, are something entirely different.” He shrugged his shoulders and ran his fingers through my hair slowly letting it slip strand by strand through his fingers. He watched it fall as if in a trance. He raised a lock of hair to his nostrils and inhaled. Then he pressed it to his lovely mouth where he gently kissed the lock of hair. A warm knot began to form in my belly.

  I was speechless. For the first time, I could clearly see his face in the glow of the burning carcass. He was absolutely stunning. His was the face of an angel. Every feature was perfect. His hair fell to his shoulders, but on either side of his face, the hair was braided in small braids. The braids were interspersed with a silver chain that had silver stars woven into the chain. Some of the stars were engraved in the same strange language that I saw etched on his sword sheaths. His jaw line was square and smooth, and he had the most beautiful full lips. I had never seen lips like that on a man before. His seemingly chiseled nose was straight. There was something there in his eyes. Some strong emotion cried out from them, but I was helpless to know what it was. His beautiful eyes were framed by long dark lashes. There wasn’t really enough light for me to tell what color they were, but they were mesmerizing. They were burning a hole in my face and my soul.

  “Who are you, and how do you know my name?” I whispered again.

  “I am yours,” he answered quietly moving his incredible body and breathtakingly handsome face within centimeters of mine. Tenderly pushing a strand of hair back from my face, he continued, “and I have always known you Annie.”

  “Would you stop that? I don’t know you. I have never even seen you before. You are definitely not mine, and how did you do that shrinking act just now,” I questioned him my voice rising in a panicked screech once again.

  He put his arm around my waist and pulled me to his chest. My heart felt as though it stopped. He crushed me to him lifting me off my feet. He held me close with one arm for what seemed an eternity staring down into my eyes. I could feel his body shaking as if from fright or perhaps from longing. He lowered his head and gently, very softly pressed his lips to mine. Instantly, I began to shake and shake violently. He was like a human Taser.