Zell caught me before I hit the floor.
“Please Annie, behave before I have to kiss you again,” Zell threatened in a low voice.
I gasped, “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Try me,” Zell answered grimly hovering over me.
My lips went into a grimace hiding my lips from Zell.
“Do you really think that will work if I want to kiss you?” Zell whispered in my ear.
Keeping my lips pressed together, I glared at him. No one in class moved. Everyone was watching and listening to us.
“I think you are still ill Annie and need to go home. I’m going to take you to the office.”
“I’ll scream if you come near me,” I ground out between clenched teeth and lips, my body beginning to shake uncontrollably.
“I don’t think you will,” Zell threatened.
“How do you figure that?”
“Because here comes your future ex-boyfriend,” Zell said smiling.
“Good grief,” my heart sank to my stomach. Zell still had his arm around my waist supporting me.
“Are you going to be a good girl, or are we going to make out in front of your ex?” Zell laughed apparently enjoying himself. The bell had rung, but still no one moved watching the exchange between Zell and me.
Jon burst through the door pausing to search the room. He found me looking into Zell’s face while Zell held me up with one arm. Panic-stricken, my head snapped around to meet Jon’s glare. The rage on his face suddenly made me frightened. His normally tanned complexion was white with anger. He crossed the room in large strides stopping at my side with his eyes fixed on Zell’s arm that circled my waist holding me close to him. Everyone turned to watch the fight that they were sure was about to happen.
“Annie, what is going on? People have been telling me that you and this guy have been together all morning,” Jon yelled glaring at Zell.
“I don’t think we have been formally introduced,” Zell said and stuck out his hand attempting to shake Jon’s hand. “Annie and I just have the same classes, and she has been kind enough to show me around.”
Jon ignored the outstretched hand and waited for me to answer.
Zell and Jon were nose to nose staring in each other’s eyes. Neither one was willing to back down. I didn’t understand what happened next. One second they were nose to nose. The next Johnny was looking up into Zell’s eyes. One second, they were the same height. The next, Zell is three or four inches taller. That fact seemed to take Jon by surprise too. He took a step back blinking.
“I, um, I um, don’t know . . . ,” I tried to answer but the swimming in my head returned with a vengeance making my legs about as sturdy as cooked pasta. Swaying again, my knees crumpled beneath me.
Zell scooped me up in his massive arms before I hit the floor.
“Excuse us,” Zell told Jon gracefully sidestepping around him. “Annie doesn’t seem to be well.” He strode purposefully from the classroom with me cradled in his arms before Jon could respond. The door slammed behind us as we left. Never, if I live to be one hundred will I forget the look of shock and rage on Jon’s face as Zell carried me from the classroom. Jon tried to follow, but the door was stuck. The substitute teacher picked up the phone to the office and asked for someone to send the custodian to the room to fix the faulty door.
Zell walked down the hall still holding me like a child in his arms. He stopped by the office on his way out of the school to tell Mrs. Woods that I was unwell, and he was taking me home. Mrs. Woods opened her mouth to argue, but took one look at me cradled in Zell’s arms and shook her head. I wanted to argue, but the sleepless nights were beginning to take their toll. I felt exhausted and could barely keep my eyes open.
Zell put me in the passenger side of my Tahoe and buckled the seat belt. Sliding into the driver’s side, he put the car into reverse. Smoothly, the vehicle backed from the parking space. Even more smoothly, he navigated through the crowded parking lot and on to the highway. That is the last thing I remembered as a dark cloud overtook me.
4. THE ISLAND
WHEN I REGAINED CONSCIOUSNESS, I WAS
lying in an overstuffed lounge chair overlooking a calm, sparkling lake with a sheer bluff of rock behind me.
“Where am I?” I squeaked.
“You’re with me at my home,” Zell answered quietly.
“Are your parents at home?” I asked.
“My mother has long been dead,” Zell replied quietly with a sad faraway look in his eyes. “My father, well . . . who knows, chained in a pit somewhere maybe.”
“You’re kidding, right?” I questioned.
“No, not really,” Zell replied not looking at me.
“How does a high-school student afford a place like this?” I asked sweeping my hands toward the mansion perched at the base of the bluff. “How does DFACS allow a minor to live alone?”
“Annie, I think we both know that I am not a minor.”
“Then let’s back up to question number one. How does a high-school student afford a place like this?”
“I think we both know I’m not really a normal high-school student either.”
“What are you exactly, then?”
“I don’t think you’re ready for the truth yet, Annie.”
“What is the big mystery with you? Who are you really?“ I pushed him for an answer.
“Can’t it be enough for now for us to be together?” he sighed turning to look at me.
“Not for me. I never said I wanted to be here with you. I think the authorities would call this kidnapping,” I said snidely. “I need to go back to school. I have basketball practice. “
“It’s after five o’clock. I think you slept through most of it.”
“Just exactly how did you drug me? I’ve heard of guys slipping drugs in a girl’s drink, but I wasn’t drinking anything.”
“I’ve never even taken an aspirin Annie. I would never do anything to harm you. I don’t think you could handle it if I told you.”
“Try me,” I ordered.
“If I tell you, will you try to be nice to me?” Zell looked sadly into my eyes. “I’ve come on a long, hard journey just to be near you.”
“You could have saved yourself the trip.” I spat back, but I was immediately sorry when I saw the pain and sadness my words caused in his eyes.
“All right. All right. I’ll be nice if you answer three questions for me.”
“Will you stop dating Jon if I answer all three?” Zell bargained cracking a half smile.
I took out my cell phone and pretended to dial 911.
“Yes, officer, this is Annie Hayes. Could you send a car to the mansion of Zell Starr out on Lake Lanier? He has drugged me, kidnapped me, and no one seems to know who he is or where he came from.”
“OK, Annie, but you may not like what I have to tell you. I didn’t drug you. I just kissed your cheek. I had no idea it would affect you in the manner that it did. I think you may be exhausted, and your exhaustion caused my kiss to be more potent.”
“I don’t sleep very well,” I agreed.
“I know,” Zell replied quietly.
“What do you mean you know?” I lay my phone beside me ending my pretentious call. When he didn’t answer, I decided just to ask him a few questions and go home.
“Question number one: Who are you exactly? Don’t tell me Zell Starr, transfer student, from some mysterious country in Europe either.”
“I am Zazel, The Last of the Anak,” Zell replied not looking at me. He sat with his hands intertwined as he gazed over the lake seemingly deep in thought.
“A What?” I asked incredulously wrinkling my brow.
Zell turned looking at me and smiled. “Not a What, an Anak, Annie.”
“What then is an Anak exactly?” I asked not relenting. However, the sad look that crossed Zell’s face earlier when he mentioned his mother did not leave his eyes.
“Have you ever heard of Fallen Angels?” Zell asked turning back to the lake not
meeting my gaze. He sat with a faraway look in his eyes as if remembering some ancient memory.
“Humph,” I huffed, “I’m a preacher’s daughter. I know those are the angels who rebelled against God and were thrown out of heaven.”
“Yes, something like that,” Zell murmured. “The Archangels cast them from heaven, and they fell to earth. The Fallen Angels or Watchers, of which my father, Azâzêl, was one, looked at the women of earth and desired them. The children born to the Fallen Angels and the human women, of which my mother was one, became a race of bloodthirsty giants.”
Almost mechanically Zell began to speak as if he was reading some ancient text. ‘And they became with child,’ Zell said, ‘and they bare great giants, whose height was three thousand ells. And when men could no longer sustain them, the giants turned against them and devoured mankind, and drank their blood. And Azâzêl taught men to make swords, and knives, and shields, and breastplates, and as men perished, they cried, and their cry went up to heaven. And then Michael, Uriel, Raphael, and Gabriel, the Archangels, looked down from heaven and saw much blood being shed upon the earth, and all lawlessness being wrought upon the earth. And they said to the Lord of the ages, Thou seest all things, and nothing can hide itself from Thee. Thou seest what Azâzêl hath done, who hath taught all unrighteousness on earth and revealed the eternal secrets which were (preserved) in heaven, and made known to men the metals of the earth and the art of working them. . .’
Zell turned to me, “Long story from an ancient text, the Book of Enoch, made short, the archangels Michael, Uriel, Raphael, and Gabriel went before God and asked him to do something about the giants who were killing mankind and my father, Azâzêl, who was teaching all of mankind how to make weapons from metal which was an eternal secret of Heaven and never intended for mankind. God turned the hearts of the Nephilim, or Anak, the giants, against one another, so they would exterminate themselves. I am from the race of the giants, the offspring between a human woman and a Fallen Angel. I have fought each of them that has come for me and won against each one. I am the last of the race, the race called the Anak, children of the Watchers. However, I have never been like the others. I hate what I am. I love God, and I have never shed the blood of the innocents. Conversely, I have spent my life protecting mankind hoping that God would forgive me my heritage and redeem me. I have longed for impossible things—to be human—to have you.” Zell finished with a heart so heavy that I could feel his torment. He reclined back against the chair and buried his face behind his arms not finishing his sentence.
I sat in shocked silence trying to absorb everything Zell had just told me. After what seemed to be an eternity, Zell uncovered his face turning it to look into my eyes.
“Can you imagine what it feels like to be the only one of your kind? To wander the earth for thousands of years knowing you were soulless but still trying to save the world? You, Annie, have kept me going. I have known you for thousands of years before you were born. As a young man, I had a vision of you. I knew our destinies were intertwined. You are going to change the world. It is my job to protect you until your destiny is fulfilled, and it is my heart that will protect you even beyond the fulfillment of your destiny,” Zell moved closer and whispered to me with such emotion that I almost believed what he spoke was true. Even though I believed he may believe that he was speaking truthfully, it was hard for me to think that I would ever do anything to change the world, even if I could get past his children of the corn story.
When my mother died, I was young, but it is still a memory that is burned into my mind. I still see my father standing at my mother’s coffin crying. Even that was not sadness as deep as this sadness that Zell carried within his soul. He said he was without a soul, yet I found that hard to fathom. Even though he knew things about me that I couldn’t explain, he never had done anything to harm me. He seemed so righteous and good. I reached out my hand and touched the part of his face that was not buried in his arms.
“Please don’t be sad. You’re breaking my heart,” I whispered. The atmosphere between us was so emotionally charged that not meaning to, I rose and moved close to Zell. I put my arms around him, and l laid my head against his shoulder. Zell hesitated then turned in my arms. He wrapped his arms around me.
“Please don’t hate me Annie. I could not bear it if you did. Mine has been the loneliest existence possible—waiting for someone not yet born. Not knowing, even when you were born, if I would ever find a way to reveal myself to you. Not knowing, if you would look upon me as a monster,” Zell whispered into my ear.
“You are not a monster Zell. I don’t hate you. Honest, I don’t. I’m sorry that I have been rude to you, but I still cannot believe this story you have told me. I haven’t believed in anything since my mother died. Maybe, I’m mad at God for taking her from me if He exists.”
“Maybe it was not God who took her from you.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Ask me another question,” Zell avoided answering my question.
“What happened at school today when you kissed my cheek?”
I saw the corner of Zell’s lip turn up as he remembered the scene with Johnny.
“Annie, I’m sorry. I didn’t know just kissing your cheek would do that to you. It seems that I have this effect on humans. If I kiss one, they have a reaction. Remember, I am one-half celestial. Humans tremble, shake, and seem to lose the ability to think and remember the event. It is only temporary, and there are no bad effects other than no memory of what has occurred. It seems to be a defense mechanism my body has; however, if I were you kiss you often enough, you most likely would build up a tolerance to me. The effects of my kiss would lessen. Should we work on your building up a tolerance?” Zell suggested his somber mood lifted, and he moved within centimeters of my lips smiling.
I huffed. “What do you mean humans? What else would you kiss?”
“Questions three and four,” Zell shouted jumping up.
“That’s not fair,” I shouted back.
“All’s fair in love and war,” Zell quoted. “Come with me Annie. I want to show you something,” Zell pleaded.
“Where do you want me to go?” I asked.
“It’s some place very special,” he replied reaching out and taking my hand.
“I don’t know. I’m still not sure you are not a serial killer or whack job.”
“Annie, one thing you can bet your life on is that I will never, ever harm you. I am here to protect you.”
“Protect me from what?” I asked holding up my hands and looking around.
“I don’t want to tell you. It will frighten you.”
“I am not frightened. I don’t buy into your fairy tale. You tell a good story, but don’t expect me to believe it.”
“Then come with me. It’s Friday. There is no school tomorrow,” Zell pleaded. “Please come.”
The thought of spending a few more hours alone with Zell was terribly exciting though frightening, but I decided to bargain.
“If I come, I get my third question again,” I said smugly laying out my terms.
“Deal,” Zell agreed sticking out his hand for me to shake on it. I reached for his masculine hand and agreed. “Now, close your eyes, and don’t be afraid. I am going to put my arms around you, but remain very still,” Zell cautioned. “Do you promise?”
“Yes, yes, I promise.” I groaned exasperated with his pleading. Zell moved behind me, and I sighed and leaned against him. I could feel Zell hesitate. Then he wrapped his arms around me. What happened next is still impossible for me to believe, but it happened. Of that, I am sure. Zell held me close, and we began to rise. My feet felt as though they had left solid ground as Zell held me close to his beating heart. I turned in his arms and looked up into his eyes. The sadness that had been there was evaporating. He gazed back into my eyes. I was distracted for a moment, lost in his handsome silver gaze until I was startled by a bird that flew close by, and I glanced in its direction. It was then that I
noticed that we were far above his lovely home by the shore of Lake Lanier. It was growing smaller and smaller. We were airborne! I screamed clutching Zell to me. I could see strong, white and silver wings stretched toward the sky lifting us increasingly farther from the ground.
“Zell,” I screamed.
“It’s fine Annie. You're safe with me.”
Frantically, I tightened my arms around Zell. “Let me go!”
Zell grinned back at me. “Are you sure you want me to let go of you?”
“No!” I screamed hysterically clutching at him.
I began to hyperventilate. Zell kissed me on the forehead, but that brief contact soothed me. My breathing became even.
“Don’t worry. I won’t let you fall,” Zell reassured me. “I want to show you something.”
“No, let’s go back. I’m afraid. Someone may see us.”
“No one can see us; we are moving much too fast for the human eye to keep up with. They will think we are just a cloud moving with the wind,” Zell answered.
He was right. I could feel the speed with which we were moving, but he cradled me and protected me from the wind and force of gravity as we moved. Suddenly, I felt as if we were slowing and moving downward. Gently, we touched earth again, and I sighed deeply with relief tentatively opening one eye and then another.
It happened so fast. I barely noticed as the wings that had held me disappeared behind his back.
“What were those?” I asked fearfully.
“A gift from my father,” Zell joked.
I meant to ask him more, but I looked around where we landed and could not believe my eyes.
We were in the middle of a body of water on a small secluded island. The island rose sharply from the water with steep bluffs on every side keeping even the most adventurous human from putting a foot on the island. There was a thin narrow, sandy beach that circled the island before the land climbed up the bluffs. Someone would need a helicopter to land there, or they would need Zell. The top of the bluff was a paradise. There were flowers of every color and description here. Everywhere, there were flowers. Even where there should have been grass, there was white and purple asylum that covered the soil like a carpet. On the far end, the bluff was higher, and as it fell back toward the plateau stones cascaded down piled one upon another making a beautiful waterfall. The pool at the base of the waterfall led to a larger waterfall that flowed over the bluff. This was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen.
Dark Angel (Anak Trilogy) Page 7