by Jerel Law
One was now in front of them, and two more behind. They picked themselves up off the pavement angrily. Jonah had another arrow pulled, and he fired it before they could make another move. It ripped through one of the Fallen behind them.
The remaining two suddenly moved in unison, both rushing Jonah and Eliza at the same time. Jonah couldn’t shoot both of them. Eliza’s shield was holding strong, and he turned toward the one closest to her and fired another arrow over her shoulder.
It sailed through the shield of faith and found its mark. Quickly, Jonah turned back around, hand on his sword, ready to finish the last one. But the fallen angel was right in front of him now, just on the other side of the shield, no more than two feet from Jonah’s nose.
Jonah fell backward. Stumbling into Eliza, he hit her legs, causing them to kick out from underneath her. Her hands dropped down out of instinct, to catch herself as she fell onto the hard pavement.
The shield disappeared. Nothing stood between them and the vicious fallen one, hovering above them just inches from their faces.
Jonah and Eliza began scurrying backward on the pavement, Jonah trying to get to a position where he could pull out his angelblade, but the fallen one was too close. The stench coming from the creature almost made Jonah vomit.
The creature held a spear in his hand, and he raised it quickly, his eyes flashing brightly at the prospect of a kill. Or two.
Jonah raised his elbow over his face, waiting for the inevitable blow.
But instead of a piercing strike to his body, something soft fell against his face.
Black ash. Behind them, feet spread and still holding his bow, was David. Jeremiah stood beside him, fist-pumping the air. The fallen one had been blasted into a million pieces.
David dropped his arm, the bow disappearing. They could see his wide grin in the dark. “Got it! Not too bad, huh?”
So many questions ran through Jonah’s mind that he didn’t even know where to begin. Which was fine, because Eliza had no trouble figuring out what to say.
“Are you guys crazy?” she said, standing and dusting herself off. “You aren’t supposed to be out here! Your job was to stay inside with the rest of the quarterlings. You’re supposed to be asleep, for goodness’ sake!”
Jeremiah shrugged off her questions with his usual smile. “I knew when Jonah left that something was up.”
“So he woke me up,” added David.
“You mean to tell me you were awake when I left?” questioned Jonah.
Jeremiah laughed. “I’m a pretty good sleep faker. Tricked you, didn’t I?”
Jonah sighed loudly, but then chuckled.
“How’d you guys get past Marcus?” asked Eliza. “He was at the back door when we left. He’s supposed to be guarding that post.”
“Easy,” Jeremiah said. “I just told him that there were fallen angels at the other end of the building. He took off down the hallway. And we followed you out that window.”
“We saw you guys fighting those bad angels,” David chimed in, “and we thought you could use some help.”
Jonah brushed the black dust off his face and out of his hair. “Well, thanks for the help. But, Jeremiah, you know you’re not supposed to lie, especially to a big angel like Marcus that could snap you in two.”
Jeremiah looked up at him with his big, round eyes. “But I didn’t lie to him, Jonah! I told him that fallen angels were at the other end of the building. And they are,” he said, grinning at his brother and sister again. “I may not have told him that they’re still on the outside.”
Jonah sighed, looking back toward the convent. “Well, little brother, I hate to burst your bubble, but we’re going somewhere that’s too dangerous for you. We’re going to have to take you back.”
But as Jeremiah hung his head in disappointment, Jonah saw movement overhead. From where they were, they could see the dome of light that the prayer barrier made. Directly over the top of it, winged creatures swarmed. They must have been there all along and we just didn’t see them until now, Jonah thought. They were probably searching for any cracks in the barrier, any weaknesses they could exploit.
Now, though, they apparently had seen them standing in the alleyway. They shot down the side of the building, positioning themselves between the convent and the quarterlings. There were at least eight of them, but more were careening over the building every second. Obviously, someone had sounded the warning, and the fallen angels were hungry for some action.
There was no choice. Jonah grabbed Jeremiah’s hand and turned.
“Run!”
Jonah, Eliza, Jeremiah, and David took off down the alleyway. If we can just make it to the street . . . Jonah’s thoughts focused on that one goal. If they could get there, then maybe they could find a way to lose them.
It was a big “if,” though. Jonah looked over his shoulder as they ran. The Fallen were flapping their wings furiously, gaining on them with every step. Jonah bore down, and suddenly his feet felt light. He didn’t have to look down—he knew that the sandals of speed that had helped him so many times in the past had momentarily taken the place of his basketball shoes.
He felt himself lurch forward.
“David,” he yelled. “Feet!”
But his feet were already transforming too. Seeming to read Jonah’s thoughts, he pulled Eliza into the crook of his arm and blazed ahead.
“On my back, Jeremiah!” Jonah yelled. He yanked his brother up, and Jeremiah latched his arms around Jonah’s neck.
Jonah could barely control his speed while balancing his brother, but he somehow made it to the end of the alley and onto the side road, right behind David carrying Eliza.
They turned right, two blurs running down the middle of the street. Jonah couldn’t look back for fear of running into something. But Jeremiah was able to turn his head.
“They’re back there, but we’re way ahead of them now!”
Jonah bore down, beginning to move even faster, pulling even with David. He was determined to do whatever he needed to do to outrun the fallen angels. He was getting tired, though, and he knew he couldn’t keep this up much longer.
He moved in front of David, making a quick left, another right, and one more left turn before he heard David’s voice.
“Okay, Jonah! Okay!” he called out from behind. “I don’t see them anymore. I think we lost them.”
Jonah slowed down, dumping Jeremiah gently to the ground as he leaned over and held his knees. It felt like he had just run wind sprints in basketball tryouts at school.
“I wish I could run that fast,” said Jeremiah, picking himself up off the ground. “That was so cool, Jonah! You guys should be on the track team this year.”
Jonah and David just nodded, still sucking in air and unable to speak. Their sandaled feet were soon covered again with their normal shoes.
“Well, it looks like we’re safe,” said Eliza, inspecting the street they were on. “At least for now.”
Jonah looked around. They were standing on the sidewalk of a tree-lined street. Cars were parked along the sides, most of them sleek, new sport utility vehicles and sedans. Along the sidewalk, sets of brick steps led to a series of well-kept buildings.
“This looks like a bunch of homes,” Jonah said, glancing at the cars. “Nice ones.”
“Well, that’s great and everything,” said Eliza, her voice full of sarcasm. “But we need to be looking for Alphabet City, right?”
“Alphabet City?” repeated David.
Jonah showed him the MissionFinder 3000. It still read the same. David whistled lowly at the silver watch.
Jonah took a few steps, searching the quiet street. How were they supposed to find this place? He knew a little about the city, but apparently not enough.
They needed to find someone who could take them where they needed to go.
A few blocks down, the residential street met with what appeared to be a larger boulevard. He saw a few cars pass by.
The silhouette of what
looked like a taxicab was parked on the street corner, its red parking lights piercing the blanket of darkness on everything else.
“Come on, guys,” Jonah said, beginning to take long strides with his lanky legs. “Who better to tell us how to get there than a New York City cabbie?”
TWENTY-THREE
A CABBIE NAMED SISERA
Jonah and David walked through the darkness toward the outline ahead. Eliza and Jeremiah were moving their legs twice as fast just to keep up.
“Hold on a sec, guys,” called Eliza.
Jonah turned but didn’t stop walking. “Why? I want to get there before he pulls away. You know how hard it would be to catch a cab at”—he looked at his watch—“three thirty in the morning?”
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” asked Eliza. “That we’re still in the hidden realm?”
Jonah stopped in his tracks. “Oh, you’re right,” he conceded, “it might be a good idea to jump back into the real world.”
“Not the ‘real world,’” Eliza corrected him. “I prefer ‘physical world.’ The hidden realm is just as real—no, it’s more real—than anything else.”
He held up his hands. “Okay, okay, Eliza. Let’s just do this.” He looked around. “And in the shadows over against that building, just in case anyone is watching.”
They moved beside the cool brick side of a brownstone and bowed their heads.
If any human had been watching carefully, they would have seen four kids materialize out of nowhere onto the city street.
They hurried along, trying to move from shadow to shadow, knowing they could now be spotted by humans too, until they came up beside the taxi.
They heard music coming out of the open window of the cab. There were sounds of a fast rhythm and a twangy guitar, along with a high voice singing along to the music in a language Jonah was unfamiliar with. He thought the music sounded Middle Eastern.
Jeremiah started bobbing his head. “Nice tunes!”
Jonah motioned for him to stop as he and David approached the driver. He was sitting with his elbow resting on the car door, his eyes closed, nodding his head to the music, smiling, singing, and tapping his right hand on the steering wheel.
Jonah cleared his throat. “Excuse me?”
The cab driver must have not heard him, too wrapped up in his music.
Eliza had no patience for this. She moved forward and rapped her fist on the roof of the cab. “Excuse me, taxi driver?”
He jumped and turned to look at whoever was beating on his car.
“Take it easy on the car now, please!”
He leaned his head forward to take a look at the four kids standing on the sidewalk in front of him. He had tan skin and a dark mustache. A brimless cap covered his head.
The driver sized them up for a few seconds, wearing an easy smile. “You kids are out past your bedtime. Do your parents know where you are?”
Jonah looked at his companions, then back at the cab driver. He decided quickly that ignoring the question might be the best plan. “We’re just trying to get somewhere and were hoping you could help us out.”
The cabbie eyed him carefully. He must have decided not to press his question further. Instead, he smiled wider, displaying bright white teeth, except for two that were gold. “Well then, my name is Sisera. And I am your man! There is no finer cab driver in New York City than me. Hop in, hop in!”
At that, he jumped out of the car and opened the back door of the cab. Several gold chains dangled around his neck, with large jewels and golden images attached to each.
“Nice chains!” Jeremiah said, staring at his necklaces.
“You, my tall friend, should sit up front with me,” the driver said to David.
Eliza cut her eyes toward Jonah, but he motioned her forward and into the taxi. The three of them slid across the backseat, Jeremiah in the middle, and Jonah slammed the door shut.
The cabbie adjusted his mirror so they could see his brown eyes. “Now then, where shall I take you tonight?”
“Alphabet City, please,” Jonah answered. He added, “We’re trying to get there as fast as we can.”
“It is a big area,” Sisera said. “Avenue A, B, C . . . ? East Fourteenth Street . . . East Second Street . . . somewhere in between?”
Jonah paused, looking at Eliza.
She leaned forward. “Fourteenth and A, please,” she said, glancing at Jonah and shrugging her shoulders.
They saw his eyes in the rearview mirror. “If you say so. Fourteenth and A it is.”
The cabbie eased onto the street in front of him. The music was still on, and he actually leaned forward and turned it up, alternating between humming along with it and trying to talk to his passengers.
“Alphabet City,” he said, watching them in the mirror. “That is a strange part of New York to take four kids such as yourselves. What brings you there?”
Eliza looked at Jonah and shook her head. Jonah knew what she was saying—there was no need to share anything about what they were doing with anyone.
“We, uh . . .” Jonah struggled to come up with a story that sounded believable. “Our aunt lives there. She gets up really early. We’re visiting her today. And our friend David here . . . wants to meet her.” But David looked lost in his own thoughts. Like he was trying to figure something out or remember something he’d forgotten.
Jonah wasn’t sure his words sounded at all convincing. It wasn’t like him to tell a flat-out lie to anyone, and it made him uncomfortable. But he tried to nod and look the driver right back in the eyes.
The cabbie’s stare lingered on Jonah for a few seconds, and Jonah felt a bead of sweat pop out on his face. He doesn’t believe me. But then again, why should he care what the driver believed? As long as he got them to where they were going . . .
“Your aunt, huh?” he said, flashing his gold teeth again with a grin. “Don’t worry. I’ll get you there as fast as possible.”
He continued to hum as he drove, tapping his hand on the steering wheel.
They all seemed to loosen up after he had made a few turns.
“See, guys?” Jonah said, stretching his arm across the seat behind Jeremiah’s head. “We’ll be there in no time.”
The cab began to pick up speed. He figured the cabbie was making good on his promise to get them there fast.
But then the car began to move even faster.
“Excuse me, sir?” a worried Eliza asked. “Aren’t we moving a little too fast?”
Jonah’s mind flashed back to a wild cab ride they had taken with their parents several years ago in New York City, but he didn’t recall it being like this.
“What is the matter, young lady?” the cabbie said, his eyes suddenly wild in the mirror. “You don’t trust me to get you where you need to go?” And then he began to laugh loudly and sing along with the strange music even louder.
He began making turns that threw them up against the sides of the cab. Right, then left, and right again. It started to feel like he was turning to jostle them around as much as possible. Jeremiah was in the middle, getting smashed and yelling loudly.
“You’ve got to slow down! Sisera, what are you doing?” Jonah called out.
David had been silent for most of the ride, but Jonah’s words seemed to wake him from his thoughts. “Sisera!” he repeated.
But this only seemed to make the driver go faster still. They were now on a major thoroughfare, and he was weaving in and out of the other cars, easily going twice their speed or more. Jonah saw a string of four red lights ahead. Traffic was stopped at each one, but that didn’t mean anything to their driver. He ran every single red light, narrowly avoiding crossing cars and buses each time.
They were all yelling now, bouncing around the cab and on top of each other. The cabbie continued singing and laughing.
They hit a large bump in the road, and Jonah felt his head hit the cab ceiling.
“Ow!” he said, holding his hand to his head. When the cab slammed to the grou
nd again, they were all on the floorboard.
Out of instinct, Jonah prayed himself into the hidden realm.
He was not prepared for what he found there. The cab around them was gone. Instead of the black seats, they were sitting on a hard wooden bench. The entire roof of the vehicle had disappeared. Jonah’s hand was bracing him on the cab door, but it was no longer a door. It was made of some kind of cold, grayish metal. It felt like iron.
In shock, he looked at the driver, who was still grinning and singing. His shirt had disappeared, exposing iron bands around his biceps and wrists. His hat morphed into an iron, dome-shaped helmet. He wasn’t holding a steering wheel any longer. Instead, he held reins in his hands, thrashing them fiercely. Attached to those reins was a team of four gray horses. They were charging ahead at full speed.
One of the horses turned its head back. Smoke billowed out of its nostrils, and Jonah saw that its eyes were as red as fire.
They weren’t really in a cab at all.
They were in a chariot.
It suddenly jerked to the left, and they were headed down a long, straight road. All of the lights were green now, at least. Sisera roared with a kind of twisted delight, and Jonah realized he must have found the road he was looking for.
The others must have seen that Jonah had disappeared into the hidden realm, and they quickly joined him. Jonah heard Eliza gasp as she realized that they were actually in an ancient vehicle.
“Sisera!” David cried out again. “I was trying to remember! The leader of the Canaanite army in the book of Judges!”
David reached for the reins but was swatted away, so hard that he slammed against the side of the chariot, dazed.
Jonah reached down to his side and drew his sword.
The Canaanite saw the glint of the angelblade reflecting a passing streetlight and swerved the chariot hard. Jonah flew across the laps of Jeremiah and Eliza again, his sword falling out of his grasp, clattering onto the floorboard. He scrambled down around Eliza’s feet, trying to pick it up. But every time he got close to the blade, the chariot swerved in another direction, sending him and his sword in opposite directions.
“Jonah!” screamed Eliza. “Get it, quick! I think we’re headed toward water!”