by S. L. Naeole
It was a scene that made no sense against the backdrop of death that surrounded them. But they could see beyond it, because they could see what lay ahead. They knew more than the now and they knew the purpose of it all. Anyone looking in would have never understood. But I did.
My eyes closed and reopened to see Robert’s face again.
“You saw everything,” he said softly to me.
“I did.”
“And?”
“And…I think Gabriel is my grandfather.”
THE FOUR LEGS OF KNOWLEDGE
I woke up alone in the middle of the night, knowing that Robert had left to fulfill his call. My stomach was growling for more than just half a takeout container of noodles and so I found myself in the kitchen with a plate of bacon and eggs in front of me.
Graham, a living bacon detector, was seated across from me, his own plate twice as large and twice as full. “Thanks,” he mumbled as he stuffed a strip of bacon into his mouth.
“Ugh, how can you eat that stuff?” Stacy asked as she sat at our side.
“Becujishgood,” Graham mumbled.
“But a whole pound of it?”
“What? It’s not like I’m gonna get all fat and gross now. If anything, you should be the one watching your weight. Seriously—eating what, a hundred pounds of man meat isn’t gonna help you keep your girlish figure.”
“Ugh, man meat? Did you really have to say that?” Stacy groaned. “For your information, I’ve never eaten any man’s…meat.”
Graham laughed. “I know. I just wanted to get you to say it.”
“Creep!”
“Creep eater!”
Lark appeared and took the fourth chair at the table, her eyes darting back and forth between the three of us. “Nothing changes, does it?”
“Nope,” I answered.
“Not a chance,” Stacy agreed.
“She made bacon,” Graham offered.
It was a rare, carefree moment for us, and we took the time to enjoy it as we talked about things that would have probably been taken for granted before. Things like concerts that were happening during the summer and movies that were coming out became reasons to laugh and plan.
“We can drive to Licking to see that new martial arts-zombie movie,” Graham suggested.
“I think my days of zombie movies are kinda done,” Stacy grunted.
“What? You? Zombie Queen of Heath?” Graham uttered, shocked.
“Yeah, well, I kinda get to live the dream…you know?” Stacy replied.
“Okay, so zombie movies are out of the question,” I interjected. “What about vampire movies?”
Groans flooded the table and I held up my hands in defeat. “Fine! Fine, no horror movies at all!”
A cell phone began to ring and heads turned to see where it was coming from. “That’s mine,” Stacy said before pushing her hand into the pocket of her jeans and pulling out a small blue cell phone. A folded piece of paper fell out as she answered the call and I bent down to pick it up.
“Hey, Dr. Bro. No, no she hasn’t called. The last time I saw her she was heading to the school. Yeah. Okay; I’ll let you know if she does. Yeah—bye.”
She closed the phone and then looked at the paper in my hand. “Sorry. Dr. Bro’s looking for his wife. Hey, I was gonna ask you about that.”
She took the paper from me and opened it up, ironing out the creases with her hands as she spread out the sheet on the table. “I’ve been thinking about this. We’ve pretty much agreed that Sam’s partner isn’t Isis, right?”
Lark’s head perked up at the mention of Isis. “Why did that idea even get brought up?”
Stacy’s head ticked forward, her lids lowering half a measure in skepticism. “Really?”
“Ahh. I should have known. Lem doesn’t know how to keep quiet.”
“So we’re right? Isis isn’t Sam’s partner?” I asked.
“No. No, you’re wrong. Isis was Sam’s partner.”
“How do you know?” Graham looked at Lark with doubt. “I mean, we thought a lot about it and it doesn’t make sense.”
“What do you know about angels that would make you think you’d know what does and doesn’t make sense,” she said with mild irritation.
“What was Isis’ call?” Stacy asked icily.
Lark puffed. “What? You know I can’t tell you that.”
I looked at her and it just happened. I hadn’t meant it to, and she knew it, but I had no control over this yet and I heard her gasp before her mind darkened. But it was too late.
“She was supposed to drive people crazy,” I revealed.
“You should have kept your mouth shut!” Lark hissed.
I flinched at her words that filled both my ears and my head, but I bit through the pain and offered nothing but resistance in my face and voice. “I’m not following your rules anymore. Isis had a call, which meant she was not Sam’s partner. She couldn’t have been with a call like hers.
“And I don’t need to know everything about angels to know that much. I know what happens when an angel doesn’t follow their call—I saw it, I experienced it—and I saw Isis. You did, too. She wasn’t showing any signs of being an Innominate. She was just crazy.”
“You’re wrong about Isis, Grace. I know she was Sam’s partner.”
“How do you know? Who told you that?” Stacy demanded to know.
Lark held up her right hand and flashed the silver ring that sat on her middle finger. “She did.”
“That’s her ring?” I asked skeptically.
“Yes, this is her ring. We’re lesser angels, which means I can wear her ring if it ever leaves her possession.”
Stacy’s eyes lit up. “Whoa! So that’s why you took her hand!”
“Ugh, babe! You took her hand?” Graham said, disgusted.
“It wasn’t like she was going to use it,” Lark said smugly.
“Isn’t it wrong to kill angels, though?”
“Yes, but I was fulfilling my call to protect Grace. Besides, I had help,” she said, looking at Stacy with a smirk.
“Help? Hah. I did most of the hard work.”
“Breaking her wings is hard work?”
“When you don’t have wings, can’t fly, and can’t read her thoughts to know what she’s gonna do next then yeah, it’s hard work.”
Air spurted through Lark’s lips. “Please. She fought like Graham—you could have taken her easily if you’d just fed.”
“Well, that’s true.”
“Hey!” Graham complained.
“And besides, she was too busy rehearsing moves in her head to really pay attention to what you were thinking.”
“Kind of like Graham always thinking about food.”
“Pretty much.”
“For the last damn time, I’m right here. I get it. You guys think I’m an idiot and that the only thing I’m good for is eating and being the goddamn butt of every one of your jokes. Well I’m not! I’ve got feelings too, you know. I know I did some crappy stuff, and I know I’ve got the worst attention span, but that doesn’t mean that I’m only good for target practice!” Graham slammed his hand on the table, sending the sheet of paper flying onto the floor.
“Graham, you know we don’t think that,” I told him.
“You sure act like it!”
“Sorry.”
Stacy’s apology was the least likely of the three, which is why when it was the first one, Graham didn’t accept it. Instead he stormed out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Lark looked at us and then sighed before following him.
“Alone again, huh?” I chuckled.
“We’re not alone.”
“Well, no. They’re upstairs and Lark can hear us, but-”
Stacy shook her head. “No, I mean we’re not alone.” She pointed to the front door and I saw what she was looking at. “How the hell is he still alive?” Stacy asked before shoving me to the side and launching herself at him.
Him. He was standing in the doorway, his hair lon
g and loose, a golden sheet of light that spilled over his shoulders and glowed in the dark living room. He was beautiful, the shadows cutting themselves in half on the sharp angles of his face. The one golden eye that glittered in the illumination from the kitchen’s overhead light was like a teasing star.
“Stacy, no!” I shouted, grabbing her arm and yanking. My shout turned into a cry of disbelief when she ceased moving forward and instead flew back.
“Oh. My. God.”
Stacy landed against the refrigerator, the door buckling from the contact. I looked at my hands, normal looking hands that struggled on a daily basis to open cans of soda, and then looked at Stacy’s perplexed expression.
“D-did you just…did you just throw me against the fridge?” she sputtered.
“No!”
“No? Then how the hell did I end up over here?”
“I don’t know!”
“Aw hell, he’s still here, look out, Grace!” Stacy stood up and ran towards the figure in the living room. Gold and black swirled, caught between shadow and light, and I felt awed and frightened at how my eyes seemed to catch everything, defining the lines inside the blur.
Stacy moved like a ballet dancer, her body lithe and gentle, which made her partner’s movements look clunky and spastic in comparison. They coiled around each other, like snakes, but they were so frantic for control that it was like they’d been set on fire.
A lamp toppled over, sofa cushions went tumbling like square wheels across the floor. The mirror that was on the wall crashed to the ground, shattering into endless miniature reflections. I dodged a picture frame, my face whizzing by so quickly, it looked like I was laughing.
“Stacy stop,” I whispered.
“Hell no,” she growled. “He’s supposed to be dead! I saw him die! You did, too!” She pulled back her arm and sent her fist sailing forward, just missing his jaw and landing on his neck. The sound of one solid mass of flesh hitting another shook the house, and I winced as the windows rattled, threatening to shatter at any second.
“It’s not him.”
“What the hell do you mean it’s not him?” Stacy shrieked from her position on top of the blond intruder. They were lying on the ground, her knees pinning him down, her fingers digging into his throat.
“She means it’s not him.”
Llehmai pulled Stacy’s hands from around his neck and stood, pulling her up along with him.
Stacy’s eyes opened wide as she looked at Lem, recognition finally taking hold of her. “Why the hell is your hair blond? And long?”
“Because it is.”
“Dude, I was gonna kill you! What the hell is up with your family, huh? You guys have some kind of death wish or something?”
Lem chuckled. “You kill me?”
“She’d have help.” Lark was at my side, with Graham standing beside her, two pillars of protection that I simply did not need.
“No one is gonna kill anyone here,” I said, stepping around them and placing myself at the center of the triangle that had formed. “Lem’s obviously made a pretty bad choice in hair style, but he’s not Sam. And he’s not trying to kill me.”
My head snapped towards the door at a noise that sounded like it was booming through loudspeakers.
“Oh no, the old bat’s awake,” Lark groaned before disappearing in a blur of movement, the living room returning to its original state before our eyes. Only the mirror was missing.
She didn’t look at him, but I knew who she was speaking to when a flurry of unspoken words floated in the air.
You have to leave. Hide, dissipate, die—I do not care. Just do not interfere.
The doorbell rang and I instantly, I was alone with Lark and Graham.
Lark opened the door and spoke quietly with the old woman who stood on the outside. I backed away into the shadows, pulling Graham with me, and listened as Lark lied about the noises that had carried across the street.
“I thought someone was fighting in here,” Mrs. Lorimax said, her head poking past the door to scan the living room for signs that her suspicions were correct.
“No, no fighting going on here,” Lark laughed stiffly. “I’m just working on a routine for my dance class and I think I got a little too excited.”
“Those new dances you kids do are too jerky, too sexual. I don’t understand parents today who let their children listen to that kind of music. It only leads to two things: fornicating and baby making.”
Graham began to choke and I pressed my hand over his mouth.
Shh! She’ll hear you!
He stilled. You’re in my head. Holy cheese balls, you’re in my head!
I removed my hand and pressed it against a throb that appeared at my temple. I know. I wasn’t sure if I could do it or not.
Well, you’re doing it! Wow, this is so awesome. Now I can talk to you while I’m eating, like I do with Lark.
“Where’s your mother? She isn’t letting you stay up this late, is she?” I heard Mrs. Lorimax asked loudly.
“She’s at a function, Mrs. Lorimax. And it’s summer—kids always stay up late during the summer.”
I heard a huff, and then the sound of something wet hitting the floor. A mumbled curse followed. I knew Graham only heard this. But I heard something else. It was whisper soft, like a baby exhaling in his sleep. I moved away from Graham as the sound became more distinct.
It was a struggle. A silent one. I probably didn’t move as quickly as it felt I did, but I moved fast enough to see that Mrs. Lorimax and Lark weren’t alone.
Mrs. Lorimax was on the ground, something dark spilling from her head. Lark’s arms were pinned behind her by someone I’d never seen before, while another person, someone taller than anyone else I’d ever known, held his hands against her back, pushing down on her even as the one who held her arms pulled her back.
“What the hell are you doing?” I cried out.
I ran towards Lark.
NO! Go back inside! Get inside, now!
The front door slammed against a wall, and I saw Graham charge. The tall stranger let go of Lark and caught Graham by his head. I wedged myself between them and shoved against Graham with one hand, my other pushing up against his attacker’s chin.
I heard a snap and a tearing sound, and for a second I looked at Graham in horror. But he fell back, his eyes filled with shock as the tall attacker fell in the opposite direction. I turned to watch him stumble and fall, and bit back a scream.
His head was gone.
“Oh God, oh God, oh God.”
Graham grabbed my hand and pulled me away. Lark roared and her wings burst free, knocking her captor to the ground. I gulped when I saw that he was armless.
Stacy appeared and threw herself onto him, her hand grabbing and tearing until only pieces remained. Lark had already done the same to the headless attacker, the street now covered in dark masses of flesh that did not bleed.
“Are you okay?” I asked her.
“Yeah. I’m fine. They weren’t going to hurt me; they couldn’t have. And are you insane? I told you to get inside! What the hell made you think you could save me anyway?”
“I wasn’t gonna save you; I was trying to help you. Who-what were they?”
“They’re vampires,” Stacy said with disgust.
“Vampires? But, aren’t they supposed to, like, bleed all over the place or something?” Graham asked as he bent down to inspect one of the pieces that had fallen by his feet.
I moved towards Mrs. Lorimax and knelt down. Her eyes were closed, and I couldn’t see any movement of her chest. “Mrs. Lorimax? Mrs. Lorimax, can you hear me?”
I bent my ear to her mouth, listening for even the slightest hint of a breath. It was faint, but it was there, and I turned her over. It had been almost two years since I’d learned CPR but I didn’t know what else to do. I began to pump on her chest, counting each compression before blowing into her mouth, each time hoping that she’d blow back, or make a sound, or move.
I didn’t reall
y care what she did, as long as she didn’t stop.
“Grace, you’ve gotta stop.”
“What? No. I’m not gonna let her die.”
Stacy eased up beside me and put her hands over mine. “She’s already dead.”
“No, she’s not,” I insisted. I flicked her hands away and continued to press against the old woman’s chest. “She’s not dead. She’s not.”
A light across the street flicked on. I could hear clothes rustling, and feet slipping into shoes, and I tried even harder to revive Mrs. Lorimax. “Come on. Come on, you can do it,” I said between breaths. “Don’t die on me. Don’t die. I won’t let you die.”
“Grace, we’ve got to go,” Lark said, tugging on my arm. “The neighbors are coming and I can’t lie away three bodies on my front lawn.”
“Then clean it up!” I shouted, pulling my arm away from her. “I’m not leaving her to die here on the ground. I’m not letting that happen again, okay!”
Stacy looked at me, and then at Lark. And then she began to move. Lark followed, while Graham crawled over to me and pushed me aside. “Here, let me do it,” he said, taking over. “I got an A in this, remember? You got a C.”
I held the woman’s hand, squeezing it in encouragement. “Come on. We need nosy old ladies like you around to keep us in line. You’re not gonna die today. You’re not gonna die.”
“Oh my goodness, is that Tilly?” a frightened voice asked. I looked up to see Mrs. Culpeper standing on the sidewalk, her hands clutching at her robe. “What happened here?”
“She fell,” Stacy answered quickly. “She fell and hit her head. I’ve called 911 already; they’re on their way.”
“Oh goodness, she’s always been clumsy; especially after that stroke she had last year.”
I didn’t notice when the ambulance arrived, or when Graham moved aside to let a paramedic take over the CPR. I continued to hold Mrs. Lorimax’s hand, speaking into her ear, her thoughts. I really don’t know when my mouth stopped moving and when my mind took over, but I knew that I couldn’t stop talking to her. It felt like my only real tie to whatever was left of the life inside her.
Because no matter what Stacy said, I knew she wasn’t dead yet. I hadn’t heard her breathe on her own yet, and I didn’t know if she had a pulse or not, but I knew that she was still alive.