Spirit Fighter (Son of Angels, Jonah Stone)

by Jerel Law

  Quickly Jonah stood up, a new energy flowing through him. He picked up Eliza, who was still moving slowly, and held her by his side.

  “It’s time to go, E,” he whispered in her ear as he kept his eyes on the fallen angel. Just as the old woman was reaching her bony hand out to snare them, he began to run. Holding Eliza with him, his feet blazed around her and up the side of the tunnel, just as she had done a minute ago. He heard the woman scream and the clatter of her own feet, trying to get in front of them again, but she was no match for Jonah’s speed. They burst out and into the subway station area, a blast of light, leaving the echoing screams behind.

  The subway doors had opened, and a crowd of people were pushing their way on. Jonah went straight for the closest open door. He slowed down and he and Eliza jumped inside together, just as the doors closed. Squirming past several people, they found two hard plastic seats and plopped themselves down.

  Only then was Jonah able to look down at his feet. Eliza did too. But gone were the leather sandals. Back on his feet were his old white basketball shoes. He heard Mrs. Aldridge’s voice reading the words of the Scriptures again, and he jolted upright in his seat.

  “There was something else Mrs. Aldridge said . . .” Jonah was shaking in his seat, but he pulled out the Bible again. “Put on the whole armor of God . . . having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace . . .”

  “Shod means that you get shoes put on you, like a horse,” Eliza said. “There it is again—the verse coming to life.”

  They sat for a few minutes in silence, watching the lights of the tunnel pass by outside the subway car, flashing into the windows. Jonah wiggled his toes again, but they felt entirely normal. There was no other way to explain it. The words of the Bible passage were coming true.

  Literally true.

  “Your shield saved us again, Eliza,” Jonah said.

  “Yeah,” she said quietly, crossing her arms and shivering, the reality of what had just happened starting to come over her. “But hers was stronger. I’m scared, Jonah. That was . . . absolutely awful.” She looked away from him, out the window of the subway train. “How are we going to do this?”

  “Don’t you know we have angel blood in us?” Jonah said, hitting her on the arm. “The only reason we have made it this far is because Elohim is on our side. And if He is with us, there’s nothing that’s going to stop us.”

  She turned back toward him and nodded, managing a smile.

  Jonah leaned his head back and looked toward the window, not wanting her to see any doubt in his eyes. He watched the darkness pass by outside and spent the next few minutes quietly hoping he was right.

  TWELVE

  A DARK ALLEYWAY

  The subway clacked along the track quickly, the cold white lights the only thing shining in the underground tunnel. There were men and women standing and sitting all around them in the car, some going home from a late night on the town, some getting ready for another fast-paced day of work in the Big Apple.

  Slowly Eliza said under her breath, “You know, every one of them could be . . . like her.”

  Like her. The sweet-grandmother-looking lady was the last person on the train they would have suspected to be one of the Fallen. But now they realized that anyone could be working for Abaddon.

  “Yeah, you’re right. Any one of these people could be a fallen one. But you know what it also means?” he said, a new thought hitting him. “Any of them could also be an angel.”

  He felt crazy, glancing around out of the corner of his eyes, wondering who was human and who wasn’t.

  It was a twenty-minute ride to New York City, and no one seemed to be staring at them, no one looked ready to pounce at any moment. Maybe in a crowd they were actually safer than when they were alone.

  “So what’s the plan when we get to New York?” Eliza asked, brushing brown wisps of hair off her face.

  Jonah looked down at the MissionFinder 3000. It appeared to be just like any other old, silver watch. He glanced around to see if anyone was watching and then pushed the button on the side. The orange screen glowed, but gave no new information.

  “It says the same thing. We’re supposed to go to New York City.” He shrugged. “I guess we’ll get more instructions when we get there.”

  They continued to hunch down in their seats, talking quietly with each other, wanting to do nothing to draw attention to themselves. Soon, a crackling voice came over the loudspeaker.

  “World Trade Center Station. Next stop, World Trade Center Station.”

  They stepped out into the dimly lit station. Jonah looked at his watch again as people jostled by them. 4:21 a.m.

  “We’re here now,” said Eliza, looking over his shoulder. “Let’s see if it says anything more specific.”

  He pushed the button again. The orange screen flashed on, but this time two black letters filled the screen, blinking.

  “HR,” Jonah said slowly, showing it to Eliza. “HR? What does that mean?”

  “Push the button again,” she said. He did, and the old watch screen returned. Jonah tried pressing it again, but this time nothing happened.

  “Hey, what’s wrong with this thing?” He shook his arm and tried again. It was no use. The screen stayed the same.

  “HR . . . HR . . . HR . . .” Eliza turned the letters over in her brain. “Is that some kind of message? A secret code? Did Marcus say anything about that?”

  Jonah thought hard. “I can’t remember anything.”

  “Well, he must have said something,” she said, growing frustrated. “Think hard, Jonah.”

  “I’m trying! And I’m telling you, they didn’t mention anything about HR or any kind of secret code. It just said we’d get more specifics when we got here.”

  They were stumped.

  Eliza paced around him in the terminal. “What are we supposed to do now?”

  He could think of nothing else to do. “I say we just . . . walk.”

  Since she had no better ideas, they left the lobby and exited onto a noisy street full of taxicabs and a growing number of pedestrians.

  “I guess we’ll figure it out, right?” Eliza said, trying to sound confident as she huddled down in her hoodie.

  “Right.”

  Jonah’s legs were beginning to feel like cold noodles, but he pushed forward and tried to ignore them. With each step, though, the fact that they had no plan was hitting him in the face. “Show up in New York City and figure it out from there” felt brave back in Peacefield. Now it just seemed plain stupid.

  They walked east, looking for a sign, a gut feeling, anything that might point them in the right direction. The farther they walked, the more the busy streets began to thin out. Suddenly, Eliza stopped, staring up at a traffic light. Jonah quickly realized she wasn’t looking at the light itself, but at what was on top of it.

  Across the steel bar that held the stoplights up at the busy intersection of Wall Street and Water Street sat two angels.

  “Look at that,” Jonah said, as they both stared at the stunning creatures. Eliza nodded slowly, her mouth open, mesmerized. One was male, the other female, and they sat high above the traffic. Their massive wings filled the air behind them, shimmering with a white light and rustling in the breeze.

  Jonah looked around at the people passing them by. Apparently no one could see the angels but them. According to Henry, humans could not see an angel unless the angel wanted them to. But watching these people move so hurriedly up and down the street, he wondered if they would stop to look even if they could see them.

  “Look, Jonah!” said Eliza. “They’re waving!”

  Not only that, but like an Olympic gymnast, the male angel whirled around the bar over and over again and then let go, propelling himself into the air, so high that Jonah quickly lost sight of him. After a few seconds, Eliza said, “Look!” and they saw him zooming down, headfirst, toward the street below. At the last second, he reached out and grabbed the steel bar again, flipped around it on
e more time, and landed back beside his counterpart. He bowed dramatically, winking at them. His friend rolled her eyes but laughed at him, and they waved at Jonah and Eliza again.

  “Wow,” Eliza whispered. “They’re beautiful.”

  The angels hopped down to the other side of the street, across from them, and beckoned them to come over. Jonah and Eliza looked at each other, Eliza nodded eagerly, and they waited to cross the street. When the light had turned red and the cars speeding by them stopped, they made their way across.

  “My name is Robert,” the tall one with the dark hair said with a friendly smile.

  “And I’m Helene,” the woman said, smiling, looking deep into Jonah’s eyes. Eliza stared up at them both, captivated.

  “Helene. Robert. HR!” Jonah exclaimed. “You must be who we’re looking for.”

  “I . . . I . . .” Eliza tried to speak but no words came.

  Robert laughed loudly. “Cat got your tongue, Eliza?”

  She just nodded stupidly, still speechless. Jonah would normally have been amused by his sister’s sudden lapse in brainpower, but, after all, these were the most good-looking angels they had ever seen.

  “Let’s cut to the chase,” Robert said, grinning and winking at them both. “Are you ready to see your mother?”

  “You know where she is?” Jonah asked eagerly.

  Helene reached out and touched his arm. “Of course, Jonah. She is safe. But she needs you. She needs you both.”

  “We’ve been waiting for you all night,” Robert said. “We’re glad you finally made it. Let’s take you to your mother.”

  They began walking down a street that was almost completely deserted and much darker. The sun still hadn’t risen, and it was especially dark among the tall buildings. Helene turned and motioned to them to follow, still smiling warmly.

  “Come on, Jonah!” Eliza said, following them. “They’re going to take us to get Mom!”

  Jonah paused as he caught Helene’s eyes again. There was something . . . the way she was looking at him, unblinking . . . A small voice deep within him was trying to speak to him, one he could barely hear above the noise of the street and his own heartbeat. Something was trying to hold him back, warning him, tugging at his soul. But these were angels, and the prospect of having his mother back was louder than whatever quiet voice was trying to speak to him inside. This had to be the next step, the one they were looking for.

  “Jonah!” Eliza beckoned impatiently. “Hurry up.”

  Robert and Helene walked briskly. Jonah and Eliza struggled to keep up, half-walking, half-running to make sure they didn’t fall too far behind. Jonah became aware of the putrid smell of rotting garbage as they made their way down the street.

  Robert finally stopped. “This is the way we have to go,” he said. All they could see of the angels were their eyes, gleaming in the shadows. He pointed into the darkness of a narrow passage off the alleyway.

  “In . . . there?” Eliza swallowed hard.

  “Yes, of course,” Helene said, a slight edge to her syrupy voice. “This is where the door is, to get inside and find your mother. Come on, now. Hurry along. She’s very close.”

  Shivering and covering their noses, Jonah and Eliza peered into the crevice between two buildings. They could make out the outlines of a few metal doors and a rusted-out staircase that went up along the side of one of the walls. Jonah could tell Eliza was nervous, but she managed to smile at Robert and Helene, and took a brave step into the alleyway.

  The smell grew even stronger. It was horrible, and yet also vaguely familiar . . .

  “Someone forgot to empty the garbage,” Robert with a chuckle that seemed rather forced. “Come on now, Jonah. We don’t want to keep your mother waiting any longer, do we?”

  Jonah shook his head, catching Helene’s eyes again as he walked by. For the briefest moment, he thought he saw a glimmer of . . . yellow.

  Yellow eyes. The same ones he had seen just an hour ago, in the Newark terminal. The same ones he had seen just a few hours before, on a lonely stretch of highway in Peacefield. And the same ones he had seen in the face of the hideous creature that chased him all the way to Mrs. Aldridge’s house.

  Helene and Robert weren’t the “HR” after all. Jonah was suddenly sure about that.

  He was moving to grab Eliza’s hand and pull her back through the alley when he realized that Robert and Helene were standing in the entrance, blocking their way back to the street. Closing off any escape route they would have. Jonah began to move away from them as Eliza turned around.

  “What’s going on, guys?” she said, and then gasped.

  In front of them, the angels were changing. The glow of their yellow eyes grew stronger in the darkness. Their faces were turning dark, almost black. They had been standing straight up, tall and strong, but now they began to hunch over, like someone carrying a heavy burden on his shoulders. Their wings crumpled, blackening, as if they had been set on fire and then extinguished. They grew sharp and angular behind their backs. Gone were their crisp white clothes, replaced by dark leathery skin that looked like armor. Their fingers grew long, with sharp claws on the end. Yellowish teeth protruded from their mouths now, crooked and vicious. They stood in the darkness, glaring at the two kids in front of them.

  The one who had called himself Robert spoke, a sarcastic tone in his hissing voice, which had changed along with his appearance. “Didn’t your mother tell you to never trust a fallen angel?”

  Helene reached back over her shoulder and in her hand appeared a long arrow, flaming red at the tip. A bow was suddenly in her other hand, and she strung the arrow as she spoke. “It’s time for both of you to go away. Forever.” In an instant, Robert had pulled and strung a flaming arrow too, and they trained them on Jonah and Eliza.

  They turned and ran as fast as they could down the alleyway. An arrow flew just over Eliza’s shoulder, slamming into the wall beside her. It disappeared like black dust into the brick, but the wall erupted in flames. The one aimed at Jonah grazed his hair, exploding into a pile of garbage in a corner of the street. Flames shot up into the sky as the trash caught fire.

  Eliza quickly moved behind a pair of garbage cans, dropping out of sight. Jonah’s closest shelter was a small Dumpster, and he scurried to get behind it. They both crouched down against metal and the cold street, and Jonah saw Eliza’s terrified eyes trying to locate him in the dark.

  The Fallen were walking slowly down the alleyway. He could sense it even though he had not turned around to look. For the briefest moment, he closed his eyes, gathering himself. He glanced at Eliza again. She had located him in the darkness and was watching him, looking back over her shoulder, and waiting.

  String your bow, Jonah.

  The words came out of nowhere, and he wasn’t sure if they had been spoken out loud or were just in his mind. But he heard them clearly, and in one motion, before another thought ticked across his brain, he stood up, turned toward the fallen ones, and reached back over his shoulder. An arrow appeared in his right hand, and then suddenly there was a bow in his left. The arrow was on fire with a pure white flame on the tip, and as it passed by his face he felt a cool sensation hit him, not heat.

  This shook Eliza out of the shock she was in. She quickly sprang up, standing alongside her brother, and threw her hands up above her. Beams of white light erupted from her fingertips, forming a shield around them both, as they stood back to back in the alleyway. All of this happened at once, before the Fallen had even had a chance to blink. Then Jonah aimed the arrow at Robert and fired. It pierced Eliza’s shield easily, moving through it as if nothing were there.

  Robert ducked his head, and the white flaming arrow flew past him and hit a trash can. A flash of white light blasted the can all the way out of the alley and across the street. Robert looked back at it, clearly surprised. He turned back toward them both, looking even angrier than before. Both he and Helene began to fire arrows, one after the other. But every time they hit the shield, th
ey evaporated into dust. Jonah kept pulling arrows off his back, aiming them, and letting them go. They were faster than he was, though, and they kept avoiding his shots. Plus, his aim was not very good.

  “Will you please hit them?” Eliza begged, her voice straining as she concentrated on the shield.

  Jonah was firing arrow after arrow, but kept missing. “I’m trying! These guys are faster than they look!”

  “I think you need to work on your aim, Jonah!” Robert shouted, as he rolled against the wall, dodged another arrow, and fired his own black arrow into the shield. Jonah immediately shot one that hit no more than an inch from his head. Closer. Robert growled and dove to the ground.

  He was having a hard time focusing on both of them at once, and that was probably how Helene got so close without him realizing it. But suddenly, while Jonah was trying to get a good shot on Robert, she had rolled forward on the ground and stood up, right in front of Eliza. She contorted her face into a yellow-toothed grin with her sharp teeth and raised her hand to her face, holding it flat, just in front of her lips. There was something on the palm of her hand.

  “Jonah!” Eliza yelled, and he turned, but it was too late. Helene blew across her open hand, and something dusty and black floated in the air toward her. When it hit the shield, Eliza screamed in pain, and she staggered back and down on her knees. The shield flickered a couple of times, and then went out.

  They were exposed. Whatever that dust was, it was strong enough to extinguish the shield when it touched it. All Jonah and Eliza could do was try to scramble backward as fast as they could. Both of the fallen ones held flaming arrows up to their bows, Robert’s aimed at Jonah, Helene’s at Eliza.

  “Good-bye, children,” Robert said calmly.

  Jonah could hear his heart beating furiously in his ears, and the likelihood that he was going to die crossed his mind. He would never see his mother, his father, or his brother again. Closing his eyes, he waited for the arrow to pierce his heart.