by Jo Duchemin
“Then why did they make me come with you?”
He had no answer. He just shook his head in response. I’d never seen anyone look so defeated.
After a few seconds, our speed declined and we appeared to be coming to a rest. We were surrounded by clouds. I held on to Marty tighter, scared of falling back down to Earth if I let go.
“You won’t fall, just put your feet down. It feels just like being on the ground. I never let you fall on Earth and I won’t let you fall here either.” He looked me in the eyes and I tried to capture the emotion it created in me. I might not get another chance to savour the way it felt to look into those eyes. I wanted to record the moment forever.
“You let her fall once. You let her fall in love with you,” a powerful, male voice interrupted us. I jumped at the sound and looked around to see a group of people staring at us. Like Marty and myself, they were translucent, ghostly figures – all of them undeniably beautiful.
One of the other people, a kindly looking woman, spoke: “Now, George, I don’t think we can hold Marty entirely to blame for that. We haven’t heard his side of the story. Welcome, Claudia. Please don’t be afraid of us. I know this must be overwhelming for you, but we hope you understand that we are not going to hurt you.”
Despite wanting to believe what the woman had said, I moved closer to Marty, seeking his protection. I struggled to find my voice, but I was beaten to speak by the first man who spoke, the one she had called George – his handsome face contorted by anger.
”He has betrayed our kind.”
Next to me, I felt Marty grow tense, sucking in his breath to stop himself from saying something. It was all the motivation I needed to speak.
“He didn’t do anything wrong.” My voice was quivering with fear.
George stared, his brown eyes burning as he looked at me. “Little girl, do you even know who we are?”
“You’re angels.” My voice squeaked out the words and it sounded like a question.
“We are the Dominion, we are not just angels.” He almost spat the words at me.
“George,” the kindly woman interjected, “please remember that this girl is not on trial here. We have brought her here as a guest. She is the first live human to see this realm.”
“Olivia, she just insulted us, and you’re acting like she’s a visiting dignitary. She’s just a human.” George all but looked down his nose at me. I couldn’t equate this almost bitter man to the gentle soul I fell in love with. I’d assumed all angels would be kind, like Marty. I was wrong.
“She isn’t just a human. She’s the woman Marty fell in love with and she deserves our respect. Have you ever known an angel to fall in love with anyone?” Olivia, the kindly lady, had asked a rhetorical question, as they all knew the answer already – angels did not fall in love with humans. Her green eyes were bright as she studied me. “I’m intrigued by what is so special about her.”
“There’s nothing special about her. Marty was weak and she, like many flawed humans, dragged him into temptation. She isn’t worthy of being here. A human in the presence of the Dominion. We should have kept this to our own kind. Marty should have kept to his own kind.” George’s eyes blazed as he looked at me, and I felt Marty’s arms wrap tighter around my body.
“She did nothing wrong, let her go back. I fell in love with her, punish me. She doesn’t need to see this.” Marty’s voice sounded strong, despite the tension rolling off of him in waves.
“Marty,” Olivia looked at him, sympathetically, “we know you told her not to admit her love for you. Just because she didn’t say it, doesn’t mean we didn’t know. She knew what you were, and she still pursued a relationship with you.”
“Do you have any evidence of that?” Marty’s voice sounded unsteady.
“Yes,” George answered this time. “shall we look at it?”
George snapped his fingers and the clouds to the side of us moved, rising upwards and creating a flat wall, like a cinema screen. Marty kissed my head and whispered, “I’m so sorry.”
“This is the first moment that caused us concern,” George said. He turned to the cloud-wall and stared at it. From his eyes, beams of multi-coloured light shone out. For a moment, I was reminded of a drawing I’d created as a small child, when I imagined that light was created by opening your eyes – a time when I thought that if I closed my eyes, the world would be in darkness. The light shining from George’s eyes created images like a projector, beamed up on the cloud-wall for all to see. It was like watching a film of my life, with myself and Marty as the leading actors. It was the familiar setting of the pub, on the night Marty had tried to set me up with Ben. Ben and I were talking to each other and, in the middle, across the table, I saw Marty looking puzzled. I saw my eyes flash to his when Ben said the word ‘heart’. It brought back so many feelings, watching the first blossom of our love. The image changed slightly, to later in the evening, when the fight broke out. George zoomed in on Marty’s protective stance, similar to the one he used now. Then he produced a freeze frame of the knife after Marty had rammed it through the tabletop. Then the screen went blank. George blinked, turning off the beams from his eyes and faced us.
“Do you have anything to say, Marty?” George asked.
“I was protecting her. I am her guardian angel.”
“Protecting her from what? Her destiny? You should have seen the danger. That trick with the knife could have exposed what you are. Do you remember the last time an angel was caught?”
I interrupted, “Ben wasn’t my destiny – I didn’t like him that way.”
“You shouldn’t have had an option. If a guardian angel directs you to someone, it is where you are meant to be.” This time, a different angel spoke.
“What about free will?” I asked.
“If we’d left you to your own free will, you’d have been an alcoholic. You needed guidance.” The angel’s words cut like a knife.
“Then Marty saved me in more ways than I knew.”
“Shall we see some more?” George sounded like he was enjoying this. He turned to the screen and transmitted more images from his eyes. The pub car park. Marty holding me, whispering. Me passing out, and him carrying me home. The montage continued to footage that was new to my eyes. Marty carrying me up the stairs. Marty breathing in the scent of my hair as he lifted me onto my bed. Marty gently removing my shoes. Marty unpeeling my handbag from my grip and placing it on the bedside table. Tucking me into bed. A lingering kiss on my forehead. Marty holding his head in his hands, every inch the tortured soul. I shuddered, thinking of the heartache I’d caused him. Him writing a letter to me, folding it in half and kissing it, as he laid it on the pillow next to me.
“You could see in my house?” I gasped and turned to Marty, “didn’t you say angels wouldn’t spy in the house?”
“Lovers’ tiff?” George interjected sarcastically.
Marty ignored him and stared into my eyes. “I didn’t think they would. I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.”
“Yes it is,” another female angel contributed to the discussion, “you should have left when you realised how you felt. You shouldn’t have dragged the poor girl into it.”
“Sally, I suspect she was a willing accomplice. If anything, she pulled him in deeper.” George’s voice stabbed in the air and he turned to the clouds to show another scene from our romance. Us, sitting at the kitchen table. Marty and I exchanging gifts. Him placing the necklace around my neck. The almost-kiss. “It doesn’t look to me like she’s being forced into anything.”
“I wasn’t. I fell in love. With a wonderful man – surely that’s not a crime.” I was pleading now, seeing them debating the issue amongst themselves gave me a glimmer of hope that I might be able to persuade them to let Marty stay with me.
“He’s not a man.” George said the words as though they were a victory. He turned back to the
screen of clouds, showing images of my arrival back from the cinema with Ben, of Marty explaining that he had broken the only rule he had to keep. George turned back to me, “he told you outright that you weren’t meant for him. And you still pursued him.”
“She’s not the one at fault. I am.” Marty, still defending me now, after everything. Still my hero.
“Marty, we saw you trying to explain that you weren’t human. She knew something was different about you and still she threw herself at you.” George’s eyes projected a different vision – the dark hallway, our bodies in silhouette against the storm-ridden background, pressed up together, heat scorching out of the image. I could see my hands, just shadows in the image, reaching for him and his hands pushing mine away. His silhouette walked away, leaving mine to crash to the floor. The memory of the scene still ripped me inside.
“She didn’t know I was an angel then and I walked away, no harm was done.” Marty’s voice was flooded with emotion.
“So, did it end when she found out what you are?” George knew the answer and produced images to justify his opinion. Me, pressing myself against Marty, discussing the costume for ‘Starlet’, Marty and I sharing a bed, the scene from the day before – where our emotions were getting out of control. “No, she still tried to lead you into temptation.”
“You can’t blame him for my mistakes.” My cheeks were burning with the shame of seeing my own actions replayed in front of an audience of angels, but I had the overwhelming sense that Marty and I had done nothing wrong.
“Claudia,” Olivia, whom I had decided was the most compassionate angel to our situation, spoke up, “we realise that to you, as a human, it is a struggle to see what is wrong with you and Marty being in love. To us, it is a big problem, which is why we have called you both here.”
“How did you summon me? Marty said you could only talk to me if I fainted – I couldn’t be forced to come here.” My inquisitive nature overtook my fear. I trusted Olivia, after all, she had defended me from some of George’s vitriol.
She smiled. “You are the first human we have ever successfully summoned. We aren’t sure why. My personal suspicion is that it worked because you are so aware of the workings of the angel mind – hence, Marty’s powers have stopped working on you. You have to understand, we are just as curious about you as you are about us.”
“Curious?” George all but snarled at me. “She hasn’t even asked what the Dominion is. She shows no respect.”
“George, are you showing Claudia any respect? Can’t you understand how scary this is for her?” Marty’s voice was getting angrier by the second. He hadn’t let go of me since this had started.
“Claudia,” Olivia said, “perhaps I didn’t explain at the beginning. The Dominion is the name for a group of special angels, elite angels, if you like. We’ve served for a long time and our job is to monitor the behaviour of other angels; to pick up on any problems. I wonder, now, if we should have stepped in earlier to rectify this issue.”
“Why did you leave it so long? You knew Marty had fallen for me before I did.”
Behind my ear, I heard Marty sigh and, to my surprise, he answered. “Because I was meant to be joining them. After being your guardian angel, I was meant to become one of the Dominion.”
Olivia smiled a pitying smile at him. “We hoped you’d have enough experience to walk away. We were so hopeful when you contacted Alfie. We so wanted you to do the right thing.”
“He is a disgrace to our name.” George apparently had enough venom for both me and Marty to share equally.
“What will happen to Marty now?” I’d realised there wasn’t any hope of him being allowed to stay with me. I just wanted him to be safe.
“He should be cast into hell.” George’s anger was intense. I gasped and felt Marty shudder behind me.
“He will suffer no such punishment.” Olivia’s voice had a finality to it and her gaze wilted George’s determination to cast the love of my life to hell. He visibly shrank back and nodded in agreement with her. “He will be demoted, of course. He cannot be trusted to guard a human again. His emotions are uncontrollable. However, he has worked closely with the dying for many years, easing their suffering and helping their transition to here. He will be transferred to the greeting team, welcoming those souls who have recently passed over.”
I felt Marty nod at her. “Thank you, it’s more than I deserve. What about Claudia? Will she still have our protection?”
Olivia sighed. “We cannot offer that anymore. She has forfeited her right to a guardian angel. I wish we could assist more. Marty, you will have until midnight to rectify the mistakes you have left down there. Wipe their minds of your ability to fly, sort out the vacancy you will be leaving at the hospice and tidy up any other loose ends.”
“Does he have to wipe my mind?” I couldn’t believe this was the way it was going to end.
“It’ll make things easier for you to move on,” Olivia said with compassion, making me feel even worse.
“Please,” I begged, “leave me with my memories of him.”
“As you wish. Remember to look away when he tells you to. I wish we could have met under happier circumstances.” She came forward to shake my hand.
“So do I,” I murmured.
Marty and I started to sink back down to Earth.
Chapter 15
He pulled me close. He started speaking quickly in my ear. “When we get back down, everything will go back to the usual speed, it’s like it is paused at the moment. I’m going to alter the minds of everyone in the room, all at one moment. If you want to remember everything about me, it is vital that you do not have your eyes open when I do that.”
We were still drifting back to Earth, like snowflakes dancing in a breeze. “How does it work?” I asked.
“Do you remember how I explained wiping the names from your memory?” He asked and I nodded. He continued: “It’s the same principle, on a larger scale. It will look similar to how George projected the images.”
“And I just have to close my eyes and I’ll remember everything?” I was desperate not to lose the memories I had of him. In spite of everything, I wouldn’t have changed a thing about our time together.
“Yes, I promise. Claudia, I’m sorry we couldn’t have had our happy ending.”
“Shhhh,” I whispered, “it doesn’t matter. A few weeks with you was worth risking everything.” We were nearing the roof of the theatre and our journey was nearly over. We passed through the roof, into the building and down to the stage, where we were reabsorbed by our bodies.
Screams, muffled in my disoriented ears, were the first thing to alert me to the passing of time. My eyelids fluttered open and I saw Marty, eyes wide open staring at me.
“Are you OK?” Marty whispered. I nodded. “Close your eyes.”
I did as he told me, putting my arm across my face to further protect myself. I heard a collective gasp from the other people in the room and felt a warm glow on my hands. Then it was over and Marty was gently pulling my arms away from my face.
“Claudia, it’s OK, look at me. You’re safe. You were lucky I was standing on the edge of the stage ready to prompt you, any further away and I wouldn’t have been able to pull you out of the way in time.” He was saying the words for my benefit, so I would know the cover story. Nobody else would remember that he flew from the balcony to save me. I could hear the rushing movements of people coming to help, calling my name.
Donna was one of the first to reach us, genuine concern in her face. I was almost more shocked by her anxiety than I was by the light nearly falling on me. The theatre technician was right behind her.
“Claudia, are you OK?” Donna was shrieking and tears had streaked down her face.
I swallowed. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Don’t move, you might have a neck injury.” She looked white with fear.
&
nbsp; “I didn’t hurt my neck, Marty broke my fall and the light didn’t hit me.”
Marty had already stood up and was holding out his hand to help me up. Momentarily, I thought I saw whispers of a silver mist on the floor, but when I looked closer it was gone. I was seeing things from stress and instantly tried to relax myself, desperate to avoid raising any more attention. I just wanted to be alone with Marty, time was running out. Donna pulled herself together and addressed everyone else.
“Rehearsal is over. Everyone out.” Then she hissed to the theatre technician, “How did this happen? You nearly killed our leading lady! I’m going to the Dean; this shoddy work was a lawsuit waiting to happen.”
“I’m taking Claudia home.” Marty grabbed me round the waist and ushered me off of the stage.
“I need my handbag. It’s up in the balcony.” I felt wobbly now that we’d moved.
“I’ll run up and get it.”
“No, don’t leave me alone, I’ll come with you.” I didn’t want to spend a moment without him. I only had until midnight. Like something out of a fairytale, the magic that had kept my handsome prince here was running out at midnight.
“Come on, then.” He held my hand and led me up the stairs.
I cleared my throat. “Marty?”
“I’m listening.”
“Now that they know, I have something to say to you.” I pulled on his arm, forcing him to stop in the middle of the stairs. He faced me, walking down a step, so that his face was level with mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck. “I love you.”
He smiled, then pulled me close for an urgent, hungry kiss. “I love you, too. You were worth everything.”
“Let’s get home,” I whispered and he led me gently into the balcony to collect my possessions.