Enthralled by that thought, I asked, “You mean, humans still exist somewhere?” It was as if I could see again, after being blind for so many years. Something was waiting for us to clear the way. It was much bigger than anything I’d ever imagined in my little world of fashion and friends.
“Of course,” Dad replied. “If they didn’t exist, well, we wouldn’t exist. See, humans are angels too. They already have wings, they just can’t feel or see them yet. Once they finish the lessons, their wings become visible and functional. Life is energy, a balance between negative and positive. When the positive charge overrides all negative, flight becomes possible. That’s just the way it is. All life has to go through stages.” He paused with a grin. “Tell me, Ellie. Do you think this is your only life? You may be in your fifth lifetime right now, you never know. My guess is it’s not your first, angels are usually in at least their second life-time.”
And on that note, I turned to see Angie sitting in stunned silence, eyes locked on Dad.
“Listen,” Dad said, drawing my attention back. “I could sit here and talk for hours, but it would much simpler if you studied this book yourself. So, this evening, I want you girls to go over to your reading spot and study like you used to when you were young, together.”
That made me smile. I so love those sister moments. When I glanced over at Angie, she gave me a mutual-memory grin.
“Celeste,” Dad called out over our heads, startling me.
Angie and I turned to see Mom standing before the windowed wall in her long dress, gazing out over the forest. Her opalescent wings were unfurled wide, hair pouring down her back. How long had she been there? Staring at her, I pulled some hair behind my ear. Mom was deep in some sort of contemplation.
“Celeste,” Dad reminded.
After a moment, Mom folded her wings back, spun around with a much more intense appearance than normal, her eyes glittering like blue gems.
She stepped over to us. We gazed up at our mother, an absolute illustrious goddess. In turn, she gave us each a look of love, then said, “You are my girls, and I am so happy you won’t have to be out there with the hunters. I want you to promise me you’ll be careful, and for Source sake, come home to me every day, well before sunset.” She crouched down between us, her long legs bent and balancing on her heeled shoes, her dress stretched over her knees. “Promise me.”
As my bottom lip quivered, I angled to hug her. “I will, Mom. I promise. I love you.”
“Angie?”
“I know, Mom. I promise.”
Mom stood up tall, bent a kiss to the top of my head, then Angie’s. She smiled, and eventually said, “Okay, that’s all I wanted to hear. Now, no more tears. I will help you girls with anything you need. Your father and I were there together, and we’re here for you now.” Her blue eyes lifted to Dad. “I think you’ll agree, Phil, there’s no reason for them to go back to school. It’s time we showed them the wall.”
CHAPTER 18
Dad led us across the room, and pushed on the side of one of the massive oak bookcases. It rotated around into a spectacle of weaponry. The Wall seemed to drip with history. Tall spears, curved swords, pointed daggers. My hand came up to smother a gasp when I looked up to see two pink bows hanging. I bounced a look over to Angie, to Dad, to Mom, grins all around.
“Would you like to see them?” Mom said. I nodded.
Dad stepped over, reached up and removed the two bows from the wooden pegs. He handed one to me, the other to Angie. We looked them over, rotating and perusing the beauty. After flipping mine around to get a look at the limbs, there was my name in a scripted font: Elleria Marie Soepheea, and below in smaller lettering: Source is with you.
“But how?” I asked on a breath, gliding my fingers over the limbs.
“We knew this day would come,” Mom said, “so we had these specially made for you girls. I can’t fight your calling anymore. Do you like them?”
Do I like them? Duh, how could I not like them? “I absolutely love it. It’s just so, pretty.”
Angie, barelegged in shorts, lowered to the paisley rug, crisscrossed her legs. Her hair falling almost to the bow on her lap, she looked at her scripted name: Angelica Marie Soepheea—Source is with you.
“What do you think?” I asked her. “Aren’t they just, awesome?”
She didn’t say anything, just gave a slow nod, seemed to be thinking about something. With her gaze still on the bow, she let out a breath that fluttered her hair, and said, “All this time, I always knew there was something bigger in our future. I was just thinking.” She looked up at Mom. “Why did we waste so much time in school?”
“No, Angie,” Mom said, “it wasn’t a waste. It was supposed to be that way. We need angels trained in the medical field, now more than ever. And, Ellie, all that geography study, you know the land now. Vyn is creating a scientific discovery to help us all. You see, everyone has a purpose and we’re just pieces of a puzzle.”
Angie dropped eyes on the bow, considered … “These are very nice.” She angled a look up to me. “But you know what we have to do with these, right? We have to kill.”
“Don’t think of it that way,” said Dad. “You can’t kill something that’s already dead. We simply make them disappear, that’s all. Think of it as releasing them from the dark.”
Angie clamped her lips into a line, a light nod. “Well, since you put it that way, don’t we need arrows for these things?”
Dad grinned, stepped to the wall. He reached up, pulled down two packed-full quivers and handed one to each of us, then took my bow from me, freeing my other hand so I could pull an arrow.
Smoothing my fingers through the arrow feathers, I whispered to it, “Destiny.” Then angled my eyes to Angie as she held an arrow of her own, nodding in agreement.
****
“Well, that was little, off,” I said, after my arrow careened off a pine tree and chattered through the bushes. Squinting into the forest, I raked hair off my face and tucked it behind my ear, mentally noting the location of the arrow so I could find it later. Angie and I were still wearing shorts and T’s, I’d put my ankle-strapped sandals on and Angie wore flats.
“Yeah, by about twenty feet,” Angie teased.
Earlier, Dad had set up a couple bales of straw in front of a pine tree on the forest side of the driveway. He’d ripped a picture of the nastiest looking drekavac I’d ever seen out of an old newspaper and pinned it up with a couple of twigs. “The boarseye is the head,” he had grumbled, then lumbered off with his feet tamping the dirt driveway in little puffs of dust.
“Well why don’t you show me how it’s done then,” I said to Angie.
Angie responded with a sister-grin. After turning toward the target and going through all the preparatory motions, she began to pull the string … and pull … and pull some more until her arm started to tremble.
“Are you gonna shoot, or what?” I said with a cringe of anticipation.
She released … After another racket of arrow chatter through the trees, my arrow had a feathered friend about fifty-feet away in the same tangle of bushes.
The squirrels came out of hiding and the chipmunks chirped—peeking around the pine branches at us with perked ears and wide eyes.
I said to Angie, “Well, at least we’re consistent, huh?”
Angie chuckled, squinted toward the target. “Yeah, I guess it wasn’t a boarseye, was it?”
“More of a, boars tail, I think.”
“No, more like, ‘hey boar, do you see that sow over there. I think I shot its tail’.”
We launched into a session of snorting laughter….
“Okay, okay,” I said, pulling myself together … Drawing deep, semi-serious breaths, I slid another arrow out, clicked it on the string and began to focus.
Angie whispered, “And the crowd shut the flap up, as Elleria stepped to the line.”
My concentration left on a giggle. “Shut up, Ang,” I teased. “I wanna try again.”
�
��Okay, okay, sorry.”
With the bow pulled up to shooting position, I eased the string back, weight tension building … my arm started to tremor. Aiming the arrow tip just above the bale target, I let it fly. Missed, but it stuck in the tree with a vibrating thunk right above the target.
“Well, that was a little better,” I said.
Cheik-cheik-cheik, said a squirrel. I like to think that was encouragement, not laughter.
“Yeah, that was pretty good, sis. Let me try.” She stepped over to the makeshift line drawn in the dirt by Dad’s size-fourteen tread.
After about two hours of flinging arrows into the trees, the bushes, and yes, occasionally the bale, my arm and shoulder began to whimper for mercy. Dad had said the draw weight, whatever that meant, was fifty pounds. He had said we’d get used to it after a couple weeks of practice. He’d also mentioned that we couldn’t go hunting until we could group all our arrows in the drek’s paper head, a feat that seemed impossible at the time. The boarseye was about the size of a small salad plate. Practice, and more practice would become a daily ritual, we knew. And regular study sessions would fill our evenings in the den.
“Girls,” Mom beckoned from above, drawing our attention as she stood leaning against the railing of the redwood balcony outside her bedroom. “It’s time to come in. It’s getting late.”
It wasn’t late. With the sun just over the treetops, I might have guessed about six or so, and dusk wasn’t until around seven-thirty, but Mom’s paranoia seemed to convince her it was later. No complaints from me, though, I could barely lift my arm through the pain.
“We’ll be right in, Mom,” I called the reassurance up to her.
Still talking about our best shots, we wiped our feet on the door rug, and stepped onto the flagstone tiles of the foyer as the bronze hawk gazed over us and out the upper windows.
“Where should we put these?” Angie wanted to know.
“I don’t know about you, but mine’s going to my bedroom with me,” I replied while strolling across the floor. “I might have to keep Vyn in line later.”
“Yeah, well, at least he’ll be with you.”
Sensing her mood, I stopped, turned. We stood together by the hawk while I said, “I’m sure they’re not starting already. They have training to do, preparations and stuff. Vyn still has to get the light stuff ready. Don’t worry, sis, Jaydenn can take care of himself.”
“Yeah,” she said on a sigh, gave a little eye roll to herself. “I know. I’m being stupid. You and Vyn can keep me company until I get so annoying you can’t take it.”
“That would never happen. C’mon, let’s go change, my sundress is calling me.”
After we’d put the gear away in our bedrooms and changed into our knee-length summer sundresses, we sauntered barefoot into the kitchen for a much needed glass of tea. Dad stood at the tall island table at the center of the room, piling up stacks of every kind of fruit and vegetable known to angelkind.
“Hungry, Dad?” I asked, glancing at the table as I stood watching, perplexed.
He didn’t look up, just grumbled and nodded, continued stacking various fruits.
Okay then … Angie and I gathered up our glasses and filled them full of ice and sweet tea, a few lemon slices. With no room at the island table, with Dad’s food project, we just stood and watched, sipping.
Angie asked, “Dad, don’t you have to wait for the army before you feed them?”
Dad responded with a polite chuckle. Angie and I exchanged looks. We could tell he had something on his mind. Of course he did, I reminded myself. In all our playful distractions, it seemed easy to forget. Still, we knew the team was not there, so this amount of food was baffling. Maybe that’s how he heals? Yeah, he’d mentioned that once, I think … Anyway.
Dad began placing the platters on a large wooden tray.
“Do you need some help?” I asked.
“No, no, thanks girls.” He slid a glance my way. “How many arrows did you lose?”
“Not a single one,” I replied, a little pride seeping out.
“Good, good, keep practicing.” He lifted the tray. “Tell your mother to join me in my den when you see her.”
“Okay,” said I … Dad turned and ambled off through the foyer.
On the tall wood stools, Angie and I sat sipping our tea, talking about the arrow adventures and different shooting techniques we’d attempted. Some had worked, some had failed, wounding many trees as the arrows whizzed by, chipping off sprays of bark. Would we ever see the squirrels and chipmunks again? I imagined them going back to their families, chattering with tales of terror. Poor little guys.
Jaydenn was creeping up behind Angie, motioning with a finger over his mouth for me to keep quiet … He bent and snarled a sloppy kiss into her neck while she giggled, tilting her head with a tickled smile. When Jaydenn straightened back up, Angie spun around on her stool, batting her green emeralds at him. She lifted a finger and curled it in a come-here motion. He bowed to her and she placed her hands on his cheeks, pulled him into a passionate kiss. Love, I knew. I felt a twinge of envy, yes, but it warmed my heart to watch them so I smiled. But I couldn’t stare so I excused myself over to the refrigerator on a search for a snack.
Bathing in the refrigerator light, I wondered about Vyn, until I felt my hair pulling aside and warm lips touching the back of my bare neck. There he is. Love tingles under my skin. I spun around, linked my arms around his neck, and covered his luscious lips with mine. My Vyn, skipping my heart, while prayers wandered through my thoughts, Source, I love him so much. Please let him know. Please help him tell me.
“Okay, girls,” Mom said on a little giggle, drawing my clouded gaze over Vyn’s shoulder to see her strolling in with a smile. “Maybe you two should go somewhere other than the kitchen with that sort of thing.” Her chipper tone surprised me a bit. And the gentle look on her face seemed to approve, so who was I to argue. Thanks, Mom, don’t mind if I do.
“Where’s your father?”
Leaning back into Vyn, I replied, “He went to the den with a huge pile of food, and he wants you to join him.” Vyn’s neck tasted so warm and sweet.
“Really,” Mom said, “that much food, huh? I’d better go check on him … girls?”
“Hmm,” I hummed while examining Vyn’s face with my lips.
“Okay then,” Mom said something like that before I heard her walk off.
After a few minutes of love in the kitchen, weakness in my knees led to thoughts of the comfortable living room. Everyone else agreed. As we were making our way out, I wheeled around, ran back to grab a bowl of melon cubes from the refrigerator.
Vyn and I settled on the loveseat, Angie and Jaydenn on the couch. Discussions and giggles went around. The subject of our target practice came up and I asked Vyn if he’d like to shoot my bow.
“No thanks, Elle. I’m not shooting a pink bow. I’d never live that down.”
Angie snickered, placed her bare feet on the edge of the coffee table and wiggled her toes. Jaydenn draped an arm around her on the back of the couch. She leaned her head to Jaydenn’s chest, tucked some hair behind her ear, and squeezed her eyes with a tender smile, relishing Jaydenn’s presence. It’s such a beautiful thing to see my sister in love.
Jaydenn scoffed his deep-toned opinion, “That’s right, Vyn. I wouldn’t let you live that down. I’d have to start calling you, cupcake. I’m sure we can find you a more appropriate weapon, a spear maybe.”
The image of Vyn in his white lab coat with a spear in hand, well, it was a delicious thought. While gazing into the mental picture, my mind went to his work. I reached over and grabbed a cantaloupe cube from the bowl on the end table. “So, Vyn, what exactly are you going to be doing in your lab anyway? You never did tell me. Like with those glass tube thingies, beakers, right?” I popped the cube into my mouth, folded my legs up onto the cushions.
Vyn sighed, gave me a sidelong glance. “I tried to, I really did, but your eyes would go off somewhere els
e when I talked. Probably off to the shoe store or something.”
“That’s not true”—it was true—“I listened to you. Just wasn’t—” I reached up and played with his hair a bit. “But, I’m interested, now.” I gave him a sheepish grin.
“Okay,” said Vyn. “I already told Phil.” His eyes went to Jaydenn. “But I haven’t told you yet. Have I, Jay?”
“No, you haven’t. As a matter of fact, yeah, I’m all ears, brother.”
Jaydenn interrupted Angie’s snuggling as he scooted to the edge of the couch, elbows on knees. Angie twisted her face into some sort of adult pout, before she leaned and snatched the Angel’s Closet catalog off the coffee table, set it on her lap and began sharply flipping through it.
Vyn scooched to the edge of the loveseat, somewhat excited. “Well, first, there’s an enzyme that generates light in some animals. It’s called luciferase enzyme. For instance, fireflies, and some sea creatures have it too. That’s what causes the glow, the enzyme.”
That wasn’t so hard to understand, sort of interesting, I guess.
“An enzyme called RNA polymerase finds the DNA decoding the Luc gene within the cell’s genome. The Luc gene recognizes the sequence of amino acids that make up the luciferase enzyme.”
Um, okay. The shoe store wasn’t on my mind yet, but the fruit bowl was looking good.
“… polymerase copies the Luc gene. This is called transcription because the RNA polymerase is transcribing the information contained in the Luc gene.”
The melon cubes called me so I reached over and grabbed the bowl off the end table. With my legs folded beside me on the cushions, I set the bowl on my lap. The green melons were all right, honeydew. Orange was better, though, cantaloupe, sweeter. I popped one in my mouth, flavors rolling around on my tongue while I gazed at Vyn.
“… moves to cytoplasm …”
What made melon so good, enzymes maybe?
“… produce a string of amino acids that make up the luciferase enzyme, it’s called translation. The ribosome is translating information into a …”
Wings of Boden Page 14