“Well. I know you’ve . . . ” I paused to collect the right words “ . . . been judged by some to be crazy.” There was another brief pause, then an audible sigh.
I jumped in. “If you don’t want to talk about it, it’s OK. But . . . I think this may run in the family.” I decided to just lay it all out there. “I’m seeing angels and demons.”
“Oh—well—then yes, we do have something to talk about.”
My shoulders dropped as the tension released. “Listen, Kathryn, I don’t think you are crazy.”
“Well, that’s a first.”
“When you hear voices, what are you hearing?”
“I see and hear spirits.”
Bingo! “I see them too.”
She let out a deep breath. “Has anyone told you that you are crazy?”
“My mom,” I said in a sharp tone.
“Well, our moms were raised in the same church, same family. They didn’t believe in that stuff. So when it happens, they just attribute it to something satanic or mental instability.”
“I’m so sorry you’ve gone through what you have, Kathryn.”
“Thank you. I’ve felt very alone in this until now.”
“You’re not alone. I understand. I am praying for you. Would you pray for me? My parents are making me see a psychiatrist. I don’t want them to give me meds or put me in some behavior sciences unit at the hospital.”
Her voice was methodic and confident. “Because I know I’m not crazy, I’ve been able to make it. I know what I see and hear. God knows.”
Wow, she’d really learned to deal with this bravely. “Yes, He knows, and I pray that you will see this as a gift, not a curse. Call me anytime.”
“Thank you,” she replied. I heard more emotion in those two words than from any other time I’d heard them spoken.
“No problem.”
“Hang in there, cuz. I’ve got you covered with prayer—and surrounded by God’s angels.”
“You can be sure your prayers were answered even before you prayed them,” I said.
“Bye.”
“Keep in touch, Liv. Later.”
I sat in wonder, contemplating our conversation and the courage of my cousin. Would I be able to follow her example, or would I be a drooling mental patient eventually?
Chapter 18
ADRENALINE PUMPED THROUGH me as I shifted my weight from one foot to the other on the sidelines of the court, waiting for Coach to announce the starting lineup for the home game at our gym. We’d played this team before and beat them, so I figured we’d look pretty good tonight. If Coach picked Vicki to start, the scouts in the stands would attribute the win to her. Including the one from the university I wanted to attend.
I scanned the crowd on the bleachers. Sure enough. U of D Blue Hens hats and school colors caught my eye up in the top section to my left.
“Huddle up!” Coach shouted.
We all threw our warm-up balls to the team manager. She placed them in the mesh bag.
In the huddle Coach called out the other starting players. I twirled my fingers around the hair of my ponytail, awaiting the lineup. Finally he said, “Olivia, you’re starting setter.”
I stood up, cracking my knuckles half from nerves, half out of victory. Vicki shot me an icy stare. I’d pay for this somehow.
As we stood in a circle we put our hands into the middle and shouted, “One, two, three. Go, set, kill!” We jogged onto the court and got into our positions. I took my place by the net. Vicki plunked herself down on the bench beside Coach.
The game soon settled into a comfortable pace. I landed some great sets, resulting in great spikes that accumulated point after point, putting us far in the lead early in the game. I made some awesome saves that sent me flying onto the floor. The cheers from the crowd added to my sense of security about my impression on the scouts.
One of my teammates rolled the ball to me, and I waited for the whistle to serve. Just then Andy walked into the gym. From where I stood I could see he had my uniform number painted in white on his cheek. Vicki’s eyes snapped in his direction. Then she turned and glared at me, nostrils flared. I’m toast. Someone kill me now.
The whistle blew. I bounced the ball three times, as was my routine. I hated knowing Andy was staring at me. I feared I’d lose concentration and blow my serve. I tossed the ball up and smacked it. It flew right into the net. Just as I feared.
My teammates gasped. I never missed a serve. Well, hardly ever.
Stinkin’ Andy.
After a few high-fives from my teammates, I recovered my focus. One missed serve wouldn’t ruin me.
Just then the ref blew his whistle, and Vicki rotated in. As we stood at the sideline, awaiting the scorekeeper to record our numbers, Vicki avoided my eyes. And instead of the friendly high-five we displayed as one player replaced another, she walked right by me, leaving my hand in the air. I jogged to the bench and sat down.
After Vicki fumbled two sets, Coach put me back in the game.
In the end we managed to win the match easily and maintain our undefeated status.
I lingered after the game to see what interaction may occur between Coach and the scouts.
A middle-aged gentleman in khaki pants and a blue shirt approached Coach. My heart leapt as I watched the man I’d spotted right before the game started. After shaking Coach’s hand he glanced in my direction and nodded at me. Our eyes met.
Andy came up to me and gave me a hug. I recoiled. I was so engulfed in watching the body language of Coach and U of D guy that his interruption annoyed me.
Andy gave me an offended look. He then followed my eyes, realizing what I was absorbed in.
“Hey, sorry—”
I held my hand up. He got the message. But then he leaned over and whispered, “Sweet thing, they’re negotiating your acquisition. How sexy . . . you being sought after by one of the best college teams in the country. That’s hot.”
As my heart hammered against my ribcage, I realized we had a date coming up. As always, Andy’s voice dripped with seduction that made me lose concentration.
He placed a quick kiss on my cheek and headed in the direction of the exit.
I quickly scanned the room, looking for anyone who had observed that intimate interaction. I lucked out. Nobody seemed to notice. Most importantly, Vicki had huffed off to the locker room early, so she was nowhere in sight.
I didn’t want Coach to see me lurking, so I slung my gym bag over my shoulder and walked toward the door leading to the parking lot.
I lunged into the door, the chill of late fall hitting me in the face as I breathed in the refreshing air. My exhilaration was cut short as my body was slammed against the cold cement building. I gasped from the air being knocked out of my lungs. My eyes focused slowly, finding green eyes framed by blonde hair staring at me nose to nose.
Vicki. The chilled night air flared from her nostrils like a bull prepared to spear me with his horns.
“You watch your back, you—”
I hunched, ducked, and ran toward my car. Thankfully she didn’t follow. She mumbled a few curse words, but my heavy breathing muted them. I rammed my keys into the lock, opened my car door and slung my bag into the backseat, and slammed the driver’s side door, hitting the lock button immediately. I headed for home.
I felt like I’d just stomped on a hornet’s nest. Someone was going to get stung. Guess who?
Chapter 19
ISAT IN THE kitchen, waiting for Andy to pick me up for dinner. I kept reminding myself that I’d be safe since his parents would be there.
“Andy has such a nice family,” Mom said as she finished drying the last dish and putting it in the cupboard. I’d skipped dinner and held my appetite for my dinner at Andy’s house.
Since she and Andy’s mother had been best friends since high school, they probably wanted the two of us to get together so they could share grandchildren. Of course, if she knew about my first date with him, she’d change her mind.
I heard a honk and looked out the window. Andy’s car sat at the curb. Apparently he wasn’t going to come in and talk to my parents this time.
“See you, Mom.” I grabbed my purse and headed to the front door.
“Don’t get home too late.”
“I’ll be back at the usual time. Don’t worry.”
I walked to his car. He didn’t get out to open my door like he did on our first date. I slid into the passenger seat.
“Hey, gorgeous.” Andy leaned over the center console and lightly kissed me on the cheek. I flinched a bit, but I didn’t think he noticed. He stomped on the gas pedal, making the car engine roar.
He shifted into drive and headed down the street toward his neighborhood, which was only a couple of miles from my house. The radio was so loud we couldn’t really talk. I didn’t know what to say anyway. I was relieved. I wanted to see how this date went. I still had doubts that Andy could change his ways.
I realized I’d never even asked for God’s guidance in accepting this date, just like the previous date. And that was a disaster.
Oh, no!
When he pulled into his driveway I noticed his parents’ car was not parked in the driveway. “Where are your folks?”
“They’ll be here soon. Mom had to go to the grocery store to get some things for dinner.”
I wondered if I should call my dad and have him pick me up. I decided to be cool and hope for the best, hoping his parents would be there, just as he’d promised.
I followed Andy into the house. The dining table wasn’t set, and I didn’t smell any food cooking.
I guessed I’d have to ignore the rumble in my stomach; it seemed that it would be a while before his mom started dinner.
Andy helped me out of my coat and threw it over the rocking chair in the living room, then led me to the sofa. “You want something to drink?”
“Sure. Thanks.” I needed something to quench my dry mouth and give my hands something to do.
“I’ll be right back.” He went to the kitchen.
As I sat on the sofa, a flutter of nerves came over me, and I twirled my hair.
I hope his parents show up soon.
He came back holding two cans of beer.
“I don’t drink.” I’d never had an alcoholic beverage in my life.
His eyes opened wide. “Ever?”
“No.
“Why?”
“I just don’t drink.”
“I don’t know any senior who doesn’t drink.” He set one beer down on the coffee table in front of me and snapped open the cap of the other.
“Do you have any lemonade or iced tea?”
He looked up to his left, as if mentally scanning the fridge. “Yeah, I think so.” He returned to the kitchen. I listened to the clank of glasses, the clunking of ice cubes, and the sound of liquid being poured.
Andy entered the living room with a glass of iced tea, still holding his beer in the other hand. He handed me the tea.
“Thanks.” I took a few big sips. It tasted a little sweeter than I usually made it, and it had a hint of some unfamiliar flavor. Could it be rum? I’d smelled it once before at one of my cousin’s weddings.
Andy tossed back a few gulps of beer. “Want to listen to some music?”
“Sure.”
Andy walked over to the entertainment center and turned on the radio. He tuned it to a soft-rock station. Great. I was a sucker for rock ballads. How did he know my weakness?
He sat beside me, our thighs touching. Feeling my hormones doing jumping jacks, and not liking how out of control I felt, I stood up. “Should we call your parents and find out if they will be here soon?”
“Sure.”
I took another long sip of my tea, then set the glass on the coffee table.
“Can I top off your drink?” Andy’s voice echoed in my head.
The room seemed to lean to the left. I felt like I was looking at everything through one of those crazy mirrors you see at circuses that make everything out of proportion.
What’s going on?
Mike shoved his way through the throngs of evil spirits crammed inside Andy’s house. Every time he leaned into the black crowd they threw him back out onto the street in front of the house. He needed backup help.
That filthy spirit, Lagarre, had probably invaded the body of a young man who’d set his sights on violating Olivia. He’d seen it before. And this was one of Lagarre’s favorite tactics.
Mike shouted words in angelic language.
The ground rumbled beneath him, signaling the arrival of his celestial comrades.
Gideon appeared above Christina’s car as she pulled into Andy’s driveway. He followed close behind her.
With his friend Gideon beside him now, Mike grew to twelve feet tall, towering above the car. Gideon did the same. Armor cascaded over their forms within seconds. Both angels withdrew flaming swords from behind their backs.
“Lagarre,” Mike screamed, his sword held above his head. He had to save Olivia before it was too late. His close observance of a house with no parents—and the scent of some kind of chemical or substance in Olivia’s drink—sent his angelic senses on fire. This boy, under the control of his evil archenemy, was hell-bent on defiling Olivia—or worse.
I slumped onto the couch, unable to hold my body in a sitting position. I felt paralyzed.
Oh, God! Save me. I’m helpless.
Andy scooped me into his arms and carried me down a narrow hallway to a bedroom. My body sagged in his grip. He dropped me on the bed.
My teeth clanged together from the jolt.
A few sips of alcohol couldn’t make me this numb. Maybe it was a drug he’d put in my drink.
I tried to lift my arm to slap him, but was powerless to control my limbs. Andy’s voice was muffled. I couldn’t tell what he was saying, but his voice was deep, his eyes were black, and his facial expression resembled a predator ready to kill its prey. I felt the weight of his body press me into the bed as he unbuttoned my jeans and slid them down to my ankles.
I tried to scream but could utter only a low moan.
My eyes fogged over as if I’d been swimming in chlorine for hours. I feared I was close to passing out.
Andy climbed on top of me, and his mouth devoured my lips. Andy’s hands grabbed parts of my body nobody but my doctor had ever touched.
His unblinking black eyes horrified me. Was I imagining it, or were they actually as black as night?
“Jesus!” I screamed inside my head.
A glowing light appeared behind his shoulder. Mike!
A knock on the window broke through my haze. “Andy?” Christina’s voice!
He let out a string of expletives, then jumped off of me and raced out the bedroom door.
I heard the front door slam and voices arguing. It was Christina!
“Christina!” My lips formed the word but no sound escaped.
“Olivia?” I heard her call. She came into the room and scurried to my side. Cradling my head in her hands she mumbled, “Oh, God.”
Thank God she showed up.
“You creep!” she screamed at Andy, who leaned against the doorjamb of the room. “What have you done to her?”
“I didn’t do anything. She had too much to drink, I guess.”
“Olivia does not drink!” she snapped at him.
“Just leave. Get out of my house!” he yelled back.
Christina ignored him. “Olivia, honey, are you with me?” She sounded like she was speaking in a tunnel. “I’m going to take you home.”
“Thanks.” The word came out slurred. I was relieved to be able to respond, even if it sounded ridiculous. Maybe God had heard my prayer for help. Christina’s uncanny timing assured me He had.
My head ached, and my eyes rolled around, trying to focus, but failed. I gave in and closed my eyes.
Mike’s and Gideon’s large figures filled the room and sliced at Lagarre’s hovering minions scattered around the room. They scurried away, disap
pearing through the walls and ceiling. As Mike’s eyes burned into the back of Andy’s head, a face appeared there, sneering back at him. When Christina entered the room, the apparition of Lagarre peeled away, leaving Andy’s body. Both angels chased Lagarre out of the house. Once outside they cast their gaze all around and saw nothing.
“He’ll be back,” Mike mumbled, his swords drooping in his hands toward the ground.
Gideon grasped his shoulder. “I’ll be there. Things will escalate. That’s how Lagarre has always worked. But we’ll summon all the warrior angels to assist us.”
“Yes. We’ve chased him off temporarily, but it’s time to utterly destroy him. Our next meeting will be our last.” Mike placed his swords back in their sheaths and breathed deeply. He seethed with righteous anger.
“I must follow my Christina,” Gideon murmured. Mike nodded in agreement. He would follow his Olivia.
They both observed as Christina struggled to carry Olivia to her car and fold her into the backseat of her white Toyota Camry.
Both angels sat inside the car, unbeknownst to the two girls.
I woke up in Christina’s bed. She sat in a chair in the corner, reading a book. “What time is it?” I whispered, then coughed.
Wow, I can speak without slurring my words. My head felt clearer.
Christina put her book on the end table and came to the bedside. She glanced at her watch. “It’s two a.m.”
“My parents are going to kill me for being late. What happened?”
“Andy gave you a spiked drink. I know you don’t drink, and darling, the way you were acting, it had to be drugged. Then he tried to rape you. When I found you lying on the bed you were in a . . . precarious position.”
I looked at my clothes. Nothing was torn or missing. I hoped that meant he hadn’t gotten very far before I lost consciousness. I recalled him taking off my jeans and his weight on me. Then I heard Christina hollering. I figured that was as far as it had gone. God had answered my feeble prayer. Again, I was embarrassed at how I’d trusted Andy and opened myself up to such a dangerous situation.
I sat up slowly, holding my throbbing head. A sudden wave of nausea made me bolt for Christina’s bathroom. Could a few sips of alcohol do this to me? It had to be a date-rape type of drug. The sweet drink must have covered up the taste of the drug. Was that the bitter taste I’d mistaken as extra lemon or sugar?
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