Truth Runner

by Jerel Law

  Hai Ling shrugged her shoulders and plugged the three street corners into the map.

  “Wow,” said David as he studied the screen.

  Rupert covered his mouth. “Oh my goodness.”

  The three locations formed a sort of semicircle, all around the exact location of the yacht.

  “In each one of the attacks, we were pushed backward,” said Frederick, pointing to the screen. “Away from the yacht.”

  Hai Ling chewed on a pencil. “Maybe it’s just a coincidence,” she said. “I mean, what do these things have to do with each other?”

  “But why would they take Jeremiah to the yacht?” Rupert asked. “I don’t get it.”

  “Put yourself in the head of a fallen angel,” responded Frederick. “If you had the chance to lure one of us away, wouldn’t you? One of us would make a pretty great prize to show Abaddon.”

  They continued to argue back and forth about it, but Eliza was already holding the phone. “I think Frederick’s right,” she said as she punched in the number for Officer Kelly of the NYPD. “I bet that security guard is either under control of a fallen angel or is a fallen angel himself.”

  “But how can you be so sure?” protested Rupert. She held her hand up toward him and the phone to her ear.

  “Hi, Officer Kelly, this is Eliza Stone,” she said. “I know you’re busy, but I have some information that we think might help us. I think I saw one of the men.”

  She paused.

  “No, on television. He was standing behind the Russian ambassador.”

  “Yes, I know that sounds a little crazy, but I think somehow they might be connected. He has this boat . . .”

  “Yes, I know it’s been all over the news. His yacht, well, we think that maybe . . . it’s where Jeremiah is.”

  Eliza closed her eyes and started to pace around the room as the others watched.

  “I know, I know, you are busy and are working hard to find him. I’m just trying to help . . .”

  “Yes, yes,” she said, her voice growing quiet. “You’ll check it out, then? Okay . . . bye.”

  She sat down in one of the soft chairs. “Officer Kelly said they’d check it out,” she said. “But she kind of blew me off.”

  “Why didn’t you tell her about the attacks?” Carlo said.

  “What was I supposed to do, tell her we were beaten back by fallen angels?”

  Eliza stood again. “There’s something there. I really think that’s the same man who took Jeremiah. And why would we all be pushed back by a huge force of fallen angels, away from the direction of the boat?”

  “There are probably a lot of reasonable explanations here,” suggested Rupert, always eager to avoid a fight. “If we can just think for a few minutes . . .”

  “You guys can think,” answered Eliza, moving toward the steps. “I’m going to check it out. Anyone who wants to come with me, well, come on.”

  She didn’t wait for anyone to decide. She simply headed up the steps. But it didn’t take long for her to hear footsteps.

  Waiting in the hallway, Eliza watched as they all emerged through the doorway, surrounding her.

  “We’re with you, Eliza,” Julia said. The others nodded. “Lead the way.”

  Eliza barked out instructions as they hurried down the city streets, back toward the place where they’d been turned away earlier by Abaddon’s forces.

  “We need to find a way to get past the Fallen,” she said. They all agreed that if they were watching the streets, they’d be guarding subway stations too.

  A city bus drove by, spitting exhaust fumes in their direction. Frederick snapped his fingers. “I have an idea.”

  They were still in the hidden realm, and the bus that had stopped at the street corner to pick up passengers was filled. Frederick was studying the bus map plastered against the bus stop wall.

  “That’s the one we want. Follow me! Quickly!” he said, and began to run toward the back of the bus. He jumped onto the back bumper and, using the door handle like the rung of a ladder, pushed himself upward, and with the grace of a gymnast, he was on top of the bus in seconds.

  He stuck his hand down and helped pull up David, who in turn began pulling up the rest of the quarterlings along with Frederick. They were all easy, except for Andre. His foot had barely lifted off the ground when the bus began to move. Both David and Frederick had to yank him as hard as they could, Frederick turning red in the face as he strained and wrestled the big Russian to the top of the bus.

  “Don’t you think the fallen angels can see us up here?” Hai Ling said as they sat on top of the moving vehicle. Rupert was nodding his agreement.

  “No, this is a good idea,” Eliza said. “They might see us if they think to look up here, but we’ll be moving faster than we normally would, and who knows, we just might get lucky.”

  “Well, it’s a good thing the top of this bus is flat,” Ruth said.

  “Thank you, Ruth,” Frederick said. “I can always count on you to see the positives. Unlike some of the rest of you here.”

  He glanced toward Hai Ling and Rupert, who were scowling but said nothing.

  Eliza was tracking their movement on the map on her phone. The bus made three more stops, and with each one, drew closer to the boat.

  “Be on the lookout!” she cautioned the others as they approached the points where they were attacked before. “Be careful! Just stay ready for anything!”

  “Okay, okay, Eliza,” said Frederick. “Take a deep breath or something.”

  “It looks like we’re only a couple of blocks from the yacht’s location,” said Rupert, studying his own phone.

  Most of the quarterlings were watching the sky, but so far, they’d seen nothing.

  “Maybe we’re going to get lucky after all,” Eliza whispered.

  Ruth, who was the only one looking down, pointed at the street ahead. “Look!” she said, a smile on her face. “It’s a cute little puppy, walking all by himself.”

  The girls moved toward the front of the bus to see. A scruffy dog was standing on the street corner. Gray, black, and brown, though it was unclear what was his actual color and what was dirt. It obviously hadn’t been brushed or taken care of in quite some time, if ever. It seemed to be watching the bus.

  “Aww,” Bridget said, “he’s so cute! I wonder if he’s lost.”

  “It seems like he’s looking right at us,” said Ruth. “Which I know is impossible, since we’re in the hidden realm. But still . . .”

  The dog watched the top of the bus and then barked a couple of times. Then he walked back around the corner.

  “Where’s he going?” Bridget said. “You know, I was thinking just the other day that we need a pet for the convent . . .”

  Several of the kids began to talk excitedly about the possibility, and they momentarily turned their eyes away from the road and the sky.

  They didn’t see the dog reemerge from around the corner until he was standing in front of the bus.

  And he wasn’t alone this time.

  “Guys, I think you better take a look at this,” Andre said, standing up on the bus rooftop.

  Behind the dog were seven others, who looked almost identical to the small one. They started barking loudly, snarling at them. And then, they began to change. Their tails grew long and pointed. Claws grew out of their feet, a particularly sharp one coming from their front paws. Their fur was replaced by scaly, greenish skin. Their snouts extended, with mouths suddenly full of sharp teeth.

  “What are those?” Rupert cried out, backing up a couple of steps.

  “I don’t know,” said Frederick, “but it seems as if they can actually see us. Don’t you think, Eliza?”

  She had already pulled out her angelblade. “Yes, I’m afraid it does.”

  No one else could, apparently. A continuous stream of people were walking down the street, but no one looked over at the creatures.

  “They look like some kind of giant lizard,” said David, pulling an arrow off hi
s back and stringing it to the bow, which had appeared in his left hand. “But not like anything I’ve ever seen.”

  The creatures leaped forward, over the cars that were in front of them, like they were small fences, easily cleared. Eliza swallowed hard as she moved to the front of the bus.

  As the bus moved forward, the lizards ran beside it, jumping up and slamming their heads into the side of it.

  “Move to the middle, everyone!” Eliza called out. They crowded toward the center of the roof, but just then the bus turned to the right. Hai Ling lost her balance and fell backward, her body dropping off the side. Only her two hands were visible, having grabbed onto the low-hanging rack that went around the top.

  “Ahhhhh!” she screamed. “Help! Help!”

  The creatures all moved to her side, eager for a feast. Wide-eyed, she kicked downward as hard as she could, meeting one of the animals in the nose.

  “David, Lania. Arrows!” Frederick called out as he reached down for her hands. David aimed down and released an arrow. Lania strung one of her own and did the same. Each of them hit a giant lizard squarely. It tumbled to the ground, rolling along the asphalt road behind the moving bus.

  Frederick had both of Hai Ling’s hands in his and fell backward toward the middle. Hai Ling sprang up over the edge, landing beside him. She was still screaming, and for a second, Eliza thought she’d been bitten.

  “I’m okay, I’m okay,” she finally said, catching her breath.

  Frederick pulled her up. “Good, because we need your arrows.”

  Eliza stood on the edge, swinging at any of the animals that dared jump high enough. David, Lania, Frederick, and Hai Ling stood on the edges too, firing as many arrows as they could. But it seemed like every time one of them connected with a lizard, two more emerged from the streets.

  They were so busy with the creatures below they almost didn’t see what was descending on them from above.

  Creatures with the heads and wings of eagles and the bodies of lions swooped down from over the tops of buildings and around corners in the air. Eliza only looked up when she heard the awful screeching in the air.

  “We have more trouble, guys!” she said, pointing her sword up. “Shields, quickly!”

  Rupert, Julia, Carlo, and Bridget immediately shot their hands in the air, forming one large bubble, encompassing all the quarterlings still in the middle of the roof.

  “What are those things?” Julia yelled, just as three of them slammed their claws into the shield. It held steady, but they could feel the impact and braced themselves against the roof. Four more dove down, with their awful sound, and slammed their heads into the shields. Carlo and Rupert both fell to one knee but bravely kept their hands up.

  “I hope this bus keeps moving!” Andre shouted, gathered in the middle with the others. “If it stops, I think this could get even worse!”

  Eliza snuck a glance ahead, hoping more than anything to see a tunnel. Instead, the light ahead of them turned red.

  “Don’t look now . . . ,” said Rupert in an already defeated tone.

  The bus was slowing to a stop. As it did, one of the giant lizards stood still, while another climbed on its back. They did it so fast that no one had time to react. A third animal hopped up on those two, snagged Lania by the arm with its sharp teeth, and dragged her to the street.

  “Lania!” Andre shouted, running to the side. Two of the beasts were on top of her. Eliza saw only one arm and one leg from her perch above.

  Without considering herself at all, Eliza hopped down, slamming her foot into the head of the creature, and landed on the ground.

  Her sword was still in her hand, and she sprung up.

  “Hey!”

  Swinging her blade with all her might, she sliced into one of the giant lizards on top of her friend. He immediately turned into a silver liquid, draining into the street. The other was on top of Lania, pinning her down and going for her neck. She was fighting him off with all her strength, but clearly losing.

  Eliza thrust her sword forward. The lizard yelped, just before it turned into the same silvery liquid.

  The bus had begun to pull forward again, though, and Eliza and Lania watched the creatures raining down from the sky, blasting themselves into the glowing but ever-weakening shield, while the gang of creatures continued its pursuit.

  “They’re leaving!” Lania said, leaping up. But quickly, they realized they had more pressing issues to deal with.

  Four lizards surrounded them and were closing in slowly. Each had a forearm outstretched, with a long, razor-like talon held up high, ready to strike. They were small, but fierce and aggressive. And, without needing to look up, Eliza could feel the presence of creatures in the air above.

  Lania had an arrow drawn, and Eliza held her sword aloft. But what could they do against all of the creatures at once?

  “We have to fight, Lania,” Eliza said, trying to find strength for her voice, but hearing herself shake. “No matter what, we need to fight.”

  The scaly lizards crept in, their fangs dripping with the prospect of a kill. They looked hungry, ready for a quarterling feast.

  One of them reared its head back and let forth a terrifying screech that chilled Eliza down to her bones.

  “Please, Elohim,” she whispered, closing her eyes. All she could think about, the only face she could see, was Jeremiah’s. She needed to be there for him, no matter what. But it didn’t appear now that she would have that chance. “Please . . .”

  A screeching sound, a blast of light, and the feel of something cool and wet hitting her cheek caused her eyes to pop open.

  The awful lizards were gone. She and Lania were covered with silvery liquid.

  Another flash above her, and the flying creatures scattered up above the buildings and out of sight.

  Looking up, a figure stood above them, silhouetted by the sun behind. He held a glittering silver blade in his right hand.

  Eliza blinked for a few seconds, unable to believe her eyes.

  “Jonah?”

  TWENTY

  A LITTLE PIECE OF PAPER

  The fallen angel surveyed the landscape from the top corner of the building. The sun was halfway down, sending a glint of orange light across the city, but growing darker with each passing minute.

  He sat curled into a ball on the edge of the rooftop wall, his blackened hands pushing against brick, holding him steady. His orders were simple, and his eyes were trained on the street below, watching and waiting.

  The black car turned onto the street, moving slowly. It caught the fallen angel’s attention. He watched, unmoving, as the car pulled in front of the building he was perched on, then stopped.

  The driver got out and opened the back door, and the large Russian emerged.

  He’d been told to wait for the ambassador here, that he always stopped at the small, exclusive bar located in the bottom of the building for a quiet drink. It was time.

  The fallen angel sprang from the building, pushing himself into the air and going into a fast dive. Just as he was almost on top of the car, he spread his wings, pulling up and landing softly behind the man. Then he jumped onto the ambassador’s shoulders and began to work.

  The fallen angel plowed his hands down into the man’s back. The man, of course, didn’t feel a thing, unaware of what was happening in the hidden realm. If he’d been a follower of Elohim, perhaps he would have recognized the threat. He would have felt the danger and asked for protection.

  But the fallen angel was soon finding out, to his delight, that the man was exceedingly open to his proddings.

  Other fallen angels had certainly visited this man in the past, that much was clear as he reached inside. There was so much fear and pride and darkness. It made the fallen angel almost explode with excitement.

  The fallen angel looked up to see Abaddon stride around the corner. His head was covered by a dark hood, allowing only a small glimpse of his lone red eye. An army of fallen angels marched silently behind him. He
glanced at the fallen angel sitting on the man’s back and nodded his approval.

  “Vitaly,” the man said, emerging from the shadows, arms outstretched. “We meet again. Twice in one day. What are the odds?”

  Vitaly looked back, surprised. “Mr. Prince,” he said. Unlike the fallen angel, he saw Abaddon as a man in a dark suit by himself on the street corner. He glanced toward the building. “I’m starting to think you know my schedule better than I do.”

  Mr. Prince shrugged, a sly smile creeping on his lips. “Let’s just say I have ways of figuring things out. I have some good people working for me.” He glanced over his shoulder, back into the empty darkness, and winked.

  In the hidden realm, the fallen angels behind him cackled with laughter.

  The delight of the vision he’d seen in this man’s eyes stirred Vitaly. How had he been able to see such things? He didn’t understand it, but he desperately wanted the things he’d seen to come true. He despised this man, yet he longed to see what he had seen before. And he remembered the words from this morning.

  He reached inside his jacket pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. “I believe this is what you requested,” he said, extending it in his hand to Mr. Prince. “I hope this will satisfy whatever it is that you are looking for.” His breathing became quick and choppy as he moved toward the man to hand him the paper. He shook it at him. “I don’t know what you want with these names . . .”

  Vitaly didn’t finish his sentence, and Mr. Prince simply stood there, hands in his pockets, a strange grin on his face, watching.

  “Yes?” he finally said to the Russian ambassador. “You were saying?”

  Vitaly felt a fire rattling up from deep within. Something inside wanted to confront him. But he wanted to see again. The glorious image he had seen last night. He felt so confused. In the hidden realm, the fallen angel twisted and squeezed violently, enjoying the foothold he’d been given.

  Vitaly took a couple of deep breaths and tried to gather himself. Get control, Vitaly.

  He felt the piercing eyes of Mr. Prince and met them with his own.