Angel’s Fury

by Tamara Whitlow

  Lenora pulled up in front of the main building and hurried out of the car. The campus was quiet this time of night and it was eerie. Everything was happening so fast with her daughter being an angel and seeing Assan again, that she didn’t even occur to her that no office building would be open this late at night. She just wanted to get this over with and get back to her daughter. She hurried up the stairs and grabbed the door handle. As soon as she grabbed it, she felt something cold and sharp on her neck.

  “Don’t move.”

  “Wait! Please. I don’t have anything. Take my purse, my car, anything.”

  “I don’t want or need any of that. You’re coming with me.”

  “Please. Don’t hurt me.”

  “I won’t if you just do everything that I say.”

  Lenora was shaking as she nodded her head. The man led her down the stairs and toward a car. She knew that if she was taken anywhere else, it would end badly for her.

  “What do you want with me?”

  “Your daughter,” he whispered in her ear.

  She froze. She remembered Assan saying that people would come looking for Denise. She dug her heels in and prayed.

  “No. Please. I’m not giving you my daughter.”

  “Like you have a choice.” He chuckled.

  She balled her hands into fists and stomped her foot really hard onto his. As he let go, he took a step back. She used her purse and smacked him across the face, and he fell down. She turned and ran toward the building. As soon as she touched the first step, she fell down to her knees. She looked down at her chest and saw a red bloom starting to spread. She turned her head and saw a younger man with dark brown hair holding a gun. She gasped and tried to catch herself on her hands, but they couldn’t support her. She barely heard the voices, but they sounded hysterical.

  “Jeffrey! What did you do? We have to go!”

  A scream rang out and suddenly, Lenora was surrounded by people that came running out of the building.

  “Ma’am? Are you okay? Ma’am, stay with me.” Lenora whispered Denise’s name and then her eyes closed.

  30

  Denise screamed and grabbed her chest. She fell to the floor in pain.

  “Dee? What’s wrong?” Mary cried. “Mom! Something is wrong!”

  Rebecca came running in and dropped to her knees beside them. She placed her hand on Denise’s forehead and gasped.

  “Mom? What is it?”

  “Lenora.”

  “What? What’s wrong with her?”

  “She’s gone.”

  Mary stopped breathing and looked down at her friend that has now passed out.

  Logan and Marcus were in their garden, training. The clink of their swords were loud as they collided. Marcus grunted as Logan jumped high and came down over top of him. He barely had time to put his sword up to stop the blow. As they righted themselves, Marcus swung his sword swiftly on a path to Logan’s neck. Logan’s eyes widened in fear as he dropped to the ground. He gripped his chest and shouted in pain. Marcus dropped his sword and fell to his knees next to his son.

  “Logan? What is wrong?”

  “Father. The pain… The pain is so great.”

  Marcus checked him for any injuries and found none. He looked worriedly at his son and then up at Sabastian who came running out.

  “I heard screaming. What happened?”

  “I know not. He just…collapsed.”

  Sabastian knelt down and touched his dad’s arm.

  “Denise.”

  Marcus looked up with a shocked expression and nodded. He picked up his son and took him into the house. As he was about to place him on the couch, Logan reached out.

  “Father, I must go to her. She needs me.”

  Marcus looked unsure at first and then nodded.

  “Bass. Go and retrieve the car.”

  “Yes, Father.”

  The ride took them less than a half an hour due to Sabastian’s driving. Marcus carried Logan up the stairs to the house and Sabastian was right behind them. Marcus used his magic to release the wards to let them in. He followed the sounds of crying up the stairs and saw Mary, Rebecca, and Grandmother sitting on the bed around Denise. She looked so peaceful, but he knew that it was anything but. He quietly walked over to the bed and placed Logan down beside her. Logan used the last of his energy to wrap his arm around Denise. As he brought her closer, a white light began to glow around them. Both Denise and Logan groaned, and Denise started to cry. He held her tight and felt the pain in his chest lifting. Being beside her was strengthening him, and he could feel her strength coming back too. Too tired to think, he closed his eyes and let sleep take him away.

  31

  Denise woke up with a sadness that she couldn’t place. Logan, feeling her start to stir, hurriedly got out of the bed and sat in a nearby chair. Mary and Rebecca were asleep on the floor beside the bed and his dad was nowhere to be found. Denise blinked her eyes open and looked around. Her eyes connected to Logan’s, and she started to panic.

  “What happened? What are you doing here?”

  Logan scoot himself to the edge of the chair.

  “I don’t know. I felt pain and knew that I had to be here.”

  She shook her head. “That makes no sense.”

  Mary heard them speaking and popped up off from the floor.

  “Mary? What are you doing down there? What happened?”

  Mary’s eyes were holding back tears and Denise looked at her concerned.

  “Mary, please. What happened?” She looked around. “Where is my mom?”

  Mary shook her head and the tears started to flow.

  “Dee... I’m so sorry.”

  “Sorry? For what? Where’s my mom?”

  Rebecca was now awake, and Denise looked at her.

  “Becca, please.”

  “Denise, your mom is gone honey.”

  Her brows creased. “Gone? Like what do you mean, gone?”

  Rebecca sat on the side of the bed and placed her hands on top of Denise’s.

  “I don’t know all of the details, but there was a shooting at the school...”

  “No... you’re not about to tell me that.”

  She snatched her hands away.

  “NO!”

  Denise jumped out of the bed and ran to the bathroom where she started to throw up.

  They followed her to the bathroom and Mary started to lightly rub her back. Denise could hardly catch her breath. She sank down to the floor and rested her head against the wall.

  “It can’t be true. She was just here.” She looked at Mary. “Who would want to do that to her?” Her eyes looked at everyone and then she smacked the floor. “This is all my fault!” She stood up and barged her way through everyone.

  Mary tried to catch up to her.

  “This is not your fault, Dee.”

  Denise stopped short and Mary almost ran into her.

  “Whose fault is it then? If I didn’t have these stupid powers, she would be fine.”

  “We don’t know who did this.”

  Denise barked a laugh. “And you think this has nothing to do with my new powers? Get real, Mary. This is all my fault.”

  “Denise, Nana, and Marcus are downstairs now trying to see what happened. Give them a chance to see.”

  Denise started to walk away again toward the stairs.

  “So that another person that I love can die? I can’t. I’m going to the coroner’s office to see my mother. She can’t be there alone.”

  “Denise, wait.” Logan called out.

  Denise paused on the top step.

  “At least let us come with you.”

  Denise took in all of the worried faces and shook her head.

  “No. I’m sick of all of this already. Fate, murder, powers… Fuck it all!”

  Denise stormed down the stairs and started for the front door. Rebecca ran after her.

  “Denise! Please wait. We can’t lose you too. We have no idea who did this.”

 
Logan put a blockade up at the door and Denise tried to push through.

  “Who is doing that? Let me go!”

  They all started to get a little closer and Mary got to her first.

  “Don’t touch me, Mary.”

  Mary put her arms up in surrender.

  “Just wait for a little bit longer. I’m sure that they will know shortly.”

  Denise started to cry. “I can’t. My mom died because of me and I felt it. There is nothing that you can say to make me not go.”

  Mary touched her arm and Denise turned around swiftly.

  “I SAID NOT TO TOUCH ME!” Denise screamed and the house was illuminated in a white light and then… BOOM! Everyone flew backwards and the closest door, blew off the hinges. Denise looked around in shock and then ran out of the door.

  32

  Marcus and Grandmother were close to something. They brought up Lenora’s last moments and saw “Z,” the man that took Analise away. Lenora turned her head to look at someone… BOOM! The door to the great room burst open and wood splinters sprayed them. Marcus tried his best to cover Grandmother as the wood flew and he felt the stabbing of each piece of wood as it went into his flesh. When the house settled, he hurried to the now blown-off door and looked out.

  “Is everyone okay?”

  He saw Mary, Rebecca, and Logan crouched down on the floor. He looked at the front door that was wide open and then back at everyone.

  “What in the hell just happened?”

  Mary sat up and rubbed her back where she fell.

  “Denise. She was angry and stormed out.”

  “What? Where did she go? She can’t be out there alone!”

  “We know. We tried to stop her but she’s too strong.” Mary helped her Mom up from the floor.

  “Logan, you must go after her.”

  “Yes father.”

  Logan ran from the house and tried to get a read on where she was headed.

  “Logan, wait!” Mary called out.

  Logan stopped and turned around.

  “I’m going with you.”

  “Mary, no!” Rebecca pleaded.

  “She is my other half, Mom. I have to.”

  Mary turned back toward Logan and ran to catch up to him. They got into Marcus’s truck and set off to find Denise.

  33

  Analise burst through the door so hard that the doorknob left an imprint in the wall.

  “What the fuck just happened?” She paced the living room while pulling her hair. “Oh, my god. We are in deep shit!”

  Jeffrey came in slowly behind Analise and Z, and as soon as he stepped foot inside, Analise locked eyes with him.

  “What in the actual fuck, Jeffrey? What were you thinking?”

  “I-I-I was trying to save Z. She was going to get away. She’d seen his face!”

  “You’re so stupid. You are not worthy to even be in the same room as us! Fucking idiot!” She screamed each word as she walked up into his space. “I swear to god, if you don’t get the fuck out of here right now, I’ll kill you.”

  Jeffrey’s eyes rounded and he hightailed it out of the room. Z was silently standing by the door. He knew that she was pissed off, and he didn’t want to bring any attention his way. Too late.

  “You!” She pointed an angry finger at him. “This is all your fault. You and your ridiculous plans.” She pulled her hair again and looked at the ceiling. “FUCK! She’s going to kill us.”

  “Baby, wait. This was bad, I know, but she doesn’t have full control of her powers.”

  “And how do you know that? Have you talked to her? Have you seen her practicing? You’re about as stupid as Jeffrey.”

  “Don’t call me stupid!”

  “What should I call you then? Brilliant? Was this part of your plan?” She started to pace again and then stopped. “Where did he get a gun from anyway?”

  Z looked at the floor and put his hands in his pockets.

  “I may have given him one for protection.” She opened her mouth to speak, but he kept going. “He was dealing with stronger warlocks! It was a good idea at the time.”

  “Idiots. We all deserve to die.”

  34

  Jeriah smiled in anticipation as he watched Assan ascend past the lower tier. He prepared himself for the jump. He only had a moment to make it out before anyone asked any questions. Heaven has been awaiting Assan’s return to ask about his daughter. It would be a while before the information dropped to his tier. He gave a nod to his fellow angels that were coming with him and dove down. This was going to be a little tough seeing as though they had no powers. The only thing they could do was become invisible and look human. Jeriah didn’t care, as long as he got what he wanted. As Assan was preparing to ascend, communication was cut for a while toward earth so he lost track of where Denise might be. His first stop would be the witches’ house. If he could gain entry to them, then his time on earth would be less than he thought. They landed in an adjacent field to the house and looked around. It was quiet, and not too many cars came up that street. They made their way over and paused at the driveway. They cloaked themselves so that they would not be seen, as a warlock and a witch came running down the sidewalk.

  “We’ve got to find her, Logan.”

  “Agreed.”

  They got into a vehicle and drove away fast. Jeriah closed his eyes and listened. The talk back at the house was saying that Denise was missing. What happened? Not wanting to lose any time, they followed the truck to see where they were going.

  Denise ran down the street and paused once she got to the main road. She turned and looked around to see if anyone was following her and, luckily, they weren’t. She looked up at the street signs and put her head down. The coroner’s office was downtown, and they were nowhere close to downtown. Not wanting to go back, she just started walking. She reached into her pocket and she had fourteen dollars. It was enough to get on a bus, but she had no idea how to take the bus. She just kept walking until she saw a couple sitting at a bus stop. She asked them how to get downtown, and they told her that she was on the wrong side of the street. The bus that goes downtown was due in less than five minutes. Denise thanked them and ran across the street. The couple was right. The bus was there quickly, and she hurried to board. The driver told her to just stay on the bus that she was on and ride it all the way. She was tired and hurt as she passed the people seated to find an empty seat. Her mind was all over the place. She should have gone with her mom. Maybe she could have protected her somehow. She thought about her powers erupting at the house and how frightened she was that she could’ve hurt someone. She closed her eyes as the tears started to roll down her cheeks. She was so confused and just wanted her mom. She felt herself slipping away and when she opened her eyes, she was in the steel box. She looked around in a panic and saw Nana in the corner.

  “Nana?”

  “I knew that you would come here eventually, child. I just waited until you got here.”

  “They killed her, Nana.”

  Grandmother opened her arms and Denise ran into them.

  “I know, my child. We are finding out who did this. I’m so sorry.”

  “What am I going to do without her? She’s all that I had.”

  “You are her child, which means that you are stronger than you know. Lenora would never want you to lose yourself.”

  “I’m so sorry about what I did at the house. I just couldn’t stand the weight of everyone.”

  “I know, child and it’s okay. We are all okay. Just worried.”

  Denise let her go and looked into her eyes.

  “I can’t go back. Not yet. I just need to see my mom.”

  “I understand. Go, be with her, and your ride will be waiting for you when you are ready.”

  “Thank you, Nana.”

  Grandmother smiled and disappeared. Denise woke with a start and looked around. The people on the bus were none the wiser as the bus continued on.

  35

  Jeffrey was pissed. He trie
d to do everything that Analise wanted him to do but he kept messing up. How was he supposed to know that he would kill that woman? He thought that he was just going to wound her. He was angrily weaving in and out of traffic. Fuck her and Z there was no pleasing any of them. He’s blown through countless red lights now, and he didn’t care. He was approaching another intersection and the light was changing. He pressed his foot down on the pedal and floored it. The light turned red, and people started to cross. He tried to turn his wheel, but he was going to fast. His eyes widened as they connected to a lady pushing a stroller in the cross walk. He closed his eyes and prepared for the impact. His head whipped to the side at the impact, and his car came to a rest. He opened his eyes and peeked out of the front window. He was expecting to see carnage, but his car was sitting sideways in the intersection. He looked to the side and saw the woman and child staring at him with anxious eyes. How in the hell? He looked to the side and saw a familiar face. There in the crosswalk was the angel girl. She looked as if she had been crying. Her dark curls were blowing in the wind. They locked eyes, and her look turned angry. She took a step toward his car, and he hurried to get into gear and pulled away. He looked in the rearview and saw her walk back to the mother and child and then they faded in the distance. My God. That was close.

  Denise got off of the bus and asked if anyone knew where the coroner’s office was. An older gentleman pointed towards a set of buildings down the way, and she thanked him and started walking. She had to go up a couple of blocks, and she could feel her heart racing with every step. Was this a good idea? Would I really be able to see my Mom like this? She was deep in thought as she crossed the street. A baby in a stroller tugged on her shirt and she looked down with a smile. The light changed, and they started walking. She heard an engine rev up and looked across the street. A car was barreling toward them and she looked at the lady and baby ahead of her. Panicked, she ran toward them and grabbed the lady’s arm. The car’s tires screeched and both Denise and the lady crouched down. She felt a flow of energy come out of her and the car ran into a shield and bounced off. When she stood up, the lady quickly checked on her baby and then looked shockingly at the car that just veered off. Denise could feel her anger rising as she almost witnessed a death. She locked eyes with the driver, and he looked as if he knew her. She took a step forward and he drove away quickly. The woman touched her arm, and Denise turned back around.