by Terry Reid
But her cryptic assurances did nothing to quell the terrified teen’s fears. “What the hell is that supposed to mean? Who the fuck are you? Let me go! Let me go!” he screamed, resuming his thrashing.
“Be quiet or else you’ll wake her.” Anne commanded, with a gentle flick of her hand.
John opened his mouth to shout once more but the only sound that escaped him was silence. A bemused look crossed his face as he realised he had lost his voice. He tried to shout again. Nothing.
“I am sorry that you must endure this, I truly am. But if your friends stop what they are trying to do I’ll let you go.” She promised.
If? John’s mind hung on that word, a hollowing gnawing of dread filled his guts at the thought of what she might possibly do to him. Then his mind turned to anger and confusion as he contemplated what Alex and Hayley could possibly have done to anger this mysterious woman. Who was she? How did he get here? Why was he being punished for something he had nothing to do with? As his mind rotated with the conflicting thoughts and emotions, something startling occurred. In a moment of absolute clarity, only for a second, he glimpsed her intentions. His mind automatically flinched away upon contact with her thoughts. It was a strange, unexpected and chilling sensation and what he had learned had filled him with even more terror and confusion...
Feeling his touch, Anne stared at the boy with surprise. “You did that to yourself, I was not aware that you were gifted. I’m sorry that you had to see that but you did it without warning, I could not stop you.” He could see the tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry, but now what you have seen will serve as your punishment.” She hurried from the room, leaving him stunned by what he had just experienced.
Stepping into the hallway, Anne halted in her footsteps as she saw Alex standing down the far end. He stood there steadfast, his arms folded, looking unimpressed.
Anne too could feel her peaking rage. “You were warned to stay away.” She growled through gritted teeth.
“And I told you to stop. And taking my friend is the final straw.”
“Do you wish to fight me Alexander? Because you are pushing my patience!”
“You don’t see it, do you?”
Anne’s curiosity betrayed her stony expression for a second. “What are you talking about?” she asked.
“Giving Lauren everything she wants will not stop the fact that she will die.”
“It will make her happy!” she spat back at him furiously. “Even if it is just for a few more weeks, she deserves it!” she could no longer fight back the tears. “She’s only a child, it isn’t fair! It isn’t!” she choked as hot tears rolled down her cheeks.
Alex shook his head regretfully. “I know, but there’s nothing any of us can do. You have to let her go.” He spoke softly. “And I am afraid that you are doing this for her sake but for your own. You give her what she wants and it makes you happy to see her smile. But then you remember that she will pass away soon and the upset returns, so you do it again. And each time the wishes get bigger and bigger.”
He shook his head again. “And eventually you’ll come round to the idea that you can save her.”
Anne’s blazing gaze flashed with recognition to the words – albeit only for a moment, but it was enough to confirm his fears.
“And you have.” He sighed.
Anne shook her head in protest. “I would happily throw my life in front of the angel of death to save Lauren, if it is what she asked me to do...”
“And you would be destroyed. You know that is what would happen.” Alex replied as respectfully as he could. “Anne, I ask you as one guardian to another, step back from the brink of insanity and let her go.” He begged her.
For a moment he believed she would concede, but then, just as quickly as the tears had started flowing from her eyes, they turned to stone “No!” she shouted and with a flick of the wrist, she flung a blazing bolt of lightning at Alexander.
A loud bang roared through the street. Hayley flinched as the boom rang from all directions. Her attention was immediately drawn to the house across the street. She wanted to run there, she wanted to make sure that her angel was ok...but she held herself back, despite herself. She hated knowing that there was nothing she could do to help him. She anticipated another deafening bang from supernatural blows...but there was only silence. She waited...nothing. The minutes crept past painfully slowly and still she waited. At the last she thought that something had happened to him...
“Time to go.” Hayley leapt with fright as the voice came unexpectedly from behind her. She turned round to find Alex and John standing there. Alex stood like a sombre shadow, his expression grave. John stood like a ghost, pale in complexion and his terror frozen upon his face.
“What happened?” Hayley asked, running to Alex and grabbing his arms.
Alex’s hard eyes focused on her. “Time to go home...” he muttered. Before Hayley could question him further, she blinked to find that they were already there.
Chapter 10
It was still all over the news, despite having been three days. The story had become an endless love affair on the twenty-four hour news channels and continued to dominate the front pages. People as far flung as Brazil had caught wind of what had been dubbed ‘The Miracle of Glasgow Green’ and everyone from all sections of society had been interviewed about it, from horticulturists to people on the street – everyone had their theory, but yet no one could offer any definitive explanation for the mysterious events which had occurred on the green of Scotland’s second city. As a result, the lack of scientific conclusions had left many of the faithful with enough ground to brand the phenomenon nothing short of a miracle.
With the news channel chirping from within its confines of the television in the corner of the room, Alex, not paying any real attention, was engaged in the idle task of flicking balls of crumpled up paper across the table. He had grown so bored during the night that he had resorted to playing silly games with whatever he could find around the flat.
Lining up another ball of freshly rolled paper, he took aim and fired at a chair resting at the far side of the coffee table. The aim was to get as many of them as possible into the back of the seat. Some balls landed safely, while others missed by a mile...and sometimes he just plain cheated to get it in.
As he lined up another shot, Hayley walked in wearing a baffled look. But he didn’t take his focus off the ball – he was waiting for just the right moment to fire...
“What are you doing?” Hayley found herself inevitably asking.
Alex flicked the ball. It missed – but it was not like he even really cared if it hit the target or not. He finally acknowledged her presence with a warm smile. “I was bored.” He replied.
Hayley did not share his laidback attitude this morning, something which was evident in her bleak expression.
Alex knew immediately what was on her mind, but did not wish to discuss it. Feeling unable to hold her gaze, he busied himself with crumpling up some more paper. “Please let it go.” He pleaded, lining up his next shot.
Hayley’s focus shifted back to him from the TV. She took a moment to reply, but when she did it was with the question he dreaded to hear again, “Are you going to tell me what really happened the other night?”
Taking a poor shot he began to roll another. “I told you, I did what I had too.” He muttered, barely above a whisper.
Hayley gazed at him for a long time, a pain gnawing away at her insides. “Did you kill her?” she said, scared of him for the first time.
Finally, Alex allowed himself to look her in the eye. “No, she is safe. I just relieved her of her responsibilities.” With that said, he turned his attention back to what he was doing.
“Will she see Lauren ever again?” Hayley dared ask.
Her question was met with silence. But before she thought he would say not reply, he suddenly said, “No.”
Hayley really wanted to find out more, like what had been said between the two angels that fateful ni
ght, where had Anne gone and what did he mean by she had been relieved of her responsibilities? Was she some sort or prisoner somewhere now? Or was she simply being transferred? She did not know if Anne’s actions merited the same punishment or treatment as what society dictated in this reality. In fact, she did not know the first thing about how things were ran where Alex came from, so it was naive, she felt, to assume that Anne would be treated like a criminal...Pushing it to the back of her mind, aware that she had pushed her luck enough already with questioning Alex, she took a seat on the couch beside him.
Alex looked at her reservedly, unsure if she were going to continue with her line of enquiry. He was pleased when she merely curled up on next to him, resting her head on his shoulder.
But the moment was short lived as the rattled form of John walked into the room. He glanced at them both with haunted eyes before sitting down in one of the armchairs. It was one of only a handful of brief occasions that they had seen the teen since the stand-off with Anne. He had spent most of the last three days hiding away in his room.
“Are you feeling any better John?” Hayley asked, sitting up.
John shook his head dismissively. “Not really...” he said, deflecting his attention to the TV. “Can we please turn over?” he asked presumptuously, reaching for the remote. To none of his surprise, there were no objections.
There was a heavy silence as the three friends watched the TV image flicker from one channel to another.
“Alex, can I ask you something?” John enquired, rather unexpectedly. He had barely said anything to anyone since the other night.
“Of course.”
He hesitated for a moment, “What is the House of a Thousand Paper Swans?”
Alex stiffened at the question. “I assume this is part of what you heard from Anne when she took you?”
John gave a slight nod but said nothing.
“Is it something bad?” Hayley asked with renewed worry.
Alex shook his head. “No, fortunately not.” He glanced back across the room at the teenager. “John...” he began softly, “Did you hear what she was thinking about the place?”
“What do you mean?” He asked, apprehensively.
“You don’t have to dwell on the infinite thoughts and ideas that fleeted through her mind at that moment, only why it crossed her thoughts at that time...if you can. I hate to ask as I know you do not wish to think about what you saw in her minds eye, but I only ask because it would help me answer your question.”
John lowered his hollow eyes, adding to his already thin and meek appearance. It would have been clear to even a stranger that the boy had not been eating or sleeping properly. “I’m not a hundred percent certain...” he began, “But she thought that it would be a shame that I would never get to fulfil the future ahead of me and go there...” he looked back up suddenly, “If she had killed me.”
Alex gave him a deep and respective nod. “Thank you.” He said gratefully. His gaze flitted to Hayley for a moment and then back to John – who was now gazing at him for an answer.
“There is a place on one of the higher plains, a place quite literally filled with a thousand paper swans.” He looked at Hayley who was looking at him with doubtfully. But he continued with his explanation, “Written on these origami swans are premonitions of the future. They are written by a single guardian who’s dedicated her life to writing the fortune of strangers...”
“You talk like she can see the future all the time...” John said, shaking his head – unable to fully grasp the incredible thing he was being told.
“That’s because she does. Unlike me and other angels who only see snatches of the future and can quite often be wrong about it, she sees it with amazing accuracy.”
“How come?” Hayley asked.
“I don’t know.” Alex replied. “But if Anne saw that about John, then we may soon be going there.”
Hayley shrugged. “What does that mean then?”
Alex let out a long, uncertain sigh. “It means we may get our fortunes told. But until we are invited by her, we may not enter the house.”
“What do you mean? Why can’t we just go?”
Alex shook his head again. “It is not that straight forward Hayley, we cannot simply turn up. We would not be able to physically enter, we would be restricted.”
Hayley rolled her eyes, clearly tired of his vague answers, but folding her arms she did not question him further.
John, already withdrawn in his shell-shocked state, also did not wish to dwell on the topic for longer than necessary. Shuffling into a comfortable position in his seat, he closed his eyes and dozed off.
John slept for hours and unbeknown to him, the day had slipped away into the night. But even in his state of rest he found no peace. But what haunted his dreams were not the thoughts, nor the infinite knowledge which he had glimpsed from Anne – but rather the nightmares of someone much more ordinary...
Hayley had had the same dream several times over now. The one inside the warehouse where she watched Alex kill a man. Now John lived it. But his perception of it was different from hers. His position in the dream had been as the spectator, like a child staring through the glass of an enclosed ant colony; he too had watched from the outside. While the dream had always ended at the same point for Hayley, for John it lasted far beyond the part where Alex broke the man’s neck.
After the body sank like sack of bricks to the cold concrete floor, the sound of fearful cries filled the air. Alex had looked around for a second or two before finally spotting a young girl amongst the packed warehouse shelving. She was no older than six or seven years of age. John assumed it must be Hayley. Who else would it be? He thought. He watched her as she attempted to run away from the angel out of horror of what she had just saw. But Alex had caught up with her easily. Having scooped her up into his arms, he comforted her as best he could. And after a few moments she settled down. But within a couple of minutes her howls and screams had started once more at the crack of gunfire. Then the vision faded...
John finally woke and he felt as if it he had been released from a spell. It felt like he had been asleep for days and was not allowed to wake, no matter how hard he tried. Now conscious, his mind kept playing back the same images over and over again like an unending carousel of film. There was no doubt in his mind that the images were real, that was clear; but what wasn’t clear was where and why it happened. There were so many questions circling his mind...none more so than as to why Alex had apparently killed someone in cold blood. The rationality of his mind told him that it must have been for a good and just reason, but his gut suggested otherwise. He found it difficult to ignore such primal fear and even harder why such a callous act had been committed in the first place.
John glanced across at the clock on the mantel, it was barely past eleven. He gazed back at the ceiling, his mind turning in turmoil.
Passing by, Alex came to a stop outside the door to the living room. He turned and gazed at the door, overcome with a sudden wariness. For a second an image flashed into his mind and the nervous air of it in his heart.
John jerked upright as the door creaked open..; Alex peered in, much to his dread.
“May I come in?” he asked, not unkindly. Alex knew somehow that he was the last person he wanted to see at this time.
After a moment of hesitation, John swallowed his fear and said, “Yeah, sure.”
“Thanks.” Was the quiet, but grateful reply from the wary angel. Carefully shutting the door behind him, Alex crossed the room to his favourite chair. Taking a seat, he folded his hands neatly, fixing his unthreatening gaze on John. “How are your visions?” He suddenly asked.
John was startled by the question and tried, rather unconvincingly to hide it. “What?” he asked, deliberately playing dumb.
Alex continued to look at him with a fixed gaze. “Don’t pretend not to know what I’m talking about. You hear other people’s thoughts and you have done so for a number of months now.”
&
nbsp; John’s only reaction was looking even more shocked.
Alex already knew what he was longing to ask. “I’ve always known.” He replied.
John looked away submissively.
“You’ve been seeing some of Hayley’s dreams as well.”
John’s gaze darted back to his. He stared at the angel with haunted eyes. “I didn’t mean too...it was an accident...” he pleaded.
Alex silenced him by raising his hand. “It’s alright you’re not in any trouble.”
John slumped back into the chair in relief.
“Do you want me to tell you what happened?”
John was surprised by his openness. So much so, that he was lost for words for a few moments. “Erm...yeah, sure...if you want too.” He said, rather timidly, praying that the request would not offend the angel. He hoped that Alex wasn’t just offering out of politeness and was expecting him to turn down the offer...
Luckily for John though, Alex was more than happy to oblige. “It happened when she was six.” He paused, his eyes growing cloudy with recollection. “I couldn’t find her...I was imprisoned in these chains...” He stopped again, realising by the look on John’s face that he did not understand. “We’re not all powerful, all knowing or anything like people may believe. I do have my weaknesses like you, just far fewer of them. There is a type of metal that can hinder my abilities...” He hesitated, trying to think of how he could explain it better. “It’s like...it gives off a different energy field to most other objects. All objects and creatures give off their own magnetic field. While most are benign, when they come into contact with other objects, some can repel and neutralise others, a little like magnets.” He explained.
John nodded, pretending to understand. He thought he understood the basic idea at what he was getting at but it did not explain his dream.
Knowing he was keen to ask, Alex continued with his tale. “It was Gabriel. He took Hayley in the hopes of exacting revenge on me for what I did to him centuries ago. I managed to escape in the end and cast him off to the never worlds.”