“Don’t be afraid,” he reassured her, while helping her back up. “You have the same look in your eyes when you're furious.”
Tara gagged:
“I've never had that look before!” she replied in horror.
“Maybe it hasn't manifested itself yet,” replied Hugo simply. “But now that you're getting your powers back, it could happen at any time.”
Tara shivered. The femme fatale inside of her screamed when she discovered that her face could turn into that! Speechless, she continued to watch Nina in horror.
“I thought we were angels,” she replied with hostility. “What I’m seeing is a monster!”
Upon her words, she felt Nina's animosity towards her increase tenfold.
“The Decision-Makers made us this way,” explained Hugo with a smile. “I agree that it’s not very reassuring. But it's to remind us that despite everything else, we remain killer angels. If you could only see the guards' faces,” he laughed. “They’re really monstrous! But they spend most of their time killing demons, which justifies their appearance. Only the missionaries and the guards have this distinctive trait. They say it helps us accomplish our missions. Pure angels like Messengers and Light Angels, on the other hand, possess unparalleled beauty and gentleness.”
Tara said nothing while she observed Nina. Her eyes had returned to normal. The coach, who refused to look at her, still seemed dismayed. She suddenly turned to her when she realized she was being stared at:
“Whether you like it or not Tara, you’re in danger now. And let this be clear: nobody here wants your safety more than I do. So, when I tell you to move forward, you move forward. Otherwise, you risk being killed... and that would be a shame.”
Tara interrogated her with her eyes but said nothing. The message had gotten through. Always amused when he saw the two of them provoking each other, Hugo resolved nonetheless to calm things down by explaining in greater detail:
“It’s true that we’re angels Tara. We protect human beings, and beyond that, we protect all life. However, this comes at a cost. One life for a million others... you do the math... Moreover, we’re not Decision-Makers, we simply carry out the orders of the Congregation. That’s what we were created to do, and we have no right to argue orders.”
“What if we refuse?” asked Tara rebelliously. “What if we don't kill the chemist?”
“You don't want to find out,” answered Hugo with a grin.
“They’ll destroy you,” replied Nina coldly. “And then They’ll ask another legion to do the job for you. There’s no lack of angels in the Sphere. The Decision-Makers can create as many angels as They want. They have access to an infinite source of creative energy.”
“No one is irreplaceable,” acknowledged Hugo. “However,” he reassured her with a pat on the shoulder, “Diane and the Fifth Legion have always been exemplary. The Decision-Makers would lose a great deal by destroying you. You’re one of their most valued warriors.”
With these words, he turned on his heels and continued walking. Nina followed him. Mechanically, Tara did the same. They were about to cold-bloodedly kill a man who had just discovered what would become Humanity’s next plague. Even though she was aware of the danger of this discovery, it all seemed so unreal to her.
“Isn’t there any way to avoid this?” she asked, after a few minutes of silent contemplation.
“Would you like us to try and reason with him?” asked Hugo, amused. “To make the man understand that if he unveils his discovery, millions of people could die... It's an almost impossible task. And even if we manage to make him promise not to reveal his discovery, we’d still run the risk that one day, out of greed, out of weakness, or under the influence of alcohol or torture, under the spell of a demon... he'll reveal the secret.”
“And humans are so pretentious and selfish,” Nina added. “They always think they can control everything. Every man on this Earth underestimates the impact his decisions can have. They all think that if a disaster happens, they won't be the ones to blame.”
Soon, they arrived at a dead end as Tara continued listening to their explanations, desperate to reason with them. They entered a small building and walked up to the third floor. Once on the landing, Hugo rang the chemist's doorbell. Tara and Nina were standing behind him.
Tara's heart was pounding. She didn't want to believe what was about to happen. As she heard Thomas approaching the door, Nina took a syringe out of her bag and plunged it into a small vial. Tara was horrified at the thought of how the needle was going to be used. The missionary filled the syringe with a transparent liquid and waited behind Hugo:
“Don't hit him,” she whispered. “We're going to do this neatly.”
They spoke so calmly that Tara felt like a human life had no value to them. When the handle moved down, Hugo kicked the door open. Thomas, who was behind the door, fell immediately backwards. Hugo and Nina entered the apartment with a determined stride. The gladiator grabbed Thomas and blocked his arms, while Nina approached him with the needle and jammed it into his neck.
Still standing in the doorway, unable to move, Tara watched the scene in terror. Thomas had his legs stretched out on the floor and questioned Tara with petrified eyes.
“Don't just stand there,” ordered Hugo. “Come in and close the door behind you.”
Tara was in tears as she stepped inside. She was witnessing a murder and she was on the side of the killers. Thomas now lay on the floor in Hugo's arms, begging Nina as she pushed the needle into his skin, completely unmoved.
Tara was disgusted. Refusing to be an accomplice in such an atrocity, she went into a state of shock. Instantly, her senses seemed to grow sharper. When she looked at Thomas again with tears in her eyes, she saw his soul rising towards the ceiling like a white cloud.
“What are you waiting for?” asked Hugo, calling her to his side. “Help us! We have to find his keys and go to his lab. We need to get rid of the virus.”
Tara came back to her senses. She couldn't believe she had just witnessed a cold-blooded murder and she’d done nothing to help the victim.
“What are you going to do with the body?”
“We injected him with an undetectable lethal solution. We're going to leave him here. The autopsy will conclude that he died of a heart attack,” replied Hugo as he opened a drawer.
Inside it, he found the keys he was looking for. He grabbed them and headed for the exit. Nina locked the door behind them. As they hurried down the stairs, Tara struggled to keep her calm. No one was talking anymore.
A few minutes later, they arrived at Thomas' lab which was completely deserted. Nina and Hugo were very efficient. They knew exactly where they were going and what they needed to do. Within minutes, they removed all the elements that had been used to create the virus. They erased all the research reports from the computers and burned all the documents related to the creation of biological weapons. Lastly, they seized the culture dishes in which the virus was growing, and with the know-how of actual scientists, they eliminated all traces of the organism.
Impressed in spite of herself by the flawless organization of these murderous angels, Tara remained a spectator throughout the entire event. Their determination and the precision of their gestures were admirable. Never, she thought, could she herself act so efficiently in such a short period time. They had remained in Thomas Fernand’s laboratory for just under an hour and had made sure they erased all traces of their visit before leaving.
By the time they returned to Van der Worthen's house, it was already dark. They were warmly greeted by the others who were hoping the mission had triggered Tara’s memory.
To celebrate Diane's return, Emily and John had prepared a feast and had gathered everyone around a magnificent table. They dined in the piano room that had been set up as a dining room, especially for the occasion. The warm and soft light coming from the lamps that had been placed here and there around the room, created a cozy and intimate atmosphere. The shrubs and houseplants that
had invaded the room, seemed to transport them into a wild and mysterious location. Above the table, hung two round copper chandeliers that illuminated the dishes with their yellow-orange light. With the rain beating against the high windows, Tara felt as if she were dining in a lodge in the middle of the forest.
She would gladly have immersed herself into this tropical garden, if only she didn’t feel like she was trapped in a golden prison with deadly electric bars. She was haunted by the look on Thomas Fernand's face as Nina stuck the needle in his neck. She no longer knew how to consider the people around her.
As they sat around the table and ate the appetizer in total silence, Hugo decided to break the ice:
“The room is very pretty like this Emily. We should leave it this way, it's nice to be able to have dinner here from time to time.”
“I'm the one who added the chandeliers,” said John, happy that someone appreciated his work.
“A perfect little homemaker,” mocked Hugo, as he served himself a glass of water.
Wounded, the young man said nothing. Noting the dismal failure of her dinner party, Emily attempted to change the subject and turned to Tara:
“So Tara, how are you feeling?”
“Bad,” she replied frankly.
She hadn’t said a word since the beginning of the meal. Extremely upset to have witnessed a murder, she took refuge in her food; she didn’t want to have to talk to those assassins. Nevertheless, and as always, her frankness had the upper hand. In a harsh and accusatory tone, she lashed out at Hugo and Nina:
“I never thought angels would be capable of murdering defenseless human beings.”
In response to her disapproving remark, Nina looked away scornfully, while Hugo turned to Emily, inviting her to respond. She did so with compassion and patience:
“Tara,” she began, removing the lid from the main course. “A human being’s life doesn’t have the value you’re giving it. When we kill a person, we’re simply separating his spirit from his body, and believe me,” she continued, taking Stanislas’ plate, “souls are much better off up there...”
“What about their families?” asked Tara, shocked that she could say such a thing.
“Their families are sad for a few years, but a few years is nothing on the scale of eternity. The soul is immortal. When these people die, they reincarnate into new bodies, and they immediately forget all the suffering they experienced in their previous life. Suffering is transient, Tara. On the other hand, the consequences of their actions can reverberate throughout all the generations that follow. We can’t allow that.”
Tara didn't respond. The atmosphere around the dinner table was tense. While Emily served everyone, Tara spoke:
“What do I do now?”
“What do you mean?” answered Stanislas amused.
The next steps seemed obvious to him.
“Where do I live? How do I feed myself? If I give up everyone I love, what will become of me?”
“Oh, stop whining!”
“Nina!” interrupted Emily with a firm tone.
“Everything revolves around her, she won’t stop whining and complaining. That won’t help her survive.”
“Nina, stop it now,” Van der Worthen repeated in a threatening voice.
“She's right,” said the old man.
Desperate to make her understand, Emily turned to Tara:
“Listen sweetheart, we're not going to take you away from your human life against your will. You can’t work anymore because you need to continue doing what you were created to do. On the other hand, you’ll be able to see your family again when you’re ready...”
“But we’re her family!” cried Nina, outraged.
“Nina!”
“Your mother, your father!” she continued, screaming. “They’re your parents in this lifetime! Yesterday you had a different mother, and tomorrow you'll have yet another one! But we’ll always be here! Even beyond your physical death, up there and down here. We’re the ones who have been with you and have followed you for centuries!”
For the first time, Nina couldn't hold back her tears. She left the table, which had become deadly silent, and walked away. Tara didn't know what to do.
“Don't pay attention to her,” reassured Emily. “You'll always have your personal life. But you must remember that your safety and your mission always come first.”
Tara remained silent. Confused by Nina’s reaction, she barely listened to Emily.
“As for your rent and other expenses,” Emily continued, picking up a tray of vegetables, “you have nothing to worry about. As angels, we have the power and the permission to turn the laws of the earthly world to our advantage...”
“Just a little while ago, John won the jackpot by playing the lottery,” Hugo continued with a smile. “Now we have more than enough for several decades!”
“I'll transfer money to your bank account this week,” promised John, as he considered Tara with sympathy.
Tara remained skeptical. She felt more and more lost. If they were all millionaires, then why did Nina work as a coach?
“Why does Nina work then?” she asked, unable to change the subject without obtaining an answer first.
“I don't know,” replied Hugo casually. “She could spend her time enjoying life, but instead she prefers to work with human beings between missions. She says she finds gratification in helping humans to succeed…”
“It's her way of acting as an angel in a more benevolent way,” explained Emily in a motherly voice. “In human society, money is unavoidable, but it has no intrinsic value. What humans really need is to be guided and protected along their life path.”
Tara looked at them, one by one. All these beings that had been created to protect Earth. They were soldiers, whose sole purpose was to guard the human race. But they seemed so human themselves that it was troubling...
Deep down, she didn't really object to this change of life. It was just far too abrupt, which made it difficult to accept. She needed time to think about everything, even though she knew they wouldn’t give her a choice. What she really needed was to talk to Victor.
“Can I go home tonight?” she asked, as Emily sat back down in her chair.
Her question sent a chill around the table. Everyone was looking at her, except for the old man who seemed to be looking into space, rejoicing in what he knew would happen next. She knew they would refuse, but she wanted to try her luck anyway.
“I thought I made myself quite clear earlier,” answered Hugo, surprised by her question.
“We had so much trouble finding you,” added John. “We don’t want you to lose control of yourself should your traumatic memories resurface.”
“The last time,” continued the gladiator, “you threw yourself off a cliff before I had time to figure out what was going on. We've just finished a two-hundred-year search for you, we can't take the risk...”
“So, let me get this straight,” said Tara to summarize, “I'll be imprisoned here with all of you until you trust me, is that it?”
“Not exactly,” answered Emily in a firmer tone. “On the day of your Revelation, the Diane within you awakened. Her aura radiated throughout the entire terrestrial dimension, which means that everyone who has the capacity to see, knows you’re here. This also means that our enemies know that Diane is back on Earth. Unfortunately, you haven't regained full possession of your powers yet, which means you’re very vulnerable, and our enemies know it.”
“What do you mean?”
“You were an extremely powerful opponent for the evil spirits in the past,” explained Emily. “Now that they know you're here and that you're vulnerable, they'll surely attempt to eliminate you. The problem is that you're not ready to face them yet. By staying with us, you'll be protected.”
Horrified, Tara remained silent, barely able to breath. In addition to being forced to live with these murderous angels, an invisible threat now weighed on her too. She was cursed.
After a long silence
, John proposed a solution:
“Under the watchful eye of the guardians of the Sphere, perhaps she could return home...”
“Too risky,” interrupted Emily. “If a demon in a man's body tries to kill her, the guards wouldn't be able to do anything about it.”
Once again, a deadly silence fell upon the table. Nina's chair was still empty while the other angels didn't dare speak, for fear of exacerbating Tara’s anxiety.
She ate only out of politeness, staring at her plate as if it were her only companion as she held back her tears. If she hadn't followed Van der Worthen into this apartment, none of this would have happened. Instead of killing a man this afternoon, she would most likely have been basking in Victor's arms.
After dessert, Emily rose to her feet, eager to put an end to this dreary meal:
“Come on, it's time for bed!” she said, attempting a cheerful voice.
In total silence, Mark and Hugo stood up to clear the table as Emily approached Tara.
“Go to bed and rest well. I'll do my best to find a solution. What’s best for now is that we make sure you regain full control of your powers as soon as possible. Then you’ll be free to move around as you wish because few things will be able to harm you. Once Diane is fully back, even our enemies won't try to get close to you anymore.”
Tara did as she was told, without having fully understood what Van der Worthen had just said. She went back to the room where she had woken up this morning and undressed, exhausted. The blood bags and other medical material had been removed. She was alone in the small white room.
As she took off her clothes, she felt the softness and firmness of her skin. Her sensitivity had increased, and her senses had sharpened. As she was about to get into bed, she suddenly felt dirty: she forgot to shower. This whole day had definitely confused her.
She quickly prepared a few things and headed to the in-suite bathroom, wrapped in a large white bathrobe that Emily had placed on her bed. She got into the shower, set the water temperature and let it run over her face. It felt warm and purifying. Her sensitivity to the water on her skin had increased tenfold. It felt powerful and soothing. Could the angels in the Sphere feel such sensations?
HAGEN: 1. Revelations Page 11