by Carla Thorne
He looked at the sky and considered it. “I wouldn’t say that, but tell me… Where are we exactly?”
I stepped back. “Are you on drugs? You need to get out of here before Wayne comes by on his golf cart.” I turned to leave. “Let’s go before someone comes looking for us.”
“Please wait. This won’t take long. I am not on drugs, but I am uncertain about my exact location. I assumed Earth because you are human, but I have never been to this place.”
“You mean you’ve never been to Texas?”
“Ah… Texas. I’m glad my work has brought me here.”
Scout pushed forward. “Wait a minute. What is your name?”
He tapped his fingers to his lips as if in thought. “Sebastian.”
I didn’t need supernatural help on that one. “You pulled that name out of your butt.”
“Is it not a good name?”
“Hang on,” Scout said. “Now, Sebastian… You should come on up to the school and let us find someone who can help you.”
I turned on Scout. “What?”
“C’mon, it’s obvious he has a mental health issue. Atmosphere of protection? I assumed Earth because you are human?”
“Right,” I agreed. “Me and Mary will find Wayne or Mr. Parrington and let them handle this. You take Ivy back.”
“Wait!” Sebastian’s voice carried a hint of desperation. “Let me try one more thing.”
“What’s that?”
“The plain truth.”
“And what’s the truth?”
“The truth is my name is Sebastian. I did not pull it out of… Never mind. I was only considering if I needed to adjust it since we are on Earth. I’m not an alien, I don’t come from outer space, but I do come from another realm. And though I am honored to meet and work with four people of extraordinary supernatural abilities, I am amazed that the first things you consider are that I am homeless, drug-addicted, or mentally ill.” He dropped onto a bench. “What has happened to this planet?”
Chapter 39
Mary
Sebastian’s voice was so familiar.
Nothing about his presence caused fear or panic in my heart. While the others showed instant and understandable concern, I had the opposite reaction—and that wasn’t typical.
To me, it was like meeting an old friend, but for the first time.
I rushed to sit by him on the bench.
“Mary, wait!” Deacon all but tackled me. “You don’t know anything about this guy. Keep your distance.”
“It’s fine,” I said. “I think I do know him.”
“How? How do you know him?”
The moment I got close enough, I was drawn into Sebastian’s presence. We shared a bubble of space I could not understand or explain.
I only knew I was safe.
Sebastian seemed to wait as I processed the feeling. Deacon and the others gathered around the bench.
I met Sebastian’s serene, dark gaze. “You’re the one who’s been with me since the drowning.”
“Yes…”
“And you are with me at night when I fight the dark force.” I paused to think about the absurd words that came out of my mouth. If I continued, there’d be no turning back. If I said any more out loud, it would all be real, and I’d have to deal with the fact that a completely imaginary friend was in the flesh, as a human and a stranger, and beside me on a bench. And none of that could be happening, right? But it was. I was awake. My friends were there.
We were all looking right at him.
“At night, when I fight Shanar… You help me.”
“Yes.”
“And when I get tired and can’t fight anymore, I ask a question.”
“Yes.”
“And you answer me.”
“Yes.”
“Say it,” I whispered. “If you don’t say it, I can’t be sure it’s you, and all of this will make less sense than it already does.”
His shoulders dropped, and a slight twitch of his lips accompanied a near-silent sigh. “You always ask, Is this when I die again?”
“And you answer…”
“No, this is not when you die.”
Relief came by way of a shudder in my chest that started from the bottom and went up when I took in a breath. “So, you’re human, but you have abilities like us. You can reach me in that supernatural place.”
“No. I’m in a human form right now, but I am a supernatural being.”
Scout pushed forward. “Then you’re an angel.”
“Well—”
“You’re an angel,” he persisted. “You’re gonna have to give us that. That we can understand. Kind of.” He looked the man up and down. “Do you have wings? We need to see wings.”
Deacon still had concerns. “Mary, if he’s a good force, why did my hands heat up when we first heard the noise?”
Sebastian raised his hand. “I can explain that.” He looked to all of us as if he needed permission to continue.
I nodded.
“That happened when I caused a disturbance in the protection around you. Even though I am on your side, the darker forces who want to hurt you saw an opportunity. I opened a gate—so to speak. I came in and closed it behind me—so to speak—but there was that moment when they stirred and thought they could come through too.”
Ivy dropped onto one of the large boulders. “Stop saying so to speak. We get it. But geez… Just when I was wrapping my head around what I thought was happening you bring us news that an entire dark force is trying to hurt us?”
“Don’t be afraid.”
“Seriously? I didn’t sign up to be killed by a bunch of demons I didn’t know existed.”
“What I mean is…” He waved his hands as he struggled for words. “They can’t really destroy you. Your abilities are too big for them to overcome, but they must try. Their ultimate goal is that you don’t succeed in your assignments.”
“Now you’re using words like destroy?” Ivy’s flowers dropped to the ground. “I don’t get it. I don’t understand. My brain can’t handle this.”
“You understand better than you think, Ivy. You said so yourself. If there is a creator, there is a destroyer. The Creator has gifted you to help. The Destroyer does not like it. There will be battles. You’ve already seen that.”
“But why us? And how?”
Scout plucked her bouquet off the ground and placed it back in her arms. “Because we’re not like everyone else.”
Sebastian turned to look straight at Scout. His smile was wide as he arched a brow. “Ah-ha! There is the analytical mind I have heard so much about. Continue, Scout. Where does that thought take you?”
Scout glanced at each of us. “We are products of misfortune and victims of adversity. Look at me. I live with my grandparents because my whole family drowned in a car that was washed away by floodwaters. I would have preferred to die with them, but I am here. Deacon, anything could have happened to you when you were a baby in an uncertain situation. Your birth parents are lost to you, and you escaped some dangerous things when your great-grandfather died. You could be anywhere, but you are here.”
He rested his hand on Ivy’s shoulder. “And you, Ivy, you take care of your mother and no adult really takes care of you. You deal with serious mental health issues every day and you still manage to get good grades and conquer your fears.” He shrugged. “And Mary. The girl who died. The one who shouldn’t be alive at all. The one who beat death.”
“Conclusion?” Sebastian asked.
“Everyone has a story. Ours are more tragic or complicated than most. We all ended up in this place through a set of circumstances we wouldn’t have chosen for our worst enemy.”
“That’s good. That’s very good.” Sebastian nodded and seemed pleased with himself though he hadn’t been the one who explained anything.
“But,” Scout continued. “You obviously know I don’t have an ability like the others. There is nothing supernatural about being logical and observant.”
> “Isn’t there?”
“I don’t know. You’re the supernatural being, you tell me.”
Sebastian’s gaze moved between him and Ivy for a while. “You have many jobs and abilities in this, Scout. Some will become clearer as time goes on.”
“If you say so.”
“How old are you and Ivy?”
They glanced at each other. “We’re both about to turn fifteen.”
“Ah.” He shook his head. “I keep forgetting the age progression and dynamic of humans. Especially young humans. Trust me. You’ll understand more about your helping gift of balance and others as you get older.”
“Gift of balance?”
“Yes, yes, but there’s no time to discuss everything tonight.” He turned to me. “And how old are you and Deacon?”
“I’m already fifteen,” I said.
Deacon looked away.
“What’s the matter, Deac? How old are you?”
“I’ll be sixteen in a couple of months.”
“You’re a whole year older than us? How did we not know you are about to get your license?”
“I didn’t get held back or anything if that’s what you think. I was moved from home to home for a while and I got behind grade-wise.” He scuffed his shoe in the dirt. “But forget all that. Why are you here, Sebastian? Why are we here, and what is happening?”
Sebastian stood and took a few steps before he turned and held out his arms. “I am here to encourage you. To remind you, you are not alone. To tell you not to be scared…”
Ivy waved her flowers in the air. “Too late.”
“…and to let you know I am always here. You may not see me, but you will always hear me or feel my presence when needed. You have your assignments, but you are my assignment. I help and protect you from within the spiritual realm. I’m a… Let’s call me an Enforcer.”
“An Enforcer with wings?” Scout asked.
“I give you strength that exceeds your human capabilities.” He paced a new line. “And let me also say there are those who help you in the earthly realm too.”
I stood. “You mean there are others like us?”
“There are no others exactly like you four when you work as a team, but there are other gifted humans out there. That’s why you are so important to the Creator. There are also those who have an understanding of deeper things.”
“Trinity,” Ivy said. “She’s an Arrow, but she always tried to help me. She always knew…”
“Yes. Trinity,” Sebastian said. “She’s a Guardian. She does not possess gifts like yours, and she’s nowhere near this level of power, but she works for the Creator. You can trust Trinity and people like her.”
“What other people?” I asked. “How will we know?”
“You have to figure some of these things out for yourself. You have to weigh every motivation. Some are good at concealing where their allegiance really lies.” He paused. “And let me warn you. The discovery of some loyalties will devastate you.”
I ticked through the people I knew and loved. Family, friends… Evil people like Paige were obvious. How many others were right in front of us?
Scout made his way to Sebastian. “Hold on a minute. Something is off here.”
“How so?”
“What aren’t you telling us? We’ve been flailing here alone for weeks—”
“Not alone,” Sebastian said. “I’ve been in your midst.”
“Yeah, alone,” Deacon said. “Ya can’t ask for help from someone you don’t know is there.”
“Fair enough,” Sebastian said.
“Why now?” Scout circled Sebastian as he continued to search for the proverbial wings he so desperately needed to see. “Nothing’s going on. What is so important that you made your way here in human form to show support? What exactly are we facing?”
Sebastian looked at the ground a while and stuck his hands in his pockets.
“Out with it,” I said.
“There may be a more aggressive danger here than first thought.”
Our collective groan of disbelief and irritation caused him to back away.
“What?” I asked.
Scout had had enough. “I think you’ve buried the lead here, angel. We need the truth. What is happening?”
“Look, you can handle it, don’t worry—”
“Crap!” Ivy said. “Speak the whole truth or don’t speak anything at all.”
“See? This is the problem.” Sebastian stalked toward us. “We’ve never seen such an advanced, gifted, and spiritually intuitive group before. And you’re so young. You came out of nowhere and caused such a ruckus in the supernatural realm that all beings had to take notice.”
I wanted to grab my friends and run away. I wanted to forget that strange encounter ever happened and to go back to the plain old supernatural stuff we were just learning to handle.
I knew that was never a choice. “What are we supposed to do?”
“It’s unclear what will happen next. That’s why I made myself known. For support. But you need to know, the same way the Creator has rallied Enforcers, Guardians, and Protectors to assist you, the Destroyer has raised up just as many to stop your assignments.”
Scout shrugged and held his hands out. “What’s a Protector? That’s the first we’ve heard about that.”
“And how did this happen?” Deacon wanted to know. “We never intended to be anything. And now we’re… What are we anyway?”
Sebastian returned to the bench. “You are Warriors.” He looked at each of us. “Because you are in a series of battles, and because one of you has waged the ultimate war. And won.”
Everyone looked at me.
“We’re all here because of Mary,” Scout said. “She defeated death and death is not happy about it.”
“That is probably it,” Sebastian said.
I collapsed beside Sebastian. “But I didn’t want any of this. And I surely didn’t want to bring my friends into it.”
Sebastian smiled and sent a ripple of peace through the space between us. It was as real as a human hug. “But you also didn’t want to die. And you were so determined… When your spirit called for help as a child, I had to come. Your tiny little body pulled energy and strength from me with such force that it stayed with you. Even after it was all over, you remembered, and you held on to it. Most children let go of the trauma of a bad situation… And some go peacefully into the Creator’s arms. Not you. You kept it all. Do you understand what I’m saying, Mary?”
“Yes. You’re saying if I’d died like I was supposed to, none of this would be happening and my friends wouldn’t be in this situation.” I choked back a flood of emotion. “I’m sorry,” I said to my friends. “Reverse it,” I begged Sebastian. “Forget we ever met.” I pounded on the sides of my own head. “Make me forget. I don’t want to know Shanar. I don’t want to know you.”
“That can’t happen. Once you defeated death, you became one of the Creator’s Warriors.” He gazed into my eyes. “And you and I became bound forever. Do you know what that means?”
A million thoughts passed through my mind. None of them made any sense.
Scout stepped forward. “Mary. It means you’re an angel hybrid. You carry part of Sebastian with you.”
I tore at my clothes and tried to rub the gift away. “I’ll give it back. Take it.”
“You can’t,” Scout said. “Now you can only use it.”
Sebastian raised his hands. “And what else, Scout? What is the logical path?”
“It means if Mary is part angel and has great strength as a human and supernatural being, the Destroyer has to find someone with equal powers to stop her—even if he has to create the dark power in that someone.”
“And one step more…” Sebastian said.
“And that’s why we’re all here. Because the Creator knew Mary needed help. She’s still mostly human, and only certain people and personalities and an understanding of dire situations and deep pain could make up this team. It
means we are bound together as Warriors to defeat the opposing force that’s been raised up to defeat Mary.”
“Precisely.”
Ivy swiped dust off her boots. “But it can be defeated.”
“Yes,” Deacon agreed. “But it won’t be easy.”
Sebastian stood and turned to leave. “That’s all I can offer you for now. I have to get back to my duties and you have to get back to yours.”
I stumbled after him. “That’s it? You blow up our lives with this information and then leave? What are we supposed to do now?”
“Exactly what you have been doing. Stick together. Trust each other. And take one assignment at a time.”
“No,” I said. “I don’t want to. Take me. Take me now and let my friends off the hook.”
“Oh Mary. You know that is not an option. There is too much at stake. You must complete your assignments.”
I dropped to the ground. “I don’t want to. I don’t know if I can…”
Another burst of something came my way in an almost visible wave. An infusion of warmth, calm, and energy saturated my body. It did little to ease my despair.
Sebastian’s tranquil gaze no longer brought comfort. “This is all we can do for now, Mary.”
“It’s not enough,” I said as Deacon helped me up.
“I really have to go,” Sebastian said.
Scout stepped forward. “One more question.”
Sebastian opened his mouth to speak.
“It’s not about wings.”
“Go ahead, then.”
“What’s the deal with the frankincense?”
“Ah. The hardened tears of the Boswellia tree.” He shrugged. “I like it. And it represents a boost of immunity for you. If you all smell frankincense, it means I am very near.”
I stood with my mouth open and glanced at my friends. What could I ever say to them? Everything was my fault. My victory had become their burden years ago, and we’d all unknowingly walked right into it. We were freshmen in high school. What would become of us as we fought battles so many knew nothing about?
Ivy laced her arm in mine. The others followed suit.
“It’s OK,” Ivy said. “It really is. I think we all knew it was something big.”
