Sacrificial Lamb (The Other Angels Book 1)

by Ashley Nicole

  "Well, no and no. I lived in a small house that wasn't fancy at all, but I looked at pictures of houses all the time. I was going to be an architect." He walks up the front steps. "Are you two going to come in?"

  "We should get back to Scotty, but we will return soon. Maybe some food and drinks would be nice for the people we bring here to make it feel more comfortable. Can you cook?"

  "I should probably just order food." He smiles at me.

  I smile back and Amanda and I start walking. I can't hold back the curiosity any longer. "Why did you come with me?"

  "Why? Wish I didn't?" Her avoidance of the question isn't harsh like I expected it to be.

  "Please don't ignore the question, Amanda."

  She doesn't answer right away, and I begin to think I'll never know why but then she surprises me. "I wanted to talk to you."

  My eyebrows raise in surprise. "About what?"

  "I shouldn't have snapped at you like I did earlier." Her voice sounds so small. "My past is a touchy subject and I lash out when I’m scared. I also thought that you weren't going to be any help, that you'd just distract Scott and then I'd have to do all this on my own. But then you stood up for David and something about you changed. You just sounded so strong. And back at my house? Well, you sort of reminded me of Cory. He would tell me how it is and make sure my mouth didn’t get the better of me."

  "I just didn't want to see David or anyone else treated wrong."

  "Well I think it’s pretty cool of you." She nods her head to herself.

  "Thanks Amanda. I promise you I'm here to help. I don't think I could distract Scotty even if I wanted to." I sigh heavily.

  "So, the anger outbursts aren’t normal?"

  "Not at all. He used to be so much more considerate before all this stuff started. The angels made him hateful and in the end that's why I killed myself. You don't think they permanently made him that way, do you?"

  "I don't think so. When you were still a zombie, he was a mess trying to wake you up. Between losing you and trying to cope with all of this and seeing his mom again on Earth, he's probably just got a lot going on inside his head."

  "When did he see his mom?" Why didn't he say anything about it to me? That's kind of big.

  "When he went back to get your locket. Didn't he tell you?" Amanda looks puzzled.

  "No... When did he tell you this?"

  "Back at my house when you were fixing food. It’s how we got to talking about my parents and Cory."

  I stare at my feet. I guess he does have more on his mind than I do. I had no idea.

  We make it back to the gate and Scotty rejoins us. "Well, that was quick."

  "He wasn't kidding when he said he didn't live far out of town." Amanda looks around. "So, who's first?"

  "Let's each find one person. Then I'll take them back to David's. Three doesn't look too suspicious and if we are stopped, we’ll say we’re going to a house party." I look at Scotty and Amanda for agreement.

  "Sounds good." Amanda stalks off looking for someone. Scotty follows.

  I head to the cafe where Scotty first talked to me after entering the Kingdom. I want to find the girl who had been my waitress. When I walk through the door, I see her wiping off a table.

  "Hello, Belle."

  "Oh, hello, Katie. Can I get you something?" She smiles broadly. Her short brown hair frames her face and her hazel eyes shine in the fluorescent lighting.

  "Actually, I really need you to come with me for a few minutes."

  "Sure. Is everything alright?" She lays down her towel and wipes her hands on her apron.

  "Yes. I need your help." We walk back across the meadow to the gate. Scotty and Amanda are both there. Scotty has AJ, the southern girl from the clothing store and Amanda has Jacob, the baker.

  "Okay Belle, Jacob, AJ, I need you three to step through this gate please. It would greatly help us out." I smile as genuinely as I can.

  They all three look at each other but then tentatively pass through. The same look of awakening that appeared on David's face now consumes theirs and the gate flashes three times.

  "They're compliant little things, aren't they?" Amanda speculates.

  "I think its deliberate. Another way for the angels to control us." I walk over to our new friends who are blinking rapidly or glancing around as if looking for answers. "I know you're very confused right now and that you have your memories back, but if you come with me everything will be explained."

  Jacob begins to pace back and forth while AJ scrunches her eyes together as if trying to understand all this. Belle breaks down and lets heavy sobs climb up her throat. I wrap my arm around her shoulders and lead the group toward David’s. The promise of answers keeps them moving. We pass Jeremiah in town. I smile at him and he doesn't stop us. Once past him I let out a sigh of relief.

  I knock on David's door and he answers right away. I turn to the small group behind me. "Everyone this is David. David this is Jacob, Belle, and AJ." I gesture to each in turn. "David will explain to you everything he knows. I need you all to stay here and when I bring back more people Scotty, Amanda, and I will tell you all that we know, okay?"

  I get some nods and assume that's as much as I'm going to get. I know how much of a shock it is to be awakened. I hope David helps ease some of that for them. I nod at him and walk out the door.

  Halfway back to the meadow I see a white cloaked figure walking in my direction. I know it's an angel. I need to stay calm. I drop my head trying to make myself look unimportant as he nears.

  Right as he's about to pass a voice that sends chills down my spine addresses me. "Hello, Katie Cat."

  Something hard hits the back of my head and I collapse onto the ground. Green eyes fill my blurry vision and then everything goes black.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Beeping. Through the thick cloudiness of my mind, all I hear is beeping. I try to open my eyes, but they are met by a light so intense that its uncomfortable to keep them open. My body feels like it weighs a ton and soon exhaustion sends me back into unconsciousness.

  ...

  When I wake up for the second time, the beeping is clearer, steadier. I open my sticky eyes and squint in the fluorescent light. I turn my head to the left trying to find the source of the beeping. A row of sophisticated looking machines stare back at me. Their monitors display countless numbers and phrases that don't make any sense.

  I turn my head to the right and see a door a few feet away. I try to sit up, but no part of my body responds. I lift my head up as far as I can and see that my body is encased in a round metal shell attached to the hard table I am laying on.

  I feel a fluttering in my chest where my heart should be pounding, and my body begins to tingle. Where am I? What's happening? "Help me!" I try to scream but the sound comes as no more than a whisper. My throat is raw and sore as if I have been screaming for hours.

  No one comes through the door. I don't have a very good concept of time, so I don't know how long I lie there. The only thing I can do with this limited mobility is think and study the room. Since I'm not getting anywhere trying to remember what happened, I stare at the ceiling.

  It’s white tiled. I count 144 tiles. From what I can see the room doesn't look very big. It’s a snug fit for my table and the machines. The walls are white too and there are no windows.

  I try to study the machines more to figure out what they are. Some have tubes and wires that lead to my metal cast. I'm also pretty sure there are some wires connected to my head. On one monitor I can see my heart rate. All my vitals seem to be monitored. How do I have vitals if I’m dead? On the machine closest to my head, an image of my brain is displayed. What is that monitoring?

  The sound of the door unlocking breaks through the now familiar beeping. I turn my head to the right to face my captor.

  Matthew strides in, his green eyes scanning the monitors. My heart aches at seeing him again. Was anything on Earth with him real? For me, or for him? When he reaches the table and fi
nally looks down at me and smiles. "Glad to see you're finally awake. I was beginning to miss those beautiful eyes of yours." He slides his index finger over my cheek softly.

  I try to move my face away but fail because of my limited mobility. "Let me go, Matthew. This sick obsession you have with me has gone too far. I want to go back to my friends."

  His smiles fades, and he turns away from me. "It’s not my obsession that I think you should be worrying about. I am merely a small piece in a much bigger game." He turns back to face me. "You, however, are the illusive wild card that we need in order to win."

  “I have no idea what you're talking about." This is my best friend standing here in front of me, or who I thought was, but now he’s a stranger. The betrayal sinks like a rock in my stomach.

  "I know. And as much as I would love to stay and chat, I really should be going." He walks to the door and turns the handle. I can't let him leave. Any information I get from him could help us stop him.

  “Wait!" I plead and he pauses to peer at me from over his shoulder. I search my mind for something, anything to say. "Can’t I get up and stretch?"

  Matthew levels his eyes at me. "Oh, sweet Savior Katie. I can’t have you moving around and messing up our progress.” He motions to the machines. "They’re monitoring your hunger, thirst, and waste levels and maintain your body in perfect stasis. You've been here for two days and I think you’re just fine where you are." He opens the door and leaves. I hear the bolt lock into place and then nothing. Just the beeps of my machines.

  Two days? I've been here for two days? Where are Scotty and Amanda? Why haven't they tried to save me? Maybe they have. Maybe they’ve been caught too and are lying on tables in other rooms.

  No. I can’t think like that. They have to still be free somewhere. But doing what? Do they know where I am? They must be working on a plan to get me out of here. Right?

  If Matthew didn’t get them, did he get David? Or the others who I brought to David’s house?

  My head begins to hurt, and my body feels heavy with sleep again. They must have some type of sedative in this body maintaining machine. My eyes start to droop and even though I try to fight it, I feel myself drifting off.

  ...

  It's easier to wake up this time. The disorientation isn't as consuming. I blink a few times at the annoyingly bright light then turn my neck to relieve some of the stiffness.

  When I look to the left, my eyes meet Matthew's. He sits in a chair beside my bed watching me. "Good morning, Kathryn."

  I scowl and turn my head the other way.

  "Come on, Katie, don't be like that." He reaches over and tucks a piece of hair behind my ear.

  "Don't touch me!" I hiss with as much hatred as I can cover the words in. He removes his hand, and we sit in silence for a few minutes. It doesn't look like he plans to leave anytime soon. I roll my head back over to face him. "Why are you just sitting there?"

  “I thought you could use the company. You have a visitor coming today and things aren't going to be pleasant for a while."

  "Is that threat supposed to scare me?" Because it does but he doesn’t need to know that. Who could be coming to see me?

  "You know, Katie, I'm not trying to be the bad guy here."

  "Really? You destroyed my life, toyed with my emotions, caused me to have feelings for you, led me to my death, and now you're holding me captive on this table hooked up to who knows what. You sure don't look like the good guy, Mattie." I glare at him.

  Matthew gives a small smile that doesn't reach his eyes and quickly fades. "You do know that I really am Matthew from your childhood, right?"

  “I’d prefer to think you weren’t. It’s easier that way.” I know it’s him, but he’s changed, and I can’t justify what he has done to me based on his adolescent presence in my life.

  "I suppose that’s fair. After I died, I was one of the first to come here to the Kingdom. Michael took me under his wing, figuratively, and I've been one of his missionaries ever since. I'm not an angel like he is obviously, I just like dressing up and acting the part."

  I close my eyes and let out a sigh, feeling my shoulders drop. “You honestly think he is an angel after everything he has done?"

  "I see nothing wrong with anything he has done. There is a war coming, Katie. A war between us and the other angels. Michael is following orders to prepare the Kingdom for when they come."

  "Following orders from who?"

  "Your visitor today. I was told not to ruin the surprise, so you'll have to wait to see who it is." He winks.

  I groan in frustration. There’re so many things I don't know, and the list keeps on growing. I need to keep him talking though. Maybe he'll slip up and say something useful. "If you are Mattie, then why did you die young?"

  "Coerced, like you. But instead of self-harming I got messed up on some drugs. I wouldn't recommend them, Katie, wasn't fun. Dying was the best rehab in existence though. No withdrawal side effects."

  I don't reply. I think back to the phone call Mom and I had before I died. She told me about Matthew, but I couldn’t believe her. I didn’t want to. Can I believe it now? Has he been corrupted by the angels so much that he doesn't know that what he is doing is wrong?

  I can't think about that. It’s too much and I can't save everyone. I need answers from him, whoever he is. "Why did you manipulate me? Why not Micheal himself? Or another angel? Why is there going to be a war? Who are the other angels?"

  “It sounds like you're interrogating me, Katie." He narrows his eyes at me and smirks.

  I stiffen. “Maybe I am."

  "Correct me if I'm wrong, but the prisoner generally isn't the one to ask the questions." When I don't reply he sighs. "The angels here can’t go to Earth. Which isn’t fair since the others can. That’s why they enlisted me for the recruitment of humans. And the war started -" The bolt on the door clicks and Matthew turns his head and stands up.

  Michael enters the room. Is he my visitor? He looks at Matthew then at me. "Well, Kathryn, you're in for a treat today. Someone is anxious to meet you and really get to know you." His dark smile is sickening and makes me cringe.

  "Let's get on with it." The new voice belongs to a man that I didn't notice follow Michael in. He's tall and has long brown hair that reaches his shoulders. He stands out in attire by wearing a black rob and is absent the theatrical wings. Peeking out from his collar are strange scars. They twist up his neck, distorting his skin like burns. His silver eyes look my face over. "Is she ready?"

  “Am I ready for what?”

  Michael ignores me and studies the machines that I’m hooked up to. "We've brought her immune defenses down but kept her body strong to withstand the procedure. All that's left is adding the final element and manipulating her genetic makeup."

  "What?" I try to struggle out of my metal shell knowing that its useless.

  "Katie, it’s going to be okay. Let them help you." Matthew sits by me and smooths my hair back.

  I roll my eyes upwards and clench my jaw in annoyance. Help me? They're not going to help me! I have to find a way to stop them and get out of here! Where’s Scotty and Amanda? Why haven't they come for me?

  The monitors starts beeping at a rapid pace. I try harder and harder to move my arms and legs. I won’t submit to anything for these angels. Not this time.

  "Her heart and brain activity are too high to do this. If we inject her now she’ll crash." Michael's silver eyes dart back and forth between monitors.

  “Then sedate her!" The man seems to be growing more impatient.

  Michael pushes a few buttons on one machine and my body starts to feel heavy again. "I gave her a small dose. Her brain needs to be active. The sedative should keep her still, but she may still be a little mouthy." Michael walks over to the man. "I need you to open your mouth so I can swab your cheek."

  The man smiles. "I should say that to a woman sometime. I think it might work in my favor." He opens his mouth and Michael runs a cotton swab around the inside. H
e then walks back to the machines and puts the cotton swab through an opening of one.

  “The machine will extract your DNA, replicate it a few times, and then send it into Kathryn through this IV." Michael picks up one of the tubes connecting me to the machines. "Since her defenses are down her body won't attack the foreign material long enough for me to go in and add it to her own DNA sequence."

  “And that will connect her to me?" The man looks skeptical.

  "For the type of control you are wanting, I’ll need to rewire the brain a bit but yes. Trust me, Cain, I know what I'm doing." Michael pushes a few more buttons and flips a few switches. I try to move but I can't even make my head turn. My mouth feels too sluggish to make words to protest or to beg or anything.

  I'm helpless.

  I feel something slowly seep into my body. It feels like fire. It spreads through every inch of me. I can't see what Michael is doing but he's at the machine that is hooked up to my head.

  Suddenly my brain feels like a boiling pot of hot water. Everything burns. My lungs force up enough air for a shrill scream to drag itself out of me. My vision goes dark from the pain. I feel myself losing consciousness. And then everything's gone.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Wake up.

  The voice sounds so distant yet so close. I struggle to fight through the curtain of sleep. My hand reaches up and wipes my damp face. Is that tears or sweat? My body shivers and my puffy eyes pry open.

  I reach down and throw the heavy blanket off my body and grimace at the hospital gown that covers me. Then it strikes me, I'm free! No metal shell, or tubes, or wires. I jump up on my feet but instantly collapse to the floor. My body is stiff from laying still for so long.

  My hand finds the chair next to my bed and I push myself back up onto my feet. I stretch and feel the tension release in my legs, my back, and my arms.

  On the chair I notice a pile of folded clothes. They're plain and not what I was wearing when Matthew took me, but they're in my size and more practical to wear to escape in than this flimsy paper gown. I pull on the white undergarments, black T-shirt, and jeans and at the bottom of the pile there’s a rainbow belt. Matthew’s touch? There’s no shoes. I look around. Where do I go? Won't they just find me again? And why did they free me from my restraints and leave me clothes?