Earthbound

by Melora Johnson

  “Well, yes, that’s what they booked me on, but I’m not a prostitute, it was just a misunderstanding. I read palms and the undercover police officer I approached, because he looked interesting, misunderstood my offer. I’m just a friendly and gregarious person so, naturally, there can be little misunderstandings like this when I’m plying my trade not in a traditional setting. I hold no malice. It will all get sorted out in the end, I will be vindicated.”

  She grinned and snapped her gum again. “So, what’s a nice young woman like you in here for?”

  I smiled crookedly. “It was a misunderstanding of sorts for me too. I was driving home and came around a curve. A man stepped out in front of my car. It was too late to stop, and he died. Now, because we were on opposite sides of a political issue, the arresting officer is determined to railroad me for vehicular manslaughter.”

  Lula made a tsk-ing sound. “Oh my, I’m so sorry, honey. That sounds just awful. I can tell just sitting here talking with you that you would never do such a thing on purpose. I’m sensitive to vibrations like that.” She nodded vigorously.

  “Thanks, Lula. Can I call you as a character witness?” I joked.

  “Absolutely. Say, how about I read your palm for free? Just to pass the time, you know? I’d read your tarot cards, but they confiscated my deck along with my purse.”

  Well, there you go. If she was a demon, I could find out right now.

  “Okay, sure, why not?” I agreed. I marked my place in the book and set it down, then slid to the edge of my bunk and sat with my feet on the floor.

  Lula joined me on the edge of my bunk, and we sat turned slightly toward each other as she took my right hand in hers. I got an immediate impression of laughter, loud, long, and brassy. To tell the truth, it was downright grating, but I’d gotten better at controlling this gift of mine, so I didn’t dig any deeper and tried to close off the connection. It wasn’t perfect, I could still hear the laughter, but it was distant.

  “Okay, now this is your life line.” Her mouth popped open in an ‘oh’ of surprise. “Huh, it’s broken into three segments. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before.”

  Playing dumb, I replied, “I wonder what it could mean?”

  She furrowed her brow in concentration. “Well, it could simply mean there are three distinct phases to your life. It could also mean you’ll be reborn or be in a bad accident where they’ll have to resuscitate you.”

  It sounded awful, but she said it in a matter-of-fact way that was kind of cheerful.

  “And here’s your love line. Oooh la la, sister. You got it going on. There is a man, and he is wildly devoted to you. Your love line is long and wide.” She looked up at me. “You have one of the most unusual and interesting palms I think I’ve ever read.”

  I’d think she was handing me a line except for the fact it was probably true.

  They brought dinner in to us - turkey and gravy microwave dinner in a tray with mashed potatoes, dressing, a carrot/pea/green bean combo, and an apple dessert with a little crumble topping. It was edible. I don’t think they were worried about us throwing food around like you see in prison cafeterias because they left us alone with the obligatory spork.

  “I’ll be back for the trays in twenty minutes,” the guard said as he stepped out and relocked the door.

  We sat on the bunks and ate in companionable silence.

  “Not bad,” Lula finally said. “I’ve had way worse, mostly in bigger prisons where they have an institutional kitchen.”

  I wanted to ask how often she ended up in prisons. I just took a bite of mashed potatoes instead. She was good company to keep my mind off my current situation. I just hoped she didn’t find herself in the middle of something if one of the guards came after me. I didn’t know what I could do to protect her. I was just a human with some special extras when it came to fighting demons. If someone started shooting, there wasn’t much I could do, short of stepping in front of her.

  The lights went out at nine o’clock, and we settled down for the night. I couldn’t get my mind to shut down. I startled and strained at every sound to discern what it was, in between tossing and turning. If somebody was going to come after me, nighttime would be the most likely time.

  I turned over in the bed, not daring to even cover up with the blanket in case someone or something attacked. Who could get to me? Anyone like Zyriel could appear in the cell with no trouble. On the other hand, could a demon possess Lula so I wouldn’t know it until it was too late? Then there were the guards. Perhaps I should try to stay awake, but how was I supposed to keep going without sleep? The hearing wasn’t until Friday. That was two nights away. Should I just say my prayers, go to sleep, and hope nothing happened during the night? Trust somehow that the big guy upstairs would keep me safe? Didn’t the admonition say, “God helps those who help themselves?”

  Shit. I turned over and faced the center of the small cell. Lula’s breathing was deep and even in the darkness. I missed Matt. I missed Shanda, but I knew Matt would take good care of her. I wondered how Jen was doing. Shit. I couldn’t do anything for her from here. If she was getting any sleep with her injuries, it was probably sedated sleep. I hoped the anointing the priest had done afforded her some protection from the possibility of demon attacks. It was a Catholic run hospital too.

  Sometime after midnight, I woke and realized I’d been dreaming. I was almost sorry to wake up. In my dream, Matt lay on the prison bunk with me, snuggled up.

  I felt comforted but unnerved that I’d fallen asleep at all. Then I heard a light footfall, and the steps stopped right outside my cell. I had the skin-crawling sensation something malevolent was watching me. I didn’t move, but I strained to see who it might be in the slight glow coming from the emergency lights down the hall.

  There came the scrape of a key in the door of the cell. I tensed. Friend or foe? Should I yell for the guard, or just sit up and let the interloper know they’d been seen? I didn’t have anything but the element of surprise to defend myself with.

  As focused as I was on the figure coming into the cell, I didn’t notice what was happening a few feet away. Suddenly, a preternaturally spry Lula jumped across me, coming to a rest against the wall and yanking me against her, her legs wrapping around my waist like a gymnast, her hands pressed against the sides of my head. She hissed. “Stop there, or I’ll make her brain bleed out her ears.”

  The figure stopped moving, and I knew it was Matt.

  Lula laughed maniacally. “A twofer. The two little angel soul mates that were born human to defy my master. Won’t he be proud of me?”

  I grabbed on to Lula’s arm and saw fires burning. She definitely was a demon, and not even just a human being possessed by a demon. “What the hell?” I said.

  Lula torqued my head painfully. “You think I was born yesterday? I’ve learned a trick or two over the last six centuries on how to hide who I am. I am a child of the first ones. Try anything and I melt your brains.”

  Matt finally spoke. “Lula. She’s one of the children of a fallen angel and a human.”

  “That’s right, lover boy. I’m not mortal, and I have my own agenda. Lucifer is going to be so happy when I deliver the two of you to him.”

  My heart pounded so hard in my chest that my fingers tingled. Was she going to kill us? Somehow take us back to the underworld? How would she get us to her master? I didn’t think I’d like the answer.

  “We’ve only got ten minutes more if we’re going to get out of here,” Matt said, low and urgent.

  I didn’t know what he expected me to do about it. “I’m kind of tied up here. Maybe not literally, but pretty well.”

  “You’re not going anywhere, except where I tell you to,” Lula snarled. She let go of me with one hand and held it up. “Adventia avagadrum.”

  A pitch black spot, darker even than the night, appeared in the center of the wall where she pointed. A breeze grew to a sucking wind as the hole expanded in diameter.

  As soon as she had
released me and started speaking, Matt grabbed my forearm and yanked, hard. I grabbed Lula’s arm, then said a few of my own choice words.

  Lula’s words grew into a shriek as her leg began to glow yellow then red as it burned beneath my hand, and Matt yanked me away from her at the same time. A blinding light flashed, and water drops splattered over me. He had come prepared. I heard hissing behind me as Lula shrieked even louder. Matt propelled me toward the cell door. Then he latched on to Lula and threw her toward the portal she had opened. She tumbled through, and it closed behind her with a sucking sound.

  “Boy, is she gonna be pissed,” I said.

  A dry chuckle came from Matt in the sudden quiet. One hand slid up my jaw and held me as he pressed his lips to mine, then he turned and pushed me out the cell door. “Hurry, we don’t have much time. The guard has got to have heard that even if he’s at the other end of the building.”

  Okay then. I moved quickly but cautiously, straining my senses to listen for people.

  “Right,” Matt said.

  I turned to my right and moved down the hallway. Glancing into the other cell as I passed it, I saw the glittering eyes of the other jailed person. I thought I’d heard he was a drug dealer. He turned over on his bunk and faced the wall, his message clear: I’m staying out of this.

  Matt took my hand and passed me in the hall to lead since he knew the way. The warmth of his skin reassured me, easing some of the apprehension that sat on my chest. If I thought of it one way, it was almost fun, like a game. We were breaking out of jail.

  Reality was bleaker. We were breaking out of jail to keep me safe. That meant we were on the run and didn’t know who to trust. Plus, the cops had guns and thought I was the bad guy, possibly even a murderer. With any luck, they would think Lula took off too, not that we’d done something to her.

  We went through a door and descended some stairs, then stepped out into a brightly lit hall. I realized Matt had on a dark hoodie, concealing his hair and face. There were offices behind glass windows here, but most were empty at this time of night. We heard someone whistling down the hall, and Matt tried some door knobs, but they were all locked. He tugged me to a run. We were nearly out the back door when I heard the guard behind us. “Stop! Halt or I’ll shoot!”

  Matt pushed me in front of him. I hit the door running, praying the push bar worked to open it, and they didn’t keep it locked because it was a prison. I heard a shot behind me as I stepped out into a dimly lit parking area. Another shot. Matt grunted, but didn’t stop. In fact, he moved faster, sweeping me along behind parked cars, and through to a side street. The guard had either fallen behind or stopped his pursuit. I assumed he had paused to call for reinforcements and secure the building again.

  Matt tugged me along through an alleyway and led me to a small, forest green car I didn’t recognize. “Get in.”

  We got into the car. He jammed the key in the ignition, and it roared to life. He pulled away from the curb and zoomed down the street, took a left, then slowed to a sedate pace. Matt’s breathing was more labored than I would have expected from him. “Change of plans,” he said in a strained voice. “Which way to the vet clinic?”

  Chapter 12

  “Why do we need to go to the vet clinic?” I asked.

  “Which way?” Matt merely said.

  “Straight on this road, around the curve, down the strip and past the McDonald’s. Turn right as if you’re going to the highway, then cross the bridge to the T, turn right, then another couple miles on the left.”

  Matt stuck to the speed limit through town as if we hadn’t just busted out of jail, but he kept glancing in the rearview mirror and scanning the side streets. I repeated my directions at the appropriate junctures. We heard sirens in the distance, yet never saw any police cars. In just a few minutes, we were driving around the back of the little vet hospital where I worked part-time.

  “Is there an alarm system?”

  “Yes, but I have the code if you can get us inside the door. Obviously, I don’t have my keys. Why are we here?”

  He didn’t say anything, but he opened his car door and gave another grunt of effort. I got out and hurried around to his side of the car. I couldn’t see much in the dim lighting of the gravel parking area for staff, which backed onto the hillside. Then he swayed slightly. I reached forward to brace him, grabbing his shoulders, and he hissed.

  I let go, but he swayed again and reached out for me this time, putting his arm around my shoulders. We walked toward the back door together. “What’s wrong? Did Lula hurt you? Did the guard…” I swallowed hard, unable to complete the thought out loud. I wouldn’t be able to see how badly he was hurt until we got inside.

  Matt covered his hand with the end of his sleeve and smashed through the door window, then unlocked it from the inside. Once we were in, I punched the code into the alarm system, and it deactivated. I led Matt into the room at the back we used for large animals and flipped on the light. He sagged, pulling us both down to our knees.

  I tugged up the bottom of his hoodie so I could assess the situation. The material was soaked, and I guessed it wasn’t sweat. I pulled the top off him and tossed it aside. I didn’t see anything but blood at first, so I got up and circled him. His yellow T-shirt showed me a bullet hole in his upper right shoulder.

  “Shit. When did you get shot?” He opened his mouth, but I cut him off. “Never mind. That’s not what I meant. Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I was busy getting us here so you could do what you do.”

  “What do you mean?” I did my best not to freak out, but we were in a vet clinic, and he was covered in blood. “I’m going to call 911,” I told him. I took his hands to steady him as I tried to think how to prop him up.

  He held my hands tightly in his. “No, if you do that, they’ll know where we are. We can’t risk it.”

  I stared at him, incredulous. “You might be an angel, but you’re human right now. You can still die from bullets.”

  He tried to grin, but it turned into a grimace. “Not with you around. You’re a trained medical doctor for animals. Take the bullet out and sew me up. Lay a little healing on me. I’ll be fine.”

  I balked at the idea. “I’m a vet, not a medical doctor.”

  He winked at me. He actually winked. “I’m an animal, too, remember?”

  I remembered. “I’d smack you right now if I didn’t think it might kill you.”

  He did grin, though he swayed as he spoke. “Don’t worry, darlin’, I’m not going anywhere. You’ve got medical training and a healing touch. You can do this. I trust you.”

  I shook my head, aghast. “I’ve never worked on a human before.”

  “You healed yourself the other day,” he reminded me.

  “Those were scratches, not bullet holes.”

  He made a move to get on the metal exam table, and I helped him to stand, then lie face down, even though it was crazy.

  “I trust you,” he said again, then promptly went slack.

  Shit, Shit, Shit. Should I call the paramedics or do what he asked?

  Studying him, I had a sudden inspiration. I put a hand over the bullet hole and closed my eyes, picturing the human form. The bullet glowed in my mind’s eye, showing me where it was, as if on an X-ray. I opened my eyes. It wasn’t too deep. I could do this.

  I gathered the medical instruments I would need, as well as antiseptic. If I worked quickly enough, he wouldn’t be awake for it. I could numb the area with a shot or two. I erred on the side of caution, not wanting to guestimate his weight for any of the medications, just giving him topical medications we used for animals. They had been used for humans at one point, even if we had something better now. I extracted the bullet, then sutured him up.

  Now came the hard part. I laid my hands over the sutured bullet wound and closed my eyes. I pictured the wound healing and closing from the inside out — tissue, veins, and blood vessels knitting together as if they’d never been apart. I poured everything I h
ad into healing him.

  The energy draining from my hands trickled to a stop. I opened my eyes and took my hands from his wound. The room swam in front of my eyes for a minute, and I grabbed the edge of the table.

  “See, I knew you could do it.”

  I looked up to see Matt’s head turned to the side, him watching me steadily. I smiled halfheartedly. I had done it. He was alive, but it had taken a lot out of me.

  “I need to sit down,” I replied.

  He started to turn over, but I put a hand on his shoulder that hadn’t been hurt. “Just lie still for a few minutes. I’m going to get you something to drink. I don’t have any appropriate IV fluids here, but you lost quite a bit of blood you need to replace. I just need to sit down and rest first.” I walked carefully over to a chair and dropped into it gratefully, then leaned my head against the wall and closed my eyes.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “I will be.” The wall felt wonderfully cool and solid against my cheek. I opened my eyes and looked at him. “What’s our next move?”

  “Same thing it should have been before we stopped here—get out of Dodge and go somewhere I know to hole up. The only problem is going to be making it around any police barricades.”

  My mouth worked soundlessly. I’d busted out of jail and was on the run. Reality sucked donkey balls. “What about Jen… and Shanda and…?”

  Matt shook his head. This time he did turn over and sit up, albeit slowly. “Jen is in capable hands, and you can’t help her anyway if you’re incarcerated or dead. I left Shanda enough food and water for several days. We’ll figure something out, we have to move quickly. I need a change of clothes out of the car, the black duffle. There’s some in there for you too.”

  “Okay, just give me a minute,” I said, and rushed back into the office. I couldn’t say I was “friends” with any of my co-workers, though I was friendly with all of them. Tracy was a vet tech I’d talked with a lot and who I knew had a compassionate heart. I scribbled a note asking her to take Shanda and telling her how to get into the house, then taped it to her locker. Next, I dashed out to get the clothes Matt asked for.