An Angel on My Shoulder

by David Callinan

  “Don’t touch me,” she snapped. “Get out. Leave this place.”

  “What did you see?” Paul begged her.

  “I saw Lucifer standing over you,” she gulped, as though her faith had finally been verified. “But he gave way to the Light. I saw my Lord Jesus. I saw him smile. Then I began to burn. My hands, my hands.”

  Paul tried to help her again.

  “No, no,” she cried. “You have the mark upon you. The Lord have mercy on you.”

  Paul was torn my images of Cassie and the desire to extract every piece of information he could from the psychic.

  “I need to know one thing, then I’ll leave,” he told her. “Is what’s happening to me real or is it a mental breakdown?”

  “I’ve never experienced anything like it,” she began to weep quietly as she clambered to her feet with difficulty. Her body shook like a balloon in a breeze. “It is real, believe me,” she swallowed heavily. She stared at the palms of her hands. They were normal. No trace of burning or scarring could be seen.

  “I saw Lucifer and I saw other demons surrounding you. And I saw the angels of the Lord protecting you. Glory be to God. Glory be.” She fell to her knees. “You have been chosen. That’s all I can tell you.”

  “One more thing,” asked Paul urgently. “I must know this before I go. Was it the same as making contact with the dead, like you do here?”

  “They are not dead. The ones I have seen are not dead. They burned me. They burned me.”

  Clara slowly began to calm herself realizing her hands were normal and not burned to a cinder. Paul was still having difficulty focusing but his pain was easing. He stood in the centre of the little church at a loss.

  “If you are a believer you should see a priest,” Clara told him. “I don’t know why you aren’t completely mad by now.”

  “I don’t know either,” said Paul bitterly.

  Clara stood before him and looked up at him. “Whatever you do, don’t touch me,” she commanded. “I will say this and then you must go so that I can cleanse this place. I have never experienced a situation like this before. You seem to have attracted the powers of light and of darkness. This is the only way I can describe it. You must think hard. Something you have done has opened a channel that is normally closed to human beings. In clairvoyant trance my spirit guide instructs and helps me. But just now he was swept aside like a leaf in a storm. I do not think you are a bad person. Spirit powers like this do not stay long and usually depart when commanded to do so or when they get what they came for. I cannot say what will happen in your case. I cannot tell. It is beyond my power. Now, I can help you no more. I would like you to leave. I can still sense the vibrations around you. You are being protected but I am not.”

  Clara began to wave Paul away towards the door. There was nothing more to say. Surprised and frightened by this turn of events, that appeared to demonstrate that, despite the skeptical bravado he was affecting, something very real and very powerful was happening to him.

  “I’m going, I’m going,” he reassured her and retreated to the door. “I just want to say I’m sorry for what happened here tonight. It’s as much a mystery to me as it is to you. The angels have told me I have been chosen but I don’t know if it is all in my mind and I’ll end up screaming and locked away or whether I must take it seriously.”

  “Take it seriously,” snapped Clara. “Now go, go.”

  Paul left the church, stepping into the early evening glow of street lights illuminating the small square with a pale light. His heart was beating quickly and he could hear the churning rumbles in his gut and it wasn’t hunger. His vision had returned and he ran back to the car trying to tell himself and his spirit tormentors that they had made a big mistake and chosen the wrong guy.

  He jumped into his car and noticed he had left his phone on the passenger seat. Before he could chide himself on his negligence it beeped. It was a message to ring Kate urgently. If ever he had doubts about the nature of the powers he had become embroiled with the next few moments in conversation with his wife wiped them clean from his mind.

  “Where have you been?” Kate almost screeched down the line. “I’ve been calling you and calling you.” She was frightened and upset. Paul experienced a sinking sensation in his stomach.

  “I left the phone in the car, sorry,” he apologized. “What’s up?”

  “It’s Cassie. She’s been taken to hospital with suspected kidney failure. They treated her just in time and she is stable. She became suddenly dehydrated for no reason and if it wasn’t for Geoff’s mother, who’s a nurse, ringing the renal unit directly Lord knows what would have happened to her. We’ve got to get there as soon as we can.”

  An icy fear washed over Paul. This was a real fear. This was no illusion or breakdown.

  “I’m on my way,” he said. “Pack an overnight bag for both of us.”

  “I already have,” sighed Kate. “Annie and Rory are spending the night at Sally and Peter’s. Just get back here pronto, will you?” Kate terminated the conversation. Paul had been made to feel selfish again. But his vision had been accurate. It hadn’t been a crazed fantasy. He knew now he could never tell Kate what had been happening to him. She just wouldn’t understand or accept it. Right now his priorities were clear and he prayed to his angel group to protect his daughter and keep him clear of attack until he could get to see her. What could he do against these spiritual assassins? He gunned the car and screeched out of the small square, breaking the speed limit until he reached home.

  Kate was waiting for him outside on the street. It was a three-hour trip but he would make in less.

  “Don’t bother to apologize,” she said before Paul could utter a word. “I know it must have been important.”

  “How could I have known? I’m not psychic,” he responded.

  “We’re staying at Cassie and Geoff’s place tonight and we’ll be able to see her as soon as we get there. She’s out of immediate danger.”

  Paul came to the conclusion that, as was becoming increasingly the case, it was impossible to talk to Kate when she was in this kind of mood. She knew perfectly well that he would be worried sick about Cassie. What he was also worried about but couldn’t discuss with her, was the increasing power of the vicious spiritual infestation, angels notwithstanding.

  Kate was silent or dozing for most of the journey. As the miles licked by, Paul withstood several more potential assaults on his mind. What if he was chosen? What if Cassie had been struck down because of him? Suppose this was a shot over the bows, a little warning of what was to come if he continued to pursue the path chosen for him by angels? And what if he could not jump off the whole express train to Ru-Ah? Surely he could refuse and kick them all out of his mind. That’s what he would do then. They just had to ship out once and for all. It stops now, right here, cherubim or no cherubim.

  But he knew as soon as the thought entered his head that it wasn’t going to be like that. The evolutionary forces in play were just too great for one little soul like him. And his was just one of thousands of tasks and destinies at play in this game to end all games. He glanced at Kate, dozing fitfully as the miles stretched by in a stream of headlights and road signs.

  Finally, they arrived in the city where Cassie lived with her man Geoff and where they had set up home together. Kate was immediately alert and consulting a map to find the quickest route to the hospital.

  They parked then stopped to buy flowers and chocolates at the hospital shop before making their way to the seventh floor where Cassie had a room to herself. There was a hushed silence in the corridor, just the occasional nurse or porter walking by quietly. For the first tim,e Kate clutched Paul’s arm for support. He was delighted and disarmed by this show of intimacy. He said nothing and just led Kate to the door to room 106. Just before they reached the room, a tall doctor left it, closing the door behind him. He looked Eurasian or even Nepalese. He smiled quickly at Paul then walked along the corridor turning, left through a pair of sw
ing doors. Kate marched straight ahead, not noticing him.

  As they entered the room a nurse was just leaving. Kate spoke to her.

  “How is she? I’m her mother. Can you tell me before we go in?”

  The nurse smiled. “Sure.” She ushered them a few feet away. “Cassie is much better,” she told them. She’s been on saline to sort out her dehydration.”

  “How did it happen?” asked Paul. “It was so sudden.”

  “Yes, we are all surprised. There was no obvious trigger for this sudden relapse. She is in very good health, apart from her asthma and that’s well under control.”

  “Thank you,” said Kate with obvious relief. It was warm in the room and Cassie was sitting up in bed. There were flowers and grapes on her bedside table. Geoff, a good looking guy of twenty-nine, was sitting on the side of the bed holding Cassie’s hand. He stood up quickly when Kate and Paul entered.

  “Great, you’ve made it all right,” he welcomed them, pulling up chairs for them to sit close to the bed.

  “Yes,” Paul replied, shaking Geoff’s hand, “we broke a few speed limits on the way.”

  Kate kissed Geoff on the cheek and then hugged Cassie. “We’ve been so worried,” she said. “What on Earth happened?”

  Before Cassie could reply, Paul went to her and hugged her. She hugged back tightly. Cassie was taller than Kate, with pale skin and blonde hair. She had Paul’s looks and Kate’s brain.

  “We brought you some lilies,” said Kate, looking for a vase.

  “They’re lovely,” smiled Cassie. “Don’t worry mom, the nurses will do all that.”

  “So, give us an update,” Paul sat down by her side.

  “I’m okay, really,” Cassie assured them both. “I don’t know why it happened. I’ve been following my Coeliac diet, so that was not the cause. I just felt suddenly weak and collapsed.”

  “She went blue,” Geoff told them, clearly still with an edge of worry in his voice. “Lucky mom came around and saw her. She rang the hospital immediately and got some action. When I tried I was told she’d have to wait for maybe hours before they could get an ambulance to us.”

  “We must thank Margaret when we see her,” said Kate. “What have the doctor’s said? Can we see someone?”

  “My blood pressure is more or less back to normal. They’ve put me on a gluten free kidney friendly diet and they’ve been pumping me with saline. They haven’t been able to come up with a reason either. And they seemed amazed that the treatment worked so quickly.”

  “When did you last see your specialist,” asked Kate.

  Paul started to speak but Cassie got there first. “This morning. He’ll be on his rounds same time tomorrow.”

  Paul looked mystified. “But I thought…” he began. Cassie looked at him.

  “Yes, Dad?”

  “Nothing. You’re looking better than I expected you would. When will they let you home?”

  “I’ve got to stay in for a few more days while they run some checks. Then I have to come back in six months to be assessed.”

  Geoff handed around some grapes from a bag and everyone took one and ate mechanically.

  “You have been unlucky, my darling,” said Paul. “You seem to have bagged the whole caboodle of ailments from our genes.”

  “Your father was diabetic, wasn’t he, Dad?” asked Cassie.

  “Yes, and he must have had a touch of Coeliac disease because he used to eat gluten-free bread. Of course, no one knew what that was back then. But no one in the family ever had asthma.”

  “It’s all under control though,” Kate wanted to know.

  “Yes, you don’t have to worry,” Cassie smiled and the room brightened.

  Paul was convinced he had seen a physician leave this room just before they arrived. He had to say something so he turned quietly to Geoff.

  “Geoff, wasn’t there a doctor in here just before we arrived?”

  Geoff looked at him. “No, there was nurse here, but no doctor. Haven’t seen one of those since this morning. Why do you ask?”

  “Oh, no reason, I must have been mistaken. Forget it.”

  Cassie was their first-born. She had always been a home girl with a special affection for her father. When she was a teenager she had gone through a few difficulties; a touch of youthful rebellion mixed up with bad company. But she had come through it and now looked back on her childhood as being some of the happiest days of her life. She would always be special to Paul. He loved all his children but Cassie was the first. He could remember all the sleepless nights and all the bedtime stories he used to read to her. He used to invent fantastic tales that used to delight and fascinate her. He thought suddenly, if he could do that then, what had happened to the storytelling ability. Maybe he was a writer after all?

  Cassie seemed stable though Paul could tell how worried she had been. She was like Kate in that regard. They bottled up their stress instead of letting it go. Kate had been tight spirited for some time now and Paul had no way of knowing if he was at the root cause of it. He thought not somehow. Maybe she was pining for Terry Sullivan?

  Hey, stop that right now! Paul clamped an iron fist over his emotions. Talk about bottling your stress. He could sense the working of an insidious psychic appendage slipping thoughts into his mind and stirring them around until he reacted. Then again, would he ever know the truth unless he confronted her with it and that could lead to disaster.

  He needed to focus on Cassie just now. She was looking pale and drawn but he noticed an empty plate showing that she had eaten something.

  “Were you scared, kid?” he asked her quietly, speaking close to her ear. She nodded and seemed for a moment on the brink of tears. Kate was examining her notes at the end of the bed.

  “Are you sure you’re telling us everything,” Paul took Cassie’s hand.

  “Yes, don’t worry. They’re putting it down to a viral infection.”

  “Doesn’t that take time to have an effect?”

  “I may not have even been aware of it. I don’t think they know. But they’re taking good care of me.”

  Paul stroked Cassie’s hair briefly.

  “You know we’d go crazy if anything happened to you, don’t you?”

  “Yes, I know. The same applies here. Geoff’s made up the spare room. He’s been great. He’s taken time off work to be here.” Paul could hear Kate talking to Geoff in the background. “Is your doctor Asian or from the Middle East?” he asked Cassie.

  She had to suppress her laughter and looked at him strangely.

  “No, his name is O’Hara. What is this about my doctor?”

  “Oh, nothing. Just wanted to make sure they’re giving you the best treatment they can.”

  “His ethnic background makes no difference to that, Dad,”

  “Sure, sure, I know. Look, forget it. We’ll stay until you leave hospital.”

  “Can you and mom afford the time off work?”

  “We’ll make time.”

  “You don’t need to. I’m going to be fine. I had a real scare but that’s over. How’re Rory and Annie? You can’t leave them at home for a week.”

  “Maybe not. If you’re certain?”

  “Stay tomorrow and meet Doctor O’Hara. He’ll put your mind at rest.”

  Kate came back over and Cassie suggested it was time they went. Visiting hours were almost up. Kate looked a little dismayed.

  “I’ll be fine, Mom,” she said. “You can stop worrying. I just told dad. Come back tomorrow and meet Doctor O’Hara.”

  “He’s on the ball,” remarked Geoff. “I’ve got supper planned.”

  “No need,” said Paul. “We’ll have dinner somewhere. You’ve got enough to think about. Really, we insist.”

  It took nearly fifteen minutes to say goodbye. Both Paul and Kate felt elated relief that she was over the worst. They left the hospital into the rush of traffic and the glare of neon lights. Geoff suggested they follow him back to the house. As they returned Paul and Kate said little to
each other. They were both immersed in their private thoughts. Paul was checking for his ‘phone in the side pocket when he came across Romy’s business card. He glanced at it quickly and stuffed into the top pocket of his shirt. Maybe it was time for science to get involved with all this. Maybe Romy could make some rational sense of everything.

  Paul resolved to call her as soon as he got back. He had the distinct feeling that the spiritual heat was about to be turned up and he wasn’t sure he could take it.

  CHAPTER TEN

  The final countdown

  The angels arrived in fo rce.

  Paul’s instincts were about to be proved correct. It was the middle of the afternoon. Malone had just telephoned to make sure Paul watched an obscure French film noir which was ‘divine’ and on late that night.

  Rory had gone away for a few days with his friend Rod to plan their Australian adventure and Annie was on a school trip. Kate would not be back till late. She was on a course.

  “You must use your crystals,” Development Angel told Paul and he could sense, not just his usual group, but many other powerful angels in background focusing on him. “Why, what’s going to happen?” asked Paul with some trepidation.

  “Nothing more than we have told you,” said the angel. “We must now give you your final instruction. Lie back.”

  “Suppose I refuse. Suppose I say to hell with it all. I don’t want this?”

  There was a silence so deep Paul could have dived into it. In the vacuum that was left Paul could sense a blackness of impossible density conscious of him and beginning to surround him.

  Terrified, Paul looked around the room for somewhere to escape. There was nowhere. Sabre began to howl like a tormented demon. Paul had to get out of the house. He ran to the front door and pounded along the lane that led from the house towards the woods. There was an area of mixed grass and bracken home to a couple of elder trees and Paul ran straight to one of them, hugging the trunk for protection. Panting behind him ran Sabre making a low growling noise in the back of his throat. It was fear. Fear had gripped both of them. It was the fear of instant extinction and oblivion.