I knew I had to do something, and Allen was probably in trouble due to protecting me. I had to do whatever I could to let him know he might have been discovered. There was no telling what these horrible angels were capable of doing if they found out that he had been a traitor, infiltrating their ranks to prevent their plan of using me for the purpose of creating a new race of angels. I was certain that Allen was now in danger and if they knew what he had been up to, they would make an example of him to show others what would happen if you crossed them. I hoped and prayed that I would not be too late to prevent anything bad from happening to him. I didn’t know enough about anything yet to go on my own, so I would have to wait for Avan.
Just then I remembered my bracelet. Both Natasha and my dad had told me that each unique angel represented someone in my life. I remembered that I had to find the one that represented who I needed help from. I touched each charm, holding it with my thumb and pointer finger as an image of the angel it represented filled my mind. I kept going around the bracelet, shocked at how many of my new friends were angels and I hadn’t ever recognized it until now. When I came to Avan’s charm, I held it tightly as I closed my eyes and whispered that I needed his help and that someone was in trouble.
CHAPTER 15
Within just a few seconds of opening my eyes, Avan came rushing through the front door with a worried look on his face, letting me know that he thought I was the one in trouble.
“Mattie, what’s wrong? Are you okay? What happened?” Avan asked as he studied my face for some sign that would let him know exactly what was going on.
“I’m fine, Avan. It isn’t me that is in trouble; it’s Allen,” I told him as I watched some of the worry melt away from his face.
“You had me really worried. What happened to Allen?”
“I’m not sure if anything has happened to him or not, but if it hasn’t, I don’t think it will be long before something does.”
“What would make you think that?”
“The other night when he showed up, I felt darkness, and since I read my dad’s letter and spoke to Natasha, I know that’s what I feel when evil people are somewhere nearby,” I explained.
“Natasha was here today?”
“Yeah, she just left a little while before you got here actually.”
“What did she tell you?” Avan asked, interested to hear any new information she might have given me.
“She basically said the same things my dad had said in my letter, but I was really glad that she agreed with everything it said. She did tell me that something would happen soon that would require me to be really strong. I think she meant that Damron and Cheryl would try to make a move or something to try and make me do really bad things that I don’t want anything to do with.”
“So what did your dad’s letter say?” Avan pressed.
“Well, if you’re trying to politely ask if I know what I am now, the answer is yes. I know I’m a one-of-a-kind super angel with crazy powers that no one can explain or measure and that hell wants to create a new race of freak shows to work for them and they want to use me for breeding purposes,” I stated bluntly.
“Wow, don’t hold back or anything!” Avan added with a laugh.
“Hey, you asked.”
“Yes, I did. I will have to make a mental note to be careful of doing that again won’t I?”
“I’ll just tell you anyway.”
“I’d hear it whether you said it or not, remember?”
“Yeah, I learned to do that little trick today too!”
“Aren’t you a fast learner?” Avan said, giving me a wink.
“Okay, no time for flirting right now! We really need to go find Allen. Will you drive?”
“Anything for you my special angel!”
In record time, we were in Avan’s Mustang, buckling our seat belts as he exited the parking garage and pulled onto the street. The first location on our list of places to check out was Allen’s office.
Halfway to Allen’s office, I realized that it was after 6:00 p.m. I had no idea what time the building closed in the evenings; it was probably dependent on the office hours of the businesses that were in the suites inside. However, if the building was locked, we would have no way of getting in. That would make all of our efforts to ensure Allen was safe useless. The more I thought about it, the worse it made me feel. I had an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach and was unable to force myself to say a word. Feeling my anxiety, Avan kept quiet as well, knowing that until I was sure Allen was safe, words were not going to make much of a difference.
In attempts to distract myself, I read the fluorescent signs and lighted letters spelling the names of fast food restaurants, movie rental places, bail bonds, grocery stores, department stores, gas stations, and liquor stores we sped down the busy street. After a while I resorted to reading the street signs as we passed. I almost failed to notice that the car had come to a stop at a red light until I felt the vibration from the one beside us. It had the windows rolled down with the stereo turned up so loud that the thumping from the over-adjusted bass felt like a small earthquake. Inaudible lyrics of a pointless rap song exploded from the speakers. Looking over to see two high school guys in the car, I observed how ridiculous they looked as they had their seats reclined so far back they may as well have been lying down. When the driver noticed me looking, he nodded once and blew me a kiss as his lustful thoughts revealed themselves.
Being only a few blocks from the office building now, for some reason I had an eerie feeling that we were already too late. I had no idea what could possibly be making me feel this way, but for some reason it felt stronger than a normal hunch. Most of the time when I got a hunch about something and it felt as if circumstances were wrong, in the end it never turned out nearly as bad as I imagined it would. This time it was as though I already had evidence that it was worse than expected. I felt like I knew we would not be seeing Allen tonight. I knew Avan was hearing everything I was thinking, and when I concentrated to see how he felt about the situation, it was no surprise to find he had many of the same thoughts and feelings. Either way, neither of us had the intentions of letting this go without getting to the bottom of it. I did not feel as though any harm had come to Allen yet, but for some reason I knew he would not be at his office.
Pulling under the awning in front of the door, we jumped out of the car. When we got to the set of double, automatic, sliding front doors they were unresponsive even though we were right in the line of the motion sensor. Avan looked around for a keypad of some kind and even tried to pry the doors apart, but they were locked tight and had clearly been programmed electronically to lock and unlock at certain times.
The only thing we noticed that would allow access to the building once the doors were locked was a device that resembled the ones at the grocery store used to slide credit cards through to pay out. Employees of the suites in the building must have identification badges that would grant them access to the building before and after business hours when they slid it through the device recognizing their identity.
Remembering that Natasha had told me how only I could determine my capabilities and how to control them, I decided I would test this theory to see how far I could go with it. Knowing Avan read my thought, he backed up as if on cue. Figuring most heavenly angels never set out to do anything questionable in nature, I assumed they did not possess the talent of breaking and entering. Considering I was the perfect mix of light and dark, I thought I might just be able to pull it off. Closing my eyes, I concentrated on the feeling of the electricity all around me, knowing I had to find the correct current. I listened to the hum of it all around me and focused on the unique sound that was flowing through the motion sensor. This had a unique pattern to it that flowed over to the scanner, which quietly awaited the slide of an employee I.D. to allow entry. Focusing all of my attention to this current, I soon heard what sounded similar to firecrackers as I felt myself being jerked back out of the way by Avan’s strong grasp.
Opening my eyes while my body seemed to move backward in slow motion, I caught the sight of the scanner and the motion sensor explode simultaneously, throwing small pieces of glass, metal, and plastic in every direction. To my surprise, there was no raging fire starting from the explosion sites. After a few seconds, Avan took the first step forward, advancing to the sliding door. Shockingly, the doors parted with ease at the slightest tug from his hand.
Once we entered the building, it was clear my little outdoor fireworks show had continued indoors as well. Every security camera had exploded, along with the scanner and motion sensor. Near the ceiling where the cameras had been strategically placed were little patches of charbroiled wall and ceiling materials. I knew it was far from a humorous situation, but I was so impressed with myself I felt a little giddy. Not every day did I get to go around blowing things up, starting fires, kicking serious tail, or finding out I was the closest thing to a real super hero there is.
Opting for the staircase rather than the creepy elevator that seemed abandoned after normal business hours, I could not remember a time when it had ever felt like there were so many steps in the staircase. Knowing in reality it was all part of my heightened emotion, it still felt as if it took forever to climb them, but in that moment I was too worried to notice anything else. Sadly, I had no idea what to even expect to find in Allen’s office, and that killed me the most. I wanted to feel him there, and by now, being this close to his office, I should have been able to. I should have had a warm sensation that signified his presence. I extended my senses as far as I possibly could, but still there was nothing. At this point, I slowed on my way to Allen’s office because I already knew he would not be inside the door. I would be lying to deny that my heart sank a bit as we rounded the top of the staircase and headed down the hall.
Approaching the thick oak door with the nameplate on the outside reading Allen Hearsch C.P.A., we noticed that it was ajar. At first it was too difficult to force myself to push it open and walk inside due to the panic that gave me chills and a large knot in the pit of my stomach. Not wanting to go inside but knowing I had to if I wanted to find out how much trouble I could sense Allen was in, I closed my eyes. I took a deep breath, willing the door to open on its own in the event police showed up to investigate and take prints. The last thing I needed was to become the suspect in a police investigation, and being that someone was bound to notice the blown security system in the morning, I was certain they would make a report.
Stepping inside the door of Allen’s office, my throat closed off, making me glad that I could talk to Avan without saying a word. I knew that would be the only means of communication thanks to the sudden case of cottonmouth I had just developed. My heart dropped to my feet as I focused on the lamp in the corner that illuminated the room, unveiling the walls, which looked as if someone had thrown a marbleized mixture of red and silver paint all over the walls and floors. I knew immediately from reading my father’s letter what it was—angel blood. All I could think of at that exact moment was Allen. Was he dead? Could angels die?
Out of nowhere I heard Avan’s voice answer me inside my mind. “Angels can bleed and be hurt, but we can’t die—remember we are immortal beings. Don’t worry. We heal very fast too. This isn’t all Allen’s blood. If you look closely and enhance your vision, you’ll see that there is a kind of dark shimmer in some areas of the silver. That means whoever Allen came in contact with was hurt too. It looks like he put up a good fight, but I’m sure whoever it was brought some friends. They probably took him for leverage.”
“The blood looks so vivid and bright! I remember when Lena cut her finger, the blood was a lot darker and smelled weird. It smells sweet in here. Why would angel blood on the walls make it smell sweet?” I asked as I continued to gawk at the ransacked office covered in angel blood.
“You have never seen angel blood before?”
“No, why?” I asked, wondering why Avan would have assumed I’d seen it before.
“You’ve never gotten a scratch or a cut or anything?”
“Now that I think about it…no. I don’t think I have ever had any kind of injury at all. My parents never let me see if they had so much as a paper cut so I had no idea angel blood was any different from regular, old human blood until my dad explained why I was born at home in his letter.”
“I mean I was shocked when you walked out of the bank without even being singed, but I just assumed it was a coincidence or that you’d healed faster due to what you are. Never having any injuries at all is incredible. That makes you indestructible!” he responded with surprise.
“Okay, stop talking about me like I just walked out of a comic book! Ugh! We have bigger things to worry about!” I shouted.
“I know. I’m sorry. Okay, we know it had to be the dark angels because of the blood. However bad they were all injured from the fight they must have stayed until they healed up, which can take a matter of minutes, because there was no trace of blood in the building when we were on our way up.”
“What will the police do? My dad’s letter said that if you take blood or DNA from an angel, it will give bogus results. DNA will show up off the charts and there won’t be a blood type! What should we do about all of this?” I asked frantically, feeling the panic take over again.
“Calm down, there is one benefit to having freakishly weird blood. That is, humans always pass it up as being spray paint and wind up not meddling in angel business because they assume it is a local group of offbeat teenagers who committed vandalism. They’ll start investigating all the wrong leads. This means we get to do the real dirty work. It looks like your angel initiation has just started.”
“Spray paint? Seriously? Wow, and these are the ones who are paid with our tax dollars to protect and serve? Geez, what a waste!” I added.
“Yeah, the whole thing is unfortunate, but in a way it is a good thing because a human with a gun, pepper spray, and a taser wouldn’t have a chance against an angel from hell. They would use any officer on the force as a chew toy.”
“So what do we do now?” I asked, completely lost.
“We lay low and wait to hear something. Hell’s angels are narcissists, trust me. They’ll be bragging before too long, and then we can make our move!”
“What about Allen?”
“He’s a heavenly angel. When it is safe to do so, he will contact us and give us an upper hand on how to get to him and stop whatever they’re trying to do.”
“Okay, I trust you. Let’s get out of here before someone happens to show up and think we are the vandals.”
“Now you’ve got the idea!” Avan retorted with a smile.
CHAPTER 16
The next two weeks were like cruel and unusual punishment as I waited for some extraordinary, earth-shaking sign from someone to signify the slightest bit of information in regard to Allen, but nothing ever came.
Considering money was not something I needed in the slightest bit, I began working shifts at Spirits, putting all my personal tips into the register since I was getting more rewarded by keeping my mind busy and off of the inevitable. Lorenzo stopped by every afternoon to bring me homemade lunches, and I would sit and eat with him after making us tea. That was the most rewarding payment anyone could give me at this point! I looked forward to one o’clock every day from the time my eyes opened! I could practically taste and smell the food hours before Lorenzo ever showed up.
Working the shifts as much as possible during the weekdays left me exhausted on the weekend, so I usually stayed home and exhibited every known sign of laziness ever recorded. Avan and the guys did their performance on Saturday nights, but I just lacked the motivation to go. I really had no good excuse not to, but I guess if I was honest, I was depressed that we still heard no word about Allen. I felt like whatever he was going through was all because he had tried to protect me and this was my fault just for being born! I could hardly handle the thought, but it always stayed in the back of my mind, no matter how often Avan tr
ied to convince me this wasn’t my fault.
The weeks soon turned to months, but fall was dull this time, lacking the beauty it usually brought. I had still heard nothing from Lena or anyone who had been such a large part of my life before Avan stepped into it; it was as if they had vanished, leaving only their memory. Every time I built up the courage to drive by the huge house where I had lived with Lena and her dad, it looked the same as it always had from the outside. More than once I pulled into the driveway, but I never managed to work up the nerve to go to the door.
I wondered if Lena had ever been looking out the window and seen my car. Surely she would have at least attempted to text me and tell something or told me to die if she had. Then again, there was no telling what she was up to after graduating. Whatever it was, I was positive it was something that made her the center of attention.
Avan and I kept busy doing a lot of work, trying to figure out what abilities I had been born with and how to control them. The list got longer and longer as far as what I was capable of doing. The strange thing was that all I ever had to do was use the power of my mind to concentrate and focus on what I wanted to do and it happened. The harder part was controlling the abilities. This too happened with my mind, but if I allowed myself to become distracted with thoughts of Allen, Lena, Damron, Cheryl, or Ian, I had the unintended habit of blowing things to pieces, starting fires, causing storms with dangerous lightning, and other unpleasant things.
At one point during the late summer we had been on the beach, testing out a few different things like making big waves, controlling the clouds, and talking to some dolphins to get them to jump for me when I thought I had caught a glimpse of Damron’s Hummer along the highway. I hadn’t even noticed what I had done until Avan pointed out how far back the tide had swelled! I quickly had to refocus on doing damage prevention and prohibit the fifteen-foot wave from crashing into beach area, causing serious repercussions for the cars and unnoticing sunbathers. There was no escaping the haunting thoughts of Damron and Cheryl kidnapping me. Every time I saw anyone who reminded me of him or her, I became angry. I wondered if Lena knew anything about the past. She never let on that she had the slightest hint. It would really hurt her to find out the father she adored had only used her to his own advantage. The bad thing was that I knew the truth! I knew every answer to every question I asked myself.
Enigma Page 25
