Angelfire

by Deryn Pittar

  It seemed he did, with a fancy tool and a few quick turns the water was flowing into the tank. “Ben and I’ve been out a few times, practicing,” Cyril said.

  Practicing for what? A kitchen fire at home? Blasting birds out of trees? He didn’t imagine the present fire brigade would welcome two old men in their ranks.

  In the quiet with only the sound of the tank filling Lewis leaned back and closed his eyes, inhaling deeply and noticing the faint aroma of autumn fires. Burning the fall debris had been the one activity he’d enjoyed with his father as a child.

  Lewis. Lewis. Answer me, Lewis. Emma’s voice entered his head. His eyelids flicked open and he looked around. He could see his father by the back of the engine. No other movement showed under the streetlight.

  Emma? Where are you? We’re on our way. He heard her sob.

  It’s dark, Lewis, but I can see in the moonlight curved, wooden beams high in the ceiling and arched windows that the moon is shining through. One is stained-glass, I think. I’m tied to a hard, wooden pew. It’s an old church I think.’ She sneezed, And dusty.’

  Right – an old church. We’ll find it. I’m collecting some mates and we’re coming to find you, Emma. He heard her breath falter, a sharp intake that swallowed a sob. Don’t cry, Emma, please, I’m coming. Even my Dad is helping. That should make her smile and he heard a snort of disbelief. He’s being so helpful. I think it’s just a big adventure for him. We’ve borrowed his mate’s old fire engine, so we have water to fight with.

  Please hurry, Lewis. It’s awful here.

  The passenger door wrenched open and his father climbed in. “Off we go, Lewis. Let’s pick up your mates. I hope you know where we’re going.”

  “I’ve just heard. It’s an old church, high wooden ceilings, hard pews. Do you know of any rarely used old churches, Dad?”

  “Did she ring, sonny?”

  If he believes she’s an angel, he’ll believe anything. “Actually, Dad, she talks to me in my head.”

  “Sort of a psychic connection then?”

  Lewis nodded.

  “Very handy skill to have,” Cyril said, quite unperturbed by the information. “I think you need to turn right at the next intersection. It will be the quickest way to Daniel’s place.”

  Daniel and Zac were waiting for them at the gate. “What’s all this about?” Daniel asked.

  Lewis leapt out of the fire engine. He looked across the bench seat at his father. “Pops, slide over, keep the engine running, we’re going to need to borrow a few things from inside, if we’re going to make this work.”

  His father nodded. “I’ll be right here when you get back.” He slid across and took over the controls.

  Daniel stared at the engine. “And why a fire truck, wouldn’t your car start?”

  Lewis slammed the door shut and turned to Daniel but ignored his query. “Do you have any Halloween costumes in the house that will fit the three of us?”

  Before they left the Cooper house, Cyril had grabbed the antique fireman’s hat that had been hanging on the side of the engine and shoved it on his head. He looked like he’d fit in, now the rest of them needed something.

  Daniel puffed out his cheeks and considered Lewis. “The kids might have some things in their toy box and the wife will have some sheets. What are we getting ready for?” He pointed to the fire truck.

  “I’ll fill you both in on what is going on while we get ready. We need to hurry though.” Lewis rushed toward Daniel’s front door and the others followed.

  “Daniel says you’re planning on rescuing an angel,” said Zac. “You can’t have found someone to shack up with already.” They halted when Lewis did.

  Perhaps he could make it clearer?

  “Our next-door neighbour, Emma, genuinely is an angel and she has been captured by the devil.” He could see from the look on their faces that they had their doubts. Well, he’d tried. But they were prepared to support him, even if they thought he’d temporarily lost his mind.

  After a few moments’ silence Daniel asked, “Where’s this devil guy taken her?” His question proved they were willing to go along with the story, for a while anyway.

  “To an old church. Pops says he knows where that is. We need to hurry. She’s in serious danger,” said Lewis

  Daniel nodded. “This way then,” and led them into the house.

  Daniel opened the door of the linen cupboard. He pulled out a pile of white sheets. “Ghosts are Halloweeny. The small sheet for you Zac. Everyone will think you’re a big kid.” At sixty-five inches he’d just made it into the army.

  “Rub it in.” Zac took the sheet. He was always defensive about being vertically challenged. He slipped a blade from his boot then threw the sheet over his head. He stabbed the knife through the sheet from the inside and made one eye hole, then another.

  “My sheets!” Daniel’s wife had just appeared in the passageway.

  “All in a good cause. We’ll replace them.” Daniel borrowed Zac’s knife and butchered the second sheet. He handed the knife to Lewis, then slipped the sheet over his head.

  “I’ll get some masks.” Daniel disappeared through a bedroom door, his sheet floating around him.

  “I’ll pay for the sheets,” Lewis told Daniel’s wife as Daniel emerged. He couldn’t remember her name, Daniel always called her ‘the missus’ when he was talking about her.

  “You’d better,” she muttered, then nodded at Daniel. “He’s home with the kids for one night. Then he decides to go drinking with his mates—on a fire truck of all things.”

  Daniel had found some scary masks and wigs. He handed one of each to Lewis. “Where are the kids?” he asked his wife.

  “At their grandmother’s, trick or treating in her neighbourhood, Lucky for you, or you’d be taking them for a ride in that thing.” She nodded at the fire engine.

  “We’ll give them a ride in the morning.” Lewis had his fingers crossed when he made that promise. He had no idea what the morning would bring.

  As they passed the sideboard in the hall, Zac picked up the large jar of sweets sitting there and tucked them under his sheet.

  “Hungry?” asked Lewis.

  “They might come in handy,” said Zac. They hurried out the front door.

  Chapter 9

  “YOU GOT WEAPONS?” asked Daniel as he got into the fire engine.

  “Some, but I don’t know how much use they are going to be against angels. Emma said bullets don’t kill them, but water slows them down, so we’re going to find this handy.” He patted the side of the fire truck. “I think Zac and his knives are going to be our secret weapon and I’ve got these.” He handed Daniel the coiled harp wires. “Could be useful in close combat.”

  “Great idea. Where did you get piano wire?”

  “Don’t ask.” Trying to describe the harp situation was beyond Lewis at this moment. “Can you drive this thing?” Daniel had spent most of his career driving tanks; a fire truck should be a breeze.

  “Naturally. Move over Mr. Carpenter.” Cyril slid over again and Daniel took the wheel.

  “Ready to go?”

  “Forward,” ordered Lewis.

  Daniel drove. Zac rode on the back seat next to Lewis and Cyril sat in the front directing Daniel where he reckoned the tail end of the parade would be gathered.

  His father had turned up tops again, remembering a workmate whose congregation grew so big they built a new church next to the old one. The old church was now used for small ceremonies like christenings and could be hired by private parties. Lewis shuddered to think what the congregation would think of it being used for a nefarious event on Halloween, but perhaps the warlocks had just commandeered it.

  With the main street closed for the parade the only option was to join in to get to the far end of town.

  They drove to the intersection of Main Street, just as the first part of the parade passed by. Marching girls in red jackets and white pleated skirts twirled batons and marched in time to the band at the f
ront. The first float, filled with witches, a haunted house and the branches of a tree painted black, rolled past. The next float transported a flock of ghosts wearing sheets too.

  Daniel leaned forward so he could see out the windscreen.

  “We fit in.”

  Lewis nodded. In his mind he could feel Emma’s fear, but so far, she was still just tied up on the pew the way she had been earlier. So far, she was safe. Hopefully they would get to her in time. “Is the parade going the right way?” he asked Cyril.

  His father nodded. “The old church is right at the end of the street. Are you sure you want to join the parade, it’s going pretty slowly.”

  Lewis thought about that. Was it worth sacrificing speed for camouflage? It was. Tearing off parallel to the parade in a vintage fire engine would mean they had no cover and the dark angels with Emma might see them coming. As part of the parade, Sebastian, Levi and their crew wouldn’t realise they were about to be attacked, hopefully until it was too late.

  “Yep, we’ll stick with the plan. Emma is safe at the moment.”

  Daniel slowly edged his way forward and pushed in between a truckload of wizards, and a tractor towing a trailer carrying a bevy of fairies. Once they were in the parade Zac threw handfuls of sweets out of the fire engine window.

  “Keeping up appearances,” he said.

  “How much further, Pop?” His father had been right. The parade moved with excruciating slowness. If it was more than a few hundred yards to this church, they might not make it before midnight. He looked at his watch. Eight o’clock. Four hours before the ceremony. The parade couldn’t last that long.

  “One more block, and then we turn off,” said Cyril. “The parking lot is right there.”

  A whistle blew, and the floats came to a complete halt.

  “What’s going on?” asked Zac.

  Lewis opened the door of the fire engine and stood on the step, so he could see past the line of floats.

  A gathering of ghosts were crossing the road in front of the band.

  “Just some kids in the way,” he said as he ducked back inside. “We should start moving in a minute.” He checked his watch again. Eight forty-seven. He rubbed his forehead, anxious. But midnight was still a long way off.

  “Hey, Mister,” he heard from the crowd lining the side of the road. “Give us a ride. There’s plenty of room on that fire engine.”

  A boy of about ten was looking up at him hopefully. The kid dressed as a magician held the biggest water pistol Lewis had ever seen, the thing had to be a yard long. All his mates around him had similar weapons.

  “Nah, sorry kid.” He went to pull the door shut. “Not this time.”

  “Up yours.” The kid gave him the finger, then raised the water pistol to firing position. Lewis got the door shut before the kid fired, but water from the kid’s pistol and his mates streamed down the window.

  Shit, that might work. Lewis waited for the deluge to end, then opened his door again. “Keep moving with the parade, I’ll catch up with you.” He leapt out of the fire truck and ran back to the kids. They looked like they were about to fade into the crowd.

  “Wait, I want to buy those guns off you,” he yelled at them.

  The magician and his mates stopped and turned to him. “How much?” one of them asked.

  Lewis tried to remember how much cash he had in his wallet. He guessed the kids wouldn’t take a credit card. “Twenty dollars a-piece,” he said.

  “Thirty dollars each,” negotiated the magician.

  ‘I’ll see what I’ve got.” He whipped out his wallet. Counted through the notes. “One hundred for the lot.”

  The magician nodded, Lewis handed over one hundred cash and gathered up the brightly coloured guns.

  He ran to catch up with the fire truck, his arms filled with fluorescent plastic. It would have been cheaper to go to Walmart and buy them, but the faster they got to the church the better for Emma.

  Just as he swung up onto the side of the fire truck, he felt Emma’s mind stir. Through her eyes he could see the four men who had abducted her coming up the aisle.

  Hurry Lewis, I think things are starting here. Please hurry, she whispered into his mind, as the parade slowly moved past the intersection where they would need to turn off, one float at a time.

  Emma gave up struggling against the old crones who forcibly stripped off her clothes, sprayed her with lavender water, patted her dry and dressed her in a white silk gown that draped and clung to her. If she hadn’t been so frightened and angry at being brought here against her will and now being given to the Devil, she might have appreciated how beautiful the gown was. And she would have appreciated it even more if her hands hadn’t been tied together in front of her as if she was praying.

  They guided her from the small sacristy into the church itself. Then escorted down the aisle to the group of angels waiting for her at the altar. Levi and Sebastian were there with them, just like the groom and groomsmen would have if this was a real wedding. The pews on each side of the aisle were filled to bursting with fallen angels. They had to be fallen to be part of this.

  She was forced to walk the length of the aisle to the waiting men. For the most part no-one had spoken to her since she arrived. It seemed like a rehearsed procedure.

  She saw Sebastian with Levi when she first arrived, but after that he had stayed in the background and she had glared at him at every opportunity. He had refused to meet her gaze. Probably feeling ashamed, at least that’s what she hoped. Now he was with the group at the altar.

  They’ve tied my hands. They are forcing me to walk to Levi. Lewis. Help me. Where are you?

  Nearly there, can you hear the parade passing?

  She’d been so stressed she hadn’t noticed the noise but now she listened and yes, there were horns, squeals of children, a loudspeaker saying something she couldn’t decipher and coming closer the sound of a fire siren, rising and falling in a constant wail.

  I hear the fire siren. Is that you?

  Yes. When we’re outside I’ll let you know.

  Hurry, please. The ceremony is about to start. There is no way I can stop this happening!

  The bastards! Lewis cursed.

  She lost contact as her mind reeled against the vision standing in front of her. The dark lord, Levi. His black wings arched behind his shoulders and two small horns protruded from the mop of black curls on his head. Speak of the devil – and there he stood.

  The rest of the dark angels gathered at the altar turned to watch her halting progress towards them.

  Then anger took over. It rose like a bear within her heart. She strained at her bound wrists, clenching and unclenching her fists. Fury at Sebastian for being weak enough to aid them shook her. Her soul overflowed with wrath. A storm of emotions she’d never experienced before rose through her body, and she stared at her kidnappers, willing them dead, hating them beyond words, aiming her fury through the red mist in her brain. And then it happened.

  Small blue flames raced away along her line of sight, dancing over the heads of the dark angels, along their shoulders, up their arms. Everywhere her gaze rested the flames bounced on the flesh and burned.

  The fallen angels yelped like scorched pups, swatting their burning hair as small blue flames bit. They pulled at their smouldering gowns, hauling their clothes off and their wingtips curled when she switched her gaze there.

  “Angelfire,” someone shouted and as one they moved from her sight and hid behind the altar.

  She could hear the congregation as they stood behind her whispering, awe in their voices. ‘Angelfire – Angelfire.’

  She looked up at the wooden rafters where a sprinkler system had been installed. Perhaps she could use this new talent. She turned to the left. A man scuttled out of sight, just the flash of his coat caught her attention before she fixed her gaze on the pulpit and the harvest vestment that hung from it.

  But the entire congregation had risen and were leaving the pews now. They were spillin
g up the aisle towards her. There was no way she could fight them all off until Lewis arrived unless she could get the sprinklers to work and drench the congregation. That would slow them down.

  Then finally Sebastian stepped forward and untied her hands.

  “Sister. I’m so sorry. I should never have done it. The Council of Angels have been helping me see the error of my ways. I was too late to help you at the house. I have had to bide my time and wait my chance.”

  Relief overwhelmed her. There was some good left in him.

  Together they turned to face the congregation of fallen angels coming towards them and she concentrated on setting fire to the church in the hope of the sprinklers coming on before the mass of evil overwhelmed them.

  Chapter 10

  LEWIS’S VOICE SPOKE in her mind. Emma, we need a diversion. We’re at the church entrance and will be coming in as soon as we get the fire hose attached. Can you do anything?

  I’m trying.

  Pity about the beautiful embroidery, the cornucopia of harvest fruit gleamed in the candlelight, about to be destroyed for a good cause. She fixed her gaze on the draped cloth moving the tiny blue flames down each side until the fabric’s edges scorched and curled, then the cotton cloth caught and flared. Smoke rose and the sprinklers finally burst into life.

  She wondered if a scream would help and inhaled deeply, opened her mouth, but stopped and flicked her head over to look at the vestibule because the church door had slammed back against the wall. A teenager or a small person now raced down the aisle dressed as a ghost, the sheet flapping.

  “Trick or treat. Trick or treat,” the voice called. Was it someone from the parade? The dark angels suddenly brave, appeared from behind the altar and rushed forward to stand in front of her, blocking the intruder’s view, perhaps to protect her, but she doubted that.