Angel Exalted

by C. L. Coffey

  Michael’s expression changed from concern to awe. “You managed to contact me while I was awake.”

  I nodded. I assumed that had happened when Henry had appeared. “I knew I needed help,” I told him, simply. “I don’t know how it was possible, and I don’t know if I can do it again.”

  “You are truly impressive,” he said in admiration.

  “I allowed myself to get roofied by the King of Hell. I’m not sure ‘impressive’ is quite the right word. Where is Joshua? What did Henry do to him?”

  “I injected him with a tranquilizer,” Henry’s voice called into the room through the open door. “He’s in here.”

  I hurried through the door and into the next room. Joshua was laid out on a table, hooked up to all kinds of machines I didn’t recognize. I slowed to a walk as I neared the bed, my attention caught by his eyes. They were wide open, seemingly staring at the ceiling. “Is he okay?” I asked.

  From the far side of the bed, Henry nodded. “He is in an induced coma. I would suggest that whatever it is you’re going to do, you do soon, and quickly. The body is fighting the drugs, an angelic side effect, and it won’t be long until the dose I have to give him will be too high for the human body to cope with.”

  The blood rushed from my head as I nodded. “Let’s do it.”

  “You are still injured,” Michael objected. “You have not had enough time to recover-”

  “Michael, there isn’t enough time to start with,” I snapped. “I may not have a very high percentage chance at success, but if I wait, that percentage is going to drop, not go up.”

  “I think she’s right,” Cupid agreed. I hadn’t noticed he and Veronica were there too.

  Veronica had her sword out already. Clearly, she still had little faith. “You’d best get moving,”

  I nodded and looked to Henry. He pointed at a second table behind him. I couldn’t suppress the shudder. There was something about doing this on a medical examiner’s table that felt like a bad omen. The only other people who had been on there had been dead.

  “Let’s do this,” I muttered under my breath as I marched to the table. I was going to make my own omen on this one: technically, I was dead too. Only, I was still walking around. That was going to be my omen.

  With a duff arm, getting on the table wasn’t easy, but I managed to do it before Michael walked over to pick me up and put me on it. I started to lie down, and then Henry was hovering over me. “What are you doing?” I asked in alarm.

  “I am hooking you up to a machine which will monitor your heart rate,” Henry explained.

  “Why?”

  When he didn’t answer, I looked to Michael and Cupid. Their response was discomfort. My eyes flicked to Veronica who let out a melodramatic sigh. “So that we can tell if you die,” she exclaimed. “If you’re dead, then that means Lucifer has won. And that means I get to run a sword through him.”

  “That’s not going to happen,” I told her. Unfortunately, the machine, now hooked up to me, gave away the fact I was nervous. My heart was beating quickly – by my standards, at least. I was up to eight beeps a minute from my usual two.

  “Uh-huh,” she agreed, rolling her eyes.

  “We have faith in you, Angel,” Michael assured me, after shooting Veronica a disapproving glower.

  I closed my eyes and slowly started blocking out the background noise: the machines, the hum from the strip lighting above, the breathing of the other angels. It all fell silent as the white space took over.

  The white started to clear, and I was left standing at the edge of Lake Pontchartrain on Joshua’s jetty. It was just like the last time I had been here. Everything was still and gray. The skies were full of clouds hanging low. The water and the surrounding vegetation were eerily still. There wasn’t a single bird or insect chirping anywhere. The only difference was that, this time, it looked like a filter had been set over everything: the dream wasn’t quite black and white, but all the colors had been muted.

  I glanced down to check my clothing. Thankfully, I was already in my Kevlar jeans and boots. That meant I didn’t need to waste energy getting some protective clothing on. Gritting my teeth in determination, I left the jetty and started walking down the rutted lane towards the next area of Joshua’s dream.

  Finding Joshua was going to be a challenge. Finding Joshua and avoiding Lucifer was going to be even harder.

  The lane opened up into an empty interstate. There were a few abandoned cars in the middle of the lanes. With their doors closed, it looked like a scene from a movie on pause. If I was honest, I felt like I was in the middle of a zombie apocalypse and it was creepy.

  Behind me, I heard a car engine, getting louder as it got closer. I’m not sure why, but something told me to hide, rather than see who was in it. I followed my instinct and ducked down behind an abandoned Hyundai.

  It wasn’t a car, but a Hummer. Behind the wheel was a figure that looked more like the Slender Man except his skin was as black as tires of the Hummer. Its head turned slowly as it drove past at a crawl. There were no eyes or mouth, but I knew it could see. I ducked lower and stayed there until it had disappeared.

  Is this what Joshua’s mind was like? It was like being in a nightmare, only real.

  I picked up my pace, settling into a jog as I made my way down the interstate. Every now and then, a Hummer would appear and I would run for the nearest car to hide behind to wait for the creepy shadow men to leave.

  Finally, the scenery changed. The interstate stopped and turned into a dead-end neighborhood street. I knew this street well. It was the one Maggie lived on. The last place I wanted to step foot was in her house. I had a bad feeling about what I would find, but Joshua’s subconscious had led me here. Or, at least, I was hoping it was Joshua’s subconscious and not Lucifer’s.

  I pushed open her front door and walked in, holding my breath. Although it was the last room I wanted to go to, the living room was the first room I went into. Outside, although dark and overcast, it had been daytime. Inside this room, we had switched to night and rain was now lashing against the window.

  The room was lit by the small table lamp in the corner, and the light of the television. The armchair which Maggie favored was in the center of the room. I sidestepped around the chair, and finally let out the breath I had been holding. Maggie wasn’t there.

  “Thank you,” I muttered, gratefully, to the empty room.

  Finding Maggie dead again was one thing I didn’t want to do.

  I stared down at the chair, and then the spilled cup next to it. This was the night she died. An uneasy feeling settled over me, and I sent out a silent prayer that I wasn’t about to witness her die. There was no way I would be prepared to witness that.

  My priority was finding Joshua. He wasn’t in here. That meant that if I was quick, I would be able to check the rest of the house and then get out of there before I was forced to watch a replay. I made for the door, then stopped. The message was written on the wall, but this time, it was different. I didn’t do this!

  Joshua!

  I curled my hands into fists, wanting to find Lucifer so I could beat the life from him. Joshua had been aware of what Lucifer had been doing in his body. That was going to destroy him.

  I pressed on, leaving the room, and began checking all the other rooms. I was just passing Joshua’s bedroom when headlights lit the room as a car pulled onto the drive. I froze, trying to peer out of the window without being seen. It was a Hummer.

  I looked around, trying to find somewhere to hide. The front door opened. In a panic, I ducked into the first room I saw. Instead of it being Joshua’s room, which would have, at least, offered me a bed to hide under or a closet to hide in, I ended up in the bathroom.

  Idiot! I was about to step back into the hallway to dart across to Joshua’s bedroom, when I caught a glimpse of the shadow man figure. I was stuck with the bathroom. Moving as quietly as possible, I stepped in the tub and flattened myself against the wall behind the shower cu
rtain. This wasn’t going to work – I could see the door from here, and if I could see the door, it would see me.

  And then a shadow fell in front of the door.

  I screwed my face up in concentration and tried something I had never attempted before. I tried to make myself invisible.

  The shadow man stepped in the bathroom. There was a pause and he flicked on the light: the first room he’d done that in. It took a few steps towards the bathtub and stopped.

  I opened my eyes, sweat running down the side of my face, and found myself staring directly at it. It was even more terrifying up close. No eyes, no mouth, just darker indentations in the already black face. It tilted its head, first one way, then the other.

  Then it walked out of the room, leaving the light on.

  I stayed where I was, forcing myself to keep whatever I was doing going, while the thing checked the rest of the house. On its way back out, it returned to the bathroom. I swear it looked right at me for a second time before it finally left.

  I waited until I heard the Hummer leave the drive, and then I relaxed. Dizziness washed over me, and I had to drop to a crouch in the bathtub while I waited for the feeling to pass. That, right there, was why I wouldn’t be able to walk around making myself invisible: I wouldn’t be able to keep it up for long at all. It was useful to know it was a possibility, though.

  The question now, was how I could find Joshua. Joshua’s dreamscape had the potential to be infinitely endless, and my energy levels were feeling depleted after that.

  Then a crazy idea crossed my mind.

  If I had the ability to make myself invisible, maybe I had the ability to find Joshua without making it obvious I was here and looking for him. I moved into Joshua’s bedroom and sat on his bed, crossing my legs beneath me. Then I closed my eyes and emptied my mind. Again.

  I focused on Joshua, trying to sense him like I did when I was awake. My landscape changed. I was sat on a map. It wasn’t a map of anywhere in particular, and it didn’t even have streets on it. But there was a silver light blinking away not too far from me. That was Joshua.

  I walked over to it, making it bigger and bigger, and then it morphed into Joshua. He was unconscious and tied up somewhere. I reached out to touch him, to pull the rope from him, but my hand passed through him. Okay, so I wasn’t good enough to take me to him. But I had found him.

  I turned my attention on his surroundings. He was tied up and in a bathtub. Strangely, the bathtub looked familiar. I glanced around. The items around me weren’t as clearly defined – more shape than structure – but I realized where it was. It was a convent bathroom. I was willing to bet it was mine.

  I brought myself out of the trance, back into Joshua’s bedroom. Joshua was at the convent?

  At least I knew where I needed to go. The challenge now, was getting there. So far, Joshua’s dreamscape didn’t really match with New Orleans completely.

  The good news was, now that I had that image of the silver blinking dot, whenever I focused on Joshua, I could sense him, just like how my internal tracking system would work when we were awake. I left Maggie’s house and began jogging in his direction.

  The route made no sense. I passed the Superdome, then three blocks down the street, passed the abandoned and derelict Six Flags. In reality, they were a twenty-minute drive from each other. The concept of time had gone, so I had no idea how long it took me to get there, but I finally found myself at the Old Ursuline Convent. I was hiding behind the corner of the building opposite. Or at least, it was the building opposite in Joshua’s dreamscape – in reality, the street outside of the convent was very different, but this version still offered me some shelter.

  Outside the walls, on the street, were four of the faceless shadow men. Periodically, the gate would open and a Hummer would drive out, and I would catch a glimpse of more of them inside the perimeter. Whenever a Hummer exited, it would pass through a barrier of some description. It was invisible until that moment, and then it shone brightly.

  Going through the front door was out.

  I watched another Hummer, going in this time, and contemplated trying to hitch a ride underneath, but it wasn’t sure I could spare enough energy to pull that off, plus I would still have to pass through the barrier. What I did notice, was that when the Hummer passed through, where it met the wall of St. Mary’s, the adjoining church, the barrier seemed to stop.

  The church also had a door that entered into the convent grounds. The question was, how could I get into the St. Mary’s without being seen? I leaned back against the building I was hiding behind and stared at the one opposite. It was the typical two story building you see in New Orleans, complete with iron balconies covered in flowers. New Orleans was a pretty city, really.

  Then something popped into my head. I poked my head back to watch the convent to test my theory. From what I could tell, the attention of the shadow men was on ground level. I conjured a small bird and set it flying above their heads. It went past, unseen. I glanced over at the roof of the church: that was the way in.

  I hurried into the building I was hiding behind and up the stairs to the first-floor balcony. It wrapped around the building, so I went for the side away from the convent. Then, with the help of a supporting column, I pulled myself up onto the flat roof, trying to keep as quiet as possible.

  Keeping low, I made my way over to the section of the roof that sat opposite St. Mary’s Church, thankful that the buildings didn’t match the reality, otherwise there would have been a few more rooftop hops to contend with.

  I stared over at the church rooftop. The apex of it was steep and faced me. Dream or not, I didn’t like the idea of trying to make the landing on that. I kept my head down and moved opposite the building next to it. It was another two-story building, and also like the one I was on, had a flat roof.

  The street itself was about two car lengths wide. Even with angelic abilities, it was still a distance to jump. I moved to the back of the rooftop, took a deep breath, and trying to keep my feet as light as possible, charged for the edge of the building and jumped.

  I started soaring, and then I started falling. In a panic, I made my wings appear. A single beat was enough to get me onto the other roof, landing with a roll. I scooted back to the edge of the building, looking down. Whether it was the run, the jump, the wings, or the landing, the shadow men were now on alert, moving to this end of the street.

  I ducked down and waited, willing them to carry on as they had been doing. They did, but one of them stayed by St Mary’s. I gave it a few more minutes, then made my way to the end of the building furthest away from the shadow man.

  The jump across was much less daunting than across the road – in distance at least. The difficulty lay in the fact the roof was so steep and angled. I landed safely, and quietly, quickly clambering up the roof and over the top onto the adjoining roof of the convent. I glanced down at the grounds. There were a lot more of the shadow men down there than I had realized. Thankfully, it seemed none of them had spotted me.

  I turned my attention to the roof. The convent was in the same state as it was currently. If Joshua was in here, he was using his most recent memories to reconstruct it. This worked in my favor: the roof at this end was missing thanks to the fire Lucifer had had one of his Followers set before Christmas. I could see quite clearly all the way down past what was once the cherubim’s dorm, through Pascal and Noel’s room, and into the armory. The area was clear of all shadow men.

  I carefully lowered myself into the cherub’s dorm. I might have been able to manipulate something to help me down but going into the devil’s den, I wanted to have as much energy as possible – just in case. The floor and the roof, although charred around the edges, weren’t too frail. Most of the damage had been in the armory.

  I swung in, landing softly, then turned to examine the next drop. I didn’t trust the wood there as the floor had been directly above the fire. At least I was now in the building. I moved over to the door, opening it cauti
ously. It swung open with little effort and no sound. I peeked an eye through the crack: clear.

  Soot billowed around me as I moved as slowly as possible down the hallway to the set of stairs down to the floor where my bedroom was. Down a set of stairs and to the final door which led to the hall to my bedroom, I moved slowly, trying to keep the sound from my shoes to a minimum. As soon I was in the last home stretch, with the fire door shut behind me, I ran to my bedroom, pushing the door open, and then bolting to the bathroom.

  It was empty.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Hiding in Plain Sight

  Panic set in, and then I remembered that I’d had to switch my room again when I’d brought a potential back. There was no way Joshua would know about that. With a sigh of relief, I went to the room opposite.

  Joshua was how I had seen him, bound and gagged in the bottom of the shower. I pulled open the glass door, crouching down so I could pull the fabric from his mouth. “Joshua,” I hissed at his unconscious form. I gently shook him. “Joshua,” I hissed again.

  His eyes slowly fluttered open, the unfocused vision eventually settling on me. “Angel!” he cried, weakly.

  “Don’t worry, I’m getting you out of here,” I told him. I reached for the ropes, making quick work of untying them. I had to help Joshua to his feet. He’d been in that position for so long, that even in sleep, his limbs were frozen in place. I tried to fight back the tears as he cried in pain each time he moved. This was stupid. I had the ability to help here, and if this wasn’t a good enough reason to use my energy, I didn’t know what was.

  “Just stay still,” I told him, as I gently scooped him up. I made the shower walls disappear so I could move him with ease, and then carried him through into the bedroom. I propped him up on the bed wincing every time he did.

  “I’m sorry,” he apologized, his face contorting in pain.

  “No apologies,” I told him. I hovered my hand over one of his knees and closed my eyes. Feeling like a character out of a computer game, I focused my energy on healing him, easing out his muscles, making the pain disintegrate.