“Hey, just lots of practice really,” I answered.
It was a lot of practice, but I had strength in my muscles that would be alien to these boys. They had no idea what I was capable of and hopefully would never find out.
“I'm Brandon, and these guys are Mark and Connor.”
Mark was huge; he must be a football player. He was so broad across the shoulders, and his arms were the size of boulders. Connor was tall and solidly built, and not one ounce of fat anywhere.
“I'm Nate. I'm new in town."
“It would be awesome to grab some pointers, man.”
This Brandon was so excited. I don't think these kids got out of town much.
I turned toward the half pipe and the rest of the course and told Brandon how I normally tackle the jumps. He took off on his board, attempting to carefully act out my instruction—he wasn’t too bad either.
“Hey man, come meet our chicks," Mark even spoke like a jock. I bet he was as smart as one, too. I didn't have high hopes for him.
“Shh, Mark, if Indy heard you referring to her like that, she would be pissed," said Connor. He sounded very protective of this Indy girl.
I jumped back on my board and gave a demonstration to Brandon—this time I would really show off and cement the boys’ friendship.
Those eyes were still on me. It was the biggest distraction. I landed perfectly after making the highest jump ever. I casually scanned the direction in which I felt the eyes. The girls were now standing next to Mark and Connor looking at me.
I headed back toward them, my skin was coming to life—the familiar pins and needles worked their way from my fingertips up my arms. Static energy was gearing up for the fight or flight response. I came to a complete standstill and this tiny small blonde stood in front of me. She had a very defined athletic body and nearly golden eyes. I felt I had to shield my eyes from her stunning features, her sweet angelic face could swoon any man—it could have blinded me. This small teenager couldn't be the one I have been sent to find. She had a strange signature about her, it was kind of sweet and reminded me of the color pink ... specifically, a light pink. It was very bizarre; the other demons I had killed presented with black ghastly signatures.
I didn't think I would have had any effect on this demon, but she stood there with her mouth gaping wide. If the circumstances were any different and she was a normal human girl, I would have thrown myself at her. Luckily, I had the pre-warning that kicked my system into action.“
“Close your mouth, Indy," Mark was teasing her.
This chick had razor sharp wits about her and hurdled a comeback at him. It was kind of cute. But I had to stop myself and not let her fool me into thinking she was not a killer. The legends about this chick dated back to the Middle Ages; I had researched her for a good three months before being sent here.
I said good-bye to the group to prepare to live my pretend life, one step at a time. I will complete my mission.
I was pretty much myself on this assignment, except for the fact that I had to return to school, although I graduated two years ago. Doing this case was only a small way to thank the boss, my adopted father, for taking me in when no one else would give me chance. I may have ended up a killer if I was forced to stay in the foster system.
I was three years old when my first foster family brought me back to the social workers, telling them that they could no longer handle me. I didn’t understand why I was being put into a new family. This one lasted a few weeks ‘til I was back again. I wasn’t a naughty child; I did what I was told, and I was very smart, even doing the other children’s homework. I watched and listened to their parents’ instructions and finished it all when the kids had toilet breaks. When the kids realized I liked to do it, they took this to their advantage and let me do it every day. I loved to wrestle like all boys did, but I had a strength I didn’t know how to control and always hurt my opponent. This was the reason I was always sent back. They thought I was a nasty child who did these things deliberately, to hurt my foster brothers.
I had started school by the time I was five, and even though I never stayed at the same kindergarten long enough to make friends, I excelled. One school wanted me to participate in the gifted children’s program, but by the time this was organized, I was already listed to go to another foster home. One of my teachers felt sorry for me and gave me a year one and year two textbook. While I travelled across the country, I worked on the questions and finished as I arrived at my new house. This was to be my last home. My father had agreed to take me and realized very fast that I was like no other child and had great potential. He shaped me over the years and helped me to become the person I am today.
I arrived at the real estate agent's and picked up the keys for the house I was to occupy for the next few weeks. I was a little worried. From what I had seen of this town, there were two housing areas: the nice, and the downright shabby. I’m sure my boss had arranged a crappy house. The house I had grown up in was beautiful; I had all of the nicest accessories and was left wanting nothing at the end of the day. This way I was living now was not easy, but I was becoming used to it. As long as I had my skateboard, I could deal.
Chapter Five
Indiana
The drive was hot and busy along the highway as I headed to this new case. I had stopped twice at McDonald’s for a frappe, and I wish I had brought someone else with me. I know this wouldn’t have been possible, though, unless it was another angel. There were a few of us around, and we sometimes got together, but rarely. We did, however, ring or email each other. There weren’t nearly as many fallen angels today as there used to be. In the medieval times, the rate of the fallen was quite high. I don’t mean like hundreds, but I know of four angels who were banished in that era alone. Since then, though, only one has been found by Ailsa to plummet from Heaven. Ailsa was kind of like our angel boss—she had a direct link to God. I was unsure if she had fallen through bad deeds or was sent by God because we needed someone to keep us in check from time to time. I tried to keep her happy, at least. God must be becoming more tolerant of his heavenly creatures these days. He gave the mortal race countless chances after making their mistakes, but angels got one chance and that was it.
Getting to my destination was no problem; the real issue was finding somewhere to glam myself up. I was only staying a few hours, and didn’t want to rent a hotel room, especially nothing to provide evidence if this douche bag decided to run to the police. But I did need somewhere to get ready. Driving around, I found the scurviest hotel I could find. The guy behind the counter looked stoned and sported a gothic look. He smelt like musty old pot, and I don’t think he knew what personal hygiene was, or at least he didn’t care. His teeth were definitely the worse I had ever seen. He had food stuck between each of them and the stain of yellow from smoking was the color of butter. When he spoke to me, I had to step back because his breath smelt like arse.
“We have single rooms for seventy five, or doubles for one hundred,” he muttered.
“Hey buddy, I need somewhere to shower and dress. I’ll only be an hour at max; can I borrow one of your rooms? I want you to forget you ever saw me after that.” I handed him a hundred, which he promptly put in his pocket. Obviously there were no security cameras here. He gave me a key to Room 8 and pointed me in the right direction.
Once I got into the room, I was actually impressed that it wasn’t too bad inside. The comforters were dated, but apart from that, you could have a comfortable night’s sleep here. The bathroom smelt of ammonia; housekeeping clearly went a bit overboard. Luckily, the fumes would not asphyxiate me. After a quick shower, I put on my mint pendulum dress—this outfit created womanly curves with its tight fit and pushed my cleavage out. A dark brown wig finished off the look, obscuring my looks. This guy preferred brunettes and I wanted to play my part to the very end. I was ready to go and placed my supplies into my overly large bag.
I went to the pub where he and his mates went for drinks. He wasn’t so f
oolish to openly cheat with his mates around as some of them were married to friends of his wife’s. This guy usually checked out potential women and either stayed after the others had gone home or left and went to another bar. What made John interesting was that he had numerous children with all of his flings, and his wife was none the wiser. The lady who had hired AJ was a fling with whom John had a child, which he denied was his. He had made this lady’s life hell, telling everyone she was crazy and needed to be put in a whacko house.
Tonight, I was going to make sure he noticed me, and I was going to humiliate him like he did to Susan. John was with his mates as I expected. He was a very good-looking man and seemed to be very aware of his looks and used these to his advantage. Tonight he wore extra tight jeans and a round-necked shirt. An expensive watch sat on his arm, so I could assume he had a lot of money. I could faintly see the outline of his wedding ring in his pocket. I made sure to approach the bar when he did and ordered a cosmo, flashing my ID when the bartender asked. This was another of his weaknesses; he loved them barely legal. I walked in his direction and timed it perfectly when he turned around, making sure he spilled my drink all over his black shirt. He was profusely sorry and bought me another drink. I sat by myself on the opposite side of the bar making sure to look up in his direction and maintain eye contact for at least three seconds every ten minutes and then pretend to look embarrassed; it was working a treat.
His friends left eventually. I was getting tired of waiting for them, and as predicted, he came up to me less than one minute after they walked out the door.
“Hi, I’m Steve,” he offered, as I gave him my schoolgirl smile.
I thought to myself, you lying bastard. That’s why it was so hard to track him down—he also lied to Susan about his name. I wondered how many other names he had. I put on my most innocent voice.
“Hi, I’m Bessy,” I whispered sweetly.
“Can I buy you a drink?”
“I’d really like that, thanks.” I was trying to seem as innocent as possible.
And so the evening started, and by the time he had bought me my third drink, he was getting very friendly.
“So, I normally don’t do this Bessy, but do you want to go somewhere else,” lied John.
“Oh—um—you seem like a nice guy ... sure,” I stammered.
Got him. Hook. Line. Sinker. He led me to a hotel, which was very upper class to him, but I’d stayed in better. It appeared to me that he knew the guy behind the desk. He was probably getting a tip every time “Steve” came here. Once we got to the hotel room, I let him kiss me and run his hands all over my body. He was behaving like a schoolboy. I stripped off all of his clothes and led him to the bed. He was trying to take off mine, but that was not going to happen. It was time to change the course of the night. I threw him down and handcuffed him to the headboard. Then I kicked him in the ribs, twice, and punched him in the stomach.
“What the hell!” yelled John.
“You make me sick! Men like you deserve worse!” I yelled back at him.
“Men like me? You little slut, you wanted it!”
That’s when I kicked him in the face. When he came to, he would get a fright.
The rest was organized with a friend I had known for a long time. He was a very attractive female. Yes, a tranny. Monique owed me a favor since I had helped her to escape an abusive relationship, and now I was asking for it to be returned. When “Steve” or “John,” or whoever he really was, woke in a few hours, he would be next to Monique in a compromising position. Nothing would have happened, and he would be released promptly—only to be sent some photos, which were carefully designed to make it look like it had. A warning would be sent with these photos that if he ever cheated on his wife again they would be circulated to his mates and work colleagues.
The drive home was quite satisfying. I couldn’t stop grinning. I texted AJ to let him know the job had been completed. I wouldn’t tell him what I really did to the guy, only just that it was done. He didn’t want to know any more; he was trying to be good for the sake of getting Sariel back into his life. Yuck. That mushy crap made me feel sick thinking about it.
Chapter Six
Indiana
Today was the day I had been waiting for. Mr. Hopwood would be back, and I could see if he still had my fist marks on his face. I could see the scene unfolding now. Ha, I couldn’t wait. The class came in and sat down in their usual seats, except for Mark, who sat next to me. I looked at him, and he flashed me a big smile.
“You better be on your best behavior if you’re going to sit there,” I said.
“No, you should, Indy.”
I looked away, laughing. Even though we fought heaps, we were still friends. We loved to antagonize each other.
“Hey, Indy, is dipshit back?” Mark’s question shocked me.
“What did you say?” I asked, to be sure that I heard him right.
“You know, the sleazy teacher. I see the way he looks at the girls in our class, makes me sick.” Okay, maybe Mark wasn’t such a big jerk after all.
“They’re my conquests, not his. He had his time,” said Mark.
I take that last thought about him back. He is a jerk … a super jerk … especially when one of my friends is his current “conquest.”
In walked Mr. Hopwood, and the first thing he did was scan the room for me. When his eyes found my face, he looked at the floor. He didn’t look down fast enough, though, because my curiosity was largely rewarded. Mark made a chuckling noise and looked in my direction, and I couldn’t help but to smirk back at him. We had one thing in common today: we both found Hopwood’s two black eyes amusing.
“Hey, sir, what happened to your face? Did you fall down the stairs?” I asked as innocently as I could.
“Indiana, curb your sarcastic comments today, or I’ll see you in my office.”
Crap Head Mistress Leda walked into the room, and behind her was the mysterious boy from the skate park.
“Class, we have a new student today. His name is Nate O’Ryan. I am sure you will all make him feel welcome.”
The only seat was the one on the other side of me, and he didn’t look happy that he had to sit there—especially when I tried to smile at him, and he gave me a filthy look. As he got closer, Mark stood up, and they high- fived over my head.
“Told you that I’d see you first period, man.” Mark and I rarely sat together, so it now made sense why he chose to sit near me today.
“You’ve met our Indy, we share most classes. The other guys are in the dumb classes.”
“Mark, they’re not dumb,” I replied.
“Well, Connor isn’t the smartest cookie,” said Mark.
“Leave Connor alone; he’s not a loser like you,” I replied.
“Is Connor your boyfriend?” asked Nate.
“No, he’s not—just a really good mate.” I thought that Nate was going to ignore me.
“The position’s open if you want it, man. Until you arrived, I was starting to think she was a dyke.”
“No thanks. She looks like hard work, and I like my girls softer,” insulted Nate.
“I’m right here, you know.” What a jerk.
”How am I not soft?” I questioned, really wondering what he meant.
The insults kept on coming from Mark, and I just sat there and took them. After a while I didn’t hear them. There was just a small echo in the back of my head. At what point did I become a hard bitch? I was certainly horrible when I was defending women, but that’s different. I had to be. I did pretend to be a teenage girl, I definitely had an attitude, but I was not trying to be a complete ass. I loved to joke around with Mark, and I’m sure he loved it, too, but was that being mistaken for real bitchiness?
“Indy, are you coming? Class is over,” Mark tapped me on the shoulder gently.
“Are you okay?” asked Mark, truly concerned.
“Yeah, just deep in thought,” I responded, staring off into space.
Chapter Seven
Indiana
I drifted in and out through classes ‘til lunch, walking into the cafeteria on autopilot. I grabbed some food and sat down. Someone was talking to me, but I wasn’t really paying any attention. I was thinking back to the moment I decided to be the male butt-kicking feminist. The key moment I decided to Hell with God, I was going to be my own boss, and Benilde can get screwed. Benilde was my angel guide, apart from an angel named Ailsa, but that was a little different. Benilde was living in Heaven, but came to the mortal world to deliver messages. He was the only link I had to God. When Ailsa fell, a new communication opened up, but as the rest of us, she is stuck here, too. I think.
Heavenly Hell (Heavenly Hell Book 1) Page 4
