The Watchers

by Reakes, Wendy

  Suzi laughed. “I asked them to drop me off, but they thought they’d stay to see a bit of the action.”

  Mia grabbed her friend’s arm and pulled her towards the fence. The boys were whistling and whooping at a passing car filled with girls. “I told you this was a secret! Have you managed to tell everyone from school?”

  Suzi chuckled once more. “What’s going on here is no secret, love.”

  Mia wanted to slap her face. She may still do that. “No, but my theory of the Watchers turning up is.”

  “Oh, chill, babe. You’ve gotta lighten up.”

  “Lighten up? You know what it means to me to see the Watchers. Tom and I have made it our life’s work.”

  “Life’s work!” Suzi guffawed. “Now you’ve seriously lost it.”

  Mia felt her face redden. Okay, the statement about it being her life’s work was a bit over the top, but honestly, Suzi knew how important it was to her. Only the other night she’d confided in her friend about her constant inexplicable yearning to see the Angels. She couldn’t explain it, but the feeling of wanting to know everything about them was so overwhelming it was like living with a drug addiction. She told Suzi she’d never been so serious about anything before in her life.

  That was when she’d formulated her plan; to stay at the drilling site all night until the Watchers showed up. Once again man was stripping the planet of its resources and her guess was, the Watchers would take that very seriously. Only a few years ago, Blackpool, in the north of England, suffered an earth tremor as a result of fracking. The week previous, drilling had begun, starting the process of fracturing the rock thousands of feet below ground to release gas trapped in a seam of shale running from Clitheroe to the coast. A week later, when the tremor came, the company denied accountability, claiming fracking was a safe process. The word on the street claimed the Angels had turned up, but that had been denied too.

  Mia turned her back on Suzi and went once more to the fence. She cast a quick glance at her friend who was now chatting to the boys as they lit a cigarette and passed it around. Mia peered through the gap in the railings so that she could get another glimpse of the site.

  Over the far side, near the entrance, crowds of demonstrators chanted and shouted their objections to the drilling. In the centre, a huge rig, like a giant mast, took prime position, surrounded by containers, porta cabins and vehicles parked randomly within the grounds. Men were wandering around doing their jobs, and behind a partition, hidden from the frantic crowds at the gate, two men with rifles paraded back and forth.

  The sound of the drill starting up made Mia stop breathing. It sounded like a high pitched scream. “Why don’t you come?” she whispered, praying for the Watchers to prevent yet another assault on the earth. “Where are you?”

  Chapter 5

  New York

  Tom kept his fingerpressed hard on the intercom to Jay Pullman’s apartment. His loft wasn’t far from Tom’s place where he lived with his mom, four blocks away on the Lower East Side.

  He heard a voice come through the intercom. “Get your finger off that bell before I come down there and break every stupid bone in your body.”

  “It’s only me!” Tom responded as his fringe fell across his face. Long hair for men was the fashion, which made Tom, just by accident, very fashionable indeed.

  “Who’s me?”

  “Tom. Tom Stone. We met last night.”

  “Oh god!”

  A buzzer sounded and the front door clicked open. Tom pushed his way in. He checked the mail boxes in the public area and saw J. Pullman. Apt. 5, a fifth box from the left. When he alighted from the elevator on the fifth floor, the door to Jay's loft was already ajar. It was the only apartment on that floor, so Tom had no reservations about walking straight in. He closed it behind him and wondered whether to fix all the locks into place. There were at least six. He made the decision to leave the door unguarded. Jay could put them back on if he felt the need, although no one kept their apartments unlocked anymore. Most of the places, from the tenements downtown, to the elite residences of Manhattan were as impenetrable as Fort Knox.

  Unlike Tom's mother's apartment, Jay's was interesting. It was an open space bare brick loft, once desirable on the property market, but not anymore. Now, it just looked like the owner of the building couldn't afford to put plaster on the walls. Still…Tom liked it. The spaces were divided by bookcases and screens; some Japanese, some French, and some just curious, like the one filled with old photographs of female nudes, a collage of exquisite nudity in art form; not porn. Tom scrutinised them with a self-proclaimed expert eye. The photographs were good, but they weren't the work of Jay Pullman's.

  Tom could hear water running behind a wall fashioned from several old glass doors with peeling paint. Since Jay was in the shower, Tom decided to make himself comfortable. In the far corner was Jay’s bed; the base a foot off the floor held up by stacks of old coffee table books. A black sheet was twisted into a knot in the middle of the mattress next to a single black pillow while the other three lay on the floor along with discarded jeans, a crumpled T-shirt and some black sneakers. In the far corner, a seating area displaying an old leather couch and two unmatched easy chairs. A brand new 60" wide flat screen TV dominated the centre (rightly so) and a scratched nineties coffee table held a game's console, two empty Budweiser bottles, a wallet, a cell phone and a set of keys. Tom threw himself onto the couch and picked up the remote to turn on the TV. He placed his feet on the coffee table and surfed the channels while he recalled the night before when they had seen the Watchers in action. Today, it all seemed so surreal, as if it had never happened.

  The Angels were stunning specimens. They were immeasurably strong but Tom thought they also had an unthreatening and serene quality about them too, which wouldn't have been the opinion of the people inside the void. Even though they had destroyed human life they seemed to know who was dangerous and who was not. The dark skinned youth, saved from certain death, had shuffled along the dirt floor when one of the Angels had turned to him, crouched down on his haunches and released the wires from around his wrists as if they were threads of cotton. The rope around his neck took one touch for it to melt away, allowing the boy to rise to his feet and flee.

  Tom and Jay had watched it all. The whole thing had been mesmerising and while he had remained transfixed on the events going on in the clearing, he'd abandoned his natural instincts to aim his camera and click. Instead, he had not one photograph -nada- not one shot to mark an event that could have potentially changed his life. Not one shot! A paparazzi nightmare!

  When it was all over, the one who seemed in charge had looked across the clearing to where Tom and Jay had been hiding behind a tree, as if he knew they were there. Then the seven Angels expanded their wings and like great birds taking flight, they rose up into the sky and disappeared into the night. The scene had been spectacular on every level. Tom considered it to be a monumental life experience, and Tom was all about life experiences.

  “Hey, kid.” Jay was walking out of the bathroom through one of the doors. He was freshly showered, wearing a towel around his waist and rubbing his short hair dry so that it stuck up in points over his scalp. He was clean shaven now, unlike his appearance the night before when his five o’clock shadow threatened to grow wild at midnight.

  Tom figured he was about thirty-five, but he could have been older considering the worry lines on his forehead. Judging by his apartment, he was single, with no wife, no kids, and no dog. He was medium height with a bit of a pot-belly, no doubt the result of many a midnight takeout and he had a tattoo on his upper arm with Carpe Diem etched onto a scroll. Seize the day. He also wore a gold wedding band on his pinky. Divorced, Tom deduced. “Your apartment is too cool, man,” Tom said.

  “Thanks.” Jay went to the small makeshift kitchen next to the bathroom and its door walls. He was filling an oversized cup from the coffee pot when a buzzing noise reverberated around the loft. Tom watched him pad along the flo
or in his black leather mules and a black towel wrapped around his hips. He pressed a button next to the door and spoke into the intercom. “Yeah?”

  “Honey, it’s me. Hurry up.”

  He frowned as he pressed the button to release the door on the ground floor. He left the door ajar and Tom could hear the elevator ascending outside the apartment.

  He went back to the kitchen. “What some coffee, kid? Soda?”

  “Sure, thanks.”

  Jay went to the refrigerator and pulled out a diet coke and tossed it to Tom before he joined him on the couch and picked up the remote.

  When the woman entered Tom became mesmerised. She was beautiful with long blonde hair wild about her shoulders as if she’d just got out of bed and hadn’t brushed it. The strands fell across her breasts bulging beneath a white T-shirt and her ripped blue jeans were secured on her hips with a wide black leather belt. Tom thought she was the sexiest woman he had ever seen. Bar Mia!

  He stood up as she closed the door and walked towards the kitchen. She was definitely familiar with the place. "It's so hot out there." She walked around the breakfast counter made from an upturned church pew and opened the refrigerator door. She spotted Tom just as she flicked the pull-ring on a can of sugar-free soda. "Who are you?"

  He went towards her and held out his hand. “Um, Tom…Tom Stone.”

  She laughed as she looked at his hand protruding. She didn’t reciprocate. “Yes, but who are you?”

  “He’s a friend of mine,” Jay interrupted from the direction of the couch.

  Her eyes didn’t flinch. She was still staring at Tom with a grin on her pretty face. “You haven’t got any friends.”

  “We met last night,” Tom said. He couldn’t control his eyes moving to her breasts bulging beneath her white shirt. He took another swig of his soda. He suddenly felt very thirsty.

  “Where?”

  “Fran!” Jay interrupted without taking his eyes from the TV screen. “Is there something you want?”

  Her musky smelling perfume still lingered in the kitchen when she nonchalantly moved into the area where the bed was. She sat down on the mattress and leaned back on her arm, crossing her legs while she drank her soda. “I’ve come to tell you I’m leaving.”

  Tom’s gaze darted towards his new-found friend whose expression remained cool and uninterested.

  “England?” Jay asked.

  She ran her fingers through her hair. “That’s right.”

  “When?”

  “Tomorrow.”

  "How can you even afford that?" It was true. No one flew out anywhere anymore. For one thing, it was way too expensive, considering the cost of fuel, and for another, it was way too dangerous, considering the number of terrorist threats the airlines received each day.

  “The agency is paying. Some people still have money you know.”

  “How long?”

  "Couple of months. Get away from this heat. With any luck, England will be cooler than this godforsaken climate. I'll be on location for a few weeks."

  “Good for you.”

  The beautiful woman looked momentarily hurt, but then she recovered and laughed. Tom recognised the bravado, even if Jay didn't.

  “Yes, it is. And guess who I’m not going to miss when I’m gone?”

  Jay offered her a wry grin as he leaned his head on the back of the couch. “Well, say howdy to the queen for me.”

  Fran guffawed. “Idiot. She lives in London. I’m not going there.”

  “What? She doesn’t move around, then? She stays in London and never sets her little royal foot outta it. Ever?”

  Tom watched her drain the drink and toss the can into an already full basket at the side of the bed. She took her sunglasses from where they were hooked onto her belt and used them to pull back her hair from her face, before resting them on her head.

  Walking across the wooden floor towards the door, she said, “For your information, I’m going to a little place called Glastonbury. Not that you care.” She turned and gave Tom a charming smile. “Tom, it’s been a pleasure.” She took one more glance at Jay draining his coffee cup. “Ta, ta!” she sang, and then she left, slamming the door behind her.

  Chapter 6

  South-West England

  Mia looked to the sky.It was ink black, dotted with a zillion stars. She was alone now, apart from Charlie, sitting at her feet with his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. He was panting, but he couldn’t be thirsty since he had a bowl of water in front of him.

  Suzi had abandoned her hours ago, jumping into that old double towed car with the boys. Two other cars had been hitched behind the first, legally required now for anyone just cruising, since the price of fuel had rocketed. The kids around the country had made the concept cool (what choice did they have?) It was ‘tow another car behind you or stay off the road', so the kids met up at parking lots and joined up, adapting their pre-2019 vehicles into car trains to do the circuit.

  Mia had been glad to see them go, but now, as the hours had passed and night had fallen, she couldn’t help wondering what fun they would all be having, whilst she and Charlie sat alone in the dark at the side of a deserted main road.

  The petitioners at the front gate had long gone. They had abandoned their position on the front line, throwing their placards into the trunks of their vehicles and driving away; leaving only a few stragglers to keep the fire alight. On the site, a single porta cabin was illuminated by the solar power panels dotted around the area. A truck started up and drove out through the manned gates, heading to wherever it was destined to go.

  In the centre of the complex at the top of the rig, a spotlight rotated like a lighthouse beacon. She could easily hear the drill screeching its way through the layers of earth and when Mia pictured its progress, she felt a chill in her bones, as she contemplated the earth being torn apart.

  There was no sign of the Watchers. She’d been wrong about that. Honestly, how could someone like her predict the actions of those celestial beings. It had felt good to get Tom’s approval, but come on, who the hell was she in the scheme of things? If it was that easy, everyone would be doing it, wouldn’t they? No, there was nothing to see there. It was time to go home.

  Before she had the chance to put the crocks back on her feet, out of nowhere, an unfamiliar feeling made the hairs on the back of her neck prickle her skin. She rubbed her hand beneath her dark hair as Charlie growled. "Something's happening, Charl'," she whispered. Yes, she could feel something... like a storm was about to be unleashed; an unnatural stillness and the lack of a breeze, like the earth was about to receive a deluge of something… She waited a little longer, listening for a noise. Then, as her dog continued growling with his face between his paws, not even thinking about it and charged by the desire to investigate, she stepped back three paces and took a run at the fence. She hit it only halfway up, but her hands grasped it in the right place, giving her enough leverage to lift herself higher. She flung one leg over the horizontal bar at the top and for a split second she seemed to totter there, like a knife balancing on the side of a table. Straining her chest against the hardness of the metal and holding on until she could manoeuvre properly, she pulled her leg over and let her body fall to the other side.

  “Charlie,” she whispered, “Stay there and keep watch. Good boy. Back in a minute. Stay. Good boy.” Mia ran swiftly across the untended prickly grass, past trees reaching to the stars. She hid behind a sturdy elm, fearing being caught and thrown out for trespassing. Holding her breath, she waited for that feeling to return, a feeling that the Watchers were about to arrive. “It must be time,” she whispered.

  It was.

  Suddenly, a draught blew against her skin as a shadow darkened the air above her head. She looked up and saw a magnificent Angel swoop down and land gracefully on the grass in front of her. She saw another step out from behind a tree, another followed, then another...Within seconds, as Mia became rooted to the spot, seven Angels were now pacing towards the centre of t
he works unit, towards the rig where the screeching earth, sounding like an injured animal, broke into the night.

  Mia couldn’t take her eyes off them. The rumours were true. They were glorious. She had heard the stories, but the words used to describe their greatness and beauty, was nothing compared to seeing them in person. They were God’s Angels after all.

  One of the Watchers suddenly turned and looked straight into her eyes. She gasped. The light from somewhere in the distance mingled with shadows and the movement of the leaves on the trees revealed an expression on his face. It was a look of kindness, not aggression and even though she took a step back, she knew somehow she needn't be afraid.

  They moved forward like beasts parading their turf, some pacing and some gliding, reaching out their wings as they surfed the air like giant eagles. Mia was suddenly overwhelmed as if the breath had been punched out of her. She leaned down and rubbed her knees, feeling them ache from the brutality of her leap of faith over the fence, but then she straightened up and exhaled. She needed courage, she needed strength, and she needed more air in her lungs so that she could face what was about to surely happen. She wished Tom was there, not just to see the spectacle, but to be at her side as a human buffer.

  She kept her distance as she went after them, as they entered the centre of the complex. Suddenly all the lights around the place went out. In the darkness, illuminated by the light of the moon, the Watchers stopped and looked up at the rig. Mia stopped a few metres behind them, going down on her haunches, stretching her hands over the grass to steady herself. The Angels wings were twitching as if they were being manoeuvred by emotion. Two men came out of the portacabin holding torches. They shone them on the faces of the Watchers.

  Then all sanity was lost.

  As the Angel's wings became outstretched and the muscles in their bodies taught, the men working the drilling complex began screaming, shouting obscenities at the heavenly beings. A security guard came from behind a partition that protected the view of the site from the entrance. He pulled up his rifle, aimed it at one of the Angels and then he fired. The shot pierced the night as the bullet went through the wings of the Watcher like water through a sieve.