Color of Angels' Souls

by Sophie Audouin-Mamikonian

  She let up on him though when she saw how crestfallen he looked.

  “But it was really great, Clark, and above all, thanks for having listened to me, and telling me about that arms dealer. Even though it still hasn’t solved my problem, it was a big help. I love you.”

  “I love you too,” Clark said affectionately, as he pulled on his clothes with regret. “I’ll ask a couple friends of mine about the drug company and how it works—without going into any details,” he quickly added when he saw Allison suddenly tense up.

  “Cool,” said the red Angel. “We won’t even have to talk him into it, he’ll look into it himself.”

  Mike, the blue Angel, gave Jeremy a worried look.

  “Uh oh,” he said. “It looks like our little friend here has been struck by Cupid’s arrow. Bad news, very bad news.”

  Jeremy looked at him.

  “Struck by what?”

  “You’ve fallen in love with a living person, you blind fool!” replied the red Angel.

  “What?” Jeremy protested. “Are you crazy? I barely even know her!”

  “Oh really? Then why did you go to such trouble to stop Clark from making love to her? Poor little puppy, I don’t think I’ve ever seen an animal so surprised!”

  “Well I … because … because she made a promise, and you should never break a promise. I … I uh … I’m like a guardian angel. That’s it:, I’m protecting her.”

  The two Angels looked Jeremy over carefully.

  “Have you ever heard such a load of rubbish, Mike?”

  “Yeah, it’s pretty pathetic. Ciao bello, see you soon!”

  The two Angels headed off with Clark, who managed to get another kiss out of Allison before he left.

  Still all aquiver, the young girl closed the door, then stared down at Frankenstein as he yapped excitedly and wagged his tail.

  “Wow,” she whispered to herself. “What a great kisser! I almost …”

  She took a deep breath to regain her composure, then pulled her T-shirt off again. Jeremy was caught off guard and quickly turned away. The sight of her naked breasts was more than he could take. He wasn’t in love with the girl. He barely knew her, and it was wrong to look at her when she was naked. Well actually, even if he were in love it would have been just as wrong to take a peep. He couldn’t help but laugh at himself. The two Angels had been right: He was pathetic. What did it matter to her whether or not he looked at her? He was dead!

  But by the time he’d decided to turn around she was already in the bathroom. If the shouts and curses he heard were any indication, it sounded like she was taking a cold shower. When she came back into the room, she was wearing a top that was much too short for her.

  Jeremy took a gulp as he looked at her long, beautiful legs. Next he had to watch as she assiduously plucked the hairs from her legs.

  “Oh yuck!” Allison complained. “He touched my hairy legs; how gross!”

  Jeremy couldn’t help thinking that girls were pretty complicated creatures after all, because Allison couldn’t have had more than two or three measly little hairs on her thighs and calves.

  She spent the rest of the evening working, then went to bed.

  Despite Jeremy’s murder and the conversation she had overheard, Allison still had a very busy life to lead and had to keep going about her business.

  The following day, Jeremy accompanied her to her classes (as far as he could tell, she was just doing training at Angela’s school for a couple weeks, and hadn’t graduated from college yet), and then that evening, he attended his first “girls’ night out.” It was quite an eye-opener.

  Allison met two older friends of hers at a restaurant. Both had Angels hovering over them, and one was bright red, which hardly pleased Jeremy. The other Angels said hello without introducing themselves, and both looked surprised to see him accompanying Allison. He wondered if it was because he was a man: Maybe men only fed off other men and women fed off women?

  He learned a lot at the dinner. The three women were very witty and didn’t take themselves too seriously. Allison didn’t tell them about her escapades with Clark, but her two girlfriends filled her in with every last detail of their sex lives. Jeremy was stunned by how crude their talk was, but he found it all funny as well. They were even worse than guys!

  The one who made the most caustic remarks was her friend Misty, a corporate lawyer, the one with the red Angel. She made it sound as if she worked twenty-four hours a day, and a pink Mist rose from her. She seemed pissed off in general—about everything and nothing at all. Her husband who didn’t earn enough money, her lover who couldn’t satisfy her in bed, her lousy manicure, her boss who treated her like a slave, the wrinkles that were growing deeper on her face (actually, she did look a lot older than the others).

  She was going to get an ulcer in no time if she didn’t chill out, Jeremy thought. She had just turned twenty-seven—seven years older than Allison—and she gave him the impression that she had already seen and done everything. Jeremy found her a bit scary.

  Allison was very soothing, and also had a great sense of humor. She made Misty laugh and helped her relax. When the dinner was over and the friends were saying goodbye, Misty gave Allison a hug and her Mist glowed slightly with sexual desire, which shocked Jeremy. Then she sidled off in her high-heeled shoes, complaining about the taxis.

  Jeremy could hardly believe it: Everyone was attracted to Allison. She was beautiful and intelligent. There was something different about her, something unique. She seemed pure.

  He was still mooning over Allison when he saw something that snapped him out of his reveries immediately.

  A man.

  A man peeking out from behind a newspaper at the far end of the restaurant, gazing intently at Allison with a scary look in his eyes. There were three red Angels floating above him: not one, not two … three. The thick, toxic red Mist that emanated from the man was so dark it was almost black. More than enough to feed the three bloated fiends. Jeremy gulped when he looked into the cold, steely eyes of the man, and noticed they were slightly slanted.

  It was him! The Mongolian.

  The guy who had cut his head off.

  7

  The Taste of Fear

  Jeremy felt a shiver run down his spine. The man was tall—very tall, and emaciated, like a big spider, with a long mustache on his pale face. It was as if a superhuman force emanated from him. He was dressed all in black, except for a blood-red rose stuck on his lapel. He wasn’t wearing his sword, of course, but Jeremy could tell he was armed. Without thinking, he hid in a corner of the restaurant, as if the killer could see him. Then Jeremy felt an overwhelming rage coursing through his veins like a poison. Hate. Fury. He was dead, and it was all because of that man, and he had no way to take revenge. For a brief instant, Jeremy saw red and he could barely refrain from throwing himself at the killer. But he knew it would do no good.

  Somewhere in the back of his mind, the voice of reason told him to wait. The three Angels above the hit man were humongous, crimson-red monsters. Just looking at them made Jeremy sick. He would stand no chance against them, and even if they couldn’t kill him they could certainly cause him a lot of pain. He did his best to get ahold of himself and acted as if he hadn’t seen the man. He stayed close by Allison and surreptitiously kept watch.

  Strangely enough, the three red Angels didn’t bother talking to the killer. Instead, they remained immobile above him, in ecstasy, greedily feeding off the dark red vapors. It looked as if the man was subject to extremely violent emotions.

  The problem was that it was Allison who was making him feel that way.

  Jeremy was at a loss. There could be no doubt that the killer was trailing Allison, but he didn’t know why. It was now clear that Allison had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and judging by the way the man was hiding his face, she was clearly his next target.

  “Allison!” Jeremy said nervously into her ear, while she was busy saying goodbye to her other friend and
gathering up her things to leave. “You have to listen to me! There’s a man over there who’s following you. He’s probably going to try to kill you. You have to go talk to … OK, even to Clark if you want, but you have to tell someone what’s going on so that they can arrest whoever hired this guy to follow you—do you hear me?! He must be a hit man; just look at those three Angels feeding off of him! Allison! For the love of God! Listen to me!”

  But she was completely oblivious to the danger she was in. She went back to her apartment in complete serenity, and tightly locked her door as every good New Yorker was told to do. Jeremy was terrified when he examined her lock. One good kick would send the door flying.

  It was midnight.

  And … Allison decided to take Frankenstein outside for a walk.

  “Noooo!” Jeremy bellowed. “Allison, noooo!”

  Frankenstein was probably getting fed up with all the yelling and screaming he kept hearing somewhere around his head, and started to growl—more forcefully this time. Allison gave him a pat to calm him down and headed out the door. Jeremy, in a complete panic, followed her out into the street. The little dog began running about on the sidewalk, delighted to take in all the smells of the night.

  Jeremy’s heart sank when he noticed that, just like the night when he was murdered, two of the street lights above them were out: The light bulbs had been broken.

  “Oh shit!” he cursed; “He’s going to kill her! Allison, please, go back upstairs right away; I’m begging you!”

  Then the little dog suddenly barked and sped off toward a dark alleyway, stretching his retractable leash to its limit and dragging Allison along with him.

  “No no no no no! Please, not that,” Jeremy continued to plead. “No, don’t follow him, let him go, get the hell out of there!”

  Unheeding his words as usual, Allison let the dog drag her over to the dark alley. She called out to Frankenstein not to tug so hard, and then followed him into the alley.

  Suddenly, the leash grew slack, as if there was no longer anything on the other end.

  Jeremy closed his eyes, incapable of looking on as the woman he lo—the woman he had grown so fond of got herself killed.

  Then Allison cried out as a dark shape surged out of the darkness.

  When he heard her cry, Jeremy couldn’t help but open his eyes as the tears streamed down his face. Then he nearly collapsed—with relief. He began laughing hysterically as the passing Angels gave him strange looks. A cat! It was just a damned cat! Its hair standing on end, it hissed spitefully at Frankenstein, who chased after it. He was so focused on the chase he didn’t even bark, until he reached the end of his leash and was stopped in his tracks. Hand over her heart, Allison was just as startled as Jeremy. She began cursing at her stupid dog. They eventually made their way slowly back to the apartment, escorted by Jeremy. Angel or no Angel, he’d almost had a heart attack.

  Once Allison and Frankenstein had arrived safely at the apartment, Jeremy finally relaxed. He realized that he had never been so frightened in all his life. Well, except for the time when he first realized he was dead. Getting scared out of your wits like that was exhausting.

  He went to bed with Allison.

  And woke up, as he had the day before, when she began telling him how handsome he was. He knew full well that she was talking to the dog drooling on the mattress next to him, but so what? He smiled at her and replied: “Thanks. You’re beautiful too.”

  Then he remembered the hit man.

  “You’re in great danger, Allison!” he quickly added. “Please, you have to listen to me; you have to hear me when I talk to you!”

  Allison just smiled and continued petting Frankenstein, who growled softly with pleasure. She got ready to take him outside.

  Jeremy followed her, but it was broad daylight now. She was safe.

  He watched over her all day, though—he couldn’t help it—and thought he saw the killer everywhere: at the supermarket, in the ladies’ room, in the Starbucks where she bought herself a caffè latte. It was Saturday so Allison had the day off. She went shopping, had lunch with friends, then went to the movies, where she cried her eyes out watching a dippy romantic comedy, which drove Jeremy nuts.

  Over the past few days, he had followed Allison everywhere, eager to learn everything he could about her. She had just turned twenty and was already student teaching, and it looked like she would probably be getting her diploma early as well. She was very mature for her age in some respects, but acted completely childish at times. She was plucky, too, also loyal and honest, and Jeremy had seen for himself how stubborn she could be. She had quite a few gay friends—most likely because it wasn’t as risky to go out and have a good time with them. But she seemed lonely. That was what struck Jeremy the most. When you lived in a jungle like New York City, having your family nearby could be a real lifesaver. If you had a problem, there were always the welcoming and understanding arms of a loved one to turn to. But not for Allison. She’d told Clark the other night that her father never called her. Her mother had died, and in the afterlife, apparently hadn’t tried to stay close to Allison, unlike the mother of the young cleaning lady he’d seen near the church. At times, she would be sad for no apparent reason, and he could tell she was lonely. She would shiver all over and hug herself tightly. Jeremy felt bad for her, and it broke his heart because he couldn’t touch her, couldn’t tell her that he was there, right beside her. That he was protecting her. That he would stay by her side until the day that she finally came to join him.

  Early that evening as he was following her, and looking around yet again to make sure the killer wasn’t waiting somewhere to pounce, Allison hailed a cab and jumped in so quickly that Jeremy didn’t even have time to react before the car sped away.

  He cursed under his breath, filled with fear. He had no idea where she could be going, so he decided to head back to her place to wait.

  When he passed through the door of her apartment he immediately froze in his tracks: Someone was inside. He could just make out a masked figure in the shadows. At first he didn’t know who it was, but then he saw the three Angels floating above the intruder.

  The killer. The killer had broken into Allison’s apartment! He had tied up and muzzled Frankenstein, who lay on his side trying to yap with all his might. Jeremy began yelling frantically at the hit man as the three red Angels looked on with amusement. Of course the intruder only ignored him. He was doing something with Allison’s telephone. Jeremy watched as he placed a small microphone inside the receiver and carefully closed the casing. He then looked slowly around the apartment, placed a second microphone inside one of the telephone sockets in the bedroom, and a third one in the socket in the living room.

  Jeremy eventually calmed down. Apparently, the man hadn’t received instructions to kill Allison. At least, not yet. He decided that this was good news. The killer must have figured that Allison had seen him. Jeremy would have to find some way to make her say that she hadn’t seen the murderer—either out loud or to someone on the telephone. That way, he wouldn’t have any reason to want to kill her anymore. Or maybe he had bugged her apartment to find out if she had talked to anybody, so that he could get rid of that person as well.

  The man moved around the apartment with deadly precision. Quiet as a ghost, he grabbed the little dog, untied its bonds, removed the muzzle while at the same time holding its mouth clamped shut so Frankenstein couldn’t bite him, and then tossed the dog into the middle of the room as he closed the door, sending the dog into a frenzy. The wood floor had been polished to a sheen, and by the time Frankenstein had slid to a halt and threw himself at the door, the killer was long gone. The animal barked furiously and jumped against the closed door, then after a while went off to smell the areas where the intruder had bugged the apartment.

  When Allison finally arrived, her dog was out of sorts for some strange reason. She also couldn’t figure out why he kept scratching at the baseboards, but she angrily told him to knock it off. She had n
o idea that her apartment had been broken into. What worried Jeremy the most was how easy it had been for the man to enter. It had been a cinch for him to open the lock without leaving the slightest trace. Now he wasn’t sure if he preferred that Allison stay in her apartment, which was hardly a fortress, or go somewhere else. He didn’t have any say in the matter anyway, because after taking a shower, Allison pulled on a stunning black dress. Then a white dress. Then a blue one, then a red one. Then a pair of pants, a tunic with leggings, high heels, and then slippers. Then a long dress, a short skirt, a see-through blouse, then one made of a thicker material, a broad belt, cropped pants, then the first black dress again. Jeremy couldn’t believe how much time it took her to finally decide what to wear: a cream-colored dress with gold, high-heeled shoes and a matching clutch. Next she applied some makeup to her big blue eyes, creating a dazzling effect that made Jeremy weak in the knees. Then, after a dash of perfume and one last grimace as she examined herself in the mirror—even though she looked fantastic—she was finally ready.

  Jeremy was ready this time, and jumped in the taxi with Allison. Unfortunately for him, she wasn’t going out with her girlfriends, but with a man.

  Oh no, she was actually going out on a date! Well, considering how long it had taken her to pick out her clothes, he should have known.

  It was with some guy named Mark, a brilliant and witty intern that Misty had introduced her to. All evening long he was perfectly charming and made Allison laugh a lot. They chatted away about all sorts of things, but when Mark got up to use the restroom, Jeremy, who was green with jealousy, followed behind him and listened in on his telephone conversation.

  “Hi Misty,” Mark said, after making sure that no one else could hear him. “I did everything you told me. No sexual innuendos. The perfect gentleman. But this isn’t going to be easy, you know! She’s totally hot!”

  It was true that Allison was already sexy without all the fuss, but with her makeup and high-cut dress that showed off her long legs, she was absolutely irresistible. Although Jeremy did see her discreetly pull down the hem of her dress when she sat down to make sure she didn’t show too much thigh. He liked her sense of propriety. Sure, he would have liked her dress to be a tad bit shorter—but just for him, and not so all the guys in the restaurant could ogle her.