by Carlos King
Maybe something’s wrong. Maybe she needs help.
“Shana?!” Jade nervously called out. An immense lightning strike temporarily sheds light on the isolated road and Jade instantly realizes that the car she’s approaching isn’t Shana’s. She’s literally frozen in place. The car belongs to a man who stays in her apartment complex—a man who’s also a roommate of the three men who attacked Drake.
During the brief illumination, Jade notices another three men accompanying the driver, undoubtedly the same three men that attacked Drake. Jade instinctively inches back to her car.
As Jade back steps, the other doors to the parked vehicle open and the three remaining passengers step out. Another flash of lightening reveals that each of the men is in possession of some kind of object. One man is holding an aluminum baseball bat, while two others, Jack included, are holding foot-long pipes, and the fourth man is in possession of a tire iron. She can tell what their intentions are by their malevolent gapes.
Not wanting to find out if her suspicious are true, Jade makes a dash for her car. The men waste no time in charging after her. She manages to make it to her car and urgently locks the doors once inside. She fiddles with her keys desperately searching for the one needed to turn the ignition.
One of the men shatters the driver’s door window. Undergoing a level of fear that she’s never known, Jade can only think to scream, kick, and put up as much of a fight as she can as two of her attackers pull her through the window. Once she’s been removed, the two men let her drop to the wet pavement. Jade’s entire body goes limp as it collides into the unforgiving surface.
When Jade regains her composure she swiftly tries to think of another way out of her predicament, however, any other way out is virtually non-existent. The men gather around her, blocking off any possible escape route. She scoots away from the men until her back is up against her car door. One of the men attempts to kick Jade in the head, but narrowly misses after she manages to slip clear of the punt. The man’s heavy boot slams into the car door, creating a basketball-sized dent.
The four men permit Jade to crawl around to the front of her car before cutting off her path yet again. A feeling of hopelessness settles on Jade. She stops crawling and leans back against the bumper. The man carrying the ball bat steps directly in front of Jade and clenches the object firmly with both hands. Jade is well aware of what’s about to happen next. Her heart is pounding through her chest, but being the strong-minded person she is, she refuses to concede to the men. The steady rain flow conceals her tears. Jade turns her sights away from the man as he raises the bat above his head, preparing to strike. She doesn’t want the man and his bat to be the last image she sees.
Jade is surprised when she hears what sounds like metal clinging against the pavement. She cautiously faces forward to investigate and is shocked to see that the man wielding the bat has completely vanished, the sound of him screaming drifting off into the surrounding darkness. A second or two later the screaming returns, drawing near at a rapid rate. The screaming is brought to an abrupt end when the man’s body crash lands onto the roof of his car.
Jade and the three remaining men surrounding her are perplexed by the baffling occurrence.
“What the hell happened to CJ?” one of the men asked.
Limited only to the visibility provided by Jade’s headlights, the three men search aimlessly for whatever it was that ambushed their friend.
“Did anybody see what happened?!” one man yelled out. “Who the hell’s out there?!”
Jade is at a loss. This would’ve been an ideal time for her to run away, only she can’t. She’s frightened stiff.
The edginess of the three men continues to accumulate. Their anxiety builds with every passing second as they impatiently wait for something else to happen. A series of lightning strikes light up the area. The momentary light unveils a man standing motionless in the middle of the street, no more than fifty feet away from where they’re standing. The violent weather continues to hinder their visibility, but there’s no doubt that someone is out there. The illumination created by the lightning strikes dissipates, returning the atmosphere to its pitch-black state.
“Jake, did you see that?!” one of the men frantically hollered. “There’s somebody out there, man!”
“Where?!” Jake asked, panicked, tightly gripping the piece of pipe.
“Straight ahead! He was standing in the middle of the street!”
Another series of lightning flashes occur, again revealing the person in the center of the road, only this time the person is about twenty feet away—a big distance jump for such a short timeframe. It’s also become obvious that the person closing in on them is the same trench coat-wearing, hooded individual that has been following Jade all day. The lightning flashes fade out, sending the entire area back into darkness.
The three men realize that whoever or whatever it is that’s out there is definitely stalking them. The worried men ready their weapons and prepare to attack. The men plot. Their plan is to attack when the next round of lightning illuminates the area. The moment they spot their target, they’ll strike.
Within a matter of seconds, they get their signal. Lightning flashes light up the night yet again, but oddly, the elusive stranger isn’t anywhere in sight. Darkness begins to prevail once more before another chain of lightning strikes occur. Although the three men are absolutely clueless as to where the hooded stranger went, the flickering lights reveal that the mysterious stranger has gone from being fifty feet in front of them to now standing directly behind them.
As soon as the light dies out, the sounds of screaming begin. Jade can faintly see the altercation unfold thanks to her headlights, but her view is extremely poor.
The hooded individual grabs a hold of one of the men’s shirts from behind and tosses him effortlessly over his shoulder with the use of one hand. Jade is astonished by the brute power the stranger exhibits. The other two men, Jake being one, turn around and proceed to swing their weapons wildly at the hooded stranger. The enigmatic being catches Jake’s pipe in one hand and snatches his friend’s weapon away with the other.
Jade watches on as the hooded individual tosses both weapons aside and throws a single punch into Jake’s chest, knocking him clear out of view. The last remaining goon is utterly terrified. He and the mystifying stranger stare at one another through the heavy rainfall for a number of seconds before the cowardly thug makes a run for it. The man in the hood blurs out of sight, running after the spineless goon at a phenomenal speed.
The extraordinary being easily catches up to the goon, hoisting the sniveling punk in the air by the collars of his jacket. In a calm tone, the hooded stranger issues a subtle, yet imposing threat.
“If any of you ever come near her again, you’ll have to deal with me, and I promise you I won’t be as nice a second time around. And trust me…You don’t wanna see me when I’m pissed off. You understand me?” The petrified hooligan nods. The hooded stranger then tosses him aside like a ragdoll.
After getting rid of all the assailants, the unknown stranger checks on Jade, who is still sitting on the wet concrete in front of her car, confused and scared out of her mind. She’s so befuddled, she feels like she’s having a bad dream.
With the hooded individual standing directly over her, she lifts up to catch a glimpse of him, but the falling rain only blurs her vision even further. Jade is hanging on to consciousness by a very thin thread. Worried about her condition, the man removes his hood and kneels down beside her.
With the stranger now at her side, Jade gets an up-close view of his face. It’s a gorgeous face that signifies the epitome of innocence and radiates an exceptionally trusting vibe. It’s a face that Jade knows very well.
“Alex?” asked Jade, a hint of uncertainty in her voice.
The man stares deeply into Jade’s eyes and smiles. “Yeah, Jade. It’s me.”
“No…It can’t be you,” she said, her eyes wide and dazed. “You died two years ago.�
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“I came back, Jade,” he told her with an endearing smile. “I came back for you.”
Jade fixes her mouth to speak, but passes out before she can say another word.
CHAPTER 9
In the early morning hours of the next day, Jade is sleeping peacefully in her bed. The sun shines through the thin opening of her window where the curtains fail to meet and beams down on her face. The incoming light slowly awakens her. Without warning, she leaps out of her restful state and immediately goes on high alert. It takes a while for her to understand that she’s back in her apartment and no longer out on the isolated roadside, where danger surrounded her on every side.
Jade recalls the details of the previous night quite vividly. She remembers being attacked by four men and she also remembers the stranger who came to her rescue. She remembers that her rescuer exhibited a freakish strength and speed that allowed him to easily outmatch the four goons. She even remembered her knight in shining armor sharing an uncanny resemblance to her deceased boyfriend, Alex Henley.
But what she can’t recall is what happened afterward. She doesn’t even know how she got back home.
She almost writes the horrifying night off as an awful dream, but the realism of what happened and the freshness it has in her memory prevents her from doing so. She gets out of the bed and looks out her window. The clear skies have allowed the blazing sun to erase nearly all signs that would’ve been left behind by last night’s storm, which only persuades Jade to further believe that her dream concept might not be so farfetched. She walks over to her closet and spots the raincoat and other items of clothing she allegedly wore out last night neatly hanging on the rack in her closet. Jade is all but ready to rule out the terrifying experience as realistic nightmare.
She leaves her bedroom and heads to the kitchen. Upon entering the kitchen she goes into an overhead cabinet, pulls out a coffee container, and sets it on the counter. She grabs the handle of the coffee pot, places it under the faucet of the sink, and fills it halfway. She turns to set the pot back into the machine when she’s caught off guard by a sight she hadn’t expected. Startled, Jade’s grip loosens and the pot slips free from her hand, smashing into the kitchen floor, shattering into countless fragments.
Standing right in front of her is the man who saved her life. Jade now knows beyond all doubt that the ordeal wasn’t just a bad dream. Although it’s still a tough pill for Jade to swallow, the fact that her rescuer is standing in her living room, staring back at her is all the proof she needs.
The man has shed the grimy trench coat and hooded-sweatshirt and is now wearing a white tank-top and blue jeans. His complexion is slightly pale, almost to the point where it seems to emit a soft glow. He has a thin, athletic build, which is very contradicting to his incredible strength.
Jade intently stares at the stranger’s face in total disbelief. She knew this face just as well as she knew her own. But it’s impossible for anyone to look that much alike on mere coincidence.
Jade’s mouth hangs open, her eyes wide. “It can’t be,” she said to herself. “It’s not possible.”
“It’s me, Jade. It’s really me,” the stranger spoke softly.
Jade stepped back from the kitchen counter that separated her from the stranger, (who really isn’t a stranger at all) shaking her head. “No, no, no, no, no…Alex died two years ago! He’s dead!”
Alex gradually moves around the counter and towards the kitchen’s entrance. He keeps his hands where Jade can see them, assuring her that he means no harm. “I get where you’re coming from, Jade. I wouldn’t believe it either if I were in you. But I need you to trust me on this. I am Alex Henley.”
“Stop! Don’t come any closer or I’ll scream!” Jade commanded, snatching a fork off the stove and using it for protection.
“Jade, please, I need you to hear me out, okay? There is something very important I have to tell you. If you still want me to leave afterward, I will. Promise.”
Staying on high-alert, Jade demands the man to keep at a distance. Alex steps back into the living room and Jade cautiously follows, making sure she keeps a fair amount of space between them. Something inside of Jade urges her to make a break for the front door, but something else wants her to find out more about this strange look-alike. But since the man saved her life, she figured she’d give him a minute to speak his peace.
Alex walks across the living room until he nears the sliding balcony door that overlooks her third-floor view. He stares through the glass door, admiring the rising sun as he conjures up the best way to explain why he’s come back.
“Jade, I can’t imagine what’s going through your mind right now. I know that saying you’re scared and confused would be the understatement of the millennium. But I need you to bear with me for a second and try to wrap your mind around what I’m about to tell you.” Alex turns away from the balcony door and trains his hazel eyes on Jade. “You’re in a lot danger, Jade.”
“What are you talking about? Why am I in danger? Who the hell are you?”
Alex responds, “It’s complicated. I can explain it, but I don’t know if you’ll be able to fully understand.”
“Try me,” Jade said, keeping a firm hold on her fork.
Alex takes a deep breath and explains to Jade the horrific troubles that lie ahead of her. “Jade, there’s something big about to happen, and it just so happens you’re standing right in the middle of it.”
Jade begins to lose her patience. Maintaining a reasonable distance between herself and the Alex, Jade questions, “What’s about to happen? Stop being so cryptic and tell me what it is you want so you can leave.”
With there really being no gentle way to broach the situation, Alex divulges the blunt truth to her. “There’s a clash brewing between Heaven and Hell. Not just any kind of clash, either. It’s the type of clash that could lead to an all out war.”
Jade dons an expression of pure skepticism. “A war between Heaven and Hell?” she repeated with an unconvinced tone. She sarcastically adds, “Well, I certainly don’t want to get caught up in that. Thank you for warning me. Good bye and have a nice day,”
Picking up on her sardonic gesture, Alex tries to convince Jade that he’s not insane, which is the exact opinion she has of him. “Don’t do that, Jade. Don’t dismiss me like that. I know I probably sound like a mental patient, but that doesn’t change the fact that everything I’m telling you is true.”
“Listen, I don’t care, alright?” said Jade. “You said if I listened to whatever it was you wanted to say, you’d leave. Well, I listened and now I want you to go. Now leave before I call the cops.” Jade sets her sights on the cordless phone sitting on the living room coffee table and goes for it.
Alex anticipates this motion and snatches the phone off its charger before she can reach it. “Will you just hear me out please? There’ll be people coming for you, Jade, but there not real people. They’re very dangerous, and a thousand times scarier than you’re worse nightmare. And they’re a lot closer to finding you than you know.”
As Jade listens to Alex she can’t help but think about the people who were looking for her at her job yesterday. Jade’s interest, to a minor extent, rises. After being attacked last night, the thoughts of her unknown visitors have almost been cast from her memory, but the curiosity surrounding that particular situation was revived the moment Alex brought it up.
She asks Alex, “What people are you talking about? Who are they?”
“They’re kind of like hunters. The most elite hunters this world has ever seen. They have abilities that make them all but impossible to shake, and temperaments that make them extremely volatile.”
Jade is puzzled. “What kind of people are you talking about here? Earlier you said they aren’t even people. What did you mean by that?”
Alex shows a slight hesitation in answering Jade’s question. He knows that what he’s about to tell her is going to sound outright ludicrous. Regardless of how it may sound, he decides
to tell her anyway.
“They’re demons,” he told her.
A brief silence is shared between the two before Jade erupts into a fit of laughter. Alex temporarily drops his head in despair. This is the reaction he was afraid of. Any chance of convincing Jade that he wasn’t insane has probably gone right out the window.
“Jade, I’m not lying. These things use the flesh of regular people to hide their true identities. Underneath the human façade lies a beast like nothing you could ever imagine.”
“Right, I’m being hunted by demons. So if the good looking people Shana was telling me about are really monsters in disguise, then what are you?”
“Wait, who’s Shana? Is that the girl you work with?”
“Yeah,” Jade answered cautiously. “She told me I had a few visitors yesterday. One of which was a homeless guy in a filthy trench coat. I take it that was you.”
“Oh, no,” Alex muffled. “They know. If they know where you work, it’ll only be a matter of time before they know where you live.” He turned to Jade, a look of urgency in his hazel eyes. “You need to leave this place now, Jade!”
“What? Why? I don’t even know who you really are. You come in here looking like you could be Alex’s identical twin, and then you tell me I’m being hunted by demons. You beat up four guys last night like it was nothing, and now you’re standing here telling me I need to leave my home. Just who the hell are you?
“I’m an angel,” Alex responded.
“An angel?” Jade repeated in an unconvinced tone. “Is that so? You know, I might have actually believed you a little more if you said you from outer space or something, but you killed all of your chances with that demon and angel bull. I saw you last night, and the way you handled those guys…I never knew angels could be so aggressive.”
Alex moves closer to Jade, but she steps back. “Jade, I’m still the same Alex Henley you dated all through high school. Look, I get where you’re coming from, okay? Our whole lives we’ve been brought up to believe that things only worked a certain way and that’s just how it was. But it’s a lot more complicated than that. Now you’re right…Angels don’t normally do what I did last night. In fact, angels don’t do things like that at all. I’m pretty sure I’ll be getting into trouble for my actions, but I did what I did for a reason. But all that’s irrelevant right now. We have to get you out of here and we have to do it fast.”
