But would it make her happy? Probably not. She seemed excited about the party, it would hurt her to have to turn around and go home again. He couldn’t do it to her, no matter how much he wanted to. He had taken an oath to protect humans, it wasn’t up to him to tell her how she had to live her life.
All Jerome could do was watch as she reached Reece’s house and entered the front door.
“Hey, you came!” Reece gave her a quick hug. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
Looking around at all the people crammed into the house, Leila was starting to have her doubts whether she should have come. She tried not to let it show. “Thank you for inviting me. Do you know all these people?”
“Most of them. Some are friends of friends. Do you want a drink? I have orange juice from our trees.”
“That would be nice, thank you.” Leila waited by the door while Reece disappeared into the crowd. She wasn’t prepared to mingle yet, there were too many people. If she needed to make a speedy getaway, it was best to stand by the doorway.
“You’re Leila, right?” A girl approached her cautiously, like she was a wild animal. Leila guessed she was probably about the same age – eighteen.
“That’s me.”
“It’s so great to finally meet you, Reece has told me so much about you. I’m Annabelle.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” Leila tried to smile, anything to cover her nerves and the sick feeling in her stomach. “How do you know Reece?”
“We went to school together. You know, when we still had schools to go to.”
She nodded, knowing all too well the schools had been closed for over a year. The government were trying to reopen them but it was a long task. Just finding teachers was proving difficult and getting parents to part with their children for a full day was even more arduous.
“So Reece really talked about me?” Leila asked, unable to stop herself. She hoped he didn’t say anything embarrassing. Otherwise her escape route would be looking even more attractive.
“Don’t worry, everything he said seemed pretty accurate to me.” Annabelle patted her on the shoulder to reassure her. “Reece has been much happier since he met you, I think you’re really good for him.”
Reece returned with drinks in hand before she could blush any further. He handed one to Leila. “I see you’ve met each other.”
“Someone had to be introduced to her, you can’t keep Leila all to yourself forever,” the girl scalded teasingly.
“I found her first,” Reece replied, keeping up the jovial tone of voice. Annabelle rolled her eyes.
“I’ll talk to you later, Leila, it was great to finally meet you.”
“You too.”
They waited until they were alone again, Leila taking a sip of her drink so she didn’t have to be the one to speak first. She couldn’t overcome the uncomfortable feeling she had in such unfamiliar territory.
When Reece didn’t say anything, Leila had to be the one to break the silence after all. “Annabelle is nice.”
“Yeah, she’s pretty cool. Do you want to meet some more people?”
She really didn’t want to but standing there in an awkward silence wasn’t exactly appealing either. She nodded and Reece led her away to a group of new people.
Jerome followed, staying as close to her as he dared. He fought the urge to take her hand and fly her as far away from there as possible. He didn’t like any of the teenagers, they were too friendly and asked too many questions. It was none of their business what Leila did or where she was from. They didn’t deserve to know about her like he did. Especially not the boys.
They sat around in a group, needing to raise their voices to be heard over the music filtering throughout the house. Other guests were doing the same, making it difficult to be heard without yelling. Leila didn’t mind so much, she could hopefully fade into the background and nobody would notice her.
But it wasn’t going to work for very long. Reece was determined to bring her out of her shell, he wanted his friends to know her like he did. They would like her just as much, perhaps it would mean they could hang out more often if she liked them too.
“So what do you do in your spare time?” The question came from a girl a bit younger than Leila. Her red curls bounced when she spoke.
Leila considered every moment was spare time, it wasn’t like they had a purpose anymore. Besides helping the community where she could, there really wasn’t anything else to do. The girl’s green eyes were fixated on her, she had to say something. She may as well rally volunteers at the same time.
“I’m trying to rebuild the city museum and library. I’m there whenever I can be.”
It seemed to impress some of her audience. Annabelle spoke excitedly. “That’s really great, Leila. How’s it going?”
“We’ve completed the children’s section of the library and the first floor of the museum. It’s slow going, I don’t know if it’s actually doing any good.”
“She’s being modest,” Reece butted in. “Heaps of people volunteer to help her and so many of them say she’s the only reason they leave their house. Leila’s doing a fantastic job out there.”
“You must really like those buildings,” a guy commented to her left. She couldn’t tell whether he was being sarcastic or not, he could have been making fun of her.
“I think it’s sad so much was destroyed,” Leila replied uncomfortably, wishing the attention would be turned to somebody else. She didn’t like so many people looking at her. She couldn’t shake the feeling that it was dangerous being with a group of people, despite the violence having disappeared six months ago. She still felt those survival instincts kicking in around others.
Jerome wanted to slap the guy for making fun of Leila. He knew sarcasm when he heard it and he loathed the way it made her feel. Her whole demeanor had shifted and he placed the blame squarely on the human. He couldn’t help it, he flicked his ear.
“Ow, hey,” the guy exclaimed as he turned around to face his attacker. When he couldn’t see anyone, he turned back – confused.
“What happened?” The redheaded girl asked.
“Someone hit my ear.”
“I only flicked it,” Jerome replied, indignant about the elaboration.
“They did?” Annabelle looked at him skeptically. “There was no-one near your ear.”
“I know what I felt,” the guy said as he stood. “I’m going to get another drink.” He stomped off, leaving Jerome to smile with his win. He got rid of him, just like he planned to do with anyone else that hurt Leila.
Reece was eager to change the conversation quickly. “Did anyone see the news earlier?” The television stations were trying to resume their programs. However it was difficult with so many towers down and no advertisers. Most stations only played the news twice a day.
“I did,” Annabelle replied. “Not that there was much on it. I’m so over the doom and gloom. I want to hear some good news already. Or bring back my favorite shows, that would be nice.”
Leila was more concerned about the content rather than the entertainment value. She had missed the broadcast, being too wrapped up in getting ready for the party. “What was on the news, was it something bad?”
“Nothing bad,” Reece started. “It’s just… don’t you think it’s weird the way the President never comes out in public anymore? Has anyone even seen him in the last six months?”
“He’s worried about being attacked,” Leila replied, thinking he probably wasn’t the only one.
“A leader should be out showing solidarity with his people,” he continued, with nods from some of the others in the group. “Now is the time when we need a President, not just his lackeys.”
Leila couldn’t disagree, even Jerome agreed as he lurked nearby. It didn’t mean he was warming to the guy though.
“Way to kill the buzz,” Annabelle scalded him, laughing. The others joined in with their good natured jeering. He waited until it subsided.
Reece took his opport
unity in the break in conversation. He turned to Leila. “Do you want to dance?”
“I… uh,” she stuttered. She hadn’t danced in a very long time, a seriously long time. Leila doubted whether she even remembered how. But he was staring at her with a smile on his face, one that she didn’t want to turn upside down. “Sure, why not?”
He grabbed her hand and led her into the fray of bodies on the makeshift dance floor that normally resembled an outdoor patio. She let him lead, guiding her around without putting much thought into it. The moment she over thought it, the moment her feet would stop like dead weights.
After one song, she actually felt herself starting to relax. She wasn’t going to trip over her own feet or make too much of a fool of herself. As it turned out, dancing was much like riding a bicycle. Not that she could do either very well.
Reece spun her around like she was weightless, it made her giggle uncontrollably. It had been too long since she had heard herself laugh like that. Even longer since she had felt so free and alive.
Jerome had seen enough, he couldn’t stand by and watch any longer. As good as it was seeing Leila so happy, he knew it wasn’t him that was causing it. He wanted to be the one that made her giggle and smile, it killed him watching someone else do it for her.
Knowing she was safe with friends and not enemies, Jerome flashed back to the village. He would be able to feel if she was in any danger, it would only take a second to return to her if needed. But he doubted he would be required.
As he entered the hostel, his mind wandered back to the point Reece had made about the president. It wasn’t his comment about leadership that had bothered him but the idea that he hadn’t been seen since the war ended. Except Jerome wasn’t thinking of the president, but of the angel council.
The more he thought about it, the more Jerome realized he hadn’t seen the highest ranking members of the council since the demons had fled back to hell. And that couldn’t be a good thing.
CHAPTER 4
Whether it was to satisfy his curiosity or to take his mind off Leila at the party in the arms of that human, Jerome found himself in the council building. He didn’t think about the reason for his presence there, just that he needed to see the council members he hadn’t seen in a long time.
“I thought you were too busy to come here,” Alexander said, surprising him from behind.
Jerome spun around, trying not to let his mood show. “Aren’t you the one who keeps at me to attend these meetings? You’ve been going on about how important they are for months.”
“Because they are important.”
Jerome shrugged, if their weekly meetings where the council members sat around in a large room and discussed nothing was important, then he would pluck the feathers from his wings. Nothing was ever achieved or decided, they only had them so the angels could sit in and feel like they were doing something. Jerome had only ever been to one since the war ended and it was enough to convince him his time was better spent elsewhere.
On that day, however, he wanted to eye all the council members. It was about time they faced someone who wasn’t willing to take whatever rubbish they unloaded.
The hand bell was rung by the chairman, signaling five minutes until the meeting would begin. The waiting angels started entering the council public gallery. It was a large open room, tiers of seats ringed a sunken platform that held a round table and chairs. At one end of the room sat three wooden chairs, their backs low to accommodate heavy wings. At the other end were a series of seats, separating the two audience sides.
Jerome and Alexander joined the crowd as they shuffled in and took a seat in the stands. The room could hold five hundred spectators but they barely filled a quarter of it with the current audience.
They waited until the bell was tolled again and a hushed silence fell upon them. All the angels stood out of respect as the lower council members entered through a hidden door underneath the tiered seating. They each took a seat at the round table and pulled out their notebooks.
Next to enter were the middle council, they sat at the end of room. They didn’t need to take notes like the lower levels, they only gave their opinions.
Last to enter were the three highest angels. They didn’t walk, they glided in to stand before the three wooden seats. They were glorious to gaze upon, a brilliant white light emanating from around them. Their wing feathers were crystal white and they had a pearly shimmer to them when they moved. These were the oldest, wisest, and most trusted of the Grand Council of Guardian Angels. Nobody messed with them.
Jerome knew Ambrosia would never be able to overthrow the three angels. But that wasn’t his plan. The three archangels didn’t have much to do with the actual running of the council. They attended the meetings and placed their seal on any official documents but that was where their involvement ceased. It was really the lower and middle choirs that ran the place.
Jerome doubted the three even knew what was going on in the village. They were the connection to God, the higher being. They rarely spent time in the angel village and never went down to Earth. They were a lifeline to the higher realm and that was where their job ended.
In order to take control – real control – over the village and the fate of the angels, it would mean taking down the lower and middle choirs. Jerome stared at the faces of them in turn, wondering how they could live with themselves knowing they could have saved so many more of their own people if they had acted before the demons took over. Any one of them could have responded to the memo and stood up to do something about it. Yet none of them had. If it wasn’t for Ambrosia making Jerome fall to Earth, he wondered if any of them would still be there now. Perhaps they would have all been killed.
He tried not to let the anger get to him but it was a pulsating red light in the middle of his brain. He wanted to stand up and yell at them all, tell everyone in the audience what they had done. But that wouldn’t get him anywhere except kicked out. He might also be banished from the council building altogether. He needed to play it smart, he knew this just as well as his knowledge that he wouldn’t let them get away with it.
The meeting commenced with a reading of the last meeting’s minutes before getting down to business. The lower members spoke about their efforts of training the new angels so they could get out into the field. Apparently most of the students were learning fast and flying through their levels. It sounded to Jerome like they were prematurely passing the angels to make it seem like they were doing a better job training them. Weren’t they the same people who had sent him to protect a human before passing all his exams?
Jerome knew more angels were needed in the field, out actively protecting the humans, but they also had to be competent enough to do it. The solution had to be better training and recalling any retired angels. If even half the angels working in the council offices were assigned a human it would have a great impact on Earth’s protection.
Yet apparently Jerome was the only one who could see that. The council members rattled off all their trumped up achievements and false wins until they were satisfied they had done enough to appease the masses for another week. They opened the floor for questions as silence hummed throughout the room.
“Anyone? Questions?” The chairman asked, his eyes darting around the room looking for a raised hand or a wave for attention.
Jerome considered standing and asking where all the morals of the council had disappeared to but sat on his hands instead. He didn’t want one shooting up before his brain could stop it.
He looked around instead, seeing who else had attended the meeting. He had been too focused on the council members to look for familiar faces. It was almost depressing seeing the dwindled numbers. So many friends had perished in the war, along with entire families. His parents and sister had all died at the hands of the demons too. How he had managed to survive it was beyond his belief.
His eyes returned to the council members, the middle choir to be more precise. They didn’t say a great deal, letting t
he lower choir do much of the grunt work. They hadn’t changed members in a long time, so long that Jerome couldn’t even remember seeing different faces on the council. Now, as he looked at each of them in turn, he recognized them like they were relatives.
But something wasn’t right. Jerome went over them again, trying to work out what it was. They were dressed the same, looked the same, but something was different. Someone was missing.
Council member Michael wasn’t in attendance. There wasn’t even a space set for him. He wondered what it would take to be excused from one of the weekly meetings. Was he ill? Was he called away? Was something going on elsewhere? Jerome had so many questions he considered standing up and asking them to the chairman.
Unfortunately, he didn’t get a chance. The meeting was called to a close as the last question was answered. Everyone stood while the three archangels left first, followed by the middle choir, and lastly the lower members. Only after the last council member was safely gone were the doors opened for the audience to leave.
Outside in the natural light, Jerome was still troubled by the whereabouts of Michael. He waited until they were away from the others before he spoke.
“Where’s council member Michael?”
Alexander shrugged. “Wasn’t he there?”
“I didn’t see him anywhere. Does he normally attend the weekly meetings?”
“As far as I can recall,” he replied before quickly pulling Jerome further behind a statue. “Get over here.”
Jerome looked around, trying to see what they were hiding from. Then he saw her – Gabriella. The angel that had been semi-stalking Alexander for most of her life. He laughed. “She’s going to find you.”
“Not if we hide.”
But it was too late, Gabriella with her long maple colored hair, peeked around the statue. “What are you boys doing all the way back here?”
Angel's Uprising Page 4
