He felt a sudden need to get out of the house as quickly as he could. Jerome double checked he hadn’t moved anything before hurrying out the front door and flying away from the place. Something terrible had occurred there, probably involving Michael, and his gut feeling told him it was something big. He hoped it wasn’t the demons returning. Angels didn’t just go missing, especially not council members, evil had made it to the village once again.
As Jerome hurried back to the hostel, thoughts whirled through his head. He didn’t know whether he should report what he had seen or not. If everyone thought Michael was in the higher realm, they wouldn’t know that something bad had happened at his house. He knew he had to do something about it, he just wasn’t sure what it was yet.
As he stepped inside the building, Jerome stopped. Alexander and another angel were seated together in the living room. Judging just by the looks on their faces, it wasn’t good news.
“What’s happened?” Jerome asked, joining them. He sat on the sofa across from the pair, noticing their visitor had been crying.
“Thomas has just come from the council,” Alexander explained. He looked at the angel, silently questioning whether he wanted to tell the story himself or not. The blonde haired angel nodded sadly, his eyes red and swollen.
Thomas turned to Jerome, the sorrow in his eyes sending a sinking feeling into the pit of his stomach. “The council called me to their chambers this morning. They said I had committed an offence that needed punishment.”
Jerome and Alexander exchanged a look, it sounded familiar. They were both remembering the time when the council had called on them and issued a similar demand. Except that time, Leila had been there with them.
“Go on,” Alexander urged.
“I went to the council and there were six of them, all staring at me. I didn’t know what I had done wrong so I asked them,” Thomas sniffled. “They said I was having an unsanctioned relationship with another angel. They said I hadn’t applied for permission to marry her.”
“Thomas is dating Rosie,” Alexander added, just in case Jerome hadn’t heard the gossip. Considering how much time he spent with his human, he figured it was likely.
Thomas nodded. “We’ve been together for a year so I asked her to marry me and she said yes. But I put an application into the council first, I did the right thing.”
“Did you tell them that?” Jerome asked.
“Of course I did. But they said they had no record of the application. They said I was lying.”
“We don’t lie,” Alexander finished. Jerome knew very well they could, they just didn’t because it was wrong and angels didn’t do the wrong thing.
“Did they come right out and say you were a liar or did they offer to double check their records?” Jerome couldn’t understand why the council were turning it into such a big deal. They probably misplaced paperwork all the time, it wasn’t like they were doing anything terribly wrong. Being engaged wasn’t a life shattering horrible event that threatened all angel kind.
“They flat out refused to believe me,” Thomas said, his voice angry now. “They said I had breached the rules and they were going to punish me for it.”
Jerome dreaded to ask, but did anyway. “What’s your punishment?”
“I’m going to be banished.”
“What?”
“They’re sending me to the wastelands in two weeks. I have fourteen days to say goodbye to everyone and take with me whatever I can.”
For the second time, Alexander and Jerome exchanged a worried glance. The punishment did not fit the crime, even if Thomas was lying. Jerome suspected the council had an ulterior motive for the move, they couldn’t just banish someone for something as simple as not filing the correct paperwork. It would have been laughable if it wasn’t so serious.
“The council hasn’t banished anyone in over two hundred years,” Alexander pointed out. “This isn’t right.”
“I agree,” Jerome replied. “They’re up to something and we can’t let them get away with it. You said two weeks, right Thomas?”
“Fourteen days.”
“We’ll fix this, we’ll get to the bottom of it,” Jerome promised. He didn’t know how yet but he couldn’t let them do this to an innocent angel. He couldn’t let the miscarriage of justice ruin his life forever. “What about Rosie? Is she being punished too?”
Thomas shook his head. “I said I told her I had filed the paperwork and we were free to be together – which was the truth. Because she believed me, she hasn’t done anything wrong so she’s not being punished.”
“And they confirmed this? They straight out said Rosie wouldn’t be punished?”
The implications of Jerome’s question suddenly occurred to Thomas. “No, I assumed. I told them about the paperwork and just thought they would leave her out of it. Do you think they’ll banish her too?”
“I think we need to find her.”
“I’ll go straight away.” Thomas stood to leave but Alexander pulled him back down again.
“No, stay here. I’ll go and find Rosie. If I do, I’ll bring her back here.” Alexander left quickly, on a mission to find the angel. If she was going to be summoned to the council at any minute, she was in danger. They had to get to her first and word her up before she could say the wrong thing. Her life depended on it.
They had to wait for almost an hour before he returned again with the angel in tow. Rosie was flustered, her cheeks living up to her name. Her raven black hair bounced in a ponytail behind her.
At seeing his beloved, Thomas ran and embraced her. He didn’t want to let her go but knew he must. Time was of the essence.
“I won’t say anything bad about you,” Rosie said resolutely. “They can’t make me.”
“It’s not that,” Jerome started. “They might try and trick you into incriminating yourself. They’ll make you say you knew Thomas didn’t have permission when you accepted his proposal.”
“They’re going to banish me too?” All the color drained from her face at the realization. She let herself fall onto the lounge, her legs not wanting to hold her up anymore.
“They’re probably going to try,” Alexander said gently, not wanting to upset her more than she already was. “You have to be careful what you say.”
“But we haven’t done anything wrong, Thomas filed the paperwork for permission. We were allowed to get engaged,” Rosie insisted. Thomas sat at her side, holding her hand for support.
“Which is exactly what you’ll say to the council if they ask,” Jerome stated. “You will just tell them the truth and don’t let them trick you into saying anything else.”
Rosie nodded sadly. “How can they do this? Jerome, you have to fix things. Promise me you won’t let this type of thing happen when you take over.”
“I promise,” Jerome said sincerely. He hadn’t even been thinking about it when she mentioned it. But it was true, if they did manage to overthrow the council, he would be appointing people to make decisions like that. He would never let an injustice occur, never.
“So what are we going to do?” Thomas asked desperately.
As much as he didn’t want to admit it, Jerome had no idea. There was nowhere in the world they could hide the pair to avoid their fate. It was too early to act on their council takeover and they couldn’t appeal to the council for leniency. There were literally no options.
“I’ll think of something,” he finally replied, praying he wouldn’t let them down.
CHAPTER 9
For a full five days, Jerome agonized over the big questions. He knew he had to get plans together for the council takeover and now he had to work out a way for Thomas and Rosie to avoid being banished. He felt the whole world was sitting squarely on his shoulders.
To make it worse, he had awoken with a sadness filtering through him. He knew it wasn’t his own emotion but it belonged to Leila. Whatever she was doing, wherever she was, she was desperately depressed. He wanted to cry knowing she was so miserable.
Jerome had managed to avoid returning to Earth for six whole days but he couldn’t do it any longer. He had to see what was depressing Leila and check whether there was anything he could do to protect her from the emotion. He just hoped all his old wounds wouldn’t be re-opened, not when he was trying so hard to close his heart to her.
Leila was found in the Aron Public Library, standing by herself amongst the shelves. Jerome was impressed with how much better it was looking, her and the other volunteers had made remarkable progress with the restoration works.
He quickly assessed the situation, making sure there was nothing causing her any immediate danger. Considering she was alone in the aisle, he could rule it out. A few others worked away in the library room but nobody was bothering Leila. She was safe and sound, just sad. He stood by the window and watched her, trying to push away the memories of being in that room.
Leila shelved the books she was holding, making sure to put them in alphabetical order. Restoring the books to their rightful place wasn’t working on cheering her up like she had hoped it would. She didn’t know what was wrong with her. Things were going well in her life, she had a nice boyfriend, a stable home, and a worthy project to keep her busy. But it was that one thing out of her grasp that was getting to her. And she still couldn’t remember who he was.
“I think I’m going to call it a day,” Niall, one of the volunteers called out to her. “Will you be here tomorrow?”
Leila looked up, trying to see who she was talking to. “Yeah, I’ll be here early if you want to come by.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow then.” The man waved and left the room. A few more volunteers followed suit, each saying their goodbyes.
Leila noticed she was starting to get hungry and figured it must be about lunchtime. The volunteers usually came and went around noon, doing a half-day shift each. There was no set time they had to be there, any time they could donate was welcome. It was Leila’s choice to spend all day there, she never expected it from anyone else.
A lady in her forties approached Leila. Picking up a stack of books from the floor, she started to shelve them in the same aisle. She was one of the regular volunteers, spending every other day at either the library or museum. Leila knew her only as Shayla, she didn’t need a surname.
“We probably only need a few more weeks and the place will be back to normal,” Shayla started casually, trying to engage her in conversation.
“Yeah, it won’t be long,” Leila replied, trying to be polite even though she didn’t feel it.
“Will you have a big re-opening celebration? Perhaps the mayor will even come.”
“I don’t know, it’s a long way off,” she said, non-committal. The idea of allowing the public back into the building was frightening, she wasn’t sure if she trusted them yet. She didn’t want all their hard work to be undone by a few individuals.
Shayla got the hint and backed off the topic, but she wouldn’t be completely silenced. “The city has a lot to thank you for.”
“No, they don’t, really.”
“I’m going to write to the mayor and tell him about all the good work you’ve done here.”
Leila stopped and turned to her. “Please, don’t do that.”
“Why not?” Shayla stopped too and faced her. She couldn’t understand the young woman, for the life of her. “Don’t you think someone should know about how special you are to us?”
“I’m not special.” The idea was preposterous, she wasn’t restoring the buildings because she was a good citizen, she was doing it for herself – to restore something in her life to how it used to be. Everything in the museum and library felt familiar, like she had some connection to it. She wasn’t a charity worker and it would have been deceptive to have people believe otherwise.
“You are special,” Shayla continued, not dissuaded. “Nobody else could have achieved all this.” She waved her arms around, indicating the entire building.
Leila gave up, knowing anything she said would just be twisted around and argued back to her. Hopefully the woman would forget about the entire conversation. She turned back to the shelving, muttering more to herself than anyone. “I’m not special.”
Shayla shelved the last book she was holding and headed for the door. “You need to realize the impact you have had on the community,” she said before leaving, not waiting for a response.
Leila let her eyes linger on the empty doorway for a moment before letting her tears flow. She couldn’t understand how they could see her as special when all she was doing was distracting herself. It wasn’t right.
Jerome watched on as she sniffled her way through the tears, never stopping with putting the books away. He resisted all the urges he had to sweep her into his arms and cradle her until all the sorrow left her body. He couldn’t even give her a hug or a comforting pat on the back.
It was stupid to believe he could shed his feelings for her so easily. The last six days had been a joke, he had just been fooling himself. One moment with Leila and all the feelings rushed forward to his heart and threatened to burst through.
It made him angry seeing her so upset about the other woman calling her special. She was special, extremely so. She was the reason every person could walk the Earth without fear of unspeakable violence. Everyone owed her their life, yet nobody knew about it. He didn’t care about the other humans, but he did want her to know about it. He wanted to tell her that more than anything. If she could understand how special she was, perhaps the tears would dry up.
He watched her as the time ticked past, the room holding just the two of them. He studied Leila with every beat of his heart, recognizing all her little movements and knowing her so well. He could almost predict her every move. He wished she would get something to eat, humans needed food or they got ill. He knew that rule well.
When others started arriving for the afternoon shift, Jerome left her there in their company. While heavy of heart, he knew she was physically okay. She would be safe enough while he attended the council meeting.
He flashed back to the village and flew up to the council building. Everyone else who was attending was already waiting outside until the doors opened. Jerome weaved through the crowd, searching for Alexander. He found him speaking with Gabriella, for one moment he had hoped they might be finally getting along.
“Jerome, finally, I thought you were ditching us. Where have you been?” Alexander asked.
“I had to check on Leila.”
“Your human?” Gabriella butted in.
Jerome nodded. “Yeah, she wasn’t happy so I had to make sure she was okay.”
Alexander gave him a disapproving look. “So was anything wrong?” He already knew the answer, he could tell his friend would use any excuse to check on the human.
“Nothing life threatening,” Jerome answered, a little annoyed at the loaded question. Alexander didn’t have a human to protect, he couldn’t possibly understand the emotions that went with it. And for that reason, he shouldn’t give him such a hard time about it.
Gabriella shifted uncomfortably between her feet. The doors finally opened, ending their standoff. They shuffled into the council meeting chambers with the other angels. One by one, the councilors entered.
The moment they were permitted to sit, Jerome couldn’t help but notice how many of the other audience members were watching him. He wanted to think it was just in his mind but the longer the meeting went on, the more he noticed it. Were they looking for his reaction to the council agenda items? Were they looking at him for guidance on how to act? He didn’t know but he could feel the pressure getting even worse.
To distract himself, Jerome scanned the councilors in search of Michael. Logic told him he wouldn’t see him but he still needed to see it with his own eyes. Sure enough, everyone else was in attendance but Michael. If he had magically appeared, it would have been a lot easier on his mind. His disappearance was just another rock in the load on his back.
The time came for questi
ons. Jerome once again felt the eyes bore into him. He wasn’t ready to stand up and challenge anything. He didn’t even know whether to stand up and ask about Michael publicly. He wanted to, but it wouldn’t have been smart in front of so many people. He knew he needed to raise that issue again privately, perhaps with one of the few councilors he didn’t loathe.
Jerome didn’t stand up, but there were many others that did. Angel after angel, they each took it in turns to stand up and demand answers from the councilors.
“When is the school going to get more teachers?”
“Why are the terms getting shorter?”
“How can you put novice angels into the field when they aren’t ready?”
“Why are there so many punishments being handed out?”
The questions continued for two hours. Jerome listened intently, each one of them he had asked himself time and time again. Yet the council answered none of them. They ducked and weaved like they were running through a field full of mines.
As the questions went on and no answers were given, the audience grew more impatient. Angry rumblings started to filter through, sounding like a low din in the meeting room.
Finally, the Chairman stood, banging his gavel to restore the order in the room. He was at risk of having a riot on his hands if he didn’t nip it in the bud early.
“Quiet,” his voice boomed, echoing off the walls. In surprise from the sudden noise, everyone hushed like they were told and stared at him. “This meeting is over. You will all form an orderly line and leave. Now!”
The doors opened as if on cue but nobody moved. Whether they were going to wait for their answers or were too stunned by the abrupt end, it was clear they weren’t going anywhere.
A vein in the Chairman’s neck started to pulsate with the pressure as his face reddened. “Leave, now! I’m not going to tell you again. I am ashamed at what has transpired here today. Now go!”
Chastised like little children, the angels closest to the door started to move. Just like an accordion, movement started to run along the lines of seats. When it was his turn, Jerome followed Alexander and Gabriella outside.
Angel's Uprising Page 10
