When the last angel was out of the room, the doors slammed closed – there was no going back. Everyone mingled around, still unwilling to go anywhere. They knew it was fruitless waiting, there wouldn’t be any answers, but they were still angry and riled up. They were tired of being ushered out and told nothing. Their faith was wavering.
Jerome saw the seriousness of the situation and he wanted to avoid anything bad happening. An angry crowd could never end well and it could also upset his plans for the council. At that moment, he truly understood what they were looking for in him – a leader. Now more than ever, they needed to see someone step up and shine.
He stood on a rock, hoping to get everyone’s attention by waving his arms around. It didn’t take long before he captured their attention.
“I understand your anger here today, but this isn’t the way to go about it.” He paused, searching their faces for a reaction. Were they going to listen to him or just turn their anger on him instead? “I urge everyone to go home and wait for a more appropriate time. We will get our answers but not this way.”
“When are you going to do something?” An angel Jerome knew since they were children spoke up. Those around him started to nod in agreement. He was losing them.
“We will act soon, I promise you.” He feared saying too much in case they were being overheard by the council. Now was not a time to divulge everything. “You have to keep your faith.”
“Let’s go home,” Alexander called out, trying to blend into the crowd so it wasn’t obvious he was trying to help out his friend. They wouldn’t listen to him otherwise.
He started walking, Gabriella followed and started a wave of mass exodus. Jerome stayed put, watching to ensure they all left. He received a few glares for his efforts. He didn’t mind, better they be angry and listening to him than just angry.
As the last few stubborn angels started leaving too, Ambrosia stepped out of the building. He made a beeline for Jerome, his brow furrowed and sweaty.
“Angel Jerome, we need to talk,” he said as he grabbed his arm and pulled him behind the building. He didn’t speak again until they were in the sheltered space, unable to be overheard by any prying ears. “What happened in there?”
“It seems people want answers,” Jerome replied, unsure why Ambrosia was so riled up. With the heightened emotions running through the village, it had to blow up sometime.
“I didn’t tell them they could ask questions like that, especially not in the weekly meeting. They need to wait for my instructions before carrying on like that.”
Jerome couldn’t believe what he was hearing. By supporting him, did he really expect them to give up their right to act? Their freedom of speech? There was a reason the council permitted the question time and it was to allow those rights. They were given to them by the higher being.
“You can’t stop people asking questions.”
“I can do whatever I like,” Ambrosia said with a snarl. It was a completely new side of the councilor that Jerome had only ever suspected was there. “You need to fix this, angel Jerome. You need to tell them to button up or they’ll ruin everything.”
Jerome remembered the bigger plan and held his tongue. He couldn’t get Ambrosia offside when he was so vital to taking over the council. He took a few deep breaths, making sure he could lie and be convincing.
“I understand, Councilor, I’ll speak with them,” he replied humbly.
Ambrosia nodded, finally starting to calm down. “Good. Do it before the meeting next week. I can’t have shenanigans like that being repeated. There’s a lot at stake here.”
Jerome figured he was probably thinking more about his career than the revolution but tried to push the thought away. “I’ll talk with them.”
“I’d better get back and fix all the damage they caused.” Ambrosia left in a hurry, disappearing through the doors that closed with a thud behind him.
Jerome started the walk back to the hostel, taking each step slowly. He didn’t want to hurry back and deal with all the questions that would be thrown his way. If people still lingered and didn’t follow his instructions to go home, they would be looking at him for more action. He wasn’t in the mood.
Lying to Ambrosia was getting easier but it was still taxing. He didn’t like knowing he was planning on using the councilor to overtake them all. Even though it had to be done, he wished it didn’t have to be that way. Angels shouldn’t use each other.
But seeing the way his fellow angels had stood up and asked questions in the meeting made him proud. Things had certainly changed and it was only the beginning. He had no intention of stopping them from speaking aloud, he was planning on encouraging it.
As the hostel came into sight, Jerome felt a sudden happiness that he wished he didn’t. It wasn’t his own emotion, but Leila’s. Whatever she was doing on Earth, Leila was overjoyed. He knew he should also be happy at that thought but he couldn’t help but wonder what was causing it. Was that human making her smile and laugh? Was he kissing her? Were they on another romantic date that would make him cringe if he was watching it? A thousand thoughts just like those questions played on his mind.
He reached the hostel and entered, relieved to see only a few angels mingling inside. Alexander left the group to greet him.
“What took you so long?” He asked, a mixture of relief and curiosity threading through his voice.
“Ambrosia bailed me up and ordered me to tell everyone they can’t speak up anymore.”
“But you’re not going to, right?”
Jerome grinned cheekily. “Of course not. We’re working to our plan, not his.”
Despite the smiles, Alexander could still sense there was something else going on. He could see it in the way he was holding himself, slumped and saddened. “Was that it? There was nothing else?”
“Yeah, everything’s fine.” Jerome tried to convince them both, trying to sound as upbeat as possible. Yet he wasn’t fooling either of them.
“Come on, don’t lie to me, buddy. What’s up?”
He sighed, knowing it was impossible to keep something from someone who knew him better than he did himself. “Leila’s happy.”
“That’s a good thing.”
“I know it should be.”
Alexander shifted his weight to his other foot. “Jerome, you need to let her go, we’ve talked about this. If your human is happy, then you should be happy too. It’s the way it’s meant to be.”
“I know, you don’t think I know that? I want to be ecstatic about her having these emotions but I don’t know how to be,” Jerome snapped back, not meaning for his words to sound as harsh as they came out. He wasn’t angry at Alexander, he was angry at himself.
Alexander knew that and remained calm – one of them had to. “So what’s making her so happy?”
“I don’t know, I’m trying to stay away.”
“That’s good, that’s progress.”
“But I can’t stop loving her, Alexander, I can’t work out how to do that. How do I turn off these feelings I’ve never had before?” Jerome pleaded, wishing he could find his own answers. Everything at the council meeting paled into comparison when he thought about Leila. His whole world revolved around her.
“You love your human?” Gabriella interrupted them, her face twisted with disgust. She stared at Jerome, searching his face for the truth. “Did I seriously hear right?”
“You shouldn’t have heard anything,” Alexander shot back. “This is a private conversation.”
Gabriella turned her anger at him. “You knew about this and you haven’t done anything about it? You’re just as bad as he is.”
The last thing Jerome needed was Gabriella’s loud voice telling the entire village about his feelings. “Gabriella, calm down, it’s not what you think.”
“So you’re not in love with the human you are supposed to be protecting? The one who shouldn’t even know you exist?” She stood with her arms crossed, stubbornly challenging him to deny it.
&n
bsp; “She only knows I exist because we saved the world together,” Jerome tried to defend himself but his conscience wouldn’t even let him believe it. Every word he spoke just sounded like a feeble excuse. In the angel world, there was no way to defend interacting with a human. Even if it was by accident and even if it was to save the world.
“I really thought you were different,” Gabriella replied as she shook her head. Her eyes were full of disappointment, they were the last thing he saw before she stomped out of the hostel.
“Alexander, I-”
“Don’t worry about it,” he cut him off. “I’ll fix this. I’ll talk to Gabriella, you just deal with things here. People want to speak with you and you’re going to need all the support you can get.”
Jerome nodded as Alexander hurried out the door. He watched him hesitate outside, searching around for her. He hurried away in one direction.
Taking a deep breath and trying to calm his nerves, Jerome looked at the other angels waiting to speak with him. He was going to need to learn better acting skills – fast.
It took until nightfall to clear the room. He spoke about everything from the weather to the future of the world until they were all satisfied enough to leave.
As Jerome was saying goodnight to the last of them, he noticed a note sitting on the lounge. He closed the door behind them and picked it up, curious. It was addressed to him in plain handwriting. There was nothing fancy about the envelope, nothing that made it unique.
He opened the flap carefully, as if it might bite him at any moment. Inside was a single piece of paper. He unfolded it and read:
Stop looking for Michael. This is your only warning.
No matter how many times he read the words, they didn’t change and they didn’t reveal anything further. It was clear someone wanted him to stop looking for the councilor but it was decidedly unclear as to why.
Only questions ran through Jerome’s mind. Who would want him to stop looking for the missing angel? Why would they care if he was found? Shouldn’t they all be concerned for his wellbeing? And who would care enough to scare him off? He hadn’t exactly made it a secret he was looking for Michael, he had already asked over a dozen people if they knew anything. What had seemed like genuine concern for an elder was now turning into unwanted threats.
Jerome tore up the note and the envelope too. He didn’t want to see the words anymore. He threw them into the garbage and slammed the lid back onto the can. He was going to forget about it and pretend the note never existed. If someone wanted to harm him because he cared, then it was a cross he was going to have to bear. It would just add to the pile.
He traipsed upstairs and fell into his bed, suddenly exhausted. First it was Gabriella and now the note. No matter what Jerome did, he seemed to get beaten down for it. Everything he did was wrong, no matter how good his intentions were. He seriously started to wonder whether they were all better off without him. Perhaps he should banish himself to the wastelands so nobody had to deal with his errors anymore.
It was a depressing thought, but Jerome was seriously considering it. Leila would be happier without him, Alexander would find another friend, Ambrosia would lead the village into the council overthrow. He wasn’t needed – or good – for anything.
He hadn’t felt so useless since his family had been attacked and killed by the demon. He tried to remember why he was trying so hard to make it better and his family drifted into his mind. He had promised them he would make the village a better place so their deaths weren’t in vain. His mother, his father, his little sister, he had promised them all. He didn’t want to let them down but he also didn’t know if he had it in him anymore. He needed a strength that he used to get from them.
Closing his eyes, Jerome wished he was anywhere but there in the hostel. Absolutely anywhere else.
CHAPTER 10
Leila stood in the middle of the room, listening to the soft shuffling of feet in the nearby kitchen. She tried to focus on the reason she was there but her mind kept drifting.
She hadn’t felt the presence for several days now. Whoever had been haunting her was gone, she was sure of it. She didn’t know what was worse, the fear of knowing an unseen entity was with her or the loneliness of not feeling them anymore.
Above all, she wondered what she had done to make them go away. She had tried to talk to them, let them know she wanted to communicate. Yet they left her anyway, for whatever reason. More than anything, Leila wished she could feel them again.
“Black tea, right?” The man returned to the living room holding two mugs of steaming hot water. He handed one to Leila and they sat on the tattered lounge.
“This is good,” she commented, nodding at the tea. It was a bit less sweet than she liked it but she would never tell him that. He didn’t need the criticism. “So have you been feeling better?”
“Sometimes,” Niall answered honestly. Leila had been visiting him for close to five months and he had been helping out at the library and museum for just as many months. She had met him when he wandered into the library one day. He was homeless and confused, he could barely look after himself.
Feeling sorry for him, Leila let the man sleep in the warm rooms of the building and made sure he had something to eat. She had gone back day after day to see to him and their friendship had grown as a result.
Little did Leila realize what a good friend he would be. Even when she was working late at night, he would help her with the books. They would often share tea and discussions well into the early hours of the morning when it was too late to walk home. They would discuss everything about the world, from history to the future.
Known only as Niall, Leila guessed he was probably in his fifties. He couldn’t remember his last name or his real age, it seemed like the war had confused him beyond repair. It saddened her to no end to think of his entire life being wiped from his memory. She often wondered if he had family somewhere that was missing him. She always checked the missing person’s posters but hadn’t seen his photograph in any of them yet.
A few months ago Leila had found him an abandoned house. She helped him move out of the library and into the more appropriate accommodation. He seemed to be thriving in his new habitat with the mismatched salvaged furniture.
“Nobody’s been giving you any trouble, have they?” She asked, knowing he was an easy target for any of the troublemakers. It was her main concern when he rejoined the community.
“No, I keep away from anyone that might be up to no good,” he smiled, trying to reassure her. He knew she worried about him and didn’t want to make it worse. He thought he would never be able to repay her kindness as it was. “But what about you? I hope everything is well in your world.”
“It’s fine.”
“Don’t try to convince me or anything,” he joked, waving his hands about as if he was trying to stop her.
She laughed. “You’re so silly. Everything really is fine, I’ve even got a boyfriend now. You might have seen him around the place.”
“Reece?”
“Yeah, we’ve been spending a lot of time together. I think I really like him.”
“Well if he makes you grin like that, then I guess I approve.”
As much as she wanted to remove that grin from her face before she died of embarrassment, Leila couldn’t. She felt like a little schoolgirl with a crush on the most popular boy in school. She decided to change the subject. “Some of the volunteers think we should have a big re-opening day when we finally finish the library and museum. What do you think?”
Niall took his time to consider his answer before speaking. “I think it’s up to you. You’re the one who has put all their time, effort, and love into the restoration. I think the decision is yours.”
“That doesn’t help me.”
“You’ve got a perfectly capable mind, you’ll know what to do,” he nodded wisely, like a sage old gentleman. It somehow comforted Leila even though he only threw the question right back at her. She didn’t mind when
he did it, but anyone else wouldn’t have been able to get away with it.
“You’re very good at dodging my questions.”
“It’s an art form.”
They let the comfortable silence linger in the air as they sipped on their tea. As Leila looked at Niall, a sudden memory flashed into her mind. It was the tall guy, the one she was trying desperately to remember. She saw him seated beside her, not in that room but another, much bigger, one. He wasn’t happy and she got the feeling that she wasn’t either.
It was the first time she got a glimpse of his face. She tried to hang onto the thought, to examine every piece of it before it whispered away again.
“Is everything alright?” Niall asked, noticing her sudden change in demeanor.
“Yeah, I’m just remembering something.” She shook her head, trying to reassure him everything was indeed alright.
“A good memory, I hope.”
“I’m not sure.” The guy’s face, he was beautiful with blue eyes that could see right into your soul and dimples that weren’t just there when he smiled but when he set his jaw with worry too. And his curls, they framed his face like it was a portrait. She wished she could burn the memory into her mind so she couldn’t forget it ever again.
“Well, if you’re unsure then you need to think about it some more,” Niall imparted his wisdom once more.
Leila nodded, appreciating his effort. “I should probably go, thank you for the tea. Do you have enough food?”
“I have more than most, I’ll be fine.”
She placed her empty teacup into the kitchen sink and discreetly peeked into his cupboards – double checking he had food and supplies for a few days. He wasn’t as good at sourcing everything he needed like she was. After she was satisfied he wouldn’t starve, she gave Niall a hug before saying goodbye.
“Give Reece my best,” Niall called out as he waved her away.
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