The Noru 7: Rage Of Angels

by Lola StVil

  “Bird, Omnis knows how much I love her, so he’s gonna take her from me. Just like he took my mom, Sparks, and Marcus…He’s gonna take her away…”

  "To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart.”

  ― Eleanor Roosevelt

  “Randy, you seriously can’t tell me that you have room for yet another hamburger,” I scold. He smiles as he unwraps the fourth burger and takes a large bite. I shake my head and wonder where the hell he stores all that junk food.

  “If you don’t slow down, you’ll choke,” I warn.

  “Hey, my body and I have an agreement. It accepts the fact that I like McDonald’s, and I accept the fact that no matter how much I work out, no part of my body will ever be muscle,” he replies.

  “You’re impossible,” I tell him as I pluck a fry from his tray and dip it into the clump of bright red ketchup. As I soak the fry, I could swear the ketchup was human blood. I tell Randy about it. He dips his finger into the red sauce and tastes it.

  “Nope! Just plain old ketchup. Are you sure you’re okay?” he asks.

  “Yeah, just imagining things, I guess.”

  “I think today is the day—I’m gonna ask Key to marry me,” he says with certainty.

  “Wow, really?”

  “Yeah, I won’t have another chance like this,” he says.

  “What’s so special about today?” I ask. He doesn’t reply; he just grins and shoves more food into his mouth.

  “Before I go talk to Key, can I get a jetpack that propels me into the air like Iron Man? But I don’t want it to be red. I think that’s a little…flashy. Wait, you know what, let’s do flashy! Screw it! Get me a red jetpack,” Randy says.

  “And where would I get a—” Before I can finish my thought, a shiny red jetpack appears in the center of McDonald’s dining area. Randy runs up to it and starts to strap it on.

  “Wait, where did that come from?” I ask.

  “From you, the best BFF that ever lived. Thanks, Pry!” he says.

  “No, seriously, Randy. How did that get here?” I push.

  “Pry, I asked you for it, and you made it happen. This is your world. You get whatever you want.”

  “I don’t understand. Okay, whatever. Randy, my chest hurts,” I reply as I place my hand against my chest.

  “Oh, don’t worry about that. I’m off to propose to Key. Any words of advice for me?” he asks.

  “Um…I don’t know,” I admit.

  “You could say good luck,” he replies.

  “Yeah, good luck.”

  “Like I need it. She will always say yes because you want me to be happy. And Key makes me happy.”

  “But I thought Key was…”

  “Dead? Yeah, she was and now she’s not. Thanks, Pry!” Randy says as he takes off on the jetpack.

  “No fair! Where is my jetpack?” someone asks behind me.

  I turn and see Sam standing in front of me. My heart races as I run to him. I pick him up in the air and spin him around with tears in my eyes. Suddenly the McDonald’s is no longer there. We are now in the Guardian home. We’re inside Sam’s room, and he’s putting his PJs on for bedtime.

  “I thought something happened to you,” I say as I go to hold him again.

  “Not me. You. You’re bleeding,” he says.

  I look down at my shirt and it’s soaked in blood. But I can’t tell where the blood is coming from. I want to go check my wounds, but I don’t want to leave my little brother alone. Suddenly I hear a familiar chuckle behind me.

  “Hey, Carrot! You can go. I’ll watch the little guy,” the voice says.

  “Tony!” I shout as I hug him. Tony-Tone has always been our fave babysitter. He let me skip bedtime, eat all kinds of angel junk food, and taught me how to play poker. He smiles and tells me Sam is in good hands with him. Sam is already jumping up and down with excitement at the thought of hanging out with Uncle Tony.

  “Okay, I’ll be right back, Sam! And, Tony, his bedtime is in exactly ten minutes,” I warn him.

  “Yeah, I got it. Bedtime, half hour,” Tony replies.

  “Tony…” I scold. But the two of them are already playing, so I decide to let it go.

  As I leave the room to clean up, Sam calls after me. “Pry,” he says in his sweet, soft voice.

  “What is it, Sam?”

  “Dad wants to talk to you. You better hurry or you’ll miss him. He’s going on a mission,” Sam says before he rolls over in the bed and falls asleep. I run out of his room and down the steps to where my parents are saying good-bye.

  “Dad! You’re here!” I say as I run to him and embrace him.

  “Wow, I’ve never gotten this big a hug from you. What rule have you broken?” he says, smiling.

  “I haven’t broken any rule. I just miss you, that’s all,” I reply, still holding him.

  “Carrot, don’t lie to your dad,” Mom says.

  “What did she do?” my dad asks.

  “She keeps trying to change the death list,” Mom replies.

  “Pry, the death list is not a game. If someone is on it, you have to leave them on it. Otherwise—”

  “Marcus, you have to go. The team is waiting for you. You know how much Rio hates when you’re late. He sulks and gets in a foul mood,” my mom reminds him.

  “Yeah, he’s so temperamental. You’d think Winter would have had a calming effect on him,” Dad replies.

  “I’ll talk to her about calming him down when I see her at the charity event,” Mom says.

  “Is Ameana going to be there?” Dad says.

  “She better be. We already told her she needs to take a cold shower. Her and Rage hardly leave their bedroom. I swear those two are in heat all the time,” Mom says.

  “Okay, I gotta go. We’re headed for a no-fly zone and Jay’s driving. That puts far more fear in me than any demon ever did,” Dad says as he starts to take off.

  “Dad, wait! Stay with me,” I beg.

  “I’m always with you. Always. But you need to say good-bye,” he says.

  “I don’t want to say good-bye to you,” I reply.

  “Me? No, I’m already gone. Say good-bye to him,” he says as he takes off into the air.

  I look in my arms and a baby suddenly appears.

  “Who is this?” I ask.

  “This is Summit. Or at least that’s what Aaden said. Summit. A boy. Strange,” Mom says.

  “This is Summit? This is my son?”

  “Naturally,” Mom replies.

  “Is he the one I have to say good-bye to? I can’t. I can’t say good-bye to him. Mom, help me!” I reply as the baby starts to fade away.

  “Did you forget about Jason?” Mom asks.

  “Is he the reason the baby is fading? You tell Malakaro this: I will kill his son if it means saving mine…”

  “Now, Pry, that’s not very nice. And anyway, Summit won’t exist because you refuse to stop playing around with the list. You want to save Summit and save everyone, then say good-bye,” she orders.

  “Say good-bye to who?” I beg as the baby dissolves into nothingness.

  “Him,” Mom replies as she changes my surroundings and sends us into the middle of a pond in the forest. There are dozens of frogs hopping around from one lily pad to the next.

  “What are we doing here?” I shout. But my mom is gone. I’m in the woods by myself. A dark looming figure comes before me. It’s Aaden. I call out to him, but he walks past me and goes into the pond. There’s a dark void in the center of the water; Aaden is headed straight for it.

  I run to stop him, but I’m stuck on the muddy shore. I can’t move my feet. I call out to Aaden, I beg him to stop, but he walks into the void and disappears.

  “NO!” I cry out. Someone appears next to me suddenly. It’s Fate.

  “Please, help me!” I shout.

  “First, you should close that, you’re letting all the flies in,” he says.

  “Close what?” I ask.

  “Your chest,” he
says.

  I look down and my chest has been carved open. My guts are seeping out and sliding down my body. The flies are making a feast of my organs. The frogs spot me standing on the shore and they start hopping towards me. Soon, I’m being invaded by hundreds of frogs and flies. I fall backwards onto the muddy ground. I try to throw the creatures off me, but they are ravenous.

  Fate calls out to me just before he disappears. “Say good-bye to one, or say good-bye to all.”

  The thing that yanks me out of my dream is pain. It reaches into my skull and digs its razor-sharp claws into me, dragging me kicking and screaming back to the real world. And in the real world, I am severely injured.

  There are bones in my body that were once connected to each other, but now no longer touch. There’s sharp and intense pain traveling through my chest; it hurts so much, I’m a few seconds away from calling for my mom. I try to calm my mind and focus on the figures in the room. I can make out the team but not much else. Soon, I am overwhelmed by the pain and am forced to give in to the darkness.

  I don’t know how much time has passed since I blacked out. There are no clocks on the wall. It could have been hours or just a few minutes. It’s hard to say. My chest feels better, but certainly not back to normal. There’s a dull ache that serves as a reminder of the severe pain that came before.

  I feel like a thousand Soul Chasers tore into me, rendering me with no more strength than that of a toddler. I can’t pick up my own head, let alone defend myself, should a demon attack. It takes all my strength to open my eyes.

  The first face I see is that of my husband. The angel who I let down when I decided to swallow a Sive. He’s relieved that my eyes are open and that I’m alive. But behind his relief, there’s a rage that is strong; it’s damn near bouncing off him. The rest of the team stand around my bed, looking worried and concerned.

  “I’m okay,” I tell them. I wanted my voice to sound strong and clear. Instead, it sounds weak and raspy.

  “You scared us,” East says, sounding very upset.

  “Didn’t mean to. Sorry,” I reply, finding the sheer act of talking almost too daunting.

  “It was so stupid to do what you did without us being by your side,” Diana scolds.

  “I know,” I reply.

  “You tell me you need me on the team, you make me stay away from my son, then you go and put your life on the line for a kid who doesn’t even exist?” Swoop says, deeply disappointed.

  Summit…

  The first thing I want to do is ask if the Sive worked. Did I manage to get rid of the virus? But I don’t ask. I’m afraid of what the answer will be. What if the Healers come in here and tell us nothing’s changed? Should I just have someone look to see if the mark of the virus is still there? No. I don’t want an answer now. I mean, not right this second.

  “I know I said we should go together, but given the circumstances, you guys should go after the demon without me. If he leads you to the Architect, send me the info and I’ll join you at the location,” I reply. From the corner of my eye, I can see Aaden shaking his head, irritated as hell.

  “I know I’m not strong right now, but I will be by the time you guys come back from tracking the demon,” I assure him.

  “Pry, we already went to look for the demon. Silver instructed us to go while the Healers were working on you,” Swoop says.

  “Did you find him?” I ask.

  “We got there too late. He found out we were looking for him and went into hiding,” Diana says.

  “Shit! Can’t we have the Paras look for him? Better yet, the Omari?” I ask.

  “The Omari have their hands full. They’ve lost three members of their team in a battle on the border between China and North Korea. Evil has always had a strong hold in that region but now, things are completely out of hand. In the two hours you were knocked out, thousands of angels have died, not to mention humans and Quo,” Bex says regretfully.

  “Bex, I’m so sorry,” I reply.

  “Yeah…I just came to make sure you were okay. But I can’t stay, I have to get back to the front lines,” he says.

  “You need to take a rest or at least drink a few vials to give you energy,” Diana says to Bex, sounding very concerned.

  “It’s fine. I can handle it,” Bex replies.

  “I know you can. But still, drink this. It’ll keep you strong. I don’t have time to come save your royal ass,” she teases as she hands him a vial. Bex laughs despite himself. The two of them look at each other in an odd way. It’s like they forget we’re in the room for a few moments. Bex tells me to do whatever the Healer says and then he takes off.

  “So our only lead is gone?” I ask.

  “Yeah,” Dylan says sadly.

  “Damn…” I mutter softly to myself.

  “ASK ABOUT THE DAMN VIRUS!” Aaden shouts at me.

  “Silver!” Diana says.

  “WHAT? THE VIRUS IS ALL SHE CARES ABOUT! SHE RISKED HER LIFE AND THE WELL-BEING OF THE ENTIRE WORLD, AND NOW SHE DOESN’T EVEN WANT TO KNOW?” he demands, full of wrath.

  “I do. I just wasn’t sure I would get the right answer,” I admit.

  “It wouldn’t matter. You’d just keep going until you got the right one. That’s just…who you are,” he says bitterly as he stomps out of the room and slams the door behind him.

  “These past few hours have been rough on him,” Diana says.

  “On account of you totally playing him and doing the one thing he told you not to do, and forcing him to have to stab you in order to save you. And essentially forcing him to come face-to-face with the most horrible situation he’s ever had to face,” East says. We all look at him.

  “What? Hey, Randy isn’t here, so it falls on me to recap. You’re welcome,” East replies.

  “I know Aaden’s upset. I get it. I’ll talk to him. Guys, what about the mark? Is it still there?” I ask, unable to wait any longer.

  “It’s gone,” Swoop says.

  “Really?” I shout happily.

  “Yeah, the Healer said she’ll come explain everything to you after she’s done running more tests,” Dylan says.

  “So no virus?” I ask.

  “Doesn’t look that way. But if we don’t stop Malakaro…” Dylan says.

  “Then none of it matters. I know. Okay, you guys go back out there and see what you can find. It doesn’t matter how small the lead is; we need something. As soon as I talk to the Healer, I’ll join you guys,” I promise them.

  Aaden enters again and tells us a Seller located in Denmark says he might have the info we need, if we are willing to pay him.

  That’s just like a Seller—all they care about is money. They died as humans while doing something heroic. But they never do enough good to become angels. That is except for Tony-Tone, but he was rare.

  “Let’s go before the Seller changes his mind,” Diana says.

  “Are you okay here alone?” Swoop asks. I can tell by her tone she’s still mad at me, but at least she cares enough to ask. Aaden hasn’t asked how I am feeling at all.

  “Yeah, I’m good. You guys should go—hurry!” I reply. As the team takes off, I ask Aaden to stay behind. The team exchange knowing glances with each other. They then take off, leaving me alone with my second-in-command.

  “The virus is gone! Did you know that?” I ask.

  “Yeah.”

  “That’s great! Isn’t it?” I ask.

  “Yeah, Pry. That’s terrific,” he says sardonically as he heads for the door.

  “Hold on, can we talk?” I ask.

  “I should be out there with the team.”

  “Yeah, I know, but I just need a few minutes,” I reply.

  “We can’t stop and talk right now, Pryor. There’s just too much to be done,” he says, sounding more official than ever.

  Damn, he must be really pissed off if his tone is that cold. There has to be a way to get him to talk to me. I mean, he can’t be that upset. I am okay, after all. And he knows I had good reason to do
what I did.

  “I really would like it if you stayed—for a few minutes,” I tell him.

  “Is this an order?” he asks.

  “Wow, does it have to be?”

  “Is it an order or not?” he restates.

  “No, it’s not an order.”

  “Good, then I have to go,” he says.

  “Aaden!” I call out as he opens the door.

  “What?” he says, not bothering to turn around.

  “Do I have to beg you to stay and talk to me?”

  “Begging and pleading never work on you, maybe it’s time they stopped working on me,” he counters.

  “Look, it’s obvious you’re upset that I swallowed the Sive. Let’s just talk about it,” I offer.

  “How is that going to help anything?” he asks.

  “Can you just close the door and come over here?”

  “That’s what you need from me, right, huh? You need me to set everything aside and listen to you. But when I needed you to listen to me, you told me to fuck off and you did what you wanted,” he says as he closes the door and faces me.

  “I never said that.”

  “You didn’t have to. Your actions did all the talking for you. We agreed you wouldn’t use the Sive and you did it anyway,” he reminds me.

  “I know you’re mad, but for the record, I never agreed. You agreed.”

  “Really? You want to argue semantics with me, right now?!” he snaps.

  “I’m sorry I upset you by taking the Sive. That wasn’t my intention,” I promise him.

  “Upset? You think this whole thing ‘upsets’ me?” he asks in disbelief.

  “Okay, then tell me. What did this whole thing make you feel?”

  He bites his lower lip and shakes his head angrily. He glares at me, then heads back towards the exit.

  “Oh, okay. I guess this is the part where you do what you’re good at—run away. Argh! I hate when you do that! If something goes wrong, you just walk out on me, on us. Just this once, can’t you stay and face our issues? Why are you running away? I wish you would just grow a set and say what you need to say.”

  “I’m not running away. I’m going to help the team,” he replies curtly.