World Without Angels

by Campbell, Jamie

  “So many of the lines are vague. If they choose to meet the call, an innocent will set them free, they’ll emerge to fight the war. We can’t get any information out of that.”

  Leila had to agree. There were few lines of the prophecy that were useful. They had deciphered a few which narrowed the list down from potentially millions to thousands. But they were still a long way from finding the one mortal that had the power to stop the war and save not only the angels, but humanity too.

  “If we ignore the vague lines, that only leaves a handful,” Leila pointed out. “Did Tiresias really think we could solve his riddle based on a few details? Perhaps he didn’t realize how many people would be in the world by the time the war started.”

  “He should have been able to predict that,” Jerome joked, not actually feeling that funny. “But he wanted someone to work it out so he’s included everything we need.”

  “Perhaps there is something else we can do to narrow down the list.”

  “Like what?”

  “We need to visit a place of death,” Leila said cryptically before returning back inside. She ignored Jerome’s questions, drawings out the suspense for as long as possible.

  She had a quick breakfast and showered in the freezing cold water. The entire time wishing she didn’t have to go where she was about to. Death reminded her of everything she had lost. But she was going to have to face it sometime.

  CHAPTER 9

  “What are we doing here?” Jerome whispered as they entered the stark grey building. It still smelt of formaldehyde, despite not being used officially for at least two months.

  Leila kept her eyes alert, looking for any signs of life at the morgue. They were there for one thing and one thing only: to cut down the number of people on her list of mortals that could save the world.

  “We’re going to cross reference our list with the list of the people that have died over the last six months. Considering they are no longer updating the database, we need to go through the files to cross them off,” Leila explained. “It’s going to take forever, but I don’t know of any other way to do it.”

  “At least it will keep us busy for a while.”

  They wound their way through the long corridors and down into the basement. According to the signs attached to the walls, the offices of the Medical Examiner were located below street level. Leila figured that would be the best shot at finding records.

  The city Medical Examiner’s office had given up performing autopsies a few months ago when it was apparent there would be no-one to bring to justice. The bodies kept coming in but there were no trials for wrongful death or murder. The M.E.’s findings became irrelevant. There was nobody around to care about what killed the victims and the number of people coming through the doors on slabs were too many to handle. One day, they simply closed the doors and didn’t open them again.

  Halfway down the corridor, Leila shot her hand out to stop Jerome in his tracks. She had heard a noise and it made her skin crawl. If there was one place where you didn’t want to hear a bump in the distance, it was in a morgue – the place where dead bodies just lay around, hanging out.

  “Someone’s here,” Jerome whispered. “I can hear footsteps.”

  “Me too.”

  They stood against the wall, straining to hear and getting ready to run if they needed to. There was definitely someone in the basement with them, they just didn’t know whether it was living, dead, friend, or foe. Considering the state of the world, it could have been any of those options.

  “I’m going to take a look,” Leila said quietly, as low as possible so only Jerome could hear.

  “No, Leila, you can’t do that.”

  “Just a peek.”

  Leila ignored his silent protests and took a step towards the corner of the corridor. She carefully looked around, moving as slowly as she could without stopping altogether.

  The footsteps belonged to a woman, Leila could just make her out through a window down the hallway. She relaxed, the woman was confident in her work, bustling around the offices. She belonged there, she wasn’t out to hurt anybody or protect her territory.

  “What can you see?” Jerome asked impatiently, dying to see what she was looking at.

  “I think it’s the Medical Examiner. She’s working.”

  “We’ll come back then, tonight perhaps.”

  Leila shook her head fervently. “I’m not coming back here in the dark. The things in here are what cause all those bumps in the middle of the night.”

  “I’ll come back alone then,” Jerome offered, needing to get away from the footsteps before they were discovered.

  “No, I’ll talk to her. She might let me look at the files.”

  “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

  “And yet I’m still doing it,” Leila grinned. “Wait here, I’ll let you know when it’s safe.”

  “Leila, this isn’t-”

  He didn’t get a chance to finish, she was already gone. Leila approached the office slowly, making sure the woman heard her footsteps. She wanted the woman to know she was there and wasn’t creeping up on her. It was the only thing she could think to do to declare her peaceful intentions. It was the people that snuck up on you that you needed to look out for.

  “Hello?” Leila knocked on the door. The woman shot around to face her, holding up a scalpel as a weapon. “Hi. I’m not here to hurt you.”

  “Who are you?” The woman was taller than Leila first thought, her skin the colour of caramel. With her hair tied up in a bun, she was beautiful and without one wrinkle on her face. Definitely not the type of person Leila expected to be cutting up dead people.

  “My name is Leila Loudon. Are you the Medical Examiner?”

  “What’s it to you? Why are you here?” The scalpel was still poised, ready for a fight at a moment’s notice.

  “I was hoping to go through your records. I’m trying to work out if someone has died in the last six months.” It was only a small lie, it was kind of the truth. She just had a whole lot of people she wanted to see if they were still alive.

  “The files are confidential.”

  “I know, but I’m not going to do anything to them. I promise I won’t tell anyone about it.”

  They stared at each other for a few moments, sizing each other up. Slowly, the scalpel was lowered. “You don’t look very old. Is it family you’re looking for?”

  Leila nodded, hoping it wasn’t a lie if you just moved your head. “I’m seventeen. I’ve lost all my family.”

  The woman seemed to soften, she hadn’t lost all her humanity despite all she had seen. “I’m Anna Wilson. And yes, I am the Medical Examiner here. At least I was until this place was officially closed.”

  “What are you still doing here?”

  “Tidying, mostly,” Anna shrugged, almost laughing at her situation. “I figure this is probably the safest place in the city. No-one wants to come here, there is enough death in the streets.”

  “You’re probably right,” Leila had to agree. She could probably survive in the basement of the morgue for years before people were desperate enough to raid it. “Can you please show me where your files are?”

  “Through here,” Anna led her to the office beside her own. It held rows upon rows of paper files. Just seeing the vast amount of shelving was enough to turn Leila off looking. They wouldn’t be there for forever, they would be there for forever and ever.

  “These are all your files?”

  “About three year’s worth. We were in the middle of getting them scanned into the system when everything went haywire. I kept files on everyone I worked on right up until we were closed by the city.”

  “What happens to all the dead now?” She didn’t really want to hear the answer, but the question was out of Leila’s mouth before she could stop it.

  “I don’t know, I hate to think.”

  “Me too.”

  Anna patted her on the back. “I’ll leave you to it. I’m going to be wand
ering around if you need anything. Just call out and I’ll come. And please be respectful of these files, they were all people with families once.”

  “I will, I promise,” Leila smiled, believing in her words. She understood the need for respect. This woman’s whole life was in the basement with the dead, they were probably all she spoke to for most of her existence.

  Anna left her in the office alone; Leila waited until she was out of sight before creeping out into the corridor. She rounded the corner quickly and waved at Jerome to follow her. He bent over, trying to be as invisible as possible – which didn’t work too well with his wings. She smuggled him into the office and closed the door. If he worked in the far row, then he couldn’t be seen from the window. Leila didn’t want to close the blinds, fearing it might make Anna suspicious. It was bad enough closing the door.

  “What’s the plan?” Jerome asked, taking in the entirety of the filing system for the first time. He had the same concerns as Leila, but he didn’t dare voice them. They would get through the files, he was certain they would get there eventually.

  “We go through each file, check the date of birth and write down the name? When we get back home we can tick any off that are on our list?”

  She waited for a response, hoping he might have a better, more efficient, idea. He didn’t. “Sounds good.”

  They grabbed a piece of paper each off the desk and fished around in the drawers for some pencils. Leila started near the door while Jerome worked at the back. They moved as quickly as possible, taking a file down from the shelf and then checking to see whether their date of birth was in November or December. If they were a Sagittarius, their name would be recorded on the paper. It was painstaking and boring work, but they could get through the files relatively fast. After a complete shelf, they had a routine going.

  “So was the woman the M.E?” Jerome asked, breaking the silence.

  “Yeah. She felt safe here and didn’t want to leave.”

  Jerome figured it made sense. They focused on the files for the next six hours, barely taking a break. In the small archive room that smelled of paper and formaldehyde, it was easy to lose track of time. Anything could have happened in the world surrounding them and they wouldn’t be aware of it. They existed in a bubble.

  When it was evening and time they should be going, Anna unexpectedly popped her head through the door.

  “It’s getting late,” she started as Jerome sat against the wall, unmoving so he wouldn’t give himself away. “If you want to get home before it’s dark, you should be leaving soon.”

  Leila smiled, touched by the woman’s concern for her. They had gone through most of the records with only a few more still to be noted. “Thanks. I’ll probably be another ten minutes, if that’s okay?”

  “No problem. Just don’t be too long, after last night, anything could happen.”

  “I heard the fire was pretty big.”

  Anna leant against the door, crossing her arms. “The fire was the least of the problems. It was a good thing our doors were closed, this place would have been full of bodies for me to work on.”

  Leila shook her head, knowing full well Jerome was listening to every word they said. “I heard it was just a fire.”

  “I don’t know where you’re getting your information from, but you heard wrong. There were thousands killed last night in the fights. It was one of the worst nights we’ve had since everything started going south.”

  “I guess I was told wrong.”

  “Anyway, don’t forget about the time. Say goodbye to me before you go,” Anna closed the door and left, leaving Leila stunned.

  The minute she was alone, Leila hurried to Jerome. He had lied to her, a complete and outright lie. She looked over him sitting on the floor, he knew he was in trouble.

  “I know what you’re going to say,” Jerome said, going on the counter defense.

  “You lied to me.”

  “I didn’t want you to worry.” It sounded weak, even to Jerome himself. Still, he didn’t regret playing down the carnage he had seen. There were some horrors in the world that people shouldn’t have to witness and he would shield her from it all if he could.

  “It’s not up to you to decide what I should and should not worry about.” Leila crossed her arms, so angry that she was having trouble keeping her voice down. She wouldn’t be able to explain to Anna who she was talking to if overheard. “I’m not a child.”

  “I didn’t think you were.”

  “Well, why did you break your promise not to lie to me then?”

  Jerome didn’t know how to answer the question in a way that wouldn’t get him into even more trouble. Angels weren’t supposed to speak with humans, he had no training in how to handle them. Everything he said seemed to just make her angrier.

  “I’m waiting, Jerome. Why?”

  “Because I wanted to protect you. I’m sorry I upset you.” He decided to go with the truth.

  Leila uncrossed her arms, softening. How could she stay angry with him when he was so sweet? A liar, but a sweet liar with the right intentions. Still, she didn’t want him to know that. He couldn’t know it was alright to lie to her. Perhaps one day he would keep something from her that she really should know. She couldn’t let that happen.

  “You have to promise me you’ll tell me everything. Promise me you won’t lie again and I will forgive you.”

  Jerome stood, not really wanting to make a promise he didn’t know he would be able to keep. The consequences of lying in the angel world were severe, punishable by the council. Humans might be less fussed with the truth, but it was a big deal to them. Angels were above reproach, pure and innocent.

  “Jerome? Promise me.”

  He couldn’t do it, he couldn’t promise her he would tell her everything. He took her hands in his, hoping she would understand. “I promise I will protect you.”

  “That’s not the same thing.”

  “No, but it will keep you safe.”

  Leila looked into the angel’s eyes, trying to work out exactly what he was saying. Was he using his words to get around the truth? Was he saying that he would lie to her again? Probably. However, there were those eyes again. She felt for sure there must be something magical about them. Whenever she looked into the baby blue eyes, she didn’t seem to care about anything else anymore. She found herself nodding, it was involuntary.

  Jerome smiled, relieved. Perhaps he was getting the hang of the whole human thing. “We better finish the last of the files so we can get home.”

  “I guess so.”

  He let go of her hands and they both went back to work. Another half an hour and they had managed to go through every single of the files in the room – even the stray ones still on the desk.

  Leila poked her head out the door, looking for Anna. The coast looked clear. “I’ll go find Anna while you sneak out.”

  “I’ll wait outside for you.”

  She walked down the corridor, making sure to step loudly to cover any of Jerome’s footsteps. Anna was wiping down a stainless steel table in what appeared to be an examination room. As Leila looked around, she realized everything was stainless steel, you could hose down the entire room if you wanted to. Her next thought was of all the dead bodies that had probably passed through the room. It made the hair stand up on the back of her neck.

  “Anna, I’m going. Thank you so much for letting me hang out here all day.”

  “Did you find who you were looking for?”

  Leila suppressed a laugh, if only it was that easy. “No, not yet. But hopefully soon.”

  “Well, it’s a good thing not finding them yet. You still have hope,” Anna smiled a comforting smile, she was nice, almost motherly. Leila wished she didn’t have to leave her alone.

  “Yeah, still hopeful. Will you be okay here by yourself?”

  “I’ve been here for months by myself. Trust me, I’ll be fine. What about you? Do you have people you stay with?”

  “I have someone.”
<
br />   Anna nodded. “Good. It’s important to have people around that you can trust. You never know what might happen these days.”

  “Well, stay safe then.”

  “You too. And you can come and visit anytime, just don’t tell anyone I’m here. Oh, and I’m a doctor, so if you hurt yourself please come and see me. I’ll fix you right up.”

  Leila thanked her again, even going so far as giving Anna a hug before leaving. The woman did everything she could to assure her she was fine staying in the morgue on her own, but Leila knew better. She was lonely, and probably scared too. Leila hated what people had become and for causing the whole mess. Anna probably had a great life and career before the war. Now, she was a recluse. It was sad.

  Still, Leila couldn’t dwell. She had to put it all behind her and get Anna out of her head. If her and Jerome figured out the prophecy and found the mortal that was going to save them all, then the world would go back to how it used to be. Anna included, providing she lived that long. Providing any of them lived that long.

  She found Jerome waiting outside just like he said he would and they walked home. The sun was just about to sink beyond the horizon when they walked through the front door of their new home.

  Jerome did a quick check to make sure nothing had been disturbed. “It’s clear,” he declared before he allowed Leila inside. She felt stupid standing at the door waiting for him, but she didn’t have a choice in the matter. If he wanted to, Jerome could pick her up and carry her under his arm and she wouldn’t have any say over it.

  Leila was starving, she hadn’t realized how much so. As soon as the house was cleared, she headed for the food supply. It would be boiled potatoes again, but it didn’t matter. As she stirred, she wondered what Anna would be eating that night. She hoped she had something and wasn’t going hungry like so many.

  As she cooked, Jerome sat on the floor and started going through their list. Leila turned the computer on for him and showed him how to go through the names she had downloaded. She was happy for him to make a start, it was going to take hours.