by Riley London
“Rules? We’re calling them rules now?” I kept my jacket on, not moving it an inch. “I thought you called the commandments or something.”
“There are rules. And then, there are commandments.” Benjamin’s gaze remained on my jacket. “I’m serious, Celeste. You cannot have anything over your uniform. The council has made it clear that—”
“What’s the difference between a rule and a commandment?” I leaned against a nearby wall, as I waited for Benjamin to explain.
I also really, really, really wanted him to stop talking about my jacket.
It wasn’t coming off. The jacket and I were a package deal.
Maybe I should’ve made that clearer back in Mrs. Deveraux's office.
“Simple. Rules are earthly, commandments are heavenly. For example, not killing an innocent human? That’s a heavenly commandment.”
“Ehh. That seems like a pretty earthly one, too.”
“No. On Earth, innocent people are killed every day, and no one answers for their deaths. In Heaven, you will answer to the angels.”
“Okay, I think I’m getting it...” I moved away from the wall. “It’s like, everything’s a crime but some are worse than others.”
“Not everything’s a crime.” Benjamin’s face scrunched into a frown. “The angels are rarely unreasonable.”
“You really like these angels, a lot, huh?” I smirked.
“You should, too. They’re going to be your sole source of protection against death, once you’re allowed to go into the field.”
“The field?”
“Yes. You heard Mrs. Deveraux, didn’t you? Michael wasn’t able to stop all the sin in this world. There are still elements of it, everywhere, and more often than not, it gets into the human spirit.” Benjamin began to walk down the hall, and I instinctively followed behind him.
“Wait. But I thought we’re not supposed to kill innocent humans?”
“Correct.”
“So, how are we, uh, gonna’ kill the sin without killing the human spirit?”
“You have a lot to learn.” There was a hint of a smile in Benjamin’s voice. “Which is good, since we’ll be starting today.”
Benjamin turned a corner and stepped towards an open door on the left side of the hall.
I did the same thing, and once I got inside the room, I was immediately overwhelmed by the sight in front of me.
Whoa.
It was nothing but weapons.
Swords of varying lengths lined the back wall, and on each side of the room there were different methods of destruction, everything from bows and arrows to axes to hunting knives to what looked like recently sharpened throwing stars.
I didn’t see any guns, though.
“No guns?” I asked, as I walked up to Benjamin. “Or are those in another room?”
“Guns aren’t an effective weapon against demonic energy, the same way they aren't effective against angelic energy. I thought we’d already been over this?” Benjamin seemed disappointed. “Or do you not recall our night in the training room?”
“Yeah, what was that about, anyway? Did you just want to fight me to see if I could fight or what?”
“No. I wanted to see your skill level.” Benjamin reached for a sword, as he carefully took it down from the wall. “And my suspicions were correct. You are more than capable of holding your own against a human opponent. I’m sure you’ve injured many spines.”
“Injured some spines, broke a nose or two.” I couldn’t stop myself from smiling at Benjamin’s version of a compliment.
Those felt like a rarity coming from a guy like him.
“However, you have no idea what you’re doing when it comes to demonic energy. Do you want to know why we don’t use guns, Celeste?”
“Because they’re too easy?”
“Here.” Benjamin handed me the sword, before he took a step away from me.
“Uh, what am I supposed to do with this?”
“Bless it.”
“What?”
“Bless the sword?”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“I’ll show you.” Benjamin placed his hands on either side of the sword, before he quietly bowed his head. “Auxilium.”
The sword vibrated in my palms, and I nearly dropped it on the ground.
And then, it started to glow with a hue of gold I’d never seen.
“It’s much harder to bless a gun, because you'd need to bless the individual bullets, too.” Benjamin continued. “But with weapons like this, it usually only takes one prayer.”
“And what happens if you don’t bless the weapon?”
“Blessed weapons kill demonic energy. Non-blessed weapons kill humans.” Benjamin explained. “So, unless you’re interested in breaking one of the commandments, I suggest that you be careful about your choice of weapon from now on.”
“Got it.” I nodded, as I cautiously turned the hilt of the sword over in my hands. “I’ll be careful.”
A loud, blaring sound made its way through the training room.
Shit.
That sounded like bad news.
I positioned the sword at my side, ready for the potential battle.
And Benjamin laughed, as he began to walk out of the room. “Relax, Celeste. That’s just the bell for lunch.”
“Right. Of course.” I laughed, too, even though adrenaline now flowed through my veins.
Damn.
I’d really been ready for a fight.
Oh well.
Maybe some other time.
“Can we trade? I’m getting tired of this one.” Zachary spoke, as he sat down at the cafeteria table in front of us. “Besides, I’m supposed to be watching that one, anyway. How’d I end up with the halfie?”
“I’m not a halfie. I’m not anything. I keep trying to tell you people.” Charlie sounded exasperated, as he took his seat beside Zachary. “And honestly, I kinda’ thought that you guys were gonna’ keep Celeste but let me go home.”
“Not until we find out what you are. Not until we find out what you both are.” Zachary replied.
“She’s an angel, and I’m just some guy who has a meeting with some app developers tomorrow.” Charlie groaned. “Come on. Just let me go home? I promise I won’t tell anybody about the academy, not that people would believe me, anyway.”
“It’s not a matter of secrecy.” Benjamin answered. “It’s a matter of being thorough. Wouldn’t you like to know what you are, Charlie?”
“Not if it’s going to keep me from becoming a multi-millionaire at age 23.”
“Ooh! This must be the app that people can use to find dates, but it’s based around the kind of movies you like to watch.” I smiled over at Charlie. “That one sounded pretty fun, actually.”
“App?” Benjamin asked, even though it wasn’t a full question.
“Yeah. A dating app. Like, on your phone?” Charlie explained.
“Oh.” Benjamin said, before he picked up the apple on his plate. “We don’t do that.”
“Don’t do what? Use dating apps? Use apps, at all?”
“We don’t watch movies, either.” Zachary chuckled. “Nope. No time for any of that. We’re too busy saving humankind from themselves.”
“Wait, so what? You guys just spend all your time cooped up at the academy?” Charlie looked around the room. “What does everyone here do for fun?”
“Study, mostly.” Benjamin offered. “And sometimes, training can be quite fun, as well.”
“You’re telling me that you people are literal, actual supernatural beings, and you don’t know how to have fun?” Charlie scoffed. “Then what the hell—I mean, what the heck is even the point?”
“Hell isn’t a dirty word, man. You can say it.” Zachary spoke, in between bites of what looked like a turkey sandwich. “And fun is a mostly human concept. You all like to have so much fun that you don’t even realize what the hell is happening around you.”
“Zach. Don’t. Not right now.” Ben
jamin warned. “Celeste is still getting her bearings. She doesn’t need to know about—”
“What don’t I need to know about?” I interrupted Benjamin. “You guys don’t need to keep stuff from me. I’m not a baby. I can take it.”
“No. Benjie’s right. Maybe it’d be better after you have your first class. We wouldn’t want to scare the new girl away now, would we?” Zachary shot a look over at me, and something seemed to shift behind his electric, green eyes.
Whoa.
I was embarrassed by the way my gaze lingered on Zachary’s own, and I soon turned my attention towards Benjamin. “Wait. First class?”
“Yes.” Benjamin replied, with a smile. “We are at an academy, after all.”
I took a moment to look around the room, taking in all the students that sat in various places in the cafeteria. I counted about a hundred students all bustling around. Some of them were dressed like me, their uniforms on display as they stood in line for their meals. Other students were dressed in all black, with weapons hanging loosely at their side.
“Oh. I guess I just thought that I was going to be more of a fighter than a—”
“Reader?” Zachary suggested.
Asshole.
I kept the thought to myself, as I came up with a response. “No. I just thought that you guys were more about fighting demons, than reading about ‘em.”
“If you don’t learn about your enemy, then you won’t know how to win against your enemy.” Benjamin said in a steady tone. “All the physical training in the world won’t help you when you’re up against a direct descendent of Wrath. You’ll need to know their weaknesses, be able to think three steps ahead—”
Another loud blare rang out through the cafeteria.
“Welp. Time to get to class.” Zachary stood away from the table, his focus remaining on me. “Let’s go, new blood.”
“What class are we going to?” I asked.
“Why does that matter to you?” Zachary took a few steps away from his seat. “It’s not like you know anything, anyway. You should be excited about biblical lineage.”
“Biblical lineage.” Benjamin groaned. “Adam was the father of the Seth, Seth was the father of Enosh, Enosh was the father of Kenan, Kenan was the father of Mahalalel...”
“Hmm. Sounds riveting.” Charlie replied. “Have fun with that, Celeste.”
“Unfortunately, Charlie, we’ll be joining them, too.” Benjamin finished up his lunch with a final bite. “All classes at the academy are mandatory for all attendees.”
“But I’m not even enroll—I’m not even an angel!” Charlie’s voice rose an octave or two. “You’re really going to make me sit through what sounds like the most boring thing in the world, just because you can’t figure out if I’m human or not?”
“Yes.” Benjamin’s response was plain. “And we need to go now. It’s so much worse having to sit in the front row of one of Mr. Toorin’s lectures.”
“Yeah, I’d hate to be in the front row for one of Mr. Toorin’s lectures.” Charlie repeated most of Benjamin’s words with a sarcastic bent. “Whatever! Let’s just go.”
Benjamin had been right.
Being in the front row for Mr. Toorin’s lecture had been absolute torture.
It wasn’t so much the content of what he’d been saying, but the boringness of how he’d said it.
The man had a voice that was perfect for one of those late-night talk shows, the kind I used to fall asleep to when I was in foster care.
But I knew that if I’d fallen asleep in Mr. Toorin’s lecture, then there would’ve been hell to pay.
I could tell as much from the way that some of the other students that sat beside me were desperately pinching themselves in an attempt to stay awake through his lesson for the day.
I didn’t know if anything he’d said would come in handy once I got out onto the field, and honestly, I was hoping that it’d never matter again.
I hadn’t really been concentrating too much, my thoughts swirling with the new-found reality of my situation.
I was a freakin’ angel.
I was sitting at the Angel Academy.
I’d thought a lot of things about myself over the years, but I never once thought that I was somehow special.
The more I thought over it, the more I felt myself filling with something that beamed bright beneath my skin.
Was this...pride?
It was a weird feeling.
I’d been confident forever, mostly because I had to be, or else I wouldn’t have been half as good a fighter.
But to have pride in myself? Like I was part of something good? Something important?
There was nothing like it.
When Mr. Toorin’s lecture was finally, finally over, Benjamin nudged me in the shoulder. “Did you take any notes?”
“What? How could I have taken any notes? I didn’t even have a pencil or anything—”
Benjamin then handed me a sheet of paper, with a neat set of notes written on every line. “Don’t worry about it. You can copy mine.”
“What the fuck? Your handwriting is perfect.” I marveled at the sheet in front of me. “Are you a robot or something?”
“Yeah, he is.” Zachary laughed somewhere behind us.
“Shut up.” Benjamin mumbled, before he shifted away from his seat. “Anyway, we should head back to the dorms. We’ll have a bit of time before dinner, and you should use that time to grab some linens from—”
“Oh. I don’t need linens. I’m not gonna’ be sleeping here or anything.” I smiled up at Benjamin. “Thanks for the offer, though.”
“Uh, hate to break it to you, Celeste, but room and board aren’t optional here.” Zachary moved, until he was in my line of sight. “Did you think that we were just going to let you go back home after all this?”
“But I have an apartment. Charlie and I have an apartment.” I shook my head. “I’m not paying a grand a month for rent just so it can be unoccupied. Are you two out of your minds?”
“Don’t worry. I already took care of that for you.”
“Meaning?”
“I called your landlord, broke your lease, and the last I heard, a bunch of your stuff is now out on the academy front lawn.” Zachary nodded towards a nearby window. “See for yourself.”
No.
No. No. No. No. No.
I darted away from my seat and pushed my face up against the classroom’s window.
And that’s where I saw it, the small, sad collection of my stuff, seated on the grass.
I didn’t have much, mostly because I hadn’t had the opportunity to buy a bunch of shit throughout my lifetime.
But what I did have was precious to me, and it pained me to see it laid out on the lawn like that.
Charlie’s stuff was piled up right beside mine, his making a much bigger, less balanced pile.
“What the hell!” Charlie screamed, as he came to stand beside me at the window. “They kicked us out of our own apartment? Without even asking?”
“It’ll make it a lot harder to leave.” I looked over at Charlie. “Which I’m starting to think might’ve been their whole game from the beginning.”
“I am not staying here, Celeste. You do what you want, but I’m not supposed to be caught up in this—”
“I know.” I cut off Charlie’s reply. “And if you’re gone in the morning, I’m not going to blame you, okay? You shouldn’t have to be here, just because I am, too.”
Charlie’s gaze softened, before he ran a hand through his brown hair. “Shit. Celeste. Do you really think I would leave you?”
“I mean, you just said you would.” I smirked. “And you’ve never lied to me before, so—”
“Yeah, I know but...” Charlie still seemed concerned. “You really think I would?”
“Charlie, I—”
“Dorms. Now.” Zachary cut into our conversation. “I’ll get your stuff off the lawn and bring it to your room. Just go with Benjie.”
I opened my
mouth, ready to say something in response.
But Charlie was already walking behind Benjamin, and I decided to save whatever I was going to say for some other time.
“Where’s Charlie’s stuff?” I asked, as I looked around the dorm room.
The dorms were all-white, which gave them an eerie feel.
White, white, white.
White blankets. White dressers. White floors.
Again.
At least the beds looked comfortable enough. I took a seat on the edge of one, as I waited for Zachary to answer the question. He’d just finished lugging my stuff into the room, and was now opening and closing dresser drawers, like he was looking for something.
“Charlie’s stuff should be in his room by now. I had one of the other guys take it over.” Zachary replied, as he closed another drawer.
“Wait. Charlie’s room? We’re not staying together?”
“No. Didn’t you hear Mrs. Deveraux? I’m in charge of you now.” Zachary opened yet another drawer, as he continued. “Charlie will be staying with Benjamin.”
“Is Benjamin okay with that?”
“Probably. It’s not like living with me was a dream come true.” Zachary laughed, and it sounded genuine. “Although, living with him wasn’t a walk in the park, either.”
“I thought you two were friends.”
“Best friends.” Zachary corrected. “Which is why I’m trying to save his ass by keeping an eye on you. Benjie’s always had a bleeding heart. It’s what makes him strong, and what makes him weak.”
Zachary then narrowed his eyes over at me. “Speaking of Benjie, the man who’d marry the commandments if he could...did he already tell you that you can’t wear that jacket over your uniform?”
“Yeah.”
“So, take it off.”
“Not gonna’ happen.” I shrugged. “And if Mrs. Deveraux wants to expel me or whatever because of it, then so be it. But the jacket isn’t going anywhere.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s special to me.”
“Why?”
“Just because!” I became a little frustrated with the sudden line of questioning. I wasn’t used to talking about my past, especially not with strangers I’d just met.
