by Terry Reid
“Is there nothing we can do to help?” John’s mother offered, desperate to see an end to this terrible turn of events. It had been a long few days for all of them and the stress was beginning to show in her usually calm and mellow voice.
Alex shook his hollow head. “No, I’m afraid not.”
“But there is a way, isn’t there?” Hayley asked from her chair, peering at him over folded arms.
Alex gave her a long look but she held his gaze. Grudgingly he turned his attention back to the others. “I take it that you all know what kindred spirits are?” he asked.
John gave an indifferent nod on everyone’s behalf.
“Well, it’s true...in certain cases.”
“What? Seriously?” John asked, gaping.
“Shh! Jonathon please, let him finish.” ordered his mother. With her son silenced, she looked to Alex to continue.
“The people most guardian angels are sent to protect are chosen at random but me and Hayley are different.” He gazed across the table at her. “Her spirit is a part of mine. I’m connected to her and her to me, now and always.”
John’s mother and sister both looked at each other dubiously. “I don’t think we quite understand what you mean.” Stacy said.
“He means that if we want to save the other Alex then we’re going to have to use my soul to do so.” Hayley explained, much to everyone’s surprise. “And that’s something I never thought I’d ever say...”
“Stop me if I’m wrong, but I take it that’s where the problem lies?” Stacy assumed.
“I’m afraid so.” Alex said regretfully.
“You mean that I could die, right?” Hayley asked, looking to Alex to confirm her worst fears.
“No.” He said, too both her relief and confusion. “That is something which you failed to ask me earlier.” He continued. “Separating us again is the problem.”
“Why would that be a problem?” Stacy asked, a sense of foreboding rising in her stomach. She sensed that this plan was going to be far more dangerous than she had previously hoped.
Alex drew a deep breath while he contemplated the best way to explain such a complex answer. Finally, after much thought, he began, “Because it is like when you put two pieces of plastersine together and try to pull them apart again, you can never get back quite the two original pieces.”
He turned back to Hayley and for one of the first time’s ever he looked afraid. “It is up to you what we do.” He said softly.
“What do you think we should do?” She replied, desperately searching him for answers.
Alex hesitated. “I think we should stay here, it’s safer.”
Hayley glanced away, she could barely contain her distress and she did not want him to see her on the edge of tears yet again. Swallowing the raw lump that had formed in her throat, she finally voiced her decision, “I want you back.”
Chapter 14
“I don’t understand, won’t you become trapped yourself if you do this?” John asked as he and the others followed the plotting angel into Hayley’s room.
“No not with Hayley with me. It is very difficult to explain John but in the simplest of terms the type of metal they are using to imprison my other form is not impregnable, it can be broken with enough persuasion.” Alex hastily replied, as he held his hand out to Hayley.
Digging deep into her pocket, she pulled out the white feather and handed it to him.
“But you said it gave off some sort of magnetic...” he struggled to remember, “...pulse, that cancelled out all of your powers.”
Alex’s ghostly figure turned to face him. “Me, yes. But what is Hayley?” he asked, gesturing to her with his free hand.
John shook his head at the blindingly obvious question. “Human?” he asked, feeling stupid.
“Exactly and so is her soul. The metal cancels out the power of my species but it has no effect on humans – it is just like any other harmless metal.”
“What about lead?” John asked, blurting out the first question that crossed his mind without any thought.
His mum clipped him around the back of the head. John cursed angrily and glowered back at her as he flinched away.
His mum glowered at him. “Don’t be stupid. Now’s not the time to ask such stupid questions.”
Alex could not help but give a slight smile at the teenager’s misfortune.
“But I thought you said that she had part of your soul in her?” John hastily asked, rubbing the back of his aching head.
“She does, but she is still human. I can use it to free my body.” He replied, looking at Hayley.
“This still doesn’t make any sense.”
Ignoring him, his mother asked, “But will she be safe?”
“Yes.” He replied confidently. Turning back to Hayley, he said, “Could you all please wait outside.” It was a statement, not a request.
Uneasily and reluctantly, John and his family quietly retreated. The teenage lad was the last to go. As her closed the door behind him, he gave them both one long last look.
Once the door had clicked shut, Alex turned to Hayley. “Are you ready?” he asked.
******
The pitch of Alex’s screams rang through every wall within the complex. Wincing back for a second or two from his recent subjection of torture, he lunged forward again as far as his heavy, clattering chains would allow. “I’ll fucking kill you!” he roared at the top of his lungs, glaring at Gabriel through his bruised and bloody face.
The former angel stood his ground without phase from the desperate threats of his prisoner. “And I’ll kill you if you don’t tell me where that goddamn notebook is!” He shouted back, his pitch rivalling that of his former brethren’s. He stepped closer, gazing his prisoner squarely in the eye, his pupils gleaming like red and amber embers, ready to explode. “Why is it so important to you Alex?” he asked quietly. “Huh? I thought Hayley was much more important to you? She’s dead and yet you still refuse to submit, why? You no longer have any reason to keep that bloody book secret. The knowledge in its pages will not help you now.” He smiled malevolently. “But I think I know why you continue to resist. You are still as self-centred as you always were.”
Alex attempted to lunge forward again, but was once more met by the resistance of his chains and shackles. “She isn’t dead! You tried to kill her once and you failed! She is the only reason why you are doing any of this, to get to me! If I tell you where the journal is, you’ll still kill her regardless.” He hissed through gritted teeth, the storms behind his eyes growing even more violent as he spoke.
Gabriel drew even closer still, unafraid. “It’s too bad then Alexander that you never had the courage to tell her where you’ve been all these years.”
Alex screamed and lunged forward again in desperation – but it made no difference, his chains held fast.
Gabriel began to pace the length of the cell. “What’s the point in going on then Alexander? Why fight me when you’ve lost everything? Tell me where the journal is and I promise you that once I seize control then I’ll wipe you from existence, quickly and painlessly.”
Alex spat in his face – a bold statement of his iron hard defiance. “You were always the self-centred one, not me and I’d happily hang here for eternity than let you take control of reality!”
Gabriel casually wiped the phlegm of blood from his eye. He stepped closer to him, so close that the two adversaries were now only inches apart. He glared at Alex with growing impatience. His enemy could see the frustration simmering behind his dead, black eyes.
“Remember all those people who died in the supermarket last month Alexander? Or that boy in the nightclub?” a thin, dark smirk crossed his pale complexion. “I can do that all again, not just in this city but everywhere.” He stepped closer to Alex, eye-to-eye now. “I will wipe every last fucking ape off this planet if that is what it takes to get you too talk. And don’t pretend not to care about them. You always had a soft spot for such a pathetic race!” He spat as
loudly as his lungs would allow.
Alex glared at him, unblinking, unthreatened. “Do it then.” He uttered coldly. “Because once I get out of here I’m going to kill you and then rip this world apart to find her.”
Gabriel smirked amusingly at his conviction. “You’re not going anywhere.”
Alex held his gaze. “Where is she?” he hissed through gritted, bloodied teeth.
The former angel’s grin broadened. “Trust me, she and her friend are both dead.”
Alex pulled at his chains again and screamed, trying his damndest to reach for him.
Gabriel turned away, ignoring the angel’s futile lunge. He departed the cell without breathing another word to him. The cast iron door creaked and clattered heavily behind him and Alex found himself alone once more. He gritted his teeth, sweat and blood trickling down his face. His body quivered involuntarily, his pent up strength and anger making him ready to burst...
******
Alex and Hayley gazed at each other for the longest time.
“I’m sorry, I’m scarred...” Hayley said nervously.
Alex smiled through his faded form warmly. “Take your time you have all the time in the world. We cannot do this if you do not relax. Just take your time.” He said softly. “Just take your time.” He repeated, quieter this time.
Hayley looked at her feet, nodding anxiously. “Maybe if I think about something else.” She looked at him again. “What do you want to do, once we get back home?”
Alex gave her a vague look. “What do you want to do? We can do anything you want or go anywhere you want.”
“You’re not helping. I was asking for a suggestion.”
“Oh right, sorry.” He said, looking a little embarrassed. “Er...” he looked away thoughtfully for a moment. “I know, we can go to your favourite pub? We’ve not been there in ages.”
Hayley nodded, still trembling uncontrollably. “Yeah, it is my favourite.”
“I’ll buy you your favourite meal there. You can get some of your friends to come along as well; we could make a night of it.” He suggested.
“Yeah, I would like that. We could invite Elaine along...” Hayley felt like she had been hit by a waterfall - or that was how best she would later describe it. She felt as if she had been struck by something powerful, but she felt no pain, yet she felt like she was falling, falling...
Alex remained motionless, his eyes closed and his head hung limply. His bruised and tattered wings draped against his bludgeoned and bruised back.
A surge of energy shot through him suddenly, jerking him straight and fully conscious. His eyelids shot open, his pupils shrinking to the size of pin heads as his body entered a violent seizure. But he was not dying, no, he was experiencing the very opposite. As his limbs throbbed and jerked uncontrollably, the dreadful lacerations and black bruises that covered his body began to heal at a rapid speed. His broken bones cracked back into place and his twisted limbs regaining their true shape. Alex gasped for precious air as his wounded, blood-drenched wings began to mend. New feathers sprouted from amongst the blood and bare flesh until his wings were white once more. They flexed back, reaching to their full length.
As the rush of adrenaline began to subside, he felt the chains and shackles begin to give beneath his strains...
In the observation room, the two guards remained oblivious to what was going on in the cell they were entrusted to watch over with their immortal lives. It was not until one of the vampires glanced up momentarily from his magazine that he realised that something was dreadfully wrong. “Shit!” he cried, casting the reading material aside and hitting the alarm.
As his miraculous burst of healing concluded, Alex’s mind reopened and he once again became aware of everything. Embracing his returning extra-sensory abilities and rocketing strength, he gazed upwards with a wide smile of anticipation.
All the while, dozens of armed vampires converged on his cell...
Alex tipped his head forward again, his eyes clouding once again with pure rage. With the slightest of flex’s, his wings expanded to their full potential – larger, thicker and stronger than ever before, as white as pearls and truly magnificent in stature. He clenched his fists and pulled – tearing the chains clean from the walls with no effort. He ripped his manacles and shackles off as if they were made of paper. Wrapping his fingers around the once heavy neck brace, he tore it clean off. It clattered to the floor as he cast it aside. He was just stepping down from the concrete platform when hoards of vampires began pouring into the cell.
He surveyed them for a time, his churning eyes peering right through their frail existence. In a blinding white flash, he exploded – the igniting fireball ripping its ways through several floors of the base. No one and nothing in the holding cell was spared from the inferno.
The explosion shook the entire bunker. Juliette fell against the wall on the stairs as the structure around her vibrated from the shockwave of the blast. The same happened to everyone else who was rushing up and down the stairs, that is, all except Gabriel who continued to walk upright, unhindered by the effects of gravity.
Juliette had to run to catch up with him. “You haven’t answered me, what do we do?” she demanded again, over the claxon of screaming sirens.
Gabriel stopped in his tracks and turned to face her. His dead gaze bore into her. “Nothing. There is no point in running because he will find you.”
The bunker shook again violently as the walls rang with the thunderous roar of another explosion somewhere below them. Juliette had to grab the railings to stop from falling over. Once she had regained her balance she began to protest. “But you said that you’d keep me safe if anything like this happened!”
A chilling smirk of self satisfaction crossed his ghostly face. “I lied.” He said, before carrying on his way.
Juliette hissed, revealing her fangs. She lunged at Gabriel with unnatural agility.
But Gabriel’s speed was unrivalled. Somehow, he managed to turn and catch the blood-baying vampire by the neck. Holding her up into the air, he watched her struggle. “You killed an angel, even if he had fallen. It’s only fair that one kills you.” He said, before flinging her down the flight of stairs.
Juliette hit the wall with shocking force. Falling to the floor, she coughed and spluttered as a thick, hot torrent of blood streamed from her nose her mouth.
There was a third explosion somewhere deep in the bunker. From amidst the thick choking dust and bloody carnage emerged Alex, unscathed. His eyes continued to burn with an insatiable rage. His emergence from the destroyed cell was met by a futile crack of bullets forged from the only precious metal on earth that could stop him. But his movements were unhindered and unrestrained – the bullets never touched him. Spreading his wings, he took flight – striking vampire after vampire at a murderous speed. Agonising screams and cracks of gunfire rang through the air, but the angel’s killing spree was unstoppable. Alex’s silhouette darted across the back wall from all directions, slashing and slaying whoever was unfortunate to stray into his path. Hollering screeches of anguish and agony echoed through the bunker – silence suddenly by the merciless strikes of the vengeful angel.
Juliette struggled onto her feet, using the wall for support. Her head throbbed and she felt nauseous. Her back too, throbbed hotly in places – she knew it was fractured. She had little time to assess the damage she had sustained from Gabriel’s assault as an invisible forced grabbed her, and flung her against the wall. She coughed and spluttered, winded by the blow.
Alex descended from above with one, short flap of his large, powerful wings. He stepped up to her, thrusting his hand around her neck. His grip tightened, cutting off her airways. He stared into her eyes with his hardened, blackened gaze.
“You...” he began, his voice harsh and hate-filled, “Owe someone an apology.”
Juliette could do nothing more than spit blood down his arm as he pinned her. The angel plunged his other fist straight into her stomach, blood pouring do
wn his clenched hand. Juliette let out one final feeble cough as her eyes glazed and her body fell limp to the arms of death. Her last few seconds of life were spent staring into the eyes of her relentless executioner.
“It fucking hurts doesn’t it!” Alex screamed, his voice raw with all the pain and all the anger he had endured during his time as her prisoner. Unleashing his full fury, he allowed white lightning to race off his hands and through her body – disintegrating it to ash and vapour.
Gabriel had made his way out of the bunker and was pacing his route across the hillside. A fierce bolt of white lightning caught him off guard, sending him tumbling to the so muddy soaked earth below.
But he was unharmed. With a disgruntled glint flashing in his eye, he arose – his blackened wings unfurling behind him.
Alex stood no more than ten paces in front of him. He lowered his wings, glowering malevolently in his fallen comrade’s direction. “There’s nowhere to run this time Gabriel! It is time you were judged for your crimes!” He shouted.
Gabriel simply smirked at the threat of annihilation. “You have tried to catch me for so many years now without success that I doubt it will be this day either Alexander. All that wasted time you could have with Hayley yet you abandoned her for eight years just to come after me.”
Alex bristled.
“Now you listen to me for once Alexander, because this is the last time we will ever speak. You and your little girl will perish at my hand one day, one day very soon.” He muttered coldly as the rain broke upon them. His smirk grew bigger still with arrogance as the rain came thick and fast, pouring from his face. “This world will be mine for the taking.”
Lightning fell from the sky, striking the earth and causing it to shatter far and wide; but Gabriel was missed, merely vanished from this realm of reality.
Alex gazed up into the blackened sky above, his face burning with rage, his eyes as black as the night itself. He let out a cry so furious that it rang for miles around. A clap of thunder in the distance echoed his pain.
