Fallen Angels

by Warren DeBary

  “After everything I’ve seen recently, try me.”

  “The war has been rough on Maggie. She had a husband. Malakhim. A pretty good one, and he got into a really bad situation, something he couldn’t get out of.” Bailey put his head on his front paws, looking up at me.

  “Yeah, then what happened?”

  “He died.”

  “He died? But where do you fit into the picture?” I asked. The dog sat up and looked wistfully up at my plate. I threw another piece of meat down to him, which he swallowed whole.

  “Thing is, as a Malakhim, you learn things, like how to separate your mind from your body. He was a very good Empath.”

  Suddenly, the realization came. “You’re her husband,” I blurted out.

  “Shhh!” Bailey hissed. “You got it, kid. Rupert K. Madison, at your service.”

  “Nice to meet you. But what? Ms. Maggie doesn’t know?”

  “I tried to tell her, but like I said, the war has been rough on her. Doesn’t want to deal with it. Emily says take it slow. So don’t go saying anything. I don’t need her hysterical.”

  “Must be hard.”

  “You have no idea. I came back a long way to make sure Maggie’s okay, but almost didn’t make it. Bailey here was our dog. He was on his last legs and wanted release. I helped with that and was able to take over this body.”

  “How long have you been in there?” I asked. I mean, the whole spiritual corporal separation was impressive but I think at that point, my mind just chalked it up to one more thing that I had no idea about.

  “With the help of Emily and Rene, I’ve been in this body for twelve years.”

  “Twelve years? Isn’t that kinda old for a dog?”

  “That’s nothing. If Bailey had lived, he would have now been twenty-seven.”

  “You’re kidding. And Ms. Maggie, she doesn’t suspect?”

  “Like I said, she’s in denial. Having Bailey around was the only thing she’s been able to hang on to. I didn’t want to take that away from her. The war has been hard on all of us.

  “But this body and this mind don’t fit too well and god damn, the instincts. It takes everything I got not to smell everybody’s butt the second they walk up. But I liked sausage when I was still me, and I like it even more now,” the dog said. I threw another piece and he gulped it down just as Ms. Maggie came back into the kitchen.

  “Not a word,” Bailey said. I shrugged around a mouthful of mashed potatoes. Like I said, I was getting past the point where things surprised me anymore.

  Things had been getting stranger and stranger ever since I saw Rene on my way to school. Since then, I’d been beaten up, almost eaten, thrown into a fiery ring, practically drowned and told I may be the hope of mankind. It was all too much. I finished off the chicken just as I heard George from the direction of the sitting room.

  I scarfed the rest of the plate down, and although I felt strange doing it, I threw a piece I’d been saving in the direction of Bailey who swallowed it whole and made my way toward George’s voice.

  “You’ve got to be kidding!” George was in the middle of telling Maya as I turned the corner. He looked upset and Maya did not look any happier.

  George sat on one of the couches, Kayla and Maya across from him. Although Maya still wore the stud in her nose and her tattoos peeked out from under her sleeve, she and Kayla were dressed very similarly. They looked very much like the identical twins they were.

  “What’s up guys?”

  “Matty-Boy, you’re not going to believe this.”

  “Believe what?”

  “Matthew, we need to take you into the city tonight,” Kayla said. Her blue eyes were partially hidden by her jet black hair

  “Why?”

  Kayla began to answer but Maya interrupted her. “Can’t tell you here, but it’s important.”

  I glanced over at George who shrugged. He knew just as well as I did that to leave the house one more time was really pushing our luck. Kayla’s eyes silently pleaded with me. Was I being played? I didn’t know, and that sucked. She was a wild card, not part of this world. Could I trust her? That, I would never know. But, the look in her eyes left no room for doubt. My gut told me that she was absolutely sincere and that I could trust her. I really hoped my gut was right.

  Finally, I felt the overwhelming tug of fate and had the distinct realization that if this is where the rabbit hole leads, then who am I to argue. No matter what happened, or what came up, I was going to see this to the very end.

  “Uh, yeah,” I agreed. “That’ll be fine.”

  “Great, let’s go.”

  

  “You like to drive fast,” I told Kayla as she whipped through the traffic of the I-80, dodging back and forth, sometimes leaving an inch between car bumpers.

  “It reminds me of home,” she said and continued to concentrate on the road.

  “Home? George said you and Maya aren’t from here? That you’re leaving this planet behind once your training is done?” Kayla frowned but continued to dart through the traffic. Maya and George jabbered together in the backseat.

  “Yes,” she agreed.

  “What’s it like there? Where you’re from, I mean?”

  “Nothing like this place. Even the bulk transports are faster than these clunky machines,” she said as we zipped over the Carquinez Bridge. I looked at the speedometer; she was doing well over a hundred miles per hour. This girl was going to kill us.

  “Matthew,” Kayla said. “I’m an Empath, remember? You’re making me jittery.”

  She zipped past a number of semis on the freeway, the heavy trucks bouncing the BMW around purely with wind sheer.

  “So how’s Maya?” I asked. “After what she went through, must have been pretty bad for her.”

  “Maya’s a fighter. She’ll be fine,” Kayla said.

  “What about you? You a fighter, too?” I asked.

  “Matthew, I know what went through your mind when I asked you to come tonight. You don’t trust me so what do you want me to say?” she asked.

  “It’s not that I don’t trust you.”

  “Yes, I know. You wouldn’t be here right now if you didn’t. But you don’t trust my family. When things go bad, you and I will be on opposite sides. I really wish it was different but it isn’t.”

  “Yeah, I know,” I said. “So let’s just have get through tonight, all right?”

  She smiled and put her hand over mine. “Yes, I can do that.”

  We rocketed over the Bay Bridge and I could see the lights of the city ahead. The buildings were lit up in orange as the city got ready for the World Series although the Giants were already down 0-2. I guess George was right and he’d rub it in Mr. Ching’s face next time he saw him.

  At the thought of Mr. Ching and home the memory of Dominick’s broken body ran through my mind. I fought back the welling tears and the lump in my throat.

  Just then Kayla yelled “Hold on!” and took a hard right at the Fremont Street ramp. She narrowly missed crashing into one of a pile of debris and straightened the wheel hard, stopping at the light.

  Kayla hit the gas and we shot forward narrowly missing a Semi bearing down on us and made into the heart of the city.

  Kayla stopped the BMW just as a car pulled out of a parking space. “That was lucky,” I said as she parked. Kayla looked over at me and smiled.

  “Earthlings,” Maya said.

  We got out of the car and followed Maya, who made a quick right down an alley. Two guys stood at the back door of a restaurant, smoking a cigarette, both jabbering in Cantonese.

  Maya darted down a stairwell leading below street level. Kayla followed closely behind.

  “Matty-Boy, just watch yourself, right?”

  “Right.”

  We passed by two bouncer types manning the door of what looked like an underground club.

  “Maya,” one of them said. “Ricco was here earlier, looking for you.”

  “That asshole is here?” she asked.


  “Nah, he’s on the shit list. Kicked him out the moment he got here,” the giant said.

  “Thanks, Brett.”

  “We protect our Starborn,” the giant said. Maya flashed him a brilliant smile. He lifted the velvet rope and we followed Maya inside.

  Strange, rhythmic syncopations greeted us at the door, unlike any music I’d ever heard before. Dancers in tight clothing moved to the hypnotic pulse, and my head bobbed to the beat. People were everywhere. Some had strange drinks in hand, others just looked strange.

  George yanked my arm, forcing me to notice a group in one of the booths. A girl with reptilian skin glanced back at me. Her long tongue slithered out and slipped quickly back into her mouth. Others regarded us with grave expressions, their eyes flashed with reptilian-looking irises.

  “These people aren’t human,” I told George.

  “Yeah, I know,” he said. “This is a Sentient club, a place where ETs hang out. Just keep your eyes open.”

  There were several tables with gigantic, three-dimensional graphics darting and twisting through the air above them. It was just like the game George had been playing in the transport capsule but it wasn’t the only one. There were several other games that were more realistic than anything I’d ever seen before.

  We took a booth on the far side of the club.

  “So this is your spot?” George asked Maya, yelling to be heard over the music.

  “Kind of,” she said.

  “Matthew, do you trust us?” Kayla asked as she put her hand on mine. Now, why did I feel like a duck in a pond right about now? After everything I had been through, this was going to be tough, but what else could I do?

  “Yes,” I answered and at that moment, I really did believe it. She smiled and nodded to Maya. A green field of energy surrounded us and something lurched inside of me.

  Suddenly, I felt like I was being physically lifted out of my skin. I was terrified, and I didn’t think George was doing any better. I felt Kayla’s presence next to mine, warm and reassuring. We rocketed over the city and out past the Golden Gate Bridge. I could see its red columns beneath us, partially obscured by the constant fog San Francisco was famous for.

  Just outside of the Golden Gate, we bolted through the calm surface and continued to dive. The feeling was incredible, but I couldn’t see a thing. Then we came upon a large structure just off shore. It lay there on the shallow seabed, a giant ship. Its surface changed colors like a chameleon, mimicking the sea above. If we weren’t just about to hit it, I would never have been able to see it.

  Amazingly, we passed through the superstructure and I felt a gut-wrenching feeling like jumping off a cliff. When I came back to my senses, I was in a room.

  “What the hell was that?” I asked, realizing for all intents and purposes I had just been kidnapped. Kayla looked a little embarrassed but Maya stood firm, her chin pointed forward and her head held high.

  “Just chill, okay? It’ll be alright,” Maya said.

  As I didn’t know how to get off this crazy thing, I didn’t see as we had a choice. George nodded and we followed Maya into an antiseptic-looking conference room. Kayla handed us a glass of colored liquid that made Mountain Dew look sedate.

  “This will make you feel better,” she said.

  “What is it?”

  “It something that will calm your mind. Just take it.”

  “Where are we?” George asked.

  “We’re in a support ship bringing supplies for those Sentients that make Earth home,” Maya answered.

  This was a ship? It was bigger than San Francisco.

  “Why did you bring us here?”

  Kayla looked at me, real pain in her eyes. “We brought you here because you needed to be told,” she said.

  “Told what?”

  “That the Council of the Accords has no intention of ever setting your people free,” a very tall creature with a heavy brow and intelligent eyes said from the open entrance. It had the inquisitive look of a scientist, its hairless skin was very pale, almost transparent, and its fingers were long and spindly. It walked on two legs with a shuffling gait that reminded me of someone.

  The creature nodded and I knew exactly where I had seen that nod before. He was at my Malakhim trial.

  “Bigfoot?” I asked timidly.

  “I really do hate being called that,” he said, his voice a melodious baritone. Maya giggled, and even Kayla smiled behind him.

  “But you are the one that was at my Trial, aren’t you?”

  “Yes, I was there. We also met in the cave at Mt. Shasta. You may call me Dr. Enkadu.”

  “But what happened to your fur?” I asked.

  He looked down his arms and shook his head. “Do you have any idea how badly I get sunburned? The fur is a protective suit I put on to keep off the sun and the mosquitoes. There are too many mosquitoes in the back woods.”

  “Okay Bigfoot, Enkadu, whatever we call you, what the hell are we doing here?” George asked.

  “Well, technically, you’re not here,” Dr. Enkadu said.

  “Then where are we?” I asked.

  Kayla looked shyly at us and spoke. “We’re still at the club.”

  “Huh?”

  “Your body is in the club. The energy field you saw drop down around you was protection from any outside interference and to project you here. Your consciousness is here but your body is still there, responding on a very low response interval, sort of how your body acts when you’re daydreaming. We needed some privacy for this meeting. As much as anyone knows, you’re some half-stoned kids hanging out at the club,” Dr. Enkadu said.

  “Wait, I saw our flight over. We’re under the ocean outside of the bay and I’m drinking from this glass,” I said.

  “What glass?” Dr. Enkadu asked and the glass disappeared. “The drink is a psychological aid that helps your mind settle in to this environment. Without it, your subconscious would notice the differences and you may become ill.”

  Examining my surroundings, I noticed that my hands didn’t quite touch my surroundings and things didn’t line up just right. It was starting to get to me but Dr. Enkadu spoke again.

  “It takes way too much energy to transport an entire body so we just took your awareness. Right now, you are physically in the basement of a building on Mason Street in San Francisco,” Dr. Enkadu said.

  “What are you doing here? We saw you at Matty’s Trial,” George said.

  “Well, yes. I was heading here but got sidetracked to watch his Trial, if you really must know. It is end of the b’ak’tun and we’re having our cyclical meeting. These are a pain in the butt. The last time, we had to ferry them all of over the planet. We’ll be in meeting with delegates from around the galaxy on this ship for the rest of the year,” the doctor said.

  “What’s a b’ak’tun?” I asked.

  “It’s a cycle of time,” he answered.

  “How long is that cycle?”

  “About three hundred and sixty four of your solar years,” Dr. Enkadu answered. I was stunned. He spoke of over three hundred years as if it was last month. “Can we please get on with this? I have to get back to the delegation.”

  “Okay, so you said the Council of Accords won’t set us free. Why not?” I asked.

  “There are pressures from all sides, actually,” Dr. Enkadu stated. “But the real reason is Earthbound humans have just not been performing up to standards.”

  “Up to standards? What is that supposed to mean?” George asked.

  “You must know your kind has not lived up to your end of the bargain,” he answered.

  “Bargain?”

  “Yes, the Judgment Accords, the agreement that would free you. There were so many messengers that were put in place to deliver the word. The decalogue taught by Moses, the Eight-Fold Path by Buddha, even the Golden Rule by Jesus Christ, and each one was a guiding light on how to live. There was messenger after messenger and still, your kind decayed into darkness. Each time, you were taught
, and each time, your kind rotted into immorality and filth. It’s not a wonder why the Council has given up entirely.”

  “Rene doesn’t think so. He says the Council is how we will work everything out,” I said.

  “Oh, Raphael. He has always needed to believe, just as one always wants to believe the potential of one’s own child. He created the Accords and thus, he believes in his heart that it is the only way. He left the Council because he knew he was too close, too invested. The ones who replaced him do not share his views and will be happy to see this world and your species on this planet end,” Dr. Enkadu said.

  “Can they do that?” George asked.

  “They don’t need to, George,” Maya said. “They don’t need to do a thing. The Earthlings here will blow themselves up eventually.”

  “Is that true?” I asked Dr. Enkadu.

  “Yes, it is. We have control of all of the major players, the US, Russia, even China. But there are too many minor factions out there who are capable and ready to launch a major nuclear war. I assure you, if they do create a nuclear incident, even on a small scale, that will be the end of your race,” he said. “But there are Sentient factions that will wait in the shadows and facilitate that happening much sooner.” I thought of Devon Pazuzu and the army he had under that mountain.

  “Our parents are betting that you will destroy yourselves in a decade. Then they plan on coming down and taking over with our people,” Kayla told us.

  “Your people? So why bother helping us if you’re not on our side?” I asked.

  “We’re on your side, Matthew!” Maya snapped. “That’s why we’re here. Our parents won’t start anything with us here.” She glared and Kayla nodded.

  “So you’re our insurance policy,” I said.

  “Let’s just say we have a vested interest.” Maya clasped George’s hand. I guess they figured out how things would go.

  “So what can we do?” I asked.

  “You have to learn as quickly as you can. You will take over the Council,” Dr. Enkadu said.

  “What? First of all, why would I take over the Council and secondly, how could I take over the Council?”

  “You need to take over the Council for many reason, but one reason in particular. They have decided to side with Devon Pazuzu, and your father will be the one to suffer Retribution for your acts at his residence,” Dr. Enkadu said.