by T. R. Hamby
Finally Michael sighed and looked upwards. “Serene.”
In half a moment she was there, materializing in the middle of the room. She looked around wildly, her curls flying, and Nora knew with an ache that she was searching for her son.
Her eyes fell on Michael, and she moaned, throwing her arms around his neck. “Mica. I’m so sorry….I panicked….”
“I forgive you,” Gabriel said dryly.
She shot him a dirty look, but then embraced him too, kissing his cheek.
She pulled away quickly and looked around. “What do you have?”
It took a long time for Michael to fill her in. He had to go over Nora’s kidnapping, Roone’s mental state, and God’s plot against Gabriel.
At the end Serene looked torn between wanting to sob and wanting to faint. She sat in the recliner, breathing heavily, and Michael knelt beside her and squeezed her hand.
She seemed to be thinking. Finally she whispered, “So you’re saying that….that….if you hadn’t….allowed this god’s contact with you….my son would be safe?”
There was a chill in the air. Nora wasn’t sure whether to feel pity or anger toward her.
“It was the only way to get Nora back,” Mel said, a bite of impatience in his voice. “And she led us right to her.”
“You put your trust in this Being and now look what’s happening,” Serene spat, tears spilling down her cheeks.
“You should be blaming Father, not us,” Mel replied coldly.
“This isn’t helpful,” Michael sighed, looking pale. “What’s done is done. We need a plan.”
“I go to him,” Nora said instantly, “and we’ll probably go into the house together. He’ll want to show me--show me Sydney. I’ll convince him to give him up, and I’ll take the baby back to Serene.”
Serene snorted. “That’s your plan? You just said this--this thing is delusional. How are you going to convince him to hand over my son?”
Nora faltered. She honestly had no idea….she wasn’t even sure she could do it. All she knew was that Roone loved her, and would listen to her. There had to be something in that.
“I trust Nora,” Gilla said, giving Serene a sharp look.
“It’s the safest way,” Michael sighed.
“Not very safe for Nora, though,” Mel said, giving Serene an icy stare, “she’s risking getting abducted again.”
Everyone seemed to flinch. Serene looked mutinous, and took her hand away from Michael. Michael looked so hurt that Nora had half a mind to chew Serene’s curly little head off.
“I have to be there,” Gabriel said, and as everyone protested he continued, “he wants to kill me. If I don’t show up, he’ll become more unpredictable. He might hold Nora for ransom until I come. Take her somewhere else.”
Mel made an anguished noise, and Nora felt a terrible pang. God. The sooner this was over, the better.
If it would ever be over.
“All right,” Gilla said, taking control, “We’ll all go. We’ll divide it up: Some of us will guard Nora, and the rest will guard Gabriel.”
“Until I go inside the house,” Nora added, and she nodded.
“I’m the strongest, so I’ll stay up front with Nora until she goes in. Michael and Serene, you too. Mel can’t be killed, so he’ll stay behind us with Gabriel, and Barry will stay too.”
“If anything happens, Gabriel, you have to get out,” Michael said firmly. “Don’t be a hero.”
“Yeah, I’ll never forgive you,” Barry said.
Nora couldn’t tell whether he was joking or not.
Gabriel heaved a sigh, but nodded.
They looked around at each other nervously. It was a shaky plan, and it all hinged on Nora’s ability to save Sydney. The responsibility was so great that Nora felt sick.
Maybe she couldn’t do this. It was stupid of her to even suggest the idea. She was already a mess, traumatized, unable to walk the hall without jumping at her own shadow. How could she face Roone again? How could she keep her head with him so close to her?
She began to shake, and Mel gripped her hand.
“It’s okay,” he murmured in her ear. “I’m right here. We’ll be right there. All you have to do is Call.”
Barry shifted, frowning, and everyone looked at him--Them was entering the conversation.
He exchanged hellos, before saying, “Them says that she’ll follow Nora into the house. She’s followed Nora a lot now, and Michael and Mel will be close enough to her anyway where she can really see her.”
Nora felt a little relieved. At least she wouldn’t be alone in there, even if Them couldn’t do much else.
Barry was listening, and the look on his face was not encouraging. “She said there’s something more,” he breathed. “Something bad coming. She can feel it….she can feel God….shifting things around.”
Everyone tensed, even Serene.
“What--she can sense what Father’s up to now?” Mel said, bewildered.
Barry slowly shook his head, listening. “No….not exactly….what she’s feeling is….wrong. Something powerful enough for her to sense. Almost like he’s….breaking a rule.”
“Breaking a rule?” Michael repeated.
Everyone looked around at each other, mystified.
“Like--a law, maybe?” Gilla asked.
Barry shook his head in bewilderment. “Maybe.”
“But there aren’t--this is--there aren’t laws in the universe,” Serene said indignantly. “It’s Father who ordains what is.”
“We don’t know that for sure,” Gabriel said thoughtfully. “We don’t know anything about Father--except his nature. We didn’t even know there could be another Being until Them showed up.”
Nora frowned. “How did Them show up? Does she know?”
Barry waited. His face slowly pulled into a frown. “She’s….quiet.”
Gabriel tutted. “If she’s sensing something that could mean there’s laws that govern Father, then she needs to tell us her origins. If she came about the same way Father did, then we can find out his weaknesses, find out what these ‘laws’ are.”
“Unless she doesn’t want us to know her own weaknesses,” Mel said darkly.
Barry listened. “He’s got a point,” he said to her gently. “How can we trust you if we….don’t know you?”
Another pause.
Barry finally sighed, and recited, “‘I’m connected to you in a way that none of you can imagine. It is very painful for all of us. I think it’s better that it’s kept private.’”
There was a silence. Everyone looked around at each other, disturbed and confused by her words.
What did that mean, that she was connected to them? Nora, bizarrely, thought of her mother, but that didn’t make sense; she had been a human, and was Up in Heaven now.
Barry finally sighed. “She wants to get back on track. We have to watch out; there’s something powerful coming, and it’s bad. She’ll try to feel out what it is without God noticing her. But her first priority is Sydney.”
Everyone agreed, and spent the rest of the night going over the plan. Serene was still petulant, angry, and refused to let anyone calm her. Nora couldn’t blame her--her child was missing, after all. But it would have been more helpful to everyone if she was nicer. She largely ignored Michael, and Nora knew she blamed him the most for causing the kidnapping of Sydney. Michael didn’t look like he was taking it well.
At three in the morning they finally went to bed. Nora was exhausted, and knew, despite the task that loomed over her, that she would sleep tonight.
She lay beside Mel in bed, and remembered her mother again. She only had vague memories of her; she had died when Nora was only five. She remembered seeing her in Heaven. She had been beautiful, happy. They had cried when they reunited, and Dad had looked so proud. It was a memory Nora preferred not to think about--it was so wonderfully happy, and so terribly sad. She suddenly missed holding her doll Wendy, and clung to Mel instead.
Mel stroked
her cheek. “I love you, diletta,” he murmured quietly.
Nora managed a smile. “I love you too, Mel.”
“I’ll be right there. Them will be there.”
“You weren’t so sure about her earlier.”
His head twitched. “I don’t trust her.”
“I do. I know she’s good. I don’t know why….but I feel--I don’t know, kind of connected to her now.”
Mel didn’t look pleased to hear this.
“We have to trust her,” Nora said firmly. “Right now, she’s our only hope against God. He’s not going to stop.”
“No….” Mel said. “No, he won’t.”
They looked at each other.
Nora let out a breath. Shit. God really wasn’t going to stop. This would continue on and on….until he finally tired.
Or until all of them were dead.
Roone
Roman slept well that night. Roone only had to soothe him once, before settling him back on the bed. He in turn slept on the recliner, waking at every sound, convinced it was Roman fussing.
He didn’t mind. He was a father now. It came with the territory. And he jumped at any chance to hold his son anyway--to cuddle him, to look into those dark eyes.
He did just that when morning came, though he was antsy. In just a few hours Nora would be here, and he was nervous. Michael and Melkira would come too, and--he knew without a doubt--Michael’s son, Gabriel.
It was a huge risk. Michael and Melkira were the most formidable Angels in the universe. But, Father had ordained Gabriel’s death. If it meant killing Michael and Melkira too, then so be it.
Perhaps this made them less of a threat. Easier to destroy.
It was all for Roman. And Nora. Roone didn’t believe that Nora wasn’t hurt--physically and emotionally--by Melkira. Maybe by Michael, too. She had just been convinced that it wasn’t true, that it wasn’t happening.
Roone knew better. No human was safe in the hands of Michael and Melkira.
It would be a joy to kill them both.
He fixed up the house, carrying Roman around. He wanted the place spotless for Nora’s return. He made up the beds, swept the kitchen. Once she was safe with him they would go out, buy some baby things. A crib, some clothes. Roone had seen an advertisement for a mother and baby group at the store; Nora could take Roman there, make friends.
Maybe once things had settled down, Nora could start a home design business. A lot of the houses in the village were old, could use a makeover. Roone would fund it; he was sure she would get plenty of clients. She could work, and he would take care of the baby.
He imagined her coming home, radiant from a day of painting and staging, finding him and little Roman playing in the living area. She would join them, talk to Roone about her day, play with Roman’s hair. Roman would crawl into his mother’s arms, missing her, and she would rock him and kiss him.
And she would smile that smile at Roone, and it would be perfect.
It was going to happen. It had to happen. Maybe Nora wasn’t quite there yet, but it would happen soon. She had already sounded so ecstatic when she had learned about Roman. And she had been so eager to leave Melkira--at least for a day.
She was getting there. They were close.
Noon came.
Roone was shaking from nervousness. He laid Roman on the bed in the master bedroom, swaddled in a fresh blanket. Roman blinked at him, curious, and Roone smiled and kissed his little brow.
Then he got a knife from his closet and stowed it in his pocket.
He took deep breaths. He had to do this. He had to do it for his family.
He felt a Presence--multiple--coming from outside, and he looked out the window.
Shit. There were more than he had expected. There were three others: A blonde, curly-haired woman, who looked remarkably like Michael; a tall woman with blue eyes, and a fair-haired man with dark eyes.
He knew instantly who the man was--Gabriel.
Before he could leave the window an enormous bird landed on the outside sill, making Roone jump. It was an eagle, with sharp blue eyes, and it craned its neck, looking past Roone at the bed behind him.
It had a Presence too, and Roone was bewildered.
The eagle puffed up a little, cawed at him--almost as if it was uttering a swear word--and then took off, soaring towards the group that stood about a hundred yards from the front door. The eagle landed on Gabriel’s shoulder, shaking out its feathers.
Roone stood there a moment, completely flabbergasted.
This was already not going according to plan.
Were all these people here to deliver Nora? Or were they here to help her steal Roman--perhaps so she and Melkira could raise him as their own?
Roone felt sick, and he took deep breaths. No. Nora wouldn’t do that to him. She would run from him, yes--maybe even hurt him, as he had hurt her--but she would never do this. She couldn’t.
He glanced at Roman, who had fallen asleep, still swaddled in his blanket. A surge of love swelled within Roone.
He wouldn’t let anything happen to his son. He would rather die.
He took a steadying breath, trying to stop his hands shaking. Then he went downstairs, out the front door.
It was an overcast day, and cold enough for snow. He could see Nora, standing between Michael and the tall woman, bundled in a coat and scarf. To Michael’s right was the blonde woman, who he almost seemed to be holding back, his arms wrapped around her. Melkira, Gabriel and that bird were several yards behind them.
Roone stared at Gabriel, and his fingers twitched, so close to his Blade. Maybe he should do it now, get it over with….it would be a lot of Angels to get through….
But no. Nora first.
Everyone’s eyes were trained on Roone. It was a very uncomfortable sensation.
His eyes snapped to Nora.
She stared at him, her brown eyes soft. She took a steadying breath, and a small smile appeared on her face.
Roone was heartened, and he held out a hand. Nora went to him, ignored his hand, and wrapped her arms around his neck. Roone sighed and held her tight, smelling her hair, feeling her body against his.
He felt a surge of relief and love. Nora was safe, and she was with him now. They were holding each other. She was happy.
“You’re okay?” he asked, suddenly worried.
He pulled away to check for injuries, touching her waist, and Nora chuckled. “I’m fine, Roone. I told you, they don’t hurt me.”
Roone simply smiled. It wasn’t the right time to coax her out of her delusions.
Her cheeks were red from the cold, and she squeezed his hands. “The baby?”
He was ecstatic. “Yes, yes--come in--come see him….”
They went in, holding hands. Roone could still feel the Presence of the other Angels outside, and his heart pounded in his chest. It would be much harder to kill Gabriel now. Maybe even impossible….
No. He couldn’t break his deal with Father. Then he would take away Roman, and Roone would be in despair. Nora might leave him, return to her abusers.
No, he had to do it. He could do it.
They arrived in the master bedroom. Nora hesitated a moment, and Roone saw her go a little pale. He suddenly worried that she was afraid--maybe remembering the last time she had been there.
He squeezed her hand soothingly. “It’s okay,” he said gently. “You know I won’t hurt you. It was all a bad dream.”
Nora nodded, taking deep breaths. Finally she smiled again, and she approached the bed, where little Roman was still fast asleep.
She slowly sat beside him. Roone watched, emotional, as she brushed her fingers through Roman’s hair, murmured to him. She was speaking Italian, and Roone’s heart leapt. Maybe she would teach their son how to speak it one day.
She began to cry, and Roone started, bewildered. He could tell they weren’t tears of joy, and he sat beside her, taking her hand.
“What’s wrong? What did I do?”
“Roo
ne,” she moaned, brushing at her tears, “that’s not our baby.”
Roone felt his heart drop.
His insides boiled with anger. Shit. Melkira had brainwashed her much worse than he had thought.
He sighed. “Nora….you’re confused….”
“I’m not,” she insisted shakily. “Why do you think I came with so many people today? One of them is this baby’s mother. He’s not Roman, he’s Sydney. He’s Michael’s grandson.”
Now Roone felt cold. He looked out the window. Michael was still out there, looking stony, holding the curly-haired woman, who was restless, crying.
They had the same eyes as Roman.
He let out a breath. No. It couldn’t be true. They were lying….they had to be lying….
But it made too much sense. Where had Father gotten the child, anyway? Why would he give him to Roone? Why did he want Gabriel dead?
He shook his head, shaking, and Nora squeezed his arms. “It’s okay. It’s okay,” she whispered, and she sounded relieved. “We can fix this.”
“Why?” Roone breathed, feeling tears sting his eyes.
His chest hurt, and he looked at the child lying on the bed. His son. His son.
“I know. I know,” Nora soothed. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
He looked at her. “Does it?”
She stared at him, and he studied her. “Nora,” he whispered, “what did Michael do to offend Father?”
Nora looked away, and cast around. She gazed at Roman--at Sydney--and she let out a breath.
She took a deep breath, and shook her head. “I wasn’t going to tell you….not until I was sure.”
Roone frowned, bewildered. “Tell me what?”
She looked a mixture of guilty and excited, and Roone gave her an impatient look. All of this was too much. What did Nora have to say now?
“Roone….” she whispered, touching his hand. “Father spoke to me too.”
He stared at her. “What did he say?”
“He said….”
She took another deep breath. “He said I’m pregnant.”
For a long moment it didn’t register. Then Roone shook his head. That wasn’t possible--was it?
“It’s true,” she said insistently, “he told me.”
