Authors: David Estes
“I
’ve had a few snake nightmares lately…,” Taylor started, “…and I think you were in two of them.”
To her surprise, Gabriel replied, “I know.”
“What the hell—” Taylor started, but was interrupted by Gabriel.
“One of my abilities is to alter the dreams of any human I choose,” he explained. “In your case, I wanted you to know that I was a friend. I saw the snakes, but I didn’t realize that they had plagued your sleep your entire life.”
“Yeah, and your plan kind of backfired when you poured the sand down my throat!” Taylor tried to sound angry, but a hint of a smile gave her away.
Gabriel didn’t get the joke. “That wasn’t supposed to happen and it wasn’t me that choked you, I gave you the water.” He sounded a bit defensive.
“I was just joking, tough guy.” Her face became serious again as she asked, “Then who was the other Being in my dream then? The dark one. Was that a demon?”
“I’m so sorry, Taylor. As I mentioned earlier, while angels and demons have many different powers, some are the same. Demons are able to control dreams too, and in this case, a demon hijacked the dream that I had created for you and turned it into a complete nightmare.”
As Taylor pondered his last statement, she became aware that it was getting light out. She yawned. “What time is it?” she wondered aloud.
Gabriel checked his watch. “Just after six.”
They had been talking all night.
“Dammit! I have to get to class!” Taylor started to get to her feet and then swayed as she looked down from the rafters.
Gabriel grabbed her arm to steady her and said, “It’s Sunday, no school.”
“Oh.”
“Regardless, I should get you home so that you can get some rest.”
“Screw that, I still have too many questions, like who was the demon from my dream and what does he want with me? And why did you invade my dream anyway? Why have you told me all of this?” She yawned again.
“I promise, I
will
explain everything, but only after you have slept a bit. You have nothing to worry about; you are in no immediate danger from that demon or anything else.”
He put his arm around her. She felt relaxed and very, very tired. “I guess I could sleep for a few hours first,” she said.
A moment later she was asleep. Gabriel picked her up, spread his wings, and soared back towards the dorms.
A
s Gabriel headed back to his dorm after delivering Taylor to her room, he was smiling to himself.
Damn, I’m good
, he thought. Not only was she in awe of the story he had told her, she was in awe of him, too. He could tell. Having her fall for him was all part of the plan and would ensure her cooperation with the plans of the Council.
Crap
, he realized he had forgotten about the Council. He was supposed to call to update them once his second contact with Taylor had been made. He flipped open his cell phone and pressed the speed dial for Dionysus. He smiled again as he thought of how many other angels would be jealous of his direct contact with the Head of the Archangel Council.
Dionysus picked up on the first ring and Gabriel’s smile faded quickly when he heard the harsh tone on the other end of the line. “Where the hell have you been?” Dionysus snapped. “You were expected to check in hours ago!”
“I…uh...” As good a liar as Gabriel was, he couldn’t think of a single one at the moment and it was better that he didn’t try; Dionysus would see right through the lie and would be even more furious. “I forgot. I am very sorry, my lord.” Gabriel hurried on before Dionysus could reprimand him again. “But I have very good news for you that I think you’ll be interested to hear.” He paused for a reaction.
“Go on,” Dionysus commanded.
“I have made second contact with the girl and I believe she may be exactly what we think she is. I told her the story that we agreed on and she took it quite well. I will be meeting her again tonight.”
“Have you experimented on her yet?” His voice sounded like a mad scientist who was attempting to create a monster from a human, like Frankenstein.
“Not yet, I thought it was too soon, but I will start with a simple test tonight to verify that she is the one.” Gabriel spoke confidently, but inside he wasn’t sure how he would convince her to do anything this early on in their relationship.
“You do that. And if she resists, do what you need to force her.” His voice was as sharp as a knife; to Gabriel it almost sounded as if he hoped she
would
resist.
“I will, my lord,” Gabriel said, secretly hoping it wouldn’t come to that.
Without another word, the line went dead. Gabriel shook his head, confused for the first time since he began the mission. He needed to get his priorities straight, make sure that he was prepared to do what had to be done. While he could have fun with her, he had to ensure he didn’t grow attached to the girl. In the end, she was just a tool, a means to an end. Things were only going to get harder, especially with that demon hanging around, messing with Taylor’s dreams.
T
aylor’s eyes opened when she heard the door open. She sat up, scanning the room and trying to figure out where she was. The room was empty. It was light in the room, despite the blinds being drawn. She rubbed her eyes and a myriad of visions suddenly spiraled through her mind: Gabriel with wings, Gabriel flying her through the air, Gabriel telling her an impossible story about angels and demons and gargoyles.
Clearly, none of it had happened. More likely, she had fallen asleep and missed her meeting with Gabriel. Her mind was always creating crazy stuff, like when she was taking a test and trying to concentrate, and green leprechauns began dancing through her head, playing harmonicas or accordions. Another time it was leaping clowns strumming on banjos and harpsichords. Bottom line, she was a bit nutty.
The door opened again and Sam walked in. Upon seeing Taylor sitting up, she smiled. “Good morning, sleepy head,” she said cheerily. She had a smirk on her face, clearly amused by something.
“What time is it?” Taylor asked groggily. She did not see the humor in the situation.
“Nearly two in the afternoon. But after your late night I would say that’s not too bad.” She was laughing now.
“What late night?” Taylor said, unable to stop a hint of alarm from creeping into her voice. She rubbed her eyes again and tried to remember. Forcefully, it all came flooding back into her mind again. It still felt like a dream. It couldn’t be true. She felt dizzy.
“You don’t look so good, Tay.” Sam’s amused look vanished and changed to one of concern for her friend.
“I’ll be fine,” Taylor said, lying back down on her soft pillow. “How exactly did I get home?”
The amused look was back. “Geez, Taylor. Even though Gabriel claims that you didn’t have anything to drink, I’m not sure I believe him.”
“You saw Gabriel?” Taylor asked, ignoring the jab. “How did he….look?” Visions of a winged and glowing Gabriel knocking on the seventh floor window and passing Taylor through to Sam popped into her head.
“Beautiful, as usual,” Sam replied. “You are a lucky girl.”
Apparently, Gabriel hadn’t been stupid enough to show up at their room with his wings extended and his built in light-bulb on its highest setting.
Taylor said, “Look, Sam, nothing happened, I swear. I definitely wasn’t drinking. We just went for a walk, found a quiet place, and then talked all night long. Then I got really tired and fell asleep, I guess. How did he get me home?”
“Oh my gosh, Tay, it was so romantic. I heard a knock on the door this morning and there he was, holding you in his gorgeous arms. He said he carried you all the way home and that he found your security pass in your pocket and used it to get into the dorm.”
She really did make it sound romantic, but Taylor didn’t want her to get the wrong idea. Or was the wrong idea really the right idea? Now that she knew the truth, she wasn’t exactly scared of him anymore. And she did like him and he was
very
easy on the eyes. He was an angel, after all. One of the good guys.
What am I talking about!?
He couldn’t possibly, actually, realistically be a real live angel.
Could he?
“All we did was hold hands, Sam,” Taylor said, trying to think.
“Hey, I’m not judging, Tay. But even holding hands with
him
is quite an accomplishment.” A flash of skepticism crossed her face, “Are you sure you didn’t kiss him? Not even a little peck?”
“I’m sure.”
“Hmmm. I’m not sure I believe you, but even if it didn’t happen on the first date, I am sure it will happen tonight, on the second date.”
Taylor started to object, but then realized what Samantha had said. “What do you mean the
second
date?”
“Oh, did I forget to tell you? Gabriel wanted me to give you a message when he dropped you off. He said, ‘Same place at eight o’clock tonight.’ He also said that he promised to have you home much earlier so you can get plenty of sleep for class tomorrow.” Sam’s face formed a devilish grin. “Do you think you’ll kiss him tonight then?”
“No…I mean, I don’t know. He’s cool, I guess. It’s just nice talking to him. He’s interesting, different than other guys our age. I thought he was just a testosterone-filled pretty-boy, but now I’ve realized that he’s more than that.”
Taylor was forced to spend another half hour answering Sam’s probing questions about what they did, what they talked about, how beautiful Gabriel looked from different angles, and on and on. Taylor lied easily, giving her the usual crap about family, friends, college majors, and favorite movies. For the first time in her life, Taylor had a secret that not even Sam knew about. She felt bad about it.
Eventually Taylor ended the potentially endless interrogation by begging for a hot shower and some food. Sam grudgingly allowed her to partake in the simple necessities of life, and after she was clean and full, Taylor opened her laptop and connected to the internet.
First, she did a simple Google search for
angels
. At the top of the search results page, she clicked a link. A new page appeared:
“
Angels are messengers of God in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Quran. The term ‘angel’ has also been expanded to various notions of ‘spiritual beings’ found in many other religious traditions. Other roles of angels include protecting and guiding human beings, and carrying out God's tasks.”
The description was consistent with the little that she had learned about angels at church, although now she was wishing she had listened more. She read it again.
“…protecting and guiding human beings…
” She thought about this particular line. From what Gabriel had told her, he was trying to protect her. And she was a human being. He had not mentioned God even once though and his story about the creation of angels and demons didn’t really have any spiritual aspect.
Also, the fact that these strange Beings were, according to Gabriel, created rather recently, within the last two centuries, made her certain that they had nothing to do with the ancient stories of angels and demons, God and Satan, or saints and sinners.
Taylor did another search, this time for
demons
, and pulled up another page:
“
In religion and mythology, occultism and folklore, a demon is a supernatural being that is generally described as an evil spirit; however, the original neutral connotation of the Greek word daimon does not carry the negative one that was later projected onto it. A demon is considered a spiritual entity that may be conjured and controlled. Many of the demons in literature were once fallen angels, however there are many that say that they are born from Hell itself.”
The last sentence made Taylor shudder, as if a cold breeze had passed through the room.
Born from Hell itself
. That didn’t sound good. But the middle part said that the word demon wasn’t always necessarily negative.
She thought back again to her dream and the demon that had poured sand down her throat. She shuddered again. Gabriel had said she “was in no
immediate
danger”. While this statement comforted her at the time, upon reflection, he was really just confirming the fact that she
was
in danger. She needed to speak to him as soon as possible. Eight o’clock couldn’t come soon enough.
C
hristopher Lyon was a demon. He had been born a demon and he would die a demon. Since he was little, he’d been ahead of his peers in both natural talent and God-given brains. Because of this, he had been able to climb through the ranks in the demon army in record time. Just having turned 19, he was the youngest mission leader since the creation of the army more than 50 years earlier.
Given his track record and age, Christopher was the obvious choice for his current mission. The Elders had come to him six months ago when they had first discovered the girl. The plan was simple: once she left home for college, make contact and tell her the truth. Of course, that was all contingent on reaching her before the angels did.
He and the Elders had been blindsided by the speed with which the angels moved on her, almost without caution. He was not surprised, however, that the Archangel Council had chosen Gabriel Knight. Like Christopher, he was an obvious choice. As charming as he was determined, Gabriel would be able to lie his way straight through her defenses.
Christopher’s task was now more urgent than ever. He had planned to try to gain her friendship slowly over the course of the year and then break the news to her. But there was no possibility of using that tactic now. He had been watching from the shadows when Gabriel revealed himself to her and carried her away. God only knew what lies he had told her about the demons and about Christopher, in particular.
He had tried to warn her about the angels when he entered her dream, but Gabriel made a genius move when he poured the sand down her throat. Christopher knew that Gabriel would have told her it was the demon that tried to kill her in her dream.
Christopher had reported all of this to the Elders, but they had little to offer in the form of advice. Instead, they told him they trusted his judgment and would support whatever decisions he made. While it felt good that they had so much faith in him, Christopher had no clue what to do and wished they had just given him the answer.
He sat on a roof wondering what to do, while he watched Taylor through her window. She was working on her laptop.