Angel Evolution (19 page)

“Except that our people have been talking about you for decades, and even from across the training center I couldn’t tell that you were human, because your aura was shining so brightly,” David replied.

Taylor didn’t know what to say or think.
The angels had been talking about her for decades!
When nothing came to mind, she just shrugged.

David’s eyes squinted as he focused on something behind Taylor. When she turned to see what he was looking at, he said, “Is that a tattoo of
the
snake?”

Gabriel said, “Yeah, but she got it before she even knew exactly what the snake was a symbol of.”

“Wow!” David said. “Cool.”

Before either of the angels had a chance to say another word, a third angel flashed up the ramp to them, moving at angel speed, only a blur of light giving away the movement.

“Heyyyy, Gabriel! How are ya, buddy?” the angel said, screeching to a halt beside the group. He was shorter than Gabriel, but looked as sturdy as a tank. His hair was fully white and curled up slightly at the front.

Gabriel was really smiling now. He reached out his hand and clasped it with the newcomer’s, pulling him towards him in a manly embrace. “I’m good, Sampson, how are you?”

Sampson replied, “Not too bad, man, I’m teaching a couple of training courses in between strategic attacks on the demons’ outer defenses. I heard you found yourself a wifey, is this her?”

Gabriel ignored his friend’s jab. “Taylor, meet Sampson. He’s been my friend since I was three.”

Taylor replied sweetly, “Nice to meet you, Sampson, but for your information, I am no one’s wifey.”

Sampson put up his hands innocently. “Whoa, no harm intended. Wow, I like her, man. She’s got spunk. And geez, she is cute, cute, cute.”

Taylor laughed. “Are all angels so forward?” she asked.

Sampson said, “No, mostly just me. I always say that if you’ve got something to say then just say it. There are too many angels around here who are sweet as pie to your face and then talk nasty behind your back. Better to keep everything out in the open I say.”

“I’m glad you haven’t changed a bit, Sampson.” Gabriel laughed. “I’m about to take Taylor to the command center to meet the generals and the commander. You guys want to come along?” he asked, motioning to David and Sampson.

David’s eyes lit up. “Can I really, Gabriel?”

“Sure, bro, today I’ve got a VIP pass wherever I want to go and can bring whoever I want to bring. You in, Sampson?”

“Sure, let’s do it. Plus, you might need back up when we get to the command center and Cassandra sees you with Taylor.”

Gabriel made a face.

“Who’s Cassandra?” Taylor asked.

Gabriel hesitated a beat too long. Sampson jumped in: “She’s Gabriel’s ex-girlfriend who still has a massive crush on him. Just a warning, she’s not going to like you.”

“She was not my girlfriend, Sampson. Taylor, it wasn’t like that at all.”

“So you had a thing with her, I don’t give a crap,” Taylor said. “As long as it’s in the past.”

Gabriel continued to deny it. “There was no
thing
. We were just friends and then she wanted to be more than that, it got weird, and I told her we couldn’t hang out anymore. She refuses to let it go and is constantly trying to find ways back into my life.”

“Okay, no need to get defensive, I believe you,” Taylor said.

“Geez, what kind of drugs has this joker been feeding you, Taylor?” Sampson said as he landed a light punch on his friend’s ribcage. “I wouldn’t trust a word that comes out of his mouth.”

“I’ve already found that out,” Taylor said dryly.

Gabriel lunged playfully at his friend, hitting him back and starting a lighthearted angel fight. Before long, Gabriel had his friend pinned to the floor, his superior speed and strength serving him well.

“Say it, Sampson,” Gabriel instructed, pushing his entire body weight onto Sampson’s chest.

“Alright, alright, I can hardly breathe.” Gabriel released a bit of pressure and Sampson said sarcastically, “You can trust everything Gabriel says, he is the coolest, most perfect angel in the world.”

“Damn right I am,” Gabriel said, releasing his friend. “Now let’s head to central.”

I
t was Wednesday night and Christopher was getting worried. He hadn’t seen Gabriel or Taylor all day and he wasn’t able to reach Sam on her cell phone. With Jonas controlling the operation there were a million things that could have gone wrong.

At six o’clock his phone finally rang. It was Sam.

“Hey, babe,” she said.

“Hey, how was your day?” Chris asked casually.

“It was a killer. I had three exams and a pop quiz. Sorry that I had to turn off my phone, but I really needed to study in between classes. I saw you called a few times, is anything the matter?”

“I’m not sure. I’m just getting a bit worried that I haven’t seen Gabriel or Taylor today and they were supposed to meet me for lunch. And they aren’t answering their phones either.”

“Oh sorry, Chris. No need to worry, I know where they are. I was a bit surprised about it actually because it was so unlike Taylor.”

“What was unlike Taylor?” Chris asked.

“Skipping a couple of weeks of classes to take a random vacation. I mean, we are getting close to the end of the semester, but she said she would e-mail me her assignments and asked if I would hand them in.”

“She went on vacation? You talked to her?” Chris’s heart sank. He’d been duped by the angel.

“Yes and not exactly. She apparently snuck out this morning. There was a note on my desk that said she decided to take a long trip with Gabriel to the Bahamas. She said something about him having airline miles that were going to expire and the trip would be free.”

“Did she say where they would be staying?” Chris asked.

“Hmm, no, she didn’t. But I just figured if I needed her I could call her on her cell or e-mail her. Why all the questions, Chris? As long as she’s with Gabriel she’ll be fine.”

Christopher had been thinking about his secret life a lot lately, as his relationship with Sam had grown stronger and stronger. Regardless of whether Gabriel or Taylor agreed with him, it was as much his decision to make as theirs. Now was the right time. “There’s something I need to tell you,” he said grimly.

“What is it, Chris?”

“I should do it in person. Can I come to your room?”

“Sure. But, Chris?”

“Yeah?”

“Should I be worried?”

“No, no, don’t worry. There are just a few things you don’t know about me that I really want you to know.”

“Okay, see you soon.”

Chris pressed END and immediately called Jonas’s phone. He picked up on the first ring.

“What the hell is going on?” Jonas asked angrily.

“I was hoping you could tell me,” Chris replied.

“I don’t freakin’ know, man. My scouts haven’t caught a whiff of that pigeon or the girl all day.”

“So you had nothing to do with their disappearance?” Chris asked, probing for information.

“Well…,” Jonas started.

“What is it? If you did something, you need to tell me or the entire operation could be compromised!”

“I kinda tried to scare the girl to make sure she would cooperate. Apparently, it didn’t really work.”

“What did you do?” Chris said accusingly.

“Nothing much, I just brought Freddy along to freak the girl out and then the bird man swooped in and saved the day, but look, I never thought it would cause them to skip town.”

“You did what? Are you out of your mind? What did you think they were going to do, bow down and worship you? Wait until the Elders hear about this one.”

Jonas’s voice quivered on the other line, all toughness shattered by Chris’s threat. “You’re not going to tell them are you?”

“Oh yes I am. I want them to know that the moron they sent to spy on my operation screwed it all up when I had things perfectly under control.” Chris spat out the last few words, his voice laced with contempt.

“What do we do next?” Jonas asked.

“
We
don’t do anything.
You
will go back to the front lines with your cronies and tell the Elders what happened. And don’t even think about lying because when I show up I am going to tell them
everything
. It is crucial that you get there as quickly as possible because the attack could come any day now. I have something to take care of here and then I will catch up with you. Remember, no lies.” Chris hung up without waiting for another word from the goon.

He had been jogging while he was talking, moving at demon speed whenever he was out of sight of any humans. Now he approached Shyloh Hall. Not wanting to call Sam to let him in, he took a peek around, and seeing no one, scaled the wall like a spider and crept onto the fifth floor through an open stairwell window. He could have just teleported in, but was afraid of appearing somewhere that someone would see him.

Seconds later he knocked on Sam’s door. The door was thrust open; Sam’s face was riddled with concern.

Christopher wanted to put her at ease so he said, “Everything’s fine, Sam, I promise.” Then he took her chin in his hand and kissed her passionately.

After their embrace, she pulled back from him, studying his face. “Okay, I guess that rules out the possibility that you are going to break up with me,” she said, seeming relieved.

“What?” Chris said, shocked at the thought. “Of course not, Sam. Is that what you thought? I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to give you that impression. I mean, what I have to tell you is very important, but I really care about you and will stick with you as long as you’ll have me.”

Sam put her arms around him and pulled him close. “Thanks for saying that, Chris. I’ve never been with anyone that cared about me this much.”

He hugged her back and then closed the door. They sat down on her bed. In a rare display of restraint, Sam waited patiently for him to speak.

Christopher had given this a lot of thought and decided on complete honesty, but wanted to ease her into the idea that demons could be good. He knew that everything that had ever been instilled in her, from church, to her parents, to movies like
The Exorcist
, would give her the instinct to push him away and not believe him. He needed to back his way into it.

“I have certain powers,” he said, waiting for a reaction.

Sam stared at him, waiting for the punch line. “Like what?”

“I can make things darker. Some of it I can control and other things I can’t. For example, have you ever noticed that I look darker than most people from far away or that a room gets slightly darker when I enter it?”

Sam laughed. “I had noticed it, but I just thought it was just part of your mystery, your allure. I kind of like it.”

“I’m glad you do, but it’s not something I can control. What I can control is how strong the darkness is around me. If I show you, will you promise not to freak out?”

Sam wanted to laugh again, but decided against it because the look on Chris’s face was so serious. “Uh, sure, no problem.”

Chris closed his eyes as if concentrating hard, and then a veil of darkness swept over him, partially obscuring him from her sight, even though she was sitting right next to him. Astonished, Sam reached through the veil to feel that he was still there. She felt his arms, his chest, his face.

“How did you do that?” she asked, her hand pulling away sharply.

The fog lifted and she could see him again. Chris smiled. “It’s a gift. It’s part of who I am, just like your ability to make people laugh in a tense situation. That’s just the first one though, I have many powers, but maybe I should tell you more about how I have these powers first.”

“No,” Sam countered, “first show me one more power.”

“Okay, hold my hand,” he instructed, reaching for her.

She hesitated, but only briefly, before grabbing his hand tightly. Her vision instantly went dark although her eyes were still open. And then she could see again. She looked at Chris. They were still holding hands, but something was different. She couldn’t quite put her finger on what.

“What was that?” Sam asked.

“Look where we are sitting.”

Samantha glanced to her right and her left and then down and it dawned on her. They were sitting on a bed with a
blue
comforter.
Taylor’s bed
. She was sure they had been sitting on her own bed. They always sat on her bed when he came over. Even though she had lost vision for a moment, she was certain she didn’t feel any motion or him grabbing her to carry her to the other bed.

“Did we just………….teleport?”

Chris was grinning. “Yes. Whaddya think?”

Sam’s head was spinning. Her boyfriend had powers? What was she supposed to think?

“I have to be honest. I’m a little freaked out. Why do you have powers?”

“Let me give you a little background that might help you accept it. The first thing you should know is that Gabriel has powers, too, and Taylor already knows all about them.”

Sam’s eyes widened. “Gabriel can teleport too and Taylor knows about it?”

“Well no, Gabriel mostly has different powers than mine and so he can’t teleport, but he can fly. So when Taylor’s note said he has frequent flyer miles, Taylor really just meant that he was going to fly her wherever they are going. But yes, she knows all about his powers. And mine too,” he added.

Still trying to get her head around the strange information she had just received, Sam said, “I mean, that would be awesome if Gabriel could really fly, but this is still not making sense to me. So Taylor knows you can teleport?”

“Absolutely. I’ve teleported her and Gabriel once before.”

A frown crinkled Sam’s face. “Why did you tell Taylor before me?”

“A fair question. People like me and Gabriel like to keep our abilities a secret from humans because people don’t understand us sometimes. But Gabriel insisted on telling Taylor about what he can do and he told her about me at the same time.”

Sam’s head was swimming as each piece of information led to ten other questions. “What do you mean, ‘a secret from
humans
’?” she quoted. “Are you saying you’re not human?”

“I think it’s time I told you a story.” Chris checked his watch.
Eight o’clock
. “This could take a while so I hope you’re not too tired.”

“I’ll be fine.”

Chris proceeded to tell Samantha the history of angels and demons, hiding nothing from her. While many of the facts were the same in his story, there were a number of important details that were quite different from the story that Gabriel had told Taylor. The main difference was that Chris’s story was the truth.

He watched her face carefully when he explained how and why his people were referred to as demons. She didn’t seem scared or angry, so he went on to explain that his race had no relationship to the devils or demons spoken about in the Bible or Quran.

When he asked her whether him being a demon scared her, she said, “You are one of the kindest, gentlest people I know, so if you are a demon then I wish I knew more demons.”

Chris’s heart soared. Elated, he continued with his story. After he had finished telling her the history of both angels and demons, he recounted everything that had happened since they arrived at school. He left nothing out, including why Taylor had become involved.