Beyond (36 page)

“
Th en, it ’
s hopeless, ”
she whimpered and walked away. On her way out, she grip p ed Victor by th e back of his shirt and scurried toward the door , knowing they had a slim chance to escape.

The door slammed
in the ir faces.

“
Nobody walks out on me. Give me the apple and I ’
ll let you go.
You underestima te the po we r of your elder angel .
”
He extend ed his arms, point ing his fingers tow ard Victor. O
ne by one , he folded each of his boney fingers and squeeze d as if he was holding something inside.
Victor curled into a ball . He f ell down to the hard cement, gasping for air.

“
Stop it !
”
she yelled.
“
Here.
”
She pulled the apple out of her knap sack.
“
If I give you this, promise no harm will come to him.
”

“
Done.
”
Before the girl had a chance to toss the apple , i t flew out of her hands and into M
aster ’
s . Then without any delay, he vanis hed into another dimension .

The girl helped Victor up.
“
Are you okay?
”

Panting heavily, he managed
to nod with a look of shock.
“
Thank you. He ’s your father?
”

“
Not biological. He found me when I was just a little girl. He raised me like his own, but kept me a secret. Anna took care of me. She was like the mother I never had. He made me believe Katherine had killed my parents. Recently, he told me it was too dangerous to live with Anna , and that Katherine had erased her memory of me. He wanted me to get close to the venators so he could help me get revenge for my parents ’
death s . The only way I could do this was to bring the forbidden apple from Island of Eden. I didn ’
t question him; revenge was the only thing on my mind. My heart was so cold because he fed evi l into it. I knew nothing else.

“
In the process, I got t o know many of the venators . They truly care for me in ways I ’ve never felt before. Katherine is a lovely woman who thinks of all the venators as her own. She is amazing. If it wasn ’
t for them, I would have let Master kill you today , so you need to thank them.

“
You need to rethink what you are doing. Step away from being one of these so call angel fighters. Let me tell you one thing, you are no match for them. Walk away right now , and become the Earth angel you were meant to be. Do your job and help the humans.
”

“
You know it isn ’
t easy sometimes. Some of them are just so ignorant and whining. They moan and bitch about how things don ’
t go right for them.
”

“
I know what you mean. I ’
m sure there are tons of cases like that .
I ’
m sure there always will be, but we need to protect them. That is our duty. That is our purpose, the reason we exist.
”

“
Wow! You ’
ve surely have changed.
”

“
I ’
m glad he sent me to be with the venators. I don ’
t know anything about my past life anymore. Maybe he killed my parents and erased Ann a ’
s memory when the time was right for him.
”

“
What will you do?
”
he asked.

“
I ’
m going back to my family. I ’
m not sure if I need to be concerned with the forbidden apple. I mean…I was never told not to take it off the island. An apple is an apple. What harm could it do…right? But then again, why did he need it so desperately , and why did he want you to track Ben jamin ? I guess I need to go back and explain. But I ’
m afraid they ’
ll think I ’
m a traitor.
”

“
Well…good luck. I ’
m sure we ’
ll run into each other someday. Thanks for saving my life , and I ’
ll go back to wh at I was meant to do.
”
He smiled .
“
Oh by the way, you ’
re right.
We were no match for Michael.
”

“
I told you so. I ’
ve never met him, but we ’
ve all heard of him. Perhaps some of us even dreamt of him, ”
she laughed out loud.

Chapter
2
3

Davin str
ode down the hall in Nubilus City , humming a tune, ecstatic that Caleb and Vivian were by his side. He couldn ’
t wait to introduce them to the rest of the venators.
When he opened t he door to the training room , i t was empty.
He looked over his shoulders at Caleb and Vivian as he twisted his lips in confusion.

“
Looks like they knew you were coming, ”
Vivian laughed.

“
Either that…
or they knew you were coming, ”
Davin smirked.

“
I ’
m sure it was you. Have you met yourself?
”

“
Haha…very funny.
”
Davin paced toward the back, looking out into the garde n.
It was too quiet. Worri e d, he search ed for the watchers. The watchers, in statue form, were grounded. Davin glared at them. What good was it if they couldn ’
t talk? He guessed it wasn ’
t their fault , since they only attend ed to Katherine and nobody else.

With an idea, Davin took them into Katherine
’
s office. He felt a little mischievous sneaking in without her permission, but he felt like he had no choice.

“
Ummm…Davin, should we be in here?
”
Caleb asked worriedly.

“
Heck, ye a h. Who knows, they may be in danger.
”
As terrible thoughts ran through his mind, he could do nothing but think of Avalon and wonder if she was safe. Then he wondered why thoughts of her consumed hi m .
Perhaps she put some kind of spell on him to make him think of her. Perhaps she was the one who led them to harm. As Davin continue d to search for evidence, nothing was out of the ordinary and he couldn ’
t find any information that may clue him in on where they could be.

“
I hear them, ”
Vivian said suddenly.

They rushed out the door and sure enough, the venators were coming , in groups. When they saw Katherine, she greeted them with a warm , welcoming smile.
“
Good to have you here , Caleb and Vivian. Davin can do nothing but talk about you two. I ’
m pleased Phillip has ag reed to your staying with us until we can figure who is behind this massacre.
”

“
We are at your service, ”
Caleb said, lowering his head in a sign of respect.

“
We are happy to help, ”
Vivian said, copying Caleb ’
s actions.

“
Wonderful.
Davin can show you to your rooms. Get acquainted with the others …
you already know Holly, Michelle, Gracie and Austin.
”

Right on cue, the
Alpha team joined them .
“
You ’
ve already met everyone in the Alpha group except for Delilah , Connor , and Avalon.
”

They all gave warm welcome
s . W
hen Davin spotted Avalon ’
s smile, his heart became relaxed into a world of tranquility. His eyes zoned in on her radiant blue eyes that reminded him of the color of the ocean. Her lips were pink and full and her hair bounced with each word she spoke. She was like a painting he could stare at all day.

He finally snapped out of
the trance when Caleb nudged him. Everyone had left, leaving Davin fixed on Avalon, watching her leave.

“
Davin, ”
Caleb called.
“
What ’
s wrong with him?
”
he asked Vivian.

“
Oh my…his eyes glisten the way Michael ’
s do when Claudia is around.
Well…maybe not as much.
We ’
re in big trouble. I should say, he ’
s in big trouble.
”

“
What?
”
Davin snap ped .
“
My eyes do not. I mean…I do not.
”

“
Oh, yes they do !”
Vivian laugh ed .
“
You have such a crush.
”

Davin
look ed befuddled, blushed like he ’d never blushe d before, and let out a nervous laugh.
“
Funny, Vivian. That is really funny.
”

“
I ’
m not kidding , and I ’
m not trying to be funny. You have it bad.
”

“
No…you don ’
t understand. I believe she has special powers .
”
Davin lean ed in to whisper , and walk ed away wondering if it really was a crush. He rested his right hand over his heart to feel it thump at a steady pace, but when he gazed at Avalon walking in front of him, it thumped even faster. Could it be? Caleb and Vivian caught up to him, walking beside him with their arms around his shoulder.

“
You can look, but please don ’
t do what Michael did. We ’
ll be in a bigger mess, ”
Vivian teased.

“
Don ’
t worry. And if a crush , or whatever you call it , is what I ’
m really feeling , it doesn ’
t mean it is returned.
”

“
Davin is in love…
Davin is in love …
, ”
Caleb sang.

“
Shhh, ”
Davin blushed.
“
She ’
ll hear you.
”

“
Hey…where ’
s Claudia ?”
Vivian asked , her thoughts suddenly on Claudia when she re alized everyone had passed and there was no sig n of her.

“
It ’
s kind of a long story. Let me have Austin explain it to you, ”
Davin rep l ied, hoping Michael was with her.

Viv
i an had grown to care for Claudia. She didn’t want to be face to face with her. S
he would be force d to look her friend right in the eye s and pretend to meet for the very first time. After the incident, it was as if she had lost a sister. Michael, Davin, Caleb and Vivian had agreed that instead of erasing her memory as Michael had been instructed, he would suppress her memories instead. It was the only way that she could re g ain her full memories .
Vivian and Caleb had purposely left Michael ’
s T-shirt and the backpack behind hoping she would find them , but they never told Michael .

As they entered th
e training room, Davin avoided standing near Avalon, but when she gave him a heartwarming smile and her eyes lit up too, he knew. Standing there , he couldn ’
t believe that he could ever fall for anyone. He knew this would cause problems, but at the same time he couldn ’
t help himself.

“
Oh , boy. Looks like our lover girl feels the same ,”
Vivian commented to Caleb.

“
Great! What ’s going on? Michael and Claudia are not together and these two remind us of them, ”
Caleb said.

“
Here we go again.
”