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Chapter 9
He walked her from the tube to her street, then insisted on taking her to her door, "Just in case there's a mad axe murderer there." She'd told him she could take care of herself, but he'd insisted, and now she found herself standing at her garden gate, not knowing how you're supposed to end a date. Cosmo's advice had varied, from a chaste peck on the cheek for those 'hard to get' moments, or full on 'come in for a coffee - whoops, I don't have a kettle' scenarios.
Angelus wanted neither. Truth to tell, she didn't know what she wanted, and figured she probably couldn't have it anyway.
"Thanks for a wonderful evening," was all she could manage, squinting as the light from the streetlamp caught her eyes and turned Jake's face into a sunburst.
"Glad you enjoyed it," Jake replied. He swung the garden gate open, and then draped himself over it. The change in position eased the harshest light away from his face, leaving it softly highlighted by the orange glow of the lamp. Her eyes traced the coppery streaks running through his chestnut hair with fascination. She'd never really noticed humans on an aesthetic level before, but she found she liked this one. Liked him a lot.
Noticing her hesitation, he raised his eyebrows and motioned her forward through the gate. "Would you like to go out again sometime? Maybe catch a film, or just dinner?"
"Sure," she said as she approached. "That'd be nice." She leaned against the gate, suddenly shy about brushing past him to get through.
"C'mon, I won't bite," he said, a cheeky grin on his face. She blushed, and he laughed, and moved his fingertips so they were touching hers on the gatepost. "You look beautiful tonight, have I told you that?"
"No." Her fingers were hot where he touched them. It was the smallest of sensations, yet it was all she could feel. What's happening? she thought, as she felt her heart begin to pump faster. She could feel a blush burning in her cheeks, yet it seemed to be spreading out through her entire body. Am I coming down with some human illness?
She studied the kaleidoscope of browns and blacks and golds which weaved together in his irises, and she could see her own image reflected back at her. But more than that - she could catch fleeting glimpses of his soul; its incandescent myriad of pinks and reds twinkled deep in his pupils. She'd never noticed before how the soul shines through the eyes - the real soul, the one that would be collected at the end of his life.
She was so busy staring into his eyes that she didn't notice he'd leaned in until she felt his mouth brush hers. A warm, moist tingling sensation tickled her lips, and startled, she opened her mouth slightly in response. Her breath caught when she felt his tongue tentatively brush hers and...
"Ouch!" He broke away abruptly, his fingers to his mouth.
"What?" she gasped.
"I dunno. Some kind of electric shock or something," he said, his voice shaky.
She felt her heart plummet, and there was a sick feeling in her stomach. Guess I'm lucky I didn't kill him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."
They both jumped as her cellphone shrieked from her coat pocket. She yanked it out, flipped the lid, and snapped angrily, "Yes? Saul, what the bloody hell do you think you're...?" Her breath caught in her throat when she heard his words. "Okay, calm down. I'm on my way." She repocketed her phone, and regarded Jake somewhat guiltily.
"It's okay," he said, "I have to go too. But about that date - how are you fixed for tomorrow? They're showing a series of classics at the Odeon - we could catch Casablanca?"
She was shaking her head before he had even finished. "I'm sorry Jake, I'm going to be away for a while, on business. I'm not sure when I'll be coming back." She paused, not wanting to meet his eyes. "Look, I had a really nice time tonight, but I... I think it might be better if we..."
"But why?" He couldn't hide his disappointment. "It's just a film. I'm not asking you to marry me!"
"It's not... I'm sorry, Jake. I just can't."
She cast him one last, regretful look, dashed into her house and locked the door behind her. She stood frozen behind the door for a few moments, remembering the feel of his lips against hers, and how he'd recoiled when she'd lost control over herself, even momentarily. He was lucky he was still alive.
She hated that she was.
****
Angelus had never seen an angel so pale before, like all the colour had been washed out of his skin. And he was trembling like a leaf in a hurricane, trying to stutter out what had just happened, whilst keeping his eyes averted from the body of Judy Foster which still lay sprawled across the couch. Her husband had returned an hour earlier, and was still on his knees in the bathroom, alternately retching and sobbing.
She turned him towards the door and led him outside, across the road and into the little municipal park which lay at the end of the residential street. Once there, she sat him down on a park bench underneath a lilac tree, and tried to calm him down. It took some doing.
"You did okay today, Saul. I know it doesn't feel like that, but you did. You aren't to blame for what happened."
"I should've stopped him," murmured the young angel, disconsolately. "It's my fault she died."
"No, it's not. You didn't make this choice - he did. Don't take on the guilt for someone else's decisions, Saul. You'll carry enough of your own as it is."
He regarded her for a little while, before eventually nodding his agreement. The hollow look in his eyes made her throat feel tight, and she turned away and stared up at the constellation which smeared the night sky like spilt milk. They sat in strained silence until he broke it, his voice tight. The sound of it made her ears hurt.
"So, what do we do now?"
"We set a honey trap." She smiled at his perplexed expression. "We've got the bait."
"Nathalie?"
She nodded. "He wants her back so badly, he just might let down his guard enough for us to get a beat on where he's keeping the others. It's only a matter of time before they start to weaken, too. We have to find them. He seems to trust you..."
"So I'm the one who hands her over?"
She nodded. "Question is, how do we track him so we can tell where he's stashed the others? Once he's got the soul, he'll be off too quickly for us to follow." Saul shook his head slowly. "We need more time," finished Angelus, half wistfully.
"We don't have time. He said he wants her back tomorrow. What should I do if he turns up and I don't have the soul? Or what if he gets the soul and I lose him?"
"Don't worry. He won't get her."
"I doubt I can stall him. He's already beaten me before…"
Angelus caught his eyes. "You've met him before?"
"Uh…I meant just before…" His eyes flickered away, darting around the trees and bushes, coming to rest eventually on the heavy lilac flowers whose thick perfume hung in the evening air, coating their throats with sickly scent.
Angelus pursed her lips as she watched him. "Like I said, he seems to trust you. All you have to do is get him there and then stall him for as long as you can. Just try and get him talking, see if you can find anything about where he's keeping the others - if there even are any. I'll do the rest."
He looked uneasy. "I don't even know where they're keeping her. What about the security? I'll never be able to bluff my way past there. He'll know it's a trap."
"What's the matter with you? He'll be thinking a damn sight less rationally than we are. He has more at stake here, remember. Lesson number one - exploit the weakness, and if it's an emotional one then so much the better. His head will be all over the place, and that's to our advantage. You won't fail, so stop thinking you will!"
His eyes flickered away again, but he nodded and took a deep breath before replying. "You're right, I'm sorry. I guess I'm still upset about…before. I'll be fine by tomorrow."
She regarded him through narrowed eyes as she took out her cellphone. "I'll take you to where they're holding her. You'll need to get him there - I don't care how you do it, just get him there without raising his suspicions. She's under constant surveillance, but I'll arrange for it to be clear tomorrow."
"How?"
She gave no reply, save to flip open her cellphone. "Hello? I know you can hear me."
"ANGELUS, WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU?"
Saul's mouth gaped. She hadn't even dialed any numbers.
"The soul, you know the one. I need it to be clear tomorrow. None of your heavies on the door."
"YOUR WISH IS MY COMMAND, AS EVER. I ASSUME YOU HAVE A PLAN…?" Angelus gave a non committal grunt. "AND TRUE TO FORM, YOU'RE GOING TO KEEP ME COMPLETELY IN THE DARK UNTIL IT'S TOO LATE."
"Well, you are all-knowing. If I need to explain it to you…"
"I'M MIRACULOUS, ANGELUS. NOT PSYCHIC." The Voice gave a very small sigh. "VERY WELL, CONSIDER THE 'HEAVIES' CALLED OFF FOR THE DAY. YOU WILL INCLUDE ALL THIS IN A VERY FULL REPORT ONCE THIS IS OVER, WON'T YOU?"
"Yes, of course. Thank you." She flipped the lid and slid the handset into her pocket. "Are you alright?" she asked Saul, whose mouth was still hanging open.
"Was that… how? How…? It was, wasn't it?" Saul gasped as she gave a small shrug. "Oh my God."
"Yes, that's right." She took her hand out of her pocket, clapped her arm around his neck and fiddled absently with his jacket collar. "Come on, I'll take you to where they're keeping her."
They both faded from sight.
****
Chapter 10
The day had gone with a dizzying blur. He'd collected a couple of assignments, and was now writing up his reports and completing his paperwork - each soul collected had to be properly classified, logged and authorised, in duplicate. But his shaking hand was making his writing illegible as he scratched his quill across the parchment surface, and he crumpled up his report and pulled a fresh piece of paper towards him. It was his third attempt so far.
"Having trouble?" He felt a hand on the back of his neck, and another picked up his report. "Have you got her?"
"No…" His report was slammed down, and the back of his neck squeezed tightly. "I didn't want to move her until you were ready! She's still not quite fixed yet." The pressure on his neck grew. "But I can take you to her…"
His head was jerked down towards the table top. "You better be telling the truth…" The angel's eyes bored into Saul; in their depths were panic, desperation and anger.
"Never mind about that," retorted Saul, pinning the angel with an angry gaze of his own. "What about my soul - the one you took? I'm not taking you anywhere until I know you've brought her."
His head was released. "You can have her once I've got Nathalie back."
"You're not getting your hands on Nathalie until I have Judy." If he was supposed to be in love, then he'd better play the part…and it could be a good way of stalling the angel. Or at least finding out where Judy was being kept. "Have you got her?"
"She's safe. Take me to Nathalie."
"Not until you've shown me where Judy is…"
Grabbing hold of his shirt front, the angel hauled Saul out of his chair. "You don't bargain with me, boy!" he screamed into the petrified young angel's face. "Take me to her, or you'll never see your human again!"
"Okay…okay!" With a shaking hand, Saul wiped the flecks of spittle from his face, trying hard to control his rising panic. It was an emotion he had started to grow accustomed to over the last few months, but this was…extreme. He could even feel a heart hammering inside his chest. He took a deep breath, and decided he'd better carry on with the game. "But you promise me that you'll take me to Judy once we're done?"
The angel nodded.
Saul reached below his desk as he rose to his feet, and pressed the panic button that was wired up to Angelus' mobile phone. He knew it would give three short rings, and then stop. He grabbed the angel's hand, and they both vanished.
****
Her house phone rang just as she was halfway out of the door. She glanced back, hesitating over whether to answer it or not. It might be Saul again - maybe something had happened.
It was Jake.
"Angela, look. I really need to talk…"
"Jake, please - not now. I really don't have time for this."
"Don't even think about giving me the brush off. I want an explanation. I know you like me, and I like you a hell of a lot…so what's going on?" Silence. "Please? You owe me an explanation, at least." The hurt in his voice stung her.
"Look, we hardly even know each other! We've had a couple of dates, that's all. It's just not working out for me," she lied, hurriedly. "You're a great guy, but I just don't think we're right for each other." The 'Cosmo' lines read well, but Jake didn't seem impressed.
"What's that crap you're spouting? You know damn well we've got something good going, if we give it half a chance…"
"Not now Jake. I'm really sorry…"
"Don't kill us before we've even started, Angela!"
****
They rematerialised in a dim room, filled with tanks, wires and the low hum of electricity. The angel started forward hastily, but Saul yanked him back against the wall. "Guards," he explained at the other angel's irate look.
They stood motionless until both were sure it was clear.
"Where is she?" The angel turned perplexed eyes to Saul, who could see panic starting to unfurl in their brown depths. He waved over to one of the tanks. The angel's eyes grew wide. "She's in a box?" He ran over to the indicated container, and peered inside. "They put her in a box?"
"It's the solution she's in - it's helping her to get better. She's already much stronger than she was. Look…"
He pushed aside the tubes, to reveal the flamingo pink soul who lay nestled on a cushion, surrounded by a creamy brown liquid. She looked like a pearl in an oyster. Reaching out a hesitant finger, the angel gently brushed against the luminescent surface, and on contact his face lit up. He thrust his hand into the tank, but Saul grabbed it.
"She's not ready to go yet - she's not strong enough. You don't want her to get sick again, do you?"
"No. You're right." His companion thought for a moment. "I'll take the whole tank."
"No, you can't!" Saul improvised quickly. "The solution needs to be changed every day!"
"I can take care of her!" snapped the angel. "She won't need liquid when she's back home. Not when she has my love."
"Love? Are you crazy?" gasped Saul, his eyes growing wide. "How the hell do you think love will be enough? It wasn't before, was it?"
"She got sick. Caught some human disease, that's all." He reached into the tank, and started swirling the contents around. "See, this stuff's nothing important. It's just water. She doesn't need to drink." Carefully, he raised the globe off its cushion and held it up to his face. Saul could see a million pinpricks of pink dancing across his companion's eyes as he studied the soul. His face broke into a huge smile. "I'm taking her home."
The sphere glowed brightly at that comment, and the air around it seemed to hum with an angry vibrancy.
"She doesn't want to go. She'll die for sure this time." Saul grabbed for the soul, but the angel yanked back his hand, and slipped Nathalie into his coat pocket. "You're killing her!"
"I am not! I love her!"
"It's not enough! Don't you know that by now?" There was a tense silence as the two regarded each other. Saul took a few deep breaths, trying to calm the hammering he could feel in his chest. It was making it hard to catch his breath. He guessed this was panic…anger, frustration. Emotions. He didn't like them. He pressed his hand to his chest, and continued. "There's nothing you can do to keep them alive, nothing any of us can do. Your love doesn't matter. She'll still end up dead."
"What are you talking about?" To Saul's astonishment, the angel laughed. "Of course it matters. Love is the only thing that matters. Haven't you learned that by now?" he asked curiously. Mutely, Saul shook his head. The angel laughed again, this time in astonishment. "It's what they live for. It's what some of them die for. Haven't you seen that?" Saul remained silent, but his eyes were downcast. The angel leaned in close, and whispered, "Surprising. I thought you'd learned that with Judy."
Saul closed his eyes, trying to escape the accusation that glared out of the brown ones in front of him. "I did…" he lied, "But it didn't matter, did it? She still died. I could do nothing for her. So much for love," he finished, bitterly.
"You helped her! You know she wasn't due to die for hours - you saved her from all that pain. Sometimes, that's all we can do - end the torment for them."
"But we're not supposed to!" Saul turned anguished eyes up to his companion.
"Who says?" was the quick reply. "Some faceless suit in a fancy office? What do they know about any of it? They've been locked away in their important jobs for so long now they've forgotten what it's like to be out in the real world. It's been so long since they've stared death in the face, they've forgotten how it stinks." He moved close to Saul again, and jabbed him in the chest with a bony finger. "But me and you, we know, don't we? We've stood by and watched them struggle to die. We've smelt the stench of blood as flesh has been ripped open, and we've seen what death really does. It isn't noble, it isn't the start of a new, glorious life. It's just more of the same."
"How can you say that? They get to look upon the face of God…spend time in Paradise and then they're reborn into a world of new possibilities…"
The angel's face twisted. "They're catalogued, stored and reallocated, and then thrown out to do it all again. There is no respite, no rest. Lifetimes upon lifetimes of struggle, and hurt…" He dug in his pocket and pulled out the soul. Her pinks and oranges glistened across the skin of his hand as he turned her on his palm. "You think I want her to go through lifetimes of that? When I can save her? I can give her peace. No pen pushing bureaucrat tells me how to do my job!"
"Our job isn't to save them. I wish it were." Saul reached out a hesitant finger, and ran it over the silken surface of the soul, shivering as he felt its warmth kiss his skin. "There are so many…so much I think I could do." He pulled his hand back, with a regretful sigh. "But I can't make choices about who lives and dies. And I can't let you take her. It isn't fair on her - she deserves another chance at life."
"She has a chance, and it's with me," replied the angel, tucking her away in his pocket. "It's what she wants. I can't believe you'd take her from me," he finished, an angry glint in his eye. "I thought you understood, but you're just not listening. I can see now that I'm on my own here."
He made to turn, but Saul grabbed hold of him before he could get away. "Hey, you're not leaving, are you? Where's my soul…you promised!"
"If you don't love her enough to take the risk, then you don't love her enough to have her. I don't trust you - you'd hand her over, and she deserves better than that. She'll be happy with Nathalie and me." He turned to go.
"No, wait! I was wrong…I can see that now. And it's not that I don't agree, I do. It's just…that I've been so scared. I thought I was on my own, feeling like this, but now…I want to help her, I really do…" I've got to keep him here, thought Saul desperately. Where is Angelus? "Tell me what to do…" He reached out and touched the angel's elbow. "Please…?"
He smiled hopefully at the angel.
****
Damn! Damn, damn damn! Shit, shit, damn!
She smashed the phone down onto its cradle, turned and fell over the cat, which was curled around her feet. "Goddamn you, you bloody cat! Get out of my bloody way!" The tiny animal yowled, and bolted.
"Mobile phone…mobile phone?!" She patted down her pockets in search of the small handset, and then noticed it lying on the kitchen table. She grabbed it, jammed it in her pocket and vanished.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 - conclusion
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