She wasn’t about to let him off the hook that easily. “So now I am stressed about what will happen at the end of the semester anyway and I’m stressed about the fact that my boyfriend, who claims to love me, has been lying to me all along.”
“I am so sorry, Taylor. I’ll do anything to make it up to you.”
“You can start but never lying to me again.”
“Deal,” Gabriel said much too quickly. “No more lies.”
Pretending not to notice the business-like manner in which Gabriel had conducted himself, Taylor said, “Back to the other problem: you needing my help. You told me about your lie, but what has changed? We are only halfway through the semester, so we still have time before you need my help, right? And what does all of this have to do with those behemoth demons in the pool hall tonight?”
“It’s all related,” Gabriel explained. “We need your help in defeating the demons and, while the angels are willing to wait until the end of the semester, the demons are now fully aware of your presence here at UT; Chris has been holding them off until now, but there’s nothing else he can do. The demon leadership sent those goons here to threaten me into leaving you alone. They said that if I was still hanging out with you in two weeks, they would come to take you away. They have realized how powerful you are in the hands of the angel army and are worried we are going to use your powers to destroy them.”
Taylor’s head was throbbing with anger, her facing turning red. “Take me away? Who the hell do they think they are? They can’t do that. I won’t let them.”
“And I damn well won’t let it happen either, Taylor. If you agree to help the Archangel Council, you will have the full protection of the angel army.”
Taylor’s eyes narrowed. “And if I don’t agree to help the angels?”
“Then you will only have my protection, but that will be more than enough. I could whip those pathetic demons with two wings tied behind my back.”
Taylor wasn’t comforted. “What exactly is it that the angels’ want me to do in exchange for their protection?”
Gabriel became serious now. “Easy. All you have to do is appear on the battlefield with us in the next battle. We will protect you behind the strength of the entire angel army and I will personally connect with your aura to attack the demons. We will finally wipe their evil from the face of this planet forever.”
Taylor said, “Look, man, I don’t know if I am up for being used to hurt people.”
“Not people,” Gabriel corrected, “demons.”
A look of sudden realization appeared on Taylor’s face. “What about Christopher? How does he fit into all of this? He’s a demon, will I be responsible for destroying him, too?”
“I’m sorry, Taylor, but yes. I know you think he is nice and cool and that he is your friend, but who do you think told the demons that you were here?”
“Not Chris,” Taylor refuted, “he would never do anything like that to me.”
“He could and he did,” Gabriel said. “He admitted it to me when we went outside, although after he told the demons, he did try to keep them away from you. He may be a nice guy, but he is still a demon at heart, and loyal to his own kind.”
Taylor’s head was spinning. How could the best days of her life turn into such a mess so quickly? Her thoughts were scattered, but she managed to ask, “What do we do?”
Gabriel put his arm around her and said, “I am willing to do whatever it takes to protect you, but I can’t guarantee I can do it on my own. If the demons bring a small army here, I will inevitably lose. If we try to hide, they will eventually find us. You have a very special gift that we could use to win the most important war this world has ever seen. I would ask you to consider helping us.”
Taylor maneuvered out from under Gabriel’s arm. “I need to think,” she said. Closing her eyes, she tried to think through it logically. The demons were trying to get to her. Gabriel could protect her for a while on his own, but not forever. Demons are evil. Angels are good. She would be helping a noble cause. The angel cause. On paper, it sounded like the right decision, but something about it didn’t feel right. Anytime she thought about helping the angels, she was filled with dread.
Taylor tried to avoid thinking about Christopher or Sam, as she knew these would be emotional, rather than logical thoughts. The more she tried to forget them, the more her memories about them flooded her mind. Dammit! They were her friends, she couldn’t just exclude them from the picture. There had to be another solution.
“Damn you for putting me in this position, Gabe,” Taylor said. “I can’t help the angels. I can’t hurt Chris and Sam, even if it gives me the best chance of survival. We have to come up with another plan.”
Gabriel’s face fell, but only for a moment. “What do you propose?” he said.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Taylor and Gabriel had planned meticulously for a week. They had done it in complete secrecy, usually from the Bird’s Nest or deep in the library. They had continued to act as normal as possible around their friends, being careful not to miss lunch or dinner. Changes to routines led to questions and they wanted as few questions as possible.
Of course, the demon was asking questions anyway. He knew that time was running out and that a solution had to be reached. Thankfully, he wasn’t aware that Taylor knew about the situation, so he didn’t interrogate her.
However, Chris pulled Gabriel aside on an almost daily basis to ask, “Have you come up with anything yet?”
Gabriel lied each time, saying, “No, not yet, but I think I am close.”
Finally, on this Friday night, exactly a week from when the deadline was mandated and a week before it expired, Gabriel was ready for the first phase of the plan: deceit.
Gabriel was ready for Chris when he said, “We’ve only got a week to go, man, we seriously need to come up with a plan now!”
Gabriel smiled and said, “I’ve figured it out.”
Chris replied, “You have? That’s great, tell me.”
“Okay, it’s simple really. We tell your little friends that we’ve got a plan that will satisfy all parties, but that we just have to get it cleared by the Archangel Council before we give it to them to propose to the demon Elders. We set up a time on the last day of the deadline, Friday, to meet them.
“Except we are not going to meet them on Friday, we will be long gone by that point. You and I will take Taylor away the day before, Thursday, to a secret place. I know for a fact that neither the angels nor the demons are aware of this place. We hide her there together until we can come up with a long-term solution.”
Chris’s face fell. “But that’s only a quick fix and they will surely find us at some point, and then we will all be screwed.”
“Look, man, I can’t think with the clock ticking like a bomb that’s about to blow up in my face. It will buy us some time and then we can come up with a better plan together.” Gabriel continued to emphasize the word together, hoping Chris would buy the lie. “Unless you have a better plan?”
“Okay, okay, I guess it’s the only choice we have, but how will we escape with her unnoticed? Those thugs have been watching you and Taylor everywhere you go.”
“To be honest, I could probably just fly away with her under my arm; there’s no way they could easily follow me from the ground. However, to play it safe, I think we should create a diversion. We will get Samantha to dress up like Taylor and wear something that hides her face and then I will walk out towards the stadium with her. They will follow me as they always do. You then take Taylor to a predetermined location and drop her off. I will come back with Sam, leave her at the dorms, and then go and get Taylor. Your little punk friends will think I am leaving the dorms alone, without Taylor, and so they’ll leave me alone. I pick up Taylor and fly her to a safe-house. Easy.”
Chris thought for a minute and then asked two questions: “First, how do I know where you go, and second, why do you trust me with Taylor, I am a demon?”
“I’v
e got the coordinates for the location we will be at, give me your phone.” Chris handed his cell over and Gabriel punched in a longitude and latitude. He had no intention of telling Christopher where they were going so he just made up the coordinates.
“There, now you can find us. Why do I trust you? Because you haven’t done anything to betray my trust. You could have called in a small gang of demons to come and take her away at any time, but you didn’t. So I know that you’re looking out for her best interests like I am.”
Chris seemed satisfied by the response. He said, “Thanks.”
“Any other questions on the plan?” Gabriel asked.
“No, I will schedule a meet with Jonas today so we can set up a time to meet them on Friday. When we don’t show up to the meeting they will start hunting us, but by then we will be long gone.”
Gabriel smiled. “Exactly.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
On Saturday, Christopher agreed a meeting with Jonas and his henchmen for the following Friday at noon.
A day passed without event.
On Monday, the angel, the demon, and Taylor were all going through their normal routines: wake up, shower, brush teeth, go to class, go to lunch, etc. Although they were all worried about how well the plan would work later in the week, they thought for the time being the demon spies would leave them alone. They were wrong.
Gabriel and Christopher were in afternoon classes when it happened.
Taylor had been dismissed from class early and was walking alone to her last class of the day when abruptly, Jonas appeared beside her and grabbed her hand. She felt a powerful twisting of her body—and maybe her mind, too—and then all went dark.
A few moments later her sight was restored and she was alone in a clearing in the woods. She turned 360-degrees to get her bearings, but all she saw was dense forest surrounding her. The forest was quiet.
Without warning, a piercing shriek erupted from somewhere within the woods. Taylor turned towards the sound, covering her ears with her hands. A loud splintering sound followed, and she saw several trees flap wildly from side to side before collapsing with a thundering crash.
Something dark was advancing towards the clearing.
Unsure of whether to run, scream, or hide, Taylor remained frozen in place, her eyes wide with terror. Another tree fell, then another. The dark form stepped into the clearing. It was like nothing she had ever seen.
Huge, clawed hind legs gave it stability as it walked slowly on two feet towards her. The creature’s body was massive, in direct proportion to its legs, but its front arms were relatively small, similar to Tyrannosaurus Rex from the Mesozoic Era. The monster’s head had characteristics that were both human and reptile with small, jet-black eyes and a set of knife-like teeth accentuated by two long fangs protruding beyond its lower lip. Its entire body was covered in scaly skin so black it could almost be defined as the absence of light.
Taylor knew at once what it was: a gargoyle.
Finally, she screamed, knowing it would be fruitless, as surely there was no one near the secluded spot. Even so, she had to try. Turning, she ran onto an overgrown path that led through the woods, away from the clearing. Sharp branches scratched her face and foliage raked her legs, as she recklessly charged down the rarely used trail. She heard another ear-shattering shriek from the gargoyle as it pursued her. Trees snapped, branches broke, and leaves shook. It was catching up.
Just as her lungs began to burn from the sudden exertion, the noises behind her ceased. The silence was almost worse; she didn’t know where the beast had gone. Afraid to stop, she ran a bit further, albeit at a slower pace, until she reached another clearing. She chomped at the air, trying to suck in much needed breaths. Still gulping down oxygen, she walked to the other side of the circular hole in the forest. When she was almost halfway across, she was startled by a solid thump from behind her.
Taylor whirled around to see the gargoyle towering over her. It was only a few yards away. She noticed something she had missed the first time she had looked at the alien creature: Two small wings protruded from its back, barely visible above its muscly shoulders.
Taylor had two quick thoughts before the gargoyle attacked: One, I am going to die; and two, those are awfully small wings for such a large guy. The monster moved towards her. Not knowing what else to do, Taylor screamed again at the top of her lungs. From the corner of her eye she saw a flash of light.
Chapter Forty
Jonas chuckled to himself from the shadows, as he watched the gargoyle advancing on the girl. It had been so easy. Of all his powers, teleportation and the ability to teleport others were his favorites.
Back on campus, he had teleported so that he was directly next to her and then, as soon as he touched her, he teleported her to the middle of the forest where his “little” friend had been waiting.
Jonas wanted to scare both the angel and the girl before their meeting later that week, to ensure that they didn’t try anything sneaky. The girl was obviously scared already and the angel would be equally scared when the girl told him what had happened.
He put a dog whistle to his mouth, ready to sound the stop command once Freddy, as he liked to call this particular gargoyle, had gotten close enough to her that she could smell his bad breath. The girl screamed again. That’s when he saw the flash of light. Damn, he thought, even a full-grown gargoyle was no match for a highly trained angel.
Chapter Forty-One
Gabriel was sitting in class, ignoring the professor’s lecture, doing what he had been for the last week: harnessing the power of the lights in the room to heighten his hearing ability. By this point, he could pretty much hear every word that Taylor said, whether she was right next to him, or a few miles away. He had accomplished this by training his angel ears to pick out the exact frequency of her voice from the many others in the surrounding area.
She didn’t know that he was doing this, which he preferred so that he could protect her without smothering her.
On this occasion, he hadn’t heard anything from her since she answered a question midway through her previous class. This likely meant that she was out of class and walking alone to her next class. The silence didn’t concern him that much, as it probably meant she was safe. If she wasn’t safe, she would likely be crying, yelling, or reasoning with her attacker or captor.
This was the logical reasoning that streamed through Gabriel’s head as he listened for her next sound. The next thing he heard from Taylor froze him with fear. A high-pitched scream tore through his ear drums, causing him to wince in pain.
Instinctively, his mind coordinated the analysis of the information with his ears, and determined the direction and the approximate distance of the yell. North. Nearly two miles. Must be the forest.
Without a word, he darted from his seat in the back of the crowded lecture hall, slammed through the exit, and charged outside. Once in the open air, he ran at normal human speed until he was out of sight. As soon as he had an opportunity, he transformed into full angel form and raced off towards where Taylor’s vocal signature had resonated.
Flying faster than he ever had before, he reached the target area in mere seconds. He was low to the ground, scouring the dense foliage for any sign of her. He passed one clearing and approached another. In the second clearing he saw something unexpected: a gargantuan black shape moving through the open space.
As he closed in to investigate, another earsplitting scream disrupted the calm quiet of his flight. It was coming from exactly where the dark shape stood.
He thought that the creature might be carrying Taylor, so he needed to be careful how he attacked it, fearing that he might injure her at the same time, but as he passed the gargoyle he could see that she was out in front of it. Barely. It was closing fast.
That was all the motivation he needed as he cut hard to the left and locked his flight path directly on the gargoyle, soaking up the bright sun to gain strength.
Harnessing the sun’s life-giving r
ays, Gabriel’s body emitted a blinding light more brilliant than any Fourth of July fireworks display.
He slammed into the beast, knocking it backwards several feet. He hung onto its arm as it sprawled on the earth, landing several hard, blazing punches to its head before it came to rest on its chest. Mustering all of his strength, he grabbed both its wings and pulled them like he was trying to uproot a pesky weed from a garden.
“Nooo, don’t!” came a cry from his right, but he ignored it and kept straining at the wings until he heard a satisfying crunch and the wings ripped from the gargoyle’s back. He tossed them aside and looked to see who had tried to stop him.
Jonas approached him slowly, his palms open at either side, as if trying to capture a cornered animal. “Calm down, Gabriel. I can explain.”
Gabriel stepped down from the gargoyle’s back and the creature groaned. “I’m going to kill you and then finish off the beast,” Gabriel replied.
“No, please, I was just trying to scare her so you guys wouldn’t try to trick us on Friday. I swear I was going to stop it before it hurt her.”
He’s scared, Gabriel thought, fear creates weakness. This pathetic demon is nothing without his posse.
As if in response to his thoughts, two fiery shapes blazed across the clearing, coming to a stop on either side of Jonas. The reinforcements had arrived. With a sneer, his confidence was regained, and Jonas cracked his knuckles. He said, “We’ll see who kills who.”
In his rage, Gabriel had nearly forgotten what he was doing there until he heard a voice yell, “Please, no! Leave him alone!”
All four turned and saw Taylor, tears streaming down her face, running towards Gabriel. When she got to him, she jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs tightly around his back. Her shoulders shook as she sobbed uncontrollably.