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.
Chapter Nineteen
Christopher 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.
Chapter Twenty
Taylor had just finished reading through the results of another internet search, for gargoyles, when Sam came back from the gym. Taylor’s last piece of research didn’t ease her mind:
“A French legend that sprang up around the time of St. Romanus ("Romain") (AD 631–641), the former chancellor of the Merovingian king Clotaire II who was made bishop of Rouen, relates how he delivered the country around Rouen from a monster called Gargouille or Goji. La Gargouille is said to have been the typical dragon with batlike wings, a long neck, and the ability to breathe fire from its mouth. There are multiple versions of the story, either that St. Romanus subdued the creature with a crucifix, or he captured the creature with the help of the only volunteer, a condemned man. In each, the monster is led back to Rouen and burned, but its head and neck would not, due to being tempered by its own fire breath. The head was then mounted on the walls of the newly built church to scare off evil spirits, and used for protection. In commemoration of St. Romain the Archbishops of Rouen were granted the right to set a prisoner free on the day that the reliquary of the saint was carried in procession.”
The passage was consistent with what Gabriel had told her about gargoyles. If the demons really did want her dead, she truly hoped that they wouldn’t use a gargoyle to perform the task.
She was brought back to reality when Sam said, “The fitness center is awesome, Tay! You should come with me next time.”
Taylor cringed. “Of course, Sam, you know how I love those places,” she replied, her
words dripping with sarcasm.
“C’mon, Tay, it’s a great place to meet boys.”
“That is exactly why I hate it. It’s nothing more than a meat market. Everyone gets dressed up in their cute little gym outfits and tries to get noticed. I would much rather exercise on my own in my comfy sweatpants and t-shirt.”
Sam pretended to look crushed. “I guess you don’t need as much help as I do to attract the boys here at college. You’ve already got the hottest one chasing you!”
“Quite a change from our high school days, huh? I can give you some tips if you want,” Taylor joked.
Sam laughed. “That would be great. Seriously though, do you think you’ll meet up with him again tonight?”
“I’m not sure yet.” Taylor tried to be non-committal so that Sam didn’t make too big of a deal of it, but in her mind she knew that she would see Gabriel. Her questions demanded it.
“Well I think you should. This could turn out to be a really good thing for you.”
“I’ll think about it.” Changing the subject, she said, “Are you ready for dinner?”
After a quick shower, Sam was ready. Marla and Jennings joined them on the way out. The group headed to the Commons. Upon arrival, Taylor heaped food onto her plate. Not having breakfast made her hungry for the rest of the day. She ate hurriedly, forgetting that a shorter dinner meant more time to kill before her rendezvous with Gabriel. When they left the dining hall it was seven o’clock; she wished it was eight.
Sam, Marla and Jennings decided to go to the pool hall, but Taylor begged off. She needed some time to clear her head. After a few minutes of walking, she found herself sitting on the bench at the north end of the Commons, where she would meet Gabriel later on.
Her thoughts were muddled as she tried to make sense of everything that had happened in the last two days. She had so many questions and she struggled to put them in a logical order. She liked feeling organized to the point where she thought she might be a little bit OCD, but every answer seemed to lead to ten other questions, leaving her feeling like the situation was in disarray, completely out of her control.
While Taylor waited, the sun went down and the campus security lamps were illuminated. The north end of the Commons was deserted, as it seemed to always be. The entrance faced away from the dorms towards empty fields, and therefore, no one really had any reason to use this side. Perhaps that was why the angel liked to meet her here.
Taylor peered to the right, where a path angled in the direction of the lonely grasslands. Suddenly, she was acutely aware of a presence approaching from the path. Her intuition was proven true when a shadowy figure appeared, ambling towards her. She couldn’t quite make out any of its features, as the presence seemed to create its own darkness, despite walking on the lighted pathway.
Without even thinking about it, she knew it was the demon.
Not just any demon, but the one from her dream. She also knew that her life was over. She was defenseless, a sitting duck waiting to be picked off. Her eyes darted to the entrance to the Commons. It was too far to run, especially given what Gabriel had told her about the lightning-quick speed that demons possessed.
The demon was close now and although it was partially veiled in darkness, she could see its handsome face, which was wearing of all things, a huge smile. If she wasn’t so damn scared she wouldn’t have been able to help but to smile too.
The creature spoke enthusiastically, “Hi there!”
Taylor was stunned momentarily; she had forgotten that demons could speak just like humans. She was more expecting it to snarl and snap at her and then eat her for dinner, but instead its voice was low and pleasant and even soothing. She didn’t answer.
“Are you a freshman at UT, too?” the demon asked.
Now that it was speaking to her, Taylor realized there was a tiny ray of hope that she could survive this encounter. If she could just keep it talking until eight, then Gabriel would arrive to rescue her.
“Uh, yeah,” Taylor said, trying to keep her voice from trembling.
“That’s great, me too,” it said. “My name’s Christopher Lyon.” It extended its hand and she looked at the fingers like they were the hairy legs of a dead tarantula. However, when she saw that it did not have scaly skin, sharp claws, missing fingers, warts, or any other undesirable features, she took its hand and shook it. As it turned out, he had quite nice hands—they were tanned, soft and smooth. Looking over the rest of him again, she saw that his entire body had an even tan, and the tank top he wore showed off a lean, hard body. He had short, dark facial hair that projected a rugged handsomeness usually reserved for tough heroes or cunning villains in the movies. She already knew which category he fell in to.
Taylor realized that she was no longer thinking about it as an it, and had transitioned to using he and his in her mind. That’s dangerous, she thought. Don’t trust him….it.
“I’m Taylor. It’s nice to meet you, Christopher.” She was feeling bolder and decided to try leading the conversation. If nothing else, she would feel more in control. “What are you majoring in?” she asked. “I’m doing Psych.”
“Pre-Med, but I don’t know if I will stay in it. I’ve heard that Bio 4 is a killer,” he said with a slight groan.
“Wow, so you want to be a doctor?” she asked. Taylor noticed she wasn’t feeling particularly scared anymore. The handsome, soft-spoken demon had actually managed to put her at ease. Probably one of his abilities.
“An emergency room surgeon, to be precise,” he said. “You know, like the ones on ER and Grey’s Anatomy.”
Taylor didn’t know what to think. He seemed so genuine, with an honest face and honest eyes, but Gabriel had warned her that demons were fantastic liars. If he was telling the truth, then she was baffled. Why would a demon want to become a surgeon and save human lives when, according to Gabriel, their ultimate goal was to wipe out the human existence entirely?
“Wow, that’s cool,” she said genuinely. “It sounds like it would be really hard though.”
His beautiful lips parted into a smile as he said, “Yeah, about fifty percent of the students drop out in less than a semester. I think I will be okay though, my best classes were all math and science ones in high school.”
Taylor smiled back at him almost flirtatiously. What am I doing? she thought. She never acted this way around anyone, and yet, she was feeling a strange connection with this boy…demon…whatever he was. Not an attraction, but a good feeling. She felt happy and at ease with him. If he wasn’t trying to kill her, she might actually want to be friends with him.
He continued: “Anyway, I have to get going, but we should hang out sometime, if you are interested?”
Two guys asking me out in two days, now that is a record, Taylor thought. But neither of them human, she laughed to herself. Just her luck. “Sure, that would be great, what’s your number?” She saved his cell number in her phone, didn’t offer her own, and watched as he turned and walked away.
What had just happened? Wasn’t he the one that was supposed to kill her? You know, the sand down the throat causing a painful death by suffocation? She glanced at her watch; she had ten minutes to go before Gabriel would arrive. She hoped he would come early.
Chapter Twenty-One
Christopher was surprised at how well his first contact with Taylor had gone. She seemed tentative at first, but he was a mysterious, dark-looking guy, so that wasn’t really surprising. Maybe Gabriel hadn’t yet told her as many lies as he thought. Maybe there was still a chance. Christopher was glad he had trusted his instincts and approached her. He would continue to be patient and wait for her to contact him on his cell phone.
Lost in his thoughts, he didn’t notice the streak of light overhead. As he continued to puzzle over his conversation with the strange girl, the light came closer and closer, eventually blinding him as it smashed into him. Damn angels, he thought, as he was thrown backwards. Christopher was angry with himself for getting so distracted by the girl.<
br />
He managed to rip the strong, bright arms off of his shoulders, recovering neatly into a somersault. His demon instincts made this part of his life easy. Fighting angels came naturally to him and he truly enjoyed it. In less than a second, he recognized that it was an overcast night with no trace of the moon’s light and very few stars. That was good for him. The angel’s strength and power must be coming from the lighted pathway and nearby buildings.
With a quick flick of his hand, the campus lamps were covered with webs of darkness, their bright lights extinguished. When he raised his arms above his head for his next maneuver, he was hit from behind by what felt like a freight train. It was just the angel, he thought. He could tell that the attack wasn’t nearly as powerful as the initial one, so his trick with the lamps must be working.
Suddenly he was airborne, the angel’s powerful wings propelling them both skyward. He didn’t struggle, knowing that his iron body could easily sustain a fall from this height. At about 100 feet, the angel released him and let him fall like a rock towards the earth. Christopher contorted his body during the free fall, like a skydiver with a disabled parachute, trying to find the best angle to land. Just before hitting the ground, he felt a massive weight on top of him, accelerating him into the earth. He hit head first with a heavy thump that sent mind-numbing shockwaves through every part of his body.
Dazed for a moment, Christopher looked up to find he was in a crater, several feet beneath the surface. What a clever angel, he thought to himself. This one was born to be a fighter, it had to be Gabriel. Above him, a bright figure stepped into view, silhouetted against the dark sky.