Marli soared on high, marvelling at the destruction lying directly below her. The smile faded from her face when she sensed Hayley approaching from behind. She spun and met Hayley’s slash from above, their swords ringing off one another again. Hayley dodged a loping upward slash, before driving her blade into the opening at Marli’s left. But the fallen angel had anticipated the move and vanished before she could strike. The edge of Hayley’s sword sliced through thin air, just as Marli reappeared behind the newborn and ran her through.
Hayley’s eyes widened and she shuddered as the lifeblood poured from her. Marli giggled in delight as the newborn slumped before her, suspended only by the length of her wicked blade.
A whistle from behind made Marli look just in time to see a flash of silver spinning towards her. The last thing Marli ever saw was the world racing up to meet her and her body falling through the sky several feet away.
Hayley sheathed her blood soaked blade. At the same moment her decoy erupted into a cloud of white ash, spiralling away on a bitter wind. She snatched Marli’s sword from the air before it could fall. She hovered there, watching the fallen angel’s head and body tumble to earth. They both shattered into puffs of grey ash as they finally made contact, sparkling like a fistful of silver glitter thrown against the ground.
Just then she faltered, overcome with grief. But it was not her own. On the far side of the water a single tear traced the contour of Alex’s ancient features. Drawing a deep breath he straightened and returned to the task at hand. With a quick play of his hands, the last crack in the south bank’s base of the Clyde Arc mended itself solid once more. The angel released his grip and drew a deep breath. He suddenly felt very weary, for the first time in a very long time. He gazed out across the black water. The giant, silver striding arch had been secured but the bridge itself remained split wide down the middle. He had mustered the strength to send a clone to help those in the dangling car and they had got to safety. Yet the assertion had drained him to the point of near collapse. Alex trembled as Hayley fed her own energy into him but he could tell that she was just as tired.
She appeared before him, minus her wings and sword. Without a single word or thought he wrapped his arms around her, burying his head into her shoulder. It was finally over.
******
Hayley only stirred when Alex traced a finger down her spine. Her wings shuffled and she gazed up at him with half-lidded eyes. She mumbled something then buried her head into the space between his chest and wing again.
Exhausted, the two of them had retreated to the Hughes’ residency on the far side of the city. Stacy had been over the moon to see them whereas John had barraged them with questions the moment they walked through the door, until his mother had chased him off. A quick reassurance that it was all over was all the curious teenager got before his mother had shown the angels to the spare bedroom.
Alex ran his hand through Hayley’s feathers and she wriggled, trying to get him to leave her. When he persisted, she groaned and batted his hand away. Alex smiled. “It’s time to get up,” he whispered.
“It’s four in the morning,” she mumbled, rolling over. Alexander had only been asleep for five hours but it had been enough to leave him feeling refreshed and back to his former strength. Hayley, on the other hand, was still tired from the night’s events.
“It’s time for you to go back,” he whispered, gently brushing back her hair. She turned away from him further and said nothing. “I know you don’t want to go back to sleep but you have to; it’s the way it’s meant to be.”
“It’s not that,” she said, without looking at him. “You heard what Marli said and you heard what Mark said. If I go back, how am I going to defend myself if there are others who want me dead?” she asked, sitting up and looking at him through the darkness.
Alex could see the fear in her eyes as much as he could feel it in her heart. “We don’t know if there are others who want you dead. There may not be.”
“Or there could be.”
Alex sat up, his long feathers shifting behind him. “This is why you have me, to protect you until it is time for you to wake up properly.”
“I know, Alex, but against our own kind? Your own kind? Why do they want me dead? What did I ever do to them?” she asked, her eyes welling with tears.
“Nothing.”
“Then why did they keep saying that I was going to do something terrible?”
Alex shook his head. “Mark could not see into the future any more than Marli could. They were just saying that to frighten you. They were after me, not you.”
“Nah, there has to be more to it than that,” she said, shaking her head.
“There isn’t.”
She wiped at the corners of her eyes and sniffled. “And what makes you so sure?”
Alex hesitated. “You’re going to have to trust me.”
“Why? What are you not telling me?”
Alex answered her by way of a kiss. The last thing she saw was a white light.
Chapter Twenty Eight
Shafts of light began to bleed through the darkness, accompanied by a dull, elusive pain that seemed to emanate from the back of her head. The light crept more and more into her vision, bringing with it the pins and needles of missed, unused limbs. Hayley opened her eyes and her peripheral was assaulted by large, crudely coloured shapes. A couple of blinks and the haze cleared, revealing the world as it truly was. It took her a moment to realise that her dad was saying her name and that he was squeezing her hand. Yet the first person she looked for was not him or her mother sitting there, but Alex. Panic shot through her when she did not see him. Someone squeezed her other hand and there he was, smiling at her in that cheeky way he always did. Hayley managed a weak smile from behind her oxygen mask, then her vision blurred once more.
******
Are you still sleeping?
Hayley felt her mind stir, yet the darkness remained. What happened? she asked, recalling his face and nothing beyond that.
You passed out.
Hayley could sense his amusement. Shut up, Alex.
I see you’re feeling better at least. Though I think it will be a few days before your body catches up with your head.
My head feels like a block of lead.
Well, that’s what happens when your soul is fired back in there. It’s like getting ten thousand volts fired through you. It’s a bit of a shock.
Suddenly she remembered something, though it remained vague and hazy like a half-forgotten dream. Did…did I kill Marli? she asked dully, dreading the answer.
Her question was met with silence. She thought he had disappeared when he finally said, Yes.
She caught the end of a thread of emotion from him. Suddenly she found herself very upset. I’m, I’m sorry. She felt Alex’s vast consciousness wrapping around her own. It felt like she was being cocooned in a thick, comforting, mental blanket.
Shh, shh, shh. Don’t apologise. She would have killed everyone if we had let her.
Something else came back to her then. She tried to kill me. A cold shiver ran through her. Whether it was all in her mind or a response from her body, she could not tell. Hayley remembered the flats caving in all around her and falling. She then remembered standing on the hillside watching the blood red sky erupt in a shower of angry, crimson fireballs, like it was bleeding. Everything was blank after that but she had an overwhelming feeling like something had happened, something important…What happened after the hill? She asked, turning to face Alex.
The angel looked this way and that. Where once there had been darkness there was light and he and Hayley had form once more. They stood there, facing one another, alone in the bright, wall-less room. Alex turned back to her, his eyes wide. “That is amazing,” he said, turning his hands over.
She looked puzzled. “What is it?”
“This. This place you’ve just made.”
Hayley stared at him blankly. “It’s just a dream. I wanted to see you.”
“No, it’s not just a dream. Anyone can shape their dreams when they realise that they are asleep. But no-one can just pull angels into them, not real ones anyway.” She jabbed a finger in his chest. “Ow!” he yelped, flinching back. “What did you do that for?”
“Just making sure that it’s really you.”
“You know it is.” Alex took her hands into his and squeezed them tightly. “Hayley, listen to me,” he said, dropping his voice to little more than a whisper. “You were hurt after Marli attacked the flats and for some reason I don’t know, your spirit fled your body. You ended up in purgatory and I had to come find you.”
She slowly shook her head. “I…don’t remember any of that.”
“That’s probably because after you were there for a while you ascended.”
She blinked at him, puzzled. “What do you mean?”
“Come on, Hayley, you know exactly what I mean,” he gently coaxed her.
She gave him a funny look and shook her head again, smirking. “No way, this is you having a laugh…” She pulled her hands free from his.
“No, it isn’t. You share my soul, Hayley.”
The smile vanished from her face. “Why can’t I remember anything then?”
He reached for her hands again and squeezed them. “It’s like the last time you popped out of your body. Remember? You had some vague memories of me escaping Gabriel but not all of it. This is the same.”
She looked away from him, clearly overwhelmed. After a minute she looked to him again. “Can you show me what happened?” Her question hung in the air, unanswered, but his face said no. “Why?”
“Because you wouldn’t understand, not now, not when you’re like this.”
She pulled away from him. “You said that last time! Why do you always keep secrets from me?”
“You don’t remember for a reason! There’s no way that your mind could handle it. It’s not just the memories Hayley it is the knowledge that comes with it! The things I know, the things your spirit knows, would split your head open if you knew them now!”
“Why didn’t you leave me then? Why did you bring me back?” she demanded, crossing her arms.
Alex sighed heavily. He was tired. “We’ve already had this conversation, believe it or not.”
“Well, I can’t remember it, so you can tell me again.”
Alex straightened, his wings twitching impatiently behind him. “Because your work as a human is not finished yet.”
“Is that it?”
“No, but it’s all you’re getting.”
She shrugged indifferently. “Fine then, be that way,” she said, turning and walking away.
He sighed. “Please don’t be like this again.”
“Again?” she exclaimed, spinning on her heels.
“Hayley...” he said, holding his hands out in supplication. “One day I promise you I will answer all of your questions and I will tell you everything but until then you must trust me.”
“That’s a big ask when you’re keeping secrets from me.”
“That’s why it’s called trust, Hayley.” he said, shaking his head in defeat. “Listen, if I’m completely honest with you, I don’t have all the answers, and the ones I do have you’ll not likely understand anyway. Yet everything I have ever done I have done to protect you. You’re not just some girl I was asked to protect; you know that you’re much more than that.” Hayley suddenly cringed, placing a hand to her head. “Hayley?” he asked, going to her.
She looked up at him with wide eyes. “Oh my god! Did we do it?”
The colour drained from his face. “Er…”
Hayley suddenly woke up, her question unanswered.
Chapter Twenty Nine
It had been two weeks since fire had rained from the sky over Glasgow. The city was beginning to find its feet again, brushing off the dust and debris of destruction to rebuild.
But it had only been since yesterday that Constable Gordon Sloan found that his work was finally getting back to normal. He was only two days into the working week, but he was happy. Monday had been mundane, boring even. He had attended two break-ins and spent the rest of the day catching up on paperwork. He did not complain. It was normal and it made him content.
But that all ended the moment he walked into his office, cup in hand, to find Alexander Bridges sitting behind his desk, with his feet on the desk. The corner of his lip curled into a smile. “Good morning, Gordon.”
Sloan’s eyes narrowed. “What are you doing? How’d you get in here?” The office door slammed shut and he turned to find the blond-haired angel standing behind it. “You.” He backed away from both of them into the corner, his eyes flitting wildly between the two intruders. “What do you want from me?”
“We’re not going to hurt you, Gordon,” Christopher said with a gentle smile.
“You’re blocking the door and holding me in my own office, so forgive me if I don’t believe you,” he said warily.
Alex sat up. “You saw how my brother fights that night at the hospital, constable, and you saw how fast he moves. If we wanted to hurt you we would have done so by now.”
“Just tell me what you want,” the officer demanded.
Alex exchanged a glance with his brother. “All right,” He said, standing. “You were looking for me. Something to do with a dead body saying my name? I would have come and spoken to you sooner than this but I’ve been decorating. Our flat was blown up.”
Constable Sloan gave an uneasy nod. The moving corpse in the mortuary had been another terrifying memory he had tried to put to the back of his mind.
“Can we see this body?” Alex asked when the constable was not forthcoming.
“Why?”
Alex frowned. “Isn’t that the point? What else do you want me to do if I can’t see it?”
The old policeman swallowed hard, a lump sticking in his throat. “I wanted to ask you if you knew who it was…or knew anything about why it moved…”
“I’m afraid I would really need to see it first.”
Sloan sighed impatiently. “This isn’t a joke, Mr Bridges.”
Alex gazed at him, his face an unreadable mask. “I never said it was.”
“You’re humouring me.”
“I can assure you I’m not,” Alex insisted, folding his arms.
Sloan’s eyes narrowed. “What could seeing it possibly tell you that I haven’t?”
“I want to talk to it.” A nervous smile played across the constable’s face and he stifled a laugh. But there was no smile on Alex’s face. “Now who’s humouring who?”
Just like that, his smile vanished. Sloan crossed his arms. “Who are you, really?”
Alex and Christopher exchanged glances. Alex then looked back to the old policeman. “We’re angels.”
“All right then, you’ve had your fun. Get out.” He moved on Alex, ready to grab him when two large wings unfolded from behind him, blocking out much of the sun shining in through the window. Sloan hesitated, his eyes going wide.
Alex stared at the frightened man. “I used to know a girl who didn’t believe in angels.”
“What happened to her?” Sloan found himself asking as he retreated back into the corner.
Alex’s wings folded behind him and his features took on a softer edge. He smiled. “She loves me now.”
The door suddenly opened and everyone looked in its direction. Hayley’s head popped round the edge. Ignoring the frightened policeman cowering in the corner and Alex with his wings out, she asked, “Are you two going to be much longer?”
Alex rolled his eyes. “I told you we weren’t going to be long. You’ve ruined it now,” he complained, gesturing to the shivering constable.
“Good. I don’t understand why you thought this was a good idea anyway. He looks terrified.”
“Shh! Keep your voice down and get in here.” The last thing he needed was any unwanted attention from the other police officers. Hayley stepped inside and shut the door. Alex looked back to the
shocked man standing in the corner of the room. “Now, where is this body being kept?”
Sloan hesitated, his bottom lip trembling. “Westport Mortuary.” The constable drew a deep breath and turned, taking in his surroundings. All around him stood trees, where only a moment before there had been four walls. He shook his head, a child-like smile spreading across his face.
“Are you all right?” Christopher asked, coming to his side.
He blinked at the blond-haired man with the warm smile. “Yeah…” he muttered, his gaze drifting off once more.
Christopher smiled. “This way my friend.” With some gentle coaxing the old policeman followed him. Alex did not wait. He headed on, clutching Hayley’s hand tightly in his.
It did not take them long to get inside thanks to a flash of Constable Sloan’s ID and some quick words about official police business. A bitter cold reached them as soon as they opened the door to the mortuary itself. Hayley hugged herself as she went in while the old policeman blew into his thick hands and rubbed them together. Sloan glanced at the angels’ backs as they led the way. Neither seemed fazed by the sudden drop in temperature. “I take it they don’t feel the cold, then?” he muttered to Hayley.
“They’re a lot tougher than we are.”
Sloan was about to ask her something else but Alex called him before he could. “Which one is she in?” he asked as the constable came to his side.
He looked up and down the metal doors that lined each wall. “Thirty seven.” Spotting it, he led them over. Giving the door a weary look he took a step back and looked to Alex. “I’m sorry, but there’s no way I’m opening that thing. You wouldn’t either if you saw what I did.”
Alex smiled and nodded understandingly. “You can wait outside if you want, it might move again.” For a moment he thought the old policeman would go, such was the frightful expression on his face, but at the last his courage prevailed. Alex unbolted and opened the door. The angel slid the metal tray out and a mist of icy vapour rolled out with it. It cleared after a few moments to reveal a blue-skinned woman with random tuffs of brittle, black hair hanging down the back of her head. Most of it was missing, as was her flesh. One of her cheeks was gone completely, revealing the rotten yellow skull and jawbone within.