CHAPTER 22
On The Dark Side
Ugh! I was still staring at the ceiling as my bedroom gradually lightened. With the sunlight came the resignation that I would never again get a good night's sleep. Michael's narrative had obviously seeped into my subconscious, thereby affecting my dreams. Rolling on to my side to check the time on the clock, I noticed the t-shirt I had worn to bed, the worn gray t-shirt with the UGA bulldog on it that Michael had given me last night. I smiled, remembering that Angie had told me how much Michael loved that t-shirt since the day his oldest brother, Gabe, had given it to him after his visit to the University of Georgia. Under different circumstances, I could most definitely see myself with Michael. Truth be told, he was actually much more my type than Ty. Prior to this, I had never been attracted to those perfect GQ guys, ever. But Ty had aggressively pursued me and he was, admittedly, hard to resist. Yes, Ty is my boyfriend, I reminded myself, and I couldn't allow myself to become captivated by Michael Powers.
As I laid in the bed, thankful that I didn't have to be to work until one o'clock, I went over all the things I loved about Ty in my head and chose to focus solely on the fact that Michael said it was possible for him to give up the part of him that was demonic. Would he want to do that for me? That would be a requirement, of course, if he was the demon that Michael portrayed him to be.
I decided that I believed in the existence of angels and demons, but it was difficult to determine the exact truth. Maybe, just like politicians, Ty and Michael were each painting themselves in the best light. Maybe Ty was right in saying that Michael was trying to come between us. Did he have a secret agenda? Now that I had spoken with Michael about this, I wanted to hear Ty's side. I regretted telling him that I didn't want to see him until Monday morning. I was anxious to tell him what I'd learned from Michael. But it was probably best for him to take some time to get over me working for the Powers. He just had to, because I was sure I could successfully navigate between their diametrically opposed worlds.
I'm hungry, I thought, as I looked over at the clock. Eight-thirty. Hmmm. I wished that Ty was coming to pick me up to go to breakfast. I could call him, but I wouldn't. I was stubborn. I said Monday and I would stick to that no matter what. I'd just take myself to the Waffle House. Maybe one of the kids would want to go with me.
After throwing on a pair of shorts and the Braves t-shirt that Ty had bought me, I ventured downstairs to see who was around. Hollie was still in her pajamas, sitting cross-legged on the couch eating Froot Loops out of the box.
"Have you eaten many of those?" I asked.
She shook her head.
"Wanna go to the Waffle House with me?"
"I do, I do," she answered excitedly.
"Alright, I'll take you. But let's get you dressed first, okay?"
"Okay."
As we rummaged through her drawers, Hollie decided she wanted to wear her Braves t-shirt, too. A little embarrassing, but if it would make her happy, I'd deal with it.
We got to the Waffle House right about nine and sat in Donna's section at the counter.
"And who's this?" she asked in that super sweet tone that adults usually reserved for children and animals.
"Donna, this is my baby sister, Hollie. Hollie, this is Miss Donna."
"I'm not a baby," she said defiantly.
"I didn't mean that you're a baby. I should've said that you're my youngest sister. I'm sorry. Can you please say hello to Miss Donna?"
"Hello, Miss Donna," she complied.
"It's nice to meet you, Hollie. Do you know what you're going to have for breakfast?"
No sooner did she grab her order pad and pen from her apron pocket, than Ty came in. He spotted us right away and came over to where we were sitting, looking at us with approving eyes in our matching Braves t-shirts. I was glad now that I had worn mine, even though I had chosen it out of guilt, exchanging it for Michael's.
With his arm on the back of the empty stool next to me, he asked, "May I?"
"Sure."
Ty took the initiative to order "the usual" for the two of us and asked Hollie if she knew what she wanted.
She was so excited to be there with me and now even more excited since Ty showed up. She really liked him. All my siblings did.
"I do, Ty. I want scrambled eggs and I want bacon and I want toast with grape jelly and I want chocolate milk."
"Got that, Donna?" he asked with a wink.
"Got it," she replied and turned to call out our order to the cook.
"What are you doing here?" I whispered when Donna was out of earshot.
"I woke up this morning missing you, Essie Claire. I thought I'd feel better if I came to our usual weekend place. And then I saw your car... And now I do feel better." He smiled that sparkling smile that always made me forget where I was.
"I wanted to call you," I confessed. "But I thought you might still need time to think."
"All I did was think. I laid awake the whole night, staring at the ceiling, feeling far away from you and really alone. I give up, Essie. I don't like it, but if you want to work for the Powers, then I won't give you a hard time any more. I promise."
Wow, I thought. What a change from last night. But I simply said, "Thank you." I didn't want to discuss it further in front of Hollie at the Waffle House.
When we were finished, Ty asked if we could hang out before I had to go to work. I wanted to, but I was nervous. I knew he'd probably freak out about me going to Michael's the night before. But I supposed it would be better to get it over with so I told him I'd like that. He followed me back to my house so I could drop Hollie off and leave my car there.
As soon as he shifted into third gear, he took my hand and squeezed it. "I really missed you last night," he said contritely.
I felt so guilty, so I said nothing. I just looked at him briefly and sort of half smiled.
He drove to Black Creek and we walked the short distance to the field where I had forced him to open up to me. He had a blanket for us to sit on and he threw it out in front of himself, shaking it until it laid in a perfect square on the grass.
I sat down, cross-legged, in the middle of the soft, plaid blanket. Instead of sitting next to me, though, Ty walked around and sat behind me, his legs stretched out on either side of mine. He put his arms around my waist and squeezed gently, resting his chin on my right shoulder.
"It felt like I spent a week away from you last night," he whispered in my ear.
Even though it was hot out, I got chills when he did that. I sighed at the sweet sentiment and relaxed against his chest.
I had to tell him about last night before I felt even more serene, if that were possible. In a minute...
I loved him so much when he was like this. I couldn't accept that he was evil, although I did believe that Michael believed what he told me was true. It just didn't jibe with this guy holding me gently and whispering softly in my ear. He couldn't be evil.
I broke from his arms and spun around to face him in one quick motion. "I went to the Powers' house last night for dinner after you left," I blurted. There. I said it.
He just looked at me for a long moment, confused, hurt.
"Say something," I pleaded.
"I asked you if you had some place to be when you looked at your watch. You lied to me."
"Ty, I didn't lie to you. I swear. Michael had invited me to dinner after work because he said they had lots of people over every Saturday night. I told him that I already had plans with you. That's the truth. It's just that when you were being such a jerk, I was angry, and I needed something to take my mind off of our argument. I hadn't eaten, so I figured, why not? But that's not important. What is important is that I asked him why your families didn't associate and he told me..."
"I can only imagine what he told you!" he interrupted. "Essie, I should have been the one to tell you everything. I can't believe you discussed me with him!"
"I wanted you to tell me more. But you're the one who said that maybe Mike Powers would
tell me about it some time," I said belligerently. "And so I asked him."
All of a sudden, his long arms engulfed me and brought me close to him, and he held me tightly. "You're right. I should have told you everything that day. I'm sorry." And then he straightened his arms so that there was some space between us. He looked at me, intently. "I want to tell you everything. Now."
"Okay. Can I tell you what Michael told me first?"
"As you wish."
I giggled at his use of that phrase. We had watched "The Princess Bride" a couple of times over the summer and I had commented on how romantic I thought it was when Westley said that.
"He told me that he and his family are angels and that you and your family are demons and that you are dangerous and that you've deceived me into thinking that you're not."
"Is that all?" he scoffed.
"Oh, my gosh, no," I answered enthusiastically, ignoring the sarcasm. "He told me all about the war in Heaven and that all angels are immortal and that you're super perceptive and also that Eden is a very special place, but he wouldn't tell me why."
He was silent for another long moment.
"Do you think I'm dangerous and deceitful?"
I looked into his golden eyes, wanting to be certain that he believed me, and simply said, "No."
He took my face in his hands and kissed my lips very softly and slowly, once, twice, three times. His forehead was now pressed against mine and I could feel his breath as he inhaled and exhaled deeply. It seemed that time was standing still. The sweet smell of jasmine wafted on the air around us. Birds were singing in the distance. I felt as though we might spontaneously begin to float skyward.
He interrupted my reverie when he kissed me again, this time a little more passionately. He moved one hand from my cheek to the side of my head and cradled me in the crook of his arm as we drifted down toward the blanket. We landed on our sides, facing each other. I left my head resting on his arm and he began playing with my hair with his free hand. He picked up a few strands at a time and ran his fingers down their length, letting them fall down my back as he reached their ends.
"I want to give you more proof that what I've told you is true, something that I'll bet Mike didn't tell you. The sixth chapter of Genesis is where the Bible first mentions my kind. It tells the story of the sons of God, that's us, and how they found human women to be very beautiful and they married them. Their offspring - half angel, half human - were called nephilim. They were described as, and I quote, 'heroes of old, men of renown'. It wouldn't make sense for that to be in both the Torah and the Christian Bible if it were not true. I'd be surprised if a majority of the congregation at Powers Baptist Church had even read the Bible in its entirety. They just attend the service and believe everything the pastor tells them.
"Anyway, I like the abilities that I have, Essie. I also enjoy the privileged life that I was born into. I don't know another way to be. But I'm not dangerous. Especially not to you. I'm glad you believe that."
"I do," I said honestly. I thought carefully about what else I wanted to know. "Tell me about all your abilities."
"Well, I already told you about 'pushing'. I can also, kind of, well, I can make things happen," he confessed hesitantly.
"You know you have to explain that further."
"For instance, remember the first night at Black Creek when Colton tripped and fell?"
"Uh, huh."
He didn't elaborate.
It took me a second, then I understood. "Oh, my gosh. Are you telekinetic? Are you saying that you caused him to trip? I knew it! I even said that to Jane a while back."
He looked at me sheepishly. "Essie, he was trying to put the moves on you," he offered in his defense.
"Tyrus Cobb Gregory!" I scolded, as though I was his mother. "Do you do that often?"
"Define often."
"Un-believable," I enunciated and shook my head. "Give me some other examples of things you've done when I've been around."
"Not if you're going to get mad."
"Okay. Fine."
"Promise."
"I promise."
"That same night, I might have caused the snake to scare Savannah."
I laughed at that one. "Thanks for that. She was being ugly."
"I thought so, too. And you're welcome. Oh, and I also might have made the fire explode when you gave Colton a hug. I didn't mean to do that. It just happened."
"It just happened? You scared the crap out of everyone."
"Like I said, I didn't mean to do that. I guess I was jealous when you put your arms around him."
"He was just being sweet."
"I know," he shrugged.
"So, basically, all the times we go to a busy restaurant and you're able to get us a table right away or when you get stopped for speeding or when someone does something you don't like, you use your abilities."
"Basically."
"Hmmm. I don't know what to make of that. It seems kind of bratty because you can always get your way."
"It's hard not to do things when you can do things. And be honest. Wouldn't you, if you could?"
I thought about it for a second. "I guess it would be cool. But I'll just have to live vicariously through you."
"For now."
"What does that mean?"
"Do you love me?"
"You know I do."
"You've never said it."
"I'm sorry about that, it's just that..."
"You don't have to explain. You'll say it when you're ready. Anyway... if we were to, say, get married someday... you'd get abilities, too."
Overload. That was too much to digest. Marriage and abilities? Marriage? Abilities? I was suddenly imagining myself as Jean Grey. I couldn't believe he brought up the "m word". I'm a high school senior. I have my life planned out and that life does not include marriage in the near future. Or maybe ever. After all, I'd seen my mother go through three marriages. I wouldn't make her mistakes.
"Obviously, I've over shared. I'm going take a mulligan and resume our conversation where you said you'd live vicariously through me, if that's okay with you."
I remained silent for what seemed like an eternity. I knew Ty was stroking the side of my face, but I could barely feel it. I had closed my eyes because I couldn't meet his gaze. Not yet. I thought I loved Ty, especially now, at this very moment. He was being so loving and understanding and forthcoming. Yet, every time I had those loving thoughts of Ty, Michael's image would invade my bliss and those ominous feelings would creep back in. As if that weren't bad enough, now I could also hear his voice in my head telling me that Ty was evil and deceitful and dangerous.
"Or not. I didn't mean to freak you out, Esther Claire Jacobs."
At that, I opened my eyes.
"Ha!" he exclaimed triumphantly. "I knew that would get you." He smiled his perfectly irresistible smile.
"You don't play fair."
"Are you just figuring that out?"
I shook my head in feigned disgust and rolled onto my back, letting out an audible sigh.
He used that opportunity to get up on his knees and crawl behind my head. From my current perspective, he looked like an upside-down giant. He moved his lovely face toward mine until our lips met. The brief, upside-down kiss felt strange, but in a good way.
"Now that you know, I want you to see my abilities in action," he said, full of fresh excitement as he jumped up from his kneeling position.
"What did you have in mind?"
"Let's drive a hundred miles an hour to Savannah and then see what kind of trouble we can get into, or out of, while we're there."
"I have to be to work by one o'clock, remember?"
"I didn't remember," he sighed. But he caught himself and recovered, continuing in an upbeat tone, "Let's go after you're through with work then, okay?"
"I'm not sure how I feel about deliberately getting in trouble, but I do want to see you 'at work', so to speak."
"You'll have fun. And if there's anything you're not
comfortable with, just let me know and I won't do it. I promise."
"Okay. That's fair." And I smiled at his newfound constraint.
"Do you feel like eating before you have to go to work? Or would you rather just wait and have dinner in Savannah?"
"I think I'll wait. I'm still full from breakfast. If I get hungry, you know I keep a few emergency nutrition bars in my bag."
He shook his head and laughed.
"What? You never know what might happen. We could get stranded somewhere for days and the only thing to keep us alive would be my bars," I said defensively.
"You're already forgetting my abilities. If anything like that ever happened, and that's a big if, my family and I are all kind of... connected. We're able to communicate with each other no matter where we are. Therefore, we would never be stranded for long."
"So, you are telepathic!" I exclaimed. "I asked you that already and you said you couldn't read minds."
"Wait a second. I can't read minds and it's not telepathy. It's just sensing and communicating with our kind. All angels have that ability. Including Powers."
"Sorry. He did say that. Go on."
"Anyway, I also forgot to mention that I've gotten stronger over time. Just as infants learn how to walk and talk, our abilities develop in much the same way. We grow into them as we mature and are able to handle them. Right now, I have to be close to someone to push them. But once I turn eighteen, and I decide to remain an angel, the abilities I currently have will be unlimited. I'll also acquire a couple more - shape-shifting is a cool one that I'm really looking forward to, and I'll also be able to extend my pushing to a visual and audio level. In other words, I could make somebody think they're seeing or hearing something that's not actually there."
"I agree that shape-shifting is totally cool, but why would you want to make someone see or hear something that's not real? That sounds scary. For them."
"I don't know. I've never really thought about it. Maybe just to disturb them if they do something wrong. I'm not sure. Anyway, it's only temporary so it's no big deal," he said cavalierly.
"Um, that is a big deal, Ty. First of all, the person wouldn't know that the hallucination was temporary. Second, 'something wrong' could be a covering over many things. If someone cut you off on the highway, would you make them see a person in the road so that they would swerve and crash? If you received poor customer service somewhere, would you make that person hear scary voices or whatever so that they thought they were going crazy?"
"Of course not, Ess. You're blowing this way out of proportion. Besides, I always get my way, so that ability will probably be unnecessary," he objected with a wink. Then his demeanor became serious. "Please don't make me sorry that I told you. You can't imagine how good it feels to share this with a human. With you. Don't ruin this for me. Please."
"I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to ruin your moment. And I'm so happy that you finally decided to trust me with your secret. But it's a lot for me, too. It's going to take more than a couple of minutes to digest all this. I guess that seeing you use, and not abuse, your abilities will go a long way toward making me comfortable with it. I hope you'll be patient with me."
He took my chin in his hand and brought his lips to mine once again. He kept them in place for a few seconds, then backed off slightly; and, although my eyes were shut, I could still feel that his face was very close. I was transfixed. He kissed me again, this time his lips were parted slightly. Light as a feather, his tongue brushed over my lips like an artist lovingly and carefully painting his canvas. Slowly, slowly, ever so slowly, he kissed the corner of my mouth, then my cheek, then my ear.
I used every bit of willpower contained in my body to try to shake myself out of the trance that I had been so easily led into. "Ty," I mumbled. "Ty," I repeated. My words were saying stop, but my inactive posture allowed him to ignore me. He was so good at this. "Really. You need to stop."
"Do you really want me to stop?" he breathed flirtatiously.
"I do. Well, I don't, but I do," I responded quickly, my eyes still closed.
"As you wish," he complied graciously.
"What's up with you?" I asked skeptically, opening my eyes.
"What do you mean?"
"Why the sudden change of heart? Less than twenty-four hours ago you were adamant that I not work for the Powers. You were also angry when I stopped kissing you in the woods. Today you've been so... agreeable."
He was now sitting a foot away from me with his hands folded in his lap. "I want you, Essie Claire. And, like I said, if it has to be on your terms, then I'm going to be fine with that. I told you that I thought about it all night long. The thing is, you know I'm used to getting my way. No one's ever challenged me before, at least not more than once. You frustrate me, Ess, but that's okay. The thing with the Powers is my deal and I'll figure it out. I don't want to fight." He paused. "Now as far as the kissing goes..."
I'm sure I turned red as a Maine lobster at that turn in the conversation.
He noticed and continued, "I intend to persist in driving you crazy."
"You're pretty confident in that assessment."
"Yes, I am."