He drives fast. I tilt my head to check the speedometer and notice it’s up well in excess of a hundred.
‘I kind of thought, you being an angel and everything, you might follow road rules more rigorously. What gives? Are you a rebel angel or something?’
He laughs. ‘My friends and even my enemies have called me many things, but never a rebel.’ Then he adds, ‘I can’t use my wings without attracting attention here on Earth, and driving fast helps ease the ache of inactivity.’
‘Where did you get the money to buy something that moves this fast? Or am I out of line?’
‘You can ask me anything, Jordan. The Brothers of the Holy Cross Monastery manage financial trusts funded from the sale of their goods and produce, and from contributions, usually in the form of bequests.’
I must be looking blank, because he says, ‘You know, humans who pass away leaving something for the Brothers in their will.’
I nod.
‘Well, these funds cover the costs incurred in the line of an angel’s work here. But I paid for my car and my house from my own accounts, which are all legitimate, Jordan, I assure you.’
‘I wasn’t accusing you of anything.’
‘I know.’
‘So you’re rich, huh? I have a wealthy cousin. Cool.’ I look up as we approach the first roundabout. I expect to feel the usual gear changes slowing us down, but he doesn’t change anything. ‘Mate, you’re not going to be able to take the curve at this … Whooooah!’ I grip the edges of my seat while he power-slides through the turn. As he accelerates out, thunder rumbles under my feet. ‘Dude, for someone who didn’t grow up surrounded by technology you’re not doing too badly.’
But it’s still amazing we haven’t hit anything!
He smiles to himself, obviously hearing my last thought. I try to stop thinking so loudly and look out of the window instead.
It’s not long before we’re heading up Mountain Way. I look at the landscape hurtling past without really seeing it. ‘Man, so your house really is inside the monastery grounds. I thought you were pulling my leg.’
‘I don’t pull legs, Jordan.’
‘Ha ha. So do I have to share a room with one?’
‘With a Brother?’
I nod.
‘Your new home may be inside the monastery grounds but it’s nowhere near the Brothers’ quarters.’
‘Ohhh! That’s a relief. So why do you live there?’
‘The monastery grounds are much larger than you’re imagining, with thousands of hectares of forest that stretch across the entire northern end of the ridge. My house is on the east side, and a river runs between it and the buildings the Brothers inhabit. I had the house constructed inside their domain for two important reasons. One is to protect Ebrielle. She will be safe to wander the grounds as she pleases while she’s training.’
‘And the other?’
‘The house is near the Crossing.’
‘Really? OK.’
‘Feel better now?’
I laugh to cover my intense relief. ‘More than you could know.’
He frowns and I hurry to distract him from reading my memories. ‘Still, do we have to go now? I’ve been cooped up in a hospital bed for a whole week. I wouldn’t mind catching up with some friends.’
‘We don’t have time for distractions, Jordan,’ he answers cautiously. He’s on to me; I know it. ‘We need to make the most of your school break. Today you will settle into your new home. Tomorrow you will begin training in unarmed combat and I will show you the entrance to the Crossing.’
‘OK.’
While looking straight ahead, he continues poking around in my head.
‘Will you stop that?’
‘You’ve been to the monastery before.’
Aw, man. I groan loudly. What’s the point? Until I learn how to stop him he’s going to know whatever I’m thinking! ‘OK, OK. One night last month I camped outside the monastery’s north boundary wall, but a couple of hours past midnight I swore I’d never return. That part of the forest is way creepy. And that’s why I didn’t want to go to your place. But since your house is on the east side, it should be fine, right?’
‘The monastery, the grounds and the house are all protected. You have nothing to fear. Now, would you mind elaborating on “creepy”?’
I shrug and glance out the window.
‘Jordan?’
‘Strange things happen in that northern end of the forest. Everyone knows not to go there after dark. We shouldn’t have ignored the rumours, that’s all.’
‘We?’
‘My mate Danny. We were looking for a place to camp after a long day hiking and it seemed like a good idea at the time.’
‘Even though you had heard rumours about the place?’
‘Yeah, well, we thought it was just an urban legend. The escarpment there is the highest point on the ridge and has the best views over the valley. People would make the trek up there just to check out the scenery and maybe catch a sunset. Occasionally they stayed till after dark, and that’s when they saw and heard things.’
‘Such as?’
‘Weird noises, glowing lights, rancid smells, and screaming that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end.’
‘When you and Danny camped up there, did you experience any of these noises, lights, smells and screaming?’
‘Not really.’
‘I take that to mean yes?’
‘We made camp about a hundred metres from the wall, chilled out with a few beers and were just beginning to nod off, when we noticed a mist creeping in around us. It was weird, man. The smell was awful. Then we heard something cry out, a bone-chilling caw. We glanced at each other and ran to the monastery. That was weird too.’ I drum my fingers on my knee.
‘How so?’
‘A Brother had a door open waiting for us, like he knew we were coming. We spent the night in a visitors’ room and went back to collect our gear in the morning.’
Taking his eyes off the road briefly, he flicks me a troubled glance.
‘Creepy, right?’
He nods. ‘Did you report the incident?’
‘Couldn’t.’
‘Why not?’
‘We’d been drinking, so who was going to believe us?’
‘The Brothers.’
‘They told us not to concern ourselves, they would look into it. And Danny and I promised each other we wouldn’t talk about it again.’
After a long moment Nathaneal says, ‘Thank you for telling me. Now I have something to tell you.’
‘Yeah?’
‘There is a reason those rumours were started.’
I almost gasp out loud. What can this angel dude have to do with it? And then it clicks. ‘It’s the Crossing. You want to keep people away from the area so they don’t stumble across it.’
‘Or stumble across something they shouldn’t.’
‘That would suck.’
‘Yes, it would, but what you don’t know is that there are two of these Crossings that make travelling between the dimensions possible. You can think of them as portals, though what they really are is far from a portal. They are dangerous places, almost a dimension of their own, but for now it’s enough for you to know that the entrance to one is here on Mount Bungarra, while the other is in Alaska. This one –’ he points to the northern end of the ridge through my window, where we can just start to see glimpses of the escarpment – ‘is monitored by the Brothers of the Holy Cross. It’s their job. It’s why they built their monastery here.’
He turns his head a moment to look directly at me, ensuring I’m following every word. ‘Dark angels use the Crossing in Alaska. That one is protected by an order of sons and daughters of dark angels that live permanently up there. But sometimes a dark angel will use this Crossing. It’s one of the activities the Brothers watch for so they can warn us of impending trouble. For any number of reasons, they need to be prepared. And when it happens, whether it’s one dark angel or a d
ozen coming through, the forest becomes active with Prince Luca’s spies.’
‘Spies?’
‘Demons he created specifically for living and working in the Earth dimension. They’re nocturnal creatures, and their screams will raise the hairs on the back of your neck, if you have any,’ he adds mysteriously.
‘Demons live on the ridge? Oh, man!’
‘They’re called Aracals. They mostly stay in the trees where you can hardly see them. Even when they come out at night, the most you should see is a glimpse of a small black animal. They’re not something humans normally need worry about.’
‘Great. Thanks for straightening that up for me.’
His smile is a mere tightening of his lips. ‘The Brothers monitor their movements. Recently they found several small colonies lower down the mountain, and in the national parkland that surrounds the Oakes Valley. Stranger still, some are venturing out during daylight.’
‘No shit! So what do they feed on, these … Aracals?’
He gives me a quick look up and down with eyes that don’t look serious for once. ‘Since you’re still here, apparently not you.’
Is he joking? Of course he’s joking! He laughs a little and I grizzle at his unfunny joke, ‘Ha ha! Your sense of humour needs work.’
‘Prince Luca isn’t going to sit back and watch me swoop in and take Ebrielle home once he discovers I’m here. It’s why we’ll have to work fast once we find her. You’ll have your work cut out.’
‘What “work” exactly are you referring to? I thought you just needed my Guardian Angel radar working.’
‘That part you will do instinctively.’
‘And the other part?’
‘It’s going to be your job to convince Ebrielle to return to Avena with me.’
I stare at his profile. He doesn’t flinch. He’s like a statue carved from confidence rather than alabaster or marble. ‘And how am I supposed to do that?’
‘Once you meet her and get to know her, the words will come.’
‘What if she doesn’t choose to go with you or the Dark Prince? What if she wants to stay here, where she grew up?’
He nods. He’s considered this possibility already, but he doesn’t answer until he manoeuvres around a bus of tourists pulled over to take snapshots. ‘She will never willingly choose Prince Luca.’
‘Does the Dark Prince know about the Free Will thing?’
‘All the dimensions abide by this law. The worst offenders are humans because they’re not held accountable for these crimes. But all angels are, especially the Dark Prince, since this and other laws were part of the agreement that brought peace more than a thousand years ago.’
‘OK. That helps.’
He sighs, a very strained, tense sound, and I brace myself for more bad news. ‘Prince Luca is a master manipulator and we mustn’t forget that,’ he says. ‘He may not break this law, but neither will he allow it to stand in his way. He probably has a plan already in place to circumvent it.’
‘Man, I’m not in a coma and dreaming this stuff, am I?’
‘You’re not dreaming, Jordan.’
‘Any chance I could go back and choose again?’
He pulls over suddenly. ‘You need to see with your own eyes that what I’m saying is real, my friend,’ he says, and hits the switch that opens both doors.
I follow him to a eucalyptus tree on the side of the road, where he points to a small furry animal curled up asleep on a branch about midway up. I try to make out what it is but come up blank.
Nathaneal flicks out his fingers and shimmering dust flies out of his hand, waking the fur-ball. It knows the dust is bad and shakes furiously, its furry cat-like ears sitting up straight on top of its possum-like head. It spots Nathaneal and snakes out black claws and screeches.
‘Nice effect you have on the wildlife here.’
He sniggers. ‘Watch.’
I take a step closer. But quickly step back as the little fur-ball bursts out of itself. ‘Whoa!’
Right before my eyes its chubby little paws stretch, growing longer until its limbs are like a bird’s wings. Meanwhile, its cute rounded snout pushes outwards to form a sharp pointed beak. It ends up part covered in glossy black feathers, part still fur. It’s quite a look, as if it was in a hurry to get dressed and didn’t quite finish.
I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s almost a bird now, but with longer legs, a more slender body, larger eyes and big bright blue irises. In its near-completed transition it’s dead ugly.
It squawks, its eyes focused on Nathaneal. ‘It doesn’t like you much.’
The hideous almost-bird tilts its head to look straight at me, and shrieks.
‘Back up, buddy.’
Then, wham … Nathaneal takes the critter by the throat.
Dangling and squirming in the air, it tries to bite his arm. Drool forms frothy bubbles around the edges of its beak. Where its saliva drops, the grass shrivels and turns black. ‘She likes firm and stringy meat like the muscles of an arm or leg. It’s an easy, quick meal, with only a few layers of skin to find it.’
‘She?’
‘They’re all female. But don’t be fooled, Jordan, there isn’t a feminine bone in her body. Her favourite muscle is the heart. She’s been known to gnaw through the bones of the sternum to get to it.’
He releases her, and she curls into her original fur-ball shape. Using her possum-like claws, she leaps from one branch to another and scurries into the scrub.
‘Man!’ I’m practically speechless. ‘These things … they’ve never actually attacked a human, have they?’
‘Unfortunately, there are some known cases of human attacks. But the Aracals are observers, not fighters.’
‘The Dark Prince’s spies. Hey, you woke her up, and she’s a spy! It won’t be long before he knows you’re here!’
Nathaneal smiles, looking too relaxed, before he says, ‘This one won’t be reporting anything, because I just removed all traces of us from her memory.’
‘So, just how many Aracals are living here without us knowing?’
‘Not as many as you’re thinking, but their numbers are growing.’
Back in the car and on our way again, I hardly notice the changing scenery. Something is happening to me. I’m starting to accept there really is more to this world than I can see.
We arrive at the ancient-looking monastery. Its walls shoot up out of the cliff as if the ageing stones are part of the ridge itself, sentinels of a time in history that is long past.
Instead of driving into the parking area for visitors, Thane takes a left turn off Ridge Road and follows a dirt track around the monastery’s western boundary and up into the hills where the tall pine trees grow.
A few minutes later we come to a three-metre high solid-block wall that runs alongside the road. Topped with steel mesh and barbed wire, this fence would be a challenge for a hardened criminal to cross over, but an Aracal? What about their powers?
‘I’m not without powers of my own,’ Thane says. ‘My house and property are protected by more than bricks, mortar and wire.’
We are now close to the northern tip of the ridge, where a thousand-metre-deep gorge separates it from the next mountain range, and all the way along we follow the white block wall. ‘What is this? The Great Wall of China?’
‘You’ll see it’s a substantial property, and completely enclosed,’ he says. He starts gearing down, looking for a gate. It’s not easy to spot, which is the way Thane obviously wants it.
‘How would I find this place in the dark? Is there a light or something?’
‘A light would be too telling,’ he says. ‘It will just take practice. Watch for the locations of two natural markers.’ He indicates a tree on our left about a hundred metres ahead, stripped bare of bark by past lightning strikes, and a boulder on the same side in the shape of a piano. He stops in front of it. ‘If you pass the piano rock, you’ve passed the driveway. Remember that, and you’ll be just fine.’
He throws the Lambo into reverse and turns into a driveway cleverly concealed by silvery hanging vines that completely obscure a set of black iron gates. The gates open at the press of a shiny switch on the dash. When they close silently behind us, Thane draws in a deep breath and sighs contentedly.
‘Our house is just through there.’ He points to a road that cuts a path through the forest.
We follow it for what seems like ages, eventually arriving at a clearing the size of a football field with an amazing glass house in the centre, surrounded by manicured gardens and paved footpaths.
It blows me away. Built into the sloping ground there are levels going up and down all over the place and floor-to-ceiling walls of glass – tempered and non-transparent, he tells me. Holding it all together is toughened steel. The roof is in sections, with some made from the same tempered glass as the walls. They stretch across from one section to another, with each individual panel raised up higher on the outside edge, like wings. These panels give the house the look that it could take off at any moment.
After he parks in the garage, we walk out into the front yard and cross a bridge over a pond with giant floating lilies and huge silver, gold and black fish. A few steps lead up to a timber deck and the front entrance.
He opens the front door to a wide open space. Light pours through the angular glass ceiling like sun bursting through a rain cloud. One step inside and I feel as if I’m walking on sunshine. Thane tells me his idea was to build a house where Ebrielle could spend her time training in complete safety and not feel like a prisoner.
The airy feeling carries through to an open-style lounge and dining area. Everything here is restful, from the living walls of lush plants, to the trickling waterfall and the fire blazing behind the glass and sandstone block wall that divides the lounge from the dining room.
Down a flight of stairs there’s a games room with a big TV, a full-size pool table and another living wall of purple flowering vines winding up a trellis to the ceiling. I can see the gymnasium down there, just like Lillie said.
This house is something else and I imagine showing Danny and Sophie and … and that girl from the club – if I ever get the guts to approach her at school. I have these thoughts as we pass through a kitchen that’s mostly white, with marble worktops and stainless-steel appliances.