Chapter 21
Winding Down and Staring Up
Hayden hugged Riley to him, not restricting his affection and care, saying, "Come to Red Fish tonight or until this cools down. So, you said that a girl with red eyes attacked you? How many have you told this to?"
"Just my friends and some people walking down the street. Only my friends believed me and followed me here. I wasn't about to go back in there."
"What else happened?" he asked, still puzzled.
"I heard a voice telling me to get out of there. It came from near the lady as she was suspended in the air. I saw it with my own eyes, Dad. You've got to believe me!"
"What kind of voice, a girl's voice?"
"A couple of words she said were almost familiar. I must be going crazy!" replied Riley.
"Like Star or Day?" Hayden asked and watched Riley's eyes get big with the possibility.
He said, "No," but Hayden knew he was lying.
From across the campus, Star walked slowly towards them. She had washed and changed with just the tips of her hair still wet from her quick shower. "What's going on, guys?” she asked cheerfully.
"We don't know? The inspectors just got here. Look, they're putting up yellow banners. I guess we won't know unless we can get them to talk," said Riley excitedly and completely forgetting Hayden’s slight Star-Day accusation.
Hayden thought he'd test Star, anyway. "Riley said he recognized someone in All Saints with white star eyes and even her voice. Didn't you, Riley?" Hayden watched Star closely when he said it, but Riley shook his head "no" while looking strangely at his dad.
"I really didn't see anyone except that red-eyed monster, Dad. You really got that all wrong," he replied.
Star realized that George must have squealed on her, and Hayden was just fishing. She just smiled and quietly said, "That's nice," then walked back to her cottage as if nothing had happened.
Hayden turned to Riley, "You know, why don't you bring your class over for a pizza party."
"What do you mean? Have class at Red Fish?" he asked surprised.
"Well, your idea is better. I was talking about pizza, and you mentioned having class. Why don't you talk with Star about it? I'd feel safer for you all to be at Red Fish than on this campus. It would take an army to get into our place, right? Let's say an evening class tomorrow?"
"Okay, you got a deal. Wait till my friends hear about this! That's great, Dad!" Riley turned and ran off after Star while holding to his bandaged ribs.
Hayden wanted to watch Star; he had to figure her out. If what he knew was correct, she was an angel. He never figured a Nephilim.
Riley knocked on Star's door, "Star, Day, hey girls! You're not going to believe this!"
Star appeared as she looked up and down the walkway, then let him in. Day ran from the back bedroom and jumped into Riley's arms. "Oh, Riley, are you okay?" she cried.
"Yeah, yeah, Day, I'm fine! Hey, watch the ribs! I just got the stuffing scared out of me! Hey, Dad wants Star to teach her class at Red Fish and throw a pizza party while we're at it. This is a miracle! No one has seen Red Fish, but me, since Mom died!"
Day looked at Star and said, without thinking, "I thought you said it was over?"
"Over, what are you talking about? Star and my dad? You've got to be kidding," replied Riley sarcastically.
"Day's talking about me quitting his class. Like she said yesterday, it's my choice. Yes, that's fine. In fact, the computer lab on campus is closed down for three days. Doesn't your dad have several computers we can use? I need to keep my tests up to date."
"Sure, he has four of them," he replied proudly.
"What about the one in his study?" she asked.
"How do you know he has one in his study?" Riley asked suspiciously.
"Why wouldn't he? He writes, doesn't he?" she asked flatly. Day thought her sister could make a fortune playing poker. There wasn't an ounce of inflection in her voice; she was under perfect control.
"Okay, okay. Hey, can I stay a little while before heading back to Red Fish? My ribs are killing me. A medic wrapped them for me just a minute ago. Gosh, it hurts, but I don't care how it hurts. I want to be with you, Day. When are you going back to Nashville? Tonight or when?"
"Tomorrow. I've got to check on how many personal days I'm allowed. You can stay till ten as long as you pay for pizza delivery.
"You got a deal. Don't you have some teaching plans to do or something, Star?"
"Oh, great! Now, I'm being run out of my own house. Okay, guys. I'm going down to the basements for awhile."
"Hey, can you show them to me first?" he asked.
"No!!" they almost shouted together, thinking of the bloody mess of clothing they left in the bathrooms.
††††††
Abigail-Jezzz Snapshot
"Abigail, Young Herod should be finished with the British connection and hopefully on his way back with the list," replied Jezzz excitedly.
"I know. Do you think he'll call first?" she asked while being anxious to know that he was okay.
"His flight brings him in early this morning. I expect him to be knocking on our door about two this morning. I gave him the address, and it shouldn't take him long to get here from the airport."
The phone rang, and they both jumped, but Abigail answered, "Yes, this is Abigail. Is that you, Young Herod? Are you okay? Jezzz, yes, she's here. Jezzz, he's okay," she answered excitedly while passing the phone to her.
"Young Herod, oh, Young Herod! Are you okay?" she asked again, anyway.
"For the time being. They may have figured it out by now. I killed the British contact. There weren't ten. There were only three. It was a ruse to throw off Joe. They tried to kill me. I tricked them with our morphing and another new trick I learned. I'll be back in Washington in five hours. I guess you better be packing for Canada."
"Thank you, Young Herod. No wonder my sister loved you so much," she said warmly while thinking about Lawrence, then Young Herod, then Lawrence again. She thought she hadn't heard from Lawrence in a week. After she hung up, she called Canada.
"Lawrence, oh love, I miss you. Do you miss me? I'm heading your way soon. Isn't it great!" she asked, then heard a lot of quiet on his end.
"Lawrence, is there something wrong?" she continued.
"No, no. It's hard, though. Canada is so blasted cold. I hate it. I'm sure your being here will help. Someone named Joe and his little girl came by. Yes, he was very nice. You know I couldn't afford to pay for an apartment by myself without a job yet. Joe gave us some money. He's very kind. He said you and Young Herod saved his life. He's a very fine person. Are you okay?" Lawrence asked, then heard silence from her end, now.
"Who's us?" she asked as she sensed something she didn't want to know.
"Oh, that, don't worry about that," he said.
"I am worried about that, or her, isn't it?" she asked as she trembled with anger and jealousy.
"She's a waitress that just moved from New York. She needed help so we helped each other. It's more economical that way, don't you think?" he replied but thinking he wasn't doing a good job of convincing her.
"Yes, it's economical, but it's also blasted convenient for you!" and she hung up.
"Trouble?" asked Abigail as she watched Jezzz well up for a large sob.
"That jerk! That flaming jerk! I know how good-looking he is. I also know exactly what he's like. He couldn't live in a platonic relationship with a squirrel for more than 15 minutes. I think I just got replaced. That jerk!" she screamed and ran to Abigail while crying into her shoulder, then ran up to her room to share a pillow with the pups. They bayed at her crying, which made Abigail think she was at a wake.
††††††
British Escape
Young Herod carefully watched everyone around him as he boarded his plane. As the plane was taxing away from the terminal, he saw a crowd of inspectors and recognized the lieutenant from the General's place. With all the arm waving, it
was obvious they were trying to get the plane stopped.
He made his prayer, "Lord, help me. Stop them, please."
Suddenly, a very big and seemingly important flight officer came from a side door and confronted the excited crowd. It was way too obvious to Young Herod who it was. His high-topped shoulders and size dwarfed even the Nephilim guards, and they were terribly intimidated by him. The last view Young Herod got was Joseph picking up the lieutenant by his shoulders and tossing him into the waiting area, which happened after the lieutenant tried to poke at Joseph's chest with his finger to emphasize a point, but not before Joseph broke it backwards in two.
What Young Herod didn't see was the immediate back-off response of the others from Joseph's aggression. They pulled away enough to regroup, but before they could make another united plea for the plane to stop, it was already taking off. They seemed deflated and defeated, then they turned their attention in helping their lieutenant to the nearest exit. They suspected his leg was broken too. Joseph just stood with his hands folded over his chest as he watched them leave.
"Who in the heck are you?" asked a flight attendant.
"Me? I'm an angel," he said as he changed to his true angel form and pulling out his massive sword from his back sheath. He was truly tickled by the responses and never could resist the dramatics.
"Does anyone have a problem with that?" he asked defiantly as he watched them fall over backwards and run towards the exits.
Seconds later, Joseph sat in the empty seat next to Young Herod. Young Herod rubbed his eyes and said, "Man, you really know how to make an entrance! Thanks for stopping that. I was scared to death."
"No problem. Don't you hate these small seats? I feel like I'm on a kiddy ride at an amusement park," he said while trying to stretch out unsuccessfully, then giving up.
"Did you know about the Old Badger?" Young Herod asked.
"You mean that it was really your last stop?" he answered him. "Actually, no, but we suspected as much. You did very well. The speed trick saved your life. I was there. I wasn’t going to let anything happen to you. I was so impressed by you that I just decided to watch for a change. You'd make one heck of an angel. I mean a full-blooded one."
"Thanks, I'm not too fast on my feet, forgive the pun, but it was life or death, and something in my brain kicked in. Why is God doing all this for me when I'm not even a believer, yet?"
"He cares. It's as simple as that," said Joseph before he disappeared.
"I beg your pardon? Who cares?" asked the flight attendant as she looked weirdly at Young Herod.
"I'm sorry. Just talking to myself. If you don't mind, I don't want to be disturbed," he replied as he rolled away from her and pulled a sleeping blanket around him, then let the seat drop back fully extended.
††††††
Welcome Home
"Jezzz, it's Young Herod! Open up!" Young Herod announced at Abigail's door around two that morning.
Jezzz flung the door open and literally engulfed him in her embrace and joyous tears. "Oh, I can't believe it! Oh, Lord, you answered my prayers! Oh, Lord, my Young Herod is back!"
Young Herod saw Abigail coming behind her as she smiled wearing a pair of jeans with a sweatshirt rather than a bathrobe—a habit she started years ago—no bathrobes for her. He moved through the front door hall with Jezzz still clinging to his neck, not wanting to let go, and with his partially free hand, shook Abigail's.
"I'm Young Herod, Abigail. It's so nice to meet you. Thank you for taking care of my...of Jezzz. I hope she wasn't too much trouble. Jezzz, calm down. I was only gone for three days," he said as he peeled her arms from around him and pushed her away gently. She looked at him and kissed him soundly on the lips, then turned and ran back to her room.
"What's that all about?" asked Young Herod, mystified.
"I think I know, but we'll talk about it later. Here, let me take you to your room. Watch the pups. They like shoelaces, and they're vicious. You'll end up at the bottom of the stairs if they start on you. Jezzz's room is here to the right, mine to the left. You can take the middle one. It has a private bath, and I've set out some towels and needful things. Are you hungry?"
"Thanks, no, I just want to sleep in a real bed without thinking about getting discovered or killed. It will be a nice change," he said, then shook her hand thankfully before he went in his room.
††††††