Angel's Demon

11. Eighteen Years Earlier -3

“Most of my life was spent in Eden,” Gina confided. “I’m unsure if my parents remained there or returned to the cottage. This life, here, is not what my mother wanted for me.”

“You make it sound like you come from a different world, Gina.”

“If Eden can be a different world within the same world, then yes, I come from a different world.” Gina thought about how she could explain it better. “Have you never been to a place so different to what you were used to that you thought you could be on a different planet?” Natalie nodded. “It’s like that.”

“Where have you travelled since coming to our world?”

“I’ve been all around the world, to many countries, and strange, wonderful places. Truly there is a lot of beauty in the world, but there is a lot of ugliness as well.”

“If what’s being said by thousands of people on the Internet is true, you’ve visited hundreds of different locations in almost one hundred and fifty countries. That’s a staggering number of countries and places to visit in a few months. Surely it can’t be true. After all, you don’t even have a passport, as far as we can tell. How do you travel without a passport?”

“Why do I need a passport? I am simply a young woman, travelling on her own. I carry no weapons or drugs, only messages of hope. I am not a terrorist or someone to be feared. I try to bring hope, love and peace wherever I go. I speak many different languages and know many different customs. There are still many countries and many places I have to visit,” Gina said. She continued, whispering so low that no one heard, “but I fear I will not be able to reach those places. The peoples there will have to be guided by others.”

“Speaking of customs,” Natalie said, “how do you get through airport security if you have no passport?”

Gina smiled. “I never said I travelled by plane, Natalie, you assumed that.”

“Then how do you travel, by ship and train?”

Gina shrugged her shoulders. “I travel however I need to. I always get by.”

Natalie let the topic slide. Years of experience told her when she wasn’t going to get anywhere with a certain line of questioning. She could always return to the subject later if there was time, at the end of the show.

“Gina, have you ever used, or experimented with, illegal substances?”

“If by illegal substances you mean drugs, Natalie, no, I haven’t. I’ve never even so much as had a drink, of alcohol that is.” Gina shook her head. “I don’t understand why anyone would choose to live in a warped world of unreality when the real world is far more amazing than anything a hallucination can conjure up. There is so much to see and do here. I can’t begin to explain everything I’ve seen.”

“Among your messages are a few that seem out of place. For example, Kiss me you fool! Ah, a missed opportunity to live a little, and Birthday cake is delicious. Everyone should eat it. What do those messages mean?”

“We can still enjoy life and live it to the fullest without hurting anyone,” Gina replied.

“And was there a kiss you missed out on?”

Gina blushed and laughed loudly. The sound technicians worked furiously to contain the noise.

“I was once told you should never kiss and tell. So by not telling does that mean I was kissed, or that I wasn’t kissed?”

Natalie smiled and shook her head. “Folks, I guess that’s one riddle we’ll have to figure out for ourselves. What about the message, If I were to die would the world mourn my passing?”

“I think everyone likes to believe that someone will mourn their passing. Why should I be any different? I mourn for every person I have not been able to save during my travels.”

“How many people have you saved, Gina?”

“From dying or from themselves?”

“Both.”

“In the real world, not online, I think it may be close to a few thousand. Not a large number by any means. I am only one person after all. But if every able-bodied person could do the same, everyone would be saved and I could go home, jobless, but happy.”

“Can you tell us about some of the people you’ve saved, Gina?”

“All their stories are important. There was a teenager who thought life wasn’t worth living anymore, a mother who self-harmed, an elderly couple who couldn’t afford to pay for their medication and food, a boy who’d killed his family, a woman who was lost … and so many more. We could spend a day discussing them all.”

Natalie sat on the edge of her chair. “How did you save them?”

Lilly wanted to know as well.

“How does anyone save another? Kind words, an ear to hear their troubles, a touch, a smile, or financial aid. Anyone in the same position could do this.”

“Now, Gina, if you are the next messiah as many people believe, how can we ordinary mortals possibly do what you do?”

“I’ve never said I’m the next messiah, and I’m not here to sell you God. It is up to each and every one of you to look into your hearts and minds and decide if He is real or not. What I am here to tell you about, not sell to you, is peace and goodwill, love and tolerance, and caring about others and your environment. These are things we can all do every day, for so long as we live. There is nothing miraculous about it. Together we can change the world and make it a better place for our children, and our children’s children. I don’t pass judgement on anyone, and I’m not saying people have to stop drinking or having a good time, as long as they aren’t hurting anyone or anything. We are each of us responsible for our own choices and actions. Make them count. Life is too fragile and precious for us to let it go to waste.”

The applause from the audience was deafening. Lilly knew first-hand just how delicate the balance between life and death was. She never wanted to go through that experience again.

Natalie raised her hands to try and get everyone to quieten down.

“Gina, I think that’s a message everyone can understand.”

“Does anyone here believe in the holy trinity — the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost — the latter of whom I’ve heard referred to on occasion as the Holy Goat?” Gina asked the audience.

There was laughter about the holy goat. Lilly turned around and saw that only a few people, less than ten, had raised their hands.

“That’s okay if you don’t believe. Religion is not for everyone, God is not for everyone, and He can accept that. I have my own trinity, one I think most people can relate to — the Mother, the Father and the Beloved Child.”

Lilly, along with everyone else, was hanging off every word Gina was saying. They lapped up her trinity. Everybody had a mother or father, or was a mother or father, and even those that weren’t had once been a child.

Natalie waited until the clapping and whistling died down. She had what she thought was an important question she wanted to ask Gina.

“Do you believe in God, Gina?”

“It doesn’t matter if I do or don’t, it’s what each and every one of you,” she pointed to the audience, “believes that counts.”

“But do you believe, Gina?”

“Yes, I’m a believer,” Gina replied.

Gina knew the interview would be winding up soon. So much time had been spent talking about her that she felt she hadn’t dedicated enough time to what this was all about. Her time grew short indeed and there was never enough time to say everything you wanted to say.

“Natalie, my time here grows short.”

Natalie nodded. “We’ve got about ten more minutes to go.”

“Your time has not yet come,” Gina whispered to Natalie.

Natalie blinked at her, unsure of what that comment meant. She’d planned on returning to retirement. Did Gina think this interview signalled a return to prime time television for her? The Chat with Nat once again rating high on the television charts?

“Gina, I’d like to give the members of the audience a chance to ask you some questions.”

Lilly raised her hand as high as she could. She glanced around and saw that nearly everyone in the audience had raised their hands. Someone in the back row was standing up waving a red scarf and this caught Natalie’s attention.

“We have a question from the back row,” Natalie said.

Drat, Lilly thought. She turned around to see exactly who was going to ask Gina the first question, and saw a member of the crew run up the stairs with a microphone. He handed it to one of the rough-looking people she’d noticed earlier.

“I’d like to know who appointed you to save the world and why you think a man couldn’t do just as good a job, if not better,” he said.

Natalie frowned. The questions had been vetted by her staff prior to the show and this was not one of the questions that had been approved.

“No one appointed me,” Gina said coolly, “but no one else seemed to be doing anything. I suggest you look up the word proactive in the dictionary. I have no reason to doubt a man could do a better job than me if one was willing to step up to the plate. Are you offering?”

The audience turned to look at the man in the back row, who was scowling now.

“I have a wife and four kids to support. I’m not some layabout who relies on the kindness and generosity of others to get by,” he sneered.

“Perhaps if you were you would understand my message,” Gina retaliated.

Natalie made a small gesture the audience did not pick up, but her crew did. The mic was cut and the crew member retrieved it from the unruly man after a minor scuffle. Why was there always one troublemaker in the crowd?

Lilly raised her hand and waved it madly from left to right, trying to attract Natalie’s attention.

“Yes, the lady in the front row at the far right,” Natalie said.

The crew member ran down the stairs and handed Lilly the mic.

“Hi, Natalie, just want to tell you how much I love you and how much I’ve missed your show,” Lilly began. The audience applauded in agreement. “Gina, I want to tell you of the difference you made to me personally. You see, my son was in hospital a few months ago when a lady delivered balloons to the children in the ward. Those children are alive and well today, and I think it’s because of you. It was you who visited my son, wasn’t it?”

“I’m glad Andy is well,” Gina said, smiling.

“It was you,” Lilly whispered in awe. “How else would you have known his name?”

There was some sort of commotion in the back row, centring around the man who’d asked Gina a question. Natalie tried to ignore it.

“I have one final thing to say,” Gina told Natalie.

Gina looked at six of the people sitting in the back row. She smiled and made eye contact with each one. Most of them looked away shamefaced. She then looked directly at the camera closest to her, the one with the red light that was on.

“I forgive you.”

Gina stood up and walked over to Natalie. As she stood, so did the six people from the back row. She leaned down to kiss Natalie on the cheek.

“Do not forget me,” she whispered in Natalie’s ear, and with one mighty shove sent her chair sliding across the floor into the side wings, out of harm’s way.

Lilly was confused about what was going on. She could hear a lot of noise in the back row, yet she was more interested in what was happening on-stage.

Gina turned around and held out her arms as if to address or embrace the audience. The sound of guns being fired echoed throughout the studio. Gina’s body jerked as she was riddled with bullets.

It was mayhem. People were screaming, and pushing and shoving to get to the exits. Lilly dived to the floor and rolled under the seats, covering her ears with her hands and squeezing her eyes closed. Gina was dead. She was sure of it.

Lilly stayed on the floor until she felt something touch her shoulder. She jumped, hit her head on the seat and almost peed herself.

“Ma’am,” a voice said. “Ma’am, it’s okay, you can get up now.”

Lilly turned around and looked into the eyes of a police officer. Help was finally here.

The police officer helped Lilly to her feet. She looked at the stage, but Gina’s body had already been removed. How long had she been hiding under the seats?