Angel's Demon

14. Children of Prophecy

14. Children of Prophecy

Aly messaged her friends and told them to login at ten that night for a chat. She was quite sure she was going crazy. She’d had the dream about being in hospital again. The others might be able to make sense of it. After all, they’d been on the same ward as her.

By ten-fifteen, only Paul and Matt had logged on, and they were getting testy, waiting to hear what was so important that Aly had to call a group meeting. Usually they only chatted in threes or fours, as larger gatherings tended to go off the rails.

Paul snapped. “Spill it. I have to get up for work in the morning.”

“Since when do musos get up before lunchtime?” Matt asked. Paul ignored Matt’s snipe. A second-rate magician shouldn’t cast nasturtiums. Paul laughed quietly to himself. Years ago, his little sister had mispronounced aspersions, and ever since aspersions had been nasturtiums.

Aly knew that if she waited any longer it would end in a bun fight. It didn’t look like any of the others were going to join the conversation. “What do you guys remember about hospital?”

Matt thought back to a time he’d rather not remember. “Treatment, tests, hospital food and finally getting to go home.”

“You don’t remember Jock?” Aly asked.

Matt’s eyes widened as threads of memories long forgotten came together to form a picture. He laughed. “Oh yeah, the little dog. He was the only good thing about that place.”

Aly pushed further. “What about Gina?”

“Who?” Matt asked.

“The lady with the balloons.”

Who cared about a dog that was probably dead and some little old lady who handed out balloons. Paul was fuming that Aly wanted to waste time reminiscing “So? What’s the big deal about … wait a minute. I think I remember something.”

“Go on,” Aly encouraged him.

Paul closed his eyes and concentrated. He could see a young woman, not an old lady as he’d thought. It was Gina, and she was holding the balloons. They were bobbing about, as though they were nodding in agreement with something she’d said. Every now and again they’d shake from side to side. Surely Gina had been manipulating the ribbons somehow. As Paul looked back at his far-distant memories, he saw that only Gina’s mouth was moving. There was other stuff as well — important stuff.

“She wanted us to help someone else, just as she had helped us,” Paul said.

“Yes,” Aly replied excitedly. “You remember. What about you Matt?”

It was as if a spark of realisation had been ignited and the veil that can sometimes obscure memories was being lifted. The more Paul remembered, the more Aly remembered as well. She was sure that Matt’s memory would be jogged and wished that the others were online to experience what was happening. The realisation of …. What? Aly thought. There’s something just out of reach.

“Gina patted my hand,” Matt said, “just like my grandmother used to do. I’d forgotten all about that. No one’s done it since. She said we’d live to be old and grey.” He laughed. “So far so good.”

A little avatar flashed on Aly’s screen. “Brooke’s come online. I’ll invite her to chat.”

Aly quickly explained to Brooke what was going on.

“I’ve had this weird feeling for a few days now, like there’s a rope tied around my chest and someone is pulling. The only problem is that it’s pulling in lots of directions,” Brooke said.

“Maybe it’s got something to do with us,” Aly suggested.

“That would make sense,” Matt replied, “because we’re scattered in different directions. I’ll bet if the rest of us were north and you were south, you’d only feel like you were being pulled north.”

“I guess,” Brooke said. “Does anyone else feel weird? Have you heard from any of the others?”

Matt could hear ringing in the other room. It was the fifth time in three hours. Maybe it was another one of their growing group.

“Phone call,” Matt said. “Be right back.”

Matt answered the phone before his parents could pick it up. These days most of the calls were for him anyway. He was considered the life of the party, the funny guy — the person people turned to when they felt low and needed a pick-me-up.

“State your name and business,” Matt said.

“Matt, you’re such a tool.”

“Kyle, is that you mate?” Matt yelled down the phone.

“You know it is,” Kyle replied, laughing. “And turn down the volume. I’m not entirely deaf yet.”

“Damn, the wire is hot tonight,” Matt marvelled, trying to keep the conversation at an acceptable level. He had a habit of getting loud when he was excited. “I haven’t heard from you since that email five months ago saying you were going to backpack across the country. Did you do it?”

“Sure did. Would still be backpacking if it wasn’t for you guys. I just felt I had to get back and contact everyone. Something’s up. The hair on the back of my neck has been standing up for days now. It’s a weird sensation.”

“You got access to a computer?” Matt asked. “Aly, Paul and Brooke are online and we’re talking old times. As in times none of us could remember clearly until about ten minutes ago.”

Kyle knew exactly what Matt meant. Half an hour ago he’d had a revelation of sorts, and an overwhelming flood of memories of what had happened to him — them — had come back to him. He felt like he was reliving it all over again, and couldn’t get the hospital smell out of his nose.

“Whoa! Do you think Gina was some kind of prophet as well as a healer?”

“How the hell would I know? Just jump online, will ya?”

“No can do,” Kyle said, shaking his head, though Matt couldn’t see it. “My little bro, the s**t, trashed my computer while I was away. You still at the same place?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Matt laughed. “Still livin’ at the old folks’ home. Someone’s gotta put a roof over my head until I can learn how to create money from thin air.”

“Bummer,” Kyle replied. “but at least you’re close by. I’ll be there soon.”

Matt returned to his laptop, thankful that any conversations were automatically saved. He could review everything later, when he had time to reflect on what was going on. In the meantime, he glanced through what had been said while he was gone and was not surprised to see Renee and Gesthimani had joined the chat. Something was waking up in all of them and it scared the bejesus out of him.

“Hey peeps, what’s happening?” Matt said. “Had Kyle on the line. He’ll be coming to my place shortly, as he’s technologically challenged at the moment.”

So far six of the twenty-four were online. If the others were out there, and could feel the pull, they’d find them somehow. Matt could feel it now — the pull. After Brooke had described the sensation, he knew. At first he’d thought his clothes were just too tight. He thought those workouts at the gym were starting to pay off and his chest was expanding, but no, that wasn’t it at all. He should have known better. Matt and visible muscles were two things that didn’t go together. He was strong, there was no denying it, but his body shape didn’t reflect it.

By eleven-thirty Kate and Marty were also online, Chris was on the phone and Kyle was reading what was happening over Matt’s shoulder. They had all remembered meeting Gina, but some vital piece of information was still missing.

“This is incredible,” Kyle whispered to Matt. “What Gina said to us has come true.”

“Why are you whispering, ya numnut? The others can’t hear us.”

Kyle shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. I’m kind of in awe of the whole thing. We’re children of prophecy … angel followers.”

“What?” Matt asked, baffled by what Kyle was saying. He must have had too much sun while backpacking across the country. “We’re what?”

“Angel followers.”

“What makes you say that?”

“I know who we’re meant to save. I just don’t know when. It must be getting close though, if we’re drawn to each other.”

Matt looked at Kyle, frustration on his face and in his tone. “Who are we meant to save?”

“Gina’s mother.”

Matt blinked twice. Is that what everything was about? They’d been given back their lives, but in return they had to save Gina’s mother? Why would an angel need their help? They were mere mortals, she an immortal. What could they possibly have to offer?

“We have to choose,” Kyle said. “All of us have to choose. Go on, Matt, tell them. Let’s be done with it and find out who’s in and who’s out.”

“Hey guys, Kyle seems to think we’re angel followers and the person Gina wanted us to save is her mother, of all people. What do you think? Has he had too much sun?”

“Matt, if you stopped kidding around for a few minutes you’d see he’s right,” Brooke said. She was known for losing her temper and was the first of the twenty-four to protest about the yearly tests they’d all been subjected to. “We have to make a choice. Not tonight, but real soon. Then we need to plan what we’re going to do, those of us who choose to help. We need to find her. Does anyone remember her name?”

“Little Mother,” Kyle said.

Matt turned to Kyle. “That’s not her real name, stupid. I’m not telling them that.”

Kyle shrugged his shoulders. That’s what Gina had called her. He hadn’t thought that she might be known by another name.

Paul had been searching for information on Gina and her parentage while everyone was busy typing messages. He found a transcript of the interview with Natalie. Gina sounded very childlike — innocent and naive. Paul wondered how old she really was.

“Helena Malakh,” Paul said. “She used to frequent some hotel called the La’miere but that’s going back almost twenty years. I can’t find anything else about her at all.”

“How the hell do you find an angel anyway?” Aly asked.

“I’m sure Gina would have equipped us with some sort of radar. I reckon once we agree it’ll kick in,” Paul replied.

“So, you think we’ll suddenly be able to feel her?” Aly asked.

“Time will tell,” Paul said. “Time will tell.”

“Okay, so how about we meet back here in twenty-four hours. One day to deliberate should be enough, shouldn’t it?” Aly said. “I want to get this over and done with.”

Everyone agreed to reconvene the next day to reveal their choices. Matt carefully closed the lid on his laptop. He leaned forward in his seat and rubbed his temples.

“I’d like to say I have a headache,” he told Kyle, “but I don’t. My head hurts, but it’s from using my brain too much, not from being sick. I’ve never asked any of the others, but I’ll bet you my entire life savings no one else has been sick since Gina came into our lives.”

“Now you come to mention it,” Kyle said, nodding his head, “I don’t recall ever being sick. Last week I could barely remember being in hospital. The only reason I knew was because that’s how we all met … and then there were those yearly tests. I was so young, I’d forgotten most of it. Now it’s as if it happened yesterday.”

Matt twiddled his thumbs forwards, then back. He looked at the floor, his eyes focused on a non-existent spot. He couldn’t shake the feeling of dread that was coming over him. First there’d be laughter, then there’d be tears. Something big was going to happen and it would affect them all.

“Kyle,” he whispered. “I’m scared.”

“Me too.”

“Have you made up your mind what you’re going to do yet?” Matt asked, his eyes still on the floor.

“I reckon Gina wouldn’t have asked for our help if it wasn’t a life or death situation. I owe her my life.”

“Yeah, I was thinking much the same thing,” Matt replied, “but it makes you wonder … what could pose a threat to an angel? I mean, how big, strong or potent must whatever it is be? How the hell are we meant to help?”

“I don’t know, yet.”

Kyle knew how it would work. He just needed to figure out how to explain it in terms other people — more to the point twenty-three people — would understand.

“It’s like a game,” Kyle began. “When you level-up new information, tools and weapons are made available to you. When the time is right — when we’ve levelled up — we’ll know more. I don’t think we’re ready to know all the details yet. It would probably freak us out and send us running to the nearest bunker.”

“That’s all well and good, but it doesn’t stop me from being scared now.”

Kyle tried unsuccessfully to stifle a yawn. It had been a long week for him. Much against his better judgement he’d travelled from Kununurra, more than halfway across the country, via buses and trains — he hated flying — in a few days. He was worn out. Now that he was back home, and contact had been made, he felt he could sleep the twenty-four hours until everyone met online again.

“You look beat,” Matt said. “Did you want to crash here for the night?”

“Nah. Mum would have a fit. She complained when I said I was coming over here for a few hours.”

Matt followed Kyle to the front door, and waved as his friend left to walk the few blocks home. Matt wondered where the others lived. Were they still in Victoria, or had their families moved when … when Gina had been killed? Whoa, Matt thought to himself. I’d forgotten all about that. Despite their parents trying to discourage their friendships, many of them had kept in touch. He remembered now why they’d been so secretive about it, so their parents wouldn’t worry. After a while it simply became habit.