Angel's Demon

20. Saving Lives

20. Saving Lives

Danny and I lay on the bed, staring into each other’s eyes. Crickets happily chirped outside, serenading us. I remembered how Danny had looked as he’d picked up Kyle — strong, yet gentle, self-assured and handsome.

I lightly placed my hands on each side of his face, making sure the temples were covered, and he did the same. Our naked minds opened to each other. Here there were no lies or deceit, though sometimes what I was thinking at the time of an event tainted the memory. Danny had learned to filter out much of the emotion associated with my memories. Every now and again he let them in, to feel the world as I felt it.

Tonight was different. We wanted to share specific memories — those that I had gained from Kyle, and our impressions of what had taken place in the last few hours.

Within minutes it was over. Danny drew me close to him and nibbled my ear, before kissing my neck. “That’s how you see me?”

I let out a sigh of pleasure. He’d taken everything I had to give, and now he wanted to give me something in return.

“You know I do,” I whispered.

His mouth slowly glided over my skin, stopping every now and again to kiss me gently. I shivered and ran my fingers through his hair, encouraging him to continue on his journey. The sound of the crickets faded into the background, replaced by soft moans. I was in heaven.

The memories we were looking at didn’t reveal much more than we already knew. Gina had told the children to protect me. Over the years they’d found it increasingly difficult to interact with silent people — those who weren’t telepathic, like me and Danny. They preferred their own company, even though the majority of them had not seen each other since they’d been discharged from hospital. When you’re a telepath, you can have company anywhere. As we came to the memories of the past three weeks we began to understand more about the pull they felt, and how they’d come so close to finding us. And then there were the brutal murders. I wanted to search the Internet to find out if there were more murders and visualised a large screen that covered most of the wall opposite us. Danny propped himself up on the pillows to watch what was appearing on the screen. I thought of murders, vicious in nature, that had occurred anywhere in the world in the past week. A brief summary of each article or report appeared on the screen. I wasn’t prepared for how many results appeared — almost thirty thousand. We knew, from Gina’s memories, that she had met thousands of people, yet these murders couldn’t all be related. I filtered out any duplication, based on either the name of the victim being mentioned on multiple websites, or mentioning the same location, time and gender. That left us with twelve hundred.

“You could try looking for any patterns in the wounds, or placement of the victims,” Danny suggested.

I turned to face him and shook my head. “That sort of detail isn’t likely to be included online. The police usually keep a few things from the public that only the killer would know.”

“You know the world of computers better than me … won’t the police have everything online as well?”

“Of course they would, but the general public isn’t going to have access to it.”

Danny grinned at me mischievously. “We’re not the general public. You can get into any system you want to, with a single thought.”

Why hadn’t I thought of that? Sometimes it’s hard to see what is obvious to others. After all these years, I still had a lot to learn. Lucky for me, I was sleeping with the teacher. Well, I was married to him after all.

Autopsy reports filled the wall from all around the world, including Australia, where our guests had come from. I thought of John, the young man Gina would have liked to experience her first kiss with. She had given him his life back and in return he had given to the community, helping those less fortunate than him.

Danny tapped me on the shoulder. I’d momentarily lost focus of what we were doing, thinking of someone else. I looked up and cried out in sorrow. A photo of John, much like I remembered him, covered a quarter of the wall. Below it were graphic autopsy photos … he was dead.

I shook my head in disbelief, “I should’ve killed those boys, when I had the chance. Look what the believers have done.”

“We don’t know that it was them.”

“Who else would it be?”

“I don’t know, but I intend to find out.”

“Not without me, you’re not.”

Three ear-piercing screams filled the night and in a flash Danny and I were inside the little cottage that housed our guests.

“Make him stop,” Gesthimani wailed. She covered her ears with her hands, trying to muffle a sound we couldn’t hear.

Kyle was where Danny had left him. His eyes were closed, he seemed to be sleeping, yet he was screaming at the top of his lungs.

Jake was in the bathroom, puking. The smell was awful. I hadn’t smelt regurgitated food in years.

Danny placed his right palm on Kyle’s forehead, and muttered, “Sleep.”

The screaming stopped. Nothing else had changed. Gesthimani kept wailing and Jake was still throwing up.

“What’s wrong with them?” I asked.

Danny shook his head. It was beyond him as well.

I knelt in front of Gesthimani and pulled her hands away from her ears. “Make who stop?”

“Andy,” she whispered, wrenching her hands free and hitting the sides of her head, as though to knock something free. “Make him stop. I can’t calm him down.”

I didn’t want to invade their minds to find out what was happening, but how else was I to know what was going on. Kyle had already given me permission, and as he was sleeping he wasn’t likely to know I’d tapped into his mind again.

Danny nodded his head. “Do it.”

Kyle didn’t move as I made the connection with his mind. Usually the mind I was connected to was awake. I wasn’t ready to be dragged into a dizzying whirlpool of memories, all trying to pull me down into oblivion.

“I … can’t … fight … it,” I managed to say, through gritted teeth.

“You need to take control,” Danny said.

The whirlpool slowed as I began to assert my authority in another person’s domain. I rose to the surface as it stopped, only to encounter little Kyle — the Kyle that Gina had saved — standing there in the pyjamas and slippers he had worn in hospital.

“Why are you here?” he asked.

“Because your friends need help,” I said.

He nodded his head and held out his hand. I took it and together we walked down a dimly lit corridor. We stopped in front of one of many nondescript doors. He let go of my hand and opened the door, gesturing for me to go in.

“You’re not coming with me?”

“No,” he said. “I’m sleeping. The real world scares me. Sleep is my escape.”

I stepped through the door and it slammed shut behind me. I could hear screaming from every direction now, though one scream was louder than all the others. My head began to pound, then searing pain set in. I could feel my heart thumping madly in my chest. I wanted to add my voice to the others and scream as well. I was feeling what they were feeling.

You have to focus, I told myself. I knew I’d have to face the person who was screaming the loudest. You need to find Andy.

A small boy appeared in front of me, or maybe I appeared in front of him. He was bleeding from his nose, eyes and ears, and the scream that issued from his mouth was probably capable of shattering windows.

My nose began to run, and my eyes watered. I rubbed my eyes, and found my hands covered in blood. I touched my nostril — nosebleed. What sort of power did this kid have? How was I to stop him? Little Kyle had said he slept to escape. Maybe Andy did as well.

I reached out a bloody hand and placed my palm on his forehead. “Sleep.”

The agonising scream stopped and the little body crumpled to the floor, before disappearing. All around me the screaming stopped. I felt myself being pulled back into my body. Danny was shaking me and calling my name.

“Helena, are you all right?”

I blinked twice.

Danny handed me a damp face washer. “You’re bleeding.”

I dabbed at my eyes and nose. The white face washer was crimson by the time I’d cleared all the blood away.

“Is that normal?” I asked.

“With these children, who knows what’s normal?”

I twisted around to look at Gesthimani. She was breathing heavily, but no longer wailing.

“Is that what it was like, in your head?” I asked. “All the screaming?”

She nodded.

“Why was Andy screaming like that?”

Gesthimani burst into tears. She couldn’t control the crying.

Jake stumbled out of the bathroom and held onto the door frame for support. “They killed his mum. The bastards killed his mum.”

I looked at Danny. Like me, he was quickly replaying Gina’s memories. They must have met … and there it was, on the day she died — Lilly Sampson.

“s**t,” I said. “We’ve got to do something.”

“Bring them here,” Danny said. “The blind spot is the safest place for them.”

Kyle had woken up when the screaming stopped. “Get Sarah and Felicitia first. They live closest to Andy. I’ve already told everyone to expect you.”

“I need a point of reference, free of any obstacles, if possible.”

“I’m gathering addresses as we speak,” Kyle said. “Guys, you’ll have to wait outside. Backyards maybe? Oh, okay.” He looked at me. “Do you have Internet access here?”

“It’s a blind spot, not a black spot,” I replied. A blank screen appeared on the wall behind him. “What are you looking for?”

“How can I use that? Where’s the keyboard?”

One minor detail, easy to attend to. A keyboard appeared in Kyle’s lap and he gave a low whistle. “I wish I could do that.” He logged into an email account. There were hundreds of new messages, of which fourteen had arrived in the past few minutes. He found the one from Sarah and opened it. An address and image appeared on the screen. “That’s where she’ll be waiting. She’s really scared —”

Before Kyle could finish what he had to say I was gone. Sarah was waiting exactly where the photo indicated she’d be. I grabbed her hand — no time for introductions — and took her into the lights.

Hello, a soft voice said.

“Did you say something?” I asked Sarah.

It’s me, the voice said, not my mum.

I looked at Sarah in astonishment. More to the point, I looked at the small swell of her belly, which she was rubbing tenderly.

“You’re pregnant,” I said.

Sarah nodded her head.

Tell her I’m a girl, the little voice said, and I want to be called Emma. I like that name.

“Why don’t you tell her yourself?”

“Excuse me?” Sarah said. “Tell who what?”

She can’t hear me, the little voice said. I hear them though.

“Your daughter,” I told Sarah. “She says she wants to be called Emma.”

Sarah looked at me like I was crazy.

“You should take a look in a mirror. I’m sure you’ve seen that look from people who thought you were crazy.”

I brought us out of the lights and let go of her hand.

“What else does she have to say?” Sarah asked.

The little voice was silent.

“Nothing.”

Sarah grabbed my hand. “Please, is she healthy? Is she normal?”

I heard giggling in my head. Healthy and as normal as her.

I jerked my hand free. “Yes.”

“What else can you tell me about her?”

I realised then that it was only through our contact that I’d been able to hear her daughter. I hoped Sarah wasn’t going to dog me day and night, wanting to talk to her unborn child.

“I have to get the others,” I said, glancing quickly at the wall to see who was next before disappearing.

Felicitia thanked me when I returned her to her friends. She sat next to Gesthimani, who smiled at her and patted her hand.

When I returned with Doug, Sarah flew into his arms. He rested his head on top of her head and closed his eyes, a smile of contentment on his face. Now I knew who the father was.

Danny was busy recreating another eight cottages — one for Doug and Sarah, the rest would have to share — all identical, while I brought everyone back. Most of them were milling around outside. There simply wasn’t enough room in the original cottage for so many people to stand around waiting.

“What about the last three?” I asked.

Kyle shook his head. “They don’t have any coverage.”

“Do they have a map with them, or do they know roughly where they are?”

“They’re near the banks of the sss river. Wait, they have a longitude and latitude for you.”

Kyle retrieved a pen and small notebook from his pocket. He wrote down the coordinates, ripped out the piece of paper and handed it to me. The screen behind him displayed a map of the region and a pulsing red dot highlighted the location. I couldn’t chance going to the exact coordinates in case one of them was standing right at that very spot. With the exception of the river, they were surrounded by dense forest.

“Wish me luck,” I said, crossing my fingers.

I landed in the river. The two men who sat on either side of a limp figure were shocked to see a head pop out of the water, as I walked along the riverbed and up the riverbank, to where they were seated.

“Take Andy first,” one of them said. “He collapsed, and we don’t know why.”

I bent down and slipped my arms under Andy’s body. As I stood I cradled him close to me. “I’ll be back in a jiffy.”

Before they’d had time to stand, I was back, in the same spot.

“Wow, that was quick,” the same man said, dusting leaves and dirt off his pants.

“One of the benefits of being immortal,” I told him, reaching out for his hand. The other one wiped his hands on his pants and held one out for me to take. “Don’t let go, and try not to throw up.”

In a heartbeat we were back at the cottage. Danny had made sure that my destination was free of loitering bodies. Andy’s foot had become embedded in Brian’s side when he hadn’t moved out of the way. He’d been in a state of shock, even though the others had been warned about how they would be teleported to another location. Danny acted quickly to separate and heal them. Brian was sleeping on one of the beds when I returned with the last two. Kyle and Andy were the only other angel followers in the little cottage. The others who had been waiting indoors had made a hasty retreat to the relative safety outside.

“Kiana and Lucy,” I said, thinking of everyone else who might be in danger. “I’ve got to warn them.”

Danny didn’t have time to react. I was gone before he had a chance to voice his concerns.

The backyard I arrived in was much the same as I remembered it. Night was falling and there were no lights on in the house. Maybe they were out?

The back door was ajar. No one intentionally left a door open these days, unless they were outside hanging up washing or taking out the trash.

I pushed the door open and peered inside as my eyes adjusted to the dim light. Something was wrong — an upturned chair, a broken mug on the floor. No sign of life though.

I wandered further into the house — smashed furniture and windows, stuff all over the floor, and a small amount of blood. I searched every room, looked in wardrobes or cupboards big enough for a person to hide in, the attic, the basement … no one was here, but something had happened. Kiana may have been able to protect her family against whoever it was that had invaded their home. She would have had to transform though, become the monster she loathed, a varakiana. Had they got away? How would David and Lucy have reacted?

There was no sense my waiting any longer. If they were alive, it was doubtful they’d return here. This was no longer a safe haven for them. Coming back here would mean certain death.

“What did you find?” Danny asked when I reappeared.

“Signs of a struggle, but no bodies. You’ll need to help me. I can’t save them all on my own. Someone is bound to die before I get to them.”

“We don’t have much to go on,” he said. “A face, sometimes a name.”

“That will have to do. We’re only …” I was going to say human, but that wasn’t true. “We do the best we can.”

Danny nodded and said to Kyle, “You’ll have to coordinate things here. Keep people moving along. Get your friends to fill them in on the details and use Gesthimani to calm them down.”

“What if they don’t speak English?” Kyle asked.

“Hmm, I can fix that.”

Danny leaned forward and touched Kyle’s left cheek.

“What was that for?” Kyle asked.

Danny grinned. “Translation service.” He called to those closest to the door to come inside and touched each of them in turn. “Now get back out there and tell the others to come here, quick smart.”

I could tell they were baffled by what he’d done. They wouldn’t be feeling any different, yet if someone spoke to them in a different language they’d hear it as English, and when they spoke, what to their ears would be English would be a different language.

“You take the Americas,” I told Danny. “I’ll do the rest of the world.”

Of the thousands of people Gina had met, we were only able to find four hundred and sixty. Of those, four hundred and two had refused to come with us, even when they’d been told their lives were in danger. Most of them didn’t want to leave their families behind — we debated about bringing families along — some didn’t believe what we were saying. A small few, I thought, wanted to die.

Danny whipped up six more cottages. These ones had two levels to accommodate more people. Gina’s children were a great help, though I knew they were uncomfortable around so many people.

I sat on the couch and looked out the window. Usually I would see lush green grass all the way to the forest’s edge. Now it was like living in a compact village — people going to and fro, washing hanging on lines strung between two poles and well-worn paths between the various homes. If it wasn’t for electricity, we’d probably see smoke from cooking fires as well.

“Should we try again?” I asked Danny. “With the others, I mean.”

“We cannot force them to come with us.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“What we need to do is find the perpetrator.”

“It might be more than one person,” I reminded him, thinking of the twins. Sins of the father, in the blood of the sons, I thought to myself.

“I can call on my eyes.”

Danny used birds to help him keep tabs on things to great effect. It meant that he didn’t have to be out and about all day, every day. Sometimes they died in his service, and he would mourn the loss as though it were a close friend.

“How quickly can they get word back to you?”

Danny thought about it for a moment. “Perhaps not fast enough for us to act.”

I thought as much. Birds were a great way of gathering intelligence, but unless something was happening close by, whatever event was occurring would likely be over by the time we got there.

“I will talk to Michael. Perhaps he can arrange for the homes of those who stayed behind to be monitored.”

Danny leaned over and kissed me gently, then stood and walked into the lights. It would be hours, maybe even days, before he returned. Plenty of time for me to get to know our guests.