Angel's Kiss (31 page)

The only thing that remained to be done to complete the picture was to add flowers and water. When the vase was filled with water and chock-full of freesias I set it on the coffee table in the living room.

It’s funny the things you think about when you have too much time on your hands. I wondered if I should still refer to the table as a coffee table, given that neither of us drank the stuff. What else would you call it — a book table, a living room table, an oversized foot stool? Why have a coffee table anyway? Why not a couple of lamp tables instead — one at each end of the couch?

“Stupid coffee table,” I muttered and kicked out at a leg. The leg broke and the coffee table toppled to one side. I reached out to catch the vase before it fell, only to knock it and speed up its journey to the floor, flowers flying everywhere.

“Just my luck,” I mumbled.

I headed to the bathroom for a towel and soaked up as much of the water as I could, then temporarily fixed the table by jacking up the broken side with some of Danny’s books. Not the really old ones, though. I didn’t want to give him the angelic equivalent of a heart attack. I refilled the vase and carefully arranged the flowers before placing it on the middle of the table.

I sat on the couch, twiddled my thumbs and restlessly tapped the heel of one foot on the floor. I crossed my legs and uncrossed them. I drummed my fingers on my legs. I inspected my fingernails and ran my fingers through my hair.

When I could stand it no longer I stood up and paced from one end of the room to the other. I was desperate for something to keep me occupied. I went to my room and made my bed, neatened up the growing pile of clothes on the floor and decided I’d hand wash yesterday’s clothes in the bath. There was nowhere for me to hang them to dry, but it was something to keep me busy.

As the bath was filling up I rolled up my sleeves and sudsed the water with soap until it was cloudy. I washed one article of clothing at a time, taking care not to damage the fragile lingerie. Danny had already replaced a number of items he’d torn to shreds in his eagerness, and I didn’t want to be responsible for damaging any more.

It was a very ordinary and soothing thing to do, washing my clothes, and it took the edge off my worry. I refilled the bath twice — the water had become so dirty from mud, dust and ash — before a final rinse to wash out the soap suds. I twisted the clothes to squeeze out every drop of water I could until they were only damp to the touch, then smoothed them out and laid them along the sides of the bath to dry.

How many hours had passed? With no clock in the house and no sun to check the passing of the day I couldn’t be sure. The rain continued to pound heavily on the roof and I wished the cottage had a porch, so I could sit outside in relative comfort and listen to the rain without getting wet.

My restless legs took to walking again. I needed to do something!

Gymnastics,
I thought.
I haven’t
had
to do anything like that for a while.

I walked to the end of the hall and faced the door of the bedroom. I did a few stretches to limber up. Did I still need to limber up or had my physiology changed so much that it didn’t matter?

I commenced with a number of back handsprings — flipping my body backwards to land on my hands then flipping again to land on my feet — down the hallway to the end of the living area. Without turning I headed back, this time using front handsprings. In front of the bedroom door again, I turned to the side and cartwheeled down to the living area, stopped and cart-wheeled back. Another set of back handsprings saw me in the living area again.

It felt good to perform the gymnastic moves — moves I’d perfected when I was eighteen. My agility and flexibility were what had attracted the attention of the preacher, which was exactly my intention at the time — a ticket out of squalor into depravity.

In the living area I performed some basic handstands and a straddle split. Still in the split position, back straight and arms out to the sides, I leaned as far as I could to my left side, then to my right. I stretched towards my left leg, grabbing my foot with both hands for the count of three. I repeated the exercise with my right leg. I leaned forwards until my arms and body were pressed flat against the floor and brought my legs together behind me. Rolling onto my back, and, keeping my feet flat on the floor and my knees bent, I pushed up on my hands to execute the bridge position.

When I felt thoroughly stretched I pushed off with both legs, shifting my weight to my hands, and continued to kick my legs all the way up until I was in a handstand position. I was about to step down, one leg at a time, when the sound of someone clearing their throat distracted me. I lost my balance, tumbling to the floor. There was only one person it could be.

“Danny!” I yelled with delight and was up and had my arms wrapped around him before I’d finished saying his name.

He laughed — though it was lacking something — hugged me in return and kissed the top of my head.

“Did you miss me?” he asked, a smile creeping onto his face.

“Of course I did! I was going crazy with worry … and I was bored out of my brains.” I kissed him on the lips. “By the way, can you dry my washing for me?”

“You
washed?
”

I laughed. “I told you I was bored.”

“And the gymnastics?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Something else to keep the boredom and worry at bay.”

He looked at the vase of flowers. “What about the coffee table?”

I rolled my eyes. “
That
was an accident.”

I looked at the coffee table and the broken leg was miraculously fixed, the books back on the bookcase.

“Remind me some time to get you a proper vase.” He laughed and pointed at my vase. “That thing is
hideous.
”

“Hey!” I smacked his back lightly. “I made that with my own hands thank you very much,
and
with limited resources.”

“I’m sorry,” Danny said. “But Leonardo da Vinci you are not.”

I shuffled us over to the couch and we sat down. I was almost afraid to ask … I had to know, my heart beating frantically in my chest.

“How did your meeting go?”

“There’s good news and there’s bad news,” Danny said, no emotion in his voice.

I sighed. “Why did I
know
you were going to say that?”

“Which would you like first?” he asked.

“Can’t you just show me what happened? Kind of like instant replay?”

“I’m not sure I understand,” he said.

“You do know what television is, don’t you?”

“Yes, I’ve seen them.”

“Well, during big sporting events they can replay something that’s just taken place, to analyse the play or move, and walk the viewer through the events. Can’t you do something similar?” I thought of another analogy he might understand better. “Kind of like what you did when you showed me Satan’s fall and all those monsters,
but with sound.
”

Danny looked at an area of the living room that was empty and two hazy three-dimensional ghostly figures appeared. After a moment they solidified. One I recognised, the other I assumed was his superior — he who had a common name among mortals. The name we weren’t allowed to speak out loud.

“All I need is a bowl of popcorn,” I mumbled.

“Pardon?” Danny asked.

I waved my hand dismissively. “Nothing, just a mortal thing. How do you press play on this thing?”

He looked confused. “You mean you want me to start?”

For all the hundreds of thousands or millions of years that angels had been around, they sure didn’t pay much attention to what was happening in the mortal world, which was probably quite exciting compared to the age of the dinosaurs and stuff.

“Yes, please.”

“Danizriel,” the other angel said, sounding surprised, but pleased, “reporting in again so soon?”

“Yes, Michael. I have some … questions,” he said hesitantly. When Michael remained silent he continued. “Another angel — Amrael — has told me things I have difficulty believing. I’m not saying that he wasn’t truthful,” he was quick to add, “as that is not our way. Yet the things he has told me have made me doubt my own knowledge of angelic lore.”

“Oh?” Michael asked, not sounding the least bit curious.

“Have I been so wrapped up in my work that I have become out of touch with what is happening in
our
world?” Danny swept his arm from left to right, to indicate the domain he was talking of.

Michael’s curiosity
was
piqued now. “What has Amrael said to make you think thus?”

Danny said simply, “He talked of earth-bound angels.”

“Ah!” Michael replied knowingly. “Come sit and we shall talk.”

Two billowy white chairs appeared —
are they clouds?
— and they sat opposite each other.

“Is it true?” Danny asked, clasping his hands and leaning forward in the chair.

“The archangels have known of earth-bound angels for a very long time,” Michael said matter-of-factly. “Some of us chose not to pass on that knowledge.”

“
Why?
” Danny sounded shocked that what Amrael had said was indeed true. “What purpose is there for holding back this knowledge?”

“There was …” Michael hesitated as he thought of an appropriate word to describe the circumstances under which information would be withheld, “
dissension
amongst the archangels. Some believed He did not think we could accomplish our assigned tasks. They thought that we must have failed Him in some way, thus the army of earth-bound angels. Others thought that judgement day would
never
come, so it mattered little. Very few, like myself, believe that if judgement day does come to pass, the stronger our numbers the better.”

“But why didn’t you tell
us,
Michael,” Danny persisted, “
your
army?”

“Perhaps I was misguided to keep it from you and the others,” Michael said thoughtfully. “I was not certain of the reactions the news would receive. If there was dissension amongst the archangels surely it would be doubly so amongst those we commanded? That was my sole reason for withholding information — until it was required to be known, at judgement day.”

Danny pressed on in his interrogation of Michael. “Amrael mentioned something about an edict concerning earth-bound angels.”

“I know of no edict.” Michael leaned forward, interested now.

“He said Raphael had ordered his troops to hunt and kill the earth-bound angels.”

I wondered if that would get Raphael into trouble. What would the repercussions be for Danny? It would be obvious to Amrael who had talked to Michael — he already knew that was Danny’s intention.

Michael straightened up. From the look on his face he appeared surprised and angered by this piece of news. His face quickly changed to a mask of impassivity.

“As I said, I know of no edict,” he replied calmly.

Danny nodded his head, satisfied with Michael’s response.

“Is it
possible
for an earth-bound angel to be activated before their time, ahead of the apocalypse?”

Michael leaned back again, pressed his fingers together and rested his elbows on the arms of the chair.

“Yes.”

“What is the catalyst for this?”

I could almost hear Michael’s mind ticking over, wanting to know why Danny was asking about how earth-bound angels could be activated, wanting to know in what direction he was steering the conversation.

“Usually something
unnatural
occurs to them, although in very rare cases some seem to instinctively know they are different and somehow activate themselves.”

“What do you mean by
unnatural?
”

“Quite simply it means they have been corrupted by something that is not,” Michael raised his hands to the heavens, “His creation.”

“Corrupted?” Danny wanted clarification of exactly
what
Michael’s definition of corrupted was.

“In every case we have encountered the evil within spreads quickly, like a virulent disease. It corrupts the soul as well as the body.”

Danny tried to seem casual about it by leaning back in his chair and crossing his legs. If he didn’t fool me, how the hell did he expect to fool Michael, who had known him pretty well forever?

“How long does it take, before they’re shrouded in evil?”

“Only a matter of days,” Michael sighed. He sounded full of sorrow for those earth-bound angels that had been infected with evil. “Once the poison is in their system, and as they have no defences like mature angels, having been mortal before being infected, the change takes place swiftly.”

That meant I was
different
. That had to be a good thing, didn’t it? I gripped Danny’s arm. It was like watching a really interesting movie and the twist in the plot had been revealed, and boy, what a twist!