Locked (The Heaven's Gate Trilogy) (13 page)

“You’re in pain,” I said
softly, my heart breaking for him.  I slid out from beneath the covers and
crept to his side.  Carefully, not sure of what I’d find, I placed my hand on
his arm.  Through the cotton of his sleeve, it was burning hot.  I realized,
with a start, that except for the time he’d pulled me through the hallway, he’d
managed to never touch me. “You’re not supposed to be protecting me.  That’s
why you had to leave.”

“I had to fulfill my
duties before I could return to guard you,” he answered, his blue eyes, like
sapphires, burning with intensity.  “I do not understand how your protection is
against God’s will, when I feel such a strong urge to do it.  Somehow it must
all be in His plan.”

“Why am I in danger?” I
wondered to myself.  “Is it related to my abduction?”

“I think so,” he said.

“So my Dad…with all his
crazy fears for me – he’s been right all along?”

Michael didn’t speak but
simply placed his big hand over mine.  I looked deep into his eyes and seemed
to lose myself in their intensity.  The heat from his fingers licked at my
bones and my heart skipped a beat.  Silence filled the room.

“Hope?” my mother’s voice
jarred me back to reality.  “Hope? Are you awake?”

I could hear her climbing
the stairs toward my room.  I pushed myself away from Michael and started
fumbling around, panicking as I looked from myself, still dressed in last
night’s clothes, to Michael. I spun around, looking for somewhere to hide, or
to hide him.  But there was nowhere. I began to feel frantic, but then, I heard
my own voice sing out.

“What is it, Mom?”

I wheeled around and
gasped.  Michael was no longer there.  Instead, I was staring at my own self.

I opened my mouth to
scream but the person – it –
Me
– cleared the space between us and clamped
a hot hand over my mouth.

“Don’t make a sound,” it
whispered to me urgently, pulling me tight.  “It will be ok.”  I tried to pull
away, but felt myself caught even closer in a vice-like, fiery grip.

“I was starting to think
you’d never wake up – are you feeling better?  It’s nearly noon, you know,” my
Mom continued.  She was on the other side of the door now.  I held my breath,
watching the door knob and willing it not to turn.  “Tabitha is on the phone. 
She sounds worried about you.”

“I’m feeling much
better.  I’ll take it in here, Mom.  Thanks.”  The replica Me responded. I felt
my body weaken and fought to stay focused. 
You cannot faint
, I
admonished myself.

As we heard my Mom’s
footprints retreat back downstairs, I watched as my replica’s face and body
swiftly melted back into Michael.  My eyes widened in disbelief and my knees
began to give out.

“You’re not going to
scream, are you?” he asked me as he pulled me closer to his chest, his hand still
over my mouth.

I shook my head
violently. 
No
.

“Do you want to talk to
Tabitha, or shall I?” he continued.  “I called and left a message at her house
last night that you felt sick and found a ride home.  I left a note to that
effect for your mother, as well.”

I stared up at him,
shocked at how well he’d orchestrated everything.

“I can do it,” I mumbled
against his palm, my mind racing.  He lifted his hand away then, watching me
carefully for any further signs of panic.  My whole body was shaking, but I
leaned into him until I managed to make it over to the phone and pick up the
receiver.

“I have it, Mom.” I said,
my voice shaky.  I heard the click as she hung up the receiver on her end. 
“Tabitha?”

“Have you ever heard of a
cell phone?” she demanded, the words rushing out of her.  “I was worried sick! 
You were supposed to come back in 30 minutes.  Tony and I spent two hours
looking for you.  Thank God we thought to call my parents.  We were just about
to call the police to search the mountain.  Why didn’t you just tell me you
weren’t feeling well? I would’ve taken you home.”  She sounded angry and hurt.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered,
scrambling to explain my disappearance off the mountain.  “I didn’t try to
avoid you – I just felt so sick that I got disoriented and lost on the way
down.  So when I saw my friend in the parking lot, I took the ride home. I
didn’t even think to call you.  I am so sorry.  I didn’t mean to worry you,” I
added, guilt surging through me for putting her through such trouble, and for lying
to her now.

Tabitha paused before
answering.  “No problem,” she said grudgingly. “But don’t you pull a stunt like
that again on me.” She breezed by the need for explanations, focusing instead
on herself.  “Thank goodness I was with Tony, and that my parents like you, or it
would have been much worse, believe me.”

“I’m really sorry,
Tabitha.  I won’t do it again, I promise.” My knees were still shaking, so I sank
down to the floor, never turning my back on Michael, who stood against the
wall, watching me intently. 
How did he do that?  And what was he thinking
now, that he was watching me like a hawk?

“Hel-lo? Are you still
listening to me?” Tabitha demanded and I snapped back to attention.

“Yeah, I’m here,” I said
sheepishly.

“We’re still going to the
shelter to do those interviews tomorrow, right?”

“Yes, for sure,” I said. 
Stick to your normal routine
, I thought to myself. 
School work is
just the thing I need.  Nothing unusual to see here, folks.  Pay no attention
to the angel in your room.

“OK, I’ll pick you up at
one o’clock.  Be ready,” she warned.  “And then I can tell you all about Tony,”
she giggled.  “See ya.”

“See ya,” I echoed,
staring back at Michael, but she had already hung up.  I held the phone against
my ear until it began beeping angrily at me.

“You should hang up,”
Michael suggested.  I slowly put the phone back in the receiver, keeping him
squarely in my vision.

“I didn’t mean to scare
you,” he said softly.  When I didn’t respond, he lowered himself to the floor
until he was eye level with me.

“May I come closer?” he
asked quietly, gesturing toward my side.  I nodded, still unable to speak.

He came so close to me
that I could feel the waves of heat radiating off his body.  Up close, he
looked even more perfect.  His golden hair shined, a lock of it falling forward
onto his forehead.  I fought off the urge to reach out and tuck it back in
place.

“You asked me earlier,
how I did it.  How I look like a teenager.  Well, this is how.  When I came to
you, I chose the form that would be easiest for you to understand, but I can
take the form of anyone.  Would you like to see again?”

I hesitated, not sure if
I could handle it.

“I promise not to become
anyone you know,” he said, taking my hand.  A surge of warmth swept through my
entire body as I registered his touch. “What you need to understand, is that
when I do this, I really become human, at least in all respects that matter.”

I looked into his eyes. 
They were full of kindness and concern.

“Are you ready?” he
asked, still holding my hand.

I nodded once.

“Okay,” he breathed, and
closed his eyes.

Instantly, he began
melting, his features twisting and morphing seamlessly into another person, his
entire body doing the same.  It was like flipping the channels on an
old-fashioned television – a slight flurry of static as his features went out
of focus before the sharpened, locking onto the picture.  One by one, he became
an old Black lady; then a young boy, barely five; a pregnant woman, clutching
her belly; an elderly Native American warrior. Person after person appeared,
just for an instant – by the time my mind recognized who or what they were, he
had transformed into the next person.  Yet in that instant, I not only saw
them, I
knew
them – knew their histories, their loves, their sorrows,
knew how special their time on this earth had been.  And no matter who sat
before me, their eyes were unchanging -- the same sharp blue eyes, filled with
kindness and grief, which belonged only to Michael. 

I sat transfixed,
watching the parade of people before my eyes, until slowly he faded back into
himself.  My Michael.

He was clutching my hand
against his heart.  I felt it thumping under my touch and my brain protested,
almost convincing me that he was truly human.  Almost.

He never broke his gaze,
never moved his lips.  But deep inside of me, I seemed to feel more than I
heard his words, vibrating and thrumming with intensity. 

I will protect you
.

His unspoken promise hung
in the air between us.  Finally, I broke the silence.

“That was beautiful,” I
said, embarrassed, as if I had seen into his soul.

“I promise I won’t do
that again, at least not without your permission,” he stated solemnly.  “But I
wanted you to understand.”

“Thank you,” I whispered,
giving his hand a little squeeze.  As I did, I realized my hand was starting to
burn from his heat.  “I’m sorry,” I said, sheepishly, pulling my hand away from
his grasp. 

He unclasped it
immediately, looking remorseful.  “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

I turned my palm over. 
It was red and sweaty, but nothing more.  “No, no harm done.  Besides, if you
have to deal with constant headaches, I guess I can handle the equivalent of
sunburn.”

He grinned then, a small,
satisfied smile.

“For the record,” he
began, counting off answers to my unspoken questions matter-of-factly on his
fingers.  “One:  white stuff at lunch – manna.  I can eat human food, but
prefer not to.  Two: yes, I can fly, and yes, I have wings, though not in human
form.  But I also can do what amounts to time travel between great distances if
need be.  Three: when I take human form, I can provide myself with all the
accoutrements of human life. So yes, I do have a house and a real car.  I even
have an AmEx card.  Four:  I don’t have to wear white, but it is kind of a
tradition.”

He gave me one of his
patented wicked grins.  “And I think it looks pretty good, don’t you?”

I rolled my eyes. 
“You’re impossible,” I said.  “Are all angels as pompous as you?”

He laughed out loud. 
“Wait until you meet Gabriel.  He is totally full of himself.”

My eyes widened.  “Am I
going to meet more angels?”

His face darkened at the
suggestion.  “Not if I can help it.  I don’t want to draw any more attention to
you than I already have.”

I was confused.  “What do
you mean?”

He sprang to his feet,
then, and I swear, for an instant he seemed to float.  He stalked over to the
window and looked out between the curtains toward the street.

“It’s nothing, Hope, just
a feeling I have.”

“But why?”

He was deliberately
avoiding my gaze, pretending to find something of great interest out in the cul
de sac.

“I’m not going to give
up,” I said, with a stubborn note in my voice.  “You might as well tell me
what’s going on.”

He doesn’t want to
tell you because it’s his fault.

“What’s your fault?” I
prompted, silently thanking Henri for the tidbit of intelligence.

“Damn it, Henri, mind
your own business!” Michael’s face contorted with rage.

“He’s only trying to do
his job, Michael,” I said, walking swiftly to his side.  “I need to know what’s
going on.  If I’m in danger, the more informed I am, the better off I’ll be.”

He clenched his fists and
released them, over and over, considering my words.  The effort he was making
to control his temper was awesome to witness. 
How much pain is he really in
,
I wondered,
that something so small would spin him out of control?

“You know the story of
the Fallen Angels,” he said between clenched teeth.  I nodded, not sure I liked
where this was heading.  “They are real, and they live on.  Part of their
punishment is that they cannot escape their own immortality.  They have to go
through Eternity knowing there is no redemption, always suffering the pain of
separation from God.”

I remembered what he had
said about being driven mad by the pain, and shuddered.

“The Fallen are
everywhere,” he breathed.  “And they’d do anything to exact their revenge on
me,” he continued as he leaned protectively over me, surrounding me in the tiny
alcove formed by the window and the eaves.

“I don’t understand,” I
said.

He shoved away from me,
pacing across the room.

“I was the one who forced
them out of Paradise, Hope.  They have waited millennia to get their revenge. 
Even something that appears insignificant – a young girl – might be tempting to
them, if it seemed to offer a way to get back at me.  The fact of the matter is
I may be placing you in more danger by drawing attention to you – that is, if
the wrong creatures notice.”

Now it was my turn to rub
my temples.  I couldn’t follow all this.  I was starting to really believe I
was
being threatened – maybe from more than one side.