Fall From Grace, page 5
part #9 of the Preternatural Chronicles Series
“Sounds like cancer cells,” I mused. “I’m pretty sure I read some article that described one possible secret to antiaging could potentially be found within cancer itself. Or maybe it was a video on the Youtubes.”
“Actually, that’s fairly accurate.”
We looked at one another, and I could sense the unspoken question: Do you want to talk more about the science or are you going to let me get to the point?
I nodded once, and Doc Jim continued.
“Father Thomes…he’s not only stopped aging altogether…he’s getting younger.”
“Aaaaand…that shouldn’t be possible?” I asked, crossing my arms and tilting my head up at how uncomfortable the conversation was becoming.
Doc Jim thought for a moment before answering.
“I’m not entirely sure.”
“Perhaps I can elaborate,” a voice said from just beside us, startling both the doctor and me.
“Lilith damn it, Gabriel. You can’t freaking do that! I-I-I coulda karate chopped you in the throat!” To showcase my point, I lifted my straightened hand and admired the deadliness contained therein.
Ignoring how close he had come to annihilation, Gabriel explained, “Thomes Philseep is of extraordinary importance to Heaven. So much so, that even those of us that are, shall we say, less lenient choose to leave him be.”
I knew in an instant which of Gabriel’s brothers he was referring to.
“That Michael’s a bit of an ass, huh?” I rhetorically asked with a chuckle laced with disbelief. “How can an angel—archangel—be that much of a huge, throbbing peen?”
“My brother has a difficult job that he has remained ever vigilant at since the beginning of time,” Gabriel said respectfully, surprising me with his defense of the one who had, not long ago, beaten him to a bloody pulp with his bare hands.
“So-sorry,” I said, barely lifting my hands up at the wrist in mild placation.
“But he is a phallus,” Gabriel threw out with the barest resemblance of a smile.
“I…” Standing with my mouth wide open, I found myself at a complete loss for words. Me! Crazy, right? “You’re just as confusing as always, Gabe.”
“You were saying?” Doc Jim interjected, repositioning his glasses as he awaited the angel’s explanation.
“Using the ingredients harvested from Faerie, you were able to neutralize a mortal’s decaying lifespan—which was very clever, by the way,” Gabriel said with a sprinkle of pride. “We simply took it upon ourselves to ensure that Thomes Philseep would reverse the aging process to place him as close to his prime as possible. Your serum was the precise catalyst we were searching for without directly intervening in his mortal lifespan.” Gabriel’s eyes swung to lock onto mine, and I searched for a deeper meaning in his words.
After dealing with the archangel manipulating me to bring Jose back in time, I was distrustful of him. So my mind went to the worst case scenarios of what Gabriel was playing at.
“You expect him to fight,” I growled in a low tone as I tilted my face down so that I was seeing Gabriel through my eyebrows. “Which means he’s an expendable asset to you, and nothing more.”
Gabriel’s lips curved up in a smile that failed to touch his eyes. To me, it felt like a parent who had ensured their child comprehended the concept of consequences to their actions and was finally seeing them understand as they became young adults. It had been hard on the parent because the child didn’t know why they were being punished and the parent only wanted their kid to be happy.
“Gabriel,” I began in a serious tone, running a hand down my face in slight agitation. “Thomes is not an expendable asset to be used like a common chess piece. And after what you did…after what you made me do to Depweg…I hope you can understand why I now doubt any of your motives.” Through my teeth, I growled, “You…betrayed me…by making me betray my best fucking friend. My brother.” I shifted on my feet, feeling my skin crawl as my rage started to boil up. Clenching my fists, I brought them up to my face as I turned my body away from the angel and stared at the church. “I’m not going to let you take the one person in the universe who has done the most to mitigate this-this-this fucking prophecy bullshit. Without him”—I jabbed a finger toward the church while whirling on Gabriel, my voice growing in power as my anger rose to dangerous heights—“WITHOUT HIM, I PROBABLY WOULD HAVE ALREADY CAUSED THE GODDAMN GATES OF HELL TO OPEN!”
Doc Jim looked nervously between the two of us, taking an unconscious step back from the triangle we had created.
Gabriel, on the other hand, simply nodded while doing something I wasn’t expecting; he broke eye contact, letting his gaze drop to the ground as his thoughts became heavy.
Seeing Jim take a step back so as not to become collateral in a brawl I was apparently telegraphing, and seeing Gabriel’s eyes fill with what must be shame, I let my hands drop to my side and let out a long exhale. My stress and aggression deflated with my lungs.
My heart wanted to apologize to both of my allies, but my lips remained sealed as I understood that they were only my allies and not my friends. Or maybe I was being melancholy.
Shifting my focus to Doctor James Hunt, I internally instructed his manila file to be stamped with Friend across it. He hadn’t done anything to deserve my ire, unlike Gabriel.
“You’re poisoning me,” I painfully told the archangel as I willed reluctant eyes to shift to his face. It was hard to even look at him. “My…my friendship with Depweg…” I couldn’t even finish the damn words, leaving the meaning to hang in the air like tear gas.
Gabriel locked eyes with me in an instant, his posture squaring up as he tilted his head back, jaw clenching and unclenching.
“Selfish child,” he harshly whispered between bared teeth. It reminded me of when Michael spoke, and my survival instincts burst into red alert. “There is more at stake than your juvenile friendship with the murderous wolf.”
My head was rocked back as if an invisible fist had crashed into my face. Signals from my knees became muffled as they began to buckle from the undertone of his words; an angel of Heaven had called Depweg a murderer. Instantly, I knew he was referring to Mexico, where my best friend had gone mad and made mistakes. Even Father Thomes had said it would take years and years—which we didn’t have—to cleanse his soul. There were only about three short years left until the prophecy was fulfilled, and everyone seemed convinced the gates of Hell were going to open, no matter what.
Playing back Gabriel’s words, I understood the hidden meaning; Depweg would burn in Hell for what he had done.
“You won’t let Depweg in Heaven…will you?” I rhetorically asked, my face dropping to the ground. My entire body felt cold at that moment, as if my flesh had been replaced with frozen blocks of ice.
Gabriel noticed all of this and quickly recomposed himself.
“That’s not up to me,” he explained sympathetically, as if a softer tone could somehow mend my shattered heart; like putting a Hello Kitty Band-Aid over a gaping cannonball wound.
“Then who is it up to? Your manager?” I wanted to mimic a shrill Midwestern accent and demand to speak to his manager, but my heart wasn’t in it. That worried me because being funny was my normal go-to when the going got tough.
“It’s up to Depweg whether he will enter into Heaven when this is all over,” Gabriel said.
Something in his words caught my attention, like camping at night and hearing a deep growl somewhere in the distance.
“When this is all over?” I asked, crossing my arms, lowering my chin, and bringing my shoulders in, effectively making myself a smaller target. “He…he’s gonna die?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to,” I replied, defeat in my voice. “I’m beginning to understand what you really mean when you give your messages.”
“All you need to know is Depweg has a long road ahead of him. The choices he—and only he—makes will determine his eternity.” Gabriel looked at how tense my entire body was and how submissive my stance had become, and added, “Rest assured there is nothing you can do to alter his fate.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better? Telling me I can’t save my best friend’s eternal soul, no matter what I do?”
“You have a good heart, John. Time after time, you have placed other’s needs in front of your own, and have accomplished impossible feats in pursuit of what you thought was right.”
“Someone once told me that throughout history, impossible things have been achieved by people too stupid to know they couldn’t be done.”
Gabriel barked out a quick laugh, making me feel a little at ease. Even Doc Jim chuckled.
I felt my shoulders slowly ease back to a neutral position as the tension slightly mitigated with the laughter.
“Well, you are many things, John, but stupid is not one of them,” Gabriel stated with a warm smile.
“Yeah, I usually get called dense. But it is what it is.”
“And that is precisely the attitude I would encourage you to apply to Depweg’s story. It is what it is. Only he can decide his future and where he will spend eternity.”
I considered his words, and the thought of Dawson in Hell flashed through my mind. He had been there because of the guilt he couldn’t let go of.
With a gasp that was barely audible, I tilted my head and locked eyes with Gabriel, asking a wordless question.
In answer, the archangel only produced the slightest of smiles. So slight that I doubted even Doc Jim could have caught it.
“Be there for him,” Gabriel said before turning to the good doctor.
My mind was flooded with a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions, like being handed the answer key to one of life’s most important tests.
Speaking to Doc Jim, Gabriel finished his earlier explanation.
“You came very close to solving the riddle of aging.” Leaning his head a little bit forward, he finished with, “But please understand, we cannot condone any further development of your serum. Life is precious because it will one day end. Depriving souls of the development gained from their experiences would be an injustice to all.”
Even though I understood his point, I couldn’t help but counter with, “I don’t know, man. I’m immortal and seem to be doing pretty good with it, lack of time management aside.”
“Not to be harsh, but have you not spent much of the last century attempting to do good toward the effort of cleansing your soul in preparation for the day that you die?”
“I, um…I…”
“Regardless,” Gabriel continued, waving a hand dismissively, “I have been able to secure you with a continual stream of the serum, even with a dwindling supply from Faerie.”
“Yeah. How are you doing that, bee-tee-dubs? King Taylor hooking ya up or what?”
Gabriel’s eyes briefly flicked to the church before immediately returning to me, but I still caught the action. Following the direction he had looked to, I replayed my question as I pondered the meaning of his glance.
After a few seconds, I returned my focus to the archangel. “What?”
“You’ll discover it soon enough,” Gabriel replied with a pinch of a sigh evident just beneath the surface. “As for my supplier, a very nice shaman ensures that Doctor Hunt here continues to receive the completed serum.”
I thought for a moment before pointing a finger to Doc Jim and asking, “But why hasn’t he reversed aging like Papa T?”
“They come labeled,” Doc Jim breathed out, taking off his glasses with one hand and rubbing his eyes with the other. “I figured his vials were configured to take his various ailments into account.”
My mind flashed to gnarled hands dotted with liver spots.
“You can cure most things, can’t you?” I accused Gabriel, tilting my head to one side and narrowing my eyes.
“It is not for me to do so, John,” Gabriel retorted with a stone-cold tone that left zero room for debate. “You have no concept of the complexities of life.” Looking down, he softly finished with, “I doubt you ever will.”
Lightning cracked overhead, drawing the attention of both Jim and me. Gabriel, however, continued to stare at the ground, paying the eerie electricity no mind.
“We don’t have time for this,” Gabriel spoke sternly as he visibly regained his businesslike composure.
A fierce gust of wind blew past, howling its war cry as my coat flaps sounded like a bike with playing cards in the spokes.
“Just to be clear,” I said over the gushing wind, “this isn’t you, right?”
Turning his gaze to me, the stone-faced archangel replied, “Do not return to Hell. She is lost to you now.”
For a reason I couldn’t fathom, his words didn’t need the usual processing. I knew in an instant who he was referring to.
Without telling them to do so, my eyes instinctively reacted, glowing a fierce crimson while my fangs elongated to surgical points. I could feel my canines sliding against the inside of my mouth.
Doc Jim took several hurried steps away, his hands up defensively in direct contrast to Gabriel, who didn’t react in any way.
“It’s better if you accept that fact sooner rather than later, John,” he said softly, almost apologetically. “For now, you have more pressing matters to attend to.” To underline his point, he slowly pointed a single finger upward.
Following his direction, I glanced up to see a roiling sky that seemed more like a chaotic undulation of the ocean than floating clouds.
“But what if—” I began to ask, lowering my face to look at Gabriel, who was gone. Of their own volition, my eyes dimmed to their normal purple, and my teeth receded back to normal.
Turning toward Doc Jim, we exchanged glances. He simply shrugged while lightly shaking his head. Looking away, I waved a single hand dismissively.
I grabbed my hips and focused on the ground for a moment before turning back to the still apprehensive doctor. “Thank you for all your help. I appreciate everything you’ve done for us.”
At my sincere praise, the doctor visibly relaxed right as another roll of thunder reverberated through the air like a predator on the hunt.
“I gotta talk to Papa T,” I said, thumbing over my shoulder toward the church.
Doc Jim thought for a moment before working up the courage to ask, “John, what’s going on?” To clarify what he was referring to, he looked up at the sky right as a raindrop splashed against his glasses. While keeping his face tilted up, he removed his spectacles and wiped the water off with a special cloth he kept in his pocket.
“Nothing good,” I answered honestly. “Tell your grandson, Drew, I said hi.” I didn’t know why I felt the need to send my regards to the sassy assistant who ran the front end of the veterinary clinic, but it also didn’t matter.
“Will do,” he agreed, understanding our conversation was nearing its close, and then adding, “What about you?”
“Hmm?”
“Is there anything I can do for you?”
I could hear in his voice how careful he was being. It took me a moment to figure out it was probably related to the conversation Gabriel and I had ended on.
“Oh,” I breathed out, taking off my beanie and surrendering my long black hair to the wind. “No…probably not. But thank you for asking.”
He nodded once at me, and I returned the gesture.
We turned away from each other at the same time; him returning to the parked car on the street, and me walking to the church’s front door as another eerie crack of lightning flashed across the sky.
Looking up, I saw the stone gargoyles were watching me now, their shadowed faces briefly illuminating with each spiderweb of distorted electricity that crossed the skyline.
“I know, I know,” I told them, sucking in a deep, steadying breath. “I know…”
8
LILY
A wind rustled the cornfield, making the dry, brown stalks creak like tree branches.
The prehistoric snake that could have swallowed a rhinoceros whole struggled to lift the much smaller prey off the ground.
From inside his mouth, the demon heard what sounded like sneezing.
“Ha-tchh. Ha-tchh. Ha-tchh,” Lily feigned cutely with hands that still covered her mouth.
Utterly perplexed, the snake mimicked arching a brow in confusion by simply narrowing one eye right before his bottom jaw exploded.
Sheets of gore were sloshed over several rows of corn, almost sounding like a single wave crashing on a beach.
The snake shrieked in surprised anguish as it jerked its long head back, tongue lolling from a gushing mound of ripped flesh.
Lily, completely devoid of even a speck of blood, lowered her hands and let her wide eyes drop to a scowl.
All too late, the snake demon realized that she hadn’t been cowering in fear as he struck; she had been pretending to sneeze to mock him.
“Sorry,” Lily exaggerated with a quick wipe of her nose to remove the phantom residue from the fake sneeze. “I’m allergic to dead demons.”
With a predatory smile that could make a statue shudder uncomfortably, Lily asked, “There wouldn’t happen to be any dead demons around here…would there?”
In answer, the demon recoiled, blood continuing to run down from where his lower jaw had once resided. As the snake shrunk precipitously, the cliché cornfield began to fade like a postproduction scene change for a movie, leaving behind the control room of the mortal woman’s mind.
Once reverted back to his original form, the reptilian humanoid tried to crawl back to the shadows, only to have an incredibly strong grip snag his ankle with a crunch. Screaming, he was yanked back from the safety of the darkness as easily as if he weighed nothing more than a trash bag full of unpopped bubble wrap.
“Foolish demon,” Lily purred as she straddled his torso, snatching thin wrists as they flailed the air in an erratic attempt at defense. “Isn’t it obvious? The instruction to leave me be was for your protection. Not mine.”
Crunch. Crunch.
