Angel in the Shadows, Book 1 by Lisa Grace (Angel Series) (7 page)

“Robby did ask Mr. Timmons to take Paige in
their canoe on the way back. I don’t think she’s going to be happy
about that. In a way, I don’t see why Robby doesn’t like her. She’s
prettier than me.”

“Carrie, Robby’s not that shallow. You are
pretty. You’re also athletic and you ‘get’ him. You’re more his
type. I can totally see why he’d rather be with you.”

Carrie smiles at me, “Thanks, that makes me feel
better.” With that, Carrie stands up and cannonballs into the
water. She swims over to Robby where they proceed to get into a
splash fight.

Seth swims over to me, “Lets race back, loser
has to–”, I jump in and start to swim as hard as I can before he
finishes his sentence. As I swim I feel a tug on my ankle. Panic
hits me as I remember the thing in the lake. I scream. I fight
away, kicking as hard as I can before I realize it’s Seth.

“Hey! That hurt!” He says paddling with one hand
while massaging his jaw with the other.

I swim back to him, “I’m sorry! I didn’t know it
was you! I panicked.”

I hear a voice yell to us from shore, “What’s
going on?”

“Nothing!” Seth and I answer back at the same
time.

I turn back to him, almost in tears. “I’m sorry.
I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

He reaches out, “Come here, I’m okay. That’ll
teach me not to sneak up on you. You‘ve got some kick girl,” I swim
closer, and suddenly he pushes me under. I come up and he’s
laughing, “Payback for jumping the gun.” He takes off swimming for
shore as I follow in his wake. I’m relieved he’s okay and at the
same time I’m worried about how jittery I am.

***

On the way back to camp, Seth tries to tip over
the canoe more than once, but the coolers help keep it weighted. I
think Robby’s rubbed off on him.

I see the dark thing twice on our way back.
Always lurking, watching, waiting. Halfway home, we stop at an
inlet where there is a rope swing. Seth and I each take a turn. The
water is only about six feet deep, not enough where people can dive
in but deep enough to break your fall from the swing. The water is
clear here, without weeds. I’m still rattled by the dark thing out
there, but I don’t want my fear showing. I have to try to hide it
better. As Seth and I are going back to shore for another turn on
the swing, I stop. I grab for Seth.

“What’s wrong?” he asks.

A sinister presence is attached to the swing as
one of the boys, Charlie, gets ready to jump. I see it holding him
in place as he tries to drop in the water. It doesn’t let go until
he’s back over land. I hear a sickening crack as he lands on a
rock. His arm is broken. You can see part of the bone pushing
against the skin. Charlie starts to scream in pain.

Mr. Timmons comes rushing over yelling, “Bring
the first aid kit.” One of the other staffers runs the kit back to
Mr. Timmons. The staffer gets the inflatable cast out, fills it,
and holds it ready for Mr. Timmons. He lines the bone back up and
puts on the inflatable cast. Luckily, there’s a cabin in sight. An
older couple on the porch must have seen what happened. They come
running up, “We can drive you to the hospital.”

I look around for the presence but it’s gone. I
couldn’t do anything to stop it from hurting that boy. What can I
do? I feel so useless. Right now I don’t know how to cope. In the
back of my mind a small voice tells me I’m not going to be able to
ignore it for long and that I had better come up with a better
strategy. My carefree days are numbered.

***

I try to catch Zadok that evening around the
campfire, but our team activities keep me busy. All too soon it’s
lights out and I just have to wait for a new day.

Going to sleep is a challenge. I pray for
protection and finally exhaustion wins. I fall into a deep
dreamless sleep.

***

After the canoe trip, I don’t want to give the
dark presence an “in” with any kids. I can’t prevent accidents, but
maybe I can help curb self-destructive behavior.

Today I’m determined to talk to Paige. I have to
convince her to get help. I think she already hates me for knowing
her secret. One way or another, I’m going to have to be more
persuasive.

Today also starts the last three days I have
with Seth. Just being near him makes me happy. I can’t stand the
thought that we have to go back to a long distance relationship.
The worst part is we live only three-and-a-half hours apart.
Jacksonville isn’t that far away from Clearwater, but it may as
well be across the country. When school starts, what if he finds
someone he likes better? I can’t even think about that.

I shower and get to the mess hall as quick as I
can. I miss Seth and want to see him as soon as possible. For once,
he’s beat me in. I meet him up by the food. We can’t do anything
except talk because of the adults in the room. We take our
breakfast to the table and sit next to each other.

From where we’re sitting, I can see into the
main dining room whenever the door swings open. For a minute, I
can’t believe my eyes. The dark thing is in there. The door swings
shut. Seth is talking to me, but I didn’t hear what he said.

“I’ll be back in a minute.” I go through the
door into the main dining room. The dark thing is hovering over by
two boys I don’t know. Zadok is nowhere in sight.

I know I must go over and try to stop whatever
is about to happen. I ask God to protect me, then I walk over to
the boys and the dark angel. My hands are shaking so I quickly fold
my arms hoping no one else notices. I remember that this dark
spiritual force is here to destroy or “snatch” one of their faiths,
or to tempt them to do evil. I must do my best to stop it.

I come up and sit on the bench across from them
waiting for something brilliant to pop into my mind. Something so
powerful and obviously from God that this evil angel will turn and
flee.

So of course, I say, “Hi.”

I wait and just look at them. The demon is only
about three feet away from me. It’s roiling faster. I don’t want to
be distracted so I choose not to look at it.

“What are you guys up to?” They both answer,
“Nothing.” They look guilty already. I lean forward, “Look, I can
tell you’re not going to tell me the truth so I’m just going lay it
on the line. I’m going to tell you a secret.”

They both lean forward towards me. “You’re being
recruited right now by the devil,” I nod my head “yes” as they both
stare at me. “I don’t know what you were just talking about, but I
know it was very wrong and could hurt you both, eternally.” I look
from one to the other. “Do you understand me?” They both look at
me, nod “yes”, then look back at each other.

The younger one blurts out, “We weren’t going to
do it, honest. You won’t tell anyone will you?”

The other one pipes up, “We’re sorry.”

“Remember,” I point at the ceiling and whisper,
“He’s watching.”

As I get up to leave, I realize the dark angel
is gone. I breathe a sigh of relief.

I’m glad the danger is gone for now. I also
realize they won’t all be this easy. I want to talk to Zadok about
my encounter, but I probably won’t get a chance to see him alone
until after lunch.

I head back into the counselors dining room.

Seth asks, “What was that all about?”

“Oh, I just saw a couple of boys acting up. I
thought I’d talk to them before they really get in trouble,” I
say.

We finish breakfast. The rest of the morning
passes without any incident. Most of the kids are wiped out from
yesterday’s canoe trip so we just play fun swimming games.

After lunch, I look for Mr. Z. I’m beginning to
feel confident I can handle this talent God has given me. On the
other hand, I fear I might not succeed on every encounter and what
if the person is evil, not just the angel? Do I have a guardian
angel I can call on? There is so much I don’t understand. I know
enough to know—I don’t know enough.

Instead of Mr. Z., I run into Paige as I‘m
leaving the mess hall.

“Paige, can I please talk to you?”

Paige looks around to make sure no one is
listening. She motions me to follow her. We sit down on one of the
benches outside the chapel.

I wait for her to speak first.

“Look, I know I have to stop. It started out as
a way to drop a few pounds. I just wanted to look good in a bathing
suit,” she grabs her middle, “and I always had this flab I could
never get rid of. Girls used to tease me in the locker room about
my weight. I can’t stop eating, but I can control keeping it in my
body.”

“Paige, you’re so beautiful, it’s hard to
imagine you think there’s anything wrong with you,” I say.

“I’ve been trying to stop.” She wipes at her
eyes and sniffles. “I can’t control it anymore. Whenever I eat, my
body sends it back up. I can’t stop it now.” She looks up at me,
her eyes wide, “I’m scared.”

I reach out and give Paige a hug. When I pull
back I see tears are welling up in her eyes.

“How long have you been doing this?”

“Since I was twelve. Almost four years now.”

“Let’s go together to Mrs. Timmons. She’ll know
how to find you help.”

“No way.” She shakes her head, “I don’t want any
adults to know.”

“You just said you can’t stop on your own. She
can help you or find people who can. You have to try. I saw a show
where this can kill you. A hole can form in your throat, then you
can bleed to death.”

“Don’t scare me,” Paige says as she hunches over
hugging herself.

“This is serious. Four years with this secret?”
I take Paige’s hand and start leading her to the main lodge.

She keeps protesting all the way but doesn’t let
go of my hand.

When we walk into the main lodge, I see Mrs.
Timmons at the main desk.

She smiles up at us and says, “Hi girls, can I
help you with something?”

“Can we speak to you in private?” I ask. She
invites us into her office and closes the door. I’m in there just
long enough for Paige to explain the problem. Mrs. Timmons asks me
to leave. At least I did what I could. I’m running late for my arts
and crafts class, but it can’t be helped. I hurry over to the
classroom and I’m just in time to help clean up glitter. It’s
everywhere. Tonight, for dinner we’re grilling hamburgers. So with
dinner duty there’s not much to do except carry all the fixings out
to the picnic tables.

I look over to the woods for the dark angel or
demon or whatever it is. I’m too far away to see any details in the
bright light. Zadok is working the grill so I don’t get any alone
time with him. A lot of the young boys still aren’t back from a
treasure hunt in the woods, including Seth’s and Robby’s groups. I
sit and eat one of the first burgers off the grill before they get
cold.

I decide to head over to the cabin to grab a
jacket and a flashlight while it’s still early and I have nothing
better to do. As I approach, I hear giggling and crashing sounds
coming from the woods behind my cabin. It could be the treasure
hunters. I go inside and look for a flashlight. They never get left
in the same place twice.

I catch a movement out of the corner of my eye
in the direction of my cot. Strangely, it looks like my cot has its
blanket tightly tucked in all the way around, not like I left it at
all. I walk over and tug the blanket loose. I pull back the cover.
Sure enough, a green snake. I pick up a small canvas tote, empty
it, and put the snake in. I sling my bag over my shoulder and put
my jacket on. I remember to put a hump on my bed and tuck it in so
it still looks like the snake is there.

I take the flashlight and casually stroll
towards Robby’s cabin. I make sure I see him and the guys down by
the cookout before I enter. I place the snake in Robby’s messed up
sheets, taking care they look exactly the same. I hope he screams
loud enough so I can hear him. The thought makes me smile.

I run down to meet Seth at the campfire and ask,
“How did the treasure hunt go?” Several of the younger boys start
snickering and laughing. I just act dumb. Seth looks at me and
smiles, “We had a great time, although my kids are still trying to
learn left from right. They spent a whole hour going in the wrong
direction.”

Robby says, “We had ssssssuch a
ssssssspectacular hunt.”

I think to myself, not for the first time, Robby
might be handsome, but not too smart. “I hope you scream like a
girl,” I mutter under my breath.

Robby and his boys are too busy laughing at
their inside joke to hear me.

After dinner, Zadok asks me, “Megan can you help
me carry this stuff up to the kitchen?”

Finally, a few minutes alone with him. As we
head up, he turns to me and says, “You did a good job today with
those boys.”

“I did okay, but they’re not always going to be
that easy to handle, are they?”

“No. They’re not,” Zadok answers. “You will
eventually come across some that will need angel intervention and
sometimes we get held up. Others need to be handled through prayer
and fasting. You won’t win every confrontation either. It’s not
your decision.”

I tell Zadok, “One came to visit me in the
middle of the night and put its hand on me. It really scared
me.”

Zadok just nods his head, “I can’t protect you
from seeing them and knowing they are there.”

“On the canoe trip it caused Charlie to break
his arm. I couldn’t move fast enough to stop it. What can I do? I’m
feeling so useless.”

“Okay, so you can’t stop every bad thing from
happening. So what can you do? What is within your power?” Zadok
asks.

“Pointing out self-destructive things?” I
ask.

“Good. You’re on the right track. So the answer
to the question, ‘What does God want me to do?’ is…”

“Remind them of what God says?” I say.

“Yeah, sounds so easy doesn’t it?” Zadok says.
“Megan, you will be walking a fine-line between the natural and the
spiritual. You have to remain firmly grounded in who you are. The
dark angels are after you, harder than ever. They want to destroy
you and any good you might do. Stay away from evil humans that have
a dark angel. The human part of them is too ignorant to be afraid
even though demons tremble at the sound of His name.”