Beautifully Unnatural: A Young Adult Paranormal Boxed Set (130 page)

If Alexander were here, he’d know what to do. After all, he’d sobered her dad up. That was an amazing act in itself. But when he returned home, would he even want to see her after all those horrible things she’d said and accused him of?

Gabby tried to lose herself in the music as she paced around the room, to escape all the questions, but it was no use.

What if he didn’t return? No, he had to, if for no other reason than to bring the medicine to Sammy. There hadn’t been any time to speak about what happened before he left. Once he had time to think about things, would he hate her? The minute their love was tested, she had betrayed him.

Defeated, she dropped into her desk chair and stared out the window to watch the driveway once more.

Patronus jumped down, wagging his tail. She turned the music down and changed it to some soothing jazz, something her father listened to often while sipping booze.

Was she trying to torture herself, and wallow in self-pity for a while?

Maybe she should call and see how Sammy was doing. It was late but certainly, Grace would be up tending to Sammy.

She reached into her shorts pocket for her cell phone, but it wasn’t there. Where could it be? Downstairs in the kitchen?

All she found on the counter were the same appliances and kitchenware that had been there since they’d unpacked. After searching the kitchen table, the living room, and the laundry room, she was still coming up empty-handed. Her pulse raced at the thought of having no connection to the outside world, no way to call for help. Not only did they move so frequently, it made getting a landline impractical, but her father also believed a cell phone was more useful in a pinch. Well, when you knew where it was.

Thinking back over the day, she realized she could have left it at Grace’s house or in the clearing of the woods. Going out to find her phone in the dark didn’t seem reasonable, but staying at home with no phone wasn’t a particularly good option either.

The howls grew closer and an uneasy feeling filtered through her body, like a ghost had passed through her frame.

“Patronus, come.” The dog followed her as she headed to her father’s room. She pulled one of his handguns from the top drawer of his dresser and checked to see if it was loaded. She wasn’t sure if mere bullets would harm a demon, but what other choice did she have? Hopefully, all the time she logged at the range with her dad would pay off.

Another howl, this one sounding as if it came from her front porch. The wind blew harder, rattling her father’s bedroom window. Around her, the house groaned and creaked.

“Dad?” No answer. “I’m locked and loaded here, so you better speak up quick.” She stood to the side of the open doorway, the gun clutched in both hands, but no answer came.
Locked and loaded
was a phrase her father always used when they were shooting together. But it sounded stupid coming from her.

Hearing the sound of running water, she crept to the bathroom door. Leaning against the wall, she angled the gun down toward the floor. “Patronus.” She motioned him into the bathroom with a jerk of her head and he immediately obeyed. When he didn’t bark, she followed behind him. The dog sat in front of the shower, whining. Only hesitating a moment, Gabby walked over and yanked the shower curtain back. It was empty, but a trail of blood ran along the floor of the tub, with more in the sink.

Her father must have snuck in at some point to tend his wounds. When she returned to the bedroom, gauze and bandages, iodine and a threaded needle littered his nightstand. Items she had seen far too often in her life.

But if he was home, why didn’t he answer her?

He must have been well enough to leave again. Then a thought struck her and she sucked in a quick breath. Easing over to the closet, she strategically cleared the room as her father had taught. She bent down to the floor to look under the bed. To her relief, the space was empty save for a few boxes. Strange. She was sure they hadn’t been there when she confiscated that bottle of whiskey earlier.

She grasped the flap of one box and yanked, but it ripped off in her hand, the box too heavy to pull out one handed. She set the gun down on the floor next to her and used both hands to wiggle the box out from under the bed.

After she pulled out the remaining two, she looked down at the boxes, an image flashing in her mind. This scene, it was in one of her drawings. She was sure of it. And if she drew it, that meant it was something significant.

Thinking there could be a clue in the picture, Gabby darted up the stairs, leaving the gun on the floor beside the boxes.

Papers flew in all directions as she pulled her portfolio out and bolted back downstairs. Patronus waited patiently in her father’s room, as if he’d known she would return. He was a strange dog, but invaluable the way he acted as a walking alarm when demons approached. Well, excluding Boon, of course.

Settling on the floor next to him, she patted Patronus on the head. “Let’s see what’s going on here. Maybe I can figure something out that can help.” For once.

Opening the flaps of one box, she discovered it was full of papers. She read a few lines from each page as she flipped through them, but nothing made any sense. Reaching up to grab her portfolio off the bed, she pulled the pictures out, spreading them around her. The picture of her looking through the boxes lay in front.

For an hour, she sat on the floor trying to make sense of the images, but nothing clicked. No clues jumped off the pages. Trying a different approach, she organized them into two piles. The pictures on the left showed things that had already happened, while those on the right depicted future ones. The one of Forras attacking Sammy sat on top of the left pile.

If only she’d realized what it meant, she could have prevented what happened. Now, Sammy would probably be maimed forever. She shivered at the thought and pushed it aside to focus on the task.

Pulling the second box open, she found more papers, many covered with foreign-looking symbols, the words written in Latin. One looked like a diagram of a demon’s anatomy but the descriptions pointing to the various body parts were also in Latin.

The third box was full of maps and more diagrams. She pulled all the papers out and tried to put them in categories based on diagrams, foreign language, maps, etc.

They meant something, but what? In the bottom of the third box, she found an old, worn, leather bound book. The pages were crinkled and faded, the handwriting exactly the same as her father’s. It was a journal. Her father’s journal.

When she opened it and flipped through the creased pages, a white envelope fell in her lap. She ripped it open and discovered a letter in her father’s handwriting. Glancing down the page, she froze.

Fallen angel located. Termination guaranteed in two weeks. Demon will follow within one additional week. Request retirement and relocation after mission completion.

Respectfully,

Earthbound Hunter.

“Earthbound Hunter?” She’d heard Alexander mention them before. Was that her father’s real occupation? Were the cuts and bruises caused by demons? Did her father know about Forras and his role in her mom’s death? Is that why they were here? To get revenge?

Her heart thumped hard against her chest as she read the letter again. “Wait. Angel? Termination?” A choked cry escaped her lips.

No, it’s okay. Alexander’s gone.
But Sammy was still here and so was Grace, not to mention Alexander would be returning soon. And the letter only stated that one angel had been located, so it could be any one of the three of them.

Why would her father want to harm an angel? She could recall Alexander having said that hunters believed no supernatural creatures should be on Earth, that a fallen angel was the same as a demon.

She bolted to her feet and began pacing the bedroom. She needed to find her father, now. She needed to tell him he was wrong.

She wasn’t sure she should reveal Alexander’s secret, but she had to tell her father the truth if she was going to convince him. He’d believe his own daughter, especially when she told him how a fallen angel had saved both of them, several times.

As she paced back toward the boxes, she noticed a map lying on the floor in front of the first box. The landmarks looked familiar. The water, the woods, the homes, schools, and shopping centers. It was a detailed map of Kemp, Florida, but not like any map she’d ever seen. Strange symbols were scattered across the paper, in the woods and on a few of the homes. The ocean harbored what looked like a sea serpent, while the woods were home to wild dogs, and the mall frequented by strange, disfigured people.

A chill raced through her entire body. The house near the ocean, Grace’s home, was encircled in red marker. And next to it, written in a faint scribble, read
Fallen angel.

****

Herak poured tea for Alexander then passed the chipped cup to him. “Now, I may continue.”

At Alexander’s nod, he sat back in his chair and took a sip. “When Heaven discovered my arrogance, they sent an army of angels to subdue me. They were to remove my powers, but Lucifer had already made me a proposition. I would conquer the angelic army with the help of Hell’s minions and forever rule Earth. A great battle ensued, in which the Earth shook and Heaven poured down its wrath, but in the end all the angels were slain or captured.”

Herak’s cup rattled against the saucer. “Afterward, Lucifer betrayed me and turned his minions loose on Earth. My wife and children perished at their hands.”

Alexander could see the torment flash across Herak’s face at the memory and could sympathize. He knew that if Gabby died, it would drive him mad.

“I traveled to Hell in search of revenge,” Herak continued. “My abilities were greater than any creature there, excluding Lucifer. When I threatened to release the captured angels into Hell, Lucifer denied any part of the minions’ plan, and agreed to curse the demons who had plotted against me. From then on, the demons and captured angels were cursed, forced to live among humans, never able to return to Heaven or Hell.”

Silence filled the cave. Alexander could understand this man’s grief, but felt he’d brought it upon himself.

Herak took the kettle from the fire and poured more tea in Alexander’s cup then his own. “When I returned to Earth, I was approached by a powerful angel who was cursed to walk Earth forever in demon form.”

Alexander choked on his tea and looked up at Herak.

Unfazed, the old man continued. “I don’t know if it was the angel’s compassion in spite of what I’d done to him, or his unwavering faith in the face of tragedy, but he taught me how to face the consequences of my actions. I fell to my knees and begged for Heaven’s forgiveness.”

Alexander couldn’t contain himself any longer. “What was the name of the angel?” he asked, the question bursting from his lips without thought.

Herak gave him a bemused look. “I think you already know the answer.”

Alexander searched his mind for the truth, attempting to find a different answer than the one that kept pushing to the forefront. But it was futile. He knew the answer before he’d even asked the question. “Boon? He’s not a demon?”

“He’s not even a fallen angel, only an obedient servant of the merciful God. If it weren’t for Boon, I’d still worship false Gods, including myself.”

“All this time and… but Boon never said anything. I’ve been such a—”

“A naïve, self-absorbed teenager?” Herak shook his head.

Alexander sighed. “Something like that.” His head still rang with confusion as he thought back to all the altercations they’d had, how he’d judged and threatened him, without a word from Boon. How many times could he have put Alexander in his place?

“My pleas for forgiveness went unheeded,” Herak pressed on. “It was decided that I should suffer the same fate as those I had cursed, living out my days on Earth. I still reside here over thirty-three hundred years later. Earth years anyway. But on this land, I’ve lived ten times that since time moves slower here.”

Alexander’s mind reeled. “If angels were finally able to overpower you, why didn’t they send you to Hell?”

“Don’t you see? This is the worst punishment possible.” He gestured around the small cave. “Having to face everything I’d done. I was never overpowered or captured. The binding spell that keeps me here I placed on myself. I voluntarily imprisoned myself as penance.”

“What if you changed your mind? Couldn’t you lift the spell?”

“No. Only an angel can break the spell. But no angel would ever do such a thing.”

“I-I am…” Alexander stammered.

“Don’t worry. I’m not asking. It’s not a condition to save your earthbound sister. The only condition is for you to understand the gravity of your actions. If you do not want to end up like me, you need to learn to control yourself and seek help from others. You have no idea what power you and others around you possess. Learn self-control and don’t judge, or you will be judged.”

Herak stood abruptly and grasped his chest.

“What is it?” Alexander rushed to the old man’s side, offering a hand to steady him.

Herak reached into his robes and pulled out a vile filled with an amethyst colored liquid. “Take this to Grace. She’ll know what to do. You must hurry.”

He followed Alexander to the opening of the cave and glanced at the black sky above them. “It has begun. The storm is here.”