Dark Angel (Anak Trilogy) (2 page)

“It’s probably just the night janitor, but I’ve seen too many gory movies about silly girls in an empty school building being stalked by a killer not to be a little uneasy. Let’s just get our stuff and go.” Kate must have been just as uneasy as I was because for once she didn’t comment, but
she hurried to the other end of the locker room in silence and began to gather her clothes which were strewn all over the bench.

I stuffed the basketball in the carrier that Coach left in the l
ocker room. Kate tossed me hers and turned back to continue stuffing her clothes in her gym bag. I put her ball in the carrier then crossed to the bench and scooped my clothes and sandals from the bench and crammed them in my bag with my biology book. We didn’t even bother to change back into our street shoes. Together, we hurried out of the locker room and crossed the gym floor.

“Was it this cold in here earlier?”

“Not even close,” Kate answered shivering. The gym had cooled down some since practice, but it was positively frigid now. We were both shaking uncontrollably, but whether our shaking was from the temperature or from fright, I wasn’t sure.

“Wait a minute, Kate.” I murmured and moved to the double set of glass doors that were chained together and secured with a lock. I scoured the parking lot for anyone lurking around our cars. Kate’s
car was in a pool of light from the streetlight next to her vehicle, but still it looked eerie, surreal even. “It looks ok out there. Let’s go.”

We crossed the lobby to the side door.

“Get out your keys,” I instructed Kate while I dug around in my bag for mine.

“We’ll walk to your car. It’s the closest, and it’s parked under a streetlight. My car is parked in the back overflow lot. You can drive me around to it.”

“Sounds good,” Kate whispered her blue eyes wide as she looked furtively out the door.

The view of the parking lot wasn’t as good from the side door, but I surveyed the parking lot again before pushing open the door. The cold, fresh air collided with my face and bare legs as it pushed its way inside. The walk to Kate’s older model Chevy Blazer was uneventful but still creepy. Kate stopped once halfway to the car cocking her head to
the side listening again. Then, without a word, she began walking briskly toward her car.

“How did we let it get to be so late? My dad is probably dialing the police as we speak,
” I squeaked trying to fill the silence with chatter while throwing my dead cell phone back in my bag.

Kate
pushed the button on her key chain unlocking the doors to her vehicle, and we both climbed in.

“
I was running late this morning. The only parking was in the back lot.”

“No
problem,” Kate replied and crammed the keys in her ignition. Her Blazer started without hesitation. She sat up straight in the driver’s seat and slowly turned facing me.  “Annie what happened back in the gym was so strange. Stranger than Coach even.”

“Ah, we probably just watch too many horror movies,” I growled.

“Yeah, but it’s fun being scared when you’re crawled up on the sofa at home with a big bowl of popcorn. It’s not so much fun when you’re in an empty school building alone.” Kate laughed her voice trembling.

“Y
ou weren’t alone Kate. I was with you,” I giggled weakly. “Maybe it was Coach trying to get even.” The uneasy, dark feeling had not left me either, and I scanned the bushes, the parking lot, and the ball fields that ran along the side of the parking lot for anything that moved.   

“Coach couldn’t get even if I gave
him the instructions,” Kate growled. Then with an exasperated sigh, she turned. Kate looked at me her big blue eyes glistening with tears. “He already got even. I’m in detention tomorrow . . . and at lunch,” she whined. “My social life is going to suffer terribly. I needed to network at lunch and see if someone hotter than Austin will ask me out to Lauren’s party.”

“You’re so shallow Kate,” I giggled.

“Extremely,” she chirped. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning in biology.” Kate’s mood instantly became somber as she pulled up next to my car. “Be careful, Annie,” she warned.

I, too, had an older model SUV, a Tahoe, with only a small dent in the front right fender compliments of someone at a party last summer. It was the closest thing to a tank that my dad could afford. It still made him nervous for me to drive. If it was in his power, I would have a military escort every time I drove. If he was wealthy, I am sure I would drive a Hummer rather than a Tahoe. I pulled
my keys out of my gym bag putting the panic button right under my thumb. I crawled out of the passenger side.

“Kate, make sure to lock this door back.”

“K, I will. See ya Annie.” With that, Kate just drove off leaving me in a cloud of dust in the darkness of the unpaved back parking lot.

I groaned. This parking lot ran alongside the baseball field and was not lighted. It was an overflow lot for the additional parking needed for home games and students, like me, who were so late for school that all the spaces were taken in the paved lots. I’ll definitely have something to harass Kate about for the next few days. What was she thinking driving off leaving her best friend in the dark in a deserted parking lot?

As I turned toward my car, the uneasiness returned and began to seep into my bones. I felt the hair on my neck stand up. I pushed the button on my key to unlock my doors. Accidentally, I pushed the panic button instead in my haste to get the door open. The horn started blasting, and I jumped in fright dropping my keys on the dark gravel. I was still shaking, and I could not see my keys. I squatted down and swept my right hand back and forth trying to feel my keys.

A deep, throaty growl came from the darkness in front of my vehicle.  My hand stopped
, and my head lifted. Frozen, I remained still trying to figure out if I had indeed heard a low, threatening growl amid the blasts from my horn. I pushed my hair back from my face, and then I heard it again. It sounded only 15 or 20 feet in front of me. Even though it was a balmy, spring evening in Dacula, Georgia, a sprawling upscale suburb about twenty miles east of Atlanta, I shivered uncontrollably. I could hear the pounding thump of my heart accelerating, echoing in my ears. My throat tightened and constricted, so screaming didn’t seem like an option. I doubted there was anyone around close enough to hear if I did get a scream out.

I could hear something moving in the darkness scraping and dragging along emitting a deep, rumbling growl that made my knees weak. I didn’t know whether to stand up and see what it was or keep looking for my keys. I decided that I had to have my keys. I needed the protection of my car
and to stop the blasting horn set off by the panic button. I was too vulnerable in the open lot. Dropping from a squat to my knees, I felt all around for my keys. I could hear the growling grow even deeper and coming closer. Finally, my hands hit the keys, but they made a loud scraping sound against the gravel in the parking lot. I panicked. Did that thing hear the noise of the keys?  The growling and movement stopped for a moment. I knew then, that it did. I closed my fingers slowly, carefully around my keys and pushed the panic button again to stop the horn. I took that moment to collect my thoughts. What do I need to do? Racking my brain for a plan, I decided to push the button to unlock my doors, jump up while I pushing the button, yank open the door, and throw myself inside. Hopefully, I would surprise whatever was out there, and it would not react fast enough to get to me.

“At the count of three, Annie.” A
lmost silently, I counted.  “One . . . two . . . three.”

I hit the unlock button and jumped up. However, i
nstead of yanking the door open when I saw what was making the growling noise, I gasped and stumbled backward. I drew my fist up toward my mouth stifling the scream that was growing within me. Tears sprang to my eyes.

I
n front of me was a huge animal. It was as big as a small vehicle. The creature crouched yet stood on its hind legs upright. Its elongated, hairy, muscular arms were curled, yet at such a great length that they rested on the ground. The claws were broken and torn. Each thick nail curved crookedly for at least six to seven inches. Its mouth was open exposing several rows of teeth like a shark.  Four to five inch jagged, pointed, yellowed teeth dripping with salvia crowded the creature’s mouth, so that it gave the appearance of a demonic smile. The middle of its eyes was red encircled by a wide yellow band, and its eyes were fixated on me.  The deep growl that emanated from its throat was horrific. It felt as though the ground under my feet trembled from sound of it. I had never seen anything so menacing. Its thick, shaggy, hairy coat looked black, though it was hard to tell as it blended in with the darkness of the night. Pulling its lips even farther back exposing more of its deadly teeth, it snarled. Salvia poured from its mouth in a stringy stream. I was about to die. This was it—the end. All I could think of was my father. If I am torn apart by a vicious animal and he loses me, it would surely put him over the edge. Tears ran from the corners of my eyes.

“Daddy,” I whispered closing my eyes tight.  I wanted my last thoughts in this life to be of my father.

The animal moved stealthily around the front of the car into a leaping position. It moved its body to face me head on, so the vehicle was no longer between us.

“Get in the car,” I told myself, but I was frozen in fear, unable to move.  I tried to make my limbs move, but it was as if they weren’t getting the message from my brain. They felt as if they were bloated and weighed ten times their actual weight. Since the creature was less than fifteen feet in front of me, I didn’t see how I could accomplish getting in my car before the animal got to me, but it was my only chance. 

“Please,” I whispered, “my Dad will die if I die.”

Since my mother’s death, I’ve had a crisis of faith, yet standing here faced with certain death
, I pled to any unseen entity that might be in hearing distance to spare me. Then, if the situation wasn’t desperate enough, something moved in back of me. I was still paralyzed with fear. Was there another creature? I strained to hear any further sounds coming from behind me, but my head stubbornly would not turn to look at what lurked there.

“Need some help?” a silky, deep voice
materialized from the darkness. As if a switch was released, my limbs became my own again. I turned, seeing a creature behind me that was as frightening as the one before me. My mouth dropped open. I’m sure I looked deranged as I gazed at the sight standing behind me. Hovering above me in the darkness, his face shining with an alabaster glow, was an immense creature. He was gigantic, and he was absolutely, frighteningly beautiful. His large hand pushed me gently backward. 

“Stay behi
nd me.” He ordered in a lovely, soothing voice.

This was unbelievable. This creature
, I’m not sure I could call him a man, that stood between me and the animal was incredible. He towered over me. His long hair was the color of corn silk, and his shoulders were broad and muscular. He wore no shirt, only a tunic-like garment covered him from waist to knee. There was a wide silver girdle that bound his waist. Silver pieces of cloth that looked metallic hung at varying lengths from the waistband. Huge muscular legs peeked through the garment. He wore shoes like I had never seen before. They were more moccasin-like than shoes. They resembled boots in the respect that they covered his calves; however, not like boots in that they seemed soft and pliable. They were studded in silver, and fine silver strands fell gracefully from the studs. The tops ended right below the knee. Silver rose from the top of his shoes covering his knees and crawling up his muscled leg to leaf like points several inches above his knees. The rest of him was bare, and his garment swayed around him as though alive. Three beautiful, delicately carved, silver sheaths hung around his chest and back. The carvings looked to be in some sort of language, but the only one I had a good look at was the one hanging between his massive shoulder blades. Two of them crisscrossed in the front, and the third one, the one I could see the best, hung from his back. I could not see his face as I stood behind him, but I remembered it as lovely. His size was definitely impressive too.  For the first time in long minutes, I felt as though I may live through the night.

He crossed his arms, grabbed the hilt of a sword in each hand and drew them slowly out. They made a metallic swooshing sound as they parted from the sheaths. The broad swords looked to be of the same silver that the sheaths were fashioned from and gleamed menacingly in the moonlight. The great
monster’s crimson eyes narrowed at the sound, and he crouched lower in response. At that moment, the giant animal leaped for us. This massive angel who had come to my rescue dodged the animal slashing its chest and back as it missed us but not the point of his swords.

“Swords,” I mumbled. “Where is a bazooka when you need it?”

This being that stood between me and the horrific beast tensed, but he did not speak. I moved with my gigantic savior being careful to stay behind him, but I watched the creature from under his outstretched arms.  This being which stood between me and the monster was so incredibly large that I could stand under his arms and still have a foot of clearance. Light emanated from his skin giving it a stone-like appearance. I almost forgot the creature that was about to eat me, as I gazed at the one in front of me.