Eternity (30 page)

Once we did, I stopped and turned back.

“What?” she demanded impatiently.

“The students…and the faculty.”

A few heads were already peering out from their doors and down the hall trying to source the reason for the commotion.

“They’re safe if they stay in a group,” she insisted quickly, already pushing the exit doors open.

“But they’re not.” I pointed to two faculty members stepping out in the hall, perplexed and surveying the damaged lockers and cracked floors left by the attack.

Ms. Beedinwigg heaved a sigh of frustration and in that fleeting second I saw why I had selected the Beedinwigg’s as trainers so long ago. They had an inherent fervor that drove them towards a single objective and made them unwilling to be deterred by anything or anyone in their path.

Still, I wouldn’t budge and, in this particular case, she knew it was best to compromise. She took a glimpse around for something to suffice and then smiled. “Perfect,” she muttered just as she flipped up the fire alarm case and pulled down its lever, sending a piercing, screaming noise through the school.

“There,” she yelled satisfied.

“Thanks,” I said but it ended in a grunt as she yanked me out the door, again focused on her goal of removing me from harm’s way.

Glancing over my shoulder, I found her ploy had worked. The students flooded into the hallways, heading for the exit doors.

Knowing that the Fallen Ones detested being exposed, preferring to do their evil work in obscurity, they would flee the campus. This was just what was happening. The alarm from inside alerted the Fallen Ones and they were now springing from the ground, rooftops, lampposts, car tops, virtually every solid, horizontal surface and into the sky. An onslaught of bright white lights followed close behind.

Ms. Beedinwigg and I made it to her SUV and headed out of the parking lot. A few Fallen Ones attempted to attack us as they left the campus but to her vehicle’s credit we barely felt the chassis roll. Keeping a close eye on the sky, we were at her house in less than five minutes only to find that we weren’t the only ones to reach it.

Campion stood on the lowest step from the porch, scanning the sky warily. Behind him stood Felix, Rufus, and Ezra. Also there, just stepping out the door and on to the porch was Mr. Hamilton with Alfred coming out behind him.

“Well, looks like the gang’s all here,” muttered Ms. Beedinwigg as she pulled her vehicle into the driveway.

“I won’t be stopped from getting to Eran. I don’t care what any of you say,” I warned her.

“Oh…I don’t believe they’re here to stop you, Maggie.” The way she said this made me wonder what I was missing.

“Well, it is a pleasure to finally meet you,” said Ms. Beedinwigg taking the steps towards them, her smile both equally welcoming and in awe. Something told me that my housemates weren’t a complete stranger to her. “I understand you’ve been in Maggie’s life for some time now.”

“We have,” Felix said proudly, his usual flighty tone gone.

Ms. Beedinwigg nodded thoughtfully before addressing Ezra directly. “So you’ve been watching over…guiding Maggie since she’s moved here?”

“That’s correct,” said Ezra.

“You’ve done a fine job.”

Ezra declined the compliment. “It’s all been Maggie’s doing.”

That was when I cut in. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be rude but I’m on my way to Germany. I only stopped by for a few weapons.”

Rufus stepped into my path but I didn’t give him a chance to counter me. “I’ll explain later. Right now, nothing you say will have any impact on me.” I was already moving passed him.

My plan was to march into the house, down to the basement, gather the sword I’d been using during training, and to head to the airport for the first flight to Germany. How I was going to get my sword onboard the plane and find a prison so well hidden that no mortal had ever stumbled across it…well, I was still working all that out.

As it turned out, I didn’t get very far with my plan.

Rufus’s hand swung out and stopped me. I was about to oppose him when I saw what hung from his grip.

My sword.

“How-How…” I tried to finish my sentence but couldn’t seem to formulate my thought.

“This what ya lookin’ fer? Take it,” he commanded softly in his thick Irish accent. When I did, he withdrew his own sword from a sleeve attached to his back. As he did, I heard metal grating around me and I rotated in time to see everyone else pull out their own weapons.

I stood back, speechless.

“We ain’t lettin’ ya go there alone,” he informed me. “’Sides, I miss me travels in that part o’ the world.”

This was not a good idea, I concluded instantly. They were mere mortals walking into a battle against history’s most notorious enemies. They didn’t stand a chance. Of course, I was nothing more than a mortal and here I was doing exactly what I feared they planned to do. Still, at least I knew what I was getting myself in to.

“You don’t know what you’re up against,” I said. Then I stopped, unable to describe what I meant. How did I tell them that we would be encountering enemies so evil there was not a hint of humanity left in them? How did I explain all that I had learned about their fighting skills, their motivations, and their lack of morality during the visits to my past lives in the few short sentences I had time for?

“Oh, I think we do,” said Ezra confidently as she stepped forward.

Then something happened that I was absolutely unprepared to witness.

Ezra’s clothing fluttered, as if a breeze had found its way down her back. At the very same time, something crept out from behind her, through an opening in the back of her dress. From over her shoulders, two appendages steadily expanded outward, reaching to their fullest length before unfolding. The wings behind Ezra, swathed in bright white feathers, trembled slightly and then settled down against her back.

My jaw dropped. “What?”

From beside Ezra, Rufus and Felix each expanded their own set of wings in the very same way. I was now standing before my housemates, ones that I had known only as mortals.

I stepped back, mumbling, “What the…” but only vaguely aware of saying it.

“Don’t feel betrayed,” Felix implored. “We each agreed it would be best not to tell you until it was necessary.”

“’N goin’ to the prison…it’s necessary,” added Rufus.

My hands lifting up in a sign of confusion but that was before I was honest with myself. It all made sense. They exhibited the typical signs of Alterums. They kept to themselves, a close knit group, a family who relied on each other and no one else. My thoughts briefly drifted back to just a few months ago when Abaddon and his clan had nearly taken my life. My housemates had interceded, stepping in against him, a formidable opponent, and they had survived. It was truly inexplicable as to how they had survived…until now.

“How could I have missed it all this time?” I muttered and then harshly demanded to Ms. Beedinwigg, “You knew about this didn’t you?” You knew they were Alterums.”

She tilted her head down, peering at me from beneath her lashes. “Is that
really
what you want to discuss right now?” she asked pointedly.

Eran.

It was the single thought, the fleeting memory of his face that realigned my motives.

“We need to get to Germany,” I said.

“Well, you can’t drive there,” Alfred noted. “I’ll see what flights are available.” He was already pulling his phone from its belt clip when Ezra stopped him.

She held up a hand and said, “That won’t be necessary. I think we have a quicker method.” Then she turned to me and offered, “Maggie, would you like a lift? I imagine you have quite a few questions by this point.”

I laughed through my nose. “That’s an understatement…Yes, I’ll go with you.”

Campion suggested he take Ms. Beedinwigg and she stepped up next to him in agreement.

Leaving Mr. Hamilton and Alfred behind, Felix, Rufus, Campion, and Ms. Beedinwigg lifted into the air just as Ezra took my elbow. Her wings gently flapped and a moment later I found my surroundings slowly moving downward as I was lifted higher. I no longer felt the hard feeling of concrete beneath my feet. A soft breeze picked up, ruffling the hair around my face. We drifted higher, through the fog bank, Ezra’s wings moving smoothly inward and outward generating enough speed to raise us steadily in to the sky.

Up ahead I could see the rest of our small group, their wings moving in waves of beauty and power, their legs dangling behind them.

Still in a surreal state over finding my housemates, my family, were Alterums, my mind swirled with questions, just as Ezra had predicted with only a single clear thought coming to the surface.

We were headed towards the most dangerous beings this world had ever known and, because of that, my anger over discovering they had hid their true identities had now been replaced with appreciation. At least they now had a fighting chance.

Seconds later, we broke through the fog and found the sun, strong and warm, on the other side. Using it for direction, we turned and fled towards Germany.

CHAPTER NINETEEN: DEATH

We were too far above the ground for me to pinpoint where we were flying over until reaching the Atlantic seaboard. Thankfully, we hadn’t encountered any Fallen Ones, not even a commercial airliner. The sky seemed to belong to us. It was peaceful too. Somehow Ezra had positioned herself so that no force of air was touching me. It was so quiet within the span of her wings that I could hear my own heart beat. I may have even enjoyed the ride if it weren’t for the intention of rescuing Eran, the constant realization of that purpose settling like an unwelcomed guest in the forefront of my consciousness. In an attempt to settle my nervousness over Eran’s safety, I asked Ezra the questions that lingered since she announced my housemates’ secret.

“Ms. Beedinwigg,” I said, positioning my head so that I could easily see Ezra. “I feel like you two know each other…”

She nodded thoughtfully.

“We have never met in person until now,” she explained. “Rufus, Felix, and I knew of her, or rather her family, for some time. There were whisperings, tales of them throughout the Alterums.”

“But she knew who you were? That you were Alterums?” I reasoned.

“Yes, she knew of us. The Beedinwigg’s, and to a lesser extent because of their role as financial investors, the Hamilton’s, have kept excellent records on Alterums and Fallen Ones.”

I recalled Ms. Beedinwigg mentioned that on our very first meeting when she’d shown me the book of faded images of my past lives.

“So why is it that I was never told who you were? Was there some kind of plan to keep me in the dark?”

“Plan? No, there was no strategy in place, only a simple request. And only because it came from your mother did I respect it.”

“My mother?” I asked, shocked.

“Yes, after meeting her and after her guidance in my journey, my life’s pursuit in helping others, it was the least I could do. She wanted you to grow up innocent, Maggie, without the conundrum of dealing with Fallen Ones or Alterums. She wanted to give you a real life, one that you’ve never had.”

“So much for that…” I muttered.

Then something occurred to me. “How did she know that I wouldn’t remember? She died when I was born, Ezra. We never spoke to each other. She couldn’t have known that when I died alongside her that I would return as a reborn…unable to remember anything at all.”

“Your relationship didn’t start there, Maggie. Your mother…she was a friend of yours on the other side. They all were.”

Instantly I felt the muscles in my body tighten in reaction to that announcement. “I was…I was friends with the other messengers?”

“Yes, of course. You trained them…remember?”

My breath caught. I had never considered it before but it was logical that the messengers would form friendships. We were unified by a common bond, an ability to deliver messages that set us apart from the rest, a gift and a curse - one that had made us capable of bringing peace to those on earth with the delivery of messages to their deceased and one that left us so vulnerable as to suffer eternal death upon our fatality at the hands of a Fallen One.

“Friends…” I said to myself. “I wish I could remember them.”

Ezra smiled at me sympathetically. I imagined that under any other circumstance she may have reassured me that I would remember them at some point, when my existence on this earth had ended and I returned to the afterlife. But we were getting closer to our enemies, a great number of them, and the outcome was uncertain as to whether any of us would survive. It was as if we were about to jump in a lake without an ability to swim. The realization was sobering.

Being the only mortal in this small group it made me wonder, as I had throughout my life, my purpose for being here. Glancing at Ezra, I wondered if she may have some clue as to why I had come.

“Did she ever tell you why I returned as a reborn? Why I had returned to earth without any memory of my past and without any supernatural powers to protect me?”

“She told me that you had always wondered what it felt like to be human, to come not for the sole purpose of delivering messages but for the experience. This was the reasoning behind her request to keep you from knowing about Alterums or Fallen Ones.” She paused and smiled subtly at some resurfaced memory. “She was adamant about it too. You had always returned as an Alterum and during unstable times, helping to calm fears of that era through the delivery of your messages. This time, you chose to return as a mortal and during a time of peace, and you chose this time because it was believed that all Fallen Ones had been either imprisoned or killed. It wasn’t until we learned that the Fallen Ones still existed that we intervened in your life.”

“Because you learned it was no longer safe,” I summed it up for her.

“That’s right. We did,” said Ezra, remorse underlying her tone.

“I appreciate that.”

“We thought you might,” she replied with a grin.