Fledgling: Book 1 (Afterlife) (8 page)

When completed, he scoops him up and flies him back to his car. I follow and assist him by making the car visible again, so he can return him to the driver's seat. I’m sure this man will be in for a shock when he wakes.
 

When Blue finishes, he turns to me and says, “Come on. Let’s go back before our absence is noticed.”

I want to hang around and see what happens to the man, except Blue has already grabbed my hand. He pushes into the air, and we start to fly. I flap my wings with my eyes observing the car until it is no longer visible.
 

- Chapter Seven -

With each stroke of the wings, the guilt impales its piercing claws further. Blue has broken the rules and all because of me. I am dragging down my best friend. A sickness fills my stomach. He can't be dragged down because of me — he just can't.

We're almost back to our base. The smell of the salty seawater is strong. I hear the squawking and chatter of birds. I looked down and see a small gathering of rocks pushed up in the middle of the ocean. Seagulls and other seabirds occupy it. A thought hits me. I look to my right and see Blue flying strong and steady.

“Blue,” I call out.

Before now, our flight has been silent. Not a word has been uttered between us. He looks at me with a curious expression.

I point down below. “Let’s land for a minute.”
 

He nods and angles his legs so he lands feet first on the rocky island. I do the same and land next to him. A spray of feathers and dust fly up around us, escaping from the force of the wind formed by our wings. A couple of close birds, from the shock of our presence, take flight immediately. The remainder of the birds on the island continue on with their business. They know that angels are not a cause for concern.

"What's up?" he asks. His dark brown eyebrows are pushed together.
 

I see the worry on his face and I sigh. "I’ve been thinking; there must be a way to block the archangels from seeing everything in our mind. I think we should stop for a bit and give it a go.”

He raises one side of his mouth in a half smile. "There you go again, thinking outside the box with the rebel's heart." He shakes his head. "And to think that the last six months I thought you were a good girl."

"Hey!" I pretend to be hurt. "That's rich coming from someone who just broke the rules."
 

The smile drops from his face and I shut my mouth. I realise what I've just said and shake my head.

“What I mean to say . . . is . . . thanks.” I stumble out. “What you did means a lot to me, but I don't need you getting into trouble.”
 

A solemn look is on his face. "It's okay. I'll deal with it," he says. His eyes have turned the deepest shade of blue.

I shake my head. "No. I can't live with that. We have to try." I lift my hand and place the pointer finger his forehead. “I want you to try and block what we just did.” He nods and I start probing his mind, searching only the recent events. I catch glimpses of his day.
 

I see his Innocent and the job that he did well — following the rules and completing his mission by inserting the conscience into the perpetrator. I see the perpetrator’s life flash before me. A deep nauseating feeling penetrates my stomach. The task overwhelms me and my knees want to give, but I don't let them. I'm puzzled why this feeling is stronger than the others I've had, until I realise I'm picking up on Blue’s feelings. The two stomach-churning feelings combined, are working out to be a powerful force. He has hidden it so well, sticking to his training and obeying the rules, but I've seen it now. I have seen his true feelings. He feels the same way I do.
 

Pushing past my disbelief of discovering his true feelings, I continue probing. I travel with him as he discovers the charm flashing, up until the moment he sees me in the desert. I am hit with a wave of emotions as he looks at me. I get the impression that he is fond of me and wishes for more than friendship. This puzzles me. We are not allowed to have anything more than friendships, nor are we supposed to even feel that way. Out of curiosity I want to dig deeper but I won’t. It has a feeling of awkwardness to it, as I stare into his eyes, and especially because my heart already belongs to another. I leave it. I'm also not supposed to be digging into his personal feelings. I search the next few minutes after we meet in the desert, and to see if I can find what happens next. As I follow the wavelength all seems complete but what I actually see, I know did not happen in that order. There were parts missing. What I see is me standing there when he arrives. The next scene is Blue grabbing my hand as we take off together.
 

I release my finger and focus on his eyes. A strange look is on his face. He almost looks embarrassed. Not knowing how to respond to his emotions for me that I picked up, I ignore this, and comment on his success. “You did it. You blocked me.” I smile. “And what was that I saw about your deep centred beliefs being compromised by your missions. You feel the same way as I do about the inserting of the conscience,” I lightly accuse.
 

He breathed out a deep sigh. "I have you and your last mission to blame for that. Before that I was on the straight and narrow.”

The guilt washes over me again. I look down. "Sorry,” I mutter. "Now I've got you in a deeper mess."

He shakes his head. "No, that's my fault. But if I managed to block you, then there is hope.” I lift my eyes back up to look at his. He continues, “It's your turn to practice. Let's see if you can block me.” A slight smile stretches across his face.
 

I lift an eyebrow. He looks as though he's going to enjoy this too much, but I know I should practice. I nod my head. He lifts his hand and touches his index finger to my forehead. I can feel the probing warmth immediately begin to spread. I track his moves as he goes through my day. When it comes to the part after I had dismissed Louisa, I direct the memory to when Blue lands in the desert, skipping the parts between. I then direct it past the next stage straight to when Blue grabs my hand and we take off to fly. Knowing the probing is finished I relax a little. I am surprised when I feel Blue probe other emotions. Not knowing where he was going, and not wanting to expose more than I am ready to part with, I immediately put up a wall.

The warmth leaves my forehead as Blue removes his finger.

“What was that?” I ask.

He looks down. “Sorry. I overstepped my mark. I was just trying to get to know you better.” His face is a mixture of sadness and embarrassment.

“Well then, you should do it the old-fashioned way, not by probing in places uninvited. I am your friend, not one of your victims.” My words are harsh, but the sternness did not carry through on my voice. I nudge him with my shoulder lightly. “Come on. There’s hope for us yet. We both managed to block each other.”
 

He relaxes and looks at me.
 

“We had better get going,” I suggest.
 

He nods and we both push off the ground together. A couple of seagulls squawk and scatter from the sudden movements. Our base is not far away. As we fly the final stretch I feel as light as the clouds surrounding me. I am more positive that Blue will not be caught for completing the final part of my mission.

I see our base and prepare to land. A few of our fellow fledglings are down below, waiting for Archangel Michael’s blessing and new task. I wonder if any of them are struggling with the final part of the mission.
 

I land with a soft thud on the grass, and Blue follows behind. A couple of the others look over briefly. It is early afternoon. They are probably hoping it is the Archangel so they can have something to do. I quickly scout around.
 

“Can you see Yellow?” I ask Blue.

He looks around and shakes his head. “She might have already been here.”
 

“Let’s check the edges near the ocean. She has always had an attraction to the sea.”
 

He nods and we walk together away from the other fledglings. The sun is peaking behind a cloud, but the rest of the sky is a clear blue. The air is clear of the city smog and besides a couple of distant calls by the roaring waves, seagulls and pelicans, there is barely a sound.
 

Growing up, I didn’t mind being alone. I enjoyed the peace. This is probably a good thing because being an angel is not exactly a social life though I am glad for the friendships I have made with Blue and Yellow. They really care. This was often not the case when I lived in the city of the Gold Coast. I always felt insignificant and invisible around the people and the area. But there was one exception – Ethan, my only love. I wonder what he is up to now? Is he still living? Has he found a new girlfriend? I can never go back now as my days as a human are over. A wet sensation trickles down my face. Deep in thought, I lift my hand and wipe the tear away.

“Hey,” Blue’s soft voice pierces through my thoughts. “What’s up?”

I blink and realise what has happened. I focus on his ocean eyes, feeling slightly embarrassed. I give half a smile. “Nothing. I was just thinking about my past life and what I am missing.”

A look of understanding passes over Blue’s face. I haven’t told him much about my past, we are not supposed to share, but he nods likes he understands. He puts an arm around my shoulders and squeezes them lightly. I rest my head against his shoulder and look out over the sea.
 

“Is there room for a third,” a voice calls from behind us. “I hope this isn’t a secluded club.”

We release our embrace and turn around. Yellow is standing behind us. Her usually bright face looks unsettled.

“Of course there’s room for you,” I say as I hold out my arm inviting her.
 

Her face relaxes, and she dashes forward for a group hug. “I so need this,” she says.
 

“What happened?” Blue asks. I look down and notice that the yellow angel on his charm is glowing dimly. Something must have upset her.
 

I feel a little selfish as I turn and look at her. “Is all okay? Did something happen?”

She sighs deeply and releases the embrace. “No, not really. I just had a really creepy, evil person. I find it so hard to believe that people can stoop that low and do what they do to our victims.”

I nod. “It is upsetting, especially when all of us come from a background of innocence — not once, but three times. Doesn’t it make you wonder what made them become that way?” I ask.

Her blonde brows crease together and her face puckers. After a moment's pause, she shakes her head. “No. I’m just glad that we are giving them what they deserve.” Her shoulders shudder as she lets out a sound of revulsion.
 

Blue grabs my arm firmly from behind and pulls. I know that he is trying to tell me to stop. I can’t help myself. “What if there is still good inside of them?”

Her eyes study my face. “Nah. That is not possible. These ones are pretty much born evil. They deserve whatever the conscience does to them.”

I feel extra pressure from Blue’s hand on my arm. My insides are about to explode. I want to argue and convince Yellow, I know I shouldn’t, but I don’t understand how she could be so blind to the other side. As he watches me closely, Blue digs his fingers in deeper again.
 

I am about to open my mouth to speak when I hear the call, “Fledglings.” Our leader is here. We cannot see him, but we can still hear his call within our minds. We begin our way to the meeting place.
 

We see him as soon as we turn the corner. Standing in the centre of our grassy meeting spot is the great warrior — our trainer and guide, who trained us to be the toughest of the new angels. He waits with his hands on his hips, defining his bulging muscles. He looks tough in the skirt of his roman warrior uniform. His feet are shoulder width apart as he examines the new angels in front of him with his piercing blue eyes. His no-nonsense demeanour is rather intimidating, even when you haven’t done anything wrong. Considering he is the head of all the angels, and the greatest warrior since the beginning of time, the intimidation is understandable.
 

I am starting to feel nervous again. After seeing him, my confidence is wavering in being able to pull off the deception. My concern for Blue heightens. He shouldn’t have become involved. It was my battle, and he volunteered to become implicated. I glance at him as he walks beside me toward our meeting spot. His face is a blank canvas. If he feels concern, he is not showing it. I cannot read any emotion.
 

Turning my head away, I look back at our leader. His eyes are studying me. I try to hold an honest stare, but I am not sure I am pulling it off. He turns and assesses the gathering few as we line up and wait.
 

“Right,” the archangel says. “Let us begin.”

He walks up to the first in line. It is Yellow. From my side vision, I can see she looks completely relaxed, but I know that she would not need to worry. From our conversation before, I know her mind is on the straight and narrow, not willing to divert from our training. Archangel Michael places a finger on her forehead and it lights up. After a moment, he pulls his finger away.