Genesis of a Hero (4 page)

“Short meeting,” Harold whispered to John as they made their way out of the room.

“Hmmph,” John answered through gritted teeth. He grabbed Harold’s arm and guided him into a corner. Two teenage girls, practicing one of the archangel Raphael’s healing abilities, stopped and looked at them. John shot them a noncommittal wave and yanked Harold into an empty classroom. A bronze statue of Samuel fixed them with a scrutinizing gaze.

“A little old to be in my next lesson, aren’t you?” Samuel questioned stoically
with his shiny golden arms folded. “I thought you two had both been granted your wings? You haven’t been to one of my lectures in several years.”

“We have
,” John explained to the prophet. “We’ll only be in here for a minute.” He turned on Harold biting back a snarl. His friend leaned away from him into the corner. “Why did you volunteer to go to the zoo with me and Denise? I wanted it to kind of be our second date. You knew that. Dates are better when the two people are alone.”

The dark skin on Harold’s cheek twitched and his mouth fell into a large “O”.

“Sorry man,” he fidgeted and glanced at the door as three twelve year old kids came into the classroom in a chorus of shrilling giggles. “I didn’t think about it,” Harold continued and started chewing on his bottom lip. “Really, I don’t know why I volunteered. It just felt right at the time.”

“What do you mean?” John said with his eyes narrowing.

“I really don’t know. I think the Spirit guided me.”

John studied his friend. If the Spirit had pushed Harold to volunteer, it wasn’t something to be ignored. But he often found that people seemed to misinterpret God’s guidance. He reached for the Spirit and let the calm peace wash over him. The divine touch of the Lord pulsed into his veins and brought what he could only describe as a “center”. Nothing else ever compared. It had taken him years of training to finally grasp the true nature of what being an angel and calling on God’s power meant.

True, he had advanced faster than most kids his age in obtaining his scepter, robes, sword, halo, and wings; but his angel gifts from God hadn’t come at huge costs like some other peoples had. They’d been a natural, and easy, progression on his rode to becoming an angel. He hadn’t fully come to understand the subtleties that came with unfaltering faith in the Spirit until faced with a multitude of demon battles. When he’d finally let the Spirit truly engulf him, demons barely had time to scream in terror before he sliced them in half.

He reached out and let the power softly touch Harold’s presence.
It ballooned out and expanded his senses. Sounds of the kids entering the classroom buzzed in his ears. Outside the class, more students ran through the hallways on their way to one lesson or another. Outside the school walls, birds chirped and squirrels scurried from branch to branch. An echoing toll from the bell towers bounced off the tall trees and rolled down the mile long valley.

John focused the Spirit and drew it back into the room.
Excited whispers spilled from a boy in the back of Samuel’s class.

“That big guy
over there is John Decker,” the boy hissed to two of his friends. “I heard he’s killed over a thousand demons all by himself. How cool will it be when we get to go on demon hunts like that? I can’t wait until I can use the Spirit like him. I saw him sparring with one of the other Justice Ministers last week. It was unbelievable how fast their swords were moving. ” Jubilant whispers followed from his awed friends, but John ignored them as he searched for any signs of dishonesty in Harold.

The Spirit soak
ed into every fabric around him and almost at once, everything slowed to a static freeze. Particles of dust stopped in a tiny cloud along the stone floor. Echoes of thoughts sounded from the students. And right in front of John, Harold stood innocently. His hands were splayed to his sides and he didn’t resist as the Spirit called for his personal thoughts. Nothing but the truth carried in his reason for volunteering.

“
Thanks,” John said tentatively and let the Spirit go. Guilt surged as his friend watched and waited. “Sorry to check... I know I don’t really need to do that with you. It’s just starting to get to be a habit. If I can’t trust you, who can I trust?”

“We do as the Spirit tells us,” Harold said and threw his arm high onto John’s shoulders. “
With the Nightwalkers getting stronger, it’s best to check everyone we can. I’d check you more often… but you’ve always had more control over your thoughts than I have.” He produced a genuine smile for John, then for the expectant kids in the now full classroom. “Come on,” he said heading to the door. “Let’s go plan your date.”

Chapter 4: The Lion’s Den

High, wispy clouds dotted the blue sky the next morning. John, Denise, and Harold decided to make the hour flight to Sacramento rather than using the gates to travel. Birds and bugs buzzed through the air beside the three angels as they glided lazily through the air. John’s wings thrust in powerful arcs while Denise’s more slender wings flicked in a graceful dance.

“We should be there in a minute,” John said a little after 10:00
a.m. “Make sure to stay together until we land so nobody sees us.”

They managed to set down a quarter of a mile west of the zoo’s entrance. Already
, a long line of delighted kids could be seen hopping and jumping in anticipation of the fun, animal-filled day.

“Keep your eyes and ears open for anyone that needs help,” Denise said as they approached the line. Ahead of them a pleasant-looking man with stark white hair had his hand protectively on the shoulder of a seven year old boy.

John reached with the Spirit and caught a glimpse of abuse the boy had suffered under the hands of his real parents. A steady glow shined from the man beside him who had recently taken over as a foster parent. John nodded his head at the man appreciatively.

“Keep doing God’s work,” Denise smiled at the man and patted the boy on the head.

“Amen,” the man answered and turned to the ticket booth. “One adult and one child.”

John, Denise, and Harold stepped to the next open booth and bought their tickets. All around them, the glee of innocent children lifted into the fresh, summer air. Mixed smells
of animals, plants, and food brought memories of the stress-free days of youth.

“My dad brought me to this zoo a few times
when I was little,” John grinned. “There weren’t many demons back then. I don’t remember him getting many calls for help so he took me to see lots of stuff. I went all over the world with him.”

“Where is he now?” Denise asked as she smiled at a pair of twins being pushed in a dolphin-shaped cart.

“Haiti,” John said as they took a course towards the
Big Cats Jungle
. “He’s been helping build churches down there.”

“That’s important work,” Denise nodded.

“If we want to keep winning the war, that’s for sure,” Harold chuckled. “I’m gonna go over to the elephant’s enclosure and scout for people there who need help.” He pointed way off in the distance to his right. “I’m pretty sure that guy over there only needs a nudge to set him back on the right path.” Without another word, he turned and scampered away like a gazelle fleeing a hungry cheetah.

“Not a very subtle
plan,” Denise laughed with a knowing shake of her head.

John shrugged and let
his hands run along the green leaves of a tree transplanted from the jungles of Africa. “I told him to get lost as quickly as he could.”

“Best plan you’ve ever made,” she joked and scanned the crowd of kids piling in front of the
glass at the tiger pen.

Her right hand was gliding back and forth in a hypnotic sway
as she walked. Without letting himself think about it (because he knew he’d talk himself out of it), he snagged it and held on tight. She didn’t turn towards him, but the squeeze she offered made his chest rise into his throat.

“It’s a pretty day,” she said as her eyes fluttered from a pacing jaguar to a small grove of flowers.
The pinks and blues bloomed in a spectacle of nature. She watched the colors as they strolled by.

“God knew what he was doing when he
made this place, huh?” John offered, hoping to ignite a conversation. She produced a small nod not looking away from the artistically, sculpted flower bed.

John
nudged her side with his elbow, as the Spirited guided, and lifted his chin towards a man and a woman leading around a gaggle of four foster kids. “The woman,” he said. “Neither of the adults have faith right now, but she has before. I think we should talk to her and see if we can help her get there again. She’ll be able to guide the rest of them.”

“Agreed,” Denise said
switching to a business-like manner. She moved towards the family at a fast gait.

They spent the next two hours preaching
to individuals in need – hoping, and praying, to reaffirm and strengthen people’s faith. Sometimes John found the challenges taxing (when people scoffed and rolled their eyes; or politely listened with unfocused concentration), but the rewards were so high when he saw a mom or dad grab a hold of their faith; he had trouble not shouting at the top of his lungs about the glory of God.

A little after 2:00 in the afternoon,
he slipped away from Denise and walked to the huge, fenced giraffe paddock. Near the building with tall, narrow gates, a band of trees and flowers flourished. John stepped behind a corner leading to the bathrooms and called on the Spirit. With an imperceptible
pop
, he disappeared – head, arms, chest, legs, and feet. He bent and jumped with his wings sprouting behind his back. Lazily, he lifted over the fence and glided to the grove of trees. No kids hollered for their parents to look at the man flying over the long-necked herbivores. With the Spirit on his side, anything was possible.

Near the highest leaves of an exotic tree
, a mandevilla vine had crept out of range of the giraffe’s long reach. John plucked a bundle of pink flowers from the vines and fused the stems together with a little help from the Spirit.

He soared out and over the giraffes and spotted Denise playing peek-a-boo with a giggling toddler near the lion overlook. Ever so softly, he landed using the Spirit to camouflage his descent and presence. Denise’s shoulders rose and fell as she laughed with the two year old girl. John watched her hair dance in the slight breeze
and felt truly content - the first time he could remember feeling that way in a long time.

He walked behind a refreshment stand and released the Spirit. In an instant, his body came back into view. “She’s really cute,” he said after
the girl’s parents finally dragged her away.

Denise turned to him with a smile that grew when she saw the bundle of flowers he was holding out. “Thank you,” she said and tenderly ran a finger over the petals. “And yes, she is really cute. I’d love to have one exactly like her someday.”

“Maybe if you find the right guy,” John suggested, playfully holding out both arms in a hopeful invitation.

“That would help,”
she joked. “I think I saw a man over by the bird exhibit that looked like a good candidate. I need to go find him.”

She stood on her tiptoes as though searching for a long lost treasure then broke into laughter.

“Shut it,” John snorted teasingly and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Her thin arm went around his waist. A long scar running from her bicep to her wrist caught his attention. “That ever hurt?” he asked motioning at it with his whiskered chin.

She leaned forward and looked at her arm. “Not really,” she shrugged. “Well worth it to save a friend.”

“And that’s what you got your robes for, right?”

“Yeah,” she no
dded and guided him forward. Four lions lounged in a grassy enclosure with lazy looks at the zoo patrons watching them. “What about you? I know a lot of people say not to ask about how angels got some of their gifts, but I’ve always thought that was stupid.”

“M
y sacrifice wasn’t nearly as hard,” John chuckled. “I-”

He stopped as a
penetrating voice pulsed into his ears.

“
Just end it
,” a man’s voice trembled in the air. The Spirit wrapped the words and carried them to John’s attention. He grabbed a hold of the divine power and let it pull his consciousness over the crowd then through the metal gate of the lion’s den. A man that looked crushed from the weight of thousands of unseen bricks sat on a five gallon bucket. His shoulders heaved in an anguished cry. Dirty hands covered his pale face. Wracking sobs made the bucket rock back and forth.

John prodd
ed with the Spirit and the world dissolved.

At a small,
rickety dinner table sat a woman. Across from each other in a dingy kitchen, a five year old boy and eight year old girl were staring at half empty plates of buttery pasta. Their clothes were clean but strings frayed from the hems in ribbon-like tangles. Glazed faces looked frightful at the ice bolts coming from their mom’s eyes.

“I can’t believe you did it again,” the woman’s voice shrilled and her small hands slammed on the table
making it tremble like a toddler with his hand caught in the cookie jar. “Do you know how much money you’ve lost in the last year? We can’t afford it! I let you get away with it too much but I told you not to go to the track anymore. Those stupid horses are breaking us.”

“I’ve won nearly as much as I’ve lost,” the man griped but the fidgeting in his seat told more of the truth. “That one time I brought home $2,000! Remember that?”

“One time,” the woman spat holding up a shaky index finger. “And the other hundred times you lost a couple of hundred bucks each time. Our savings is empty. We were going to move out to the suburbs and get out of this apartment. Get the kids a yard and have them go to nice schools. We’re never going to get there now. And you come home in bad moods all the time. You’re always gripy or just sit in the chair doing nothing. You didn’t used to be this way.” Tears streamed down her blotchy face. She looked at her kids with heavy breaths. “I’m taking Alice and Alex… we’re going to move in with my mom and dad.”

“What?” the man choked and bolted to his feet making his chair totter
over against the wall. “Please don’t. I just got that promotion at the zoo. I’ll be the head veterinarian before long. Probably in five years. I’ll be making a ton of money then. We’ll be able to get anything you want.”

The woman’s tear-filled eyes studied him for a long time. Finally, she softly shook her head. “No matter how much you make,” she gasped. “You’ll always blow it gambling. If it’s not at the track, it will be at the tables in Vegas.  I can’t stand it anymore.
Where’s the man I married?”

John snapped from the vision and looked at the doors along the wall of the lion’s den. The Spirit carried the continued sorrow of the man. Frightening pictures of a lonely
hand gun, on a nightstand, reverberated through his depressed thoughts. The images spun and a full bottle of pain pills popped into view. Then a dangling rope…

“You feel it too?” Denise asked.
“He’s thinking of different ways to-”

“Yeah,” John answered and pressed closer to her side to feel the warmth of her skin. “Let’s go see what we can do.”

They made their way around the enclosure until finding a door marked, “Employees Only”. John pressed against the knob and pushed the Spirit into the locking mechanism. It clicked open without a hitch. Inside was a pair of huge refrigerators, a grimy table marred with blood, and a jumbled mess of water hoses. Dung mixed with the pungent flavor of frozen mounds of meat swam in the air. Drops of moisture leaked from the walls and ceiling of the dank room.

“Over there,” Denise said lifting her ch
in in the direction of a heavy, iron-mesh door.

John walked ahead and saw the man knocking his knuckles against his forehead over and over
in a hallway between grated cages. Straw and sawdust was scattered haphazardly on the floor. “You okay?” he asked. The man jumped and fell sideways from his makeshift seat. He hastily rubbed his sleeves over his face trying to wipe away the flood of tears.

“Who are you?” he croaked and scrambled to his feet. “You’re not supposed to be back here.”

“We heard something, we thought someone might need help,” Denise said with a pleasant smile.

“It’s dangerous,” the man said with a look towards the doors. Another vision pelted through his brain. John watched as the man pictured himself jumping through the doors to the jaws of the lions.
A bitter, painful end to his miserable life. Something he’d fantasized about more than once in the last few days.

“I don’t think they need any company,” John said and peeked
at the lions out of a small window that was almost covered in leafy vines.

“Uh… what?”

“How strong are those lions?” John asked.

“Strong enough to kill all of us in a couple of seconds,” the main answered gaining strength in his voice.

“Wouldn’t want to open those doors then, would we?” John offered with upraised eyebrows.

“Only if you know what you’re doing.
They go straight through here to their cages if you have their food ready for them. Listen, you two really aren’t supposed to be back here. If you could, just go back out those doors and I’ll make sure they’re locked properly.”

“We came in here to help you,” Denise said and stepped towards the man.
The pink flowers in her right hand looked like a peace offering to an ancient king.

His eyes darted from John to Denise.
“With what?”

“We’ve heard you might have some… family issues,” John said trying to think of the right words to attack the situation.