HORROR THRILLERS-A Box Set of Horror Novels (12 page)

The body she had
taken for Nisroc had belonged to the circus high wire walker and
special gymnast, a man named Gustav Freedrickson. He had come down
with consumption that took but months to wear down his defenses and
leave him weakened. Consumption was a scourge racing across most of
Europe and Gustav sickened rapidly with a particularly virulent form.
He literally coughed himself to death, hemorrhaging his life’s
blood in one horrendous, extended spell of spastic lung contractions.
Angelique knew he would die and she lusted to own the shell left
behind once the spirit absconded. It did not matter the lungs were
filled with blood and disease ridden. Once the new spirit took over
the entire make-up of the human form would be changed, even down to
the molecular level.

Until now she hadn’t
needed any of the other angels’ help, but finally it had become
imperative. She was, after all, a child. She was tired of training
humans to do her bidding, to stand in as her parent or guardian. She
wanted a partner, not a puppet. She wanted Nisroc.

“
I have to go
prepare the animals for the show, but I’ll be back as soon as I
can. Just rest here.”

Nisroc nodded,
blinking with some confusion. Angelique patted his shoulder, smiled,
and throwing back the curtains, leapt down from the wagon.
Dying sunlight
pierced through the slight opening between the curtains, but most of
the interior lay in shadow.

The beautiful male
form that remained prone on the boards of the wagon did not move an
inch only because right now he could not move. The supernatural
elements of his being busily suffused the human body, permeating the
cells, flowing through the bloodstream, animating the heart, the
damaged lungs, and filling the brain with new light…

***

Within an hour
Nisroc felt a human strength he had not felt in nearly two thousand
years. As disembodied angel there were no sensations of body, only of
mind. Now that Angelique had brought him to Earth again, he reveled
in the sensations he had only dreamed about for all those long
moments lost in the dark alone-and-lonely void. It was almost painful
to see the dim light streaming through the parted curtains beyond his
feet. The boards under his back felt like rock, hard and pressing
against his flesh and bone. His nostrils flared with the mingled
scents that assaulted his senses—Angelique’s clothes that
stank of her human sweat, dust that was settled over the canvas roof
of the wagon, and beyond the wagon, the scent of food cooking, animal
dung, wood fire smoke, latrines full of human waste. He swallowed
and marveled at the sensation of saliva sliding down his throat. He
moved his tongue over his teeth, front, back, and sides, finding them
firm and whole and clean. He drew in air and sighed at the beauty of
oxygen filling what had been ravaged lungs that even now was in the
process of rejuvenation.

He loved this world.
He loved life, real life lived in human form. A beating heart,
rhythmically drumming to circulate his warm blood, seemed to speak
like a lost lover as it reverberated in his ears. It whispered I AM,
I EXIST, I LIVE…I AM IN THE HERE AND NOW, REAL. There was
nothing compared to this existence. No angel in heaven or cast into
the nether regions experienced such fantastic sensations. The mind
lived forever, the soul never died, but the body was a magical
mechanism that took in all of life and translated it into sensation
and that was God’s most gracious gift in all of creation.

Nisroc had hungered
for it always, true life. In God’s court there was but mind
and spirit. But what He created on this planet was the true
bounty--the experience of living man.

Now thanks to
Angelique, he was back. Back in the world!

The very thought
propelled him. He came up as if loosened from chains, sitting
straight, shoulders back, hips tensed. From this perspective the
world seemed to tilt and skew for a moment. He closed his eyes, but
the darkness behind his lids scared him, reminded him of the dark
from which he’d come, so he quickly opened his eyes, his mouth
falling open. He took a deep breath. He looked around.

Angelique was living
such a meager existence. Her clothes, lying crumpled on the floor and
hung from pegs, were ragged and faded. Her bed was made of rope,
woven and tied, swinging from the ribs of the canopy that covered the
wagon. She had a small chest, but without looking in it he knew there
was little of value there.

Reduced to these
circumstances he could understand why she needed his assistance. She
had tried for three lifetimes to make it on her own, training humans
to care for her. Losing her last human to death threw her again on
her own where she convened with orphans, setting up a place for them,
and finally she’d discovered this job with the traveling
circus. Naturally they had not wanted her, hadn’t believed
she’d be of use—a ten-year-old waif with worn shoes and
holes in her clothes. But she had convinced the Master of the circus
that she had supernatural abilities dealing with his few wild caged
animals. She could make them bend to her will. The elephant lifted
front legs into the air on her command and danced when she made her
biding. The lions sat on small stools and roared on cue. The panther,
the best performer of all, slithered in a circle, its sinuous muscles
moving like snakes beneath its skin. It could leap through a burning
ring of hay bales and leap out again unscathed. It would go to its
belly and let Angelique climb onto its back for a ride around the
circus arena. It could even stand up on its back legs, taller than a
man, and scream with a piercing cry, showing teeth that were a
child’s nightmare. This panther, under Angelique’s
tutelage, had become the star of the show.

In his dark place in
the far regions of creation Nisroc had now and again widened his
vision in order to see what Angelique was doing. He tried to imagine
the scent of the animals, tried to hear the sound of the wind and
rain, tried to feel the rest of true sleep, but all he could do was
watch and hunger and hope.

Now she had deigned
to bring him to her and he was so full of joy and appreciation that
he thought he might burst.

He felt an itching
on his back and sensed his great wings buried beneath his skin, but
only as nubs, tiny buds of flesh that through the strength of his
will he could cause to grow. Not now, of course. He had no use for
them in this fine body of a man. But he knew they were there if ever
he did need them.

He lifted his arms
above his head and laughed. LIFE!

**

Angelique returned
to her wagon after the show. The crowds were thinning, families
trudging home to London and outlying farms. She carried a bowl of
stew made from goat, potatoes, rutabagas, and carrots. Nisroc would
need to eat. By now she expected he was able to move, but even though
his angel being was renewing the diseased human flesh, he still
needed to take sustenance just as any man would. He was now part
angel, part human, the greater being angel. She was so excited he was
with her. Human guardians were fine for a while, but tended in the
end to be such a burden. Nisroc, on the other hand, was like
her—nearly indestructible. Some accident might fatally injure
the body, even kill it, but being angel made them both so quick, so
sensitive to danger, that neither of them needed to worry overmuch
about human death. Given the properties they had brought to the body
from the angelic realm, it was as if they were a completely
different, rare, and superior species.

She stepped onto the
rear step they’d made for her small stature on the back of the
wagon, drew back the curtain, and saw Nisroc sitting up on the floor,
staring at her, tears in his eyes.

“
I can’t
believe this,” he said. “It’s so…so
wonderful.”

She climbed in
beside him and handed over the bowl of food. “Eat, you need to
bolster your strength.”

He didn’t need
to be told twice. He ate like a ravenous dog, hardly chewing before
swallowing. When the bowl was empty, he used his fingers to scrub
out the residue of stew gravy. “Ummm, so good.”

“
As you see, I
live in mean conditions,” she said, coming right to the point
of why she’d summoned him.

“
It’s
not a palace,” he agreed. When he smiled he was a beautiful
creature.

“
You’re
to be my father. When around the Others, treat me like your child.
Speak to me as an adult guardian. But…” She squinted her
eyes and Nisroc lost his smile. “…when we are alone, I
won’t tolerate being spoken to without deference. I hope you
understand that.”

“
Certainly.”

“
Because I can
send you back. If I have to.”

Now he quaked, his
hands taking on a tremor he couldn’t quite control. “I
love it here,” he said.

“
I know you
do. But the last time here you failed. This time you’ll do
exactly as I say or I have no use for you. Understood?”

He nodded, not
trusting his voice.

“
We’re
getting out of this stinking place,” she said, beginning to
pack the loose clothes in her chest.

“
Where are we
going?”

“
To the wharf
in London to buy tickets on a ship.”

“
Where to?”

“
The New
World--though now they call it the United States of America.”

“
That sounds
wonderful.”

She paused and eyed
him. “I’m taking a chance fleeing this soon after your
coming. You might not be ready to play your part.”

“
I’m
ready!”

“
Who am I?”

“
What? You’re
Angelique, Queen of…”
“No! I’m
Angelique, your daughter. A child, Nisroc, I’m just a little
girl.”

“
Of course.”

“
Don’t
forget. Don’t mess this up for us, Nisroc. You’ll buy the
tickets. Here…” She held out a soft bag filled with
coins. “There’s enough there for our passage, but not
much more. It’s taken me months to save it.”

“
What will we
do once we arrive?”

“
Steal, what
else? You’re not fit for work, except of the physical kind, and
we’re NOT going with a circus, ever again. It’s filthy
work, despicable. I hate it. In fact, when we leave I’m opening
all the cages and letting the dumb animals free.”

“
Is that
wise?” As soon as he’d asked the question he knew he’d
made a mistake. He could never question her decisions, not ever.

She paused in the
stuffing of her things into the small chest. She became as still as
a snake eying prey, eyes unwavering. Her pupils contracted, morphed
into pinpoints of darkness. Just the look of her was terrifying.

“
You’re
questioning me?”

He hung his head.
“I’m sorry, Angelique.”

“
Damn you and
the reason I needed you. If only I hadn’t been trapped in this
miserable child’s body!”

He said nothing and
would not look into her eyes.

“
Never mind.
Just don’t ask so many questions. Just do what I tell you and
we’ll be fine. You’ll gradually feel natural in that body
and back in this world. Now help me lift this out of the wagon. It’s
time to go.”

***

Nisroc watched from
the sidelines as Angelique undid the latches on the cages. It was
dark and the only noise came from the wagons where other circus
performers readied for their beds and sleep.

First, the panther
leaped to the ground and lumbered to Angelique’s side to lick
her hand. The lions growled low in their throats, surprised to be
free in the night. Then the monkeys were let out and they immediately
scrambled off into the darkness. The elephant was unchained from the
iron bar attached to the back of the lion cage. It shuffled off,
following the monkeys’ lead. Finally came the white wolf, an
albino captured in the far north and sold to the circus. It stood at
Angelique’s side as if it would never leave until she gave it a
command Nisroc didn’t understand. Then it strode off majestic
into the night. When all the cages were open and all the occupants
gone, only then did Angelique turn to him and gestured that he lift
the little chest to follow her.

On the way to the
wharves Nisroc did not see even one of the freed wild animals. He had
no idea where they’d disappeared, but since the circus was on
the outskirts of London, he figured they’d headed away from the
city rather than toward it.

He and Angelique
found the ship that was bound to leave in the morning for their
destination. She had him put the chest down near a shipping crate and
then, folding her skirts, she sat cross-legged on the ground. She
patted the space next to her and he folded his long legs and sat
down. She snuggled under his arm, positioning her head on his wide
chest. “Rest a while,” she said. “We’ll get
the tickets at sunrise.”