Marked (16 page)

“Duh—I
know
. But how? What’s the
super
plan?” She watched David’s eyes flicker as he thought.

“I don’t think out of service buses stop for anyone. And the guy is drunk, right? We’ll have to force it.” David scratched the back of his neck as he surveyed the boulevard, his brain working at a million miles an hour. “We have to stop the accident from happening—so we have about five minutes to figure it out.”

At that moment, Kara felt a sharp pain starting to throb on her right ankle. She wiggled her leg, trying to shake off the pain. After a while, it seemed to do the trick, and she focused on the job again. Kara searched the oncoming traffic. Her mind flashed back to the day she died. A huge bus came straight at her. She forced the thought out of her head and focused at task at hand.

“Are you okay?” asked David, his face concerned. “You look a little freaked.”

Kara met his eyes. “Yeah, I’m okay. I was just thinking about the day I died. I didn’t think seeing a city bus again would make me so nervous.”

“It’s normal. It was a pretty traumatic experience,” said David.

“I keep seeing huge headlights coming straight at me.” Kara looked at her feet. “Then I remembered feeling hard metal—and then the darkness. I just—I just can’t stop thinking—why didn’t I look before crossing the street? I might be alive again—with my whole life ahead of me.”

“I can see how this assignment has you a little anxious. But you’re a guardian angel now…that is your new life.”

Kara let out a sigh. “I know. I’ll be fine in a minute—I’ll try not to think about my body splattered under a bus.”

“Oh yeah—I remember that.”

Kara frowned. “What? How did you know that?”

“Because I was there.” David turned his attention back to the street.

Kara’s eyes widened. “What? What do you mean
you
were there?”

She stood frozen in place, her mind working overtime—playing back the events of her death in her head. She remembered a hand reaching out and grabbing her. “That was you?”

“Your soul was my assignment—I see it!” yelled David, “Look!” He pointed southwards on the street.

Kara followed David’s gaze and spotted the bus. It swiveled left and right as it made its way north, just a few blocks away from them. “David! We
have
to think of something fast!” She brushed the hair out of her eyes. “What if we can’t stop the accident—what—what would happen after? Would all those dead mortals attract a whole lot of demons? David?” yelled Kara.

In a flash, David ran across Decarie Boulevard. His backpack bounced behind him. He got to the sidewalk and turned around. His watched the oncoming bus, then glanced at Kara for two seconds, before looking back at the bus. “We only have one option,” he yelled from across the street.

“What’s that?” Kara struggled with her nerves.

“I’m going to jump in front of it—hopefully, he’ll turn the opposite direction—and hit the parked cars. That should stop it.”

“That’s your
master
plan?” Kara shook her head. “What if it doesn’t work,” she yelled back, as a group of people eyed her strangely. “What if it crashes into the oncoming traffic? That’s not better!”

David paced on the spot, his hands on top of his head. “Well, if you come up with something better, you better tell me in about ten seconds, Kiddo, ‘cause here it comes!”

She turned her head. David was right. She could read the
Out of Service
sign at the top. The bus was almost upon them. She looked behind her at the restaurant and saw shadows of people inside, not knowing that this might be their last meal.. It was packed.

“Oh my God, they’re all gonna die! Think, Kara, Think!” She hit her head with her fists searching for a solution.
I have to get all those people out of the restaurant…but how—how do I do that?
Kara bit her lip and looked up the street. A red fire hydrant stood but twenty feet from her. “Oh! I’ve got it!
Fire
!”

Without breathing a single word to David, Kara turned and bolted towards the restaurant. With her super-hero-chick-M-suit, Kara ploughed through the glass front door which shattered with a loud
bang
. Chop-sticks fell onto plates as the customers stopped eating and stared wide-eyed and open mouthed at the crazy girl who had just interrupted their meal. Kara knew she only had seconds before the bus came crashing in, killing everyone—and the children.

There was only one thing she could do. She roared, “FIRE!!!!!!!!”

No one moved. They all just stared.

“FIRE!” screamed Kara again. “FIRE! QUICK—GET OUT! GET OUT!” She jumped up and beat the air with her arms.
Oh, my God—maybe they don’t understand English!

She searched the small restaurant for any kind of alarm system and spotted one on the wall near the entrance. She sprinted towards the red little box fixed to the wall and pulled the lever. Immediately, an ear piercing ring engulfed the tiny restaurant. The customers looked at each other. And then, they all jumped up and started to run. Mothers cradled their babies as they hurried out the door; even the cooks at the far end of the restaurant, jumped over tables and pushed their way through.

“Fifteen—fourteen—thirteen—”counted Kara. She waited until everyone was safely out of the restaurant.

“Five—four—” Kara ran out of the front door.

“Two—” The front of the bus rolled up onto the sidewalk and came straight for her.

“One!” She jumped out of the way, and the eight ton metal monster ploughed into Oodles for Noodles. Glass and bricks flew everywhere as a thundering
crash
exploded all around. The bus shuddered to a stop, but not before demolishing a path to the far end of the restaurant. The ground shook as walls and ceiling came crumbling down. The bus was flattened like a soda can by the weight of the structure.

Kara pushed herself up. Rubble was all that was left of the restaurant. She wiped the dust from her face and turned to look at the many stunned faces. Remarkably, no one was hurt. She even spotted the driver of the bus, staggering his way out of the restaurant. “It’ll be the nine step program for you—buddy,” she called out.

Kara smiled. She had accomplished her task. It felt great. She heard David’s voice over the chaos.

“Hey! You’re a
genius
, Kiddo. The fire alarm! Why didn’t I think of that?” David beamed as he ran towards her. He put his hands on his waist and cocked an eyebrow. “Gabe’s going to be
very
happy.” He watched the crowds of people who were now taking pictures of the wreckage with their cell phones. “Told you it was going to get better!” He patted Kara on the back, like you would a dog who had performed a task. “You did
really
good, Kiddo.”

Kara smiled. “A good day on the job—wouldn’t you say?” she laughed. “I’m just really, really happy no one was hurt.” She looked around. “And no demons showed up—now that’s a first.”

“Yup.” David dropped his bag on the ground. “It’s times like these that make it all worth it, you know…almost as good as…thirty gin and tonics.”

Kara gave David a light shove. “You’re an idiot.” A smile reached her lips. “But an idiot—on a rare occasion—can be right sometimes.”

Kara’s attention went to a mother comforting her crying child. “This does feel awesome.”

“Told ya.”

“Ouch!” A stinging pain erupted on her right ankle. Kara bent over and pressed her hand over it.

“What is it?”

“I don’t know—I have this thing here—” she pulled up her pant leg and heard David gasp. The mark had grown. It was the size of a fist now, sprawling up and around her calve like a spidery hand. It was mad and ugly.

“You’re
marked!
”

“I’m what?”

“You’re a
spy
!” hissed David. He pushed her roughly away from him. His wide eyes flashed with anger. “How could you? A demon spy! You’re the
traitor
. You’ve been the traitor this whole time, haven’t you?”

“What? David, don’t be ridiculous—I’m not a
spy
.”

He was yelling now. “YOU’RE MARKED! Only demon
spies
are Marked!”

Kara frowned. “Stop it! You don’t know what you’re saying. I can’t be a spy? I just got here! This must be some mistake—it’s probably not even a Mark, like you say—maybe it’s something else?”

David’s expression darkened. “Don’t try to
fool
me again, traitor!”

His words cut through her being like a knife. What is going on? Her new angel world was crumbling down just as she had finally felt part of it.

Kara felt her soul breaking. “This can’t be happening to me
.
” She closed her eyes and then opened them again. “David. I—I’m not a traitor,” she croaked, her throat tightening up. “David—listen to me, please…”

“When did it happen, eh? When did you
sell
your
soul
over to the demons?” He shook his head. Disgust wrinkled into his face, as though Kara was the foulest thing he had ever laid eyes on.

“Please stop! Listen to me. I don’t how I got this. I felt some pain on my leg—and then there was this tiny mark—but it didn’t hurt, so I forgot about it. It didn’t hurt again until today.” She stepped towards David.

“Get away from me!”

Kara recoiled, she felt like she just got punched in the gut. “David, please. This is a mistake—I would never do anything to hurt you.”

David studied her face. “All this time I wondered how it was possible that the demons sensed us. Why the higher demons were up our asses all this time? You’ve been playing me this whole time, haven’t you? You were marked, and you led them to us.”

Panic consumed her as she realized David wasn’t going to believe her. “No. Why can’t you believe me? I’m innocent! I don’t know why I have this thing. It’s not my fault!”

“Don’t play innocent with me,
Kara
. The Legion will take care of you. Mark my words.”

This can’t be happening!
This is like a bad dream you can’t wake up from—like when you’re drowning or drive off a cliff.
A few days ago, David had kissed her, and now he looked at her with such loathing—she wanted to stop existing entirely. She closed her eyes.

“Ah—your friends have arrived!” said David.

Kara opened her eyes and looked around. “What? Who’s here?”

“Have you sent them to kill me! To finish the job!” He shouted behind a huge group of people as he backed away from her.

“David! Wait!” Kara took a step towards David and stopped. Two higher demons walked in her direction. They pushed and shoved through the tight crowd, their black eyes fixed on her. She felt a wave of panic wash through her as she backed away. She reached over her shoulder for her bag—but it was gone.
Crap! I must have dropped it when I ran out of the restaurant before the bus hit.

Kara jumped up. She looked over the many heads for David. She spotted him. He was staring at her, a frown on his face. He glanced eyes at the demons, before looking back at Kara. A shadow of confusion flashed across his face. He read her true panic. And then he was fighting his way back through the crowd, towards her. Three other higher demons broke through the mob of people and made their way towards David.

“David!” she yelled. He vanished under a wave of mortals.