The Fallen (Angelic Redemption) (14 page)

“My shift’s ending. Gary will call you up when
your order’s ready.”

“Sounds good,” Lila said.

Olivia walked away, peeking back once with a
cautious smile. Lila watched her go then eyed a confused Sophie.

“She’s like us,” Lila explained.

“A hunter?”

“Yep, but like you a few days ago, she doesn’t
know. She’s living the lie for now. The truth will eventually come out and
she’ll have to make a choice to follow God’s plan or betray her purpose.”

Sophie fidgeted in the booth. “Do you think I’m
trying to betray my purpose?”

“No, I just think you doubt your purpose. You
feel weak, but you’re powerful. You feel confused, but the answers are right in
front of you. The problem with you is that you got used to being human and it’s
hard for you to let go.”

“What if I can’t?”

“You don’t have choices like humans do. That
waitress isn’t meant to go to college and find a job and marry a guy and have
kids. Those are desires she might have, but they aren’t what she is meant to
do. She can hold onto the lies and try to be human, but that life isn’t hers to
have. When a hunter turns their back on their purpose, they suffer for it.
She’ll realize that one day.”

Lila waited for Sophie to speak and take charge
of her fate. The blonde stared at the menu instead. Grabbing Sophie’s hand,
Lila tried to control her frustration.

“Stop being a baby. You didn’t even like being
human. Not once have you asked to call someone to let them know you’re okay.
You know no one misses you, just like you don’t miss them. You’re holding onto
a lie you hate because you’re scared of being powerful and responsible. Push
aside your fears and embrace God’s voice in your head and it’ll all make sense.
You’ll be the warrior you were back when we ran together.”

Frowning, Sophie pulled at her fingers. “I’m not
ready. The way you killed those villains at my apartment, I can’t do that. You
ripped a villain’s heart out. I can’t do that either. I’m not you.”

“And I’m not Roman. We all have our talents and
our weaknesses. God doesn’t expect you to be me. Hiding behind me and Roman
isn’t your purpose. It’s not me, but you who will stop Joaquin. God believes in
you, so you better start believing in yourself.”

Sophie started to speak and Lila assumed it was
to complain about how she couldn’t possibly stop a big dog rogue hunter like
Joaquin. Whatever Sophie wanted to say, she didn’t have a chance because their
order was ready. Lila slipped out of the booth and waited for a frowning Sophie
to follow.

An older man, most likely the owner of one of the
semis outside, smiled at Lila and Sophie. Both women smiled back, even if
Sophie’s grin appeared tense, begrudging even. Lila scanned the faces in the
restaurant, admiring their humanity, but thankful not to share it.

Inside the restaurant were a few seniors and a
young family, but most were middle aged truckers, looking for a meal before
hitting the road. Lila studied the man in front of them who chatted with the
cashier. No one appeared to be in a hurry, except for Sophie who was tapping
her foot.

Glancing towards the entrance, Lila wished to
speed things along and return to Roman. Knowing this urge was a sign of
weakness, she had no plans to give into it.

Scanning the room again, Lila felt trouble coming
long before seeing their misshapen faces approaching from the parking lot.

“Sophie, get everyone into the kitchen,” Lila
said, pulling out her guns and looking at the customers. “We’re about to be robbed.
I need you to follow my friend into the kitchen for your safety.”

No one reacted to Lila’s announcement. Not even
Sophie who only touched her hidden gun with a vague frown. Upon seeing Lila’s
weapons, a few patrons gasped, yet none moved. Lila figured as much and did
little else to warn the humans as she rushed towards the front door.

The three villains reached the door, just as Lila
locked it. The lead villain fiddled with the door, frowning with confusion,
though unconcerned. Lila glanced back at Sophie who shrugged.

“Are you kidding me?” Lila asked.

“What am I supposed to do?”

“Maybe you could get these people away from the
impending gunfight?”

Possibly it was the guns in her hands or the vibe
Lila tended to give off when she was psyched over a fight, but none of the
patrons, not even the parents of the small children, questioned her. They did
not hide or flee either, just stared at her. Sophie finally took a step
forward.

“You heard her. Everyone get in the back before
those guys out there start shooting.”

If they were unimpressed by Lila’s orders, the
patrons really couldn’t have cared less what Sophie had to add. It might have
been comical, if Lila didn’t notice the villains reaching for their weapons.
Glancing back at Sophie, Lila pointed at the blonde.

“Once it starts, it’s your job to protect these
people.”

When the villains peered into the restaurant and
saw it filled with people. They pointed their guns at the locked door, ready to
force their way inside.

Lila aimed her weapons at the large window next to
a line of empty booths. Firing, she cracked the glass and jumped onto a table
then through the weakened window. Startling the villains, her shots struck them
as she ran in an arched pattern both towards the villains and away from the restaurant.

The villains opened fire on Lila and she felt the
bullets tear into her shoulder and thigh, but she didn’t dare stop moving. Confidence
low, her mind began calculating how badly this might turn out. She worried
about the number of dead humans, the inability of Sophie to defend herself, and
even what death would feel like when it came again.

Lila tried to concentrate, but she wasn’t the
hunter from two days ago who drove her car off a bridge. She was the humbled
hunter of today - the one who feared a trip to Denny’s and was now certain she
would fail again. Lila tried to give herself the same pep talk she gave Sophie
minutes earlier, but the doubts were too ingrained.

Lila didn’t care that these villains weren’t
there for her or Sophie. For no matter their true target, if Lila failed to
stop them, they would kill the humans and those deaths would be on her.

She tried to channel the old Lila - the one who
ran towards danger and never from it. Firing at the villains, she saw them go
down like dominos, each of her shots hitting the mark. Grabbing a sword from
her jacket, she ran in the direction of the injured villains, hoping to finish
them off before her nerves got the best of her again.

Before finishing off the villains, Lila heard the
revving engine of an approaching car. Turning just in time to dodge the
barreling sedan, she ran away from the restaurant and towards the hotel. The
car swerved to follow Lila and she felt the heat of the engine on the back of
her jeans.

Unable to dodge it again, Lila jumped onto the
car’s hood and fired into the windshield. The car swerved, but Lila leaned her
bodyweight and surfed its movements. Firing until her guns were empty, Lila saw
one of her shots hit the driver in the head and the car shook out of control.
Running over the top of the car, Lila jumped from the trunk just as the sedan
smashed into a wall.

Landing on her feet, she reloaded her weapons and
thought to the downed villains near the restaurant. Instead of finishing them
off, she was distracted by the screeching tires of a semi making an awkward
turn down the road. Lila realized the semi was coming for her and it wasn’t
alone. A second semi rumbled her direction from a nearby gas station.

A part of Lila wanted to race into battle, kill
all of these villains, and pat herself on the back. This part of her was on
vacation though. The present Lila felt overwhelmed by a sudden realization that
she would die if she didn’t get to Roman. Running away from danger, she sprinted
towards the hotel, hoping to reach her husband before the villains reached her.

The first semi caught up to Lila quickly, forcing
her to jump onto the hood. Firing into the windshield, she was met with
shotguns blasts, one of them ripping flesh from her hip. Barely hurt, yet unwilling
to push her luck, Lila ran along the cargo bay. As she neared the midsection of
the truck, the second semi slammed into the first. The impact knocked the truck
sideways and threw Lila off of the top.

Falling towards the asphalt, Lila braced herself
for impact, but Roman appeared and caught her midair. Landing gently, he
frowned at the semi which tumbled at them. As Lila started to speak, the image
around her faded and she was suddenly standing next to their hotel room.

“Why did you leave?” Roman asked, holding her
around the waist as he examined her shoulder wound.

“We just wanted to pick up breakfast. Roman, we
need to help Sophie and the humans in the restaurant.”

“No, you pack our stuff and I’ll help them. We
need to get out of here before the police arrive.”

“I can help,” Lila said, tugging away. “I’m not a
child.”

Holding her snugly, Roman smiled patiently. “I
wouldn’t leave you here alone, if I thought you were a child. Now, just do as I
say and I’ll get rid of the villains and bring Sophie back. You need to find us
a new car.”

Frowning, Lila stopped struggling. “I didn’t try
to ditch you.”

Smiling wider, Roman kissed her, his lips
lingering on hers before finally letting go. “I know. I’ll be right back.”

Roman held her around the waist, seemingly calm,
but Lila knew better. In an ideal world, he could protect her, but they weren’t
creatures meant for safety. Roman studied her for a moment then with one last
look of uncertainty, he disappeared.

Lila rushed into the room and shoved their
belongings into bags. Having never really unpacked, all of their stuff was
quickly located and she was soon out the hotel door.

Stuffing the bags into the back of a new SUV, she
scanned the parking lot for villains. Lila neither saw nor sensed any close by.
Down the road though, the commotion continued as Roman battled the remaining
villains while police sirens blared in the distance.

Turning towards the driver’s door, Lila felt the
blade enter her chest before she even caught sight of the demon.

A walking corpse was Lila’s first thought as she
laid eyes on the monster. When it twisted the blade deeper, Lila’s second thought
was how the sword had missed her spinal cord. She could still stand and reach
for her gun. When she tried to use it though, the weapon was ripped from her
grip. Glancing down at where the gun fell, Lila was startled to see so much of
her blood pooling at her feet.

“All those years ago,” the demon said, “I tried
to make a deal. You were too righteous to save your friends, to save yourself,
to save your poor husband from years of suffering. The second time, I thought
you might want to live, but then too you embraced death. This time I figured
I’d save us the trouble of you saying no.”

Lila watched the monster smile and felt its cold
breath against her face. The chill crawled over her skin, weakening her already
fading body. Saddened by how this monster would take her away from Roman again,
Lila realized sadness was the wrong emotion for this situation. A more helpful
emotion rose up inside her instead.

Pushing forward on the sword, Lila ignored the
searing pain of tearing flesh and just focused on getting close enough to the
demon to make it bleed a little too. Slugging it hard - harder than either of
them expected - Lila watched the demon stumble back. Groaning in pain and
shock, the monster held its face.

Lila yanked at the blade in her chest, pulling
the metal out in a swift motion.

“If you can touch me,” Lila said, swinging the
blade, “I can touch you back, monster.”

The demon knew her intentions and tried to exit
her world, but the blade slashed its throat. Dazed now, the thing did little to
stop the second blow. This one separated its head from its rotting body. Lila
watched the demon fall to the ground and stared as the head rolled downhill towards
the street. Just as the head dropped over the curb, Lila felt her legs give
out.

Falling into the pool of blood, she never tried
to brace her fall. Even after her head slammed against the asphalt, she
remained conscious. The sword fell near her hand, still close enough for her to
grasp. Yet if anything came looking to finish her off, a weapon would do her
little good.

Lila embraced the numbness which washed over her.
Defenseless and on the verge of death, Lila gave up on the rage and desire for
vengeance. She now embraced the sense of loss she knew Roman would feel for
her. Not far away, he was saving Sophie, fighting the bad guys, and hoping to
return to his wife.

As Lila’s vision faded, she hungered to give Roman
his wish for one more day together. Yet this possibility was entirely out of
her hands now. With the darkness came an acceptance that with God’s blessing, Lila
and Roman would meet again.

The church’s decaying walls teetered against the
harsh midday winds. Near the front steps, the tower’s bell sat on its side. The
large wooden doors appeared newer than the rest of the structure, yet were
riddled with bullet holes.