To Light and Guard (12 page)

CHAPTER 27

             
There were certain advantages to having a guardian angel for a boyfriend.  Of course, I had to sneak out every time I saw him, and until I get caught by Mom and Dad, it was worth every second.

It was
around two o’clock in the morning, and Luke was carrying me in his arms as we flew over the Pacific Ocean.  Even in late April, it was still chilly when you’re flying via angel.

“How high are we
exactly?” I asked.

“About two hundred feet up.  We’re about
ten and a half miles away from Catalina Island.”

“You’re like a living navigation system
,” I teased.

“That
’s something I’ve never heard before,” he said, grinning.

I
looked at his smiling face and felt pure joy.  I liked seeing him happy, and I tried to memorize every detail of this moment.  Unfortunately, Luke didn’t show up on photographs or video. He’s kind of like a vampire that way.  So, all I can really do is gaze at his handsome face. I cupped the side of his face with one hand, feeling the texture of his skin.

“Are you trying to mind-meld with me?” Luke asked.

I smiled. See here… Luke already knows about the Vulcan mind-meld without me having to explain it to him. That’s because when I sleep at night, Luke stays in my room and spends his time watching my DVDs. Sometimes, he would sit in my chair or recline on the bean bag on the floor, but sometimes, he would lie down on my bed next to me just holding my hand.  It’s the best way to sleep at night, and he keeps my nightmares at bay.

So far, he’s seen about
twenty-five of my favorite movies:  Star Trek, Star Wars, Avatar, The Matrix…  He went through the classics very quickly. I’m pretty sure he enjoys them, too, because it’s not like I’m forcing him to watch them.  Although, I do believe he prefers watching the History Channel
.
I found that he likes to critique and comment on what
really
happened hundreds or thousands of years ago.  Apparently, we humans get our own history wrong sometimes. 

While still flying,
I kissed him on the cheek.  He turned his head until I was kissing his mouth.  Kissing, while flying, was so exhilarating.

I felt his lips travel down my neck.
Question:  If an invisible angel gave me a hickey, will other people be able to see it?  Mmmhmmm…. Never mind…
I’ll worry about that later.

Moments later, w
ith his lips still on my neck, I felt Luke’s body stiffen. He turned away quickly, glancing over his shoulder.  “Demons behind us,” he said as his arms tightened around me. His face became grim.   

I
looked behind him, but all I could see were Luke’s flapping wings.  There was a full moon guiding us, but it was still very dark.

“Are you sure?” I asked.  “I don’t see anything.”

              “They’re there,” he said.  “I could hear them.”  This close to him, with my chest almost pressed to his, I felt the quick pounding of his heart.  He was nervous.  “We are still too far away from Catalina Island, and I don’t want to drop you.”

             
We were flying faster; my best guess was somewhere around fifty miles per hour – sixty tops.   Even held together tightly with a clip, my hair whipped around us furiously. I could hear the flapping of his wings in the air going faster and faster. 
Whoosh.  Whoosh. Whoosh.
  Without him telling me, I could tell that the demons were gaining on us.  I could hear their wings now, and they weren’t very far behind. 

             
“How many?” I asked nervously.

             
Without looking back, Luke said, “Five.”  He swooped down, almost straight down, and I gritted my teeth from the sudden decrease in altitude. I became a little bit light-headed, and I tried not to scream.

Luke leveled,
but he kept looking around.  It was a sky-chase, and there was no place to hide. “The demons aren’t after you,” he said.  “They’re after me.”

             
And I was just weighing him down.  Talk about being a burden.  “I could swim,” I said.  “I’m a good swimmer.  You can come back for me later.”

“Not an option,” he said
as he swooped down again.  This time, I did hear more wings flapping around us.   I felt a sharp pull, and we jerked to the right.  I looked up and saw a dark shape flying directly above us, tugging Luke’s right wing.  Then, a fist came crashing down on Luke’s head, only a few inches from my face.  I screamed.

We fell several feet and another
dark shape bumped Luke from his left side.  Luke quickly pulled my arms away from his neck, and kissed my forehead.  A demon tugged his wing back, and then, Luke did something I didn’t think he would ever do.  He dropped me… intentionally.

I closed my eyes and held my breath
as I fell.  The wind rushed all around me, pushing me in all directions. I was going to hit the water. 
Oh, crap, crap, crap.

My mouth was open, and
I was about to scream when I felt someone catch me mid-fall.  “Oomph.”   My back and my legs hit something solid.  

I opened my eyes
and saw Joshua’s face right in front of mine.  He was carrying me in his arms, but my right hand landed on his face.

“Ow,” he gritted out
.  “
Do not
poke my eye.” 

“
Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you,” I said as I dropped my right hand from his face. I breathed a sigh of relief. 

I was shaking from fear.  I
would have hit the water if Joshua didn’t catch me.

Wait a second. 
“Did Luke know you were going to catch me when he dropped me?” I asked.  Joshua’s answer wouldn’t have mattered to me, of course.  If Luke decided to drop me on purpose, it must have been for a good reason.  Plus, he already knew that I could swim.

“Maybe
,” Joshua said, “and this is how we play catch.”

We were flying so close to the ocean’s surface that my
Uggs grazed the water.  I looked up; I didn’t see or hear anything.  “They’re still out there.  They will kill him,” I whispered.  “You have to help him.” Even as I said it, I wrapped my arms around Joshua’s neck; I was afraid that he would do just that and drop me in the water.  My Uggs were now soaked, and I could tell that the water was definitely freezing. Come to think of it, maybe I was also afraid of sharks.

“
Don’t worry about Luke.  He’s a soldier. He’ll be fine. I’ve never seen him hit the ground in a fight.” Joshua said.  “Angels and demons… we all have the power to heal.  If we didn’t, we would have killed off each other a long time ago. We would be extinct.”

“But he can still get hu
rt,” I reminded him. 

“Little girl,
” Joshua said with frustration, “you are the only one who can get hurt in all of this. I predicted something like this would happen.  I warned him many times.”  From the distance, I saw the lights of Catalina Island, and Joshua flew towards the lights.  I heard a splash somewhere behind us.

“Whatever you two are doing, the demons aren’t going to idly stand by. 
Trust me when I say that the demons will not let one angel meddle in the life of one human when they cannot.  It’s a jealousy thing.  We demons like to play with humans, too.”

“Do you think the demons would go after me
, then?” I gulped.  I was definitely freaking out.  “That they would try to kill me?” I added.

“
No.  Demons don’t kill humans.  Only angels would do something idiotic like that.”

Joshua said it so simply and without any emotion in his voice, but I already knew his past - at least the part of how he turned into a demon.  I wondered if he ever had any regrets for killing an entire village of humans.

“
When a demon kills a human, the demon dies,” Joshua explained.  “Disappears forever, never to be heard of again.  Some demons believe that if we die, we turn into nothing.  That is why it never happens… because there is
nothing
worse than being nothing.”  Joshua shook his head. “We fear death, just as humans do, and that’s the reason why we demons stay away from humans.  You are just too fragile.  It becomes too much of a risk.” 

We reached
the island, and Joshua slowed down.  “Sadly, you have more to fear from angels,” he murmured.  “Some angels don’t care if they turn into demons.” 

The lights on the island casted an
eerie glow on the beach. There were no humans in sight.  At this hour, it seemed that everyone in Catalina Island was asleep.  Joshua landed, and he gently lowered my legs on the sand.   On wobbly legs, I resisted the urge to kneel down and kiss the ground.   

“
Thank you for saving me, Joshua, but just so you know, this doesn’t change anything,” I said.  My voice was filled with regret.  I really wanted us to be friends, but I didn’t think that it was possible.  “You still killed my family.  I can’t forgive you for that.”

“Killed your family?
” Joshua scoffed.  “What planet are you from?” he asked sarcastically.

“Um… well, I’m from Earth.” 
Hello… What planet was I from?
  What kind of a stupid question was that?  What did he expect me to say?  I’m from Pluto? Wait.  Pluto is still a planet, right?  Because I’m still very confused about Pluto.

Joshua leaned forward until he was very close to my face and really looked at me. “You are… Gwen?”  Even in the dark, I could see his purple eyes blazing. Suddenly, he turned around, and his black wings flared as if he was prepared to fly.  Instead, he kicked the sand under his feet while mumbling some words I didn’t understand.  I think he was cursing in Latin.   

             
“Of course it’s you,” he said. “I should have known. This is the reason why this is happening.”

             
Joshua glanced up at the night sky, just as I did, and we waited for some sign of Luke.

“Just so we’re clear,” he said.  “I did not kill your family.
It was very difficult for me at the time to let them live, but I let them go.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because Elizabeth wouldn’t have wanted me to hurt them.  Regardless of what happened, she still loved them.”  He shook his head.  “Her family was very important to her,” he said bitterly, “and she loved them just like she loved you.”

Without any warning,
I saw a demon fall ten feet away from us, his black wings hitting the sand with a thud.  Joshua grabbed me from behind and flew us backwards, landing several feet away.  He gently lowered me back on the sand.  

Luke landed
gently, next to the fallen demon.  Immediately, two more demons dropped down on top of Luke.

“Luke,” I said, taking a few steps towards him
. Joshua grabbed my right arm, holding me in place.

“Leave them
,” Joshua said. 

“You have to help him
,” I said. It wasn’t a fair fight; he was outnumbered. I watched helplessly as Luke threw a demon off of his shoulder.  Another demon clung on his back; the demon raised his fist and slammed it on Luke’s shoulder.  I heard a sickening thud, and I flinched.  My eyes watered, and I tried very hard not to let my tears fall.

“Please help him,” I said
as I jerked my arm away from Joshua’s tight grip.

“I am helping him, little girl,” Joshua said with gritted teeth.
  “I’m here guarding you.  So be quiet, and let him do this his way.”

I
looked on with despair as Luke single handedly battled the three demons on the beach.

             
“Besides,” Joshua added, “I never go against my own kind.”

             
“Luke
is
your own kind.  He’s your friend.”  We both knew I was right, but Joshua gripped my arm tighter. 

Luke punched a demon on the face
as another demon kicked his back.  Luke stumbled forward, falling on the sand on his knees.   

“I’ll be fine,” I said. “You just said that the demons won’t kill me.”

             
Joshua sighed, shaking his head. “But they can still hurt you, and Luke will never forgive me if I let that happen.”

             
Out of nowhere, lightning flashed in the sky; it was quickly followed by the loud booming sound of thunder.  Then, the sky opened up, and rain poured down hard and fast.  The universe was very unhappy - I could tell - and Heaven was crying for what was happening here today. With my free hand, I pulled the hood of my sweatshirt over my head.  Feeling scared and helpless, I watched as Luke battled the demons alone.

Minutes later, the last punch was thrown, and just like magic, it stopped raining.  It didn’t matter, though.  I was already soaked to the bone; we all were, but I think I was the only one who was affected by the weather.  My teeth started to chatter. I hunched over, and my arms instinctively wrapped around myself.