Angels Among US

Aspen Harper rested against the cold wall, her ear buds in, reading the book “Are Angels Among Us?” She could feel a distant rumbling and wondered if a subway was coming into the station. The noise grew louder and louder and suddenly, it stopped. Then, the ceiling crashed down on her and she faded into oblivion.

***

The room was round, with five pillars of gold standing at five points in the room. The walls had a gilded pattern of vines stretching across the expanse. The floor was a chessboard of gold and scarlet tiles, but it was the ceiling that stood out the most. It was entirely composed of white fluffy clouds. In the middle of chamber sat a giant, gold throne with scarlet draperies stretching from the headrest to the armrests like wings.

Aspen knelt in front of the enormous throne; she knew only subconsciously that that was what she was supposed to do. A humongous deity suddenly appeared in the throne, materializing so quickly it was like he just appeared. “Aspen Harper,” he said in a deep musical voice. She looked up to meet his eyes, but his face was covered in the clouds.

“Yes, sir?” she said in a trembling voice.

“You do realize you are dead,” he stated.

“Yes, sir.”

“I am here to fill you in on the details of your current arrangement, but before I start, do you have any question?” he asked.

“Um…Is this Heaven?” she inquired, an innocent feeling of wonder creeping up into her voice. The god released a deep throated thrum of amusement.

“No, my angel, this is not Heaven. It is the Chamber of Choice. Here you must make your decision: Spend eternity in Heaven, use your second life as a human, or use your second life as a guardian angel.”

“Second life??!!” she exclaimed.

“Yes. Every human who makes it here gets the choice of a second life. If you choose Heaven, you get no second life. If you choose human, you will fade into nothing when your second life is over. But if you choose to act as a guardian angel, you will live out your life helping others, and will go to Heaven when you die. Plus, you get wings!”

“I kind of get the feeling that you want me to pick angel,” she replied with a smile.

“We do need more angels, yes. But see, here’s the thing. You’ve already chosen,”

“What?” she asked in confusion.

“It’s hard to explain, but it’s been about 15 years since you died. You are existing in two realities; here and in the real world, guarding your charge. So is your choice official?” he asked, his body slowly dissipating into a fine mist, starting at his toes and moving up his calves.

“Yes. I’ve made my decision. I want to become an angel, but how do I protect my charge?”

“You will not be harmed by anything except weapons made of silver…” he said, his voice fading.

“O-kay. So where is my human?”

“He’s in the train station. Beware the Rifts, Seers, and Sacrilege….,” he whispered as his body vanished from view. The room disappeared in a tornado of wind and sea spray. ***

Aspen was in a train station filled with gray seemingly lifeless people, which was ironic, considering that she was the dead one. She looked down at her body to find herself naked. She cursed, but didn’t know how to fix the problem. Suddenly, a brisk voice cut through her mind.

“Hey. I’m Kade. If you want some clothes, just imagine them. Same with changing your appearance,” he said. Aspen furrowed her brow and concentrated, imagined the perfect outfit. She thought of a purple tank top, camo cargo pants, and an orange arm sock. She imagined her hair in a short spiky bob and stretched her body out so it was taller. “Nice,” Kade said. “Not how I would have done it, but nice,”

Aspen was confused. Who was Kade, and how did he get in her head? “Who are you?” she said out loud.

“First of all, just think it and I’ll hear. Second of all, I’m your handler. I’m an Administrator Angel; I’m here to guide you through your missions and fill you in on anything you might wish to know. Does that answer your question?” he asked.

“Yes,” she thought. “Who am I looking for?”

“A tall guy, about twenty, with short dark brown hair in a uniform. He’s an army man, here to protect the civilians,”

“Okay…” she replied. She looked down at the people, and suddenly, a boy stood out. He glowed. Like, literally glowed. She swooped down low and waved her hand over his eyes, but nothing registered.

“Don’t push it,” Kade shouted. “They can’t see you to some extent, but if you keep acting like that, you never know what he might see!” She dropped to walk beside him, tucking her wings in during the process. She just noticed they were black, not the customary white or light gold. Suddenly, a short balding man came sprinting out of the tunnel holding a gun.

“Die, government bastard!” he yelled, as he fired the gun at her charge. Aspen pushed him to the ground, not willing to take the risk if the bullet was silver. It passed over head.

“Wait...What’s his name?” she asked Kade, knowing full well that this was NOT the time.

“The bald man, or your human?” he asked calmly as the bald guy fired again. This time, her human fired back, catching the man in the chest as his bullet flew awry.

“Both!” Aspen answered, caught up in the heat of the moment.

“The bald dude is Dane Timor, a serious bad guy. Your charge, his name is James. James Reuben. And he just killed Timor, if you were watching the fight,” Aspen turned her attention back to the riot, seeing a crowd of angry people surge toward James. She could see they were upset with James, but she didn’t know why. “Okay, here’s what I want you to do,” Kade said. “Close your eyes and imagine that you are sending out gold-” he started. Then, a man dressed like James shoved his way through the riot.

“I’m your replacement, Reuben,” he said in a calm tone. James breathed an audible sigh of relief.

“Thank God. I’ll leave you here to clean up my mess,”

“Yeah, about tha-” he began, but James was sprinting away, leaving a confused Aspen to follow.

***

Aspen followed behind James, trying to listen to Kade and follow at the same time. “So, any questions?” Kade asked after giving a particularly lengthy explanation about how the Guardians came to be. She felt dizzy.

“So many I don’t even know where to begin,” she replied.

“Hey! Watch him!” Kade shouted as James turned into a run down apartment. Aspen dutifully trouped up the narrow staircase after him. He turned the key and stepped into his apartment. It consisted of five rooms: a kitchen with dirty dishes piling in the sink; a living room with moth-eaten couches, a small T.V., and a dirty rug thrown over the hardwood floor; a bedroom with nothing but a small mattress on the floor, a closet with a few uniforms in it, and a bookshelf with only one book; a bathroom with a sink, toilet, and a shower; and a small “room” with a dining table.

“Man, the Army pays good,” she muttered to herself. Kade uttered a short bark of laughter. James kicked off his heavy boots and staggered to the bathroom. “Oh, God. I don’t actually, like, have to in there with him, do I?” she asked Kade.

“Yup. You do,” Kade answered in a malicious tone. “What if he chokes? Or drowns?” Aspen cursed, but followed him in. She turned with her face into a corner as he got into the shower. She was not looking, no matter what Kade said. “Now is the perfect time for you to ask some questions,” Kade said.

“What’s your last name?”

“Hey! That’s getting kind of personal, you know! But, if you have to know, it’s Silver,”

“What’s going on? I mean, I sort of know, like angels are being killed off, but who's doing it?”

“Okay, I’ll start with the Rifts. They are Guardians who turned to Lucifer in anger. They hate all Guardians and they want to wipe out every single Guardian and their humans. They have a sick sense of honor, and will never usually double-team a Guardian. Got it?”

“I-I think so,”

“The Sacrilege are the original fallen angels. The ones that left God when Lucifer turned traitor. They are far more powerful than any normal Guardian, or Rift,”

“Can they come to Earth from Hell?”

“Only Rank 5 Sacrilege can come up. They are the most powerful. Currently, there are two,”

“What are their names?”

“Dark Dawn and Fading Star. They have never returned to Earth, as they are resigned to their fate,” he said. “Oh God! James is falling!” She whirled quickly to find that a.) James was not falling, and b.) James wasn’t dressed.

“I am going to kill you, Kade!” she muttered angrily. He was laughing, peals of bell-like mirth that rang in her skull.

“You gotta admit! That was hilarious!”

“Yeah, whatever,” By now, James had wrapped up in his towel and was combing through his dark brown hair, grumbling the whole time. He walked to his room. “Kade? Is he changing?” Aspen asked.

“He was, but he’s done now,”

“That quick?” she mumbled, but she didn’t know how fast guys changed. She turned around to find James climbing under his covers with only his boxers on. “Oh God. Kade! You think this is funny don’t you! Next time I see you, I swear…”

“Oh, calm down! You’ll be fine! In fact, you’ll be more than fine…” Aspen could tell if she saw him, he’d be wiggling his eyebrows.

“You are so freaking immature. By the way, when do I get to sleep?” she asked in annoyance.

“You don’t sleep. Guardians don’t need it. And I am not immature!” he yelled.

“Whatever. So I just, like, lean back and…do what?”

“How about you try…hmm...I don’t know. Watch him sleep?!” Kade yelled, clearly a bit frustrated. Aspen gave up arguing with him and hovered in the air, staring at James.

“Good night, James,” she whispered, before succumbing boredom. Who said angels couldn't sleep? ***

James sat up in the middle of the night, a cold sweat drenching his lean body. Suddenly, he screamed. Right in front of his eyes was a stranger. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, and he’d seen a lot of pretty girls. She peered into his face, a look of surprise chiseled onto her exquisite features. She backed away quickly and James caught a glimpse of the rest of her body. She was tall, about 5” 10’, with a muscular form. She wore cargo pants, a purple tank top, and an orange fingerless glove. But the weirdest thing was her back. Huge feathered wings exploded from her shoulder blades. When he saw them, he felt slightly relieved. If she had wings, she must be a dream; therefore, he was not crazy. He gazed at her for a few more seconds, before lying back down on his mattress and staring up at the ceiling. Suddenly, a flash of golden light lit his room. He bolted from his daze, to find that the girl had disappeared. He went back to sleep, feeling disappointment mixed with relief. He spent the rest of the night dreaming of his angel.

***

“Aspen! Get away from him! I’m gonna get you out of there!” Kade shouted when James awoke to find Aspen staring at him.

“Holy crap! Kade, I think he sees me!” Aspen said in a panic.

“Just hold on! I’m bringing you up!”

“Ok, but hurry!” she yelled. A burst of golden light washed over the room, and disappeared, taking Aspen with it. She found herself in a room filled with gadgets and devices.

The room was long, and angels sat all down it, headphones in talking rapidly. Suddenly, a hand grasped her arm as she was taking it all in. She whirled to find a grinning boy about her age with blonde hair and blue eyes. “Don’t freak. It’s me, Kade,” He had perfect white teeth and his bangs kept falling in his eyes. “We’re going to go outside for a little bit, ‘kay?”

“Yeah, that’s fine with me,” she replied.

“There’s no need for you to talk in your head. Here we can do it out loud,” he said with a hint of amusement in his voice.

“Oh, alright,” she said as he walked her out a door and into the most beautiful park she had ever seen. The ground was entirely composed of clouds, and huge cherry trees blossomed, their petals flying throughout the park.

“Over here,” He led her to the base of one of the trees. He motioned for her to sit down, and then sat down next to her. “Would you like to continue our lesson?”

“What lesson?”

“The one that was, ah, interrupted by James,” he replied, trying to step gingerly on this dangerous subject.

“Oh, that one. Yeah, go ahead, but afterward, I am going to kill you,” she growled.

“The Seers are humans who can see Guardians and Rifts,”

“How come James didn’t see me when I first met him? Like when I waved my hands in front of his eyes?”

“Seers actually can only physically see angels once a day, but whether or not they actually do is a mystery. No one knows how Seers do it, or why they can see the dead. They just do. Any questions?”

“Not really,”

“Good. Next topic: the Damned. They are the souls who go to Hell. They really can’t do anything to you, but they make a Hell of a lot of noise, pun intended. Any questions?”

“Actually, yes. How do you know they make that much noise? Have you ever been-” she said, trying to joke with him. The mood suddenly turned serious

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he said harshly, cutting her off.

“Are you a demon in disgu-”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” His hair shifted to a dark black, and his eyes flashed red.

“Seriously, talking makes it better. I swear it do-“

“I don’t want to talk about it! Do you not get that?!” he screamed before breaking down and putting his head in his hands. “I don’t think I can talk about it. It hurts too bad…” Then, he seemed to strengthen. “I haven’t told anyone before, but I think I could show you. Close your eyes,” he said, pressing his index finger into her temple. Aspen felt dizzying darkness come in waves. She let it take over, and soon she was consumed by black.

Aspen was hovering in the air, looking at a slightly younger Kade. He was dressed like a typical teenage boy and he was looking down at a young girl. Aspen realized with a shock that the girl was her childhood friend, Shyannah. Kade just stood and peered down at her, catching her when she jumped off the swing set, and setting her down gently. Suddenly, a tall warrior, dressed in black armor with a wicked black sword attacked Kade. Kade fought him with his own sword, quickly outpacing him in skill and speed. Abruptly, the shaft of a spear cracked down over Kade’s shoulders. He whirled around to find a second fighter. “What!” Kade yelled. “You only fight one-on-one!” The Rift behind him let out a cruel laugh.

“Not today we don’t. I want you awake for this,” the Rift said with a smirk. The Rift with the sword swung at Kade’s sword, knocking it out of his hands, leaving him weaponless facing two crazy Rifts. He adopted a fighting stance, inviting them forward. He ducked underneath the spear and leaped away from the sword, but he was badly outnumbered. The spear pressed into his back, forcing him down on his knees. The sword-bearing Rift cuffed Kade’s hands and feet together. Kade took one last look at Shyannah before the Rifts grabbed him and teleported off.

Aspen was plunged into darkness again and she resurfaced in a little corner of Hell. Literally.

It was a giant cave that opened up into a huge lake of boiling water. On one side of the cave was a furnace. On the other was a wall with shackles bolted to it. The two Rifts dragged Kade’s battered body to the wall with the shackles and chained him into to it. The one that had carried the spear went down to the lake and came up with a bucket of boiling water. He hurled it into Kade’s face. Kade awoke, gasping from shock. “Oh God,” he said when he saw the two.

“Your God can’t save you here. You’re in our God’s realm now,” said the tallest.

“No, Seth. Please!” Kade said, pleading with the taller of the two.

“Oh, so now you know how to beg. Before, you were so high and mighty. Now look at you. Groveling in the pits of Hell,” Seth gloated, pressing his foot down into Kade’s neck. “What do you think we otta do with him, Nathaniel?”

“It’s Nate. And I think we should kill him,” the shorter of the two responded.

“Oh, no. That’s too good of a fate for a maggot like him,” Seth said. “I say we torture him and make him beg for his own death before we finally put him out of his misery,” Kade paled at those words.

“No, please! Warren told me you didn’t do things like this! Warren said-” Kade began.

“I don’t care what Warren said! You’re ours now, and that means that what we say matters, not what Warren said!” Seth shouted.

“I don’t know…He’s right. Rifts aren’t supposed to do stuff like this. We’re just supposed to kill them off…” Nate said, clearly unsure.

“We make the rules around here! What other people say doesn’t matter. Here, we are the bosses!” Seth yelled, working himself up.

“Whatever you say, man. How about we come back tomorrow and start?” Nate soothed. “We’ll give him a little gift from Hell, but tomorrow okay?”

“Alright,” he said glaring pointedly at Kade. “Don’t pull a disappearing act, Silver, darling. After all, we wouldn’t want you to waste all you strength on escaping. You’ll need it for tomorrow,” Seth left, a smirk darting across his tan face. They were gone, somewhere in the blackness of Hell. Aspen could see Kade weeping, trying to alleviate the pain. Then, the scene dissipated and Aspen found herself in the dark. Again.

Aspen could see Kade, shirtless, his back arching in pain. Seth jabbed him with a fiery hot poker, catching him in the stomach. Kade howled, a wordless sound, full of pain and hatred. The poker came down again and again, leaving patches of badly burned skin.

“Why? Why?” Kade yelled over and over, his pain filling the cave. Just as suddenly as Seth had begun, he stopped.

“You think that’s bad, Silver? You think that’s bad, huh? You haven’t felt bad yet! Nate!”

“Coming!” Nate replied. He rushed in with a knife, a staff, two lead balls, a bucket of boiling water, and a bowl of wax. He was practically juggling them trying to keep them from falling. It was almost funny. He dropped the items at Seth’s feet.

“Pick your torture, Silver,” Seth said, gesturing at the random objects lying scattered on the floor. Kade knew what would happen if he chose the water, the knife, and the staff. But he didn’t know the other two.

“The lead balls,” he croaked, guessing that if he chose wax it would be heated up and he would be forced to stick his hand in it.

“I was hoping you’d choose that,” Seth said as he grinned menacingly. He grasped the hard lead balls in his fists and leaned in towards Kade, raining blows down on his body. Kade tried to sway away from them, but Nate grabbed his shoulders and held him steady. After about two or three minutes, Seth dropped the balls, sweating. “We’ll be seeing you tomorrow. After all, optimists like you need something to look forward to,” He turned and stalked away into the darkness.

As soon as he was sure they were gone, Kade looked down at his cuffs. A blinding light filled the room for about two seconds. When it went away, Aspen could see that Kade’s wrists, hands, ankles, and feet were three times smaller. Aspen knew the immense amount of energy that would take. In Earth, both Rifts and Guardians could use their “magic”. In Heaven, only angels could use “magic”. In Hell, only Rifts had the capability.

Kade spread his wings, and Aspen saw just how bad they were. There were blackened patches of feathers from fire, some feathers were completely gone, plucked out, leaving only patches of pink skin, and the overall color of his wings was a dirty gray-brown. He leaped into the air and beat his wings rapidly. He slowly rose and flew out of the cave, leaving it behind. He rose higher and higher into the air until he finally flew out of Hell.

Once Kade had abandoned Hell, Aspen could see that he seemed to regain some strength. He teleported to the playground where Aspen had seen him with Shyannah, but when he arrived there, he dropped down with exhaustion. The scene fizzled into black, and Aspen waited for the new picture to form.

She was in Heaven, looking down at Kade. He was lying in a bed of clouds. A man of about thirty, dark haired and dark eyed, was standing over him crying. “Kade! Oh Kade! What have I done?” the man wept. Kade sat up, his eyes red-rimmed with fatigue.

“Warren?” he asked.

“Yes, Kade it’s me!” Warren cried.

“What…what happened? Where am I?” Kade asked.

“You’re home, Kade. And I think that only you can tell yourself what happened,” Warren replied.

“I…I want to see Nya, okay?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,”

“I just want to talk to Nya. Alone,” Kade said harshly.

“Fine,” Warren replied, a note of tiredness in his voice. “Seamus. Send for Nya,” Warren said, asking the healer to go and get her. Nya pranced in, looking elegant as usual. Warren and Seamus left the room. Aspen saw that Nya was wearing a long golden dress with flowy sleeves.

“Hello, Kade. You’re looking…battered,” she said.

“Nya. It’s good to see you,” Kade coughed.

“I’m not so sure I can say the same, Kade,”

“Why not?” he asked, confused.

“Well, you see, I liked you because you were handsome, a good fighter, and overall BA. You are not handsome anymore with those injuries,” she said glancing at his bare chest, “And you allowed yourself to get beaten by two Rifts, so just because you’re hurt, I’m going to let you down easy. And in case you didn’t get that Kade, we’re over,” Nya walked out, swinging her hips. Aspen could see the pain in Kade’s face, the hurt. Aspen wanted to kill the girl for doing that to him. Warren came back in, anguish obvious in his dark brown eyes.

“How’d it go?” he asked.

“I want to leave. I want to go protect Shyannah,” Kade stated abruptly.

“I didn’t want to be the one to tell you, but I suppose it’s best if I do,”

“Tell me what?”

“Kade, Shyannah’s dead. After you escaped, the two Rifts killed her. I’m sorry,”

“Fine, then give me someone else to protect!”

“Kade, you’ll never fight again. Your scars limit your range of movements. You won’t be able to Guard someone. I really am sorry,” Kade howled as if he were back in the cave. Aspen watched him cry and cry. Then the scene switched.

Kade was walking again, with the help of Warren. The scenes flashed quickly now. Kade practicing movements with a sword. Kade singing underneath a cherry blossom tree. Kade limping around, talking to old friends. Kade sitting at a control panel, learning from Warren. The last scene was Kade, his voice cracking, helping someone through the steps of being a Guardian. By now, Aspen was crying, the tears running down her cheeks. Her world went dark and suddenly, she was brought back to reality.

***

Aspen looked at Kade’s face, tears brimming in her emerald eyes. “How could they? How could they do something as terrible as that?” she asked Kade.

“I don’t know, Aspen. I just don’t know,” he said, glancing down at his chest.

“It was horrible. I’ve never seen such cruelty as that,” she whispered dully.

“I’m curious; what did you see?” he asked. “I’ve never tried it before, so…” he said.

“I-I saw them take you to-to Hell. And I saw them torture you a couple times, and-and…” she began quickly.

“Whoa, whoa! Slow down!” he said gently. She caught her breath and started from where she’d left off.

“I saw you escape, and I saw you try to find your way back to Shyannah, and-” He cut her off.

“Wait, how do you know Shyannah’s name?” he asked incredulously.

“I knew her before she died. But anyway, I saw Warren find you, and I saw them try to heal you, and I saw Nya dump you. I saw Warren tell you you wouldn’t be able to fight. I saw Warren help you walk. I saw you practicing sword fighting. I saw you speaking with some friends. I saw you singing under this cherry tree. I saw you learn to be a Guide. And I saw you Guiding someone,” she said in a rush. Kade took a deep breath. And another. He let out a long sigh.

“Well, you’ve spent enough time with an old sop like me. You’ve got as long as you’d like to do whatever you want here,”

“What do you mean? I have to be back guarding James!” she replied in confusion. Kade grinned.

“It doesn’t matter how long you stay here; when you return it will be morning! That’s the beauty of decades of technology improvements!”

“That’s pretty cool!”

“Yeah. So what do you want to do? Explore heaven? Bungee jump? Hold on, you don’t have a weapon yet, do you? We need to get you one! Follow me!” He led her up into the sky and she didn’t talk, just flew, laughing the whole time.

They touched down on grass, and it was a welcome change from the clouds. They were on the outskirts of a clearing, looking at two men who circled each other. Round and round they went, with their swords held high, observing the other player with keen eyes. Kade almost had to drag her towards the long rectangular building on the other side of the area.

“Who were those guys?” Aspen asked Kade as they moved inside the establishment.

“The slender one with the auburn hair. His name is Ace. He’s my best friend. Also, he’s never lost a fight,” Kade replied.

“What about the other one?”

“Bruce? No one you need to know. He’s not very good; he just challenges Ace over and over again. Ah, here we are!” Kade exclaimed as they turned into an immense room. The walls were lined with every different type of weapon. Period. It glimmered and shone with a thousand silver suns when they opened the door, spilling light over the huge collection of weapons.

She walked over to the wall with the swords and picked one up. “Too heavy,” Kade said, barely looking. He glanced anxiously out at the doorway. Aspen picked up a rapier. “Too light. Man, Bruce is lasting longer than he usually does…” he mused,

“What about this one?” she asked, holding up what was really a glorified carving knife.

“Balance is all wrong. This is a new record for Bruce!” he said, looking at the sword. She picked up another and another and he replied with things like, “Too heavy at the tip. I bet Bruce just started when we got there…” and “That sword is way too long for you, Aspen! I hope Bruce isn’t winning!” and “Hey! Be careful where you swing that sticker!” Finally Aspen lost her patience.

“Is Bruce, like, really bad at fighting or something? And why won’t you help me find a sword?” Kade took a few deep breaths.

“Bruce just uses his strength and size to hack down at people. And Ace is tiny! I was just worried about my friend, that’s all,” he said. Aspen pulled a sword from its scabbard with a metallic shing.

The sword was different from any of the others that she’d tried so far. It was long and straight and hard, with a double serrated edge. The sword had a circular cross guard and the hilt was bound by leather that criss-crossed in an odd pattern. But what was stranger than the sword itself was the case. It was actually two intersecting cases. She noticed a hilt sticking out of the shorter scabbard. She pulled it out and it was a miniature version of the other sword. She felt invincible, holding both swords like that. Aspen let out a wild yell. Kade jumped back, startled. Then, a huge shout rose up from outside the building.

Kade rushed out, dragging Aspen and her new swords. They got outside to find Ace standing victorious. The crowd roared and roared their approval, while Bruce stood off to the side, nursing his wounds in bitterness.

“Anyone care for a bit of a duel?” Ace cried. He had a British accent. “Now, I’m not getting cocky, but I've never been beaten. Is there anyone out there who’d like a go?” The whole crowd took two steps back, not wanting to fight him. Ace threw back his head and laughed. “Anyone? Anyone?” he shouted. Aspen stepped forward and her clothes morphed to a silver jumpsuit with armored padding on her stomach, back, shins, forearms, and chest.

“I do! Unless you’re too cowardly to fight a girl!” she shouted with bravado and she prepared herself to fight Heaven’s best swordsman.

***

Kade jumped forward and grabbed her arm. "What are you thinking, Aspen!?" he cried.

"I fancy a bit of a challenge, Silver, and if you don't mind, I'm going to have a little dance with your friend!" Kade stepped back.

To Be Continued