“WE NEED TO TALK. I know you have questions.”
“I’m back at the hotel room. Tasia left for Philadelphia with her godmother.”
“I’ll be over soon.”
I lock my phone and set it on the nightstand. I haven’t slept. I’m exhausted, but I can’t rest.
Lying back down on the made hotel bed, I stare up at the bare ceiling. The hotel is plain and all around light on personality. It isn’t trying to prove anything like hotels in big cities. If you want to stay in Reverie but don’t have a relative living here, this is the only option available. It’s been my “home” for over a year, but I haven’t done anything to personalize it. The owner wouldn’t mind. He’s paid well to let me stay here and to not ask questions about where my “parents” are, why they never show up, and why they only wire money to him. Sadly, it only proves how greedy people are. Money will shut most people up.
Maybe I will get some sleep after all.
My eyelids are heavy. Keeping them open is becoming a chore. My thoughts wander to Tasia, and I can see her clearly when I close my eyes. The image I see isn’t the Tasia I’ve grown to know and cherish. It’s the image of a girl who’s lost her parents, a girl whose eyes have been opened to see the world for what it truly is. Even as a psychic, she didn’t know the extent of evil in this world. She still doesn’t. She and so many others don’t know the kind of darkness that comes with the demons that have spread and continue to spread their evil across this world in mortal blood. All the monstrous creatures of legend didn’t spring up from human darkness alone. They are products of demons, just as I am a product of angels. Ever since the day I was made an angel, the world changed for me, and I realized I never knew anything at all.
I open my eyes when I hear a knock at the door. The presence is undeniably angelic and most likely my overseer. I answer immediately. Making her wait any longer than necessary would be rude.
“Rynne,” she says as she reaches her hands up to my face.
I lean down to meet her lips, greeting her with a chaste kiss. A simple kiss is a common way angels greet other angels. Imae explained the significance of the gesture to me before. She said greeting another with a kiss is a demonstration of the unconditional love we should all share for one another. I do have a more personal love for Imae though, a profound gratitude. She is the one who gave me a second chance at life.
“Come inside,” I tell her.
She floats past me, light-footed, as she seats herself on my bed. I close the door, but I don’t move from it. I have to take a deep breath before I turn around to face her again. Her youthful appearance and height are misleading, and the almost child-like features of her face are betrayed by her figure. She has the kind of look where it’s hard to assign an age, but any age a mortal would guess would be vastly underestimated.
I still don’t move from the closed door. Normally, I would have taken a seat beside her, but I don’t think I can take this conversation sitting down. It’s better to stand at a distance and at attention so emotions don’t betray me. My actions are studied carefully as Imae watches me with her yellow-green eyes, bright and too ancient for me to understand.
“You’re upset,” she notes.
“I don’t understand,” I reply. “Why did Tasia’s parents die? No one was supposed to get hurt.”
“No, but Arsen isn’t easy to control. The two demons that helped to carry out Tasia and Arsen’s union were killed as well if that gives you any peace of mind.”
“They were?”
“Yes. The meeting didn’t come without a price. Tasia’s parents were unfortunate casualties. But their deaths are meaningful. Tasia is with her godmother now, on her way to Philadelphia. She is where she needs to be, and all is as God wills it.”
“What am I to do next?” I ask.
“Go to Philadelphia and join the Evil Extermination Association hunters there. Watch over Tasia. Inspire her and guide her on the path that leads to her destiny.”
“You think she’ll join them of her own volition? Or do you think her godmother will put her on that path?”
“I’m optimistic about Tasia choosing that path on her own. Either way, fret not. Know that she is always being watched by one of us. You need only act as a friend and a guide. Do exactly what you’ve been doing and climb your way up the ranks in the EEA. Tasia will need a support system, and the EEA hunters are perfect for that. It’s time for humans to take a stand against natural demons, to wipe this world clean. Your experience and everything you’ve been taught will be invaluable to them. They’ll need you just as Tasia needs you.”
“Tasia is the key to the demons’ destruction,” I say.
“Yes. The first step, meeting Arsen, is complete. Now Tasia must grow. She must learn to combat evil she’s never even dreamed of. She must stand strong so that she’ll be able to command Arsen and fight that evil. You and the hunters will be her primary support group. If you can pull together and get her ready for the weight of what she has to carry, then Arsen will be unable to keep his autonomy. He’ll fall prey to her. She’ll use and control him in the coming war. Demons have run free in Terra for too long. The world is deteriorating. That is why God has given us Tasia. This prophecy, her undeniable power over Arsen, is just what we needed.”
I nod because I can’t say anything to that. She speaks with such conviction and hope. I know I should share those feelings, but I don’t. I only worry. I worry about Tasia. I wonder if such a softhearted girl can handle the hardships to come. It’s not only that. I don’t want her to handle the hardships to come. I don’t want her to face them at all. This destiny will mean suffering, and suffering is something I’d never wish upon her.
I’m far from an ideal guardian angel, being a mortal made angel, but Tasia was my first assignment. I’ve watched over her since she was small, though she wouldn’t know it. It wasn’t an easy job. I still carry my mortal needs. But I did it. I did it without attachment. I did it because the Oracle told me that was my calling. However, that mentality of being a good soldier, a good servant, didn’t last. Eventually, I started to enjoy it. I started looking forward to watching this human grow, but I also envied her. I envied that she could age. I envied the life I lost. Watching over her from a distance turned out to be just the beginning of my assignment. Over a year ago now, my assignment changed. It was the beginning of the school year last year. I was to enroll in Reverie High School as a student, and I was to befriend her, something that is unheard of among guardian angels. But, like me, Tasia is a special case, and so rules were broken in the name of God.
I did what I was supposed to. I became a friend. But it ended up being more than that for me. I care for her. I care for her as if she were my own family. Seeing her in pain is the worst thing. So, I’ll do what the angels told me to do. But I’m not going to like it. I’m a mere mortal masquerading as an angel. I follow God’s will. And that’s the end of it. I’ll go where the Oracle tells me to go. I’ll keep Tasia safe.
“How soon should I join the EEA?” I ask my overseer.
“Don’t worry too much. Just start by relocating to Philadelphia. The time frame isn’t pressing at the moment,” she says. “We’re working on the story you’ll tell the hunters when you get there. The tragedy in your past will be made to blame Arsen instead of the monsters actually responsible. We want to keep Tasia’s and the EEA’s focus on Arsen himself until Tasia is able to control him. Capturing him is the beginning of justice. I’ll keep you informed on Tasia’s status since I’m to be the angel actively watching her once I leave here. Take time to prepare.”