Angelic Page 16
Okay. We can talk after class, at my house.
Watching Sam frown as he read my reply, learning he would have to wait a while for answers, I knew he’d be doing a whole lot worse later this afternoon. The truth about yesterday could make a person go crazy. Even though Sam was my best friend, I wouldn’t blame him if he thought I was nuts after I told him straight-faced what I believed Sebastian and Kalan were.
Not wanting to dwell on that impending conversation, I focused on my professor. His German accent had been hard to get past at the beginning of the year. But I was used to it now. Professor Engel reminded me of Santa Claus in a way. Not that he was fat or partial to red, but because his eyes always sparkled with something that I often associated with Christmas cheer during the holidays. His white hair and beard only encouraged my comparisons to Saint Nick. Though he didn’t arrive to class in red jumpsuits, Professor Engel religiously wore tidy black or brown suits accented with brightly coloured clip on ties.
Folding my arms, I sat back in my seat and listened to Professor Engel speak as he paced the front of the auditorium-sized classroom.
“Genocide is a systematic and planned extermination of a culture, racial, political or ethnic group…”
When the professor dismissed us at noon, I was grateful. While the topic of genocide was interesting, a person could only take so much on a day like today.
For the rest of my classes that day, Sam and I forced conversation as though nothing unusual happened the day before.
On the SkyTrain headed back to Port Coquitlam at five pm, my stomach felt queasy. In the next hour, I would have to confess to Sam a whole lot of craziness.
“So, about yesterday;” Sam began, folding his arms across his chest and raising an eyebrow. “Care to explain why someone was straddling you? Or perhaps why World War Three broke out in the sky?”
“Wait till we get to my place,” I hissed, looking around the SkyTrain. An old man sitting across from us gave me a look that suggested he thought we may be on drugs.
But Sam took no notice, nor did he bother to lower his voice. “Come on! I’ve been patient all day, Celeste. I need answers and I need them now. And I especially need to know why Sebastian was prancing around pretending to be an-”
With my hand clamped across his mouth, I gave Sam an icy reply. “Don’t you dare say that word. Now hush, you’ll get your answers soon enough.”
Peeved, he licked my palm.
I pulled my hand away, wiping it on my jeans in disgust. “Gross, Sam!”
Sam shook his head, pinning me with an unapologetic and annoyed look. “You better have a good explanation for all of this, Celeste. If not, I’m admitting both of us to an insane asylum.”
Turning my back to him to stare out the window, my whisper was frightful, meant only for Sam’s ears. “If only claiming crazy would explain everything.”
“Spill.”
Sam followed me outside the apartment toward the blue dumpster to the side of the parking lot. So far I’d gone to the washroom, dried the dishes, fed my fish, offered Sam some puffed wheat cake, and tried to break out my Swiffer. Poor thing got ripped from my hands and thrown back into the hallway closet. Without pausing, I’d grabbed the garbage bag by the door and fled. Maybe I thought Sam wouldn’t yell at me outside. Maybe it was my fight or flight response to potential danger. Or maybe I just needed to breath in some fresh air.
Before I could toss the plastic bag in the dumpster, Sam grabbed my hand. “Celeste, you have to tell me what’s going on! Did you, I don’t know, put something in our drinks a few days ago?”
Offended, I huffed. “Of course not,” I insisted.
“Then explain the hallucinations we experienced twenty-four hours ago.”
I tried to tear my hand from him but his grip only tightened. “Sam, I’ll tell you if you-”
“Let go? I don’t think so. You’ll just run again and then I’ll go mad not knowing what the heck happened in the park. Why can’t you just tell me, Celeste? It’s not like I’m gonna judge you. Are you a member of one of those vampire groups who re-enact scenes from videos and TV shows? ’Cause if you are, that’s fine. I don’t care who you hang out with.”
Sam blinked, his eyes crinkling as he tried to piece together his own attempts at logic. “But that stuff in the sky was pretty advanced for even special effects. It looked freakin’ real.”
I tried again to wiggle out of his grasp and this time he freed me. “Sam, I can’t tell you, okay? I thought I could, but I can’t.”
“What?!” I’d never heard Sam roar so loud. “You have to, Celeste, you owe it to me. I will literally go mad if I don’t know what was up yesterday.”
Chucking the garbage bag inside the dumpster with all my might, I spun around and glared at him. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you, Sam! No one would. They’d all think I was some nutso acting delusional for attention!”
“You’ll turn me into a nutso if you don’t tell me what’s going on! Just tell me already!”
“Why, so you can call me crazy? Would that make you feel better, to shrug off your potential craziness and label me as the insane one?” I challenged.
“Sure! Whatever!”
“Too bad, I’m not telling!”
Sam hit the dumpster lid with his fist “You sound like a three year old!” he yelled.
“It’s better than sounding like I’ve gone mental!”
“Just tell me, please!” Sam grabbed me by the shoulders and searched my eyes. A refugee seeking a hide away from dangerous homelands wouldn’t compare to the pleading in Sam’s eyes. “Please, just tell me, Celeste.”
I opened my mouth to say “Not a chance” but another voice answered for me.
“Like she said, you wouldn’t believe her, Sam.”
Sam spun around to face the speaker. Even though I couldn’t see his face I was pretty sure Sam’seyes turned to slits. Sebastian had that effect on him.
“Oh, so she tells you but she won’t explain it to me,” Sam jerked his head around and scowled at me, “her best friend.”
Oh Sam, don’t look at me like that. A run over puppy would be easier to see.
“Angels and humans are told different things at varying times, Sam Kaeo.”
This time the voice was distinctly female. Light and harmonic, hinting of the breezes and renewal that the months of spring bring. Tearing my gaze from Sam’s, I looked behind Sebastian to see a beautiful woman. Her clothes were those of a Greek goddess, golden and rich with jewels. Glowing ringlets crowned her hair, cascading to her waist. The woman’s face was defined, her features delicate. The image of her brought a picture of a porcelain doll to my mind. Perfect, fragile, and admirable.
But her fragrance overpowered her pure, childlike physical facial features. She smelled of a grandmother’s aged wisdom and a mother’s fierce protectiveness.
Noting my evaluation, Sebastian gestured to the woman beside him. “Celeste, this is Isle.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, dear chid,” Isle smiled, her blue eyes coming to life. “God has splendid plans for you.”
So I’m told, I thought eyeing her up, wondering why her name sounded vaguely familiar.
She is your grandfather’s guardian angel, Celeste, Sebastian told me telepathically.
“It’s true,” Isle stepped forward. “The Almighty has plans to use you. Plans that even I, an angel, cannot completely comprehend. But from the glimpse I have seen, it is extraordinary. It excites me to imagine what the whole picture must look like.”
Hundreds of questions tumbled into my mind. Before I had a chance to ask even one, Sam strode up to Sebastian, looking like he might punch him. “Who are you?”
Sebastian just smiled at Sam, the same smile that annoyed me many times.
“I said, who the hell are you!?”
Isle answered for Sebastian. “The question you should be asking is not who but what.”
Sam looked from Isle to Sebastian and back again. “What… ?” he asked, looking down at me with a mixture of bewilderment and frustration when I joined the group. “Who are these people, Celeste?”
He’s not going to believe me, he’s going to think I’m a lunatic. With my face lowered to the ground, I felt a warm breath on my skin, like the kiss of sunshine. Pulling my face up, Sebastian caught my eye. Dipping his chin discreetly, he smiled encouragingly.
I don’t want to lose him, Sebastian. What if he doesn`t want to be a part of my life if he knows the truth?
“A true friend will withstand a landslide of faults and abnormalities,” Sebastian reassured me.
“What?” Sam asked having missed my internal dialogue.
When Sebastian nodded again, I took a deep breath and turned to face Sam. Here goes nothing. Or better said, here goes possibly destroying everything. “Sam, Sebastian and Isle are angels. Guardian angels.”
Sam snorted. “Yeah, and I’m the Easter Bunny,” he said. When no one laughed, his eyes widened. “You can’t be serious. You expect me to believe that blondie over there is my guardian angel and Sebastian is yours?”
Sebastian shook his head. “Isle isn’t your guardian angel, Samuel. She is Celeste’s grandfather’s protector”
“Don’t call me that. And if she isn’t, then who do you suppose is my guardian angel?
A deep voice answered from behind me.
“I am.”
Sam and I both jumped. Turning, we craned our necks up to take in the seven-foot giant in our midst.
“What’s up, Samuel?” The giant asked with twinkling eyes, reaching for my hand to kiss it.
After a full minute of gawking, Sam stuttered “You’re black.”
The Shaquille O’Neal look-alike smirked. “What’d you expect me to be, purple?”
Behind me I heard, Isle and Sebastian snickering. Then Isle’s sweet voice floated over my shoulder. “Be nice, Jameson. Sam has hardly had time to process the concept of angels.”
Sam’s eyes shifted towards Isle and Sebastian, embarrassment overriding his fear for the moment. “They’re both white. I just assumed…”
Jameson clamped a hand on Sam’s shoulder. “Assuming angels to be one way or the other is a good thing. Means you’re on the chug-a-choo choo train of believing in us celestials. But if me being white will make you feel better, then white it’ll be.”
My scream caught in my throat as Jameson’s dark skin evaporated into a milky white.
“Or I could be Asian, Latino, Native American or Pakistani if you prefer,” came Jameson’s deep voice as he morphed into each ethnicity as he spoke its name. One second he was a tiny Asian man, the next a dark skinned native. Then a Pakistani man wearing a turban appeared.
“Really, anything you’re in the mood for is doable, “Jameson said. In a blur of smoke the version of Jameson that resembled a stereotypical NBA player returned. “I could even appear as a girl. But if you had your heart set on a purple guardian angel, I suppose I could do that,” he said.
Tapping his chin, Jameson looked at me with a grin. “What do you think, Celeste? Do you think I’d look better in a nice shade of violet or plum? Mind you, I hear periwinkle’s quite slimming.”
Sam grabbed me, pulling me towards him. I suspected it was partly for his protection rather than solely for mine. “Black’s… black is fine,” Sam muttered in an unrecognizably frightened voice.
“Cool beans,” Jameson said, erasing the short distance Sam had put between us. Grabbing Sam’s hand, Jameson knocked fists with him. “It’s been swell being your guardian angel, home slice.” Jameson winked at me. “I’m told you’re partial to old fashioned adjectives, Ms. Evans.”
Don’t tell me all three of them can read my thoughts.
Sebastian and Isle suddenly appeared at our sides. Sebastian shook his head when I glanced at him fearfully. “There’s no telling what the Lord will allow them to know or when, Celeste. But do not fear, God’s agents will always use that information for your benefit.
Geez, that makes me feel better.
“As it should,” Sebastian said flashing me his pearly whites. Turning to Jameson he asked, “Should we take them now?”
Sam clutched me tighter against his chest, “We’re not going anywhere with you… things.”
Ignoring Sam’s adamant expression, Jameson nodded. “Yeah, the boss says to bring em’ now.”
Sebastian looked at Isle. “Are you coming with us?”
“Yes, I haven’t seen Grace in ages.”
All three angels laughed.
Sam backed away from them, pulling me with him. “There’s something wrong with those three,” he whispered, fear lacing his voice despite his attempts to appear brave.
“No there isn’t,” I said, ripping myself from his grasp. “Angels are our friends, Sam.”
Suddenly, sand stirred up around us, creating a moving wall around Sam and me. I could make out three glowing bodies between the grains of chaos.
I didn’t resist Sam when he grabbed me again. “What’s going on?” he asked, his eyes frantically darting around.
I didn’t have time to answer him. A tidal wave of water overcame us. Protecting my head, I waited to be drenched.
Not a single droplet fell.
Though the roar of crashing waves and calls of sea creatures rang overhead, no wetness accompanied it.
Lifting my head, I gasped in unison with Sam.
It was like we were walking in a tunnel of sea life. Overhead, all kinds of water creatures swam, oblivious to Sam and me. From schools of brightly-coloured fish and stringy pink jellyfish, swaying green and red plants, to grinning hammerheads and stingrays, all the aquatic beings were majestically real.
“Whoa,” Sam breathed, watching a sea turtle swim by with the current. Reaching out his hand, he hesitantly moved to touch the water. His finger slid across the mural as if it were like glass. It seemed we were in an aquarium looking out into the wonders of the sea.
Letting go of me, Sam gazed out at the blue water in awe. “I have no idea what just happened but… this is amazing.”
A deep voice bellowed from the roof of our confinement. “Children, it is only to become vastly more beautiful.”
Suddenly the tranquil scene in front of us was sucked away. A tremor knocked my feet from underneath me, sending me falling to the ground. I groaned when Sam’s entire weight toppled onto me. Along with the sea world, the peaceful sounds of the ocean disappeared.
A pain in my leg birthed a yelp from my mouth.
Sebastian’s voice followed shortly after. “Time’s ticking, you two. We have a dinner date to make.”
“Get off me, Sam,” I growled, trying to push him off me. When he rolled off of me with a grunt, I grabbed at the ground to push myself up. Piles of hot sand met found my touch. Looking down, I saw I was sprawled on a sea of sand.
Way ahead of me in the reaction department, Sam was already on his feet, scowling at Sebastian. I squinted against the blinding desert sun. Like out of some Sahara movie, Sebastian was sitting on a camel who was chewing a piece of straw. Beside him, Jameson was leaning against the camel’s side. Isle wasn’t with them.
“You’re mistaken,” came a voice from behind me.
Jumping, I turned to find Isle smiling tenderly at me. Unlike Sebastian and Jameson, she was my height. Something about that made me feel more of her equal.
“Don’t be afraid,” Isle whispered, drawing me into her arms. “This is going to be a fun-filled few months.”
“Months?” I yelled untangling myself from her sunny embrace. In the distance, I could hear Sam muttering to himself about pinching not working. I assume
d he was referring to not being able to wake himself up but he could’ve been meaning to annoy Sebastian, I supposed.
Isle smiled warmly, gently tugging me towards the others. “Don’t be alarmed, precious creation. Months are really only an afternoon according to mortals’ watches. By the time we’ve eaten supper you’ll be well on your way home. Even better, your family and friends will not have missed you. To them, it will only seem as if you’ve been gone running errands for fifteen minutes. You are the only one who will realize time has passed through your time travels.”
I didn’t know what to say. Sam’s laugh brought me back from my stupor. Looking away from Isle’s lovely face, I watched Sam grin as Jameson hoisted him on to a second camel which was hidden behind the first. Seeing me looking his way, Sam’s face immediately morphed to a frown. “What?” he said. “If I’m stuck in this messed up dream I might as well enjoy it.”
I noticed the angels no longer wore twenty-first century clothing. All three wore outfits resembling biblical clothing from Christmas plays I’d attended. Striped robes in burgundy and deep blues accented Jameson’s and Sebastian’s masculine forms. Corded belts with tassels hung around their waists. A blue turban covered Jameson’s dark shaved head, perfectly matching his robe. Sebastian wore a neutral coloured headscarf, tied with a thin elastic around his forehead, to keep the fabric in place.
Isle’s golden curls peeked out beneath a white head wrap, the end swept over the shoulder of her mint green cotton gown. Sam and I looked painfully out of place in jeans, Sam possibly more so with his black Hedley concert t-shirt. At least our flips flops weren’t that far off from sandals.
Sebastian motioned me over to the camel. Taking a deep breath to steady myself against the dizzying heat, I moved through the sand towards him. The next thing I knew, I was on top an incredibly uncomfortable roost.
Sam looked over his shoulder at me and said, “Just pretend it’s a motorcycle and hold on tight.”