Preface
“Open the door! Christian, Bobbi, Erica, Mandy, Scarlet! Wake up!” I sat up in the and switched on the bedside lamp. “Did you guys hear something?” Erica mumbled from under her mountain of blankets. “Yeah, I think it was Amy. I’m hoping it wasn’t. Christian, can you…..” Mandy let the question trail off as she sank back onto her bed. “Sure, why not. What the heck. ” I mumbled as I climbed out of bed. “Pick the girl farthest away from the door, why don’t you.” I glanced at the clock on my way by the nightstand and groaned. Two in the morning. Oh well, so much for my beauty sleep. Not that it made much of a difference anyway.
I opened the door to see a wild-eyed and freaked out Amy. At first, that didn’t surprise me because Amy always looks wild-eyed and freaked out about something. “Chris, it a…” she couldn’t continue because she started hyperventilating. “Hey, Ames, it’s very nice to be woken up. Look, if it was a mouse, I don’t really…..” I stopped as Amy grabbed my arm and pulled me out the door. “There’s a guy outside and he‘s got a gun.” she gasped. My face went white and I knew that even if I had to, I wouldn’t be able to move. “A guy with a gun, here? Wait, are you sure you‘re not dreaming? Is it one of the campers? Amy, please tell me you‘re dreaming!” I hissed.
She shook her head, “I wish I were, but I’m not. I don’t know if it’s one of the campers. But he’s got a gun. He’s got the kids from the other dorm buildings, we’re the last ones. We need to get out. Did anyone break the no phone rule, does anyone you know have a cell with them?” I shook my head. “No, of course not.” I said. “Who would break the rules at one of the greatest camps in the country? Not anyone who would want to come back next year.” I said. She nodded nervously and glanced up and down the hall. I followed her gaze, and saw my fellow counselors escorting campers out of their rooms, with white faces and shaking hands. I sucked in a breath. “This is for real.” Amy said as she made her way to the stairs.
Blindly I walked back into my dorm, and turned on the overhead light, my to the annoyance of my roommates. “Out, now. Come on girls lets go.” I pulled the blankets off Erica and ignored her when she yelled at me. “Get out there now.” I shouted when Mandy sat on her bed, not moving an inch. “Why should we?” Scarlet asked me. “You’ll die if you don’t.” The girls looked at each other for a minute, then burst out laughing. “You don’t say?” Mandy said when she paused to take a breath. I grabbed her by the shoulder and shook her. “Look, there’s a guy with a gun out there. Now either you get your butt out of this room or I’ll toss it out.”
They all froze where they were standing, sitting, or rolling on the bed. “What?’ Erica managed to squeeze the word between her lips. “Let’s go, come on now.” They were out the door before I could say another word. I sighed for a moment and a tear leaked from my eye. Some mother will probably be crying tonight. I thought as I followed them out into the hall and walked to the stairs. Who would’ve thought going to a summer camp would be such a nightmare? Some of the girls in the hall were crying silently as they walked down the stairs, others were being pulled out of there rooms.
We stood at the top of the stairs with the some of the people from our floor, and looked down. For once, I wish it had just been a figment of Amy’s overactive imagination. I thought. But it wasn’t. For once, I wish she had just had a horrible nightmare, that she had just dreamed it. But she hadn’t.
For there, standing at the foot of the stairs was a man. He was holding a loaded gun in each of his hands, pointing them at us, ready to fire if any of us tried to do something stupid, which one of us probably would sooner or later.
I didn’t know how this was going to end, but I felt that some of us wouldn’t be making it out alive today. Now I was glad my cousin had caught the flu and hadn’t come to camp. And I hoped that I would get a chance to tell him, and the rest of my family, just how much I loved them. But deep down I had a feeling that I wouldn’t be seeing them ever again. “Down the stairs, move it! NOW! Do you think I’m playing games here? Move it!” He shouted as he climbed up and shoved a girl who was about ten years old down the stairs. When she rolled to the bottom, she didn’t get up.
“Anyone else like to join her?” We stood there, frozen. “Yeah, I didn’t think you would. Come on.” Jesse stepped forward and picked up the girl. After checking her pulse, he handed her to someone who must have been her older brother, he looked so much like her. We followed in silence, glancing from one another with worry in our eyes. The older ones put themselves between gunman and the little ones, just in case. I kept shooting glances at Bobbi, hoping she wouldn’t have one of her seizures at this moment, this of all moments. She looked white, nothing more than that, but she still worried me.
I maneuvered to walk beside her. By now, we were out of the girl’s dorm building, and into the main building. “Are you alright?” I whispered. She shook her head. “I forgot my meds last night.” I stopped for a moment, and then began walking again. “What! You need those pills, Bobs.” she nodded, her face strained. “You don’t say?” she said as she stumbled, clutching her head. I grabbed her shoulder, steadying her. Gunman turned and fixed his eyes on us just for a minute as he herded us out. He took us to the mess hall, glancing at me and Bobbi once in a while.
He motioned for us to sit on the floor, which was a bit of a relief since I was all but carrying Bobbi. As soon as I sat down she sat beside me and laid her head in my lap, which was a bad idea considering we were in the front row and it just made us noticeable. He paced back and forth in front of us, gun cocked, staring us down. Only a few people didn’t look away, and I was one of girls amongst that small group. The boy and his now-conscious sister didn’t look away either. The teachers sat stiffly, terrified and angry because we were all in danger and they could do nothing about it.
And I know that at that moment that they hated the no cell-phone rule just as much as the campers had all week. If we had had our phones, we wouldn’t be in this mess. The cops would be here and we all would be safe. And it had to be this year of all years that they decided to enact such a rule. This year had to be the year that a gunman decided to stormed the campus.
He stopped pacing for a moment and turned to face me. He stared at Bobbi and me for a moment, and then walked towards us. He shoved the gun under my chin and lifted my face so that he could see her. “What’s wrong with the girl?” he demanded. I didn’t answer; I was trying so hard not to scream. “WELL!” he shouted in my face, blowing some saliva into my hair. I tried no to wince. “HELLO!” he screamed in my ear, and I pulled away but continued to stare at him.
“She has seizures. She needs her medication. Please let her go.” I finally said. He stared at me for a moment then motioned for me to help her get up. She stood on trembling legs, braced for the shot that was sure to come. He pointed the gun at her, and his figure moved to the trigger. She stood tall in the face of death, not flinching or faltering. However, he was. He was shaking so hard I thought for sure he would kill her even if he didn’t mean to. He lowered his arm and sighed, a tear leaking down his cheek. “My sister was just like you.” He whispered softly.
“But she died, killed by the fool doctor who gave her the wrong drug.” He sucked in a shuddering breath. “GO!” he yelled at her, pointing to the door. She hesitated, uncertainty crossing her face as she stared at the gun. “Well, go before I change my mind and shoot you instead.” She ran to the door, than looked back at us once before stepping over the threshold. I saw him raise the gun once more, aiming at her back.
“If she didn’t live than neither should you,” he said. Not taking time to think, I jumped him from behind, yanking his arm down as the gun went off. I saw Bobbi crumple, whether from a wound or a seizure, I couldn’t tell. I saw Jesse pull her out of range as I kicked and punched every inch of the guy that I could reach. He reached up and pulled my hair as I screamed, kicking him in the gut. I elbowed his face, hearing a small crack as his head flew back, and I hoped I had broken his spine.
Not likely, as he countered by pulling my shirt collar so hard I couldn’t breathe. With my oxygen cut off, my struggles became weaker and weaker. It took a minute, but he succeeded in pushing me off. By now, he had dropped the gun, just a few feet away from where we were both standing. He picked it up and began to walk in my direction. I rolled into a ball and put my arms over my head, bracing for the pain. But when I looked up had raised the gun higher than necessary, he was pointing it at Bobbi again. I pushed myself up as the gun went off. Someone screamed, probably Amy.
I didn’t look to see if the bullet had hit anyone, I just threw myself at him, somehow managing to wrestle the gun from him. His efforts to break free doubled when he realized that I was now the one with the weapon. I banged him on the head and pulled away, aiming at his chest. “Sit. Down.” I gasped as he sat up, looking dazed from the hit I had given him. “Jesse, see if he has a phone, please.” I added. Jesse handed Bobbi to Amy and moved towards him slowly, warily. He reached him and knelt down, felling his pockets. Jesse froze for just an instant and backed away, his face whiter than snow.
Gunman stood up, holding another pistol in his hands. “Look kid, first rule of rampage, never bring just one weapon. After all, there sometimes is a fool like you.” He aimed the pistol at me, and I aimed at him, but Jesse was standing right between us. “Duck!” I screamed as we both pulled the trigger. I knew he made it down, because I watched Gunman crumple to the ground, clutching his right arm as a stream of red ran down it. Then I screamed as a line of pain tore across my chest. I looked down and saw a river of blood flow down my chest from a point right above my heart. Jesse, Amy and the others cried out as I fell to my knees and sank into darkness.
I opened my eyes, and saw Jesse bending over me, screaming at me to wake up. I sighed quietly and stood up, knowing that the crowd gathered around my body could neither here nor see me. I was no longer me, not in a human form at least. I was a spirit about to go on her last journey. But I was okay with that. I had been brought up to be ready for this, and for me death was just another step in my journey. I looked past my body, and saw some adults tying up Gunman with a roll of tape someone had found. I smiled. He wouldn’t be hurting anyone else for a while. “Christian.” someone said. I turned, knowing who it was before I even saw the person.
“Father.” I said quietly when I saw his face. “Hello, my little one.” he said as he opened his arms. I didn’t move, hating him for a moment. “I know you didn’t want this, angel, but it is your duty because of,” I exploded in his face. “I know, I know! You’ve told me more times than I can remember! It’s because of who I am, who you are! Do you know that since I was five I’ve known the exact day, hour, and minute of my death? Do you know what it’s like, being me? Being a half blood, having all these wacky visions, these visions? Do you know what it’s like to be five and see yourself dying? Why the archangel Michael had to fall in love with my mother, had to be my father I’ll never understand. I will also never understand why you wouldn’t let me tell anyone! I could say it’s not fair, but you will just say that’s life! I did what I was supposed to do, can we just go now?” “No.” he said quietly.
He pointed to where my body was, and I turned to see everyone staring through me. No, not through me, at me. They could see me. Jesse’s eyes were streaming with tears, his mouth open in shock. “They can see me.” I said, astonished. The crowd gasped, and apparently they could here me as well. “Christian?” Amy asked, from on the ground where she was clutching Bobbi, who was also staring at me, eyes wide with fear. I smiled slightly, still stunned and then waved. I turned to my father. “They can see you as well, can‘t they?” I asked, and he nodded slightly.
I turned back to my friends. “Hey.” I said softly, “I know you guys are scared, but that’s okay. I’m a little scared to.” I know it sounded stupid, but I didn’t know what else to say. Jesse stood up and slowly walked towards me as if he was in a dream. “But, how can you be here if that’s you down there,” he said, pointing to my body, “You’re dead.” he added as an afterthought. I held out my hand to him, but when he tried to take it his hand simply passed through mine. “Yeah, I’m dead.” I whispered. He sank to his knees, staring up at me through tear filled eyes. “How?” he asked in a shaky voice.
I pointed to my father. “This guy here is Michael, the archangel. You know, from the Bible? The angel who is God’s right hand man? See Revelation if you want to know more. He also happens to be my father.” I said, than smiled slightly at their faces, wide with disbelief and astonishment. I never did much before, I had friends and we hung out together, but outside of them I didn‘t socialize. I was a good student, but not class valedictorian, and I mostly kept to myself, preferring not to hang with strangers. I was a quiet kid, never much noticed. And now they find out I have an angel for a father. “He’s your dad. You’re an angel?” Bobbi said, in a tone that told me she wasn’t sure if she was awake or dreaming. “Yeah. Well, not exactly. I‘m a half-blood. Mom’s entirely human. And I’m not the only one. I have cousins.” I said.
Just than, my father walked up behind me and place his arms around me. The crowd all leaned back. “It’s okay, he doesn’t bite.” I said. At least, I think he doesn’t” I added as an afterthought. He squeezed me to his chest just for a minute. “Look, the only reason I’m telling you guys this is because I know you won’t remember a thing. It’s regulation. Your memories will be wiped. You can‘t be allowed to remember me.” The crowd was still staring at me as if I was a ghost. Oh, wait, I guess I am. I looked around at them all. I’d miss them. “Bye.” I said before I lifted my hand to Jesse’s cheek once more. “Goodbye, my friend.” I said quietly. I turned to my father and squared my shoulders. “Let’s go home. I haven‘t seen heaven since you told me I was your daughter.” I said to him as I started to walk away. “Little one, please wait.” He said as he grabbed my arm, pulling me back. I glared at him. “What?” he took a deep breath. “It doesn’t have to be this way.” he stated, gesturing to my blood soaked body.
I didn’t move, couldn’t breath, and stood frozen like a statue till he shook me. “What are you talking about?” I managed to say. “I’m giving you a choice. Well, several choices, several door to open, to walk into. Door one; you can choose to reenter your body. You will keep your wounds but you will heal. You will also forget your heritage, myself included. You will be fully human, and forget everything about our world.” I grasped his hands in mine. “If you are joking you will regret it.” I warned “I assure you I‘m not joking.” He said sadly. “You said ‘door one’ that means you are also giving me a ‘door two’, right?” I asked with a growing apprehension.
“Door two; you can continue your life as my daughter, you will keep your wounds, and eventually heal and everyone will forget what has happened today. And in time, you will be called back into your duties. And also, you have a third option. You may continue on with what was to happen today. He instructed me to give you these choices. He said that with what is coming you should be given the chance you never had. The chance to be human.” he said, then sighed and sat down in a nearby chair. I just stood there, unable to move so much as a finger. “What, are, you, saying? It all just goes away? Everything? Are you serious?” I whispered.
He nodded. I stared at him for a full minute before what he was saying sunk in. I immediately grew suspicious. “Why? Why the change of heart, today of all days?” I asked him. He stared at the ground, twitching his foot. The way he was sitting, the look on his face, and the way he just stared at the ground startled me. And then it hit me. Like a wave hits a surfer and knocks him off a board, I knew. I knew. I sank to the ground, and put my head in my hands. “No, no, no, no, no, no, no!” I cried, and I saw him smile sadly. He should win the Academy Award for best sad smile. He’s getting enough practice. “We knew this day would come sooner or later.” He spoke the words quietly. I started to cry. He opened his arms and I ran into them, burying my face in his chest.
“Why does it have to be now?” I whimpered. “We have no control over this. It had to happen sometime. So it’s happening now.” he said. I pulled back. “You need me, don’t you?” I asked, searching his face for the truth. He sighed quietly, then smiled at me. “There’s a war coming, angel. We need as many of our kind as possible to take ground patrol, make sure the right people find each other. We’re going to need even more back home. But this is the life He chose for us, for you. We’ll do our jobs. Doing the little things, getting people to believe. This has to happen. I’m not telling you what to do, just asking you to make the right decision for you. He wants you to make the right decision for you and not for the good of mankind.”
I looked at him, than back at my friends, than back at him. And in my heart I felt, I knew what needed to be done. “I will stay here.” I said softly. “I can see that I am need here more than anywhere else.” I squared my shoulders. "I choose door two. I will continue my life as a half-blood." Then I added, “But I ask one favor.” He smiled and hugged me. “What, angel?” I gestured to Jesse. “Let him remember.” I said. “Please just let him remember.” He laughed quietly. “He already knows much, do you not, Son of Gabriel?” I openly gaped at Jesse as he shrugged sheepishly.
“Indeed cousin, I know much and yet I know little. I knew that there was a Daughter of Michael somewhere, yet I never knew it was you.” I laughed. “Guess I’m no the only one with a big, bad secret anymore.” he added. I turned to my friends. “Guess this is goodbye.” They all just stood there staring at me, than Bobbi moved closer and hugged me, or tried to at least. They all gathered around me, trying all at once to say goodbye. “So, we won’t remember a thing?” Amy was saying to my dad. “Not anything that relates to the whole angel thing. You’ll remember the attack, but that’s about it.” She shuddered.
“I know. I wouldn’t want to remember something like that either.” He said quietly. “Yeah, I know right. She’s your daughter.” He laid a hand on her shoulder. Don’t worry, it won’t hurt.” I laughed slightly and said, “Are you reassuring them, or me? I’m the one whose going to be waking up with a bullet in my chest.” Dad winced. “Oops,” I said hurriedly. “Wrong choice of words. But really Dad, don’t worry about me.” I added, hugging him close to me for a second. “After all, I am your daughter.”
He held me tightly for a minute, then let me go. He kissed my forehead, and turned to Jesse. “You take care of my little girl, you here? If anything else happen to her, it’ll be your ass that get’s kicked.” he said hoarsely, but he smiled when he said it. “I’ll do my best sir. But I can’t guarantee that she’ll always be safe. You of all people know how she is.” My dad laughed, but I saw tears in his eyes. “Yeah, I guess I am to blame for that.” He said, then he kissed my forehead and backed away. He waved slightly to me, and I watched as he began to glow, brighter and brighter until he vanished.
Jesse reached for my hand and took it, whispering to me that he would always be there for me, and that when I woke up in the hospital he would be there waiting. I hardly heard any of it, as my body began to feel burn, and within seconds all I could see was white and all I could feel was fire, and Jesse’s hand in mine. The white steadily grew darker, and darker, till I sank to my knees and all went black.
