Awakening (Children of Angels) (4 page)

“
Now Mia, the reason
I
am by the wardrobe and
you
are by the bed, is because we are experiencing different Truths. I
’
m reasonably sure that you have enough Angel in you to at least achieve this kind of Truth Switch, even without much training. You try. Try it.
”

“
But
…
what do I do?
”
Mia asked uncertainly.

“
Its very easy. Just
know
that you are standing here, beside me.”

“
But
…
I
’
m not.
”

The Angel’s smile faltered just slightly.

“
You are thinking with your human mind, Mia. Trust me.
Believe
that you are standing beside me, and it will be true
”
.

Closing her eyes, so that she couldn’t see
reality
, Mia focused her attention on where she wanted to be. No, where she
was
. She was standing next to the Angel, by the wardrobe. She opened her eyes - and was still standing by the bed.

“
You didn
’
t believe Mia. You just wanted to. No matter, you
’
ll get it in time! I
…
I don
’
t really know how to help. It
’
s hard. I have always been this way. I don
’
t know how to
teach
you. I
hope
it can be taught
…
try again, Mia. Focus
really
hard. Focus on the tiny details. What would standing here next to me be like? Would that jacket brush against your arm? How would that feel? You
’
re barefoot - the floor would be colder than it is on that rug. You might brush against me. My hair might tickle your face. You could smell my perfume, if you
’
re close.
concentrate
Mia!
”

Mia did as she was bid. Squeezing her eyes tight shut, she focused all her thoughts and energies on
being
by the wardrobe. Yes, the floor is cold there, on the wooden boards. That jacket is cold too, being leather against her bare arm. And the slight flowery fragrance of the Angel’s perfume would be wafting towards her. No, not
would be
, she thought,
it is.
And if she shifted her left foot very slightly, that floorboard by the wardrobe would creak.

She shifted her foot gently, putting more of her weight onto it. She heard a creak. Her eyes flew open, and she was looking straight at her bed, rather than at the wardrobe she had been facing a moment earlier. She turned and saw the Angel beaming down at her.

“
I didn
’
t realize you
’
d get it so quickly!
”
Her eyes shone with excitement.
“
T
his is very good! A very good sign, Mia. You did it! You switched Truths!! Are you ready to try something trickier?
”
Excitement shone brightly in the Angel’s eyes, and Mia felt she could not refuse.

Mia nodded dumbly. Sure, why not try something trickier. Trickier than teleporting? The Angel laughed again.

“
Oh Mia, you must stop thinking in your silly human terms! It
’
s not
‘
teleporting
’
its Truth-Switching! And once you can do it right, the possibilities are practically endless!! How about this, a tricky switch. Very tricky, but seeing as you picked this up so quickly, I saw we give it a go!
”
The Angel was almost feverish in her excitement, her eyes burning brightly and some colour appearing in the previously pale and perfect cheeks.
“
Another Truth to this, is that we, you and I, are standing
outside this room
listening to this conversation right now!
”

Doubt crept into Mia’s mind, she didn’t know if she could do that. How could
that
be possible?
“Oh Mia, don’t let me down now! It
is
possible! You know it is! We’ve already done it! And this time will be easier, it doesn’t matter if you make a noise, you already know you’re doing it!”

Right on cue, Mia heard a bump in the hallway. She looked at the door, then wide-eyed back at the Angel, who nodded brightly with a grin.

“See, Mia, you
can
do it! You already
have
!”

And so once again, Mia focused, focused on what it was like in the hallway. Dark, everyone was in bed, there would be no lights on. Chilly. But if she stood on the runner, her feet wouldn’t be too cold. The cat would likely be lurking out there, she’d have to be sure not to stand on him or trip over him.

She felt him brush against her leg and purr, and heard the Angel’s muffled voice through the door.

“…don’t let me down now! It
is
possible!…” She turned and once again the Angel was standing beside her, beaming with delight. She nodded, and put a finger to her lips, gesturing towards Mia’s parents’ door, behind which they slept, blissfully unaware of the truly bizarre things happening down the hallway. The Angel gestured towards Mia’s closed bedroom door, and Mia moved to open it, tripping over the cat and bumping into the table as she did so.

She gasped as she realized that was the bump that she had heard whilst standing in her room, and once again turned to her companion with wide eyes.

The Angel laughed softly and nodded, and gestured once again for Mia to open the door. She did so, walking back into her room in a daze, half-expecting to see herself staring back open-mouthed.

“
You made it true, you know - tripping over the cat
”
laughed the Angel. You believed you might trip over him in the hallway, and so you did. So you did
”
She laughed again.

“
How did you know that?
”
asked Mia, her head cocked to one side as she looked at this stranger beside her
“
Can you read minds?
”

“
No, silly girl. I told you. Things like mind-reading and time travel are the inventions of the human mind, a way of explaining the unexplainable they see around them. It is simply another Truth. Humans lie - it is a fault of theirs. They put their faith in
beliefs
instead of in Truths, and it
’
s important that we, as angels, can distinguish between a belief, a Truth and an out-and-out lie.
”

“
But why?
”

Looking at the young girl before her, so curious, so full of questions, so
ignorant
in so many ways, the Angel wondered how it could be possible that this
child
was the one they had all waited so long for. Surely, if the Truths were correct, and she had to believe that they were, then she should know
something
. There should be some hint of recognition, of familiarity with the stories she was telling her. But the wide-eyed curiosity and the girl’s stubborn belief that this was all just part of a dream, told her that this girl knew nothing of what or who or why she was. She wondered how long she had been thinking, had the pause been too great? An understanding of the human perception of time was difficult for an Angel to comprehend. Time meant nothing to them. Only Truths mattered, and in Truths, time was irrelevant.

“
Because, Mia, we rely on them to do much of our bidding in this world. Angels cannot be seen to have direct influence over human lives. And there are certain things that we must trust the humans with. Things we must
know
have been done.
”

“
Things you can
’
t do yourselves? I thought Angels could do
anything.
”

“
Yes, in certain Truths that is the case. Nothing is truly beyond our capabilities, so long as there are Truths to back us up. But one important Truth exists, Mia, a universal and unbreakable Truth - Angels cannot know the true thoughts and intentions of other angels. Angels can conceal, Angels can lie…and Angels can betray.
”

“
Like my mother
”
Mia said quietly.

“
Yes, Mia, like your mother. Had we known what was going through her mind, what she planned to do
…
.well, rest assured, we would have stopped her. Your life would have been very different than this one, Mia. But what is done is done, I suppose
…”
She sighed, and looked again at the child, who know looked down at the floor, her face wearing an expression the Angel knew as
‘
sadness
’
.

“
Why did she want me dead? I don
’
t understand. Why spend so long and try so hard to have a baby, then just
…
well. Why?
”

“
She turned, Mia. It
’
s not your fault, she just
…
turned. For
years
we tried, all different ones of our race, trying and trying to unlock the animals
’
secret of creating life. In
our
Truth, it is only our Father who can do that, and as I explained, we just
…
are
one day. But humans are very clever creatures. From a very brief entanglement, you can create the ingredients to build a complete new person. Even by accident. Do you see how that mystifies us, Mia? Two people, under the influence of drink or drugs or just pure
lust
can, very quickly indeed, so I
’
ve heard, perform a simple act that creates a life
without even meaning to
. We
needed
this secret. We needed someone on our side who was not a human, but who could not betray us. We needed
you
, Mia.
You
are the Angelchild we have all waited a very very long time for. A long time, even by an Angel
’
s concept of time - an immeasurable amount of time in human terms.

You were not the first child created, Mia. But you were the first to
live.

CHAPTER FIVE

W
e tried for so long with pairings deemed appropriate. We didn't understand how these things worked. That humans, unlike animals, do not mate based on strong genes and a good chance of surviving. We tried so many different pairings, but none of the children survived. Some of the
mothers
didn’t survive.”
S
he stopped for a moment, remembering her lost Sisters. “
It was the first time we realized something could stop us from Being, besides our Father’s will.
It wasn’t meant to be. And then your mother came to me, and told me she wanted to try. Having seen what had happened to the others, still she wanted to try. Something about the way she came to me told me to let them try. After all, what harm could it do? We were fighting a losing battle. It seemed our Father wanted to keep Creation for Himself.