Gabriel (18 page)

“
I don’t know what to say,” Tre said.

Gabriel laughed. “You would
not stop talking before, and now you have nothing to say?”

“
And this is the first time you have spoken with clarity,” Tre
said.

“
Yes,” Gabriel smiled.

Tre sat back down on the edge
of the bed. “You know all the things I have done while I was in the other
form?”

“
Yes.”

“
Does God hate me?”

“
No.”

“
Why did he let this happen to me, to my people?” Tre asked, as
anger laced his words.

“
The Almighty did not allow these things to happen. Humanity has
free will.”

Tre stood up and shouted. “I
didn’t ask for this to happen to my people!”

Gabriel took a step back. “Do
you remember a creature named ‘Baal’?”

“
Of course, he was a God who spent time on Earth with his people.”

“
Baal was not a God.”

“
You’re lying. He did things only a God could do.”

“
I do not lie.”

“
How can you explain the miracles he performed, if he wasn’t a
God?” Tre asked.

“
How many of these
miracles
did you witness?” Gabriel asked.

Tre sat back down, rubbing
his forehead. “None, but I heard tales.”

“
You followed a man you declared a God because you heard tales.”

“
Yes, I did.” Tre hung his head, filled with shame.

“
Baal sold your souls. It was at this time the Almighty sent us to
intervene.”

“
Even after we followed a false God, the Almighty took pity on us,
and sent you to help us. Why?” Tre asked.

“
The Almighty loves all his children.”

“
We don’t deserve his love,” Tre said.

“
That is the beauty of love. It is given freely even when it is not
deserved.”

“
We condemned our people. Now it’s too late to save them.”

“
It is never too late,” Gabriel said.

“
I have a family. Had a family. Let me help you. Let me join you on
this mission. I know I’m not worthy, but I need to be a part of something
good.”

“
I will take that into consideration, after you have been cleared
by Dr. Weiss,” Gabriel said.

“
Of course.”

Maree walked into the room
and stopped when she noticed the door was open and Gabriel was inside.

“
I’m sorry to bother you, but the information we’ve been waiting
for is in,” Maree said.

Chapter Twelve

Gabriel and Tre turned
towards Maree. She was holding a stack of papers in her hand. Robert walked up
and stood behind Maree, carrying more papers.

“
Maybe we should discuss this in the lab,” Robert said.

“
Do these results have anything to do with me?” Tre asked.

Maree and Robert glanced at
each other, and then at Gabriel.

“
Is the mutation gone from Tre?” Gabriel asked.

“
Yes, but there’s more,” Maree said.

“
Is it safe for Tre to come out of his cell?” Gabriel asked.

“
We don’t know him. I don’t know what he’s capable of doing. As far
as the mutation goes, yes, his blood has returned to normal. I can’t answer if
he should come out or not,” Robert said.

Gabriel turned his full
attention to Tre.

“
I do not believe you will hurt anyone.” Gabriel moved to face
Maree and Robert. “I will accept responsibility for his actions.”

“
I want to help. I will not cause you any problems, I give you my
word,” Tre said.

“
I don’t know you, so your word doesn’t mean much to me, but there
are two women in this house I would give my life to protect. I will have no
problem taking a life if it means protecting them. Are we clear?” Robert asked.

“
What time is this that a man’s word has no value?” Tre asked.

“
A different time indeed, my friend,” Gabriel said.

“
We are clear,” Tre said.

All four went into the lab.
Maree and Robert laid the documents out onto the table. When they were done the
papers overlapped each other in some places, covering the entire surface. Maree
walked over to the counter and grabbed a laser pointer. She brought it back to
the table.

“
Tre, I’m not sure how much information Gabriel gave you, so if you
have any questions, then stop me and I’ll explain,” Maree said.

She pointed the laser at the
paper, and Tre moved in closer and ran his hand under the long red beam, then
wrenched it away. Maree released the button, and the light went away. Tre
strode over to the table and ran his hands across the papers and then inspected
his hand.

“
The light came from this pen,” Maree said as she clicked it back
on.

Gabriel watched Tre’s
expressions change. He had given him the ability to speak the language, but he
hadn’t explained every new item. He was surprised Tre had made it into the lab
without being side-tracked by all the new things that filled the basement. This
was going to be tricky, but he had faith Tre would adapt.

Maree handed the pen to Tre.
He clicked it on and off, over and over as he watched the light come and go. He
ran it over his hand, jerking away the first time. The second time the red beam
glowed on his palm he kept his hand steady, watching his skin. He then turned
it off and handed it back to Maree.

“
Thank you for allowing me to use the ‘light’,” Tre said.

Maree turned her attention
back to the table and once again turned the laser pointer back on.

“
I have spent the last two days comparing the results from the
victims, Calla and Tre—both in his Kematian and human form. What I noticed is
that there is one gene that all the samples have in common. By isolating this
anomaly, I have come up with a formula that destroys it,” Maree said.

“
I thought you said it could take a long time to get this
information. How did you come up with this so quickly?” Gabriel asked.

“
We can thank my time at the research facility for that,” she said
with malice. “I spent the last few decades identifying differences in human
genes, so finding what doesn’t belong is my specialty. Once I had a pure sample
from Tre’s pre-human form it was easy to match up from all the samples.”

“
The formula we used on Tre, will that still work?” Gabriel asked.

“
Yes, but it gets better. The injection you gave to Tre would knock
a Kematian out and destroy their ability to regenerate, but not kill them. I
have re-worked the formula. Now instead of destroying their ability to
regenerate it should cause the cells to self-destruct, killing them,” Maree
said.

“
Will it still turn those who were human back, like it did for me?”
Tre asked.

Maree stood there for a
moment, picked up a paper and read it again.

“
Honestly, I don’t know,” she said.

“
Some of my people may still be alive. I can’t risk their lives on
medicine that may kill them,” Tre said.

“
It’s not your decision,” Robert said.

“
It’s easy for you to say ‘just kill them all’. They are just
monsters to you,” Tre said.

Robert glanced at Gabriel and
then left the room.

“
Calla is the only family Robert has left. She was bitten by a
Kematian and only survived with my intervention. She is currently asleep with
medicine. The formula we used on you didn’t work on Calla’s samples. This may
kill her as well,” Gabriel said.

“
I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I’ll go apologize to Robert,” Tre said.

“
You can when he calms down. I will go speak with him.”

“
Will you two be all right until I return?” Gabriel asked Maree and
Tre.

 
“Yes,” they
both said in unison.

Gabriel found Robert sitting
on the deck staring out at the lake. He pulled up a chair and sat down next to
him.

“
Tre did not know,” Gabriel said.

“
I know. I can’t lose that girl. She’s more special to me than you
realize,” Robert said.

“
Do you want to talk about it?”

“
No. Yes. I don’t know,” Robert said.

They sat there in silence for
a few minutes.

“
This is something I’ve never told anyone,” Robert said.

“
You wish to share now?”

Robert laughed. “Sometimes it
feels like I’m talking to a robot.”

“
I assure you I do not run on batteries,” Gabriel said.

Tears ran down Robert’s cheek
as he continued to laugh. He wiped his face. “Man, I sure needed a good laugh.”

“
I am glad I could help,” Gabriel said.

“
Were you trying for sarcasm?” Robert asked.

Gabriel nodded.

“
It could use some work, but I don’t doubt you’ll learn quickly
from Calla.” Robert’s expression turned somber. “Do you think she’ll make it?”

“
If anyone can survive it will be Calla.”

“
You really care about her, don’t you?” Robert asked.

“
Yes.”

“
I will take this secret to the grave with me, then. I want you to
be able to share everything with Calla,” Robert said.

“
I am your friend. There is something that weighs heavily on your
shoulders. You may share, and I will tell Calla if she asks me directly,”
Gabriel said.

“
You already know?”

Gabriel shifted in his seat.
“I suspected.”

“
How?”

Gabriel raised an eyebrow.

 
“Never
mind,” Robert said with a sigh. “I think those angel tricks are going to get
really old, really fast.”

“
Would you like to talk about it?” Gabriel asked.

“
Do you think any less of me?”

“
No.”

“
Charles and I grew up together. We were neighbors, and our parents
were best friends. Anyway, we graduated from high school, and I went to
college, and Charles went into the military. He came home for leave and met
Ella. They married within a few weeks. Charles went back overseas. Ella
received a visit from a soldier stating Charles had been killed. She called me,
and I came over along with Charles’ parents and my parents,” Robert said,
rubbing his neck.

“
I went over and checked on Ella almost daily. We became friends
and then lovers. About a few months Charles returned home. Ella and I decided
not to tell Charles about the affair. It would have devastated him. I stayed
away for a year, and when I came back, Ella was holding ‘Charles Jr.’ on her
lap. I took one look at him, and I knew he was mine. Charles and I talked, and
he was so excited about being a father.
 
With the injuries he received he wasn’t supposed to be able to have
children. I couldn’t tell him,” Robert said.

“
I couldn’t watch my son be raised by someone else either, so I
stayed away. Then I met Maree, and I thought I would finally have my own
family, but we know how that turned out. I was there when Charles Jr. married
Calla’s mom. I attended my son and daughter-in-law’s funeral. After that I made
the decision to move back to Michigan. I didn’t want to be a stranger to Calla.
I knew I would never be her grandfather, but I wanted to be a part of her life.
Ella understood, and Charles thought we were reconnecting after our lives took
us in different directions.”

“
It must have been difficult keeping that secret all these years,”
Gabriel said.

“
At first, yes. Don’t think I didn’t want to tell my son I was his
father. I made several calls only to hang up after the first ring. I was trying
not to be the same selfish bastard that got me into the mess in the first
place.”