Gabriel (5 page)

He wanted to hold her close
and tell her everything, but she was right. Calla would be safer if he stayed
far, far away from her.

Gabriel grabbed a piece of
paper and wrote her a note. He left it on the kitchen table, opened the back
door, and took to the air. His heart grew heavier as each wing beat moved him
farther away from her. There was something about Calla that made him feel
complete. He didn’t understand, but leaving her had damn near shattered his
soul.

****

Calla heard a door shut, and
her heart sank. She ran down the stairs and into the kitchen. Gabriel was gone.
She picked up the letter he left on the table.

My
Dearest Calla,

You
are right. You will be safer with me out of your life.

Thank
you for saving me.

Gabriel

Calla crumpled the paper and
threw it across the room. An angel walked into her life and then walked right
out. Why did she feel such a loss for someone she barely knew?

Calla stood there numb. What
was going on with her? She had told him to leave, and he did; so why did she
feel so empty inside? “I’m going to find out what’s going on with or without
you.”

Calla grabbed her jacket from
the chair and left the house.

Chapter Three

Calla buttoned up her jacket
as she walked off the porch. The sun had set, and a cool breeze blew in from
the north. Her neighbors were having their weekly fight in the middle of the
street.
Why can’t they take that inside?
She lived only a few blocks from the ghetto, and it had as many advantages as
disadvantages. The upside was the cheap rent and being close to the hospital.
The downside, well, it was close to the ghetto.

She approached the section of
city blocks that housed abandoned buildings with broken windows and empty
littered parking lots. This area had once bustled with shop rats building the
American car, but now it sat as empty as the pockets of the local merchants.
The stillness was eerie. She still wasn’t used to it.

The darkness cast shadows,
making the familiar area appear foreign. Trees that waved proudly in the
distance by day now towered like monsters. The hair on her neck rose with each
step she took. She was almost out of the industrial section when she heard a
loud pop, and then the darkness increased. Calla glanced up to find the
streetlight bulb had blown.
 

She rounded the corner and
stiffened when she saw a man sitting on the ground, leaning against the cool
brick building.
 
She couldn’t make out
any details. She grasped the can of mace in her pocket and quickened her pace.
As she approached, she noticed the frayed ends of jeans, tennis shoes devoid of
laces. A plaid wool blanket lay across his chest and arms. Greasy, stringy hair
draped across the blanket, and the brim of his baseball cap shadowed his face.

So
he’s homeless, no big deal.
I’ll
walk around him.
Calla swallowed hard, as if hoping the courage she tried
to project could be found floating in the air around her.
Should I acknowledge this person or just keep walking?
Calla
glanced in that direction, taking in his depressing state once more.
 
Acknowledge him. He’s a person down on his
luck. He was probably one of the hundreds laid off, and then cut off from their
unemployment.
 
Man, I can be so
judgmental at times.

“
Hello.” Calla smiled as she passed.

The man with the cap didn’t
respond.
What were you thinking he was
going to say? “Hey, how’s the weather? Are you from around here?” You’re an
idiot.

She took a few more steps
before sharp talons pierced her arms and jerked her off her feet. Pain blurred
her vision as a very tall man flung her over his shoulder. Stiff black feathers
jabbed into her face while her head bounced off his back, his shoulder crushing
her abdomen. A scream tried clawing its way out of her throat, but the wind was
knocked out of her. Her arms pinned underneath, so she flailed her legs and
kicked her feet, but he didn’t seem to notice.

The man climbed the front
steps of the brick house, and someone inside opened the door.
 
Stay
calm. I have mace, and I knocked over Gabriel. He’s big and strong, and I would
have gotten away if it hadn’t been for his wings. Focus. You can get out of
here. All you have to do is stay calm.

He strode through the door
with Calla over his shoulder and entered a room. She caught a glimpse of a
carpet that could have been green at one time, but was now covered in dark
brown stains. Another door opened, and she was thrown against the wall. The
wind left her lungs with a rush. She saw white legs with blue veins so close to
the surface she could count them. She glanced up a little farther at a broad
chest marred by scars that looked like railroad tracks. Gathering more courage
than she knew she had, Calla raised her head, and stared into the face of her
attacker. Deadly black pupils with a ring of yellow glowered back at her. Dried
blood spattered his chin. She swallowed hard. This was not a man.

The creature opened his
mouth, a gaping maw filled with razor sharp teeth. His tongue unfolded to a
sharp point, and with a swishing motion he lapped the dried blood from his
chin.

“
You will be my dinner,” he said with a raspy tone. He turned
toward the door, and then slammed it once he was on the other side.

Calla jumped up, and a
stabbing pain resonated from her back. “Shit. That hurts.”

“
Don’t worry. From what I’ve seen of things, you won’t be alive to
be bothered by that,” a female voice said. “For long.”

Calla scanned the room. Four
women huddled in a corner. She edged over to them and knelt, pain slicing
through her ribs. Her face paled, and she squashed the scream that begged to
escape. She lifted the woman’s arm. She had track marks, and her body trembled.
“How long has it been since your last fix?”

“
Umm, a few hours, a day, I’m not really sure,” the addict said.

Calla looked at the other
women. They couldn’t have been older than twenty. All
four
were dressed to walk the streets.
Three of them wore skirts so short they revealed the women’s lack of underwear.
The one talking to Calla had black spandex Capris. They all had matching arms
scarred by track marks.

“
How long have you been here?” Calla asked, leaning against the
wall.

The other three didn’t speak.
“We all got here last night. There were eight of us.” The spandex-clad addict
moved next to Calla, tremors ripping through her body. “The others are dead.”

“
How can you be sure they’re dead?” Called asked, agony shooting
through her ribs.

“
They stopped screaming,” she said with a shudder.

Calla wrapped her arms around
herself as tight as she could, but the shaking didn’t stop.

“
What area do you work?” the addict asked.

“
Huh? What do you mean what area do I work?”

“
Aren’t you a prostitute, like the rest of us?”

“
Oh.
No, I’m not in your line of business.”

“
I didn’t think so, but I didn’t figure there’s any harm asking.” A
spasm shot through the addict’s legs.

“
Have you had withdrawals before?”

“
Yeah, when business gets slow, and I don’t have the cash to buy my
shit.”

Calla lifted her arm and was
rewarded with instant pain, but she wrapped it over the woman’s shoulder and
pulled her close.
 
She placed the other
hand on the woman’s stomach, and it began to glow. The air in the room felt
heavy as Calla used the energy to remove the toxins causing the addict pain.
She stopped shaking, and fear flashed across her face. She jumped up, using the
weakened Calla as a crutch.

“
What are you? What did you do to me? That’s not normal! Are you
like them?”

“
You’re welcome,” Calla said.

The addict went to the farthest
corner from Calla and stared at her with uncertainty. Calla saw the shaking
ease and clarity return to the addict’s eyes. And with that clarity was fear.
Oh please let this pass.
Calla had
trouble holding her head up, but kept a watchful eye on the woman.
I’m so glad you feel good enough to glare at
me.
Calla split her time between watching the door and watching the woman.

A half hour went by, and
warmth returned to Calla’s cheeks.
I wish
I could heal myself.
Every movement was agony, but she managed to slide
herself up to a standing position. Exhausted from the feeling, but grateful
that she didn’t acquire the symptoms she removed from others she slid across
the wall until she reached a window.

“
Has anyone tried to escape?” Calla asked the addict, who cowered
in the corner and flinched with every move she made.

“
No.
I don’t think so,” the addict said.

“
Would you stop looking at me like I’m going to hurt you? The drugs
are gone. Do you feel better?”

“
Yes.” She paused. “Actually, I don’t remember ever feeling this
good.”

“
Good. At least one of us doesn’t feel like shit,” Calla said with
a bite she hadn’t intended.

“
What are you looking for?”

“
A way out. I’m not going to be anyone’s dinner.”

“
Can I ask you a question?”

“
Sure,” Calla said.

“
Why did you heal me? I’m nobody. I saw what it did to you.
 
If those things had come in, you wouldn’t
have been able to defend yourself. Not that it would matter anyway.”

“
Because you needed help.”

“
Just like that? I need your help, so you risk your life for a
complete stranger,” the addict said, confusion crossing her face at Calla’s
comment.

“
It wasn’t a choice for me. I never thought in terms of your life
or mine. I saw a woman racked with tremors who was being ripped apart.” Calla
knew from firsthand experience the pain and suffering she was going through.
Calla had watched her best friend, scream, cry, and beg for more drugs. It had
broken her heart. Unable to control her powers, she hadn’t been able to heal
her friend. In the end all she could was watch her die. If she had the strength
she would heal them all, but unfortunately it didn’t work that way. She had
made a decision that this woman was going to have the chance to live. What she
did with it, was out of Calla’s hands.

Calla peeked out the window
at an abandoned house across the street, but she didn’t see anyone or any of
those things lurking around. “How often do they come back to this room?”

“
Hmmm, I’m not sure. They locked us in here just before dawn, and
they hadn’t been back until they brought you here.”

“
I don’t hear anyone moving around in the house, and I don’t see
anyone outside the window. I think we should make a run for it.”

“
You’re hurt, and they,” she nodded towards the women huddled in
the corner, “are going through withdrawals. I don’t think we’ll get very far,”
the addict said.

Calla watched the other three
women as tremors ravaged them all
. If I
heal them, I will be as good as dead. If I don’t, I’m not sure how far they can
make it. Gabriel, I wish you were here with me. Think
.

“
Do you want to live, or are you ready to die?” Calla asked the
three women.

The youngest woman scooted in
front of the other two. “I want to live.”

The other women remained
silent and tucked their heads between their knees. Calla looked at the
youngest. “Then you have to try to stand up. You have to run. Can you do that?”

Through the shaking, she
managed to nod.

Calla looked back at the
addict. “What is your name?”

“
I don’t want to tell you, and I don’t want to know yours either.
If we make it out of here alive, I’m going to become a person worth saving.
Until then, I’m just another junkie.”

“
Okay then. I need your help. This window hasn’t been opened in a
long time. I don’t have the strength to try to slide it up.” Calla moved over
so the addict could try.

The addict pushed and pushed
before the window screeched opened, and with it a breeze blew in that carried
the scent of fallen leaves. The front door shut, and footsteps pounded towards
the room. The handle began to turn, while the window remained ajar.

“
Close it now!” Calla whispered.

The addict shut it and rushed
to the corner. Calla sank down to the floor as the door opened. The creature
entered and assessed the women, as if deciding who appeared to be the
tastiest.
 
A flat nose, with nostrils that
flared, sniffed the air. He stopped in front of Calla and knelt to sniff her
neck.