Starfire Angels (Starfire Angels: Dark Angel Chronicles Book 1) (3 page)

Padina laughed.

Raea shook away the image. Again. It
happened again. These scenes of her parents couldn't be dreams.
They were real scenes. She had never been there and wouldn't have
imagined them on her own. Why did she see these images? The people
she loved were dead. Although she wished with all her heart for
both of them to be there, nothing could bring Scott and her mom
back. Her chest ached to see them as vividly as if they had been
there.

"Are you all right?" Elis helped her
balance.

"What?" She blinked away the moisture in her
eyes. "Um...Yeah. I have to get home." Before she broke down in
front of him. This truly was the worst day of her life, second to
the day her mom and Scott died. What was happening to her?

Despite her best efforts, the tears flowed
cold on her cheeks by the time she entered the house on the end of
the block. Raea kicked off her shoes and ran across the wood
laminate main floor and up the stairs to slam the door of her room
behind her.

It wasn't fair. Why did they have to die?
Raea was only five; no more than a child.

It had taken all those years to let go and
now these scenes rushed in on her. It wasn't fair. Remembering and
seeing happy times that she had never been present to see tore open
her grief. She had cursed the storm every day since the tornado
destroyed only their house while she was at a sleepover. Life was
so unfair and cruel.

She let the tears flow, soaking her pillow.
Only the ringing of her phone succeeded in interrupting the flood
of grief and tears, damming it for a while.

The caller ID displayed a welcome number. He
had the best timing.

"Hey, Josh." She wiped her eyes with the
pink sleeve of her shirt and sniffed.

After a couple seconds of silence, he asked,
"Are you all right?"

"It's nothing." Nothing she wanted to think
about it again.

"Sure?"

"Yeah. What's up?"

"Okay. I'm gonna be on national TV! You know
that special on Dark Angel the Xplorer Channel wants to do?"

"Yeah. The one you mentioned this morning."
She sniffed and wiped her eyes dry. If he hadn't called, she'd
probably still be sobbing from the scenes burned in her memories
now. She loved seeing them, but it hurt too much.

"Uh, huh. They heard about my interest in
our angel and want me to help them."

"I'm happy for you." At least he'd have
someone who would listen to all his stories and speculations, and
in that light she could be happy for him.

"Oh, man! I'm shaking. I don't know what to
do. I had to call someone. Actually, I have to call everyone. I get
to help out and maybe be on TV!"

A laugh escaped her at the mental picture of
Josh shaking in excitement. Just what she needed. "That's cool.
Maybe some of your fame will rub off on the rest of us."

"This is going to be way more than cool.
It's the
sickest!
I can't believe it!"

Neither could she, but she hoped for his
sake that it didn't blow up in his face. "Be careful, though. Don't
let them make fun of you." Like some kids did.

"No. It's not like that. This is
Miracles
and Other Wonders
, the show that looks for credibility in what
can't be scientifically proven."

"Then I guess you're set. It's right up your
alley."

"Oh, yes, it is! I'm nervous and excited all
at the same time. It's just...Wow! I don't know what to think."

She wouldn't either, but she didn't have his
obsession with the McClarron angel. "Settle down and chill a bit.
You said they won't be here for a week, so you have some time to
put things together."

"That's just it. The assistant left a
message and wants me to call them back ASAP with everything I've
considered and any observations I've had. I haven't even tried
watching for our angel. How can I give any credibility?"

"It's winter, Josh. It's cold. Who's gonna
sit out and watch for an angel to fly over, let alone a senior in
high school with tests to study for and papers due? I'm surprised
they expect that much from you, or anyone."

"I'll have to ask who gave them the info. In
the meantime, I gotta call Grandma. Oh, and Paul. Maybe he's the
one they contacted."

His parish priest had been his closest ally
in swapping stories and speculations, or at least based on the
reports he brought back to them. She and the others had learned to
steer him away from the topic. That could stay between him and
Father Davison. She and the others preferred the old Josh, the geek
who hung out with them and joked around and who wasn't constantly
obsessed about every real or imagined appearance of their
black-winged angel.

"Probably," she said. Anything to get him
off the line so she didn't have to hear him go into the insights he
had gathered, again. If only this angel would disappear. Life could
go back to the way it was before that first sighting, and maybe her
dreams or visions would end. "I'm sure your Grandma will be excited
for you."

"I know she will. Thanks, Raea, and I hope
you figure out your dream."

"Thanks."

"'Kay. See ya tomorrow."

"Bye." She clicked the phone off. Wow. Josh
had the full attention of a whole television crew. He was right—it
was the sickest, minus the Dark Angel part.

The Magic
Touch

"You trust her with it?

"It is necessary. They'll look for me, not
her. No one knew I was pregnant."

Scott stroked Padina's light brown hair from
her face. "But she's only a child. She's likely to lose it."

"Better lost than in their hands."

Raea watched from the crack of their open
bedroom door. Her parents sat up in bed, her mother with her head
on Scott's shoulder.

"But if the wrong person finds it—"

"It will react. Unfortunate for them."

"If it's really as powerful as you've
described, it shouldn't be in the hands of a child."

"Raea is
my
child." Padina's tone
admonished him. "Never forget that. Do not forget
what
we
are, Scott. We may look human sometimes—"

He gently tilted her head back and kissed
her lips. "You'll always be my angels."

Padina smiled. "That's not what I
meant."

The scene faded to the deep recesses of
Raea's dreams. Faint voices in unison whispered from afar. Raea
strained to listen but they vanished.
"Who are you?"
she
called into the dream.
"I can't hear you. Speak up!"
Nothing.

* * *

Raea yawned as she sat down at the dining
table, where Debbie sat with her morning coffee and toast, already
dressed and made-up for work.

"Did you sleep well?"

"No. I've been having these weird dreams
of...of Mom." Debbie didn't need to know details, but Debbie had
known her mom well. She said she had helped with the birth. Padina
had to be a saint to have a baby at home without any medication.
Maybe her aunt could tell her something or give her some insight
about her mother she hadn't considered.

"What kind of dreams?"

"The weird kind."

Debbie gave her the stop-messing-with-me
look. No skirting the issue.

"For a while now I've had the same dream
over and over. It never changes. But yesterday..." This was going
to sound stupid, but Raea wanted answers. At least the boys weren't
in sight or sound. Still, she didn't want to risk Dave and Eric
overhearing and lowered her voice. Sound carried too far under the
vaulted ceilings. "Yesterday, when Elis bumped me at school, and
when I slipped on the way home from school, I saw scenes. It's like
I was there but not. Like a fly on the wall."

"Hmm."

What did that mean? Debbie said nothing more
but took another bit of her toast. Didn't she care?

"They were like scenes from
her
life.
And last night, I dreamed of something I actually remember."

"Probably just déjà vu. But I'm concerned if
you're falling into dreams in the middle of the day. I'll check
with a specialist and see what they advise."

"Whatever." Raea shrugged and finished off
her cereal. If that was all Debbie would say, what else could she
do? See a neurologist?

Eric tromped down the stairs looking for
food. The skinny sixth-grader was always hungry. If Raea ate like
either of her cousins, she'd look like a blimp. Where did they put
it?

Dave followed Eric and gave her a dirty
look. Too bad. She had beaten him to the shower that morning. He'd
live.

So far that day started out as the polar
opposite of yesterday. Just what she needed to cheer up: A nice
long, hot shower, annoying Dave, a bowl of cereal...Yup, major
improvement over yesterday. Just in time for Linds' party coming up
in two more days.

Why did the best days always follow the
worst, though? It never failed, but she suspected that if she ever
solved that riddle, her life would end or the world would collapse
into nothing. At least she could enjoy the day and any further
improvements that came her way.

On the way to school, even the sun seemed to
shine brighter that morning. She didn't see Elis on the walk to
school, a relief and—in an odd way—a disappointment. Yesterday was
totally weird around him. She didn't want to repeat it, but she
wanted answers.

And no one would ever know. She wouldn't
tell them. Elis didn't have a reason to say anything, a big relief.
She did
not
need to invite any more mocking from Chad.
Yesterday was bad enough, except he had teased her all her life.
Avoiding any situations even hinting of fuel for his amusement was
her daily goal. Now with Pallin distracting everyone, maybe that
would end, for a while at least.

Only one other thing could have made the day
better—not having to listen to Josh talk almost non-stop about the
television program he was going to be on. On the bright side, it
was better than Chad's teasing.

Josh shut up during class, but lunch was
another matter. At their own round table near one of the windows,
he had a captive audience of friends.

"O-
kay
, Josh!" Linds' slumped back in
her chair, shaking her head to throw her blonde-streaked hair back
over her shoulders. "We get it. I was excited when I first heard,
but you're wearing my patience thin. I don't suggest pushing it
during calving season. Chill for a bit. Talk about something
else."

Leave it to Linds to say it bluntly. Her
farm girl toughness kept them all sane. Raea suspected what had her
cranky. "Your dad make you go out and check cows?"

"Yes. I'm so tired. I don't need to listen
to all the details of Dark Angel this and Dark Angel that. No
offense, but it gets old
real
fast."

Yes, it did. Better that Linds said it and
not her. Raea hated being the one to criticize her friends. Sure,
it came easy with her cousin Dave, but he was like the most
annoying pest on the planet. Let someone else say what they all
thought when it came to Josh.

"Why can't he just make Terry or Jim do all
the work?" Raea asked.

"Equal load. It was
my
turn to go
out…at freakin' two AM!"

"How many calves left?" Jess stabbed at her
salad.

"Too many. I don't know. We're just hitting
the peak."

Raea tuned out Linds's rant about calving,
her curiosity drawn to something else. And there he sat, alone and
minding his own business. Both daytime visions had happened when
Elis touched her. There had to be a connection, but she'd be damned
if she would ask him. What a crackhead she'd sound like:
"Yeah,
Elis, why is it whenever you touch me, I have visions of my
mom?"
Before, she could watch from a distance and occasionally
wonder if he liked being alone. Now, she didn't want anything to do
with Elis. She hoped he stayed as far from her as possible.

At a sudden pressure that built up in her
head, Raea blinked and rubbed her temples. She never had headaches.
Why now? Not only did Elis cause problems when he touched her, but
now he could curse her from a distance?

Under the drone of lunchroom conversations,
numerous voices whispered in discord too low to understand.
"What?"

"Huh?" Josh frowned.

"Not you."

"What's wrong?" Jess's hand rubbed her
shoulder. Ordinarily, the concern of her friend would have helped,
but not this time.

Not with this. The strange voices split her
head with pain while no one else reacted. Didn't the others
hear?

They watched her with concerned looks. "I'm
fine. Just a headache." And strange voices, which, apparently, only
she heard. Not exactly something she wanted the world to know.

The whispers grew louder but the words
jumbled together.
Who are you and what do you want? Speak up. I
can't understand.
Her head hurt. The fluorescent lights made it
worse, along with the noise in the lunchroom. She had to lie
down.

After shoving her unfinished tray of food
aside, Raea laid her head on her arms. Good enough for now. She
probably couldn't even walk home to reach her bed.

"Raea, are you all right?" Linds asked.

"No—My. Head.
Hurts.
"

"This is sudden. You look terrible."

Thanks, Jess.
Raea groaned. The pain
worsened every second, and the voices didn't help. She still
couldn't make them out through the dissonance.

The tap of steps stopped behind her. A
gentle rubbing on her neck massaged the aching away. "Mmm...Keep
that up." She put her forehead to the table, exposing her neck to
the pleasant massage parting her hair into a curtain on each side
of her face. Tingles of pleasant relaxation flowed down her
neck.

"Ah...Of course," Josh said.

With each second, the voices and headache
faded. She could have let him massage her neck all day like that.
What a relief. Too bad he stopped, just when she really enjoyed it
too.