Angel's Kiss

2. Born Again

2. Born Again

“How can this be?” the stranger mused. “How can this mortal still be alive when her blood is no longer her own? How can the monster that did this to her be dead by her side?”

“Angel,” I whispered. I wanted his touch more than anything else. I wanted to be free.

I could not see him clearly, for the light surrounded him, yet I knew this was the angel I’d been seeking, not the one who had touched me before.

“She could not have had the strength to resist.”

“Please, release me. I can’t take it anymore,” I pleaded.

I saw a shape move in the light, and a hand rested on my chest, over my heart, and another on my forehead. I was flooded with warmth, bliss and peace. Never had I tasted such ecstasy in my life. I knew this angel was setting me free.

I heard a gasp, and through his hands I felt his body stiffen, then convulse, as if in the grip of a seizure. When at last it was finished, he fell to the floor, breathing raggedly. I opened my eyes. The room was near dark again, but I was not dead. The blinding light had been replaced with a few weak rays of sunshine piercing through the gloom between the boards covering the window. Dust motes floated lazily to settle once more on the floor. I could see my angel was nothing more than a man — just a man, like all those who had come before him, with promises and lies.

I scrambled backwards to the corner of the room, and as my eyes adjusted to the light I could see two shapes. One lying still on the floor and the other half-sitting, shaking his head and taking heaving breaths of air.

“Get away from me,” I warned. “I have a knife.”

“No you don’t,” the stranger replied with self-assurance. “If you did, you would have used it on him.” He pointed to the body on the floor.

He stood up and brushed himself off, before taking a few steps towards me. I pulled my knees up to my chest and hugged my legs, making myself as small as possible.

“Forgive me, how rude,” the stranger said.

He stopped a couple of metres away from me, wiped one hand on his coat and extended it towards me.

“My name is Danny. And you are?”

“None of your business,” I spat back at him.

I knew his type, only after one thing.

“Indeed, it is my business. Light,” he murmured, and the incandescent bulb in the ceiling cast an eerie glow across the room.

How did he do that?

Danny gave me a half-smile and pointed to the ceiling. “I bet you’re wondering how I did that.”

I remained tight-lipped, though I was curious as to how he’d done it. Voice command, I thought, in a house this old? Maybe it was some sort of experimental trial. After all, people walking past on the street wouldn’t give this house a second glance. What better place to conduct testing in a real world environment?

Danny sat cross-legged on the floor, careful to keep out of my personal space, and rested his hands on his knees.

“If I hadn’t seen it for myself, if I hadn’t touched you, I wouldn’t have believed such things were possible. Even now I’m not sure what you are. Perhaps if we’d had the opportunity to meet before you’d been changed. Before you’d been born again…”

“What do you mean, changed, born again? I’m no different to what I was an hour or so ago and I haven’t had any religious epiphany.”

Danny leaned forward and stared into my eyes. His stare was so intense I had to look away. I shivered slightly, though not from the cold.

“Are you sure about that? Tell me what you’re feeling.”

“Hungry… and confused.”

I searched inside myself, probing every inch of my body with my mind. There was something there I couldn’t put my finger on, just beyond my grasp.

“I don’t feel as weak now. There’s still a nasty edge to the pain, though.”

“Go on,” Danny encouraged me, “what else?”

I shrugged. “Nothing else that I can pin down.”

Danny sighed. “It’s a start. Do you know what happened to you?”

“Not really,” I answered honestly. “I remember coming in here, thinking this place was abandoned — you know, because of the boards and all — and being jumped, then lots of pain. Not much more.”

“That’s to be expected. It’s still new to you and the pain is still very fresh in your mind…” Danny hesitated. “Can I ask you something?”

“I guess,” I answered warily, waiting for the inevitable question that all men asked.

“Do you believe in monsters, demons and angels?”

That caught me off guard. I was expecting more of a proposition — sleep with me and I’ll give you a hundred bucks. I was used to that sort of thing. I may have been homeless and almost destitute, but I was still considered very attractive. There was something darkly appealing to many men about an undernourished waif-like creature. I hesitated before answering.

“All my life I’ve wanted to believe in angels, yet all I’ve encountered is monsters — human monsters, not your mythical variety. In my opinion humans are the only monsters on this planet. As for demons… I think we all have our own personal demons, but that’s it.”

“I can understand why you might believe that. Would you like to hear a story?”

“If I say no you’re going to tell it to me anyway, so just get on with it,” I said dryly.

Danny laughed, and the sound filled the room. I could feel it trying to lift my spirits and I had to fight hard not to let it in.

“Angels, demons and monsters are real.”

“Is that it?” I snorted. “That was the quickest story I’ve ever heard.”

“Don’t you want to know how I know?”

My stomach rumbled. It was a low, hollow sound that echoed around the room.

“Knock yourself out.”

“That thing on the floor over there is a monster. One of the worst kind imaginable, a creation of Satan. Take a look,” Danny said. “Don’t be afraid, it can’t harm you anymore.”

“Satan, hey?”

I shook my head. There was no way I was going to look at a dead body.

“Satan, Beelzebub, Belial, the devil… a hundred other names I care not to mention — call him what you like.”

Danny stood and walked to the body. He grabbed an arm, careful not to touch any exposed skin, and dragged it over to me.

“Look!” he commanded, and I struggled against the authority his voice held.

He tried a different tack and lowered the level of his voice.

“Please.”

I responded then, by looking at the body. His face was a frozen mask of contorted pain, my blood still on his lips. Clearly he’d suffered in his final moments.

“Do you know whose blood can kill one of these?”

I shook my head.

“Do you even know what it is?”

I shook my head again.

“The answer to the first is the blood of an angel. The answer to the second is… a vampire.”

I laughed. It was a sound I wasn’t used to hearing and it surprised me.

“You don’t believe me, and in truth I find some of it hard to believe as well. You see, an angel fully drained of its blood by a vampire will die, but so will the vampire. Call it an eye for an eye. But you,” he waved a finger at me, “you are somewhat of an enigma. If you were indeed an earth-bound angel you should have died, yet your heart continues to beat. You’ve been changed, yet you are not a vampire, angel or mortal. How did you manage to drain his blood, as he drained the last of yours? What are you and what am I to do?”

“Listen, Danny,” I stabbed my finger at him. “I think you need help. That guy probably died of a heart attack, freak that he was.”

Before I could stand up Danny was on me, pinning me to the floor. His hands grasped my wrists and I felt that same euphoric feeling — like cocaine — filling my body.

“Can a mortal do that!” he yelled at me. “Can a mortal give you that feeling I know you’re experiencing?”

“Get off me,” I yelled, struggling to free myself.

I’d heard that in times of trouble, when there was no option but to fight, an adrenaline rush can give you superhuman strength for a short period of time. I’d never expected to experience it first-hand. I rolled and found myself on top of Danny, pinning his arms to the ground.

“How do you explain that?” Danny referred to our changed positions. He was smiling and seemed to be enjoying himself. Typical male!

“Adrenaline rush,” I replied.

“Yet your heart isn’t beating any faster.”

“No,” I conceded.

This was all too confusing. There was a ring of truth to what he was saying. I needed him to back up and start again, from the very beginning. I rolled to the side and sat next to him, resting my head in my hands.

“Danny is a rather unusual name for an angel isn’t it?”

“Danny is the name I use when I travel amongst mortals,” he confessed. “My real name is Danizriel.”

“Hmm, I think I prefer Danny.”

“So do I, Helena.”

“I never mentioned my name. How do you know it? Have you been following me?”

I was instantly suspicious. I’d been followed by stalker types before. It was nothing new to me. There was always a certain amount of danger when fanatical people were involved, especially when there was a contract on your head.

Danny laughed and gave me a sly grin. “What sort of an angel would I be if I didn’t know something that simple? The first time I touched you I knew all there was to know about you.”

“Everything?” Surely this wasn’t possible.

“Yes, everything. From the time you charged Simon a dollar in primary school to kiss you, to your first taste of cocaine.”

I gulped. Anyone might have been able to find out about my dalliance with cocaine two years ago, but I’d never told anyone about Simon — he’d died a year later from leukaemia — and I doubted he’d said anything either. This was way too freaky. If it was true, it was also one-sided and unfair. I had no secrets from him, yet everything about Danny was a mystery to me.

Danny misunderstood my look of concern and consternation for something else. “You needn’t fear, you’ll be forgiven for everything up until now.”

“Up until now?” I said in disbelief. “You think I’m a monster now, don’t you? Monsters don’t get admitted to heaven do they?”

“I don’t know. I think you can still be saved. You’ve done nothing yet.” Danny sighed. “In all my time I haven’t encountered one such as you. I’ll need to make some enquiries through channels I wouldn’t usually attempt to contact. There is some risk involved. If my superior finds out about this, about you… well, let’s just say we would be taken care of.”

“This is so confusing, so unbelievable.” I rubbed my temples. The pain was finally receding, but the hunger was increasing. “Tell me everything, from the start. I need to make sense of it all.”

“How far back do you want me to go… to the story of creation?” Danny asked seriously.

“Don’t be stupid,” I snorted. “I don’t want to know what everyone else knows. I want to know about you — about angels and why you’re here. I want to know about that thing…” I pointed to the body on the floor, “how monsters of myth can be real, and what their part in this is. I want to know what all this has to do with me. Was I randomly chosen or is this part of some grander plan and I’m just a pawn?”

“I can’t answer all of your questions, but I’ll explain as best I can.”