Angel in the Shadows, Book 1 by Lisa Grace (Angel Series) (15 page)

***

At lunch, Johnny and I are the first ones at the
table. I only have a few minutes before Carrie and Vania join us,
so I launch right into my concerns. “What am I going to do? He’s
latching himself unto me and ostracizing me all at the same
time.”

“Don’t worry; it’s going to get worse first,”
Johnny says. I look at him like he’s crazy.

“Seriously, don’t worry. Worrying will only hurt
your faith. Keep praying and ignore him. He might get tired of you
if he’s not getting the reaction he wants.”

“Okay, I can do that,” I say. At least now I
have a plan of action. “Should I tell Vania or Carrie about you?” I
ask.

“Yes on Vania, she might need my counsel since
she’s newly saved. Not yet on Carrie, the timing’s not right.”

“Okay, thanks. What about the party?” I ask.

“We’ll go. I’ll pick you and Vania up at seven
o’clock tomorrow night. Bring a Bible,” Johnny answers.

“That’s funny, because that’s exactly what Judas
said to bring.”

***

After lunch, I find out Judas is also in my
algebra class. At least this time I’m prepared. I totally ignore
him. At least he’s only in two of my classes and home room. It
could have been worse. It could have been all of them.

Out of nowhere, my cell phone rings. My teacher,
Mrs. Abbot says, “Hand it over. Please get your parent to see me to
get it back.”

I look at the phone number to see who
called. There’s no number in the window, just the words, “C U @
Party.

” Great. We
technically aren’t allowed to have cell phones on us. The teachers
are okay with them as long as they’re turned off during class and
out of sight. Mine was turned off. Obviously, Judas has a few
tricks up his sleeve. Even if I take the battery out, I’m guessing
he could still make it ring. I guess in the future I’ll have to
leave it in my locker. I fold my hands and start to pray. I pray
for protection and strength. Mrs. Abbott goes over a couple of
concepts on the board and writes down some sample problems to work
on in class and for homework. I copy them down and continue to
pray. I can do my homework later. I’m going to be grounded tonight
anyway after the prank Judas pulled, so I’ll have plenty of time to
get it done. The rest of the time I plan on reading my Bible and
praying. It’s really the only defense I have. The only way I can
get to Judas. About a half an hour into praying, I look over at
Judas. He definitely looks uncomfortable. I go right back to
praying and try to forget about him.

***

After school, I meet up with Johnny and Vania.
“I only have about five minutes before my dad gets here and I’ll
probably get grounded, so Vania, Johnny is one of the good angels I
told you about.”

“No way!” Vania says.

Johnny looks at her and deadpans, “Way.”

“Wow.”

“Anyway, you two might have to go to the party
alone tomorrow night. I might be grounded. There’s more. Judas made
my cell ring during class, and I found out he originally enrolled
in school using the name Damon Vincent Lawless.”

Vania looks at me, “Wait a second, information
overload. You’re saying Judas is calling himself Damon now? Not to
mention Johnny’s a good angel.”

Johnny looks at Vania, “Look, I have to talk to
Megan’s dad when he gets here, then I’ll give you a ride home and
we can talk. Since you’re fairly new at being saved, there are some
things I want you to be prepared for, and other things I want you
to avoid.”

Vania just looks at Johnny in shock, “You look
so normal.”

“Do you want to see my wings? That’s a joke,”
Johnny says.

Vania chuckles nervously.

“That’s alright, maybe later,” Johnny answers.
Now neither of us knows if he’s joking or not. Vania looks at me
and I just shrug my shoulders. Except for him glowing, I’ve never
seen anything else of his spiritual nature.

My dad pulls up. Johnny opens the door. “Hello
Mr. Laughlin, I’m Johnny. Megan had her cell phone confiscated by a
teacher today after it rang in class. I forgot about the ring
function. I’m sorry sir.”

I stand there in amazement. Technically Johnny
didn’t lie. He does have the power to turn the ringer off.

My dad turns off the car, looks at Johnny and
says, “That’s okay son. We all make mistakes. So Megan who do we go
see to get your phone back?”

We all head over to Mrs. Abbott’s classroom and
get the phone back. Johnny even apologizes to her for the class
being interrupted. She accepts his apology graciously and gives my
dad the phone. Before we know it, I’m on my way home with Dad, and
Vania is getting a ride home with Johnny.

That evening I text Seth and do my homework. I’m
nervous about the party tomorrow night. I stay up later than I
should, playing out different scenarios in my mind of all the
things that could go wrong. I really don’t want to go,. but lives
and souls are at stake. I’m thankful Johnny is going to be with us.
He’s a show of God’s strength, a physical reminder that we are not
alone.

I pretend I’m telling my parents the truth. “Bye
Mom and Dad, just going out to battle some dark angels and save
some souls. See you later.” That makes me laugh. The phone rings
and I jump.

I pick it up, “Hey it’s Vania.”

“Hi.”

“Johnny wants you to dress Goth for tomorrow
night. I guess word has gotten around to beat you up if you are
seen anywhere near the rave. They already have a backup place
scheduled in case you tell the cops. If we dress you up, do the
makeup and the hair color, you’ll pretty much be invisible.”

“Okay,” I say. Now I’m worried. I’ve never had
somebody want to beat me up before.

Vania continues, “I also got us some glow in the
dark pacifiers and jelly bracelets so we’ll blend in. Don’t worry
I’m coating the bracelets with superglue so they’re really
strong.”

“I have no clue what you’re talking about. It’s
like your speaking a different language,” I say.

“I know.” I hear a heavy sigh. “The pacifiers
mean you’re into ecstasy, that’s a drug, some of the kids just suck
on lollipops. The glow sticks, same thing.” Vania continues, “The
jelly bracelets stand for which sex acts you’re willing to do. It’s
all a big naughty game. Some of the girls even wear lipsticks to
show what they will do.”

“I’m not wearing the bracelets,” I say. I draw
the line at that.

“Okay. No problem. Well just say you have a
boyfriend.”

“I do. His name’s Seth. He lives up in
Jacksonville,” I answer defensively.

“Okay. Okay. I forgot to ask Johnny
how
far
undercover. I guess
some of it is a little too far,” Vania says.

“Johnny did say we should get together early
tomorrow so I can clue you in on some of the hand signals. It’s so
noisy in these places that there’s a kind of code. We’ll make up
some of our own too.” Vania decides to come to my house tomorrow
around noon. She’ll either catch a bus or have her mom drop her
off.

In the morning, I get up and get started on my
chores first thing. Feeding the pets, unloading the dishwasher,
vacuuming, and dusting the house. I throw my dirty clothes in the
laundry room. I’m all set by the time Vania shows up. I wonder how
I’m going to explain my new look to my mom.

Vania says, “You write reports for the school TV
show. Tell her you’re doing a report on the life of a Goth.”

I feel stupid, “Oh yeah, that makes sense.”

Vania comes equipped with a big military duffle
bag. She’s cool and confident today. The first thing we work on is
my hair. Vania takes out a bottle of “spray on” pink hair. She
sprays it on then teases my hair and puts in some hair gel. She
teases it again on to the top of my head. Vania gets out a ponytail
holder and ties it on top of my head. Now I’m sprouting a
waterfall. She teases and gels my hair some more to get a few
spikes sticking up and out of my waterfall, then hits my hair again
with the pink spray. She opens a jar of glitter, mixes it with the
hair gel and glitters my spikes. Vania then takes a metal ring and
puts it half in and half out of my nose. She presses it a little to
hold. Now I look like my nose is pierced.

I barely recognize myself. We try on some of her
clothes and settle on one of my pink tops ripped in the right
places by Vania. She layers a chain mail looking necklace that
almost covers my whole front. I finish up with one of her black
skirts and ripped fishnet stockings. The skirt is one of her longer
ones she wears to school, not the short skirts she wears out
clubbing. We finish with a pair of my black sneakers. She has a
long metal chain for a drooping belt that I have to pin in place.
She has several oversized safety pins that she positions in the
right places.

Next, Vania gives me metal bangles for my arms
and rings for my fingers. She also paints my nails black. The only
thing left to put on is my makeup.

Vania helps me to put on fake eyelashes with
diamonds. I feel like I’m wearing spiders over my eyes. She does a
Cleopatra look on my eyes using black and hot pink. She adds a
little black to my checks and lips.

I don’t recognize me at all. I practice moving
the way Vania teaches me along with some of the facial expressions
and dance moves.

“Some last advice, don’t drink anything anybody
offers. It could contain GHB the date-rape drug, which is odorless
and tasteless. Bring your own soda or water in a bottle with a cap.
Don’t ever set it down and leave it alone. It’s better just to wear
it or wait.”

Vania herself is wearing an old-fashioned metal
canteen. At first, I had mistaken it for a purse. We eat a quick
dinner of frozen pizza that I bake in the oven. I doctor it up with
some extra cheese. My mom gets home from shopping and sticks her
head in the kitchen. “Can you girls tell Megan I’m home.”

I look right at her and say, “Sure.” She leaves
the room and we burst out laughing. I get up from the table and
say, “Mom it’s me!”

“Megan, what are you doing?” My mom’s look of
shock is priceless. No wonder some kids rebel if this is the
reaction they get. It’s kind of cool to be able to shock the
parents who think they know you so well.

“I’m going to write a report on what it’s like
to be a Goth for a night,” I say, “Can you take a picture of me to
go with the report?” I think I may as well turn this experience
into a homework assignment. I can kill two birds with one
stone.

Mom gets her camera and takes a picture of me
and then one with Vania.

“I’m glad your dad isn’t home to see this. Try
not to give him a heart attack if he gets home while you’re dressed
like that tonight.” Dad had taken Max to a karate tournament. They
probably won’t be home until after us. My curfew is still
ten-thirty, which Johnny knows.

Johnny pulls up at seven o’clock on the dot. We
load into his car. Vania sits up front and I kind of cower in the
back. I’ve never not been welcome somewhere before so this is a new
experience for me. I’ve brought my King James Bible and my NIV
version. I tell Johnny, “I wasn’t sure which one you’d want. Old
English or new.”

“Actually I was hoping for the original Hebrew,
Aramaic, and Greek.” Johnny sounds disappointed.

I start to apologize when he turns around to
look at me and says, “I’m joking.”

“You’re getting better at the humor thing,” I
say. “Do you know where you’re going?” I ask, as Johnny winds
through a neighborhood. “Yes.”

Johnny pulls up about a block away from Mandy’s
house. “Oh, I get it! We’re going to follow Mandy and Alex.”

Johnny and Vania answer together, “Duh.”

“I see you’ve been picking up some slang and
teenage angst from Vania.”

Johnny and Vania look at each other again and
say, “Duh.”

“Okay. Okay. What exactly are we going to be
doing tonight?”

Johnny speaks up, “You and Vania are going to
try and save anyone who might be close to ODing. I’m going to try
and stop Judas from harming anyone. If he tries to approach you or
hurt you, I want you to start chanting ‘Judah’, over and over, as
loud as you can. See if you can get the crowd doing it.”

“Why?” I ask.

“Because in the Bible, God would change people’s
names to make them more powerful and better suited to his purpose.
He did it to Abram and Sarai. He changed it by adding the fifth
letter of the Hebrew alphabet, ‘Hei’, which sounds like an ‘H’. If
we help change Judas, which means ‘betrayer’, to ‘Judah’, which
means ‘Praise the Lord’, we might be able to break his power at
least for tonight. Make sure the kids hear ‘Judah.’ I’ll help if I
can.”

I have an idea. “Johnny, Give us a hand signal
for chanting, ‘Judah.’”

He cups his hand up and open, so it forms a “J.”
“You’ll know when the moment’s right.” He starts the car, “Here
they come.”

We drive far enough behind them to follow, but
not close enough for them to notice. I doubt Alex and Mandy would
see an elephant tailing them, they are so into each other. About
ten minutes later, we get to an industrial park with several low
one-story buildings with rollup garage doors. A friend of my dad’s
has a business here fixing up motorcycles on the side.

Johnny asks, “Do you know where the closest
hospital to here is?”

I think before answering, “Yeah, ‘Morton Plant,’
take Drew to Missouri and cut over to Jeffords. It’s right
there.”

“Good. Here are the keys for the car just in
case.” I start to argue and point out that I’m fifteen, I can’t
drive without an adult and Johnny turns to me, “Look, these kids
are unsaved. If they die, it’s over for them. You need keys to
drive, I don’t. I might be a little tied up with Judas and you
might need to get these kids to the hospital fast. Okay?”

I absorb what Johnny’s saying, “Okay.” I check
my cell and make sure it’s on vibrate.