Angel in the Shadows, Book 1 by Lisa Grace (Angel Series) (21 page)

After church, and plenty of goodbyes, we head
over to Carrie’s house. Seth and I are alone in his car since Robby
hitched a ride with Carrie and her parents.

“I’m sorry this weekend didn’t turn out like we
planned,” I say. I’m disappointed that we didn’t have as much
romance as I would have liked.

“Are you kidding? This was one of the best
weekends of my life. I got to be with you, and God gave me, us,
confirmation that there is a whole spiritual world going on around
us. I have an angel as a friend, and we’re serving God together.
What could be better?”

“But what about Jude? He’s going to be out to
get us!”

“So? Haven’t evil angels always been out to get
us? We have God’s protection. Don’t worry so much.” I’m amazed at
Seth’s point of view. I can’t believe how nonchalant he is about
the good/bad angel thing.

When we get to Carrie’s house, she’s drying off
from Robby having thrown her in the pool. I look at her shake my
head and say, “again?”

“Don’t worry. I’ve set limits, only once a party
and never on a major holiday.”

“Well, that should work.”

“And
if I’m
wearing my cell phone and he ruins it, I get a free upgrade. I
think I’ll have a top of the line one by Christmas,” Carrie looks
ecstatic. Robby would drive me nuts after one day, but she’s
obviously in heaven.

Robby enters the patio from the house and says,
“Surprise! Guess who’s here.”

I turn around expecting Johnny and Vania. “Hi
everyone. Hi Mouse. Mind getting me a Coke, Robby, my man?” Of
course, it’s Jude.

“Help yourself, on the way out.” Robby goes to
grab Jude by the arm, but he’s too fast and easily moves out of the
way.

“Remember the last time you went to lay a finger
on me? Would you like a repeat? I might have to hold you under for
a few minutes to teach you a lesson,” Jude goes to the cooler and
takes a Coke. He pops the top and takes a sip, watching us.

“Oh, we’re missing a couple of our friends.
Let’s play a game. Truth or dare? Twenty questions? You pick.”

“What have you done to them?” Carrie asks.

“Alright,” Jude claps his hands together, a look
of anticipation on his face, “twenty questions it is,” He sits in a
chair, while we all stand, unconsciously forming a half-circle
around him.

“Nothing. Next question?”

“Where are they?” I ask.

“I don’t know. I’m not all-knowing you know,”
Jude answers smugly.

“Where were they the last time you saw
them?”

“In Johnny’s car. At this rate, you guys aren’t
going to know a thing by the end of the game. I was hoping for
something a little more challenging.”

“Did you try—or succeed in hurting someone last
night?” Seth asks.

“Yes,” Jude smiles. “Okay, it’s the dumb blonde
guy’s turn. What you got for me big guy?”

“Is someone in the hospital, because of
something you did?”

“Bingo. Yes. You’re finally warming up. Fifteen
more questions and then I have to go. Time is short and I’ve got a
lot to do.”

“Are Johnny and Vania hurt?”

“No.”

“Is someone they know hurt?”

“Yes.”

Seth pipes up, “How do we get you to leave us
alone?”

“You
, can’t, I
guess you can ask…” Jude points up to the sky.

I take a guess, “Is Vania’s mom in the
hospital?”

“Yes,” Jude pauses to take a sip of his Coke.
“She really shouldn’t be on the road late at night, especially when
she’s so tired from working all those hours. It really slows down
the reflexes, especially when someone cuts you off and rams you
into a tree. You guys are getting kind of boring. I quit.” Jude
gets up, walks to the patio door and disappears.

We grab our clothes and head to the hospital,
calling information to get the number, trying to reach Vania.

Carrie tells her parents Vania’s mom had a car
accident last night and we are on our way to check on her and
Vania. They put lunch in the fridge and then follow us in their
car. We arrive en masse.

***

On the ICU floor Vania is pacing in the hallway.
Tears are streaming down her face. We each go up and give her a
hug.

“Is your Mom okay?”

“She’s going to be fine. When she left work at
two in the morning she was kind of tired. She almost hit another
car, then swerved off the road and hit a tree. She has a broken
wrist, two cracked ribs, and her knees are cut up. They’re going to
release her tomorrow. They want to keep her overnight because of
her head concussion. Mom was wearing her seatbelt and the air bags
went off, otherwise it would’ve been worse.”

Carrie’s mom and dad walk up carrying some
flowers. “We called Pastor Bill. He and Gina are on their way. I’m
going to go in and speak to your mom and see if you can spend
tonight with us, honey.” Mrs. Castorelli gives Vania a hug, then
goes in the room.

Vania talks to us, “Johnny and I were following
Jude and we got held up by a red light. We came up to mom’s
accident right after it happened. We called 911 and had an
ambulance there within minutes. Johnny went after Jude. I haven’t
seen him since. I hope Johnny’s okay.”

Robby speaks up, “Jude was just at Carrie’s. He
said the last time he saw Johnny, he was in his car. Johnny is
stronger than Jude, isn’t he?” We look at each other, not sure.
“He’s all right, I’m sure.” Vania goes into to say goodbye to her
mom. We all pile in Seth’s car and he drives us back to eat our
delayed lunch at Carrie’s. The rest of our time goes quickly. Robby
and Seth have to leave to get back tonight. Seth gives me a last
hug and kiss goodbye. “Bye Megs. I don’t want to leave you to face
Jude without me. Robby and I will be praying for you. Leaving right
now is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I’m only a phone call
away, okay? I love you.”

“I love you too.
Please
be careful. I’m sure Judas is going to be
targeting you and Robby.”

“I know. We’ll just have to trust God to keep us
safe. Maybe he’ll send us an angel. You never know.”

I let Seth go. Maybe Thanksgiving, but
definitely Christmas, I’ll get to see him again.

After Seth and Robby leave, the Castorellis,
Vania, and I head up to church for the evening service. That’s
where I find out where Johnny has been.

When I join my family in the pew, Max gives me a
big hug. Max had been at a birthday party for his friend Trevor.
Johnny is a friend of Trevor’s big brother, Troy. “Your friend,
Johnny, is really nice. He was on my team for laser tag. We came in
second place.” Max looks like there is something else he wants to
say.

“Max what is it?”

He sees his friends from Bible study class
waving him over, “Nothing.” Max jumps up to go join his
friends.

I have no way of getting in touch with Johnny. I
guess I’ll just have to wait until I see him in school.

***

Later, before I go to bed my mom comes up to my
room, “Oh honey, I’m sorry, I forgot to tell you that Mandy called.
She tried to reach you on your phone, but you didn’t answer. I told
her you were at a pool party at Carrie’s with Seth.”

Sure enough, I check my phone. I still had it
set on vibrate and now it’s dead. I plug it in and it shows six
missed calls. Three from Mandy, one Seth, and two unknowns. The
unknowns have me worried. Maybe Johnny called or maybe Jude called.
Maybe both. I pray for a good night’s sleep.

***

The next day at school I wait for Carrie and
Vania to show up. When Vania gets out of the car she looks like she
wants to kill someone. I catch her by the arm and try to reason
with her, “Look you can’t confront Judas. He’ll just make it sound
like you’re crazy and the teachers will believe him. They’re
deluded by his charisma. They can’t see Judas for what he is.”

Vania won’t listen. Suddenly, Johnny appears out
of nowhere directly in front of Vania. He says, “Be still.”

Vania stops. She can’t help herself.

“He’s already defeated. Jude has lost the war.
Don’t let him win this battle,” Johnny reminds her.

Vania says, “I just want to hurt him! I want to
make him pay for hurting my mom. She’s the best thing in my life.”
Vania starts to cry. She puts her head on Johnny’s shoulder.

“It’s okay. Pastor Bill led your mom to the Lord
last night. Her soul is safe.”

Vania cries and Johnny just holds her. Carrie
and I rub her shoulders and say positive things. The bell rings. We
walk to the front office to get excuses for running late. Carrie’s
mom called and let them know Vania’s mom was in an accident. The
school counselor has her come in to talk, before going to any
classes. Carrie says, “We’ll see you at lunch, okay?” We continue
to walk to our classes.

Johnny pulls me aside by my elbow, “Megan, I
need to talk to you.”

“Yes, what is it?” I think Johnny’s going to
give me some ideas on how to handle Vania so what he says next
floors me.

“Judas as Damon, is targeting Max.”

“What?” Fear for my brother gives my heart a
jolt.

“Max is at the age of consideration. He is
coming into the knowledge of right and wrong. He is becoming aware
that he has a choice to make. Damon is going to try and get him to
reject God or take Max’s life before he’s saved. I’m trying to
shield him from Damon’s influence. I need you to persuade Max about
how evil Damon is. I just wanted to give you a heads up. I know how
much you love your little brother.”

I’m stunned. How do I protect my little brother?
I can’t believe I have to walk into class and pretend nothing is
happening. Last year I lived to go to school and get good grades.
This year school seems like a huge obstacle to what’s important in
my life. I need to talk to Johnny on how to protect Max. He’s so
little. I walk into microbiology class and ignore Jude. If I show
any fear or knowledge of his plan, he might harm Max sooner. I need
time to think.

***

At lunch I hurry to talk to my group. I tell
them what Johnny told me earlier, about Max. Mandy comes up to me
in the lunchroom while we are discussing how to handle Jude’s
influence on Max.

“Hi, Megan.” Mandy says, looking lovely.

“Hi Mandy. How is everything going?”

“Everything’s great. I was hoping maybe we could
talk.”

“Sure, why don’t you give me a call tonight and
we’ll catch up?”

“Oh. I was hoping maybe you could come to my
house or I could come to yours?”

I don’t want to leave Max alone for a minute
after Johnny warned me that Damon/Judas is after him. “Why don’t
you come to my house? I know my family would love to see you too.
I’ll tell them you’re coming for dinner, okay?”

“Thanks,” Mandy sounds relieved. Maybe she’s
having problems with Farrah or Alex. Maybe she just misses me. She
goes to sit with the other cheerleaders.

Vania says, “My mom is coming home today from
the hospital. Some people from the church are going to give her a
ride home and they’re bringing dinners for the next three nights.
Isn’t that sweet?” Vania continues, “Johnny’s going to move into
our spare room and let Mom use his car to get to and from work in
the evenings until we can get the insurance money to get the car
replaced. Mom was worried about him having transportation,” Vania
giggles.

Johnny doesn’t need a car to get around since
he‘s an angel. “He just won’t be able to take us with him without
the car.” I take a bite of my salad and push an extra pudding cup I
brought toward Vania.

Carrie says, “Johnny usually doesn’t take us in
the late evening anyway; I’m sure it’ll be great.”

Johnny speaks up, “Why is everyone talking like
I’m not even here? Am I invisible or something?”

We laugh. He’s the only guy in our little lunch
group and he’s not even human.

I say, “Don’t worry it’s a girl thing.”

***

At my afternoon math class Jude keeps throwing
gloating looks my way. I know he’s targeting someone close to me,
probably besides Max. I ignore him. Any response I have will make
him target more people. I just have to trust I will be in the right
place at the right time to stop his evil plans from happening.

After school, I briefly meet with Johnny and
Vania. She’s excited about her Mom coming home and Johnny moving
in. “I’m going to feel so much safer knowing he’s at my house or
will eventually pop up there. Judas just hates me so much! I feel
like I’ve I had a target on my back since Jordan’s death.”

Things are starting to look up for Vania. Her
Mom has even been given the all clear to go back to work.

***

Mandy is giving me a ride home today since she’s
coming to my house for dinner. She pulls up in her car and I jump
in and give her a hug. For once, I’ve put my books in a backpack.
“Hey, I can’t wait to hear all about your weekend on the homecoming
court and your date with Alex. Tell me all about everything I’ve
missed!” She probably had sex with Alex. It makes me sad she didn’t
wait. I know she was getting the message that it’s okay. I hope
so.

She looks happy, “Megan, I had a great weekend.
Being on the court was so nice. They took our picture for the
yearbook. Alex treated me like a queen. Look.” Mandy shows me a
gold heart necklace she’s wearing with a tiny sapphire in the
center. “Alex gave me his heart! Isn’t that romantic?”

“Mandy, I’m happy, if you’re happy,” I say.

She drives us the ten minutes it takes to get to
my house chattering away about all the things she did and all the
people she talked to at the dance. She doesn’t mention what
happened later after the dance when they went to the hotel. Maybe
she’ll want to talk about it this evening in my bedroom after
dinner.

Mom is so happy to see Mandy and Max is too.
Last year we were as close as sisters. For dinner Mom and Max made
a serve yourself taco bar with all the fixings. Dad’s running late
from work, so Mom leads us in a prayer. I load up with three
stuffed tacos, plenty of shredded cheese, and sour cream. Mandy is
still watching her weight so she builds a taco salad with a small
amount of meat, one crunched up shell and plenty of lettuce and
tomatoes. At dinner I see her taking two pills.