Battle Angel (20 page)

O
nly darkness remained. Darkness throbbing on and on, like an ache that will never end.

Maddy tried to figure out where she was, what had happened, but everything was jumbled and foggy. A silent stream of images flowed through her mind. Tom lying in a hospital bed. Jackson standing in a Battle Angel suit. The golden hilt of a sword. Kevin shouting at her from the porch as demons speared the darkening sky above. An aircraft carrier. She couldn’t open her eyes. And still, the darkness throbbed.

Slowly, one eye fluttered open. Then the other. The coal-black darkness bled into a slightly diluted hue, but she could still see nothing. Her eyes tried to focus on something, but it was an impossible task.

Maddy’s head was pounding. Every cell in her body screamed in agony as she tried to lift her head just one millimeter before setting it down again. But all of this was nothing when compared with the excruciating pain in her right wing.

One by one, the memories began flitting back. Leaving the carrier to follow Jackson. Chasing and fighting with the Dark Angel. The relief at having survived. Then the vision of Jackson needing her, cut short by the awful claws of another demon she hadn’t even been aware of until it was too late. The overwhelming pain as it struck her. And then the darkness as she fell.

Still immobilized, Maddy tried again to adjust to the lack of light and get her bearings. She could tell that she had landed on top of a pile of rubble near a narrow street between two buildings. The rubble must have been a building just hours ago. No one seemed to be around; everyone else must have fled the destruction. Or suffered an even worse fate than Maddy had.

Tears streamed down Maddy’s face as she propped herself up slowly, painfully, on one elbow, then the other. She sat up like that for a few moments as she waited quietly for the sharp pain to cool down to radiating ache. Then, with a shock, Maddy realized she hadn’t heard a single noise since waking up. She was deaf. It didn’t take long for the fear to settle in as she realized exactly how in dire straits she was. Looking out from the rubble, she saw a golden retriever barking hysterically on the street, its mouth opening and closing as it yelped. But Maddy couldn’t hear any of it. The dog wore a collar and was dragging around the shreds of a blue leash.

Maddy sat still and watched the dog, thinking about its owners. She wondered if the leash was frayed because the dog had gnawed through it to get free from wherever it was tied . . . or from whatever poor hand had been holding it. Funny, Maddy thought. The survival instinct is popping up in even the most domesticated of America’s pets. Then, slowly, the slightest bit of hearing came back. Maddy felt a bit like she was underwater, trying to listen to someone talking on land. The dog was so close, but the barking sounded distant. Feebly, she snapped her fingers, straining to hear the tiniest of sounds. Little by little, the sounds around her grew louder, until she could hear jets flying far, far overhead. Then an explosion somewhere not too far away, confirming the battle was still raging.

And the dog kept barking and barking at Maddy. Then, suddenly, its hackles were raised and the fur stood up on the back of its neck. Maddy heard something behind her.

In horror, Maddy realized what the golden retriever truly was barking at. And it definitely wasn’t her.

Craning her neck in pain, Maddy saw it: a hideous Dark Angel. Most likely the one who had attacked her. It had come to finish the job.

The demon was enormous, each of its arms as big as a Corvette, its spined wings spread ominously behind it. Twisted horns ran along its shoulders and arms, and all the way down its back. Its shape continued to shift, black flames coursing around its enormous limbs, its scales shimmering as it moved. The only things that remained constant were its terrible eyes. They glowed with hatred, as if they’d come straight from hell. And then . . . did it smile?

With a shot of blood-chilling terror, Maddy realized that this was the demon from her nightmares. This was the Dark Angel who, in her dreams, had transformed from a normal demon into something bigger and more powerful. Something indescribably worse.

It took a step toward her.

Panic coursed through Maddy’s pain-wracked frame. She attempted to stand, but her body wouldn’t listen to her. Stabbing pain stuck into her legs as she tried to lift herself up by pushing down with her palms, and she collapsed down onto the rubble once again. Her left wing was still in good shape, but her crushed right wing just flopped down.

Maddy could hear the demon’s footsteps now, crunching as it walked along. And she could feel its oppressive heat. She knew she had to do something.

She raised herself up off the rubble as much as she could. Her head, her head . . . Everything hurt so badly.

Panting, Maddy reached out her arms and began miserably dragging herself forward, inches at a time.

Tears began to stream down her cheeks.

The dog, previously frozen to its spot in terror, finally snapped out of its barking frenzy and ran away, tail between its legs, not looking back.

Groaning, Maddy pulled herself another six inches with her arms. The footsteps grew louder, and the heat was getting stronger now. She didn’t want to look back. She couldn’t. She just needed to get to the edge of the pile. Just two more feet.

With all the effort she could muster, Maddy grabbed onto a broken two-by-four board protruding from the edge of the rubble pile. Using the board as leverage, she hurled herself over the edge, with no idea what was below. Dropping at least ten feet, she landed on a mound of drywall and broken roof tiles. She cried out in agony as her battered body crash-landed and the wind was knocked out of her. She began rolling down the slight slope of the pile before her body came to a stop against a half-smashed concrete pillar.

Every breath was painful. As she struggled to pull herself up, she heard it. A deep, raspy baritone.

Was the demon . . . laughing?

Maddy looked up and saw it just standing there, watching her.

Suddenly it jumped down from the top of the rubble and landed just below, sending a tremendous rumble through the pile. With slow, confident steps, it started walking toward Maddy again.

Frantic, Maddy used every bit of willpower she had to get up on her knees and scurry a few feet forward and around the concrete pillar, then tumble down the rest of the rubble pile to the street below. Her head smacked against the asphalt and her bad wing rolled painfully under her as she came to a stop.

But now, try as she might, she couldn’t get up. She could feel the blood on her head, sticky and warm as it dripped down across her eyes. Somehow she hadn’t really noticed it before.

The demon took its time coming down to the street, apparently relishing in this experience. Then, with a deafening roar, it pounced and landed right in front of Maddy, missing her by less than an inch.

Hyperventilating, Maddy used the last of her strength to reach behind her for her sword. Of course! But it wasn’t there. Both the sling and the sword must have been ripped off her body when she fell.

Now Maddy truly began to lose hope. She pulled herself along her side on the asphalt, which was scattered everywhere with dangerous debris. She dragged herself through the harsh surface, her fingernails growing bloody as she desperately tried to escape. The demon’s heat had become nearly unbearable, as searing and piping hot as steam.

Then Maddy saw it, gleaming like a beacon. Her Divine Sword. It was only about fifteen feet away, resting on some crumbled concrete as if waiting for her. Her Divine Ring sparkled brilliantly. With hope once again rising in her chest, she feebly lunged for the sword, only getting herself a foot or two closer. The demon moved forward quickly, confidently. Almost gently, but certainly firm, it put its terrible clawed foot down on her arm. Just enough to hold her in place. Maddy’s mouth curled open. At first no sound would emerge, but then a wild scream escaped her throat as the demon’s heat blistered the skin on her arm.

Like a revelation before dying, Maddy realized why she had dreamt of this demon so often. She had been dreaming of her own death, the death she never could have predicted for herself. It seemed so obvious now as the darkness closed in.

In her final seconds, Maddy’s mind once again looked back over everything that had happened since that fateful night at her uncle’s diner. An Angel in suit pants and a hoodie walking into Kevin’s and changing her life forever. Jackson winning her over. Saving Jacks on the library tower. And then her choosing to become a Guardian instead of going to college. She thought of the attendant fame and fortune and glamorous events, of how she’d gotten caught up in it all. She thought of everything. The kaleidoscope of memories flitted before her eyes in splashes of brief, vivid moments.

Until, finally, her memory settled itself on one image: her parents.

She’d finally get to see them.

As her brain flickered toward unconsciousness, she could have sworn the demon was leaning down close to her, its terrible mouth full of blackened, twisted teeth, to whisper in her ear:

“Maddy . . .”

It knew her name. Just like it had in the dream.

The Dark Angel pulled its putrid maw away from her face and raised its thorny arm for the fatal blow. Maddy closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable. It was useless to try to fight back. The heat grew stronger and stronger. She tried to move her face away from the onslaught but could only turn one cheek. Her arm was already blistered and burning, and now steam began rising from her exposed skin. Maddy gasped in agony, her breathing labored and her lungs burning with pain.

Now her only solace was that death would come soon.

The darkness was just about closing in on her when suddenly Maddy was aware of a distant popping sound. Repetitive. She came to slightly. As her eyes fluttered open, she realized it was gunfire.

Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop.

The demon moved back one step and began swatting at itself, as if it were being bitten by flies, before turning around to face whoever was attacking it.

Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop.

The Dark Angel roared so loudly that Maddy was deafened for a moment once again.

“Hey! Hey!
Hey!
” a voice yelled to the demon. “Over here! Over here! Come on, you dumbass!”

Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop.

That voice . . . Maddy recognized it. . . .

Tom.

Somehow he had found her.

She pulled herself up slightly and saw him standing there, wearing his olive-green flight suit and a bandage on his head. He had an M-16 in one hand and a pistol in the other. They locked eyes instantly, and for a flash they shared a look of understanding. They both knew what he was about to do, and Maddy’s heart crumpled just as soon as it had soared. She shook her head.

In response, Tom trained his M-16 on the demon and began firing again. Squealing, the demon began moving away from Maddy, toward its attacker down the dark street. Its unthinkable face twisted into a snarl, black teeth glinting in the red light of a burning pile of wreckage on the concrete below.

“That’s it, you ugly SOB, follow me,” Tom shouted as he ran backward down the street, trying to draw the demon farther away from Maddy. He knew he couldn’t kill a demon. But he could distract it. Maybe long enough to save her. “Run, Maddy!” he yelled.

Maddy was frozen to the spot, watching him with terrified eyes. How could she just
leave
?

“Go, Maddy!
Go!
” Tom unleashed a round of ammunition into the demon again and continued running down the street.

It was as if Tom had somehow willed new energy into her body, and she was able to stand up on one leg, then the other. Tom was farther off now, too far for her to help in her injured state. She felt her crushed wing throbbing against her back, and it made her feel beyond helpless. She should be the one saving
him
. Her eyes welled up at the thought of the sacrifice he was making. She took a few hobbling steps away, then stopped and turned to look over her shoulder.

Tom was running as fast as he could, his guns held out and at the ready. He ran forward and fired backward, shooting wildly at the demon as he fled from it. But the Dark Angel was closing in, loping closer and closer with every thundering footstep.

“
Tom!
” she shouted.

“Don’t stop!” he screamed.

At the intersection of the street, underneath a shredded stoplight, another demon materialized, blocking Tom’s way. It was a regular Dark Angel and smaller than the other one, but at ten feet tall, this didn’t reassure Maddy one bit. Tom turned and fired at the second demon. The beast shuddered under the assault, but the bullets only slowed it momentarily. Already recovered, it continued advancing on Tom, who now dropped the empty machine gun and began emptying the clip of his Glock nine-millimeter.

Then, out of nowhere, like a left hook to her jaw, Maddy watched from a distance as a claw plunged straight into Tom’s back and emerged through his chest. The enormous Dark Angel from Maddy’s nightmares had caught up to him. She stopped in her tracks and cried out as Tom dropped to his knees slowly. Blood dripped from his mouth as he looked down, strangely peaceful, at the claw that had impaled his body. Flames started to rise up around him, but it didn’t look as if he could feel any pain. The second demon was circling the scene now, and Tom’s gun fell to the ground with a clatter. The demons hissed with pleasure.

Coughing up sprays of blood, Tom reached into his side pocket and produced his knife. With a decisive motion, he plunged the glinting blade into the demon claw protruding from his chest. He twisted the knife with the last of his strength.

The demon howled and ripped his claw out of Tom’s chest.

Tom smiled. He had saved Maddy. That was all that mattered to him.

The claw had been the only thing holding Tom up, and when it was gone, he took his final breath and tumbled over onto the pile of dusty rubble at his feet. He had done his duty.