Falling (The Soul Collectors Series Book 1) (6 page)

“Yes, what a pity we won’t get to see it then, huh?” He was not planning on making this easy for me. I didn’t get his game though, he needed them to go with whatever plan he made, and not mine. Scaring them was a good plan I suppose, but not one usually used by a demon. They much preferred tricking others into following them, as if it was their idea the whole time.

“Why won’t you all get to see it?” The dense one spoke.

“Well, because…” Declan started

“Because we will be out camping most weekends of the fall doing research on the flora and fauna of the local area, and Declan agreed to help us out.” I shot him a warning glare. Different teams or not, I was still the superior on this mission.

“Yes, that.” Declan winked.

He. Winked. At. Me.

What was this dude’s motive? I knew little about male Angels, less about male humans, and even less than that about male Demons. I get that they are charming to get their way, but not towards angels. There was an unspoken agreement. They were fallen angels, or the descendants of those who had fallen. They were everything we stood against. I had never met another demon like Declan. Ever.  Not that I had met a lot, but still he was just so unlike the others. I wonder if this is why Father Paul asked me to allow him to work with us some. I was still dwelling on all of this when I felt the vehicle stop.

“This place is gorgeous.” I gasped.

We were parked in a gravel lot, but you could see most of the quarry in front of us. There were cliffs with trees, a beach, and still dark blue water. The place was quiet; I assumed because we had gotten there so early. The group from the other car had already exited and were hauling things towards the beach. I hopped out behind Hannah, taking my bag as well as the beach blanket she handed to me.

“If we stay all day and night like we usually do, you’ll be amazed at the night sky. There’s little light out here other than the fires people build, so the stars are clearly visible. It’s a beautiful sight.”

“This place is amazing isn’t it, Bay?” I turned to fuss at Declan, when I realized it was Hadraniel, not Declan, who had spoken.

“Absolutely, Had. I can’t wait to go for a swim. How about you?” It wasn’t nice to tease him. Swimming on Earth was going to be another new experience for Had. He took the ribbing in stride and just smiled.

“Let’s go dive off one of the cliffs, Had.” Gray suggested.

Declan was standing behind him though so it was safe to assume he was the one who made the original suggestion. I silently held my breath, hoping Hadraniel wouldn’t allow himself to be goaded into doing something he wasn’t ready for yet.

“Nah, I’m good man, thanks. Maybe later. I think I’m going to swim out to the platform and chill for a while.”

I sighed a breath of relief. No one seemed to notice, thank Grace. It wasn’t that I didn’t think Hadraniel couldn’t make the jump, he was a Blue-in-Training for Grace’s sake. But he needed to learn to maneuver in the water first before jumping into it. I don’t know why I continued to be surprised by his good decisions. He has done nothing but show me how smart he is with most of his decisions and suggestions.

“Wait up, Haddy. I think I’m going to join you.” I spoke up before he got too far away.

“Cool.”

For the rest of the day, we lounged, swam, jumped, ate, laughed and just hung out with our new group of friends. After his initial threat of spilling the beans, Declan was well-behaved the rest of the time. I’m sure it had more to do with the fact that we were all having fun, and not dwelling on what our futures were going to be. And soon. Earlier on the platform, after discussing in length with Hadraniel my plans for including Declan, he agreed. We would be giving Declan a brief outline of our plan with as little details as possible. That way I could say I included him some, without giving away any help to his plan.

The night sky was starting to creep in and overtake the daylight. The oranges, purples and pinks were radiant out here, reflecting on the smooth surface of the quarry water. Orange was such a soothing color, I loved how it looked next to the darkness that was winning.

“This is my favorite part.” Declan was standing close by me, with awe on his face. “It’s quiet out where I am staying. Just me and the animals out there, so I spend a lot of my nights watching the darkness take over, and the stars come out.” He sounded almost lonely. I had to tell myself not to pity this man. He was not good. He was demon, to the core.

“Earth can have some of the most spectacular night skies. I agree. I think my favorite view was from the Titanic. The water was still, and there was absolute darkness. The air was crisp and you could see the stars everywhere in all directions. It was quite a sight. Your fellow demon was on that mission, but I doubt that he once looked at the night skies.”

“Mephistopheles and I are not the same perso….err demon. I was never like him. I guess that’s why I wasn’t given any missions until now. And even that’s only because my ‘look’ fits more appropriately than his ever could, or I wouldn’t be here. Hadraniel said you two wanted to talk to me.” Quick change of subject, smooth.

“Not here, not now. Let’s just enjoy the sky and the company. You can come to our cottage after church tomorrow and we will discuss it then.”

“Sounds good to me.”

We headed back to the group. He went and sat by Alissa, as I discovered was Blondie’s name. I laid down beside Hannah, and gazed at all the stars that were out. All was silent for a while and I was beginning to drift off, when someone suggested we load up and head home. I was not ready to leave this area, but I knew I had church early in the morning. I’d gotten the directions from Hannah for the church Father Paul suggested we attend. The trip home was quick and quiet as most people in the car were asleep other than Gray, who was driving, and Declan. Declan and Gray chatted, while I pretended to sleep.

“Thanks for the invite today. I had fun.” Declan said.

“You’re welcome, dude. Alissa really seems to like you.”

“She seems like a nice girl. I’m not really interested in her though.”

“Oh yeah? Got your eyes on someone else?” Gray chuckled. “Maybe Bayla?”

“Bayla? Nah, I mean she is absolutely one of the most breathtaking girls I have ever seen, but our backgrounds are so different it would never work. She’s pure goodness, man. I, on the other hand, have a bit of a wild streak.”

“Right on.” Gray high fived Declan, who just smirked a little.

Hearing Declan say I was breathtaking, made my stomach knot. I was not this girl. I was not going to be this girl. I was Bayla, angel, Collector of Souls. I was strong, disconnected, and perfect at my job. This was the kick I needed to get refocused. I could not allow this demon to affect my decisions. These humans were nice, but I had a mission. One I would not fail, even if I didn’t know why Gray was so special. I would save him, complete the mission, and return to my home in Heaven to await my next mission. I turned and really went to sleep this time.

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. ~1 Peter 8 (NIV)

We left early for church to ensure that we had time to get there and still look presentable. When we got into town, the bookstore owner who had introduced himself as Mr. Whitstock, asked to join us on our walk. He was a nice gentleman, and seemed very kind. We walked along in silence a while before Mr. Whitstock turned to speak to me.

“I noticed you seem quieter today. Is something on your mind?”

Funny how this man who barely knew me could read me that easily. What was stranger was that I wanted to talk to him about my problems. I knew I would have to choose my words carefully, but I really thought he could provide some good insight.

“Well, I feel like I am missing something important, like in a puzzle. I can’t really give you any details, but I feel a little more lost than normal. I am good at what I do, and usually I’m able to stay on task. For some reason, there seems to be something different this time.”

“I’m betting you already know the answer. I would even dare to say you’ve figured out all the clues needed to understand what you should be doing, even if you don’t understand the purpose behind it. Sometimes help comes even when it shouldn’t be given. I say you wouldn’t be thinking so much about these issues, if you weren’t sure of your path.” With that he sped up to walk with Hadraniel but not before giving me a wink and pat on the back.

There was something about Mr. Whitstock. I couldn’t seem to figure it out, but I would add it to the mystery that has become my mission. No wonder Elder Michael put such an emphasis that I must not fail. Something big was going to happen, and I feared it wasn’t just the earthquake.

The interior of the church was beautiful. There were cedar benches, pristine white walls, and stained glass windows depicting the stories of different great men in the Bible. Hannah was sitting beside the story window of Noah and his ark. She smiled and motioned for me and Hadraniel to join her. We sat down just as the choir began to sing. I loved hearing hymns. Music fed my soul, and the choir was very good. It allowed me time to re-center myself and my thoughts back to the mission at hand. I would save Gray, hopefully Hannah, and if my suspicions were true, like Mr. Whitstock somewhat eluded too, I’d be saving Declan too.

The preacher stood up to begin his sermon for the day, but I got lost in my prayers and thoughts. I asked for guidance on how to handle this situation and to detach myself and my feelings from the situation. I couldn’t allow emotions to cloud my decision. All of my choices on past missions were based on the best way to accomplish them with little thought as to how it affected the humans. I needed to continue with these practices. The Elders entrusted me, alone, to figure out this mission and to complete it. I didn’t need to know the why, just the how. As I continued to pray, I came back to the conclusion that I had to learn to trust and let go. I had to stick to being just a collector of souls, not a redeemer. Redemption seemed to be the message of the day. The pastor was reading from Romans 3 when I came back around.

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;  Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.”

When he finished, we ended with a prayer. I felt renewed and ready to face the meeting with Declan. I stood up to leave. Turning to Hannah to thank her for the invite, something caught my eye. I turned towards the back where I saw Declan sitting, dressed very nicely. I was stunned. Demons, or fallen angels as they were called in Heaven, could come to church, but most chose not to for obvious reasons. He appeared to have tears running down his face. I watched for a while until he noticed. He then wiped his tears, and his looks of sadness changed to one that was more closed off. I was beginning to wonder if this was not just an act. He gave a nod, and left out the back door. Hadraniel was looking just as taken aback as I was about Declan’s appearance. Hannah mentioned that she had invited him last night, but I wasn’t paying a lot of attention to her at the moment.

“Bayla?”

“I’m sorry, what did you say? I was in la-la land.”

“I asked if you like to join Gray and me for lunch today.” She responded with a smile.

“That’s very nice, however, we already told Declan we would meet with him for lunch today at our cottage. He hasn’t had a home-cooked meal in a while.” I tried to present a smile that didn’t show any emotion other than content.

“Oh, how very kind of you.” She drew out the very and waggled her eyebrows at me.

I gave her a playful nudge and giggled. We said goodbye to her and Gray. Mr. Whitstock stopped us at the door and told us to stop by tomorrow as he had found a book for us that he thought would be of interest. I smiled and thanked him. Even Hadraniel seemed to be confused as to how Mr. Whitstock appeared to know things without knowing anything.

“Does he seem really familiar to you? Like he knows something?” Had asked on our walk back to the cottage.

“He does, but he seems harmless. We can use any help we can get, so I definitely think we should go to the store tomorrow to see what he has for us.” Had nodded in agreement.

“Tell me more about Aniston?” He was looking to his feet, but I could tell he was embarrassed.

I snickered but spent the remainder of our walk discussing Aniston with him, telling him about her likes, dislikes, silly quirks and all the comments she had made about him. He asked about her age, her job, and how I liked living with her. He found it particularly funny when I explained my suspicions that she was assigned to be my room because she was so perky.

“You do seem more approachable and friendly now.”

I winced. “I’m letting myself get too involved. You’ll hear my plans when we meet with Declan. I haven’t deviated much from what we originally planned before getting here, but I am going to detach myself from the group. I cannot let the humans cloud any hard choices I may have to make when the time comes.”