Marked (12 page)

Kara studied the mortals gathered around the body. “Mortals can’t see the soul? None of them can see it? David?”

David twisted through the crowd and ran towards the boulder.

A higher demon walked away from the soul. “David!” Kara yelled. “It’s coming after you!”

The higher demon made its way towards David who had jumped over the dead body and ran in the middle of the street to meet it head on.

“Open the shaker!” cried David. He lunged at the higher demon, a long sword in his right hand. A small group of mortals jumped out of David’s way, their eyes glued to his sword.

Across the street from them, the other two higher demons approached. Their black eyes fixed upon Kara.

“Oh, my God! Oh my God! Okay—here goes nothing!” She twisted the metal shaker top and looked up for a second. David fought off the demon. He pushed him away from the body and from Kara. She walked forward towards the soul.

“Great—I’m going to die—again.” She held the fish net in her left hand, while holding a salt shaker in the other.

One of the two remaining higher demons, stood but a few feet away from her. An evil grin flashed across its face. It only had to leap, and it would be on top of her. Its hard body was posed in anticipation.

“THROW THE SALT AT IT!” She heard David yell over the panicked crowd.

Without thinking, Kara dropped the fish net, fumbled with the salt shaker and threw the metal cap—right in the middle of the higher demon’s forehead.

SMACK!

The demon froze, as though expecting for something to happen. After a moment, it glanced down at the tiny metal cap between its shinny black shoes and kicked it. Its thick shoulders moved up and down as it laughed. Then the demon looked up at Kara, its ebony eyes glittering. It cracked its face, bared its teeth in an evil grin and took a step forward.

“Oops. That can’t be good.”

“THE SALT! THROW THE SALT!” she heard David howl.

Kara threw the shaker at its face. The salt exploded all over it. The demon screamed as it covered its face with its hands. Black smoke emitted through its fingers; its skin melted away, exposing rotten flesh beneath. The horrid smell of burnt flesh surrounded her.

“The soul!—use the net!” David gasped. She saw him lash out at the demon and cut it, right across its chest. The creature screamed in pain and anger, as it backed away, shaken for a moment.

Kara bent down and grabbed the fish net. She pushed her way through the crowd that was growing by the minute. She kept her eyes on the hovering soul. From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the other higher demon running towards her. She waved the fish net before her with her right hand. “Oh, crap! Oh crap! Oh crap!”

“Do it now!” cried David.

Kara leaped into the air—unaware of the strange looks the mortal crowd gave her, seeing a strange girl with a fish net jump into the air as she tried to catch invisible butterflies. Like an overhand softball throw, she swung her arm and caught the brilliant ball of light in her net. She landed with a hard
thump
on top of the concrete block. The soul bounced lightly in her net. The size of a large grapefruit, it weight less than a roll of toilet paper.

She sat on the boulder and brought the net closer to her face for inspection. Like a miniature sun, the soul’s light warmed her face. “Hey, I caught it! I freakin’ caught it!” She looked up as mortals appeared. They screamed and yelled at her, their faces screwed up in scowls of horror as they pointed to the pancake man below. “Oh no.”

David appeared to her side. “Run!” He dashed off.

“Huh?” She stared at David running away.

Kara swung her legs over the boulder, jumped down and sprinted after him. They ran all the way down Gosford Street to the Old Port. They turned right onto De La Commune Street. Her mortal legs didn’t tire. She ran fast. She leapt over benches and dumpsters along the way, like a gazelle running away from a predator. She clutched the fish net against her chest.

“What just happened?” yelled Kara as she galloped behind David. “Why didn’t they try to get the soul?”

“They’re not after the soul.” David yelled back. “They’re after
us
!” He stared up ahead as he ran.

Kara looked back. Two higher demons ran after them at an incredible speed. She turned her head and ran close to David, a bit awkwardly as her right arm held the soul protectively against her chest.

“David—we’re not fast enough. They’re going to catch up!”

“Keep running!”

“We’re dead in about fifteen seconds! I don’t even want to think about what they’re going to do to us!”

“Keep running—and stop talking!”

Thirteen…twelve…
she counted backwards in her head as she ran behind David. He ran in a straight line onto the Promenade Du Vieux-Port. They zigzagged through the roller blading kids and tourists. Kara followed David, as he pushed his way through the crowds and headed straight for the—

Water
, said Kara to herself.

“DAVID!” cried Kara, as she realized what he was about to do.

But he wasn’t stopping. Soon they’d reach the end of the Old Port, where the concrete ended, and where the Saint-Laurence River began. A thick metal railing ran the length of the port along the walkway, protecting the people from accidentally falling to their deaths into the chilly grey waters. They were running right for it.

Three…two…

And just when they were about to hit the metal railing, Kara felt David’s hand wrap around hers. He squeezed hard and jumped, pulling her along with him—and flew over the edge.

One…

Kara heard screams from above as she hit the water and plummeted twenty feet into the deep dark Saint-Laurence River. Instinctively, she looked up, half expecting to see the higher demons cascading above them. But all she saw was the sun’s beams reflecting on the water’s surface above her. Then everything around her went dark.

Chapter 8. David, the celebrity

K
ara opened her eyes. She stared at a brass ceiling, divided into perfect rusty squares. She lay on the bottom of an elevator. Kara clutched the fish net with the soul inside against her chest.

“Oh, my God. I still have it.” She lifted up the fish net and suspended it in front of her face. She gazed intently at the soul. It was unharmed, lighting up her face with its brilliance. Rolling over, Kara pushed herself up and looked at a grinning David.

“That was awesome!” He jumped lightly up and down, looking thrilled. “I haven’t had this much fun in years!”

“Don’t get too excited cowboy. We barely made it.” Kara suppressed a laugh.

There was sudden
snort
and Kara stepped to the side.

A medium sized grey monkey sat in a chair near the control panel, behind David. It had large square shoulders and a powerful chest. It scratched its bare purple behind, while it stared at David and Kara. Its long face was hairless and sported a furrowed brow. “What floor?” said the monkey annoyingly, in a British accent.

Kara flashed her eyes at David. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to monkeys talking—”

“It’s
baboon,
not monkey! Baboon L006, if you please,” hissed the primate.

David jumped to the opportunity. “Level four, then—
good looking
,” he said and winked at Kara. The baboon screwed up its face.

“Careful,” said Kara, “it looks about to spit in your face.”

“You GAs are all the same,” said the baboon. “No
respect
!”

David dusted off his jacket, not paying any attention to the baboon. “Sure thing, hot stuff. Level four—we’re waiting…”

For a moment, nothing happened. Then the baboon spit on the floor, an inch beside David’s boots. It stared at him. Its face crinkled in hatred. Grimacing, it bared a row of large sharp yellow teeth. This baboon looked dangerous. It puffed out its chest, showing off its hard body and turned around on its chair. Lifting a long arm, it pressed the brass button.

After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, Kara followed David off the elevator to level four, still clutching the soul against her chest; as a mother would her newborn child. They walked through the Hall of Souls. The vast pace sparkled and shimmered, as though it rained diamonds. Millions of hovering souls illuminated the way as they walked up to the dais, where a great glass desk glistened. The archangel Ramiel was busy writing in a large book. He did not look up.

“Ahem, oh blessedness!” said David as he smirked and curtsied. Kara hid her smile in her hair.

Ramiel lifted his eyes in David’s direction. A frown materialized on his brow. Suddenly, moving with incredible speed, he pushed back his chair, stood up and threw a newspaper at David, barely missing his face. “YOU FOOL!” he roared. “You were SEEN!”

Kara picked up the paper from the floor. It was today’s Montreal Gazette. She and David were seen on the front cover holding hands—falling into the Saint-Laurence River. The heading read:

Couple’s suicide!

A young couple in love plunge to their deaths,

off the Old Port in Montreal
.

“Oh, oh,” said Kara, “this can’t be good.”

David grabbed the newspaper from Kara. “Hey—I look
good
.”

Ramiel slammed his fist on the desk, echoing a loud
boom
throughout the chamber. “What were you
thinking!
You know our laws! You were not to be seen going into water!” If Ramiel was warm blooded, Kara was sure his face would be red hot with large veins pulsing on his forehead. Instead, there was a terrifying white coldness. It wasn’t natural.

“You’ve been warned before,
David McGowan
! Your days as a guardian angel are numbered!” He growled and pointed a long finger at David. Kara was almost certain laser beams were about to shoot out of Ramiel’s eyes and strike David—melting him on the spot. The archangel’s face twisted in fury.

“David, we’re so screwed,” whispered Kara.

“Don’t worry—I got this,” he whispered back.

David smiled and puffed out his chest. “Relax, your holiness…see here? My rookie saved the soul.” He gestured towards Kara’s chest, where she kept the soul protected inside the fish net.

With Ramiel’s attention suddenly on her, Kara cringed and backed up. “David! What are you doing?” she said through the corner of her mouth.

She felt her nerves starting to act up. The archangel’s flaring blue eyes made her nervous, but she found she couldn’t look away—some sort of freakish hypnosis. She was suddenly made aware of his power, as though he made it known to her somehow through his mind—some sort of freakish telepathy. She tried to speak, but the words would not come.

The archangel cut the silence. “It doesn’t
excuse
what you did. You broke the law!”

This time, David’s smile disappeared. He looked at Kara, then back to Ramiel. “Listen—there were three higher demons. They attacked us. There was no other way—we
had
to jump.”

Ramiel backed up, as though getting a blow from an invisible force. He narrowed his eyes. “W—what? Higher demons? That’s impossible!”

“Yup. Three of them. It was like they knew we were coming. You know anything about that?”

“What? Of course not!” Ramiel shouted, his face twitching.

Kara watched in silence as the big archangel seemed to battle something from the inside. He paced up and down. He rubbed his head, his eyes and brow narrowed. If it were even possible, he seemed angrier than before. Kara took another step back.

Finally, after some time, Ramiel spoke. “I need to speak to Michael about this. Here, give the soul to the Cherub,” he said, as he gestured to one of the spiked blue haired persons, who came at once with a glass jar. The Cherub placed the jar in front of Kara. It waited.

“Huh?” Kara said. She thinned her lips and glared at the Cherub. “Why should I give it to him? I saved the soul—and I nearly died saving it. No…I’m not giving it to him. What if he drops it? What then?” She reached into the fish net and grasped the soul into her hand, letting the light shine though her fingers. She looked at David for help.