Marked (9 page)

“Oh my god, I can do this!” said Kara. “I can really do this!”

David studied her face. “You see…you want to try it again?”

“Yeah! This is amazing. This is
freaking
amazing! I can’t believe it…”

“If you don’t stop smiling soon, your face is gonna stay like that,” laughed David.

Kara flashed a frown at David. “What’s
wrong
with my smile?”

He raised his eyebrows, a huge smile of his own plastered across his face. “Nothing. Smiling is the second best thing you can do with your lips.”

“Hey!” Kara shoved David forward, grateful for the non-existent flush on her cheeks. “Let’s go!” She tightened her grip on her sword.

David showed Kara how to disarm her opponent by twisting his blade and leaving him no choice but to drop it. She tripped on her own feet a couple of times and fell flat on her face, which was totally normal. But what felt abnormal to Kara, was the fact that she didn’t even break into a sweat and never got tired. She had no need for water, for food, or even for sleep. Like the energizer bunny, she kept on going and going and going. And for the following days—what Kara believed were to
be
days—they spent every hour going over the hitting and blocking techniques.

“Keep your guard up!” yelled David. He slashed Kara across the arm with his blade. A deep wound.

Immediately, Kara dropped to her knees and covered the cut with her hand. She gawked opened mouthed at her arm. “You-you
cut
me? You cut my arm?” She glared at David, who only stared back.

His face crinkled into a smile. “Stop freaking out, it’s nothing—”

“Nothing! You practically sliced my arm off!” Kara narrowed her eyes and looked back at her wound. She bit her lip, closed her right eye and peeked with her left eye through her bangs. She prepared herself for the worse. But as Kara lifted her hand from her injury, she fell over backwards. A flash of brilliant light obscured her vision. She blinked. Rays of white light poured out from gaping wound, as if a flashlight shone through the cut.

“What the—?” The wound started to heal itself. It pulled the edges of the cut together slowly, until not even a scar remained; as though her skin had stitched itself together. “I’m going mad!” She stared at her arm. “Holy shi—”

“Ah! None of
that
here,” laughed David, “you don’t want Gabriel to hear you,
trust
me.”

“But, my-my arm? My skin? It just—fixed itself!” Kara couldn’t believe her eyes, she felt like she had just witnessed a really good visual effects stunt.

David pulled her up on her feet. “You’re an
angel
, what did you expect, blood? You have no blood—you’re not
human
anymore.”

“Right—I—I forgot. I’m not human anymore.” Kara stared at her arm where the cut had disappeared. She passed her hand along her skin. She smirked. “Wow. I’m like a super hero. A super-hero chick!”

“Whatever makes you happy.”

Kara was surprised to find that she enjoyed the training sessions with David Her many injuries healed themselves and remarkably, she developed a knack for it. The moves suddenly made sense. Her reflexes were good, and she could keep up with David.

A crowd of GAs grew slowly and formed a circle around Kara and David. Her neurons acted up. She felt prickling all over her body. She hated having any kind of attention on her. A tall and powerful looking older teen guardian angel stepped out from the crowd. He walked up to the David and Kara with a grin on his face. His brown hair shimmered in the sun. Two golden stars flashed on his forehead.

“Wow, pretty good for a rookie. But then again, your teacher lacks discipline—any rookie could beat him,” he laughed as he turned and encouraged the crowd to laugh as well. He turned his handsome face and eyeballed Kara.

“Care to test your skills on me? Unless of course,
your
Petty Officer is afraid I’ll make him look bad in front of his peers?”

He flashed his gleaming white teeth at David. A few GAs snickered.

David pursed his lips. Kara saw hatred in his eyes as he stepped up to the angel. “Don’t you have a hair appointment, or something, Benson? Stop wasting our time, douche bag,” he said, as he shifted his sword between his hands, menacingly. He looked at Kara momentarily and gave her a wink.

A second later, Benson pulled out a gleaming silver sword. “Always a wise ass.”

The crowd around him dispersed. His face twisted up in concentration. He bared his teeth in a snarl, with his eyes glued on David.

“What is this, a testosterone fight in Horizon?” Kara took a step towards them, lifting her hands in the air with her palms facing outwards. “Okay, boys, let’s not do anything stupid. We’re in a
happy
place, right? There’s no need for this.”

Benson flicked his attention to Kara. His tawny eyes glittered as he stared her down. He studied her with a strange look in his eyes. “I see why you’ve picked this one—she’s
pretty
. We all know what you do to the pretty ones.”

Kara frowned and watched David’s reaction. She couldn’t read his face under all the angry wrinkles.

“I’d mind my own business if I were you.” David growled.

“It is my business. She was my
friend
. I knew what you were doing to her!”

“What?” said Kara. “David—what is he talking about?”

And without warning, Benson charged forward and kicked David hard in the stomach. Kara watched in horror as David stumbled backwards. He regained his balance quickly and stepped back into the fighting circle, his blade grasped tightly in his hand.

Benson’s face cracked into a sly smile. “I’m surprised the Legion even gave you a rookie, after what happened to Sarah. I always said you were going to get one of us killed! What you did to her was unforgivable. You broke our most
sacred
law!”

He turned his head and read the puzzlement on Kara’s face.

“Oh? So she doesn’t know? You’re better off looking for another petty officer, Rookie.
Love
affairs are forbidden in Horizon.”

Kara looked at David and saw a flash of fury in his eyes as he threw himself at Benson.

“ANGELS!” an oracle bellowed, “what is going on here?”

“Nothing, oracle,” answered Benson, with the face of an angel. “We’re practicing combat maneuvers—that’s all.”

The oracle’s blue eyes went from Benson to Kara to David, before going back to Benson. The oracle pursed his lips and cocked an eyebrow. “It didn’t look like practice from where I was—and I’ve
seen
it many times before! A bit
harsh
, don’t you think? You are not savages—you are angels! It’s time you behave like them.”

“We need to be able to defend ourselves—in extreme conditions—” said Benson. “Nothing we can’t handle.”

“You
can’t
handle anything.” David met Benson’s glare.

“
Your
methods are not safe! They’re insane! Your Rookie will
die
because of you!” spat Benson as he clasped his sword. His knuckles turned white.

“That’s enough!” yelled the oracle.

The ground shook. The light seemed to darken from inside his crystal ball. “I have a very important meeting with the Archangel Gabriel today. We are installing toilets at Operations as a comfort to those who feel the urge to—the desire to—who need to remember their humanity. And I cannot be late! Or is that tomorrow?”

The oracle twirled his beard around his fingers. “Everyone out! You have jobs to do and souls to save. Let’s go!” Immediately the crowd dispersed.

Benson threw a finger in David’s direction. “You’ll
pay
for her death! Filth like you—doesn’t belong in the Legion.” Kara watched in silence as Benson marched out of the tent and out of sight. A few of his minions GAs tagged along behind him like sad little puppies.

“It really upsets me to see you angels not getting along,” said the oracle. “And as for the two of you,” he said as he pointed a skinny finger, “—you have a bus to catch.”

He steered his glass sphere around and rolled away.

David stared at his feet. His expression changed like clouds before a storm. Kara wanted to ask David who had died, but something told her now was not the time. Instead, she settled for the obvious. She bent her body sideways and searched David’s face. “Why does Benson hate you so much?”

“Because I’m better looking,” he answered, as he met her eyes and winked.

“You’re so full of crap. You know that?”

David’s face cracked into a smile. “And that’s why you
love
me.”

“Oh—
please
. Did he hit you on the head or something? I think you’re suffering from a bit of brainfart.”

“Maybe,” laughed David. “Okay, I think that’s enough training for a while. You’re more than ready for your next assignment.”

They walked in silence through the red desert. Kara’s mind filled with questions unanswered. But some in particular kept coming back.
Who the heck is this Sarah? And what happened to her?

Chapter 7. Fish nets and salt shakers

D
avid led Kara down a little slope into the heart of the desert. They made their way towards a large white tent resting in the midst of a sandy red ocean. A large powerful man with short black hair sat in a chair.

“Is that another archangel?” asked Kara.

“Yup.”

“Thought so. They’re all like really…
big
.”

“Big men with bigger egos.”

The archangel’s dark brown skin contrasted against his white linen top and trousers. Her eyes moved to his face. It was beautiful, as if some higher power had sculpted it to perfection. She forced herself to look away.

In the light wind sheets of paper fluttered across the top of a great wooden table that ran the length of the tent. She counted ten oracles rolling on their glass globes, rummaging through files along the table. A line of about fifty guardian angels waited patiently on the other side. Some angels stood at the front of the table. They each conversed with an oracle. After a moment, one of the oracles gave an angel a file, who then nodded and marched out of the tent. He walked down a gully and headed towards the pool area. A few minutes later, the guardian angel climbed up a metal staircase and jumped in—without hesitating.

A loud
tick tock
sound found its way to Kara’s ears. A large brass grandfather clock stood in the background—it read two o’clock.

She followed David to the end of the line and looked up at him. His face cracked into a grin. He winked. She rolled her eyes and turned her head towards the pools. Silhouettes of GAs jumped into the waters of their next assignments. Kara and David stood in silence for a while. The waiting was driving her mad.

“So—what’s the next assignment?” Kara asked.

“Don’t know yet. We’ll know what it is once the oracle gives us the job file.”

Kara sighed. “Right…do you think it’ll be easier or harder this time?”

David shook his head slowly. “I’m not sure.”

“Hmm.”

Kara’s mind flicked to the mysterious Sarah. She couldn’t get her out of her head.
Who was she? Did David break the sacred Horizon laws and had an affair with her? Could angels fall in love?
She fought the strange jealous feelings creeping inside her.
God, I’m such a retard.
And when Kara looked towards the grand table, they were finally at the head of the line and David addressed the archangel.