The Fallen (Angelic Redemption) (17 page)

“Where are your captors?” Joaquin asked them in
Spanish.

“They left earlier and have not come back,” said a
white woman that Joaquin assumed was the doctor, Maggie.

Joaquin found a set of keys and opened the doors.
The women hugged one another and Heidi, before staring at him expectantly.

“They must be here somewhere,” Joaquin said,
stating the obvious and accepting how their rescue was too easy. “How many men
did you see?”

“There were more men here earlier, but they left
before the sun went down. Now, maybe a dozen are left,” Maggie said. She then turned
to Heidi and grinned. “You came back.”

“God answered our prayers,” Heidi said, looking
at Joaquin.

The women again hugged, whispering thanks to
Heidi and God. Joaquin peered out of the door and wondered which of the two
hallways to trust. One hallway brought them here only after circling half the
prison, but the other hallway might lead them into a trap. Not having much
choice, Joaquin signaled for the women to follow him down the first hall.

The group stepped into the hallway silently and
Joaquin did make a mental note to appreciate the women’s ability to remain
quiet. They moved as a silent herd with Heidi bringing up the rear. While this
last detail irritated Joaquin immensely, he did not dare complain with them so
close to escaping.

Stepping towards an open doorway they had checked
on the way in, Joaquin sensed movement. Signaling for the women to stop, he
peeked into the room and was met with a gunshot.

“Go back,” he said, firing into the room.

Heidi and the women hurried back down the
hallway, but halted when another shot rang out from the direction they were heading.
Heidi returned fire and the enemy shots temporarily stopped. Hearing the
distinct sounds of approaching men and cocking weapons, Joaquin waved the women
into a room while he held the men at bay.

Following the women into an office, Joaquin
knocked a bookshelf against the door. As he created a barricade, the women
followed Heidi into an adjoining room and to another hallway. Turning to follow
them, Joaquin’s exit was blocked when the door between the two rooms slammed
shut by an unseen force.

Joaquin heard Heidi call out to him and he saw
the doorknob jiggle. While he might wish to aid her, his feet wouldn’t budge, not
even when Heidi’s voice switched from concern to panic. The rattling doorknob ceased,
followed by the sounds of women crying out in fear and their feet stampeding
down the hall and away from him. Sounds of a struggle and a gunfight encouraged
Joaquin to act. Yet he did not move nor attempt to save them.

Something lurked in the room with Joaquin and it
wanted to talk. Around him, the room shifted as the air thinned. Light and
shadow fought for dominance. Joaquin’s legs grew weak, almost as weak as his
will to deny the monster its due.

Joaquin slumped to the ground, seemingly
powerless against this creature. Expecting death, he was instead tempted with
an offer - a deal from one monster to another.

The demon showed him a dreamlike existence he
could never possess on his own. This future included Heidi and him living
contently like normal people with children and a home in the suburbs. Joaquin
saw himself mowing the yard while his children played nearby on their swing set.
A yellow Labrador followed Heidi from the house as she brought her man a glass
of cold lemonade. All his shame and pain dissolved. Only peace and happiness
remained. The perfect life awaited them, if only Joaquin would do what this
monster wanted.

“How?” he asked.

“Just forsake the god that has forsaken you,” the
thing in the darkness whispered. “Your fickle god doesn’t want you anyway.
Denounce him and I will give you and Heidi what you deserve. Your god will only
bring you punishment and death.”

Joaquin knew what Heidi would say and so did the
demon.

“She will never know. Let her believe her
fairytales.”

How to deny a deal with the devil that would give
Joaquin everything he wanted? He had spent a lifetime assuming the devil was
real, but his belief in a loving God was newer and uncertain.

How ironic that the monster brought Heidi to
Joaquin with the plan of using her as a bargaining chip in a deal he would only
have agreed to before meeting her. Heidi gave him hope in his own goodness and
in God’s ability to forgive him. This hope was undeniable, no matter Heidi’s
fate.

“I have nothing for you, demon. I’m leaving now.”

The monster only shifted in the shadows,
unwilling to show itself.

“She will die.”

“We all die,” Joaquin said, rising to his feet
and pointing his gun at the monster. “Should I prove that to you?”

Joaquin didn’t know if he could kill the thing in
the shadows, but the monster knew and it feared the answer.

“I will enjoy your suffering,” the monster hissed
as it disappeared. “And funny enough, so will your god.”

Joaquin rushed through the now unlocked door to
find an empty hallway. Sounds of gunfire echoed from somewhere far off in the
prison and Joaquin ran towards them.

At the end of the cavernous hall, Joaquin came
upon two bodies, both male. Entering a small room, he found more bodies, again
male. Blood splatters told him a struggle had taken place here. While the women
had won, one or more of them had been injured.

Joaquin tracked the blood trails to where the cars
were parked. Beginning to run, he was terrified by the sudden silence. For
there were no gunshots, no voices, no engines revving. Only the painful silence
which accompanied dawn in a hellish place like this one. To Joaquin, the
silence screamed death and he prepared to find the women slaughtered behind
every doorway.

Turning a corner, he found himself eyeing the
barrel of a gun, his gun in fact. Heidi did not lower it immediately. Her green
eyes were glazed, not as much afraid as shell shocked. Joaquin pressed the gun
downward with his palm then pulled her against him.

The blood trail belonged to Heidi and she
continued to bleed in his arms. Most of it appeared to come from a large hole
in her stomach, but deep wounds riddled her chest, legs, and arms. Heidi relaxed
against him, but tensed again when a car started.

Yards away, the rescued women piled into a van
and headed away from the prison. Waving goodbye as the van swirled dirt in the
air, the women disappeared quickly into the horizon.

Heidi frowned, trying to move away from Joaquin. “We
have to help them.”

“The cartel wants us. It’s safer for the women to
keep their distance.”

Heidi watched the women disappear, a frown stuck
on her bloodied face. Joaquin slid his gun into a holster and picked her up
just as her legs began to wobble. Even muttering her objections, Heidi grew
limp in his arms as they reached a car.

Arranging Heidi in the passenger seat, Joaquin
felt the warmth of the exploding sun on his neck. Even with only a taste of
light over the horizon, inside these prison walls, the air seared Joaquin’s
skin. A threat still hung over this place and Joaquin felt it claw at him as he
started the car.

The noise of the car’s powerful engine startled a
barely conscious Heidi. Joaquin knew the Lord had kept her strong against these
men and their weapons until he could find her. Even if it was the devil that originally
united them, Joaquin accepted God was who kept them together now.

As the car began to move, Heidi shifted in the
seat and laid her head against Joaquin, using his chest as her pillow.

“We need to find Maximo. He’ll know what to do,”
she muttered, staring at him with unfocused eyes.

Nodding, Joaquin caressed her hair while increasing
the car’s speed. As Heidi dozed against him, her blood darkening the tan leather
seats, Joaquin again seized a sliver of hope.

No matter their luck so far, Joaquin pushed down
hard on the gas pedal. He also refused to look in the rearview, afraid of what
might be looking back at him.

On the drive to the safe house, Roman told Sophie
about his old packmate Gus who won the lottery two months before learning he
was a hunter. Besides hunting, Gus paid for missions and patched up the lucky
hunters who didn’t die in the battlefield.

Sophie pulled the SUV down a long dirt road at
the urging of Roman. The jagged road felt unending and Sophie wondered if Roman
had made a mistake, figuring the unflappable hunter was starting to crack under
the pressure of losing Lila. Just as she thought to ask him about the route,
she noticed a lighted security gate ahead.

Stopping at the intercom, Sophie pushed the
button, but didn’t know what to say. When a male voice asked for the pass code,
Roman rolled his window down and announced himself in an icy calm voice.

“Welcome back, man,” Gus said, buzzing open the
gate.

Roman said nothing, instead motioning for Sophie
to drive. Sophie started down another long dirt road and this time she spotted
the distinctive lights of a large compound ahead. Parking near a huge house
with a driveway packed with SUVs and trucks, Sophie waited for Roman to tell
her what to do next.

As Roman eased out of the car, he signaled for
Sophie to follow him. The front door of the compound opened and a man with dark
red hair and a big smile appeared, carrying a rifle in one arm. He threw his
free arm around Roman’s shoulder and gave him a quick tight hug.

“We thought you were dead,” Gus said, peering at
the SUV. “Who do you got there?”

“It’s Lila. Do you still have medical supplies
here?”

“Uh, dude, not this again.” Gus said then paused
upon seeing Sophie. “Is that who, wait, I’m confused. What’s going on?”

Sophie watched him frown at her and she responded
with her own dark scowl. After a long day of driving and praying her seemingly
dead friend was in fact alive, Sophie wasn’t in the mood for delays.

“Are you going to help us or not?” Sophie asked.

“Wait, so Sophie didn’t die? What about what Ivy
said?” Gus asked, moving to where Roman leaned into the SUV. “Hey, is that
really Lila?”

Roman turned to Gus and sighed. “She’s hurt. Will
you please help me?”

Sophie glared at the man, hating him for showing
the kind of uncertainty she suffered. Yet in her mind, he should know better.

“Yes, of course, bring her inside and I’ll get
you guys set up.”

Roman leaned into the SUV and picked up Lila.
Carrying her, he gestured for Sophie to follow. Gus watched Sophie who watched
him as they both followed Roman into the compound. Once inside, Gus shut the
door and set an alarm.

“Take her into the first room to your left. I’ll
go get the supplies.”

Sophie watched Gus rush down a hall away from
them. In his wake, a woman appeared. She said nothing and made no attempt to
follow either Gus or Roman. Sophie studied her for a moment before ducking into
the room where Roman laid Lila on a bed.

Sophie couldn’t bear to look at her friend with
that gaping hole in her chest. While she didn’t know much about death, Sophie
knew Lila seemed dead with her cold pale skin. Yet hours after taking her last
breath, Lila’s body showed no signs of rigor mortis, let alone decomposition.

Even with this glimmer of hope, Sophie felt that
Lila was gone. No matter how long Lila went without reacting to his touch or
words though, Roman continued to hold Lila’s hand and whisper in her ear.

“What happened to her?” Gus asked, returning to
the room.

“A demon attack.”

“It sure made a mess, didn’t it?”

Roman glanced at Gus. “Where is everyone?”

“The guys are in the town over. There’s a hunter
here who lost her pack to a rogue. Otherwise, it’s just you, me, and Sophie.”

Roman stepped back so Gus could slip a needle
into Lila’s arm. Frowning, Sophie watched the men.

“What is that?”

“A little concoction the professor came up with
years ago. It’s like medicine for our kind,” Gus said then eyed Roman. “Why
doesn’t she know that?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Uncomplicate it for me, will ya? These two died
and now they aren’t dead. Was Ivy lying? If so, where has the pack been all
these years?”

Roman studied Sophie then looked to Gus.

“They did die, but God brought them back without
any memory of who they were. Sophie and Lila only met a few days ago. Neither
of them remembers me or you or each other. I can’t dumb it down anymore than
that. What I can tell you is that Lila, no matter how she looks, can recover. I
can feel it.”

Gus nodded, setting up the IV next to Lila who
never reacted to the pinching of the needle or the medicine pumping into her
body. Sophie watched the men, without allowing herself to contemplate the full
meaning of Roman’s words.

“You okay?” he asked.

“I was dead. Now, I’m not. I get it.”

Roman watched her for a moment, clearly worried. He
finally looked at Gus.