A Strange Fire (Florence Vaine) (29 page)

 I think for a minute, silently mulling things over in my head. So Frank
isn’t a monster, he just has one trapped inside of him. But it’s
not
him. That’s the important bit. Fundamentally, he’s just a human boy, healthy
and good and vital. This knowledge relieves me. Even more so does the fact that
I hold the ability to calm his monster. All I have to do is be near him and the
monster relaxes. Frank watches me, a look of worried expectation on his face,
most likely he’s wondering exactly how I’m taking all this.

 “You know what,” I say, “I can’t actually believe that Angels exist.
It’s kind of awe inspiring, but absolutely terrifying at the same time.”

 “Well I’ve never met one before,” Frank replies, “fallen or not, but I
have a feeling both would be equally scary.”

 I smile, and something releases between us both, the heavy tension
suddenly gone. Nothing needs to be put into words. I know that he’s still the
boy I’ve become so attached to, and he knows I’ve accepted him for who he is.
We stay like that for a moment, just smiling and taking each other in.

 I ask, “So, do you know what became of your parents?”

 “I didn’t until I came to Chesterport and met Sam,” says Frank. “He told
me it was my mother who made the deal with Bune. My dad was just the unlucky
sod who happened to marry her and get her pregnant. It’s hard to describe what
happened to her, although Sam explained it well. The best way to think of it is
to understand that what Bune promises the dead in their rebirth is as much a
curse as it is a gift. Riches and wisdom aren’t as great as they seem. Have you
ever wondered what it would be like to know
everything
? Or to have so
much money that you could have whatever you wanted, whenever you wanted it? Not
the picnic it sounds.”

 “The older my mother became the more of Bune’s gifts she received. The
excess became too much. The more knowledge she possessed, the more of her
sanity she lost. Eventually her mind fell apart and she flew off the deep end.
I was just a few months old when she left me alone in the house and took my dad
for a drive around the countryside. A drive that ended with her driving them
both off the edge of a cliff.”

 My mouth hangs open in horror. “That’s terrible Frank, but, how does
Sam
know all this?”

 “Sam works for an Archangel. He was assigned to come and live in
Chesterport to keep an eye on us. Make sure we stay on the straight and narrow
and don’t succumb to the pull of our demons. Remember how I told you about the
millions of half-breed humans out there, the offspring of hidden world
creatures who procreate with humans?”

 I give a quick nod for him to continue.

 “Well that’s what Sam is, the child of an Angel and a human woman. We
call them the Nephilim. The Archangel he works for is his father. Apparently
heaven feels it has an obligation to monitor the earthly activities of bad guys
like Bune,
and
the results of said activities, in other words, me and my
family. Lower ranking Guardian Angels and Nephilim like Sam do the grunt work.
Sam got a job as the school’s Guidance Counsellor so that he can keep watch
over us. But he’s one of the good guys, so we let him boss us around,” he
grins.

 “This is all so crazy,” I say, letting out the breath I’d been holding,
“the stuff of dreams and nightmares. But, I mean, aren’t you going to get into
t-trouble for telling me all this?”

 Frank shoots me a grin. “Not unless you plan on ratting me out,” he
reaches across the picnic table and takes my hand in his. “Besides, I have a feeling
Sam was going to tell you everything himself eventually, since you’ve become so
entangled in all our lives.”

 “I’m really sorry if I’ve complicated things for you,” I tell him on a
sigh.

 Frank shrugs off my apology. “Yeah you’ve complicated things, but only
in a good way,” he says, and his words make me feel so much better. “Besides,
that girl Lauren disappeared long before you came here, so obviously the bigger
picture has nothing to do with you.”

 I nod in relieved agreement, and then move on to the next big issue.
“There’s something else I need to talk to you about,” I begin, Frank inclines
his head for me to continue.

 “Well, I was kind of throwing a little pity party for myself today at
lunch. Don’t ask why, I’m an idiot. Anyway, so I went outside to sit by the
railings and wallow in my own misery. Then this woman came walking by with a
little boy in a stroller and asked me if I was okay. Only I got this strange
vibe off her, like I knew her from somewhere. Plus her aura was just wrong.
Sometimes all I have to do is look at a person’s colours to know they’re bad
people. I think she knew I was onto her because she got all tense and started
walking away real quick. I went after her and she got angry when I grabbed her
back by the arm, because she was ignoring me when I called after her. She
somehow knocked me to the ground without so much as lifting a finger, then I
saw this weird upside-down crucifix bleed through the skin on her forehead like
a tattoo. And she knew my name as well. That freaked me right out, so I got up
and ran back to the school.”

 Frank’s expression turns dead serious. “Can you remember what she looked
like?”

 I shrug my shoulders. “Just average really, she looked like every other
middle-aged mother in Chesterport. Why do you ask, do you know something I
don’t?”

 Frank exhales. “Only something I remember vaguely from when I’d been on
a trip to the city last year with Alex. We were in this night club for
supernaturals,” he stops, “yeah, and before you ask, they do exist. Anyway, we
got talking to a young witch whose sister had run away a couple months
previously to join a black magic coven who called themselves Lily’s Daughters.
She said the kind of magic they practice causes a black heretic’s cross to seep
through the skin on their forehead. I always wondered about that, I think it’s
got to do with the entity they devote their practice to. Like maybe once they
tap into its well of energy it marks them with the cross.”

 I snort, unable to help myself. “Lily’s Daughter’s? As in the daughters
and sons of Lilith? That’s a really bad name. Do you think it might be a c-clue
though? Perhaps it’s Lilith who’s giving them their power.”

 “Nah, if you knew anything about the hidden world then you’d know that’s
not who’s powering them. Dark witch covens claiming Lilith as their deity are
ten a penny, mostly they’re making it up or some crafty lower demon has them
fooled into believing it’s the real deal.”

 “Oh,” I reply, a little dejected since I’d thought I was being very
clever with my theory. “Anyway, we’d better let Sam know about the woman I saw.
This will surely lead us to something in the way of answers.”

 “I’ll tell John to give Sam a call when I get home,” says Frank. “But
don’t place all your expectations on Sam finding out what we’re dealing with.
It’s difficult for the Nephilim to get information that isn’t already
circulating among their numbers. Most supernaturals won’t tell them anything
because they’re the closest thing the hidden world has to law-keepers. It’d be
like the police trying to get intel on some well-established drug dealer in the
normal world. Not an easy thing, unless you’re very well connected.”

 His mention of drug dealers makes my heart do one big horrible
somersault in my chest. My dad could be locked up in jail right now, for all I
know. Or at worst, dead from an overdose. I push away that thought.

 “I can’t believe it’s an actual witch that’s been stalking me, and in
Chesterport of all places, the town just seems so
ordinary
. It’s the
very last place you’d expect s-something like this to happen. Not only that,
but they kidnapped a girl and murdered her.” I shake my head in exasperation.

 Frank holds tighter onto my hand. “They aren’t going to get to you the
way they got to her, Florence. You’ve got a Nephilim and a bunch of wayward
demon possessed teenage boys and their surly surrogate father to look out for
you. You’ll be fine, I don’t want you worrying, okay?” he says, in an effort to
reassure me.

 “I’ll try not to,” I reply quietly.

 “So,” says Frank, “we’ve got another hour or two to kill, you want to go
back to school or maybe do something else?”

 “Something else please,” I answer. “I need the time to think, and I
can’t do that if I’m going to be bombarded by colours at school.”

 “Something else it is then,” he grins, pulling me to my feet and
dragging me back to the van.

I’m beginning to wonder if my brain could ever just burst from
information overload. It’s becoming a task in itself just to get my head to
work out what’s important and what’s not, so that it can store the details it
needs.

 This is what I’ve got so far. Number one, at least one magical being has
been stalking me and it seems likely that this being is a witch. Number two,
the very same witch, along with her coven, killed a girl from this town. I’ve
had first-hand experience of her ordeal. Number three, the boy I like has a
demon in him, and that’s not abstract or theoretical, I’ve seen that first hand
too. Number four, and possibly the most amazing fact of all, my school Guidance
Counsellor is half Angel.

 Frank has driven us to the next town over from Chesterport, and we’re
currently sitting in a small park overlooking a large pond, eating ice cream.
Life’s all about the little pleasures I’ve come to learn.

 “Do you think you’ll ever find a way to break the curse?” I ask, out of
the comfortable silence, the sound of a little bird chirping in the tree behind
us fills the air. A soft breeze brushes my long hair away from my neck.

 “I don’t think there’s a way, this is for life,” Frank replies, throwing
the end of his cone into the bin.

 “There must be a way,” I reply. “Haven’t you ever seen Buffy, where
Angel is cursed by the gypsy but it gets broken and he turns evil again?”

 Frank laughs. “Nah, I never got into that show. Probably because I met a
vampire once, and he was nothing like what you’d expect. They aren’t dead,
they’re just a different species to humans.”

 “Really?” I ask, getting side-tracked by this little piece of trivia.
“Well, that’s an eye-opener. I thought the whole point was that they were the
undead. That’s what makes them so scary.”

 “I’m not going to get into it, it’d be a really long conversation with
too many contradictions,” he answers.

 “Yeah, maybe not now. B-but you
have
to tell me about them some
time. I mean, the fact that vampires exist, that’s big effing news.”

 Frank considers me thoughtfully. “You’re a bit of a strange one, aren’t
you.”

 I watch as he takes me in, lifting a hand above his head to scratch the
back of his shoulder. His sleeve rides up a little and I see the beginning of
his tattoo. I reach for him and pull the sleeve up further.

 “So, what exactly does this quote mean?” I ask, reading it again.
You
never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough.

 “It’s simple really,” he answers. “You need to experience the extremes
of life before you can appreciate balance. My childhood was a nightmare. Having
been through that, I kind of feel content now with my life.”

 I laugh softly. “Don’t you have to be like, m-middle aged before you
come to these kinds of epiphanies?”

 “What can I say, I’m an early bloomer. Anyway, it’s sort of what makes
the two of us so good for each other,” he says, and strokes a hand down my
hair. “We both know what it’s like to grow up in a hard world where we have to
fend for ourselves.”

 I narrow my eyes at him, but in good humour. “Trying to get me to talk
about my past again, are we?”

 He grins and shakes his head. “It was worth a try.”

 I shrug and finish off my ice cream just as Frank’s phone rings.

 “John,” says Frank, answering. “What’s up?”

 A deep voice gives stern instructions on the other end of the line.

 “Yeah, okay, you can punish me later,” he replies. “We’ll be there in
fifteen minutes,” and then hangs up.

 “That was John. He knows the two of us skipped class, Sam told him.
Bloody jobs worth. Anyway, we’ve got to get to the farmhouse for a meeting.
Sam’s finally gotten some information for us.”

Everybody’s sitting in the living room by the time we get there, Sam and
John’s voices being the most discernible amongst the collective mutterings. I
can’t help but to wince at the accusatory looks that come our way.

 “What do you think you’re playing at, Franklin?” says John in a hard
voice. “You know the school doesn’t go easy on truancy, especially to students
with a background like yours. If Sam decides to report you, you’ll be kicked
out on the spot. No second chances.”

 John’s tone may be harsh, but I can tell it’s just because he’s worried.
He cares a lot about Frank and it would hurt him just as bad if Frank got
expelled.

 “I was telling Florence what we are,” Frank replies after a moment of
pause. “And I didn’t want to do it in a place as public as the school.”

 “You were not given permission to tell the girl anything,” says John,
though he seems to have lost some of his hardness, resignation taking over.

 Frank rubs his palm over his forehead, looking more tired than ever. “I
had to tell her John. My feelings got slightly extreme today. Florence could
see the demon.”

 “What? How is that possible?” Alex butts in, disbelief colouring his
words, and I suddenly remember that Frank and Sam are the only ones who know
what I can do.

 Although, I have a sneaking suspicion that Sam has told John and Hayley.
I can see it in their colours that both of them know already, but the rest are
definitely in the dark, curiosity and confusion from them overwhelms me.

 “Yeah, Flo, how
is
that possible?” Layla adds, with her usual
dose of well-honed confidence. For a split second I actually feel like asking
her what she’s even doing here, since she’s just an ordinary human girl, and
seemingly we’re here to talk about the aptly named “hidden-world”. But I bite
my tongue. I’d probably only have messed up the words anyway. Having a stutter
means I’ll never be an expert at the snappy comeback.