Enigma (32 page)

At that moment the strangest thing began to happen. I started hearing voices all around me, even though I was alone in my apartment! I concentrated on where they were coming from, and I realized they were coming from down below me in other apartments. Then I recognized that they weren’t voices at all; they were thoughts. I was hearing the thoughts of others. I wasn’t even trying and they were audible. I concentrated harder until I was able to silence them and listen to one at a time.

I lost track of time, trying to perfect this new ability, and by the time I was tired I had learned to tell exactly which apartment that the particular thought was coming from. I was even able to tell who the thought was coming from for the most part. It was the most awesome thing I had ever done, but it left me feeling a little guilty, like I had been invading the privacy and personal space of others.

Along with being able to hear thoughts, I could also feel that the building was full of heavenly angels. I took the elevator to the seventh floor, where Avan had told me all of the employees at Spirits lived. As I walked past each apartment, I could tell how many angels were inside each one. When I passed the door to each one, I got a warm familiar feeling, letting me know they were from heaven. In that moment I realized that the nervous feeling of someone watching me must be the feeling I get when an angel from hell is near.

If that was true, that would have to mean that Allen Hearsch was not alone the other night when he had come to tell me about the things my dad had left for me or any of the times I had sensed him in the past. The strange thing was that I never received the warm, familiar feeling that I did around other heavenly angels around Allen. Being a heavenly angel working undercover, why had he not felt the evil presence that I had? If someone had followed him, they would know that he had never been part of their cause and he may be unaware he had been followed at all. My dad’s letter had said that depending on what type of angel you were, your wings would either be black or white. How was Allen able to hide his wings from them? It would give away everything! Something was off with that situation, and I needed to talk to Allen to find out what was going on and how what he was doing was possible.

I knew I had to do something, and Allen was probably in trouble due to protecting me. I had to do whatever I could to let him know he might have been discovered. There was no telling what these horrible angels were capable of doing if they found out that he had been a traitor, infiltrating their ranks to prevent their plan of using me for the purpose of creating a new race of angels. I was certain that Allen was now in danger and if they knew what he had been up to, they would make an example of him to show others what would happen if you crossed them. I hoped and prayed that I would not be too late to prevent anything bad from happening to him. I didn’t know enough about anything yet to go on my own, so I would have to wait for Avan.

Just then I remembered my bracelet. Both Natasha and my dad had told me that each unique angel represented someone in my life. I remembered that I had to find the one that represented who I needed help from. I touched each charm, holding it with my thumb and pointer finger as an image of the angel it represented filled my mind. I kept going around the bracelet, shocked at how many of my new friends were angels and I hadn’t ever recognized it until now. When I came to Avan’s charm, I held it tightly as I closed my eyes and whispered that I needed his help and that someone was in trouble.

CHAPTER 15

Within just a few seconds of opening my eyes, Avan came rushing through the front door with a worried look on his face, letting me know that he thought I was the one in trouble.

“Mattie, what’s wrong? Are you okay? What happened?” Avan asked as he studied my face for some sign that would let him know exactly what was going on.

“I’m fine, Avan. It isn’t me that is in trouble; it’s Allen,” I told him as I watched some of the worry melt away from his face.

“You had me really worried. What happened to Allen?”

“I’m not sure if anything has happened to him or not, but if it hasn’t, I don’t think it will be long before something does.”

“What would make you think that?”

“The other night when he showed up, I felt darkness, and since I read my dad’s letter and spoke to Natasha, I know that’s what I feel when evil people are somewhere nearby,” I explained.

“Natasha was here today?”

“Yeah, she just left a little while before you got here actually.”

“What did she tell you?” Avan asked, interested to hear any new information she might have given me.

“She basically said the same things my dad had said in my letter, but I was really glad that she agreed with everything it said. She did tell me that something would happen soon that would require me to be really strong. I think she meant that Damron and Cheryl would try to make a move or something to try and make me do really bad things that I don’t want anything to do with.”

“So what did your dad’s letter say?” Avan pressed.

“Well, if you’re trying to politely ask if I know what I am now, the answer is yes. I know I’m a one-of-a-kind super angel with crazy powers that no one can explain or measure and that hell wants to create a new race of freak shows to work for them and they want to use me for breeding purposes,” I stated bluntly.

“Wow, don’t hold back or anything!” Avan added with a laugh.

“Hey, you asked.”

“Yes, I did. I will have to make a mental note to be careful of doing that again won’t I?”

“I’ll just tell you anyway.”

“I’d hear it whether you said it or not, remember?”

“Yeah, I learned to do that little trick today too!”

“Aren’t you a fast learner?” Avan said, giving me a wink.

“Okay, no time for flirting right now! We really need to go find Allen. Will you drive?”

“Anything for you my special angel!”

In record time, we were in Avan’s Mustang, buckling our seat belts as he exited the parking garage and pulled onto the street. The first location on our list of places to check out was Allen’s office.

Halfway to Allen’s office, I realized that it was after 6:00 p.m. I had no idea what time the building closed in the evenings; it was probably dependent on the office hours of the businesses that were in the suites inside. However, if the building was locked, we would have no way of getting in. That would make all of our efforts to ensure Allen was safe useless. The more I thought about it, the worse it made me feel. I had an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach and was unable to force myself to say a word. Feeling my anxiety, Avan kept quiet as well, knowing that until I was sure Allen was safe, words were not going to make much of a difference.

In attempts to distract myself, I read the fluorescent signs and lighted letters spelling the names of fast food restaurants, movie rental places, bail bonds, grocery stores, department stores, gas stations, and liquor stores we sped down the busy street. After a while I resorted to reading the street signs as we passed. I almost failed to notice that the car had come to a stop at a red light until I felt the vibration from the one beside us. It had the windows rolled down with the stereo turned up so loud that the thumping from the over-adjusted bass felt like a small earthquake. Inaudible lyrics of a pointless rap song exploded from the speakers. Looking over to see two high school guys in the car, I observed how ridiculous they looked as they had their seats reclined so far back they may as well have been lying down. When the driver noticed me looking, he nodded once and blew me a kiss as his lustful thoughts revealed themselves.

Being only a few blocks from the office building now, for some reason I had an eerie feeling that we were already too late. I had no idea what could possibly be making me feel this way, but for some reason it felt stronger than a normal hunch. Most of the time when I got a hunch about something and it felt as if circumstances were wrong, in the end it never turned out nearly as bad as I imagined it would. This time it was as though I already had evidence that it was worse than expected. I felt like I knew we would not be seeing Allen tonight. I knew Avan was hearing everything I was thinking, and when I concentrated to see how he felt about the situation, it was no surprise to find he had many of the same thoughts and feelings. Either way, neither of us had the intentions of letting this go without getting to the bottom of it. I did not feel as though any harm had come to Allen yet, but for some reason I knew he would not be at his office.

Pulling under the awning in front of the door, we jumped out of the car. When we got to the set of double, automatic, sliding front doors they were unresponsive even though we were right in the line of the motion sensor. Avan looked around for a keypad of some kind and even tried to pry the doors apart, but they were locked tight and had clearly been programmed electronically to lock and unlock at certain times.

The only thing we noticed that would allow access to the building once the doors were locked was a device that resembled the ones at the grocery store used to slide credit cards through to pay out. Employees of the suites in the building must have identification badges that would grant them access to the building before and after business hours when they slid it through the device recognizing their identity.

Remembering that Natasha had told me how only I could determine my capabilities and how to control them, I decided I would test this theory to see how far I could go with it. Knowing Avan read my thought, he backed up as if on cue. Figuring most heavenly angels never set out to do anything questionable in nature, I assumed they did not possess the talent of breaking and entering. Considering I was the perfect mix of light and dark, I thought I might just be able to pull it off. Closing my eyes, I concentrated on the feeling of the electricity all around me, knowing I had to find the correct current. I listened to the hum of it all around me and focused on the unique sound that was flowing through the motion sensor. This had a unique pattern to it that flowed over to the scanner, which quietly awaited the slide of an employee I.D. to allow entry. Focusing all of my attention to this current, I soon heard what sounded similar to firecrackers as I felt myself being jerked back out of the way by Avan’s strong grasp.

Opening my eyes while my body seemed to move backward in slow motion, I caught the sight of the scanner and the motion sensor explode simultaneously, throwing small pieces of glass, metal, and plastic in every direction. To my surprise, there was no raging fire starting from the explosion sites. After a few seconds, Avan took the first step forward, advancing to the sliding door. Shockingly, the doors parted with ease at the slightest tug from his hand.

Once we entered the building, it was clear my little outdoor fireworks show had continued indoors as well. Every security camera had exploded, along with the scanner and motion sensor. Near the ceiling where the cameras had been strategically placed were little patches of charbroiled wall and ceiling materials. I knew it was far from a humorous situation, but I was so impressed with myself I felt a little giddy. Not every day did I get to go around blowing things up, starting fires, kicking serious tail, or finding out I was the closest thing to a real super hero there is.

Opting for the staircase rather than the creepy elevator that seemed abandoned after normal business hours, I could not remember a time when it had ever felt like there were so many steps in the staircase. Knowing in reality it was all part of my heightened emotion, it still felt as if it took forever to climb them, but in that moment I was too worried to notice anything else. Sadly, I had no idea what to even expect to find in Allen’s office, and that killed me the most. I wanted to feel him there, and by now, being this close to his office, I should have been able to. I should have had a warm sensation that signified his presence. I extended my senses as far as I possibly could, but still there was nothing. At this point, I slowed on my way to Allen’s office because I already knew he would not be inside the door. I would be lying to deny that my heart sank a bit as we rounded the top of the staircase and headed down the hall.

Approaching the thick oak door with the nameplate on the outside reading
Allen Hearsch C.P.A.
, we noticed that it was ajar. At first it was too difficult to force myself to push it open and walk inside due to the panic that gave me chills and a large knot in the pit of my stomach. Not wanting to go inside but knowing I had to if I wanted to find out how much trouble I could sense Allen was in, I closed my eyes. I took a deep breath, willing the door to open on its own in the event police showed up to investigate and take prints. The last thing I needed was to become the suspect in a police investigation, and being that someone was bound to notice the blown security system in the morning, I was certain they would make a report.

Stepping inside the door of Allen’s office, my throat closed off, making me glad that I could talk to Avan without saying a word. I knew that would be the only means of communication thanks to the sudden case of cottonmouth I had just developed. My heart dropped to my feet as I focused on the lamp in the corner that illuminated the room, unveiling the walls, which looked as if someone had thrown a marbleized mixture of red and silver paint all over the walls and floors. I knew immediately from reading my father’s letter what it was—angel blood. All I could think of at that exact moment was Allen. Was he dead? Could angels die?

Out of nowhere I heard Avan’s voice answer me inside my mind. “Angels can bleed and be hurt, but we can’t die—remember we are immortal beings. Don’t worry. We heal very fast too. This isn’t all Allen’s blood. If you look closely and enhance your vision, you’ll see that there is a kind of dark shimmer in some areas of the silver. That means whoever Allen came in contact with was hurt too. It looks like he put up a good fight, but I’m sure whoever it was brought some friends. They probably took him for leverage.”

“The blood looks so vivid and bright! I remember when Lena cut her finger, the blood was a lot darker and smelled weird. It smells sweet in here. Why would angel blood on the walls make it smell sweet?” I asked as I continued to gawk at the ransacked office covered in angel blood.