Heavenly Hell (Heavenly Hell Book 1) Read online

  Was I losing my mind or had I already reached that point? Surely insanity and my new existence didn’t come hand in hand with each other. My decision to kiss her back at school today didn’t exactly work to my benefit, but I should have never even contemplated it. I had dragged her around the entire day to upset her, but all I did was end up wanting to hold her in a loving embrace. I was sucked into her demon charms and tricked into liking the whole encounter. It had left me wanting more and needing a cold shower. The decision to leave didn’t come lightly. She was an opponent who got under my skin and stayed there constantly, aggravating the same spot over and over. I wanted to scratch it and pick at it, but I knew this would not make the issue go away.

  I knew that Connor would come out of the house sooner or later, and I was waiting for him. He would love the good news.

  “Man, I’m off. She is safe for now. I can’t do this anymore. I hate the little games she plays,” I said.

  “Well, that’s good. I’ll be glad to see you gone.” Connor seemed very happy now.

  “Yeah, you’ve got that evil, vile creature to yourself,” I said.

  I know I didn’t mean those words fully. She was a worthy opponent, and her stunning looks and fiery personality had screwed with my mind, but Connor didn’t know.

  “She is not evil. When are you going to realise this?” said Connor.

  “You’re blinded by love, Connor.”

  There was no getting through to him. I had enough. My next assignment should be a lot easier.

  “No, you are the blind one. You came here with this pre-conceived opinion, and nothing can change that. She is Amaliel, the Angel of Weakness,” said Connor.

  Connor said this so passionately. He truly believed she was an angel. Someone had to tell him the truth.

  “No, she is a demon who slays weak men,” I tried to explain to him.

  “I also doubted her story at the start, but I did my own research and found all of this information. I honestly believe that she is not a demon.”

  Connor went into his bedroom and came back with his laptop and opened numerous webpages. I had to sit down and read what he had presented. This was going to take some time. Luckily, she was at Nessa’s house catching up. After analyzing all of this for over an hour, I read through the notes Connor had written. He had come to the assumption that she was Amaliel, the Angel of Weakness. As this entity, she had succumbed to a mortal man and let him into Heaven. He was, however, not a mortal man at all and was an evil demon who had tricked her. She had fallen victim to her own weakness and saw it as her job to serve and protect all women who had also fallen prey to the same kind of men.

  But the fact still remained that she was now hurting men, and my boss had mistaken her for a demon and wanted her dead. Was Indy progressively becoming evil due to the nature in which she performed her tasks? She honestly thought she was helping.

  What was her problem with Simon? He was a harmless teacher who selfishly gave up his time for free. I just didn’t get any of this. I had to have been missing something. Connor interrupted my re-construction of the puzzle pieces.

  “Well you have been sitting for long enough. Are you convinced?” Connor was clearly annoyed with my silence.

  “You have me thinking, that’s all.”

  “Well, don’t waste time leaving. See ya!” ordered Connor. He really didn’t like me.

  I took that as my cue to leave, and drove back to the crappy house I was staying in. I quickly packed up the tiny amount of belongings I owned. I had most of my stuff packed, and I put the box I was holding down and stopped to think. I had ignored my own inner voice this whole time, and that decision just wasn’t sitting well with me. I had a stupid, idiotic idea forming in my head—one that I hoped would not cause me to want to bang my head up against the wall in the future.

  I needed to go back to the start and look at it with a fresh perspective, which is kind of impossible now. But at least I could give the boss a proper, detailed evaluation of the situation. Then he would be happy with my future decisions. I really didn’t want to kill an angel because that could cost me my wings. I still wasn’t sold on the story that she was in fact an angel, but I had to at least explore this avenue. If she was an angel then she was a seriously messed up angel.

  I had already told Simon my intentions of leaving at the tennis courts. He worried that Indy would hurt him again. I tried to assure him this would not happen. He wasn’t happy about it, but this way I could spy on him and see if Indy had a reason to make his life unbearable. If I could find a reason then maybe it would sway my opinion. This was all a little crazy, considering angels don’t hurt people, but I supposed there was a first for everything. I needed to make this look real and put no doubts in anyone’s mind that I was truly gone. I finished putting everything into my car and locked up the house. The real estate agent was shocked that I was giving notice so early. She made sure that I realized how much money I would lose, but I had no choice. I had rung the boss explaining that my cover was blown, and that I needed somewhere to stay. He had organized a rundown hotel out of town. He was also giving me a strict time frame to complete the case. I wasn’t being totally truthful with him. He thought I was still investigating Indy, which I suppose I kind of was.

  I pulled up to the hotel and was even more disgusted with the condition than the house I had just given up. I had better get comfortable because I would be spending entire day inside and surveillance would only be performed in the safety of darkness. I had been trained to keep myself well hidden, and the shadows of darkness are when I felt most at home.

  As I waited for the safety of darkness, I tried to plan out my strategy for how to deal with Simon. My phone had started to vibrate on the bed. Checking the caller ID, I grimaced when I saw who was calling. I was hoping to bypass this check-in and instead give a full detailed account of my findings at the end. I readied myself as I accepted the phone call.

  “Is she dead yet?” the caller was straight to the point.

  “No, not yet. I’m still working on it,” I said nervously.

  “Get the job done. You have exactly one week, or you will be recalled. The only confirmation I want is that the job is completed.” I heard a click on the other end.

  Now that I had one week left, there was no stuffing around. I had to find evidence in proving that Simon was not the person I had previously thought, and was indeed one of these weak men who succumbed to terrible temptations.

  I grabbed a microwave meal out of the tiny freezer and heated it to the specified time. As I ate the meal, I grew increasingly annoyed with my situation. It would only be for the week, though, then I would be moved on—my choice or not.

  The cover of darkness outside was enough to hide my form from anyone who may recognize me. Slipping on my darkest clothing, I left the cover of my dingy hotel room. Sprinting across town as fast as I could at a comfortable speed, I found myself outside Simon’s house before he came home from football practice. I climbed the tallest tree, so I could see the football field and wait for him to leave. I would not be able to see his route home, but I would be timing the arrival to ensure he made no stops along the way.

  The football players were dispersing, and Simon drove off in his car. Less than three minutes later he pulled up in his driveway. As Simon got out of his car, he searched the area very slowly. I presumed he was scanning for Indy. She was not here, but it didn’t change his paranoid mood one bit. He went inside his house, and I listened very closely. I heard the click of three deadbolts. Indy had really rattled Simon. He had proceeded to turn on every single light in his house. I feared that he would have a heart attack if he saw his own shadow.

  Simon headed to bed around ten o’clock. Throughout the night the smallest sound made him get up and peep out the window to check for anyone lurking around. If I had to estimate, he would have only had a maximum of three to four hours of sleep all night. The only thing out tonight was the cats prowling around in the rubbish bins for food—and, of
course, me.

  I wondered if this was a new paranoia that had been present since his first encounter with Indy, or if this had only surfaced since my presumed departure.

  The birds were the starting to stir and search for food to feed their young. This was a clue that daylight was soon to come, and I needed to get myself back to the hotel room to avoid being seen. Sprinting back as fast as I could, I raced the rising sun. I reached the hotel before the first rays of light lit the sky. Stuffing a Museli bar into my mouth, and drowning myself with a PowerAde, I felt the sleepiness take over. Getting myself into nighttime mode wouldn’t be hard, seeing as I had stayed up for twenty-four hours. I felt sleep pulling me away from the real world, and I finally succumbed.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Indiana

  I could not believe the words as they came out of Connor’s mouth. Nate had given up and gone home. He had proven to be the weaker of the two of us. Now I could carry on with the way I had lived my life for centuries, and I knew that Mr. Hopwood would, without a doubt, be on his best behavior again.

  We drove to school today and chatted about the usual topics. The group was in our new spot under the shady tree. When I joined them the questions came pouring out.

  “Indy, why did Nate leave? Are you okay with it?” Nessa asked me in a concerned tone.

  “At least he could have said goodbye in person instead of in a text message,” Mark said, seriously annoyed.

  “Are you okay, Indy?” Nessa asked me again.

  “Hey guys, I know as much you as you do. I didn’t get much notice either.”

  I tried to project a little bit of hurt in my tone, but under all of that I was extremely happy. He was fun to torment, but I was a little concerned he could actually kill me.

  The bell rang, and I had to head to Personal Development. As Mark and I walked into the classroom, Mr. Hopwood didn’t even look in our direction. He spent the entire class glued to the board. I didn’t understand the high importance of this subject. How many times can you be taught abstinence, or about the many drugs readily available? Luckily, this was the last week we had to sit through this torture. Next week, we would start a new subject called Careers in Practice. The purpose of this course was to help us learn the proper ways in which to fill out a job application and the correct structure for a resume. No one would take this subject seriously either, though.

  I was ready for a new case to work on. I would get bored quickly not having Nate to worry about, but nothing on the answering machine appealed to me. Maybe I should get a part-time job to pass the time, but then again, I would have to have an interest in that.

  I had not developed many interests since I had fallen, and I had only developed a few lasting friendships. It pains me to make friendships with humans. I usually move away before I get too attached and then lose all contact. But this time around I have become so close with both Nessa and Connor. Not to mention, Connor was the very first human I shared my secret with.

  Mr. Hopwood was like a zombie. He droned on and on through the class. There was no interest in the subject he taught, and he lacked the passion that Mrs. Harvey had. I could hardly wait ‘til the next period to see which subject we would be learning next. Hopefully it was one that I didn’t have any knowledge about.

  As we moved collectively to the next building toward History, Mark pulled me aside.

  “Are you sure you don’t know why Nate left town? Seeing how he wouldn’t let go of you the other day … I’m finding it a little strange.”

  Thinking fast, I thought of the most plausible reason I could. Mark was right. What boyfriend just leaves with no explanation?

  “He had a sick relative, and his family had gone to care for them. He was in a big rush and didn’t mean to upset anyone,” I lied, hoping that it was convincing.

  “Okay, maybe I believe you.”

  Mark was now suspicious of the whole situation. Hopefully he wouldn’t research this more or try to contact Nate and get a different story.

  I took my seat in history next to Mark. He was looking around for the pimple-faced kid. These two boys now had a terrible hate for each other.

  Mrs. Harvey started the class with an announcement that we were in control of teaching for the next two weeks. We had to pick a historic Australian figure and research what they had done to influence society. We were all given a day in which we would teach the class, and then she sent us off to the library to research. This would be more than easy for me. Mark had a little trouble deciding who he should research.

  I was about to offer a few suggestions when a feeling that I haven’t experienced for centuries started to creep up on me. Time froze and one of God’s messengers stood in front of me.

  I shielded my eyes as the angel took on a human form. The stunning creature was so beautiful it hurt. I hadn’t seen an angel for hundreds of years. The fallen were beautiful, but had nothing on a true archangel. His white luminescent robes glowed in the sun. His hair was a rich chocolate tone. It ached to be this close to my former life.

  “Hello, Jophiel, what would bring you to grace my presence?” I asked.

  “We are all disappointed in you, Amaliel, myself in particular. You have not followed any Godly path, and instead, you chose destruction to suit your own selfish emotions. I have come here to warn you, there is mutiny amongst the angels, and someone has created a dangerous weapon and unleashed it into the world. You are in danger.”

  “By weapon, do you mean the young teenager named Nate?”

  “You are aware of him?” Jophiel asked skeptically.

  “Well it’s a bit hard not to be. He has been a pain in my arse for the last few weeks.”

  It suddenly occurred to me that maybe my wings were connected to this whole situation so I asked, “Does this have anything to do with my wings turning black?”

  “I am afraid so. You have been preforming devilish tasks,” scolded Jophiel.

  “Well, can you blame me? I was banished to Earth in this form forever!” I protested.

  “This was not supposed to be a permanent image. When you chose a holy mission you were to be aged into a form that pleased you, and a special gift was to follow. This special gift would have been associated with your angel self.

  “Go to Hell with your holy mission. Why were these rules not explained to me from the beginning? Go back to Heaven. My path is fine!” I yelled out loudly.

  “Then we will not step in and protect you from this new threat.”

  I didn’t quite believe this. Jophiel was not cold, and the fact that he had come here to warn me proved this.

  “I can take care of myself!” I vehemently spat out.

  “Once your wings turn completely black, you will no longer be connected to God in any way. He will forgive if you change now, but you must ask for penance. God always forgives.

  “I will not stop protecting women, ever.”

  “You have been warned.”

  Jophiel disappeared with no grand departure or farewell, but a lot of disappointment. We had been great angel friends and I did appreciate him coming to warn me, but I also wondered if this was merely an empty threat?

  The rest of my day went by quickly. I didn’t participate in any of my classes due to this visit from above, and spoke very little to my friends. I was by no means upset with this impromptu social call. I was more annoyed at which angel had created this threat. Nardia was the only Angel with the healing ability, and I knew she wouldn’t heal an infinitus soul on purpose. We were all warned about the consequences of doing so, and Nardia would not be an exception to the rule.

  I had a few theories. The main theory involved the masking of the infinitus signature and the child or infant being healed by mistake. I had also jumped to the conclusion that Nate was not the only one of his kind. I didn’t think there was enough, however, to run into one ever again.

  But the fact remained that I had no idea who was pulling Nate’s strings. That person was either an angel or had a close connection to
an angel. Jophiel did not speak literally when he said an angel in Heaven had created an infinitus—only Nardia could have done that.

  As I travelled by myself, I had contemplated telling Connor of my angel encounter, but decided to keep this information to myself. I didn’t want this friendship to become a rollercoaster of the ups and downs of my life.

  That afternoon, after Connor finished football training, we both waited for the evening to come so we could go for a run. I was feeling like a good muscle stretch, and Connor said he would join me. As the sun started to descend, we left our house and sprinted down the road. I kept at a good pace beside Connor. We had been running for a good distance when we both needed to slow down to a fast-paced walk. We explored the dingiest part of town on the far outskirts of suburbia. These houses were not very nicely maintained at all. I was familiar with all kinds of living and could offer sympathy for these lives.