An Angel's Love

Chapter One1

“You want a soul, Reaper? Take mine!” yelled William as he plunged a knife into his breast. As he collapsed to the floor of the hospital room, his mind ran back through the events of the previous days...2

... “William! How many times have I told you, spray-painting graffiti on the scythes is not acceptable! Come back here, you hooligan!” hollered Gabriel, as he chased William through the courtyard of his stately manor in Heaven, also headquarters to the Thirty-third Soul Collection Battalion, S Company. Commonly referred to as “Scythe City”, the mansion was the headquarters of the finest and most skilled group of Reapers in all the land. The finest team, save for one member. William, the joker who broke all the rules and regs, who was currently being pursued for spray-painting his scythe’s handle. He was a wild one, but a skilled Reaper.3

Will got away, hid behind some asphodel bushes, and sat down to rest. His mind and eyes wandered over to the next building over from Gabe’s place. It was the HQ for the Shining Guards, the finest unit in all of Heaven, led by Joan of Arc, the Maiden of Orleans. They were the guardian angels of the humans on earth. Will had always wanted to get into the Guards, but he’d failed the exams, and was shunted into Soul Collection. Will just sat there, gazing off into space when the voice of his dispatcher popped over the PA. “Attention, Reapers, Attention. Would William and Xavier please report to the drop dock; you have an assignment.”4

He stood, and focused his mind on the drop dock, and disappeared. He reappeared in the drop dock in a cloud of curling smoke, his scythe in hand, and his raven-black wings outstretched. He had a flare for the dramatic. “What’s up?”5

His partner, Xavier, was a much more serious person than he was. He was also a much less dramatic person. He simply walked in the door.6

“Still carrying that travesty of a scythe, Will?“ Will’s weapon was heavily customized, despite all the rules forbidding it. His blade was half-serrated, and while plain to the naked eye, under a blacklight the blade was revealed to have been inked with invisible ink, in designs of seething, boiling black clouds. The handle had been spray-painted light gray, and marked, with a notch carved in it for each successful job. Xavier’s was plain, with a plain, un-serrated blade, a plain ash handle, and no markings other than a plain brass plate bearing his tag number. All in all, very plain.7

“Yep. Wanna see it up close?” replied Will tartly, his fists tightening around the handle. Everyone in the company knew that they hated each other, but had been put together to complement each other. Will was inventive, and always got the job done, but had a tendency to be impulsive and to go off half-cocked. Xavier was the exact opposite. He was highly disciplined and obeyed orders without question. But he was unable to think on his feet really well, so Gabriel paired him and William together. Will was reigned in by Xavier, and he forced Xavier to think on his feet and think outside the box. Problem was that the two never saw eye to eye. Will thought that Xavier was an uptight snob and a grouch, and Xavier thought that William was a carefree, useless, lazy slacker with the IQ of a tick. They were constantly squabbling, but it never seemed to put a dent in their record. Each mission was completed successfully.8

Xavier took the challenge in stride, by ignoring Will, and asking the dispatcher, “What must we do this time, my good man? Or more to point, who do you want?”9

The dispatcher turned his chubby face to Will, and said, “William is to descend to earth and find this woman. Her time’s just about up. Bring her in. Xavier here is to provide backup. Will’s jaw dropped. He was to go in alone! This never happened to him!10

“Whadda you mean, I’m to provide backup? I’m the team leader, for Pete’s sake! I should be the one going in, with the runt here covering my butt! No, scratch that; I don’t trust this harebrained oaf to even do that right.”11

Will let this pass. He wasn’t in the mood to fight right then. He just checked the dossier, rechecked the watch on his wrist, and puffed down to Earth.12

Chapter Two13

As soon as Will set foot on the solid ground of Earth, he was back in his element. He called in his arrival time for the archives, so he could be documented as having been first to make the kill. He set about getting ready to make the hit. He’d landed in an alley, so he was out of sight of everyone on the street. He slicked his black hair back into a ponytail. He had magic other than to disappear and reappear elsewhere. He could change shape, and alter his appearance or the appearance of his gear. He turned the coal-black armor of the reaper’s uniform he wore into a t-shirt and jeans of the same dark hue, and reduced his scythe into a pendant on a gold chain. He slipped on a Knicks cap and shrugged into a beat-up trench coat to hide his wings. Other angels simply used magic to get rid of their wings when they came to Earth, but Will liked this way better.14

He stood, walked into the blazing daylight, and was immediately surrounded by the rushing multitude of New York City’s population. Will was the only reaper who loved the cities of man, the huge skyscrapers that soared to the heavens. The others said they were modern towers of Babel. Will thought the reason that men raised such towering colossi to the heavens was to get above their problems. It’s really hard to deal with all the corruption, pain, misery and suffering that weighs on a soul, but when you’re high up on a tower, or in a plane, you just feel disconnected from reality, and you feel free.15

Will was enjoying the view, of heads of hair cut in the same, deadpan business style as far as he could see down the street. He was inconspicuously searching for his target, and was knocked over as he collided with someone. He looked up from his position, and found himself gazing into the deep emerald eyes of a lady. She was dressed in a pair of jeans, Nike sneakers, and a black t-shirt with a revolver and a hand of cards on the front, above a Smith-and Wesson logo. She was wearing a Chicago Bulls jacket, and a cap emblazoned with “Ed’s Garage” below a set of crossed wrenches. Her brown hair was pulled back in a braid, and it hung to the middle of her back. She was beautiful, and was at the moment swearing profusely at him for not watching where he was going. Will stood, helped the lady up, and bowed low. “I’m truly sorry, miss. I was looking for a friend of mine, and I guess I wasn’t looking where I was headed.”16

“Damn right, pal. Now move outta the way.”17

“Sorry.” Will moved, and the woman stormed past him. When she was gone, he looked around. In his reverie, he’d wandered out of the business district, and into the heart of the Bronx. He was in the middle of a park, and it was getting late. He rechecked the dossier, and made sure there wasn’t a deadline on when his hit needed to reach the Booking Department, situated at the corner of Pearly Street and Gates Avenue up in Heaven. There wasn’t, and he made a shocking discovery. His target, one Sandra M. Douglas, was the very same lady he’d ran into moments before! He got the address off the dossier, puffed it back into his duffel. He set off for the address given.18

When Will arrived at Ed’s Garage, the address listed as Sandra’s home, he found a run-down, oil-stained wreck of a building that bore no resemblance to what he’d pictured. He knew he needed an alibi, and so he looked for a suitable vehicle. He found a sweet-looking old El Camino, and he puffed in, cranked her up, and was relieved to find that it was making a distinct “Chuk-chuk-chuk-whang” sound in the motor. He pulled into the garage, and honked his horn. Sandra came out of the office, looking around.19

“Whadda you want, bub? Oh, it’s you, the guy who bowled me over earlier. What’s the damage, pal?”20

“Car keeps makin’ a weird noise, and I’m no great shakes at mechanicing;  might wind up doing more harm than good. Could you take a look at it?”21

“Sure, but it’ll cost ya.” Sandra popped the hood on the El Camino and strted rummaging around inside, gazing appraisingly at every single part. Will couldn’t help staring at her. Even from behind, she was pretty. Will had never seen any woman so beautiful, and he’d been around nearly five hundred years. He’d never felt, so lightheaded around, so, so, so attracted to, any female. Will was in the midst of gazing at Sandra when she pulled out, and stood before him in all her grease-stained beauty. “Looks like a cracked cylinder head. This car will need a great deal of work. It oughta get you to wherever it is you live, and maybe back here Tuesday so I can fix it, but it’s not gonna be cheap, or easy.22

“Okay, Miss, uh, what is your name, anyway?”23

“Douglas. Sandra Douglas. You?”24

“Bill. Bill Taylor, of Nashville. I’m in town for business.” Will climbed into the car, and turned the key. But, at that very moment, the car died, and stayed dead. No amount of jumping, or cursing, or yelling, or hitting would get the beast to turn over. “This sucks. I’m staying in Montauk, out on Long Island.” He used a little bit of his magic to affect Sandra's response. He needed to be close to her so he could do his job. That meant no hotels.25

“I tell you what, Bill Taylor of Nashville, you can crash in my place for the night, and then in the morning you can catch a cab out to Montauk. But only for the night, and you’d better keep civil. These wrenches of mine are good for other things than fixing cars.”26

“Deal.”27

“Come on, then. I live right above my garage.” She led him up a flight of stairs into a completely different realm. All her walls were painted with designs of race cars of all sorts, and trophies sat around the shelves. She had a shelf devoted entirely to die-cast cars, and her radio was playing “I love NASCAR” by Cletus T. Judd.28

“I assume you like cars.”29

“How’d you guess?”30

They sat down on the couch and talked for hours, and then Sandra went to bed. Will lay on the couch and stared up at the ceiling, watching the fan, with its blades emblazoned with “3, 8, 2, 24”. He was debating, for some unknown reason, giving up his job and proposing to Sandra. Then he laughed, and spoke aloud to himself. “Yeah, right. Once you become a Reaper, you are bound to that profession, to that brotherhood of death, and cannot stray from that path. Reaper’s Code, 3:18. An angel is forbidden to marry a mortal, or to lust after a mortal, or to fraternize with a mortal. Angelic Code of Ethics, 2:5.” He dismissed the thought from his mind. But what Will didn’t know was that Sandra felt the same way for him as he for her. He fell asleep, and dreamed of love and honor.31

He awoke the next morning to the sound of sizzling bacon and the smell of fried eggs. He stood, and moved for the kitchen. Sandra was in the kitchen, and she turned to see him come in. “Mornin’. Want some chow? Not exactly the best around, but you know what they say, what don’t kill ya will just make you stronger.” She handed him a plate heaped with bacon, and sausage, and eggs. He sat in silence, and he ate the food. He had a bad feeling, almost like a premonition. He dismissed it like he had the thought about Sandra the previous night. Just then, Sandra sat down. “You know, Bill? I think your car’s down for good; I checked it over earlier. I’ll give you a ride to Montauk. I’ve got relatives up that way anyway.”32

“You do?”33

“Yeah, but I rarely visit. Most of the time they just criticize me about my cars, and my job, and then they criticize me for not being married to some big Wall Street stock broker. They think I’m not very ladylike, and that it drives men away.”34

“They’re probably jealous.” This brought a snort from Sandra.35

“Hey, Bill. Let’s take the scenic route. I can show you around the town while I take you home,” said Sandra, as she headed for her car, a yellow Camaro. The engine in it roared to life as soon as she turned the key, and they took off.36

Bill was enjoying the tour, and was enjoying the tour guide even more, when they came to a busy intersection. As Sandra pulled out to keep going, Will heard screams from the left, and saw to his horror a bus barreling down on them. Even with the magic changing his appearance, Will recognized the driver as none other than Xavier. He started to puff out with Sandra, but found that Xavier was blocking his magic! As the bus slammed into them, Will blacked out.37

Will woke up in a twisted wreck, and sirens were blaring in his ear. He was dragged forcibly from the remains of the Camaro, and was deposited on a gurney. He opened his eyes and asked a paramedic, “What happened? Where’s Sandra?”38

“Miss Douglas was hurt worse than you. She was airlifted to the trauma center. I don’t know much about it, but it sounds bad.”39

Will blacked out again, and woke up in the hospital, a doctor hovering over him. “How did you do it?”40

“Do what?”41

“Ah, so you’re awake. Do you realize that your car was hit by a bus going nearly fifty-five? And that other than a small bruise on your arm, you have no injuries whatsoever? This is a medical mystery.”42

“I’m a fast healer.”43

“Too bad it wasn’t like that with your girlfriend. She was hurt very badly. Comminuted fractures of the left tibia, fibula, and femur; the ribs on the left side are broken, and one of them punctured her lung. She has a fractured skull, and severe lacerations on her face and neck. She lost a lot of blood, and shock set in. She may not make it. In fact, I give her less than a day to live. You may go and see her, if you wish, but I warn you, it’s not pretty.44

“I can handle it, doc.” Will stood and walked to the room where Sandra lay. She was prostrate on the bed, and her face was swathed in bandages. Only her mouth and nose remained visible, and her eyes were showing, too. She was sleeping, and Will merely stood there, gazing on her broken form. He moved to the bedside, and knelt beside her. “Sandra, it’s me, Bill. Can you hear me? Sandra, I have something to say. I love you, Sandra. I love you with all my heart.”45

Her eyes fluttered open, and she looked at him. “B-Bill. I love you t-t-too.” And then she passed back out.46

Just then Will heard footsteps, and stood. He turned to stare into the hard cobalt eyes of Xavier. The other Reaper spoke, his voice a low hiss. “Will, fancy seeing you here. Was I interrupting something?”47

“You. You did this to her!” Will was enraged, and nearly drew his scythe to strike down his partner when he thought of the Reaper’s Code. No Reaper could strike down another Reaper. He sank to the ground in defeat.48

“That’s what I thought. When you didn’t report in like you should have, they sent me in to find you. I watched all night long as you lay on her couch, and I probed your stupid little head to see what was on that pebble you call a mind. I decided that you were ineffective, and I took the hit on. I hit your pretty little girl’s car with a bus, and now I’m here to collect her in.” He held up the scythe and walked further into the room.49

“No, Xavier. You won’t take her.”50

“Oh, really, runt? Why don’t you make me?”51

“Sure. Xavier, do you remember the Reaper’s Code, Article Twenty, Paragraph Thirty-three?”52

“Yeah. It says that a Reaper must bring in all the souls he finds in the course of a mission.”53

“And Paragraph Twenty-eight of the Fifth Article?”54

“Yes. It regulates the number of souls a Reaper can bring in per mission. It states that a Reaper must not exceed the specified quantity of targets listed on his dossier. Why do you ask me such...” Xavier wheeled as it dawned on him what William was up to.55

Will puffed his scythe out, and morphed it into a dagger. “Xavier, the woman in that bed means more to me than anything. I love her very much. I can’t let you take her. You want a soul, Reaper? Take mine!” He plunged the dagger into his chest, piercing his heart. He sunk to the ground as his life drained out of him. As everything went black, a voice rang out in his ears. “Lord, is that you?56

“Yes, William. It is I, the Lord. You have broken almost every rule set before you. You have caused trouble so many times that there is a complete filing cabinet in Gabriel’s office dedicated to you alone.” Will’s heart sank. He knew he was not bound for Heaven, and was trying to resign himself to the prospect of an eternity in torment.57

“But you have also shown that you love this woman more than anything, though she be mortal, and though the love you have is forbidden. Love her enough to give your life for her. For this, I will grant you one wish, no matter what it is. What is it that you desire?”58

Will thought, and finally said, “Lord, I wish only that Sandra would live to a ripe old age, and bear many children for a good, strong man.”59

“As you wish, William. She shall live. Look at your wings.” Will turned to look over his shoulder, and saw his wings disappearing, and soon he had none. Great, now I know I’m bound for Hell. I’ve been stripped of my wings.60

Will was about to turn back and face his fate when out of his back erupted a pair of wings. Not the raven-black pinions of a Reaper, but the snowy white wings that were the badge of the Guardian Units. The only black they had was a patch of midnight at the tips. “Lord, what does this mean?”61

“For your devotion to this young lady, and the willingness to give your life for her, you are being transferred to a Guardian unit, and assigned as her Guardian. The black patches area a reminder to you of where you came from. You may report to Joan of Arc in the morning, and pick up your commission. But until then, William, you may stay here.” And then God left, taking Xavier with him, leaving Will alone with Sandra.62

Then it dawned on him of who God had said to report to. “Joan of Arc! She’s the CO for the- The Shining Guard! Whooee!” He jumped up and down a bit, and then settled down, and spoke to Sandra, who was asleep. “Sandy, I guess the secret’s out. I was a Reaper, a collector of souls, but then you happened. And now look at me. I’m your guardian angel! Oh, you’ll see me again. I’m a very hands on guy. I like to be close to those I protect...”63

Fin64