Nameless, page 7
I then realized this was no ordinary insane woman. She was much more. No woman (or man for that matter) could be that strong unless she was “influenced.” She yelled, “Adilah,” repeatedly until the guards got up and struggled with her some more. Their combined strength wasn’t enough to take her down. I stepped in closer and stared into her eyes. I pierced deeply into her mind and saw madness, fear, and confusion. I then put her to sleep. A little hypnosis always comes in handy.
She fell to the ground and the guards put her arms behind her back and took her away. I walked back to my room. Nurses were all around Helena, tending to her, which filled me with relief. I wanted to follow “Ms. Hercules,” but I was too fatigued after that hypnosis trick I used on her.
“Are you okay, Helena?” I said.
“Yeah. I guess we’ll have to cancel the appointment this time.” Helena left without my answering her invitation to dinner, which annoyed me.
A few hours later, I went to the psych ward of the hospital. I wanted to know why that “woman” attacked Helena. The area was as expected locked off. “Hey, you’re not supposed to be here!” a security guard said, getting up from his desk. I wanted to get this done the quickest way I knew how.
“Yes, I am. Now give me your keys.”
“Yes, you do belong here. Here are the keys.”
“Now go back to your desk, put your head down, and go to sleep.” He did just that. It took me a while, but I eventually found Ms. Hercules. She was wide-awake with her body, arms, and feet strapped down on a bed. I unlocked the door and stepped in and saw Helena inside.
She hastily turned around and said, “What are you doing here?”
“I should be asking you that.”
“I’m a reporter. I’m reporting this.”
“You’re lying to me.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Just tell me what’s going on.”
“Just shut up and let me do my job.” She stepped to the woman’s side and said, “What’s your name?”
She just kept repeating, “Adilah,” and random things about angels over and over.
“I bet no one believes you right?”
The woman stopped speaking suddenly.
“No one believes you about the angels bothering you right?” Helena asked.
“Yes, no one believes me.”
“Well, I believe you.”
“You do?”
“Of course I do.”
Ms. Hercules smiled with relief. “You’re pretty.”
Helena smiled. “Thank you. You are too. You can tell me anything. You can start with your name.” She stepped over and leaned toward her.
The strange woman stared up at the ceiling. “M-m-my name is Brother.”
“What’s with the Brother part?”
“That’s all of our first names.” The more she spoke, the more I was mystified.
“Even if you’re a girl?”
Vex nodded her head.
“Why did you want to kill me? Did this angel send you?”
“Yes. It won’t leave me alone. I just want to be left alone!” she said loudly, still staring up at the ceiling.
“Shhh, I could help you. I could stop the angels from talking to you. You just have to tell me what I need to know.”
“You can’t help me. No one can help. Adilah’s wrath will arrive. It’s only just a matter of time.” Vex closed her eyes as if she were going to sleep.
“Who is Adilah? And tell me about your brothers. Tell me where your brothers meet.”
Vex suddenly started shaking uncontrollably. She yelled, struggling to get loose from the straps. She screamed as loud as she could. The door slammed shut by itself. Helena tried opening the door but it wouldn’t budge. Vex broke free of the straps and launched herself at me. I tried using my hypnosis again but was hit with the hardest punch I’d ever felt in my life. I fell to the ground with Vex falling down after me. After a few seconds of strangulation, things got blurry and I began to lose consciousness. Helena repeatedly hit Vex over the head with her bag. It had no effect so she held her in a choke hold, but it didn’t even make her budge. Vex knocked Helena back a few feet. I tried leaving Aurick’s body before it died, but for some reason it wasn’t working. Suddenly, Vex started coughing. She started choking and coughing. She then rose and collapsed onto her bed and lay there motionless.
“Ah, are you okay, Vex?” There was no response. I went over to her and called to her again, “Vex?”
There was no response so Helena slapped her repeatedly to wake her up, but it didn’t work.
“Oh, crap, this is bad.” Just when Helena was getting somewhere, Vex just had to go ahead and die.
I thought it was weird that she’d died so suddenly. I knew she was heavily influenced by a Fallen, but she shouldn’t have died like that. The question that stayed in my mind was Who is Adilah?
“What in the world did you do to her, Aurick?” Helena said, still shaky.
“I didn’t do anything. She just started choking and then dropped dead.”
Helena pulled the door and it wasn’t jammed anymore. “Listen, you cannot tell anyone about this.”
“Okay but—”
“Repeat it! I will not tell anyone about this.”
“I will not tell anyone about this. But—” Before I could get out my next word, Helena walked hastily ahead of me.
“Are we still up for that date?” I called after her. She said to bring a date and meet her next week at Neptune’s Garden. It was a seafood restaurant in Times Square.
On my way down the hallway, I felt uneasy. The hallway seemed to get dark and blurry. It felt as if I were staring into a television that was showing static. It got cold. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up again.
“You shouldn’t be here, Mr. Pantera.”
I turned around to see Ms. Connors’s doctor. He had that same creepy, ominous crescent smile. “We have to keep you under observation. Who knows what may happen to you while you’re out of our sight.”
I swiftly slammed him against the wall. I pinned him with my forearm across his throat.
“What are you doing?” He didn’t struggle at all and still had that smile.
“Who are you?” I said, pressing against his throat harder.
“You’re hurting me.”
“No, I’m not.” A sharp pain struck my abdomen. I looked down to see a hypodermic needle sticking into my stomach. I felt woozy. I felt dizzy. I fell asleep.
I awoke stretched out on a hard bed. I was still dizzy and groggy. I tried to get up and move but I was bound by straps. It was pitch-black. It was so cold. I called out for help but just got echoes in return. Then blinding lights pierced my eyes, forcing me to squint. A tall, blurry figure appeared before me. The figure got clearer as my eyes adjusted to the bright light. It was the doctor. He looked at me with that same damn smile.
“What are you doing? What did you inject me with?” I said, struggling to break free of the straps.
“Oh, you don’t need to worry too much about that. The effects will die down in no time.”
“Who are you?”
“You mean you don’t recognize my presence? Wow, you have been in that body for a long time.” I concentrated hard. “Come on Mr. Pantera, concentrate harder.”
I did … and then it came to me, just like that. “Bashful Flycatcher? Is that you?”
The doctor burst into laughter. “Oh, goodness, I haven’t heard that name in a long time. I almost forgot it.”
“I knew you weren’t normal. What are you doing here, Flycatcher?”
“Please, you know our names have long ago been revoked.” Besides being given names by Father, we also get to choose code names in the line of duty. This particular Fallen used to be known as Bashful Flycatcher. “I am now Doctor.” Angels usually give themselves new names after their descent.
“Doctor?”
“Yes. Nowadays I spend most of my time healing humans. It’s a nice job when you get over the smell of death. What are you doing with your time, Mr. Pantera?”
“I spend most of my time healing human’s brains. I also go to hospitals and get held hostage by psychopathic doctors.”
“Oh, excuse my rudeness.” Doctor untied my straps and helped me sit up. He put his wrist on my forehead and then rested his hand on my neck.
“Why did you kill Vex?”
“Heavens no! Why would I do such an awful thing?”
“Vex was babbling on about angels bothering her. You’re telling me that was just a coincidence?”
“Now, Mr. Pantera, don’t say such silly things. We both know if I truly killed her, I would be deported to the Null by now.”
“I suppose you’re right. But then who did?”
“Vex was a very sick person. To relieve the ‘voices,’ she was constantly hyped up on PCP. I guess it finally caught up to her.” Doctor gave me a cup of water and asked how I was feeling.
“You seem to know a lot about Vex. Tell me who she is and why she tried to kill Helena Way.”
Doctor laughed. “Mr. Pantera, we finally meet after centuries and all you can talk about is murder. You don’t bother to ask me how I’m feeling. You never were the talkative type. What you really should be worrying about is your health. If you stay in that body too long, you’ll be in deep trouble.”
“I have it under control.”
“Not for long, Mr. Pantera. That little cancer you have inside that pretty little body of yours is eating away at you.”
“My spirit pressure has got that under control.”
“Not for long. Although you can suppress it from eating your body, it aggravates the mental struggle between you and Aurick. The host’s mind is already trying to synchronize and dispel the foreign object from the body at the same time. Your own conscience is doing the same thing. This constant fight for control always leads to one thing for both beings: permanent insanity.”
“Enough with the small talk. Tell me what I want to know.”
“Mr. Pantera, nothing is more important than your health. I am only looking after you.”
“Stop playing games with me.”
“Well, if you must know, Vex was simply a drugged-up schizophrenic psychopath. She was in a religious group for drug money for her addiction. People and their religions.” Doctor sighed stridently. “With her mental condition, she always found her way here, my territory. And then Ms. Way happened to be here. She’s been a thorn in that group’s side for a while now. I guess when he saw Ms. Way, he saw it as an opportunity to put her out of the organization’s misery. It’s not like the courts are going to give a sick bastard like that life.”
Doctor’s explanation was a little too thin. It was a nice sensible explanation, but some elements were missing. Doctor was hiding truth from me. On my way out, I stopped and said, “Before he died, he kept saying a name.”
“What was the name?”
“Vex called out for ‘Adilah’ and something about ‘Adilah’s wrath.’ You wouldn’t happen to know anything about it?”
Doctor laughed. “Vex did have a girlfriend. Her name was Adilah … I think. It was just mindless ramblings coming from a mindless human.” As I walked away down the hall, Doctor yelled out. He ran and stopped before me.
“Good heavens! I almost forgot to give you your lollipop.” He handed the lollipop to me, patted me on the head, and wished me good night.
VI
HELL DATE
There’s a time you will be given a choice. A choice to live in reality for others or to pursue a dream. We all live or die for it. Stay in your zone of safety or chase down the corridors of the impossible shape. Whatever your choice is, what is real is a mirage to someone else. For the realest sanctuary can decay and the most sublime of dreams will be awoken from. As you age, you realize you will need more than present reality and dreams. Truth. I am certain that you, my dear, will make the right decision. Do not be misled by the scholarly knowledge of the world because you will decide whether my investment for you was perception or truth.
I had that naked feeling after learning that some religious faction really did want to kill Helena. This was the second time her life was almost ended by the hands of this cult. I’m sure it was no coincidence back on the night of the pileup and even back at the hospital. I knew some higher force was at work. Sure, Fallen organize religions and cults plenty of times, but why would a Fallen go through all the trouble of getting a mere single human killed?
I spent the week trying to come up with answers but failed. All of this thinking stressed me out so I put it out of my mind. I was ecstatic about my date with Helena today. But then I remembered that she told me to bring someone with me, which I guess I’d pushed out of my mind. Where was I going to find someone to go with me in just a few hours? I wanted to ask Aisely to take over someone’s body and go with me, but I remembered I yelled at him and made him cry. I paced back and forth until I heard yelling coming from Jamie’s apartment above me.
I tried to ignore it but the noise broke my concentration. I went upstairs and knocked on Jamie’s door. When Jamie opened the door, her eyes were red and her face was covered with tears. I asked her what happened. She told me that she’d gotten into an argument with Micky again. The argument had gotten heated and Micky had choked and slapped her.
“Where is he?” I said.
“He’s having a party at his house.” I asked her to drive me. “You’re going over there?”
“Yes.” She tried to get me to change my mind but it was futile. It was a thirty-minute drive over Micky’s house. Jamie parked outside.
“What are you going to do?”
“He will never lay a hand on you again.”
Music was coming from the backyard. There must’ve been about a hundred people. Micky was speaking with some women. He had the smug confidence that only the unintelligent fall for. He walked over to the grill and flipped hamburgers. Each step I took was powered by anxiousness. I walked over and slammed Micky’s head onto the grill. Micky’s guests looked on in shock. Some looked as if they wanted to help him out but they were too scared. Micky rolled on the ground, crying in pain. I kicked him repeatedly until Jamie called out to me to stop. I kicked him one more time and walked away. Seven of Micky’s friends stepped in front of me, about to pounce.
“Don’t let him get away,” Micky said, still holding on to his face. I walked past them and continued on. “What are you waiting for? Get him.”
“I can’t move,” one of the seven said. “I can’t move my body. Someone help me.”
Micky picked up a stone from the ground and threw it at me. I easily caught it, walked over to him, and choked him with one hand.
Micky had black grill imprints on his face. He gasped for air and tried to yelp for help. I pulled his pants and boxer shorts down. To top it all off, I stuffed the stone Micky had tried to hit me with in his mouth. I forced him to his knees and grabbed his hair. Jamie was in shock the whole time.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this boy is guilty of laying his hand on a woman. Don’t you think he should apologize? Now apologize to Ms. Jamie, Micky.”
Micky muttered something.
“I’m sorry, Micky, I can’t hear you with a stone in your mouth. Maybe you should project your voice more.” He muttered more things. “All right, if you are sorry, clap your hands together seven times.” Micky did just so. Many of Micky’s guests laughed while others had their mouths open in dismay. Jamie just stood there smiling. Then we left and she drove us away.
“That was so cool, Aurick. Where did you learn those moves from, man?”
“My father taught me. By the way, do you have water to wash my hands?”
I soon looked at one of my watches and saw that I was running out of time. So I asked Jamie to accompany me on a double date later on. Jamie agreed without hesitation. We each went to our apartments and changed our clothes. Jamie drove us to Neptune’s Garden. We got there a few minutes late. Helena and Derek hadn’t gotten there yet, which annoyed me. We waited for what felt like an hour.
“Where are these people? Are you sure we’re in the right place, Aurick?” Jamie said, fidgeting around and biting her fingernails. Just when I had enough of waiting for them, Helena and Derek waltzed right in.
“Oh my God, are we late?” Derek said, fixing his jacket. Both Helena’s and Derek’s hair were messy. They were sweaty and breathing hard as if they’d run a mile. But I knew they didn’t run anywhere since they drove here.
We all went on with small talk about the weather and such. Helena was wearing a nice slim black suit, the first time I’d seen her in elegant clothes. I was awed by her presence.
Derek moved in as if he were going to kiss her. So to stop him, I asked about her investigation on the cult that had been terrorizing the city recently. I wanted to tell her that the cult wanted her dead, but I didn’t want to freak her out.
“Some freaky cult guy tried to kill me again, Derek,” Helena said, pouring butter sauce on her lobster tail. Took the words right out of my mouth.
“Kill you?” Jamie said. “Good Lord! Why?”
“My investigation has led me to find the name of their group.”
“What’s the name?” Derek said with a peculiar focused look on his face.
“Adilah,” she said.
“Adilah? What a weird name for a cult. How did they try to, um … hurt you?” Jamie asked.
“Strangling the life out of me. They would’ve succeeded too if dear Aurick here didn’t help me.”
“Aurick was there?” Jamie said, looking at me, her eyes the size of dining plates.
“Yeah. Sure,” I said, looking away in discomfort.
“Yep. If Aurick hadn’t been around, I probably wouldn’t be here eating this delicious lobster tail,” Helena said with her mouth full of food. “Nah. Nothing is going to take me down.”
“Aren’t you scared of being attacked again, Helena?” I felt Jamie groping my leg under the table. I pushed her hand away but she replaced it with the other hand.
“Nope. It wasn’t the first time. I’m getting closer and closer, so this won’t be the last.”
