Heaven is For Real Part 1
Rosemary and Regan helped each other haul a box into a large living room. “Where do you want this?” the eldest of the pair asked.
“Just set it aside anywhere,” Mike the archangel answered. “I’ll take care of it later.”
The girls obeyed and dropped it beside a new couch that Mike purchased for his new apartment. It was part of the large and expensive apartment complexes right on 127 Revelation Drive, not terribly far from the Gravely house but on the other side of Brimstone’s suburbia. His room was located on the second floor in Room No. 9.
For a single bedroom apartment it looked, on the inside, big enough to house more. The living room had plenty of space for the new entertainment system and T.V. Mike was setting up. The kitchen area was small but had room for a dishwasher and an electric oven. The single bathroom that was down the short hallway didn't seem cramp. In fact it was big and fancy like the ones to be found inside a luxury hotel suite. It even came with its own belcony, which had a nice view of the rest of Brimstone as well as a place for the new grill Mike paid for. Besides several items that needed to be purchased and a few more boxes needing to be unpacked, it was starting to look homely for the heavenly angel.
“I appreciate your help, girls.” Mike thanked his new nieces.
“No probs, dude.” Rosie replied with a thumbs up.
"How come you're renting an apartment, Uncle Mike?" Regan asked, "Don't you already have a home to yourself in Heaven?"
"I do, and it's three times the size this place is," the archangel said, "But I always like to have another home away from home, and this one's gotta be someplace a little closer to you guys. That way I don't have to crash in your guestroom all the time."
“You don’t talk about your home much, do you Mike? Heaven I mean.” the preteen commented.
“Technically I’m not supposed to. Humans aren’t supposed to know what goes on in Heaven, just like they weren’t supposed to know about what goes on in the Inferno; but since Lu and his demons like breaking rules…”
“Why shouldn’t humans know about angels and Heaven?” Regan asked.
“Let’s just say that angels are pretty secretive in general. There are some things you humans were meant to discover on your own, and some things that you’re not allowed to discover.”
“But why?”
Mike only smiled. “Maybe one day you can ask them that, along with any other questions you might have.”
“You seem to be comfortable telling us all this.” Rosemary said.
“Only because you’re so comfortable absorbing all this information. I remember when a fella named Luke found out about us. He was a babbling, drooling mess afterward.”
"Hello?" A familiar, accented voice called outside. "Anyone home now?"
"Come on in, Malaika," Mike called back.
Ms. Kat entered into through the open doorway. "Hello. Hello children." She greeted once more. "I brought over a little something as a nice welcoming gift." In her hands was a fresh cherry pie wrapped in a plastic sheet. "I hope you don't mind."
Mike leaned over the pie and got a good whiff. "It's perfect. Thank you, Malaika."
"Oh my, this place is impressive," the kindergarten teacher commented, looking around the large living space. "This must be costy."
"Not at all. Just $1100 a month, all utilities like water and heating included."
"All by yourself?"
"No biggie. I got a ton of cash stashed in several bank accounts. The props of being a prince of Heaven and an archangel. Besides, I don't think I'll be staying in this lonely apartment by myself. I think I can have some good company over, don't you think so."
Mike swung his big arms around Malaika's waist and pulled her close, careful enough not to smother the pie between their breasts. He gave her a look that was meant to be charming. "Maybe you can... stay the night. Just until I'm a little more comfortable."
Malaika's fair skin started turning pink. Then she realized that a pair of youthful, smug eyes were watching them. "Don't you two have somewhere else you should be?" the teacher politely hinted at the girls. "Like right now? Like now, now?
They immediately picked up on the hints. "Yeah I think we do." Rosie nugged her little sister. "Come on, Regan. Let's give them some privacy."
"Bye bye, love birds!" the youngest Gravely giggled.
Now both Ms. Kat and Mike were blushing. Rosemary and Regan waved them goodbye and exited the apartment. Now the two adults had the ultimate bachelor's place to themselves.
"You know you're full of secrets, Michael." Ms. Kat said.
"I can't help myself. There's just some things I can say and some things I can't.”
“Yet you’re comfortable of sharing some information.”
Mike never believed in Déjà vu until now. "Tell you what, we'll talk about whatever you wish to know about me, right after you help me finish this delicious looking pie. How did you know cherry was my favorite? Hey, there's something you learned about me."
The archangel took the pie away from his girlfriend's hands. Now nothing kept them apart from each other. Malaika giggled when she pressed herself onto his body. Her fingers brushed up the leather of his jacket. Mike hovered the pie over Malaika's head, teasing that he was going to drop it, which made her laugh. Their lips then met and stayed glued for an eternal ten seconds more.
Mike slowly pulled away from her and smiled when his gaze met her hazel eyes. Malaika also smiled but it faded when she noticed his smile dropped too. She asked what was wrong yet an answer did not come. The archangel carefully watched a few strands of her glossed, long hair levitating above her brows. He too felt the hairs in his body stand on end like electrical static filling around. His hand waved through the air, to which the couple felt every molecule in the air colliding against one another, building up current of unseen energy.
The lights in the apartment flickered sporadically. The room rattled like a small earthquake was happening in the area where no earthquakes were possible. Sparks of electricity popped around the scared couple. Each pop they made sounded like a thunder from a storm. Ms. Kat couldn't help but yelp every time there was a pop. She held Mike tight, burying her face into his chest. Mike dropped the pie he was holding and shielded Ms. Kat from what's to come. The pie, however, never touched the wood floor. It floated along with several other small items within the apartment inside a newfound gravity field.
The sparks grew bigger. The flashes were more chaotic. Mike wanted to summon his wings to defend them, but he knew they would be no good. This was not a threat, at least not yet anyway. He knew what was happening. He knew it was only time before they were sent for him. At what sounded like a crack of thunder, they arrived.
The Gravely sisters walked all down the flight of stairs from the second floor to the first. The pair almost made it to the front exit when the eldest sister stopped. "Ah crap, I forgot my cellphone."
"You swore, Rosie." Regan called her sister out. "You owe a quarter to the swear jar."
"I did not." Rosie retorted angrily. "Shut the hell up."
"Now you owe two." the youngest quipped so smuggish.
The pair turned around and made their way back to Mike's room. Regan reached for the metal rail but felt a sharp shock on her fingers. "OW!" she whelped. "That hurt."
Her older sister tried to take her by the hand. "Come on, let's - YOW!" she snapped after feeling the same jolt. The lights in the stairway flickered wildly followed by a small earthquake. The two sisters grapped each other as the whole apartment building shook. They couldn't move from the fear swelling inside them. They then heard what sounded like pops of thunder and Ms. Kat's screams.
The rattling stopped and the lights were normal. Something had happened. Whatever it was it happened inside Mike's new apartment. Rosemary and Regan bolted up the stairs as fast as they could. They hoped both Mike and Ms. Kat were safe from whatever that was.
They heard Ms. Kat's cries when they reached the second floor. "Michael, what's going on? Who are they?"
Mike's room was just a few feet on the right from the doorway. Quietly the Gravely sisters crept towards the door that was still ajar after they left. Frightened as they were they still moved, holding each other's hands for comfort. Outside the entrance they peeked.
Still standing where they last saw them was Mike and Malaika, but they were not alone. Surrounding them were four unknown strangers, decked out from neck to foot in shiny, chrome-plated armor. Three of them masked themselves behind cylindrical helmets that resembled what knights of the Crusades wore.
The fourth, presumably their leader, wore no helmet. This stranger looked very much like a man. Pale skin, completely bald head, and a small soul patch below his lower lip. What disturbed the girls most was the large, healed burn mark that stretched around the right portion of his face. His left eye looked healthy blue, but his right eye was heavily discolored by a cloud of grey. They both quietly gasped when they noticed the strangers had wings too. They were angels, like Mike and Gabi, but their wings looked different. They were slightly shorter compared to Mike's — approximately a foot shorter in wingspan — emitting a glow of silver energy rather than gold. They were careful enough that their wings of intensified energy did not mark any of the walls.
Ms. Kat looked on the intruders with shock. Mike one the other hand did not look as surprised. From his grim expression he knew them, especially the unmasked, scarred one. "Peter? What’s the meaning of this?"
The leader stepped forward to Mike. "Archangel Michael, by the order of the Council, you're under arrest."
"What?" Ms. Kat gasped.
"On what charges?" the archangel demanded. He still held Ms. Kat close to him.
"Exposion." Peter explained. His voice sounded tranquil but his face glared furious. "For revealing your angelic state to mortals, for unauthorized visits to the mortal realm, and for making contact with the devil and his minions."
Michael sighed. "Only a matter of time I suppose. Very well, I won't resist." He moved his girlfriend aside and stepped towards the captain. "Just don't her."
"What?!" Ms. Kat cried. The girls watched as their teacher placed herself between the man she loves and the arresting angels. "No please! You can't take him."
"It's going to be okay, Malaika." he tried calming her. "Everything's going to be okay."
"She knows?" the captain asked. "You're really in deep now, Michael."
Michael turned Ms. Kat around to face him. He could see tears beginning to spill from her soft eyes. "Malaika, please listen." he said, trying to remain calm. "I'll be fine. I knew one day they'd come for me. I promise I will explain everything when I return."
"I wouldn't bet on it." Peter replied. He pressed two fingers on Malaika's forehead. Both of his eyes glowed silver as his wings. Malaika stared deep into the angel's eyes. She felt something being plucked out of her mind then fainted.
Mike quickly caught his limp girlfriend before she could hit the floor. "You didn't have to do that!" he scolded the lesser angel.
"She'll be out for a few hours and wake up with a headache, and no memory of the two of you ever meeting. Standard procedure."
No memory of him. Those words wounded like a knife in the heart. He did not want to imagine a life without her, just as his youngest brother without the mortal woman he loves. Mike gently placed Malaika on his new couch. He knelt down beside her, brushing away her hair away from her face. Everyone watched as he planted one last kiss on her sweet lips. "I promise I will return to you." he whispered in Malaika's while she slept. Mike stood and laid both his arms out. One of the soldier angels gave Peter a set of large cuffs, and he slapped them both around his wrists. The archangel cringed when they automatically tightened around his wrists like pairs of snakes choking out his hands.
"I wish it did not have to come to this." the arresting angel admitted. "I am sorry, old friend."
"Don't be hard on yourself." Mike assured. "You're just following orders."
The four angels formed a circle around their superior. Their wings raised all around them as sparks of lightning crackled out. They all concentrated while a rune circle appeared below their feet. The circle stretched itself across the apartment as more electricity and energy built up around the wings. Rosemary and Regan popped out of their cover and tried running towards the circle. Their beloved uncle about to be taken from them.
They stepped inside the circle which started to glow bright blue. They both stopped when they noticed the angels had a blue aura around them. Blue like the circle they were in. Regan pointed to her older sister that she too was glowing blue. Rosemary too noticed the strange aura around her, and it was spreading onto Regan too. The aura tingled around all parts of their bodies. It felt like waves of electricity, like the ones sparking from the angel wings, were coursing through their skins. The arresting angels were oblivious that two mortal girls had encrouched on their teleportation circle. Even Mike was unaware. His eyes were closed and his head was lowered, depressed that he may never she his brother, or the Gravelys, or Malaika again.
The spell was almost complete. A ball of light blasted out of the angel wings. It grew until it engulfed the whole circle. Rosie and Regan flinched when the as the ball of light struck them. For a brief moment they felt a sharp zap like what they felt earlier on the stairwell. Then they felt every ounce of clothing, hair, skin, and matter pulled apart and incinerated until they were no more on this plain. In a crack of thunder they were all gone, leaving Ms. Kat alone in the now empty apartment.