“Cut that out, Beth! Don’t move, I’m coming up to get you!” I heard Xavier yell, but I wasn’t listening to him anymore. As the wind whipped my clothes, I spread my arms and let myself fall from the cliff. If I had been human, my stomach might have shot up into my throat, but the drop only made my heart soar and my body buzz with exhilaration. I plummeted toward the ground, relishing the sharp sting of the air against my cheeks. Xavier cried out and ran to catch me, but his efforts were futile. This was one time when I didn’t need rescuing. Midway to the ground, I dropped my arms and allowed the transformation to take place. A blinding light shot from inside my body, shining from every pore and making my skin glow like white hot metal. I saw Xavier shield his eyes and draw back. I felt my wings burst from behind my shoulder blades. They exploded through the confines of my dress, tearing the light fabric to ribbons. Fully expanded, they cast a long shadow across the sand as though I were some sort of majestic bird.
Xavier had dropped to a crouch, and I knew that the pulsing light was blinding him. I felt exposed and naked hovering there, my wings beating the air to hold me up but also strangely elated. I felt the tendons in my wings stretch, eager for more exercise. They spent so much time cramped beneath my clothes these days. I resisted the urge to fly higher and dive through the clouds. I allowed myself to hover a moment before I swooped to the ground where I landed gently on the sand. The blazing incandescence that surrounded me dimmed once my feet reconnected with solid earth.
Xavier rubbed his eyes and blinked, trying to regain his vision. Finally he saw me. He took a step back, face stunned, hands hanging limply by his sides as if they should be doing something but he couldn’t think what. I stood before him, light still clinging to my skin. The remnants of my dress hung like tentacles and from my back arched a pair of towering wings, feather-light but suggesting enormous power. My hair streamed behind me, and I knew that the ring of light around my head would be brighter than ever.
“Holy crap!” Xavier blurted.
“Would you mind not blaspheming?” I asked politely. He stared at me, grappling for the right words. “I know.” I sighed. “Bet you didn’t see this one coming.” I waved a hand in the direction of the beach. “Feel free to leave now if you want.”
Xavier stood motionless for a moment, staring at me wide-eyed. Then he circled me slowly, and I felt him brush his fingers ever so gently against my wings. Although they looked heavy, they were as thin as parchment and weighed next to nothing. I could see from his face that he was marveling at the fragile white feathers and tiny membranes that were visible beneath the diaphanous skin.
“Whoa,” he said, lost for words. “That’s so . . .”
“Freaky?”
“Incredible,” he said. “But what are you? You can’t be . . .”
“An angel?” I said. “Jackpot.”
Xavier rubbed the bridge of his nose as though trying to make sense of everything in his head. “This can’t be real,” he said eventually. “I don’t get it.”
“Of course you don’t,” I said. “My world and yours are legions apart.”
“Your world?” he asked incredulously. “This is insane.”
“What is?”
“This stuff is all fantasy. It just doesn’t happen in real life!”
“This is real,” I said. “I’m real.”
“I know,” he replied. “The scariest part is that I believe you. Sorry I just need a minute. . . .”
He sank down on the sand, his face contorted like someone trying to solve an impossible riddle. I tried to imagine what was going on in his head. It must be chaotic. He must have so many questions.
“Are you angry?” I asked.
“Angry?” he repeated. “Why would I be angry?”
“Because I didn’t tell you sooner?”
“I’m just trying to get my head around this,” he said.
“I know it can’t be easy. Take your time.”
He was silent for a long while. The convulsive rise and fall of his chest suggested that an internal struggle was taking place. He stood and slowly passed his hand in a semicircle around my head. I knew his fingers would pick up the warmth emitted by my halo.
“Okay, so angels exist,” he conceded eventually, speaking slowly as though trying to explain things to himself. “But what are you doing here on earth?”
“Right now there are thousands of us in human guise spread right across the globe,” I answered. “We’re part of a mission.”
“A mission to achieve what?”
“It’s hard to explain. We’re here to help people reconnect with one another, to love one another.” Xavier looked confused so I tried to elaborate. “There’s too much anger in the world, too much hatred. It’s stirring the dark forces and raising them up. Once they’re unleashed, it’s near impossible to tame them. It’s our job to try and counteract that negativity, to prevent any more disaster from happening. This place has been pretty badly affected.”
“So you’re saying the bad things that have happened here are because of dark forces?”
“Pretty much.”
“And by dark forces I take it you mean the devil?”
“Well, his representatives at least.”
Xavier looked like he was about to laugh, but then stopped himself.
“This is crazy. Who’s supposed to have sent you on this mission?”
“I thought that part might be obvious.”
Xavier gazed at me in disbelief.
“You don’t mean . . .”
“Yes.”
Xavier looked shaken, like he’d been tossed around by a hurricane and thrown back down to earth. His fingers scraped the hair back from his forehead.
“Are you telling me that God really exists?”
“I’m not allowed to talk about it,” I said, thinking it best to cut this conversation off before it went any further. “Some things are beyond human understanding. I’d get into a lot of trouble for trying to explain it. We shouldn’t even speak his name.”
Xavier nodded.
“But there is an afterlife?” he said. “A heaven?”
“Without a doubt.”
“So . . .” He rubbed his chin pensively. “If there’s a Heaven, it stands to reason that . . . there must also be . . .”
I finished his thought. “Yes, there’s that too. But please, no more questions for now.”
Xavier massaged his temples as though trying to figure out the best way to process all this information.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I know it must be overwhelming.”
He dismissed my concern, more focused on getting a cogent picture in his head. “Just let me get this straight,” he said. “You’re angels on a mission to help mankind and you’ve been assigned to Venus Cove?”