The Angels from Hell

Ala

Ala's hand was tingling where Lilea had touched her. The gesture had been soft, almost kind. It seemed to say "I care about you. I don't want you to get hurt." Lilea had recoiled from every attempt Ala had made towards her. She had thought that angels just didn't do touch. Ala shook her head. She was being stupid. Lilea clearly had a lot to work through and it wasn't Ala's job to worry. She had a mission.

Leaving Raina whimpering on the ground, she shoved the bookcase back over the room's entrance. She paused in front of it, noticing the titles of all the books. The shelf was far more organised than Ala's desk but, as she flipped open the books, she found that they were the same format as her own collection. Date, name, cause of death. Curious she turned to the book that outlined the years a decade from now. She turned to the exact day, ten years and four days from now and searched for Dani's name. Fitting she thought, returning it to the shelf.

She slipped out of the room and was grateful to find the corridor was empty. It was a nice change not to be caught unaware in a compromising situation. But she had to find Deleon, Darius, Lethe and Josiah in order for her plan to work. She also had to not die, that was fundamental. Ala sighed, wondering what Lilea was doing down on Earth.

Going the long way around to avoid passing the room where Deleon was still no doubt talking to the angels. She found the monitoring room. Darius and Josiah had still not returned. She suspected they were with Deleon. It was comforting to lean back in one of the chairs. When she closed her eyes, it was almost like being back in hell.

She flicked on the screens and fiddled with the remote until the closest screen to her switched to a view of Dani. From the perspective of the camera she could not see Lilea but she saw that Dani's lips were moving. Zooming in the camera, she read her lips. She was something about running. After a moment, she rose from her bed and disappeared out the door. Ala switched to another camera and followed Dani's journey. Every few minutes she caught a glimpse of Lilea, edging around the outside of the camera's frame. She nearly placed her fingers against the image of Lilea on the screen but that would have been crazy. Ala had never had friends in hell, everyone around her was always switching jobs, getting promotions or wasting all their time at parties. People around her had friends. Some had even tried spending time with her outside work, inviting her to hang out with them but her job was important and there was not enough people in her department to allow for her to take time off. It was stupid. Lilea couldn't wait to be done with her and go to heaven. It was obvious.

On the screen, Dani had left the hotel and entered a shop a street down that seemed to stock a little of everything. Clutching a bag, she and, a little away, Lilea, followed the road until it turned from asphalt to dirt. They pushed through a gap in a wire fence and stopped in a deserted section of grass. Ala saw that it was part of a farm. There were sheep in a distant field but the ground below Dani and Lilea was dead except for a speckling of weeds. Though you could still see the hotel and other modern buildings, it was far enough away that they wouldn't be disturbed. It was the perfect place.

Ala stepped out of the room and nearly ran into Darius and Josiah.

"Ala," Darius said in surprise.

"Just doing my job," Ala said, gesturing behind her. "good thing too, I think we have a problem."

"Another one," said Josiah who looked distinctively less pleased to see her. "It's interesting," he said, "the moment you're gone, someone throws a vial of M into a room full of angels." So that's what Lilea had done. Ala was impressed.

"Half a vial wasted," Josiah said.

"You're about to lose more than half a vial," Ala said. "Where's Lethe and Deleon?" She tried to put as much panic in her voice as possible and it seemed to be working. Josiah and Darius were looking increasingly tense.

"They're trying to cover it all up."

"Go get them," Ala's voice had risen to a shout. Josiah's eyes flitted from Ala and Darius. He ran from them down the corridor and the main staircase.

"What it is?" Darius pushed past Ala into the room. He sat down at the chair, Ala had just vacated and spun to face the screens. "What is she doing?" Ala had to bite back a slight smile. The scene on the screen was almost absurd. It was not very human but it was practical for their purposes. Ala doubted that Darius could tell the difference.

"I was wrong about Dani," she said. Of course, she was not wrong about Dani. She was doing exactly what Ala had thought. For the plan to work, they would need to think she was incompetent.

"What is happening?" Lethe, Josiah and Deleon rushed into the room. Deleon shoved Darius from in front of the screen and zoomed in on the scene below. Dani was standing in the field, a knife clasped firmly in her hand.

"We have to go back down," Ala kept the panic in her voice, hoping that Deleon would keep the focus close to Dani and not zoom out and found Lilea who must be close by. Instead, Deleon did something more unexpected. He rushed at Ala and pressed her against the wall by her throat. Her head hit the marble behind her with such force that her vision momentarily went black.

"What did you do?" he shouted at her, sending specks of spit into her face. Darius tried to pull his hand back but Deleon wasn't moving. His grip was so tight that Ala couldn't speak. She gurgled, choking on the words she couldn't form.

"Deleon," Darius pleaded, "we need her."

"You said the human wouldn't deviate from the contract." Deleon's grasp lessened enough for Ala to sputter.

"I can read lips."

Deleon must have been expecting Ala to beg because at these words, he let go of her completely.

"She wants to talk to you," Ala rasped, nursing her throat. "She says if we don't go down she will breach that contract," She added quickly, "and she asked for me by name." Deleon glared at Ala.

"If that human dies, I will kill you." He meant it, Ala knew he meant it.

"Then we better hurry," she said.