Doug: The Despised Angel, from the author of (The Haunted Houses of Anderson)

By Kevin Guest

He’s out there, working in the lives of those who will soon no longer be among us.
Many will try to buy their way out, some will even beg, and a few will outright refuse, but in the end, he always wins.
His ways are mysterious to humans, but now he has let us into his world. He has offered up a few of his most interesting cases for us to see.
What is his purpose, you may ask. You might be surprised to find out. One thing is clear, no matter how many Angels you may come in contact with, he is surely the last.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kevin Guest
• Release date: Jul 18, 2011
• ISBN: 9781466057173

Kevin Guest

Kevin M. Guest was born July 15, 1977. His passion for story telling often led him to day dreaming during school. In his off time he would spend hours writing short stories. In October you can find him working the barbeque booth at Reindeer Manor. He resides in Arlington, TX, with his lovely wife Tammi and their son, Chris.

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Doug:

The Despised Angel

By

Kevin Michael Guest

SMASHWORDS EDITION

* * * * *

PUBLISHED BY:

Kevin Michael Guest on Smashwords

Doug: The Despised Angel

Copyright © 2011 by Kevin Michael Guest

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents, other than the historical information, are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

To my Mother,

who spent many an hour dressing me in my youth for Sunday school.

Without your tireless efforts as a Christian Woman,

I would not have the values I deeply cherish today.

Who am I?

I’m going to kill you. Your will remember the swipe of my sickle across the nape of your neck for the next thousand years. You will cower in fear as I draw back my weapon, pleading for God to save you, but alas he shall hear of you no more. Though my blow will be swift and timely, it will travel in slow motion as the dented and cracked metal scrapes against your flesh, collecting a sample of your blood, and severing your head from your body. Every lacerated cut will be felt until your flesh is no more. You cannot escape me, though you will try, I shall find you. Since the first cell of your being was formed I have been on the hunt for you, aching to extinguish the light from your life. That is your fate. All who have come before you have sold all they had to avoid me, but in the end, when they were penniless and all their worldly treasures had been taken, they cowered before me, and like I did to them, I shall show you no mercy.

I am guessing that’s what you expect to hear, but that’s about as far from the truth as it can get. Before we move on, I would first like to say I dislike the picture on the cover of this book. I neither carry a sickle nor kill people. It seems that the only image that the human world has of me is that of a monstrous figure who hides in the shadows waiting to steal your lives and deny your prayers. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

I have finally grown tired of being seen in such a monstrous way. So you may come to better understand me, I have decided to share with you the cases of Bill, Brian, Celina, Charley, Creep, Henry, Tina, Rob, and a few instant transformations. Together we will go in and out of these people’s lives as I try to counsel and aid them in the last moments of their journey. Some of these cases presented will be enjoyable and some will not, but what matters in the end is that they realize what’s important. The reason I am sharing this now, is so that when I come into your life, you will be better prepared to receive me. I hope after reviewing a few of my cases, it will give you a better perspective on your own life as well as my place in God’s universe.

Now I have to say in the world of the man, I am probably the most despised creature of all. You see, my name is Doug and I have no last name. As you have probably guessed already, I am not human. I am an Angel; however in places of worship, you will not find any statues of me.

You won’t hear my name invoked in religious circles, at least not for any good reasons and you won’t find me on any stain glass windows or any nice paintings. For all good reasons, most humans will spend their last dime to avoid me. The problem is, is that you’re going to meet me, like it or not, and I guarantee you, I am not what you expect.

Now some of you will meet me prior to your transformation. Some of you will have long talks with me as I comfort you throughout the process. Unfortunately, some of you will meet me in an instant and in rare circumstances, not at all, but we’ll get to that later.

If I just came out and told you who I was, it would have little meaning, so instead I am going to show you…

The Sudden Case of the Billings Family

The setting is a local grocery store just outside of Athens, Georgia. Meet Ann Billings, the proud mother of twin boys, Anthony and Mark. She stands all of five foot six, medium build, blonde hair, blue eyes, perfect smile, and teeth so white they could light a dark room. In her early days, she was a cheerleader for the University of Georgia. She has nearly thirty t-shirts and sweatshirts that say ‘Go Dawgs’ on them. She has never missed a football game and swears she never will.

She graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Education and teaches at a local elementary school where she won teacher of the year. Her classroom is decorated in her favorite color, brown, because it is an earth tone and that nearly everything goes well with that color.

Her political views are right now the center. She agrees with government health care but wants stronger border enforcement. She is a registered democrat in a red state, but she does not always support the democrats. From time to time she has split her vote, rarely voting down party lines.

Now, while all of this seems to make up a perfect person, just like everyone else, she has skeletons in her closet. She has been successfully hiding her past from her husband. During her college years she experimented in the use of illegal substances, lesbianism and briefly as a porn star. In addition, she has been unfaithful to her husband twice since her marriage and she is still searching for an alternative lover. Her public screen name is AnnOfHearts, but her secret screen name is AnnsLegs. On top of this, she has a rather dark sense of humor and would not mind being sexually harassed by either of the school’s principles, one a woman and the other a man.

Now why am I telling you this? So you will pass judgment upon her? You better not! Did you know she is also the leader of her Sunday school class at church? She gives nearly twelve percent of her paycheck in tithes and offerings and also serves on several of the churches boards. If that is not enough, she also sings in the church choir and often donates her time to worthy causes.

Ann is what I call a flawed, but hopeful person. True, she has her issues, both morally and spiritually, but she is always at war with her vices and prays on a regular basis for help. She would be absolutely devastated if her family found out about her past.

Now Ann is married to a very successful lawyer, John Billings. He stands six feet tall, dark brown hair, brown eyes, thin to muscular build with Cary Grant good looks. He played football for the University of Georgia and was a member of the most elite frat house.

Today he works for a law firm on the east side of Athens; Barton, Craig, and Watkins. In another year, it is possible that he could make partner. He has tried several successful cases in Atlanta, most notably defending one of Atlanta’s elite on a triple murder case. It took just thirty minutes to deliver a ‘not-guilty’ verdict. Afterwards, his reputation in Atlanta was mixed and he made many of the nightly talk shows during his fifteen minutes of fame. Most of the shows were oppositional to him, as most believed his client was guilty.

What’s the truth? His client was guilty. He killed his maid and his step son, and then stabbed his wife to death. Why did he do it? His wife was about to file for divorce because she caught him having an affair with an intern. His prenuptial agreement stated that ‘in case of an extra-marital encounter, the perpetrator will forfeit sixty-five percent of the estate and agree to alimony payments as set forth by the court.’

In any case, John is a dedicated father and spends as much time with his two boys as possible. Though they are young, he hopes to guide them into a life of sports, perhaps going all the way to the NFL. Something he was unable to do.

Again, describing John in this way, like Ann, paints him as pretty decent fellow. However, what his wife and family don’t know is that John is beginning to feel his family may be a burden upon his success. He has expressed the desire to run for Congress to Ann many times, but she is dead set against leaving Georgia. Lately, with the success of his last case, he has been contemplating a divorce.

Though he feels bad for this, his sin of vanity is growing every day. He is having trouble dealing with it and would like to see a marriage counselor, but Ann refuses. Unfortunately John is also engaged in an extra marital affair and the woman is encouraging his desire to be in congress.

Now, I am sure the women reading this now find John repulsive. They fail to see what a good father and provider he is. They are willing to forgive Ann for her transgressions, but John should be shot. Luckily for both Ann and John, I am not as judgmental, in fact, I don’t judge at all. On occasion I do give advice, but that all depends on the character of the individual.

Now why are we talking about Ann and John? Because like I said in the beginning, they are in a grocery store right now and their lives are about to be changed. Ann is watching Mark as she shops for groceries while John spends time with Anthony in the hardware section. Each one is picking out items and need or want.

It has been about an hour since they went in and the events that have occurred since last night have led them up to this point. You see, last night, Ann forgot to set the alarm clock. She wanted to wake up at 5:30a.m., so she could get an early start to the laundry. She hates it when her Saturday is bogged down with domestic chores. However, John forgot to turn off his alarm clock, which wakes him at 6:00a.m. Therefore, when his alarm clock went off, Ann got up as John cursed himself for not turning it off. He hates alarm clocks on Saturday, but Ann ignores him and always sets hers, except for today.

Later in the morning, around 10a.m., John rolled out of bed to the smell of bacon and eggs. He put on his robe, attempted to brush his hair, which remained in a bed-head state, and wandered down to breakfast.

As he entered the kitchen, he saw his wife and children already halfway through eating. Normally the family eats together, but on Saturday it’s a fend-for-yourself day.

Once he began eating, his wife began talking to him about all of the day’s activities. The boys had a soccer game at 2:00p.m., the neighbors were coming over for a barbeque about 6:30p.m., and a babysitter would be there at 8p.m., so the adults could go to a movie.

She told him that while he did the yard work, she would be at the store getting items for tonight’s dinner. He agreed to the plan and everything seemed to be in order, until he went to the shed in the backyard. He found that he was out of gas for the mower and charcoal for the barbeque. To make matters worse, he had crashed his car a few days earlier and due to a big event at the university, there were no rentals available. He and his wife had been sharing her car ever since.

Upon telling his wife of the gas and charcoal situation, she decided they should all go to the store and gather the things they needed. That brings us back to the store, where Ann and John have been shopping separately up until this moment.

Ann called John on her cell phone to let him know she was waiting in the front for him, Would you hurry up John?! The boy’s soccer game is in an hour and we still need to get them ready!

Ok dear, I’ll be there in a moment. John quickly gathered the remainder of his items and hurried to the front of the store. However, their hurried attempt was in vain due to the long wait at the checkout stand.

The employees hated working on Saturday and hated even more having to run a register on Saturday. They were not only taking their time, but also gossiping with anyone who would talk with them. This caused some blood pressures to skyrocket, but most customers opted not to say anything, although a few did. Ann was one of them…

She was staring at a rather overweight black woman with pink streaks in her hair, way too much makeup, long fake fingernails, and a shirt that was two sizes too small, showing off her bulging cleavage to anyone looking her direction. Ann smarted off to her after she had had enough, Ma’am would you please just do your job and not tell your life story to every customer?

The woman turned and looked at her with a daring expression, moving her head from left to right, Excuse me?

Ann looked at her with distain, Yes I was talking to you. We all would be very appreciative if you would just do your job.

The woman stopped what she was doing and pointed her finger at Ann, using it as she talked. You don’t know who the hell you’re talking to?! You don’t know me! You can take your white ass to someone else’s line. I ain’t checking you out. Tell’n me how to do my job. Your white ass couldn’t do my job! Standing there with your box of Wheeties and your sagging cheeks. What I do is a service to the community! I’m as needed as a paramedic or some shit. So you can take your white ass and white on down the road!

Some of the patrons could not help but laugh while some commented she would be a good comedian, but not Ann. She stood her ground and refused to move, though she did not comment further, she felt that the low class lifestyle this woman lived was punishment enough for her sarcastic mouth. In the end, she would leave and go back to her well-to-do home and this cow-of-a- woman would return to the projects.

John just looked the other way during the exchange, which was the wrong