An Angel, a Demon, a Candle

By Cordelia Faass

I tried to continue, but my words slurred, and his chest wasnt moving. I climbed down from the tree to check if he was alive, which to this day I regret doing, for he was, as far as I could tell, dead. Good night Alexander Ryean Weis, I will see you on the other side. And so I climbed to the top of the tree to watch the sunset over the bay, and cried.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 9, 2012
• ISBN: 9781479746750

Book preview

Chapter 1

I strongly despise with a fiery passion

Prologues

Some people believe that death is just the end of life. Others believe death is a passage to another life, or another style of living. To one girl, death was life, and life was death. She was brave, and when she lacked courage, she shined with her kindness. She was my hero. She saw the light in each person and knew the darkness; something I only dream of being able to do.

If you are like me, you are different in your own unique way. Nobody seems to accept you; nobody seems to like you, but you somehow find the strength and courage to be yourself anyway because you just don’t care what others think of you anymore. These are the last chapters of the life of Ariella Zemra Nightengale, treat them with respect.

Yours truly,

DAM

Chapter 2

Dear whoever reads this,

For your information, I am writing this on what may possibly be the last day of my not-so-long (second) life. I will try to remember and reveal to you the events of my second life, but though my memory is brilliant, it is not always as reliable as it once was. I want to apologize to everyone I’ve hurt, everyone who died under my responsibility, and, well, everyone who deserves an apology from me. Daliah, Mertyle, August, Austin, Thomas, and Alex, you will always be the reason why I am doing what I am now doing. So I guess, now I will tell you my story from the beginning of my second life, and I hope that the world will never forget me.

To begin, I’ll explain some of my history from before my first death. I was that shy girl who almost never talks, who sits in the back of the class, and who has, maybe, one friend. I was Ariella Zemra Nightengale, freshman (fresh meat) at the Amberberg Telushkin School. At my old school, Strickler Downingtown Middle School (SD), I wasn’t very popular with anyone either. I had three mottos I lived by: emotions are your biggest weakness; keep calm in the face of danger and/or fear; and never, ever, supply the bullets for your executioner. These are the three mottos that I plan to die with.

Anyway, that was then; last year, I transferred to a mostly artistic school: the Telushkin School in Amberberg, Pennsylvania. Many fun things happen at Telushkin. It’s what you might expect from a high school where the total number of students is somewhere around 70 (not including teachers, of course; that makes it around 80 some). News there spreads really fast, too. Who’s with who, who got what on this, who got that, who got detention, who’s doing this tonight or that tomorrow, who’s having a party this weekend, with or without drugs, etcetera, but there is one important thing, that never went around through the gossip river, and that one thing seemed impossible; but it was so important that it changed my life.

Chapter 3

Anyway, in my new school, I met a boy named Thomas Vincent Lehrs. Within my two weeks of school, we were in a relationship. He’s very lucky that I still consider him a friend, after what we’ve been through. Anyway, time lapse to that spring break. I went to New Orleans, Louisiana, to help clean up the Lower 9th Ward after Katrina (a very large, very deadly hurricane that flooded New Orleans) and plant tree saplings in the swamp. While I was there, I met one of the other guests helping plant tree saplings in the Hilton Hotel elevator. At the time, he seemed like he was just another middle-aged, friendly guest. Little did I know this guest was about to change my life.

I didn’t know at the time that I was an Angel or the truths about what Angels were. In fact, in Hebrew School (I am Jewish), we were discussing how Angels, no matter how glorified they are by the church, are just messengers. Not that it matters. Everyone has a little bit of good and bad in them. Even if you are labeled Angel or Demon.

Anyway, after the incident in the elevator, I started to see that man everywhere: Bourbon Street, the hotel, the hallways, and the airport.

At first, I thought it was just a coincidence. After all, New Orleans, though magnificent, is truly a very small city, and there were tons of people there that weekend for community service, including him. My thinking of our meetings being accidental lasted until we got onto the plane that was headed back to Pennsylvania. My mom, dad, and little sister sat together on the other side of the plane while I was stuck between the man from the elevator and another man. It was almost frightening to me. When the plane took off, I noticed my family was asleep. Actually, it seemed as if everyone on the plane was asleep, or rather everyone but me and the men on either side of me.

Look, I said with a hint of seriousness in my voice, turning to the man I had met on the elevator, what do you want from me? You can’t kill me; we’re on a freaking plane. You can’t stalk me; I’ll call the cops. Just leave me alone, ok? I don’t have time for silly games. I have a life, a school, friends, a family, and plenty of worries on my plate without you intruding like an unwanted vegetable and possibly ruining my life.

Ariella please, calm down, I am here to protect you, not harm you. Ariella, do you believe in Angels? asked the man, asking the question with his body as well as his voice. He seemed to me a little… off. Friendly, but off.

No. Why should I? I asked skeptically, turning my head so I could see the other man in my peripheral vision. I had a very bad feeling about the man from the elevator, especially because he mentioned Angels. He seemed harmless enough, but I knew to never judge a book by its cover.

You should, because you are an Angel, a very special Angel, specifically the Angel of Inner Beauty, and my dear friend and I, he said, motioning to himself and the extremely creepy person on the other side of me, are here to protect you until you are safe.

Safe from what? Do you really think I believe this bull? Do you? Get away from me! I shouted very loudly and threateningly, hoping to freak him out or wake up my mom. Or dad. Or sister. Anyone would do, really. Even the flight attendants were asleep. It was like a spell was cast over everyone, making them sleep; and to make things better, I felt like I was alone in the world between two psychopaths. I was just hoping the plane wouldn’t crash.

Ariella, calm down! I told you Arthur; I told you she would do this. I told you she’d freak. Look kid, were not here for your protection, we’re here to protect your family and to protect the other passengers on this plane. And don’t worry about your so-called ‘friends.’ Do you even realize how much damage you can cause, if you get mad, or upset, or show even a sliver of emotion? No, you don’t, you can’t even recognize help when it’s being handed to you on a silver plate! You could honestly kill everyone on this plane in a matter of seconds without the proper training, without our proper training shouted the very creepy man on the other side of me, putting emphasis on our, like there was someone else looking for me. I did not like him. And I know I never will.

Bah humbug, I said to him, trying to use the most threatening, emotionless expression I could. I needed to calm down; I was starting to lose the feeling of self-control.

Ariella, you either listen to us or… started the man. He had pushed me too far.

I’m sick of this! Leave me alone! I said, reacting by punching him square in the face, making his nose bleed. Meltdown moment. I was beginning to seriously freak out.

Ariella, you know this happens to you; all the time. You show no emotions, because you know that strange things happen when you do, strange, unexplainable things; and, on the rare occasion you do show emotion, you can’t remember what happened. Don’t you want answers? asked Arthur, holding my hands tightly so I couldn’t punch him, looking me straight in the eyes, and speaking quickly, like I would hit him before listening. I didn’t realize he was such a smart man.

Say I do believe you. So what? Last time I checked, I don’t have wings. My parents don’t know you, so they won’t let me go anywhere with you, and I am not a Christian, I said, pulling my hands free, and feeling proud, I stood up for myself for once. I tried to calm down.

Ariella, my dear, time and religion is not an obstacle for Angels. No one has, well almost no one has wings, and your training will replace an afterschool sport, like the situation for all the other Angels with normal parents. No one normal can know about Angels. It’s a rule that no one can break, it’s been, for lack of a better word, jinxed, he said.

So I can’t even say ‘Angel’ around ‘normal’ people? I asked in confusion.

Yes, you can, but they won’t remember it, he said.

I can’t do this. My plan is to make a difference in the world, to be someone, not be some fictional character from a story book, I said, trying to focus on my dreams of saving animals, meeting people, fitting in, writing a book. I thought then that if I chose that path, I’d never reach my goals in life.

You can do it, and you will make a difference. I promise, he said, and I couldn’t help but smile, but little did I know, that moment I changed my life. Forever.

Chapter 4

Another time lapse, two days forward. My first day of Angel training. My job was to go into the school’s locker room, go to one of the showers, and turn the shower on. There were two other girls who were in there with me, that I was glad they were there: Angelica (Angi) Copper and Lauren Blan.

Hay Ari! said the bubbly Angi, coming into the locker room just as I had finished changing into new clothes, Lauren followed close behind.

Hi Angi. Hi Lauren, I said, including Lauren, who wasn’t very nice to me.

You looking for something? asked Lauren innocently, but coldly.

Naw, I’m just going to take a quick shower. I had blacksmithing, and I missed the bus, I explained, sending her the same heartless vibes she sent me.

You’re an Angel, aren’t you? asked Lauren barely waiting for me to finish.

Not sure, I don’t think I know what I am anymore, I answered, trying not to show my regret. She and Angi then showed me how to use the showers to get in and out of the mysterious Angel School.

And remember, we don’t know you, our ‘normal’ names are to be kept secret, said Angi in her sunshiny voice, and adding a friendly smile to soften the blow of infinite rejection.

"But, we got your back if you need it,