Engle Byen A Place to Call Home Page 7

  He began taunting me. “Mikey, you gonna call your mummy, where's mummy? Oh, mummy, mummy, Mikey needs you, come save your son from evil Jacob!”

  Just then, I thought, ‘who is my mother? Where is she? Do I have a mother, of course, I do, don't I? Why can’t I remember? Why is Jacob saying this to me?’

  “Nope, no mummy, Mikey? How about your daddy, you going to ask dad to save you from me?” Jacob got me there as well; I can’t recall who my father is. What’s going on? Why can’t I remember? Thoughts swirling through my mind, what’s wrong with me? Why can’t I remember? Why is Jacob taunting me with this information?

  “Stop, just stop, I don’t understand. Why are you saying these things?” I yell at Jacob.

  “It’s fun, Mikey, it’s fun to mess with your mind. You don’t even know where you are. I know everything. I know all about you Mikey, more than you know about yourself. By the time I’ve finished with you, you are going to be begging me to stop. But I won’t stop, Mikey, not until you give me your soul.”

  Jacob was right, he was messing with my head. I was losing my grip on reality. He planted seeds in my mind, while I was dealing with his taunting I was also thinking about what he had said about my parents.

  Then, suddenly, he stopped. “Mikey, I’m done with you. You are one tough nut to crack, but I’ll be back for you, I like the challenge. You’ll just never know who to trust anymore. I could appear at any time in any form and you won’t know it’s me, you just won’t know.”

  Jacob disappeared into a mist and vanished, my handsome perfect man, gone, just like that. I’m sure I’m going to wake up and find out this was just another one of those weird Jacob dreams, or maybe I’ve had another one of my blackouts, oh geesh, I could be laying on a floor somewhere.

  “Snap out of it, Michael,” I tell myself, “None of this is real”.

  Chapter Nineteen

  I opened my eyes after waking from a deep sleep, seemed only a minute ago I had drifted off.

  My bedroom was cloaked in darkness apart from the rays of moonlight shining through my timber venetian blinds, casting lines across the polished timber floorboards. My hands were warm, quite warm and a bit clammy. I felt a sensation like water trickling down my right hand but as I wiped it with my left hand it wasn’t actually wet. This was rather odd so I reached for the bedside light and turned it on as I sat up in my bed. My head began pounding which I have been getting used to. ‘I hope I don’t have another one of my famous blackouts,’ I thought. Actually, maybe I should call for help; these symptoms are worrying me slightly.

  I got out of bed and looked around for my phone, I couldn’t find it. The warmth of my hands was still present and the thumping of my head was increasing. I made my way to the kitchen and turned on the cold-water tap, feeling the cold water running over my hands to cool them down but it had no effect. OK, this is not normal; I better go and seek help from one of my neighbours.

  I went back into the bedroom and put on a dressing gown, something on my feet and made my way outside. It was cool outside and quite misty, I looked around at my neighbours’ houses for any sign of light to indicate that someone was still awake at this time of night. I noticed a glowing yellow light emanating from Ralph’s house, I gather either him or Viktor will be awake, thankfully the closest house to me.

  As I walked the short distance to Ralph’s house my hands still felt very warm, my head continued pounding. My legs suddenly became like jelly as I wobbled my way into Ralph’s front yard. I fell to the ground and crawled along on my hands and knees up the three front steps to the door, thinking I am going to die here right on Ralph's front doorstep. I don't have the strength to knock on the door, my whole body is weak and limp.

  I lay on the veranda underneath the window where the light is coming from and try to call out, I just don’t have the strength; I just lie there totally incapacitated. I can hear voices coming from inside the house; I hear Ralph and Viktor speaking in quiet voices but still quite audible.

  “I think we are just going to have to tell him,” I heard Ralph say.

  “I think you may be right, but you know the rules; we can’t tell him, he has to try and realise himself.”

  “I have certainly given him enough clues to try and drag him out of it; he loves it here so much he doesn’t want to leave,” Gabriella said.

  ‘Huh? Is Gabriella in there with Ralph and Viktor? That’s odd,’ I thought, as their voices became louder in my head.

  “He has passed every test I have given him with flying colours, he’s definitely earned his place.” It was Muriel’s voice this time. So that’s Ralph, Viktor, Gabriella and Muriel in there, how rude of them not to invite me to a neighbourhood soiree.

  Focus, Michael, try and move, yell anything... but I couldn’t.

  There was laughter, a lot of laughter, if only they knew I lay out here probably dying and they’re all laughing. There were lots of light-hearted conversations happening at the same time.

  “You sure look pretty.”

  “Oh, you like?”

  “You should dress like that more often.”

  “Does this colour suit me do you think, who does your makeup dear?"

  “We are just having too much fun, no wonder he doesn’t want to leave, nor would I,” someone else cackled.

  “I’ve just got to take this hideous kaftan off,” I heard Gabriella say in her unmistakable deep voice.

  “I’m going to take my dress off; thank goodness I didn’t wear heels as well,” Muriel laughed. I heard a loud swoosh noise. “Ahhh, that feels much better.” Then a few other swoosh noises.

  “Shhhh, quiet everyone, I’m sensing him.” I heard Viktor say, while I lay unable to move or speak under the window of the room where they’re all having a party, a party without me.

  I hear the front door being opened and see two bare feet step onto the front door mat. As my eyes make their way up the figure, I see white linen pants, a slim waist, and bare muscled chest, I recognise the face in the radiant moonlight, it’s Viktor.

  He takes a few steps towards me, bends over, placing one arm under my legs and the other under my neck and gently picks me up off the cold wooden floorboards of Ralph’s veranda. I notice something white shining very brightly in the moonlight behind his back. Wings? Viktor carries me into a room and lays me on a sofa.

  “Hey, Raphael, Michael’s in a bad way. You’re the healer. Can you work some magic on him now, please?" The guy that Viktor called out to, quickly makes his way over to me in the dimly lit room. I can't see his face properly, I do notice he is dressed the same as Viktor, white linen pants and shirtless. He moves his hands up and down my body and immediately I begin to feel better, as I regain my strength I sit up on the sofa and feel amazing.

  I look up at this Raphael guy standing in front of me, he also has white wings tucked up behind his back, he has a concerned look on his face and immediately I recognise him. Ralph! ‘Ok,’ I think to myself, ‘Have I just interrupted some kind of fetish plaything between Ralph and Viktor or am I in one of those adult movies, maybe I’m just hallucinating?’

  I rise slowly from the sofa to my feet and look over at Viktor then back to Ralph. “Well, is this a private party or what?” I ask with a giggle. “Sorry guys, whatever you did, Ralph, I feel a lot better. Thank you so much, but I best be making my way home now and leave you two to it.”

  “Michael, stay right where you are,” Viktor said in a harsh, manly, but still very sexy accent.

  “Oh, Viktor, I haven’t heard you speak like that before; very butch, can I touch your wing?” I ask playfully.

  “Michael, we don’t have much time. Things are about to change for you, but I am here for you to help guide you through what’s about to happen, just as I have guided you through so many obstacles since the day you were born.”

  “Viktor, now you are scaring me, what’s going on?” I asked as I started to tremble a little.

  “I will be as gentle as I can but I need to move fast befor
e time runs out. You see this guy here, Ralph as you refer to him? His name is Raphael, he is an angel. Touch his wings; you will see they are very real.”

  I reached out my hand and felt the firm white feathers, I stepped behind him and noticed his back was rippling with muscles, I stroked the base of his wings, and they were coming directly out of his shoulder blades, no strings and no tricks that I could make out in the dim light of this room.

  “Well, they do actually appear to be real,” I said in astonishment.

  I walked over to Viktor and ran my hands up and down his wings, I began having flashbacks of the dreams that I had been having about angels. Oddly, all these dreams were beginning to make sense, I don’t actually think they were dreams at all.

  “Can you errr ‘ladies’ come in here please,” Viktor called out.

  ‘Oh yes, that’s right, Muriel and Gabriella are here. They were talking while I was laying outside,’ I remembered.

  “Michael, now before I introduce the ummm ladies, are you feeling OK, not too overwhelmed yet?”

  “No, Viktor, I think I’m doing OK so far, thank you.”

  In through the door walked two other figures, they stood in front of me. One of the figures spoke in a bright friendly tone, “Hi Michael, it’s me,” said the unmistakable husky voice of Gabriella.

  The room became brighter. Standing before me was a face I vaguely recognised but it looked different somehow. Then I realised... no makeup and Gabriella was a man! I stood there with my mouth open, nothing to say for once, I couldn’t even come up with a wisecrack.

  My attention and confusion turned to the other figure that entered the room with Gabriella. As I looked at him he said, “If I knew you were coming I would’ve baked a cake, an Angel Fool cake, of course!” and he erupted into laughter followed by the others. By the comment he made I realised who this handsome guy was – Muriel!

  “It’s Angel Food cake!” I replied cheekily.

  Chapter Twenty

  The atmosphere in the room was electric, I knew these four guys standing in front of me in their angel outfits, I feel an amazing bond with these guys. “I’m a bit confused can someone tell me what is happening?”

  “Allow me to start Michael. My name is Gabriel and I am an angel,” he said like he was introducing himself at an AA meeting. “You know me better as Gabriella the great psychic; well that’s what you made me.” She/he said in a typical theatrical manner.

  “Funny one, Gabriel. That leaves me, Michael, my name is Uriel, not Muriel. Congratulations, by the way, you passed all of the good deed tests I put you through.”

  "Ok, so let me get this straight, your name is really Raphael, not Ralph, you are Gabriel, not Gabriella and you're Uriel, not Muriel. Hang on a tick, they are the Arch Angel names, you are just missing a Michael,” I look at Viktor and say, “So, Viktor, you must really be Michael?”

  “Nope, not me,” he smiles.

  “You are kidding me; you mean to say that I am Arch Angel Michael?” as I pump my fist up in the air.

  “Tickets much?” Laughs the handsome Uriel. “No, Michael, you are just his namesake as we all are. We just happen to have the same names as the big boss angels.”

  I feel a little embarrassed as I turn to Viktor, “So, Viktor, that still leaves you. Where do you fit into all this madness?”

  “Michael, I mentioned it to you before but, with all that has just been revealed to you, you have forgotten. My real name is Viktor. Yes, I am Norwegian. This is how I looked, how we all looked the day our human form died. But enough about us, I have to quickly explain some things to you. Actually, come outside with me.”

  Viktor opened the front door and I walked out onto the veranda. He followed me with Gabriel before me, Raphael behind me and Uriel on my left side. In the darkness, moonlight lit up the trees and garden in Ralph’s, I mean Raphael’s, front yard.

  "Michael, to answer the rest of your question about where I fit into everything that is unfolding right before you at the moment; I was assigned to you the day you were born. I was there with you every time you fell over and scraped your knee, every birthday, Christmas and celebration. I was there guiding you during your darkest days, I wiped away your tears; I was there when you met your partner, Paul. Things do happen for a reason. Sometimes I am providing you with options or opportunities. You choose your path to learn and grow and be wise, I just guide you along on your journey.”

  "So, you are like my Guardian Angel, is that what you are trying to tell me, Viktor?”

  “Yes, that’s right, Michael, I am.”

  “Ok, then where am I? This is a dream, right?” I ask.

  “Michael,” Viktor pauses. “You are dead.”

  I stand there in silence looking out into the misty night, just me and four angels around me. Viktor is standing in front of me; he appears to be shedding a tear.

  “Alrighty then,” I say in a bright but condescending manner, not believing anything he is telling me, “If you, Viktor, are such a bloody great Guardian Angel, how is it exactly that I am dead and still living and loving this amazing town?” I ask him with annoyance in my voice.

  “Michael, when your time is up, it’s up, there’s nothing I can do but guide you on your way to whatever destiny is ahead of you.”

  “So how did I end up here? It all seems pretty real to me. You haven’t drugged me have you?”

  “No, of course not,” Viktor laughs. “You were out running, you love to run. Do you remember? You were running across a road when you were hit by a car, your body flew into the air and smashed against a tree. That’s why we kept telling you your legs are like tree trunks; to try and help you regain your memories to get you out of this coma your human form is still currently trapped in.”

  Viktor continued, “This whole town of Engle Byen was created by you, your dream destination, you controlled almost everything that was happening, we just tweaked it a bit. When you went into the coma I went with you, I can’t leave you until you are fully released from your human form, it is then you no longer need me. Because of all the kindness and good deeds, you did while human it was decided by the powers that be that you would be granted the honour of becoming an angel on the passing of your human form. Here in your state of coma and being destined to become an angel, Jacob got word and entered this realm and tried to get you to give your soul to him, to get someone like you to succumb to him gives him heightened powers.”

  I was trying to process everything Viktor was saying, I tried not to interrupt as I could tell he was in a hurry so I let him continue to speak.

  “Once I knew Jacob was here in your perfect town I had to call on Uriel, Raphael and Gabriel. As a guardian angel, I don't have the strength to fight him off on my own. In our realm, we need as many angels as we can get to fight off dark forces. Jacob is a dark angel, he knows your weaknesses, he targets them and tricks you into willing your soul to him. You had a weakness of the flesh and so he appeared to you to be totally irresistible, your perfect man. Do you remember those patients at the hospital? He appeared to them as perfect; they were weak and agreed to give themselves to him. Jacob became even more powerful after taking their souls.”

  ‘Well that kind of makes sense,’ I thought.

  Viktor continued. “But you, my dear Michael, destined to become an angel, you are the most prized soul he could take, so he worked extra hard to get you to succumb to his charms. You trusted your instincts, displayed your strong courageous spirit and willpower, you knew all along that something was not quite right with him. If he’d taken your soul, he would’ve been strong enough to banish all four of us angels.”

  “We weren’t allowed to tell you directly what is going on, angel code and all, all we could do is hint at things and hope you would realise. We helped fill in some gaps, for example, I named your town Engle Byen; it’s Norwegian for Angel Town,” Viktor giggled.

  “You had some friends in your human world similar to the ones you created here, so we tried to fit in to get you to rem
ember your human life, so you could move on to your calling,” Raphael said.

  “Yes, that’s why Gabriel and I had to dress as women, it was quite fun too,” Uriel laughed.

  “We haven’t had to act human before so we just did the best we could,” Gabriel continued. “You were quite powerful without even realising what was happening, you continued to live in the moment, you had absolutely no memory of your human life. Those noises, bright lights and music you were hearing were coming from your hospital bed in the human world. We thought that anytime soon you may realise what was going on and we could finally assist you with your new destiny.”

  “We are all trapped here in your realm unable to leave until that piece of filth Jacob was gone.”

  “We got word that something is going to happen any moment now, we are so happy to have been of some assistance to you. You are intuitive and strong, you will make an excellent angel.”

  I looked at Viktor, he appeared to be fading away, “Well, Michael, this is it. Our paths may never cross again, blessings to you, it’s been a pleasure being your Guardian Angel, but I must go now. Goodbye, Michael.” Viktor kissed my forehead ever so gently and faded away completely.

  My eyes began to well with tears, I’ll miss Viktor. I heard the faint sound of something like small footsteps approaching me very fast. The footsteps get closer, then, I see him. Benson, the beautiful white Maltese dog I grew up with, runs as fast as his little legs will carry him towards me, pawing at my legs, wanting me to pick him up, just like he would when I would come home from school every afternoon. As I pick him up he licks the tears from my face, my beautiful boy has been waiting for me all these years.

  With Benson in my arms I turn and look at the other angels, they all give me a warm smile as they too fade away. I look out into the street and notice all the houses, roads and trees are also fading away as mist takes over.