The Devil's Angel (The Devil's Assistant Series Book 4)

The Devil's Angel - Chapter 16

Our re-emergence into the world as found was far more dramatic that I had ever intended. We had slipped over a small garden fence and then through the tree line before spilling out onto the outskirts of a large housing development. The area where the hatch was located was one of the few pockets of undeveloped land which had not been developed into cookie cutter houses.

It shook me to the core. All the time we had been below ground and were being subjected to horrors, we were in such close proximity to people. We had been so close to perfect nuclear families living out their perfectly normal lives.

It started with a twitch of the curtains. I supposed we were a sight to see. Each of us probably looked like we needed a good wash and had gone through a few matches in the boxing ring. And my wings, which I had folded against my back, were slapping against my body with every step that I took.

A man who had stepped out of his front door with a newspaper tucked under his arm, paused with one foot raised in the air as his eyes fell upon me. He blinked and quickly pulled the paper from under his arm, his eyes looking between me and the paper. He mouth fell open, his eyes stopping on me in disbelief.

"Wait here a minute." I murmured to the group behind me, detaching the children from my legs.

Crossing the path, I held my wings close to my body and tried to put a warm smile on my face in an attempt to make myself look as unthreatening as possible. My sword had already faded from sight leaving me empty hands. The greying man, with slicked back hair, perfectly polished shoes and pressed business suit, gaped as I stopped a few feet away.

"Babe, you forgot your lu..." A woman called out loudly, her voice trailing off as she emerged from the house and her eyes fell upon me standing a few feet away from her partner. "Oh my."

"Can you help us? We have some injured people with us so we need to get help." I asked, looking from her to the suited man.

The woman, whose hair was vibrant red despite the number of lines on her face, took one look over my shoulder and gasped, her hand covering her mouth.

"Of course, dear." She murmured, her eyes flipping to the man at her side. "Bob, go and call Sheila, tell her we need food and medical help here urgently." When he just stood there, she swatted him around the head. "Hurry up."

Chastened by his wife, he hurried back into the house his newspaper and briefcase still in hand.

"I know it's a strange question, but what day is it?" I murmured, coming to stand beside the red head as several neighbours emerged out on to the street.

"It is Monday." She replied, her head turning to look at me.

"They had me more than a week."

"Who had you?" The woman asked, her hand resting on my arm. Her touch was gentle and feather light as if she was afraid to touch me.

Grimly, I turned my head towards her. I was sure the expression on my face told a lot more than words ever could as I felt her fingers tremble before they squeezed my arm. "Some really bad people."

"We'll get you all sorted now. Don't worry about anything at all." The older woman comforted me, her voice hushing into soothing tones which filtered through me. "Now you need to make a phone call – people have been looking for you."

When I frowned, the woman shook her head and pulled a phone from her pocket and placed it into my hand.

"Call now. You can ask me questions afterwards. I think you have some people who are very worried about you."

With those parting words, the woman wandered over to the other escapees.

I stared at the simple handset within my grasp. I smiled at the fact it was a simple phone, pre-dating colour screens and internet. It had been years since I had last used a Nokia 3210 but I used it with ease.