Mom are you still there? MOM! "Don't look for me Daniel, don't listen to him. Don't listen to him!!" Don't listen to who mom? "Don't listen to..." Daniel! Daniel!" Huh?
"Daniel wake up!" *gasp*.
Aahh
"Calm down, you had another nightmare."
What? Oh, phew.
"You okay?"
Yeah, I'm...I'm fine.
"You sure?"
I said I'm fine!
"Okay, I see you feel like a man today. You're gonna need it. Now get up, we're going somewhere different today."
Uugghh do I have to jump for hours again?
"No, we don't have time to waist. I'm calling a cab."
Uuh, you don't think that's gonna be awkward, a foreign cab?
"It's not gonna be foreign, I know a guy."
Ha, you know a guy? In Rome? "Yes I know a guy, stop doubting."
How can you not doubt right now?... (He left me with no answer)
"In about a half our she'll be on the side of the road ready to take you there."
SHEE!?? What do you mean she? Take me where?
"Yes SHE! Stop with the questions Daniel."
Yes. Sir. Jeez.
"I'll be waiting for you, I gotta go set up."
You're gonna leave me here alone? "C'mon kid, you're 16, you can handle being alone for 30 minutes."
Okay, fine. Ugh. What am I supposed to do for 30 minutes??
I just grabbed my gear and left the cave. Ew, this thing stinks. I need to wash it. There were no cleaning products in Gabriel's cave, I just dipped it into the lake in the back of the cave and scrubbed it with one of his t shirts. How does he fit those wings into a shirt??
I heard a bell ring, a ringing. It was from an Italian tower, a giant clock. I could see the peak of it through the reflection of the lake. I have to go see it. "Daniel?" A worried confused voice came from inside the cave. I was paranoid. Oh shit it's another demon, it's the cops from my apartment, how did they get here? I jumped to at least 30 feet away, still in the air. GET AWAY FROM ME! I yelled. Something caught my leg, and threw me back towards the ground. Leave me alone or I'll...woahh. It was a girl standing over me, she had light yellow/gold/brown eyes. Her hair was redish brownish. She was...she was gorgeous.
She answered my threat, "Or you'll what?"
I'll, have to ask you what your name is.
"Me llamo Cazul, but you can call me Cat."
Cat? That's such a cliche nickname for a pretty girl. "Uuum, okay?"
I stared at her for about 10 seconds.
"You're not, are you? Hello!"
I felt embarrassed, but I wouldn't show it. What I'm not, I was just uuh. I was staring at your necklace, it fascinates me. "Oh, okay. That was weird."
Ha, yeah...weird.
"Well Gabriel asked me to come pick you up."
So you're the girl that's getting me? What are you an angel too? A dragon, a gargoyle, a vampire?? That would explain your strength.
"We've only got about...15 minutes until Gabriel gets pissed. I suggest you get in the car."
Okay sassy. You mind if I walk you there ma'am?
"Stop being weird and get in the car."
I was joking...jeez.
We got in the car, it was a red convertible, old school mustang. It's not clean, but it's not technically dirty.
When did you get this?
"Gabriel gave it to me on my 13 birthday."
Thirteenth?? Jeez you must be close.
"I'd hope so, I am his niece." Huh? A niece? How is that even possible?
"It's way less complicated than it seems. Spiritual relations often seem to defy any scientific logic. But that's only because our perception of reality is shaped by limited thinking human beings, who can't really think for themselves, you know?"
I'm gonna pretend I know what you mean. I haven't spent much time focusing in school.
"Obviously." She responded.
You could be a little less rude you know?
"Gabriel wasn't joking when he said you were a mouthful. No wonder your mom left you."
You know what fuck you, only thirty minutes in and you're already being a bi...
"Being a what?"
Being a, leave me alone.
"That's all it takes to make you angry? You need to learn to control that."
Why does everyone keep doing that. You push my buttons then get confused when I pop.
"It's just a test Daniel. Lighten up. I know you're training with him today, I'm just trying to get you pumped to fight."
Oh, okay, so your family enjoys pissing people off? Cool, guess we all have our guilty pleasures. "Yeah, I guess you could say that...and Here we are."
This building looks old, but modern old...if that makes sense.
"No Daniel, it didn't make sense. I hand built this with Gabriel, it's not easy. Even with the power of a gargoyle or vampire or dragon or whatever stupid thing you think I am." Sorry, I didn't know. And the gargoyle thing was a joke It looks... pretty.
"...... Thanks"
We started walking. My pupils were dim from the bright light in the building.
"This way Daniel."
Huh? Oh sorry. I'm coming.
"Put your hands here." On that??!! It looks like a torture device! "My nickname's cat and even I'm not that much of a pussy. Put your hands here Daniel It's gonna take you to the drift in Limbo."
Ha, so we're dancing now? I knew you liked me.
"Ha.Ha.Ha. Not that limbo. It's a space between the spiritual realm and the physical realm. Time is frozen, and it gives you literally all the time you need to train."
Oh, yeah I'm good love enjoy.
"Get back here now"
There's no way in the fuck I'm going in there, all of this is freaky, a few days ago I'm in school and now I'm time traveling? None of this makes any sense, and where the hell is Gabriel??
" No me importa Nada de lo que acabas de decir Daniel. Stop making excuses and put your hands down. Gabriel isn't with us this time "
Who am I training with then? Where's Gabriel?
"You'll see when you get there. Now put your hands here."
Fine.
*I put my hands down on the plaque.*
Aahhh fuucckk!!
"Oh man up, it's only for a few sec..." *THUD*!
Aahh shit, that hurt like a mother...
"Daniel! Watch your mouth!"
Where have you been Gabriel?
"I was here waiting for you. No more questions, you start iiinn...NOW!"
Huh? BOOM!
Cazul appeared out of the blue, it must have been that weird matrix thing.
What are you doing...Cazul, Cat!
(She kept walking towards me, balled up her fist, and...)
"That's what a punch feels like Daniel."
(She said it in a goofy voice.) What the hell are you doing?
"Apparently I'm kicking your ass."
Huh?
"Watch your mouth Cazul!"
"Lo siento tio, it's just trash talk"
She spun in the air, like a butterfly. Then she extended her left leg. Uuh, what do I do? I can't...Aah fuck. She kicked me, it threw me off of my feet. My nose bled.
Gabriel, you're not gonna do anything?
"As far as I'm concerned you're the guy, now defend yourself."
I don't know how to...AAhh.
She punched me twice then tripped me. What the hell were you trained by Batman or something?
"Fight me!"
She punched me again."
Okay, I'm sick of this. I got angry and red hot again.
Yeess, my strength. Feel my wrath!!
" Ha, that's adorable. Take your best shot."
Aaaahh! I threw a punch, she grabbed it and hip tossed me. "This is what the fight is like against the demons, this is serious. Now is the time where I say something like, 'are you gonna give up? But I'm sorry tipo this is too hilarious. But seriously, is that all you can do?"
Ugh.
She had my arm in a lock, I thought it was about to break. Then it did. It snapped. AAAHHH!! I yelled again, this time there was a crack in my voice.
"Oh it's gonna heal." Shut up! "Gabriel, I thought you said he was a natural."
She said it to him sarcastically.
"Just wait for it Cat, give him some time. After a few months he'll be ready."
" I hope so." She responded.
She held her hands out to pick me up.
"Sorry about that, you'll understand why we're so harsh in a little while."
I grabbed her hand.
Thank you. How long will this take to heal?
"Like I said, here we have all the time in the world."
That didn't answer my question.
Gabriel stood up and stared at me with a smile.
"Tomorrow we test your spirit. Today we broke your body. Be ready."
You know me, I'm a strong... "Ehem. Barely."
Cazul was chuckling as she cut me off. "Oh and Daniel, it's already healed."
Huh?
Oh shit. (I looked down at my arm. It was good as new. )
This is awesome, but what's the point of the training? I still don't know what I'm fighting. But if I have to go through this much, it's gotta something huge.
