Chapter 8: Lost and Found

Patti and Jessica stood beside the hospital bed, staring down at their friend, Linda. She had numerous tubes connected to IVs which in turn connected to veins in her arms. A breathing tube was in her mouth and obviously down her throat. Linda was in another induced coma. This time, she was at home and not in the intensive care unit at the hospital. At Juan’s insistence, the hospital and doctors came to Spencer House. Linda could afford it. She could afford to buy her own hospital if necessary.

“She looks so innocent, laying there like this,” Patti said.

“I know what you mean. God, it’s hard to believe that our little girl is only nineteen years old. How could anyone accomplish so much in just one year of life?” Jessica responded.

“It’s trite to say the same things over and over, but amazing really does apply. So does astonishing, unbelievable, incredible. You name a superlative and our Linda is in Wikipedia as the definition.”

“Have you seen the security video?” Jessica asked.

Patti nodded. “I think a lot of people have seen it by now. All of the security staff of course. Some of the household. Medical. Her close friends. Thank God it’s not on the ‘net. So far. If they weren’t sure before, the Islanders probably know now. Linda is an Angel.”

“It only lasted eleven seconds. I had to slow the speed down to even get an idea of what was happening. She was stabbed, cut, sliced and diced twenty-eight times in those eleven seconds.”

“That thing attacking her. Do you think it was one of those ancient ones she told us about?”

“It must have been. She / it was dressed up like a ninja with those swords of hers, and she kept teleporting so fast! The popping sounds of air displacement was like a machine gun firing. Linda couldn’t react fast enough to engage the bitch. If the ninja hadn’t been so stupid, Linda would be dead.”

“True. I think it was arrogance. She was so old that she must have gotten used to fighting like that with no one capable of fighting back. Like a cat toying with a mouse. She wanted Linda to suffer. If she had gone for the quick, clean kill, Linda would be dead now.”

“This time, she picked the wrong damned mouse! I don’t know how Linda did it. With all those wounds and the damage to her internal organs, I would have been dead. Somehow, she managed to create the illusion of a room full of Angels. I’ve counted over forty of them and I know that’s only about half. The illusion must have caused the bitch to pause momentarily in her attack and Linda hit her with everything she had. Just before our girl passed out from blood loss and internal injuries. The ninja cunt ended up in a pile of dust and broken body pieces.”

“It’s a good thing you were close, Jessie. You managed to heal the trauma and stop the blood loss in time to save her. She still would have died, otherwise. Linda lost a lot of blood.”

“It almost killed me, too. I was so weak from the amount of energy it took that I collapsed. Then you and Joyce arrived and started regrowing the sliced up internal injuries. Joyce fed me psychic energy to continue healing, too. My stopping the blood loss was just the beginning.”

“Well, she’s good now. In just a couple more days, the doctor will bring her out of the coma and she should be completely healed.”

The two friends looked at each other and said “Amazing!” at the same time. Then they broke up in nervous laughter.

Linda slowly began waking up. Even before she opened her eyes, she realised she was in pain. She hurt everywhere. Her mind flashed back to when she woke-up after fighting the European Ancient One. The smells were the same, and the beeping of medical equipment monitoring her health was the same. The breathing tube stuck down her throat brought back additional memories. She couldn’t seem to focus on what had happened, though. She knew, vaguely, that it wasn’t the European. Something else must have happened to her. She drifted back to sleep.

Sabrina found Jessie quietly sobbing as she sat on a chair in the main lounge. Worried that there might be bad news about Linda, she rushed over to comfort the woman she considered to be a well loved aunt and friend.

“Jessie, what’s wrong? Is Linda okay?” Sabrina asked. She was almost in tears herself. Sympathetic emotions. A female thing. Or not. Call it a human thing. They both loved Linda.

“It’s all my fault!” Jessie moaned. “I just wanted Linda to have a nice birthday! She’s been alone all her life and now she finally has friends who love her, and I almost got her killed by a monster!”

Sabrina had seen the security video showing the attack Linda had endured. While the video made her nauseous, there was still a compelling fascination to it. Like watching a slow motion car wreck. You’re horrified and, at the same time, can’t look away either. The video answered a lot of questions about the young woman who adopted her into her home and life. Now, Sabrina had no doubt Linda was an Angel. She also knew she would willingly give her own life to protect her! Unknown to Sabrina, a lot of people all over the world felt the same way.

“There, there now, Jessie. It wasn’t your fault at all. It just happened. Just like Jake says, shit happens. Besides, Linda prevailed. Like she always does.”

“It was my fault. I pushed for the birthday party. It got huge. Out of control. I had no idea just how much people love the Angels. I guess we live too close to see what’s happening out there in the world. The whole damn thing drew too much attention. Linda was spotlighted and that monster found her. Baby girl, we almost lost Linda forever. It was just luck that she’s still alive!”

“But she is alive! I’ve seen the video. Linda was surprised. It took her a couple of seconds to realise what was happening. Then she fought back! I’m so proud of her! Even with all that was happening, Linda beat that fucking bitch! She totally kicked her ass! I mean totally! Linda. Kicked. Her. Ass! And no, Jessie. You’re not responsible. The attack was going to happen sooner or later. Thank God it happened here, in our home, where immediate help was available. You stopped the bleeding. You saved Linda’s life! Stop this nonsense about being responsible! Stop it right now or else I’ll ... I’ll ... well, I’ll do something!” Sabrina stamped her foot on the ground, and stood there with both hands on her hips, a stern look on her face. She looked ten years younger.

Jessie smiled at Sabrina through her tears. The young girl was growing up. Sabrina may only be fourteen but the youngster was pretty damn smart. She was right, too. It wasn’t really her fault. She just felt so bad about what happened. What could have happened. Linda was still alive. Jessie would get over these feelings of guilt. It would take a few days. Maybe longer than a few days, but she would recover. At least this time when someone she loved was hurt bad, she could do something about it! She thought about her fingernails turning into claws and shuddered. Where the hell did that come from?

Emily was a domestic on staff at Spencer House. If anyone asked about Emily, she would be described as a good person. Emily was no raving beauty. She wasn’t blessed with incredible intelligence. She looked and acted like what she was, a wife and mother with a good, hard working husband, and three children. Emily was one of the millions that loved Linda and revered the Angels. For months now she had been positive that her Linda was one of the Angels! Her husband and kids all teased her about Linda being an Angel but she was steadfast in her belief. She heard the rumors about the existence of a video recording proving Linda was an Angel. She also helped clean up the bloody mess in the main lounge after the alleged battle between Linda and something.

While Emily tidied up in Linda’s office, she noticed a dvd sitting on a pile of notes on Linda’s desk. Without stopping to think, she popped the dvd into the player and started it. Oh my! It was the video of the fight. She had proof her Linda was really an Angel! Emily made a decision that would change Linda’s life. She burned a copy of the disk. Now she could prove to her husband and kids that Linda was an Angel. They would keep the secret...

Ret? Tinker Bell whispered.

Yes, Tink? Ret replied.

Tink looked at Ret for a full minute. She thought about what Ret had said. Then she whispered, Bullshit!

Ret looked at Tink and they both broke out laughing. Ret picked her up and hugged her tight. I love you, baby sister.

Tink lay her head on Ret’s shoulder and whispered, I love you, too, big sister. Very much.

For the next few weeks, Linda decided to concentrate her efforts on South and Central America, and the Middle East. She travelled to a different location every day. One day in Honduras, the next day in Jordan. One day in Columbia killing drug lords, the next day in Riyadh. By the time three weeks had flown by, Linda had become the biggest mass murderer in the history of the world. Ten Latin American countries were cleansed of criminals. Over one hundred twenty million Muslims were dead.

Then, the security video hit the internet. Emily’s children couldn’t resist the desire to show their friends. You can guess the rest. The video of an Angel, fighting for her life against a Ninja, went viral. Linda’s face was visible to countless millions. Her home became a focal point for people who loved the Angels, and those who reviled them as insane murderers. The daily crowds grew larger and larger. The local police had all they could do to handle the crowds. The governor had to cancel incoming flights. The whole island was packed with people. Requests from government envoys deluged Joyce as Linda’s PA. Everyone in the house had to turn off or change cell phones with known access numbers.

Linda had decided the only thing she could do to protect her friends, was leave. Start a new life somewhere, and live anonymously as possible, disguised by Mouse. Juan set up a bank account for Linda, and funded it with twenty million dollars. She used the name Ashlyn Franks. Juan had a debit card and a couple credit cards set for her use also. The local government provided a birth certificate, passport, and driver’s license. She still planned to remain in touch with her friends. Once a day, the four Nuns would still visit hospitals all over the world. Linda would still pursue her personal quest to destroy evil where ever she found it.

Sabrina came home from school, arriving at the compound gate as usual. The gate guards didn’t come out of their security shack to verify who was in the car. The driver was unresponsive. She looked outside and the crowds of people surrounding Spencer House were strangely silent. Normally, they were busy chanting and screaming at each other, depending on their personal feelings about Angels. Now, they just stood there. Doing nothing. Saying nothing.

Sabrina exited the car, and looked around at all the silent, still people. Curious, she walked up to a few of them and waved her hand in front of their faces. No reaction. Nothing at all. They just stood there.

She walked past the gateway and up the drive to the house. The front door was standing open. That wasn’t normal. Walking deeper into the house, Sabrina saw no one. Usually there was the hustle and bustle of a large household moving around, cleaning, running errands, and just doing everyday ordinary stuff.

Sabrina found the staff, and family, in the main lounge. Everyone was on their knees with their foreheads pressed to the ground in a large circle surrounding a naked Linda on her hands and knees, and a fully clothed woman standing near her. No one noticed Sabrina standing in the entry.

She watched as the silent woman pointed at one of the men kneeling on the floor. He stood up, stripped off his clothing, and knelt behind Linda. He began having sex with her. Doggy style. Sabrina knew that much from surfing the internet. Neither Linda, or the man, made a sound. The mysterious woman began laughing.

“Pathetic. What a pathetic Angel you are. I can’t believe you managed to kill my brothers and sisters. Actually, you did me a favor. Now I can control the entire world and won’t have to share it. I will enjoy owning you, little Angel. You are powerless to me. Enjoy the man taking you. He won’t be the last. All of your employees are going to get some Angel sex!” Then she cackled. It wasn’t a laugh. She barely sounded human.