Lucifer's Angel

The tires of the car thrummed beneath us and a blur of stone and white flew by in the windows. I sat across from Mary in the back seat and Colonel Michaels, of course, was driving.

”Are you sure we should let him drive?” Mary asked.

“He insisted that he drive,” I replied.

”Well, I can assure you of one thing, Jean.”

”And what’s that?”

“If something bad happens, we’re so dead because Colonel Michaels sucks at driving fast.” I let out a quiet laugh.

”Just keep the seatbelt on and you’ll be fine, I promise.” Mary looked over at me and it was clear to see that she didn’t believe me.

“Seriously, Mary,” I spoke, grinning. “Monaco’s driving is worse.”

“Now,” Mary started,“that I can believe.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Colonel Michaels questioned. Mary must’ve met his gaze in the rearview mirror because her eyes snapped to the window, finding interest in the winter outside.

“Oh, nothing important, really,” I replied, smiling to myself as the Colonel turned onto another street. In the distance I could see black bricked buildings and an old thought came to me. We were almost in the same place where I’d first met Maria.

”Oh,” Mary spoke, catching my attention once again. I could tell she was enjoying the fact that she could have a conversation with me without Colonel Michaels hearing it. Eventually though, she knew she’d have to talk to him again, but until then, she fully intended to keep quiet.

”I never answered your question,” she finished.

”No, you didn’t,” I replied.

”There’s no real reason why I usually don’t go by my real name,” she explained.

“I went by Allison to honor a friend that was killed in car wreck about a year ago. Everybody always mixed up our names because we looked and acted so much alike. After she was killed, everyone just started calling me Ali, including her parents. It was like I was her to them. I never really thought to tell them otherwise. To be honest, it’s nice to be called Mary again.” I glanced over at Mary as she finished speaking. Her eyes were glued to the window; her body was turned away from me towards the door. She kept her face blank, something I’d noticed she was very good at.

“You know, it’s not entirely my place to tell you about this, but I think you’re an exception. You know the woman that was with the Colonel when they visited Sergeant Major Myung?” I questioned. Mary sent me a subtle nod. She’d been so surprised when we’d told her that her favorite teacher was in the military, one of those who was ordered to help keep an eye on her.

”Lieutenant Barrett, yes, I remember her.”

“Well, we’ve been friends for a long time. We met not far from here, actually. It was about one in the morning, it was cold and snowy and I was out for a walk. All of a sudden, I heard a loud crash. I don’t know why, but something inside me told me to go see what had happened, something told me to run, and I did.

I don’t think I’d ever moved that fast until that night and I don’t think I’ve ever moved that fast since. It was like my feet never touched the ground. As I neared the spot where the sound had come from, I could see an orange glow and I knew something bad had happened. When I turned the corner, I could see nothing but flame, black smoke, and mangled metal. A car had hit a patch of slick ice and had flipped upside down into a small, deep, snow buried valley beneath a couple of guard rails, formed by a gap between two hills.” I paused for a moment, taking in a deep breath.

”I remember thinking to myself that there was absolutely no way anyone could survive that kind of crash, but even still, I ran down the bank, towards the wreckage. The snow in the valley was more than waist high and in some spots it nearly swallowed me whole, but it didn’t deter me. At first, I’d thought it was the light from the fire and the fact that it was hard to see because of the smoke, but the snow near the driver’s side was soaked in blood. The windshield and windows were completely shattered so it was easy for me to see inside the car. The person driving had died on impact, the person who’d been in the passenger seat, who had also died instantly, had been thrown from the car, and the young girl that’d been in the backseat behind the driver had hit her head on the window, snapping her neck.

That window hadn’t been shattered, so I couldn’t see that anyone was on the other side. Again, I don’t know why, but instead of turning and going to get help like anyone else would’ve done, I made my way around the car. Lying in bloody snow was a dark haired girl, curled up in a ball, holding her bleeding side that’d been stabbed by a piece of glass. Hearing my footsteps crunching in the snow, she turned to me, her face blank, just like a soldier, just as she started to pass out. When she woke up, she found herself in the hospital with me right there next to her, because still, for some reason, something in me kept me from leaving.

She asked me who I was and I answered completely, honestly, like being in her presence just caused the truth to pour from me. At the time, I was just a scrawny kid who wanted to stay in the shadows, forgotten, away from the world. Despite the fact that she’d just lost her closest family, despite all her pain, she smiled at me, and after that, we became close friends and have remained that way since then. For a while though, it was hard for us both, her especially. After she’d healed and had gone back to work, she kept her pain to herself for the most part, but when we were alone, she would tell me about how sometimes, she’d look at someone or see someone and for a second, she thought she was seeing her sister or her dad, like they weren’t really gone. I guess, when we lose someone so suddenly, like she did, like your friend’s family did… like you just did, our minds search out things that remind us of the person or people we lost to try and make things a little easier. It’s an unconscious, unintentional way that we cope with severe pain, so I understand why you went by your friend’s name for so long, why you let them call you by her name. You were so similar that they mentally linked you together.” When I finished explaining, I remained quiet for a moment, letting Mary think about what I’d said.

”I never would’ve guessed that about her. She seemed so kind, so… bright,” Mary replied, not really knowing what to say.

“Yeah, I know. She always seems to see the brighter side of things, no matter what happens. It’s a rare quality to find in someone…” I trailed off for a moment. ”You know its okay for you to admit that things aren’t okay. I know you were close to-“

“I’m not going to talk about Miles and Katherine,” Mary snapped sharply, glaring at me.

”Why not, I know it’s gotta be hard for yo-“

“I’m fine, so drop it. I can handle the pain. I’m not a little kid, you know. Things happen, I know that. I can deal with it by myself,” she snapped.

“Maria thought she could deal with the pain by herself too and that ended with an emotional breakdown. What I’m saying is that you don’t have to and none of us expect you to.”

“Jean, I am fine now drop it! I don’t need your help and I don’t want it.” Mary was angry now, but I persisted on. I would not let her ignore me.

”You say that, but your mind tells me otherwise.” Mary turned to me, sending me the same look that she’d given the Colonel often over the past few days.

”Shut up. Just shut the hell up and leave me alone,” Mary hissed.

”Fine,” I replied harshly. I’d said what I wanted to say. Without another word, Mary turned away from me, staring out the window again, watching as the dark, snow covered buildings passed by. Running a hand through my hair, I leaned against the doorway. She’s as stubborn as the Colonel, I thought to myself, aggravated. She’ll come to her senses eventually.

“Colonel,” I called quietly. He looked back at me through the mirror, his dark eyes holding a distant look.

“Yes, Lafayette?” he asked.

“Could you turn the radio on?” He said nothing more; he simply hit the button over to his right, moving his eyes back to the road. Mary shifted in her seat and I glanced over to see her pulling the hood of my jacket up before she leaned against the door. Music played quietly from up front, but I wasn’t really listening to it. I just wanted some noise to kill the silence. I looked out the window, out at the sun setting on the horizon. Until now, I hadn’t realized that it was so late. It seemed as if we’d just left the station. Glancing down at my watch, it read that it was only half past six. Confusion crossed me for a moment, but then I remembered that since it was winter here, the sun set earlier. Letting out a sigh, I slid down in my seat. I had missed this place much more than I’d thought. I had so many memories from my time here. Many of them were not so great, but all the good ones outweighed everything. I smiled to myself, thinking back to the first Christmas I’d spent with Maria. We’d spent a lot of Christmas Eve making and eating candy. We’d ate so much that we’d nearly made ourselves sick, and then we’d stayed up watching Christmas movies on a sugar rush until we’d finally crashed. That all seemed so long ago now, so much had changed….

~~~

I leaned my head against the window, watching as the street lights on the other side of the highway passed by. We’d been driving for hours now, but I was still not tired. Mary had been asleep for a little while, but now, she was awake, listening to her music. I had nothing to do, so I’d kept myself occupied with watching the world pass us by from the window. Now that it was dark, the street lights were about all I had to watch. I ran a hand through my hair and confusion hit me as the lights seemed to get closer and closer. Looking down, I could see the snow bank on the side of the road was getting closer as well. Realizing what was happening, I shot forward, putting my hand on the Colonel’s shoulder.

“Colonel Michaels!” The Colonel jumped slightly, his eyes opening wide again. Cursing under his breath, he pulled the car back into the right lane before moving it further to the left to pull over, onto a low patch of snow packed asphalt. Colonel Michaels ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head slightly.

“If you were getting tired, you should’ve said something.”

“I’m not tired, I just-“

“Nearly fell asleep,” I interrupted before he could finish his sentence. I opened my mouth to say something else when Monaco’s voice sounded over the radio intercom.

“You guys okay up there?” he asked as he pulled up behind us, letting cars pass. Pressing the talk button, I replied.

“We’re fine. I’m just taking over the wheel.”

“No, Jean, I am fin-“

”No,” I interrupted again. For a moment it looked as if Colonel Michaels was angry at me for showing him disdain, but he was obviously far too tired to care. “You need to get some sleep.” Colonel Michaels sighed as he opened the door. Cold air rushed over us as I turned my attention back to Major Monaco.

“How are you doing back there?” I asked.

“Just fine, I sent Lucienne to get some coffee before we left. I’m good to go,” Monaco replied, his voice quick and chipper. I let out a light laugh. Apparently that coffee had a lot of sugar.

“I’ll be back there in a minute to steal some,” I laughed as Colonel Michaels got out. Realizing that he’d be sitting in the back with her, Mary jolted forward.

“I can drive, you-“

“No,” Colonel Michaels and I replied in one voice. An annoyed look crossed Mary’s face as she sat back in her seat. I got out of the car, stretching as I walked back to Monaco and Lucienne’s car. As I neared the front door, Monaco rolled down the window, handing me two cups of coffee, one for me and one for the chief.

“Yours is on the left,” Monaco spoke, taking a drink of his own.

“You like caramel in yours, right?” I nodded, taking a drink.

“I say we drive for two, maybe three more hours or so, and then find somewhere to stay for the remainder of the night to get some sleep. I know if I start to get too tiered, I’m screwed, because Luci is out cold, no pun intended,” Monaco explained lightheartedly, pointing over at his sister. True to her brother’s words, Captain Monaco was curled into a ball in the passenger’s seat, using her brother’s shoulder as a pillow. I found it hard not to smile.

“That sounds good. Thank you for the coffee,” I replied, turning to go back to the car.

“Jean,” Monaco called. I stopped, turning back to him. He motioned for me to walk over to him as he got out of the car to stretch. Leaning against the door, he lowered his voice.

“I’m starting to get a bad feeling. This little road trip of ours is going way too smoothly.” Monaco kept his voice low, just like he had in Colonel Michaels’ office before the guardians meeting.

“It may just be me, but it feels like we’re being watched.” I looked down, moving snow with my feet. I’d felt it too.

“It’s not just you. Keep your guard up, okay?”

“Will do, French fry,” Monaco grinned. Annoyance crossed me for a moment, but I just shook my head, smiling as I walked back to the car. Getting in, I shut the door before handing the Colonel his coffee.

“You can thank Monaco later.” Turning the key, I started the car, then, when the next few cars had passed, I pulled back onto the highway, Major Moanco following me.