I set in the car next to Carolina in the back-passenger seat, she remained quiet for a moment I guess she was studying the driver. "Ange de Branly, is it true, or was it a terrorist attack?", Carolina asked breaking the silence, though I noticed a trickle of imperiousness in her voice. "Wi mademoiselle, I was ze when it'all append. Zey landed on ze horsemen statues, Angels adorned in black who came to punish us", the driver replied.
"You trying to tell me that angels of death descended on Quai Branly to punish the French?", asked Carolina in disbelief. "exactement! You and I both know how many have been exterminated for France to be who she is, non?", "but there has to be some logical explanation", said Carolina now perplexed. "Ahh, Ar you a journalist or a scientist?", shrugged the driver amusingly. "Why do you ask?", asked Carolina looking offended by the question, "non, non, non-please mademoiselle, it iz usually scientists who need to see to believe", said the driver. "I'm a realist", declared Carolina flatly.
I looked from the driver and back to her and I noticed that there was dubiousness to what she claimed. "I saw zem wis my own pair of eyez, az soon az zeir divine feet touched ze ground, time decided to beat like a dying heart. One of zem passed my car and out of terrifying curiosity I look at it and it looked back at me and I saw'nozing. Zey was void. It iz said zat when we die wi see a white light but I beg to differ. Seeing zat void made me wonder if ze white light are not only for zose who believe in God.", said the driver.
Wait, that's the impression we made, man that's hot! Unless the driver was touched in the head. "There's a logical explanation to everything", said Carolina flatly. This girl was brilliant, her disbelieve in the supernatural was to a point of fear ̶ it's as if she was afraid of the dark during her infancy. "You cannot use your'hur, logic to explain God. We have arrived. au revoir madamoselle…", said the man as he parked near the sidewalk. "à bientôt", said Carolina while exiting the taxi.
I woke up, you know the way one usually wakes up after a nightmare, abruptly. Yeah, like that, sudden shark accompanied by adrenaline paranoia without the sweat. "She's in the elevator on her way here", I informed Makela who was reading a magazine about home design, I was dismayed by the sound of my voice, my energy depleted. I had spent too much time beyond the confinement of my body. "How do you know?", she frowned in disbelief. "I'll explain later, get your suit on and into position", I instructed. It took 20 seconds for the breastplate to expand to its suit form which by the time we were already in position.
I heard the key clinking as she was unlocking the door. I heard the weight of her hand on the door handle as she opened the door and strode in pulling her luggage from behind. I could hear small details that are commonly ignored like the sweat forming on her forehead as fear began to consume her. It was obvious that she had not found the apartment the way she left it. Now her heart was pounding in fear for present thieves. "Whose there?" She cried trying to reduce what was inevitable. "Hello?", she tried again, "hello", again she tried but the fear in her voice was profound.
Makela used her sceptre to move the curtain between the single bed and mirror on the wall which startled Carolina. She rushed to the window to move the curtain back to its previous position and as soon as she stepped back facing the windows, she rashly looked at the mirror and saw me. The same description she had been hearing about ever since she arrived in the country. Cloaked Angel of Death. She gasped at my reflection and immediately spun around to see me but I disappeared. "I don't believe in you… You are not real! You can't hurt me", bellowed the petrified girl. Makela signalled to me from behind that the invisible incantation effect was wearing off. Makela approached her and whispered in her ears "do you think so?" Which sent chills down Carolina's spine and caused her to yelp.
There was a knock on the door, Carolina ran to the door like her life depended on it and when she opened the door, she went into relief mode. "Hi I'm Makela and this is my fiancé Jk. We just moved in, he just moved in, I'm here to help out and wanted to say hi to all his new neighbours", said Makela. "Hi…", managed Carolina, "I hope we are not frightening you", I said to her with a subliminal "we can leave if you'd like us to", "oh no please come in. I could use the company right now", said Carolina as she gestured us to enter in.
Her nerves cooled down, she felt safer in numbers though, I wonder what made her think that whatever she thought she saw while looking in the mirror would hesitate to decapitate simply because two more prey entered the room. "We heard you are a journalist", said Makela as she made herself feel at home by sitting on the sofa without permission. "Yes…", replied Carolina. "You aren't much of a talker, are you?", asked Makela. "I don't think so, she's shocked. Someone intruded her humble abode", I said analyzing all the traces we left in the apartment. "How did you know that?", Carolina bewildered.
"The important question is, are you safe? There's a lot of people in Paris and around the world that would eliminate you to assure that the Intelligence on that flash drive remains a secret." Sneered Makela, she blew our cover, I eyed surreptitiously at Makela signalling it was time to leave though she felt otherwise.
"Who are? Are you here to kill me? You better leave before I call the police", goaded Carolina yet to no avail, she slowly kept on moving back to the kitchen sink. "You know, with the way things have been happening in this country recently", "if you are talking about the so-called Angels of Death then you are as crazy as the rest!", interrupted Carolina. Her back was against the kitchen sink and her hands behind her back.
"There are people on that drive that we are looking for", I said, "and I need a big story!", Carolina interrupted. "Do not ever interrupt my fiancé when he's talking", scorned Makela in a very calm and life-threatening voice so threatening I thought I was the one being threatened. "Sorry", squeaked Carolina out of fear, "look at where I live! Argh, I need a promotion. Okay let's make a deal, I'll give you what you seek- all of it when I get a video of at least one of the listed. Deal?", said Carolina who was now growing confident.
To her belief, it was our presence that impeded her unceremonious death. "We don't make deals with Caucks!", retorted Ta-hawa as she stood up from the sofa. "What are cau- ", "deal", I interrupted Carolina from asking. "What!? Jk, you are making a deal with a Cauck, are you touched in the head!?", Makela argued, "we accept your deal, insert the drive and find the name Reginald Argus III and his current location", I instructed as I gestured her to the laptop on the desktop.
"Just out of curiosity, I have told you why I need to locate anyone on the list, why do you require the list?", asked Carolina, "well if I told you then I would have to kill you", Ta-hawa gave her a thin, mirthless smile. "You told us why you need the intelligence on the flash drive. We don't have to, this is strictly business", I replied sardonically. Makela's incantation effect failed to last, this time and we practically blew our cover as neighbours so basically nothing went according to plan which was quite simple, scare and snatch.
Carolina was busy searching the name I had given while we sat back and waited. This is utterly preposterous, I thought to myself. She was defenceless and had no skills in combat and nothing was stopping us from taking the flash drive from her by force though caution was essential and besides she might have been the girl Anansi snarled about. I am an Angolan and she is Portuguese so it made sense, in a way. "Another thing. Don't pull a stunt on me.", said Carolina flatly while working on the laptop, "do not push your luck!", snarled Ta-hawa. Carolina stared in my direction for a positive response though I just stared back expressionlessly. I believe, at that point, she knew that between me and Ta-hawa, none could be conditioned nor influenced. "it looks like Rome is our next step", said Carolina.
"Rome!?", asked Ta-hawa as she leaned close to me and whispered in my ear, "how we suppose to fly there with human-size luggage, plus one of your wings is injured?". She had a point, I had no idea where we were going with this whole pretend thing, we had blown our cover and bad actors, like, dreaming about an EMMY nomination was a fantasy beyond realization. The current situation proved a lot, for one: do not think too highly nor be too dependable of sorcery. Two: plan precisely and don't just improvise and three: make sure you get paid to do it.
"It states here that Reginald Argus III is an international arms dealer who supplies ammo and ammunition to rebels and terrorists, worldwide.", said Carolina. "How many countries in Africa?", asked Makela, "oh no. Kenya, Tunisia, Sudan, Chad, Nigeria, Somalia, Burkina Faso…", replied Carolina. "Motive?", I asked, "hold on… Control over natural resources. Imposing conflict on a nation abundant with natural resources which leave the country's government at the mercy of foreign aid which the Bearers of Light capitalize on", replied Carolina as she read the content.
"The Bearers do not control employing brutality rather by conditioning and manipulating the target to want the aid they offer. Smart, though sinister", I tutted. Makela began to pace which meant that about a trillion things were taking place in her mind, she should have been a Taurus. "Bearers of Light?... Bearers of Lights… Bearer of Light! Wait are these people Luciferians?", asked a flabbergasted Carolina. "It doesn't matter whether they are Luciferians, antichrists, Illuminati or the United Nations", retorted Ta-hawa. I had to stop her before she said too much, "the point is", I interrupted, "you have a story that proves theories that goes centuries back and we have the target location.", I finished. No one said anything, in such an awkward moment the first one to take charge leads the crew.
"We are no natives of Europe though I'm sure there's a way we can get to Rome without hitchhiking.", I said laying dominance to the situation. "We can get there by metro", suggested Carolina. I walked to the window that displayed the beautiful city of Paris which was now in psychological terror and besides, I was getting tired of Paris so a train ride to Rome would do well. Makela stood next to me staring vaguely at the view, I could tell that the current situation preoccupied her. "I have an atrocious feeling about travelling by train", she confessed. "it'll be alright", I assured her but we both knew that was beyond the truth. Anything could occur at any given time and the fact that we were without gear made it worse.
"Aww, you are such a sweet couple", said Carolina. Makela switched from a sympathetic person to a psychopath in a matter of seconds, she turned her head to her right and scorned, "be quiet…", in a deadly murderous tone. Are the women of her father's land like this? I thought to myself. Carolina became as stiff as a statue. "You can unfreeze yourself. Get whatever you need in five minutes. We have to leave", I said imperatively.