THIRTY-ONE

Getting out of the Academy was the easy part.  Daniels had arranged for a car, which they would definitely need to get Kayla to the church.  The difficult part was that although Hunter had the ability to become invisible to human eyes, and so did the angels, Kayla would be seen, unless HE was able to shield her and that was almost impossible to accomplish.  It just took too much from him and he had only done it once before, only for seconds.

Once they reached the hospital, becoming invisible was what they did.  It was nighttime, there was less staff, and visiting hours were definitely over.

Hunter didn’t need to summon Chase.  He was there, right next to Kayla, and he was telling her a story about Hunter.

“What is going on?”  Daniels asked.

Chase looked at Hunter, ignoring everyone but him.  “Just trying to keep her from going farther into the Otherworld.  I noticed that talking to her about –“ he hesitated.  “Talking to her helps.”

“Can you help us getting her out of here?”  Hunter asked Chase.

“Doesn’t seem like I have a choice.  But, as much as I hate to say this, I want to go to the Academy with you.  You will need my help for more things than you can imagine.”

“You are not welcome at the Academy, Chase,” said Daniels.

Hunter faced Daniels.  “He has been taking care of her.  He has been taking care of your daughter, and this is how you repay him?”

The two fallen angels who were there to help were surprised by the revelation that Kayla was Daniels’ daughter.  As far as they knew, she was one of the haunted.  Chased by demons and ghosts, much like they believed was the case with Hunter; only Hunter had been to the Otherworld and that made him different from the others.

It wasn’t uncommon for the Fallen to go and get the haunted when things got out of hand.  They would usually send one of the messengers to talk to the parents saying there was a clinic that could help and would transfer them to the Academy.

At the Academy, they would be assigned one of the Fallen to watch over them.  Once the Fallen was ready, them along with their haunted human would go back into the real world to face those creatures.

“We should have known there was something,” one of the angels thought.  “We never just take someone like this… without a plan, without precautions.”

“Mr. Chambers!”  Daniels warned him.  “I told you, Chase is not welcomed there.  We try to shield the ‘other’ kids as much as we can, him being there with approval will scare them... it will be madness.  Now enough with this, we have to go.”

Hunter knew that was an argument he would never win.  “Chase, will you please help us leave the hospital?  I will find a way to stay in contact with you.”

“There is little I can do, Hunter.  You will have to shield her.”

Daniels moved closer.  “I can do that.”

Hunter looked at him surprised.  He thought that shielding others was something only he could do.  Daniels tried.  The others tried, but they all knew that wasn’t working.

Chase just watched them, arms crossed and looking bored.  “Hunter has to be the one to do it.”

The fallen looked surprised.  “Why?  He is no stronger than us.  If anything, he is weaker.  Besides, he is only one of the haunted, he can’t do that.”

Daniels just froze in place.

Chase faced him.  “Does it really matter why?  You need to get her to the Academy, so just get on with it.”

Daniels gave Hunter a nod.

Hunter moved toward Kayla’s bed, carefully picking her up in his arms.  Something about the way he did that, made Daniels feel awkward, but she was shielded as soon as Hunter picked her up, so he didn’t say anything.

Hunter carried her to the car, followed by the others, including Chase.  Hunter carefully put Kayla in the backseat.  Everyone was already in the car, and somehow, the only seat left for Hunter was the passenger front seat.  Hunter was barely able to get in the car.  What he had done had weakened him even more than he anticipated.

Before they drove off, Chase approached Hunter.  “You need to be with her… I mean, all the time.  There is a connection with the two of you.  I could guess what it is, but I’m sure you will deny it.  Let’s just say that whatever this connection is, it is keeping her from going deeper into the Otherworld.”

Hunter couldn’t make sense of it.  Looking puzzled, he nodded.  Daniels drove off.

No one said anything during the ride to the church.

Once they got there, Hunter was too weak to carry Kayla, but either way, at this point there was no need to shield her.

Daniels picked up his daughter, overwhelmed by how much she had grown; by how much she looked like her mother.

They were just about to enter the church when Benjamin appeared, blocking their entrance.