Finding Midnight (5 page)

“But it’s also these emotions that, I think,
intrigue Father and my fellow angels so much. It’s fascinating how
they can rule a human’s life. Some of my brothers have even adopted
emotions into themselves,” Daniel said.

“But you said that angels didn’t have
emotions,” Summer said.

“No, I said, angels don’t have emotions like
humans. We have them; they aren’t as deeply embedded in us and they
don’t rule our decisions, but when you have been around humankind
for as long as my brethren and I have, the propensity to adopt a
more emotional posture is hard to repel.

“Lucifer, for example, has found anger to
feed on and uses it to his advantage, for his cause. Others have
found love and compassion as addicting,” Daniel explained.

“And you? Have you found love?”

“No. I’ve had friends I cared a great deal
about and humans I found quite fascinating, but not this ‘head over
toes’ in love humans talk about in books and poems.”

“You mean ‘head over heels’,” Summer
corrected.

“What? Your heels are behind you. Humans
can’t bend that way—no, ‘head over toes’ though quite painful, is
much more plausible.”

“Though you make a good argument, the saying
is ‘head over heels,’” Summer said, trying not to laugh out
loud.

Daniel stood. She got the feeling he was
about to leave.

“Wait. You’re going?”

“Yes. I think I’ve answered all your
questions, at least the ones I could.”

“Yes, but will I ever see you again?” she
asked the handsome angel.

“I couldn’t say,” Daniel said.

“Is it possible for me to call on you? Like
if I needed advice? Or if I had a question?”

“Well, it’s not usually the way things are
done, but, yes. I suppose I could be called upon if you need
instruction,” he said, a little intrigued by her tenacity.

“Good…and how would I go about doing
that—calling you, that is?”

“I’m always watching…just call my name and I
will appear,” he said.

“Thank you. Thank you for saving me from the
dragon and for always being there…watching,” Summer said.

“It’s my job, there is no need for thanks,”
he corrected.

“Your job or not, I’m thankful—very
thankful,” she said and hugged him tightly.

He didn’t seem to know how to react. He
stood with his arms still at his sides, seemingly incapable of
movement. When she withdrew, he looked confused but fascinated too.
A tiny smile appeared on his lips, and then he vanished. The sight
of his strong features etched in her mind like a picture negative
in the darkness of her room.

The concept that she had her own personal
“Watcher” angel filled her with a comfort she had never felt. The
kind of comfort a child finds in the arms of a parent—at least, she
guessed this would be the feeling. Or was it something else,
something deeper?

Chapter 5

The next day she floated to work; that is,
she didn’t really remember getting dressed, eating breakfast or
driving to work. It all seemed to be a fog—a fog in which only
Daniel could be seen (his eyes, his mouth, his hair, the way his
eyebrows moved when he talked). She entered the office with a silly
smile plastered on her face and moved about her duties in
auto-pilot mode.

“What’s with you?” Tori asked as Summer
floated by.

“Nothing…why?”

“Because you seem to be in another world
this morning, and that grin on your face, I’m not sure if I want to
laugh or run away screaming in terror.” Tori pushed a stray stripe
of newly dyed green hair from her black-lined eyes. “I think the
paint fumes have made you loopy.”

“Naw. It’s nothing like that. I just had an
interesting night, that’s all,” Summer confessed.

“You mean after we left things got
interesting?” Tori said, disappointed.

“We’ll talk at lunch. Peanut is waiting for
me in surgery.”

“Right,” Tori said, on the edge of her seat,
“but can’t you give me a little hint?”

“You wouldn’t believe me. I’m not sure
you’ll believe me even after I explain all the details.”

“Ah geez, now an hour and a half will seem
like an eternity,” Tori whined.

“Sorry,” Summer said, deviously loving that
she finally had a captivating story to tell when usually it was
Tori that had all the fun.

As Tori predicted, the next hour and a half
were mind-numbingly slow. When the second hand hit twelve noon,
Tori had the “out to lunch” sign up, phones forwarded, door locked,
and was helping Summer clean up the last of the instruments so she
could get on to the story.

Walking to the park as they always did, Tori
said abruptly, “This better not be like the time you told me
something great happened and it turned out to be you got your
membership card to PetsRUs.”

“It was to the California Veterinary
Society, not PetsRUs, and that was a big deal.”

“Yeah, yeah, big deal.”

“No, this is definitely up your alley,”
Summer said.

“Well, then, get on with it. What happened?”
Tori said impatiently.

Summer then relayed what happened with the
dragon shadow, Daniel pulling her into a dark corner to save her,
and his explaining about himself. Tori was so engrossed in the
story, she forgot to eat. She just stared at Summer as she divulged
all the riveting details.

“That is so cool. You saw a real live dragon
AND were saved by a hunky fallen angel? Wow. I knew living by that
graveyard was going to be the coolest thing ever.”

“What’s the graveyard got to do with
anything?” Summer asked.

“Nothing, it just makes everything even
better. So this Daniel, he watches you?”

“Yeah. I guess he’s been watching over me
since I was born,” Summer said, taking a sip of soda as she threw
her silken red-gold braid of hair back over her shoulder to keep it
out of her bite of sandwich.

Tori’s eyes widened. “Then…he’s seen every
embarrassing thing you’ve ever done…and he’s seen you naked.”

Summer’s usually milky white face went beet
red at the thought of Daniel checking her out in her ‘birthday
suit.’ She could barely swallow as her mouth went dry and every
embarrassing thing she’d ever done in her life passed before her
eyes. “Oh, God. I think I’m going to be sick,” Summer said, putting
her head in her hands.

Tori laughed and laughed. “So you kind of
like this bad boy, don’t you?”

“Bad boy? He’s an angel,” Summer
insisted.

“A ‘fallen’ angel—defying daddy. That’s a
bad boy in my book, though I will admit on a scale of bad boys,
he’d be pushing the gray line into good boy territory,” Tori
explained.

“You do have a unique way of looking at
things, Tori,” Summer said, shaking her head.

“That’s why you love me,” Tori said. Summer
couldn’t deny the point but the logic behind it was a bit muddled
in her brain. “But you do like him, don’t you?”

“What’s not to like? He’s handsome. He saved
me from a dragon…and he’s an angel watching over me, but I get the
impression he’s not interested in anything beyond watching over
me.”

“Why do you say that?” Tori asked, adjusting
her black skirt over her Doc Martens.

“We touched on the subject of emotions and
being in love, and he said he’d never really been in love and it
didn’t sound like he’d be trying it anytime soon.”

“That doesn’t mean he CAN’T fall, it just
means he hasn’t found the right girl,” she said, picking at her
bright green fingernail polish that Summer noticed matched her new
green streaks of hair exactly.

“I guess, but I don’t think I should hold my
breath,” Summer admitted.

“Good. Then you should come with me to the
Mausoleum Bar tonight. Nick’s training a new guy and he’s really
cute.”

“You’ve tried fixing me up with guys before,
Tori, and it never works out. The last guy you set me up with had
more holes in him than a pin cushion and the guy before that
thought he was a Klingon.”

“I thought you liked Star Trek?”

“I do, but I don’t want to live it. You try
going on a date with someone who only speaks Klingon and see how
much fun you have,” Summer explained.

“He spoke Klingon? How cool.”

“I suppose, but it’s not easy to learn and I
could do without the full time mask.”

“To each his own. You like Nick, don’t
you?”

“Sure, I do. He’s the coolest vampire I’ve
ever met—of course, he’s the only vampire I’ve ever met, but he
seems really nice.”

“Well, this is a friend of Nick’s. His name
is Jackson. I guess they’ve known one another for a very long time.
He’s cute in a boring kind of way. No Klingon mask, no piercings,
no tats. He doesn’t even wear black much,” Tori said with a touch
of disappointment.

“Hmm. Sounds nice, but if he’s known Nick
for a ‘very long time,’ does that mean he’s a vampire?”

“Ummm. Yes.”

Summer shook her head. “I don’t know,
Tori.”

“Oh, come on—at least meet him,” Tori
whined.

“Just because it’s been your life pursuit to
fall in love with a vampire, doesn’t mean it’s mine.”

“You used to get on me all the time about
making quick assumptions about people, so don’t make me throw that
in your face. You can’t make a decision about him without even
meeting him. I know I’ve steered you wrong with a couple previous
dates, but I think you and Jackson might have a lot in common.”

“I guess you’re right,” Summer said. “I’m
sorry. It just makes me a little nervous to be meeting a
vampire.”

“But you’ve met a vampire before—Nick. AND
you like him, so just say you’ll come and meet him and decide for
yourself.”

“I don’t know…”

“Oh, come on. Live a little. It’s been
months since you’ve gone on a date.”

“Okay. What time?” Summer asked, gathering
up her trash.

“Nine?”

“Fine. I’ll meet you there.”

“Oh, no. Nick and I will pick you up. You
are not going to scare off a potential boyfriend with that dog
car.”

“He might find it endearing.”

“Or NOT.”

“Fine,” Summer relented as they headed back
to the office to finish the day.

*****

Dr. Stuart, carrying a canvas bag, stopped
by the kennel area of the office on his way out.

“There you are, Summer,” he said, spying her
petting a small cat with a bandaged leg. “How’s Oscar doing?”

“Much better, aren’t we Oscar?” she said,
nuzzling the cat and causing him to purr. “I’m just waiting for
Mrs. Hamilton to pick him up, and then I’ll close up. No
overnighters to worry about.”

“That’s good. I brought you a couple of
books I thought might help you identify some of the plants in your
garden.”

“Thank you, Dr. Stuart, but it’s not really
MY garden, it’s just my job to get it back into shape for Ms.
Midnight,” Summer explained.

“Either way, here they are,” Dr. Stuart
said, setting the books on the examining table. “I’m heading out.
See you tomorrow.”

“Have a nice night, Dr. Stuart,” Summer said
as she heard the bell in the front office. “I’ll bet that’s your
mommy,” she said to the cat as she made her way to the front of the
building.

Soon after, she locked up the office and
headed home, looking forward to a little time in the garden before
going off for a blind vampire date.

“How she talks me into these things, I’ll
never know,” Summer said out loud in the car. But when she got in
the garden on her hands and knees in the soil, the scents of the
plants around her and the earthy smell of the rich dirt below her
washed away the thoughts of the day. Her mind wandered as she
worked and hummed a song from long ago. It was interesting how when
she was in this mode, it was as if her mind was untangling
knots.

Though she thought about problems she needed
to fix or of something that had been stressful during the day, in
this state, her mind seemed to map out what she needed to do with
such ease she wondered why she had been stressed about it in the
first place. It had something to do with the garden and working it,
she thought. It somehow gave her a peace she’d never
experienced.

After an hour or so, she stood and admired
the progress she’d made with great satisfaction. She took off her
gloves, turned to wave at the always present, scowling Ms.
Midnight, and went to the cottage to take a shower before Nick and
Tori came to pick her up.

*****

The Mausoleum was always an interesting
place to go, even if Goth was not your cup of tea. You could tell
by the detail in the decorating that the owners enjoyed it. The
inside was done up like a stone dungeon. Fake torches for lighting,
and dusty, ornate, web-cluttered urns stood proudly in memorial
markers on pewter plaques, proclaiming funny epitaphs of the
supposed interred residents.

The music was loud and pounding; the lights
were dim with the occasional flash of fake lightning, but it was a
fun place. Though Summer often felt incongruous at first, she never
went home without having enjoyed herself. The nice thing about the
club was no one cared what you wore, they were there to have a
drink, dance and enjoy themselves—you could be yourself, no matter
who that was.

Nick led Tori and Summer through the small
crowd to the bar, seating them both, then kissed Tori and made his
way behind the bar, grabbing an apron on the way.

“So Nick has to work?” Summer yelled over
the music to Tori.

“Yeah, but it will start to clear out around
ten. That’s why Nick’s training on a Sunday. It won’t be as loud
either.”

Summer nodded, looking around the room at
the few still dancing. It wasn’t very crowded. She’d been there
when there was barely room to stand, let alone dance. A few minutes
later, a handsome guy was shadowing Nick, behind the bar. Aside
from height, the two men seemed opposites in most every way—where
Nick had dark, spiky hair, the other had smooth, shiny light hair;
where Nick had on a black shirt and tie, his friend wore a white
shirt and red tie. Nick was outgoing and talked to everyone,
whereas his friend seemed quiet and shy.