Part 60 (1/2)
Nick glanced at Lauren, took a breath, and told Mizuno about the incident on his side. ”I wasn't able to save anyone except for their daughter.”
Nick heard Mizuno mutter something to himself in what Nick guessed was j.a.panese before Mizuno asked whether he killed the charlatan or not.
”I-I...No, I didn't.”
There was a pause before Mizuno continued, ”There's a warehouse full of s.h.i.+pping crates in Seattle where I have a hideout of sorts set up; take the girl with you and meet us here.”
Nick got out of his seat, found one of the complementary pads of paper and a pen the hotel left in the room and jotted down the address Mizuno rattled off to him. Nick wanted to ask how he was supposed to get there, but Mizuno hung up before he could get an answer.
Lauren watched as he sighed, put his phone away, tore out the address, and quietly asked her to get ready to leave. ”I-I don't know if you want to shower or anything, but we need to leave soon.”
”Where are we going?”
Nick folded the sheet of paper in half and stowed it in his right back pocket of his jeans before he said they were headed for Seattle. ”Mizuno,” he stopped and corrected himself, ”The guy in charge wants us to meet there.”
”Why?”
Nick said he wasn't sure. ”Probably t-to a.s.sess the situation and talk about what to do with you.”
Lauren looked away from him and asked what she could do. ”The only family I have left is in Canada and I hardly know them.”
”Would they take you in?”
She shrugged and said she didn't want to live with them. ”What am I supposed to do?”
Nick admitted that he didn't have any ideas. ”You could go back to Paris and”
”Where are you from?” Lauren stopped him. She looked him in the eye for the first time in hours and said, ”Earlier, you asked me where I was from, so where are you from?”
He said he lived where they were. ”My family, my mom and brother died a few months ago.” Nick told her that his mother died in a car accident and that his brother was killed by the same person who killed her parents. ”I've tried to find him since my brother's death, but I haven't been very successful.”
”Why didn't you kill him yesterday?”
Nick flinched at the suggestion and quickly told her he wasn't a killer.
Lauren quieted herself and let the subject drop. She finally got up from the corner she slept in, (as she didn't trust Nick enough to sleep in either of the beds), and walked into the bathroom and turned the sink faucet on. She told him she'd be ready to leave in a few minutes and shut the door.
8:30 AM.
Both.e.l.l, Was.h.i.+ngton Rachel's alarm sounded and abruptly woke her. However Pyotr's presence startled her far more than the suddenness of her alarm. She would have screamed but Pyotr negated the audible cry and spared them the unnecessary step of explaining everything to her aunt.
He sat at the foot of her bed quietly and only told her to meet Vladimir and himself at Stipek Park as soon as she finished her breakfast. ”Bring a coat as well,” he told her briefly before a light surrounded him. ”It's going to rain.”
She blinked and he was gone.
Her aunt wasn't pleased that Rachel elected to skip church, but it didn't impede Rachel at all. It was always a choice that Rachel usually agreed to simply to appease her aunt. However her angelic acquaintance seemed to know what he was doing when he told her to meet him at the park.
She arrived and found it to be desolate, aside from Pyotr and Vladimir. Vladimir wore his regular attire while Pyotr sported shorts and a gray tee-s.h.i.+rt with a vertical red stripe that crossed over a star over his heart. Vladimir sat brooding on the bench she first met him at while Pyotr stood and greeted her.
”I take it your aunt wasn't happy that you could not make it to church with her?”
”She'll be fine.” Rachel skipped the small talk and asked why he wanted to talk with them.
”I simply wanted to finish our talk from the night before.”
”Why didn't you?” she asked. ”If you stopped time and could take as long as you wanted to tell us everything, why didn't you?”
Pyotr looked out at the road near the park and watched a car pa.s.s by. ”You may not have realized it, but talking, having a conversation when time stands still is a very bothersome thing. Sounds are emptier, emotions seem to echo, and it is physically uncomfortable.”
”So you're finis.h.i.+ng it now?”
”In a matter of speaking.” Pyotr crossed his arms and paced for a moment before he admitted that he could not stay long enough to truly reveal everything they both wanted to know.
”Why not?”
”He is quite busy Rachel,” Vladimir told her.
”Doing what?”
Pyotr smiled and reminded her that he was an angel. ”I serve the Lord and he requires much from me that occupies the majority of my time. The fact that I even have such a moment to be here to speak with you is quite gracious.”
”Alright,” Rachel wasn't entirely sure what he meant but asked him to continue.
”If you remember from our conversation last night, our primary goal is to eliminate Constantine, though he has eluded us for a very long time,” Pyotr started. ”He continues to hide and the best way to locate him is through his allies, one of whom is named Cipriana. I've come to know that Cipriana is in Seattle”
”How?” Vladimir interrupted him. ”You and I have searched for her for years and you have just now found her?”
”Yes.”
”Why haven't you killed her then?”
”Because I haven't the time and I do not know where she is within the greater Seattle area. I am charging you both with the task of tracking her down and killing her.”
”Who is she?”
Pyotr apologized and said that Vladimir would need to explain everything to her. Pyotr then told them he would contact them again as soon as he had another opportunity to do so. Afterwards he said his goodbyes and walked out of the park only to vanish in a ray of light upon leaving the grounds.
Rachel waited until the light faded to ask Vladimir what he did. ”I mean, what does an angel do exactly?”
”What we are going to do, but to a much larger and wider extent.”
”What are you talking about?”
”He is an angel of death Rachel,” Vladimir flatly told her. ”He ushers the dead and dying to the next world or life or whatever it is.”
Rachel paled slightly and asked if he was serious.
”I am. Now”