Art by: Mark Kokopelli Watkins

Contact him for original Angel Hunter art or his other works here or here.

It’s all getting too confusing. The memories feel like they happened moments ago, while at the same time I know when they happened. My brain is like a pile of twisted kite string. I am afraid my judgment has been compromised, and I’m forced to trust Jacob. I’ll have to push through so I can begin to make sense of all this.

After fleeing my house and catching a cab, I went back to the charm shop. I had not yet known that Jacob was the person chasing me and that he was the one who was going to get me my memory back. At the time, I had little memory of the events in the journal at all. I had woken up with only the memories of losing my family and the other events not related to angels or Morning Stars. I don’t think I would’ve run that morning and gone to the charm shop if Jacob hadn’t shown up. I had serious doubts about needing the journal until that morning.

I couldn’t believe what I saw when I got to the address in the journal. The building had been completely demolished. I expected to find nothing, or maybe that it had been shot up with bullets and boarded up, or something, but instead only a crater remained… a dead end.

The taxi driver snarled at me, demanding his ten bucks.

I told him to keep the meter running. I didn’t have any money to pay him with.
My pockets were empty. I was lucky that I had remembered my shoes.

I roamed the outside of the crater looking for something, but nothing was discernible. There was no ash, just a pile of debris that was too small to be the remembrance of an entire building. It was like something demolished the building and then removed most of the pieces.

The same black man that I had seen at my house stepped out of a white BMW. I got ready to run, but he shouted, “Chill, Drew!” There was something about the way he said, “Drew.” I remembered the only reference in the journal to someone calling me Drew. No one else has ever called me that. I waited.

Jacob paid the cabbie and said that the Morning Stars were on our tails. That’s why he stopped by my house, to get me somewhere safe. He said we had to get my memories back if we wanted to save Avery.

I had nowhere else to go. I couldn’t remember yesterday or Jacob.

Putting his hand on my shoulder, Jacob assured me that he would do anything to save my daughter. In fact, he was currently losing everything he had built with the Morning stars.

I had no other place to go. I had to follow what the journal told me to do. I had to follow Jacob. I got in his car.

As soon as we pulled away from the curb, Jacob lit up a joint as though it was a cigarette, calm and cool. He said he had to bring me, “all the way in,” and that I had to regain the memories the angels took from me. More confusing, he said that I had to remove my Watcher, Guardian Angel, to get my memory back and remember where I had hidden the GPS coordinates to the nexus point. Jacob said that he told me to write down the coordinates in a secret place and not record what I had done in my journal in case there was an emergency.

I had no recollection of the conversation, but what else was new. I wondered if I would be able to run away from Jacob after I jumped out of the car and hit the pavement.

Without warning, Jacob stabbed me with what seemed like an EpiPen. It clicked and I felt a needle go through my pant leg and into my thigh. He was strong as an ox and held it in. I froze for just a second and made a move to grab his hand. He nailed the breaks and whipped out his piece pushing it into my face all the while keeping that joint securely between his lips.

He took a long drag and told me that I’d be awake before I knew it. The last thing I remembered before I blacked out was Jacob’s words. “Just think of it as taking the red pill, but it ain’t something lame like a pill. It’s a special mix of barbiturates. You’re goin’ into a comma. I’ll revive you as soon as your heart stops.”

I hate to say this, but my blackout was wonderful. I had an amazing dream that I hope I never forget. I was in our bed on a Sunday morning trapped between Heather and Avery. Their combined heat radiated around me. I was sweating, trapped uncomfortably between them as the warm morning sun heated the room. I was so uncomfortable… and so happy.

I jerked awake. I was screaming before I was conscious.

Jacob calmed me down with an, “Easy Drew.”

I was lying on the pavement of an empty parking lot. Jacob hovering over me. My shirt was open. Two electro pads were stuck to me. I was hooked up to a defibrillator, Jacob called it an AED. It was standard procedure for the Morning Stars.

He helped me up, telling me that I had hit my head on the payment pretty hard. After Jacob had administered the second injection, the reviving injection, and he need to attach the AED in case it was needed. He couldn’t get the thing attached in the car. Jacob banged my unconscious head on the ground when he ripped me from the car.

As soon as Jacob was driving down the street, he complemented me with a, “Good job. Most people don’t do as well as you.”

This jerk almost got me killed because he didn’t get everything setup before he started. My head was throbbing. I told Jacob to go to hell and pointed out that he got high before almost killing me- I mean killing me and then saving me.

Jacob argued that it helped him keep focused. He wasn’t joking.

I asked Jacob if the stabbing was going to be a daily thing or if he plans on explaining what was going on.

Jacob laughed and explained everything. The way that I understand it is that Jacob is part of a group called the Moring Stars. They go around answering prayers for people who need help. He says that I’d be surprised to know how many people are really in need of help. Society is not equipped to help people like me. In fact, society rewards evil. The Morning Stars work under the radar. They don’t like to be noticed, especially by angels. Angels don’t seem to like their work, but generally leave them alone as long as they don’t make a big deal out of it. Typically, the Morning Stars keep their clients in the dark. They let the angels, specifically Seraphim, erase their memories and let the clients go back to their normal lives. In my case, Jacob believed he had no other choice if he’s going to help me find Avery. He understood my need for closure, to find her myself. But he’s paying for it now. His gang doesn’t like what he’s done They don’t like the fact that he attempted to use a jinni and got me involved. They’re afraid more angels will get involved, but Jacob is in too deep now. Because he involved me, I have the information in my lost memory to find Avery. He needs to remove my Watcher so that Seraphim doesn’t erase my memory again once we get it back.

At that moment in the car, I believed him. I decided to follow him until the end. The passion in his eyes. He is either crazy or on the right track. Now, it’s easier to follow him as my memories are returning. But then, in the car… I had nothing else to go on, but his passion. Maybe it was the fact that he stabbed me and brought me back to life, but I really believed it was his honesty. I have to find my little Avery. I’ll do anything, and Jacob is my only chance right now.